Jackson Parker

625 posts
Gas Prices Finally Drop, Expected to Keep Decreasing

After months of consecutive price increases, gas prices have finally decreased — slightly. The national average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gas is currently $3.955 per gallon on Monday, down from Sunday’s price of $3.961, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Many experts say the $4 per gallon mark is a tipping point, a price likely to dissuade consumers from driving, lowering demand and keeping pressure on gasoline prices.

The average price of regular gas in the Los Angeles area is currently $4.268 per gallon — 2.1 cents lower than last week, eight cents higher than last month, and $1.13 higher than last year.

Today’s drop in gas prices follows a week where crude oil prices tumbled. Oil prices continued to decline on Monday, dropping under $99 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Read Article
Diesel Gas Prices Cooling Off, Regular Gas Remains High

The price of diesel fuel began to decline across the nation this week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The price of a gallon of diesel gas is currently $4.13, a two cent decrease from one week ago. One week ago diesel gas was averaging 4.16 a gallon. However, diesel fuel prices are still up by two cents from one month ago, when it was averaging $4.11 a gallon.

Although the decline in diesel prices aren’t huge, it may be the start of a declining trend. Many businesses and consumer have been hoping for relief at the pumps for months now.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is currently $3.98. One week ago, prices were the same. One month ago, gas prices were 18 cents less, averaging $3.80 per gallon, according to AAA. However, many cities and states have seen gas prices fluctuating. Some cities have broken local records for all-time high prices, while other cities have seen slight decreases in prices at the pump.

Read Article
Apple and Google Testify in Senate About Location Tracking System

Apple and Google testified this week in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. The purpose of the hearing was to to address users’ privacy on smartphones, tablets, and cell phones, and to get answers from Google and Apple about how and why they record various aspects of consumer data. Representatives from Apple and Google faced tough questions at they tried to defend their their location tracking system and privacy policies.

The hearing was called by Senator Al Franken (D-MN) in April following the location tracking controversy that first exploded over Apple’s products and Google soon thereafter. Apple VP of Software Technology Guy “Bud” Tribble and Google Director of Public Policy Alan Davidson both stood behind their companies’ policies at the hearing, while continuing to insist that they take consumer privacy seriously.

“Each year, over 26,000 adults are stalked using a GPS tracking system, including GPS tracking devices on mobile phones. This is from 2006 when there were a third as many smartphones as there are today,” Franken said at the beginning of the hearing. “The answer to this problem is not ending location-based services. No one up here wants to stop Apple or Google from producing their products or doing the incredible things that you do. What today is about is trying to find a balance between all those wonderful benefits and the public’s right to privacy.”

Read Article
Gas Prices Decrease Slightly

After 40-plus consecutive business days of gas price increases, there finally seems to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas decreased slightly from $3.966 to $3.960, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.One week ago, gas prices were averaging $3.952.

Premium gas is currently at $4.231 a gallon, as of May 9, 2011. Diesel fuel is currently averaging $4.15 a gallon.

Read Article
Garmin Profits Tripled in First Quarter 2011

Garmin, (GRMN) the industry leader in GPS navigation devices, announced last week that its profit nearly tripled in the first quarter of 2011, driven by sales growth in its core segment that makes GPS systems for cars.

The company has a lot of positive things going for it. It has a solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. Profits were boosted by an increase in sales at its automotive segment and a lower-than-expected tax rate. Garmin’s revenue increased to $507.8 million from $431.1 million a year earlier. The company earned $95.5 million, or 49 cents per share, compared with a profit of $37.3 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier.

Read Article
Gas Prices Expected to Keep Rising

Gas prices have risen for the past 42 consecutive business days and have increased 33 cents in the past month, closing in on the record 54 day streak of consecutive increases set from April 28-June 21, 2009 when the price climbed from $2.05 to $2.69 per gallon — an increase of 64 cents. A gallon of regular gas is averaging $3.97 a gallon in the US. This is an increase of 10 cents from one week ago, and $1.07 increase from one year ago.

