The 10 most important things in the world right now | ||
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1. Iraq has called for volunteers to help take back the western Iraq city of Ramadi, which fell to Islamic State militants over the weekend. 2. North Korea on Wednesday abruptly reversed its decision to allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the isolated state. 3. Japanese supplier Takata is expected to recall 34 million vehicles in the United States due to potentially defective airbags that can rupture and send metal fragments into the car when deployed. 4. European leaders rejected Greece's revised budget, which requires approval to unlock bailout money, during another round of negotiations on Tuesday. 5. Nine men were arrested Tuesday in connection with the Hatton Garden jewelry heist that occurred in London in early April. 6. Protests against Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza continue in the capital this week, after a failed coup over Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office, which opposition groups say is against the constitution. 7. Five of the world's biggest banks — JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS — are expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges over the rigging of currency markets and to pay significant penalties. 8. It's still unclear what caused a pipeline along the California coastline to rupture Tuesday, leaking an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil in the ocean. 9. China and Brazil agreed to a series of multibillion dollar trade and investment deals on Tuesday as part of a $50 billion (£32 billion) Chinese investment package. 10. US federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged six Chinese nationals with allegedly stealing trade secrets from US technology companies and sharing them with China. And finally ... Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This Animated Map Shows How European Languages Evolved  | ||
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Hello! Here's what you need to know for Wednesday. Here's how accurately this robot can recognize what's going on in 11 photos | ||
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One of the most intriguing areas in artificial intelligence research is computer vision. From being an integral part of self-driving cars to allowing machines to guess your age, making it possible for software to see is a big deal. Computer scientist Stephen Wolfram has released a new tool, the Wolfram Image Identification Project, that allows users to upload or link to an image and then see how well the computer can recognize what's going on in the picture. In a blog post, Wolfram describes the underlying technology behind the project. Like many computer vision programs, Wolfram's project is built around an "artificial neural network": a software framework inspired by biological brains that excels at the kind of pattern recognition needed for computer vision. In Wolfram's case, the neural network was "trained" by being exposed to tens of millions of labeled images. As Wolfram puts it in the blog post, "We don’t have any intrinsic way to describe an object like a chair. All we can do is just give lots of examples of chairs, and effectively say, 'Anything that looks like one of these we want to identify as a chair.' So in effect we want images that are 'close' to our examples of chairs to map to the name 'chair', and others not to. We decided to try the algorithm out on a few images that were on the front page of Business Insider around 3:30 PM eastern time Tuesday afternoon. In many cases, the image identifier was able to at least get the overall gist of the pictures. It classified the Twin Peaks restaurant in Texas that was the site of a grisly shootout between rival biker gangs as a "store":
It also correctly classified Hillary Clinton and Marissa Mayer as "people", although it wasn't able to identify them specifically by name:
The algorithm also correctly, if vaguely, identified Paris cafe Le Comptoir as a building:
In a few situations, the algorithm completely ignored the people in an image, instead focusing on particular inanimate objects. Rather than noticing boxer Gennady Golovkin, the algorithm locked on to the glove on the boxer's hand, helpfully pulling up some extra info on boxing gloves:
Similarly, in this still from an upcoming KFC commercial, the algorithm ignored former "Saturday Night Live" actor Darrell Hammond's portrayal of Colonel Sanders and instead noticed the cars around him, identifying them as "transport":
In other cases, the algorithm got temptingly close but was just slightly off. It classified this Samsung smartphone as a "remote control," and as with the boxing glove, gave us some context:
On the subject of Tesla, the image identifier correctly noted that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk was standing in front of a car, but misclassified the car as a two-door coupe, rather than a four-door sedan. Still, pretty impressive:
Some images completely threw the algorithm off. The grey background and dark chyron on this NFL Network screenshot appear to have convinced the image classifier that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is in fact a clapperboard:
The algorithm also had trouble with more abstract items. The Yo app logo was parsed as "instrumentation":
And this screenshot of leaked footage from the upcoming video game "Doom 4" showing a soldier in a desolate wasteland was interpreted as a "spider":
While image recognition and classification are hard, and the algorithm is still a work in progress, it is fun to play with. Read more about the technology behind the app on Wolfram's blog here, or test it out with your own pictures here. SEE ALSO: THE GLOBAL 20: Twenty big stories that define the world right now Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This robot competition inspired students and will get you excited about the future  | ||
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Report: The CEO ousted from his company after pleading guilty to domestic violence was arrested for allegedly kicking another woman | ||
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Gurbaksh Chahal, the former CEO of RadiumOne who was forced to resign amid domestic violence allegations, was arrested last October for allegedly kicking a different woman, the San Francisco Business Times reported Tuesday. Chahal was placed on probation after pleading guilty in April 2014 to misdemeanor charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in 2013. Chahal has maintained his innocence and said he only pleaded guilty to avoid a "witch hunt." Now, the San Francisco district attorney's office confirmed to the Business Times that it is seeking to revoke his probation, but did not say why. The Business Times says that on Sept. 17 of last year, Chahal allegedly attacked a woman he was dating and kicked her repeatedly in the leg, according to an investigative report. The police later arrested Chahal in October and he was set free on $100,000 bail, according to the Business Times. In the police report about the arrest, the Business Times reports, the woman complains that Chahal grabbed her hair during an argument and once pushed her against the wall, bruising her wrist. Chahal formed his current company, Gravity4, after being ousted from RadiumOne. Last week, Gravity4 made an unsolicited $350 million takeover bid for rival Rocket Fuel, but Rocket Fuel rejected the deal and said in a written response that it believed the bid was "not a credible offer." In another case, Chahal and Gravity4 are being sued by a former employee for sexual discrimination. Chahal and Gravity4 did not immediately respond to requests for comment. We will update this story if we hear back. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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Reddit CEO Ellen Pao: 'It's not our site's goal to be a completely free-speech platform' | ||
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Interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to online harassment. Last week, Reddit introduced controversial new rules to fight the rampant harassment and make users feel safer on the mega-popular social sharing and community site. Some of Reddit's user base saw it as censorship, as too vague to possibly enforce, or as Reddit pandering to a vocal minority of complainers. Many others appreciated the principle behind Reddit's anti-harassment stance, but saw the anti-harassment policy as lacking teeth, given the fact that Reddit wouldn't lay out specifics of what it would do with any reports of harassment. To defend the new anti-harassment policy, Pao went on NPR's All Things Considered to give comments that only further confused the situation. When asked if Reddit would ever delete offensive subreddits (small communities within Reddit) like "Gas The Kikes" (which actually exists) if it made a Jewish user uncomfortable, Pao basically dodged the question (emphasis ours): The question is whether it would make them fear for their safety, or the safety of those around them or where it makes them feel like it's not a safe platform. Somebody expressing ideas that aren't consistent with everybody's views is something that we encourage. There are certain posts that do make people feel unsafe, that people feel threatened or they feel that their family or friends or people near them are going to be unsafe, and those are the specific things that we are focused on today. It's not our site's goal to be a completely free-speech platform. We want to be a safe platform and we want to be a platform that also protects privacy at the same time. In other words, Pao isn't ruling out the idea that Reddit could heavily moderate comments, but won't give specifics on who or how. Right now, Pao says that the team dealt with 20 to 30 harassment claims in the past "half a week," and that Reddit is building tools to find and deal with repeat offenders using fake, so-called "throwaway" accounts. It's understandable that Pao and the Reddit team want to provide a safer space without pissing off the base of users that have gotten it to its current 100-million-user strong peaks of success. But if it's serious about fighting harassment, Reddit is going to have to go public with an enforceable set of specific rules, and soon, or else it's going to completely alienate both camps.
SEE ALSO: Reddit is finally mounting a war against trolls Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Facebook And Google 'Degrade Our Humanity,' Says 4chan Founder  | ||
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People in pink blazers and blue jackets were begging to park my car for me today | ||
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Today, I drove into downtown San Francisco for a work event and took advantage of the on-demand valet service offered there. All of a sudden, I felt like I was in the middle of a war — to park my car. The valet service being used by the conference was called Luxe Valet. First, I pointed out all my car's flaws (yes, that giant dent in the door was already there). I asked my valet Christopher to please remember to turn it off before he whisked it away to an unknown lot. Then I handed over my baby and its janitor-sized keyring. As I turned, suddenly a man in a bright pink blazer ran up and shoved a Caarbon flyer in my hand. "Next time, park with Caarbon," he said. Here I was, using an on-demand valet parking for the first time ever, and I was caught in the middle of San Francico's startup parking wars: blue jackets versus pink blazers. Razor scooters versus black umbrellas. Guerrilla marketing tactics. Luxe valets have become an increasingly common sight in San Francisco. They wear bright blue jackets and zip around on matching blue scooters, although some choose to run and get in their cardio workout. Joining their fray is the new kid on the block: Caarbon (soon to become Carbon with just one "a." The company is only in limited testing now.) Their agents, as they call them, wear pink blazers and stand with one arm behind their back. They open the door for women first and escort everyone to and from their car with a black umbrella.
