Oracle's big software change is an accounting nightmare (ORCL) | ||
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Oracle shares lost 4.8% on Thursday after the company reported a disappointing fourth quarter on Wednesday. The fourth quarter is typically the company's strongest as salespeople push to close deals to make quotas, though Oracle missed on both profit and revenue. With this report, Oracle has now missed profit expectations for four of the last six quarters, including its last two fourth quarters. Revenue has been a miss in three of the last six quarters, too, according to Street Insider. This a worrying trend given that Oracle CEO Safra Catz has characterized this quarter in the past as "Mardi Gras for Oracle from a license revenue perspective." This time around, Oracle management blamed the strong dollar and foreign exchange (FX) adjustments for the overall revenue miss, but that wasn't what caused the sell off. Revenues from new software licenses, Oracle's bread-and-butter business, were down 10% even without the unfavorable currency adjustments. Catz said this was due to customers moving to cloud versions of Oracle's software instead of software that is licensed and installed in a customer's data center (known as "on premises" software). Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison also explained that Oracle expects to earn three-times more revenue from each cloud contract, at roughly the same high 45%+ margins, as it does selling software the old-fashioned way. However, when a customer moves to the cloud, it creates an accounting weirdness. Oracle can't recognize the revenue right away like it would for a regular software deal. The company instead must recognize revenue over the length of the contract as customers are billed. That can make a company look like its losing revenue, even though it could be making more money from that customer over time. Oracle's cloud accounted for 4% of its fourth quarter revenue. At end of Oracle's fiscal 2015, Oracle's cloud was on track to be a $2.3 billion business, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said, compared to total 2015 revenue of $38.2 billion.
Plus, Hurd also insisted that much the cloud was being bought by brand new customers that have never used Oracle before. Hurd said: Last quarter I think I said that 82% of our cloud SaaS deals were actually not Oracle customers of an application when they acquired or contracted for a SaaS application. This quarter it was over 60. So these are — this is not just the conversion of Oracle customers, Oracle application customers to SaaS, this is a lot of greenfield new market share for Oracle as well. When it comes to Wall Street, however, some analysts were concerned while others were excited. Daniel Ives at FBR and Co., who rates the stock an outperform, called it a "a head-scratching quarter" and wrote: Street expectations should now be 'very conservative' for FY16, and we think that Oracle has a window of opportunity to build back investor credibility in the coming quarters if it finally delivers on its holistic cloud vision and top-line growth recovery story. Deutsche Bank's Karl Keirstead, who rates the stock a hold, writes: In our view the two key questions from ORCL’s 4QF15 print are 1) whether the mix shift from on-premise license revs [revenues] to cloud-hosted subscription revs [revenues] can fully explain the 10% c/c [constant currency] decline in new license sales (largest decline since the Aug 2009 qtr) and ... 2) when the pressure on margins and EPS will stabilize.
Rangan says he's making a "leap of faith" that Oracle's management really will collect three times more revenue over time on cloud customers. Barclays Raimo Lenschow was also upbeat about Oracle's future, writing: The core license business this quarter was lighter than expected, falling short of consensus by ~8%. We view this as largely attributable to a higher shift to the cloud, specifically in Europe. In the long run, we expect the company to recognize more value in the cloud focused model. Oracle isn't the only huge IT vendor to go through this conversion to cloud computing. Microsoft is also making the shift, as is SAP, and just about every other big vendor that sells software to businesses. Oracle knows it needs its cloud to succeed. Up and coming technologies like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Hadoop offer ways to store large amounts of data more affordably than old-school databases like Oracle and they've seen their popularity surge of late. The underlying worry from investors is that those alternatives are the real reason why Oracle's new licenses were down 10%. SEE ALSO: Here are 13 tech jobs that pay at least $130,000 across the country Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear  | ||
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Kash Rangan at Bank of America, who rates the stock a buy, wrote that the sell-off of Oracle is "overdone and presents an opportunity." Privacy advocates are slamming Facebook for its shady transparency policy (FB) | ||
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The way Facebook handles government requests for data is coming under fire from privacy advocacy groups. In a new blog post titled "Why Facebook Failed Our Censorship Test," the Electronic Frontier Foundation takes aim at the social network’s track record when it comes to content restriction. More specifically, the EFF claims that Facebook has never fully explained why it has restricted access to some of its pages. The EFF explains that Facebook gives explanations for some content restriction in its 'Government Request Report,' but "if you click over the United States, Facebook’s home country, you’ll find that the ‘content restriction’ category is conspicuously missing." And, according to the EFF, this doesn’t mean that Facebook didn’t restrict content in the US. On the contrary, the blog post points out known instances where Facebook censored content within the US: We know for a fact that Facebook processed 74 requests for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation alone in 2014. Between California and the state of South Carolina, we also know Facebook processed more than 700 takedown requests over the last four years. We could file public records requests in all 50 states to learn more, but since Facebook’s system allowed prisons to file these requests without creating a paper trail, only Facebook knows how many requests it has complied with nationwide. We believe it may reach into thousands. The ultimate point is that though Facebook does have a report attempting to divulge what government requests have been made with its users data, the company isn't disclosing everything. Competitors like Google and Twitter, the EFF notes, are much better at disclosing when they receive any government requests. This is all part of the EFF’s annual reports called "Who Has Your Back?, which grades the largest tech companies on how they handle government requests for user data. Criteria include the companies' data disclosing practices, whether they inform users about government data demands, and other facets that illuminate what they do when faced with a government request. Facebook isn’t the only company the EFF is calling out. WhatsApp, for instance, is also being lambasted for its lackluster transparency efforts (of course, Facebook does own WhatsApp). Service providers like AT&T and Verizon also had low marks. Facebook, for its part, scores relatively well on other criteria. But the EFF still has higher hopes for the social behemoth. The blog post concluded, "We urge Facebook to publish the data and show U.S. government agencies that censorship shouldn’t happen in the dark." SEE ALSO: Some big groups have pulled out of meetings about facial recognition technology Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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10 stunning award-winning photos of the night sky | ||
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"The sky above us is an essential part of our nature," Babak Tafreshi said in a statement announcing the winners of this year's International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. Tafreshi established the program The World at Night (TWAN), which co-founded this annual photo contest in 2008. The goal of the contest is to raise awareness about light pollution, which drowns our view of planets, stars, and galaxies in the night sky — a sight that is growing more rare each year as cities swell bigger and brighter. "Perhaps from this perspective we can better preserve the natural night sky and reconnect it with our modern life," Tafreshi said about the contest. Here are the 10 award-winning photos for this year, selected from an initial pool of over 1,000. You can learn more about the contest on the TWAN website. The bright band of the Milky Way Galaxy is a beautiful backdrop to this photo of Mt. Rainier in Washington state.
Mount Bromo is the smoking, distant volcano in this photo composition taken in East Java, Indonesia with star trails — the arcs of light in the sky — in the background. City lights illuminate the clouds in this photo of Russia's northern Caucasus Mountains. Peak Terskol Observatory sits at the center against a starry night sky. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Coffee addicts going bonkers over wildly popular mobile ordering platform at Starbucks (SBUX) | ||
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This story was originally sent to thousands of professionals just like you in this morning's PAYMENTS INSIDER daily newsletter. Don't be left in the dark while your competition gets ahead each morning. Learn more about our 7-day FREE trial now. » Starbucks' mobile order-ahead platform is branching out to new states. Mobile Order & Pay, Starbucks' order-ahead platform that was originally piloted in late 2014, is expanding to 21 more US states, meaning that the feature will be available in more than 4,000 Starbucks stores. The feature is only available for iOS as of now, but the company plans to launch an Android version later this year. Starbucks introduced Mobile Order & Pay to the Pacific Northwest region in March, and the platform's continual expansion is an indicator that it's been a hit with consumers in the test markets. Mobile Order & Pay is an integrated service in Starbucks' pre-existing app that allows customers to order coffee ahead of time and pick it up at a specific location. They make their purchases in the app, so they can skip the line when they walk in. Finding this article interesting? Thousands of professionals just like you had it in their inbox first. Stay ahead of the curve and gain a comprehensive understanding of the latest news & trends, start your day with the PAYMENTS INSIDER. Get 7-days FREE »
Many Starbucks customers likely favor convenience and therefore might adopt the app's order-ahead feature quickly. And, since these orders are processed through the app, mobile could take an even greater share of Starbucks sales. Currently, mobile represents 18% of US in-store Starbucks sales (see chart). Here are other stories you need to know from today's PAYMENTS INSIDER:
Can you really afford to miss another day of more breaking developments? Stay ahead of the curve and gain a comprehensive understanding of the latest news & trends. Try starting your day with tomorrow's PAYMENTS INSIDER. It's FREE for 7 days » Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Starbucks A Thiel Fellow just closed his housing startup and evicted 150 people | ||
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Campus, a startup that rented out rooms in some 34 houses in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, is no more — meaning its more than 150 residents need to find somewhere else to live before the official closure on August 31st. The startup, co-founded in 2013 by Tom Currier — a Thiel Fellow, given $100,000 by famed venture capitalist Peter Thiel to drop out of Stanford – basically acted as a property management company, renting rooms in the houses it managed for a monthly cost of $1,000 to $2,200. "Despite continued attempts to alter the company’s current business model and explore alternative ones, we were unable to make Campus into an economically viable business," writes Currier in the farewell message that replaces the main Campus homepage as of this afternoon. Campus' whole pitch was that it fostered real-life connections between people in a planned community. The Campus homes themselves were in fashionable neighborhoods, like San Francisco's Mission District and New York's Flatiron District. The homes would get regular cleaning from professional services, plus they offered amenities like hot tubs and access to Campus-managed vacation homes in California's wine country. It even stocked the kitchen with basics for residents. That concept made it popular among people (especially tech industry workers) who were new to the city, and Campus would often throw barbecues and mixers for residents of its properties — properties that will go back onto the crowded San Francisco and New York City rental markets once they're vacated, according to an email sent to Campus residents and obtained by SFist. "We realize this may be shocking news, and how stressful this situation will be for many of you. We will do anything we can to make the moving process smooth," writes Currier in that email. According to that e-mail, Campus will cease all community events, professional cleaning, and stocking the kitchen for residents as it puts its remaining cash towards paying the rent.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The 8 essential items you need in your home survival kit  | ||
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John Doerr says he 'felt sick' when he found out Ellen Pao was suing Kleiner Perkins | ||
