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Re-opening: small businesses in Stratford-upon-Avon
Home › Blog › Coronavirus: Support and recovery › Re-opening: small businesses in Stratford-upon-Avon
The school summer holidays are officially underway and UK citizens are emerging from lockdown. How are the owners of small businesses in one of the UK's top tourist destinations experiencing the 'new normal'? Tide writer Suzanne Worthington finds out.
RSC: live theatre on hold
Royal Shakespeare Theatre,
decorated with tape by
#scenechange
One of the star attractions of Stratford-upon-Avon – the Royal Shakespeare Theatre – remains closed. While the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company, which runs the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan Theatre and The Other Place) is no small business itself, this major employer in the town attracts many of the visitors to Stratford who also spend money with the town's smaller businesses.
Today however, the RSC has reopened the Riverside Café for takeaways only. Customers were able to buy from a window and take their purchases to the outdoor seating by the river.
Surveying the operations was the RSC's Director of Marketing Chris Hill who was pleased the theatre was taking steps to reopen and hoped that the successful start of this initiative will continue.
Avon Boating: all aboard – at half capacity
Avon Boating welcomes passengers onboard
Nearby at Avon Boating, which offers short river cruises and boats for hire, business is booming.
Stewards Henry and Olivia were welcoming passengers onto one of the company's long wooden cruisers. They explained that for distancing, the capacity of the vessel is now 22 instead of 58. Of the boats for hire, only half the usual amount were available due to staff on furlough and the time required for extra cleaning between groups.
Avon Boating is one of the top-earning leisure activity companies in Stratford, only exceeded by the RSC and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust which maintains the historic houses of Shakespeare's family and the RSC's archives. The company appears to have weathered the coronavirus interruption well, paying their furloughed staff the 80% they can reclaim from the Government and topping staff pay up to 100% from their own funds.
Currently, Avon Boating's revenue is at 30% compared to this month last year – but Henry and Olivia were optimistic. The company – always popular but competing with other leisure activities in Stratford – is now a very attractive option for tourists because their activities take place outside rather than inside. It's perceived to be a particularly Covid-safe option.
Queuing for fish and chips at Barnaby's
Nearby on the corner of Sheep Street, the queue for Barnaby's fish and chips was snaking down the road.
Again, rather than eating in a restaurant, customers prefer to buy a take-away and find a socially-distant spot on the theatre's lawn to eat their lunch.
Some enterprising person was offering deckchairs for hire which, along with the aroma from the chippy, makes the riverside area feel like the seaside.
Stratford Gallery: creating a haven for collectors
Ceramics and painting
at The Stratford Gallery
Tucked into a historic cottage on Sheep St, Howard and Emma Clegg run The Stratford Gallery. Since opening in 2016, the Gallery has earned a reputation nationally and internationally for showing some of the finest living painters and ceramic artists.
Many of the Gallery's clients rely on Howard and Emma to curate and supply only the best work from around the world to add to their own collection. What if you just want to buy a unique gift? No problem – the Gallery is open to everyone. Stepping inside, any visitor will immediately feel the sense of peace, away from the hubbub of the riverside, and surrounded by dreamy paintings and irresistible ceramic art.
A great gallery doesn't just buy and sell – Howard and Emma enjoy guiding customers to find what they believe will become 'important' pieces in the future. They're also part of the Own Art network, an interest-free payment scheme backed by the Arts Council, which makes buying contemporary art and craft more affordable.
So while the Gallery couldn't open during lockdown, the team were busy responding to existing clients who had more time to enhance and invest in their collections, and new customers asking for advice. With delivery services still operating, the Gallery team packed and sent purchases out daily to customers around the world.
Howard and Emma are optimistic about reopening but two things will improve their 2020: firstly, the theatres reopening. All Stratford businesses will agree on this because the RSC brings in 1,000 or more visitors a day who enjoy the town's shops and hospitality venues as part of their visit.
Coronavirus measure:
widened pavements
Secondly, the Gallery and many other businesses in Stratford are asking the town and county councils to re-think the new one-way traffic system and social distancing measures designed to allowed the public to stay further apart.
It seems to be a case of good intention but poor execution. Feedback from both shoppers and shopkeepers suggests that the measures aren't working and in fact, they're keeping away people who want to visit Stratford to buy items to take with them immediately.
Worryingly, several business owners I spoke to said that the traffic measures are so off-putting, customers are choosing to go to other towns instead. Traders are hoping that the normal road scheme and parking areas will be reinstated soon so customers will be encouraged to return.
With no set date for the theatres reopening, The Stratford Gallery has altered their business model to focus on online sales and London Art Fairs for the short to medium-term.
Sister Sister: brightening 2020 with accessories
Stock display in a piano
at Sister Sister
In Bell Court, a renovated outdoor mall tucked behind Stratford's dormant Debenhams, Francie and Rachel run Sister Sister Collective (yes, they're sisters – we've featured them before).
What started as an experimental pop-up shop turned into a year-long lease in the courtyard. The shop is like a fantasy jewellery and accessories dressing-up box, selling both classic and Anthropologie-style pieces for any occasion from day-to-day casual wear to a day at the races.
During lockdown the pair fast-tracked the launch of their website and online shop, sistersistercollective.net As some women found they had money to spare – for example, by not commuting or going out – online shopping became a lockdown pastime. Sister Sister's customers bought gifts for friends or treats for themselves. And with hairdressers closed, customers bought the store's headbands and scarves as a quick solution to bad hair days.
Accessories at Sister Sister
Before they were allowed to reopen to the public, Francie and Rachel were spending long days at the shop packing and sending orders. Customers loved the hand-written thank-you notes from the owners.
Sister Sister would like to move a more prominent unit in the town – but the business rates are so high, it's not an option for them. And ideally, we'd all have weddings, parties and events to go to which might require us treating ourselves to a new bag, jewellery or hair accessory.
But really, if you have a spare few quid, what's stopping you from picking up a pair of Sister Sister's sparkly lobster earrings to jazz up your video calls?
El Greco: welcoming back diners
Over at Greek restaurant El Greco, lunchtime diners were still arriving even though it was past 2pm. The popular restaurant reopened on 15 July, deciding on a 'soft' relaunch with just one social media post to inform customers. Locals and tourists haven't stopped pouring in.
Owner/Director Flair and her team spent the preceding weeks coordinating their coronavirus measures. They've reduced the covers inside their premises from 126 to 78, offer a reduced menu, and a waiter brings hand sanitiser to the table as customers sit down.
In an initiative I haven't seen elsewhere, Flair has had wooden screens specially made to avoid using the 'shower curtains' seen in other venues. The screens could be a good longer-term investment – rather than the interior of the restaurant being cloaked in plastic sheeting like a forensic crime scene, the wooden screens create booths so each table feels more like a private dining space, while still being part of the buzz that El Greco's customers love. Smart.
The whole service team – who are all back from furlough – were wearing visors, rather than masks, an approach Flair says the customers have appreciated because communication is easier.
Things are far from back to normal. Obviously with fewer covers, the restaurant's revenue isn't at the same level as before. But customer behaviour is different too. Flair notes that diners prefer to be outside. (Fortunately our climate is currently allowing this.) People are more commonly arriving to dine in pairs – group visits haven't yet picked up. And many people, nervous about going to a busy restaurant, are choosing to eat a late lunch to avoid the busiest times.
Flair says that the biggest difference in customer behaviour is that previously guests would stay an average of 1.5 hours for dinner at El Greco; now they take their time, spending more like 2.5 hours. She attributes this to several factors: because the theatres aren't open, no-one has to rush off to catch curtain-up, and people are relieved to be permitted to socialise out and about again, so catching up with friends and family over dinner is to be savoured. There are other factors too: more people working at home means no early get-ups to commute so people can enjoy staying out for longer in the evenings.
Lunchtime diners at El Greco restaurant
Shabby Chic Sister: locals discovering independent clothes store
Behind El Greco restaurant is The Minories, a light and open courtyard which cuts from the market place to Shakespeare's birthplace.
Shabby Chic Sister
Tucked into a corner of the alley is clothes shop Shabby Chic Sister, run by Kate who walked away from a non-stop corporate lifestyle to live at a more steady pace as a small business owner.
The shop has been at its location in The Minories for seven years but the Stratfordians who discover it say they didn't realise it was there. Kate sells her hand-picked selection of clothing and jewellery, many Italian designed and made, while her dog Albert looks on from his basket.