Inside the conference, which was all about the "on-demand" economy, the founder of another valet service, Zirx, spoke about how he didn't need to compete outside. "There’s blue shirts outside and pink shirts outside. We probably think the least about competition," said Shmulik Fishman. "I would hate to be in a space where nobody is trying anything remotely connected." Back outside, though, the competition was visible based on just the flashy jackets. (Zirx agents, according to their site, wear yellow). The Luxe valets hung inside their parking lot, while Carbon agents stood on the outside by the entrance. "We embrace it. Pink versus blue," said Bill Bonhorst, an operations manager at Carbon. "We will escort you to the curb with an umbrella. We're not going to roll up to the curb with a scooter or a skateboard." He compared it to the Four Seasons level of service rather than a Holiday Inn. Luxe valets, though, didn't back down. "We're pretty much the only true on demand," said Michael Skillman, who has been a valet since October. He said Zirx operates only around their garages, while Luxe has a whole umbrella over the city. And while Carbon's operations managers said they shared the parking lot, the Luxe valets countered that the startup only had a few spaces, while Luxe controls the entire bottom floor. Zirx wasn't there at all. Meanwhile, outside a bicycle was parked with a sign advertising Upshift — a company that delivers rental cars on demand. In case you don't already have a car to park. Bootstrapped marketing at its best.
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The CEO behind last year's biggest US tech IPO explains the benefits of going public — besides the money (LC) | ||
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But with so much private capital available in the VC market these days, startups are increasingly delaying going public. By doing so, they get to avoid the investor scrutiny or SEC regulations public companies typically have to deal with. It also allows them to stick to their long-term vision without having to meet short term shareholder demands. Conventional wisdom says it’s better to delay going public if the money’s available elsewhere. But that doesn’t mean to avoid IPOs at all cost. There are other benefits to going public, aside from the massive cash infusion companies see out of the gate. Just ask Lending Club, the online credit marketplace that raised $870 million in its IPO last December. “Since the IPO, we’re seeing more awareness and credibility,” Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche told Business Insider. “It’s helped us with partnerships and recruiting.” Laplanche says by going public — which was the largest US tech IPO last year — Lending Club was able to get that public stamp of approval, validating its business to people who may have had concerns over the way it works. That’s particularly important when you’re in a highly regulated industry like finance, as Lending Club is. “Large companies are more willing to partner with us, and we’re less perceived as a startup, or a risk,” he says. Since going public, Lending Club has been able to strike partnership deals with Citibank and BankAlliance, a consortium of 200 community banks. It’s also signed deals with Google and Alibaba to help their respective partners gain easier access to credit through Lending Club’s platform. As a result, since its inception, Lending Club originated more than $9 billion worth of loans. On the recruiting side, Laplanche says he’s getting access to even better talent now. Risk-averse engineers prefer working at a public company, especially since they can easily liquidate their stock options. But even people who like startups have been joining Lending Club because of its unique position in the financial industry, where it’s still considered a “disrupter” to massive incumbent banks. In the past quarter alone, more than 130 new employees have joined. “We’re still getting started, and there’s a lot more to come than what has come so far,” Laplanche says. And big banks are taking notice too. In its annual shareholders letter last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote, "There are hundreds of startups with a lot of brains and money working on various alternatives to traditional banking. The ones you read about most are in the lending business…And we also are completely comfortable with partnering where it makes sense." Lending Club’s main value proposition is in its software that can quickly vet borrowers’ creditworthiness at a fraction of the cost traditional banks take. Its online platform significantly drops the cost of finding and matching borrowers to investors, which is why more and more banks are showing interest in partnering with them. In fact, combining Lending Club’s low cost of operation to the low cost of capital for banks would be a win-win situation for both parties, Laplanche believes. "The banks participating on the Lending Club platform delivers the optimum solution because we have the lowest cost of operations, while the banks have the lowest cost of capital," he tells us. "The way we’re proposing to change the banking system is not in a competitive, or confrontational way with incumbents. We believe there’ll be more banks joining our marketplace." SEE ALSO: Here’s why Funding Circle’s new $150 million round matters to more than 120 million American workers Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when you get bitten by a black widow  | ||
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One of the biggest reasons a company goes public is to raise more money. Amazon's cloud is ten times bigger than the next fourteen competitors combined | ||
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The Amazon Web Services cloud sees ten times as much usage as the next fourteen competitors combined, according to a new report from industry research firm Gartner. Perhaps equally eye-opening: The No.2 cloud service by usage, Microsoft's Azure cloud, has twice as much compute capacity as the next 13 players combined (not including Amazon). This just goes to show the gigantic size of the industry's leaders and why it's so hard to compete with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft. Cloud computing allows companies to run many of their operations by renting computing power from special providers instead of operating their own data centers. It's a hot market. After all, Amazon Web Services is a $6 billion business. The key to Amazon's growth here, as Gartner's report indicates, is the sheer number of outside developers it's attracted to make their software available from Amazon's cloud. If you're an IT guy, chances are pretty good that you can find the tools you need to get a modern business up and running on Amazon Web Services pretty easily. "Although [Amazon Web Services] will not be the ideal fit for every need, it has become the 'safe choice' in this market, appealing to customers who desire the broadest range of capabilities and long-term market leadership," says the report. In other words, Amazon can't be everything to everybody — Gartner attributes much of the Microsoft Azure cloud's growth to its strong integrations with the rest of Microsoft's server and software suites, even if it's still working on getting more developers on board. Gartner credits the success of Google Cloud Platform, which is widely assumed to be number-three cloud player by revenue, to its friendliness towards developing new kinds of applications that are so-called "cloud native" and not beholden to old ways of doing things. It's in the harder-to-reach niches that many of the other cloud providers mentioned in the report fall: Rackspace Hosting can't compete at Amazon's level, so it focuses on white-glove support; Virtustream focuses heavily on helping customers run more complex, old-school applications from vendors like Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. But for the vast majority of the world, Amazon Web Service is good enough, Microsoft Windows Azure integrates well enough, and Google Cloud Platform is developer-friendly enough to meet their needs. Time was, nobody got fired for buying IBM. These days, nobody gets fired for buying Amazon. SEE ALSO: Microsoft, Google, and Amazon haven't won the cloud wars yet Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Watch Amazon's New Robots Fill Customer Orders And Do The Heavy Lifting At Its Warehouses  | ||
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In Japan, IBM employees have formed a football team complete with pro stadium, cheerleaders and televised games (IBM) | ||
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What started off as a way for IBM employees working in Japan back in 1976 to enjoy an American past-time, football, has become a really big deal. According to IBM's Tumblr page, IBM's employee football team, called Big Blue, now ... includes cheerleaders, a professional stadium and a nationally televised audience. It all started in 1976, when a handful of new IBM Japan employees gathered together and decided to start a team. By 2001, they not only had an undefeated record, but also reached the top division. In fact, American Football has become a big deal in Japan. The country's so-called X League was founded in 1971, just a few years before IBM joined. Today there are so many teams that the league has multiple divisions. Teams can be made up of a company team (all players must be employees) or club teams (open to anyone via try-outs). X League players are often so good that they have reportedly been recruited to play for pro teams like the Japanese National Team, which competes in the American Football World Cup.
However, the Big Blue team is still a popular one with its own website, its own Facebook page, its own mascot (mascots are very popular in Japan) and its own fan club. And like many a pro U.S. team, the Big Blue cheerleaders are also popular, featured on the team's website, with their own Facebook page, and a calendar of promotional appearances, too.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions  | ||
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IBM's Big Blue team didn't finish 2014 on top. It lost its playoff game to the 
A former CIA chief says other governments could launch crippling computer attacks on the US | ||
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Royden, who spent 40 years in the CIA — 35 years as an operative and 5 years as head of counterintelligence — knows what he's talking about. Though he's been retired for more than a decade, he isn't blind to what he believes is a new type of threat that has emerged in an increasingly connected world: "The trouble is, it’s extremely difficult, in fact, it’s impossible — everyone is connected to everyone, and as long as you’re connected you’re vulnerable. And there are firewalls, but every firewall is potentially defeatable, so it’s a nightmare in my mind. You have to think that other governments have the capability to bring down the main computer systems in this country, power grids, hospitals, or banking systems — things that could cause great economic upheaval and paralyze the country." He adds: "Now, if they were to do it to us and we were to do it to them, it would almost be like a nuclear standoff. They could do it but if they did it what would the cost be? Because they know we have the same capabilities and that we presumably attack their computer systems the same way and we could destroy their economy. So you hope that no one is going to do that but you’re vulnerable. These days, I think the cyber world is the big threat."
READ OUR FULL INTERVIEW: A former CIA chief told us what makes a great spy and why they missed on 9/11 Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: NASA's new drone flies like a plane and takes off like a helicopter  | ||
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A former Director of Counterintelligence for the CIA — Barry Royden — believes that cyber terrorism is the next big threat to America. Amazon's Jeff Bezos appoints the first woman to a highly coveted role as his 'shadow' | ||
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For almost as long as Amazon has existed, Jeff Bezos has had a "shadow" — an up-and-coming executive who gets the much-envied chance to go with the CEO to daily meetings, talk over problems, and generally have as much access to Bezos as they can handle. Today, we learned that Bezos has appointed 15-year Amazon veteran Maria Renz to the "shadow" position (the official title is "technical advisor to the CEO"), making her the first woman shadow in the company's history, as reported by Re/code. At Amazon, Renz has been involved in many aspects of Amazon's retail business, including Health & Grocery, Shoes & Jewelery, and deal-a-day site Woot.com. For the past two years, she had been serving as CEO of Quidsi, an Amazon acquisition and the parent company of Diapers.com. Amazon's past shadows have gone on to lead big projects. Andy Jassy, head of the now-$6 billion Amazon Web Services business, used to be a shadow. So was Greg Hart, who headed up development of the Amazon Echo speech recognition appliance. Amit Agarwal, the head of Amazon's growing Indian business, was one, too. Shadows usually last about two years in the role. Renz is replacing former Kindle VP Jay Marine, who stuck around for about that long. Now that he's left Bezos' side, Marine will be heading up Amazon Instant Video in Europe. Of Amazon's eight executive roles, including Bezos, the only woman is Worldwide Controller Shelley Reynolds. Renz's appointment to this much-desired, super-intensive mentoring role at least shows signs of progress at the very top of Amazon. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's What Will Happen To Amazon Without Jeff Bezos  | ||
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These high schoolers built an Iron Man-inspired 'exosuit' that can lift 400 pounds | ||
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"Ian, can you normally lift 50 pounds with your pinky?" asked Gabriel Perko-Engle. Ian Simons, like most humans, can't. Strapped into the robot-like "exosuit" he helped build though, Simons is capable of super-human powers. By pushing a joystick with his pinky, Simons moves the suit's arm and effortlessly lifts a 50-pound weight. The AJAX Exosuit, short for Amplified Juggernaut Assistance Exoskeleton, was assembled by eight high-schoolers and inspired by movies the teens had watched, like Iron Man, The Edge of Tomorrow and Elysium. It's not an exosuit that could be used for disabilities since it responds to physical movements, but it could have military and commercial applications since it can hold up to 400 pounds.
