Facebook IPO is Expected to Take Place Soon — Around May

What? You haven’t joined Facebook? Psych! Haha, that’d be unbelievable. The actual thing you might not have known of is an IPO. “IPO” is simply Initial Public Offering; you know, like on the stock market. Noting a number of different people near to the company, a notorious tech forum said that Facebook officials chose May 17 as the day to throw out their long-anticipated initial public offering. On the other hand, a different rep in San Jose Mercury News said that the actual date isn’t set in stone and could easily switch to be a couple of days earlier or later than that. The social network giant’s IPO may be the most eager awaited technology stock debut in at roughly ten years. Facebook, started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard apartment, is looking to raise $5 billion in this offering. The biggest IPO so far for an Internet business is $1.9 billion, that company being Google in 2004. While this should be quite an exciting event, there are many people who are critical about how this event will go down. Facebook will probably have a nice IPO, but from then on it’s tough to say what will happen. Some of the largest and recent IPOs for large technology companies like Zynga have really gone a bit sour. It will be interesting to see how Facebook fairs. One exciting thought is that it will most-likely be a great jump for Silicon Valley. Several of the Facebook people will probably take their money and start some cool new startups.

——————–

Posted on April 25, 2012 by , Reply

Tapping into Asteroids is Looking like a Legitimate Standard for Some Companies

What do Larry Page, Eric Schmidt and National Geographic’s James Cameron have in common? Besides having a lot of money, they are all among the many who are funding a venture to soon harvest some incredible, rare, and priceless elements from some near-earth asteroids. It appears to be like something out of a sci-fi movie or book, but it is a actual idea that is coming to reality.Planetary Resources, a company located in Washington, will pinpoint its gaze toward making low-cost robots to go on surveying trips to asteroids passing near Earth. The first of these trips will be a safe demonstration trip around Earth; this trip is thought to be launched within about 25 months, according to Diamandis and Anderson, the two co-founders of Planetary Resources.Like the Ansari X Prize competition, the idea of Planetary Resources is to open up deep-space discoveries to the private sector. The Ansari X Prize was given to Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne in 2004 for completing the first flight beyond Earth’s atmosphere by a manned and privately manufactured spacecraft. Commercial space trips, as many other blog posts are announcing, are expected to dawn later this next year. The first prospects of Planetary Resources are likely going to be top-notch science agencies like NASA, along with private research institutes. Surprisingly, in about eight-ish years the company believes they can position observation platforms in orbit around Earth. They are going to dive into some of the hundreds of asteroids that go relatively close to Earth. The goal? To mine precious rocks. This will probably just make the rich people richer while we all get to watch it in the news.

——————–

Posted on April 25, 2012 by , Reply

Physical Activity of Any Sort May Pitch in to Decrease the Likelihood of Alzheimer’s Disease

No matter if you’re running a 10K track, cycling 4 miles, or even mowing the lawn, studies have proven that doing any kind of exercise will really help to lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Great news, yes, but it has shown that it even lowers the risk in people over eighty years old. A Chicago-based study formed in the Neurology journal states that protective activities include washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, gardening–even playing cards. Seniors who fell in the lowest 10 % of physical exercise were over two times as probable to get Alzheimer’s. The lead author, Dr. Aron Buchman, wrote, “Exercise is good, without a doubt, but this study is about more than exercise. Older people who might not be able to exercise can tailor activities that are right for them.”Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure for Alzheimer’s, but this is good news for those trying to dodge it. Alzheimer’s affects approximately 5 million U.S. citizens. That number, frightening as it may be, is expected to triple as the baby boomers reach a ripe old age. Aging is the primary risk factor with Alzheimer’s–the unavoidable risk factor, that is. Those of you scanning this article probably, I can assume, aren’t at risk of Alzheimer’s at this stage of life. However, you probably all know at least someone (like a grandparent) who is pushing old age and needs to start exercising. Surfing the web is something that old people don’t do, so it becomes your challenge to inform them about this study. Let grandma and grandpa know that you want to keep them around for longer, and let them know of what you have learned.

——————–

Posted on April 25, 2012 by , Reply