During the lockdown, Kate had to close the shop and because she doesn't sell online, there was no option but to wait for the Government announcement that stores could reopen.
As a coronavirus measure (and again, fortunately permitted by the July weather), Kate has put rails of clothing outside the shop, allowing customers to browse and maintain distance. This has had the added benefit of attracting more customers who hadn't previously found the store.
Most of Kate's customers are tourists and most of her trade is in summer. With tourists starting to return to the town, and some of the summer still remaining, Kate is optimistic. However, as the owners of Sister Sister noted, with no big events or parties taking place, customers aren't buying new pieces. Perhaps it's time to instigate a 'Dress Up Friday' where home-workers cast off their leisurewear, buy a few new items for their wardrobe and do Zoom calls in their finery?
Plantarium: brewing up more trade than ever
Shabby Chic Sister's owner Kate has noticed trade has picked up at her shop now there are more businesses occupying The Minories. One of the newer businesses in the courtyard is the Plantarium which opened in February 2019.
Plantarium vegetarian cafe
The café is Stratford's only dedicated vegan/vegetarian venue and, after my fairly comprehensive survey, I reckon they do the best oat cappuccino in town. Want to go even more niche on your milk substitute? Try the pea protein option. Need something Instagrammable to post for your followers? Try a macha latte or cannabis tea with a wedge of vegan cake.
Barista and manager Eric chatted to me while owner Magda was busy in the kitchen. In June the café opened for take-away only and they reopened for sit-in customers earlier in July. From just a few tables outside, the team have added more outdoor covers, creating a buzzy terrace with plenty of space between tables.
With reduced hours and a change in customer behaviour, The Plantarium report that their revenue is 30% down on the same month last year. The team have also decided to change from closing on Monday to closing on a Thursday – Eric's theory on why Mondays are busier than Thursdays at the café is that tourists stay in the town for a long weekend, Friday to Monday.
The café are taking part in the Government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme, hoping to attract more customers on weekdays and especially budget-conscious young people and families financially hit by the lockdown.
With the Eat Out to Help Out discount and plus more and more positive reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Maps, Eric, Magda and the team are looking forward to a busy August.
The enlarged terrace at Plantarium café
HR Coffee Bar: bouncing back, with the help of their accountant
A diner enjoys a socially-distant lunch at HR Coffee Bar
Over at HR Coffee Bar on Windsor Street, sandwiched between a busy coach park and the old Picturehouse cinema, manager Dan reported similar observations to Eric at the Plantarium.
HR reopened in June for take-aways and this proved popular as people wanted to buy something to take for a picnic by the river. Like many venues, Dan notes that customers prefer to be outside so HR's outdoor tables have been popular.
But, similarly to the Plantarium, revenue is down 30% on the same time last year so HR were pleased to get a Bounce Back Loan which they're using to maintain and invest in their business. Dan had high praise for his accountants who were truly earning their fee this year, keeping him informed about Government aid and making it as easy as possible for him to take up the support.
Tide writer Suzanne will be reporting from other towns soon.
Come back to the Tide blog for more posts like this.
How has the coronavirus crisis affected your company? If you've reopened, how is trade going? We're keen to hear from you – get in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
Photos by Suzanne Worthington © Tide
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Google has denied reports that YouTube has cancelled pitches for scripted content, claiming to be planning an ad-supported service.
The statement comes on the heels of Apple's announcement for a paid SVoD service, with YouTube doubling down on original video content.
Planned to exist alongside YouTube Premium, the service would offer original TV content for free.
YouTube did confirm the cancellation of scripted projects Origin and Overthinking with Kate & June, as reported by Bloomberg.


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Tag Archives: drone
Start up: the iCloud celeb hack, a Chinese ransom?, the real terrorist phone, Trump as Berlusconi, and more
Posted on March 17, 2016 by charlesarthur
"Hey, Miss Lawrence! My name's iCloud! What's your password?" Photo by YourWay Magazine on Flickr.
The disturbingly simple way dozens of celebrities had their nude photos stolen » Fusion
Kashmir Hill:
»According to court documents, Collins gained access to the intimate images of nude celebrities via a disturbingly simple technique: phishing.
Though many people assumed that the hacker took advantage of an iCloud vulnerability to brute-force his way into the celebrities' accounts, the government makes no mention of that. Instead, it says that Collins hacked over 100 people by sending emails that looked like they came from Apple and Google, such as "e-mail.protection318@icloud.com," "noreply_helpdesk0118@outlook.com," and "secure.helpdesk0019@gmail.com." According to the government, Collins asked for his victims' iCloud or Gmail usernames and passwords and "because of the victims' belief that the email had come from their [Internet Service Providers], numerous victims responded by giving [them]."
Celebrities really need better computer security advisers. If a dedicated enough attacker comes at you, it's hard to avoid being compromised, but it helps immensely to turn on two-factor authentication for your online accounts. That way a person needs not just your password but a code sent to your phone to get into your account.
Once Collins had their credentials, says the government, he went through their email accounts looking for nude photos and videos. The government says that Collins got into approximately 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts this way, most of them belonging to celebrities. He "accessed full Apple iCloud backups belonging to numerous victims, including at least 18 celebrities" and "used a software program to download those full Apple iCloud backups."
Ironically, that program was likely one that's used by law enforcement to get evidence from phones.
The idea that someone had used a cutting-edge brute-force attack to break into the passwords always seemed like vapour trails to me. Social engineering is the Occam's Razor explanation (and also the Hanlon's Razor explanation) to stuff like this.
Exclusive: Chinese hackers behind U.S. ransomware attacks – security firms » Reuters
Joseph Menn:
»executives of the security firms have seen a level of sophistication in at least a half dozen cases over the last three months akin to those used in state-sponsored attacks, including techniques to gain entry and move around the networks, as well as the software used to manage intrusions.
"It is obviously a group of skilled of operators that have some amount of experience conducting intrusions," said Phil Burdette, who heads an incident response team at Dell SecureWorks.
Burdette said his team was called in on three cases in as many months where hackers spread ransomware after exploiting known vulnerabilities in application servers. From there, the hackers tricked more than 100 computers in each of the companies into installing the malicious programs.
The victims included a transportation company and a technology firm that had 30 percent of its machines captured.
Security firms Attack Research, InGuardians and G-C Partners, said they had separately investigated three other similar ransomware attacks since December.
Although they cannot be positive, the companies concluded that all were the work of a known advanced threat group from China, Attack Research Chief Executive Val Smith told Reuters.
Reformed LulzSec hacktivist joins payments firm » The Register
John Leyden:
»A payments firm has hired reformed LulzSec hactivist Mustafa Al-Bassam (formerly known as tFlow) for a new blockchain research project.
London-based payments group Secure Trading has taken on Al-Bassam to help develop a platform that applies the verification benefits of blockchain technology in order to improve the visibility and security of online payments. Codenamed "Trustery", the project aims to create a commercial platform.
Secure Trading approached Al-Bassam, who agreed to work for the firm part time while continuing his computer science degree at King's College London.
Smart move: al-Bassam is a clever guy.
Crypto-ransomware spreads via poisoned ads on major websites » Tripwire
»Some of the world's most popular news and entertainment websites have been spreading poisoned adverts to potentially hundreds of thousands of visitors, putting innocent readers at risk of having their computers hit by threats such as ransomware.
Famous sites which displayed the malicious ads and endangered visiting computers include MSN, bbc.com, the New York Times, AOL and Newsweek.
As a result, researchers at Malwarebytes say that they saw a "huge spike in malicious activity" over the weekend.
Security analysts at TrendLabs and Malwarebytes report that the attack is one of the largest ransomware campaigns seen in years, taking advantage of a recently-updated version of the notorious Angler Exploit Kit to spread malware.
Just last month the Angler Exploit Kit was found to be targeting PCs and Macs after it was updated to take advantage of a known vulnerability in Microsoft Silverlight…
…It seems glaringly apparent to me that there is so much malicious advertising on the internet that anytime you surf even legitimate sites without an ad blocker in place, you are putting your computer's data at risk.
Why is the Nokia 105 cellphone a favourite among ISIS fighters? » NBC News
Alexander Smith:
»The must-have cellphone for ISIS fighters in Iraq doesn't have apps or a camera, and ships for less than $30.