The high-schoolers from the Bay School of San Francisco, though, saw it not as a business but as a fun weekend project to prepare for the Maker Faire, an annual California gathering of makers and tinkerers. Joseph DeRose had made projects with his family for the Faire before, including a flight simulator from Battlestar Galactica and an eight-foot tall animatronic fire-breathing dragon. The exosuit, though, was his most ambitious and hardest project so he recruited his friends. The group assembled on the weekends as part of the Young Makers program and raised money on Kickstarter and through sponsors to assemble their exosuit.
The project was moving smoothly with each teen focusing on his specialty, until they turned it on a month before Maker Faire and had the "oh-no" moment every maker dreads. "Right after this thing was fully completed, we realized it wasn't working," Perko-Engel said. Fixing the problem is worse than painstakingly troubleshooting faulty Christmas tree lights, the teens explained. Instead of just removing each bulb, the process is more like removing and re-creating each bulb until they figured out each issue. Now, the suit responds to a person moving their legs or tapping the joystick arms up and down. "You're in it and it just feels really good," Cole Yarbrough said.
The last hurdle is smoothing out how to walk in the exosuit. When humans walk, they shift weight from side to side as they lift their feet off the ground. The exosuit can't adjust side to side though, so the walking is a bit jilted right now and the group hasn't done many walks outside of the carrier. A few of the teens will keep working on designing the proper feet for it though. When asked what's next, they joked, "maybe recreating the Thriller video?"
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11 pieces of life-changing advice from commencement speeches by tech celebrities | ||
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A lot of them are filled with unnecessary cliches. But these 11 speeches by some of the most successful tech giants will inspire you to do great things in life. Evan Spiegel: "I am now convinced that the fastest way to figure out if you are doing something truly important to you is to have someone offer you a bunch of money to part with it." At age 24, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel is only a few years older than the students who graduated this year. Yet he gave a pretty inspiring speech at USC's 2015 business school's commencement. Best quotes: "It turns out there are two things that can dramatically reduce conformity in a group setting. The first is a single dissenting voice. The second is the ability to communicate privately with other members of the group." "I am now convinced that the fastest way to figure out if you are doing something truly important to you is to have someone offer you a bunch of money to part with it...The best thing is that, no matter whether or not you sell, you will learn something very valuable about yourself. If you sell, you will know immediately that it wasn’t the right dream anyways. And if you don’t sell you’re probably onto something. Maybe you have the beginning of something meaningful." "Please voice your dissent. Anticipate your erasure. And find something you aren't willing to sell." Watch full video here. Dick Costolo: "Not only can you not plan the impact you're going to have, you often won't recognize it when you're having it." Speaking at the 2013 graduation of the University of Michigan, Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo gave a commencement speech filled with jokes, wisdom, and valuable advice. In fact, prominent VC Fred Wilson said it's a speech "relevant to everyone working in the startup world." Best quotes: "Not only can you not plan the impact you're going to have, you often won't recognize it when you're having it…The impact is what others frame for you and the world after it happens. The present is only what you're experiencing and focused on right now…You cannot draw that path looking forward. You cannot draw any of your paths looking forward. You have to figure out what you love to do, what you have conviction about, and go do that." "When you're doing what you love to do, you become resilient. You create a habit of taking chances on yourself. If you do what expected of you and things go poorly, you will look to external sources for what to do next, because that will be your habit. You will be standing there frozen. If you are just filling a role you will be blindsided." "What I implore you to do is believe that if you make courageous choices and bet on yourself and put yourself out there that you will have an impact as a result of what you do and you don't need to know now what that will be, or how that will happen, because nobody ever does." Watch the full video here. Drew Houston: "I stopped trying to make my life perfect, and instead tried to make it interesting." At the 2013 MIT graduation, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston spoke about how giving himself a break and giving into some of the distractions actually helped him launch Dropbox. By doing so, it made his life more interesting too. Best quotes: "What scares me is that both the poker bot and Dropbox started out as distractions. That little voice in my head was telling me where to go, and the whole time I was telling it to shut up so I could get back to work. Sometimes that little voice knows best." "When I think about it, the happiest and most successful people I know don't just love what they do, they're obsessed with solving an important problem, something that matters to them." "I stopped trying to make my life perfect, and instead tried to make it interesting. I wanted my story to be an adventure — and that's made all the difference." Watch the full video here. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Commencement speeches could often get boring. The Navy's new drone-killing laser may not be as impressive as it seems | ||
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When the US Navy tested a weaponized laser late last year, blasting holes in both aerial and seaborne targets from as far as a mile away, the development was greeted with acclaim. The new weapon, called the Laser Weapons System, or LaWS, could replace costly conventional projectiles with blasts of focused heat that only cost as much as their energy input — perhaps as little as $1 per shot. But the reality may have been very different. According to a startling new analysis from laser scientist Subrata Ghoshroy in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the test and the weapon may have been little more than an elaborate public relations stunt. As Ghoshroy argues, the tests aboard the USS Ponce were at a short distance and low-energy, and were aimed at particularly vulnerable targets. The test was publicly documented by the Navy and included a weapon curiously ahead of its development schedule — and even then it didn't represent a leap in existing technology, much less a revolutionary new super-weapon. In the USS Ponce tests, the distance of engagement appeared to be short — less than a mile," Ghoshroy writes. "The sides of their speedboat target were thin, and the target drone aircraft appeared to be small. So, it was possible to accomplish a so-called 'successful' test with a relatively low power, in the 10 to 20 kilowatt range." As Ghoshroy writes later in the article, the developers' "ultimate goal ... for a tactical weapons-grade laser" is a burst of around 100 kilowatts. Ghoshroy also writes that the beam from the USS Ponce test was of "low-quality," explaining that "high-quality has long been the Achilles heel of high-power lasers." In Ghoshroy's view, the LaWS is part of a long string of developments that have been sold as breakthroughs in US laser weapon technology — but that have only exposed how far "directed energy" weapons have still to go in order to be portable, reliable, and practical.
"[W]hile lasers ... offer the tantalizing possibility of being game-changers, they will not likely be ready for prime time anytime soon," Ghoshroy writes. "Like a mirage, battlefield lasers are always just over the horizon." There are numerous potential benefits to laser weapons. A powerful enough laser could shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. In 2007, the US military successfully tested a laser system housed inside of a custom-made Boeing 747 that shot down a mock-up of a tactical ballistic missile. Infantry lasers could render bullets or even certain anti-aircraft weapons obsolete. In the closing decade of the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan mobilized the US government to develop a shield of space-based lasers that could take down high-flying strategic ballistic missiles — an objective that became a chief obstacle in arms control talks with the Soviet Union throughout his presidency. The shield was never practical, and never came particularly close to actually getting built. But as Ghoshroy puts it, "the path to laser weapons is littered with dead lasers." Existing solid-state lasers can't build up enough energy or strike at sufficient range to take down a major target. Gas or chemical-based lasers are currently too cumbersome for battlefield use. Even the YAL-1, which had one of the largest laser turrets ever built, was deemed so impractical that the airframe itself was eventually scrapped (even though the laser worked, getting a 747 within laser range of an incoming ballistic missile is incredibly difficult to pull off). The test aboard the USS Ponce involved a fiber-based laser. That types of laser is showing promise, but Ghoshroy warns that "some issues related to the structure of the fiber itself and the efficiency with which the photons are pumped up could be show-stoppers."
