Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup adds something unique: a Touch Bar atop the keyboard that I believe is an important evolution of the laptop user experience. The first time I saw and played with the Touch Bar, the macros of yore popped into my mind. MacBook power users all know the value of creating macros to speed up a particular business process we may use […]
By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS The Dutch government has lent its weight to calls for the EU to freeze Turkey’s membership talks, diplomats said on Thursday, raising the prospect of European leaders making such a move at a summit in two weeks. A Dutch suggestion that the Union consider suspending the accession process for six months in protest at President Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown […]
When it comes to very large numbers, it can be hard to get the right perspective. If you had to count it, a €40bn pile of cash would be somewhat daunting. Place it next to to the Italian national debt, however, and the pile becomes a pimple. The number matters because it was the amount the government proposed using to assist troubled financial institutions earlier this year. […]
Probability matrices in MMSBM. Credit: Antonia Godoy-Lorite et al. PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.1606316113 The internet is rife with recommendation systems, suggesting movies you should watch or people you should date. These systems are tuned to match people with items, based on the assumption that similar people buy similar things and have similar preferences. In other words, an algorithm predicts which items you will like based only on your, and […]
The month that stunned investors with Donald Trump’s US election victory was a record-breaker in markets. The prospect of big tax cuts and fiscal spending from the incoming administration has stirred the market’s animal spirits, driving Wall Street into record territory, while bond prices have been hit hard by expectations of higher inflation. Here is how November played out in numbers: 13 — The dollar index — […]
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen | COPENHAGEN COPENHAGEN Maersk Line, the world’s biggest shipping company, is to buy smaller rival Hamburg Süd, joining a wave of M&A in the industry just over two months after the Danish company revealed plans to bolster its transport operations. The deal, announced by parent A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) on Thursday, is the group’s first full takeover in more than a decade and highlights a […]
The Indian Parliament’s canteen–where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was photographed digging into a vegetarian lunch last year–now boasts a card machine to help lawmakers pay for their meals in the midst of a cash crunch. The move comes after parliamentarians said they faced problems settling their bills in the canteen following the government’s action last month to replace large currency bills to curb corruption. The canteen serves […]
In this Feb. 25, 2014 file photo, theSamsung Galaxy S5 is displayed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. Leading tech companies are increasingly nudging consumers to use their own fingers, faces and eyes as digital key to unlock phones and other gadgets. But there are downsides: Hackers could still steal your fingerprint, or its digital representation. And police may have broader […]
Colombia’s Congress has approved an amended peace deal with the country’s Farc rebel group, reviving hopes of a permanent end to Latin America’s longest running civil war just two months after the original pact was narrowly rejected by voters in a referendum. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the plan — with some opposition members abstaining — a day after the Senate also gave its backing. President […]
Gold has suffered its worst month since mid-2013, as the election of Donald Trump, the rising dollar and increased expectations of a US rate rise combined to send prices down 8.1 per cent in November. The fall to $1,173.20 per troy ounce marked the steepest monthly sell-off since June 2013, when the precious metal lost 11 per cent in the wake of the so-called taper tantrum. November’s […]
It’s a new world: Donald Trump’s world. As 2017 hits, we’re going to see the US government’s attitude towards a range of technologies change, whether it be about a lighter touch on regulation or a harsher look at companies that import heavily from China. I hate making stock predictions. I’m going to try to stick to what I think you should expect and do, as […]
Thursday 06:00 GMT Overview Markets across Asia saw a day of solid gains as oil continued to trade higher following Opec’s decision to cut output for the first time since the financial crisis and as Japanese stocks benefited from recent weakness in the yen. European bourses are expected to open little changed, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 2 points to 6,785 and Germany’s […]
Fitbit is in advanced talks to acquire Pebble, the smartwatch pioneer and darling of crowdfunding site Kickstarter, according to several people close to the negotiations. The deal, which is in its closing stages but has not been completed, would bring intellectual property and new expertise in wearable devices to Fitbit at a time when the fitness-tracker maker is looking to expand its product range. Pebble has raised […]
The early idealism of the Internet was imagined as some great network that would somehow free the world’s oppressed people and lead to a grand utopian future. All the world’s information would be available at the touch of a button, greater participation in government by the people would be easy, and so on. None of this has happened or will happen. Instead, the American public […]
Nestlé said it had found a process to naturally reduce sugar content by as much as 40 per cent in what the maker of Kit Kats claims is a first for the industry, as pressure to produce healthier drinks and snacks ratchets up amid an obesity epidemic. The world’s largest food and drinks company said on Wednesday that it was securing a patent for its innovation and […]
The shares of large US energy groups shot up to their highest levels since last July on Wednesday after Opec agreed to the first production cut since the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 energy sector rallied 4.8 per cent in its biggest gain in 15 months. The rise came after the cartel struck a long-awaited pact aimed at reducing the glut of supply on global markets […]
The smart home is gaining ground, but it’s still a muddle of confusing standards, competing platforms, and gadgets that don’t do what you might expect. But the promise of products that can make your life a little easier is hard to resist, so I’m here to answer the inevitable questions that arise. Whether it’s figuring out the best connected door lock to assembling the right […]
All you need: Blink’s two-camera outfit with a sync module, set-up guide and an Android or iOS device with app loaded. Photo: Jack Schofield Most people who really need security cameras should already have installed them. However, there are still plenty of people like me, who aren’t willing to make that much of an effort, or pay a monthly fee. Now there is at least one system […]
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro keeps surfacing in benchmark listings, and its latest appearance on AnTuTu reveals more details about its specifications. With leaks popping up at a faster pace, the Galaxy C7 Pro unveiling could be just around the corner. Just last week, the purported Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro surfaced on the Geekbench benchmarking site, which listed a few core specs for the smartphone such as […]
DAYING COUNTY, China You too may soon be able to feel what it was like to hit an iceberg on the Titanic. Construction of a life-size replica of the doomed passenger ship began in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Wednesday with a keel-laying ceremony and fireworks to mark the occasion. It is part of Star Energy Investment Group’s plans for a tourist resort along the Qijiang River […]
By Adama Diarra | SIKASSO, Mali SIKASSO, Mali A Malian court began a trial of former coup leader General Amadou Sanogo on Wednesday on charges of “complicity in kidnapping and assassination,” three and a half years after his junta was accused of killing 21 soldiers. Sanogo led a coup in March 2012 that deposed former President Amadou Toumani Toure and plunged Mali into chaos, enabling Tuareg rebels […]
Oil prices soared 8 per cent to $50 a barrel on Wednesday as Opec agreed to its first supply cut since prices started to plummet two years ago. The meeting is continuing as individual country allocations are hammered out, but sources said the main obstacles to the deal had been overcome. It will see the 13-member group reduce output by about 4.5 per cent, or 1.2m a […]
Thanks to mysteriously escalating prices, channels you don’t want, and a lack of competitive options, cable TV and Internet companies are widely hated in the US. Cord cutting is supposed to save us from at least some of that. But AT&T’s new DirecTV Now plan just transplants the cable model into the cord-cutter world. It’s full of traps and pitfalls for consumers, the biggest of […]
Toyota wants to release a new version of its hydrogen-powered Mirai in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, underscoring its commitment to fuel-cell vehicles despite joining the global market for battery-powered cars. “The 2020 Olympics could be the venue to showcase [the new Mirai] to the world,” Kiyotaka Ise, head of advanced research and development at Toyota, told the Financial Times. The world’s top selling carmaker this […]
