Sony Drops Out Of Steve Jobs Movie | ||
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The latest player to drop out of Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic is a big one — Sony Pictures, who acquired the rights after Jobs' death in 2011, according to Variety. Christian Bale dropped out of the movie first, he was slated to play the lead role. Michael Fassbender has been announced as his successor to take on the main role of the tech giant. Aaron Sorkin is of course set to write the film, and Seth Rogen is still on track to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Danny Boyle will direct. Variety reached out to the studio, but they had no comment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Facebook Shuttle Drivers Vote To Unionize (FB) | ||
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Facebook's shuttle bus drivers have voted to unionize, reports USA Today. The vote was 43-28. Facebook's shuttle bus drivers, which are contracted through Loop Transportation, earn about $20 an hour for driving the social network's employees around. According to one driver, their main gripe is that they have to work split shifts — they get a few hours off in the middle of the day, but can't work another job during that time and they all live too far away to commute back home. So in effect they end up working from 5:30 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and some drivers end up sleeping in their buses. Facebook isn't the only Silicon Valley company to employ contractors as a cost-saving measure. Apple uses security contractors at its offices. Those contractors allege they're underpaid and that they have no job security. Facebook's drivers will be represented by Teamsters Local 853. SEE ALSO: Facebook Shuttle Bus Driver Explains Why He's Furious About His Job Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's How Apple Can Save The iPad (AAPL) | ||
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Apple's iPad is in the middle of a growth crisis. Apple has already saturated the consumer market with its tablets, so it partnered with IBM to push business sales. The iPad has what's called a long replacement cycle, meaning consumers aren't very motivated to upgrade to the latest iPad every time Apple releases one. Some consumers are doing fine with their first-generation iPads! But there are plenty of features Apple could add to the next iPad to boost sales. From indestructible glass to a replaceable battery, we run through the features that could make the next iPad a game-changer. Sapphire glass We thought we'd see GT Advanced Technology's ultra-durable sapphire glass on the iPhone 6 display, but Apple only put it on the camera. Sapphire is more scratch resistant than Corning's Gorilla Glass, which has been used on previous iPhone models. We think the iPad could use a sapphire face-lift. That would easy companies' concerns about the tablet's durability. Unfortunately, Apple's primary sapphire supplier filed for bankruptcy. Another company will have to get the job done. A reversible USB charger Introducing a reversible USB cable is a little thing that would improve the iPad user experience, especially for people who find themselves glued to their tablets. Wireless charging While we're on the topic of charging, wireless charging would be a major perk for the next iPad, just for the convenience factor. The technology already exists, Apple just needs to scale it for the masses. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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And Now A Senator Has Some Uncomfortable Questions For Uber | ||
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“I am writing in regard to reports of recent comments and actions by top Uber executives concerning journalists. The reports suggest a troubling disregard for customers’ privacy, including the need to protect their sensitive geolocation data,” Franken wrote in the letter. The letter is written in response to the recent comment Uber’s SVP of Business Emil Michael made during an event where he suggested that Uber could look into private information of a journalist who has been critical of the company. Uber released a statement on Tuesday saying it accesses user data only for a “limited set of legitimate business purposes,” but Senator Franken questioned what the “limited set” exactly means. “The policies made available on your website do not in any clear way match or support what your company has stated in the wake of Mr. Michael’s reported statements. This raises serious concerns for me about the scope, transparency, and enforceability of Uber’s policies,” he wrote. He goes on to list 10 questions that he asks Kalanick to respond by December 15. Some of the questions include:
Read the full letter over at the senator's website. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Senator Al Franken (D), chairman of the subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, has issued a letter on Wednesday requesting Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to address issues surrounding the taxi hailing apps’ controversial privacy policy. Sorry, Taylor: Spotify Is Going To Be Part Of The Billboard Charts | ||
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Billboard and partner Nielsen SoundScan will soon start counting streaming services like Spotify and Beats Music in its signature ranking, the Billboard 200, reports The New York Times' Ben Sisario. Under the new rules, 1,500 streams will equate to one album sale. Likewise, 10 individual song downloads will also count for an album sale. The move to include streaming services in Billboard's ranking is a boon for younger artists, whose listeners are used to going online to for their music. The news comes as Spotify, one of the most prominent music streaming services, has been waging a war of public opinion with Taylor Swift, who pulled her catalogue from the service last week. Time will tell if artists who, like Swift, have pulled their music from Spotify will get the short end of the stick with this move. Common sense dictates that without the streaming numbers giving artists that bump, those musicians would be at a disadvantage. The Billboard 200 is arguably the most powerful chart in the music business with regards to album sales. As of this writing, Taylor Swift's "1989" is number 1.
SEE ALSO: REPORT: Uber To Announce Spotify Partnership Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How To Write A Developer Resume That Will Get You Hired | ||
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What's the best job in the country? Software developer, according to a recent ranking by US News. Landing a great gig isn't easy, though. But job seekers are in luck: a former developer and recruiter put together a thorough presentation about how to create an amazing resume. We got permission to republish the slides here. Although many of the examples in his presentation relate to Perl, the advice transcends any specific programming language. You can find his site here.    See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Walmart Closes The Loophole That Let People Scam Cheap PlayStation 4s | ||
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Cheaters never prosper. That's what Walmart wants you to remember if you were planning to scam your way to a cheap PlayStation 4: Walmart has clarified and has updated its price-matching policies when it comes to online retailers. Walmart's price-matching policies were recently extended beyond local stores to include Amazon and other online merchants. But people were creating fake Amazon ads for super cheap PlayStation 4s, taking the printouts to Walmart stores, and showing off their spoils on social media. The previous ad-match guarantee did not specify for online merchants. But the new changes are putting some stricter guidelines on what Walmart will accept. In a statement to Business Insider, a Walmart spokesperson said that although Walmart is still committed to matching prices, "we’ve updated our policy to clarify that we will match prices from Walmart.com and 30 major online retailers, but we won’t honor prices from marketplace vendors, third-party sellers, auction sites or sites requiring memberships." So any dubious-looking third parties selling $90 PlayStations: Walmart is onto you. SEE ALSO: People Are Using Fake Amazon Listings To Scam Walmart, But The Jig Might Be Up Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Investors Are Massively Underestimating The Apple Watch (AAPL) | ||
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The Apple Watch will blow past Wall Street's expectations, says a Morgan Stanley investor note published on Wednesday. The firm raised its price target on Apple stock from $115 to $126 on their revised estimates. Morgan Stanley said most analysts are expecting Apple to sell between 10 million and 30 million watches in 2015, but they think 30 million units is a reasonable — and "arguably still conservative" — estimate. The analysts got this figure by looking at the total number of people who will own an iPhone 5 or later by the time the Watch launches next March, which is estimated to be 315 million, then estimating that 10% of those people will buy a Watch. By way of comparison, 14% of people who owned a compatible iPhone bought an iPad within its first year, and 7% of recent iPod owners bought the iPhone in its first year. These analysts are also pretty excited about wearables as a whole, looking at health sensors and mobile payments as the key ingredients that could drive sales to the billion unit mark. "We forecast the wearable market to hit 530M units in 2020 in our base case and 1B units in 2020 in our bull case," said Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty. SEE ALSO: A Developer Told Us About A Major Flaw With The Apple Watch Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Email Is Broken. These Apps Promise To Fix It | ||
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But all of a sudden, we're seeing a new round of efforts to fix it. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen new email apps from big players like IBM, Cisco, and Microsoft. They join some other efforts that have been around for a while, plus a bunch of startups that would like to kill email entirely. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some try to tame your inbox, others try to make it easier to Whatever the case is, they all have one common goal: making email less painful. IBM's Verse creates a one-stop destination for all communications IBM released a free online email service called Verse on Tuesday. It is basically an email inbox with more social and analytics tools. For example, it can automatically prioritize emails based on data it collects from the user, and filter messages that it deems unimportant. It can also show the full correspondence with a particular group or individual by analyzing other sources like instant messages and calendars, and even display the organizational chart of people included in email threads. IBM says it also plans to add Watson, its analytics solution, to the platform so users could search for any particular topic and get answers immediately. It's free for now, and IBM will add a paid version with more storage and other bells and whistles in January. Google’s Inbox makes email management a lot easier Google’s Gmail team introduced a new app called Inbox last month. It can automatically bundle related messages together, while pulling in relevant information from the web for emails that need real-time information, like flight itineraries. It also gives the option to “snooze” or “pin” certain messages, or even set up “reminder” emails that show up at the top of your inbox. Inbox is currently on beta and you can only add Gmail accounts to it. Microsoft Office 365 cleans up a lot of “Clutter” Microsoft’s Office 365 rolled out a new feature called Clutter this month that automatically sorts and prioritizes emails based on your previous actions. Microsoft says it uses machine learning to determine what’s important, and stores all emails that it thinks are unimportant in a separate folder called Clutter. Users can move certain emails to the Clutter folder on their own and go into the folder and see if they missed anything important, too. This feature is only available to Office 365’s business users. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Everybody loves to complain about email. We get way too much of it, we can't tell what's important from what's not, we never have time to respond. Here's How Much Uber Drivers Are Really Earning | ||
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Uber claims its drivers can make $90,000 a year driving for UberX in New York City. Last month, Business Insider talked to Uber drivers who said they weren't making nearly that much. In response to criticism about how much drivers really make, Uber's New York City general manager Josh Mohrer said he would speak on the record to journalists who took 10 random Uber rides and collected pay stubs from their drivers. BuzzFeed reporter Johana Bhuiyan decided to take Mohrer up on his offer. In doing so, she took Uber rides with 11 random UberX drivers and collected eight of the 11 drivers' pay stubs (Uber didn't provide the pay stub for one driver, and two others weren't comfortable showing Bhuiyan their payment information). Many factors affect how much an Uber driver takes home: There's the basics, like how many hours a week they drive, what time of the day or the year it is, and what the weather's like outside. But there are also expenses drivers pay for — the cost of a car rental, insurance, gas, and normal wear-and-tear. These expenses aren't covered by Uber, so they come out of drivers' pockets. It's possible to make a decent hourly wage with Uber, but that's before all the expenses that independent contractor drivers pay out of pocket. To make $90,000, Bhuiyan found, a driver would have to make approximately $7,500 a month, or $1,731 weekly.
