Terms of service too long? This site reads them for you

18 hrs.

Devin Coldewey

Users don't often have the time or attention span to read through the whole terms of service that appear whenever they install new software or try a new website. Yet hidden in there may be information that's good to know. A new site,?ToS;DR, does the hard work so you don't have to.

While most terms of service are equally tedious and difficult to read, they do actually differ in significant ways when it comes to issues like?data ownership, privacy issues and?political positions. ToS;DR's name is?a riff on the acronym TL;DR, or "too long; didn't read," and it does for walls of policy text what Spark Notes does for literature.

Casting aside all the the nonsense and?legal boilerplate, ToS;DR finds the key parts of a site's policy and grades them. Do they claim copyright over any images you upload? Thumbs down. Do they defend your privacy in court? Thumbs up. Do they follow the law as interpreted by New York or California? Informative either way.

RIght now,?there are 32 services listed, from Twitter to Skype to Verizon. Not all have been subjected to equal scrutiny, and few have actual "grades" yet. And there are difficulties related to how certain sites must comply with regulations in different countries. But their capsule summaries are easier to read than the real terms of service and get across some important points.

ToS;DR just started in June, so many more sites and services will be added as they receive and parse more information via their discussion groups.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/terms-service-too-long-site-reads-them-you-931724

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Rainstorm adds to misery in east Congo rebellion

CORRECTS NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED TO TWO - Charlotte Ntibatekereza, who lost her son and grandson in the fighting in Kiwanja July 25 2012, stands in her house Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. Ntibatekereza's son, his wife and her 4-year-old grandson were sleeping on the floor when a heavy-calibre bullet smashed through three walls of their home. Her son and grandson died instantly. Her daughter-in-law is in the hospital recuperating from a bullet wound to the arm in fighting last week that pitted M23 rebels against the army. The rebels have the upper hand, holding a string of eastern town as regional leaders gather Monday in Kinshasa to try to resolve a rebellion that has forced more than a quarter million people from their homes. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

CORRECTS NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED TO TWO - Charlotte Ntibatekereza, who lost her son and grandson in the fighting in Kiwanja July 25 2012, stands in her house Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. Ntibatekereza's son, his wife and her 4-year-old grandson were sleeping on the floor when a heavy-calibre bullet smashed through three walls of their home. Her son and grandson died instantly. Her daughter-in-law is in the hospital recuperating from a bullet wound to the arm in fighting last week that pitted M23 rebels against the army. The rebels have the upper hand, holding a string of eastern town as regional leaders gather Monday in Kinshasa to try to resolve a rebellion that has forced more than a quarter million people from their homes. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

In this photograph taken Thursday Aug. 2, 2012, A Congolese man in Goma, eastern Congo, transports a diesel generator using a chikudu, which is a cross between a bike and a scooter and made of wood. U.N. humanitarian chief Baroness Valerie Amos arrived in Goma on Tuesday and is to visit some of the 280,000 people who have fled their homes since mutinying soldiers launched the M23 rebellion in April. But security is so poor that Amos was forced to cancel planned trips to the mining town of Walikale and the seat of the rebellion at Rutshuru town, 75 kilometers (50 miles) north of Goma. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? Drenching rain punctuated by frightening bursts of thunder and forked lightning add to the misery of some of the 280,000 refugees from Congo's eastern rebellion, whose plight is highlighted by a visit from the U.N. humanitarian chief.

A planned U.N. food distribution could be delayed by Wednesday's tropical thunderstorm.

The U.N.'s Baroness Valerie Amos, on the third day of a Congo trip, says relief efforts are hampered by a lack of funding. She appeals for contributions. The U.N. says aid organizations need $791 million and so far have received only $341 million.

In the storm, makeshift huts of twigs and leaves became swamps at an impromptu camp outside Goma, the provincial capital. Mutinous soldiers started the rebellion in April and have taken control of large swathes of eastern Congo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-08-08-Congo-Rebellion/id-b827faf48c884f3db0cdf34880a5cc67

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Takeover target Rona's earnings rise with sales

(Reuters) - Canada's Rona Inc , which has rejected a C$1.8 billion takeover proposal from U.S. home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos Inc , said on Wednesday its quarterly adjusted earnings rose along with higher sales volumes.

The results come as investors try to gauge the chances of Rona - which says it is No. 1 in Canada's hardware and home improvement market - succumbing to a Lowe's takeover.

Rona has said repeatedly that it is not for sale, and the government of the province of Quebec, where it is based, wasted no time criticizing Lowe's proposed offer when it was announced last week.

Rona's stock touched C$14.49 shortly after the news of the C$14.50-a-share offer broke, but since then the stock has consistently traded below that level. Shares rose 1.0 percent to C$13.88 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday's quarterly results conference call with analysts and investors, Rona said it would not discuss the Lowe's proposal.

SALES RISE

In the second quarter, Rona's distribution sales rose 8.7 percent and retail and commercial sales were 1.8 percent higher.

"We view the results as mixed," said National Bank Financial analyst Vishal Shreedhar in a note to clients. "Q2 financial results were slightly below expectation; however, management is making progress towards its financial priorities."

Beginning with the quarter, Rona changed the way it measures same-store sales, a yardstick generally designed to strip out gains from opening new outlets.

Rona had reported seven consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines before the revision.

For the first time the company is including distribution sales to affiliate dealers, and on that basis same-store sales rose 1 percent in the quarter.

In Rona's retail and commercial business alone, same-store sales fell 0.9 percent. The company attributed the decline to cautious consumers and the mix of products sold.

When it last reported earnings in May, Rona said same-store sales - which at that point did not include sales to dealers - had been positive late in the first quarter, and through April. But the trend did not continue.

"Starting at the end of May, we saw a slowdown," Chief Financial Officer Dominique Boies said on the conference call. "We saw, I would say, somewhat of a rapid slowdown in same-store sales, where consumers became, again, very unstable."

ADJUSTED EARNINGS RISE

The company said its earnings benefited from lower financial costs, amortization and depreciation, and efficiency measures put in place during the quarter.

Net earnings attributable to participating shares after a dividend on preferred shares fell to C$34.1 million ($34.2 million), or 28 Canadian cents a share, compared with C$37.0 million, or 28 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

Excluding unusual items, earnings rose to C$43.6 million, or 36 Canadian cents a share, from C$37.0 million, or 28 Canadian cents. Revenue rose 3.4 percent to C$1.42 billion.

Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 37 Canadian cents a share on revenue of C$1.41 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Quebec's government has sharply criticized the Lowe's proposal, saying it is not in the interests of Quebec or Canada. Rona's figures put its national market share ahead of that of U.S. industry giant Home Depot Inc .

The company, founded in Quebec in 1939 by independent hardware stores keen to ditch their powerful wholesalers, has deep roots in the French-speaking province, still home to about half of its 30,000 employees.

TURNAROUND PLAN

Rona argues that its own turnaround plan is a better deal for shareholders than Lowe's proposal.

The company is refocusing on smaller stores that it says customers prefer, closing 10 of its biggest outlets and splitting up 13 others by the end of 2013. In their place, it is opening smaller "proximity" and "satellite" stores.

On Wednesday, Rona said it still expects the new strategy, announced early this year, to boost earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by C$10 million in 2012.

The first of the new proximity stores opens in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Allison Martell; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rona-adjusted-earnings-revenue-rise-130511030--sector.html

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