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Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner John Doerr said he was "disappointed" and "betrayed" when he found that Ellen Pao, his former chief of staff, was suing the firm. "I was sick. It-- it was-- it was painful. Ellen was a good chief of staff," Doerr said in an interview with Bloomberg TV's Emily Chang. "But when I read the charges, I knew from that very moment that these had no merit." Doerr, who was joined by Beth Seidenberg, told Bloomberg TV in the interview that his firm has tried repeatedly to settle with Pao outside of courts. "I've always believed that this matter ought to be resolved outside the courts. Believe me, from the very beginning. And it just wasn't possible," Doerr said. "If it were that easy, it would have been done. I will just tell you it's not possible." Pao lost all counts of her case against the venture capital firm on March 27, 2015, when a jury found that her gender was not the motivating reason for her not being promoted to a general or senior partner, or for her termination at the firm. In a move typical for defendants who prevail in employment lawsuits, KPCB filed in April to recover $973,000 in court fees, but said it would waive its legal costs if Pao gave up her right to appeal. Pao allegedly countered by asking for $2.7 million instead. A San Francisco judge ruled today to reduce KPCB's court costs to $276,000, which is still a high bill for Pao to pay. If Kleiner had settled with Pao, Doerr never thought of it as an admission of guilt because it was a question of liability, which the court found in the firm's favor. "I'm sorry this happened to Ellen, that it happened to us, it happened to the tech industry," Doerr said. "This isn't a question of guilt. It's a civil case and so the question is liability." He continued, "I think it was an error to promote Ellen into an investing partner role. That didn't work out for her. She was a really good chief of staff but not a good investor." Hear more from Doerr on Pao: Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Venture Capital Legend Reveals How To Spot The Next Tech Superstar  | ||
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Payments companies are trying to fix the massive credit-card fraud problem with these 5 new security protocols | ||
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There is a massive credit card fraud problem in the US. Fraud cost US retailers approximately $32 billion in 2014, up from $23 billion just one year earlier. Much of the fraud problem is the result of the relatively weak security of credit and debit cards. To solve this problem, a new type of credit card with a microchip, called EMV, is being implemented — but EMV won't be a panacea. It will cause fraud to migrate to other weaker points within the payments ecosystem. To solve the card fraud problem across in-store, online and mobile payments, payment companies and merchants are implementing new payment protocols that could finally help mitigate fraud. In a new report from BI Intelligence, we look at how the dynamics of fraud are shifting across in-store and online channels and explain the top new types of security that are gaining traction across each of these channels, including on Apple Pay. Access the Full Report By Signing Up For A Trial Membership Today >>Here are some of the key takeaways:
In full, the report:
To access the full report from BI Intelligence, sign up for a 14-day trial here. Members also gain access to new in-depth reports, hundreds of charts and datasets, as well as daily newsletters on the digital industry.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do  | ||
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It sounds like IBM layoffs are still going on (IBM) | ||
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Two IBM employees reported that layoffs have commenced inside IBM this week, according to a union organization that tracks such things, Alliance@IBM. Layoffs have been ongoing all quarter, according to one employee posting to the Union website, who said the last layoff in his unit finished in May. While it doesn't sound like IBM is targeting a massive number of employees right now, its layoffs tend to occur in dribbles and drabs, laid-off employees report. IBM won't disclose the number of people it cuts and doesn't have to report that figure under the WARN act unless it conducts a layoff that cuts 500 people or more at once. When we asked IBM, a spokesperson declined to comment. IBM tends to talk about layoffs in financial terms, how much a "workforce rebalancing" – as IBM calls it – costs the company in any given quarter. IBM took a $280 million charge for rebalancing in the first quarter of 2015, CFO Martin Schroeter reported in April. And he said then that he expected to spend about the same amount of money this quarter, indicating more layoffs would be a thing. In fact, IBM is so closed-lipped about layoff numbers it stopped releasing information about job titles and ages of workers being let go in 2014, Bloomberg reported at the time. This even though employers are required by U.S. federal law to reveal that data if they want employees to waive their right to file age discrimination lawsuits as part of their severance package. Today IBM asks workers to agree to binding arbitration as part of their severance package, Bloomberg reported. IBM's standard severance package is 1 week of pay for each 6 months at the company, with a maximum of 26 weeks, one person said on the Alliance@IBM forum. The costs of a severance package is reflected in the charges IBM takes each quarter.
Without even that much data, workers simply post what they know, or what they hear, to the Alliance@IBM website. That's hardly a scientific way of tracking workforce changes. One person, for instance, reported that 1,000 people were laid off in June in Australia. Another reported that there had been "two big waves of layoffs this year" in that person's business unit. In April, Senator Grassley wrote a letter to IBM demanding to know details about its layoffs and its usage of foreign Visas. IBM told him, "For competitive reasons IBM does not release data on workforce changes."
It said it reduced headcount 12% worldwide in 2014, or 51,620 people (from 431,212 to 379,592 employees). But most of those cuts, 35,000 employees, came from selling business units, it said. Those people didn't necessarily lose their jobs. That means that last year around 16,600 people were cut from IBM's workforce. IBM also said it spent $1.5 billion on "workforce rebalancing" in 2014. Even with all these bits of data, its hard to extrapolate how many IBM employees will be let go in 2015, or if IBM's total workforce will shrink. IBM is in the middle of a painful transition in which all of its major business units are shrinking. It is trimming expenses in the aging areas while trying to ramp up hot growth areas as fast as possible, including hiring people with the new skills it needs, like cloud computing. Upshot is, we may never learn the total number of employees IBM has cut. SEE ALSO: Here are 13 tech jobs that pay at least $130,000 across the country Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear  | ||
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Alliance@IBM and others had been using the information about ages and job titles to generate something of a running tally about how many people had been cut.
What IBM has officially said of its workforce was filed in A California high school is among the first in the nation to install gunshot-sensing microphones on campus | ||
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A high school near Sacramento, California has become one of the first on the West Coast to install gunshot-sensing technology on campus, as part of an effort to speed up police response to potential active shooter incidents. CBS News reports the ShotSpotter technology at Newark Memorial High School can pinpoint the location of gunfire within about 10 feet. During tests this week, police analyzed data from sensors "inside hallways and offices in more than 20 buildings on the 43-acre campus." SST, Inc., the company that developed the SecureCampus technology, says the gunshot sensors can detect how many shots were fired and "deliver real time updates to 9-1-1, the responding officers' patrol cars and their cell phones." Principal Phil Morales, who is also a former police officer, likened the need for gunshot sensors to the necessity of fire alarms, telling CBS News "If there’s a fire that happens, and the alarm goes off, we know how to react.” The technology comes at a time when mass shootings have sparked national conversations about gun safety. In light of the legislative difficulties lawmakers have encountered over the more controversial topic of gun control, the discussion has shifted toward the need to mitigate potential casualties from mass shooting incidents. In a televised statement Thursday on the 9 people killed in a mass shooting at an historic black church in South Carolina, President Barack Obama noted that "this type of mass violence does not happen in other developed countries." Business Insider has found that the US has a much higher rate of homicides than all but three of the 34 nations observed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Intel CEO confirms layoffs as he acknowledges the need to keep up with pace of change (INTC) | ||
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“Yes, we are implementing headcount reductions,” he wrote in the internal memo. “With today’s incredible pace of innovation and change, companies consistently need the flexibility to invest in skills and experience required in new growth areas.” Krzanich didn’t specify the exact number of layoffs, but acknowledged “no more than a few hundred employees in any given site or geography” will be affected by this restructuring plan. He also reiterated Intel’s plan to keep roughly the same number of employees by the end of the year as it started in 2015. Intel had 106,700 employees at the end of 2014, with about half of them located in the US. Intel’s been in a tough position lately. Its core PC business has been in decline, with shrinking PC demand in general, while it’s mobile group lost more than $4 billion last year. Perhaps in a way to hide its mounting loss in mobile, Intel combined the PC and mobile groups under a single division called Client Computing Group last quarter, which accounted for more than 58% of total revenue. As a result, Intel’s data center group — not PC — is now the most profitable unit within the company. It’s unclear how severe this layoff plan will be, but it’s certainly not the first time Intel had a huge workforce restructuring. Last year, Intel said in its annual report that “restructuring actions that were approved in 2014 impacted approximately 3,700 employees.” Intel declined to comment on this story. SEE ALSO: Intel CEO: We're 'Not Ashamed’ Of How Far Behind We Are In Mobile Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 6 scientifically proven features men find attractive in women  | ||
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Intel CEO Brian Krzanich confirmed recent reports of layoffs in a company-wide email sent out earlier this week, Airbnb goes on charm offensive as it faces increased San Francisco regulation | ||
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The company's ads in New York City ended up being defaced in subways, and one of the Airbnb ad "stars" was evicted after her landlord found out she was listing rooms on the platform. This time, though, Airbnb is focusing on the money and what it's doing for the city. The ads are cute and heartwarming. Older San Francisco residents and small businesses talk about how they rely on Airbnb income to stay in the city, which has the highest rent in the nation. Rodolfo and Karen Cancino thanked Airbnb for keeping them in the house they got married in 39 years ago. Bar owners in the Mission neighborhood, which is ground zero for a lot of San Francisco's housing trouble, praised Airbnb for giving tourists a place to stay since the area doesn't have any hotels. While the videos may make me want to hug Rodolfo and Karen, the billboards focus on the economics and offer some pretty staggering stats about the money flowing into the city because of Airbnb:
It looks like Airbnb is hoping to make that message crystal clear and maybe tug on our heart strings a bit in the process. SEE ALSO: San Francisco is in a housing crisis, but we have no idea where to go from here Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Inside A Bizarre Barbie-Themed Hotel Room In Argentina That Is Already Booked Until Next Year  | ||
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Spoof video with Arianna Huffington and Sean Parker reveals what famous founders would be doing if the internet never was invented | ||
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Founders Forum released a fantastic video Thursday spoofing what famous tech celebrities would be left doing if the internet never happened. AOL co-founder Steve Case goes around an office saying "You've got mail!" as he passes out pieces of paper. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales edits books in a library and starts encouraging others to do it themselves. Sean Parker first takes a nap (get it, Napster?) then starts taking selfies with a Polaroid camera attached to a broomstick, although we're still not sure how he's pressing the button on that one. There's many more tech star appearances and hilarious scenes from Arianna Huffington, Max Levchin and Michael Bloomberg so make sure you watch the full six minutes: SEE ALSO: 9 over-the-top perks that will make you want to work at these tech companies Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The brilliant story behind Bethenny Frankel's million-dollar idea for Skinnygirl cocktails  | ||
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Can BuzzFeed get you to take its news app seriously? | ||
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BuzzFeed has quickly become one of the most influential media companies in the world, and its brand is still known mainly for wacky listicles and quizzes like "Here's What Your Favorite Facial Hair Says About You." But BuzzFeed also does news. The same site that published "99 Things All Yuccies Love" also penned a 4,000-word investigative story on the death of a young girl in foster care that was covered up by state officials. Now the BuzzFeed News app, released today in the App Store, wants to bring more of the site's news coverage into view. You won't find any listicles when you open BuzzFeed's new app, which is designed to present the day's major news events as they happen. Today's top story in the app is the horrific Charleston church shooting that killed nine victims. Facts about the event are arranged into quick, easily digestible bullet points. There's also a story about the search for a HIV vaccine, how tech companies are looking to create a new classification of worker, and an article with the headline "The U.S. Chemical Disaster Board Is Imploding." The app is editorially led by Stacy-Marie Ishmael, who was hired away from The Financial Times, and a small team that works alongside the rest of BuzzFeed's growing news division, which has 25 million readers per month. "Everyone on the editorial side of #teamnewsapp is also a part of BuzzFeed News, and that's a really important point," Ishmael told Business Insider over email. "We work extremely closely with the breaking news desk, and the major section editors, all day long."
