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'Steve Jobs' trailer provides the first look of Michael Fassbender as Apple's cofounder | ||
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Aaron Sorkin’s movie 'Steve Jobs' has gone through its share of iterations, with many members of the cast and the original director leaving the project, but it now appears that the film is off the ground. Universal Studios just released the first trailer for the film, which shows star Michael Fassbender as the iconic Apple founder. Rounding out the cast are Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, Kate Winslet as Mac engineer Joanna Hoffman, and Jeff Daniels as John Sculley. The film, which was directed by Danny Boyle, will be released this October.
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Inside the beautiful apartment of an executive at one of New York City's hottest startups | ||
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Rebekah Rombom, VP of business development at coding education startup The Flatiron School, never saw the need to fully decorate her tiny apartment on New York City's Upper West Side. "I thought it was out of reach and not really worth it in a rental in New York City," she told Business Insider. "But I was running into the problem of not having a well-defined work space in my home." The Flatiron School is a highly selective, full-time program that teaches people how to code and eventually get jobs as engineers. Rombom met Will Nathan, cofounder of interior design startup Homepolish, when he turned to the Flatiron School to recruit developers. She decided to purchase 10 hours of design time with Homepolish designer Michele Bitter. The result is a colorful, efficiently organized apartment that has made it easier for Rombom to work on her latest Flatiron School projects from home. One of the main goals Rombom and Bitter had was to define the tiny studio apartment into separate sleeping, working, and living spaces. Installing a tall bookshelf was one way to accomplish this without blocking too much sunlight. Growing a startup means working crazy hours, so having an efficient desk space was extremely important. "When all is said and done, having a place that’s cohesive and feels like it’s your own really makes a difference in your productivity," Rombom said. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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2 music producers released an album on Spotify and Tidal to see which streaming service was better | ||
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Two music producers who had created a compilation album of hip-hop artists wanted to do something different with their new record, so they released it simultaneously on the rival streaming services Spotify and Tidal, Billboard reports. Jonathan Hay and Mike Smith are the coproducers of the mixtape "When Music Worlds Collide." It features some well-known names, including Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck. So even though it wasn't a major-label release, there's certainly interest in it. It has been a week since the album landed on Spotify and Tidal. So which service is better? Surprisingly, the producers sound as if they prefer Tidal. "I went into the Tidal experience a little skeptical because of some of the things I was reading in the media, which was completely misguided," Hay said. The producers preferred the high-resolution streaming tier of Tidal because it replicated the original sound of their music. Smith said he "compared [Tidal] to my computer file of one of our songs and the quality was almost insane. Streaming through Tidal sonically has really come of age." But a big part of why the producers liked Tidal was that the streaming service promoted their album and replied to their emails. Roc Nation, Jay Z's entertainment company, gave the producers "great feedback" on their album and featured it on Tidal's front page. But Spotify did well on music recommendations, keeping track of what music a user had listened to, and Smith preferred its app. So it sounds as if the producers prefer Tidal for the way it treats the audio quality but like the actual functionality of Spotify. What the Billboard article doesn't reveal, however, is which service made them more money. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life  | ||
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The one part of the world Uber has yet to conquer | ||
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Uber is increasingly ubiquitous around the world. Now, the ride-hailing giant — backed by $5.9 billion in venture-capital funding — operates in 55 countries and 200 cities around the world. But there's still one area of the world Uber needs to work on before it can truly achieve international status. Last December, Uber raised a massive $1.2 billion round of funding. It was intended to allow Uber to "make significant investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region." Earlier this year, BuzzFeed News reported that Softbank Capital, which has funded on-demand ride-hailing startups GrabTaxi and OlaCabs, was behind a global alliance to take on Uber. Since then, two other huge Asian taxi-hailing companies — Kuaidi Dache, which is funded by Alibaba, and Didi Dache, funded by Tencent — have merged, consolidating the power of Asia-based car-hailing companies. And though Uber operates in a number of Asian markets, including Beijing, Bangkok, and Tokyo, the company has faced other legal hurdles in Asia. South Korea has charged Uber CEO Travis Kalanick with operating an "illegal" taxi service, and has vowed to shut down Uber's operations in the country. As TechCrunch notes, "Korean law doesn’t allow technology companies to store payment data as part of their purchase workflow, but instead requires consumers to retype their information with every purchase, ostensibly for security reasons." Earlier this month, Uber's China offices were raided by police in what was described as a crackdown on ride-hailing apps. China's taxi market is largely state-owned, and the International Business Times reports some Chinese citizens have been angered by taxi drivers opting to switch over to apps like Uber, because it makes it more difficult to simply hail a cab on the street. But it's not just the Asia-Pacific area that Uber needs to worry about. It's India, too. OlaCabs, an Uber rival native to India, has a $2.5 billion valuation and the trust of the Indian people, another obstacle Uber has to overcome in its international expansion. Allegations of an Uber driver raping a female passenger in India in 2014 have led some Indians to be wary of Uber's services and have prompted protests against Uber's services across the country. Uber has already worked to address these issues, though. Uber has customized its Indian experience, adding an in-app panic button option that alerts police to your location, as well as introducing rickshaws and cash-payment options for its Indian customers. Uber certainly already has a leg up on its US rivals: Lyft, perhaps its closest competitor, hasn't even expanded outside the States yet. But if Uber wants to achieve global expansion, it needs to work within the legal regulations in the Asia-Pacific area as well as work to make its Indian customers happy. SEE ALSO: Uber's nightmare scenario: How everything could go wrong for the world's hottest new company Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: We did the math: Is Uber really cheaper than a taxi?  | ||
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The 10 countries with the world's fastest internet speeds | ||
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With a few clicks on a keyboard and a swipe of the mouse, we have access to an unprecedented amount of information the likes of which humanity has never seen before. But if you have a slow internet connection speed, then waiting for that page to load, that video to buffer, or that file to download can feel like an eternity. Akamai Technologies, a cloud services provider, made a list of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world that shows where the luckiest netizens reside. Each of these countries is ranked by the average speed of their broadband internet connection in megabits per second (Mbps). And they are all faster than the United States, which ranks 17th in the world in internet connection speed, according the list. #10 FinlandAverage Mbps: 12.1. Internet speeds have increased 33% over the last year. #9 Czech RepublicAverage Mbps: 12.3. Internet speeds have increased 8.4% over the last year. #8 IrelandAverage Mbps: 12.3. Internet speeds have increased 8.4% over the last year. #7 LatviaAverage Mbps: 13. Internet speeds have increased 25% over the last year. #6 The NetherlandsAverage Mbps: 14.2. Internet speeds have increased 15% over the last year. | ||
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VC money is pouring into this quiet neighborhood in San Francisco | ||
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It’s had its ups and downs through the years, but lately it’s become the new hub of venture capital firms formerly located down in Silicon Valley. In the last two years or so, 9 VC firms have set up within a couple blocks of the park. It’s why some people call it the new Sand Hill Road, the iconic street in Menlo Park where all the top VC firms are located. South Park is located in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. This is the 2nd street entrance of the park between Brannan St. and Bryant St. It's a beautiful park with a tree line and open grass area. It's easy to find people enjoying the sun. In fact, South Park is the oldest public park in San Francisco. It was originally built as a gated area for the city's wealthy class. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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South Park, built in 1854, is the Candy Crush maker King Digital's stock is crumbling as analysts turn on it | ||
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King Digital is in trouble. The British mobile games studio behind the wildly successful Candy Crush Saga, saw its stock plummet 11% in after-hours trading after posting a disappointing outlook for Q2 yesterday. This morning, a handful of investment analysts have published negative notes on the company. Credit Suisse said "Candy Crush will continue to decay at a steep trajectory but further that 3 out of 5 [new game] launches will be a commercial failure." Founded in 2003 by Riccardo Zacconi and Melvyn Morris, it first really came into the public eye in 2012, with the launch of Candy Crush Saga. A simple, free-to-play puzzler funded through in-app purchases, it went super-viral, and has netted hundreds of millions of players. King has been beset with difficultiesDespite this wild success, there have been financial — and legal — hurdles. The company's IPO in March 2014 was disastrous, falling 15% on its first day — one of the worst of the year.
