Daily Archives: December 7, 2015

What You Can Learn From Mark Zuckerbergs Smart Donation Strategy

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Charitable donors like Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, are always looking for ways to make their dollars go farther and make more of a difference to the causes they care about. Mr. Zuckerberg recently announced that he would be donating 99% of his shares of Facebook. Donating long-term appreciated securities directly to charities or charitable trusts — rather than selling the assets and then donating the cash proceeds — is one of the best and easiest ways for donors to give more. By taking advantage of the applicable tax incentives, donors can significantly increase the amount of funds available to them for charitable giving.
Most Americans are making much smaller donations than Mr. Zuckerberg, but the relative impact to the donor can be similar. For example, are you considering making year-end gifts or paying annual dues to a non-profit organization in time for the 2015 tax deduction? You should consider making your donation with long-term, highly appreciated assets like stocks, bonds or mutual funds vs. writing a check.
A charitable contribution of long-term appreciated securities that have realized significant appreciation over time — is one of the most tax-efficient of all ways to give. This method of giving has become increasingly popular in recent years.
The two key advantages are:
First, any long-term appreciated securities with unrealized gains (meaning they were purchased over a year ago, and have a current value greater than their original cost) may be donated to a public charity and a tax deduction taken for the full fair market value of the securities — up to 30% of the donor’s adjusted gross income according to the IRS website.
Second, since the securities are donated rather than sold, capital gains taxes from selling the securities no longer apply. The more appreciation the securities have, the greater the tax savings will be. When you look at it closely, you are getting a tax deduction in the current year, with dollars that would out as capital gains taxes.1

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El Macbook Air funciona mejor con Linux

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MacBook Air

Parece que Linux ha demostrado una vez más tener los mejores sistemas operativos del mundo. La gente de Phoronix ha cogido un Macbook Air y ha estado haciendo unos cuantos experimentos en cuanto al rendimiento de éste equipo, cogiendo el sistema operativo Mac OS X 10.11.1 el Capitán y comparándolo con algunos sistemas operativos con Kernel Linux.

Los sistemas escogidos fueron: Ubuntu 15.10,Fedora 23 y Antegros en la configuración de fábrica. El Macbook Air que han utilizado lleva un procesador Intel Core i5 4250 U, 4 GB de Ram y un disco duro SSD de 120 GB oficial de Apple.

Los resultados del test de Phoronix son bastante claros, todos los sistemas operativos de Linux, tienen mejor rendimiento que el Mac OS el Capitán en la mayoría de aspectos. Si quieres ver el estudio más en profundidad lo tienes aquí.

Lo más curioso de ésto es que los Macbook Air son ordenadores que han sido creados exclusivamente para funcionar con Mac OS X, es decir, que en teoría son ordenadores para los cuáles el sistema de Apple debería estar muy optimizado y funcionar mucho mejor que cualquier sistema operativo.

Apple ha quedado algo retratado en éste test, ya que se ha comprobado que su sistema operativo no es tan bueno como parece, perdiendo incluso en los test con sus propios ordenadores.Parece que Apple ya no es la empresa líder y puntera que era y que ahora exclusivamente vive de su marca.

Con el tema de la marca me refiero a que Apple sigue usando la estrategia comercial de los precios de prestigio, la cual le está funcionando. Cogen un equipo informático con Hardware valorado en 500 euros, le ponen el logo de la manzana,crean su propio sistema operativo y venden el ordenador a 1500 euros y la gente lo compra porque asocia el precio alto a la calidad.

Me pregunto cuánto vendería Apple si no costase tan caro. Desde mi punto de vista, la única justificación para comprar un Macbook es el presumir por tener un Mac.Por esto, pese a muchos test que se saquen, siempre van a tener fidelizada a su clientela.

El artículo El Macbook Air funciona mejor con Linux ha sido originalmente publicado en Linux Adictos.

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Verizon pushing Wi-Fi calling update to Galaxy S6, S6 edge tomorrow

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Verizon is finally getting on board with Wi-Fi calling, and tomorrow, December 8, it will begin pushing the feature out to two of its most popular devices, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. The feature will come as part of a software update that will be pushed out in phases, so it may be a few days before you actually see it hit your device.

Verizon has decided that Wi-Fi calling is too simple of a term and is instead planning to include it as part of its “Advanced Calling” package. Customers will be able to place calls over Wi-Fi to other US callers for free, while international calls will be charged at long-distance rates. And while Verizon’s wording is slightly vague, it seems as though calls won’t drop when switching between Wi-Fi and LTE networks, which should be a nice perk.

Additional phones on Verizon’s network will receive Wi-Fi calling functionality next year. However, no specific models or dates have been announced yet.

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Earth in Full View

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The Apollo 17 crew caught this breathtaking view of our home planet as they were traveling to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972. It’s the first time astronauts were able to photograph the South polar ice cap. Nearly the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible, along with the Arabian Peninsula. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Qr9JtL