Letter to the President from 3 Mayors of South Florida

Who Won the Greek Showdown in Europe? (BusinessWeek)

(Bloomberg) -- “Complete” surrender by the Greeks. “Major victory” for the eurocrats.

To those who have followed Greece’s financial crisis for five years, there wasn’t much doubt who won the latest round Friday when the region’s finance ministers struck a deal to keep the bailout on track.

Even German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said he didn’t “want to make it more difficult for them,” concluded Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will have a “difficult” time selling the agreement at home. That’s because Tsipras’s populist rhetoric of ending austerity was overpowered by the united front he faced.

A “complete political surrender to the world of reality” was how Erik Nielsen, London-based global chief economist of UniCredit Bank AG, put it. Societe Generale SA and Berenberg Bank both labeled it a “u-turn” by Tsipras, who won election Jan. 25 promising an end to budget cutting.

“If the deal holds, it would be a major victory of common sense over populism,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg in London, who cut his probability of Greece leaving the euro area to 25 percent from 35 percent. “The taming of Tsipras would show that Europe’s ‘tough love’ approach is working.”

While Tsipras says skirting national insolvency meant “we won a battle, but not the war,” economists say he may not have managed even that. That’s because the basics of the existing aid deal he fought against are still intact.

Greek Concessions

At last week’s meeting, Greece signed up to all the conditions of its current package and to continued international oversight, ditching plans to win back control of its purse strings so it could raise wages and pensions.

“The combination of pressure on the banking sector and on state cash flows has forced the bulk of the concessions to come on their side,” said Malcolm Barr, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London.

There were some concessions. Tsipras now gets a chance to draw up a list of reform ideas rather than have them forced upon him. The fiscal target for this year was also made less specific, giving him potentially some extra cash to throw around at home.

Those tweaks left Commerzbank AG chief economist Joerg Kraemer suggesting while donor nations may have gotten their way, they are ultimately likely to back down on explicit requirements, allowing Tsipras some face-saving room to maneuver.

“Nominally, at least, the creditors have won, but reality is likely to be different,” said Kraemer.

Investors boosted European debt as the fear of contagion from Greece dissipated. Italian five-year bond yields and Portuguese 10-year rates both fell to record lows following the deal.

“Europe has drawn the line in the sand - and markets had absolutely no problem with that,” said Nielsen of UniCredit.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simon Kennedy in London atskennedy4@bloomberg.net; Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O’Brien atfobrien@bloomberg.net James Hertling, Kevin Costelloe

Toyota Spurns CarPlay, Android Auto (PCMagazine)

The world's largest car maker will keep control of its center displays to itself, thank you very much.

Toyota won't be integrating Apple's CarPlay or Google's Android Auto into its vehicles anytime soon, according to a New York Times report.

"We may all eventually wind up there, but right now we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," John Hanson, the national manager of Toyota's advanced technology communications, told the newspaper.

Toyota's wariness of CarPlay in particular is not new. Last March, the car makerteased drivers when it posted an entry on its official U.K. blog announcing plans to bring CarPlay to its vehicles by 2015, and then quickly backtracked on the promise.

While many car makers are eagerly rolling out cars with dashboard infotainment systems capable of running the new automotive platforms from Apple and Google, others are taking things more slowly.

Toyota, the largest car manufacturer in the world, is the whale in the group by taking a wait-and-see approach. Fiat Chrysler is another company that isn't going all-in on CarPlay and Android Auto, according to the Times, though the car maker is signed up to support the two in-vehicle systems.

"We're confident that our systems deliver a good experience for our customers. But we're not standing still either," Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne was quoted as saying by the paper, which said a "bit of lament" was detectable in his statement.

The Times noted that some car makers are apprehensive about CarPlay and Android Auto because the two platforms go a lot further than current dashboard systems which link to iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth in a limited fashion. The new software does a lot more than just manage music lists or make calls from your smartphone—it "allow[s] for Google's or Apple's operating system to essentially take over the center screen and certain buttons within the car."

