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BBC iPlayer to be extended with BBC Store
27 February 2014 3 March 2014
The BBC Trust has approved plans to allow users to pay to download programmes from an online BBC Store. The BBC iPlayer will be extended to offer programmes free up to 30 days after broadcast and will include links to allow users to buy programmes from the BBC Store, which will be run by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the corporation. Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, has meanwhile launched his campaign for the renewal of its Royal Charter by suggesting that any use of the BBC iPlayer should require a television licence.
The plans for the BBC Store come after the apparent failure of BBC Worldwide to establish a successful subscription model for the BBC iPlayer globally. A 'pilot' service was launched in Europe in 2011 and later in Australia and Canada but was never extended to the United States. The service will now be rolled into the BBC.com web site.
The BBC iPlayer, available as part of the public service in the United Kingdom, plans to extend the free catch-up window for viewing programmes from seven to 30 days. Search will be integrated across catch-up and commercially available programmes, with a "seamless purchasing experience" through a "single BBC account registration".
While the commercial arm is attempting to add an online retail shop to the BBC iPlayer, the BBC is also suggesting that any of the iPlayer should require a television licence.
Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, kicked off the campaign for the renewal of the BBC Charter with the traditional defence of the licence fee, arguing that it is better value than ever.
Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, he went further, saying: "Our view is that there is room for modernisation so that the fee applies to the consumption of BBC TV programmes, whether live on BBC One or on-demand via BBC iPlayer," he said.
Currently, viewing programmes online at the same time as they are transmitted generally requires a television licence, but viewing then on demand does not.
The first month of 2014 marked the most successful yet for the BBC iPlayer, with 242 million requests for television programmes. Of these, 46% came from tablets or smartphones and only 25% from television devices. Only 10% of requests are for programmes at the time of transmission, rather than after the broadcast.
The commercial case for the BBC Store is apparently based on the assumption that over two thirds of its transactions will come from the BBC iPlayer.
The BBC Trust, with regard to the advice of the communications regulator Ofcom, concluded that the launch of the BBC Store does not constitute a significant change to public services so does not require a public value test.
At launch, the BBC Store will offer around 6,000 hours of recent programmes and 4,000 hours of archive material, including around 3,000 hours of library material that is already available commercially, with a further 500-1,000 hours of archive programmes due to be released each year.
The Trust determined that this will not distort the market, primarily because the rights for BBC archive content will be made available on a non-exclusive basis to third-party commercial providers, and any public service assets used by the BBC Store, including iPlayer technology, will be made available to others at a fair price.
The BBC is treading warily. The last effort to establish a similar model of selling online video outside the catch-up window, as part of the consortium of broadcasters known as Project Kangaroo, fell foul of the Competition Commission.
It is envisaged that the commercial programming will be accessible through a 'virtual locker' that will allow purchased programmes to be viewed through the BBC iPlayer. Whether this will satisfy users is another matter.
The BBC Trust observes: "It is hard to see how the development of a virtual storage locker could realistically have any chance of setting a de-facto industry standard. Indeed, it seems more likely that the BBC Store would follow whatever industry standard emerges in order to overcome the disadvantage of its limited content offering, by making its virtual locker compatible and interoperable with others."
On the potential impact on online video subscription services, such as Netflix and LoveFilm, now Amazon Instant Video, the BBC Trust suggests that it is "highly unlikely" that customers would discontinue their subscriptions to purchase BBC programming from the BBC Store. It suggests that consumers are more likely to switch to such services in order to access a wider range of television programmes and movies.
Suzanna Taverne, who led the assessment by the BBC Trust, said: "In considering BBC Store, the Trust conducted a robust assessment and sought the advice of external parties. It concluded that BBC Store is a worthwhile commercial service that supplements what the BBC makes available through the licence fee and promises to bring value not only to audiences but also to the wider creative industries."
The BBC Store is a logical attempt to mitigate the structural decline in revenue from the sales of box sets of programmes on physical discs. It will also provide the belated basis of a direct to consumer online retail offer in overseas markets.
BBC Worldwide already has an online BBC Shop, as opposed to a store, selling physical products. However, it is difficult to compete with the vast scale of other online retailers, like Amazon. There may be a lesson there.
One might wonder how successful the online video retail model will be, particularly if competitors are guaranteed access to similar programming for potential inclusion in their own aggregated retail or subscription services.
The real question is whether users will prefer to subscribe to subscription video on demand services, where there is a choice of tens of thousands of titles.
The BBC appears reluctant to pursue a subscription model, for fear of upsetting its distribution partners on the one hand or undermining the case for the licence fee on the other.
To put the retail activities of BBC Worldwide in perspective, in the year to March 2013, the consumer products division turned over £181 million, down on £211 million the previous year, with an operating profit of £38 million. In total, BBC Worldwide delivered £156 million in returns to the BBC, on sales of £1.1 billion. Over the same period, the BBC public service spent £3.8 billion and received £3.6 billion from the television licence fee.