The small and simple Nokia model is frequently used as a trigger device to set off ISIS' improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, according to a Conflict Armament Research report released last month.
As part of a study looking at civilian components in ISIS bombs, CAR documented 10 of the phones captured from members of the terror group in Iraq in December 2014.
The research showed the terror group "consistently" used the Nokia 105 above all others "in the manufacture of a specific type of remote controlled IED."
Two phones are used in the bomb-making process: one to call the other, which then sends a signal to a circuit board and sparks the explosion.
There are plenty of other cheap, durable phones with long battery life that ISIS fighters could use — and yet this particular model, also branded as the Microsoft Mobile 105 after the tech giant bought Nokia in 2014, shows up again and again.
I'm sure there'll be widespread condemnation of Microsoft for aiding terrorists any moment now.
Why Sony will win first in VR » Jon Peddie Research
The aforenamed Mr Peddie:
»Now that Oculus has revealed its consumer version of the Rift HMD, consumers can start planning how they might engage with VR, and they have a choice—a DIY rig with a PC and Rift, or a turn-key system with Sony.
Sony's HMD will be about 30% less expensive than the Oculus HDM. And Sony buyers probably already have a PS4, and possibly PS4 accessory controllers. Most importantly, Sony also has content.
So, first couple of rounds to Sony.
The best things in Android are free — with in-app purchases » Medium
The iA team:
»A year ago, iA Writer for Android entered the Play Store. So far, we have sold a little more than 6'000 apps. At a price of 1 to 5 Dollars, this doesn't cover much more than one month of app development. So we decided to go free and add in app purchases later.
We are not sure why apps sell in the Apple universe but not in the Android world. It just seems to be a hard cold fact:
Worldwide App Downloads by Store vs Worldwide App Revenue by Store
Looking at the sales numbers of paid Android apps it becomes apparent that plain paid offerings just do not get traction on Android. Why? We are not sure. Here is what we have learned.
There's a point in there about price elasticity which is remarkable. But also that stuff with an upfront price tag does not sell.
Windows 10 Store will continue to support bitcoin » Softpedia
Bogdan Popa:
»while there was a lot of speculation online regarding the removal of Bitcoin support for new deposits in the Windows Store – some people said it's because of the limited adoption of Bitcoin – it appears that the change made to the FAQ page was just "a mistake."
In other words, Microsoft will continue to support Bitcoin in the Windows Store, so you can keep on using the digital currency for new deposits. A statement we received from a Microsoft spokesperson a few minutes ago provides us with some details on this:
"We continue to support Bitcoin for adding money to your Microsoft Account which can be used for purchasing content in the Windows and Xbox stores. We apologize for inaccurate information that was inadvertently posted to a Microsoft site, which is currently being corrected."
Would love to know what volume of transactions they see.
Top NFL official acknowledges link between football-related head trauma and CTE for first time » ESPN
Steve Fainaru:
»The NFL's top health and safety officer acknowledged Monday there is a link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the first time a senior league official has conceded football's connection to the devastating brain disease.
The admission came during a roundtable discussion on concussions convened by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president for health and safety, was asked by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., if the link between football and neurodegenerative diseases such as CTE has been established.
"The answer to that question is certainly yes," Miller said.
A bit like boxing: does it mean people will be put off the potentially fabulous riches? But equally: will parents be less likely to put their children into it? The public admission is important.
Teenager wins $250,000 in biggest drone race yet » The Verge
Rich McCormick:
»The sport has already attracted investment from the likes of NFL team owners, but it still has some way to go before it breaks into the mainstream. Particularly difficult is the question of how to actually observe the races. Drone pilots fly their racing craft in first-person, using special headsets to see as the drone sees, but for observers the footage can feel — and sound — like being strapped to the front of a particularly excitable wasp. A second camera following the action might help human brains contextualize the movements in space, but some of the nascent racing leagues set their courses inside buildings, making a chase camera's operation difficult. Still, though, the speed of the craft and the deftness of his control make watching [15-year-old winner] Luke [Bannister]'s victory from Dubai an exhilarating — if slightly nauseating — experience.
Dubai, of course.
Music streaming has a nearly undetectable fraud problem » Quartz
Amy X Wang:
»For an in-depth look into how click fraud works, there's Sharky Laguana's thorough explanation here. Laguana—a music industry veteran who now owns a rental company—tells Quartz it certainly wouldn't be hard to run the "perfect" scheme to con Spotify. First, set up a couple hundred fake artists. Next, upload some auto-generated tunes—mediocre dance music is particularly easy to "produce" online—and just make sure your bots click on an array of songs both real and fake, so no one gets suspicious. (He uses Spotify as an example because of its size, but the scheme could theoretically work for any music subscription service.)
"If it's done properly, it's nearly impossible to detect," says Laguana. "There's no way to know why somebody chose to click on something."
Should we just turn off the internet?
Donald Trump, America's own Silvio Berlusconi » The Intercept
Alexander Stille:
»Neither Trump nor Berlusconi has a real political program; what they are selling is themselves. Berlusconi used to say that what Italy needs is more Berlusconi. I recall a very telling moment in his first election campaign: During a TV debate, his opponent, the economist Luigi Spaventa, was pointing out the holes and inconsistencies in Berlusconi's economic program, and Berlusconi stopped him mid-sentence and pointed to the victories of his soccer club, AC Milan: "Before trying to compete with me, try, at least, winning a couple of national championships!" The remark had the air of unassailable truth — however irrelevant it might be to Berlusconi's fitness to govern. Similarly, when asked how he is going to get Mexico to pay for a giant wall between its country and ours, Trump simply responds, "Don't worry, they'll pay!"
Yet there is another element — a systemic one — that helps explain why Italy and the U.S. are the only major democracies in which a billionaire circus has raised its tent: the almost total deregulation of broadcast media.
The latter matters, as Stille explains. (Via @papanic.)
Errata, corrigenda and ai no corrida:
Posted in links | Tagged apple, apps, china, concussion, drone, google, hacking, icloud, nfl, nokia, ransomware, sony, streaming, virtualreality | Leave a reply
Start up: why Android should encrypt, Facebook v the intifada, 3D Touch v page parking, wary drones and more
Posted on November 5, 2015 by charlesarthur
"My GPS says we finished ages ago!" Photo by A Brand New Minneapolis on Flickr.
A selection of 9 links for you. Please note: if reading the emails, you can't link directly to the extracts. Monkeys, eh. I'm charlesarthur on Twitter. Observations and links welcome.
Is Google's lacklustre support for encryption a human rights issue? » MIT Technology Review
Tom Simonite, reporting on a conference where American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) principal technologist Chris Soghioan argued thus:
People using phones powered by Google's Android software are not so well protected, said Soghioan. The company said last year that it would make Android phones encrypt all stored data by default, like Apple devices do, but reversed that decision early this year. Google said this month it will require only devices meeting certain hardware performance standards to encrypt stored data, which Soghioan thinks will exclude cheaper devices. Google's Hangouts text and video chat service bundled with Android does not use end-to-end encryption.
Soghioan said this means that someone who uses a cheap Android device is a much easier target for law enforcement or intelligence agencies — which he argues are prone to abusing their surveillance powers. He cited the way the FBI snooped on Martin Luther King's phone calls and said he fears that US and overseas activists of today and tomorrow will be even easier targets. "The next civil rights movement will use the technology against which surveillance works best," he said. Protest movements don't typically start in society's upper socioeconomic echelons, he noted.
The difference between Apple and Google's stances on encryption for mobile devices appears to be due to corporate rather than technical reasons, said Soghioan. "Google has by far the best security team of any company in Silicon Valley, and the security people I know at Google are embarrassed by Android," he said. "But Apple sells luxury goods and Google gives away services for free in return for access to data."
That point about protest movements is so important. Would you want people in a repressive regime to have phones that could or couldn't be tapped? Now you've decided, we move on to the next conundrum…
The Facebook intifada » The New York Times
Micah Lakin Avni's (Israeli) father was stabbed and shot by two Palestinian men in Jerusalem, who acted in the latest intifada (uprising) by Palestinians:
Watching the well-wishers congregating in the intensive care unit, however, I realized that the world leaders who were having the most impact on the situation in the Middle East right now weren't Mr. Ban or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and other young entrepreneurs who shape the social media platforms most of us use every day.