That means iOS and Android can now be allowed to run navigation, maps, traffic updates, and other core tasks provided by in-vehicle systems. The Times report indicates that some car companies are wary about giving over that kind of control to a pair of Silicon Valley giants which could possibly become rivals in the coming years.

Though nothing's official, rumors are swirling that Mountain View and Cupertino harbor their own auto manufacturing ambitions. To wit, Google has been working on a self-driving car for several years and Apple has reportedly formed a 200-strong team to develop an electric vehicle (EV) of its own.

5 Things You Should Never Wear to a Job Interview (Salary.com)

Don't Let Your Wardrobe Ruin Your Chance of Getting Hired

First Impressions Matter 

 

You’ve made enough of an impression with your resume and job experience to get an interview, and in that first seven seconds when you walk through the door, research suggests the person on the other side of the table is going to size you up.

And as we all know, first impressions matter. A lot.

What you wear – and, perhaps more importantly, what you choose not to wear to that job interview – could make all the difference in whether you get your foot in the door. “The person should not notice your clothes,” Barry Drexler, an interview coach with Expertinterview.com, said in a recent interview. “They should notice you in your clothes.”

5. Pass the Sniff Test

A wise father once said after getting a whiff of his son’s cheap cologne, “It’s cheaper to take a bath.”

Avoiding a strong smelling cologne or perfume might just be the key to keeping yourself in contention for a job. “Body odor is certainly offensive, but a strong cologne or perfume can also be offensive,” Drexler said. “You don’t want to wear anything overpowering. You don’t want people to be distracted by your perfume or cologne.”

If the smell remains in the office even after you’ve left, it can leave a lingering doubt in the mind of the manager about whether you’re the right fit for the job. And if it comes down to you and one other equally qualified candidate, do you really want the tiebreaker to be your pungent aroma?

“There are a million things that could go wrong with perfume or cologne,” Drexler said. “You could remind them of an old boyfriend or girlfriend. It’s best not to wear anything. It can only hurt you. It won’t help you.

4. Putting Your Best Feet Forward

Want to show you’re a polished candidate? Throw some polish on your shoes, it could just help you get a foot hold on that new job.

Along with avoiding scuffed up loafers, you definitely want to leave flip flops and sneakers in your shoe bin.

“Foot wear needs to be impeccable and polished and needs to match your interview,” Drexler said. “If it’s corporate finance, you might want to have old fashioned wing tips. You want to air on the more formal, than less formal.”

Even if you know a company boasts casual attire for its employees, slipping into something more comfortable for an interview is a step in the wrong direction. “You’re a candidate. You’re not an employee yet,” Drexler said. “They’re not going to fault you for being overdressed.”

For women, open toe shoes can be a nail in the coffin and if you want to wear a heel, keep it on the down low.

3. Don't Reveal Too Much

You wore that low-cut blouse to a dinner party and the raves kept coming. But wearing anything too revealing to a job interview can expose you – and not in a good way.

“If you’re a woman and you’re interviewing with a woman, you don’t want to be too showy,” Drexler said. “How you dress should be targeted to who you’re interviewing with and what type of job you are trying to get.”

Jobs in finance and academics call for a more conservative approach. “You have to tailor it toward the person who is doing the interview,” he said. “You really have to gear your dress to the type of job.”

There are times when it’s OK to be a little more daring. For example, if it’s a sales job you’re after and getting someone’s attention is important. “You can be slightly more provocative,” Drexler said. “After all, that’s what sells.”

2. Don't Be Too Flashy

A green jacket may be something you strive for at the Masters, but when it comes to what to wear to an interview, avoid flashy colors and out-of-date styles for suits and jackets.

“You should have a suit,” Drexler said. “In certain parts of country you can get away with slacks and jacket, but you have to invest in quality clothes that fit you well.”

Poorly tailored clothing that comes easily untucked sends a message to the interviewer that you lack detail and that you don’t care enough about yourself to care about the job you’ll be asked to do.

