A Really Simple Way To Double-Check How Private Your Facebook Really Is | ||
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At the beginning of the new year, Facebook will revamp its privacy policy to make it even easier to set parameters for who can see each individual post you make on the social network. In the meantime, it might be wise to do a little check-up. This weekend, a couple of friends and I were discussing our own profiles and how private they were. One friend mentioned that he made a point to occasionally logout of his Facebook and search for himself so he could check exactly what information was publically available. Turns out, there's an easier way than logging out. I actually thought that my Facebook was completely private until I used this feature to double-check and realized that several old photo albums I had uploaded could be viewed by anyone who searched for me. Not cool. This isn't a new trick, but could be especially helpful as we enter the season of (potentially wild) holiday parties. Don't let yourself unintentionally over-share! Here's how to easily check how private your profile is. Navigate to your own profile and then click the three dots next to "View Activity Log":
From there, click "View As":
You can then see exactly what people who aren't friends with you will have access to if they find you on Facebook. Or, you can check what specific people can see (for example, if you're friends with an old boss, you can view your profile from their perspective and double-check that they're only seeing exactly what you want them to):
Not happy? Now you know to go and adjust your privacy settings. If you haven't already done it, you'll see that there's an option to limit all of your old posts at once so only your friends can see them. I used this to fix the problem with my accidentally-public albums:
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What This Adorable Google '20% Project' For Tracking Santa Shows About How The Company Works | ||
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The interactive "Santa's Village" world offers a bunch of educational games to teach children geography, different holiday traditions, and basic Javascript, and culminates on December 24 when "Santa Tracker" lets you watch Mr. Claus's journey around the world on Google Maps. Santa Tracker started as the "20% project" of a couple of Google Earth employees back in 2004 and has just snowballed from there, getting a little bigger, better, and more well-staffed every year. "It feels like such a 'Google' thing," project lead Andres Ferrate, the project lead, told Business Insider. "This is primarily a volunteer effort within the company, but every year more people want to come help us and improve the experience." Ferrate says that dozens of people of all different departments helped out in creating the experience this year, with contributions coming from Google offices in Tokyo, Australian, Europe, Seattle, New York, and Silicon Valley. They have other work to do, but make time to contribute to Santa's Village just because they love working on it. The company doesn't make any money off its efforts, but because the entire village world is made using the same tools Google provides to its third-party developers, it does get a chance to showcase some of its products and how they can work together. It also lets Google see which tools could use improvement, Ferrate says, noting that"pushing the envelope" with some of them has led to a lot of feedback to Google's product teams. The team wanted to make it as magical an experience for kids as possible, while still tying in an educational aspect. At its core, the Santa's Village project is a good demonstration of how Google works. CEO Larry Page recently told Fortune that to make sure that Google continues to be successful, he asks himself "Would I want to work for Google?" He wants the company to be a good environment for employees who are curious, entrepreneurial, and looking to have an impact on the world. Sure, letting kids experience the excitement of Santa's voyage in a new way isn't as ground-breaking as, say, Google's goal of using magnetic nanoparticles to search your blood for disease, but it gives employees the chance to have fun. Hiring "smart creative" employees who have big ambitions is baked into Google's fabric. Admittedly, sometimes that can mean having to reel people's excitement in a little. "We get a lot of unexpected surprises. People will just come out of the wood-works and things that we hadn't even scoped in will get added," Ferrate says. "We actually have to make sure we're disciplined because otherwise this thing could grow a bit too big and complex." SEE ALSO: Why Facebook Forces A Bunch Of Its Engineers To Use Terrible, Low-End Phones Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Why Facebook Forces A Bunch Of Its Engineers To Use Terrible, Low-End Phones | ||
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You might not expect to find many flip phones in the high-tech and free-food laden Facebook offices, but your expectations would be wrong. Facebook is creating a special lab filled with low-end Android smartphones,"crappy old flip phones," and weak networking to help the company study the computing conditions in parts of the world like rural India that either have limited internet or none at all. Developers have to try to use Facebook's apps on super-old versions of Android so they can understand what it's like for people in areas without good network connection. "It’s easy to not have empathy for what the experience is for the majority of people in the world," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Time's Lev Grossman of Facebook's employees. So, the team manufactures empathy. "I force a lot of the guys to use low-end phones now," Javier Olivan, Facebook's head of growth, says. "You need to feel the pain." And Facebook employees aren't the only ones getting the terrible-phone treatment. "We brought in some phones, like very low-end Android, and we invited guys from the Valley here—the eBay guys, the Apple guys," Olivan says. "It’s like, 'Hey, come and test your applications in these conditions! Nothing worked." That pain is of one of the things motivating Zuckerberg's work on Internet.org, an initiative which aims to bring internet access to everyone in the world. Facebook recently released apps in Zambia and Tanzania with content like Wikipedia, Google Search, and AccuWeather that local people can get and use for free. Read the rest of Time's profile of Zuckerberg and Internet.org here. NOW WATCH: Your Facebook App Is Quietly Clogging Up Your iPhoneSEE ALSO: The One Question Larry Page Always Asks Himself To Make Sure Google Stays Successful Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Boy, Do Google's Nest Smoke Alarms Have A Lot Of Crappy Reviews | ||
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It's handyman day around the Blodget household. One of the items on the list is replacing a couple of smoke detectors. I recalled that Google is now in the smoke-alarm business, through its acquisition of Nest. I was looking for a WiFi-enabled smoke detector that can be controlled from an app, and Google's fits the bill. The Nest smoke detectors cost about 5-times as much as normal smoke detectors, but the app allows you to control the thing (sort of) from your phone. And that seems cool. So I went to Amazon to buy a couple. And then I had the same experience that I had when I went to Amazon to buy a Nest thermostat. I was bombarded by a fusillade of terrible reviews. Basically, Nest smoke detectors seem to come in two varieties: Some that work, which people love. And some that constantly squawk false alarms, which people hate. As a result, the Nest smoke detectors have tons of 5-star reviews and tons of 1-star reviews, with few in the middle. Well, I hate false alarms. I also already hate another apparent "feature" of the Nest, which is that you can't turn off the alarm from the app. Instead, in the middle of the night, you have to find a ladder, rip the thing off the ceiling, and figure out how to remove the batteries, all while wincing from the piercing shrieking coming out of the device. (And, after that, you presumably leave the device in a drawer somewhere, far from its batteries, and thus go unprotected.) That sounds horrible. So now I don't know what to do. Should I spring for one and hope that I get one of the good ones? Or should I go with one of the old reliable app-less ones? While I'm weighing my options, here are some representative binary reviews. GREAT:
AWFUL:
What sayest thou, Google? Fix on the way? What's a buyer to do? SEE ALSO: I Figured Out How To Fly First Class For The Price Of Coach! ;-) Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A Chinese Startup Made The Thinnest Smartphone In The World — Here's What It Looks Like | ||
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The Oppo R5 is the thinnest smartphone in the world. It's more than two millimeters slimmer than the iPhone 6, and it's so skinny it can't even fit a standard headphone jack. The phone, which was unveiled at the end of October, is only available in a few select countries at the moment. It will eventually roll out to various markets around the world, including the United States, but China-based Oppo hasn't made any announcements about that yet. It costs $450 unlocked, which is a bit cheaper than the iPhone 6 which starts at $500 without a carrier contract. We've only been playing with the phone for a couple of days, but we wanted to give you a look at how slim it is before we dive into the full review. Here's how it looks from the side. It's incredibly thin, except for the camera which slightly just out.
This is what the phone looks like from the front. It kind of looks like the iPhone, but the edges are a little sharper.
The back of the phone resembles the iPhone 5 and 5s with its white plastic antenna strips and silver aluminum finish.
The Oppo R5 makes the iPhone 6 Plus look chunky. It's noticeably slimmer.
It's almost as thin as magazine.
It's so slim it doesn't even have a headphone jack. You need to plug your headphones in via the micro USB port on the bottom using the adapter that comes in the box.