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Publishing Law Guru
Discussion on publishing law and related (and quite possibly unrelated) matters
The Publishing Pie – An Author's View
At the Tools of Change for Publishing conference, organised by O'Reilly Media, earlier this year, Margaret Atwood gave a very interesting talk about how the "publishing pie" is divided up, and how that has changed over the years with developments in publishing. You can see it here.
Leave a Comment »	| Copyright, Intellectual Property, Publishing	| Permalink
Posted by Bernie Nyman
Independent review of the UK's IP system "to ensure it promotes growth"
An independent review into how the intellectual property system can better drive growth and innovation was launched by Prime Minister David Cameron on 4 November 2010.
Mr Cameron announced the six-month review during a speech at a major event in Shoreditch before an audience of business people.
He spoke about how the Government can help make Britain the most attractive place in the world to start and invest in innovative technology companies.
He revealed the Government had published a Technology Blueprint that spells out how the Government will support high-tech innovation, including reviewing the IP system.
Mr Cameron said: "I can announce today that we are reviewing our IP laws, to see if we can make them fit for the internet age."
The six-month review aims to identify barriers to growth within the IP framework, which consists of the rules and regulations covering how IP is created, used and protected in this country.
It will particularly focus on how the IP system can be improved to help the new business models arising from the digital age.
Amongst other things, the review will consider whether there are benefits in US-style 'fair use' copyright provisions in terms of encouraging and enabling more creative applications of intellectual property. This review will also set out recommendations to make it cheaper and easier for companies, particularly start-ups, to protect and enforce intellectual property. The review will report in April 2011.
The Technology Blueprint also reveals the Intellectual Property Office will trial a new "peer to patent" project, which will allow people to comment on patent applications and rate contributions to help improve the quality of granted patents. Under the "peer to patent" system, versions of which are being trialled around the world, technology experts can comment on patent applications over the Internet, helping patent offices identify innovations which are genuinely inventive.
The review aims to make it easier for companies, particularly start-ups, to protect and enforce their intellectual property. There have already been recent improvements in that direction as a result of changes to the Patents County Court ("PCC"), which took effect on 1 October 2010. In a nutshell, the procedure has been streamlined, with the intention that most cases will be decided on the basis of the paperwork alone, without a trial. And there is to be a cap on the costs recoverable by the successful party – the overall limit will be £50,000, or £25,000 if the case is concerned only with the amount of damages, rather than liability. Each stage of the process will also have its own individual cap on costs recoverable.
There have been a number of reviews of the UK's intellectual property laws, including the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, which reported in December 2006, with subsequent consultation as to the implementation of its recommendations. When the Gowers report was launched, it was announced with the headline "Gowers sets out intellectual property system fit for the digital age". Now the Prime Minister has announced "we are reviewing our IP laws, to see if we can make them fit for the internet age". I do wonder whether this is just an exercise in putting off the changes that need to be made to make our intellectual property laws fit for the future. Once the latest review reports in April 2011, there will be yet further rounds of consultation, and of course it is very difficult to have any radical changes to intellectual property laws without getting agreement on an international basis – at least so far as the European Union is concerned. So don't hold your breath …
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Google breached Data Protection Act, but will not be fined
The UK Information Commissioner's Office announced on 3 November 2010 its finding that Google UK had breached the Data Protection Act when the Google Street View ("GSV") cars collected payload data as part of their wi-fi mapping exercise in the UK.
Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, announced that as a result, Google UK will be subject to an audit and must sign an undertaking to ensure data protection breaches do not occur again – otherwise they will face enforcement action.
Originally, it was believed that the data collected by the GSV cars was fragmentary and was unlikely to constitute personal data.
However, on 22 October 2010 a Senior Vice President at Google posted information about the collection of payload data on the Official Google Blog. Referring back to a previous blog post he had made, he said:
"Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to update one point in my May blog post. When I wrote it no one inside Google had analyzed in detail the data we had collected, so we did not know for sure what the disks contained. Since then a number of external regulators have inspected the data as part of their investigations … It's clear from those inspections that whilst most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords."
This gave the Information Commissioner clear grounds to assert that the collection of payload data in the UK constituted a "serious breach of the first data protection principle", which is as follows:
"Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and in particular shall not be processed unless:
At least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met; and
In the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.
Schedule 2 Conditions for processing.
At least one of the following conditions must be met in the case of all processing of personal data (except where a relevant exemption applies):
The data subject has given his consent to the processing.
The processing is necessary:
(a) for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party,
(b) for the taking of steps at the request of the data subject with a view to entering into a contract
The processing is necessary to comply with any legal obligations to which the data controller is subject, other than an obligation imposed by contract.
The processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject.
The Information Commissioner has now instructed Google UK to sign an undertaking in which Google commits to take specific action to ensure that breaches of this kind cannot happen again. An audit of Google UK's Data Protection practices will also be undertaken, and Google will be required to delete the UK payload data when it no longer has any outstanding legal obligation to retain any of the data.
Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said it would delete the data as soon as possible. "We are in the process of confirming that there are no outstanding legal obligations upon us to retain the data, and will then ensure that it is quickly and safely deleted.
"We are profoundly sorry for mistakenly collecting payload data in the UK from unencrypted wireless networks," he added. "Since we announced our mistake in May we have cooperated closely with the ICO and worked to improve our internal controls. As we have said before, we did not want this data, have never used any of it in our products or services, and have sought to delete it as quickly as possible."
Some will no doubt see this as Google getting off lightly, since no financial penalty will be imposed – the Information Commissioner considers that there is no entitlement to impose a financial penalty in this case, having regard to when the breach of the Data Protection Act took place (if the same thing happened again, a fine would be possible).
1 Comment	| Data Protection	| Permalink
Ian Fleming estate to publish James Bond e-books
It has been reported that the James Bond 007 novels are about to be published as e-books for the first time – but not by the current publisher (Penguin), but by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the part of the Ian Fleming estate that has administered rights to the books since Fleming died in August 1964.
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
The e-books will be available through Amazon and other e-book retailers from Thursday 4 November 2010.
This illustrates the potential for maximising the return on exploiting digital rights and traditional print rights separately. The Fleming estate will no doubt expect to make more money by selling e-books directly then by licensing e-book rights to the current print version publisher.
Penguin has indicated that it will not renew its current deal with Ian Fleming Publications unless digital rights are included, but it's difficult to see Ian Fleming Publications going back on their current position.
Naturally, one would expect publishers to want to acquire all rights that they possibly can, particularly as sales of e-books are already increasing rapidly and are expected to exceed those of the corresponding printed versions in the near future. Some literary agents consider there is an advantage in keeping the digital rights and the print rights with the same publisher – that may be true in some instances, but Ian Fleming Publications point out that in the case of the James Bond novels, they are not really dependent on the print publisher's marketing machinery to create awareness of the novels in e-book form.
Digital rights to JK Rowling's Harry Potter books are currently being negotiated. One can hardly begin to guess the value of these rights – it would hardly be surprising if people who have bought the books in print will want to have them as e-books too. For one thing, they will weigh much less!
The publishing rights for books form part of the copyright, which can be divided up in so many different ways. The printed form publication rights alone can be divided into hardback and paperback, and then subdivided further (e.g. large print versions, educational versions, and so on). They can and are also divided up by means of language and territory – so at any one time there may be many different parties exploiting a particular work in different formats, in different languages, in different parts of the world. There is no reason – from a legal point of view – why the digital rights have to go with the printed form rights, although book publishers have been routinely acquiring digital rights for many years, even if it's only very recently that they have actually been exploiting these rights. It's often with the older, classic backlist works, where the publisher did not acquire digital rights, that there is an opportunity for digital rights to be exploited by a different publisher from the printed form rights.
It will be interesting to see whether this will set a trend for separate exploitation of digital and printed form rights.
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Supermodel wins damages for infringement of her image rights
Lara Stone, the Dutch supermodel who is married to Little Britain star David Walliams, has won "significant" damages from French Playboy after the magazine published unauthorised photographs of her, it was reported today.
Ms Stone has said she will give the money to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
The case was heard in a court in Paris under French image rights legislation.
Her lawyers said that Playboy was also ordered to publish a prominent legal statement in the next edition of the magazine confirming the court has found it has infringed Stone's image rights.
JK Rowling fails to stop copyright infringement claim
JK Rowling, author of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter books, and her publisher Bloomsbury Publishing plc, have failed in their attempt to stop a copyright infringement claim going any further on the grounds that it has no chance of succeeding at trial.
In a judgement issued on 14 October 2010, the judge said that "I have reached the conclusion that this claim may succeed but that it is improbable it will do so". On this basis, he was not able to throw out the claim entirely, as Ms Rowling and her publisher had wanted, and the judge may now require the claimant to provide security for Ms Rowling's and Bloomsbury's costs before being allowed to proceed further with the claim.
The claim involves two books: the first is called called Willy the Wizard ("WTW"), and was written in 1987 by the late Mr Adrian Jacobs.
The other book in this case is somewhat better known – it's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.
The claim is being brought by the trustee of Mr Jacobs' estate, Mr Paul Allen, and is essentially that, as a result of copying, the Harry Potter book reproduces a substantial part of WTW. This is not one of those cases where the claimant can show that there are large parts of his or her work that have been reproduced more or less verbatim. Instead, the case is that aspects of the plot, sub-plots, themes and incidents in WTW have been copied. This is like the Da Vinci Code case (where Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh sued Random House, publisher of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown), claiming that Dan Brown's bestselling book had copied essential elements from their own book.
Both this case and the Da Vinci Code case make it clear that "Copyright does not subsist in ideas; it protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves.".
Mr Allen's claim is based on the argument that in 1987, Christopher Little, who became Ms Rowling's literary agent some eight years later, was given copies of WTW and that he gave a copy to Ms Rowling before she wrote Goblet or, indeed, any of the other Harry Potter books.
There was a substantial disagreement as to the facts, which the judge is not required to resolve on this type of an application, since that requires the sort of evidence only available at the full trial. However, the judge did go on to consider the elements of WTW that the claimant said had been copied in the Harry Potter book and the principles that would have to be applied in assessing whether or not a substantial part of WTW is reproduced in the Harry Potter book as a result of copying. The judge concluded that "the similarities upon which Mr Allen relies seem to me to constitute ideas which are relatively simple and abstract and I strongly incline to the view that they are at such a high level of generality that they fall on the ideas rather than the expression side of the line. However, I do not feel able at his stage to say that Mr Allen's case is so bad that I can properly describe it as fanciful.".
So this case will continue, assuming that the claimant is able to fulfil any conditions about security for costs that might be imposed by the judge when he has heard further argument from each side. I can't imagine that JK Rowling and Bloomsbury will settle the case, irrespective of the merits (or otherwise) of this particular claimant's case (as to which I am not really in a position to pass comment) – to do so might open them up to an avalanche of further claims from others hoping to profit from the success of the Harry Potter books.
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"Epic Boobs girl" loses privacy complaint
A complaint that Loaded magazine intruded into a woman's privacy, in breach of Clause 3 (Privacy) of the Editors' Code of Practice, by publishing a feature about her, with photographs, has been rejected by the Press Complaints Commission.
The article, headlined "Wanted! The Epic Boobs girl!", appeared in the February 2010 edition of the magazine.
It featured a number of photographs of the woman – who was said to have the "best breasts on the block" – taken from the internet, and offered readers of the magazine a reward of £500 for assistance in encouraging her to do a photo shoot with it.
The woman said the article was intrusive. The magazine had published her name, and taken the photographs, from her Bebo site, where they were uploaded in December 2006, when she was 15 years old. They were published without permission. She could not remember whether her site had any privacy settings in place and did not know the circumstances in which the photographs were removed.
The magazine said it had not taken the photographs from the woman's Bebo site – rather, they were widely available on the internet. At the time of her complaint, searches showed 1,760,000 matches which related to her and 203,000 image matches of her as the "Epic Boobs girl".
The woman's name had also been widely circulated and achieved over 100,000 Google hits, including over 8,000 photographs.
The Commission rejected the complaint, and said the case raised the important principle of the extent to which newspapers and magazines could make use of information which is already freely available online.
It had previously published decisions on the use of material on social networking sites, which had gone towards establishing a set of principles in this area.
But this complaint was different: the magazine had not taken the material from the complainant's Bebo site, but had published a piece commenting on something which had widespread circulation online (having been taken from the Bebo page some time ago by others) and was easily accessed by Google searches.
Images of the woman had been freely available for some time, and she had been identified online as the individual in the pictures.
The Commission could understand that the woman objected strongly to the context in which they appeared online: images of her and her friends in a social context had become proclaimed as "pin-up" material, the subject of innuendo and bawdy jokes.
The commission said: "It was, of course, within this context that the magazine article operated. This was an important point: the magazine had not accessed material from a personal site and then been responsible for an especially salacious means of presenting it; instead it had published a piece discussing the fact that this material was already being widely used in this way by others."
It did not think it was possible for it to censure the magazine for commenting on material which already had a wide circulation, and had already been contextualised in the same way by many others.
The Commission felt that the images were so widely established that it would be untenable for it to rule that it was wrong for the magazine to use them.
But the Commission made it clear that it had some sympathy with the woman.
"The fact that she was 15 years old when the images were originally taken – although she is an adult now – only added to the questionable tastefulness of the article," it said.
But it could not rule on issues of taste and offence, or of the legality of the material, it said, adding: "The test, therefore, was whether the publication intruded into the complainant's privacy, and the Code required the Commission to have regard to 'the extent to which material is already in the public domain'.
"In the Commission's view, the information, in the same form as published in the magazine, was widely available to such an extent that its republication did not raise a breach of the Code. The complaint was not upheld on that basis."
The Commission's adjudication was issued on 11 May 2010.
Leave a Comment »	| Privacy	| Tagged: privacy	| Permalink
Authors: has your publisher cancelled your contract?
In my previous post, I talked about how some publishers are reacting to the economic situation by cancelling authors' contracts in order to reduce costs. I discussed the legal principles that are applied by the English courts in assessing the damages that an author is entitled to in such a situation.
Of course, publishers will do everything they can to minimise the amount they pay to an author in this situation — after all, it's a cost-cutting exercise.
Advances are normally paid to an author in three equal instalments (one-third on signature of contract, one-third on delivery and acceptance of the manuscript and one-third on publication). Sometimes the advance might be payable in only two instalments — one-half on signature of contract and the other half on publication — for example, if the work was more or less complete and accepted when the contract was signed.
In general, when cancelling an author's contract, the publisher will say to the author that he or she can keep any advance that has already been paid (usually only the amount paid on signature of the contract, but possibly also the amount paid on delivery and acceptance of the manuscript, depending on when the contract is cancelled), but would not ordinarily offer as well the amount payable on publication. What the publisher and the author may not realise is that the author's strict legal entitlement might well greatly exceed the full amount of the advance.
The publisher will endeavour to get the author to sign away his or her right to make any claim for anything over and above the advance, in return for getting back the rights to the book. Any authors out there reading this, who have had their contracts terminated by their publisher, should take legal advice before signing any release put forward by their publisher. Likewise, any agent whose author is in this situation should also consider carefully — and take advice, if unsure — what their author's real entitlement is.
No one likes going to court to enforce their legal rights. In practice, if an author claims to be entitled to more than the publisher has offered on termination of the author's contract, and is prepared to instruct a lawyer to advance the claim against the publisher, then it's quite likely that a negotiated settlement will follow, where the publisher pays more than it originally offered and the author settles for less than his or her strict legal entitlement. In that way, both parties avoid the stress, publicity and potentially huge cost of a court case. There are some examples where this type of case has reached the courts — see my previous post. Indeed, the Andrew Malcolm case went all the way to the Court of Appeal, where Malcolm won. But it was a hard-fought battle, and the Court of Appeal hearing wasn't the end of it, as there then had to be an assessment of the damages to which he was entitled — and that was itself was hard-fought court hearing, with a great deal of prior preparation, too.
There are more civilised ways for an author and publisher to settle a dispute!
If both author and publisher acknowledge that the author is entitled to more than just the contractual advance, but cannot agree on an amount, even after negotiation directly or between lawyers, or between the author's agent and the publisher, then one alternative way of resolving the matter without going to court is mediation — sometimes known as Alternative Dispute Resolution. This involves appointing an independent individual to assist the parties in finding a way in which the dispute can be resolved to both parties' satisfaction. It might involve both parties coming together at a neutral venue, camped in separate rooms, with the mediator shuttling between them until an agreement is reached. Once an agreement has been arrived at, it is then recorded in a legally binding document. It seems to me that this process is well-suited to this type of dispute between author and publisher, although in my view it would probably be better if the parties' respective lawyers could thrash out a deal first, with at least some reference to legal principles.
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Publisher's breach of contract to publish a book
It's a fact that publishers are feeling the squeeze in these difficult and uncertain economic times. It's also a fact that when this happens, there is pressure on publishers to cut costs. One way of doing that is to cut back on their publishing programs. Not only might this involve contracting, and therefore publishing, fewer books, but also cancelling existing contracts for books. What is the legal situation here?
If a publisher cancels a contract without good cause, the publisher is in breach of contract. In practice, it's very difficult for an author in that situation to get an order from the court compelling the publisher to honour the contract and publish the book — particularly if the book still requires some editing. The author is therefore left with a claim for damages.
How would the damages be assessed?
There are two main recent authorities for the basis on which damages are awarded for breach of a publisher's obligation to publish a book: Malcolm v. Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford [Court of Appeal decision on liability December 1990; damages assessed August 1991]; and Myers v. Macmillan Press Limited [March 1998].
The Malcolm case concerned his book "Making Names", a philosophical text, which had been accepted for publication by a senior editor, the main evidence of which was a telephone conversation which Andrew Malcolm had fortuitously recorded. Oxford University Press strenuously denied that there was a contract. When the case went to the High Court, the judge, albeit reluctantly, decided that there was no contract, as key terms did not seem to him to have been agreed. The Court of Appeal decided otherwise and found in favour of the author. An inquiry as to damages was ordered both to recompense the (previously unpublished) author, Andrew Malcolm, for loss of the opportunity for him to enhance his reputation by securing the imprimatur of the Oxford University Press on his work and also to compensate him for loss of royalties. Where the time of publication, number of copies and price and form of the book are left to the discretion of the publisher, the damages for failure to publish are based on a reasonable estimate of the amount that the author would have earned if the publisher had complied with his contract to publish. This will require consideration of everything likely to affect the amount of the profit, such as the nature and popularity of the subject matter, the reputation of the author, the cost of producing a book on that subject, the price of such a book, the business capacity of the publishers and the chances of earning profits by sales of the book.
In the Myers case, it was accepted by both parties that if the claimant author succeeded on liability (which he did), he could elect between two alternative bases for assessing damages:
the loss of profits which, on the court's assessment, he would have made had the defendant performed its obligations under the publishing agreement; or
a quantum meruit.
The judge said that the second basis is less satisfactory, as it involves carrying out an exercise which does not reflect what happens in practice, i.e. assessing what would have been a reasonable number of hours for the claimant to have spent in writing the work and what would have been a reasonable hourly rate to pay for that work. In the event, the first basis of assessment would clearly have resulted in a higher award, and so damages for loss of profits were awarded. If the author has incurred specific expenses in connection with the agreement, such as preparing illustrations for the text, these can be claimed as special damages.
Where a publishing agreement requires the defendant to publish the first edition of the claimant's book, and the agreement also contemplates that further editions will be published, the failure by the defendant to publish the first edition of the book will entitle the claimant to damages both for failure to publish the first edition and also for the loss of the chance to establish the title, by the success of the first edition, which would lead to repeat editions in the future, and hence generate royalties on those further editions. This would, for example, extends to US editions, foreign-language editions and electronic editions.
Bearing all this in mind, a publisher must weigh up carefully the pros and cons of cancelling an author's contract, since a claim for breach of contract could end up costing the publisher more than it would have cost to publish the book, while leaving the publisher without the revenue from the sale of the book. And that's without taking into account all of the headaches that litigation can cause: management time used up; adverse publicity — possibly leading to further claims by other authors; documents examined in open court; legal costs and the uncertainty of the outcome; and so on.
Making Names by Andrew Malcolm
As a footnote, Andrew Malcolm ended up self-publishing his book through AKME Publications. His website http://www.btinternet.com/~akme/index.html makes very interesting reading.
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Tweeted novel bought by publisher
In an earlier post, I posed the question whether tweets are protected by copyright. I concluded that the vast majority will not be protected by copyright, but I specifically suggested examples that, in my view, would be protected by copyright:
A poet publishes a longer poem on Twitter, one line at a time — each line being a separate tweet;
An author publishes a novel on Twitter, one sentence at a time (bearing in mind that many years ago, books were often originally published in serial form, in weekly instalments — including works by Charles Dickens — so publication on Twitter might be a way of taking this to an extreme!).
Well, it looks like it's happening. GalleyCat reports that an author, Matt Stewart, has published a 480,000 character novel, entitled "The French Revolution" on Twitter, and a publisher — Soft Skull — has bought the book on the strength of that.
I say well done to all concerned.
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STOCKTON – The University of Pacific, site of this weekend's California Community Colleges State Basketball Championships, is almost 400 miles from the Mt. San Antonio College campus.
But that didn't stop the Mounties women's basketball team from feeling at home Thursday.
Mt. SAC, getting solid efforts from Carmen Deal, Jazlyn Davis and Blaire Egardo, looked as comfortable as if it was in Walnut while jumping on College of Siskiyous (25-7) early and often en route to an easy 89-68 victory over the Eagles in a CCCAA quarterfinal.
The Mounties, who have won 35 consecutive games, improved to 35-1 and advanced to Saturday's semifinals to face either Ventura or Fresno City – teams they defeated earlier this season – at 1 p.m.
Deal had 22 points while Davis had 21 and Egardo 18. Deal, who also had 14 rebounds, combined with Egardo for 24 points in the first half as the Mounties led 7-0, 16-2 and 22-6. Mt. SAC forced 22 turnovers during the first 20 minutes.
"I was very pleased the way we came out," said Mt. SAC coach Laura Beeman, whose Mounties are seeking the school's third consecutive state title and fourth in the past five seasons. "We handled our nerves pretty good and stepped up and played.
"We held them to 22 points in the first half, which I was really pleased with. And we did force some turnovers. They made adjustments in the second half and we just stopped working on our angles. And that's what allowed them to get some runs going, more than I would normally like.
Mt. SAC jumped on top of Siskiyous early thanks to Egardo, a freshman who gave the Mounties their first lead with a 3-pointer for a 3-0 advantage at 17:56. She then hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 14-2 lead with 12:12 to play.
Mt. SAC, getting inside shots from Deal and Sahfiya Brown, a nine-footer from Davis and a 3-pointer by Egardo, opened the second half with a 11-6 run to increase the lead to 47-28 with 16:02 to play. The Mounties then matched Siskiyous the rest of the way.
"We needed to make some adjustments in the second half and the girls just weren't getting it done," Beeman said of the second half, in which Mt.SAC outscored Siskiyous 41-40 over the final 16 minutes. "Some of that is just the environment, not being focused, and being up by 20.