BuzzFeed News divides its app into two windows, the main "Catch Up" feed that features BuzzFeed stories alongside content from over sites like The New York Times and Fusion, and a "My Alerts" tab that lets the reader control how the app sends push notifications for breaking events. For instance, you can choose to only get notifications for "major breaking news," world events, the latest on major LGBT issues, or ongoing stories like the FIFA officials corruption scandal. Stories can be shared directly to social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Relevant tweets and Instagram posts occasionally supplement news stories, like this picture of the alleged Charleston church shooter: Packing news within apps is a trend that plenty of publishers are jumping on. The New York Times recently put out its redesigned NYT Now app that works similarly to BuzzFeed's. Business Insider also has a mobile app that delivers breaking news notifications. "Mobile web traffic is enormous for publishers, and that includes BuzzFeed News," Ishmael said to BI. "But we're building an app because we know there's a universe of native functionality in iOS (and soon, Android) that's just not available in the browser." BuzzFeed News is free to download in Apple's App Store. It will be available on Android this fall. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This viral Facebook quiz will reveal your soulmate  | ||
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PayPal still winning the mobile wallet Game of Thrones (PYPL, AAPL, AMZN, MSFT, GOOG) | ||
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This story was originally sent to thousands of professionals just like you in this morning's PAYMENTS INSIDER daily newsletter. Don't be left in the dark while your competition gets ahead each morning. Learn more about our 7-day FREE trial now » Mobile wallet adopters likely to opt for PayPal over other providers. Apple and Google have had the spotlight this year in mobile payments, but a new survey from CMB shows that new mobile wallet adopters will opt for PayPal. The survey of 1,716 US adults was conducted from late March through early April.
The survey results show that PayPal can gain even more customers as the mobile wallet ecosystem grows. Finding this article interesting? Thousands of professionals just like you had it in their inbox first. Stay ahead of the curve and gain a comprehensive understanding of the latest news & trends, start your day with the PAYMENTS INSIDER. Get 7-days FREE »
A recent survey from 451 Research gave the opposite result – that Apple Pay, a newer entrant to the ecosystem, is growing its user base at the expense of PayPal. In the survey, 45% of consumers said they planned to make a payment with Apple Pay, compared to just 28% with PayPal. Last year, the reverse was true – 54% said PayPal, and 19% chose Apple Pay. It's very likely that Apple Pay has eroded PayPal's wallet business, but it's clear from the new survey that PayPal still has a highly visible brand, which it should be able to leverage as it works to create new mobile payment products. PayPal's foray into mobile payments has seen mixed results – it's built successful in-app and peer-to-peer transfer payment products, but its in-store efforts have been largely fruitless. The firm recently acquired Paydiant, a mobile wallet and loyalty platform used by restaurants, and will offer Paydiant's wallet as a white label product. Here are other stories you need to know from today's PAYMENTS INSIDER:
Don't miss another day of breaking developments! Stay ahead of the curve and gain insight into the latest news & trends. Join thousands of other professionals who start the day with PAYMENTS INSIDER. Try it FREE for 7 days now » Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The worst part of Microsoft's holographic computer isn't getting any better | ||
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The holograms don't fill your entire line of sight, just a little window in the middle of your vision. Move your head too far one way or the other, and the hologram you're looking at becomes invisible. At this week's E3 video game trade show, hot on the heels of a show-stopping Minecraft-on-HoloLens demo, Microsoft confirmed that this problem won't be getting any better in the final version of HoloLens. "I think you're never going to get to full peripheral field of view, but certainly the hardware we have the field of view isn't exactly final. But I wouldn't say it's going to be hugely noticeably different either," said Microsoft HoloLens exec Kudo Tsunoda on Giant Bomb Live, a video podcast filmed on the show floor. In other words, the final HoloLens hardware may be a little better, but not by much. It's not necessarily a dealbreaker: Microsoft is very specifically positioning HoloLens as a device you only wear to perform certain tasks, like annotating blueprints (or playing Minecraft), so you won't be dealing with these elusive holograms all day, every day. But the small field-of-view is annoying. Really annoying. And it breaks a lot of the immersive qualities that made HoloLens so appealing in the first place. SEE ALSO: Microsoft is showing how Minecraft looks in its HoloLens glasses and people love it Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: People are going crazy for this holographic version of 'Minecraft'  | ||
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Like the Here's how these startups hope to topple Oracle | ||
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The thing that these challengers have in common is that they're released as open source software, meaning that developers all over the world have helped develop them. For instance, Cassandra started at Facebook, but eventually made its way to open source, where the Apache Software Foundation took over its development. Hadoop, too, traces its roots back to Yahoo. Docker, the hot new open source software container technology, was borne from a now-defunct cloud computing service provider called dotCloud. For customers with the technical chops to effectively put it to work and customize it to their specific needs, free software is a great deal, compared to the many hundreds of thousands of dollars that vendors like Oracle, EMC, or Microsoft can charge for similar products. And since so many of these technologies started at the big web companies, they're already vetted and made to scale up and up. And with the help of developers all over the world contributing their own concepts and code, this software only gets better. "Over time, the overall quality of open source software is generally high as more people test and use it," says Sri Ramanathan, the CTO of Kony, a company that helps enterprises build custom applications. Plus, open source software generally runs on cheaper hardware, versus the expensive hardware that required to run a big Oracle database. Of course, the Oracles and IBMs of the world do have one advantage over free and open source software: they offer their customers the security blanket of knowing that if something goes wrong, there's a phone number you can call to get help. That's not the case with free software. This is why a lot of startups have found success by taking free technology and turning it into a commercial product. They offer business support, everything from help installing it to help with troubleshooting it, and, sometimes, extra features as well. And they can still charge a lot less than the bigger vendors for their software. DataStax, for example, takes the Cassandra database software and makes it more consumable to enterprises. In so doing, the company was able to charge a customer $90,000, versus the $500,000 that Oracle was charging that customer for a similar project, the company recently claimed to Bloomberg Business. Similarly, MongoDB, which offers premium support services for its namesake open source database technology, claims that it can save a customer 70% off their Oracle costs. In fact, that same Bloomberg Business report claims that of the 20 startups worth $1 billion or more that it surveyed, none of them were using Oracle databases in a major way. "Open source is actually a powerful strategy and not something to be afraid of," says Docker SVP of Product Scott Johnston. A final point: As recently posited by Redpoint investor Tomasz Tunguz, open source-based startups may have an easier time selling straight to the developers at prospective customers — since anybody can download and look at the source code of the project, these developers understand exactly what it is that they're buying, and can even try it out for free if they want. SEE ALSO: How Google thinks it can knock one of Oracle's main technologies off the charts Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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Up-and-coming technologies like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Hadoop offer ways to store and process large amounts of data more affordably than This chart shows why Google’s smart home bet may be a flop at first | ||
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Google just made a big push to own the smart home. But it’s efforts may be in vain. Nest, which is owned by the search giant, rolled out its new line of smart home products on Wednesday, and while the update to the devices were impressive, the company still has one big problem. Nobody seems to want a connected home. According to a recent report from Argus Insights, consumer interest for connected home products slowed dramatically in the first half of 2015 and is continuing to fall. In May consumer interest in smart home products dropped 15% below where it was a year ago, according to the report. While Argus’s data is based soley on the volume of consumer reviews from a slew of different retailers and not on sales figures, other data also suggests that U.S. consumers just aren't that into the idea of home automation. Only about 13% of U.S. households with broadband report owning at least one smart home device, according to a report published by Park Associates and the Consumer Electronic Association last year. And 62% are unfamiliar with smart home products, according to the report. “Crudely speaking, about 10% of US online adults report having and using one of these smart home gadgets. That’s been increasing gradually over the last couple of years. We think there is an early adopter interest there. But we also think it’s going to grow gradually and it’s going to be bumpy,” said Frank Gillett, a technology analyst at Forrester Research. Part of the reason consumers haven’t fallen in love with the idea of decking out their homes in smart devices is simply because they want to make sure the cost is worth it. While all of Nest’s new products fall into competitive pricing categories, the company will still have to convince the masses that dropping a few hundred dollars here and there will pay off in the long run. “One of the things that we hear in our qualitative surveys is people being really concerned about value. Some of them are skeptical. They don’t think they need an app for that,” Gillett said. “But it’s definitely on the early side and people are definitely interested in small, discreet purchases rather than some kind of complex, big thing,” he added. It's also worth noting that while data from Argus suggests people aren't interested in home automation devices, Google Trends — which shows what people are searching — shows that people are actually searching more for things like "smart home," "smart thermostat," and "connected home." And according to Nest, its growth hasn't been a problem. "We've seen strong and increasing demand for our products since Nest launched in 2011. In fact, the Nest Learning Thermostat and Dropcam products are both ranked #1 best-sellers in their categories on Amazon and we now have customers in more than 190 countries," Kate Brinks, a Nest spokesperson, told Business Insider. SEE ALSO: Apple has a smart home problem: People don't know they want it yet Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here are all of Google's awesome science projects — that we know about  | ||
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11 ways to make your PC run faster (MSFT) | ||
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Computers are notorious for slowing down with old age, but there are a few tips and tricks to give them a speed boost. From small tweaks to your settings to purchasing some new RAM, there's plenty of options for everyone's budget and skillset. So before you toss your computer aside for a new one, try out these suggestions to get your PC chugging along again. Run cleanup programs frequently. CCleaner is an amazing app that will help you find and delete caches and temporary files in many of your applications. You can download CCleaner here.