SEE ALSO: These Are The Best Cheap Smartphones You Can Buy Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Google Has An Internal Committee To Discuss Its Fears About The Power Of Artificial Intelligence (GOOG) | ||
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Google has assembled a team of experts in London who are working to "solve intelligence." They make up Google DeepMind, the US tech giant's artificial intelligence (AI) company, which it acquired in 2014. In an interview with MIT Technology Review, published yesterday, Demis Hassabis, the man in charge of DeepMind, spoke out about some of the company's biggest fears about the future of AI. Hassabis and his team are creating opportunities to apply AI to Google services. AI firm is about teaching computers to think like humans, and improved AI could help forge breakthroughs in loads of Google's services. It could enhance YouTube recommendations for users for example, or make the company's mobile voice search better. But it's not just Google product updates that DeepMind's cofounders are thinking about. Worryingly, cofounder Shane Legg thinks the team's advances could be what finishes off the human race. He told the LessWrong blog in an interview: "Eventually, I think human extinction will probably occur, and technology will likely play a part in this". He adds he thinks AI is the "no.1 risk for this century". It's ominous stuff. (Read about Elon Musk discussing his concerns about AI here.) People like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk are worried about what might happen as a result of advancements in AI. They're concerned that robots could grow so intelligent that they could independently decide to exterminate humans. And if Hawking and Musk are fearful, you probably should be too. Hassibis showcased some DeepMind software in a video back in April. In it, a computer learns how to beat Atari video games — it wasn't programmed with any information about how to play, just given the controls and an instinct to win. AI specialist Stuart Russell of the University of California says people were "shocked". Here's DeepMind's AI in action:Google is also concerned about the "other side" of developing computers in this way. That's why it set up an "ethics board". It's tasked with making sure AI technology isn't abused. As Hassibis explains: "It's (AI) something that we or other people at Google need to be cognizant of." Hassibis does concede that "we're still playing Atari games currently" — but as AI moves forward, the fear sets in. The main point of Google DeepMind's AI, says Hassabis, is to create computers that can "solve any problem". "AI has huge potential to be amazing for humanity", he mentions in the Technology Review interview. Accelerating the way we combat disease is one idea. But it's exactly technology capable of such brilliance which makes people so afraid. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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North Korea Denies Massive Sony Hack But Calls It A 'Righteous Deed' | ||
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North Korea denies responsibility for the the massive hack that forced Sony Pictures to shut down its computer system in late November, but called it a "righteous deed," The New York Times reports, quoting a spokesman of the country's National Defense Commission. Hackers leaked employee salary and social security information, as well the video files for five upcoming movies — releasing an estimated 11 terabytes of data. Although the spokesperson said North Korea didn't know "for what wrongdoings [Sony] became the target of the attack," he speculated that it "might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers" of the country who want to help "put an end to US imperialism." North Korea also called out the Sony-produced movie "The Interview," which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco plotting to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The country had previously called the movie an "act of war" and in this new statement acknowledges it as "a film abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership" of North Korea. The movie will be released in the US on December 25, and in June, North Korea threatened "merciless counter-measures" if the movie came out. Security experts call the enormous Sony hack "an unparalleled and well planned crime, carried out by an organized group." The US should "know that there are a great number of supporters and sympathizers with [North Korea] all over the world" and that "the righteous reaction will get stronger to smash the evil doings," the statement continued, according to The Wall Street Journal. SEE ALSO: Before He Left The Country, Russia's Mark Zuckerberg Had A SWAT Team With Guns Banging On His Door Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The Most Innovative New Tech Products Of 2014 | ||
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What pushed technology forward in 2014? Here's a look at our picks for the most innovative gadgets, apps, services, and other tech things to launch this year. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has the best screen ever put on a smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the best smartphone Samsung has ever made. It also has the best smartphone display ever put on a smartphone. Don't believe us? The experts at Displaymate agree. The iPhone 6 camera is the the best ever put in a smartphone. The camera on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is the best we've ever used on a smartphone. In just about every head-to-head test, it performs better than the competition. The Oculus Crescent Cove VR headset hints at the future of computing. It's becoming clear why Facebook bought virtual reality company Oculus for $2 billion this year. The company's latest prototype, the Crescent Cove, is closest to what that final consumer version of the headset will be like. The experience is simply mind blowing and nearly impossible to put into words. But once you try it, it's hard to disagree with Mark Zuckerberg that this is the next step in personal computing. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Amazon Accidentally Sent A Farmer A Piece Of Conveyor Belt Instead Of A Gift | ||
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The Segers are co-owners of Blue Heron Farm, a Texas farm specializing in ethically-farmed goat cheese. They told Gizmodo the nine-pound conveyor belt roller arrived in a poorly wrapped Amazon package. The Segers documented the whole weird experience on Blue Heron Farms' Twitter and Facebook pages from the day the mysterious package arrived. On Blue Heron Farm's Facebook page, Christian said: "This appears to be part of amazon. Like, literally, part of amazon. Part of the belt from the warehouse."
Post by Blue Heron Farm . "I'm a farmer so I'm familiar with a lot of mechanical doo-dads," Christian told Gizmodo. "Right away I could tell this was nothing I need at all, and it came from some really heavy-duty equipment." Jay Roussel, a friend of the Segers', had mentioned sending Christian and Lisa a chicken book via Amazon. They confirmed the package the Segers received was the one Roussel attempted to send them by checking the tracking number. "At some point the book he was supposed to be sending got out of the box and what wound up in the box we're pretty sure is part of their conveyor belt system from the warehouse," Christian told Gizmodo. The Segers took to Twitter to document their ordeal.
SEE ALSO: Amazon Is Taking On Jessica Alba With Premium Diapers And Butt Wipes Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Christian and Lisa Seger were expecting a surprise gift from a friend from Amazon in the mail. Instead, they received a piece of conveyor belt equipment. I've Figured Out How To Fly First Class For The Price Of Coach! ;-) | ||
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I flew from New York to London the other day. All else being equal, like most people, I would rather fly Business Class or First Class than Economy Class. But all else is distinctly not equal. So I don't. Happily, with some help from a friend, I have finally figured out how to fly First Class for the price of coach. My transformational adventure started at the gleaming new Delta Terminal at New York's JFK. For the first time in decades, parts of this American airport don't look like they belong in the third world. There's even art! There are also hip brands. Airport people have finally figured out that airport eaters prefer to eat the same stuff at airports that they eat in the outside world. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Uber Assisting Police Following Allegations Of Rape Against One Of Its Drivers In India | ||
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Uber is assisting police in the investigation of an alleged rape of a woman by one of its drivers in Delhi, India, marketing and partnerships exec Saad Ahmed posted this morning on the company's blog. A 26-year-old woman reported that she was sexually assaulted and beaten by her Uber driver late Friday night, before he dropped her off at her house. The driver reportedly switched off his phone after the incident, but Uber provided police with his license details, address, vehicle information, and trip details. The driver was arrested Sunday morning in his home, about 100 miles from Delhi, The Guardian reports, and will appear in court on Monday. Uber launched in India in last fall, and now operates in ten cities across the country. In November, it rolled out a service called UberGO for short trips for providing a "smarter, cheaper and safer way to get around your city." The company — which just raised $1.2 billion at a $41 billion valuation — competes mainly with local service Ola Cabs, which has raised roughly $277 million and operates in 19 cities. In its response to the allegations this morning, Uber writes that safety is its "#1 priority in India," and that "Uber exclusively partners with registered for-hire drivers who have undergone the commercial licensing process, hold government issued IDs, state-issued permits, and carry full commercial insurance." However, deputy commissioner with the Delhi police, Madhur Verma, told Reuters that there has been "a lot of negligence in terms of security" on Uber's part. In the United States, Uber has a three-step screening process, but over the last year that process, as well as the company's training process, have been critiqued for not being rigorous enough. "We will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials in their investigation to bring this crime to justice," Uber's Ahmed writes. Here's the full post from Uber:
Business Insider reached out to Uber for more details about its screening process and for how it could further promote safety in India and will update according. SEE ALSO: Before He Left The Country, Russia's Mark Zuckerberg Had A SWAT Team With Guns Banging On His Door Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's Why Instagram Demographics Are So Attractive To Brands | ||
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Instagram has suddenly become the go-to social network for young adults and teens in the United States. In a new report from BI Intelligence, we unpack data from over a dozen sources to understand how social media demographics are still shifting, including the migration of young users to photo-based social networking. Access The Full Report And Its 20 Charts By Signing Up For A Free Trial >> Here are a few of the key takeaways from the BI Intelligence report:
The report is full of charts (over 20 charts) and data that can be downloaded and put to use. In full, the report:
For full access to all BI Intelligence reports, briefs, and downloadable charts on the digital media industry and social media audience data and demographics, sign up for a free trial.
