Hasta La Gadget!

Having filed for bankruptcy and successfully avoided closure just a week later, British high street retailer HMV is hoping a new digital storefront will help it keep the wolves from its door. Under the leadership of Hilco, the retail restructuring business that previously picked up Polaroid’s brand, …

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped from a six-month high last week, but remained elevated as California continued to deal with a backlog related to computer problems.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to rise to 335,000 last week.

A Labor Department analyst said claims in California, which has experienced technical problems during a conversion to a new computer system, remained at similar levels as in the prior week.

There had not been a perceptible increase in filings last week from non-federal workers furloughed because of the just-ended government shutdown, the analyst said.

The 2-1/2 week partial shutdown of the federal government ended on Wednesday night after the U.S. Congress passed an 11th hour deal to temporarily fund the government through mid-January and to raise the country’s borrowing authority until Feb. 7.

During the week ended Oct. 5, the first week of the shutdown, there were 70,068 claims from furloughed federal workers.

Still the underlying trend of claims remains consistent with a steady labor market. The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 11,750 to 336,500.

Last week’s claims data covered the survey period for October’s nonfarm payrolls count. But without payrolls data for September, which was delayed because of the shutdown, it is difficult to clearly check the pulse of the labor market.

Apart from the spike during the week ending Aug. 5, new claims for jobless aid have generally pointed to fewer layoffs.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 43,000 to 2.86 million in the week ended Oct. 5.

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More on Unemployment

Last week’s Finn/Cory Monteith farewell episode of “Glee” was not an easy episode for fans of the usually joy-filled show, but it certainly paid fitting tribute to the young star, who died at 31 in July, and the popular character whom he portrayed. But it also left a large, lingering question: What next?

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NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Millennials are tech-savvy young adults who grew up with smartphones and iPads, but many think technology makes people less human, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The survey of 12,000 people aged 18 and older in eight countries, commissioned by Intel Corporation, also showed that 18- to 24-year-olds want technology to be more personal and know their habits. Older women and those living in emerging markets are the most enthusiastic about the role technology can play in their lives, the findings showed.

Dr. Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist and research director at Intel Labs, said although the results of the survey that examined global attitudes towards technology innovation may indicate that young adults are rejecting technology, the findings could be more complicated.

“A different way to read this might be that millennials want technology to do more for them,” she said in a statement.

Nearly 90 percent of young adults questioned in the poll admitted innovations in technology make life easier, but about 60 percent said people rely on it too much and that it can be dehumanizing.

Seventy percent said technology enhances their personal relationships and about half believe it will have a good impact on education, transportation and healthcare.

Women age 45 and older, and those living in emerging markets such as Brazil and India, are more enthusiastic about the impact technology could have on their lives.

In China, more than 70 percent of women said technology is not used enough.

“Women historically have become avid users of technology when that technology solves a problem, helps us organize our live and that of our families, as well as aids us in saving time and time shifting,” Bell said.

The findings showed that Italians and Japanese held the most negative attitudes toward technology.

The survey, which was conducted in Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the United States from July 28 to Aug. 15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.89 percentage points. (Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy)

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More on The Third Metric

We mentioned in early September that the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S3 smartphones were tipped to get the update to Android 4.3 this month. Samsung has now officially begun to roll out the Android 4.3 update for the Galaxy S4 GT-I9505. There’s no word on the update for the Galaxy S3 at this time. The […]