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Florida International University increases graduation rates by 10% with predictive modeling in DataRobot + Tableau
Captured current and historic data of 60,000+ students to improve academic success, reduce risks
Achieved a 10% increase in four-year graduation rates with data transparency
Saved over 21,000 hours annually with automated, predictive analytics
Florida International University (FIU) is one of the largest universities in Florida and provides a world-class education to local minority and Hispanic students. Many of its almost 60,000 enrolled students have overcome challenging situations; they lived in low-income areas and were sometimes the first generation to attend college or live in the U.S., seeking a college degree to support a brighter future.
With state performance funding appropriation changes in 2014, funding for operations and academic programs was now based on 10 student and university performance metrics (e.g. post-graduate employment, school access or services) instead of just student enrollment. If overall performance placed them in the top three, they received more funding. FIU needed a deeper understanding of their data to ensure they were hitting these metrics. They also used data to predict what made different groups of students more or less likely to succeed, and made it fully accessible for staff so they could understand what programs or procedures correlated to better performance.
FIU used dozens of predictive data models from DataRobot with nearly 200 Tableau dashboards to convey timely insights about students to 10,000 members of university administration, faculty, and staff. FIU also used Tableau to deeply explore the factors that positively or negatively impacted the academic experience of all students—whether you're a scholarship grantee or considered mainstream. Now staff understand what drives success for nearly 60,000 students and they modify processes or programs to maximize support and revert trends that put on-time graduation at risk. This resulted in a 10 percent increase of four-year graduation rates overall, nearly 50 percent of students (specifically Pell grantees) graduating in pace with or ahead of other universities, and improved FIU's ranking by more than 20 points to place them in second with Florida's performance funding metrics.
Tableau was really a beacon of guidance we provided to people in the trenches, and allowed us to be held accountable for things like student behavior and making sure students are enrolled in classes they need— and helping them achieve milestones during their academic progression.
Dr. Hiselgis Perez, Associate Vice President, Analysis and Information Management
Data transparency at FIU improves graduation rates for 60,000+ students
To better assist its at-risk students, FIU wanted to shift to a forward-looking view of its data. With constrained staffing resources, they needed a scalable, intuitive solution that staff could use. Tableau made analytics more accessible to departments that can intervene in student's academics and support success, but pairing DataRobot's predictive analytics would help FIU uncover and avoid obstacles that put students at risk. "The university and its image are being held responsible for how students interact with the university while they're here, and how well we can take students coming in and then produce educated graduates four years later," explained Paden Goldsmith, Assistant Director, Strategic Data Analysis.
FIU analyzed many variables that correlate to student success and reversed potential threats using Tableau and DataRobot. "It was really a beacon of guidance that we provided to people in the trenches and being held accountable for things like student behavior, making sure they're enrolled in the classes that they need, and achieving milestones during academic progression," shared Dr. Hiselgis Perez, Associate Vice President, Analysis and Information Management. Variables that influence student performance include course difficulty, proximity to the university (the further away, the higher the percentage of dropouts), and how well they're transitioned between advisors during college.
With Tableau dashboards deployed across campus, university leadership can see a complete view of academic and student data, but a dean or department chair can filter and access other data shared on the Tableau Server so the Office of Analysis and Information Management doesn't have to build or maintain separate reports. "The way that Tableau helps us, it's by far the most effective and user-friendly way to disseminate analysis on a large scale to multiple individuals in a way that they can customize it to meet their own needs," explained Dr. Perez. Faculty now have actionable, department-specific information in-hand to modify programs and procedures that improve the academic success of at-risk students.
Now, FIU provides a tailored experience from admissions through enrollment to address all students' educational needs. This improved retention and graduation rates by more than 10 percent since 2018. They're also applying more intense advising techniques and better curriculum management to improve student employability after graduation.
The way that Tableau helps us is by far the most effective and user-friendly way to disseminate analysis on a large scale to multiple individuals, which allows customization to meet their own needs.
Analytics enhance university performance and state funding rank to second
FIU tried other business intelligence solutions, but the technical knowledge needed to use them, plus fragmented data sources, made it tricky for staff to monitor factors that influence performance with state funding metrics, and correlate with student success. "Even if you learned the tool, there were so many settings and clicks that you had to do to make the simplest thing," Dr. Perez added.
With DataRobot extensions for Tableau, FIU's analytics team could rapidly experiment with different scenarios to identify the best strategies for intervention—all without using a single line of code. Tableau Server connects to and integrates hundreds of data sources with millions of records; it's refreshed and ready in the first half hour of each day. Campus staff access the predictive analytics through an internal portal. "The timeliness of it is the biggest advantage that we have, and the fact that it's not a black box. We know what the variables are going into it. And we know which variables are more predictive, whereas with proprietary solutions, you don't understand what puts a person at high risk and how to fix it," said Dr. Perez.
Now staff from the advancement to research departments continue business as usual, but share and access information entirely or as part of a specially created extract to suit their needs. Instead of not being able to forecast the impact of initiatives on metrics, FIU now uses analytics to model scenarios and see what will have the best impact. Tableau has bridged data science and business analytics to positively influence the school's performance with state funding metrics and accelerate FIU's ranking as one of the top public universities in Florida.
Furthermore, with automated, self-service analytics, FIU's Analysis and Information Management team eliminated IT contracts with third-party providers to save the university millions of dollars. Doing so has shifted attention to developing new, creative innovations that serve the university better; such as qualitative analytics tools that reflect student feedback or What-If based tools for strategic planning with school rankings.
Start your free trial of Tableau Server.