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I Tried The iPhone Keyboard That Lets You Type More Than 100 Words Per Minute | ||
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There are plenty of keyboard apps out there to help you type faster, but I've never seen anything quite like Nintype, the new iPhone keyboard that promises typing speeds up to 130 words per minute. Nintype uses a combination of methods to achieve this speed. It's designed to be used with two hands simultaneously, and while you mostly swipe from letter to letter, you can also use taps to indicate a double letter. The ability to touch multiple letters simultaneously is especially helpful for small words consisting of two letters, as you can literally tap both at the same time and it's on to the next word.
There's also plenty of shortcuts for accessing punctuation, saved texts, hashtags, and emojis without switching keyboards (you just type a description of the emoji like "smiley" and swipe down on the x key). Because there's a bit of a learning curve, Nintype suggests users start by using the keyboard normally and slowly graduating to more swipes and shortcuts, and there's a great little tutorial that comes with it if you need some practice. Unless you're familiar with the intricacies of Nintype, the tutorial is a good idea. I learned quite a few tricks in the tutorial I likely wouldn't have discovered otherwise, and it includes a ghost-like images of fingers that showed me step by step how to quickly type out larger words. I like Nintype's flexibility the most. If you're like me, you're used to typing on the iPhone's default keyboard, and Nintype doesn't penalize you for typing normally, that method still works just fine. The longer you use it, however, the more natural the swipes and types become, and I soon found myself speeding right along, though it'll be a while before I'm approaching anywhere near 100 words per minute. You can see a great demo of Nintype in action below, courtesy of MacRumors' Matt Gonzalez, or head on over the App Store to download Nintype for $4.99. SEE ALSO: The 12 Best New Apps You May Have Missed Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's What Will Happen To Amazon Without Jeff Bezos | ||
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Amazon president, chairman, and CEO Jeff Bezos explains his importance to Amazon's operations, and how he has helped shape its culture. Edited by Devan Joseph. Special thanks to Justin Gmoser and Sam Rega. Follow BI Video: On Facebook
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Check Out The Collection Of A Guy Who Started Accumulating Classic Apple Computers At Age 14 | ||
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When Apple enthusiast Mark Peck was 14 he started collecting classic Apple computers. To share his collection with the world, Peck created the website "The Apple Museum," which features everything from an original Macintosh with the signatures of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak engraved inside. "I acquired the vast majority of my collection for free or very cheap, from individuals and flee market sellers looking to get rid of what they saw as junk," Peck told Business Insider in an email. Here's the best of Peck's collection. This is the Apple Lisa, which launched in 1983. After the Lisa, Apple released the Macintosh, the first affordable personal computer with a mouse and graphical user interface (which was based on the Lisa). Inside of every original Macintosh computer are the signatures of the Apple team responsible for the iconic computer. "The signatures were etched into the form used to cast the plastic shells on the production line, so every Macintosh has an identical set," said Peck. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Here's Everything We Know About The Mysterious Group That Hacked Sony Pictures | ||
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Sony Pictures is currently recovering from a massive hack, which forced the company to shut down its computer system last Monday. Now everyone, from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to Sony to the international media, is trying to figure out who is behind the attack. Following suggestions that North Korea was involved in the hack as part of retaliation for an upcoming movie about two American journalists who attempt to kill Kim Jong-un, Re/code reported Wednesday night that Sony was ready to confirm that allegation. News of the Sony Pictures hack first emerged on Reddit when a former employee shared a photo taken by a current Sony worker. They claimed that the image was showing up on computer screens at Sony Pictures offices around the world. It shows a scary skull illustration, along with a threatening message from hacking group "#GOP." GOP stands for Guardians of Peace.
Hackers found documents on Sony Pictures' servers that contained passwords to a range of other services. It looks like they used those documents to gain access to Twitter accounts controlled by Sony. Here's one of the tweets posted by the hackers, showing a new illustration:
That image is significant because it gives us a clue about the motives of Guardians of Peace. It accuses Sony Pictures of being "criminals," with Sony's logo Photoshopped onto a gravestone, and a photo of Sony Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Lynton has been modified to make him look like Dracula. Guardians of Peace seem to be saying that Sony is killing the entertainment industry, and that its corporate practises are "criminal." The images posted by Guardians of Peace suggest a similar motivation to the anti-capitalist ethos of groups like Anonymous and LulzSec. LulzSec famously hacked into Sony Pictures in 2011, a revenge attack for Sony's legal action against a man who hacked into and modified the PlayStation 3 game console.
It's not just Photoshopped images that have been posted by the Guardians of Peace hackers, though. They have also talked via email to a small number of journalists. Salted Hash spoke to someone who claims to represent Guardians of Peace, and they made a bizarre claim that alluded to "The Interview," the Sony movie that has angered North Korea: We are an international organisation including famous figures in the politics and society from several nations such as United States, United Kingdom and France. We are not under direction of any state. Our aim is not at the film The Interview as Sony Pictures suggests. But it is widely reported as if our activity is related to The Interview. This shows how dangerous film The Interview is. The Interview is very dangerous enough to cause a massive hack attack. Sony Pictures produced the film harming the regional peace and security and violating human rights for money. The news with The Interview fully acquaints us with the crimes of Sony Pictures. Like this, their activity is contrary to our philosophy. We struggle to fight against such greed of Sony Pictures. Speaking to The Verge, someone claiming to represent Guardians of Peace shed some light on how the group gained access to Sony's computer network: "Sony doesn't lock their doors, physically, so we worked with other staff with similar interests to get in. Im sorry I can't say more, safety for our team is important" There are two theories emerging about the Sony Pictures hack. The first is that Guardians of Peace was given access to Sony's servers by a disgruntled employee. The group's public statements seem to lead to this explanation. A comment posted on Reddit by a former Sony Pictures employee who claims to have friends within the company says that it "100% makes sense" that an unhappy employee let hackers into Guardians of Peace. He also claims that "in the last year they have cleaned house, and not in a way most employees are happy about...everyone has been on edge there, morale is terrible, and good people were getting fired left and right." The other theory is that Guardians of Peace is actually a group of hackers working for North Korea's Unit 121, the collection of skilled hackers who regularly hack into networks in South Korea and the US. There's no proven link here, but security researchers have examined malware that could have been used by Guardians of Peace, and there are similarities with North Korean hacking tactics. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Another similarity between Guardians of Peace and LulzSec is that they both target the CEOs of the companies they hack. In 2011 Seth Rogen Crashes James Franco's 'SNL' Monologue To Address Sony Hack | ||
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James Franco hosted "Saturday Night Live" this weekend and opened the show by addressing last week's massive Sony hacks. "Something pretty crazy happened this week. I have this movie called 'The Interview' coming out at Sony and this week Sony Studios got all their computers hacked. This is true. These hackers have leaked real personal information about everybody that works at Sony. Social security numbers, emails, and I know eventually they're going to start leaking out stuff about me. So before you hear it from someone else, I thought it would be better if you hear it from me." Franco joked: "Soon you'll know that my email is CuterThanDaveFranco@AOL.com. My password is LittleJamesyCutiePie — and this is all just a real violation of my personal life." Then Seth Rogen joined Franco on stage, to warn his "Interview" co-star: "It's much, much worse than we thought it would be. You're not going to believe this but an hour ago they released some of our private photos from our phones."