After doing the math, Bhuiyan concluded drivers are taking home far less than $90,000.
You can read BuzzFeed's whole report here. SEE ALSO: 'No One With A Stake In This Company Will Stand Up To Uber's CEO' Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Firefox Dumps Google For Yahoo (YHOO, GOOG) | ||
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Mozilla announced today a new five-year contract with Yahoo where Yahoo will be the default search engine in the US. That means when you open up your browser, you won't see Google search anymore. Firefox users will see a "new enhanced Yahoo Search experience" beginning in December. It will feature a "clean, modern interface" and will support Do Not Track, Mozilla says. Google has been the default search engine since 2004. But, according to Mozilla, "Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, eBay, Amazon, Twitter and Wikipedia will continue to be built-in as alternate search options." Firefox is the third-most popular web browser, with between 14% and 19% market share, depending who's talking. Chrome and Internet Explorer are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. According to Mozilla, 100 billion searches are conducted per year using Firefox. Yahoo has been making a big push to improve its search product. In April, Re/code reported that Yahoo had a secret plan to get Apple to dump Google as the default search in its iOS devices and use Yahoo instead. Yahoo search is powered by Microsoft Bing. In a blog post, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer writes, "At Yahoo, we believe deeply in search — it’s an area of investment and opportunity for us. It’s also a key growth area for us — we’ve now seen 11 consecutive quarters of growth in our search revenue on an ex-TAC basis. This partnership helps to expand our reach in search and gives us an opportunity to work even more closely with Mozilla to find ways to innovate in search, communications, and digital content." The financial details of the deal weren't disclosed. According to AllThingsD, the most recent renewal of the deal it had with Google in 2011 was $300 million per year for three years. In 2012, 97.9% of Mozilla's revenue came through partnerships with search engines, according to Infoworld. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Feds To Apple: If We Can't Read iMessages, A Child Will Die (AAPL) | ||
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The Department of Justice told Apple executives that a child would die as a result of the company's new iMessage encryption, reports the Wall Street Journal. iMessages come encrypted on your iPhone in iOS 8. That means that without the passcode to your phone, law enforcement can't access your text messages, even with a court-ordered warrant. Apple's move to encrypt iMessages comes after a summer of privacy complaints that peaked with the iCloud hacking scandal which exposed nude celebrity photos. In September Apple CEO Tim Cook published a letter outlining Apple's new privacy policy. "We don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you," said Cook. Cook also spoke specifically to Apple's policy on government data requests in his letter. "Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services," said Cook. "We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will." SEE ALSO: A Developer Told Us About A Major Flaw With The Apple Watch Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How To Dress Like Silicon Valley's Elite | ||
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Silicon Valley is generally better known for its high tech than for its high fashion. But while it's true that many startup founders are still sporting the casual hoodie look, others are raising the bar for style. We've rounded up some tech executives who have their own signature sense of style. They all express themselves in different ways, though some are decidedly more fashionable than others. Square CEO Jack Dorsey is considered by many to be one of the most stylish men in tech, regularly donning leather jackets and slim suits by Prada and Hermès. He's also grabbed attention with his Dior Homme reverse-collar dress shirts, a sort of stylish take on the popped collar. You can snag a similar style from Frank Michel's online store for $80. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opts for a less avant-garde look. In a recent Q&A with Facebook users, Zuckerberg explained that he wears the same grey t-shirt every day because it allows him to keep his mind clear for bigger decisions. You can buy a similar one at Gap for $16.95.
Box CEO Aaron Levie typically sports a slim-cut J.Crew suit and Pumas or Tigers on his feet. You can find similar shoes for $60 on Zappos, which Levie has said "should get a Nobel Prize for awesomeness." The J. Crew blazer retails for $405. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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THE SMARTWATCH MARKET: Growth, Consumer Attitudes, And Why This Is The New Device Category To Bet On | ||
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In a recent report on the wearable computing market from BI Intelligence, we discuss other barriers to adoption, including price, limited functionality, and style. But explain why smartwatches will be the breakout wearable We also look at how how the overall wearables market will perform in the long run. We forecast out shipments numbers, explain why the smartwatch will be the leading wearable device category going forward, and analyze proprietary results from our BI Intelligence consumer survey on smartwatch purchase intent. Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Trial Today >> Here are some key points from the report:
The report is full of charts and data that can be downloaded and put to use. In full, the report:
For full access to all BI Intelligence's charts, data, and analysis on the mobile and Internet of Things industry, sign up for a two-week trial.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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It has become clear that smartwatches are poised to become the next personal computing hub. The road to ubiquity isn't without barriers, but smartwatches have what it will take to win. 
Fitbit Is Going Into Nike Territory With This Inspiring Ad | ||
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Fitness tracking company Fitbit just launched its first-ever video ad. The campaign coincides with the rollout of new products, which include a "fitness super watch" called the Surge. The advertisement was created by Argonaut, a boutique creative agency in San Francisco, and its music features Brett Anderson, the lead singer of The Donnas. The ads were directed by Daniel and Katine Mercadante, an acclaimed filmmaking team that has produced campaigns for brands such as Apple, Facebook and Volkswagen. Video courtesy of Fitbit Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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We Now Have Our Best Look Yet At How The Apple Watch Will Actually Work (AAPL) | ||
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Apple gave us a peek at the Apple Watch during that splashy event back in September, but much about what the device will actually be able to do remains a mystery. To be clear, the Apple Watch isn't finished yet. It won't go on sale until early 2015, and everything we've seen so far is just a small taste of all of its features. But this week, Apple gave us a bit more. It released WatchKit, a set of software tools developers can use to bring their iPhone apps to the Apple Watch. Things are pretty limited so far. Apps aren't "native" to the Apple Watch. That means the apps are actually stored on your iPhone, which beams bite-sized nuggets of information to the watch's screen over Bluetooth. Apple will allow developers to make native apps next year, but the first crop of apps for the Apple Watch will have relatively limited functionality. Native apps have a lot of potential, though. Imagine a Spotify app that'll let you leave your phone at home and listen to music at the gym using a Bluetooth headphones, for example. So, what will it look like? There are two basic ways apps will be able to show you stuff:
The display on the far left is the home screen that shows you us to select the app you want to launch. That's pretty standard. Things get interesting in the middle image. That's what Apple calls a "Glance," or a way to get a quick snippet of information from one of your apps. You access Glances by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Then you swipe left and right to view Glances from the apps stored on your phone. You can imagine this being used for pretty basic stuff like weather, news, Twitter trends, sports scores, and so on. It's also very similar to the "cards" system Google uses in its Android Wear operating system for smartwatches. The far right display shows what incoming notifications look like on your watch. By default, app notifications will push directly to the Apple Watch without the developer having to change anything. For example, let's say Facebook does nothing to get its app ready for the Apple Watch. If someone comments on one of your posts, the same notification like "Steve Kovach commented on your photo" that normally appears on your phone will appear on your watch too. But developers can take notifications further by including actionable notifications on the watch. Facebook could make it so you can reply to a comment on your photo by talking into your watch, for example. The image above hints at how that'll work with text messages too. Apple will also let developers use notifications called "Short Look" and "Long Look." Here's an example of that:
But there's a downside to the Apple Watch being so dependent on the iPhone. It simply can't perform some tasks without prompting you to look at your phone. For example, Apple says the Maps app won't let you pan and zoom like you can on the iPhone. Instead, tapping the map on your will launch the full Apple Maps app on your phone. That'll probably be annoying for some people. Samsung's smartwatches often force you to use some apps on your phone to get the full experience, which is a frustrating.
It seems like Apple has barely scratched the surface for what the Apple Watch will be able to do. CEO Tim Cook hinted as much when he first showed off the device. And things will get even better for users once developers are able to make native apps for the Apple Watch and come up with creative ways to make use of the smaller screen. Apple will probably have to hold another big press event to go over in detail everything the Apple Watch will be able to do. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek:
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's How Google's Massive New Android Update Will Look On Your Giant Samsung Galaxy Phone | ||
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Samsung is still preparing Google's big new Lollipop update for its line of smartphones, but we may already have a pretty clear idea of what to expect. Blog Sam Mobile claims to have gotten its hands on a Galaxy Note 3 running on Android Lollipop. The software in the video looks pretty similar to the leaked footage we've seen of Google's new Android update running on the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5. One of the biggest changes to come with Lollipop is a new interface called Material Design, which makes app icons and other elements throughout the phone's software appear more colorful and vibrant. Here, you can notice the influence of Material Design in the dialer. Notice how the colors are brighter and bolder.
The headers within the phone app no longer have separators between each category either.