And at one point last year, the company, there was speculation that King Digital had "waved the white flag on its future" after electing to issue a $150 million dividend. Stock subsequently dropped 25% in after-hours trading. At the start of 2015, "Games Guru" Tommy Palm left King Digital. It was a major loss — Palmer is "credited with helping to create the most popular mobile game on the planet, Candy Crush Saga," VentureBeat reported at the time. (Palmer went on to start his own mobile games company.) Then in March, King was sued over allegations tht it denied "lives" to players that had been donated to them by friends, in in attempt to force people to buy new lives. The complaint asserts that King is "intentional[ly] profiteering at the expense of customers." The same month, it was also sued for allegedly inflating user numbers ahead of its IPO the year before. The lawsuit says that the user figures provided to investors were "materially inaccurate, misleading, and/or incomplete." Of course, legal battles don't detract from the sheer addictive popularity of Candy Crush, which has seen it attract negative press coverage. A 2013 Daily Mail story referred to it as "crack candy," interviewing women who said "it's taking over my life" and played for 8 hours a day. ABC put together a piece on "cautionary tales from people obsessed with Candy Crush," including one woman who ignored her daughter, and another who spent hundreds of dollars on the game. Earlier this year, things were looking up
In Q4 2014, King Digital booked sales of $586 million, above expectations of $520 million. But this isn't why investors were excited. Instead — for the first time — less than 50% of King's revenue was coming from Candy Crush. It's a dangerous game developing mobile app casual games. They can become multi-million-dollar businesses overnight, but there's little-to-no brand loyalty from consumers towards the development studios themselves. Games are also unpredictable: They can become hits at any time, then fade away as quickly as they came. The ultra-simple Flappy Bird was one of the biggest viral sensations of 2014. It got so big that developer Dong Nguyen ultimately removed it from app stores, as he was unable to handle the pressure. But when his studio .GEARS released its second title, Swing Copters, later that year, it failed to get the same traction. Another example is Mind Candy. It's the studio responsible for the web-based mega-hit Moshi Monsters. But it has also seen massive losses over the past few years, as it has failed to capitalise on its success and diversify its portfolio. "Moshi Monsters captured the imaginations of children and launched at a time when the consumer web was just taking off," CEO Michael Acton Smith said at TechCrunch Disrupt in October 2014. But it's "been a tough time in the last couple of years... There have been lots of sleepless nights." Analysts — and investors — thought that King Digital had managed to sidestep this trap. Its new title, Candy Crush Soda Saga, was doing extremely well, along with its broad stable of other titles — including Bubble Witch Saga 2, Farm Heroes Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, and Diamond Digger Saga. Analysts praised King — then turned on itDeutsche Bank said in a research note that the company "has come a long way towards proving it can bring more hits to market." JP Morgan, meanwhile, believed that King was "increasingly benefiting from its scale & marketing power as it can outspend peers and leverage significant data to encourage cross-game adoption."
King Digital's 2015 Q1 results were relatively strong. Revenue beat expectations, coming in at $569.5 million versus $553.9 million. But the company predicts bookings will decline from $604.5 million in Q1 to the $490-$520 mark in Q2, saying the "mid-year period [will] be seasonally softer." 62% of total gross bookings have come from titles other than Candy Crush in Q1, suggesting King is slowly moving beyond the title — but some analysts are slamming the company nonetheless. Deutsche Bank now says King "needs another hit," and that while Candy Crush Soda Saga "[came] on strong, it has "likely peaked already." As it stands, "all existing games are now in decline, and new game genres may have structurally lower margins... Without clear success from upcoming titles, it appears most likely revenue and margins will decline going forward." A research note from Pacific Crest says that "King is in need of a steady new schedule of new titles to grow, which is a much less profitable model than launching a few longer-performing, highly profitable games." It continues: We are not sure about the non-Candy Crush growth opportunity. Candy Crush has carried KING since its release in 2012, and we think the story for growth after Candy is still uncertain. Mobile game developers initially rely on a key franchise or genre, and diversification has been a rare occurrence. We are not sure KING is going to buck the trend. It has plans to launch new games, but the probability that any one will be a big contributor is relatively small. Credit Suisse, meanwhile, warns "not only that Candy Crush will continue to decay at a steep trajectory but further that 3 out of 5 launches will be a commercial failure." In short: The mobile gaming industry is notoriously volatile, and the era of Candy Crush Saga is drawing to a close. With no guarantee that King Digital will ever be able to replicate its success again, the company's future is looking far dimmer than its past. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Liam Neeson transformed what could have been an ordinary mobile game ad into a Super Bowl great  | ||
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People questioned the wisdom of the IPO upon its initial announcement, given the unpredictable, hot-hit-wonder nature of mobile gaming. "Games companies seem like the kind of startups who might best remain private," 
But flagship title Candy Crush's popularity has begun to wane, and with it, questions have been raised about the company's future. Earlier this year, when King posted 2014 Q4 earnings,
Since then, however, things have soured. Forget 'CSI' — this short about forensic photography reveals how real-life crime scenes are documented | ||
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With advancements in technology and budget cuts, forensic photography is quickly becoming a dying craft. "The Forensic Photographer" follows 20-year photography veteran Nick Marsh who gives insight into his craft. Video courtesy of Beazknees Follow Beazknees: On Vimeo Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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11 common tech myths you should stop believing today | ||
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Is it bad to charge your phone overnight? What about charging an iPhone with an iPad adapter? Despite how often we use devices like smartphones and laptops, we have plenty of questions about how they work. And with so much information out there — not all of it true — it's hard to know if we're treating our electronics properly. We're here to debunk some of the biggest misconceptions out there. Mac computers can’t get viruses Yes, Apple computers are susceptible to malware, too. Apple used to brag its computers aren't as vulnerable as Windows PCs to viruses, but the company quickly changed its marketing page after a Trojan affected thousands of Mac computers in 2012.
Private/Incognito browsing keeps you anonymous There’s a misconception that “incognito” and “private” are synonymous with anonymous. If you’re using Incognito Mode in Google Chrome or Private browsing in Safari, it simply means the browser won’t keep track of your history, import your bookmarks, or automatically log into any of your accounts. Basically, it's good for keeping other people who use your computer from seeing what you've been doing. But it won’t keep your identity hidden from the sites you visit or your ISP — so keep that in mind if you’re visiting sites you shouldn’t be.
Leaving your phone plugged in destroys the battery If you’re like most people, you probably leave your phone plugged in overnight long after the battery is fully charged. Some used to say this would hurt your phone's battery life, but in fact, there's no proof that this damages your phone’s battery in any way. Modern smartphones run on lithium-ion batteries, which are smart enough to stop charging when they’ve reached capacity.
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Apple has acquired a company focused on hyper-accurate GPS to improve Apple Maps | ||
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Apple has acquired Coherent Navigation, a company focused on hyper-accurate GPS, in an effort to improve its mapping capabilities, MacRumors reports. Coherent Navigation's High Integrity GPS system is supposedly so granular that it can provide accurate location information to within a few centimeters. It's no secret that Apple Maps has long struggled with providing accurate location information since phasing out Google Maps in 2012. Coherent Navigation's technology could theoretically be used to significantly enhance Apple's Maps product, though Apple has not confirmed how Coherent or its employees will be integrated into the company. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” an Apple spokesperson told the New York Times in an email. However, several Coherent employees have already begun working for Apple. Former Coherent CEO Paul Lego joined the tech giant in January as part of the Apple Maps team and co-founders William Bencze and Brett Ledvina came on board last month in location engineering roles. The former Coherent website now directs to Apple's servers. SEE ALSO: Tim Cook channels Martin Luther King Jr. in speech to George Washington University graduates Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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How to mute individual tabs in Google Chrome with just a click (GOOG) | ||
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Google already allows you to see which tabs in Chrome are playing audio thanks to the tiny speaker icon, but it's now possible to quickly mute those tabs with just a click. The new feature, which is actually an experiment nestled inside Chrome according to The Next Web, now lets you click on the tiny speaker icon to mute individual tabs. Here's what it looks like in action.
Enabling the experimental feature is easy. First, you'll need to type "chrome://flags/" into the URL address bar at the top of Google Chrome (without the quotes), which will take you to Google's experimental features page — which looks like this.
Next, simply search for "Enable tab audio muting" in the list and click "Enable" to turn the feature on.
You'll need to shut down Chrome for the change to take effect, but you'll now find you can click on the tiny speaker icon and Chrome will mute whatever audio is coming from that tab. SEE ALSO: The apps Mark Cuban loves — and those he doesn't Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 awesome Google features you didn't know about  | ||
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Meet the funniest guy in every state, according to scores of women who rated them anonymously | ||
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With the slogan "do your research," the controversial app Lulu lets millions of women anonymously rate men on their looks, personality, and sense of humor. Men are rated overall on a scale of 1 to 10, but women can also pick hashtags to describe them, like #DoesHisOwnLaundry or #JustFriends (free form answers could put Lulu's users in libelous territory). The app recently started letting women send anonymous messages to guys — the men can't initiate conversation themselves. The company says it has generated billions of profile views, and registrations have grown 3X in the last month. Business Insider worked with Lulu to find the funniest guy in every state based on the"humor score" they had been given by women who know them. Click here to see who will make you laugh the hardest>>
Alabama: John Lex Kenerly Humor score: 9.8 College/Occupation: University of Alabama Women say: #MakesMeLaugh #CaptainFun #WillActSilly
Alaska: Josh Smith Humor score: 9.4 College/Occupation: University of Alaska Top humor-related hashtags: #CaptainFun #LifeOfTheParty #AlwaysHappy
Arizona: JT Boulanger Humor score: 9.8 College/Occupation: Arizona State University Top humor-related hashtags: #AlwaysHappy #MakesMeLaugh #LocalCeleb
See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Before NASA destroyed a $446 million spacecraft it took the most detailed photos we have of the fastest planet in our solar system | ||
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Mercury is the smallest and fastest planet in the solar system, racing through space at 105,000 miles per hour, circling the sun every 88 days. But besides small size and swift speed, little was known about this mysterious planet until NASA's MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft became the first man-made instrument to orbit Mercury in 2011. On Thursday April 30, NASA will crash land the spacecraft into the planet, leaving a 50-foot-wide crater. But before meeting its violent end, the spacecraft and its seven scientific instruments have uncovered many of the alluring planet's secrets —some, however, continue to defy understanding. Here's a collection of some of the most incredible photos the spacecraft took that helped scientists better understand this small world. Some of these images have false coloring to highlight different minerals and features on the surface. Mercury has a thin atmosphere that does little to protect it from asteroid impacts, which slam into its surface on a regular basis. Some craters on Mercury are billions of years old, but you can spot the more recent impact sites in light blue and white in this false-color image. Here's a remarkable close-up of Mena crater. The white rays tracing across the surface are debris that an asteroid kicked up when it hit. Notice how the rays overlay some of the older impact sites. That's how scientists know that this 15.5-mile-wide crater was made relatively recently. On the other side of Mercury is one of its most famous features: the giant Caloris basin, outlined here in tan in the upper right. The basin is 960 miles wide and relatively smooth. In fact, the tan regions in this false-color image mark some of the smoothest places on the planet where past lava flows have glossed the surface.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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These startups from around the globe are innovating their way to a better world | ||
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Over the past week, 1776, a startup incubator focused on public good brought startups from 16 cities in 11 countries to Washington D.C. to compete in its annual Challenge Festival. The week-long startup competition focused on four areas of public innovation: education, energy & sustainability, health, and transportation. Unlike other well-known incubators and seed funds, 1776 solely funds startups that are focused on making a major impact in heavily regulated industries. At the Challenge Festival, startups like as BaseTrace, which "uses DNA-based tracers to track where industrial fluids are going in large, complex environments" and Reliefwatch, a cloud-based system that uses smartphone technology to track inventory and diseases for healthcare organizations in the developing world, battled it out on stage for a grand prize of $150,000 in investment. Twiga Fruits, a Kenya-based startup that builds fair and sustainable distribution systems to export fresh fruit without going through a middleman took the top prize. The company aims to treat farmers fairly while helping to distribute their goods to the widest network. Twiga Fruits is currently Kenya's leading exporter of bananas, pineapples and avocados
“Over the past six months, we’ve traveled the globe to find the world’s most promising startups working to develop innovative solutions to fundamental challenges in education, energy & sustainability, health, and cities & transportation,” says Donna Harris, co-founder of 1776. “After going against stiff competition throughout the Challenge Cup, Twiga Fruits emerged tonight as this year’s most promising, problem-solving startup, and we look forward to helping them innovate and improve the Transportation & Cities industry for years to come.”