In the last week, seven states have seen their average price rise to $4 or more for a gallon of regular gasoline, bringing the total to 13 states plus the District of Columbia at or above the $4 mark: Hawaii, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Alaska, New York, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Washington state and Washington, D.C. Several analysts are predicting that the majority of states will see $4 a gallon gas by the end of the week.

Read Article
GPS Tracking Devices Help to Protect Endangered Desert Tortoises

ast week thirty-six tortoises were released into desert near Las Vegas. The endangered desert tortoises were outfitted with small radio transmitters and GPS tracking devices attached to their green and brown shells.

All of the tortoises are being tracked with a VHF radio transmitter roughly the size of a $3 stack of quarters, and 24 of them are also sporting GPS tracking units double the height of a deck of cards but not as wide or long. The portable technology carried by the tortoises will make it easier for the zoo’s workers to learn about the creatures’ movement patterns and habitat conditions.

The San Diego Zoo placed the tortoises in the wild after they were nurtured at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, a partnership between the zoo and federal and state agencies. This is the first time a high-tech GPS tracking device has been affixed to the exoskeletal creatures to monitor their movements. In 2009, the San Diego Zoo began partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversaw the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Last year, the center released 100 tortoises into the desert.

Read Article
Tom Tom Busted Selling GPS Data to Police

Last week GPS giant TomTom apologized publicly after it was revealed that the company had sold user’s data to police in the Netherlands. The GPS data was then used to help police set speed traps for motorists.

Because sales from TomTom’s GPS devices has really slowed down, the company has been looking for other ways to maintain revenues. The company has been selling users’ GPS data to several different places, not just the Dutch police.

Chief Executive Harold Goddijn said that he was not aware that the GPS data would be used in the battle against speeding motorists and said the company would change its licensing agreements to stop the practice.

Read Article
Gas Prices Still Rising, More Increases on the Horizon

as prices have been rising and there seems to be no end in sight. For many cities across America, current prices are record high for this time of year. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon in 12 states plus the District of Columbia. Most analysts predict $4 will become the norm nationwide by the end of this week.

Gas prices have been on a steady incline since the beginning of February. 2011. With oil prices at their highest levels since 2008, gas prices are expected to continue climbing higher this summer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association.

Read Article
Google Sued for $50 Million for Tracking Users’ Locations on Android

A lawsuit was filed last week in Michigan against Google for tracking and storing users’ location data from the Android. The $50 million lawsuit against Google attempts to stop the company from selling phones with software that tracks user location. A similar lawsuit was recently filed against Apple for the same reasons – privacy violations with iPhone’s location data logging process.

Google admitted last week in gathering location-related info, which includes GPS, Wi-Fi addresses, and device IDs, from Android-based devices but explained that this is untraceable to a particular user. For safety purposes, users have the choice to disable GPS tracking, but this will reduce the accuracy of positioning in maps and location-based services.

Read Article
Microsoft Admits Tracking Users’ Location, Congress Extends Inquiry

This week the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to Apple, Google, HP, Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia and RIM requesting more information about how their mobile devices use and store users’ location data. The Senate is going to address the privacy concerns in a hearing set for May 10, 2011.

The issues started last week when it was revealed that Google and Apple are tracking users’ locations. After reports began to surface that Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system is also collecting users’ location data, Microsoft has admitted that Windows Phone 7 does track users’ locations.

Read Article
Gas Supplies Decrease, Prices Rise For 36 Straight Days

Oil prices are hovering above $112 this week. Oil prices are currently up 15 cents at $112.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as of Wednesday April 27, 2011. Oil prices increased after a U.S. Energy Department report showed that the gas stockpiles are at the lowest level since August 2009.

Gas inventories have dropped about 14% in the past nine weeks. With the peak summer driving season coming over the next 90 days, concerns about reduced gas supplies are increasing. Gasoline prices typically fall in the winter and rise in the spring as refiners switch to more expensive summer blends of gasoline and the demand for travel increases. Federal and local laws require different additives in summer to preserve air quality, but more expensive additives tend to drive up the price.

Violence and uncertainty in the Middle East and Africa is continuing to restrict the world’s oil supply, further driving oil and gas prices higher. With gasoline supplies falling and retail prices increasing, refiners can pay more for oil, and drivers can expect to pay more at the pump.

