This Investor Thinks Bitcoin Will Change EVERYTHING — Not Just Finance | ||
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Bitcoin will change a lot more than finance. It could also change how software is built and upend a bunch of today's biggest web companies, argues Joel Monegro of Union Square Ventures. His argument starts with the block chain, the shared ledger where every Bitcoin transaction is recorded. Validating these transactions requires computing power. When each transaction is validated, a new block is added to the chain, which makes future transactions even harder to compute. Bitcoin was designed this way to make sure that the same Bitcoin, which has no physical form, isn't spent twice by the same person. This also gives Bitcoin some inherent value — people or organizations have to spend a lot of money to run the computers that validate transactions, and the complexity of those computations is always increasing as the chain gets longer. But Monegro argues that these technical underpinnings of the Bitcoin system may have more long-term potential than the currency itself. That's because the block chain is not controlled by any one person or entity, and information in it is freely available to other software programs. So programmers are starting to build things on top of the block chain that have nothing to do with digital currency. For instance, some programmers have developed a protocol called La'Zooz for real-time ride sharing. That could eventually disrupt Uber. Others have created OpenBazaar, a protocol for a a peer-to-peer trading network that could disrupt eBay. Both use the block chain for some basic computing tasks. Here's a simple way of thinking about it. The block chain itself is immutable, like bedrock. Bitcoin is like a building on top of that bedrock — it's got a foundation where programmers have defined some of the basics of how it works, then a bunch of stories on top of that where people interact with it. But it's now possible for other folks to build their own buildings on top of the same bedrock. "The block chain is great at two fundamental things," explains Monegro. "Distributed consensus, which is basically having a large network of computers agree on a value of something....that's a key component for any decentralized system. The other thing is time-stamping, holding a chronological order of things happening." As new businesses crop up that depend on these functions, they'll benefit from turning to the Bitcoin block chain, rather than having to build a similar system from scratch. This concept isn't new. Many tech companies have technology platforms that others can build on, from Microsoft to Google to Facebook. The Bitcoin block chain is different because everything underlying it is published, and there's no central controlling entity. The whole system works only because all the participants abide by the same set of rules, and any changes are dictated by hard math rather than a CEO or board of directors. "Facebook wants to own and store the data that is relevant to their operation," says Monegro. "So does Google, so does everyone else. The data they store, they control it. The algorithms they run, they control it to serve their own purposes. A system like this, the protocols you build are open, not controlled by anybody. They work like a machine. They don't discriminate." There's still reason to be skeptical. Bitcoin itself is still in a very early and tumultuous stage, as the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange earlier this year showed. Speculation has caused some pretty wild price fluctuations — one Bitcoin is worth about $375 today, down from a peak of $1,242 in March 2013. That makes it an unreliable store of value, which could eventually drive people away. Plus, the organizations building on top of the block chain tend to speak in utopian terms that could be a turn-off for outsiders. For instance, La'Zooz describes itself as "a completely decentralized and autonomous organisation. That means that anyone can contribute towards the establishment of its goals in whatever way he or she believes would be the best. Tasks are carried out within autonomous, self-defined circles or teams." But that kind of utopian vision is how a lot of open-source projects started, and many of them have grown into essential technology. Take the Linux operating system, which runs most of the computers in the biggest data centers in the world, like your bank. Or Apache, which runs the majority of web servers. Or the protocols that formed the basis of the Internet itself. Monegro and USV's Fred Wilson think that Bitcoin could become the same kind of foundational building block within the next 5 to 10 years. Monegro's entire post is worth reading if you're interested in the technical vision. Here's a graphic showing the different layers of the platform he believes will built on the block chain, which he's going to detail in a set of follow-up posts:
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Here's Why Mark Cuban Doesn't Think Netflix Will Kill Cable Anytime Soon | ||
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Will streaming video services like Netflix ever replace cable TV? Maybe someday, but billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban doesn't think it will happen any time soon. He posed an interesting argument why the two mediums need one another. Although consumers have the luxury of watching TV shows on demand at any time through Netflix, those shows are only popular because they appeared on cable first. According to Cuban, content that appears on Netflix still "defines its worth" by appearing on TV first, with the exception of a few shows such as "House of Cards." "With the exception of five or six shows, their brand was established somewhere else," he said. "We will evolve to a point where people will get what they want, where they want, when they want, but there will always be a front-end presentation," Cuban said on stage at Business Insider's Ignition conference. Competition from services such as Netflix benefits cable TV, too, Cuban said. The rivalry between Netflix and cable pushes networks to create higher quality content. "As long as TV strives to compete, you'll keep getting better shows," Cuban said. "We get 'The Walking Dead,' we get these better shows, and then they get to Netflix." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This School In Rural Illinois Has Produced Some Of The Most Amazing Visionaries In Tech | ||
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Surrounded by corn and soybean fields, Urbana-Champaign doesn’t strike you at first as a place where future tech leaders would emerge. It’s why many people fail to realize that UIUC has bred some of the most remarkable tech visionaries in history. They built companies that essentially changed tech history as we know it. Marc Andreessen - Netscape, Andreessen-Horowitz Marc Andreessen invented Mosaic, the browser that popularized the web, when he was still at UIUC in 1992. He graduated from UIUC’s computer science program in 1993, and was only 22 years old when he was recruited by the legendary entrepreneur Jim Clark to start Netscape Communications. Together, they created Netscape Navigator, one of the first and most widely used commercial web browsers ever. Andreessen also co-founded Opsware (formerly Loudcloud) and sold it to HP for $1.6 billion in 2007. He’s now running Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most prominent VC firms in the Valley. Larry Ellison - Oracle Oracle’s founder Larry Ellison grew up outside of Chicago and went to UIUC for two years. Although he dropped out after his sophomore year because his adoptive mother had died, Ellison showed signs of brilliance at an early age, even being named the science student of the year at UIUC. Since its founding in 1977, Oracle went on to become one of the largest enterprise tech companies in the world. Last year, it had over $38 billion in revenue, with more than 122,000 employees worldwide. Ellison is the third richest man on the Forbes List with a net worth of $52.5 billion. Max Levchin - PayPal Max Levchin, a computer science grad in 1997, is one of the co-founders of the online money transfer service PayPal. The co-founders of PayPal, widely known as “PayPal Mafia,” include Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Levchin pitched his idea for what had become PayPal to Thiel over breakfast, after meeting for the first time at a Stanford lecture. Thiel wrote the first check for PayPal and Levchin was named the company’s CTO. Eventually, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion in 2002. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is in a small college town located about 150 miles south of Chicago. These Brutal Tests Show How Strong Your Phone's Display Really Is (AAPL) | ||
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Your iPhone's display — made of Corning's Gorilla Glass — is incredibly strong and durable. To show you just how strong it is, the duo from the MythBusters TV show, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, have conducted a series of torture tests you would never want done on your own smartphone. The results are astounding. To demonstrate just how far phone displays have come in a few years, Savage goes to town on this older smartphone by scratching it up with a key. It didn't fare well. Next up is a simulated drop test on the same phone. For consistency's sake the MythBusters drop a weight onto the phone rather than throwing it on the ground. Corning says this simulates a 1 meter drop. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Mark Cuban Slams Other Billionaires Who Complain About Being Rich | ||
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Mark Cuban doesn't think there are any downsides to being a billionaire. Speaking at Business Insider's Ignition conference, Cuban said that he hates when he hears other billionaires giving interviews and complaining about the hassles of being wealthy or in the spotlight all the time. "I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?' I mean, that is the dumbest s*** ever," he says. When someone asks Cuban what the downsides are to being as rich and famous as he is, he responds that "There are no downsides! This is as good as it gets!" Cuban, who has an estimated net worth of around $2.7 billion, owns the Dallas Mavericks and is on the ABC show "Shark Tank." Although he mentioned that all his visibility can "sometimes be a pain in the a** because of social media," it's not really a downside. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he says. "I only have to do what I want to do. I only have to do what I like to do." Cuban knows how good he has it and he's not afraid to show it. "I mean, seriously, the hardest part is that it has to end sometime, and that's the part that drives me crazy," he says. "And that's it." SEE ALSO: Mark Cuban: I Paved The Way For Steve Ballmer As An NBA Owner But I 'Hope He Sucks" Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This Is Why Two Of The Hottest Startups In San Francisco Are Suddenly Feuding | ||
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By now, you may have heard of a startup called Docker that has skyrocketed into prominence in less than two years, raising $55 million from several top tier VCs and angels like Yahoo founder Jerry Yang. On Monday, one of Docker's closest partners, another super-cool startup called CoreOS, stood up, said it didn't like the direction Docker was going, and launched an alternative technology. Before this, CoreOS was one of Docker's biggest fans. Docker has become so popular with software developers who have brought it into their companies, that big tech companies like Amazon, Dell, HP, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat, VMware and more have all called it up and begged the little 70-employee company to partner with them. On the other hand, you may not have heard of CoreOS. But it also has some major juice in the enterprise tech world. Its co-founder and CEO Alex Polvi sold his first startup Cloudkick to Rackspace for an estimated $30 million in 2010 at age of 25. CoreOS makes a Linux operating system that runs huge enterprise data centers more affordably, using less hardware. In fact, it has none other than Greg Kroah-Hartman as its advisor. Kroah-Hartman is a rock star in the Linux world, one of the two top people leading Linux. (The other is Linux creator Linus Torvalds). CoreOS has such cache in its world that Google engineers, particularly in New York, have been leaving Google to work for CoreOS. Its New York office, obtained when it acquired Quay.io, is chock filled with ex-Googlers from New York, Polvi tells us. Until recently, CoreOS was all-in with Docker.