It may sound strange to talk of Twitter and Facebook as relevant players in the war against terror, but as the recent wave of violence in Israel has proved, that is increasingly the case. The young men who boarded the bus that day intent on murdering my 76-year-old father did not make their decision in a vacuum. One was a regular on Facebook, where he had already posted a "will for any martyr." Very likely, they made use of one of the thousands of posts, manuals and instructional videos circulating in Palestinian society these last few weeks, like the image, shared by thousands on Facebook, showing an anatomical chart of the human body with advice on where to stab for maximal damage…
…Just as it is universally recognized that shouting fire in a crowded theater is dangerous and should be prohibited, so, too, must we now recognize that rampant online incitement is a danger that must be reckoned with immediately, before more innocent people end up as victims.
Before Facebook or Twitter or Google, those charts would have been available in a library, or in books on sale or smuggled in. What's different now is the scale and speed with which information can be disseminated. It sounds trite, but what Israel and Palestine need is more speech, not less – but speech of the right kind, to negotiate their differences.
Google owner accuses EU of antitrust about-face » WSJ
Tom Fairless and Natalia Drozdiak:
Google owner Alphabet Inc. accused European Union regulators of making an unexplained about-face in their decision to file antitrust charges against the US search giant, and warned that there was "no basis" for imposing fines, according to a redacted copy of Google's response seen by The Wall Street Journal.
The response, which runs to almost 130 pages and leans heavily on legal opinions and case law, suggests that Google is gearing up for a protracted legal battle against the European Commission, which has alleged the search giant skewed search results to favor its own comparison-shopping service.
"The theory on which the [EU's] preliminary conclusions rest is so ambiguous that the Commission itself concluded three times that the concern had been resolved," Google's lawyers wrote in the document.
It's certainly a good point that the EC antitrust team were ready to okay everything, and then decided not to. But the EC would say that new evidence became available (which it did) and that changed things. Less convincing on Google's part is its quoting of a US academic who used to be in the US Department of Justice antitrust side. That's not likely to hold any sway.
Why every GPS overestimates distance travelled » IEEE Spectrum
Douglas McCormick on how an Austrian team discovered subtle but persistent errors in GPS:
Not content with mere calculation, Ranacher, Reich, and their colleagues went on to test their findings experimentally. In an empty parking lot, they staked out a square course 10 m on a side, reference-marked each side at precise 1-m intervals, and set a GPS-equipped pedestrian (a volunteer, one hopes) to walk the perimeter 25 times, taking a position reading at each reference mark.
The researchers analyzed the data for segment lengths of 1 meter and 5 meters. They found that the mean GPS measurement for the 1-m reference distance was 1.02m (σ2 = 0.3) and the mean GPS measurement for the 5-m reference distance was 5.06m (σ2 = 2.0). They also ran a similar experiment with automobiles on a longer course, with similar results.
Now, that pedestrian-course error of 1.2% to 2% isn't huge. But it is big enough that your GPS watch could tell you you're crossing the finish line of a 42,195-metre [26-mile] marathon while the real terminus is more than 400 meters ahead.
Sooo.. how do they measure a marathon? Does someone go around with one of those wheel things? Asking for all my marathon-running friends.
3D Touch on iPhone 6S: embrace the Force » Nielsen-Norman Group
Raluca Budiu:
Is this a feature worth having? Yes, as an enhancement. There is a lot of potential for improving the user experience and supporting behaviors that mobile and desktop users are engaging in already. Two of them come to mind: microsessions and avoiding pogo sticking.
Microsessions are phone sessions that are 15 seconds or shorter. Recent research by Denzil Ferreira and colleagues shows that 40% of app launches are microsessions, namely short interactions in which users are able to quickly satisfy their goals. A common microsession activity is checking for updates in an app (such as Email or Facebook); the quick actions offer an opportunity for rapid access to such frequent tasks or content. Peek-and-pop views should also make many microsessions more efficient for users.
Pogo sticking refers to alternating between inspecting a collection of items (such as a list of products) and looking at each item individually (a product in the list). It is usually an inefficient behavior because it makes users jump back and forth between pages, losing not only time for loading the page but also the time needed for recovering context. Our recent research with Millennials shows that pogo sticking is so annoying that, on desktop, users have developed a special behavior called page parking to avoid it. On mobile phones, page parking is a lot more difficult.
"Page parking" is basically "open that link in another tab/window while I get on with this". Other points: interstitials screw up the previewing experience, and so do "can we use your location?" questions.
Back-alley upgrades: in China, $100 can get you an 128GB iPhone boost » WSJ
Yang Jie and Josh Chin:
If you're an Apple Inc. device user, you can also now boost your iPhone's storage from the cramped-feeling 16GB standard to a cavernous 128GB for less than a hundred bucks.
Mobile phone repair shops in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai have sparked curiosity on sidewalks and social media by offering the service, which appears aimed at the many aspirational Chinese device users who can't afford the roughly $200 premium attached to large-capacity iPhones.
Some are offering the service through online shops on China's biggest e-commerce site Taobao. One such shop offers to upgrade an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus from 16GB to 128GB for 500 yuan ($79). Descriptions posted by several Taobao vendors indicate that the new storage card is hand-welded into the phone after the old card is removed. An unnamed software [program] is then used to trick the device into accepting the unapproved hardware.
Love the comment from one customer: "I've used it for a day. It feels so great."
Huawei emerges as 2nd largest Android brand in EU's big five » Kantar Worldpanel
"In urban China, with a market share that grew 72% over the third quarter of 2014, Huawei remained the top brand followed by Xiaomi and Apple," Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia, commented. "iOS continued to grow year over year with 56% of iPhone buyers during the quarter switching from Android and with iPhone 6 and 6Plus retaining their positions as the best selling and second best-selling smartphones.
"Next month all eyes will be on Apple's performance in the US and China, as many observers continue to doubt the size of the remaining opportunity for Apple," Milanesi explained. "28% of consumers in China who own smartphones plan to upgrade in the next 12 months. Among them, 79% of those who own iPhones, and 25% of those who own Android devices, say they prefer Apple."
That "56% of iPhone buyers in China were switchers" number is remarkable – perhaps it was people waiting for the 6S/Plus. Meanwhile in the UK, Samsung and LG were the only Android makers to grow their share; the implication seems to be that people were switching to iPhones.
Self-flying drone dips, darts and dives through trees at 30 mph » MIT CSAIL
Adam Conner-Simons of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory:
"Everyone is building drones these days, but nobody knows how to get them to stop running into things," says CSAIL PhD student Andrew Barry, who developed the system as part of his thesis with MIT professor Russ Tedrake. "Sensors like lidar are too heavy to put on small aircraft, and creating maps of the environment in advance isn't practical. If we want drones that can fly quickly and navigate in the real world, we need better, faster algorithms."
Running 20 times faster than existing software, Barry's stereo-vision algorithm allows the drone to detect objects and build a full map of its surroundings in real-time. Operating at 120 frames per second, the software – which is open-source and available online – extracts depth information at a speed of 8.3 milliseconds per frame.
The drone, which weighs just over a pound and has a 34-inch wingspan, was made from off-the-shelf components costing about $1,700, including a camera on each wing and two processors no fancier than the ones you'd find on a cellphone.
If this doesn't lead to an amazing VR "fox and hounds" sort of game soon, someone's missing a trick. Quad-core CPUs and stereo cameras. Expect the price to halve in a year or so.
Hilton obstructed investigation into Wi-Fi blocking at hotels, FCC says » Ars Technica
Jon Brodkin:
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday issued proposed fines against two companies in its latest actions against Wi-Fi blocking at hotels and convention centers.
The FCC said it proposed a $25,000 fine against Hilton Worldwide Holdings "for its apparent obstruction of an investigation into whether Hilton engaged in the blocking of consumers' Wi-Fi devices." The FCC also plans a $718,000 fine against M.C. Dean, a Wi-Fi access provider that is accused of "blocking consumers' Wi-Fi connections at the Baltimore Convention Center" on dozens of occasions.
Each company has been accused of blocking personal Wi-Fi hotspots that let consumers share mobile data access with other devices such as laptops and tablets. Hilton and M.C. Dean must pay the fines within 30 days or file written statements seeking reduction or cancellation of the penalties.
