New research shows that worrying about money causes cognitive impairments

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How much money do I waste in a given month by doing most of my grocery shopping at the Whole Foods that’s directly on my route home rather than taking the three-minute detour to Safeway? I have no idea. As a business writer, I’m aware that the Whole Foods markup is big on some items and small on others. I know that it sometimes reflects genuinely higher quality and sometimes doesn’t. But in my actual life as a person who shops, the main thing is that I prefer Safeway’s flour tortillas, so I go there if and only if I want to buy some flour tortillas. Otherwise, convenience is king. All I really need to know is that my grocery spending is within my budget, and even though I’m probably wasting money, it’s not worth the time and hassle to think about it too much. Read more...

NASA Moonshot Will Test Laser Communications

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Une nouvelle technologie de communication prévue pour le lancement par la NASA ce vendredi fournira un record fracassant 600 mégabits par seconde téléchargements. La sonde résultant mettra en orbite de la Lune et envoyer des communications vers la Terre via des lasers.

Le plan fait allusion à la façon dont les lasers pourraient donner un coup de pouce à la couverture de l'Internet terrestre, aussi. En quelques années, les services de satellites commerciaux sur Internet sont tenus d'utiliser des connexions optiques-à la place de la radio d'aujourd'hui les liens de fourniture beaucoup plus grande bande passante. A Virginia démarrage, Laser Light Communications, est dans les premiers stades de la conception d'un tel système et espère lancer une flotte de 12 satellites en quatre ans.
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Business term of the day - Term for September 4, 2013: "Concession (contract)"

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Source: Wikipedia
A concession or concession agreement is a grant of rights, land or property by a government, local authority, corporation, individual or other legal entity.

Public services such as water supply may be operated as a concession. In the case of a public service concession, a private company enters into an agreement with the government to have the exclusive right to operate, maintain and carry out investment in a public utility (such as a water supply system) for a given number of years. Other forms of contracts between public and private entities, namely lease contract and management contract (in the water sector often called by the French term affermage), are closely related but differ from a concession in the rights of the operator and its remuneration. A lease gives a company the right to operate and maintain a public utility, but investment remains the responsibility of the public. Under a management contract the operator will collect the revenue only on behalf of the government and will in turn be paid an agreed fee.

A grant of land or property by a government may be in return for services or for a particular use, a right to undertake and profit by a specified activity, a lease for a particular purpose. A concession may include the right to use some existing infrastructure required to carry out a business (such as a water supply system in a city); in some cases, such as mining, it may involve merely the transfer of exclusive or non-exclusive easements.

In the private sector, the owner of a concession — the concessionaire — typically pays either a fixed sum or a percentage of revenue to the owner of the entity from which it operates. Examples of concessions within another business are concession stands within sporting venues and movie theaters and concessions in department stores operated by other retailers. Short term concessions may be granted as promotional space for periods as short as one day.

Amid Exits, President of Hunter College Is Assailed for Her Management Style

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Jennifer J. Raab, the fast-moving, fast-talking president of Hunter College, recently landed a $25 million donation, the largest in the college’s history. A science and health building that Hunter is constructing with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center won approval last month from the Department of City Planning. And on Tuesday, Ms. Raab will cut the ribbon on Phase 1 of a $45 million redesign of the college’s library — a bright, inviting, communal space that could transform the compact vertical campus.  
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Why Microsoft Really Bought Nokia

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Last night Microsoft (MSFT) bought the smartphone division of Nokia (NOK) for ~$7 billion.

Nokia will present the deal to its shareholders in November, and both companies expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2014.

So, why did Microsoft do this deal?

Two analysts, Ben Thompson of Stratechary and Benedict Evans, assume that Microsoft had to buy Nokia because Nokia was going to stop making Windows Phones very soon. Read more...

Managing Money: There's An App For That

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An endless number of personal finance apps help consumers keep track of their money. Host Michel Martin speaks with Lisa Gerstner of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, about the different options for tracking savings and spending on mobile devices. Read more...

Breakthrough: No batteries needed for wireless technology

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No Batteries Required: New Wireless Technology May Power Range Of Mobile / Wearable Devices

Wearable technology seems to be a hot topic these days. Most of the major technology players have some form of wearable device in works. Samsung is calling its product line, Galaxy Gear, which they say will encourage “a smarter life.”  The hope is that Internet technology will move from being something that is some-what independent of us to something that is literally woven into our daily existence. From your shoes to your shirt, stove to your toilet, the future may be found in connecting every part of our lives. This is sometimes referred to as the “Internet of Things.” Yet a fundamental problem still remains. How to power all these things? Read more...