Remove unnecessary visual effects and animations. Yes — some of these things you'll be removing make your operating system look nice, but wouldn't you rather have a speedier computer? On Windows 7, try disabling the pretty albeit resource-hungry "Aero" theme. Right click your desktop and then click "Personalize." Choose the "Window Color" tab and then uncheck "Enable transparency." Update and use your antivirus software. Viruses and malware can bog down your computer in a hurry, so it's best to prevent them in the first place. If you're using a free trial of antivirus software whose notifications are as annoying as a virus itself, uninstall it and try using Microsoft's free Security Essentials antivirus software, which won't bombard you with ads. To stay diligent, try scheduling daily quick scans and weekly full scans.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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Here's why groceries are the biggest untapped e-commerce opportunity | ||
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At $600 billion a year in sales, food and beverage is by far the largest retail category in the US by a wide margin. However, it's also the category that has been the least disrupted by e-commerce; less than 1% of food and beverage sales currently occur online, according to BI Intelligence's estimates. But shopping habits are changing, and niche online grocery services that compete on convenience and selection are gaining traction. Meanwhile tech giants like Amazon are fronting the cost of expensive delivery infrastructure that has so far held back grocery e-commerce. In an in-depth report, BI Intelligence looks at why the grocery business has proved so challenging to e-commerce companies — from consumer reluctance to complicated and expensive logistics — and what new strategies e-commerce startups and big-name tech companies are pursuing to push more grocery sales online. Between 2013 and 2018, online grocery sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1%, reaching nearly $18 billion by the end of the forecast period. For comparison, offline grocery sales will rise by 3.1% annually during the same period. Access The Full Report And Downloadable Charts By Signing Up For A Trial>> Here are some of the key findings explored in the report:
To access the full report from BI Intelligence, sign up for a 14-day trial here. Members also gain access to new in-depth reports, hundreds of charts and datasets, as well as daily newsletters on the digital industry.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed  | ||
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Google's secret acquisition could change the way we use our smartphones (GOOG) | ||
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Google secretly acquired app streaming start-up Agawi last year, according to a new report from The Information on Thursday. The Information described the acquisition as part of a larger strategy to push customers to use the mobile internet more — and thus lucrative Google services like Search — and apps less. It isn't hard to guess why. Google likely generates half of its revenue or more from search ads. Though it owns the Android platform and its associated app store, Google's core dominance is in search. Since the acquisition, Agawi's web site is no longer live. It's likely that Agawi's technology is being folded into Google's offerings. Prior to the acquisition, Agawi allowed users to stream storage-heavy apps like "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" (2.4 GB) or "FIFA:14" (1.35 GB) directly to their phone, thus alleviating the pressure to clog up your phone with apps. Many people buy phones with greater storage capacities to ensure they'll have enough room for all their apps — and some apps, particularly games, take up huge amounts of space. By streaming apps rather than storing them, consumers could opt to purchase less expensive phone models with less storage space. In addition, if users became more accustomed to streaming apps from the internet, as opposed to storing and using them as standalone applications, they would likely use in-browser services more often, which is exactly what Google wants. The truth is that most people would benefit greatly from software like Agawi. Most people only use four of their apps on a regular basis. There's really no need to keep most of our lesser-used apps stored on our mobile devices.
Relying on streaming technology like Agawi to power your apps, rather than the internal hardware could encourage users to opt for less expensive devices with better battery life and less powerful specs. Most of the processing would occur where the app is streaming from, and all you would really need is strong WiFi or cellular signal. Some might argue that streaming apps would drive up your data usage (and thus your monthly bill), but it’s possible that only the parts of the app that you are using would be streamed, rather than the entire app. The Information's report also suggested that app streaming would work with free trials, so instead of endlessly streaming a paid app, you would get to try the app for 30 seconds or two minutes to help you decide whether or not you want to pay for the full app to be on your phone.
Using streaming technology would require a strong internet connection to work optimally. Right now, the cellular infrastructure on most US carriers isn’t reliable enough outside of cities to accommodate app streaming. Streaming apps in the cloud could greatly benefit consumers, but it would also benefit app developers. Instead of downloading specific apps from an app store, users could search Google for a particular service and Google would show results with apps that provide that service. Since people currently only use a small number of apps each day, Google’s new service could help more apps get used or hidden apps become discovered. For example, rather than searching for Seamless, you could search for "food delivery services," and Google will show you a list of apps that deliver food. And who knows, perhaps you'd discover a new food delivery service like Caviar that you would never have found if you stuck to Seamless. A Google-powered app streaming service could be significant for both app makers and consumers, but how soon we can expect to stream all our apps from the cloud is still unclear. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here are all of Google's awesome science projects — that we know about  | ||
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Auto Trader just revealed that its massive online success is making revenues rocket | ||
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Auto Trader, a British-based online marketplace for new and used cars, just unveiled an 8% rise in revenue to £255.9 million ($406.1 million). This was down to its successful shift in becoming a digital company in 2013, from originally being a car trading magazine. Around 80% of UK car retailer forecourts advertise via the website and now 65% of UK used car transactions involve cars listed on autotrader.co.uk. Digital advertising rocketed by 19% in the last year and full page ad views (FPAVs) per month increased by 7% to £226.2 million ($359 million). "The market is moving increasingly online and every year more consumers spend more time researching using the internet. As the UK's largest digital automotive marketplace, we work hard to continually develop our site so consumers get a great experience when they are looking to buy or sell a vehicle," said Trevor Mather, CEO of Auto Trader Group. "We are equally focused on developing innovative products that add value to our retailer customers, to help them win in the digital marketplace. It is this dual focus that has enabled us to grow both our consumer audience and our retailer customer base, which in turn has helped us to achieve overall revenue growth." In March, Auto Trader launched its IPO with shares priced at 235p each, making the total market capitalisation at £2.35 billion ($3.49 billion). It is released 590,000,000 shares worth 59% of the company. Shares are currently up 15% at 308p each since the listing. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money  | ||
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ECB to hold emergency meeting on Greek bank funding: sources | ||
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Frankfurt (AFP) - The European Central Bank's decision-making governing council will hold an emergency session Friday to discuss a request from the Bank of Greece for an increase in liquidity to Greek banks, sources familiar with the matter told AFP. The council will hold a teleconference at around midday (1000 GMT) to discuss a possible increase in the Emergency Liquidity Assistance facility, as deposit withdrawals from Greek banks have accelerated in recent days, sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. An ECB spokesman declined to comment. Greece is working to make a emergency eurozone summit on Monday a "success," the government said, amid a standoff between Athens and its creditors over reforms to unlock the final tranche of its international bailout and avoid default. "We hope that the final negotiations take place at Europe's highest political level and we are working toward the success of this summit," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's office said in a statement on Friday.