The FCC last year received a complaint against a Hilton hotel in Anaheim, California that the company "blocked Wi-Fi access for visitors at the venue unless they paid a $500 fee." More complaints against other Hilton properties followed, and in November 2014, the FCC issued Hilton a letter of inquiry seeking information about its Wi-Fi management practices at various Hilton-owned hotel chains.
Obstructing the FCC seems to be a parlour game for some companies. Remember Google and its Wi-Fi sniffing? That earned a $25,000 FCC fine for impeding investigation in 2012.
Errata, corrigenda and ai no corrida: gave the wrong link for the Microsoft OneDrive story in yesterday's email – this is the right one (damn ZDNet scrolling system). And no, you won't use up 5GB of storage with 10 Microsoft Word documents. Unless they're very big.
Posted in links | Tagged antitrust, apple, drone, fcc, google, gps, hilton, iphone, kantar, speech, ux | 1 Reply
Start up: Starbucks app hack, more image recognition, HomeKit on the way, drone questions and more
Posted on May 15, 2015 by charlesarthur
That's another sort of third-party keyboard altogether. Photo by zen on Flickr.
A selection of 7 links for you. They are. I'm charlesarthur on Twitter. Observations and links welcome.
EXCLUSIVE: Hackers target Starbucks mobile users, steal from linked credit cards without knowing account number » Bob Sullivan
Sullivan broke this story:
Because Starbucks isn't answering specific questions about the fraud, I cannot confirm precisely how it works, but I have informed speculation, based on conversations with an anonymous source who is familiar with the crime. The source said Starbucks was known to be wrestling with the problem earlier this year. Essentially, any criminal who obtains username and password credentials to Starbucks.com can drain a consumer's stored value, and attack their linked credit card.
Hackers often manage to steal hordes of username and password combinations, the way they steal databases of credit card account numbers. Because consumers often re-use credentials, hackers take them and "brute force" thousands of potential logins at the website. Because Starbucks' mobile payment app is so popular, any large set of stolen credentials is bound to have at least a few combinations that unlock Starbucks accounts.
Perhaps you're wondering: what's the use of hacking the Starbucks app? Answer, as a wilier mind than mine pointed out: you can buy Starbucks gift cards at the counter with them. Then you sell them on eBay. (Though I can't decide if this is pretty small-time crookedness or a huge line of business. Certainly going to be inflating Starbucks's bottom line though.)
Wolfram Language Artificial Intelligence: the Image Identification project » Stephen Wolfram Blog
"What is this a picture of?" Humans can usually answer such questions instantly, but in the past it's always seemed out of reach for computers to do this. For nearly 40 years I've been sure computers would eventually get there — but I've wondered when.
I've built systems that give computers all sorts of intelligence, much of it far beyond the human level. And for a long time we've been integrating all that intelligence into the Wolfram Language.
Now I'm excited to be able to say that we've reached a milestone: there's finally a function called ImageIdentify built into the Wolfram Language that lets you ask, "What is this a picture of?"— and get an answer.
Apple says first HomeKit smart devices coming in June » WSJ Digits blog
Daisuke Wabayashi:
"HomeKit [hardware certification] has been available for just a few months and we already have dozens of partners who have committed to bringing HomeKit accessories to market and we're looking forward to the first ones coming next month," said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller.
Apple's statement comes on the heels of a report in Fortune that said Apple's software platform — which will allow the company's devices to control connected home appliances — was experiencing problems and that the introduction of the first HomeKit devices were being delayed.
For its part, Apple has never said when HomeKit-compliant devices would start hitting the market, but one developer working with Apple on the platform had told Re/code earlier this year that new products would be ready in May or June.
Interesting: Apple moved quickly to respond to this – within hours – and chose the WSJ to say it.
Dirt cheap drones: Is Europe's largest Kickstarter in over its head? » Ars Technica UK
Cyrus Farivar:
In January 2015, the Welsh drone startup concluded its Kickstarter campaign to fund production of the Zano. It raised over £2.3m ($3.4m) in under two months, becoming the most crowdfunded European project ever. This summer, Torquing [Group, which is making the device] says it will ship drones to the more than 12,000 people who backed the project.
There's only one problem. Despite Zano's release date being less than two months away, no one outside Torquing has actually flown the drone. And it's questions about the project that are truly beginning to take off.
Ars visited Torquing last month for an exclusive tour of the company's offices. After spending a couple of hours with the Zano team, we don't have a good sense of how well the device actually flies. Although we heard more about its touted "swarm" feature, we didn't see the drone working in a real-world situation; we were merely able to hold a Zano and verify its existence.
Reece Crowther, the company's head of marketing, regretfully informed us that we turned up just before a shipment of 500 last-minute prototypes arrived. Torquing, therefore, said it was unable to let us fly one. At the time, Reedman noted that only 12 Zanos existed, and we saw what appeared to be only a few of them.
I'm one of the backers. Fingers crossed. I'd expect this to be late, at best.
Sunrise launches 'Meet', a custom keyboard to schedule meetings » MacStories
Federico Viticci:
When I first tried Meet, Sunrise's latest addition to their popular calendar app, I didn't think it made much sense as a custom keyboard. Now, a few months later, Meet has become my favorite way to check on my availability from any app and create one-to-one meetings. With Meet, the Sunrise team has created one of the most innovative mobile calendar features I've seen in years.
Sunrise, part of Microsoft since February, rarely shied away from subverting traditional calendar features found in most clients for smartphones and tablets. As I explored last year, Sunrise's biggest strengths lie in excellent integration with web services, prolific use of icons to quickly discern events, weather support, external calendars, and the ability to show details for event participants. At its core, Sunrise aims to reimagine the calendar by expanding it beyond a list of days and events
Super-clever. Expect more lateral thinking on keyboards as a result. Available on iOS and Android. Oh, Windows Phone? Doesn't allow third-party keyboards.
How smartphone startup Light plans to replace high-end cameras » Re/code
Ina Fried on a company that's not exactly making a smartphone; it's making the camera systems to go into them:
Put more simply, Light tries to emulate digitally what a big zoom lens does through expensive glass lenses. It aggregates the data from the different cameras to create both optical zoom and high-resolution images. Light has applied for a bunch of patents to cover aspects of its approach, including creating zoom using images from the multiple fixed-focal length lenses.
As a business, Light is banking on the fact that using smartphone cameras, even a bunch of them, is a far more economical way to achieve the kind of images that in the past have required expensive glass lenses.
The technology is ready, says Grannan, who previously ran start-up Vlingo and also worked at Sprint PCS. There is of course, added cost in putting a bunch of cameras and mirrors inside a cell phone, an addition of perhaps $60 to $80 in the final cost of a phone, Light estimates.
Seems high. Creating a big lens from smaller ones is a solved software problem: it's how the Very Large Array works, for example. Wonder if this is really a defensible USP.
Why I'm breaking up with Google Chrome » The Next Web
Owen Williams, on a topic I previously linked to:
The Verge reported that using Chrome over Safari resulted in a three and a half hour shorter battery life on the latest MacBook.
I've always loved Chrome's interface, its plethora of extensions, and how it integrates with services every day, but it's time for something new. We can do better.
The problem is that the Web is now optimized for Chrome users and that means alternatives often provide a terrible experience.
Thanks in part to the browser's massive market share, the best developer tools and Google's aggressive adoption of the latest Web technologies, developers have gravitated toward Chrome's rendering engine as the only one they support.
I've switched to Safari (on a Mac), and found that yes, processor use plummets and battery life extends dramatically. Nor is it noticeably slower (or faster).
But the important point here is in the third paragraph of this excerpt: that lots of sites are now using Chrome-specific tweaks, which means that they don't work as well in other browsers, at least on the desktop.
This does pose a problem if it becomes dominant in mobile: Android isn't going away, and Chrome is increasingly the default browser on mobile too.
Posted in links | Tagged ai, apple, camera, chrome, drone, homekit, image, keyboard, safari, smartphone | 1 Reply
Start up: inside the Fire Phone debacle, a selfie stick successor, CES beats the bedroom, CNN's last-ever video, and more
Posted on January 7, 2015 by charlesarthur
The Mayday button on the Amazon Fire Phone. Perhaps should have been used before it went on sale. Photo by TechStage on Flickr.
A selection of 8 links for you. Do not use as a flotation device. I'm charlesarthur on Twitter. Observations and links welcome.