“You need well-tailored, impeccable clothes,” Drexler said. “They will judge you on that.”

Accessories can be just as important. If it’s a job in finances or high-end products, you may want to wear a shirt that requires cufflinks. If it’s a job in the fashion industry, the clothes, shoes and accessories have to be trendy.

Depending on the type of job, it may be just as important to tone it down. “Don’t show up in a $1,000 suit, if the job pays $40,000 per year,” Drexler said. “You don’t want to be too trendy for a back office type job. That’s off-putting.”

1. Don't Hang by a Thread

Those black slacks that you bought three years ago still fit well, but time has taken its toll on the stitching. Should you wear it anyway? Frayed? The answer is a resounding no.

“You don’t want to look like your clothes came out of the back of the closet,” Drexler said. “You don’t want to wear clothes that are frayed, old or clothes that don’t match the job.”

For women, all that glitters is not gold when it comes to jewelry. Keep it simple and avoid things like heirloom brooches and gaudy belt buckles.

“You shouldn’t wear anything that will distract the interviewer,” Drexler said. “They’re going to judge you by the clothes you wear so they have to be impeccable.”

Remember, it could be all over in seven seconds.

Get the Interview, Dress the Part, Then Negotiate

In addition to helping out with your fashion choices on job interviews, Salary.com can help you get paid fairly what you do.

The first thing you should do is research, so you're able to come to the table armed with the knowledge of what your job is worth. Use our free Salary Wizard below to find out what's a fair salary for your position. You can enter your location, education level, years of experience and more to find out an appropriate salary range before you negotiate.

Good luck.

2015: Año del 50 Aniversario de CAMACOL

CAMACOL is 50 years old in 2015. Birthday party is scheduled for September...We will keep you informed...

American Dreams, Senator Marco Rubio, Feb 20, 2015, MDC

RSVP or call (305) 237-3940

Office universal apps land in Windows 10 technical preview Summary:Word, Excel and PowerPoint are available now with OneNote and Outlook on deck for the Windows 10 technical preview. (ZDNet)

Microsoft delivered its first batch of its "universal" Office Apps for the Windows 10 technical preview.

More Windows 10

• The big questions ahead
• Windows 10 for IoT: What to expect
• Some first impressions of Windows 10
• Pictures: Windows 10 on mobile devices
• CNET Windows 10 coverage

The apps---Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote---can be installed and taken for a spin by developers running Windows 10 in the weeks to come. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are available now for the Windows 10 technical preview with the others coming in the weeks ahead. These Office apps will be available in the Windows Store Beta within the Windows 10 technical preview. For tablet and phone units running Windows 10, the Office apps will be preinstalled.

For Microsoft, its Office apps will be the front-running universal apps. A universal Office app is one that can run on multiple screens and devices with one code line. The approach will be Microsoft's way to attempt to close the app gap on mobile devices.

Also: Microsoft's Windows 10 for IoT: What to expect | Microsoft gives business users more Windows 10 upgrade details, guidance | Microsoft pushes Windows Server 'Next' back to 2016 | Some first impressions of Windows 10 | Windows 10: You've got questions, I've got answers |Hands-on with Windows 10: Installing the latest Technical Preview

Microsoft is attempting to make Office for Windows 10 mobile and touch optimized. The move is overdue given that Microsoft has Office for iOS as well as Android already optimized. The software giant's plan is to connect these universal Office apps to multiple devices as well as big-screen efforts such as the Microsoft Surface Hub.

In a blog post, Microsoft also noted it is working on Office 2016, which will be designed more for a keyboard and mouse arrangement. The suite, a cash cow for Microsoft, will be available in the second half of the year.

See Ed Bott's Hands-on with the Windows 10 January Technical Preview (build 9926)

Here's a look at a few screens for the Windows 10 universal Office apps. The interface doesn't look much different than Microsoft's efforts on iOS and Android.