The two also joked that the hackers released photos of them pretending to be John and Yoko. Earlier this week, leaked Sony documents revealed Rogen was paid $8.4 million and Franco $6.5 million for their roles in "The Interview," a Sony movie about two journalists who land an interview with the North Korean leader and are then recruited by the CIA to take part in a plot to poison him. North Korea reacted furiously in June when Sony announced its plans for the film, denouncing it as the work of "gangster moviemakers." Franco closed the monologue by adding: "Oh and also, all the girls who got any Instagram messages from me last year, the hackers did it! It was the hackers!" In April, Franco was busted for trying to pickup a teenage fan on Instagram. Watch Franco's full SNL monologue here:
SEE ALSO: Sony Hackers Reveal How Much Seth Rogen And James Franco Were Paid For 'The Interview' MORE: LEAKED: Hacked Sony Docs Reveal Top 17 Executives' Multimillion-Dollar Salaries Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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There's A Hidden Message On The Sign Outside Facebook's Campus — It Reminds Employees To Stay Motivated | ||
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Facebook's sprawling campus in Palo Alto, California was previously owned by Sun Microsystems. Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle in 2009. When Facebook moved into the office, Mark Zuckerberg didn't replace Sun Microsystem's sign. Instead, he flipped it over and put Facebook's name on the front. Why? The Sun logo reminds employees to stay motivated. It demonstrates what can happen when you're on top but fail to innovate. Lev Grossman interviewed Mark Zuckerberg for Time. Grossman writes about the sign's symbolism here: Because of the limits of space and time, a lot of Silicon Valley companies don’t build new headquarters; they just take over the discarded offices of older firms, like hermit crabs. Facebook’s headquarters used to belong to Sun Microsystems, a onetime power-house of innovation that collapsed and was acquired by Oracle in 2009. When Facebook moved in, Zuckerberg made over the whole place, but he didn’t change the sign out front, he just turned it around and put Facebook on the other side. The old sign remains as a reminder of what happens when you take your eye off the ball. Here's the back of the sign: SEE ALSO: The One Question Larry Page Always Asks Himself To Make Sure Google Stays Successful Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The 25 Best Movies Of 2014 In One Single Amazing Video | ||
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David Ehrlich, a renowned movie critic and the editor-at-large of movie magazine "Little White Lies," has cut and edited a glittering video with scenes from 25 of his personal favourite films of the year. The only requirement for making the list was that the movie had to be formally distributed in the US in 2014. The soundtrack of the video also comes entirely from movies of 2014. Have a look:
Here is the complete list of movies that appear in the video, with Ehrlich's favourite movie ranked as #1. 25. Lucy 24. We Are The Best! 23. Timbuktu 22. Selma 21. Love Is Strange 20. Listen Up Philip 19. Godzilla 18. Starred Up 17. Why Don't You Play In Hell? 16. Mommy 15. The Babadook 14. Palo Alto 13. Ida 12. Goodbye To Language 11. Boyhood 10. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 9. Force Majeure (aka Turist) 8. God Help The Girl 7. The Double 6. Only Lovers Left Alive 5. Gone Girl 4. Nymphomaniac 3. Under The Skin 2. Inherent Vice 1. The Grand Budapest Hotel Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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HP’s First Black Professional In Computers Explains Why Tech Lacks Racial Diversity | ||
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Especially, when it comes to African-American workers, the employment numbers are quite dismal: Apple and eBay are 7% black, while Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are all roughly 2% black. There may be a lot of reasons for this, but Ken Coleman, special advisor of Andreessen Horowitz, gave four possible reasons for it in a recent interview with Fast Company. Coleman, HP’s first black professional in its computers unit, held executive positions at HP and Silicon Graphics, and if often referred to as Ben Horowitz’s favorite mentor. - Tech forgot about Hispanics, blacks, and women: Coleman argues the society gave tech a pass on racial diversity because there are so many Asians and East Indians working in the sector. Asians, in fact, do make up over 30% of workers at a lot of the tech companies. “We have so many Asians and East Indians that I think people have said, well, that’s diversity, so it’s not an issue,” he says. - Not a meritocracy: The tech industry is often called a meritocracy, in that you will be rewarded if you’re smart and work hard. But Coleman says many interviews tend to be subjective, and it’s no longer a meritocracy if racial bias comes in to play. He says he’s experienced this often in promotion meetings in the past. - Not enough black people in the Bay Area: Coleman says it gets hard to recruit black people in the Bay Area, because there’s not enough diversity here. “If I’m from Detroit or New York or Atlanta, and I don’t see as many people here in Silicon Valley as I’m used to seeing, the environment is not necessarily comforting,” he says. - Trying to reduce risk: If you’re running a company with a bunch of white, male, Stanford and Ive league graduates, then it’s less likely that the you’ll take the risk and hire someone who doesn’t fit in that profile. “My risk meter goes off and there’s a higher bar you have to jump over to make me feel comfortable hiring you,” he says. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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When you look at 10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open | ||
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Good morning! Here are 10 things you absolutely need to know in markets today. Plunging Oil Prices Are Pushing BP Into A Round Of Job Cuts. BP is to axe middle managers and could freeze projects as it grapples with the plummeting oil price, The Sunday Times reported, citing finance director Brian Gilvary. European Investor Confidence Is Coming. The Sentix index of investor confidence is coming out at 9:30 a.m. GMT. Analysts are expecting that there will be a small improvement in the index, which is still in negative territory. Greece Passed Its 2015 Budget With A Midnight Vote. The budget, which predicts 2.9% economic growth for Greece next year, and a deficit of just 0.6% of GDP, was passed by 155 lawmakers to 134 overnight. Japan's Sales Tax Shock Was Worse Than We Thought. Japan's economic contraction in July-September was deeper than initially expected, according to revised data on Monday that backs Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent decision to delay a second sales tax hike. The annualised contraction was 1.9%, not 1.6% as previously thought. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Is Set For An Even Bigger Landslide. Latest media projections show Abe's LDP winning 303-320 of 475 seats, up from the 294 he won in 2012. Germany's Industrial Production Ticked Up. Output rose 0.2% in October, slightly less than analysts had expected. That follows a 2.5% increase in factory orders for the same month. China's Latest Trade Figures Don't Look Healthy. China's imports fell unexpectedly in November while export growth slowed, adding to concerns the world's second-largest economy could be facing a sharper slowdown. Exports rose 4.7& in November from a year earlier, while imports dropped 6.7% - the sharpest decline since March. Asian Markets Are Up. Bad data from both Japan and China doesn't seem to have weighed too heavily on Asian investors. The Nikkei closed up 0.08% to start the week, the Hang Seng is currently up 0.48%, while the Shanghai Composite has surged again, and is currently up 3.44%. German Chancellor Angela Merkel Says France Should Be Reforming More Quickly. Crisis-hit France was urged Sunday by Germany and its own Nobel prize-winning economist to reform, days before Paris prepares to unveil a controversial set of measures to unblock its stagnating economy. The Founders Of India IT Firm Infosys ARE Selling Shares Worth $1.1 Billion. Four of the founders of Infosys are seeking to raise about $1.1 billion (£706.7 million) by selling stakes in the Indian IT outsourcing company, IFR reported on Monday. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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High-level reinforcement for final climate push | ||
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Lima (AFP) - Ministers and the UN chief fly into Lima this week to bolster negotiators in a final push for consensus on key elements of a world pact to curb potentially disastrous global warming. With a week of talks gone, and five days left, parties remain deeply divided on key aspects of the deal they have committed to signing in Paris in December 2015, to take effect in 2020. As Typhoon Hagupit pummeled the eastern Philippines over the weekend, negotiators were reminded of the "planetary emergency" looming. "Essentially, if we continue as we are, we may drastically rewrite the relationship between humans and the planet, potentially, leading to the mass migration of perhaps hundreds of millions or billions of people," climate economist Nicholas Stern warned in a new report. "History tells us this could result in long and sustained conflict. These are the stakes we are playing for." The UN has set a target of curbing average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. The goal must be met by deep cuts in soaring emissions of greenhouse gases -- requiring a costly shift from cheap and abundant fossil fuels to less polluting energy sources. NGOs, activists and scientists observing the talks in Lima focused on sharing out the emissions budget said the pace was too slow. "Unfortunately, the negotiators... seem to have forgotten that they are here to solve a planetary emergency," said Tasneem Essop of green group WWF. Voltaire Alferez of the Philippines NGO Aksyon Klima added: "As we speak, people are paying for our leaders' lethargy with their lives and livelihoods." The Lima talks have two main tasks: drafting a negotiating outline for the Paris deal, and agreeing on the format of carbon-curbing pledges that nations have committed to submit from the first quarter of next year. But negotiators do not see eye to eye on some of the very basics: Will the pledges be legally binding on rich and poor nations alike? Must rich nations commit in writing to financial support for climate adaptation in the developing world? Will pledges be assessed for adequacy? "None of this has been settled," French negotiator Laurence Tubiana told AFP, but added this was "normal" in climate diplomacy -- known for a poker-like approach with nations holding out until the very last minute. After a free day, negotiators get back to work on Monday, hoping the arrival Tuesday of ministers and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will provide a momentum boost.
