Within the tech world, there is something known as a Chaos Monkey. It is a software tool that simulates chaos and uncertainty, rampaging through a system pulling at cables and kicking computers. Simulate big problems so you can prepare for them; that’s how the thinking goes. Chaos Monkeys are tame – they are a tool employed by network administrators to make their systems safer and more stable. […]
WASHINGTON — In a harsh rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Secretary of State John Kerry declared on Wednesday that the United States cannot “allow a viable two-state solution to be destroyed before our eyes.’’ Mr. Kerry, in one of his last speeches as secretary of state, said that Mr. Netanyahu was allowing the agenda of the settler movement to define the future of Israel. […]
The FTSE 100 was within touching distance of a closing high on Wednesday, as optimism about the outlook for metal prices lifted the shares of the heavyweight miners on Britain’s blue-chip index. On the market’s first day back after the Christmas holiday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6 per cent at 7107.56 in early afternoon trading, putting it on track to surpass its closing high of 7103.98 […]
Time to pick the trends that will make the industry interesting—or not—next year. This is the time of year when the tech pundits discuss what happened last year and what will happen next year. Usually they miss the points from last year and mess up those for next. But let’s see if I can do any better. The Internet […]
AVATAR can detect changes in physiology and behavior during interviews with travelers. AVATAR can detect changes in physiology and behavior during interviews with travelers. Credit: Aaron Elkins When you engage in international travel, you may one day find yourself face-to-face with border security that is polite, bilingual and responsive—and robotic. The Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real Time (AVATAR) is currently being tested in conjunction […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Law firm hacking: Three Chinese traders earned more than $4 million in illegal profits after they hacked into the computer systems of prominent U.S. law firms and stole nonpublic information on mergers and acquisitions, according to an unsealed federal indictment. [WSJ, NYT] Student loan bankruptcy: Borrowers are beginning to win battles to erase some student loans in bankruptcy court, […]
Carrie Fisher, the iconic actress who became a household name playing the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars film franchise, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 27, after being hospitalized for heart attack last week. She was 60. Fisher was rushed to the hospital on Dec. 23 after suffering cardiac arrest while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. The star had been traveling to […]
Huawei makes fantastic, high quality smartphones, tablets, and smart watches. The TalkBand products were an interesting combination of activity tracker and Bluetooth headset, but I was not impressed with the quality of those devices. Thankfully, the Huawei Fit matches the quality of Huawei smartphones. I’ve been wearing the Huawei Fit for more than a week and it is one of the best activity trackers I have ever […]
As well as being consumed in large quantities this Christmas, the turkey has been taking a starring role in live online video. Food — whether eating it or cooking it — has become one of the most popular subjects to show online, from social networks to a new app specialising in foodie culture. Live video has been taking over social feeds, from Facebook to Twitter’s Periscope and […]
Photo Construction this week in the settlement of Har Homa in Jerusalem. Credit Atef Safadi/European Pressphoto Agency JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders postponed plans on Wednesday to move ahead with new housing in East Jerusalem, just hours before Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to deliver a much-anticipated speech outlining an American vision for peace with the Palestinians. The Jerusalem city planning committee, reportedly acting at the […]
When the direct trading link between stock markets in Shenzhen and Hong Kong opened this month, local dignitaries were easy to spot at the launch events. Less conspicuous were international investors ready to take advantage of what was billed as a big opportunity to buy into Chinese equities. The link offers foreign investors greater access to shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, home to some of China’s up […]
Even as the Singapore economy is projected to see worsening economic climate next year, local businesses appear unwilling to transform to cope with the changing environment. Just 15 percent of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and 36 percent of large enterprises strongly agreed with the need to transform to adapt to slowing economic growth as well as technological change and disruption. Across the board, 62 percent agreed […]