10 reasons why working in the office work beats telecommuting (TechRepublic)

There are lots of compelling reasons to work remotely -- but some business leaders and employment experts argue that it's better to work onsite. 

Image: iStockphoto.com/Yuri_Arcurs

Virtual teams -- geographically scattered colleagues who use high-tech communication -- are now common in many organizations. Some of those team members are remote workers and some still work onsite, in the traditional office.

Plenty of pundits have examined this trend and decided the office is a dead man walking. But if remote work is indeed going to kill office work, get ready for a tough time. Remote work can be hard, both for workers and their managers. Even if the employer has a good flexible working policy and the employee has the right skills for remote work, there are downsides to working from home.

Why all the talk of the death of the office? Here are 10 shining examples of how onsite work trumps remote work. They include comments by a British industry panel led by national daily The Guardian and conference call company Powwownow.

1: Working onsite fosters innovation

It's all very well offering flexible working improvements like remote work to employees, but businesses need bodies onsite. When Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, forced all employees to work in the office, she was encouraging collaboration of innovation to improve the fortunes of the venerable internet organization. A Yahoo! company memo from chief development officer Jackie Reses read, "Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings."

2: Onsite workers are easier to manage

In addition to the regular employee management that a team leader deals with, remote workers carry plenty of extra baggage that needs managing. Having remote workers, "creates a potential problem for managers used to having their team in the same room as them," said Jonathan Swan, of work/life balance charity Working Families.

3: Remote working tools are poor

The only bug with the office whiteboard is when someone leaves the top off a pen. Virtual whiteboards have an entire technology stack to go wrong. And have you ever heard the phrase "The VPN isn't working"? Paul Lees, Powwownow's CEO, said, "I don't believe the technology is there yet to allow us to work together remotely."

4: Some employees don't want to telecommute

Employees who need a little water-cooler conversation in their lives actually like being in the office every day. "The office should remain for those that want the office," said Robert Gorby, Powwownow's marketing director.

5: Some employees can't telecommute

Not everybody has that certain combination of skills to successfully work from home. Also, remote workers must show better discipline, communication skills, and punctuality than their office-bound colleagues. In other words, they have to run faster just to keep up.

6: Communication is easier in the office

Can you share a pizza in a video conference? No. Can you share donuts using Windows Messenger? No. And what happens when you communicate less effectively with your peers? They trust you less. Remote workers must be even more contactable than their office-based colleagues or trust goes out the window.

7: Local workers are easier to trust

Time Etc. co-founder Victoria Mileham said that clients had a tendency to be suspicious about how long work was taking if they could not see the people doing it. Less "out of sight, out of mind" and more "out of sight and making me nervous." How do we know that telecommuter is not shirking at home, feet up in front of the TV and browsing job vacancies?

8: Office work is nurturing

Julie Kortens, head of corporate services at British TV broadcaster Channel 4, highlighted some of the benefits of working onsite -- especially for younger staff. "You need guidance as you're developing," she said, adding that it's important for young people to have a sense of belonging and that they needed to know the rules and boundaries between work and play before taking advantage of remote working.

9: Many jobs can't be done remotely

In Europe, where many employees have a legal right to be considered for flexible work, only 18% actually telework (telework is defined as remote work using IT). In Germany it's 12% --and those workers are mainly highly qualified, such as managers, academics, lawyers, journalists, engineers and teachers.

10: Flexible hours are popular with businesses (remote work, less so)

A CBI (Confederation of British Industry) employment trends survey said, "Five years ago, just 13% of firms offered teleworking for employees in at least certain roles some of the time, but now nearly six in ten (59%) do so." Sounds like a lot, right? But just because remote work options are available doesn't mean that's the type of flexible working all the cool companies are doing. Andy Lake, editor of flexible work resource Flexibility, said that more than 90% of companies offered flexible working of some kind, but that this was mostly flexible hours and part-time working.

Dead or merely transformed?