The real story behind Jeff Bezos's Fire Phone debacle and what it means for Amazon's future » Fast Company
Austin Carr, in a terrific long read, explaining how the Fire Phone project began in 2010, and had Bezos as a micro-manager:
Some designers bristled at Bezos's presence and privately questioned his taste, while others who were wowed by his wide-ranging insights loved his approach. Regardless, Bezos's heavy hand certainly took getting used to, even for Chris Green, Lab126's VP of industrial design. "In the beginning, Chris would take Jeff's feedback a bit literally," says Randall, the former Lab126 VP, "and there was many an evening spent over beers and sushi counseling him, saying, 'Calm down, it's going to get better.'"
Bezos drove the team hard on one particular feature: Dynamic Perspective, the 3-D effects engine that is perhaps most representative of what went wrong with the Fire Phone. Dynamic Perspective presented the team with a challenge: Create a 3-D display that requires no glasses and is visible from multiple angles. The key would be facial recognition, which would allow the phone's cameras to track a user's gaze and adjust the 3-D effect accordingly. After a first set of leaders assigned to the project failed to deliver, their replacements went on a hiring spree. One team even set up a room that they essentially turned into a costume store, filling it with wigs, sunglasses, fake moustaches, and earrings that they donned for the cameras in order to improve facial recognition. "I want this feature," Bezos said, telling the team he didn't care how long it took or how much it cost.
Turns out Bezos isn't as good a micro-manager for building a phone as Steve Jobs. Result:
According to three sources familiar with the company's numbers, the Fire Phone sold just tens of thousands of units in the weeks that preceded the company's radical price cuts.
Was it perhaps somewhere around the 35,000 that I estimated in August? My range was between 26,000 and, generously, 35,000. I'd love to hear the actual figure.
The whole piece, though, gives terrific insight into how Bezos can get it wrong. He thought a single phone – one piece of hardware – could reshape Amazon's brand, and turn it from a "get stuff cheap online" one, into a "we customers love you, take our money" brand. The two aren't the same.
February 2014: What the world really needs: A telescopic SELFIE STICK » The Register
Simon Rockman in February 2014:
Mobile World Congress is often as interesting for the silly gadgets as it is for the mainstream announcements.
This (right) is the Selfie Stick, an extendable pole with a Bluetooth control for your phone.
The Selfie comes in two versions: a general one and one for Samsung phones where you have focus control.
Hahahahahawhatdo you mean they're sold out everywhere?
The first wearable camera that can fly » Nixie
Wearable and flyable
The first wrist-band camera quadcopter.
Nixie flies, takes your photo, and comes back to you.
This feels like it could easily be one of those Great Ideas that is too easily bungled in the execution, but if it works well it could put selfie sticks out of business. Until selfie stick owners swat them out of the sky.
CES, the World's Largest Trade Show, Is Too Big for Vegas » Bloomberg
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has a problem that many events would love to have: It's become too big. And it doesn't want to get any bigger.
With as many as 160,000 visitors to CES—the world's largest annual trade show—the Nevada city's sprawling hotels are stretched to the limit. Last January's gathering of gadget-loving geeks somehow packed in a full 10,000 more people than Las Vegas has rooms for them to sleep in.
The Consumer Electronics Association, the folks who put on the conference and expo, says CES 2015 will have the equivalent of 35 football fields, or about 2 miles of floor space, filled with phones, televisions, smartwatches, washing machines and throngs of people trying to see it all. "In order to enhance the experience for our attendees, we aim to keep attendance between 150,000 and 160,000 so that everyone can get where they need to go," says CEA Vice President Karen Chupka.
That's OK – they can sleep in the lines for press conferences showing off LG's new dishwasher. Actually, the graph with the story suggests that attendees has exceeded the number of available hotel rooms since 2012. I'm pretty sure I slept there in 2012. Could it be that, shock, some people share rooms? Also, how's AirBnB coming along there? And might some attendees, um, live in Vegas?
The weirdly-synched life of the Google Nest household » The Register
Richard Chirgwin:
At first glance it looks like the typical Utopian vision of Silicon Valley, but Vulture South took a second look and asked ourselves: "what kinds of life does Google think we live?"
The short answer: wealthy, lazy, and either lonely or in a strange 1950's-sitcom family synchronisation. Everybody rises and sleeps at the same time, everybody leaves and arrives together, and we're rich enough to have 'leccy cars but too poor to charge them.
The most obvious believer in the synchronised family is appliance giant Whirlpool. Its Nest integration can "let your washer and dryer know when you're home and they will automatically switch to quiet mode". Unless only one occupant is recognised, that means the only time the appliances are allowed to let their hair down and party is when everyone's away.
The August Smart Lock will tell Nest to change your thermostat settings when you arrive (warm the house up) or leave (switch off the heating) – which begs the question "what if I lock the front door while other people are still at home?" At least the Kwikset Kevo smart lock understands that more than one person might be in a household.
The Withings Sleep System: when you go to sleep it will "let your Nest Thermostat to a comfortable nighttime temperature. Wake up and it will tell Nest you're ready to start the day." Once again, the idea that a household might have sleep and wake times staggered by hours seems alien to the developer.
This is my general objection to "internet of things" and "homes of the future" visions: they don't account for how we actually live. Them: Look, you'll be able to get your coffee maker to make coffee before you get out of bed! Me: so I'll have had to put the coffee in the night before. As I have to go downstairs to get the coffee, why not just make it fresh while I'm there?
And so on. Most IOT/HOTF concepts seem to come from 20-somethings who have no concept of running a household. Hence, I think, their limited success.
This is the video CNN will play when the world ends » Jalopnik
Michael Ballaban, who unearthed this Holy Grail-style rumoured-but-until-now-never-confirmed video, which has the notice:
"HFR till end of the world confirmed."
Hold for release. CNN, once ever so thorough in its factchecking, knew that the last employee alive couldn't be trusted to make a call as consequential as one from the Book of Revelation. The end of the world must be confirmed.
That leaves open a whole host of unanswered questions. If this is the last CNN employee alive, in the last CNN bureau on Earth, who do they confirm it with? What does confirmation look like? Who can be the one to make that determination, to pronounce the universe itself dead? Is it Wolf Blitzer himself, ever a fan of the Washington Wizards, and thus a man who would know death when he saw it? Would it be Rick Davis, CNN's head of standards of practices, who has been with the company since its birth and who thus would know CNN's journalistic practices better than anyone?
Or would it be some sort of living embodiment of CNN itself, ready to proclaim its own demise, as Judgment Day is truly the only thing able to bring about the long-anticipated death of cable news?
And who would be around to watch it?
Um.. that CNN employee? The machines grinding us into nanoparticles to feed into their hoppers? Take your pick.
Breach puts Morgan Stanley client data up for sale » NYTimes.com
Nathaniel Popper:
the bank traced the breach to a financial adviser working out of its New York offices, a 30-year-old named Galen Marsh, according to a person involved in the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. Marsh, who had been with Morgan Stanley since 2008, was quickly fired and is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a person briefed on the investigation said. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is also examining the matter.
Morgan Stanley said on Monday that it had determined that Mr. Marsh took data on about 10% of its 3.5 million wealth management customers, including transactional information from customer statements.
The bank said that Mr. Marsh did not take any sensitive passwords or Social Security numbers, and that it had not found any evidence that the breach resulted in any losses to customers. A lawyer for Mr. Marsh, Robert C. Gottlieb, acknowledged on Monday that his client did take the information in question but said that he did not post it online, share it or try to sell it.
Afghanistan war logs: insider breach. NSA/GCHQ documents: insider breach. Morgan Stanley: insider breach. Sony Pictures..?
Hit mobile game Monument Valley and piracy: 'Only 5%' of Android players paid for it » VenureBeat
Jeff Grubb:
Piracy is still a big problem on Android.
Developer Ustwo had one of the break out mobile hits in 2014 with its isometric puzzler Monument Valley, but a successful game is not impervious to piracy. The studio confirmed on Twitter today that Monument Valley has had an especially tough time with "unpaid installs" on Android. The company said that 95% of the people playing the game on Google's mobile operating system did not buy it — although, Ustwo did explain that a small number of those installs are legitimate and were not illegally downloaded. This makes a big dent in Ustwo's earnings since Monument Valley is a premium-priced game that does not have in-app purchases like Candy Crush Saga or other lucrative mobile releases. Gaming on smart devices surpassed $21bn last year, but it potentially could have more if it weren't for piracy.