April 29 Holidays and Observances, Events, History, Recipe & more!
The Astrological Sign for April 29 is Taurus.
April 27th, 2019 is HEALTHY KIDS DAY! Kerry has a great section on her Healthy Diet Habits website, called Healthy Kids, but today, I wanted to focus on one page in the section called, Children's Nutrition and Discipline.
Food should be enjoyed by all, but not as the way of showing love, reward, or discipline to your kids! Healthy kids with a right relationship to food, should be the goal of every parent.
1. (US, prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, two short and one long (e.g the word "velveteen").


EghtesadOnline: Afghan security forces have arrested 13 individuals in Herat Province on charges of smuggling dollars to Iran.
Following the rapid decline of Afghan currency against the greenback, officials in Herat said police have arrested culprits who were engaged in smuggling US dollars to Iran, Ariana News reported.
"Serious steps being taken against the smuggle of foreign currencies in Herat Province, fortunately, in last two or three months, 13 individuals have been arrested on charges of smuggling dollars to neighboring countries," said the provincial governor's spokesman, Jilani Farhad.
According to the estimation of the provincial Money Exchangers' Union, up to $4 million are smuggled to Iran every day in Herat, Financial Tribune reported.
The head of the union said dollars have also been transferred to Iran through legal channels by some individuals in Islam Qala–a border town in Herat Province near the border with Iran.
This comes as the selling rate of USD has been lingering between 75 to 77 AFN in the past few days in Sarai-Shahzada money exchange market—the largest financial market in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, Khalil Sediq, the head of Afghanistan Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank), said some profiteers are hoarding foreign currency as Iranian rial and Pakistani rupees are also losing their values against the USD.
He stressed that some opportunists are storing USD in the hope of selling it at a higher rate.
Sediq also cited the high demand for USD in Iran and Pakistan as the reason behind the soaring USD value in Afghanistan.


ixi-UMS Business offers to the users the possibility to call away information and/or settings about a web page or to work on. These web sites are made available normally by HTTP on port in 8890. Thise sites can publish, in addition, by HTTPS.
To do this, the Apache HTTP Server installed with ixi-UMS Business must be set up and an SSL certificate must be stored.
If HTTPS is enabled, the setup is checked whether the given port (for all local IPAddressed) is available.
The Apache HTTP Server uses all IP addresses registered to the computer.
If the given port on all or one the IP addresses is already booked, a suitable warning is given.
In this case, it is urgently recommended to bind the Apache HTTP Server (of ixi-Framework) on another port or on a free IP address.
To use HTTPS a SSL certificate is necessary.
·or (with an update) already in the Apache servers available certificate take over.
On the internal network a selfsigned certificate is sufficient to use the websites from ixi-UMS Business.