Office work is alive, well, and adapted to the needs of modern organizations. Traditional onsite working is going nowhere. David D'Souza, managing director of Oddbody Consulting, said, "The office isn't dead - it's just becoming far more fluid."

AT&T, Verizon Win Big in FCC Wireless Spectrum Auction (PCMagazine)

About $29 billion of the $44.9 billion raised during the spectrum auction was purchased by Verizon and AT&T.

Of the $44.9 billion spent on spectrum in the FCC's most recent auction, about $29 billion was purchased by Verizon and AT&T.

Verizon Communications said it bought 181 licenses for $10.4 billion, which are in markets covering about 61 percent of the U.S.

AT&T shelled out $18.2 billion for "a near nationwide contiguous 10x10 MHz block of high-quality AWS-3 spectrum."

T-Mobile, meanwhile, spent about $1.8 billion, but Dish was the third highest bidder at just under $13 billion (it will only pay about $10 billion thanks to a small business deal with the FCC), according to Fierce Wireless. US Cellular also spent about $338 million.

AT&T will use its new spectrum as "a supplemental downlink to deliver additional mobile Internet capacity and better performance for its customers." AT&T expects to deploy this spectrum in the 2017-2018 period.

"Growth in our customers' mobile data usage continues to explode, driven by mobile video traffic. This spectrum investment will be critical to AT&T staying ahead of customer demand and facilitate the next generation of mobile video entertainment," John Stankey, chief strategy officer at AT&T, said in a statement.

The terms of this particular auction, which covers 65 megahertz in the AWS-3 band, require winners to share some of the spectrum with federal government users in particular geographic areas.

AT&T said today that it "will work with the FCC, NTIA, DOD, and other federal agencies to also support uplink capacity as soon as possible."

In total, 31 bidders won 1,611 licenses, the FCC said. Consumer group Public Knowledge was quick to point out that the biggest carriers once again dominated the auction.

"Many are celebrating today's auction as a 'game changer' for the wireless industry and a fantastic success. But once we get over the dollar signs we find that not much has changed," said Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge.

"While encouraging that T-Mobile and other smaller wireless carriers continue to fight to stay in the wireless game, they did not win nearly enough spectrum to challenge the dominant position of AT&T and Verizon," he continued. "Meanwhile, the two biggest carriers proved once again that they can and will pay whatever it takes to keep their dominant spectrum position in the market."

There has been talk about restricting the amount of spectrum a company can purchase in the upcoming incentive auction, currently scheduled for 2016. Not surprisingly, that has troubled Verizon and AT&T, the latter of which hasthreatened to pull out of the auction altogether if it can't bid on what it wants.

The auction bidders are unable to comment further at this point because of the FCC's anti-collusion quiet period, which ends on Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. ET.

The full list of winning bids is available on the FCC website.

VIDEO: Here's What You Can You Do With a $38 Tablet (PCMagazine)

For just $38, this no-frills tablet can be a clock, guitar tuner, weather center, magic wall mirror, and more.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Some off-brand manufacturer would cut every corner available and create a tablet for foreign markets. And that's where we meet the Ubislate 7Ci. It's no iPad. But that's okay, because for just $38 this no-frills tablet can be a clock, guitar tuner, weather center, magic wall mirror, or anything else we think up.

The Ubislate 7Ci is available in the U.S., though it's main market is in India, where government subsidies make it available for only $20. Make no mistake: the performance is lugubrious; the front-facing VGA camera is a grainy mess; and when you look at the screen at any other angle than straight-on, it seems to appear monochrome.But it is a flat touch-screen device that can connect to the Internet and download apps, and sometimes that's enough.

We are now entering a stage in the tablet's lifecycle when heavily pared-down versions are coming to market for super cheap. (And they're not all bad. The decent Amazon Fire HD 6, for example, is available for only $99.) This means that we can make all the surfaces and objects of our lives interactive. Forget the 7Ci's limitations. The only real limit is our imagination. Check it out in action in the video above.

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