They wrap those pieces in a technology called a "container" and those containers easily plug in together. This lets an app be spread across lots of computers in the data center, which is how the cloud works. That's how an app can handle lots of users logging in from devices all over the world. CoreOS was basically building its tech to work with Docker. Co-founder and CTO Brandon Philips contributed so much code to Docker that he joined Docker's governance board. But on Monday, CoreOS came out swinging at Docker and launched an alternative called Rocket. It essentially didn't like all the new technologies that Docker was adding to its containers. Polvi wrote in a blog post: When Docker was first introduced to us in early 2013, the idea of a "standard container" was striking and immediately attractive: a simple component, a composable unit, that could be used in a variety of systems. The Docker repository included a manifesto of what a standard container should be. This was a rally cry to the industry, and we quickly followed. Brandon Philips, co-founder/CTO of CoreOS, became a top Docker contributor, and now serves on the Docker governance board. ... At CoreOS we have large, serious users running in enterprise environments. We cannot in good faith continue to support Docker’s broken security model without addressing these issues. Additionally, in the past few weeks Docker has demonstrated that it is on a path to include many facilities beyond basic container management, turning it into a complex platform. Our primary users have existing platforms that they want to integrate containers with. We need to fill the gap for companies that just want a way to securely and portably run a container. Polvi told Business Insider that he didn't condemn Docker for going in this direction. It's just that CoreOS really wants to keep that simple container simple. "The key thing to take away about Rocket is that what Docker is doing is not a bad thing. It's just not what we signed up for. It's evolved into more than what we signed up for," he told us. It's not completely surprising that CoreOS has decided to take on Docker this way. CoreOS, which raised $8 million in the summer, used the money to buy a startup called bought Quay.io, then used that tech to launch something called a private "Docker repository" for enterprise customers. This is a tool that lets big organizations keep track of all Docker containers, the applets that work together to form an app. This kind of "private repository" is one of the ways that Docker earns its living, too. (Although CoreOS would argue that its product isn't an apples-to-apples comparison to what Docker is offering.) Still, within hours of discovering that its respected friend was gunning to be even more of a direct competitor, Docker released a blog post statement in response: Of course, different people have different views of how open source projects should develop. As noted above, the overwhelming majority of users, the vast majority of contributors, and the vast majority of ecosystem vendors want the project to support standard, multi-Docker container distributed applications. ... A small number of vendors disagree with this direction. ... In some cases, of course, there are technical or philosophical differences, which appears to be the case with the recent announcement from CoreOS regarding Rocket. We hope to address some of the technical arguments posed by the Rocket project in a subsequent post. Polvi also told us that eventually, Rocket and Docker should be able to co-exist, appealing to different customers. In the meantime, one thing is clear. The huge, shocking success of Docker is attracting others to the market and at least some of them, like CoreOS, have some serious engineering brainpower to bring to the game. We reached out to Docker for comment and will update when we hear back. SEE ALSO: This 28-Year-Old Sold His First Startup For $30 Million And Is Back With A Cool New Company SEE ALSO: How An Awful, Misspelled Presentation Launched The Most Important Startup You've Never Heard Of Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Docker makes a free and open source technology that allows developers to easily write apps in a cloud world. Instead of writing one big app designed to live on one computer, like a server or a PC, Docker lets them mince up their app into tiny pieces. Mark Cuban: I Paved The Way For Steve Ballmer As An NBA Owner But I 'Hope He Sucks' | ||
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Mark Cuban, speaking at Business Insider's ignition conference, says he "hopes Steve Ballmer sucks" as the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavericks, which Cuban owns, and the Clippers — which Ballmer bought in May for $2 billion — are in the same division. Despite wanting the Clippers to bomb, Cuban says he thinks Ballmer is in a "good spot" as an owner, partially because sine Cuban bought the Mavericks in 2000, he took a lot of flack for being a tech person getting into sports. He recalls being scolded by another owner at a meeting, who said he didn't have a right to give suggestions about the NBA when he his background was in dot-com companies, not sports. More than ten years and a championship win later, though, Cuban's banished that idea. No one will call out Ballmer for shouting like crazy, and coming up with his own management techniques. "Steve can come in and be Steve. I've paved the way for him," Cuban says. "He's in a great spot, but I hope he f**** up." Cuban says. SEE ALSO: This Working Flying Car Prototype Is Absolutely Stunning Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Dunkin' Donuts Is Trying to Mirror Starbucks' Success With Its Own Popular Mobile Payments App | ||
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Dunkin' Donuts has its own Starbucks-style phone app that can be used to rack up loyalty points and pay in stores, and it has enjoyed some considerable success, according to new numbers announced by Dunkin' Donuts and charted by BI Intelligence. While Dunkin' Donuts doesn't report the dollar volume transacted through its app, it has provided clues on the app's traction with consumers:
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's research service, has argued that Starbucks' loyalty program is a major reason for why the payments app is so successful and Dunkin' Donuts has followed a similar approach. When customers use the Dunkin' Donuts' app they accrue "DD Perks" rewards points which can be redeemed for free drinks. Both apps also rely on a QR code/barcode-based system that allows users to pay with their phone at the store, by having the cashier scan the codes with a code-reader attached to the register. Dunkin' Donuts has already onboarded millions of users and if those users can be pushed to make payments in stores it would help to prove that the success of the Starbucks app isn't just a fluke — more retailers may want to experiment with a combination payments and loyalty app. For downloadable charts and data and analysis of the payments and mobile computing industries please sign up for a trial membership of BI Intelligence today. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Steve Wozniak Is Starring In A Reality Show About Gadgets | ||
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According to Gizmodo, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak is reportedly joining forces with "Mythbusters" host Kari Byron to create a reality TV show about futuristic tech. Called "The Woz," according to a press release obtained by Gizmodo, the show will feature Wozniak testing out gadgets, and it "introduces the audience to facilities where science fiction is quickly becoming reality." Not much else is known about the upcoming show, though Byron has tweeted out some hints.
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My Kids Totally Loved These Robots That Are Supposed To Teach Them How To Code | ||
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Can a pair of robots really teach your kids how to code? A couple weeks ago, a startup called Wonder Workshop reached out to me with a tempting offer: They had noticed from social media posts that I have kids, so they offered to send me one of their robot kits to test out. The pitch was that these robots will teach my kids the fundamentals of software programming. I was happy to oblige, not because I necessarily want my kids to learn how to code — although it's fine if they want to! — but because I have an eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. The age gap and their different personalities make it really hard to find things to keep both of them engaged. My daughter is in the easily jaded pre-teen phase, while my son is a ball of energy and almost never stops moving unless he's watching his sister play Minecraft. (They both agree on that.) But then Thanksgiving rolled around, family came to visit, and I got distracted. Until last night — the end of a very long five-day weekend for the kids, when all other possible entertainment options had been exhausted. So I opened the box, which contained a bunch of smaller boxes with the following:
We spread everything out on the floor and then waited. Nothing happened until we turned the iPad on, at which point both robots lit up and said "Hi" in these little robotic voices. Pretty cool. The iPad came with the four apps you use to learn about and control the robots. The Go app offers a basic introduction with some controls to let you move Dash (the mobile robot), and make both robots scream like elephants, bark like dogs, and so on. My daughter skipped ahead to the Path app, which lets you build simple tasks for Dash to complete — you design a path around the floor, and insert commands for things like "peeling out," changing the light color, and honking the horn. My son later had about a half hour of fun playing with that one by himself, so it's definitely suitable for a four-year-old. They also both enjoyed the Xylo app, which lets you program the robot to play simple tunes on a Xylophone. My daughter hit the wall with the Blockly app, which is where the actual programming really kicks in. You're supposed to be able to string together a wide array of commands, but it's not easy for an eight-year-old to figure out just by looking at the screen. We'll have to sit down and work on it together. The real kicker? This morning as we were getting back into the Monday morning school rush, both kids begged me to take out the robots and start playing with them again. That's pretty unusual, and a sign that this probably wouldn't be one of those Christmas gifts that rusts away in the closet after the holidays are over. Some other things to know:
So will the Wonder Workshop robots really teach your kids to code? Hard to say, but they're certainly more engaging than a lot of other gadgets you could buy, and they're also kind of cute to have around. Although that elephant noise is going to get old. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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An Artist Photoshopped Herself Into Her Mom's Old Pictures To See What They Would Look Like As Childhood Friends | ||
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Do you ever wonder what your parents were like as children? If you could somehow go back in time and be the same age as them, would you be friends? One artist is using the magic of Photoshop to delve deeper into that very idea. Danielle Delph, an Oregon-based artist and art director, began placing herself in her mother's vintage photographs as a surprise for her mother, Janis, and the project took off from there. We caught up with Danielle to discuss the photos, her process, and the state of memories in an internet world. Business Insider: Hey Danielle! How did this project begin? What was your inspiration? Danielle Delph: I think everyone asks themselves at some point, "Would I have been friends with my parents if I had grown up with them?" I wondered while I was looking at old photos one day. What would it look like if I placed my childhood self next to my mother? Would we have looked like friends? Would I be able to capture the same moments and interactions that real friends share? DD: The process took about 6 months total. I had to have my mom and family friends mail me both her and my old childhood photos, which proved more tricky than expected. We had lost a majority of childhood photos when Hurricane Ivan hit our home in Pensacola, Florida, so there were far less photos to work with than I would have hoped. The majority of that time was spent digging through our photos and trying to match ages and moments. From a technical perspective, there was a lot of scanning and photoshopping, but no specific time frame for each individual photo. Some were much easier than others. It was more about finding the right photos.  BI: What was your mother's reaction?DD: She loved it. She found it really touching. It made her cry when she first saw it and she says she goes to the site every day, which she now calls "our site." She made a comment about it feeling very "deja vu," almost like these moments had actually happened. She thinks that we truly could have been friends. DD: It wasn't originally an ongoing project but I do have some ideas on how to continue the series. It's all about getting the right imagery, so if I'm lucky I might be able to pull it off again. We'll see.