By Makiko Yamazaki | TOKYO TOKYO A looming writedown at Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp has wiped almost $5 billion off its value in two days and prompted a credit rating downgrade on Wednesday, as the company grapples to plug a potential multi-billion dollar hole. Toshiba said late on Tuesday that cost overruns at a U.S. nuclear business it bought from Chicago Bridge & Iron last year, CB&I […]
The remaining population of the cheetah in the wild hints that the world’s fastest mammal is heading toward extinction. Only 7,100 Cheetahs Left In The Wild A new study that looked into the number of the speedy big cat estimated that there are only 7,100 of these animals left in the wild. The findings prompted calls for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to re-categorize the […]
Orthodox Jews in black coats and skullcaps danced with Arabs in flowing robes and checkered kaffiyehs at a Hanukkah celebration over the weekend in Bahrain, a Muslim-majority monarchy whose king has sanctioned celebrations of the Jewish holiday. Video of the celebration, which included a Jewish delegation giving a large silver menorah to Arab dignitaries and members of both groups dancing together, appeared on Monday on YouTube, where […]
Nearly half of all new mobile device and app activations across the United States during the week leading up to Christmas and the beginning of Chanukah were for the Apple iPhone, according to analyst firm Flurry. Flurry reported that during the week, 44 percent of all new phone and tablet activations involved Apple devices, while just 21 percent were across Samsung smartphones and tablets, with the latter […]
By Shinichi Saoshiro | TOKYO TOKYO Asia stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday, while the dollar firmed against the yen following the release of upbeat U.S. economic data overnight. Crude oil prices held large gains on expectations of supply tightening once oil-producing nations implement a scheduled output cut. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4 percent. Australian stocks rode a rise in […]
CBC’s I-Team tackles a wide variety of stories in any given year. There are hidden camera shoots, accountability interviews, court cases, long hours on the phone with tipsters who want to remain anonymous, dozens upon dozens of freedom of information requests, and data-mining on all manner of topics. This year, the investigative team tackled everything from health and safety issues in the nail salon industry to doctors who […]
Shares in Toshiba sank by their daily limit of 20 per cent on Wednesday morning as investors scrambled to reassess the company’s financial stability and questioned the future of one of Japan’s most celebrated industrial names. The stock plunge followed Toshiba’s warning to the market the previous evening that it could book multibillion-dollar impairment losses on part of its Westinghouse nuclear business in the US – a […]
At this late date, weeks ahead of the inauguration of Mr. Trump, who openly lobbied on Israel’s side against the United Nations resolution, it is unclear what Mr. Kerry hopes to achieve from the speech, other than to leave a set of principles that he believes will one day emerge as the basis for talks, if and when they resume. Continue reading the main story Mr. Kerry, […]
Qualcomm has been fined 1.03 trillion won ($865 million) by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) over antitrust violations, with the regulator finding the chip giant’s business practices to be in violation of competition law. Qualcomm’s business model includes collecting royalty payments from clients, which are calculated on the price of the handset using the chip, rather than the price of the chipset itself, and royalties […]
(Image: Tesla) Tesla and Panasonic on Tuesday announced they will begin making photovoltaic cells and modules at a $256 million factory in upstate New York. The PV cells and modules will be used in solar panels Tesla will be manufacturing to store power in customers’ homes through Tesla’s energy storage products, the Powerwall and Powerpack. Production of the first PV modules will begin in summer 2017, and […]
By Thomas Wilson and Saeed Azhar | TOKYO/SINGAPORE TOKYO/SINGAPORE Japan Inc may become a more important force in dealmaking next year as its cashed-up companies seek to buy growth prospects elsewhere in the world and as Beijing’s crackdown on capital outflows prevents some Chinese companies from making foreign acquisitions, bankers and lawyers said. Facing tepid prospects at home after decades of stagnation amid a shrinking population, Japanese […]
Russian sports officials had vehemently denied the doping operation’s existence despite a detailed confession by the nation’s former antidoping lab chief, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, in a New York Times article last May that was subsequently confirmed by global antidoping regulators. Continue reading the main story An investigator appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, Richard McLaren, published more extensive evidence this month that prompted the International Olympic Committee […]