Here are a few of the other finalists:
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: We did the math: Is Uber really cheaper than a taxi?  | ||
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Along with fresh funding, Twiga Fruits and other finalists will receive the " Verizon and Facebook agree: Content is king again (GOOG, FB, VZ, AOL) | ||
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Ever since the dawn of the mass-market web in 1995 or so, the saying "content is king" has moved in and out of fashion. With Verizon's $4 billion purchase of AOL, and Facebook's new Instant Articles initiative, which embeds content from other media sources directly into Facebook, it looks like it's back in vogue. Here's the thinking: There are only a few things that people want to really do online. Buy and sell. Communicate. Play. And look at content — news articles, TV shows, games, cat videos, porn, and so on. Over the years, tech companies went through periods of urgency where they all seemed to realize that the technology they were building wouldn't amount to much if they didn't have something that people wanted to do with it. So they'd hire, buy, or partner with people who create content. The peak of "content is king" came when AOL bought Time-Warner for $146 billion in stock at peak-dot-com prices in 2000. Now, mobile devices have replaced the PC-based web browser as the No. 1 place where people consume content online, and tech companies are making sure they are poised to profit from that habit. Verizon and the fear of a dumb pipeAt the dawn of the smartphone era, Verizon (and other telcos) thought they were going to be able to add all sorts of new revenue streams — you'd download music, video, and games directly from their stores. But Apple's iTunes and later Google Play put an end to that dream, and most paid and subscription content now comes through these platform providers or third-party apps like Netflix and Hulu. Not the carriers. Texting, meanwhile, has diminished in importance thanks to social networking and chat apps like WhatsApp.
That's a bad business because customers expect prices to go down and service to get better over time — it happens with every other tech product! The only way to win is to cut expenses faster than prices. So, it bought a content business. Or at least a way to make money from content. There's some debate about whether Verizon is really interested in the content properties like the Huffington Post and TechCrunch — one report suggested the company may spin them off — or if Verizon is mainly interested in the advertising platforms that AOL has built to make money from those properties. But either way, Verizon is clearly interested in profiting from the consumption of content on mobile devices. Specifically consumption through mobile video. As a recent McKinsey presentation showed, video consumption is growing faster on mobile devices than on any other medium. Verizon owns the pipes today; with AOL it can also own, or at least profit from, more of the stuff traveling over those pipes. Facebook's mobile-ad masteryFacebook is an interesting case study in "content is king." The internet company looks a lot like a media business. It makes nearly all its money from advertising, yet it doesn't actually own or produce any content. All the content is produced or shared by the nearly 1.5 billion people now using the service. This has been a pretty good strategy. Facebook booked $11.5 billion in ad revenue last year, with a growth rate of 65%. It's been able to do this by showing fewer ads (down 40% in 2014) and charging a lot more for those ads (up 173% in 2014). This is what you can do when people spend more and more time on your site — average time spent tripled from six minutes to 21 minutes between 2010 and 2014, according to Statista. More important, Facebook's mobile-ad business has grown from zero at the time it went public in May 2012 to make up 65% of its total ad revenue last year — about $7.5 billion. Basically, all of Facebook's growth is coming from mobile.
But one thing people love to do on Facebook is share content. If people leave Facebook to view that content, and then view or click on an ad on a media company's website, Facebook makes no money from that transaction (unless the media company is showing the article in an app that happens uses Facebook's year-old mobile-app ad network, the Audience Network). And who knows when that person will come back to Facebook? So with Instant Articles, media companies publish their content directly within the Facebook app on mobile phones, where Facebook at least has a chance of selling an ad against it and earning 30% of the revenue from that ad. (Often left unsaid in this equation is the fact that more great content on Facebook keeps people on Facebook longer, where they're more likely to see ads that Facebook sells and earns 100% of the revenue from.)
It's true: Instant Articles are beautiful and load fast. Over time, perhaps, users will prefer those articles over the old-fashioned link-off-to-another-site kind of article, and will share them more, giving publishers a bigger pie of advertising dollars to take their cut from. Meanwhile, Facebook inserts itself more directly into the mobile value chain. So what happens next?History doesn't repeat itself, but sometimes there are echoes. The last tech boom turned out to be a bubble as valuations outstripped reality. The AOL-Time Warner deal ended in tears in 2003, when the combined company took a huge write-off on the value of AOL's online business, leading to a $99 billion loss in 2003 — the largest annual loss ever. Other tech companies who had made big content bets also started to unwind those bets — for instance, Microsoft sold its online magazine Slate, shuttered plans to make original video programs for MSN, and eventually dissolved most aspects of its MSNBC partnership with NBC. For a few years, tech companies went back to being tech companies, and media companies went back to being media companies. But the underlying shift that drove those dot-com investments in the first place — the movement from offline to online — turned out to be real, and a lot of new companies came to profit from it. Google and Facebook are the biggest, with combined market caps of about $600 billion, but there are many other tech companies that survived the dot-com crash or emerged from its ashes and remain strong and thriving today. The current tech boom has been driven by the shift from PC to mobile devices. It may or not get into the same kind of bubble territory, but eventually that boom will end. Look for the tech industry's infatuation with content to end then, too. READ THIS NEXT: Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook are at war over the future of news — and one of them tried to buy a media company Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: REVEALED: Here are all the incredible perks for Facebook employees  | ||
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So once again Verizon is forced to confront its worst fear: Becoming a "dumb pipe" that is only there to carry an ever-increasing amount of data at ever-faster speeds.