Read Article
Lawsuit Filed Against Apple Over iPhone Location Tracking

gps-google-iphoneA class action lawsuit was filed this week against Apple (AAPL) over the iPhone’s ability to track and store user’s location data. According to the lawsuit, filed by two men in Florida, Apple collects users’ location information covertly and the way they go about it is is a violation of law. According to the lawsuit documents filed, “users of Apple products have … no way to prevent Apple from collecting this information because even if users disable the iPhone and iPad GPS components, Apple’s tracking system remains fully functional.”

Apple’s stock tumbled yesterday as news of the lawsuit was made public.

The issue of iPhone location tracking made headlines last week when two researchers published a blog post that said iOS 4+ devices collect a users’ location in an unencrypted file known as “consolidated.db.” The consolidated.db stores user information including latitude-longitude coordinates and a time/date stamp.

The fact that Apple was collecting this user location data to serve up location-based services was no big surprise. But the researchers became concerned when they realized that this information is stored in an insecure manner, and transferred to a user’s PC when they sync their iOS device, whether they like it or not.

Read Article
Gas Prices Rise for 35th Consecutive Day

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the US has increased for 35 days straight. Gas prices have increased over 32 cents per gallon since March 22, 2011. The current average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.86, according to AAA. This is up over 3 cents from a week ago, 29 cents from30 days ago and $1.01 from one year ago.

Drivers in most states will likely continue to see gas prices continue to increase over the next few months for several reasons.

Oil is holding its high price at over $112 a barrel. Yesterday three Texas oil refineries lost power, which will drive prices even higher. Oil analyst Tom Kloza says the shutdowns may have cut off 300,000 barrels of daily production.

Gas companies are currently in the process of changing from winter-blend to summer-blend gasoline, which is more expensive.

Read Article
9 Out of 10 California Counties have Highest Gas Prices in US

California gas prices are astronomically high, especially when compared to other states in the US.  While Chicago currently has the highest gas prices in the continental US, 9 out 10 of the counties with the highest gas prices can all be found in the state of California. According to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the […]

Read Article
Gas Prices Predicted to Reach $5 Per Gallon

Gas prices in the US are currently averaging $3.85 for a gallon of regular unleaded. As painful as that is, some analysts think prices could increase to $5 per gallon.

If you think gas prices are high right now, some experts are saying ‘just wait’. There are several highly probable factors on the horizon that could drive gas prices even higher. If the dollar continues to weaken, if the violence in the Middle East continues to escalate, if the economy continues to rebound, or if hurricane season is severe this year, gas prices could shoot through the roof.

Five dollar gas is really not that hard to imagine. In some states it actually already exists. Several reports surfaced last week that five dollar gas prices had been seen in several states across the US including Florida, Connecticut and California.

Read Article
Gas Prices Up 99 Cents in One Year

Gas prices are having a huge impact on families and businesses. Thousands of drivers will be hitting the road this weekend for Spring Break and Easter festivities. Many drivers will be carpooling, and some drivers are deciding to skip any long distance road trips altogether.

The national average on Friday April 22, 2011, for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is nearly $3.84 a gallon — up 99 cents from exactly a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. One year ago gas prices were averaging $2.85. That’s a 35% increase in the past 12 months. There are six states and 27 major US cities where gas has already topped $4 a gallon.

Read Article
Gas Prices Rise 30 Cents in 30 Days, Tops $4 Per Gallon

Gas prices have been soaring and there is no end in sight. Last night I took this photo when I went to fill up my tank in downtown San Diego. I paid almost $4.50 per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. It cost over $60 to fill up my gas tank.

Most analysts and experts predict that 2011 prices will break the gas price records set in July of 2008. The US average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gas is $3.84, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Gas prices have increased 30 cents in the last 30 days. One month ago, gas was averaging $3.54 per gallon.

Gas prices are averaging over $4 per gallon in several cities across the US. According to GasBuddy.com, gas price averages have topped $4 per gallon of regular gas in 27 cities.

Read Article
1 … 19 20 21 22 23 … 35
achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement
Take the tour now