Luxury brands and jewelry retailers in Hong Kong are struggling to regain their growth as deep-pocketed mainlanders are shifting to other overseas destinations for their shopping expeditions.
Firms such as Prada (01913.HK), Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group (01929.HK), Luk Fook (0590.HK) and Chow Sang Sang Holdings International (0116.HK) are all facing a challenge to boost their revenues.
Chow Sang Sang's senior executives have projected stagnant sales for this year, given sluggish consumption sentiment among local and mainland shoppers. And Luk Fook also indicated that visitor traffic and sentiment have turned quiet.
The outlook is clearly not very rosy for luxury and jewelry retailers. Mainland citizens spent a total of US$3.2 billion on luxury goods purchases overseas during the week-long National Day Holiday in October. The amount represents a decline of over 20 percent from last year's figure US$4.1 billion, according to a report from the World Luxury Association.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan accounted for just 5 percent of the total spending of mainland tourists. Europe is said to have made up 68 percent while North America accounted for 27 percent. Thus, it's quite obvious that Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are no longer the top destinations for wealthy Chinese travelers.
The shift came amid easier access to European and American visas and some cheaper products in those markets.
During the National Day holiday period in 2013, Europe and North America are said to have taken up 65 percent and 22 percent, respectively, of Chinese tourists' overseas spending. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, meanwhile, accounted for 13 percent.
From the figures, we can see that Europe and North America witnessed market share increases of 3 percentage points and 5 percentage points respectively this year.
Due to the shift in mainlander spending, it's estimated that Hong Kong has lost HK$1.2 billion of sales revenue of luxury goods during the holiday.
Actually, the Lunar New Year Festival is the peak season for luxury sales. Chinese travelers have spent US$6.9 billion on luxury goods during the 2014 spring festival, nearly 70 percent more than their spending during the National Day Holiday. And they bought some US$1.5 billion of luxury goods in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in the same period.
Given this situation, Hong Kong authorities should come up with new ideas to attract more visitors. As the Hong Kong dollar is likely to stay strong next year, there is an added reason why more efforts are necessary to shore up the prospects of high-end retailers.
This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Dec. 29.


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Q: What is the time/space complexity of zip(*a[::-1])? If a is a List[List[int]] representing a n✕n matrix, what is the time- and space-complexity of a = zip(*a[::-1])?
My thoughts

*

*Time-complexity has to be at least O(n^2) because we touch n^2 elements. I guess that every element is touched exactly twice (reversing/flipping with a[::-1] and transposing with zip(*reversed))

*list(zip(*a[::-1])) returns a copy, so the space-complexity would be at least n^2. But zip returns an iterator, hence I'm not sure.

*I'm especially uncertain about the space complexity, because I read that zip(*inner) unpacks the inner iterables (source). My guess is that it stores additionally to the input O(n) for keeping pointers for the n inner "unpacked" iterators. But I'm very uncertain about that.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Home Sofie Sunday Sofie Sunday ~ KidZania Manila – Where Kids Rule!
Summer is here! Now, since there are lots of free time and sun- swimming, vacation, and more fun activities can all be done! For one activity to enjoy with your family, I recommend you go to KidZania! Just recently, my family and I went to KidZania Manila. Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to go to this awesome place. And now, I finally did!
What is KidZania? KidZania is a place where kids, who are 4-17 years old, can do role-playing jobs like adults in this indoor playground. They enter the mini version of the establishments/companies on their own (parents can watch their children through the windows). Taking pictures at KidZania is allowed! Take lots of them as your child works so you can remember this fun experience and learn many things about the jobs they choose. They also get a view of the adult world and learn how to be independent and wiser on the jobs they choose. Children can also earn money, called Kidzos (Kidzos are pretty much some bills; there are no coins) to buy toys, clothes, and badges at the KidZania department store.
Kidzos can also be used as payment to enter some establishments (where kids will be trained) like the recording studio, the cooking school, and more. Every time a child finishes working at an establishment, a professional photographer will take a picture of him/her. You can get a photo or two at the PiKidZania Station, just near the Marine Conservationists establishment. Note that you will have to pay in Philippine money, not Kidzos.
KidZania opens at 9 am and closes at 4 pm. I recommend that you should go early because of rush hour. If you are going to KidZania, you should wear comfortable clothes and footwear. There are not a lot of chairs at KidZania (only at the food court, I think) and there will be lots of standing and walking. Did you know, you can get 'Pazzports' at KidZania? If a child gets a Pazzport (price is P250) then he/she becomes a CitiZen of KidZania. They can be paid more and parents can get a free coffee. Cool, right?
The entrance of KidZania is very cool – the inside looks just like the inside of an airport! Once you get in, you will need to fall in line to get a special KidZania bracelet, both children and adults. Be careful with your KidZania bracelets, everyone. If you break them, you will have to pay for a replacement fee. Yikes! Also, do not remove your KidZania bracelet, only the staff will remove them when you leave.
As soon as you get the bracelets and boarding pass, you will be allowed to enter the exciting world of KidZania. Kids can enter the bank to get their special ATM card, which can be used to place earned money inside. The parents can watch their children outside while kids go in line to make their ATM. As soon as you get the card, you can now start doing the jobs you want! Before working at KidZania, you should get a map of the city so you won't get lost. You can find maps in front of the bank and the Aviation Academy.
dinoShawn and I first worked as Marine Conservationists. There, dinoShawn and I learnt about water pollution and even touched some sea creatures. We touched the Choco Chip sea star and the Serpent sea star! After learning a lot about sea life, we were given 12 Kidzos each. Hooray!
After the Marine Conservationists job, we went to more establishments! We danced in front of an audience, became surgeons, learnt how to care for babies, became firefighters, and so much more! It was so much learning and playing at KidZania. It was a lot of fun learning about our desired jobs.
Want to watch video of our dancing? Click! Click!
Pets are close to our hearts. Sofie and Shawn as Veterinarians.
Around 11 am, we started to get hungry. So we went to the Food Court to buy some food. While waiting for Momsweettezil to get our food, dinoShawn and I looked at the map of KidZania (they also provide the map of the entire city of KidZania) and discovered that there was another floor upstairs, called the mezzanine level. Once we discovered that level, we decided to try going upstairs as soon as we finished trying out the jobs downstairs. We had McDonalds meals for lunch, very yummy. dinoShawn got a Happy Meal, it had a little and adorable robot that talks back when it hears the sound of your voice! Cool!
Kids should be the one to fall in line, not their parents or guardians.
The mezzanine level is just the same as the ground level, with more cooking jobs, the parent's lounge (parents can rest here, charge their gadgets, and have coffee), and a part where toddlers can play. The breastfeeding area is also there. This part was also the last place we went to because KidZania was going to close shortly (they close at 4 pm). We made some egg sandwiches in the cooking school. We cracked open two hard boiled eggs, mashed them, mixed in some condensed milk and mayo, and spread them on sandwiches. When we got home, we ate them. They tasted pretty good! Now dinoShawn and I know a delicious recipe. Woo hoo!
Next time, maybe on my birthday, we will go back to KidZania to earn more Kidzos and do the jobs we have not done. Going to KidZania will be a fun learning experience for everyone. A great summer activity, kids will love it here!
Next articleStart where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.


The Lethal Descent 3L Eagle jacket is a legit, high-end, technical piece. It also happens to be the best value on the market.
The Norrøna Lofoten Gore-Tex Pro Jacket was designed with "loaded minimalism" in mind, an oxymoron that's actually pretty apt.
If you're going to test the Niseko jacket from Eider, you might as well test it in the place it was named after. And throughout a huge storm cycle in Japan, the Niseko Jacket proved to be an incredibly well-thought out and well-constructed jacket, ideal for cold temps and seriously deep days.
The Coreupt Steep Ride jacket is a fully waterproof & breathable shell that offers a ton of performance for the price.
Unsurprisingly, the Cosmic jacket measures up to the burliness, versatility, and stylishness we've come to expect from Trew. So reviewer Julia Van Raalte talks instead about the functionality of specific features and how well the Cosmic works for women.
The light weight, versatility, and great fit of the First Ascent Heyburn 2.0 make it a solid choice for any day on or off the hill.
On paper, the Patagonia Nano Storm Jacket doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense, yet several of us at BLISTER love this multipurpose jacket. Jonathan Ellsworth explains.
If you're looking for a jacket with high-end shell performance to battle the elements – and comfy down insulation to keep you warm – then The North Face Hecktic Down Jacket should be on your short list.
The FlyLow Higgins Jacket is a good call if you're heading out (to do just about anything) in less than severe weather.
The North Face Enzo shell shows that TNF still knows how to do top shelf, technical outerwear.
Fact: TREW has thrown down the gauntlet for quality and durability. All that's left for you to decide is whether they've got the steeze dialed.
After a full season of skiing, hiking, biking, climbing, camping, and turning a barbed wire fence into a coat rack, Will Taylor is ready to weigh in.