- Red lines -
Ban, who hosted a leaders' summit in New York in September that yielded vows of renewed political commitment, will on Tuesday open the "high-level segment" of the talks and meet ministers separately. Rich nations, including the United States, want the deal to focus on mitigation -- meaning emissions curbs -- but poor, developing and small island states at high risk of climate change-induced sea-level rise, demand guarantees of global support for adaptation to climate risk, and compensation for unavoidable loss and damage. "From a developing country perspective... our red line is that the post-2020 agreement has to deal with adaptation," South African negotiator Judy Beaumont said. "The impacts of climate change are already being felt, particularly in developing countries, and so therefore we already have to be building our capacity for adaptation." On Friday, a UN report said developing nations may need as much as $500 billion per year by 2050 for adaptation. Another sticking point is assessment of national pledges and their global impact on the two-degree Celsius goal, with emissions giant China emerging as a strong opponent last week. But Beaumont said many other developing nations consider assessment a crucial part of the process. "You want to make sure that what is put on the table... adds up and is adequate to meet the global temperature goal," she said. If not, "then multilaterally we've got to take a decision on what we do about that." Ministers are scheduled to meet Tuesday on the other divisive issue: climate finance for developing nations. Scientists say the world is on target for four degrees Celsius, or more, with a resulting increase in extreme events like hurricanes and storms, sea-level rise, floods, droughts and desertification.
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70 Ethiopian migrants drown in shipwreck off Yemen coast: Yemen govt | ||
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Sanaa (AFP) - Seventy Ethiopian migrants have drowned after their boat sank near the entrance to the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said. The boat capsized off the port city of Al-Makha, near the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website Sunday. It said the boat sank in bad weather.
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The 18 Most Unequal Cities In America | ||
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Income inequality in America is an endlessly fascinating, albeit depressing, topic. But American cities have varying levels of inequality. The Census Bureau makes annual estimates of a standard measure of inequality for US metropolitan areas. The Gini index is a measure, ranging between 0 and 1, of inequality. The Gini index measures how much the distribution of income or wealth in an area differs from a completely equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 indicates that everyone has the same income; an index of 1 means one person has all the money and everyone else has nothing. We ranked 382 metropolitan areas with populations of at least 65,000 using Census estimates from the 2013 American Community Survey, and found the 18 areas with the highest Gini indices. We also included the income shares of the ends of the distribution: the top 5% and the bottom 20%, also from the Census Bureau.  Gini Index: 0.5032 Top 5% Income Share: 24.0% Bottom 20% Income Share: 2.7% New Orleans has an unfortunate and long history of inequality. The devastation from Hurricane Katrina amplified and accelerated the region's problems. 17: Brownsville-Harlingen, TX Gini Index: 0.5034 Top 5% Income Share: 24.0% Bottom 20% Income Share: 2.7% According to the Census Bureau's 2013 American Community Survey, the Brownsville metro area, located in the southernmost part of Texas, has much lower educational attainment than many other metro areas: A full 36% of residents have less than a high school diploma, compared to just 13.4% of Americans overall. Similarly, only 17.1% of the Brownsville metro area's population over 25 years old have at least a bachelor's degree, while 29.6% of Americans over 25 do. 16: Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Gini Index: 0.5038 Top 5% Income Share: 26.0% Bottom 20% Income Share: 3.0% Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunter, and mining are a much more important industry in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro area than in other places. According to the 2013 American Community Survey, 9.2% of workers in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara are in this sector, while just 2.0% of American workers are overall. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Millions hunker down in Philippine capital ahead of storm | ||
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Manila (AFP) - Millions of people in the Philippine capital hunkered down Monday as a major storm churned towards the megacity, after killing at least two people and destroying thousands of homes on remote islands. However Hagupit weakened from a typhoon as it moved slowly across the central Philippines, fuelling cautious optimism the disaster-weary Southeast Asian nation may avoid another calamity involving hundreds of deaths. In Metro Manila, a sprawling coastal megapolis of 12 million people that regularly endures deadly flooding, well-drilled evacuation efforts went into full swing as forecasters warned of heavy rain from dusk. "We are on 24-hour alert for floods and storm surges... it's the flooding that we are worried about," Joseph Estrada, mayor of Manila, the original city of two million within Metro Manila, told AFP. Thousands of people, mostly the city's poorest residents who live in shanty homes along the coast and riverbanks, crammed into schools and other government evacuation centres across the megacity on Monday. Schools were also suspended, the stock market was closed, many office and government workers were told to stay at home, and dozens of commercial flights were cancelled.
- Prepared -
The preparations were part of a massive effort led by President Benigno Aquino to ensure minimum deaths, after 7,350 people died when Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated large parts of the central Philippines in November last year. Millions of people in communities that were directly in the path of Hagupit over the weekend were sent into evacuation centres or ordered to remain in their homes. The storm, the strongest to hit the Philippines this year with wind gusts of 210 kilometres (130 miles) an hour when it made landfall, caused massive destruction in remote farming and fishing towns. Thousands of homes were destroyed, power lines were torn down, landslides choked roads, and flood waters up to one-storey high flowed through some towns. Despite the damage, the government had by Monday morning confirmed just two deaths and there was widespread optimism that the intense focus on evacuations had saved many lives. "All reports from affected areas have yet to come but we remain hopeful that more people have been spared," presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told AFP. "The common factor between them is that preemptive evacuation was carried out and warnings by authorities were taken seriously." In Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people that was one of the worst-hit during Haiyan, authorities said there were no casualties over the weekend despite fierce winds that destroyed homes. "There is a collective sigh of relief... we were better prepared after Yolanda," Tacloban vice mayor Jerry Yaokasin told AFP on Sunday, referring to Haiyan by its Philippine name. However just as crucially, Hagupit's winds were significantly weaker than Haiyan, which was the strongest storm ever recorded on land. There was also no repeat of Haiyan's tsunami-like storm surges. Hagupit's sustained winds dropped to 140 kilometres an hour on Sunday, then continued to weaken after leaving the eastern Philippine islands and passing over the Sibuyan Sea southeast of Manila. Its winds were down to 110 kilometres an hour on Monday morning and were expected to weaken further as it passed just south of the capital in the evening, according to local weather agency Pagasa. However Pagasa said the winds were still capable of doing major damage to homes, and heavy rains were expected within Hagupit's 450-kilometre-wide weather front.