The bait for this hook? Facebook says that outbound links to news articles can take up to eight seconds to load — notice how that "eight seconds" figure appears in every story about the new feature? — which creates a subpar experience for readers. NASA has a giant flying saucer that they're going to send humans to Mars in | ||
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The way we think of flying saucers is about to get a pretty serious makeover. Instead of transporting aliens across the universe (as portrayed in sci-fi films), rocket-powered flying saucers could send the first humans to the surface of Mars. At least, if everything goes according to NASA's plans. Right now, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California is testing its low-density supersonic decelerator (LDSD) project, which includes the test model of an actual flying saucer that will carry heavier loads — including astronauts — to Mars in the not-too-distant future. The technology NASA used to land its Curiosity rover on the red planet in 2012 won't cut it when it comes to heavier payloads like manned missions. So, NASA is pushing the boundaries of spacecraft technology with their LDSD project to design the safest, most cost-effective way of slowing a spacecraft down once it has entered the Red Planet's atmosphere. The most cost-effective way to slow down larger loads as they approach Mars is to take advantage of the natural drag, or friction, in the atmosphere. The LDSD's large, flat, saucer-like surface will maximize this potential, generating a lot of drag to help slow it down as it falls to Mars. Still, the craft could benefit from even more drag. That's why scientists created the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD). It slows it down even more by making the object larger. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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This robot competition inspired students and will get you excited about the future | ||
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Thousands of students came together in St. Louis, Missouri, to participate in the FIRST Championship robotics competition. Student teams design and build robots to compete regionally and qualify for the world championship each year. In this year's "Recycle Rush," robots speed around a basketball-court-sized field, picking up and stacking crates in designated scoring areas. Produced by Jason Gaines. Video courtesy of Associated Press. Follow BI Video: On Facebook
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We're going to detect alien life in the next decade, but not where you might think | ||
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Tiny, microbial life could be swarming deep below the surface of Mars or swimming in the underground oceans on Saturn's moon Enceladus, but that's not where we're likely to find the first life forms beyond earth. The bad news is that the first alien life forms humankind will likely discover will be too far away to ever visit. But the great news is that we could detect these exotic beings extremely soon: "I think we're probably going to be able to detect life on another planet in the next decade or so," Christopher Impey, who is an astronomer at the University of Arizona and author of over a dozen popular science books, told Business Insider. The way we're going to do it is "by exploring exoplanets that we're discovering in large numbers." Impey discussed this and more during a talk at the 2015 American Physical Society's April Meeting on "Extraterrestrial Intelligence: What would it mean?". Exoplanets are planets that exist outside of our solar system. The closest exoplanet we know of so far is actually orbiting one of the nearest stars Alpha Centauri B about 4.3 light years from earth, but it would take current spacecraft technology well over 100,000 years to reach it. Why exoplanets?Discovering another life force beyond earth is going to be difficult no matter where astronomers look, but exoplanets have several advantages. First, there are more earth-like exoplanets in our galaxy than in our solar system. Indeed, earth is the only real earth-like planet nearby, with Mars as a close but pretty disappointing second. As of right now, there are over 45 exoplanets in our galaxy thought to be potentially habitable. I think we're probably going to be able to detect life on another planet in the next decade Another advantage is that scientists can search for life on exoplanets more inexpensively and efficiently with instruments on earth than searching for them in our solar system. In contrast, large government agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency will likely have to land a robotic probe on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, or some of the other promising places in our solar system, to discover evidence of life. (The one exception could be Saturn's water-rich moon Enceladus.) As of right now, the only lander mission on the books for NASA is their Mars 2020 mission, which won't be able to dig deep enough underground to search for signs of life, Impey suspects. That's why exoplanets are so promising. "They're billion-dollar, decade-long missions and NASA's budget is so tight that you can only do one big thing at a time," Impey, who is also Vice President of the American Astronomical Society, told Business Insider about missions to land a probe on a nearby planet or moon. "I think the project that will get there first is looking for earth-like exoplanets and inspecting their atmospheres."
The chemical recipe for life
For example, until last year, the detection of oxygen — an crucial element for life on earth — within an exoplanet's atmosphere would have been an extremely exciting discovery and widely considered a sure sign for life. But in May, 2014 a pair of researchers — Robin Wordsworth and Raymond Pierrehumbert — suggested that worlds with large amounts of liquid water could still have lots of oxygen but be completely devoid of life. That's because light from the planet's star could have enough energy to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms making up water vapor in the atmosphere, where the hydrogen could then escape to space, leaving behind the oxygen. "Any claims about the remote detection of life beyond the solar system would be open to a lot of close scrutiny," Jack O'Malley-James told New Scientist for an article about the study. "So knowing more about the non-biological sources of atmospheric gases, coupled with methods for ruling those sources out, would help to make those claims more robust." Although it's unclear exactly what chemicals might show signs of life, Impey says that we should be looking for molecules like ozone (O3) and methane (CH4). A new fleet of gigantic, revolutionary telescopes
"[Exoplanets] are far away and they're very faint," Impey told Business Insider. "You need a huge collecting area to get the light from a distance of an earth-like planet." The collecting area of a telescope refers to the size of the part of the instrument, called the mirror, which collects the light from distant objects. Astronomers will then study this light to detect different chemical signatures in the atmosphere. Similar to how each human has a unique thumbprint, each element has a specific light signature, which astronomers can detect through a method called spectroscopy. But, it's going to take the most powerful telescopes in history to detect the faint light signatures of these molecules on distant exoplanets. Right now, astronomers at institutes across the globe are building three gigantic, next-generation telescopes, two in Chile and one in Hawaii:
These three huge telescopes each have the capability to observe distant worlds and maybe, just maybe, make the most important discovery in the history of the human race by answering that tantalizing question: Are we alone? LEARN MORE: Here's how humans are going to find alien life CHECK OUT: NASA scientist says this is where we'll likely find alien life first Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Scientists Have A Pretty Good Idea What Aliens May Actually Look Like  | ||
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With powerful telescopes on earth, scientists can sniff out alien life across the galaxy by inspecting the different cocktail of gases in these planets' atmospheres. Only planets with certain key elements and molecules will have the potential to spawn and sustain life.
However, scientists are still debating what that perfect cocktail is.
While scientists like Wordsworth and Pierrehumbert are investigating what to look for, astronomers and engineers are working on the tools we'll use in the search for life outside our solar system by building the largest, most powerful telescopes in history. There's one glaring problem with Oculus Rift's plan to conquer virtual reality (FB) | ||
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The highly-anticipated virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is finally going to be available for purchase early next year. But there's a problem: If you own a Mac or Linux system, or a basic PC, you're out of luck. At least for now. Facebook-owned Oculus VR on Friday released the technical requirements for running the Oculus Rift — it will require a PC with a powerful graphics card. But it won't work on any Apple or Linux computers. And the system specifications are far above the levels of any basic PC. "Our development for OS X and Linux has been paused in order to focus on delivering a high quality consumer-level VR experience at launch across hardware, software, and content on Windows," Oculus' chief architect Atman Binstock wrote in a blog post. "We want to get back to development for OS X and Linux but we don’t have a timeline." We always knew the first-generation Oculus Rift would require a computer to work, but it's disappointing that it won't work across all platforms just yet. And furthermore, you'll have to own an at least $1000 PC with a beefy graphics card if you want a quality experience. Delayed gratification
Luckey's original Kickstarter campaign surpassed its goal in less than 24 hours on its way to raising over $2.4 million. It was endorsed by countless gaming executives, including Valve CEO Gabe Newell and "Doom" creator John Carmack. It became an even bigger deal when Facebook saw its potential and acquired the company for $2 billion in March 2014. Over that time, Oculus built three official development kits for the Rift headset, but everyone wanted to know when they could expect the first consumer version to ship. The company finally answered that question earlier this month, promising the first units of the Oculus Rift would ship early next year. Unfortunately, just because it's officially called the "consumer version" doesn't mean the first-generation Rift is for "all consumers." Due to these technical requirements and restrictions, it sounds like the Oculus Rift will only appeal to hardcore gamers at this point, who already own a gaming rig that can handle the computational load.
Personally, I was looking forward to buying the first-generation Oculus Rift, but I probably won't at this point. I'm a big gaming enthusiast but only a casual gamer — I don't have a crazy setup like a massive computer tower with three monitors, I just have a MacBook Pro. I would need to buy a completely separate PC just to play around with the Rift. Here's what they say you'll need to actually use this thing:
That is not going to come anywhere near approaching the average user's home computer system. And as a result, it's going to leave a lot of people who want to experience virtual reality out of the loop. Of course, this is not what Oculus wants, either. Most virtual reality companies say their goal is to get their VR products untethered from computers to simply become plug-and-play experiences like many living room game consoles. But that future isn't quite here yet, and unfortunately, that means many people — non-gamers and casual gamers included — will be missing out on the first wave of virtual reality. SEE ALSO: 3 virtual reality products will dominate our living rooms by this time next year Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Watch Henry Blodget Freak Out When He Tries Oculus Rift And Looks Down From A Virtual Skyscraper  | ||
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The Oculus Rift was responsible for re-sparking interest in virtual reality back in 2012, when gaming enthusiast Palmer Luckey promised a better virtual reality experience that was also accessible and affordable for most people.
This big UK company boss thinks a Brexit is the best idea for Britain | ||
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The chairman of one of Britain's biggest construction companies JCB just said that Britain is better off leaving the European Union. Lord Bamford, who is the boss of JCB which makes manufacturing equipment for construction, demolition and agriculture, said that he believes that Britain's trade ties will not be greatly affected by a Brexit and that the nation would be better placed to negotiate with the EU if it left the union. "We are the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world. We could exist on our own, peacefully and sensibly," said Lord Bamford. “The UK could negotiate as our own country rather than being one of 28 nations in Brussels as we are today." When asked directly about whether Britain it would be better if Britain operated left the EU, he added:“I think it would be, because I really don’t think it would make a blind bit of difference to trade with Europe. There has been far too much scaremongering about things like jobs. I don’t think it’s in anyone’s interest to stop trade. I don’t think we or Brussels will put up trade barriers." JCB is a privately-held firm and reported a 6% drop in sales for 2014, compared with 2013, to £2.5 billion. The company said this was mainly due to slide in emerging market sales. In China and Brazil, plant machinery equipment revenue tanked by 17% in 2014, while Russia reported a 27% plunge in sales. In contract, sales in the UK rocketed by 30% while revenue in the US jumped by 13%. Britain's ruling Conservative Party will have to deliver a referendum by 2017 over whether Britain will stay part of the EU or not, since it was a linchpin pledge during the campaign. According to reports, Prime Minister David Cameron is said to be already putting plans in motion to bring forward an in/out referendum by a year. Though the Tories are pushing through the promise of a referendum, however, the party is largely against leaving the EU. In January last year, UK Chancellor George Osborne said the Tories were determined to deliver on the promise of a referendum but they would prefer to stay within the EU and negotiate "a better deal." "Our determination is clear: to deliver the reform and then let the people decide," Osborne said in a speech at a Tory party conference on January 14. "It is the status quo which condemns the people of Europe to an ongoing economic crisis and continuing decline. And so there is a simple choice for Europe: reform or decline."