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's what you need to know in markets today. Greece is on the brink, and the eurozone governments are having an emergency summit. After Thursday's Eurogroup ended with no progress, European heads of government will gather on Monday to try and resolve the Greek crisis, according to the FT. At that point it will be barely a week until Greece's June 30 IMF payment is due — and the country seems likely to default without a deal. And the situation for Greek banks is looking precarious. Leaks from Thursday's Eurogroup meeting suggested that the European Central Bank (ECB) didn't know if banks could open on Monday, which the ECB denied. However, an emergency call on the Greek banking system's access to emergency liquidity assistance is going ahead today. More sanctions against Russia are being readied. The United States and European governments have readied a new round of penalties against Russia targeting its energy and financial sectors as part of a sanctions-in-waiting strategy that officials hope will enable the West to respond immediately if Moscow-backed insurgents seize more territory in Ukraine. US investors are shorting Chinese stocks in record numbers. Bearish investors are putting money where their mouths are, and short-selling ETFs that track Chinese yuan-denominated shares. According to a report from Bloomberg, using data provided by Markit, “short interest in the largest exchange-traded fund tracking yuan-denominated equities rose to a record 16 percent of shares outstanding Wednesday”. Only a month ago short interest stood at just 8%, according to the report. Airbus is threatening to pull out of the EU's drone project. The head of aerospace giant Airbus has threatened to pull out of Europe's plan to develop a military surveillance drone should EU governments keep interfering in the process, the Financial Times reported Friday. German producer prices stayed stagnant in May. No change in prices was registered from April, leaving them down 1.3% year-on-year. Analysts were expecting a 0.2% rise month-on-month, which would have translated to a 1.1% fall year-on-year. Intel's CEO confirmed layoffs in a leaked email. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich confirmed recent reports of layoffs in a company-wide email sent out earlier this week, The Oregonian reported. “Yes, we are implementing headcount reductions,” he wrote in the internal memo. “With today’s incredible pace of innovation and change, companies consistently need the flexibility to invest in skills and experience required in new growth areas.” And it sounds like layoffs are still going on at IBM too. Two IBM employees reported that layoffs have commenced inside IBM this week, according to a union organisation that tracks such things, Alliance@IBM. Layoffs have been ongoing all quarter, according to one employee posting to the Union website, who said the last layoff in his unit finished in May. UK borrowing figures are coming. At 9:30 a.m. UK time (4:30 a.m. New York) the UK releases its latest figures on public borrowing, for May. Analysts are expecting borrowing of £10.05 billion, up from £6.038 billion in April. Asian markets are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up by 0.89%, and Japan's Nikkei has climbed 0.98% since Thursday's close. But China's Shanghai Composite is sinking, currently down 3.57%. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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New York Yankees' A-Rod one hit away from 3,000 | ||
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New York (AFP) - Controversial New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez singled twice on Thursday to move within one hit of becoming the 29th player in Major League Baseball to record 3,000 hits. Rodriguez, who returned this season after serving a 162-game suspension for doping violations linked to the Biogenesis steroid distribution scandal, has been methodically ticking off milestones. He passed iconic Willie Mays for fourth place on Major League Baseball's all-time home run list and has also become the American League's all-time leader in runs-batted in. In Thursday's 9-4 win over the Miami Marlins, Rodriguez notched an RBI single in the first inning and another in the fifth to take his career hits tally to 2,999. He had two more chances to reach 3,000 but lined out hard to right field in the sixth inning and walked on four pitches, all inside, in the eighth. The walk by Marlins pitcher Sam Dyson provoked jeers from 38,239 fans, who stood and cheered during Rodriguez's final two at-bats. He'll have another chance to reach 3,000 on Friday when the Yankees continue an eight-game homestand with the first of three games against Detroit. Since his return, Rodriguez has been gradually winning over Yankees fans, but he remains a controversial figure. He and the Yankees remain at odds over a $6 million bonus payment that Rodriguez believes he is owed for tying Mays on the home run list. The Yankees have suggested that he shouldn't get the bonus because his drug-tainted past means the achievement isn't marketable, although both parties have reportedly agreed to set aside that dispute for the time being -- with Major League Baseball agreeing to waive a 45-day deadline for Rodriguez to file a grievance. With Rodriguez closing in on 3,000 hits, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that even his designated hitter's shadowed past couldn't erase the magnitude of the achievement. "I find it very impressive that anyone can get to 3,000 hits, no matter what the circumstances are," Girardi said before the game. He thought the likelihood of Rodriguez reaching the mark in Yankee Stadium was a bonus. "I think it'll mean a lot," Girardi said. "And I think Alex is appreciative for the way the fans have treated him at home. I see him going out of his way to do things, and I think that's nice." The kind of things Girardi spoke of included Rodriguez's appearance earlier on Thursday in a park built where the old Yankee Stadium stood. He was a surprise guest in an event that was part of Major League Baseball's "Play Ball" program aimed at fostering participation in the game. "There's not much about 2015 I would have believed," Rodriguez said. "It's really been an incredible season. "The team's playing well, my team-mates have welcomed me back. I'm really flattered and humbled to be in this position." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Danish PM concedes after far-right secures opposition win | ||
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Copenhagen (AFP) - Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt conceded defeat in Thursday's general election after an anti-immigration party scored a record vote to become the second-largest party and lifted the opposition right-wing bloc to victory. The DPP became the largest right-wing party for the first time with 21.1 percent of the vote, giving the grouping 90 seats in parliament. That compared to 85 for the centre-left bloc of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who resigned as Social Democratic Party leader as she conceded defeat in the closely fought race. "Now it is up to Lars Lokke Rasmussen to try to form a government," she said, referring to the leader of the main right-wing party Venstre. Former premier Rasmussen is set to become the prime minister as the DPP, which backed right-wing governments between 2001 and 2011, has yet to say whether it would seek to join a right-wing government. It could opt to remain outside government and provide informal support to the right-wing bloc in parliament to pass legislation. "We are not afraid of being in government if that position gives us the greatest political influence," DPP leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl told news agency Ritzau. "It's not certain that they will give us the concessions needed," he added, referring to a potential right-wing coalition. The DPP had campaigned on tighter immigration rules, higher pensions for low-income earners and more money for healthcare and the elderly. - 'We are taken seriously' - After the first exit polls were released, Dahl, visibly moved, sang the Liverpool FC anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" as he took to the stage at a party event in the Danish parliament, cheered on by supporters. "This election campaign has shown that we are a party that the others just can't avoid. We are a party to be taken seriously here in this country," he said. A string of minor spending scandals undermined voter confidence in Rasmussen, whose party garnered 19.5 percent, losing more than one in four votes. "Venstre has lost support, we haven't had a very good election. But there is a majority of parties that think Denmark should have a new government," he said in his victory speech. Immigration and the rising cost of housing asylum seekers was a major campaign theme for both right and left, along with the economy and the future of Denmark's cherished cradle-to-grave welfare state. Denmark received nearly 15,000 asylum seekers last year, almost twice the number it received in 2013, as more people fled conflict and hardship in Africa and the Middle East to Europe. Thorning-Schmidt, in power since 2011, and opposition bloc leader Rasmussen, who governed from 2009 to 2011, both tried to claim credit for a resurgent economy and wooed voters with pledges to curb arrivals. Around nine percent of Denmark's 5.7 million inhabitants were born abroad. - DPP to set agenda - Analysts said that, regardless of whether or not it joined a coalition, the DPP would set the agenda for the new government. "The (Venstre) party won't be able to set the agenda for a right-wing government... That will instead be (DPP leader) Kristian Thulesen Dahl," Lars Trier Mogensen, a political commentator at the Information newspaper, told tabloid Ekstra Bladet. Others suggested the DPP would have to join a right-wing government even if it meant the party, often accused of populism, would have to "take responsibility". "The DPP can't duck anymore. It would be to betray their voters if they don't join the government now," Sos Marie Serup, a political commentator at the BT tabloid, said. "The right-wing voters have told the Danish People's Party that they must assume responsibility," she said. Thorning-Schmidt's approval ratings were stuck in the doldrums for most of her four-year tenure as the economy dipped in and out of recession and her centre-left coalition implemented policies viewed as right-wing, including welfare cuts and corporate tax reductions. But she rebounded in opinion polls after calling the election three weeks ago as economic growth returned -- it is expected to reach 1.7 percent this year -- and after taking a tough stance on immigration. Unusually for a Social Democrat, Thorning-Schmidt campaigned on the slogan "If you come to Denmark you should work". Her government had also introduced temporary residence permits for refugees, as part of its efforts to stem an influx of asylum seekers. Rasmussen has said he would cut back the number of asylum seekers by slashing benefits for new immigrants and by making it harder to obtain permanent residency. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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London considers tie-up with Shanghai bourse: report | ||
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Beijing (AFP) - The London Stock Exchange is considering forging a link with the Shanghai bourse like that between Hong Kong and the Chinese financial hub, state media reported Friday. "We are working on it and trying to understand what might be involved," Nicolas Bertrand, head of equity and derivative markets for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), said in Beijing, according to the China Daily. The paper said the programme would be similar to the stock connect between the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses. That scheme, which was launched in November, enables international investors to trade selected stocks on Shanghai's tightly restricted exchange while also allowing mainland investors to buy shares in the former British colony. The tie-up was set up as part of China's move to open up its financial markets and officials said in March it will also link trading between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock markets, though the launch is still pending. Bertrand did not offer a timetable for the inauguration of such a scheme between London and Shanghai, the report said. It added that he said such a tie-up would add more complexity to the British bourse's operations, adding it was in talks with regulators, clients, and assets firms to ensure any connection could meet relevant regulatory requirements and conditions. London is the largest Chinese yuan market outside mainland China and Hong Kong and the LSE is aiming to launch more trading products denominated in the currency, the China Daily said. There are currently 61 Chinese companies listed in Europe's biggest financial centre and LSE officials said they are working hard at attracting more firms from China to list, according to the paper. Jon Edwards, LSE's deputy head of primary markets and emerging markets, said it saw opportunities for Chinese companies floating overseas assets in London, adding that those in the oil, gas and commodities sectors often enquire about dual-listing in the city and another exchange. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Japan investigators quizzing Toyota exec on drug charges | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese investigators were Friday questioning a senior female executive of auto giant Toyota after finding controlled drugs in a parcel sent to her from the United States, police said. Julie Hamp, a US citizen, was arrested at the Tokyo hotel where she was staying, on suspicion of violating the country's drug control law, a police spokesman told AFP. She is being held on suspicion of importing oxycodone -- an opioid used to relieve pain -- without permission from the authorities, a crime that "is subject to one to 10 years in prison," he said. Hamp, 55, "said she did not believe she had imported narcotics when she was arrested," the official said. By midday Friday, she had been sent to the prosecutors' office, another police official said. The parcel was sent on June 8 from the United States and arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo on June 11, he added. The package, labelled "necklaces", contained several small boxes, each holding accessories and several tablets, reports said, adding police suspect there had been an attempt to hide the drug. Oxycodone is designated as a narcotic in Japan but can be prescribed by a doctor for use as a pain reliever. Japanese law allows individuals to bring the drug from abroad if they have a legitimate prescription, but bans its sending by mail. In a Japanese-language statement, Toyota offered an apology for "causing a kerfuffle", although its English language statement did not contain this phrase. "Toyota has been made aware of Ms. Hamp's arrest but has no further facts in light of the ongoing investigation by the authorities. We will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation," the statement said. "We are confident, however, that once the investigation is complete, it will be revealed that there was no intention on Ms. Hamp's part to violate any law." Hamp was promoted to head of communications for the auto giant earlier this year -- making her one of the company's most senior non-Japanese executives -- after previously working at Toyota's North American division. Japan's strict drug laws ban some medications commonly available in other countries, while jail time for possession of illegal narcotics such as cocaine or methamphetamine is not uncommon. Earlier this year, a 26-year-old woman teacher from Oregon in the United States was arrested in Japan after receiving the prescription drug Adderall by mail from her mother, who is a doctor, reports said. She was released three weeks later following interventions from members of Congress and diplomats in Tokyo. The US embassy in Japan cautions citizens to beware of falling foul of drug laws that are different from those at home. "Heroin, cocaine, MDMA, opium, cannabis, stimulant drugs including some prescription medications such as Adderall... are prohibited in Japan," the embassy says on its website. "Japanese customs officials or police can detain travellers importing prohibited items. Japanese customs officials do not make on-the-spot 'humanitarian' exceptions for medicines that are prohibited in Japan," it warned. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Cars threaten world's most endangered feline | ||
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Mazarambroz (Spain) (AFP) - The world's most endangered feline species, the Iberian lynx, is making a comeback in Spain after being pushed to the brink of extinction. But the costly efforts to reintroduce the spotted cat into the wild face an unexpected enemy -- cars. The number of lynx killed by collisions with vehicles has soared since Spain's economic crisis began in 2008. Last year a record 22 lynxes died after being hit by cars, up from just two in 2008. Cars are "the greatest threat for the future of the lynx", according to the WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature. "It's revolting because it's a problem that could easily be fixed," said Ramon Perez de Ayala, species program director at the WWF in Spain. He estimates it would cost around six million euros ($6.5 million) to make roads safer for lynxes by clearing roadsides of brush, putting up barriers and setting up passages that allow the felines to safely cross roads. "With the excuse of the economic crisis, we have not even carried out the most basic road maintenance works," said Perez de Ayala. The public works ministry said it "cooperates in the fight" against road accidents involving lynxes and has carried out needed road works. The rise in lynx road deaths comes as efforts to boost lynx numbers through breeding programmes are starting to pay off. Slightly larger than a red fox and distinguished by its black ear tufts, the lynx has seen its population ravaged by farming, poaching and a decline in wild rabbits, its main prey, due to disease. Lynx numbers dropped from 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century to less than 100 in 2002, leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature to list the animal as "critically endangered". "The Iberian lynx is the only feline classified in the highest category of risk of extinction," said Catherine Numa of the Spanish branch of the Geneva-based body. The WWF has warned that the Iberian lynx, found only in Spain and Portugal, could become the first big cat to go extinct since the sabre-tooth tiger died out 10,000 years ago.