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The Gambler (2014)
Date: February 6, 2015Author: Mr. Movie 6 Comments
The Only way out is All in.
A surprising follow-up project to his 2011 hit, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, director Rupert Wyatt's latest undertaking, The Gambler is a remake of the 1974 picture, and much like the original film, starring James Caan, is a loose adaptation of the classic Fyodor Dostoevsky novella, aptly titled The Gambler. In this modern retelling, Mark Wahlberg, Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), plays the lead, risk taker Jim Bennett, an English Professor by day and high-stakes gambler by night.
Raising the Stakes!
Trying his luck at a casino late one evening, high roller Jim Bennett bets it all when he borrows money from a dangerous gangster — the intimidating yet charming Neville Baraka (Michael Kenneth Williams) — and offers his own life as collateral. Always one-step ahead of the game, Bennett pits his creditor against Lee (Alvin Ing), the proprietor of a gambling ring, in turn shattering the dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Jessica Lange), who is torn between paying her son's debts or teaching him a lifelong lesson. Playing both sides, Bennett immerses himself in an illicit, underground world, garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett's future. As his questionable relationship with gifted writing student Amy Phillips (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett works up the motivation to take the ultimate risk for a second chance at life, in the hope of breaking out of his addictive and unhealthy lifestyle.
The Gambler is essentially a Mark Wahlberg vehicle as his dynamite expose really anchors and steers the picture along. Preparing for this testing part fairly vigorously, Wahlberg recently stated that the role of Jim Bennett was the most taxing of his career thus far. The bad-boy-rapper-turned-Hollywood-superstar lost a substantial amount of body weight by going on a rigorous diet, consisting of mostly liquid food and vegetables, and tackled a workout of strictly cardio; Wahlberg also sat in on many courses around different colleges in California, analyzing countless professors and their mannerisms so that he could believably depict a literary lecturer. Even though Wahlberg prepared for this challenging part rather laboriously, he did state that he would, 'never again attempt to lose that much weight for a film gig.' So, did Wahlberg's hard work, training and dedication ultimately pay off? It most certainly did, as this is by far one of the strongest performances of Wahlberg's thriving acting career, with Bennett being unpredictable, impulsive and volatile, and a real joy to watch, as Wahlberg accurately paints the portrait of a tortured artist with a death wish.
Casino Pun? I wouldn't roulette out!
Wahlberg is adequately supported by a cast of relatively gifted secondary players, from his fierce and privileged mother Roberta, Jessica Lange, Tootsie (1982) — with Lange delivering one of her most stirring and memorable performances in recent years — to John Goodman's, The Big Lebowski (1998), powerful and controlling Frank, who becomes somewhat of an unconventional father-figure to Jim. The real second tier highlight however is Brie Larson, Short Term 12 (2013), who plays the sweet scholarly, girl-next-door writing student Amy, giving Wahlberg's Bennett enough warmth, sensitivity and sympathy to justify his attempt at finally going clean.
With a screenplay penned by William Monahan, the man responsible for writing Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006) — and Monahan's sharp gripping script having won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay that year — his efforts in delivering a fulfilling journey for The Gambler's self-loathing protagonist are middling at best, as while the rendering and portrayal of Bennett is quite exhaustive and complex, certain key characters surrounding him don't feel as fleshed out or as comprehensive as they ought to. Several background players in particular feel underdeveloped and are seen making questionable decisions throughout the picture, decisions which lack any real substance or motive — a college star basketball player, Lamar Allen (Anthony Kelley), takes a bribe to win one of his college basketball games by a margin of seven points or less, and this weighty moral dilemma is simply glanced over. With that said though, the script is well paced overall and compelling enough, even though it's often simplistic and rather run-of-the-mill at times.
Not necessarily a good man!
On a side note, The Gambler's soundtrack is admittedly impressive, featuring a soulful, blues and jazzy mix of contemporary and classic sounding tunes; 'Airwaves,' performed by Ray LaMontagne, certainly sticks to mind, being a fitting melody for the film's auspicious finale, playing as the end credit roll.
Gritty, and often relatively intense, Wyatt succeeds in crafting a film that's heavy on atmosphere and suspense, chiefly in its portrayal of the seedy gambling world and its tormented central character, Jim Bennett. Elevated by excellent performances, from Wahlberg in particular, who finds his most interesting role since The Departed, The Gambler is not as powerful as it could have been — many argue that Caan's 1974 The Gambler flick is a far superior effort, though never having seen it myself, I can't really make a comparison — but this remake of sorts stands as a decent enough entertainer on its own.
3 / 5 – Good
Reviewed by S-Littner
The Gambler is released through Paramount Pictures Australia
AirwavesAlvin IngAnthony KelleyBrie LarsonFyodor DostoevskyGoodJames CaanJessica LangeJohn GoodmanMark WahlbergMichael Kenneth WilliamsRay LaMontagneRupert WyattWilliam Monahan
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6 thoughts on "The Gambler (2014)"
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM maybe………………………
Eh. The cast made some of this material, but altogether, it was dull and uneventful. Good review.
MovieManJackson says:
I was so excited for this one, but to be honest I had trouble staying awake around the halfway point. I do think many of the performances are fine, but I never bought Wahlberg as a professor, it was kinda comical to me. I love your take though, solid review bro.
Mr. Movie says:
Thanks Mr. Jackson. I enjoyed the film for what it was, I was invited to a special pre-screening before release, so maybe that sweetened the deal a little 😛
Movie Maniac says:
The original, which contains one of Caan's very best performances, is a great piece of neonoir. I could be wrong, but I sincerely doubt this remake is nearly as good.
Like I stated in my review, I've never seen Caan's version, but this 'remake' actually isn't too bad; it's probably not as good as the original, but it's somewhat watchable, thanks to its great performances!
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Centre for Innovation Management Research
Draws on a variety of academic disciplines across the fields of management, law, economics and science policy, to deliver high quality research and teaching in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Home › Publications › CIMR Working Papers
CIMR Working Papers
Editors: Helen Lawton Smith, Klaus Nielsen and Carlo Milana
The objective of the CIMR Working Papers is to publicise research being done by its academics, PhD students, Research fellows, Visiting fellows, Stakeholders and visitors.
For further details contact Helen Lawton Smith at h.lawton-smith@bbk.ac.uk
WP48 Financial crisis of 2008 and outward foreign investments from China and India, Suma Athreye, Abubakr Saeed and Muhammad Saad Baloch
Chinese and Indian outward investment paths that looked so similar before 2008 began to diverge rapidly after the financial crisis. This paper proposes that the motives for outward investment interacted with the sources of financing this investment to produce this divergent outcome.
WP47 Centripetal and centrifugal forces in technological activities: linking regional innovation performances to EU Science & Technology policies, Daniele Archibugi, Riccardo Evangelista and Antonio Vezzani.
Have the EU policies for science and technology, specifically the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, contributed to reduce or to amplify regional differences in innovation? And, how could the contrasting objectives of reducing geographical disparities and promoting EU excellence be achieved?
WP46 Experience versus youth: An exploratory study of the motivations of older entrepreneurs, Gillian Gray and Helen Lawton Smith.
The decision of someone over the age of 50 to switch from traditional employment to being an entrepreneur is found to arise from a complex mix of personal motivation, access to resources and environmental determinants.
WP45 Digitalization and the transnational corporations, Grazia Ietto-Gillies.
The paper focuses on digital transnational corporations and the challenges they pose for theory and policy. The theory of transnationals may need rethinking as the balance between foreign assets, revenues and employment diverges from more traditional transnationals. The major policy challenge is in terms governments trying to counteract the ease with which the digital TNCs can minimise their tax liability world wide.
WP44 International knowledge flows between industry inventors and universities: the role of multinational companies, Claudio Fassio, Aldo Geuna and Federica Rossi.
We investigate the determinants of industry researchers' interactions with universities in different localities, distinguishing between local and international universities. Our findings suggest that industry researchers' personal networks play a greater role in promoting interactions with local universities while researcher employment in a multinational is especially important for establishing interactions with universities abroad.
WP43 Regional income disparities, monopoly & finance, Maryann Feldman, Fred Guy and Simona Iammarino.
Many of the most prosperous places in the U.S. are hotbeds of technology and also the home bases of companies which exercise monopoly power across much larger territories – nationally, or even globally. This paper makes four arguments about how monopoly power and financialization increase regional income disparities.
WP42 Fast growing and key enabling technologies and their impact on regional growth in Europe. Rinaldo Evangelista, Valentina Meliciani and Antonio Vezzani.
This paper studies the specialisation of EU regions in key enabling (KETs) and fast growing (FGTs) technologies and assesses whether being specialized in these technological areas has an effect on regional growth. The evidence presented shows that only specialisation in KETs affects regional economic growth, while no significant effects are found for FGTs.
WP41 Universities, graduates and local labour markets. Helen Lawton Smith and Rupert Waters.
This paper challenges the idea of a direct association between the presence of universities and the level of skills in the workforce by comparing two neighbouring counties in the South East of England, both prosperous areas in the UK. These are Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire..
WP40 Interorganisational collaboration in Academic Health Science Centre: a case study on King's Health Partnership. Ellen Siu.
This paper explores the interorganisational collaboration phenomenon in university-hospital partnership, focusing on how clinical and scientific actors in an Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) leverage different proximity dimensions in translational research.
WP39 Participatory ethics in biotech research: decisions identifying barriers to the adoption and implementation of participatory decision making in the biotech industry. Leila Maria Kehl.
Based on a critical analysis of the current stakeholder management in the biotechnology industry, the concept of Participatory Research Ethics (PRE) is introduced to the literature on participatory stakeholder approaches. It addresses and aims to overcome current obstacles that hinder the implementation of the established concepts, Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Participatory Action Research (PAR).
WP38 A tale of persistent network additionality, with evidence from a regional policy. Annalisa Caloffi, Federica Rossi and Margherita Russo.
Adopting a counterfactual approach to the evaluation of a regional R&D; collaboration policy, carried out in Tuscany (Italy), we investigate different types of persistent network additionality, namely persistence effect, breadth effect, composition effect, and depth effect.
WP37 Innovation in risky markets. Multinational and domestic firms in the UK regions. Luisa Gagliardi and Simona Iammarino.
This paper analyses the relationship between firm engagement in innovation and perception of market risk. It points to heterogeneity in the behaviour of multinationals (MNEs) versus single domestic firms, emphasising how this relationship changes across regional contexts.
WP36 Entrepreneurship policies and the development of regional innovation systems: theory, policy and practice. Helen Lawton Smith.
The paper provides an appraisal and synthesis of the regional innovation systems approach in relation to entrepreneurship policies. It addresses a number of areas where theoretical, empirical and policy-based issues are currently under-developed in relation to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policy.
WP35 Science, Innovation and Technology Transfer Pathways in Translational Research: A Study of Divergent Trajectories in the Healthcare Sector in Europe. Helen Lawton Smith, Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen and Laurel Edmunds.
The geography of the biomedical sector, that of clustering in particular regions, presents an opportunity for place-specific understanding of processes involved in translational research in medical sciences, particularly with regard to the role of public policy and its outcomes in four bioscience regions in Europe.
WP34 Designing performance-based incentives for innovation intermediaries: Evidence from regional innovation poles. Margherita Russo, Annalisa Caloffi, Federica Rossi and Riccardo Righi.
The paper focuses on the issue of how to identify appropriate indicators to measure the performance of publicly-funded innovation intermediaries. It argues that indicators need to be closely tied to the policy's objectives, which are usually linked to the remedying of innovation system failures. The case of a policy programme implemented in Tuscany (Italy) is used to illustrate how the choice of performance indicators that are only loosely tied to the policy's objectives, can lead intermediaries to adopt behaviours that are misaligned with those objectives. The findings are then used to develop some implications for the design of performance indicators that are aligned with the objectives of policy.
WP33 Overeducation and overskill in the Italian labour market: the role of fields of study. Valentina Meliciani and Debora Radicchia
This paper investigates the role of skill heterogeneity in affecting differences in occupational mismatch across fields of study. By relying on measures of overeducation and overskill collected in the 2014 ISFOL survey, we test to which extent the two phenomena differ across fields of study and the role played by merit and non-cognitive skills. We find that having an excellent graduate curriculum significantly decreases over-education and over-skill, while non-cognitive skills do not matter.
WP32 Understanding the Dynamics of Triple Helix Interactions. The Case of English Higher Education Institutions. Mabel Sánchez Barrioluengo, Elvira Uyarra and Fumi Kitagawa.