DD: I hope they take away that our parents are more similar to us than we think. They were kids and teenagers at one point, going through the same things we went though. We just never saw that part of their lives. We live in a time where we constantly look toward the future; this project made me realize that it's important to take a step back and look at your past sometimes.
DD: This is a really great question, and I have sort of a two-part answer. During this project, I felt like it was less about film versus digital as a medium and more about how digital has changed the way we take photos now. As I was digging through my mother's photos, I realized how differently her generation took photos compared to mine. They captured very specific moments— a recital, Christmas Eve, a vacation to New Orleans, moments that are meant to be put in a photo album that you would sit around and look at. At first, I found that it was hard for me to find photos of myself that connected with her photos because we're a culture that takes a picture of a chicken sandwich, and attaches hashtags to it (I am also guilty of this). When I talked to my mom about the differences, she explained, "Film was expensive; people were precious about what they took because you had to take time and money to develop it." For us now, we have the ability to be way less curated about the photos we take because we deal with gigabytes and storage space, allowing us to take thousands of photos. Right now, I have photos on my phone from 2012 and 2013, and I've never printed even one. It makes me worry that the idea of the "family photo album" might be getting lost. When do we sit around and look back on moments together? Will Facebook albums replace the traditional family photo album? SEE ALSO: 25 Vintage Photos From Iconic American Tourist Spots Show How Odd Sightseers Can Be FOLLOW US: Business Insider is on Instagram! Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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BI: What's the process like to create these images? How long do you usually take per photograph?
BI: Any more good photos in the works?
BI: What do you hope viewers will take away from the series?
BI: What are your thoughts on digital photos versus physical photos when it comes to collecting and saving memories? Do you ever get worried that future generations won't have access to the same hard copy history that we have of our parents, now that most of our personal photos only live online or on a computer?
CHART OF THE DAY: iOS Smashed Android Where It Counts On Black Friday | ||
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Though Android is the most common smartphone operating system in the world, Apple's iOS continues to beat Google's offering in one key area: Online shopping. Adobe, IBM, and Custora recently released their numbers from Black Friday: Based on those companies' data charted for us by BI Intelligence, iOS claimed the lion's share of ecommerce revenue — more than double that of Android, across the board. Most of that was due to the iPad, as iPhone users mainly use their devices for browsing, leaving purchases for later on tablets or PCs. So overall, Android might have a major advantage in market share, but iOS is still where the money is.
SEE ALSO: CHART OF THE DAY: Consumers Ready To Upgrade Want An Apple iPhone Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Watch IGNITION Live Tuesday — Jeff Bezos, Phil Libin And John Doerr Starting At 9AM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Day 1 of IGNITION is over. Join us tomorrow at 9am.
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One Of The Biggest Video Game Franchises Might Come To The iPhone | ||
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Junichi Masuda, the producer and cofounder of Game Freak, which first developed Pokémon, told the London press (via The Telegraph) that Pokemon for iPhone is a “possibility,” even though the higher-ups at Nintendo don’t seem in favor of the idea. “I’ve got a bit of a resistance from those [safety and security] kind of points of view,” Masuda said, referring to Nintendo’s argument that communication between its 3DS handhelds are far more secure than other mobile devices. “If it were to reach a stage where I would be happy to hand my iPhone to a 5-year-old and know that, actually, that device and everything about it is safe and secure and I can trust the device in the hands of a 5-year-old, then it would become in the realms of possibility.” Nintendo has, on numerous occasions, defended its decision not to port its games to mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, and Android devices: Nintendo CEO and President Satoru Iwata said earlier this year that option “is absolutely not under consideration. If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. [Making mobile games is] probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we’d make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short-term profits, but to Nintendo’s mid- and long-term competitive strength.” That said, a Nintendo patent made public last week reveals the company might be planning to extend emulators for its handheld games — namely the Game Boy — to other devices like smartphones and even seat-back displays in airplanes. Though patents don’t always see the light of day, the patent suggests Nintendo might be easing up a bit on its restrictive policies toward mobile ecosystems. This move would make sense, since Nintendo is approaching its first annual profit in four years. But the famous video game company is still struggling to make money due to the intense competition in the mobile landscape — Nintendo's handheld games cost about $50, whereas most smartphone games typically sell for $1.99 or 99 cents. Porting some of its classic games, like Pokémon, to iPhone and Android would certainly provide a nice revenue bump. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Pokémon is the most successful and lucrative video game franchise in the world, Google's Chromebook Is Killing The iPad In One Key Market | ||
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Google has passed Apple for the first time in the US education market, according to the latest statistics from the International Data Corp. (IDC) reported by the Financial Times. Google's Chromebook laptops have become more popular in the classroom than Apple's iPad. In the third quarter of 2014, Google shipped 715,000 Chromebooks to schools versus Apple's 702,000 iPads. Experts say the Chromebook has potential to dominate the education market. Rajani Singh, an analyst with the IDC, told the Financial Times that "Chromebooks are really gaining traction" and that this growth should be a "major concern for Apple." The report also indicated Google could be closing in on Microsoft's Windows platform as a leader in the education space. One main reason Chromebooks have seen such success is that they're incredibly cheap. Since the laptops are designed to be used primarily with an internet connection, they don't need high-end internal components like regular laptops. You can buy a Chromebook for as little as $199. Even an entry-level iPad with an education discount can cost between $300 and $400. Microsoft is doing its part to give the Chromebook some tough competition, too. New products such as the HP Stream cost about the same as a Chromebook, but offer the benefit of running the full version of Windows and include a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal.