The paid rate was much better on iOS, but it's still alarming. Ustwo said that 40% of the people who have the game on an Apple mobile device paid for it. Again, that means the majority did not give the developer money.
Depressing numbers, for a game that costs just $4. There's certainly piracy on iOS – but the astronomical amount on Android really isn't good news. Does this get factored into the quotes about "revenues from app stores" we see?
There is some confusion over the iOS figure though: it's not clear whether someone who buys on the iPhone and then downloads to their iPad counts as an "unpaid install". We also don't know if that's how it works on Android – though do 95% of Android owners have multiple devices?
Posted in links | Tagged amazon, apps, cnn, drone, fire phone, firephone, games, google, hacking, nest, piracy, selfie stick | Leave a reply

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text: PUBLIC LAW 104-201—SEPT. 23, 1996 110 STAT. 2641 (b) MATTERS RELATING TO OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT.— Each report under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to Operation Provide Comfort, the following: (1) A detailed presentation of the projected costs to be incurred by the Department of Defense for that operation during the fiscal year in which the report is submitted and projected for the following fiscal year, together with a discussion of missions and functions expected to be performed by the Department as part of that operation during each of those fiscal years. (2) A detailed presentation of the projected costs to be incurred by other departments and agencies of the Federal Government participating in or providing support to that operation during each of those fiscal years. (3) A discussion of options being pursued to reduce the involvement of the Department of Defense in those aspects of that operation that are not directly related to the military mission of the Department of Defense. (4) A discussion of the exit strategy for United States involvement in, and support for, that operation. (5) A description of alternative approaches to accomplishing the mission of that operation that are designed to limit the scope and cost to the Department of Defense of accomplishing that mission while maintaining mission success. (6) The contributions (both in-kind and actual) by other nations to the costs of conducting that operation. (7) A detailed presentation of significant Iraqi military activity (including specific violations of the no-fly zone) determined to jeopardize the security of the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. (c) MATTERS RELATING TO OPERATION ENHANCED SOUTHERN WATCH. — Each report under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to Operation Enhanced Southern Watch, the following: (1) The expected duration and annual costs of the various elements of that operation. (2) The political and military objectives associated with that operation. (3) The contributions (both in-kind and actual) by other nations to the costs of conducting that operation. (4) A description of alternative approaches to accomplishing the mission of that operation that are designed to limit the scope and cost of accomplishing that mission while maintaining mission success. (5) A comprehensive discussion of the political and military objectives and initiatives that the Department of Defense has pursued, and intends to pursue, in order to reduce United States involvement in that operation. (6) A detailed presentation of significant Iraqi military activity (including specific violations of the no-fly zone) determined to jeopardize the security of the Shiite population by air attack in southern Iraq or to jeopardize the security of Kuwait. (d) TERMINATION OF REPORT REQUIREMENT. — The requirement under subsection (a) shall cease to apply with respect to an oper- - ation named in that subsection upon the termination of United States involvement in that operation. (e) DEFINITIONS. —For purposes of this section:


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Sibylle & Marco

The world is their oyster

                     Kilometer spenden
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11. 3. 19
/ Artificial Intelligence
This AI Decodes Your Brainwaves and Draws What You're Looking at
The revolutionary system can reconstruct data from scalp electrodes into a video of what the participant is seeing.
Grigory Rashkov/Neurobotics
Researchers have created an AI that draws what a person in looking at in real time just by reading and decoding their brain waves. Perhaps most impressive of all, the technique is noninvasive, with all the brainwave information gathered through a cyberpunk-looking, electrode-covered electroencephalography (EEG) headset.
"Researchers used to think that studying brain processes via EEG is like figuring out the internal structure of a steam engine by analyzing the smoke left behind by a steam train," researcher Grigory Rashkov said in a press release. "We did not expect that it contains sufficient information to even partially reconstruct an image observed by a person. Yet it turned out to be quite possible."
The team, from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Russian corporation Neurobotics, started their study — available on the preprint server bioRxiv — by placing a cap of electrodes on participants' scalps so that they could record their brain waves.
They then had each participant watch 20 minutes worth of 10-second-long video fragments. The subject of each fragment fell into one of five categories, and the researchers found they could tell which category of video a participant was watching just by looking at their EEG data.
For the next phase of the research, the scientists developed two neural networks. They trained one to generate images in three of the tested categories from visual "noise," and the other to turn EEG data into comparable noise. When paired together, the AIs were able to draw surprisingly accurate images of what a person was looking at solely from their real-time EEG data.
"Under present-day technology, the invasive neural interfaces envisioned by Elon Musk face the challenges of complex surgery and rapid deterioration due to natural processes — they oxidize and fail within several months," Rashkov said. "We hope we can eventually design more affordable neural interfaces that do not require implantation."
READ MORE: Neural network reconstructs human 'thoughts' from brain waves in real time [Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology]
More on AI: What Are YOU Looking At? Mind-Reading AI Knows
What Are YOU Looking At? Mind-Reading AI Knows
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We're in Awe of Amsterdam's Huge Underwater Bike Parking Garage


Antibes has a long history going back to the 4th century BC. The strategic importance only became relevant in the 14th century when the French Kings realised the significance of its geographical position. Little remains today of the grand fortifications except the Fort Carre (square fort) and the seafront ramparts.
In 1794, Bonapart took charge of the defence of the coast and installed his family in the fort. Robespierre was imprisoned here for some time after his fall from grace within French society.
Chateau Grimaldi originally build as a Roman Fort was rebuilt in the 16th century; still preserving it's Roman Square and Roman Tower, now housing a Musee Picasso. There are many other notable sites worth visiting; the 17th century Cathedral with its magnificent altarpiece, the musee of Archeologique which forms part of the fortifications and contains many important collections for the history of Antibes.
Located on the southern point of Cap d'Antibes is the Musee Naval et Napoleonien housed in a fortified round tower, known as the Batterie de Grillon. The well preserved 12th century ramparts now form the seafront boulevard from which a wonderful view can be had of Nice and the mountains behind the city areas.
Antibes is the second largest town in the Alpes Maritimes region and offers the residents and tourists alike an immense variation of landscapes, attractions and coastlines to enjoy.
Antibes has become a major tourist destination helped by the creation of the Port de Plaisance (yachting harbour). The port is packed with luxury yachts and plays host to the Antibes Yacht Show every April.
Many of the full time and part time residence of Antibes live in mix of luxury houses in Antibes from secluded luxury villas in Antibes to penthouse apartments in Antibes town. Much of the homes for sale in Antibes have a Mediterranean feel with some other houses for sale in Antibes following the traditional provencale villa design.
There is a large range of property for sale in the areas of Antibes from the multi-million euro villas for sale on Cap d'Antibes to the small city centre apartments for sale in Old Antibes town itself, close to the market with its narrow cobbled streets. Many of the homes in Antibes town are well kept and decorated with flowers climbing the walls or in flower boxes decorating the window sills of the apartments and village houses.
The residents of Antibes enjoy a vibrant atmosphere throughout the year with the many festivals and activities both on the water and on land. There are many restaurants, bars and clubs for those who want to experience the night-life Antibes has to offer.
Houses in Antibes and its surrounding areas are in great demand and this in turn has increased prices over the past few years. The area is serviced by excellent road, rail and air links. Nice International airport is only a short 20 minute drive from Antibes.
There are also many luxury golf courses and family attractions such as Marineland which is said to be the largest marine park in Europe. This tourism development has helped to increase the price of houses for sale in Antibes, however, if buying a house in Antibes for an investment, the rental yields can be quite attractive due to the level of tourism during the summer months and the yachties looking for apartments or other property in Antibes during the winter months.
Antibes is perfectly located close to the other glorious towns of Juan les Pins, Cannes, Nice, with easy access to the villages in the hills such as Valbonne, Biot and Mougins.


text:
Tohi Smith-Milner
Club: South East Melbourne Phoenix
Number: 16
Tall Blacks Debut: 2014
Junior Association: Waitakere
High School: Rosmini College
A member of the victorious team that defeated Australia in Brisbane in February 2020.
Averaged 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
Was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Played his first game for the Tall Blacks against Korea in Tauranga in 2014.
Averaged 10.5 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Tall Blacks at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon.
After graduating from Rosmini College Smith-Milner attended Polk State College, Florida for one year before returning to play for the Super City Rangers in the New Zealand NBL at the end of the 2014 season.