This paper examines the evolution of the dynamics of the triple helix interactions exemplified by the case of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England. Results highlight the persisting heterogeneity between HEIs in their combination, geography and evolution of triple helix interactions, particularly between research oriented universities and newer universities with strong teaching orientations.
WP31 The Retreat of Public Research and its Adverse Consequences on Innovation Daniele Archibugi and Andrea Filippetti
In the last decades a major trend has been ignored: both the quota of public R&D and its share over the total R&D investment has shrunk in most OECD countries. As a result, a larger fraction of knowledge is today generated in the private sector. We argue that this is a major problem since public research and private research differ along a number of characteristics. This has implications for innovation and welfare. Through the lens of the public goods theory and the evolution of R&D for the period 1981-2012 we try to explain why.
WP30 Academic Inventors: Collaboration and Proximity with Industry Riccardo Crescenzi, Andrea Filippetti, and Simona Iammarino
This paper addresses a number of questions on university-industry (U-I) collaborations. We find that U-I collaborations are less likely to happen when compared to other types of collaboration. Geographical proximity facilitates collaboration; it also works as a possible substitute for institutional proximity, facilitating U-I collaborations. 'Star inventors' play an important role in 'bridging' universities and industry.
WP29 Train the worst or train the best? The determinants of employer-sponsored training in five European countries Francesca Sgobbi
The paper investigates the effectiveness of training initiatives by checking whether a measure of employee-job fit and a measure of employee potential are significant determinants of participation in employer-sponsored training undertaken for job-related reasons. The empirical analysis, extended to five large EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), is based on OECD PIAAC Survey.
WP28: Does training help in times of crisis? Training in employment in Northern and Southern Italy Andrea Filippetti, Frederick Guy, and Simona Iammarino
This paper explores the relative effectiveness of training in securing continued employment in a time of economic downturn, within the context of the Italian territorial dualism. We use a panel on 4,861 individuals for the period 2008-2011 and focus on how the effects of training differ between the South and the Centre-North of Italy, and also across workers with different levels of education.
WP27: An exploration of interactive contextual and dispositional factors which influence a collective process of entrepreneurial activity: a novel case at Bristol Zoo Natalie Holden
This paper explores how environmental – social, spatial, temporal and institutional – contexts and individual motivations interact to influence entrepreneurial behaviour during a process of collaborative innovation. This is a qualitative case study into an Innovate UK funded inter-industry collaboration which took place in Bristol from 2011-2014.
WP26: The impact of female entrepreneurship on economic growth in Kenya Rachel Lock and Helen Lawton Smith
This paper explores the challenges facing female entrepreneurs in Kenya. A key theme is how, through the improved availability of micro-finance, women's entrepreneurship is becoming a successful model for lifting women and their immediate families out of poverty.
WP25: Two Decades of Research on Innovation Paradoxes: A Review, An Explanatory Typology, and Suggestions for Future Research Thanos Fragkandreas
The paper provides an extensive review on two of the most popular innovation paradoxes in the literature of innovation studies, that of the European paradox and of the Swedish paradox. It draws some important conclusions relevant for both theory and practice."
WP24: Monitoring the knowledge transfer performance of universities: An international comparison of models and indicators Ainurul Rosli and Federica Rossi
This paper discusses how to appropriately monitor and assess the performance of universities' knowledge transfer activities. In light of different models of how knowledge flows from university to industry – each requiring different indicators – we compare four monitoring exercises currently implemented in the UK, US and Canada, Australia and Europe.
WP23: Technology, development and economic crisis: the Schumpeterian legacy Rinaldo Evangelista
This contribution highlights the complex, non-linear and potentially contradictory nature of the relationships between technological progress, economic growth and social development, in particular within the context of market based economies. It is also argued that a "positivistic bias" affects also the neo-Schumpeterian literature characterized by the dominance of a supply-side and micro-based view of the technology-economy relationships.
WP22: The Effect of Initial Public Offerings on Firm Innovation Matthew Crail Johnson
This paper explore the ex post effect that initial public offerings have on the innovative performance of companies using a quantitative measure of patent activity in the years preceding and following the event.
WP21: Youth Guarantee and the Italian PES: insights from ISFOL PLUS Survey data Emiliano Mandrone, David D'Angelo
This paper uses data from the ISFOL PLUS Survey to focus on the specific features of the Italian labour market and of the Italian Public Employment Services (PESs) so as to analyse the difficulties that they face in responding to the challenges posed by the Youth Guarantee (YG), both in terms of reorganisation and of strengthened financial effort.
WP20: Explaining the gap between policy aspirations and implementation: The case of university knowledge transfer policy in the United Kingdom Ainurul Rosli, Federica Rossi
The paper proposes a conceptual framework to explain why, particularly when policies deal with complex and ambiguous issues, an increasing gap may open up between government-set objectives and the instruments used for policy implementation and evaluation: the former are characterized by increasing breadth and ambiguity, while the latter become progressively narrower in scope. The case of policies in support of university-industry knowledge transfer in the United Kingdom is used as an illustration of how these processes can play out in practice.
WP19: Informal Network, Spatial Mobility and Overeducation in the Italian Labour Market Valentina Meliciani, Debora Radicchia
The paper investigates the consequence of the use of the informal recruitment channel on the phenomenon of overeducation and on the internal migration in the Italian labour market.
WP18: The effect of external knowledge sources and their geography on innovation in Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) SMEs; some Implications for de-industrialised regions in the UK Maja Savic, Helen Lawton Smith and Ioannis Bournakis
The paper explores the effect of external knowledge sources and their geography on innovation activity in small Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). It draws on results from a survey conducted in 2010 of 342 small and medium (SME) KIBS in the UK's North East and West Midlands.
WP17: Intra-industry effects of Foreign Multinationals in the UK: Local Innovation and Firm Heterogeneity Riccardo Crescenzi, Luisa Gagliardi, Simona Iammarino
This paper investigates whether the presence of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) carrying out investment activities in the UK benefits the innovation capacity of domestic firms within the same industry.
WP16: The efficiency of universities' knowledge transfer activities: A multi-output approach beyond patenting and licensing Federica Rossi
Using data from the United Kingdom, we analyse the relative efficiency with which university institutions engage in knowledge transfer activities, and study the institutional and environmental factors that influence their efficiency. While most current studies limit their focus to intellectual property disclosures, we focus on a broad range of knowledge transfer outputs that include also research and consultancy contracts, professional training courses, and public engagements.
WP15: Born Global's Use Of Innovative Solutions To Create Sustainable Competitive Advantages As It Expands And Grows In Different International Markets Svante Andersson, Gabriel Awuah, Ingemar Wictor
This paper deals with how born global firms learn from own experiences and from other actors, with whom the firms interact in foreign markets, to create innovative solutions for international growth.
WP14: The contribution of Business services to the export performances of manufacturing industries. An empirical study on 5 European countries Rinaldo Evangelista, Matteo Lucchese, Valentina Meliciani
WP13: Indicators of university-industry knowledge transfer performance and their implications for universities: evidence from the UK's HE-BCI survey Federica Rossi and Ainurul Rosli
This paper outlines some critical issues connected with the choice of appropriate indicators in the measurement of universities' performance in knowledge transfer.
WP12: Entrepreneurship, innovation and the triple helix model: evidence from Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire Helen Lawton Smith, Saverio Romeo and Rupert Waters
The paper focuses on how regions become entrepreneurial and the extent to which the actors in the triple helix model are dominant at particular stages in development. It uses the case studies of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire in the UK to explore this theme.
WP11: Can a teaching university be an entrepreneurial university? Civic Entrepreneurship and the Formation of A Cultural Cluster in Ashland, Oregon Henry Etzkowitz
The paper examines how the concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation can be expanded into different forms to map civic entrepreneurship. To do so it uses the case of the makings of a cultural cluster in Oregon in the USA.
WP10: The Role of Internationalization as a Determinant of Innovation Performance. An Analysis of 42 Countries. Andrea Filippetti, Marion Frenz, Grazia Ietto-Gillies
This paper analyses the impact of internationalization on the innovation performance of 42 countries and for these countries finds support that competing in international markets via outward FDI and exports increases the scope of learning and the need to innovate.
WP 9: Social Capital, Industrial Districts and Regional Unemployment in Italy Luca Andriani
We consider the industrial districts "conductors" of social capital. Hence, we use the regional density of industrial districts to measure social capital and we analyse its impact on regional unemployment in Italy.
WP 8: Education-Job (Mis)Matching And Interregional Migration: Italian University Graduates' Transition To Work Simona Iammarino, Elisabetta Marinelli
This paper explores the patterns of education-job (mis)matching of recent university graduates, focussing on the impact of interregional migration.
WP 7: Skills, social insurance, and changes in innovation investment after the onset of the financial crisis in Europe Andrea Filippetti, Frederick Guy
We find that firms in countries which have both high earnings replacement rates and high participation in vocational education and training were less likely to reduce investments in innovation following the onset of the financial crisis; countries with only one of these features were more likely to see reduced investment in innovation; job security appears to have no effect.
WP 6: Economic crisis and innovation: is destruction prevailing over accumulation? Daniele Archibugi, Andrea Filippetti, Marion Frenz
This paper, based on the latest three waves of the UK Community Innovation Survey, compares drivers of innovation investment before and during the crisis, and finds that the crisis led to a concentration of innovative activities among fast growing and already innovative firms.
WP 5: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Innovation: Evidence from Europe Daniele Archibugi, Andrea Filippetti, Marion Frenz
Building on the Schumpeterian hypotheses of creative destruction and technological accumulation, the paper compares drivers of innovation investment before, during and following on from the onset of the recent economic crisis through the analysis of a fresh survey of European firms.
WP 4: Regional variety and employment growth in Italian labour market areas: services versus manufacturing industries Francesca Mameli, Simona Iammarino, Ron Boschma
This paper investigates the effects of different forms of regional sectoral diversity on employment growth of Italian manufacturing and service industries.
WP3: How to Sustain Entrepreneurial Performance during the Current Financial Crisis (BIROn) Michael Kianfar, Helen Lawton Smith, Carlo Milana
The current phase of the financial crisis which poses problems to companies, policy makers and academicians, requires profound re-thinking and reorganization of strategies, actions and instruments.
WP2: Clusters, human capital and economic development in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire Rupert Waters, Helen Lawton Smith
Building on previous work (Lawton Smith and Waters, 2011) this paper draws on national datasets to review the continued and different development of the high tech economies of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
WP1: Connected innovation: An international comparative study that identifies mixed modes of innovation Marion Frenz and Ray Lambert
This paper develops a typology of mixed modes of innovation – bundles of activities done by firms jointly to bring about new developments – and examines the role of the innovation modes in performance through the empirical analysis of innovation survey data from 18 OECD countries.
San Francisco, New York, Washington: Iron Triangle of Rent
Monopsony Capitalism: Power and Production in the Twilight of the Sweatshop Age
Gaming and Gender: Video gaming as a catalyst for learning innovation amongst Gen Z women
CIMR Debates in Public Policy – Spring term 2021 calendar
Technology transformation for Public Good – Role of AI/Automation to address societal challenges
How can SMEs make the most of public R&D investment? – Hub of Knowledge Co-creation on How can SMEs make the most of public R&D investment?
What can we learn from Absorptive Capacity? – Centre for Innovation Management Research – CIMR, Birkbeck on Workshop on Absorptive Capacity: Conceptual and Empirical Issues
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Legislators in Connecticut are considering creating a law that will require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Connecticut originally had a helmet law, but repealed it back in 1975.
A group of riders with the Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association showed up in the State Capitol building to plead their case against the legislation.
"The legislature governs on the consent of the governed. In the case of the seatbelt law, the public at large did not object, but with the helmet law, the riders do object, and that's the different," said Rich Paukner with the Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association.
"I'll have less business if we have motorcycle helmets in Connecticut. I'll be happier to have less business, I don't need that kind of business," said Dr. Phil Brewer, formerly the president of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians.
Sounds like Big Brother doesn't want us getting killed.