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment  | ||
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10 things you need to know before European markets open | ||
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Good morning! Here are the most important stories in markets today. Greece may not pay up this month. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had warned foreign officials that Athens would not be able to pay the €750 million (£545 million, $856 million) due this month to the International Monetary Fund, Greek newspapers said Sunday. Iran's deputy oil minister says OPEC is unlikely to cut output. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is unlikely to implement a production cut at its next meeting in June, a senior Iranian official said on Monday. Asked if OPEC would cut output at the upcoming June 5 meeting, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi told Reuters: "I don't think so." The Bundesbank's monthly report is coming. At 12 noon London time (7 a.m. New York time) the biggest national central bank in Europe releases its monthly report, with a hint at the German institution's views of economic developments. China hopes the fall in house prices is bottoming out. China's new home prices fell for the eighth consecutive month in April from a year earlier but were flat from March, adding to hopes that a property downturn which is weighing heavily on the economy is beginning to bottom out. The West is clinging to a fraying peace deal in Ukraine. Western powers are clinging to a fraying peace deal in Ukraine and forcing Kiev to follow suit, even though Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of wavering and NATO is warning that Moscow may be preparing for a new offensive. Saudi Arabia is selling less oil to the US than at any time since 2009. Despite the plunge in oil prices, the world's main producer is still struggling to sell more than a million barrels per day on average to the US, according to the Financial Times. Iran and Saudi Arabia are gearing up for a Naval confrontation. An Iranian cargo ship carrying aid and activists crossed into the Gulf of Aden on Sunday and will reach Yemen's Hodaida port on May 21, Iranian media reported, in a challenge to Saudi-led naval forces controlling Yemeni waters. Japan reported a solid sign on business investment. Japan's core machinery orders increased 2.9% in March from the previous month, rising for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said on Monday, in a sign of a pick-up in business investment. Asian shares are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is sinking, down 1.01%, while the Shanghai Composite Index is flat, up just 0.06%. Japan's Nikkei had a good session, rising 0.70%. North Korea is "not even close" to talks with the US. US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday North Korea has "not even come close" to taking the steps needed to rein in its nuclear weapons program to initiate talks, adding the United States was considering further sanctions. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions  | ||
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The 10 most important things in the world right now | ||
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1. Islamic State militants claimed full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday in the biggest victory for the extremist group since last summer. 2. Thousands of anti-government protesters in Macedonia's capital rallied outside Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's government office on Sunday, following the release of taped conversations that "appear to expose tight government control over journalists, judges, and the conduct of elections," Reuters said. 3. US special operations forces killed a senior Islamic State commander during an overnight raid in eastern Syria. 4. Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza made his first public appearance in the capital of Bujumbura on Sunday since a failed attempt last week to overthrow him. 5. Nine people were killed and several more were injured on Sunday during a shooting involving three rival biker gangs at a Texas restaurant. 6. A senior Iranian official said OPEC is unlikely to cut oil output at its next meeting in June. 7. Nigeria's military destroyed 10 Boko Haram camps on Sunday in the Sambisa forest. 8. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is under pressure to reveal the list of computers that were spied on by German intelligence to help the US National Security Agency. 9. Greece had warned foreign officials earlier this month that it would not be able to pay the €750 million (£537 million; $845 million) due in May to the International Monetary Fund, although the government ended up scraping together enough money in time. 10. Vietnam opposes a Chinese ban on all fishing activities in disputed areas of the Gulf of Tonkin. Thousands of people in Ecuador on Saturday planted a total of 647,250 trees in a single day. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This Animated Map Shows How European Languages Evolved  | ||
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India's Modi arrives in South Korea on investment hunt | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Seoul on Monday for a two-day visit heavily focused on economic ties with Asia's fourth-largest economy and beefing up investment from South Korean firms. On his first visit to Seoul since taking office a year ago, Modi was to meet President Park Geun-Hye to discuss issues ranging from diplomacy and the economy to the security situation on the Korean peninsula. The trip -- part of a six-day East Asia tour -- is packed with a whirlwind of meetings with business tycoons from South Korea's largest conglomerates, including Hyundai, Samsung and LG. All three manufacturing giants operate plants in India where they enjoy sizeable shares of the vast consumer market for cars, smartphones and home appliances. Modi is looking to secure promises of bigger investments as part of his "Make In India" initiative, aimed at fostering the nation's relatively weak manufacturing sector. "South Korea has made far less investment in India than other Asian rivals like China or Japan despite the country's vast growth potential," Oh Hwa-Suk, head of the Seoul-based India Economy Research Institute, told AFP. India also needs help upgrading its outdated transport infrastructure -- a constant source of frustration among foreign firms operating there. Indian media reports suggested Modi was hoping to secure up to $10 billion in South Korean soft loans to fund infrastructure projects. On Tuesday, Modi is scheduled to visit the main shipyard of the world's largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, in the southern city of Ulsan and to meet with its chairman Choi Kil-Seon. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest carmaker, operates two plants in the southern Indian city of Chennai, and expanding that investment is expected to be high on the agenda during a meeting between Modi and Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo in Seoul, also on Tuesday. A planned meeting with J.K. Shin -- the head of Samsung's mobile unit -- in Seoul is also expected to help accelerate the South Korean firm's reported plans to build a third plant in India, one of the world's fastest-growing handset markets. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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BHP spin-off South32 valued at $9.1 billion on listing | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - BHP Billiton's spin-off mining company South32 debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday at the lower end of expectations, valued at about Aus$11.3 billion (US$9.1 billion). Shareholders in the Anglo-Australian giant overwhelmingly approved the demerger to allow it to focus on its most profitable areas of iron ore, copper, petroleum, coal and potash. The new entity, South32, has a more diversified metals and mining portfolio, including aluminium, coal, nickel, manganese, silver, lead and zinc with most of its mines in the southern hemisphere. It began trading at 0200 GMT at Aus$2.13. Analysts had reportedly expected the company to range between Aus$2.0 and Aus$3.50 per share. Shares in BHP tumbled 6.5 percent to Aus$30.39. "In rough terms, it (BHP) is down by about $2.25 compared to the current price of South32 of $2.15," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner. The new company's chief executive Graham Kerr said the listing came during "challenging times for the resources sector". But he added: "South32 will start life with a strong balance sheet, along with high-quality, well maintained, cash generative assets and highly talented people." South32, with gross assets worth US$26.7 billion, will also be listed in London and Johannesburg, with trading set to begin on those markets later Monday. The new company is the world's largest producer of manganese ore and owns the largest silver mine in the world. "We believe that our regional model will enable us to improve our productivity and performance in a sustainable way," said Kerr. "We will aim to combine strong operational performance with financial discipline as we seek to increase shareholder value." BHP announced the plan to create an independent spin-off company in August and the decision was approved by shareholders earlier this month. South32's head office is in Perth and has a global workforce of about 27,000 people. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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EU to back unprecedented naval force to fight people smugglers | ||
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Brussels (AFP) - The European Union is set to back plans on Monday for an ambitious naval force to fight people smugglers in the Mediterranean after a series of shipwrecks that killed hundreds of migrants. The unprecedented mission starting in June will involve the deployment of warships and surveillance aircraft off the coast of Libya, the main launching point for people risking their lives to reach Europe. Foreign and defence ministers are set to approve the scheme -- a rare joint military step for a 28-nation bloc that historically prefers political and financial action to armed cooperation -- at a meeting in Brussels. But the plan still risks being largely toothless unless the EU wins a United Nations resolution approving military action against smugglers before their boats reach European waters. The EU wants to be able identify, intercept and possibly destroy the smugglers' vessels while their boats are in Libyan waters in order to disrupt the traffickers' "business model". But there no question of any EU "boots on the ground" in Libya, which has become a main launching point for people traffickers since being plunged into chaos with two rival governments and a significant number of Islamic State militants, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said last week.
- 5,000 migrants dead -
More than 5,000 migrants, many escaping civil war in Syria, have died over the past 18 months while trying to cross from North Africa, often on flimsy rubber dinghies or crowded fishing boats. After Monday's decision the ministers are expected to ask the European military authorities to set up the mission, sources said. It should then be formally launched at an EU summit in June. Leading countries in the EU -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- have already promised to deploy warships for the mission to tackle the smugglers in the Mediterranean. The headquarters of the mission, called EU Navfor Med, is to be in Rome and will be led by Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, a European diplomat told AFP. The naval operation is part of a wider EU blueprint launched by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker last week. Pressure has grown on governments to act after an overcrowded migrant boat sank in the Mediterranean last month, leaving more than 750 dead in a case that sparked international outrage.
- Britain, France oppose quotas -
But parts of the plan -- particularly quotas for distributing asylum seeker arrivals around the EU -- are causing deep divisions. Britain says it will not take part in the quota system and has called for economic migrants to be pushed back to where they came from. It received unexpected support from French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who rejected the quota plan at the weekend, while Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have also spoken out against them. The EU naval force would have to deal with traffickers who are often heavily armed and have often charged their victims thousands of dollars for the risky passage. Brussels wants to take the operation step-by-step, starting by collecting intelligence on the traffickers by using radar, satellite pictures and reconnaissance flights and raiding unflagged boats. If the EU wants ships from its members states to enter Libyan waters or capture a boat flying a foreign flag, it needs the green light from the UN under international law. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said last week at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey that he expected UN approval to be forthcoming, with Russia overcoming initial scepticism.