The LaWS isn't a new drone-killing super-weapon. At most, it points towards a possible future breakthrough. It's a necessary proof of concept, rather than something that could replace conventional ballistic weapons in the near future. But the Navy's promotion of the test, and the media attention that surrounded it, demonstrates something that's already been clear for decades. Lasers are incredibly useful to defense policy makers as a red herring: they demonstrate technological progress, and motion towards eventual lower costs — along with the resolution of vexing strategic and tactical concerns. As weapons, they don't really work. At least not yet. Read Ghoshroy's entire piece here.SEE ALSO: Business Insider talks for former acting CIA director Michael Morell Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when you get bitten by a black widow  | ||
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The Pirate Bay's new logo sends a loud message to the authorities trying to shut it down | ||
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The Pirate Bay has been facing legal issues for years. But that hasn't stopped the popular torrent website from fighting back. And its newest logo says just that in not so many words. For context: Late last year police in Sweden raided the Pirate Bay's servers, and the site has been facing a multitude of lawsuits aiming to shut down its sites. While things have been quieting down, numerous authorities have continued in their attempt to shut down the file sharing site once and for all. Today the site was dealt a major blow: The Stockholm District Court ordered that its hallmark .se domains be taken down, reports TorrentFreak. To many, the domains PirateBay.se and ThePirateBay.se were the primary portal for Pirate Bay access. Though the domains may have died, the website has reportedly unveiled a new logo showing that it will not give up fighting. The Pirate Bay's old logo was merely an ominous looking pirate ship with its name proudly written below. This new image, which surfaced on Reddit earlier today, has a similar pirate ship-like design, but emerging from behind the ship is a hydra with domain suffixes hovering over each hydra head. And these new domains are indeed up and running, according to TorrentFreak. This new image easily be interpreted as a message to the authorities that they can shut down one domain, but that will only cause numerous new domains will only spring up. While the website may still have a long trudge ahead and face numerous (perhaps endless) legal fights, at least the Pirate Bay's artistic director is feeling optimistic. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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56-year-old tech giant Computer Sciences is cleaving itself into two public companies (CSC) | ||
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CSC, the giant IT consulting company founded in 1959 is the latest huge, aging tech company to cleave itself into two. CSC is best known for outsourcing contracts and working on huge government contracts. Those are the kind of expensive, multi-year projects that are going out of favor as companies look use cloud computing for more of their tech needs. Revenues at the company have shrunk from $15.6 billion in 2011 to just under $12.2 billion in its fiscal year 2015, which it reported on Tuesday. For its fourth quarter, it posted a beat on profits and a miss on revenue. So, it has decided to sever itself into companies, both publicly traded: CSC Global Commercial, which will service Fortune 1,000, with $8.1 billion in FY 15 revenue, and over 1,000 customers (including 175 of the Fortune 500) and 51,000 employees and 34 delivery centers globally. CSC U.S. Public Sector, focused on government work, with $4.1 billion in FY and employs 14,000 people, including 3,500 U.S. military veterans. Breaking up is a huge trend among older enterprise IT players as they face an onslaught of up and coming startups birthing faster, cheaper tech, and often backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. Other companies splitting themselves include eBay/PayPal, Symantec, and Hewlett-Packard. Valley venture capitalist superstar Marc Andreessen, who a former board member at eBay and is still on the board at at HP, predicted last fall that ALL giant tech companies 20-years-old will follow suit, either voluntarily breaking up or having activist investors march in and try to force them into it. The idea is they need to get smaller so they can respond faster to new markets. With CSC, his prediction is coming ever more true. Next up? Sound off in comments.... SEE ALSO: Insiders say some HP execs are looking to leave after the company splits itself in two Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 6 million people have watched this mesmerizing video of a man splitting firewood  | ||
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Samsung will reportedly release a new version of its gigantic Android phone in July to beat Apple | ||
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Of all the smartphones Samsung makes in a year, there are usually two that end up being its most popular: the latest version of its flagship Galaxy S phone, and its newest giant Galaxy Note device. Samsung usually waits until the August/September timeframe to release its large-sized Galaxy Note phones, but this year the company will reportedly make the big announcement in July, according to a recent Korean news report. Samsung is expected to move its announcement up in an effort to undercut Apple, which is rumored to unveil a successor to the iPhone 6 Plus in September, reports Korean news outlet WhoWiredKorea. The launch of the Note 5 would also reportedly coincide with the release of Samsung Pay — Samsung's own mobile payment system that will work with any standard credit card or NFC terminal. A prototype of the new phone is expected to be finished by June, according to WhoWiredKorea, and the company is expected to show it off to carrier partners before the end of July. The Galaxy Note 4 is currently the biggest competitor to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus. But, while Apple has been selling boatloads of iPhones, Samsung has been struggling a bit. It's relying on a new phone like the Note 5 to give consumers a reason to choose its Galaxy phones over the iPhone. It's too soon to know exactly what to expect from the Note 5, but blog Sam Mobile, which has an excellent track record when it comes to reporting on unreleased Samsung gadgets, claims to have some insider information. Samsung is reportedly developing a new version of its curved Note smartphone, too, which would be a successor to the Galaxy Note Edge. The phone is reportedly being called "Project Zen" internally, and it might have different hardware than the standard Galaxy Note 5. This would be a different step for Samsung, considering the Galaxy Note Edge is essentially a clone of the Galaxy Note 4, but with a curved screen. Sam Mobile says the Note 5 will feature either a 2K or 4K resolution screen and will run on one of Samsung's Exynos processors. It's important to keep in mind that even if this information is accurate, there's a chance it could change by the time Samsung actually unveils its new Galaxy Note phone. SEE ALSO: THE RISE OF ANDROID: How a flailing startup became the world's biggest computing platform Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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Here’s another chart that shows Slack’s incredible growth | ||
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It's no secret that Slack has enjoyed an impressive growth spurt since its launch in August 2013. The business communication app now worth more than $2.8 billion has 750,000 daily active users with 200,000 paid members. By February, it was adding $1 million in annual recurring revenue every 11 days, on top of the $12 million ARR it built in its first year. Now there's one more way to measure Slack's meteoric rise. According to this chart, put together by BI Intelligence and based on PitchBook data, Slack is the fastest company ever to get to a $1 billion valuation, hitting the milestone in just 15 months. That’s faster than Groupon, the $4 billion social commerce site that previously held the record, and nearly twice as fast as Pinterest, the photo-sharing site worth $11 billion. By any measure, Slack’s growth is truly remarkable. But its outsized valuation should also be taken with a grain of salt, as Sand Hill East’s managing partner Josh Burwick tells PitchBook. "Just because a bunch of smart investors say a company is worth a certain valuation and invest money with that underlying assumption, does not make it a reality," he says.
SEE ALSO: This one chart shows Pinterest’s massive potential as an e-commerce site Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Peter Thiel's 3 Keys For Building A Successful Startup  | ||
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Besides texting, here's what else we do on our smart phones while driving | ||
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Texting while driving isn't the only dangerous activity plaguing our roads. The American motorist is also obsessed with checking Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and video chatting while behind the wheel of a car, according to a study released today by mobile provider AT&T. AT&T – which started the It Can Wait campaign to combat distracted driving – and Braun Research polled 2,067 American motorists age 16-65 who have smartphones and drive at least once per day. What they found is that smarter phones make dumber drivers. According to the study, 70% of respondents say they engage in smartphone activities while driving. 61% say they text while driving and 33% say they send emails while driving. In terms of social media, 27% of drivers enjoy checking Facebook while driving, while 14% check Instagram and Twitter, and 11% check Snapchat. Other smart phone activities behind the wheel include internet browsing (28%), taking selfies (17%), and video chatting (10%). “One in 10 say they do video chat while driving. I don’t even have words for that,” Lori Lee, AT&T’s senior executive vice president for global marketing, told the New York Times. Of those polled, 22% cite addiction as the reason for why they use their phone behind the wheel, and 27% believe they can do it safely while driving. According to info from the Center for Disease Control, 3,328 people were killed in 2012 due to accidents involving a distracted driver. According to Distracted.gov, the official government website on distracted driving, 660,000 motorists at any given moment are using cellphones or manipulating electronic devices while behind the wheel of a car. In addition, people in their 20s make up 27% of all distracted drivers. The National Safety Council, a nonprofit organization, says that texting while driving accounted for 6 percent of all crashes in 2014, up one percent from 2013. Although 46 states currently have laws banning texting while driving, the poll notes that 62% of drivers said they still like to keep their smartphones within easy reach when they are behind the wheel. SEE ALSO: IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves went airborne in a scary crash during Indy 500 practice Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This new version of Google's self-driving car will hit the streets of Mountain View this summer  | ||
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Ross Ulbricht's defense team argues Silk Road made buying and selling drugs safer | ||
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Did Silk Road make buying drugs safer? That's the new argument for the defense of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the site that allowed people to buy and sell illicit goods over the internet with bitcoin. Here's the argument, from the New York Times: Mr. Ulbricht’s lawyers contend in a filing on Friday that “in contrast to the government’s portrayal of the Silk Road website as a more dangerous version of a traditional drug marketplace,” the website “was in many respects the most responsible such marketplace in history.” On the other side of the aisle, Federal prosecutors "intend to introduce evidence of six overdose deaths attributable to drugs bought from vendors on Silk Road" in arguing for a harsh sentence for Ulbricht. So the argument here is that drugs kill people, so facilitating the sale of massive amounts of them is very bad from the point of view of society. BUT, the drug trade would have existed with or without Silk Road, and as an internet site that allowed people to buy and sell product from afar, which may have cut down on the violence that generally accompanies the drug trade. Ulbricht's sentencing is set for May 29 in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 70 people were injured while filming this movie with 100 untamed lions  | ||
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Etsy has a huge problem that could lead to its downfall | ||
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The brand's shares are crashing after the company reported a net loss in the most recent quarter. Analysts say that counterfeit goods are bringing down the business and causing quality sellers to flee the store. This problem threatens Etsy's business as real artisans find other websites. One seller, Grace Dobush, started selling handmade cards and journals on the site in 2006, shortly after Etsy opened, she writes in an essay on Wired. But now, she say that Etsy has "alienated" the crafting community by allowing people to sell cheap wholesale goods purchased from countries like India and China. As a result, crafters are increasingly moving to other platforms like Shopify. While Etsy started as a way for artisans to reach a broader market, it's become too big to scale, she writes. "In practical terms, scaling the handmade economy is an impossibility," Dobush writes. "So while Etsy maintains a hipster façade, they lost their indie cred years ago." Dobush also calls out the story of Alicia Shaffer, the woman who is Etsy's biggest seller and makes a rumored $1 million a year. Shaffer told Business Insider that many of her hats and scarves are made wholesale imported from other countries. "Sellers have been dissatisfied with Etsy’s policing of mass-manufactured items posing as handmade for a long time, but the site hasn’t seemed receptive to their concerns," Dobush writes. "Having sellers who are able to move nearly a million dollars of product a year is great for Etsy’s bottom line." It's estimated that Etsy makes $47 million a year in fees from sellers. It's the fifth most-visited marketplace in the world, after Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. We've reached out to Etsy for comment and will update if we hear back. The company has traditionally declined to comment on the issue of counterfeit goods. SEE ALSO: How this woman became Etsy's top seller Follow Us: On Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Victoria's Secret is making one mistake that is driving away a lot of women  | ||