Check out the new Messages app. There's a new orange title bar at the top.
See the full video from Sam Mobile below to see Android Lollipop running on the Note 3.Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Airbnb Is Giving Customers A Chance To Spend A Night In A Tricked Out Airplane | ||
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No one wants to be forced to spend the night at an airport. The dreaded experience usually involves clinging to your luggage while trying to cram yourself into a tiny gate chair. But the new installment of Airbnb’s “Night At” campaign might just make you think differently. Technically, you wouldn't be staying in the actual airport, but on the airport’s runway — in your very own private airplane apartment. In Airbnb’s latest move to provide travelers with eccentric experiences, the company has teamed up with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines airlines to give three winners a chance to spend the night in an aircraft “loft.” Unfortunately, the first house rule is “no flying.”
They filled a plane that was parked on the runway of the busy Schiphol Airport with all the amenities of an apartment. The plane now has a spacious living room, a master bedroom, two children’s beds, eight bathrooms, two kitchens, and even a home cinema (although the cinema will apparently only play films related to flying, so you might get stuck watching “Snakes On A Plane.”)
The listing also asks that you kindly make sure to water the plants and feed the fish.
SEE ALSO: 10 Amazing Boats You Can Rent On Airbnb DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life On Facebook! Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This is just the latest in strange accommodations from Airbnb “Night At” campaign — previous listing include a chance to spend the night in one of 
For The First Time Ever, Americans Spend More Time Using Mobile Devices Than TV | ||
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For the first time, Americans spent more time on average looking at their mobile devices than at a television screen. Based on Flurry data charted for us by BI Intelligence, Americans spent an average of 2 hours and 57 minutes a day on a mobile device, compared to 2 hours and 48 minutes in front of a TV set. Many consumers likely use both screens in tandem, though it's difficult to quantify the overlap exactly. Nielsen says 84% of consumers use their mobile device as a second, supplementary screen to the TV.
SEE ALSO: CHART OF THE DAY: Millennial Males Love Snapchat Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Teen Breaks His Own Guinness World Record For Speed Texting With An iPhone 6 Plus | ||
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Yes, there is a Guinness World Record for speed texting. And the current record holder just set the bar much higher for himself with a new record, accomplished with Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus. Marcel Fernandes Filho, a 17-year-old from Brazil, set the Guinness World Record for “Fastest Time To Type A Text Message On A Touchscreen Device” back in May with Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone. He achieved the feat with the customizable Fleksy keyboard. That’s pretty fast. You can download Fleksy for iOS or Android here. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Salesforce Cut Its Losses Last Quarter, But The Stock Is Down On Weak Guidance (CRM) | ||
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Salesforce just reported non-GAAP earnings of $0.14 cents per share on $1.38 billion in revenue. Net loss was $39 million, down significantly from last quarter's $61 million. The numbers came in ahead of expectations, but the stock was quickly off 4% on lighter than expected predictions for Q4 and next year's revenue. Non-GAAP earnings don't include stock-based compensation and certain other expenses. Analysts were expecting non-GAAP earnings of $0.13 per share on $1.37 billion in revenue. Salesforce said it expects revenue of $6.45 to $6.55 billion next year. Analysts had been expecting $6.66 billion. The company is managing to cut its losses: This quarter, it lost only $39 million. Last quarter, it lost $61 million on $1.32 billion in revenue, and a year ago it lost $124 million on $1.08 billion. The recent quarter ended October 31, 2014, but Salesforce counts it as the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year. Salesforce is the prime example of a subscription-based software company, and some investors have been skeptical that it will be able to reduce sales and marketing expenses enough to deliver consistent profits.
SEE ALSO: In 2 Sentences, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Explains Why Analytics Is The Hot New Thing SEE ALSO: Box CEO Aaron Levie Explains The Company's Burn Rate Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Millionaire YouTube Star Bethany Mota Shares The Secrets To Being Successful Online | ||
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Bethany Mota seems to be doing it all. Not only is she a massive YouTube celebrity — millions of people watch her beauty and style videos — but she's also a budding fashion designer, guest judge on Project Runway, and a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars." But what does it take to be successful online? Mota shares her tips: Be real and be yourself.People are attracted to authenticity. Be consistent and upload videos as often as you can.Mota told Seventeen Magazine this fall that the most important part about making and uploading videos is loving what you're producing, saying that people can tell if your heart isn't 100% into it. You have to have passion, and refuse to coast.If you're just in it for the success, she tells Seventeen, it won't work, Despite all of her new projects, Bethany still edits, plans, and creates every video herself—just like she did back then! She revealed that it can take her 2-3 days sometimes just to edit one video, and between getting all the supplies, actually making the projects or putting on the beauty and fashion looks, and then burying herself in tech, that time adds up! Stay connected with your audience, no matter how many of them there are."Even if you just have five subscribers, you just have to focus on the audience you do have and creating good content for them. As long as you're having fun with it, then that's all that matters," she told AdWeek. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Source: A Battle Is Brewing Between Two Big Shot Microsoft Executives (MSFT) | ||
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A source close to Microsoft told us there's a showdown of sorts between two powerful executives in Satya Nadella's administration: Terry Myerson, the man in charge of Windows (including Windows 10) and Qi Lu, the man in charge of most of Microsoft's consumer online services, including Bing and MSN, Microsoft's news portal. The fight is about who gets to control the default home page of Internet Explorer and the enormous amount of attention that page commands. And it all started with a recent redesign to MSN. Some 400 million new Windows PCs are sold each year, all with Internet Explorer installed. Often, MSN is set as the default home page. Lots of people never change that. Compete.com says that MSN gets about 81 million visitors a month. Until September, when you clicked on a headline on the MSN page, it often didn't take you to the news story. It conducted a Bing search on the headline instead. This was driving considerable traffic to Bing, our source says, helping Bing rank as the nation's second largest search engine to Google, with about 20% marketshare, according to comScore. But in September, Lu's team rolled out an updated version of MSN. One of the changes was to curate more actual news stories from big-name news sites. So clicking on the headline took you to an actual story, not a Bing search. Our source says that the redesign hurt traffic, telling us that "page views and revenue dropped by as much as 60% in some countries." Bing was particularly hurt. (Microsoft refutes this, saying the new MSN was a hit and pointing to monthly comScore statistics that show no drop in market share or searches on Bing.) Apparently Qi Lu was worried, our source said, and held daily meetings to find ways to get MSN to boost Bing search again. So the team quickly found ways to add Bing searches back to that MSN home page, which you can see in the screenshots below. Here's the photo of the new MSN from September via a blog post by Brian MacDonald, vice president in charge of MSN.
Here's what MSN looks like today, featuring more Bing searches up top.