- Queen releases lynx -
In the hills of Toledo in central Spain a convoy of all-terrain vehicles bumped along a rural road lined by oak trees in April. After passing a pack of fighting bulls, the convoy stops before a flower meadow near the town of Mazarambroz and Queen Sofia emerges surrounded by local politicians and security guards. But the centre of attention is Lava and Lila, two one-year-old female Iberian lynxes weighing around 11 kilos (24 pounds) each, who are kept in separate cages covered by blankets. As reporters snapped pictures, the royal approached one of the cages and released a lynx. The animal hesitated briefly before darting towards a nearby bush, with a GPS collar around its neck that will allow its movements to be tracked. "In the mid-1980s, there were only a few isolated specimens left here," said Carlos Serrano who heads the lynx protection programme of the regional government of Castilla La Mancha in central Spain. The mother of one of the lynxes, Lava, was part of the first Iberian lynx litter that was born in captivity in Spain in 2005 as part of the Life+Iberlince programme, which was launched in the early 2000s to try to prevent the animal from going extinct. "We always feel great emotion whenever an animal is freed in the wild," said Francisco Villaespesa, the director of the El Acebuche Iberian lynx breeding centre in southwestern Spain where Lava was born in April 2014.
- Taught to catch rabbits -
With four breeding centres in Spain and one across the border in Portugal, the Life+Iberlince programme combines efforts by local officials, ecologists and the European Union (EU)to save the lynx. The programme, which is financed mostly by the EU, has a budget of 34 million euros ($38 million). Lynxes born in the breeding centres are monitored by webcams, kept away from humans and are taught how to catch wild rabbits. Those that are good at hunting are released into the wild, the rest remain in captivity to be used for reproduction. The efforts have paid off. The number of lynx living in the wild has more than tripled since 2002 to more than 300, according to the WWF. Most Iberian lynx are in the Donana national park and Sierra Morena mountains in Andalucia, in Spain's south, but the programme has reintroduced captive-bred animals to the regions of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain, Extremadura in the southwest and Murcia in the southeast, as well as Portugal. "It is easy for man to push a species to the brink of extinction. But it is much harder and costly to save it," said Miguel Simon, the director of the Life+Iberlince project. 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. The European Central Bank said it was not sure if Greek banks would be able to Monday, as residents have been withdrawing money from their accounts at an unprecedented rate. 2. Police arrested the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting of nine people at a historic black church in South Carolina on Wednesday, 21-year-old Dylan Roof. 3. The United States and Europe are preparing a new round of sanctions against Russia, which could start with banning more Russian government officials and businessmen from travelling and doing business in the West. 4. Hong Kong lawmakers vetoed a Beijing-backed electoral reform package that would have allowed residents to directly vote for the city's next chief executive in 2017, but only from candidates picked by a pro-Beijing committee. 5. Russia's ambassador to Sweden has warned the country of the potential military "consequences" associated with joining NATO. 6. Denmark’s first female prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, lost the general election to the centre-right opposition. 7. Last month was the hottest May on record, with global air and sea surface temperatures 0.87 Celsius (1.57 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the 20th century average. 8. Thailand confirmed its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus since the May outbreak in South Korea, which has killed 23 people. 9. An oil tanker that was hijacked off the southeast coast of Malaysia last week has been released by pirates. 10. The world's oldest-known person, a woman in Michigan, died at age 116. 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 Friday. Trans fat ban tests food companies, bakers | ||
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New York (AFP) - The Jarosch Bakery has been supplying goodies for more than 50 years, winning special renown for its butter cream frosting and for butter cookies with an extra tender texture. But those treats and an array of lip-smacking others face an uncertain future after US regulators this week announced a ban on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), or trans fats, a key ingredient in shortening used for many confections. "It will certainly cost us some money to reformulate," said Kenneth Jarosch, who plans to scour his suppliers for shortenings made with alternative oils before the ban takes effect in 2018. But Jarosch, whose grandfather and father started the business in 1959, also fears customers will not like the change. "It will have an effect on the taste and texture and that's what we're all about," Jarosch told AFP by telephone from suburban Chicago. "And that's what distinguishes us from Walmart and Costco and, if that goes down the drain, we're going to be in a world of hurt." On Tuesday the US Food and Drug Administration, in a long-telegraphed move, announced that PHOs, the main source of industrially produced trans fat, would be barred from the US food supply starting in June 2018, saying the shift would save thousands of lives. PHOs are not "generally recognized as safe" due to their role in heart disease, the FDA said. FDA officials say even very small quantities of trans fats can add up to dangerous levels and will not permit the ingredient without an exemption. The food industry like PHOs, which are made in an industrial process by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. Trans fats allow foods to remain solid at higher temperatures, provide texture to icings and other foods and have distinctive flavors that are desirable in fried foods. They can also increase the shelf life of baked goods. - No substitutes - But after extensive research, the FDA said it was banning a dangerous ingredient which carries no health benefits. Food manufacturers were required starting in 2006 to include trans fat information on nutrition labels, a move credited with cutting US trans fat consumption by nearly 80 percent. After the FDA released a preliminary version of the PHO ban in 2013, they came under heavy fire from the processed food industry, including the Popcorn Institute, the National Frozen Pizza Institute and the International Chewing Gum Association, which called the plan "misguided and overly broad." Some commentators said the ban would boost use of likewise unhealthy substitutes high in saturated fats. And critics link the production of one PHO substitute, palm oil, to deforestation. General Mills, ConAgra and others sought unsuccessfully to persuade the FDA to impose very low caps on PHOs, rather than a total ban. General Mills cited "significant technical challenges" in replacing PHOs for certain items "for which there are few or no suitable alternatives," such as tailored shortenings used in pastries, cakes and icings. ConAgra Foods complained that PHOs were an ingredient "that has been safely and commonly used in food for over 50 years." - 'Let customer decide' - However, both companies accepted this week's FDA announcement. "We have already removed trans fats from a great many products," said a General Mills spokeswoman. "While the work remains challenging, we are striving to remove trans fats from all of our products across the board." "We pride ourselves on making high-quality, wholesome foods," a ConAgra spokeswoman said. "We began our transition away from partially hydrogenated oils years ago and we will continue to work diligently to comply with FDA's final determination." Some foodmakers are holding out hope for FDA exemptions. Roger Lowe, a spokesman for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said he plans "a voluminous" application to seek approval for use of trans fats as a food additive. At Jarosch Bakery, an exemption could permit the use of cupcake sprinkles that have trans fats. But Jarosch is not holding out hope for an exemption for the far more important shortening. "What kind of ticks me off about the whole legislation is I think it should be up to the customer to decide," Jarosch said. "I would have been in favor of us having to post stickers that say 'eating this could be hazardous to your health' and letting the customers decide," he said. "Cigarettes are still legal and yet trans fats or shortenings are illegal. Go figure." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Airbus threatens to pull out of EU drone project: report | ||
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Paris (AFP) - The head of aerospace giant Airbus has threatened to pull out of Europe's plan to develop a military surveillance drone should EU governments keep interfering in the process, the Financial Times reported Friday. "I would not be shy to opt out of projects if I get the impression that this would be... a recipe for disaster," he told the British newspaper. "Pooling our requirements should be done intelligently and not in a highly politicised, nationally fragmented way." A European project to build a military drone by 2025 took wing last month when Germany, France and Italy signed a deal to start technical work and end their reliance on models made in the US and Israel. France's Airbus Group, Dassault Aviation and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica, last year submitted plans to build the pilotless aircraft by 2025. The scheme could be worth up to a billion euros ($1.2 billion) if it gets airborne, and the project to build a prototype has already been granted 60 million euros by Rome, Berlin and Paris.