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Etsy has a counterfeit problem. N.Korea says it has miniaturised nuclear weapons | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - North Korea said Wednesday it has succeeded in miniaturising its nuclear weapons, a development which could allow them to be delivered by missile. "It has been a long time since we began miniaturising and diversifying our means of nuclear strike," the powerful National Defence Commission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
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EU, ex-Soviet states meet in Putin's shadow | ||
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Warsaw (AFP) - European Union leaders and six ex-Soviet states hold a summit Thursday focussed on the bloc's Eastern Partnership project, which was designed to bolster mutual ties but has been undermined by Russia's intervention in Ukraine. The number one question at the two-day meeting in the Latvian capital Riga will be how the 28-member EU should reconcile the programme -- involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine -- with its relations to Russia. Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, and alleged backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine showed that it is determined to block its former satellites from shifting towards the West, and thereby maintain its sphere of influence. Given that, the Eastern Partnership project -- which was set up in 2009 to ensure an area of stability and security -- can only move forward slowly, according to Latvian political scientist Andris Spruds. However, there have been signs of desire to calm the storm in Ukraine by Berlin, Paris and even Moscow, which dropped its opposition to a landmark EU-Ukraine trade deal starting next year. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov adopted a relatively conciliatory tone in Brussels regarding the Eastern Partnership project. "We only want one thing... for these ties to not be built at the expense of the Russian federation's legitimate interests," he told reporters. - 'Bull in a china shop' - The last Eastern Partnership summit, in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in November 2013, went up in flames after then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych pulled out of an association accord with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia. The last-minute decision provoked weeks of protests, Yanukovych's flight from the country, Russia's annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between pro-Kremlin rebels and government forces. It was only in June 2014 that Ukraine's current pro-EU President Petro Poroshenko inked the association agreement. The two sides are now due to sign a document confirming new economic aid worth 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) for Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit. Prospects of EU membership for the six Eastern Partnership countries are nonexistent for now, and will remain so for the next five years, according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. His diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini is looking first and foremost to improve relations with Russia, according to Eastern Partnership expert Elzbieta Kaca from the Polish Institute of International Affairs. So the collective effort will be to balance EU interests and objectives, while also showing respect for those of Moscow. "Many think we should build a monument to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin because he has mobilised many countries, many identities," Spruds told AFP, adopting a slightly joking tone. "He has mobilised NATO, the EU, reinforced Ukraine's identity. Russia is in a positive way the bull in a china shop," he added. But "for many countries within the EU (Russia) is not just a business partner, but also a political and diplomatic partner whose interests will be indirectly taken into account." - Visa-free EU access - Even the summit organisers, the EU and Latvia -- currently at the helm of the six-month rotating EU presidency -- recognise that no major decision is in the cards this time. "We want to get a reconfirmation from the European Union of the strategic importance of this region and of this policy," said Juris Poikans, Latvia's ambassador to the Eastern Partnership. "The summit will not break new ground but will show that the policy works," added an EU official. Those countries that have already concluded association agreements with the EU -- Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine -- will be encouraged to continue to reform their laws and regulations to move towards better cooperation with the bloc. A potential incentive for them is visa-free access to the 28-member EU, which Moldova already cinched last year, but which Georgia or Ukraine have yet to obtain. Visa-free access for Georgians and Ukrainians is off the table for now, according to sources close to French President Francois Hollande. Armenia, meantime, turned its back on the association agreement with the EU when it joined Putin's flagship Eurasian Economic Union last year. Moscow set up the trading bloc, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, in 2010 to counter the pull of the EU on former communist east European states. Yet Armenia could announce in Riga that it is returning to the negotiation table with the EU. The summit could also provide a framework for talks on off-topic but pressing issues, including sanctions against Russia, migrant quotas and Greek liquidity woes. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 things you need to know before European markets open | ||
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Good morning! Here are the major market stories you should read about today. Bank of England and Fed minutes are coming. The BoE releases its latest minutes at 9:30 a.m London time (4:30 a.m. New York), and the Fed will at 7 p.m. London time (2 p.m. New York). Markets will be looking for signals of a coming rate hike in both sets. Yahoo shares went through the floor. The stock fell 7.6% on Tuesday, with most all of this happening in just a few minutes before the US close. It appears that concerns about the company's spin-off of its 15% share in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba sparked the plunge. Greece's international creditors rejected its VAT plans. That's according to a report from Bloomberg. PM Alexis Tsipras confirmed the rejection to legislators and said the government would make further proposals, according to a source. Japanese economic growth smashed expectations. According to data released by Japan’s Cabinet Office Wednesday the economy grew by 0.6% in seasonally adjusted terms in the three months to March. Analysts had been expecting an increase of 0.4%, slightly above the downwardly-revised 0.3% level recorded in final quarter of 2014. Samsung's latest Note model is reportedly coming earlier than expected. Samsung usually waits until the August/September timeframe to release its large-sized Galaxy Note phones, but this year the company will reportedly make the big announcement in July, according to a recent Korean news report. Nearly 40% of JP Morgan shareholders voted against Jamie Dimon's pay deal. The 2014 Compensation of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and other top bank executives won support from only 61% of shareholder votes cast at the company's annual meeting on Tuesday, according to a preliminary tally. Japan approved a third nuclear plant for restart. Japan's nuclear regulator signed off on the basic safety of a reactor at a third nuclear plant on Wednesday, as the country inches toward rebooting its atomic industry more than four years after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The chairman of Liberty Global thinks it should merge with Vodafone. A merger with Vodafone Group Plc would be a "great fit" for Liberty Global in western Europe, Liberty Chairman John Malone said on Tuesday. Citing the benefits of a merger in markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Malone said "enormous shareholder value" could be created if a deal was worked out. UBS must buy back an investor's Puerto Rico bond fund portfolio. UBS must buy back the portfolio for $1 million (£644,750), securities arbitrators ruled on Tuesday in a rare, lengthy rebuke of the firm's sales practices on the Caribbean island. Asian markets are mixed. The Nikkei got a big boost from Japan's strong GDP number, sending it up 1.03%. The Shanghai Composite Index is up 1.92%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.22%. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'The Little Prince' trailer looks better than anything Pixar has made in years  | ||
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Palestinians banned from riding same buses as Israelis | ||
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Jerusalem (AFP) - Palestinians in the West Bank who commute to Israel to work will from Wednesday be banned from riding the same buses as Israelis to return home, a defence ministry official said. "Under a three-month pilot project, Palestinians who work in Israel will, starting Wednesday, need to return home by the same crossings without taking buses used by (Israeli) residents" of the occupied West Bank, the official told AFP. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Mixed reception as Liverpool's Sterling accepts award | ||
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Liverpool (AFP) - A mixture of boos and calls for him to stay greeted Liverpool and England forward Raheem Sterling when he received the club's Young Player of the Year award on Tuesday a day after it emerged he wants a transfer. The 20-year-old -- who joined Liverpool from Queens Park Rangers in 2010 -- had stirred up fans feelings when it was reported in Tuesday's papers he was seeking a move away having turned down a new contract worth around £100,000 ($155,500, 139,000 euros) a week. While his agent moved to calm the mood earlier on Tuesday by saying the reports had been "blown somewhat out of proportion" it is still expected that Sterling will tell club manager Brendan Rodgers and chief executive Ian Ayre at a meeting on Friday he wishes to leave. Speaking at the awards -- where Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho was named player of the year -- Rodgers admitted it had been a "difficult, trying season". "A number of distractions that we couldn't have planned for have made it difficult, but the players have given everything," added Rodgers, whose own position at the club has been questioned as they missed out not only on silverware but also a Champions League place. If Sterling -- who told the BBC earlier this year he was not a 'moneygrabber' but wanted to win trophies -- does go on the market deposed English champions Manchester City are the perceived favourites to sign him. Sterling told Rodgers he wanted to leave before Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Chelsea game on May 10, but it is understood Liverpool want to retain his services. Sterling has two years left on his current deal, thought to be worth £35,000 a week. Sterling is believed to want to play in the Champions League and, aside from City's interest, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Chelsea are also reported to be watching the situation. Liverpool's US-based owners Fenway Sports Group will demand a fee of around £50 million before they would consider selling. The Sterling issue is another blow to Rodgers, who has struggled to replace Luis Suarez following the Uruguay striker's move to Barcelona last year. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The 10 most important things in the world right now | ||
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1. Iraq has called for volunteers to help take back the western Iraq city of Ramadi, which fell to Islamic State militants over the weekend. 2. North Korea on Wednesday abruptly reversed its decision to allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the isolated state. 3. Japanese supplier Takata is expected to recall 34 million vehicles in the United States due to potentially defective airbags that can rupture and send metal fragments into the car when deployed. 4. European leaders rejected Greece's revised budget, which requires approval to unlock bailout money, during another round of negotiations on Tuesday. 5. Nine men were arrested Tuesday in connection with the Hatton Garden jewelry heist that occurred in London in early April. 6. Protests against Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza continue in the capital this week, after a failed coup over Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office, which opposition groups say is against the constitution. 7. Five of the world's biggest banks — JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS — are expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges over the rigging of currency markets and to pay significant penalties. 8. It's still unclear what caused a pipeline along the California coastline to rupture Tuesday, leaking an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil in the ocean. 9. China and Brazil agreed to a series of multibillion dollar trade and investment deals on Tuesday as part of a $50 billion (£32 billion) Chinese investment package. 10. US federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged six Chinese nationals with allegedly stealing trade secrets from US technology companies and sharing them with China. And finally ... Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This Animated Map Shows How European Languages Evolved  | ||
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10 arrested in Canada over attempt to join IS: police | ||
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Montreal (AFP) - Canadian police arrested 10 young people at Montreal's airport last weekend for trying to join the Islamic State group, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Charges have yet to be filed against the members of the group who are suspected of attempting to join the ranks of the radical group that operates in Iraq and Syria.