Apparently these changes worked. The latest comScore market report shows Bing's share rose 0.1% in October, after being flat from August to September. But the momentary lapse has opened an old fight: All the department heads lust after the default home page on Internet Explorer. They want it to point to their own offerings, not just MSN. Our source tells us this is shaping up to a three-way fight: Derrick Connell, who runs Bing, wants IE to simply default to Bing.com. He's apparently pitching that a Bing.com default page could also showcase other key Microsoft online businesses. If that happened, it would hurt MSN. MSN boss MacDonald is naturally lobbying to keep IE pointing to MSN. And, our source says, Terry Myerson, the guy in charge in Windows, wants it to default to something that plays up Windows 10. If that happens, that could potentially hurt both MSN and Bing. People inside Microsoft are watching the fight to see which way the power is flowing at Microsoft, we're told. Myerson's power is rising, and IE has long been part of the Windows group, so he would seemingly have a lot of influence. Moreover, Microsoft seems to be deemphasizing the advertising business, which how MSN makes money — last month, it fired most of its global advertising sales team. Lu, on the other hand, is known as a peacemaker. So Lu's teams are watching to see if he'll fight for them to keep all the traffic flowing to Bing or MSN, or if he'll bend to Myerson with some sort of compromise. A Microsoft spokesperson tells us that Bing and MSN are doing well, and that the new MSN is a success, according to the comScore data. Here's the statement: "As the most recent market share data indicates, Bing and MSN both continue to grow. We are seeing a great response to the new MSN, which we just rebuilt to combine content from the world’s leading media outlets along with easy access to tools such as Office Online, Skype and Bing. Similarly, we’re pleased to see Bing gaining traction both as a standalone search engine and as the intelligence platform powering experiences inside and outside of Microsoft, including Cortana on Windows Phone, Siri and Spotlight from Apple." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A Programmer Describes How He Nearly Went Insane Learning To Code | ||
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Software engineering salaries have just hit an all-time high in the US, so it's natural to think that this seems like a better time than ever to learn how to code. With free services such as Codecademy and other cheap online courses, it almost seems like a no-brainer. But just because the information is accessible doesn't mean it's necessarily easy to learn. Quincy Larson, a software engineer for online coding tutorial site Free Code Camp, recently shared his stressful and overwhelming experience learning different coding languages. It seemed simple at first. Larson wrote in a blog post that he overheard some guy at a happy hour talking about how useful the language Ruby is for automating tasks. He then began playing with Ruby himself and learned how to automate some administrative tasks for the school he worked in at his previous job. Then, Larson started attending hackathons — events where engineers and developers gather to collaborate on programming projects. Soon after, a friend suggested he check out the customizable text editor Emacs, so he began learning about that language. Shortly after he began to dig into Emacs, someone told him about another superior language he should be focusing on instead. In his post, Larson said he went "nearly insane" trying to keep up and learn all of the languages he thought he needed in order to become a successful programmer. "I tried to do too many things," Larson told Business Insider. "I tried to embrace a lot of the more esoteric programmer tools as soon as possible. But what I really should have done was get code up on the internet and get feedback." The 'imposter syndrome'Larson quit his job as a school director to become a full-time programmer, and now works as a software engineer at Free Code Camp. But it didn't come easily — and spending time around developers that were more experienced only added to Larson's stress. "It makes perfect sense to hang out with people that were good," he said. "But it was extremely unnerving." Larson suffers from a condition that's common among programmers, known as the "imposter syndrome." It's the idea that many of the other coders you work with are better than you, which sometimes makes it difficult to accept credit for your own work. "I had hardcore imposter syndrome," Larson said. "I was constantly intimidated by [my friends] achievements and how easily they could come up with algorithms I couldn't even understand. They were incomprehensible to me." According to Larson, imposter syndrome doesn't necessarily go away — it just fades from time to time. But any instance, such as being surrounded by tons of talented coders at a hackathon, could cause it to bubble up again. Get focused, and find a partnerStill, there are a few ways to manage your time wisely and avoid the stress Larson encountered when he was learning how to code. It boils down to two important tips: do some research to discover what kind of languages you want to learn, and find a programming partner. Larson says one of his biggest mistakes was his lack of focus. In his blog post, he suggests that you choose one type of software programming that interests you and is relevant to your career. Once you decided on a type (i.e. web or mobile, etc.), you should pick just one language rather than trying to master a few. Then, pick one curriculum and stick to it. Having a partner to go through the process with you is also key, Larson said. This is a process known as pair programming — when two programmers code together on the same computer. "The process of talking over your code with someone else and having a conversation, it's invaluable," he said. You should make sure you're working with someone at the same skill and experience level as you, Larson advises. "People think you'd want to be pair programming with someone better than you because it's like a mentor relationship," he said. "But that's not the best way. The person that knows more will subconsciously take over the pair programming session and make the decisions." And, when it comes to managing imposter syndrome, it's important to stay focused and not get discouraged by those around you. "Just remind yourself that anybody can learn how to code," Larson said. "It's not some elite club." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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We Asked Kids What They Think About Facebook, And Mark Zuckerberg Should Be Worried | ||
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There's a whole new generation of children growing up in the digital world. Social media giant Facebook hopes this is the next wave of users but are they really intersted in having a profile? We asked little kids between the age of nine and eleven what they really think of Facebook. Produced by Sam Rega and Caroline Moss Follow BI Video: On Facebook
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China firm signs $12 bn deal to build Nigerian railway | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - A state-owned Chinese company has signed a $12 billion agreement to build a railway along Nigeria's coast that it billed as China's single largest overseas contract, state media said Thursday. China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. (CRCC) signed the official construction contract with the Nigerian government on Wednesday in Abuja, the Xinhua news agency said. The Nigerian railway will stretch for 1,402 kilometres (871 miles) along the coast, linking Lagos, the financial capital of Africa's largest economy and leading oil producer, and Calabar in the east, according to the report. The $11.97 billion deal marks China's largest single overseas contract project so far, it said, citing CRCC. The news came two weeks after Mexico cancelled a $3.75 billion bullet train deal only days after it was signed with a Chinese-led consortium headed by CRCC -- the sole bidder -- reportedly due to concerns about transparency. CRCC chairman Meng Fengchao said the Nigeria project will adopt Chinese technological standards and lead to $4 billion-worth of Chinese exports of construction machinery, trains, steel products and other equipment, Xinhua said. It will create up to 200,000 local jobs during the construction and a further 30,000 positions once the line is operational, he said. "It is a mutually beneficial project," Meng was quoted by Xinhua as saying. Trains will travel at a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour on the link, the report added. China has dramatically stepped up its presence on the African continent in recent decades as it seeks more resources and new markets for its economy. Trade between China and Nigeria totalled $13.6 billion last year. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised more investment and more Chinese technical expertise during a visit earlier this year. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open | ||
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Good morning! Here are the 10 major stories you need to hear about before markets open in London and Paris. The White House Will Back Sanctions Against Venezuela. The Obama administration would like to work with the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions on Venezuela in response to a crackdown on anti-government protests. Fiat Expects New Crossover To Outsell 500 Microcar In The US. Fiat Chrysler expects its yet-to-be launched Fiat 500X crossover sport utility vehicle to be even more popular in North America than its 500 microcar, senior executives said on Wednesday. EBay Is Making A New Bet On Retail. EBay is retooling its local delivery program and extending more logistics options to smaller merchants that make up the bulk of the e-commerce giant's sprawling base of marketplace sellers, an executive said on Wednesday. Alibaba Will Sell Its First Bonds Today. The e-commerce giant will sell its first-ever bond on Thursday, a jumbo trade expected to be around $8 billion (£5.1 billion) in size that comes just two months after the company's record IPO. Europe's Manufacturing PMIs are Coming. France's manufacturing PMI is out at 8 a.m. GMT, followed by the overall Eurozone factory PMI at 9 a.m. GMT. The business surveys should give a first idea of how European economies are holding up in November. Analysts are expecting a very modest improvement from October, leaving the index in very weak growth territory. BMW's Margins In China Are Narrowing. "Everything is normalising in China - the market growth, the volume growth, the margin growth," said Karsten Engel, BMW's China chief executive. China's Manufacturers Signalled No Growth This Month. Manufacturing activity in China stagnated in November, British banking giant HSBC said Thursday, warning of "significant" pressures on the world's second-largest economy as its key purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit a six-month low. Asian Markets Are Pretty Flat. The Nikkei closed up just 0.07% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently trading up just 0.04%. UKIP Are Expected To Win Their Second Seat In Parliament. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives risk losing a second British parliamentary seat to the anti-EU UKIP party on Thursday, foreshadowing a possible political upheaval in next year's national election. The US Senate Blasted Banks Over Their Commodities Trading. Goldman Sachs will rebut on Thursday allegations made by a powerful Senate committee report that condemned Wall Street banks for exploiting physical commodity markets to manipulate prices and gain unfair trading advantages. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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S. Korea court jails ferry operator CEO for 10 years | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - The head of the company that operated South Korea's ill-fated Sewol ferry was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday, after being convicted of manslaughter over the disaster that killed more than 300 people. A court in the southern city of Gwangju determined that Kim Han-Sik, CEO of Chonghaejin Marine Co., had allowed the ferry to be routinely overloaded and approved illegal renovations to increase its passenger capacity. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Trade on agenda as China's Xi visits New Zealand | ||
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Wellington (AFP) - China and New Zealand agreed to expand their burgeoning trade relationship during a state visit by President Xi Jinping Thursday, including a deal to allow television co-productions to be aired on Chinese media. Wellington became the first developed nation to sign a free trade agreement with Beijing in 2008, and Xi joined New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in hailing the success of the agreement. "The New Zealand-China relationship shows that countries with different political systems, history and cultural traditions and at different stages of development can constructively cooperate together," they said in a joint statement. Xi's visit, off the back of his trip to Brisbane for last weekend's G20 summit and a state visit to Australia, focused on broadening the 2008 agreement in key areas, including encouraging television co-productions between the two countries. "(It) will allow programmes co-produced by New Zealand and Chinese companies to be officially broadcast on Chinese TV, where potential viewing audiences are huge," Key said. They also signed off on a food traceability scheme in the wake of an infant formula contamination scare last year which resulted in New Zealand milk powder being pulled from Chinese shelves until it was revealed as a false alarm. Dairy remains New Zealand's largest export to China, with consumers keen on the country's "clean, green" image. China displaced Australia as New Zealand's largest export market last year, and two-way trade between the nations was almost NZ$22 billion ($17.4 billion) in the year to June 2014, according to official figures. Xi received a 21-gun salute and a traditional Maori welcome in Wellington before meeting Key, who presented him with an All Blacks rugby union jersey bearing the lucky number 8. Meanwhile, Xi's wife Peng Liyaun celebrated her 52nd birthday by receiving an honorary doctorate from Wellington's Massey University in acknowledgement of her career as a singer. "This is the best gift for me for my birthday," she said through a translator. About a dozen protesters were outside the Xi-Key meeting but they were outnumbered by more than 100 pro-China students waving flags and banners. Xi will travel to Fiji on Friday to meet leaders from Pacific island nations, where China has become a major aid donor in recent years. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Palestinian dancer seeks change through ballet | ||