He joined Melbourne United in 2015 as a Development player and has played four seasons with the Australian NBL club winning a championship in 2018.
Smith-Milner played for the Canterbury Rams in the 2017 NZ NBL season and Nelson Giants in the 2018 season.
Photo: www.photosport.nz


text:
Jim Starlin says Infinity War home release could beef up Thanos' backstory
James Comtois
Jul 3, 2018, 11:20 AM EDT (Updated)
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Tag: Thanos
Tag: Avengers: Infinity War
Tag: Russo Brothers
Tag: Jim Starlin
Tag: Collider
Tag: marvel studios
For those of you who liked Avengers: Infinity War but somehow wanted more Thanos, you may be in luck. Comics writing legend Jim Starlin has said that Marvel might release a special edition of the home video of Avengers: Infinity War that features archvillain Thanos' backstory.
Jon Schnepp of Collider reported on a panel he moderated with Starlin at Las Vegas Comic Con this past weekend. The Thanos creator and Infinity Gauntlet writer reportedly confirmed that Infinity War directors Joseph and Anthony Russo shot roughly "30 minutes of Thanos' backstory," but ultimately had to cut for length issues.
More Thanos
Who is Thanos? Why MCU fans have reason to fear The Mad Titan
The bizarre comic book love story of Thanos and Death
As Schnepp tells it, a couple months before the movie came out, the Russo Brothers called up Starlin and said: "We're sorry to tell you … we have to cut out a lot of the Thanos backstory. We're cutting out … 30 minutes of Thanos' backstory." This includes his origin and him as a youth.
The reason for this is pretty obvious. As Schnepp relays Starlin's story, according to the Russo Brothers: "We can't fit all of it into the movie. We already have a two-and-a-half-hour movie." Fair enough.
But all is not lost. Starlin also said that he's learned that the filmmakers are apparently eyeing a special edition of Avengers: Infinity War in which this footage featuring Thanos' origins will be "reintegrated into the film." That would make for one heck of a director's cut, if it happens, though we'd also be happy just to get a peek at the deleted scenes themselves.
Check out the video below. The discussion on the excised footage of the Mad Titan's origins starts around the 3:12 mark.
Video of Avengers: Infinity War DVD To Feature Thanos' Extended Backstory
No word from Marvel Studios as to whether this is indeed true, or when it will be released if it is. But Schnepp said if he had to guess, he figures it would most likely "come out after the Avengers: Infinity War regular Blu-ray" and "perhaps before Avengers 4." But again, that's just a guess.
Avengers: Infinity War is estimated to be available on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes sometime in late July, while it's set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Aug. 14.
(Via Collider)
Video of Jim Starlin on Creating Thanos, Killing Robin and Split with Marvel (Behind the Panel) | SYFY WIRE


The Benton County Election Commission is a separate and independent unit of the county government. The Election Commission has the responsibility in conducting all Federal, State, County, and Local Elections occurring within Benton County. The Elections are administrated by and under the jurisdiction of the Benton County Board of Commissioners, in conjunction with State Election Laws, and State and Local authorities.
The county chair of the county committee of the majority party and the county chair of the county committee of the minority party shall be members of the county board of election commissioners together with one (1) additional or third member selected by the county committee of the majority party at the same time as the election of party officers. Any county chair of a county committee of the majority or minority party may elect not to serve as a member of the county board, and the county committee shall select a resident of the county qualified to serve in his or her stead.
Some counties such as Benton County have an Election Coordinator, whom are responsible for daily administration on behalf of the Election Commission.
The chair of the county board of election commissioners shall notify all members of the commission of all meetings. Ark. Code Ann. 7-4-105(a).
Two commissioners shall constitute a quorum. Each commissioner shall have one vote, and two concurring votes shall decide any questions before the county board of election commissioners, unless otherwise provided by law. Ark. Code Ann. 7-4-105(a).


ISLAMABAD: The four exploration and production companies' joint venture headed by Italian company ENI that has started spudding Kekra-1 well in Indus G Block in Pakistan's deep sea, if meets the success, will carve out the plan to develop the field with huge investment of over Rs41 billion.
The spud drilling activities have been kicked off with $75-80 million by joint venture with 25 percent share each. The Italian company ENI is operator of the Kekra well-1. However, Exxon Mobile, OGDCL and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) are the sleeping partners of the Joint Venture, Director General Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) Qazi Saleem told The News.
The Indus G Block was first given to OGDCL on August 12, 2006 but later on it was transferred to ENI on April 25, 2007 under Petroleum Sharing Agreement. Now the ENI as operator of four companies' joint venture has started E&P activities in Pakistan deep sea. In case of huge discovery, Pakistan's share in oil and gas discovery can go up to 70 percent depending upon the slabs mentioned in the agreement. The country at present possesses original onshore recoverable gas resources of 57 trillion cubic feet (tcf) out of which 38tcf has been produced and 19.5 tcf is yet to discovered. The country has recoverable resources of oil that stands at 1.246 billion barrels but so far 0.899 billion barrels have been produced so far.
Irtiza Syed, CEO EXXON Mobil, on January 16, 2019 at his office briefed Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ghulam Sarwar Khan about progress at Indus G Block. The EN- led JV has started spud in. It will give its first good news in March or April. Exxon Mobil has given the target depth of 5500 feet. In March, Exxon Mobil will send a specimen to Houston for examination. Similarly, ENI will send the specimen to Milan in March. From April to May, there will be a reasonable idea that this well contains oil or gas. The discovery is anticipated to yield gas flows which can be as big as Sui field, with estimated reserves of 3 to 8tcf, or 25-40 percent of Pakistan's total gas reserves.
However, DGPC Qazi Saleem said that the preliminary investment of $75-80 million for drilling endeavour is usually considered in the world of oil and gas as the sunk investment assuming the well emerges as dried one. The drilling activity is always risky business which is why investment on drilling is named as sunk investment. And if drilling comes with positive results, then about $300 million investment will be made for development of Kekra-1 oil and gas field.
To a question, he said that Sapimen — a rig achrted by ENI — operator of G Block which is located 230 kilometres south west of Karachi port has started the drilling process in Kekra well-1.
The DGPC disclosed about 17 wells in Pakistan deep sea were drilled in the past, but all endeavours went in vain. Highlighting the background of the drilling activities done in the past in ultra-deep sea of Pakistan, he said that first offshore well was drilled in 1963 by the US company Sun Oil but the well was found dried. The same Sun Oil Company in 1964 spud two wells in Pakistan's deep sea but both also went dried. Then after lapse of eight years, Winter Shall from Germany explored three wells in ultra-deep sea which later on got abandoned as nothing was discovered in the three wells. He further stated that Winter Shall drilled two wells in 1972 and third one in 1975. Unfortunately, no oil and gas was discovered.
He went on to say that in 1976, Marathon Oil Company from US endeavoured for drilling, but nothing was discovered. In 1978, Husky Company from Canada also spud the well, but no success was met. Then after seven years' time, it was OGDCL that spud the well in 1985, but again no discovery was made. Likewise, in 1989, Occidental company endeavoured and explored the well but that too gone dried. In 1992, Canterbury from New Zealand and in 1999-2000 Ocean company from US spud two wells but both went dried. In 2004, TOTAL — a French company also explored one well but that was also abandoned. Pakistan Petroleum Limited tried in 2005 and Shell from Netherlands endeavoured in 2007 and Shark-1 went in 2010 for drilling in Pakistan's deep sea but all went in vain. In toto, 17 serious attempts were made for wells drilling for oil and gas, but nothing was discovered.
He said in the past many E&P companies such as PETRONAS, British Petroleum and OMV have left the country on account of many issues. They left the country as they were unable to initiate the E&P activities in the wake of worst law and order situation in the country. And more importantly military operations were started against the militants owing to which there was no peace and tranquillity in the country required for the on shore exploration and production activities.
He also said that the said companies were the multinational ones and at that time recession in international level was at peak and moreover, the price of crude oil went down drastically from $170 to $40 per barrel per day. So exploration and production activities at world level scaled down and it has also adversely impacted the companies in Pakistan. He said that petroleum policy is being upgraded for alluring maximum investment on onshore drilling for oil and gas activities. In addition, in Pakistan the oil and gas reserves are deposited in pockets and no massive discovery is there which is why international companies also left.