reserve

Man charged with stealing NY Fed Reserve Bank source code

Authorities arrested a computer programmer today and charged him with stealing source code worth $9.5 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Bo Zhang, 32, is accused of taking the software last summer while he was working as a contract employee assigned to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Zhang allegedly admitted that in July 2011 he checked out and copied the code onto an external hard drive and on to his own computers, according to the complaint unsealed today. He said he used the code in connection with a computer programming training company he operated, … Read more

Kayak, a travel agent in your pocket

If you need to book a hotel, flight, or rental car, or you just need a little advice before going on a trip, you should definitely check out Kayak.

Think of Kayak as a digital travel agent that searches through hundreds of different travel sites to help you book your trip. It searches through popular sites like Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz, all at the same time, and gives you current rates and itineraries that can all be booked in just a few clicks. In addition, Kayak offers convenient travel tools like a packing list, currency converter, and airport information, all … Read more

iPhone 4S: Available in-store 'by reservation only'

The iPhone 4S is now available to retail-store customers "by reservation only," an indication that the hot-selling phone is likely in short supply. Apple has asked would-be buyers to use a reservation system to request a unit the night before before heading to the company's retail stores.

The new system, picked up by MacRumors earlier today, lets buyers pick out one of Apple's 18 iPhone 4S variants, then request that the company holds the unit so they can come in to complete the purchase. The system doesn't open up each day until 9 p.m. … Read more

U.S. finalizes loan aid for two solar plants

The U.S. Energy Department finalized loan guarantees for two major solar projects today, as the deadline loomed for the government's renewable-energy incentive program.

The government wrapped up deals that would back $737 million in financing for a solar thermal plant sponsored by privately held SolarReserve and $337 million in financing for a Sempra Energy photovoltaic solar project.

With funding for the government's loan program set to expire at the end of the week, investors have been watching to see what deals will be completed before time runs out.

The loan program has faced intense scrutiny after the high-profile collapse of Solyndra, a solar-panel maker that was the first company to receive funding under the program.

Republican lawmakers investigating the Solyndra loan guarantee have raised concerns that the Obama administration may rush to complete loans to meet the program's deadline.

SolarReserve Chief Executive Kevin Smith, however, said the government had conducted an extensive review of its application. … Read more

Anonymous targeting Federal Reserve in next attack

The Anonymous hacker group says it plans to target the Federal Reserve starting tomorrow, most likely with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack designed to shut down the agency's Web site.

In a YouTube video, the group is calling for public protests until Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down. The campaign, dubbed Operation Empire State Rebellion, is timed to coincide with Flag Day in the U.S., which is June 14 and commemorates the adoption of the national flag in 1777.

The group, which has made a name for itself organizing random anonymous Internet users and getting them … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1488: Sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads (Podcast)

On today's show, it's the Summer of Hackers: Anonymous hits the Spanish police website and threatens the Federal Reserve (which, frankly, we find to be a target that's probably worthy of a little DDoS action). Plus, a nation-state may have hacked IMF, but they're not saying much, and the Bitcoin market crashes (buy low!). Plus, scientists create jellyfish that can shoot tiny, weak lasers ... a stepping stone to the scariest sharks ever.

Should Apple rethink iPad 2 distribution system?

I remember, last year, waiting on line one morning for an iPhone 4. I was on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, and I gave up after an hour and a half. The lines were too long and had formed hours before.

This was two months or so past the iPhone 4's launch, and it was still impossible to buy one of the phones at a store. Lines would form every morning, scoop up whatever little stock there was, and leave the Apple Store once again drained of its supply. The cause? Grey-market resellers.

Sound familiar?

We're less … Read more

Solar plant with molten-salt storage gets green light

Solar Reserve said today it has the federal permitting approvals it needs to begin construction of a concentrated solar power plant with enough storage to operate after the sun goes down.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company said the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the "record of decision" for a 110-megawatt solar thermal power plant in Nye County, near Tonopah, Nev. With the authorization, Solar Reserve expects it can start construction by mid-2011.

This Crescent Dunes project will use a field of sun-tracking mirrors, called heliostats, to reflect light onto a tower that holds molten salt. … Read more

California says yes to molten solar

The California Energy Commission has approved a permit for SolarReserve to build a 150-megawatt solar plant that uses molten salt to store energy, the company announced Wednesday.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based start-up says its Rice Solar Energy Project will be located 30 miles from Blythe, Calif., and when running at full capacity will supply enough energy to power the equivalent of 68,000 homes annually. The project also has a 25-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

The molten salt system will enable the solar farm to store and release solar energy so that … Read more

How OpenTable puts loyalty to the test

A month ago, San Francisco restaurateur Mark Pastore of Incanto wrote an impassioned blog post, Is OpenTable Worth it?, in which he bemoaned the reservation system's fees and encouraged his readers to better support restaurants, many of which are operating on the edge of business viability, by calling them directly for reservations, thereby reserving OpenTable's substantial fees for the restaurants themselves.

It's a complicated relationship that restaurant owners have with OpenTable. There's no question that OpenTable fills seats that would otherwise go empty. And it's ridiculous to pine for the pre-OpenTable era, when finding a reservation meant calling establishment after establishment and hoping for the elusive available table at the time you wanted. Even Pastore, in an e-mail to me, relented:

I certainly don't want guests to go back to booking all reservations by telephone or as you suggest going serially from one website to the next to find a good table match. Yes, both of those scenarios suck.

What does he want, then? He wants OpenTable to not have a monopoly on the reservation business:

How about some good old fashioned American competition to keep pricing honest? And how about someone figuring out a way to monetize this online service on an ad model, like Gmail or any other of countless web services, rather than as something that ultimately siphons hefty fees from the diners. And how about someone figuring out a way to present a more trustworthy and comprehensive directory of all bookable restaurants out there, not just the closed universe (OT.com) of those who are paying thousands for the privilege of being listed?

At the very least, Pastore would like to see a more restaurant-friendly fee structure. Based on some admittedly old available data, he believes that an OpenTable reservation that costs a restaurant about $10 (taking into account monthly and per-booking fees) would completely negate a typical 5 percent profit on a $200 dinner check. OpenTable takes issue with Pastore's math in its own post. Also check out this discussion on Chow.com.

Leaving the table It was with my conversation with Pastore in mind that I talked to Chuck Templeton of GrubHub, the OpenTable of take-out. Not coincidentally, Templeton was the founder of OpenTable in 1998. He's already made one fortune from restaurants (OpenTable went public in 2009). It appears he's at it again, with a similar, if less audacious and more open plan.