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Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Ramallah dancer Shireen Ziyadeh wants to use pirouettes and plies to change the place where she grew up, training aspiring ballerinas to show that "something beautiful comes from Palestine". In tights and a white tunic, her hair scraped back in a flawless bun, the 24-year-old Palestinian repeats instructions to a group of tiny dancers in pink tutus and slippers at her ballet school in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The idea of teaching ballet to little girls came to the young management studies graduate four years ago. "I wanted to bring something new and offer them other perspectives on the future," she told AFP. But -- as is often the case in the Israeli-occupied West Bank -- the dance classes also have a political dimension. "Ballet, which is a major art form, is a good way to revolutionise traditional Palestinian culture," she said. "I'm not only teaching them to dance but also how to integrate with others." Ziyadeh's is not the first ballet school in Ramallah -- she herself learned to dance here in her childhood -- but she is one of just a handful of teachers across the Palestinian territories. "Teaching ballet and its philosophy (here) is also a way of showing the world that something beautiful comes from Palestine," she said. "Ballet has its own universe, different from all other forms of dance. You have to express yourself with all the muscles in your body to show the full purity of this dance form," she said, as her girls danced to a melody from the soundtrack of the 2001 French film "Amelie". Opened in May 2011, the Ramallah Ballet Centre says on its website that it offers "the ability to dance, act and think in more positive ways". - Resistance from conservatives - Although ballet is a niche activity in Palestinian culture, traditional folk dance is everywhere. No marriage or other celebration takes place without participants dancing the dabkeh -- the Palestinian national dance. Today, Ziyadeh's school has 60 pupils -- all of them girls between the ages of four to 20 -- but when it first opened there were challenges. Even in Ramallah, the political capital of the West Bank and considered the territory's most cosmopolitan city, there was opposition from more conservative Palestinians. Some were suspicious of a school teaching a dance form that involves children and young girls wearing tight clothing and dancing on their own, rather than in a group as with the dabkeh. And there were some who did not like the idea of a young woman starting her own business. "All new ideas generate rejection, but I always knew I would make it," she said. To reassure her neighbours, Ziyadeh left the doors of the school open so that anyone could come in and see what was going on. And to keep her project a fully Palestinian venture, she also refused offers of foreign funding. Yasmin al-Sharif had a childhood dream of learning to dance which was never fulfilled. Today, she pays $70 dollars (56 euros) a month so that her daughter can learn. "I have loved ballet since I was small, but in my day there was no centre like this," she said. As the girls practised in front of a mirror stretching the length of the room, Faten Farhat and her seven-year-old daughter Salma arrived. "Salma already dances dabkeh, but I love ballet so I encouraged her to join," she said. "Before we had no opportunity to engage in an activity outside of school. Today things have changed and it's up to us to encourage even more change to move toward an even brighter future." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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At Least 2 Injured In Shooting At Florida State University | ||
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It's not clear what condition the patients are in or if they are university students, according to the report. A university telephone alert warning of a "dangerous situation" at the main campus was issued around midnight. The alert urged people to "seek shelter immediately, away from doors and windows." The Tallahassee Democrat reports that the shooting took place at Strozier library at the corner of Dewey and Call streets, where local police have now set up a crime scene. Four shoot were heard on the building's first floor followed by sirens on campus at around 12:30 a.m. ET, according to FSU News. "We know there are definitely people who saw the shooter," freshman Anthony Coons told the Democrat. It is not clear if the gunman is dead or alive. Cell phone camera footage uploaded to YouTube captures the scene inside the library at the time of the shooting. There has been a shooting in the library. Stay where you are," a person over the loudspeaker says. This is a developing story. Check back for more updates. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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At least two people were shot at the Tallahassee campus of Florida State University early Thursday morning, Former Senator Jim Webb Just Launched His 2016 Presidential Exploratory Committee | ||
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On Wednesday evening, one minute before midnight, former Virginia senator and secretary of the Navy Jim Webb became the first established figure to officially wade into the next race for the White House when he unveiled his 2016 presidential exploratory committee website. The page features a 14 minute video and nearly identical letter where Webb details his biography and rationale for mounting a longshot presidential bid. "I spent eight years on active duty in the military, four years as a committee counsel in the Congress working to help our veterans, five years in the Pentagon, one as a Marine and four as assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy. And I spent six years as a member of the United States Senate. Each time I served not with the expectation of making government a career, but to contribute to the good of the country during a period of crisis or great change," Webb said in the clip, adding, "In that spirit I have decided to launch an Exploratory Committee to examine whether I should run for President in 2016." Some of the likely Republican 2016 hopefuls have begun to lay the groundwork for their campaigns, however, none of the leading candidates have debuted an official organization. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said in September that she would make a decision by Jan. 1. Since then, there have been multiple reports indicating she will launch her official exploratory committee by the early part of next year. In the video, Webb, who was a Democratic senator, touted his experience working in the Pentagon during the Reagan administration. He also vowed to take on income inequality, a core issue for many progressives. "Walk into some of our inner cities if you dare, and see the stagnation, poverty, crime, and lack of opportunity that still affects so many African Americans. Or travel to the Appalachian Mountains, where my own ancestors settled and whose cultural values I still share, and view the poorest counties in America – who happen to be more than 90 percent White, and who live in the reality that, 'if you’re poor and White you’re out of sight,'" Webb said. "We cannot sit idly by and accept that such economic and power differences are permanent." Webb was elected to the US Senate in 2006 with a narrow upset victory over Republican incumbent George Allen. In his video, Webb cited this experience as evidence he should not be counted out of the 2016 race. "Your early support will be crucial as I evaluate whether we might overcome what many commentators see as nearly impossible odds. We are starting with very little funding and hardly any staff, but I’ve been here before," said Webb. Watch Webb's full video below. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Americans not so cool with gay public affection | ||
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Washington (AFP) - A majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, but that doesn't mean they're so cool with gays and lesbians displaying affection in public, a study published Thursday suggests. Sociologists at Indiana University asked more than 1,000 people how they might feel about seeing couples hold hands, kissing on the cheek and French kissing in a park. Ninety-seven percent of heterosexual respondents said they were OK with straight couples holding hands in public -- but only 62 percent approved of gay men doing so. Ninety-five percent approved of men and women kissing on the cheek, but 55 percent thought likewise if the couple in question were both men. Fifty percent, meanwhile, approved of a straight couple publicly engaging in French kissing -- but only 22 percent thought it was acceptable for a gay lovers to do so. The level of approval for lesbian couples was a bit higher, at 75, 72 and 26 percent respectively, but it still lagged behind the level for straight couples. Long Doan, lead author of the study, said the findings revealed ongoing prejudices towards gays and lesbians, despite the big gains they have made in marriage equality. "Gay rights cannot be summarily measured by public approval of same-sex marriage. Attitudes toward same-sex couples are more complex than that," the doctoral student told AFP by email. "Over 50 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage," said Doan, whose research focuses on the ways that emotions can maintain inequality in society. "This is a remarkable increase in support from where it was several years ago, but what does that mean in terms of American ideals of equality?" One twist surprised Doan and his colleagues: in some cases, gays and lesbians were even less approving of same-sex couples engaging in public displays of affection. For instance, 45 percent of gay respondents thought it was acceptable for straight couples to French kiss -- but only 39 percent believed gay men ought to do so as well. That might be due to fears in the gay community that such behavior might lead to harassment and hate crimes, said Doan, whose study appears in the December issue of the American Sociological Review. Support among Americans for marriage equality has consistently been running at better than 50 percent in successive Gallup polls since May 2012. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Signs N. Korea preparing bomb material amid nuclear test threats | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - New satellite imagery suggests North Korea may be firing up a facility for processing weapons-grade plutonium, as Pyongyang threatened Thursday a fresh nuclear test in response to UN condemnation of its rights record. The images show steam rising from a re-processing plant at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear complex -- a sign consistent with maintenance and testing prior to commencing operations, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its closely followed 38 North website. The facility is used to reprocess spent fuel from the five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon that is North Korea's main source of weapons grade plutonium. The latest satellite pictures indicate the reactor has been shut down for 10 weeks -- longer than required for routine maintenance. While warning it was still early to reach a definitive conclusion, the institute said evidence suggested the shutdown may have allowed the removal of "a limited number" of fuel rods for possible re-processing. The images also showed truck activity near the vehicle door to the building that receives the spent fuel at the reprocessing complex, it said.
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The new analysis coincided with fresh threats from Pyongyang to carry out a new underground nuclear test following the UN adoption of a landmark resolution that condemns North Korean rights abuses. Passed by 111 votes to 19, with 55 abstentions, the resolution also asked the UN Security Council to refer the North Korean leadership to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for possible charges of crimes against humanity. In a statement carried Thursday by the North's official KCNA news agency, a foreign ministry spokesman rejected the resolution as a "fraud" and accused the United States of leading efforts to humiliate Pyongyang in front of the international community. "This aggression by the US is leaving us unable to further refrain from staging a new nuclear test," the spokesman said. "Our military deterrence will be beefed up limitlessly to guard against US military intervention and attempts for armed invasion," he added. South Korea said its military was on stand-by and a defence ministry spokesman warned that Seoul would "not tolerate any provocation" from the North. He added that South Korean and US agencies were both keeping a close watch on Pyongyang's nuclear facilities. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, most recently in February 2013. Co-sponsored by more than 60 countries, the UN resolution drew heavily on the work of a UN inquiry which concluded in a 400-page report released in February that North Korea was committing human rights abuses "without parallel in the contemporary world."