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Cannes stars reject patronising 'Year of Women' tag | ||
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Cannes (France) (AFP) - This year's Cannes Film Festival has been dubbed the "Year of the Women" for its focus on female issues and filmmakers, but many of the women in question seem keen to fight back against the label. The festival on France's south coast -- like the wider film industry that feeds it -- has a reputation for male domination, so there was some relief that this year's official selection opened things up a bit. A female director, Emmanuelle Bercot, opened the festival for only the second time in its history and Agnes Varda will be the first female recipient of the honorary lifetime achievement award. The competition includes two women directors where often there are none, and the most critically lauded entry so far -- "Carol" starring a lavishly praised Cate Blanchett -- focuses on repressed lesbian love. Even the action films -- "Mad Max: Fury Road" and drug war thriller "Sicario" -- have female leads in the form of Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt. Despite all this, the women in question have pushed back against the idea they should feel grateful for the supposed largesse. "They say it's the 'year of the women'", said Blanchett at a press conference. "You hope it's not just a year -- not just some fashionable moment." Bercot outright rejected the idea that the choice of her film as festival opener was some sort of victory for female empowerment. "It's the selection of the film that's an honour," she said. "I don't feel I've been a given a gift because such a prestigious slot went to a woman." - Complete imbalance - To make matters worse, the festival's supposed embracing of females was undermined by claims on Tuesday that women were being turned away from the red carpet for not wearing high heels. Blunt said the reports were "very disappointing... everyone should wear flats to be honest." She went on to criticise the obsession of reporters with her "tough" characters. "I get asked a lot about playing tough female roles, but I don't really see them as tough," said the British actress. "There are plenty of strong women out there and I don't think they can be compartmentalised as one thing -- oh, you're tough. Why? Because I have a gun?" Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, who has been all over the seaside Croisette promoting her directorial debut "A Tale of Love and Darkness" this week, said women-led productions were still being written off as "vanity projects". "I remember as a kid when Barbra Streisand would make movies that she was in and people would say, 'oh it's vanity, it's a vanity thing'," said Portman, criticising the "completely imbalanced" industry that means women direct only a tiny fraction of Hollywood pictures. A talk about gender on the sidelines of the festival opened with the statistic that only 4.6 percent of US studio films were directed by women last year, and not one Oscar best picture nominee featured a female protagonist. Speaking at the talk, Salma Hayek argued real change would come not from token gestures at festivals but from a realisation that women can bring in the bucks. "The only thing we can do is show them we are an economic force," said the Mexican actress and producer. "Nothing else will move them. The minute they see money, things will be instantaneously different." That shift is already happening. In the industry marketplace that runs alongside the festival, sales have been increasingly focused on women viewers this year. "It used to be all about action-driven things with a male demographic, the Stallone-Schwarzenegger type movie," said Scott Roxborough, a journalist with The Hollywood Reporter. "Everyone now is trying to get women on board to try to appeal to a female audience and not just grab teenage boys. Teenage boys don't go to movies -- they either watch them on the Internet or play video games," he said. Blanchett said she was exasperated that this discussion was still happening in 2015. "I want it to not be discussed anymore," she told Variety. "But it needs to be discussed." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Prince Charles to visit great-uncle's IRA murder site | ||
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Sligo (Ireland) (AFP) - Britain's Prince Charles will on Wednesday visit the site where his beloved great-uncle Earl Mountbatten was murdered by the Irish Republican Army paramilitary group in 1979. The first visit by a royal to Mullaghmore since the killing comes a day after Charles became the first British royal to meet veteran Irish republican leader Gerry Adams. The visit will be a poignant stop for the heir to the British throne on a two-day trip to Ireland that underscores warming relations between the two countries. Mountbatten, Charles's godfather, mentor and the last viceroy of British-ruled India, was killed aged 79 when a bomb on his fishing boat exploded off the coast of County Sligo, near the border with Northern Ireland. Two relatives and a 15-year-old local boy were also killed in what was one of the most high-profile IRA attacks during a period known as "The Troubles", three decades of conflict in which 3,500 people died. Ahead of the visit Charles was presented with a piece of fossil coral from Mullaghmore, a 335-million-year-old gift intended to offer historical perspective. "The coral has seen the ancient tribes of Ireland come and go, the Normans, the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the British Empire and the Troubles," said geology professor Andrew Wheeler, who presented the gift. "All of this is just a fleeting moment in the coral's extraordinary history." The IRA claimed Mountbatten's killing as part of their campaign to end British control of Northern Ireland, and those who carried out the attack were never found. Charles and his wife Camilla will also view poetry, music and art displays in Sligo before travelling to the grave of famed Irish poet W.B. Yeats, who died in 1939. - 'We expressed regret' - Charles on Tuesday met Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the now-inactive IRA, who refuses to recognise the authority of the British monarchy in Northern Ireland. Both aged 66, the two men shook hands at a university in Galway in western Ireland and then had a landmark private meeting. Adams, who has rejected allegations he was a key figure in the IRA, said that the meeting had been a "big thing for us to do". "We did discuss the need for the entire process to move forward... and the need to heal," Adams said. He added that "I think it's fair to say that Charles is also looking to the future and wants to be a positive influence. "Both he and we expressed regret for what happened from 1968 onwards." Adams and other senior Sinn Fein members boycotted Queen Elizabeth II's groundbreaking visit to Ireland in 2011, the first by a British monarch since Ireland gained independence from Britain in 1922. The Mullaghmore visit is expected to include a religious service in a nearby church. British media reported that Mountbatten's grandson, Timothy Knatchbull, who survived the blast but whose 14-year-old twin brother Nicholas was killed, would also attend. A local resident, Peter McHugh, who helped pull bodies from the sea, is also expected to be there, according to the reports. Camilla and Charles, who in 1995 became the first member of the royal family to visit Ireland since independence, will travel on Thursday and Friday to Northern Ireland. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Caine, Fonda and Keitel show their 'Youth' at Cannes | ||
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Cannes (France) (AFP) - Michael Caine, Jane Fonda and Harvey Keitel are combining their legendary acting heft to one of the Cannes Film Festival's most-anticipated movies this year, "Youth", which gets its premiere on Wednesday. The film, directed by Italian Paolo Sorrentino, who won an Oscar last year for his story of Italian decay, "The Great Beauty", is an ensemble piece filmed in English and set in the Alps. Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano round out the casting. But it's the three veteran actors that have critics and journalists most eager to watch a picture that could have a shot at winning Cannes's big prize, the Palme d'Or. Here's what the three big names are bringing to the movie: - Michael Caine - Possessing one of Hollywood's most recognisable voices and a 60-year career, Caine enjoys iconic status. The 82-year-old has long said he is semi-retired, but continues to add to his vast body of work, having recently appeared in sci-fi epic "Interstellar", the box-office hit "Kingsman: The Secret Service", and the blockbuster Batman trilogy. Born Maurice Micklewhite to a fish-porter father and cleaner mother in working-class southern London, he chose his stage name in tribute to his favourite movie "The Caine Mutiny". He has appeared in over 115 films and been Oscar nominated six times. He won the golden statuette twice, for Woody Allen's "Hannah and her Sisters" in 1986 and "Cider House Rules" in 1999. His movie career started out with hits such as "Zulu" (1964) and "The Italian Job" (1969). His portrayal as a charming gangster in 1971's "Get Carter" and womaniser in "Alfie" established him as the acting face of Swinging Britain. Caine was honoured with a knighthood in 2000. He has also turned his talents to food, becoming a celebrated restaurateur with eateries in London and Miami. - Jane Fonda - Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda remains at the top of her evergreen game at the age of 77. Born in 1937 in New York to Hollywood star Henry Fonda, Jane would follow in her father's footsteps to be a dominating presence on the silver screen. She won her first Oscar for the 1971 film "Klute" and her second in 1979's "Coming Home". She also became known for her leftist political views, becoming a vocal anti-war opponent to the US military adventure in Vietnam. The 1980s were a heady time for Fonda. Not only was she at the top of her acting career but in 1982, she launched a line of workout videos that became a smash hit. She underwent another dramatic transformation in the late 1980s when she decided to stop acting and marry media mogul Ted Turner. After Fonda's marriage to Turner, she dropped out of public view for the next decade. Following a divorce with Turner in 2001, Fonda charged back into the acting spotlight, appearing in "Monster-in-Law" alongside Jennifer Lopez, and with Lindsay Lohan in 2007's "Georgia Rule". In recent years, she played a network mogul in the TV series "The Newsroom" and stars in the new Netflix original series "Grace and Frankie". - Harvey Keitel - From "Mean Streets" to "Bad Lieutenant" to "Reservoir Dogs", Harvey Keitel has been one of America's favourite hard-boiled tough guys in some of its most revered cult classics. Born in New York in 1939, Keitel was a marine and a reporter before trying his hand at acting. It was Martin Scorsese that first nurtured his talent, casting him in his first film, "Who's That Knocking at My Door" before giving him the starring role in his breakout film "Mean Streets". Keitel would also appear as a sleazy pimp in Scorsese’s "Taxi Driver" and Judas in "The Last Temptation of Christ". Despite four decades of work with many acclaimed directors, Keitel has rarely been awarded for his work, garnering only one Oscar nomination -- for best supporting actor in 1991's "Bugsy" -- though he did pick up an Australian acting gong for his part in the 1993 Cannes winner "The Piano". His collaborations with Quentin Tarantino have been perhaps his most iconic, playing mobsters in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction". But film buffs will always associate him most with the evil and deranged addict in Abel Ferrara's bleak 1992 film "Bad Lieutenant", a film that demonstrated Keitel's willingness to take on the most challenging and unlikeable roles. In recent years, Keitel has found a new outlet through arthouse favourite Wes Anderson, who has cast him in radically different roles for "Moonrise Kingdom" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel". Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Rosberg seeking rare Formula One Monaco hat-trick | ||