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Learn how to develop a mobile app strategy in the 10 minutes it takes to get dressed | ||
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To have a successful digital marketing strategy, you need to reach customers where they are — and these days, that's on mobile. But many marketers don't grasp the true importance of mobile marketing, since they aren't applying the same analytics to mobile apps and sites as they do to traditional ones. In 2013, people spent $38 billion on mobile apps. That number is expected to grow to $77 billion by 2017, and the spending power goes well beyond just apps: A recent study shows that after browsing on a mobile device, roughly 50% of shoppers complete their purchase on a smartphone or tablet. Keeping up with all of the developments in the mobile space can be tricky, though, because of how quickly things change. Knowing how busy marketers can be, Adobe has created an ingenious way to consume white papers: in audio form. Click on the audio links below to listen to Adobe's new white papers on developing a sophisticated app strategy, driving mobile digital sales, and creating a cross-channel marketing strategy that actually works. Each one is only 10 minutes long, which means you can improve your mobile marketing strategy — using your phone! — during your commute, lunch break, or morning routine. Learn how to improve your mobile marketing strategy by listening to the white papers below. Sponsored by Adobe Adobe Audio White Papers for Marketing: "Digital Marketing Capabilities for Mobile" Click above to listen to the Adobe white paper on mobile marketing strategy.
Sponsored by Adobe Adobe Audio White Papers for Marketing: "10 Ways Cross Channel Marketing is Not Rocket Science" Click above to listen to the Adobe white paper on cross-channel marketing.
Sponsored by Adobe Adobe Audio White Papers for Marketing: "Keep Your App Users Engaged" Click above to listen to the Adobe white paper on keeping app users engaged.
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The 10 things in advertising you need to know today | ||
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Good morning! Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today. 1. We stumbled across what might be the most bizarre ad of the year. It's for Thunderhead, a company that make customer service software. 2. McDonald's has been reprimanded for its kids advertising. It has been told not to focus its Happy Meal marketing on the toy, and instead focus its spots on the food. 3. An emerging American trend is terrifying news for Macy's, Kohl's, and JC Penney. Consumers are spending less on clothes and home furnishings. 4. Nike is facing harsh criticism for offering a 30% discount to police officers. It comes in the wake of a string of shootings involving police officers who killed black men. 5. P&G has put its North American media account into review, Adweek reports. The CPG giant spends more than $2.6 billion on advertising in the region annually. 6. Nielsen has explained to The Wall Street Journal's CMO Today how it is adapting to the rise of online video. The company is swiftly trying to update its measurement tools to be able to analyze TV viewing everywhere, not just on the main TV set. 7. Interest in mobile audience targeting is on the rise, according to eMarketer. The percentage of US digital marketing and media professional targeting audiences via smartphones and tablets increased significantly year on year. 8. Whole Foods has offended its most important customers. It has announced the launch of a new, lower-cost chain targeting millennials. 9. Econsultancy looks at whether Google is being too easy on mobile sites with desktop pages. Its search algorithm upgrade, dubbed"Mobile-geddon," may not have been as harsh as first thought. 10. Social marketing company Brand Networks acquired Shift for $50 million in a cash and stock deal, TechCrunch reported. Shift is another social ad platform. Sponsored by Adobe Adobe Audio White Papers for Marketing: "Digital Marketing Capabilities for Mobile" Click above to hear Malcolm McDowell read the Adobe white paper on mobile marketing.
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Blanchett lesbian love tale, Holocaust shocker lead Cannes race | ||
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Cannes (France) (AFP) - A powerful lesbian love story starring Cate Blanchett and a groundbreaking Holocaust drama emerged as favourites as the Cannes Film Festival hit the halfway mark on Monday. Critics are calling it a banner year at the world's top cinema showcase, with the selection of 19 contenders for the coveted Palme d'Or top prize filled with delights and surprises. In an early stand-out, Todd Haynes's "Carol" features Blanchett as a wealthy 1950s housewife who falls hard for a budding photographer (Rooney Mara). The lushly shot period piece sees Carol, in the process of divorcing her businessman husband, threatened with the loss of custody of her young daughter on "moral grounds". The film makes a strong case for equal rights at a time when, as Blanchett noted after the screening, dozens of countries still have anti-homosexuality laws on the books. Rapturous reviewers in this Riviera port town said "Carol" had already emerged as an Oscar favourite. Film industry bible Variety called it "an exquisitely drawn, deeply felt love story that teases out every shadow and nuance of its characters' inner lives". The unflinching Holocaust feature "Son of Saul" by Hungarian newcomer Laszlo Nemes also drew rave reviews from shocked critics. Cannes watchers said the unique relentlessness of Nemes's depiction of a 36-hour period in the Auschwitz death camp could win over the jury led by US filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. French daily Le Monde said Nemes, who lost several members of his family to the gas chambers, said he clearly made the film to keep the history of the Holocaust alive for "the generations that soon will have no direct contact with the witnesses who can share with them their memories". Among the more bizarre entries, which nevertheless won ardent fans, was "The Lobster" by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz in a story about single people sequestered in a hotel and given 45 days to find a partner, or be transformed into the animal of their choosing. - Potential gems - The darkly comic send-up of modern love packed an emotional punch, with BBC critic Nicholas Barber giving it five out of five stars and calling it a "shrewd commentary on the societal pressures we're all under to form relationships, and the deceptions and self-deceptions some of us resort to as a result". Italian veteran Nanni Moretti also drew high marks for his new picture, "My Mother". Moretti stars alongside US actor John Turturro in a semi-autobiographical film about a director suffering personal and professional crises that left many Cannes critics weepy as they emerged from the giant Palais main venue. Audiences also embraced Hirokazu Koreeda's "Our Little Sister", a gentle Japanese family drama adapted from manga, and the Italian-made, English-language "Tale of Tales," a bloody Gothic fable starring Salma Hayek and John C. Reilly. But in one of the biggest Cannes flops in recent memory, Gus Van Sant garnered howls for "The Sea of Trees" starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as a man who travels to Japan to commit suicide. London's The Guardian newspaper called it a "fantastically annoying and dishonest tear-jerker". Always a potpourri of high art and big-money commercial fare, the festival also saw the rip-roaring premiere of a new "Mad Max" blockbuster starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy. Scott Roxborough of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter told AFP that the second half of the festival still had many potential gems in store. He said "Youth" by Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino with Michael Caine, Weisz and Jane Fonda; "Dheepan," a drama about a Sri Lankan refugee by acclaimed French director Jacques Audiard; and Chinese director Jia Zhangke's follow-up to his 2013 tour de force "A Touch of Sin" looked particularly intriguing. Roxborough said the Cannes market, where film rights are bought and sold, was also bouncing back after a few lean years. "It's not up to the levels before the crash of 2007-2008 when people were going crazy with $100-million films flying around like candy," he said. "But people haven't been buying for a couple of years so they're restarting the market. And of course a lot of territories' economies are doing a bit better" including Spain, Italy and sanctions-hit Russia "which has sort of bottomed out now and is rebounding". The 12-day festival will wrap up on Sunday with a gala awards ceremony. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's the 1971 Coca-Cola ad that played during the 'Mad Men' finale | ||
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Warning: If you haven't watched the "Mad Men" series finale, there are spoilers ahead. "I'd like to build the world a home and furnish it with love ... grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves. I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company." The series finale of "Mad Men" closed with the famous 1971 Coca Cola ad "I'd like to Buy the World a Coke." McCann Erickson advertising executive Bill Backer came up with the concept for the ad, which eventually cost over $250,000 to make. Check it out below: The idea for the ad, originally known as the Hilltop ad, came after a plane flying Backer was forced to land in Ireland. You can read more on the making of the ad on Coca-Cola's site, here. SEE ALSO: AMC's sister networks have gone black in honor of the "Mad Men" finale Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Shiite militias converge on Iraq's Ramadi after IS takeover | ||
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Baghdad (AFP) - Shiite militia groups converged on Ramadi to help Iraqi security forces wrest the city back from Islamic State fighters who seized it in a deadly three-day blitz. The effective loss of the capital of Iraq's largest province was Baghdad's worst military setback since it started clawing back land from the jihadists late last year. Days after a rare message from IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging mass mobilisation, the group came close to also seizing the heritage site of Palmyra in Syria, but the army pinned the jihadists back. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the United States and the leadership of the Sunni province of Anbar had been reluctant to deploy Iranian-backed groups in Ramadi. They favoured developing local forces, but militia leaders said Monday the past few days had proved the government could not afford to do without the Popular Mobilisation Units (Hashed al-Shaabi), an umbrella for militia groups and volunteer fighters. Hadi al-Ameri, a key figure in Hashed al-Shaabi and the leader of the Badr paramilitary group, argued Anbar's leaders should have taken up his offer sooner. Badr's TV channel Al Ghadeer said Ameri "holds the political representatives of Anbar responsible for the fall of Ramadi because they objected to the participation of Hashed al-Shaabi in the defence of their own people". Various militias announced they had units already in Anbar -- including around the cities of Fallujah and in Habbaniyah -- ready to close in on Ramadi and engage the city's new masters. - Massive reinforcements - A spokesman for Ketaeb Hezbollah, one of the leading Shiite paramilitary groups in Iraq, said his organisation had units ready to join the Ramadi front from three directions. "Tomorrow, God willing, these reinforcements will continue towards Anbar and Ramadi and the start of operations to cleanse the areas recently captured by Daesh will be announced," Jaafar al-Husseini told AFP, using an Arab acronym for IS. Ramadi, which lies 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, effectively fell to IS when beleaguered Iraqi security forces pulled out from their last bases on Sunday. The jihadists used several waves of suicide car bombs to thrust into government-controlled neighbourhoods on Thursday and Friday. The group's black flag was soon flying above the provincial headquarters and, with reinforcements slow to come, thousands of families fled the city. Anbar officials said at least 500 people died in three days. "We're continuing to monitor reports of tough fighting in Ramadi and the situation remains fluid and contested," Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann told AFP late Sunday. Muhannad Haimour, spokesman and adviser to the Anbar governor, also said fighting was ongoing in some pockets of the city. Iraqi military officials said all main security bases had been abandoned. - Palmyra relief - Tensions between Tehran and Washington, Baghdad's two main foreign partners, also played out during the battle for Tikrit, which the government took back last month. The fall of Ramadi and IS expansion in Anbar province are also seen as an increased threat on the city of Karbala, home to one of the holiest shrines in Shiite Islam. In the Syrian half of the "caliphate" Baghdadi proclaimed last year, IS failed to notch up what would have been another high-profile military victory on the ground. Government forces repelled an IS advance on the ancient oasis town of Palmyra that had sparked widespread concern that yet another UNESCO heritage site could be destroyed. "IS's attack was foiled," provincial governor Talal Barazi said Sunday after troops routed the jihadists from the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra, which they had seized on Saturday. UNESCO has urged both sides to spare Palmyra, which it describes as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, however, that IS fighters were just a kilometre from the archaeological site and its museum of priceless artefacts. It said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting -- 123 soldiers and their allies, 115 IS fighters and 57 civilians. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Fans are up in arms about HBO’s treatment of a side character on 'Game of Thrones' | ||