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Rights violations by North Korea have been known about for years, but the inquiry's exhaustive report carried the UN stamp of authority and put Pyongyang under unprecedented pressure. It is especially sensitive to the prospect of leader Kim Jong-Un being personally indicted at the ICC, even if he would never willingly appear before the court. Referral to the ICC would likely be blocked at the UN Security Council by veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia -- both of whom voted against the resolution on Tuesday. As far as the prospects of another nuclear test are concerned, North Korea has been known to "double-down" in response to UN pressure before. Its last test in 2013 was partly a response to a UN tightening of sanctions following a successful space rocket launch a few months before. Pyongyang had mothballed the five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it in mid-2013. When operational, the reactor is capable of producing six kilos (13 pounds) of plutonium a year -- enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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AC/DC ready to dump drummer under murder cloud | ||
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New York (AFP) - Hard rockers AC/DC say that they're ready to go on tour without drummer Phil Rudd, who faced accusations that he hired a hitman in New Zealand. Promoting their upcoming album in New York, singer Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young both hinted that the veteran Australian band was looking to replace Rudd ahead of a tour next year. "We're talking about criminal courts here, and we're talking about judges, we're talking about juries," Johnson told radio shock jock Howard Stern on Wednesday. "We're talking about people saying you're not getting your passport back here, all of this kind of stuff. And there's nothing we can do about it. "We are going to go on tour and nothing is going to stop us," he said. The rockers stressed that they had worked with drummers other than Rudd, who has played on-and-off with AC/DC since 1975 and settled in the New Zealand coastal community of Tauranga in 1983. "When you're in a rock 'n' roll band, you move to the front. You never look what's going on behind you," Young said. Prosecutors earlier this month filed a murder-for-hire case against Rudd and then quickly dropped it, citing insufficient evidence. But Rudd, 60, is still accused of drug possession and threatening to kill, which carries a jail term of up to seven years. Since the charges emerged, Johnson and Young have said that they struggled to work with Rudd during the recording of the album, "Rock or Bust," which comes out on December 2. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Iran nuclear talks hang in the balance | ||
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Vienna (AFP) - A final round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme before a looming deadline hung in the balance Thursday as Britain expressed pessimism a deal could be done in time and foreign ministers stayed away. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond indicated that the most to be hoped for was enough progress to justify putting yet more time on the clock beyond Monday's cut-off point. "I am not optimistic that we can get everything done by Monday," Hammond said in Latvia on Wednesday. "But I think if we make some significant movement, we may be able to find a way of extending the deadline to allow us to get to the final deal, if we are making good progress in the right direction." A US State Department spokesman however insisted that negotiators were "still focused" on getting a deal done in time -- something that many experts doubt, particularly as an earlier July 20 deadline was missed. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have been negotiating since February to turn an interim accord with Iran reached a year ago into a lasting agreement before November 24. Such a deal, after 12 years of rising tensions, is aimed at easing fears that Tehran will develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities -- an ambition it denies. - Bogged down - Some areas appear provisionally settled, such as the future of the Arak nuclear reactor and tighter UN inspections to better detect any attempt to build a bomb. But two key issues remain: uranium enrichment -- rendering uranium suitable for peaceful uses but also, at high purities, for a weapon -- and the pace at which sanctions on Iran would be lifted under a deal. Iran wants to massively ramp up the number of enrichment centrifuges -- in order, it says, to make fuel for a fleet of future reactors -- while the West wants them dramatically reduced, reportedly by half. The six powers say Iran has no such need in the foreseeable future. Russia is contracted until 2021 to fuel Iran's only power reactor at Bushehr and last week signed a deal to build -- and fuel -- several others. In exchange for any reduction in its activities, Iran wants sanctions lifted. Bur the powers want to stagger any suspension to be sure that Iran won't renege on its commitments. - Kerry to the rescue - US Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers from the six powers were expected to fly into Vienna later in the week. But Kerry was not expected in the Austrian capital until Thursday afternoon at the earliest following a trip to Paris to meet the French and Saudi foreign ministers. And Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is a crucial player in the talks, will only attend if there is sufficient progress, Moscow's lead negotiator Sergei Ryabkov said. "Right now a lot depends on Kerry's visit. Reaching a deal depends on the willingness and ability of the United States to lift sanctions" on Iran, RIA Novosti quoted a Russian source as saying. Upping the ante, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that a deal was possible but only if the six powers did not ask for too much. "If the other side shows the political will to reach an accord and doesn't make excessive demands, a deal could be done," he said on his website. But Kerry put the onus on Iran. "It is imperative that Iran works with us with all possible effort to prove to the world that the programme is peaceful," Kerry said in London on Tuesday. "A deal is still possible by November 24," Arms Control Association analyst Kelsey Davenport told AFP. "Both sides are committed to reaching a good agreement and there is enough time on the diplomatic clock to get there. The remaining obstacles can be overcome if both sides are willing to show some flexibility." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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McIlroy back for season finale in Dubai | ||
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Dubai (AFP) - World number one Rory McIlroy may have already won the Race to Dubai crown, but there is a lot at stake this week at the $8 million DP World Tour Championship, which starts at the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates Thursday. The top-60 players on the European Tour's year-long Race to Dubai standings have qualified for the season-ending tournament, and that includes the four Europeans in the top-10 of the world rankings –- McIlroy, number four Henrik Stenson, number six Sergio Garcia and number seven Justin Rose. McIlroy, who won two majors among his four titles this year, is leading the Race to Dubai by 2,726,514 points, which means his position on top is insurmountable with only 1,666,600 points on offer to the winner this week. While that assured him of the lion's share of the bonus pool ($1.25 million out of $5 million), there is a chance for someone among the 59 other players to win the tournament and walk away with a cheque of $2.13 million ($1.33million for the winner of the tournament and an $800,000 bonus for finishing second in the Race to Dubai) on Sunday evening. Stenson is the defending champion, having won both the tournament and the Race to Dubai last year. The Swede, who became a father for the third time last month, has sweet memories from last year, when he put together a masterclass of ball striking, hitting 68 out of 72 greens in regulation and winning the title by six shots with a four-day tally of 25-under par. And the 38-year-old, who is yet to win a tournament this year despite consistent display, said: "It's good to be back. Of course, last year was very special, and, well, I know it can't be as special this year because Rory has already won the overall race. “But I can make it a very special week for myself by playing well here and hopefully give myself a chance to win. "I haven't defended a title as yet in my career, so I couldn't think of a much better place to do it than here this week." Stenson is coming into the tournament after a final-round 64 secured him a third place finish in Turkey last week. Stenson's neighbor in Orlando, Ian Poulter, who finished second in Turkey, was also hoping his revival in form would lead to a win on a course where he has already finished runner-up twice. The 38-year-old Englishman, who lost to Stenson last year, recently switched his equipment, and was delighted how well he had adjusted to his new clubs. Poulter, who was ranked 64th in the Race to Dubai a couple of weeks ago and not assured of a place this week, has moved to number 12 with back-to-back top-10 finishes, and said: "Obviously, last week was a good week. "Slightly disappointing not to finish the job off but that's happened the last couple of weeks. "The pleasing thing is the new equipment that's gone in and I've settled into it very quickly, which potentially might have been a concern to a few people. "But I felt comfortable for the seven days I had with the equipment before coming on this four‑week stretch. "I am coming into a golf course that I like and I've had good success here, being pipped by Robert Karlsson in the playoff and obviously Henrik last year. "I like the golf course. I like the setup, and hopefully we can go one better." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Angelina Jolie plans to give up acting: report | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie says she plans to give up acting after a "few more" films and switch her focus to directing. Jolie walked the red carpet in Sydney with husband Brad Pitt this week at the premiere of her new movie, World War II epic "Unbroken", which was filmed in Australia. It was her second foray behind the camera after the critically-acclaimed 2011 "In the Land of Blood and Honey" and she said directing was where she saw her future. "I'll do a few more, but I'll be happy to let that all go at some point," she told the Sydney Morning Herald of acting, in comments published online Thursday. "I love directing, I'm much happier directing," added the 39-year-old. "I like following a project all the way through. I like spending two years on something and learning about it... I like being pushed mentally to have to learn so much and be a part of every single aspect of a production." Jolie's new movie is based on the true story of a US Olympic athlete turned Japanese prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini, who competed in the 5,000m at the 1936 Games in Berlin before becoming a bombardier in World War II. When his plane crashed over the South Pacific, he spent 47 days adrift on a raft with a crewmate before being captured by Japanese soldiers in the Marshall Islands. He was held in a prisoner of war camp for more than two years, enduring beatings and torture, before his return home. Jolie, who has been acting since she was a child, said her preference for being behind the camera did not mean she thought any less of acting or actors. "I love actors, I love watching actors work, and I like to shine a light on them. I actually prefer it when it's not me," she told the newspaper. Since wrapping up "Unbroken", Jolie has directed both herself and Pitt in the yet to be released "By the Sea". "To direct myself was hard, to direct him (Pitt) was a challenge and to be in the scenes with him doing very heavy, heavy drama was difficult," she told The Australian newspaper. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Argentina's top football clubs searched in graft probe | ||