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Monte Carlo (Monaco) (AFP) - Nico Rosberg will seek to follow his championship-boosting triumph earlier this month by completing a rare hat-trick of successive Monaco Grand Prix wins on his hometown streets this weekend. The 29-year-old German ended a spell in the shadow of his Mercedes team-mate and two-time world champion Lewis Hamilton with his victory ahead of him at the Spanish Grand Prix, cutting the Briton's lead from 27 points to 20. A repeat in Sunday's classic race around the unforgiving narrow roads of the Mediterranean principality will confirm his return to form and add his name to a revered list of Monte Carlo victors. Not since three-time world champion and six-time Monaco winner Brazilian Ayrton Senna won five in a row from 1989-93, has any driver won three in a row at Monaco. Frenchman Alain Prost, a four-time champion, won three successive races from 1984 to 1986, and again in 1988, a feat that endorsed the era of his rivalry with Senna as one of the greatest. Before them, only Briton Graham Hill managed the feat, winning thrice from 1963 to 1965. The great German seven-time champion Michael Schumacher won the race five times in all, but never three times in a row. All of which leaves Rosberg on the cusp of a potentially famous achievement as he attempts to rein in Hamilton, who has won three of this year's five opening races. Last year, Rosberg triumphed ahead of Hamilton after a controversial off-road excursion during qualifying left the Englishman fuming amid a variety of conspiracy rumours. It set the tone for an acrimonious period of rivalry between the two, a spell that Rosberg would be happy to usher in again if it goes with another memorable Monaco win. Hamilton, however, has other ideas as he strives for only his second win on a circuit he loves. "I am more than ever looking forward to this one, I really am," said Hamilton. "I know that I can rectify things in the next race, which I plan to do… I've not won in Monaco for a long, long time – I've only won it once – so this is going to be my third chance with this great team and with a great car. So hopefully third time lucky." Hamilton's only win came with McLaren in 2008 in his first title-winning season. Hamilton's future with Mercedes is expected to be confirmed with an announcement from the team during the weekend. A new contract has been under discussion since the end of last season. The race will be important, and emotional, too for the Manor Marussia team as it marks the anniversary of their only points-scoring finish, achieved last year when Frenchman Jules Bianchi came home ninth. Bianchi, however, is unlikely to celebrate as he remains in hospital in Nice recovering from his life-threatening crash during the Japanese Grand Prix last October. "Without question, it will be emotional," said the team's sporting director Graeme Lowdon. "A lot of people in the team have been thinking about it. I certainly have, so it will be difficult. "There will be some difficult personal moments for everybody, primarily because of Jules, of course, but also because it was such a memorable weekend. "Every sport has heroes and in our sport the drivers are the heroes -- and Jules drove a really great race that day." As Ferrari bid to stay in touch with runaway leaders Mercedes and McLaren-Honda attempt to end their worst start to a season, Pirelli will give the teams a new compound of super-soft tyres, designed to help allow overtaking in the classic 78-laps contest. "Monaco is often described as a circuit where overtaking is impossible, but we have seen how tyre strategy and degradation can lead to position changes and overtaking," said Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery. "That's what these tyres are for." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here's how accurately this robot can recognize what's going on in 11 photos | ||
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One of the most intriguing areas in artificial intelligence research is computer vision. From being an integral part of self-driving cars to allowing machines to guess your age, making it possible for software to see is a big deal. Computer scientist Stephen Wolfram has released a new tool, the Wolfram Image Identification Project, that allows users to upload or link to an image and then see how well the computer can recognize what's going on in the picture. In a blog post, Wolfram describes the underlying technology behind the project. Like many computer vision programs, Wolfram's project is built around an "artificial neural network": a software framework inspired by biological brains that excels at the kind of pattern recognition needed for computer vision. In Wolfram's case, the neural network was "trained" by being exposed to tens of millions of labeled images. As Wolfram puts it in the blog post, "We don’t have any intrinsic way to describe an object like a chair. All we can do is just give lots of examples of chairs, and effectively say, 'Anything that looks like one of these we want to identify as a chair.' So in effect we want images that are 'close' to our examples of chairs to map to the name 'chair', and others not to. We decided to try the algorithm out on a few images that were on the front page of Business Insider around 3:30 PM eastern time Tuesday afternoon. In many cases, the image identifier was able to at least get the overall gist of the pictures. It classified the Twin Peaks restaurant in Texas that was the site of a grisly shootout between rival biker gangs as a "store":
It also correctly classified Hillary Clinton and Marissa Mayer as "people", although it wasn't able to identify them specifically by name:
The algorithm also correctly, if vaguely, identified Paris cafe Le Comptoir as a building:
In a few situations, the algorithm completely ignored the people in an image, instead focusing on particular inanimate objects. Rather than noticing boxer Gennady Golovkin, the algorithm locked on to the glove on the boxer's hand, helpfully pulling up some extra info on boxing gloves:
Similarly, in this still from an upcoming KFC commercial, the algorithm ignored former "Saturday Night Live" actor Darrell Hammond's portrayal of Colonel Sanders and instead noticed the cars around him, identifying them as "transport":
In other cases, the algorithm got temptingly close but was just slightly off. It classified this Samsung smartphone as a "remote control," and as with the boxing glove, gave us some context:
On the subject of Tesla, the image identifier correctly noted that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk was standing in front of a car, but misclassified the car as a two-door coupe, rather than a four-door sedan. Still, pretty impressive:
Some images completely threw the algorithm off. The grey background and dark chyron on this NFL Network screenshot appear to have convinced the image classifier that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is in fact a clapperboard:
The algorithm also had trouble with more abstract items. The Yo app logo was parsed as "instrumentation":
And this screenshot of leaked footage from the upcoming video game "Doom 4" showing a soldier in a desolate wasteland was interpreted as a "spider":
While image recognition and classification are hard, and the algorithm is still a work in progress, it is fun to play with. Read more about the technology behind the app on Wolfram's blog here, or test it out with your own pictures here. SEE ALSO: THE GLOBAL 20: Twenty big stories that define the world right now Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This robot competition inspired students and will get you excited about the future  | ||
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102 boatpeople rescued off Indonesia, hundreds more at sea: official | ||
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Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) - More than 100 boatpeople were rescued by local fishermen off Indonesia's Aceh province early Wednesday, and around 400 more were still believed to be at sea, an official said. Khoirul Nova, a search and rescue official, said that at 2 am (1900 GMT Tuesday) the fishermen rescued 102 boatpeople "from the sea of the Malacca Strait, including 30 children and 26 women". Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The NBA draft lottery results have come in, and Minnesota gets top pick | ||
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The 2015 NBA Draft Lottery ended Tuesday night, and the results are in. Take a look below to see where your favorite team ended up: 1. Minnesota Timberwolves 2. Los Angeles Lakers 3. Philadelphia 76'ers 4. New York Knicks 5. Orlando Magic 6. Sacramento Kings 7. Denver Nuggets 8. Detroit Pistons 9. Charlotte Hornets 10. Miami Heat 11. Indiana Pacers 12. Utah Jazz 13. Phoenix Suns 14. Oklahoma City Thunder The Timberwolves, who had a 25% chance of getting the first pick in the draft, ended up lucking out, while the New York Knicks fell to fourth, in the upcoming draft. The Lakers, who were in danger of missing out on the lottery altogether, safely climbed to the second spot.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why Kobe Bryant Is The Hardest-Working Player In The NBA  | ||
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Report: The CEO ousted from his company after pleading guilty to domestic violence was arrested for allegedly kicking another woman | ||
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Gurbaksh Chahal, the former CEO of RadiumOne who was forced to resign amid domestic violence allegations, was arrested last October for allegedly kicking a different woman, the San Francisco Business Times reported Tuesday. Chahal was placed on probation after pleading guilty in April 2014 to misdemeanor charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in 2013. Chahal has maintained his innocence and said he only pleaded guilty to avoid a "witch hunt." Now, the San Francisco district attorney's office confirmed to the Business Times that it is seeking to revoke his probation, but did not say why. The Business Times says that on Sept. 17 of last year, Chahal allegedly attacked a woman he was dating and kicked her repeatedly in the leg, according to an investigative report. The police later arrested Chahal in October and he was set free on $100,000 bail, according to the Business Times. In the police report about the arrest, the Business Times reports, the woman complains that Chahal grabbed her hair during an argument and once pushed her against the wall, bruising her wrist. Chahal formed his current company, Gravity4, after being ousted from RadiumOne. Last week, Gravity4 made an unsolicited $350 million takeover bid for rival Rocket Fuel, but Rocket Fuel rejected the deal and said in a written response that it believed the bid was "not a credible offer." In another case, Chahal and Gravity4 are being sued by a former employee for sexual discrimination. Chahal and Gravity4 did not immediately respond to requests for comment. We will update this story if we hear back. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Kids settle the debate and tell us which is better: an Apple or Samsung phone  | ||
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A pipeline ruptured on the California coastline and leaked 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean | ||