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Warning: There are spoilers ahead if you are not caught up with "Game of Thrones." It's no secret "Game of Thrones" deviated many times from the text in season five. We've seen this with Sansa's character and the expansion of a fan favorite on screen. But there's one change from the text which has increasingly confused fans of the beloved book series this season. Ser Loras Tyrell, the brother of Margaery and a popular side character in "Game of Thrones," has been increasingly reduced to a caricature of homosexuality — and no one is sure why. Loras was very subtly alluded to as being gay in the book series, but it was so quietly done that George R.R. Martin had to confirm the speculation. On the HBO adaptation, Loras' homosexuality is his most obvious trait. In season five episode four, we saw the Faith Militant, a military branch of the Faith of the Seven, exercise their recently granted power by aggressively stamping out “sinful” behavior. They concluded their raid on King’s Landing with the arrest of Ser Loras, on charges of “perversion” in the form of homosexuality.
Loras was introduced back in season one during a jousting tournament, where he beat Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane (an impressive and rare feat). Afterward, it was quickly made apparent that he was not just a skilled fighter, but also Renly Baratheon’s lover.
George R.R. Martin’s subtle references to Renly and Loras being gay were so minute that many overlooked it. He is referred to in the text once as "Renly's little rose" and the "Knight of Pansies," but this could be interpreted as rumor mongering. The most obvious quip came from a scene between Jaime Lannister and Loras in the third book, A Storm of Swords. Jaime is frustrated with Loras, and snaps "Now sheath your bloody sword, or I'll take it from you and shove it up some place even Renly never found." This definitely implies a gay relationship between Renly and Loras, but it still could be chalked up to rumors. And among the thousands of pages of text, it was an easy inference to miss. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss decided to do away with the ambiguity, and take advantage of HBO’s allowance of nudity and adult material. Renly and Loras were immediately established as a gay couple in season one. This is all fine and dandy for the first two seasons of “Game of Thrones” where we saw Loras do more than just dote on Renly. Loras had a great fight scene with Brienne of Tarth in season two, and was shown conspiring with his sister Margaery to keep Renly in power. He was one of the heroes at the Battle of Blackwater, saving King’s Landing from Stannis Baratheon’s attack.
There haven't been any more signs of him serving as a noble knight or crucial warrior the way he is in the books. Instead, his sexual orientation has become Loras’ defining characteristic. Now, the show has created a narrative where Loras is arrested for being gay — a plot that does not exist in the written series. This is equally disappointing and confusing on several levels. It seems anti-progressive to have a gay character who is overtly defined by the fact he is gay. One online user pointed out this difference by explaining that on HBO, Loras is “a gay character,” whereas in the book series Loras is “a knight and a son of House Tyrell, who happens to be gay.” There have been many outcries online about this treatment of Loras, especially in recent episodes where Loras is now being persecuted by the Faith for his sexual orientation. There was also a recent post on the "A Song of Ice and Fire" subreddit, where a user explained the many ways in which this is an abominable adaptation of Loras. The user points out that the Faith in the books does not seem to dictate that homosexuality is a sin. It seems to be more of an Ancient Greek-inspired social rule, where the norm is heterosexuality but gay relationships are tolerated among men as well. The user, a self-identified gay man, stated: “When I watch my favorite series about a fantasy world, why the hell do I need to see guys being accosted for being gay...At best I feel pandered to in some sort of weird pity, at worst I'm outright offended.” The purpose for adding this storyline is unclear. The Faith Militant do exist in the books, but they are more concerned with closing the gap between the elite and the common folk, as well as clearing out corruption from inside the castle. In fact, it is Margaery that is arrested at the behest of Cersei, under charges of adultery and treason. Showrunners have opted to put both of the Tyrell siblings behind bars, with Margaery taking the fall for knowing about Loras. But they could also be trying to make some larger commentary on the nature of religion and homophobia. Are Weiss and Benioff attempting to equate the Faith Militant with the persecutions carried out by religions of the real world? If so, how is this going to play out? Olyvar, Loras' lover on the series, works for Littlefinger, so by providing testimony against both Margaery and Loras he is choosing to destroy the alliance he built with the Tyrells. But that doesn’t make much sense. The Tyrells have proven to be strong players in the game of thrones, with more financial resources than many of the main houses and a cunning matriarch, Olenna. Did Littlefinger really instruct Olyvar to testify?
We’ll have to wait and see how this new plot progresses, but fans are not optimistic it will get any better. Of all the side characters, Loras has been doled the weakest writing, and it’s a true shame. SEE ALSO: What the big moment from last week's 'Game of Thrones' means for the rest of the season Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Watch these giant container ships collide near the Suez Canal  | ||
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T Pellegrini backs Bony to be Manchester City success | ||
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Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is confident Wilfried Bony will go on to become a success after insisting he is a player they "need." The substitute reminded Swansea what they were missing with a late goal as City guaranteed themselves a top-three finish and direct entry into next season's Champions League with a 4-2 win at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. Yaya Toure and James Milner goals had put Pellegrini's team in control of this Premier League fixture only for the home side to level up with goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis. Another Toure strike -- again aided by more questionable work from Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski -- put City back in control before his Ivorian teammate Bony, signed from Swansea for £28 million ($43 million, 37 million euros) in January, added a goal late on. It was only Bony's second goal for City since his mid-season arrival but Pellegrini was confident the striker, who was applauded after his goal by Swansea fans, would be a success at Eastlands. "He got the reception he deserves. He was very unlucky when we bought him because he started by going to the African Cup Of Nations," said Pellegrini. "After that then he had an ankle and knee injury that stopped him for three weeks. Then we won five in a row and I did not want to make changes in this moment. "... I am absolutely sure we bought the player we need."
- Beautiful save -
Victory guaranteed deposed Premier League champions City a top-three finish and a place in the group stages of the Champions League, with England's fourth-placed side having the inconvenience of a qualifying round for Europe's elite club competition. But things might have been different on Sunday when, with City having just reclaimed the lead to move 3-2 ahead, Swansea seemed set to equalise via a thumping header from Federico Fernandez only for Joe Hart to pull off a stupendous one-handed reflex save to tip the ball over his crossbar. "It was incredible," said Swansea boss Garry Monk. "Ninety-nine times out of 100 that's a goal but unluckily for us he had an answer to it. He is a world-class goalkeeper." City manager Pellegrini added that 28-year-old England international Hart had advanced this season and was "starting to reach his peak." "It was a beautiful save in an important moment," Pellegrini said. "I think that Joe is the No 1 in England. He has improved a lot this season. "Bringing in Willy Caballero has been good for him as competition," the Chilean added. "I think he is starting to reach the peak of his career. It is difficult for a young goalkeeper to be so, so good. "It is difficult to compare him with all the other goalkeepers. (Chelsea's Thibaut) Courtois is very good also. In this league we have three or four very good goalkeepers. (Manuel) Neuer at Bayern (Munich) is very important also. "But Joe understands he must improve. Every day he works hard," Pellegrini said. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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AMC's sister networks went black in honor of the 'Mad Men' finale | ||
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The "Mad Men" series finale aired Sunday evening on AMC. If you tried to watch any of AMC's sister networks at the same time, they advised fans to do the same. In honor of the "Mad Men" finale, the network's four sister channels BBC America, IFC, Sundance, and WE decided to black out. Here's how the networks look:
SEE ALSO: Here's the Coca-Cola ad that played during the "Mad Men" finale Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' have changed over the years  | ||
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Russia successful in second attempt to start Progress spacecraft | ||
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Moscow (AFP) - Russia's space agency said Monday it had managed to restart the engines of the Progress spacecraft and correct the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) after a failed first attempt. "On Sunday night, the orbit of the ISS was successfully corrected," Roscosmos told Russian news agencies after an initial attempt to switch on the spacecraft's engines was unsuccessful. The operation by the Progress M-26M cargo vehicle, which is moored to the Russian module Zvezda, began just after 3:30 am Moscow time (0030 GMT) and took about half an hour. ISS is now at the right altitude for its three crew members to return to Earth in early June. The manoeuvre was first attempted on Friday but the Russian team was unable to start the engines, sparking a crisis in the country's space industry after a series of embarrassing failures. A few hours later, Russia also lost a Mexican telecommunications satellite following the failed launch of Proton-M carrier rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev immediately launched an inquiry after the satellite incident, demanding answers from the head of the space agency, Igor Komarov, and suggesting heads could roll. Russia fired the head of its space agency last year after a series of failures.