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Large Companies Stand To Gain The Most From The Massive 'Internet of Things,' Tech's New Growth Market | ||
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Large businesses will be the main force driving Internet of Things adoption. The Internet of Things will also connect cities and homes to the internet. But the largest IoT opportunity will be the "enterprise," or business-to-business market. The IoT will help companies manage factories, office buildings, and warehouses. Businesses have the capital and reach for large-scale IoT purchases. They will see benefits from the IoT accrue fast enough to spur further adoption and investment. In a new report from BI Intelligence, we detail why the enterprise IoT will be the key driver of the internet's new growth phase. Consider:
The full report:
For full access to all BI Intelligence reports, briefs, and downloadable charts on the Internet of Things and mobile computing markets, sign up for a trial membership. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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CYBER MONDAY: Drones For Every Budget [Up To 55% Off] | ||
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Cyber Monday is bringing prices down even further — here’s a roundup of deals not to miss. We and our friends at Stack Commerce put together the ultimate guide for getting a drone, and we've got one for every budget. Don't forget to use the code HAPPYCM10 for an extra 10% off. UNDER $75: Extreme Microdrone 2.0 [46% Off] Despite weighing just over an ounce, the Extreme Micro Drone 2.0 (46% off) is impressively equipped with gyro-based stabilization and a camera — in fact, this is the only micro drone in the world with a swiveling lens. Being so compact means it can fly indoors and out, and it can pull 360º flips. A really nice all-rounder that is forgiving on newbies and ships globally for free. Get 46% off the Extreme Micro Drone 2.0 ($74.99 incl. global shipping) Don't forget to use the code HAPPYCM10 for an extra 10% off. UNDER $100: Code Black Drone [55% Off] The Code Black (55% off pre-orders) looks like it emerged from the Batcave, and it has the kind of features the Dark Knight would demand. It is a great out-of-the-box flyer, with a HD camera on board, and it is small enough to fly anywhere. Plus, it can perform the all-important flips. If you order by Dec. 1, the Code Black will ship in time for Christmas, but the price will rise come mid December. Get 55% off the Limited Edition Code Black drone + HD Camera ($89 incl. shipping; pre-order) Don't forget to use the code HAPPYCM10 for an extra 10% off. UNDER $125: Panther Spy Drone [55% Off] At the other end of the scale is the giant Panther Spy drone (55% off), which uses its size for durability. The rotors are surrounded by protective foam, but given that it has gyro stabilization, those guards shouldn’t be needed all that often. It also has a 720p camera, 2.4GHz transmission for good range, and 360º flips in its tricks locker. Get 55% off the Panther Spy drone with HD camera ($110 incl. shipping) Don't forget to use the code HAPPYCM10 for an extra 10% off. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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This year is going to be dominated by personal drones. Why? Because they’re incredibly fun to fly, and becoming increasingly affordable. Justice Scalia Suggests The First Amendment Doesn't Protect Angry Facebook Rants | ||
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The Supreme Court heard a dispute on Monday over whether a man's violent Facebook rants should have landed him behind bars, and Justice Antonin Scalia seemed unsympathetic to his cause. The case involved Anthony Douglas Elonis, who made graphic Facebook comments about his estranged wife in the form of rap lyrics, and was convicted of violating a federal law that forbids making interstate threats. Scalia observed during oral arguments that Elonis' language "is not worth a whole lot," a comment that suggested the conservative justice was "waving off much history about the First Amendment's protection of offensive speech," SCOTUSBlog's Lyle Denniston pointed out. Lawyers for Elonis argue that he had a First Amendment right to make his violent Facebook posts, because there was no proof that he intended to threaten his wife, who had left him and taken her two kids with her. The government, on the other hand, argued that statements like Elonis' should be considered threats if a "reasonable" person would view them as such. Elonis has some First Amendment proponents like the American Civil Liberties Union on his side. But Scalia — who has upheld the free-speech rights of corporations — seemed loath to grant that protection to Elonis' Facebook posts, which included a suggestion that his son "dress up as matricide" for Halloween. While questioning Elonis' lawyer, Scalia pointed out that the government would consider a Facebook post a threat only if it could "reasonably put somebody in fear." "It may be a low standard," Scalia said, "but in my mind it doesn't eliminate a whole lot of valuable speech at all [from First Amendment protection]."
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Astronaut Chris Hadfield Explains The Big Problem With The Mars One Mission | ||
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If you haven't heard, there's a plan to start up a colony of humans living on Mars in the near future. If the next decade goes as planned, the not-for-profit organization, Mars One, will launch a manned mission to Mars that will land the first human colony on the red planet in 2025. Here's the catch: Those who leave Earth for the 7-month-long ride in space will never return. The four-member crew will learn to call Mars — a freezing, barren, lifeless planet — home. Forever. That may sound great to the tens of thousands of people who applied, but Mars One is going about their grandiose plans all wrong according to retired Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield. Right now, Mars One is focused more on raising funds and selecting crew members than developing the technology needed for the trip. And the technology, Hadfield told Elmo Keep, writing in Medium, is the most basic starting point for any space mission. "There's a great, I don't know, self-defeating optimism in the way that this project has been set up," Hadfield told Keep. "I fear that it's going to be a little disillusioning for people, because it's presented as if for sure it's going to happen."
The company anticipates that the trip to Mars will cost approximately $6 billion (that's shockingly low compared to NASA estimates for a two-way trip to Mars and back costing roughly $100 billion.) Although Mars One has visions of partnering with companies like SpaceX to procure the proper technology, so far its only contract is with Paragon Space Development Corporation to study initial life support systems. Hadfield isn't the only one doubting this project. Doubters at MIT have calculated that "living on Mars" will last only about 68 days before the colonists die. In particular, Hadfield said, if you don't have the specifications of the spacecraft, you can't begin to select the people who will live and work in it. "I want to see the technical specifications of the vehicle that is orbiting Earth," Hadfield said. "I want to know: How does a space suit on Mars work? Show me how it is pressurized, and how it is cooled. What's the glove design?"
"We absolutely need to do it on the moon for a few generations," Hadfield told Keep. On average, the moon is about 600 times closer to Earth than Mars. That means if something goes wrong with a colony, we can dispatch help from Earth that will reach the Moon in a matter of hours instead of months. Developing a working moon colony would be an important first step to living on Mars.
While the Mars One desire to get people excited about space travel again is noble — it has been more than 42 years since we last landed a human on anything in space besides the International Space Station. There's a right way and a wrong way to go about landing people on other satellites throughout the solar system. "It's not a race, it's not an entertainment event. We didn't explore the world to entertain other people. We did it as a natural extension of human curiosity and matching capability," Hadfield told Keep. "And that's what will continue to drive us." SEE ALSO: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Describes Being Blinded During A Space Walk IN PICTURES: 23 Unforgettable Moments From Astronaut Chris Hadfield Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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So far, the company claims they've had more than 200,000 people apply, and are about to start interviews with 
What's more, Mars should not even be a target for colonization at this point, according to Hadfield. Our sites should be set on a place much closer.
Here's a short list of what India, France say will press ahead with Rafale deal | ||
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New Delhi (AFP) - The French and Indian defence ministers agreed to press ahead with negotiations on the sale of 126 Rafale fighter jets to India, both sides said on Tuesday, after slow progress cast doubt on the estimated $12 billion deal. Successive deadlines to complete one of the world's biggest airline contracts have slipped by, leading to reports that Britain's Eurofighter could try to re-enter the race. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said negotiations were "proceeding well" after he met his newly appointed Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi on Monday. "For a project of this scale and such complexity... the pace is comparable to that of other negotiations," he said in an interview with Indian daily The Pioneer Tuesday. "Both our governments share the will to conclude it (Rafale deal) and this is, of course, essential." The pair discussed "all issues including Rafale", an Indian defence ministry spokesman told AFP. "It was decided that whatever differences still existed would be resolved in a fast-track manner." French company Dassault Aviation won the right in 2012 to enter exclusive negotiations with India to supply 126 fighters after lodging a lower bid than rival firm Eurofighter. The deal would see Dassault supply 18 Rafales -- twin-engine multi-role fighters -- by 2015. India, the world's top weapons importer, is in the midst of a $100-billion defence upgrade programme and experts say it urgently needs the jet fighters to maintain a combat edge over nuclear rival Pakistan. The remaining 108 would be made by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd under technology transfer agreements with India, which is keen to boost homemade defence manufacturing. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Jewels no money can buy on show in Florence | ||