- Climate change -
The Philippines endures about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly. But scientists say the storms are becoming more violent and unpredictable because of climate change. Greenpeace International director Kumi Naidoo called on United Nations negotiators currently meeting in Peru to take note of Hagupit and act with more urgency to hammer out a world pact on global warming. "Nature does not negotiate. We actually have to wake up and smell the coffee," Naidoo, who is in the Philippines to "bear witness" to Hagupit, told AFP. "We need to understand that we are running out of time." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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China's White-Hot Stock Market Is Going Up Again | ||
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China's stock market is going higher. The Shanghai Composite, which opened lower, is up 1.4%. Ever since the People's Bank of China unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rates on November 21, the Shanghai composite has been going bonkers, surging a whopping 18%. It's up 45% since the beginning of the year. "Equity bulls have benefited from a perfect storm of positive conditions," Bloomberg's Tom Orlik wrote on Friday. "Policy easing has boosted optimism about growth, lower oil prices raise profit expectations, and the Shanghai-Hong Kong connect promises to bring more funds onshore." "The trouble is that none of those factors are quite as positive as they seem," Orlik cautioned. He notes that GDP growth expectations have been stuck at 7% and the Shanghai-Hong Kong connect has been disappointing with trading flow quotas not being met. So, what's going on here? Orlik attributes the recent surge to retail Chinese investors piling in. "A sustained rally since the middle of the year appears to have lured many back into the market, evidenced by the pronounced rise in trading accounts," he wrote. The folks at Bespoke Investment Group put together the chart below overlaying the Shanghai Composite with the creation of Chinese brokerage accounts. The correlation is compelling. Unfortunately, this is likely to end badly, Orlik says. "China’s retail investors have an unfortunate track record of jumping in at the top of the market," he wrote. "A 2011 survey conducted by Gan Li, an economist at Texas A&M University, found that just 22 percent were up on their investments, compared to 56 percent who had made losses and 22 percent breaking even."
SEE ALSO: UBS: Here's What A $10 Move In Oil Does To GDP Around The World Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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In-form Manchester United eye podium place at St Mary's | ||
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London (AFP) - Louis van Gaal's resurgent Manchester United will have their eyes on third place in the Premier League table when they tackle Ronald Koeman's sputtering Southampton at St Mary's on Monday. After winning only three of their first seven league games, a run of four consecutive victories has taken United to within touching distance of early-season surprise package Southampton. Koeman's side shot up the table by winning eight of their nine games between late August and early November, but a draw at Aston Villa and losses to Manchester City and Arsenal extinguished their momentum. Victory for United will lift them above Southampton into third place and allow Van Gaal's team to close to within eight points of leaders Chelsea, who crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday. It would also further galvanise United's confidence ahead of next weekend's home game with arch enemies Liverpool, but Van Gaal has warned his players not to get ahead of themselves. "Southampton play better at this time and have more points at this moment than Liverpool, so I think it's good that we have to play Southampton now," the United manager said. "I think they have a good squad, a lot of players that I know and who were offered to us. I think they are able to come in the top four, but that's also because I believe in the management of Ronald Koeman and his brother (Erwin)." Van Gaal's relationship with his fellow Dutchman Koeman provides one of the sub-plots for Monday's game. Koeman, 51, successfully worked under 63-year-old Van Gaal at Barcelona, but the pair fell out at Ajax in 2004, when Koeman was coach and Van Gaal technical director. Van Gaal described Koeman as "weak" in his autobiography, but the two men have refused to discuss their relationship in the build-up to the game, with both declaring the matter "private".
- Dell memories -
Of more pressing concern for Koeman is the spate of injuries that has afflicted his side during their three-game winless run. Midfielder Jack Cork has been ruled out for six weeks after damaging ankle ligaments during Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Arsenal, while centre-back Toby Alderweireld is a doubt after being forced off by a hamstring problem in the same game. French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is also doubtful after injuring his right adductor muscle in Southampton's 3-0 loss at home to City, but winger Dusan Tadic has overcome a knock. Koeman drew confidence from his side's improved display at Arsenal, where they lost to an 89th-minute goal by Alexis Sanchez, but knows that in United they are likely to face another stern examination. "It's not an easy one because it's Manchester United -- a big name with big players -- but it's a challenge for us to try to win against them," he said. "We can't change that we lost the last two games, but we have to understand that we played against big teams. We have to show our qualities." United will recall captain Wayne Rooney after he missed Tuesday's 2-1 win over Stoke City with a knee problem, but record signing Angel di Maria is likely to miss out again with a hamstring problem. Southampton's old ground, The Dell, was the scene of some of United's most chastening Premier League defeats, including a 6-3 demolition inspired by Matt Le Tissier in October 1996. Earlier that year, United lost 3-1 after ditching their grey away kit at half-time because manager Alex Ferguson claimed his players were struggling to pick each other out against the crowd. United have a better record at St Mary's, however, having won seven and drawn one of the nine games they have played there. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Global Stock Market Investors Should Mark Their Calendars For This December 17 Report (DIA, SPY, SPX) | ||
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US stocks have had a great year, with the S&P 500 climbing 12% since the beginning of the year. The S&P has been outperforming the world's developed markets, while lagging China and India. For global investors, the question is whether or not to crank up or scale back exposure to US stocks after the massive gains we've already seen. Charles Schwab's Jeff Kleintop thinks the US current account data can help with this decision. At a media event on Thursday, Kleintop said he'll pay close attention to the next update on the current account — which measures trade and investment flows in and out of the US — which comes on December 17. "US stocks outperformed international stocks when the US current account improved as a percentage of GDP," Kleintop noted. "International stocks outperformed US stocks when the US current account worsened as a share of GDP." "Importantly, the current account tends to lead relative market performance by about three quarters, providing investors with ample time to adjust their portfolios ahead of any change in the performance trend," he said. The current account balance as a percent of GDP has flattened recently (see the blue line in the third chart), suggesting we may be coming to an inflection point.