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This 20-year-old hot shot Croatian prospect is shooting up NBA draft boards | ||
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With one week until the 2015 NBA Draft, one prospect is slowly starting to enter the conversation for one of the top picks in the draft. 20-year-old Croatian wing player Mario Hezonja has been considered one of the best prospects all year long, but has now landed at No. 5 on ESPN's Chad Ford's mock draft and No. 6 on DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony's mock draft. Like fellow European prospect Kristaps Porzingis, Hezonja is a bit of a mystery, perhaps even more so than Porzingis because Hezonja's European team, FC Barcelona, is in the playoffs, so he hasn't worked out for NBA teams. In Ford's first mock draft of the season in August 2014, he had Hezonja going 11th in the draft. To get to No. 5 shows the level of intrigue surrounding Hezonja in the NBA, especially for a player teams have hardly seen up close. Hezonja is a six-foot-eight athletic specimen, quick and explosive, who can handle the ball, attack the rim, shoot three-pointers off the catch or dribble, and create his own shot. He's talented, aggressive, self-confident, and has all of the tools to be a star and the NBA's next great villain. Playing on a stacked Barcelona team, Hezonja comes off the bench and sees limited minutes. Nonetheless, he knows his skill level and potential. Perhaps the best Hezonja anecdote comes from when he was asked if he would see Lionel Messi play while in Barcelona. Hezonja replied, "Let Messi come see me." This, from a player averaging 10 minutes per game! He doesn't lack for confidence. He told David Pick of Basketball Insiders, "If I was in college I’d probably be the No. 1 pick. I had an offer from Kentucky." It's not entirely far off. In April a scout spoke to Ford about Hezonja and said, "I really love him. I love [Justise] Winslow, too, but I really think if this kid was in college we'd all be going crazy for him. He's tough, he's athletic, he shoots the s--- out of it. And the kid just knows how to play. He's going to be really, really good in the NBA." Hezonja's game speaks to his attitude. He told a Croatian newspaper in 2014: "Respect? No, I never had respect to anybody on a basketball court. I heard about: 'If they smell blood, you get eaten.' I'm not like that. I don't care. Whether it's a veteran or a young player standing in front of me I always have the same goal. I want to run over everybody." Hezonja's primary mission on a basketball court, it seems, is demoralizing opponents, often with big dunks:
He'll hang on the rim for good measure:
And as SB Nation's Kevin O'Connor notes, Hezonja broke one of the greatest unwritten rules in basketball: showboating when the game's fate has been decided. He went through an opponent's legs and threw down a windmill dunk, despite his team being up 19 with five seconds remaining:
Hezonja's mentality can sometimes be a weakness, though. Givony scouted Hezonja and wrote: As we've noted in previous reports one of the more significant ongoing concerns about Hezonja is his demeanor. His body language is poor at times and he seems to get down on his teammates. Though he's become far less demonstrative than he appeared at the junior level, it will be fascinating to watch how his swagger, ego and unlimited self-confidence fit in on whichever team opts to draft him. His mentality could pay huge dividends if he reaches his lofty potential down the road, but what kind of growing pains will he experience early in his NBA career? In an earlier scouting report, Givony noted Hezonja was "constantly talking to opponents." In Grantland's profile of Hezonja, Danny Chau recalls watching a game in which Hezonja looked off an open teammate to throw a behind-the-back pass to somebody else. At the next whistle, the teammate had to be held back from fighting Hezonja. A GM told Fold in May, "He's crazy. But I think it's a good crazy. The type of crazy confidence that elite players need. If he can keep that competitiveness under control and be patient, he's got a good shot to be one of the two or three best players in this draft in five years." In a draft where the top players have often been described as high-character, mature prospects, Hezonja sounds like a harmless, fun, intriguing player. If Hezonja brings this attitude to the NBA and develops into the significant talent he possesses, everybody will be a winner because of it. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar  | ||
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Oracle's big software change is an accounting nightmare (ORCL) | ||
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Oracle shares lost 4.8% on Thursday after the company reported a disappointing fourth quarter on Wednesday. The fourth quarter is typically the company's strongest as salespeople push to close deals to make quotas, though Oracle missed on both profit and revenue. With this report, Oracle has now missed profit expectations for four of the last six quarters, including its last two fourth quarters. Revenue has been a miss in three of the last six quarters, too, according to Street Insider. This a worrying trend given that Oracle CEO Safra Catz has characterized this quarter in the past as "Mardi Gras for Oracle from a license revenue perspective." This time around, Oracle management blamed the strong dollar and foreign exchange (FX) adjustments for the overall revenue miss, but that wasn't what caused the sell off. Revenues from new software licenses, Oracle's bread-and-butter business, were down 10% even without the unfavorable currency adjustments. Catz said this was due to customers moving to cloud versions of Oracle's software instead of software that is licensed and installed in a customer's data center (known as "on premises" software). Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison also explained that Oracle expects to earn three-times more revenue from each cloud contract, at roughly the same high 45%+ margins, as it does selling software the old-fashioned way. However, when a customer moves to the cloud, it creates an accounting weirdness. Oracle can't recognize the revenue right away like it would for a regular software deal. The company instead must recognize revenue over the length of the contract as customers are billed. That can make a company look like its losing revenue, even though it could be making more money from that customer over time. Oracle's cloud accounted for 4% of its fourth quarter revenue. At end of Oracle's fiscal 2015, Oracle's cloud was on track to be a $2.3 billion business, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said, compared to total 2015 revenue of $38.2 billion.
Plus, Hurd also insisted that much the cloud was being bought by brand new customers that have never used Oracle before. Hurd said: Last quarter I think I said that 82% of our cloud SaaS deals were actually not Oracle customers of an application when they acquired or contracted for a SaaS application. This quarter it was over 60. So these are — this is not just the conversion of Oracle customers, Oracle application customers to SaaS, this is a lot of greenfield new market share for Oracle as well. When it comes to Wall Street, however, some analysts were concerned while others were excited. Daniel Ives at FBR and Co., who rates the stock an outperform, called it a "a head-scratching quarter" and wrote: Street expectations should now be 'very conservative' for FY16, and we think that Oracle has a window of opportunity to build back investor credibility in the coming quarters if it finally delivers on its holistic cloud vision and top-line growth recovery story. Deutsche Bank's Karl Keirstead, who rates the stock a hold, writes: In our view the two key questions from ORCL’s 4QF15 print are 1) whether the mix shift from on-premise license revs [revenues] to cloud-hosted subscription revs [revenues] can fully explain the 10% c/c [constant currency] decline in new license sales (largest decline since the Aug 2009 qtr) and ... 2) when the pressure on margins and EPS will stabilize.
Rangan says he's making a "leap of faith" that Oracle's management really will collect three times more revenue over time on cloud customers. Barclays Raimo Lenschow was also upbeat about Oracle's future, writing: The core license business this quarter was lighter than expected, falling short of consensus by ~8%. We view this as largely attributable to a higher shift to the cloud, specifically in Europe. In the long run, we expect the company to recognize more value in the cloud focused model. Oracle isn't the only huge IT vendor to go through this conversion to cloud computing. Microsoft is also making the shift, as is SAP, and just about every other big vendor that sells software to businesses. Oracle knows it needs its cloud to succeed. Up and coming technologies like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Hadoop offer ways to store large amounts of data more affordably than old-school databases like Oracle and they've seen their popularity surge of late. The underlying worry from investors is that those alternatives are the real reason why Oracle's new licenses were down 10%. SEE ALSO: Here are 13 tech jobs that pay at least $130,000 across the country Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear  | ||
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The water crisis isn't limited to California | ||
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The American West, not just California, is experiencing a long-term drought. As drought conditions drag on, the region's water reservoirs are getting drained. Dean Farrell of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill made a stunning (and frightening) interactive graphic illustrating how empty the West's water reservoirs are becoming. The reservoirs at less than 50% of their capacity are represented by the red dots in this map (the larger the dot, the bigger the reservoir):
On Farrell's website you can click reservoirs and see how their water level has changed over time. Take, for example, Trinity Lake, California's third-largest reservoir, which has been low since the summer of 2014.
But you can clearly see a major dip from 2008 to 2010, and water levels haven't recovered from their tumble in 2013:
Overall, in May California's reservoirs were at only 46% of their full capacity, and 72% of their historical average. Surface water reservoirs aren't the only source of water in the West — people also take water from underground aquifers, rivers, and desalination plants — but as they dwindle less and less water is available for people to use. Check out and play with the graphic on Dean Farrell's website. SEE ALSO: California isn’t the only state with water problems Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted  | ||
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The huge red dot straddling the Utah and Arizona border is Lake Powell, which was 45.4% full in May. The other big red dot at the southern tip of Nevada, Lake Mead, was only 37.6% full.
Trinity Lake's water level has fluctuated pretty wildly, presumably because of scheduled water releases, Farrell says.
In May, Trinity Lake was only 41.8% full, coming down from a peak of 48.4% in March after heavy December rains recharged it. Privacy advocates are slamming Facebook for its shady transparency policy (FB) | ||
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The way Facebook handles government requests for data is coming under fire from privacy advocacy groups. In a new blog post titled "Why Facebook Failed Our Censorship Test," the Electronic Frontier Foundation takes aim at the social network’s track record when it comes to content restriction. More specifically, the EFF claims that Facebook has never fully explained why it has restricted access to some of its pages. The EFF explains that Facebook gives explanations for some content restriction in its 'Government Request Report,' but "if you click over the United States, Facebook’s home country, you’ll find that the ‘content restriction’ category is conspicuously missing." And, according to the EFF, this doesn’t mean that Facebook didn’t restrict content in the US. On the contrary, the blog post points out known instances where Facebook censored content within the US: We know for a fact that Facebook processed 74 requests for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation alone in 2014. Between California and the state of South Carolina, we also know Facebook processed more than 700 takedown requests over the last four years. We could file public records requests in all 50 states to learn more, but since Facebook’s system allowed prisons to file these requests without creating a paper trail, only Facebook knows how many requests it has complied with nationwide. We believe it may reach into thousands. The ultimate point is that though Facebook does have a report attempting to divulge what government requests have been made with its users data, the company isn't disclosing everything. Competitors like Google and Twitter, the EFF notes, are much better at disclosing when they receive any government requests. This is all part of the EFF’s annual reports called "Who Has Your Back?, which grades the largest tech companies on how they handle government requests for user data. Criteria include the companies' data disclosing practices, whether they inform users about government data demands, and other facets that illuminate what they do when faced with a government request. Facebook isn’t the only company the EFF is calling out. WhatsApp, for instance, is also being lambasted for its lackluster transparency efforts (of course, Facebook does own WhatsApp). Service providers like AT&T and Verizon also had low marks. Facebook, for its part, scores relatively well on other criteria. But the EFF still has higher hopes for the social behemoth. The blog post concluded, "We urge Facebook to publish the data and show U.S. government agencies that censorship shouldn’t happen in the dark." SEE ALSO: Some big groups have pulled out of meetings about facial recognition technology Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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Americans stand to lose a ton if the Supreme Court rules against Obamacare | ||
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King v. Burwell revolves around whether the Obama administration is entitled to provide healthcare subsidies to millions of Americans living in the 36 states that didn't set up healthcare exchanges on their own. Several conservative activists brought the case after they discovered that four words in the law appear to suggest that healthcare subsidies wouldn't be allowed in states that didn't set up their own exchanges. The law itself says that subsidies can be provided through exchanges "established by the state." If the court sides with the plaintiffs, millions of Americans in states that did not set up their own exchanges will essentially forfeit or be forced off of their plans because the federal government won't be able to subsidize their insurance anymore. To illustrate which states would be hit hardest, we've collected maps that show the impact that Obamacare has had on the insurance landscape. More Americans have insurance now than before ObamacareThis Metric Map shows the percentage of uninsured Americans in each state in 2010, before the Affordable Care Act passed. The red shows high percentages, while green signifies the lowest. As you can see, the percentage of uninsured people was relatively high in the Southern states.
