Apple launched the iPhone 5 this week with the 6th version of its operating system, iOS.

As part of this new operating system Apple decided to eliminate Google Maps on the phone and replace it with their own mapping program. That’s all well and good, Apple is within their rights to limit their competitor’s access on their phones.

But the mapping application they included is full of errors including turning a farm in Ireland into an airport. We’re not talking about small errors, these are massive. Apple’s decision to remove one of the most popular mapping programs (and likely the most accurate since Google has been working on it forever) without giving their users a choice to go back to Google is a poor one to say the least.

(Don’t fret for Apple, though. They’ll still sell a bajillion iPhones and have further record profits.)

While you’re trying to figure out how to go from Point A to Point B (you can try MapQuest’s app), don’t forget to map out your finances.

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The Federal Reserve announced what is being called QE3 – which means the third round of quantitative easing – in hopes of improving the American economy.

Quantitative easing is where the Fed wants to lower the cost of borrowing debt in some manner in order to push interest rates even lower than they are.

QE1 and QE2 helped push and keep mortgage rates at historic lows.  Now QE3 is going to kick in to the tune of $40 billion per month in purchased mortgage-backed securities.

There is a real risk of inflation and you are essentially increasing the money supply by that amount each month.

It will be interesting to see if the plan works — the stock market has liked it thus far, but will it work long term?

As the government and Federal Reserve try to amp up the economy, here are some articles to help you amp up your financial life:

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The 2nd annual personal finance bloggers conference, FinCon, is going on in Denver, Colorado.

All your favorite bloggers [GC edit: most, I couldn't make FINCON this year] are rubbing elbows, listening to panels, and learning more about how to make their blogs even more impactful for their readers.

I was able to attend FinCon last year and helped record some of the sessions.  I wasn’t able to attend this year, but was still inspired to learn that FinCon participants helped plant trees in a local park in Denver.

When’s the last time you went to a professional conference and did a service project?

Even though they’re all in Denver, here are some great articles from the personal finance community this week:

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The Republican National Convention went off without a hitch in Tampa this week despite tropical storm/hurricane Isaac.

Romney formally accepted the nomination, Clint Eastwood gave a controversial speech, and pundits everywhere found fodder for articles for weeks to come.

An interesting election is headed our way: two styles of government, two different types of (likely to be broken) political promises, and lots of negative ads.  There’s really one winner every four years — the television and radio markets that get all of that political spending thrown their way.

How would you deal with a surge of income every 4 years that had to cover the remaining 3 years of expenses? Here are some articles to help you manage your finances:

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The jury in the Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit came out with a stunning verdict this week that awards Apple over $1 billion in damages from Samsung.

This will be boasted about for the weeks to come as a crushing blow to both Samsung and the Android platform in general.

While it is true that it is a bad day for Samsung, it isn’t quite a crushing blow for several reasons.  First, Samsung will appeal.  There are many more court cases to go likely spanning over many, many years.  (Tech legal blogs have something to write about for the next decade, hooray!)  Second, both sides won’t be happy with the result and the Judge’s conduct throughout the case will likely mean they will press to start over.  (Yes, Apple is probably unhappy with $1 billion since they asked for well over $2 billion.)

Thankfully, none of us have done anything that warrants paying someone $1 billion. Here are some articles to help you manage the money you do have:

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The State of New York accepted a $340 million payment from Standard Chartered bank to settle charges it laundered money for Iran.

This surprisingly big news has already been moved to “old news” in the financial press.

Here is why this is a big deal: first, the state of New York has almost a $1 billion budget shortfall this year.  A big payment of $340 million will definitely help fill part of that gap.

Second, it goes to show how impossible it is to monitor every single transaction and track every last cent even from countries under economic sanctions from the United States.

Third, is shows that — at least for now — leadership at this bank can do something incredibly wrong and pay a fee, only to live another day.  (I say at least for now because only the state of New York has settled.  The FBI, SEC, Federal Reserve, and many other government agencies have not, so they aren’t out of the clear yet.)

I never thought a state could solve part of its budget problem by settling charges from people who have done something wrong.  It’s brilliant (and also ticked off the other agencies that were likely still negotiating settlements of their own).

Unfortunately you and I probably can’t settle our budget problems this way, so here are some articles to help you do it the old fashioned way:

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