While there may be change coming to these balances, Kleintop continues to favor US stocks over non-US stocks. "The current account data for the third quarter will be released on December 17," he said. "I will be watching this closely for signs of a change in direction, but for the time being the current account, relative valuations, and relative growth prospects all suggest U.S. stocks are likely to continue to outperform the broad international benchmarks." SEE ALSO: 54 Bizarre Ways You Can Track The Economy Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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"US petroleum exports are soaring," he noted. "However, the US trade balance in other goods has been rapidly deteriorating. These two factors have offset each other lately. As a result, the current account could be near a change of direction. The key to that direction in 2015 may be the dollar." China November trade surplus leaps 61.4% to record $54.47 bn | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - China's trade surplus hit a record $54.47 billion in November, soaring 61.4 percent on-year as imports to the world's second-largest economy surprisingly fell, the government said Monday. Exports grew at a slower 4.7 percent year-on-year to $211.66 billion in November, while imports dropped 6.7 percent to $157.19 billion, the General Administration of Customs said, highlighting continued weaknesses in the world's number two economy. The trade surplus beat August's previous record of $49.8 billion and was also better than the median forecast of $45.1 billion in a survey of 16 economists by Dow Jones Newswires. But export growth slowed from the 11.6 percent year-on-year expansion in October, while the unexpected contraction in imports compared with growth of 4.6 percent that month. Analysts had expected exports to grow 8.0 percent and imports to expand 3.9 percent. The latest trade figures come as China is assailed by weakness in industrial and financial sectors, prompting the country's central bank last month to cut benchmark interest rates for the first time in more than two years. China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew an annual 7.3 percent in the third quarter, the slowest since the height of the global financial crisis in early 2009. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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New Chinese Trade Stats 'Paint A Grim Picture' | ||
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China's imports fell unexpectedly in November while export growth slowed, adding to concerns the world's second-largest economy could be facing a sharper slowdown and adding pressure on policymakers to ramp up stimulus measures. Exports rose 4.7 percent in November from a year earlier, while imports dropped 6.7 percent - the sharpest decline since March, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Monday. That left the country with a record trade surplus of $54.5 billion for the month, which analysts say could increase upward pressure on the yuan even as exporters are already struggling. Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports to grow 8.2 percent, a 3.9 percent rise in imports and a trade surplus of $43.5 billion, all slowing from October. "Despite another record trade surplus, the underlying details paint a grim picture with slower export growth and a contraction in commodity imports in volume terms," said Andy Ji, senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Singapore. Exports have been the lone bright spot for China's economy in the last few months, perhaps helping to offset soft domestic demand, but there are doubts about the accuracy of the official numbers amid signs of a resurgence of speculative currency flows through inflated trade receipts. Dariusz Kowalczyk, an economist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, said over-reporting in exports may have been curbed in November, which contributed to weak exports along with base effects. But he added the import contraction was "shocking", reflecting not only lower commodity prices but poor domestic demand. "This means that pressure will rise on the government to do more to stimulate growth," he said. "We expect a reserve requirement ratio cut in December, introduction of reverse repos this week, and another (interest) rate cut in the first quarter. The yuan should rise further on the data." After saying for months that China does not need any big economic stimulus, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) surprised financial markets by lowering rates on Nov. 21 to shore up growth and help firms pay off mountains of debt. The government is due to release data on factory output, fixed-asset investment and retail sales later this week. Analysts see more policy moves in coming months if the economy continues to stumble, with many expecting both more rate cuts and reductions in banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR). Sources familiar with China's policy-making said leaders are prepared to lower rates again and loosen lending curbs on concerns that falling prices could cause a spike in bad loans, business failures and job losses. Annual growth in the world's second-largest economy slowed to 7.3 percent in the third quarter - the weakest since the height of the global financial crisis - as the sagging housing market and tighter credit conditions weigh on the broader economy. (Reporting by China economics team; Editing by Kim Coghill) Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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LARRY SUMMERS: It Shouldn't Take This Long To Fix An Escalator | ||
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In a new op-ed in The Financial Times, Harvard professor Larry Summers writes: Take a walk from the US Air Shuttle in New York’s LaGuardia airport to ground transportation. For months you will have encountered a sign saying “New escalator coming in Spring 2015” ... It will take almost half as long to fix the escalator in LaGuardia as it took to build the Empire State building 85 years ago. Is it any wonder that the American people have lost faith in the future and in institutions of all kinds? If rudimentary tasks such as keeping escalators going and bridges repaired are too much to handle, it is little surprise that disillusionment and cynicism flourish. In his essay, Summers — who was considered to replace Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman last year — bemoans the state of infrastructure investment in the US, arguing that three steps must be taken in order to improve not just the infrastructure itself, but the discourse that surrounds our institutions responsible for this kind of investment. Summers argues that first, the discussion on which infrastructure projects to pursue must shift from projects that occasion a celebration upon completion to those that are less sexy: maintenance and upkeep. "[B]efore anyone contemplates spiffy new high-speed railway systems, careful consideration should be given to repairing existing rail lines and stations," Summers writes. Summers also calls for accounting methods that show the public what deferred maintenance really is, which for Summers is "borrowing from the future." Lastly, Summers says the public and the media need to be less accepting of institutional failure. "A vicious cycle in which governments perform poorly and so are starved of resources and so perform worse is serious threat to healthy democracy," Summers writes. "Fixing escalators and building bridges may seem like small stuff at a time of economic crisis and geopolitical instability. But it is time we recognize the importance of what may seem small to what is ultimately important — the faith of citizens in their collective future." And so overall, just about a year removed from his famous "secular stagnation" speech, Summers calls not just for spending on infrastructure, but a new way to talk and think about what infrastructure means to the US economy. Read Summers' full piece at The Financial Times here » SEE ALSO: GOLDMAN: So Far, Larry Summer Has Been Wrong About The US Economy Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Clarke to lead Australia in India Test, Hughes 13th man | ||
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Adelaide (Australia) (AFP) - Michael Clarke was Monday passed fit to lead Australia in the emotional opening Test against India in Adelaide, with the late Phillip Hughes symbolically named 13th man. Clarke had been in doubt for the series opener starting Tuesday with recurring hamstring problems and in the wake of the heart-wrenching death of his close friend Hughes, which plunged the cricket world into mourning. He was not at the traditional captain's pre-match media conference at the Adelaide Oval, but fast bowler Mitchell Johnson confirmed the skipper would lead Australia in what will be an emotional day. Hughes never regained consciousness after being struck by a bouncer during a domestic game in Sydney, and he died in hospital surrounded by family and friends last month. "It's a huge boost to have Clarkey back in and playing for us," Johnson told reporters. "I think with his captaincy he's shown how strong he's been over the last couple of weeks with the tragedy that we've had. We need him out there in this tough series." A number of tributes are planned for the Test with the Australian players wearing Hughes' Test cap number 408 on their playing shirts, and black armbands in honour of their former teammate. Before play, the Australian and Indian teams will stand before a large 408 painted on the oval's playing surface as they observe a video tribute, narrated by former Australia Test captain and prominent commentator Richie Benaud. Johnson said the availability of Clarke, who has been widely praised for his leadership during the Hughes crisis, would help the team cope. "He's a strong leader. He has been an aggressive leader," the fast bowler said. "He's a huge boost for us in our line-up. I really hope that he can go out there and score a lot of runs for us. We all know that he's really keen to do that. He's a huge part and we're glad that he's back." Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and batsman Shaun Marsh were left out of the starting XI, with Hazlewood to stay in Adelaide and Marsh to return to playing duties with his Western Australian state side. Australia - Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood (12th), Phillip Hughes (13th) Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's How Prepared Each State Is For A Natural Disaster | ||
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The folks at Foodstorage.com have put together some crucial data about how safe we all are in one big and wonderful infographic. The first graphic below shows a map of the United States and the disasters most likely to hit certain parts of the country. Foodstorage.com also poured through the data to look at how each state is prepared for disaster. This is measured by each state's disaster budget per capita according to NEMAweb.org. The results are very telling. Texas is in the worst shape, according to this data. They are ranked as the least safe and least prepared state. While Vermont is the most prepared. And Wyoming takes the award for safest state. Take a look at all the results:
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Sting feted at Kennedy Center Honors | ||