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Florence (Italy) (AFP) - Diamond and ruby-studded jewellery crafted by celebrated Italian master goldsmiths Mario and Gianmaria Buccellati and inspired by Renaissance great Benvenuto Cellini are going on show for the first time. More than 130 pieces designed by father and son, including pearl scorpions, silver chalices as well as silk and gold evening bags, can be seen from Tuesday at the Pitti Palace in Florence, a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio. Mario Buccellati founded the company in 1919, drawing inspiration for his designs and gold-working techniques from Roman and Renaissance period artworks, creating a wealth of unique pieces sought after by popes and princesses alike. He went on to open stores in Rome, Florence and New York and on his death the business was taken up by four of his sons -- one of whom, Gianmaria, launched his own brand in 1971 and took dozens of young, budding artisans under his wing. While the company has recently made efforts to capture a new, modern market by releasing jewel-studded covers for iPhones and iPads, this collection focuses on the brand's heritage. "I have designed over 200,000 jewels in my life. Which is the most interesting or beautiful? Which represents me the most?" Gianmaria Buccellati, 85, said as he unveiled the exhibition in the Tuscan city on Monday. "I cannot say. It would be like asking a mother which child she prefers," he told AFP, his voice cracking with emotion. Each of the pieces on show is unique and was designed as part of his personal collection, not to be sold. - For popes and princesses - Buccellati came up with the idea in 1968 when he saw the collection of Lorenzo il Magnifico -- a member of the powerful and immensely wealthy Medici family -- who in the 15th-century boasted an impressive assortment of amber, ivory, sapphire and diamond chalices, medals as well as rings. "Gianmaria began to design chalices for his own pleasure, to be presented to the world for all to enjoy," said Gianfranco Grimaldi, vice president of the Gianmaria Buccellati foundation which owns the collection. "His latest example is the rock crystal and gold 'Coppa Florentia', made this year to honour the city of Florence, which has 2,024 stones including tsavorite and coloured sapphires," he said. He would not say how much the collection is worth, but Buccellati jewels start at around 1,500-3,000 euros ($1,800-$3,700), and can top hundreds of thousands of euros. Dazzling viewers at the show's entrance is a 1929 tiara made by Gianmaria Buccellati's father, Mario, which was worn by Italian nobility and features 570 diamonds. The Milanese master once made a silver Madonna for Pope Pius XII to give as a present to Britain's Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II's sister. And among his most prized works are silver goblets, based on 1st-century relics found at Pompeii, and vases engraved with the 12 labours of Hercules. "An exhibition of precious jewels and artefacts is always a challenge because you can easily end up comparing the antique and contemporary, putting the contemporary at a disadvantage," said art historian Cristina Acidini. "In this case the comparison holds up. It's a rare exhibition, perhaps one in a million," she said. "The Treasures of the Buccellati Foundation" runs until February 22. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open | ||
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Russia Is Abandoning A Major Pipeline Project. President Vladimir Putin announced that a pipeline which would have exported gas into south-east Europe has been scrapped, according to the Financial Times. Asian Markets Bounced. Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.42%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently up 1.35%, making up a lot of the losses made on Monday. Hedge Funds Are Closing Like It's 2009. This year could be the worst for hedge fund closures since the financial crisis, Bloomberg reported. Hong Kong's Protest Leaders Are Telling Demonstrators To Give Up. The three original founders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Occupy movement tearfully announced Tuesday they would "surrender" by turning themselves into police and urged protesters still on the streets to retreat. Global Banks Are Back In Profit, But Europe Is Lagging. The global banking industry has moved beyond recovery and regained overall profit for the first time since the financial crisis, although European lenders are still lagging far behind rivals, an industry study showed. More Federal US Authorities Want All Takata Airbags Recalled. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has now gotten into the act, demanding that Takata declare its airbags defective, which would facilitate a country-wide recall of the devices. S&P Joined Moody's In Criticism Of Japan's Public Finances. Standard & Poor's cast doubt on Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to repair the country's tattered finances, a day after Moody's tarnished the government's economic record less than two weeks away from a major election. And Japanese Workers' Wages Came In Below Inflation For The 16th Month. Wages rose by only 0.5% in the year to October, well below inflation, even after stripping out the effect of April's sales tax increase. Honda Sales In China Are Down By More Than A Tenth. Honda and its two Chinese joint ventures sold 72,973 vehicles in China in November, down 12.1 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday. European Producer Prices Are Coming. At 10 a.m. GMT, inflation seen by companies in October will be announced, with analysts expecting a 0.3% rise from September. The figure is an early indicator of how inflation might feed through to consumer prices. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Good morning! Here are 10 of the biggest stories you should hear about before markets open in London and Paris. Hong Kong protest founders 'surrender', urge movement to retreat | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - The three original founders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Occupy movement tearfully announced Tuesday they would "surrender" by turning themselves into police and urged protesters still on the streets to retreat. "As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat –- to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement," said Occupy Central leader Benny Tai.
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Bruce Springsteen fills in at surprise U2 AIDS show | ||
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New York (AFP) - Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay's Chris Martin tried to replace Bono's legendary vocal cords in a surprise U2 concert in New York to rally support for fighting AIDS. U2, which has played only select shows since a 2009-2011 tour, announced the free show in Times Square with several hours of notice on Monday to raise awareness and funding on World AIDS Day. But with frontman Bono injured in a bicycle incident last month, the Irish superstars offered the microphone to two of the rare vocalists who rival U2 in celebrity. "Dreams come true for all old and young people alike," a humbled Coldplay frontman Martin said on the stage set up underneath Times Square's famous flashing screens on a rainy night. Martin, who has long cited U2 as an influence on his work, joined The Edge and the rest of the band to perform "With or Without You" and "A Beautiful Day" -- staying faithful to Bono's lyrics and style while struggling to match his range. Closing the hour-long concert, Springsteen summoned the depths of his emotional force to sing "Where the Streets Have No Name" before a more understated rendition of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Leaving behind his usual guitar, Springsteen cast a surprisingly similar physical appearance to Bono as he grabbed the microphone, with The Edge audibly driving the music. Also performing were country singer Carrie Underwood and hip hop star Kanye West, who energetically blended hits such as "Stronger" and "Touch the Sky" -- while noting that he had to condense his set for the sake of television viewers.
- Bono-backed campaign -
The concert was organized by the Bono-backed Red campaign to mark a decade since the United States dramatically ramped up support for fighting AIDS. Bono appeared briefly in a video at the concert in which celebrities listed items -- such as French fries and lipstick -- that cost the 40 US cents required to provide daily treatment. "Two pills a day is what it takes to stay alive if you're HIV positive," Bono said. Former US president Bill Clinton, who explained that Bono asked him to address the concert, said that 2014 marked the first time that more people around the world received life-saving drugs than were newly diagnosed with HIV. "Twenty-six years ago, we could never have had an event like this on World AIDS Day because to be diagnosed with AIDS was a death sentence," said Clinton, referring to the start of the annual commemoration. "We are going to win this fight," Clinton said. Clinton pointed to US anti-AIDS efforts as an example of cooperation across political lines. His successor George W. Bush spearheaded the so-called PEPFAR program, which now supports anti-retroviral medication for 7.7 million people, in large part in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, some 39 million people have died from HIV-related causes since the virus that leads to AIDS emerged in the 1980s. The concert heard a video message, released earlier in the day, from President Barack Obama who called for sustained efforts to fight HIV. "We've got to stay focused and committed. Science is on our side, momentum is on our side. It's up to us to finish the job," Obama said. Despite the public calls to do more on AIDS, activists have faulted the Obama administration and Congress for keeping funding levels stagnant in recent years. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Ebola to push Guinea, Sierra Leone into recession: World Bank | ||
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Washington (AFP) - The World Bank said Tuesday that the fallout from the deadly Ebola pandemic will push Guinea and Sierra Leone into recession next year. With the disease still not under control in West Africa, the cost to the two countries plus less-impacted Liberia of shuttered businesses and curtailed investment will run "well over" $2 billion in 2014-2015, the Bank said in a new report. Governments in the three countries, where most of the nearly 6,000 deaths from the Ebola outbreak have occurred, have already seen their finances hit to the tune of around $500 million this year. That has forced cutbacks to official spending for investment and services, on top of pullbacks by foreign investors and visitors frightened by the spread of the virus. "The epidemic is not yet under control. Containment, combined with a full-fledged financial recovery effort to restart business activity and bring back investors, are now both therefore urgently needed for the region to improve on the downbeat forecasts," the Bank said. The report revised less dire growth forecasts made only in October, when officials optimistically thought the disease could be controlled by the end of the year. Liberia's economy is now projected to grow only about 2.2 percent this year, compared to 5.9 percent projected before the outbreak. More than half of people surveyed in the county say they are no longer working in their latest job, compared to 40 percent in October. But the economy is now likely to bounce back with a 3.0 percent expansion next year, according to the report. "The number of new weekly cases of Ebola in Liberia has recently declined and this may explain some incipient signs of economic recovery. - Ebola impact 'devastating' - Sierra Leone is much harder hit, with transmission of the disease still intense. In the first half of this year the economy grew at a 11.3 percent annual pace; in the second half it has contracted at a 2.8 percent rate. Averaged out, the country will achieve just 4.0 percent growth this year, and is expected to shrink 2.0 percent in 2015. Gross domestic product could lose $900 million fall next year, the report said. Food production will fall because planting was curtailed in the June-August period; on top of that, heavy rains in September hit the country's rice crop. Equally devastating has been the plunge in iron ore prices, which has hit the country's main export. In Guinea, growth slowed from a 4.5 percent pre-Ebola pace to 0.5 percent in the second half, and the economy will likely contract 0.2 percent next year, according to the World Bank. "Commerce and services have been hit by a sharp drop in international travel and regional trade; agricultural and manufacturing exports to neighboring countries have come to a standstill," the report said. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, starting a two-day trip to the affected region on Tuesday, said in a statement that the goal remains to reduce the number of Ebola cases to zero. "While there are signs of progress, as long as the epidemic continues, the human and economic impact will only grow more devastating." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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At least 36 feared dead in northeast Kenya attack: Red Cross | ||
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Nairobi (AFP) - At least 36 people are feared dead after gunmen staged a fresh attack on a quarry in northeast Kenya, the Red Cross said Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks. The incident overnight Monday to Tuesday, some 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the remote town of Mandera and close to the dangerous border with war-torn Somalia, follows a separate attack on Monday night in the town of Wajir, in which one person was killed and 12 wounded when gunmen hurled grenades and sprayed a bar with bullets.