Before the law's passage, the number of uninsured rose to record highs. In 2006, the percentage of uninsured hit an all-time high of 16% with close to 44 million Americans lacking insurance. The ACA has vastly increased the number of Americans who have health insurance. By the end of this year's open enrollment period, 11.7 million Americans signed up for insurance under Obamacare, according to figures released by the Obama administration. As CNN notes, fewer than 12% of Americans are now uninsured. As you can see from this map, there are only a handful of "red" states with high percentages of uninsured people in a post-Obamacare world. The below map could look a lot different if the Supreme Court rules for the Obamacare challengers.
This county-specific map by Enroll America shows the number of counties with high percentages of uninsured. Here's what the map looked like in 2013. The dark blue areas had an uninsurance rate higher than 10%.
The next year, the shift was huge. See the county-specific info here.
An anti-Obama ruling would likely hit the South hardestOne of the great ironies that Obamacare advocates point out is that many of the states that stand to benefit from Obama's healthcare law also oppose it. As The Washington Post points out, virtually no states in the South accepted money from the federal government to set up their own state exchanges. Maps from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth show that many of the counties that stand to benefit the most from subsidies lie in poor southern states like Mississippi, which declined to set up a state exchange.
This is what makes the stakes so high for the case. Many of the counties with the highest percentage of residents eligible for subsidies are also in states that have refused to set up their own healthcare exchanges.
This would likely force thousands of healthy younger subsidy recipients to drop out, which would eventually raise premium rates for older recipients. Scroll down to view the interactive map. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Later this month, the Supreme Court is set to hand down a decision on 
12-year-old YouTube star: Young people love Rand Paul because he is "a maverick" | ||
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CJ Pearson, a 12-year-old YouTube pundit, believes presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has a unique ability to connect with millennial voters and even younger fans like himself. Pearson is a Georgia student entering 8th grade whose videos backing conservative causes have gone viral. He said he is currently part of Paul's Georgia leadership team. In a conversation with Business Insider on Thursday, Pearson said one of the first things people his age notice about Paul is his distinctive hair. "What I've seen as far as the optics of other young people, they look at Rand with this head full of hair, really curly," Pearson said. Once younger people take a longer look at Paul, Pearson added, they quickly grow fond of his libertarian-leaning views and deviations from Republican orthodoxy. "If you want a maverick, someone who's proud to be his own individual, then Rand Paul's the guy you're looking for," he said. "Young people are just naturally independent." He also said Paul's opposition to widespread government surveillance and support for reforming the criminal justice system deeply resonate with younger crowds. "If you look at Rand's views on the issues, they're quite different than many of the other candidates. We support criminal justice reform," he said. "Going back even further than that, if you look at just the philosophy of Rand as a whole, as a young person I don't like people telling me what to do. " Pearson said he's occasionally recognized as he travels around as part of Paul's Georgia leadership team. The 8th grader gained national fame earlier this year when he passionately defended former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) after the former mayor infamously said President Barack Obama doesn't love America. In a YouTube clip that has just under 2 million videos, Pearson said Giuliani was right: As he campaigns for Paul, Pearson said he sometimes surprises people by discussing politics in detail despite being one of the youngest political activists around. "It's quite surprising once we start talking about poll numbers, the margin of errors, and the demographics we're targeting," he said. "I think many people are very surprised that a 12-year-old is interested in presidential politics." Pearson further predicted Paul's presidential campaign will be buoyed by the youth vote, which he said will ultimately propel the libertarian-leaning senator into the White House. He also touted Paul's use of social media platforms like Snapchat and Meerkat, which Pearson said will help the senator reach out to new audiences. "We're going out in college campuses and we're preaching Rand's message and how he's for the younger generation. I'm going out there and talking to people and establishing 'Students for Rand chapters," Pearson said. "The way that we're running our campaign is second-to-none in terms of millennial engagement." Of course, since he's under 18, Pearson won't actually be able to vote for Paul. He thinks this is unfortunate. "Of course, I would definitely love to vote," he said. "I think it's a really cool thing." Paul's campaign spokesman, Sergio Gor, told Business Insider that the senator "has spoken with CJ before and we believe he is an outstanding young liberty lover with a very bright future." Post last updated 5:01 p.m. SEE ALSO: How Republican presidential candidates want to reform the criminal justice system Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear  | ||
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10 stunning award-winning photos of the night sky | ||
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"The sky above us is an essential part of our nature," Babak Tafreshi said in a statement announcing the winners of this year's International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. Tafreshi established the program The World at Night (TWAN), which co-founded this annual photo contest in 2008. The goal of the contest is to raise awareness about light pollution, which drowns our view of planets, stars, and galaxies in the night sky — a sight that is growing more rare each year as cities swell bigger and brighter. "Perhaps from this perspective we can better preserve the natural night sky and reconnect it with our modern life," Tafreshi said about the contest. Here are the 10 award-winning photos for this year, selected from an initial pool of over 1,000. You can learn more about the contest on the TWAN website. The bright band of the Milky Way Galaxy is a beautiful backdrop to this photo of Mt. Rainier in Washington state.
Mount Bromo is the smoking, distant volcano in this photo composition taken in East Java, Indonesia with star trails — the arcs of light in the sky — in the background. City lights illuminate the clouds in this photo of Russia's northern Caucasus Mountains. Peak Terskol Observatory sits at the center against a starry night sky. See the rest of the story at Business Insider  | ||
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McDonald's future isn't about America anymore | ||
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For the first time in more than 40 years, the number of McDonald's restaurants in America is shrinking. Executives told the Associated Press that closures are outpacing new fast-food restaurants in America. US sales have been on the decline for the past five years. The company will close 700 underperforming restaurants this year, many in the US. It has more than 36,000 total locations. The changing attitude of US consumers is one of the greatest challenges for McDonald's, former CEO Don Thompson said in a call with investors last year. "Customers want to personalize their meals with locally relevant ingredients. They also want to enjoy eating in a contemporary inviting atmosphere. And they want choices: choices in how they order, choices in what they order, and how they’re served," Thompson said. Thompson has since been replaced by Steve Easterbrook. As McDonald's loses market share in the US, it's increasingly looking like its future is overseas. The company is opening hundreds of restaurants in Europe and Asia. One of McDonald's most successful current markets is in France. The company has 1,200 locations there and is investing 200 million euros to expand more.
Business Insider's Pamela Engel notes that McDonald's franchises in France are far superior to the ones in America. Customers place orders on touch screens that feature different languages. The restaurants also have high-end offerings like an elevated McCafe and a blue-cheese burger. At McDonald's in Australia, workers prepare fresh food orders in front of customers. Items feature fresh ingredients like pineapple and guacamole.
While McDonald's has tried some of these innovations in America, its store fleet is so big that the company can't scale new ideas as easily. For instance, when McDonald's tried to launch a customizable-burger program, it was plagued by operational challenges like high cost to franchisees and long wait times for customers. McDonald's also has more competition in the US than it does overseas, where chains like Panera Bread and Chipotle aren't prevalent. McDonald's might have trouble innovating in the US. But it can still dominate overseas. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 8 fast food hacks that will change the way you order  | ||
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Video game titans get back in stride at E3 | ||
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Los Angeles (AFP) - The world's leading video game show ended with the industry feeling renewed vigor after years of worry that play on mobile devices was leading to decline. More than 52,000 people from 109 countries attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade gathering in Los Angeles where blockbuster console games were stars and virtual reality gear got ready in the wings. "I've been impressed by the quality of the presentations and strong line-ups of content," Sony Computer Entertainment chief Andrew House told AFP at E3. "I like to think the industry has got a spring back in its step." The E3 show floor spanned the Los Angeles Convention Center, with some 300 exhibitors showing off more games, accessories and related offerings, according to the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the annual event. "E3 demonstrated both the remarkable transformation of entertainment taking place on all video game platforms—virtual reality, augmented reality, hardware, mobile and handheld—and awesome games," said association president Michael Gallagher. E3 buzz on social media trumped anything seen in the past, with 6.3 million tweets on Twitter tagged to the gathering and 7.5 million 'likes' racked up by E3 related posts at Instagram, the ESA boasted. "I love that there is a lot to attract new people to the industry," said Yves Guillemot, chief of French video game powerhouse Ubisoft. "It is a really mature industry with a lot of creativity. It shows that the potential to grow is really high."
- Twitch vs YouTube -
Video game broadcasting platform Twitch reported that, at times, a half million viewers watched E3 press conferences. More than a million E3-related videos were posted to YouTube. YouTube waded confidently into turf dominated by Amazon-owned Twitch, with a service tailored for the hot trend of video games as spectator sport. The globally popular online video-sharing service provided industry insiders an early look at YouTube Gaming at E3. "Having a destination where you can get all the gaming content you care about is really important," YouTube head of gaming partnerships Ryan Wyatt told AFP as he demonstrated the soon-to-be-launched venue for live or on-demand video focused on gaming. "That is why we created this." The online arena for video game channels incorporates the search smarts of Google, which owns YouTube, to present fresh or must-see content from streaming live play and comic commentary. YouTube Gaming will debut in Britain and the United States in the coming months, featuring on-demand video as well as live broadcasting of games being played.
- Virtual future -
Trailers and live-play from hotly-anticipated console games set for release in the coming year played out on giant overhead screens on the show floor, grabbing attention from throngs of people below. Glimpses of the future could be spotted throughout the show floor in the form of games and gear designed to immerse players in virtual worlds. Facebook-owned virtual-reality company Oculus showed off games being crafted by independent developers, along with 'Touch' controllers it is creating to give people virtual hands they can use in fantasy worlds. Sony likewise enticed E3 attendees with its Project Morpheus virtual reality head gear. "Virtual reality is coming around," Guillemot told AFP. "Next year, people will be surprised by what is at E3; there could be experiences that stay in people's minds for quite a while." Oculus and Sony are both aiming to release their virtual reality head gear next year, pricing details have yet to be disclosed. Enhanced capabilities of new-generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, along with the promise of virtual reality, were credited with giving the video game industry renewed life. The upbeat E3 extravaganza came after several years of worry that trends toward casual play on smartphones or tablets meant blockbuster console games were doomed. "It was not deserved for people to say this business was going to disappear," said Guillemot. "It was a bit tough on our industry. The innovation was in mobile, now it is back in console."
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