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Washington (AFP) - British rock star Sting was the toast of Washington on Sunday as he was feted with fellow recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors. He took time off from his Broadway show "The Last Ship" to join Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, 1970s soul man Al Green, comedienne Lily Tomlin and ballerina Patricia McBride at a gala ceremony in the US capital. "I feel very happy in my trophy," Sting told AFP on the red carpet going into the soiree, pointing to the rainbow-colored laurel draped around his neck. "I'm not sure when I'll wear it again, but I think I look rather fetching in it," he quipped. "It's still pretty overwhelming. I'm dealing with it quite well." Bestowed by the nation's premier performing arts center, the Kennedy Center Honors are regarded as the highest recognition of cultural achievement in the United States. Sting is the eighth British rock and pop musician to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. Others include Elton John, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend from The Who, Paul McCartney and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. This year's honorees were all smiles and laughter as they took their balcony places alongside President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the Kennedy Center's vast opera house. First to be honored was Green, with Earth, Wind and Fire putting the black-tie crowd in a soul-swinging groove, Usher crooning "Let's Stay Together" and a huge chorus backing Mavis Staples and Sam Moore on "Take Me To The River." Earlier, on the red carpet, Green -- an ordained pastor in Memphis, Tennessee who branched out into gospel music in the 1980s -- said the honor was merely a milestone in a career that is still unfolding. "They give me all these great accolades and then they tell you, 'Alright, go out and earn it'," he said. "So we gotta keep writing and keep making songs." "Soul music is alive and well. You'll never get rid soul music. It's in here," added Green, playfully poking the heart of an AFP reporter before breaking into a few lines of Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long." TV satirist Stephen Colbert, making his debut as a Kennedy Center Honors emcee, ironically dubbed the event "the only awards ceremony in America that does not feature Taylor Swift." The three-hour gala is to be telecast in the United States on the CBS network December 30. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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US doctor gives first interview since surviving Ebola | ||
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Washington (AFP) - A US doctor who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone and survived after weeks of intensive treatment in Atlanta is speaking out for the first time in an interview published Sunday. Ian Crozier -- who until now has remained anonymous in news accounts of his treatment, at his request -- said he cannot remember the first three weeks he spent in an isolation ward at Emory Hospital, where he was near death from the hemorrhagic virus. But the doctor, who was in Sierra Leone to help fight the epidemic that has now killed more than 6,000 in West Africa, has read his chart. "It's a horrible-looking chart," he told The New York Times. Crozier and his relatives said they gave the interviews to raise awareness of the continuing epidemic and to thank the medical team who saved his life. And despite his grave illness and fears of permanent brain damage -- Crozier says he feels his mind working slower than before -- the Zimbabwe-born doctor says he hopes to return to West Africa to continue treating Ebola patients within the next few months. "There's still a great deal left to be done," he said, noting that his recovery should mean he is immune to future infection with the virus. The latest data on the West African outbreak, the worst known spread of the virus since it was discovered in the 1970s, showed the epidemic was far from over, with an increase in cases reported in Sierra Leone and Guinea, but a drop in Liberia. Crozier contracted with the World Health Organization and went to Sierra Leone in August. He describes the horrors of the understaffed isolation wards there, but also tells of patients who helped each other pull through -- including a group of three brothers who he initially thought were too sick to survive. "They were this little band of brothers," he said, and "they just sort of pushed each other through it." All three boys survived. Grozier fell ill in September and spent 40 days in the US hospital. He was the "by far sickest patient" Emory has treated for Ebola, Jay Varkey, an infectious-disease specialist, told the Times. Doctors used aggressive techniques, including dialysis and ventilators, to keep him alive as the virus ravaged his body and shut down his kidneys. "One of the things Ian taught us was, guess what, you can get sick enough to need those interventions and you can still walk out of the hospital," said Emory team leader Bruce Ribner. Crozier also received a blood transfusion from a British nurse who had survived Ebola -- an experimental treatment that may help transfer antibodies that fight the illness to the patient. The 44-year-old is now back in Phoenix with his family, recovering his strength after losing nearly 30 pounds (14 kilograms) of mainly muscle while sick. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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UBS: Here's What A $10 Move In Oil Does To GDP Around The World | ||
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Oil affects countries around the world differently. Generally speaking, low prices are great for net importers of oil, but bad for net exporters. UBS's macro strategy team considered what a permanent $10 drop in a barrel of Brent crude would mean. "Oil-producing economies such as Russia and Norway and OPEC clearly lose out when oil prices fall, with the former seeing an impairment of its GDP of over 1 percentage point," UBS analysts wrote on Thursday. "Among large developed economies, the US and Japan are least affected. Although Japan has a relatively high dependency on imported oil the weight of energy products in its consumer price basket is quite low compared with other developed economies. That means the real income-related benefits for Japan's consumers from weaker oil prices are relatively low compared with elsewhere." For the US, the energy dependency and sensitivity story has been evolving rapidly as more and more oil has been fracked out of America's shale basins. "Prior to the shale revolution model simulations would have suggested a boost of 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points to US growth for every USD 10/bbl decrease in the price of oil," they write. "That estimate is now only 0.1%." Overall, they estimate that a sustained $10 drop in prices will add around 0.2 percentage points to global GDP. From UBS:
SEE ALSO: Byron Wien Made 10 Big Predictions For 2014 — Here's How They're Doing Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A Really Simple Way To Double-Check How Private Your Facebook Really Is | ||
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At the beginning of the new year, Facebook will revamp its privacy policy to make it even easier to set parameters for who can see each individual post you make on the social network. In the meantime, it might be wise to do a little check-up. This weekend, a couple of friends and I were discussing our own profiles and how private they were. One friend mentioned that he made a point to occasionally logout of his Facebook and search for himself so he could check exactly what information was publically available. Turns out, there's an easier way than logging out. I actually thought that my Facebook was completely private until I used this feature to double-check and realized that several old photo albums I had uploaded could be viewed by anyone who searched for me. Not cool. This isn't a new trick, but could be especially helpful as we enter the season of (potentially wild) holiday parties. Don't let yourself unintentionally over-share! Here's how to easily check how private your profile is. Navigate to your own profile and then click the three dots next to "View Activity Log":
From there, click "View As":
You can then see exactly what people who aren't friends with you will have access to if they find you on Facebook. Or, you can check what specific people can see (for example, if you're friends with an old boss, you can view your profile from their perspective and double-check that they're only seeing exactly what you want them to):
Not happy? Now you know to go and adjust your privacy settings. If you haven't already done it, you'll see that there's an option to limit all of your old posts at once so only your friends can see them. I used this to fix the problem with my accidentally-public albums:
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Japan revises July-September GDP contraction to 0.5% shrinkage | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's economy contracted more than initially thought in the July-September quarter, revised official data showed Monday, confirming the world's third largest economy sank into a recession. The economy contracted 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, worse than the 0.4 percent shrinkage estimated in initial data released three weeks ago, the Cabinet Office said. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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British royal couple arrives in New York | ||
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New York (AFP) - Crowds of jubilant royal watchers cheered as Britain's Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate arrived in New York on Sunday, kicking off a three-day trip to the East Coast. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's motorcade pulled up outside the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side around 5:45 pm (2245 GMT), and the couple smiled broadly before heading into the building. "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in NYC!" the British consulate in New York tweeted, along with a picture of the beaming pair. Kate, who is due to give birth to the couple's second baby in April, was wearing a purple maternity coat. Their first-born son George is not coming on the visit. The royal couple's trip will see William and Kate, both 32, mix diplomacy with supporting their favorite causes and promoting British business interests. It is their first trip to the United States together since a brief visit to the Los Angeles region in 2011. William is scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama in the White House on Monday for talks about illegal wildlife trading, an issue close to the prince's heart. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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What This Adorable Google '20% Project' For Tracking Santa Shows About How The Company Works | ||
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The interactive "Santa's Village" world offers a bunch of educational games to teach children geography, different holiday traditions, and basic Javascript, and culminates on December 24 when "Santa Tracker" lets you watch Mr. Claus's journey around the world on Google Maps. Santa Tracker started as the "20% project" of a couple of Google Earth employees back in 2004 and has just snowballed from there, getting a little bigger, better, and more well-staffed every year. "It feels like such a 'Google' thing," project lead Andres Ferrate, the project lead, told Business Insider. "This is primarily a volunteer effort within the company, but every year more people want to come help us and improve the experience." Ferrate says that dozens of people of all different departments helped out in creating the experience this year, with contributions coming from Google offices in Tokyo, Australian, Europe, Seattle, New York, and Silicon Valley. They have other work to do, but make time to contribute to Santa's Village just because they love working on it. The company doesn't make any money off its efforts, but because the entire village world is made using the same tools Google provides to its third-party developers, it does get a chance to showcase some of its products and how they can work together. It also lets Google see which tools could use improvement, Ferrate says, noting that"pushing the envelope" with some of them has led to a lot of feedback to Google's product teams. The team wanted to make it as magical an experience for kids as possible, while still tying in an educational aspect. At its core, the Santa's Village project is a good demonstration of how Google works. CEO Larry Page recently told Fortune that to make sure that Google continues to be successful, he asks himself "Would I want to work for Google?" He wants the company to be a good environment for employees who are curious, entrepreneurial, and looking to have an impact on the world. Sure, letting kids experience the excitement of Santa's voyage in a new way isn't as ground-breaking as, say, Google's goal of using magnetic nanoparticles to search your blood for disease, but it gives employees the chance to have fun. Hiring "smart creative" employees who have big ambitions is baked into Google's fabric. Admittedly, sometimes that can mean having to reel people's excitement in a little. "We get a lot of unexpected surprises. People will just come out of the wood-works and things that we hadn't even scoped in will get added," Ferrate says. "We actually have to make sure we're disciplined because otherwise this thing could grow a bit too big and complex." SEE ALSO: Why Facebook Forces A Bunch Of Its Engineers To Use Terrible, Low-End Phones Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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