This lawsuit is for anyone who acquired securities in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) from June 22, 2018 through November 19, 2018.
The lawsuit alleges that the Company and certain of its executives violated federal law. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that, throughout the time period mentioned above, the Company misled investors regarding its financial condition. More specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the Company failed to disclose that it was engaged in illegally fixing the market price for DRAM, and therefore authorities would subject the Company to regulatory scrutiny when the authorities inevitably discovered the Company's illegal behavior.
On November 19, 2018, the Financial Times reported that Chinese investigators found "massive evidence" of anti-competitive behavior by Micron and two other companies. On this news, the price of the Company's stock dropped precipitously on unusually heavy trading volume.
The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members. If you acquired securities in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) from June 22, 2018 through November 19, 2018 you may join the lawsuit by submitting your information online, or you may call the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith and speak to Mr. Smith directly to learn how he can protect your rights.


text:
Grant—Grantee
Aruna D'Souza will write a series of articles that meld criticism, journalism, and activism, focusing on artists of color (especially women) whose work offers models for being in the world today. Whether it is through their activism, their overtly political work, or—perhaps most importantly—their purely conceptual and formal strategies for art-making, D'Souza's writing will examine the ways in which today's most challenging art reveals the mechanisms by which powers such as white supremacy and capitalism assert themselves while also allowing viewers to experience its material, sensory, and intellectual pleasures.
Aruna D'Souza is a critic whose work appears regularly in 4Columns, where she is a member of the editorial advisory board. D'Souza is the author of Whitewalling: Art, Race, and Protest in 3 Acts (Badlands Unlimited, 2018) and Cézanne's Bathers: Biography and the Erotics of Paint (Penn State University Press, 2009). Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Art News, frieze, Canadian Art, the Paris Review, Garage, Bookforum, Momus, Art in America, and Art Practical. D'Souza has a PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.
Eda Cufer
Iftikhar Dadi