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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (112107)	4/25/2011 8:47:55 AM
From: Emile Vidrine	1 Recommendation Respond to of 213182

Reality contained in AAPL's earning report vs the false imaginary "reality" fabricated by certain media outlets and hedge bashers: First we have the clear concrete reality established by AAPL's earning reports. This reality contains the factual revenue growth, earnings growth, forward guidance and in short management's factual report to the shareholders. Investors must always be cautious of these reports because some management teams have a selfish interest in trying to distort the concrete reality of the companies financial health to advance their own career and ffinances. In the case of AAPL management, however, we have several years of solid and conservative earnings reports to understand that this management team tends to be extremely cautious with future guidance and also cautious and truthful in explaining the competitive dangers of new products and the overall health of the company. For several years their performance has surpassed their conservative projections. Solid investors have learned that AAPL's management team can be trusted to paint a realistic picture of AAPL's present condition and near term future condition. In addition, their solid performance in producing exceptional revenues and earnings gives a solid foundation for this trust. $65 billion in cash with zero debt, solid innovation of new products and growing demand for most of their existing products establishes a degree of confidence in AAPL's overall investment worth. In contrast to this solid factual reality we have an imaginary reality created by the FUDsters. This false reality was clearly demonstrated during Japan's earthquake tragedy. The architects of imaginary realities went to work on shaping a false reality of AAPL financial and business health. A few words and phrases capture the essence of this imaginary doomsday reality: nuclear meltdown, disastrous supply line disruptions, horrifying flash memory shortages, mysterious shortages in touchscreen chemicals, etc. etc. etc. Couple this fear mongering with the dragons of: 1. Law of Large Numbers, 2. Fat Fingers theories, TA charts with long threatening red lines shooting downward to terrifying lows, and we get an alternate imaginary reality that serves the purpose of hedge funds and other manipulators. The media is a full partner in creating these alternate realities. The smokescreens created by the FUDsters are meant to destroy concrete reality and truth for the financial benefit of the FUDsters. Those who can remain focused on the concrete reality and invest in accordance with this reality will benefit. Those who are moved back and forth by the FUDsters imaginary reality will suffer.

To: FJB who wrote (112107)	4/25/2011 8:57:19 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213182

South Korea, Europe start iPhone location tracking investigations arstechnica.com By Chris Foresman \| Last updated about 4 hours ago South Korea's Korea Communications Commission is now asking Apple questions about the location data being stored on iPhones and iPads and backed up to users' computers. South Korea joins the governments of France, Germany, and Italy, which late last week notified Apple that they also had questions about location data collection. These investigations follow stern letters from US Sentaor Al Franken (D-MN) and US Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), both of whom asked Apple to answer why the data is retained on users' devices, how it is collected, and what Apple does to protect users' privacy. Last week, a news firestorm started after the public revelation by researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden that iPhones and iPads keep a log of location data based on cell tower and WiFi base station triangulation in a file called consolidated.db. The news led many to believe that Apple was using or could use the information to track iPhone and iPad 3G users, and raised privacy concerns that the information could make it into the wrong hands. iOS security experts noted that the location log wasn't new—previous versions of iOS stored the same information in a different database. Nor was consolidated.db necessarily a secret—forensic teams often accessed and analyzed this file in addition to SMS logs, e-mails, contact databases, photos, and more during investigations. Further analysis by developers and security experts suggests that the data points recorded are more likely cell tower and WiFi basestation locations, and not necessarily actual device locations. Developers soon revealed that Android devices record a similar, if smaller, location dataset as well. This data can only be accessed by others if someone has physical access to your mobile phone, though iOS users may be more susceptible to a data breach as the data is backed up via iTunes to a computer. These backups can be encrypted, but they are unencrypted by default. Concerns were raised that this location data is collected and used by Apple to "track" individual users (in fact, two iOS users have filed a federal lawsuit against Apple on Monday alleging privacy invasion related to consolidated.db). Apple explained last year that location data derived from cell tower and WiFi triangulation is batched and sent to Apple periodically to maintain its own database of these locations to assist in GPS accuracy and speed. The data sent to Apple does not contain any identifiable information, however, and users opt-in to the data collection via iTunes. Though Apple hasn't made any official statement about the recent controversy, CEO Steve Jobs allegedly told one concerned iPhone user via e-mail that Apple does not track anyone, while at the same time implying that Google does. Google likewise collects location information based on cell towers on an opt-in basis, but only if you use cell towers and WiFi to assist the GPS location—turn that feature off, and the data is gone. iPhones, on the other hand, will continue to log the locations on the device itself even if you opt out of sharing the data with Apple. For its part, Google has insisted that the information it collects is anonymous, though each device is associated with a unique random number that could potential be correlated with an individual user using increasingly sophisticated deanonymization techniques. The Atlantic noted that the existence of location data on a mobile device is perhaps not as alarming as one might expect. "The big deal about location data isn't the data itself; rather, the location data makes all the other information [e.g. photos and e-mails] that can be extracted exponentially more useful. That's why mobile forensics is different, and why our devices may be where the bubbling privacy concerns of the last decade come to a head." Those concerns seem to be coming to a head in Michigan, where state police are using CelleBrite's Universal Forensic Extraction Device to gather data from mobile phones. Michigan State Police representatives say no such evidence is viewed without a warrant, though legal precedent suggests that it can be if a mobile phone is found on a suspect at the time of arrest. The ACLU has suggested that officers may be using the device to collect evidence on routine traffic stops or other situations, sometimes without consent or notice. Mobile forensics expert Steven Whalen told Ars that mobile devices are increasingly becoming important to police and other investigators. "I find it kind of silly [to be] worried about one single file when the entire device contains information that can be easily extracted by anyone with some training or basic research," he said. "If I had a choice between doing forensics on a computer or a cellphone, I'd choose the cell phone. Unlike a PC, a person keeps their cell phone with them all the time." In other words, mobile devices will have a more complete record of a person's activities over a given timeframe. If maintaining utmost privacy is a top concern, users should definitely enable data encryption on their mobile device, set a passcode, and enable the device for automatic wipes in the event of loss or theft. iOS users should also enable encryption of backup files in iTunes. While advanced techniques may be able to extract location logs and other data even while encrypted, the only truly "safe" alternative is to avoid using any mobile device at all.