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Hondurans get in the spirit with world record human Christmas tree | ||
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Tegucigalpa (AFP) - Thousands of Hondurans have gone down in history by setting a new Guinness world record for the largest human Christmas tree. "On behalf of the Guinness Book it is a great pleasure to announce that today ... the people of Honduras in Tegucigalpa, with 2,945 people, have broken the record for world's largest human Christmas tree," said company representative Carlos Martínez. A smiling President Juan Orlando Hernandez received the certificate outside the presidential residence. The former record holder had been Thailand, which in 2013 formed one with 852 children. "It's officially amazing," Hernandez said after reading the document. It was a bit of good news for the Central American nation, gripped by poverty and the world's highest homicide rate.
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China to send artists to countryside: report | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - China will send artists, film-makers, and TV personnel to live among the masses in rural areas in order to "form a correct view of art", state media said on Tuesday. The move is the latest by the ruling Communist Party to echo the Mao Zedong era, during which intellectuals and others were "sent down" to labour among peasants in the countryside. It comes weeks after President Xi Jinping told a group of artists not to chase popularity with "vulgar" works but promote socialism instead, with state media comparing his remarks to a speech by Mao. China's media watchdog "will organise film and TV series production staff on a quarterly basis to go to grassroots communities, villages and mining sites to do field study and experience life", the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Scriptwriters, directors, broadcasters and anchors will also be sent to work and live for at least 30 days "in ethnic minority and border areas, and areas that made major contributions to the country's victory in the revolutionary war", Xinhua added. The move "will be a boost in helping artists form a correct view of art and create more masterpieces," Xinhua said, citing the media administration. Beijing imposes tight controls over art and culture, and ideological restrictions have tightened under Xi, with authorities censoring Ai Weiwei and other artists it perceives as challenging its right to rule. Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong, described the move as a Mao-style "rectification campaign" aimed at silencing potential critics as Xi leads a far-reaching anti-graft sweep. "Xi Jinping is under considerable pressure, because his anti-corruption campaign certainly has hurt a lot of vested interests," Cheng said. "This is again a time of pressure tactics on the intelligentsia and on the critics." The new edict harkens back to the era of Communist China's founder, when popular art was little more than propaganda, but Cheng said that whereas Mao's Cultural Revolution was aimed at the entire intelligentsia, the current move was more targeted. "This campaign is a bit different in the sense that as long as you don't challenge the authorities -- as long as you keep quiet -- you are safe to keep making money," he said. In October, Xi told a group of artists that they should not become "slaves to the market". The state-run China Daily likened his remarks to a well-known speech by Mao in the 1940s which outlined his view that the arts should serve politics. "Art and culture cannot develop without political guidance," the paper said, congratulating Xi for "emphasising the integration of ideology and artistic values." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Players struggling as cricket Test series rescheduled | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland on Tuesday said it was too early to say which players would be mentally ready for the rescheduled Test series against India following Phillip Hughes' death, as mourners began arriving for his funeral. The opening clash between the teams was due to start on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane but was put off following Hughes' freak on-field accident last week, with fellow players emotionally shattered, some more than others. Australia's four-Test series will now begin in Adelaide on December 9, with Brisbane to follow, then Melbourne and Sydney. "There is nothing perfect about what we have come up with here but we appreciate everyone's support and understanding in these tragic and extraordinary circumstances," Sutherland said ahead of boarding a plane to Macksville, where Hughes grew up. Hughes died last Thursday from bleeding on the brain, two days after being knocked unconscious by a bouncer while batting during a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, throwing the cricketing world into mourning. With his funeral on Wednesday in his home town of Macksville in northern New South Wales, Cricket Australia late Monday amended the Test dates after lengthy talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and other stakeholders. Instead of starting on Friday, December 12 -- as the second Adelaide Test was originally slated -- it will now begin on December 9 and be the opening match of the series. Such a shift will allow the second Test to be played in Brisbane from December 17-21 with the traditional Boxing Day clash in Melbourne remaining unchanged, while the Sydney Test has been pushed back three days and will now start on January 6. - Raw emotions - Whether the players will be ready for Adelaide remains to be seen. David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Nathan Lyon were all on the field when Hughes was hit while captain Michael Clarke was a close friend and his emotions have been raw. "Any player that is not comfortable or doesn't feel right, or there is medical advice to suggest they're not quite right, then we will obviously understand that," Sutherland said. "Understand that we and the Australian Cricketers' Association will be supporting them and nobody will think ill of anyone who feels uncomfortable about it." The tragedy has deeply shaken the world cricket community, particularly in Australia where the sport is considered the national game. Flags have been flown at half mast and bats left outside front doors as a mark of respect. Clarke arrived in Macksville via helicopter on Monday, with some 5,000 mourners expected at a service that will be broadcast live across the country. Hughes died after his vertebral artery split when hit by the ball, leading to massive bleeding in his brain. It was a freak injury with only 100 cases ever reported and only one as a result of a cricket ball. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Chink in Chelsea armour gives Premier League rivals hope | ||
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London (AFP) - Chelsea's unexpected misstep at Sunderland has given their rivals fresh hope that the Premier League leaders might not be quite as infallible as their early-season dominance has suggested. Jose Mourinho's team remain unbeaten, but his big guns misfired in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Sunderland, allowing defending champions Manchester City to trim their lead to six points with a 3-0 success at Southampton. Mourinho named an unchanged XI for the trip to the Stadium of Light, but although they failed to break down Gus Poyet's hard-working Sunderland, centre-back Gary Cahill felt they had earned a valuable point. "I think we are a different side to last year -- not just personnel, but mentally I think we are different," he told Chelsea TV. "They made it a scrap, but we matched that and managed to play our football as well. When teams sit back and get back in that shape, it's very tough. We saw that last year and this was no different. "But in these sorts of games, if you don't get the breakthrough, it's important we don't lose the game, and it's a point away from home." Chelsea will be without top scorer Diego Costa due to suspension on Wednesday when they host Tottenham Hotspur, who impressed on Sunday by coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to Everton. City's recent wobble appears to be behind them after they survived the dismissal of Eliaquim Mangala to see off Southampton at St Mary's. Manuel Pellegrini's side will hope to further erode Chelsea's lead when they head to Sunderland on Wednesday, but Black Cats centre-back Wes Brown has warned that, like Chelsea, the champions face a battle. Remarkably, City have lost 1-0 on their last four visits to Wearside and when asked if that sequence was likely to continue, Brown said: "After this result (against Chelsea), there's always a possibility. "Every game, we go into the game looking to win it and if we show the same commitment again, I'm sure we'll have chances." Southampton will look to re-assert their top-four credentials when they visit Arsenal, who ended a two-game losing run by winning 1-0 at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Liverpool, United seek momentum -
Arsenal approach the encounter in sixth place in the table, in the middle of a phalanx of teams with designs on the top four. Only five points currently separate fourth-place Manchester United and 11th-place Liverpool, who claimed a first victory in five league games by edging Stoke City 1-0 at Anfield on Saturday. Brendan Rodgers's side visit bottom club Leicester City on Tuesday and under-fire goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says that his team-mates will draw great encouragement from their hard-fought win over Stoke. "It is always pleasing as a goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet, but the most important thing is to get back to winning ways and hopefully we can build a bit of momentum now," said the Belgium international. "There is another game on Tuesday and we will look forward to that one." United produced what manager Louis van Gaal called their "best performance of the season" on Saturday by sinking Hull City 3-0 to register a third consecutive league win for the first time in 2014. They entertain Stoke at Old Trafford on Tuesday and defender Chris Smalling, who opened the scoring against Hull, is eager to keep the ball rolling. "The manager said it was our best game of the season and I think it was. It was a complete performance," said the England international. "I think he said of the Arsenal result (a 2-1 win) that we ground that out without particularly playing well, but this time we did (play well). "He's said he wants six points and we want to deliver that on Tuesday against Stoke." Argentine winger Angel di Maria is unavailable for United after he succumbed to a hamstring injury against Hull, but on-loan striker Radamel Falcao is in contention to start after overcoming a calf complaint. Third-bottom Queens Park Rangers visit Swansea City, while improving Burnley, who are one place off the bottom but unbeaten in three games, host Newcastle United.