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Taylor Swift goes rap and action hero in new video | ||
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Las Vegas (AFP) - Pop superstar Taylor Swift offered a new personal transformation as she debuted a video of herself as an feminist action hero in collaboration with rapper Kendrick Lamar. Opening the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, Swift premiered "Bad Blood" as the fourth single from her album "1989", which was by far the top-selling solo album last year. The single version features Lamar, one of the most acclaimed rappers of the moment, in a hip-hop duet -- a once unthinkable step for the 25-year-old Swift, who started off in country music before shifting to pop. The song -- whose chorus runs, "Baby, now we've got bad blood / You know it used to be mad love" -- is about Swift's fallout with another pop star, widely speculated to be Katy Perry. But the video, directed by veteran music director Joseph Kahn, turns "Bad Blood" into a mini-action film, with Swift leaping into an office and dueling with baddies. Hoping for a theme of women's empowerment, Swift enlists as her co-heroines a number of female stars ranging from model Cindy Crawford to actresses Zendaya and Selena Gomez to Lena Dunham, the creator of the dark television comedy series "Girls". "Let the lethal forces of femininity rock you to sleep," Dunham wrote on Twitter ahead of the video's debut. Swift in the video turns into a boxer and, with her hair momentarily dyed deep red, struts with a row of weapon-clinging women. After premiering the video, Swift opened the televised awards by introducing rock veterans Van Halen, who performed their hard-charging 1984 hit "Panama". Swift later accepted an award and embraced Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, who was sitting beside her, in images certain to reinforce gossip that the two are dating. The Billboard Music Awards, run by the music trade magazine, recognize chart performance unlike the more prestigious Grammys which are based on voting within the industry. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How much are you worth? This smart app reckons it can tell just from your CV | ||
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How much are you worth? Negotiating your pay packet can be a stressful task. Most people will just pick a figure out of thin air and hope it's reasonable — many pitch lower than they should, out of fear that an inflated number would upset their employers. Now there's something to help you with that. Job search engine Adzuna has come up with a better way to negotiate, with a new tool that filters through the site's mountain of data to give you an estimate of how much you should be making based on your skills and experience.
Adzuna will also then sends you job listing that fit your skills and earnings profile. You can try it here. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment  | ||
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All you need to do is upload your CV to Luis Enrique eyes new era of Barcelona dominance | ||
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Madrid (AFP) - Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his side's 23rd La Liga title can be the launching pad for another prolonged period of success and a potential treble this season. Lionel Messi scored the winner to hand the Catalans a fifth title in seven years with a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday as Barca returned the favour after Los Rojiblancos sealed the title at the Camp Nou exactly a year ago. Barca face Athletic Bilbao on home soil in the Copa del Rey final on May 30 before taking on Juventus in the Champions League final a week later. Luis Enrique was recruited along with seven new players last summer after Barca's first trophyless campaign in six years and he lauded their response in what he described a season of "transition". "I hope it can be a new era. We have to deserve to win the other titles. We have two finals left and we need to show we are better than the opponents," he said. "We started 10 months ago with many changes at the club and coming off a season having not won anything. "We knew it would be a season of transition and we tried to do our best. We have two titles still to play for, but we already have the one that rewards consistency." A treble would be just the second in Barca's 115-year history. However, many of the current squad were also part of the side that achieved the feat for the first time in the 2008/09 season. One of the those was midfielder Sergio Busquets and he insisted that the marathon of a 38-game La Liga season makes it the toughest competition to win. "Last year we weren't at the level required to be champions. This year we are on the right track, the first trophy is out of the way and now we have to celebrate it because it's the hardest competition to win as you have to play against all of the teams and be consistent. "It's the most important one, you're competing every week, playing against other sides home and away. The Champions League is more prestigious but the league's more important. "We are still a young team. There are still quite a few players from the (Pep) Guardiola era. This could turn out to be an historic season for us." In contrast to Barcelona's euphoria, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was left to face the fact that his side will go without a major trophy this season despite Crisiano Ronaldo registering his 30th hat-trick for the club in a 4-1 win at Espanyol. Madrid led the league for four months after a 22-game winning streak to end 2014, but ultimately paid for a run of one win in four games in February and March. "I congratulate Barcelona and my colleague Luis Enrique for winning the title," said Ancelotti. "The overall balance of the season isn't positive. Madrid always play to win and that hasn't happened. "We had a very good first half of the season, but it was more difficult in the second part." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Nine dead, many wounded in Texas biker shooting: reports | ||
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Washington (AFP) - Nine people were killed and several wounded after a shootout between rival biker groups in Waco, Texas, with more gangs threatening to descend on the town after the violence, local media reported. Fighting broke out in a restaurant parking lot between three rival groups Sunday, with some members using clubs and knives before pulling guns, according to Sergeant W. Patrick Swanton, speaking to CBS affiliate KWTX. Local news outlets reported that as many as 18 people were wounded, mostly from gunshot and stab wounds, and Swanton told reporters that more than 100 weapons were collected from the scene. Waco police said on Facebook that no officers were injured at the deadly Twin Peaks restaurant fight, without immediately providing further details. "Multiple injuries to include multiple fatalities at Twin Peak Shooting. Officers were on scene when shooting started. No officers have been injured," the Waco Police Department posted on Facebook. The fighting apparently started inside the restaurant before the gang members moved to the parking lot in the Central Texas Market shopping complex where the shooting broke out around noon (1700 GMT). Police had been dispatched to the scene before guns were pulled, and several police officers were shot at, according to KWTX. The dust-up apparently started as a fist fight, before the suspects pulled knives, chains and then guns, the television network said. The gangs were known to frequent the restaurant, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald, and Swanton told the newspaper the restaurant's management had not been cooperative with police until Sunday.
- 'Do not come to this area' -
The television station reported that the area was secured by police after the incident, and police warned residents to stay away as armed suspects continued to arrive on scene. "We are closing the entire Central Texas Marketplace if you are here leave now. For safety reasons we again assert do not come to this area!" Waco police said on Facebook. "Officers are continuing to arrest individuals coming to the scene with weapons. This is not the time to sight see as we are dealing with very dangerous individuals," it posted. Waco is located in central Texas and has a population of about 129,000 people. The city is best known for a deadly confrontation in 1993 between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and heavily armed members of the Branch Davidian religious group, who torched the building they were holed up in. The 51-day standoff between the sect members and the FBI ended when the Davidians set their building on fire, killing more than 80 people, including children. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Drug combo helps people with common cystic fibrosis | ||
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Miami (AFP) - A combination of two drugs has shown promise toward improving the health of people with the most common form of the incurable lung disease known as cystic fibrosis, researchers said Sunday. Patients treated with two medications -- lumacaftor and ivacaftor -- saw "significant" gains in their ability to breathe and fewer lung infections than those taking a placebo, according to the results of two international clinical trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The randomized controlled trials included 1,108 people, age 12 and older, who were treated for six months. "These groundbreaking findings will benefit around 15,000 patients in US alone," said Susanna McColley, one of the study's authors and a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. About 75,000 people in Europe, North America and Australia suffer from cystic fibrosis, which is caused by genetic mutations. Although there are different mutations associated with the disease, the most common is when people have two copies of the F508del mutation, which is seen in about half of all CF patients. The disease causes the body to overproduce thick mucus that leads to chronic lung infections and pancreatic problems. The median, or midpoint, predicted survival for people with the F508del mutation is 37 years in the United States. Ivacaftor, known by the brand name Kalydeco, in 2012 became the first drug of its kind ever approved by the US Food and Drug Administration after studies showed it helped improve the health of people with a more rare genetic mutation for CF that affects about four percent of all patients. The other drug in the combination, lumacaftor, is also made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and has yet to be approved by regulators. Vertex announced earlier this week that an FDA advisory panel voted 12-1 to approve the two-drug combination, known by the brand name Orkambi. A final decision by the FDA is expected July 5. While the improvements seen for patients taking the two drugs together was not quite as dramatic as those seen in the previous trials for Kalydeco alone in people with the rarer form of CF, researchers said that adjusting the dose for individual patients and looking at the potential of harmful drug interaction may lead to better gains in the future. Researchers also need more long-term data to determine how well the drug works over time. "Nevertheless, this is the beginning of effective therapy for cystic fibrosis associated with the most common mutant form," said an accompanying editorial by Pamela Davis, Case Western Reserve University of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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