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Buenos Aires (AFP) - Authorities launched searches Wednesday at 23 top Argentine football clubs, including River Plate and Boca Juniors, in a probe over allegations they may have received kickbacks after granting the government TV broadcast rights. Judge Maria Servini de Cubria is trying to determine if fraud was perpetrated or kickbacks received when President Cristina Kirchner's government took control of televising national football matches as part of its popular Football for Everybody (FPT) program, a court source told AFP privately. Kirchner created FPT in 2009 when her center-left government wrested match broadcast rights from the TyC and TSC networks, which had cable rights, and secured the cooperation of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) with the plan. "The searches were restricted in scope to (information related to) Football for Everybody," the source said, adding that accounting books were seized at club headquarters. Lawmaker Graciela Ocana, a former health minister who broke with Kirchner and moved to the opposition, triggered the probe by raising questions about why -- as the government's budget to fund FPT surged -- clubs around the country claim still to be in the red. FPT makes it possible for everyone in football-mad Argentina to see all local league matches and national side matches for free -- as well as a Boca-River "clasico" match. The national football association headquarters in Buenos Aires was searched in August, and "officials there insist all the (Football for Everybody) funds all went to the clubs." Wednesday's search list included First Division clubs, including San Lorenzo; Velez Sarsfield; All Boys; Tigre; Independiente; Racing Club; Arsenal; Quilmes; Banfield; Lanus; Estudiantes; and Gimnasia La Plata. Authorities are looking at any involvement from Kirchner's chief of staff, Jorge Capitanich, and his predecessors Juan Manuel Abal Medina and Anibal Fernandez, the source added. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Feng, Park in running for LPGA's $1m bonus prize | ||
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Naples (United States) (AFP) - Park In-Bee, Stacy Lewis and defending champ Feng Shanshan highlight the field this week at the LPGA Tour Championship, the season finale that includes a $1-million bonus prize. The bonus is in addition to the $500,000 winner's check and will go to the winner of the Race to the CME Globe series. "It is just like everything matters this week," said golfer Michelle Wie. "Good golf will take care of everything. You've got to go out there and hit the shots. I let it take care of the rest." Wie was speaking about the bonus prize which could go to one of nine players, comprising Wie, Lewis, Park, Feng, New Zealand's Lydia Ko, Ryu So-Yeon, Swede Anna Nordqvist, Chella Choi and Karrie Webb, of Australia. The Player of the Year award is also up for grabs at the Tiburon Golf Club course. Lewis leads South Korea's Park by three points in that race. "A lot of the things going on this week so I can't just enjoy myself in the last tournament. I got to play very hard," Park said. Feng fired a 66 in the final round last year as she rallied to win the title by one stroke over Gerina Piller. The win for Feng was her second of the season and third of her tour career. Feng recently added her fourth international title in Malaysia and she has four top-seven finishes in her last five starts. The season finale comes just days after the Tour announced their 33-event schedule for 2015. The former Dinah Shore tournament, a major known since 2002 as the Kraft Nabisco Championship, will now be called the All-Nippon Airways Inspiration, with a 25 percent purse boost to $2.5 million. The event will remain at Mission Hills Country Club near Palm Springs, California and still be staged the week before the first men's major event of the year, the Masters at Augusta National. The 2015 tour includes one more event than this year and is worth $61.6 million compared to $57.55 million this season. Added to the lineup is the Coates Championship in Ocala, Florida, on January 28-31 with a Saturday finish on the eve of the National Football League's Super Bowl. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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North Korea Is Making New Threats Aimed At The US | ||
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North Korea has aimed fresh threats at the United States, reports The Associated Press. Specifically, it is sounding alarms that it will beef up its war capability and conduct a fourth nuclear test. The controversial nation is pointing its accusations at the United States because of a recent UN resolution urging the Security Council to refer the North's rights situation to the International Criminal Court. "It's the first time a U.N. resolution included the idea that the North's absolute leader could be targeted by prosecutors. Before the U.N. vote, a North Korean envoy threatened a nuclear test," writes the Associated Press. North Korea fired back in the wake of this news saying that the resolution approval is a "grave political provocation" orhcestrated by the US. The AP notes that an unidentified ministry spokesman says that North Korea's war response will be boosted up in an "unlimited manner" to match what they see as hostility coming from the US. "The reality is the need for us to maintain powerful state capability in order to defend our people's human rights," said Choe Myong Nam, North Korea's UN representative, according to CNN. "The outrageous and unreasonable human rights campaign staged by the United States and its followers in their attempts to eliminate the state and social system of the (North Korea) is compelling us not to refrain any further from conducting nuclear tests." CNN reports that China, Russia and Cuba are all against the resolution in question and they said the result of the vote was manipulated. China and Russia are among the five UN Security Council members who have the power of veto. North Korea's leaders have been accused of using murder, torture, slavery, and other tactics to, as CNN puts it "prop up the isolated regime and exercise total control over its citizens." The country denies all human rights allegations that have come its way.
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China manufacturing index dips to six-month low: HSBC | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - Manufacturing activity in China stagnated in November, British banking giant HSBC said Thursday, warning of "significant" pressures on the world's second-largest economy as its key purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit a six-month low. HSBC's preliminary PMI for the month came in at the 50.0 breakeven point dividing expansion and contraction, the bank said in a statement. It was lower than October's 50.4 and was the weakest reading since May's 49.4, according to the bank's data. The index tracks activity in China's factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the economy, a key driver of global growth. Protracted easing in new export order growth led output to contract for the first time in six months, while lingering deflationary pressures suggested domestic demand remained insufficient, Qu Hongbin, HSBC's economist in Hong Kong, said in the statement. "Furthermore, we still see uncertainties in the months ahead from the property market and on the export front," he said. "We think growth still faces significant downward pressures, and more monetary and fiscal easing measures should be deployed." Julian Evans-Pritchard, an analyst with research firm Capital Economics, also warned of persistent uncertainties in the economy. "With the outlook for investment still downbeat and policymakers unlikely to intervene heavily to shore up activity in the near term given the healthy labour market, we still expect growth to slow further over the coming quarters," he wrote in a note. China's economy expanded 7.3 percent in the third quarter, lower than the 7.5 percent expansion in the previous three months and the slowest since the depths of the global financial crisis, the government announced in October. Statistics for October released last week pointed to persistent weakness, with growth in industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, decelerating from a month ago and coming in below expectations. Fixed asset investment, which gauges government spending on infrastructure, also expanded at a slower rate in the first 10 months than the January-September period, official data showed. Beijing's 2014 growth target is about 7.5 percent, the same as last year, although officials including Premier Li Keqiang have openly stated a slightly lower increase is tolerable as long as the job market remains resilient. The HSBC survey, compiled by information services provider Markit, showed its employment component contracted at a faster pace this month than in October. Chinese authorities have since April used a series of limited measures to underpin growth, including targeted cuts in reserve requirements -- the amount of funds banks must put aside -- and a 500 billion yuan ($81.7 billion) injection into the country's five biggest banks for re-lending. HSBC said the final PMI for this month will be published on December 1. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Sony Drops Out Of Steve Jobs Movie | ||
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The latest player to drop out of Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic is a big one — Sony Pictures, who acquired the rights after Jobs' death in 2011, according to Variety. Christian Bale dropped out of the movie first, he was slated to play the lead role. Michael Fassbender has been announced as his successor to take on the main role of the tech giant. Aaron Sorkin is of course set to write the film, and Seth Rogen is still on track to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Danny Boyle will direct. Variety reached out to the studio, but they had no comment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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All Blacks tweet Samoa support in player row | ||
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Wellington (AFP) - Several senior All Blacks publicly backed Samoa's players on Thursday over a dispute with the Samoa Rugby Union (SRU) and its chairman, the island nation's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. A group of 10 New Zealand players, including superstars Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams, tweeted a picture of themselves holding a sign saying #SamoaUnited, which Williams tweeted with the message "Supporting our Samoan brothers". The #SamoaUnited hashtag has become a social media rallying point for the team, which this week dropped a threat to boycott Saturday's Test against England over their grievances, which have been festering since the last World Cup in 2011. Thousands have tweeted their support, including ex-Wallaby Matt Giteau and All Black legend Tana Umaga. The Samoa Observer reported this week that the players' complaints included an alleged lack of financial transparency in the SRU, with players being expected to pay air fares and coaches being denied a free-rein on selection. Lock Dan Leo said the Twickenham boycott threat was an "extreme" tactic borne from long-standing frustration about how the game is being run in Samoa, including an alleged lack of funds at grassroots level. Leo said the strike was abandoned after the players were told there would be reprisals against Samoa if it went ahead, including cancellation of a planned Test match against New Zealand in Apia next July. "We were told if we went ahead we would lose the All Blacks game next year, Olympic participation and the World Cup," he told Britain's Daily Telegraph this week. "We would never deprive our people of that. We want them to be proud of us, for taking a stand and then for playing with pride in the shirt at Twickenham on Saturday." Instead, Samoan players will reportedly make their position known by wearing black armbands during Saturday's Test. Samoa is the top performing Pacific island nation and has twice reached the World Cup quarter-finals, as well as recording wins against top-tier countries such as Australia, Wales and Scotland in recent years. Player disquiet first became public after the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, when the then-captain Mahonri Schwalger wrote a damning report accusing officials of treating the tournament like a holiday and concentrating more on drinking than their professional duties. Instead of sparking wholesale reform, Schwalger and several players who backed him, including outspoken centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, were frozen out of the team, ending their international careers. Malielegaoi has dismissed the latest grievances as the "opinions of little kids" and told players to resign if they are not happy. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Doubts linger over Clarke's Test fitness | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - Captain Michael Clarke still has a chance of leading Australia in the first Test against India but will not play in next week's final lead-up game, team medical staff said Thursday. Clarke has been in doubt to face India in next month's Test series opener in Brisbane since injuring his troublesome left hamstring while batting during last Friday's one-day win over South Africa in Perth. Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said it was still unclear how long Clarke would be out of cricket. However, he said it was "not that dramatic that he's going to miss the whole summer" and he was hoping the skipper would be able to lead Australia into the first Test, starting at the Gabba on December 4. Clarke has been ruled out of playing in a four-day Sheffield Shield match next week, which will act as the final hit-out before the first Test. "There comes a point where there's no more healing to be done and waiting longer does not give any more benefit," Kountouris told a media conference. "The real risks for him are he's got a back injury, it puts a lot of pressure on his hamstrings, he's an older athlete and that's a risk factor. "He's had multiple hamstring injuries on both legs. They're not risk factors we can get rid of." It is the third hamstring setback for Clarke, 33, since August, and he has already been ruled out of the remainder of the five-game ODI series against South Africa, where Australia took a 2-1 lead after a 73-run win in Canberra on Wednesday. Kountouris said Clarke had suffered an acute flare-up of a degenerative back condition which was complicating the hamstring issue. Asked how long he would be out of action with the latest injury, Kountouris said: "I can't put a figure on it right now. "As he is right now, he hasn't started running, he hasn't started doing any of the functional things that we want him to do. "He's not able to bat. So he's not ready to play at the moment. "He needs to start running and start doing things before we make a decision on whether he's OK to play. "I'm still hopeful that he might be right for the first Test because that's two weeks away." The test series will be followed by the one-day World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Japan October trade deficit narrows sharply on export boost | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's trade deficit narrowed sharply in October, data showed Thursday, as a weaker yen boosted exports while lower oil prices brought down the country's massive energy bill. The figures marked a bright spot among otherwise gloomy data lately, including GDP figures earlier this week that showed the world's number-three economy had slipped into recession. Japanese exports jumped nearly 10 percent last month, as higher shipments of cars, ships and steel helped the trade balance, while imports ticked up 2.7 percent. That translated into a monthly trade deficit of 709.9 billion yen ($6.0 billion), or nearly 36 percent lower than a year-before shortfall of 1,100.4 billion yen, the finance ministry said. The value of shipments to China rose 7.2 percent, while exports to North America climbed 8.5 percent and those to the European Union were up 5.4 percent. Energy costs have weighed heavily on Japan as the resource-poor country struggles to plug its energy gap after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of nuclear reactors that once supplied more than a quarter of its power. That problem has been exacerbated by the yen's sharp fall -- it is currently at a seven-year low against the dollar -- which hiked the cost of imports purchased in foreign currencies. But October oil imports were down 10.8 percent, partly reflecting lower prices on the world market. The country's trade balance was likely to narrow further as commodity prices moderate while the US Federal Reserve winds up its quantitative easing plan and eyes an interest rate hike next year, said Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. "The Federal Reserve is about to tighten its credit grip, sending commodities prices tumbling," he said in a note. "This is a reversal of what had happed before. The normalisation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy is expected to normalise Japan's trade balance." On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan upgraded its view on exports as it held off further expanding its huge stimulus programme. However, the picture for exports remains cloudy amid tepid growth in the eurozone and a slowdown in China, a key trading partner for Japan. And on Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth blitz, dubbed Abenomics, took a body blow as gross domestic product figures showed that the economy contracted for the second straight quarter, after an April sales tax rise hammered spending. Japan's economy shrank 0.4 percent, or at an annualised rate of 1.6 percent, between July and September, after suffering a 1.9 percent contraction in the previous three months. The poor reading prompted Abe to delay another tax hike slated for late next year, as he called a snap election to fend off ruling party rivals ahead of a leadership vote slated for 2015. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Cosby under pressure as shows scrapped amid sex claims | ||
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Los Angeles (AFP) - The US network NBC pulled the plug on a new Bill Cosby sitcom following a similar move by Netflix, piling pressure on the veteran comic over growing sex assault claims. The double setback came after a lawyer for the 77-year-old Cosby dismissed the claims of a string of attacks made by several women as "old, discredited allegations." "We can confirm that the Cosby project is no longer in development," NBC said in a statement, declining any further comment on the accusations dogging the award-winning entertainer. That came 12 hours after streaming video service Netflix said it was postponing the launch of a new stand-up comedy special, to be called "Bill Cosby 77." People magazine said the Netflix special was supposed to be a birthday celebration for Cosby, in which he would share stories from his childhood, first romantic relationships and parenthood. But the allegations of rape and sexual abuse made against him by several women in recent weeks are tarnishing the public image of the urbane actor, famous for his long TV career -- especially his role as a doting father on the popular "Cosby Show" in the 1980s and 1990s. Former model Janice Dickinson, now 59, on Tuesday added her claims to the list, telling Entertainment Tonight that Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1982. Dickinson said it happened after a dinner they shared in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where she said she had gone to talk about a job offer from Cosby. At the dinner she said she had red wine and a pill Cosby gave her because she had menstrual and stomach pains. "The next morning I woke up, and I wasn't wearing my pajamas, and I remember before I passed out that I had been sexually assaulted by this man," Dickinson said. In all some 13 women have made similar allegations against him, including Joan Tarshis, who claimed she was drugged and raped by Cosby in 1969. "I didn't go to the police because I was 19 years old. I was scared and I thought nobody would believe me... He was Mister America," Tarshis told CNN on Wednesday. - Cosby stays silent - So far, Cosby himself has remained silent on the issue. Cosby lawyer John Schmitt told entertainment news website The Wrap at the weekend: "Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr Cosby have resurfaced." "The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment," he added. The storm engulfing Cosby erupted last month when comedian Hannibal Buress branded him a "rapist" during a stand-up show in Philadelphia -- a clip that went viral. Cosby's PR team then invited fans on Twitter to create light-hearted images -- known as memes -- of the comedian. The campaign backfired when users created memes that referred to the rape allegations. A scheduled appearance by Cosby on the "Late Show with David Letterman" was cancelled as the entertainer faced a barrage of accusations. Despite the TV snubs, Cosby is going ahead with a series of live shows in the coming weeks, with some already sold out and no cancelations planned, according to celebrity news website TMZ. But TV talk show host Queen Latifah has shelved a scheduled interview with him to promote the live tour. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Facebook Shuttle Drivers Vote To Unionize (FB) | ||
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Facebook's shuttle bus drivers have voted to unionize, reports USA Today. The vote was 43-28. Facebook's shuttle bus drivers, which are contracted through Loop Transportation, earn about $20 an hour for driving the social network's employees around. According to one driver, their main gripe is that they have to work split shifts — they get a few hours off in the middle of the day, but can't work another job during that time and they all live too far away to commute back home. So in effect they end up working from 5:30 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and some drivers end up sleeping in their buses. Facebook isn't the only Silicon Valley company to employ contractors as a cost-saving measure. Apple uses security contractors at its offices. Those contractors allege they're underpaid and that they have no job security. Facebook's drivers will be represented by Teamsters Local 853. SEE ALSO: Facebook Shuttle Bus Driver Explains Why He's Furious About His Job Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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BHP says demerger plans will drive growth | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - The world's biggest miner BHP Billiton Thursday defended its plan to split the company by spinning off non-core assets, saying it would generate stronger growth, with a vote on the demerger set for May. BHP announced in August a proposal to create a new independent company by demerging some assets, including aluminium, manganese, silver and selected coal and nickel operations. Under the plan, the new entity -- provisionally named NewCo -- will be dual-listed in Sydney and London, with an additional listing in Johannesburg. BHP chairman Jac Nasser said key customer China and other emerging economies would continue to underpin demand for BHP's resources, with the demerger the best way to cut costs and boost productivity in a more challenging future. "Over the past decade, demand for commodities grew significantly," he told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in Adelaide. "Our strategy was to direct capital to projects in businesses that delivered the highest returns. This strategy has served our shareholders well." But over time the group has evolved into what it said were two distinct companies -- one comprising its largest businesses such as iron ore and copper, and another with more downstream exposure, and it is these it wants to spin off. "We see benefits for both companies and for all shareholders. For BHP Billiton, we can reduce costs and improve the productivity of our largest businesses more quickly," said Nasser. "This means we should generate stronger growth in free cash flow and a superior return on investment. "The new company will benefit from its own strategy and systems that will be tailored for a business of its scale. This, along with a dedicated focus on the new company, should see its assets perform even more strongly." The company said it was jumping over the necessary regulatory hurdles and planned an extraordinary general meeting in May next year to vote on the demerger. BHP posted a 23.2 percent jump in annual net profit to US$13.83 billion in the year to June 30, driven by strong iron ore production, and Nasser said the company's strategy would not change. He called iron ore, coal, copper, petroleum, and possibly potash the building blocks of BHP's future. Despite the challenges of sliding commodity prices and a slowing Chinese economy, chief executive Andrew Mackenzie was upbeat and said the primary focus was boosting capital returns for shareholders. "Everything we are doing, including productivity accelerated by the demerger, is aimed at increasing cash returns to you, our shareholders," he told the AGM. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Library of Congress honors 'Piano Man' Billy Joel | ||
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Washington (AFP) - The Library of Congress feted Billy Joel, presenting the American pop music icon with its Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at a gala concert in the US capital. Tony Bennett, Boyz II Men, John Mellencamp and LeAnn Rimes were among the recording artists lined up to perform in honor of the 65-year-old singer-songwriter, whose 33 Top 40 hits include "Piano Man," "Big Shot," "My Life," "Just the Way You Are" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." Created in 2007, the Gershwin Prize honors artists "who have created a lifetime of remarkable works that can be recognized and added to America's national cultural patrimony," said Library of Congress chief James Billington. "Billy Joel is a true example of this vision," he added. Wednesday's tribute came just two days after Joel was honored in New York by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and almost a year after his induction into the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest laurel for the performing arts. "They keep giving me all these awards, and I'm thinking, 'Are you trying to tell me something I don't know?' I mean, I'm 65 — I'm supposed to be irrelevant," joked the six-time Grammy winner in the USA Today newspaper. Since January, Joel has been performing a concert a month at New York's 18,200-seat Madison Square Garden, for which tickets are sold out through April next year. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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