Fixtures (1945 GMT unless otherwise stated) Tuesday: Burnley v Newcastle United, Crystal Palace v Aston Villa (2000 GMT), Leicester City v Liverpool, Manchester United v Stoke City, Swansea City v Queens Park Rangers, West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United (2000 GMT)
Wednesday: Arsenal v Southampton, Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur, Everton v Hull City, Sunderland v Manchester City Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Alarm sounded over attacks on defenders of land rights | ||
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Paris (AFP) - As populations grow and land becomes scarcer, attacks on those trying to defend their land are becoming increasingly frequent, a top rights group warned Tuesday, citing Latin America and Asia as the main problem areas. In a wide-ranging report covering 29 countries, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said that "land rights defenders have never before been so targeted." "Pressure on land has today become unsustainable, and demanding that a community's economic, social and cultural rights are respected has become a high-risk activity," the FIDH said. The group said that 43 land rights defenders had been murdered between 2011 and 2014 and 123 had been the victim of "judicial harassment". These numbers are only "a small glimpse of the reality on the ground", it said. All regions in the world are concerned, Asia and Latin America being the continents most affected, the report noted. People standing up for their land rights are often attacked by "police, military, private security agents or 'mercenaries'," the report claimed, in a bid to "silence opposition voices that might put a brake on an investment project." "Threats, harassment, arbitrary arrest, assault, murder -- such acts are targeted at land rights defenders more than any other kind of human rights defender," the report concludes. The detailed, 150-page report, published simultaneously in Manila, Pretoria, Mexico City and Guatemala, alleges cases of murders or disappearances in Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Philippines, Thailand, Laos and South Africa. At a lower level, the organisation spells out a host of cases of judicial "harassment" of people who often have little recourse to legal advice. More than 95 percent of cases of legal harassment go unpunished, the FIDH report charged. To resolve the problem, the group urged better international laws to protect those defending land rights and called for the issue to be put on the agenda of the 2015 international climate conference. FIDH is an umbrella group representing 175 human rights organisations across the world with its secretariat based in Paris.
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A Phoenix Suns Player Had The Dunk Of The Year On An Insanely Flashy Alley-Oop Slam | ||
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We often see crazy dunks in NBA games but usually players don't have the guts to be all that flashy. Gerald Green has the guts. Over the holiday weekend Green's Suns were pitted against the Orlando Magic. Mid-game, Green tries to get loose up by the free throw line and decides he's going to get a little creative. Green spun around a defender, threw the ball against the backboard, and threw it down with a two-handed slam.
This is the kind of stuff you usually only see in warmups or dunk contests ... one of which Green won in 2007. Here's the video: SEE ALSO: LeBron James Made Subtle Changes To His Pregame Routine And Suddenly The Cavs Look Unstoppable Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Not that funny: doctor's bomb joke costs him $90,000 | ||
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Miami (AFP) - A doctor thought it might be funny to crack a joke about a bomb in his luggage. Instead, he partly forced the evacuation of Miami International airport, and earned an almost $90,000 fine. Manuel Alvarado, 60, will pay out $89,172 for his "momentary lapse of reason in making these statements," which prompted costly evacuations and delays for airlines, and brought out a police bomb squad, said his lawyer Brian Bieber. Just before boarding an Avianca flight to Bogota on October 22, a security officer asked Alvarado routine questions; the Venezuelan doctor responded that he was carrying C-4 explosives. Though he corrected himself and said he was just joking, it was too late for airport authorities' taste. "He is extremely remorseful. He had no intent to place anyone in fear. He made what turned out to be the worst mistake of his life," Bieber said. Alvaro will pay the fine in a deal that saw prosecutors agree to drop charges of making a false bomb threat and criminal mischief. Once he has paid, the surgeon can return home, the attorney added. Since the September 11, 2001 strikes on US targets, penalties for making bomb threats have become increasingly severe. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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TransCanada halts pipeline terminal over endangered whales | ||
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Ottawa (AFP) - Oil company TransCanada suspended construction of a terminal on a major pipeline along the St. Lawrence River after Canadian authorities classified a nearby population of beluga whales as "endangered." The arctic white whale, with its distinctive spherical forehead and smiling mouth, is present in and around Cacouna, Quebec where the terminal is planned. The belugas in the area were labeled "threatened" in the last formal study done ten years ago. The population was estimated to number less than 1,000 whales, compared to more than 10,000 in 2004, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada said in a report. That puts the whales at "considerably greater risk of extinction" than before, the report said, citing pollution, noise disturbance and industrial development as reasons for the northern whales' decline. The committee is composed of scientists whose conclusions are submitted to Canada's environment ministry. As a result of the endangered label, TransCanada halted the terminal construction in Cacouna, the company said in a statement. The Cacouna terminal was intended to be operational by 2018 as part of the $10.5 billion Energy East pipeline that's planned to connect Canada's east and west coasts. The decision to delay the construction was made to give the company time to analyze the beluga recommendation and review options for the future, TransCanada spokesman Tim Duboyce said.
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Obama to move on police body cameras after Ferguson unrest | ||
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Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama will seek to release funds aimed at equipping more US police officers with body cameras following the racially charged fatal shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, the White House said. The August death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri revived long-standing questions about how police, especially white officers, interact with African Americans. However, the president -- who met with civil rights and law enforcement leaders amid ongoing protests over a grand jury decision not to charge the white police officer in the shooting -- ruled out reducing federal sales of surplus military equipment to police forces. Instead the president said he would issue an executive order with new guidance for the controversial program, which sparked renewed debate after images during the first protests in Ferguson showed police perched on armored trucks aiming rifles at demonstrators. "We found that in many cases, these programs actually serve a very useful purpose," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, citing the example of Boston police drawing on military-grade equipment after the bombings at the city's marathon in April 2013. Obama is also proposing a three-year, $263 million investment package that will increase the use of body-worn cameras and expand training for law enforcement agencies. Calls for police officers to wear micro-cameras fitted to uniforms have mounted since Brown was killed. As part of the initiative, a partnership program would provide a 50 percent match to states and localities who purchase body-worn cameras. The goal of the investment is to have 50,000 more body cameras in use within three years, the White House said in a statement. Obama called on Congress to work with him to ensure police forces are "adequately resourced for the training and the technology that can enhance trust between communities and police." Body cameras are already worn by police officers in some US cities, such as Laurel, Maryland. Their use is being tested in New York and Washington. In the Washington program, recordings not used for investigations are destroyed within 90 days. A petition posted to the White House petition, calling for the cameras to be deployed nationally, already has more than 150,000 signatures.
- Different this time -
The US president also announced a task force aimed at improving relations between police and the communities they serve, tasked with presenting its recommendations within three months. "This time will be different," Obama insisted, while recognizing that previous task forces have failed to achieve tangible progress. Obama, who met with young activists, said he was hit hard by their descriptions of their experiences. "It violates my belief in what America can be to hear young people feeling marginalized and distrustful, even after they’ve done everything right. That’s not who we are," the president said. His attorney general, Eric Holder, announced later Monday in a speech in Atlanta he would issue new guidance on racial profiling by federal law enforcement. He said he would "institute rigorous new standards -- and robust safeguards -- to help end racial profiling, once and for all." Protesters around the United States demonstrated Monday with their hands in the air in grim tribute to Brown. As part of the "Hands Up Walk Out" campaign, thousands of protesters gathered at universities and workplaces for midday demonstrations around the time Brown was killed on August 9. In New York, hundreds of young mostly white students sat for a minute of silence in Times Square before chanting "hands up, don't shoot" and "no justice no peace."