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A pipeline ruptured along the scenic California coastline on Tuesday, spilling some 21,000 gallons (79,000 liters) of oil into the ocean and on beaches before it could be secured, a U.S. Coast Guardspokeswoman said. The pipeline, which runs parallel to Highway 101 near Santa Barbara, left a slick extending about four miles (6.4 km) along Refugio State Beach, extending about 50 yards (46 meters) into the water, Petty Officer Andrea Anderson of the Coast Guard said. Anderson said the company responsible for the 24-inch (61- cm) pipeline was identified as Plains All American Pipeline, which had brought in a company to begin cleaning up the spill. Refugio State Beach was closed. The cause of the rupture had not been determined, Anderson said. Richard Abrams, emergency manager for Santa Barbara County, said the Coast Guard, Department of Fish and Wildlife and Santa Barbara County were assisting on the clean-up. "We haven't seen any reports of impacts on wildlife but it is in the water so it is impacting the environment," Abrams said. Representatives for Plains All American were not immediately available for comments. (Reporting by Rory Carroll in San Francisco, Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Eric Walsh)
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Scientists have discovered more magma under Yellowstone's supervolcano  | ||
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Reddit CEO Ellen Pao: 'It's not our site's goal to be a completely free-speech platform' | ||
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Interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to online harassment. Last week, Reddit introduced controversial new rules to fight the rampant harassment and make users feel safer on the mega-popular social sharing and community site. Some of Reddit's user base saw it as censorship, as too vague to possibly enforce, or as Reddit pandering to a vocal minority of complainers. Many others appreciated the principle behind Reddit's anti-harassment stance, but saw the anti-harassment policy as lacking teeth, given the fact that Reddit wouldn't lay out specifics of what it would do with any reports of harassment. To defend the new anti-harassment policy, Pao went on NPR's All Things Considered to give comments that only further confused the situation. When asked if Reddit would ever delete offensive subreddits (small communities within Reddit) like "Gas The Kikes" (which actually exists) if it made a Jewish user uncomfortable, Pao basically dodged the question (emphasis ours): The question is whether it would make them fear for their safety, or the safety of those around them or where it makes them feel like it's not a safe platform. Somebody expressing ideas that aren't consistent with everybody's views is something that we encourage. There are certain posts that do make people feel unsafe, that people feel threatened or they feel that their family or friends or people near them are going to be unsafe, and those are the specific things that we are focused on today. It's not our site's goal to be a completely free-speech platform. We want to be a safe platform and we want to be a platform that also protects privacy at the same time. In other words, Pao isn't ruling out the idea that Reddit could heavily moderate comments, but won't give specifics on who or how. Right now, Pao says that the team dealt with 20 to 30 harassment claims in the past "half a week," and that Reddit is building tools to find and deal with repeat offenders using fake, so-called "throwaway" accounts. It's understandable that Pao and the Reddit team want to provide a safer space without pissing off the base of users that have gotten it to its current 100-million-user strong peaks of success. But if it's serious about fighting harassment, Reddit is going to have to go public with an enforceable set of specific rules, and soon, or else it's going to completely alienate both camps.
SEE ALSO: Reddit is finally mounting a war against trolls Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Facebook And Google 'Degrade Our Humanity,' Says 4chan Founder  | ||
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People in pink blazers and blue jackets were begging to park my car for me today | ||
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Today, I drove into downtown San Francisco for a work event and took advantage of the on-demand valet service offered there. All of a sudden, I felt like I was in the middle of a war — to park my car. The valet service being used by the conference was called Luxe Valet. First, I pointed out all my car's flaws (yes, that giant dent in the door was already there). I asked my valet Christopher to please remember to turn it off before he whisked it away to an unknown lot. Then I handed over my baby and its janitor-sized keyring. As I turned, suddenly a man in a bright pink blazer ran up and shoved a Caarbon flyer in my hand. "Next time, park with Caarbon," he said. Here I was, using an on-demand valet parking for the first time ever, and I was caught in the middle of San Francico's startup parking wars: blue jackets versus pink blazers. Razor scooters versus black umbrellas. Guerrilla marketing tactics. Luxe valets have become an increasingly common sight in San Francisco. They wear bright blue jackets and zip around on matching blue scooters, although some choose to run and get in their cardio workout. Joining their fray is the new kid on the block: Caarbon (soon to become Carbon with just one "a." The company is only in limited testing now.) Their agents, as they call them, wear pink blazers and stand with one arm behind their back. They open the door for women first and escort everyone to and from their car with a black umbrella.
Inside the conference, which was all about the "on-demand" economy, the founder of another valet service, Zirx, spoke about how he didn't need to compete outside. "There’s blue shirts outside and pink shirts outside. We probably think the least about competition," said Shmulik Fishman. "I would hate to be in a space where nobody is trying anything remotely connected." Back outside, though, the competition was visible based on just the flashy jackets. (Zirx agents, according to their site, wear yellow). The Luxe valets hung inside their parking lot, while Carbon agents stood on the outside by the entrance. "We embrace it. Pink versus blue," said Bill Bonhorst, an operations manager at Carbon. "We will escort you to the curb with an umbrella. We're not going to roll up to the curb with a scooter or a skateboard." He compared it to the Four Seasons level of service rather than a Holiday Inn. Luxe valets, though, didn't back down. "We're pretty much the only true on demand," said Michael Skillman, who has been a valet since October. He said Zirx operates only around their garages, while Luxe has a whole umbrella over the city. And while Carbon's operations managers said they shared the parking lot, the Luxe valets countered that the startup only had a few spaces, while Luxe controls the entire bottom floor. Zirx wasn't there at all. Meanwhile, outside a bicycle was parked with a sign advertising Upshift — a company that delivers rental cars on demand. In case you don't already have a car to park. Bootstrapped marketing at its best.
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North Korea cancels visit by Ban Ki-moon: UN | ||
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Seoul (AFP) - North Korea on Wednesday abruptly cancelled an invitation to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the isolated state, his spokesman said. "Early this morning, the authorities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) informed us, through their diplomatic channels, that they were reversing their decision for me to visit the Kaesong Industrial Complex", Ban was quoted as saying at a seminar in Seoul by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
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The CEO behind last year's biggest US tech IPO explains the benefits of going public — besides the money (LC) | ||
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But with so much private capital available in the VC market these days, startups are increasingly delaying going public. By doing so, they get to avoid the investor scrutiny or SEC regulations public companies typically have to deal with. It also allows them to stick to their long-term vision without having to meet short term shareholder demands. Conventional wisdom says it’s better to delay going public if the money’s available elsewhere. But that doesn’t mean to avoid IPOs at all cost. There are other benefits to going public, aside from the massive cash infusion companies see out of the gate. Just ask Lending Club, the online credit marketplace that raised $870 million in its IPO last December. “Since the IPO, we’re seeing more awareness and credibility,” Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche told Business Insider. “It’s helped us with partnerships and recruiting.” Laplanche says by going public — which was the largest US tech IPO last year — Lending Club was able to get that public stamp of approval, validating its business to people who may have had concerns over the way it works. That’s particularly important when you’re in a highly regulated industry like finance, as Lending Club is. “Large companies are more willing to partner with us, and we’re less perceived as a startup, or a risk,” he says. Since going public, Lending Club has been able to strike partnership deals with Citibank and BankAlliance, a consortium of 200 community banks. It’s also signed deals with Google and Alibaba to help their respective partners gain easier access to credit through Lending Club’s platform. As a result, since its inception, Lending Club originated more than $9 billion worth of loans. On the recruiting side, Laplanche says he’s getting access to even better talent now. Risk-averse engineers prefer working at a public company, especially since they can easily liquidate their stock options. But even people who like startups have been joining Lending Club because of its unique position in the financial industry, where it’s still considered a “disrupter” to massive incumbent banks. In the past quarter alone, more than 130 new employees have joined. “We’re still getting started, and there’s a lot more to come than what has come so far,” Laplanche says. And big banks are taking notice too. In its annual shareholders letter last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote, "There are hundreds of startups with a lot of brains and money working on various alternatives to traditional banking. The ones you read about most are in the lending business…And we also are completely comfortable with partnering where it makes sense." Lending Club’s main value proposition is in its software that can quickly vet borrowers’ creditworthiness at a fraction of the cost traditional banks take. Its online platform significantly drops the cost of finding and matching borrowers to investors, which is why more and more banks are showing interest in partnering with them. In fact, combining Lending Club’s low cost of operation to the low cost of capital for banks would be a win-win situation for both parties, Laplanche believes. "The banks participating on the Lending Club platform delivers the optimum solution because we have the lowest cost of operations, while the banks have the lowest cost of capital," he tells us. "The way we’re proposing to change the banking system is not in a competitive, or confrontational way with incumbents. We believe there’ll be more banks joining our marketplace." SEE ALSO: Here’s why Funding Circle’s new $150 million round matters to more than 120 million American workers Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when you get bitten by a black widow  | ||
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