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This Investor Thinks Bitcoin Will Change EVERYTHING — Not Just Finance | ||
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Bitcoin will change a lot more than finance. It could also change how software is built and upend a bunch of today's biggest web companies, argues Joel Monegro of Union Square Ventures. His argument starts with the block chain, the shared ledger where every Bitcoin transaction is recorded. Validating these transactions requires computing power. When each transaction is validated, a new block is added to the chain, which makes future transactions even harder to compute. Bitcoin was designed this way to make sure that the same Bitcoin, which has no physical form, isn't spent twice by the same person. This also gives Bitcoin some inherent value — people or organizations have to spend a lot of money to run the computers that validate transactions, and the complexity of those computations is always increasing as the chain gets longer. But Monegro argues that these technical underpinnings of the Bitcoin system may have more long-term potential than the currency itself. That's because the block chain is not controlled by any one person or entity, and information in it is freely available to other software programs. So programmers are starting to build things on top of the block chain that have nothing to do with digital currency. For instance, some programmers have developed a protocol called La'Zooz for real-time ride sharing. That could eventually disrupt Uber. Others have created OpenBazaar, a protocol for a a peer-to-peer trading network that could disrupt eBay. Both use the block chain for some basic computing tasks. Here's a simple way of thinking about it. The block chain itself is immutable, like bedrock. Bitcoin is like a building on top of that bedrock — it's got a foundation where programmers have defined some of the basics of how it works, then a bunch of stories on top of that where people interact with it. But it's now possible for other folks to build their own buildings on top of the same bedrock. "The block chain is great at two fundamental things," explains Monegro. "Distributed consensus, which is basically having a large network of computers agree on a value of something....that's a key component for any decentralized system. The other thing is time-stamping, holding a chronological order of things happening." As new businesses crop up that depend on these functions, they'll benefit from turning to the Bitcoin block chain, rather than having to build a similar system from scratch. This concept isn't new. Many tech companies have technology platforms that others can build on, from Microsoft to Google to Facebook. The Bitcoin block chain is different because everything underlying it is published, and there's no central controlling entity. The whole system works only because all the participants abide by the same set of rules, and any changes are dictated by hard math rather than a CEO or board of directors. "Facebook wants to own and store the data that is relevant to their operation," says Monegro. "So does Google, so does everyone else. The data they store, they control it. The algorithms they run, they control it to serve their own purposes. A system like this, the protocols you build are open, not controlled by anybody. They work like a machine. They don't discriminate." There's still reason to be skeptical. Bitcoin itself is still in a very early and tumultuous stage, as the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange earlier this year showed. Speculation has caused some pretty wild price fluctuations — one Bitcoin is worth about $375 today, down from a peak of $1,242 in March 2013. That makes it an unreliable store of value, which could eventually drive people away. Plus, the organizations building on top of the block chain tend to speak in utopian terms that could be a turn-off for outsiders. For instance, La'Zooz describes itself as "a completely decentralized and autonomous organisation. That means that anyone can contribute towards the establishment of its goals in whatever way he or she believes would be the best. Tasks are carried out within autonomous, self-defined circles or teams." But that kind of utopian vision is how a lot of open-source projects started, and many of them have grown into essential technology. Take the Linux operating system, which runs most of the computers in the biggest data centers in the world, like your bank. Or Apache, which runs the majority of web servers. Or the protocols that formed the basis of the Internet itself. Monegro and USV's Fred Wilson think that Bitcoin could become the same kind of foundational building block within the next 5 to 10 years. Monegro's entire post is worth reading if you're interested in the technical vision. Here's a graphic showing the different layers of the platform he believes will built on the block chain, which he's going to detail in a set of follow-up posts:
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Thousands protest, Mexico leader's popularity hits low | ||
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Mexico City (AFP) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto marked two years in office Monday with his lowest approval rating yet, as thousands protested again his handling of the presumed massacre of 43 students. A poll published by El Universal newspaper showed just 41 percent of Mexicans approve of his performance, while the daily Reforma found 39 percent were satisfied. It was the worst approval rating for a president since Ernesto Zedillo in the mid-1990s, underscoring the magnitude of the crisis Pena Nieto is facing since the 43 students vanished in September. In the latest protest to hit the country, thousands of people marched in Mexico City, chanting for Pena Nieto to resign and waving blackened flags in anger over the case of the missing students. They echoed "you are not alone" to parents of the missing who joined the protest. "Pena Nieto must resign," Clemente Rodriguez, father of missing student Cristian, told the crowd. Reina Cruz, a 66-year-old protester, said she felt bad for the parents. "I put myself in the place of the mothers who don't know where their children are, and it's hard, it's painful," she said as others shouted "Pena out!"
- Protesters burn police cars -
Thousands more protested in the southern state of Guerrero, where a drug gang has confessed to killing the aspiring teachers after local police handed them over in September. A group of protesters ransacked the Guerrero state prosecutor's office in the regional capital, Chilpancingo, and set five vehicles on fire, including two police cruisers. Families refuse to believe the 43 young men are dead and demand they be found alive. Federal prosecutors have stopped short of declaring them dead, saying they await DNA tests on charred remains sent to an Austrian university. Teachers and students led another protest in the neighboring state of Oaxaca, where some 1,500 people blocked the local airport for four hours, causing two flight cancellations. Hundreds more blocked access to two facilities of state oil company Pemex for several hours in Oaxaca, a teachers union spokesman said.
- President wants police overhaul -
Pena Nieto, who took office in December 2012, announced that he had sent constitutional reforms to Congress aimed at disbanding the country's notoriously corrupt municipal police forces to allow the federal government to take over gang-infiltrated towns. The president unveiled the plan last week, two months after the students were attacked by police in the city of Iguala, allegedly under the mayor's orders. The case has put a spotlight on Mexico's struggle to end corruption and impunity amid a drug war that has left 100,000 people dead or missing since 2006. "What happened in Iguala marks a before and an after," Pena Nieto said Monday during a visit to the impoverished southern state of Chiapas. "It showed the institutional weakness to face organized crime, which today have more numbers, weapons and power than in the past," he said. His plan, however, has drawn skepticism from human rights groups and analysts who say it is not enough to weed out corruption and abuses across the country.
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UN suspends food aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees | ||
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Rome (AFP) - The World Food Programme (WFP) suspended food aid to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, blaming a financing crisis caused by unhonoured cash pledges. The Rome-based UN agency said refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt risked going hungry this winter if donors do not urgently provide the $64 million (51 million euros) needed to finance the distribution of food vouchers through December. "This couldn't come at a worse time," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "I urgently appeal to the international community –- support WFP now, don't let refugees go hungry." While WFP didn't name which countries haven't made good on their commitments, foreign ministers from Germany, Finland and Sweden told reporters in Copenhagen their countries could do more to fill the funding gap. "We have to strengthen our engagement and give humanitarian aid for the refugees and strengthen the structure of those countries who are hosting the refugees," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. WFP said the refugees affected by the suspension of food aid included many children in Lebanon and Jordan facing harsh winters without adequate clothing or footwear, and living in tents already caked in mud that has made hygiene precarious. Most in peril are the tens of thousands of families that are entirely dependant on international food aid, Guterres added. Distribution of electronic food vouchers is to resume as soon as the pledged cash comes in. The United States, which has stumped up more than $3 billion for the Syrian people including some $935 million for the WFP since the start of the conflict, also voiced concern. Washington was urging governments "to do more," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "Without additional contributions, the World Food Programme could be forced to reduce rations for Syrians throughout the region," she warned. WFP says it has fed millions of displaced people inside Syria and up to 1.8 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt in the three and a half years since the conflict erupted. "A suspension of WFP food assistance will endanger the health and safety of these refugees and will potentially cause further tensions, instability and insecurity in the neighbouring host countries," said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. He added: "The suspension of WFP food assistance will be disastrous for many already suffering families."
- No end in sight -
More than half of Syria's population has been forced to flee their homes since war began in their country in March 2011. Some 3.2 million have fled beyond the country's borders, and more than 7.2 million have become internally displaced, according to the United Nations. There is no end in sight to the fighting in the brutal conflict that has killed nearly 200,000 people. Regime troops and jihadists are still battling for control of the country, where foreign fighters have flocked to join the Islamic State group and rival Al-Qaeda-linked militants. Before the conflict began, Syria had a higher gross domestic product (GDP) than countries such as Tunisia and Jordan, and it ranked favourably on human development indicators including health and education. But with the brutal violence that followed a crackdown on anti-government protests, regional investors have fled, key infrastructure has been destroyed and the economy has withered. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Mark Cuban Has Some Great Advice For Ray Rice And The NFL | ||
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Despite the appalling video showing Ray Rice punching out his soon-to-be wife in an elevator, some NFL team or another is going to want to hire the former Ravens star now that a judge ruled the NFL can't suspend him indefinitely. Billionaire Mark Cuban, as the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, knows something about the world of pro athletes. On Monday, speaking at Business Insider's Ignition conference, Cuban said if Rice was regularly abusing his wife, "somebody in the NFL knew." Cuban said that the NFL, like the NBA, has psychologists on staff who can identify behaviors that indicate an abuser. (Although Rice's wife said in a recent interview that Rice isn't one of those men, doesn't routinely hit her, and this was a one-time, drunken thing.) Whether it was a one time deal or not, Cuban says that he's not comfortable with the idea of kicking Rice out of the NFL entirely with no help for his problems. I don't like the idea of just throwing someone to the curb. I don't like the idea of just pushing our organizational problems and saying, 'That was horrible what you did. Just go be horrible for someone else, or keep on being horrible and nobody is ever going to stop you.' What I would try to do, have tried to do (we haven't had anything that bad), is to say, 'Let's go get you help. We'll deal with whatever legal issues, but you're not stepping onto the court until you're past all that.' It could be alcoholism. It could be whatever. ... You may not want to employ them longer term. But don't just throw them out. Get them help so wherever they go next, even if it's not professional sports, they are in a position to have a career of some sort.
Cuban also thinks that all sports teams, even in junior high, should be doing a better job of identifying such problems and intervening. He says: We're not setting standards for men coming into our sports that we need to. If a kid is in AAU [college sports] or he's in junior high and you see these tendencies, there needs to be programs to get them help. ... If you're abusive in relationships or you have anger issues, we need to say – and I've brought this up on in our meetings – before you can be on an NBA court, if you've had these things in your background we need to get you counseling. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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He says that any team that wants to hire Rice should have a psychologist interview him and make sure his issues are fixed before letting him join a team. If they are, "this is America" where we believe "in second chances."