Minecraft arguably stands as one of the biggest names in gaming today, an impressive feat since its history harks back to a lone developer working on a project that would one day end up being bought by Microsoft for a hefty sum. A lot of factors contribute to Minecraft‘s popularity, one of which is the effortless accessibility with which players can let their creativity run amok. But what would […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Barack Obama’s administration has decided to include a massive report on the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” in his presidential papers, meaning it may eventually be declassified. The White House wrote to Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Dec. 9 informing them of its […]
By Tom Bergin and Jim Finkle | LONDON/BOSTON LONDON/BOSTON Cyber attacks on the global banking system have continued – and succeeded – since February’s heist of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, underscoring the continuing vulnerability of the SWIFT messaging network, a SWIFT official told Reuters. The network, which handles trillions of dollars in transfers daily, has warned banks of the escalating threat to their systems, […]
You may not have considered some of the lesser-known sports in the UAE – because you weren’t aware they existed here. But, if you’re weary of your usual exercise routine, why not sample a few of the more unusual, left-of-field sports and activities to test your mettle and spark your enthusiasm? newslide Lacrosse This fast-paced, exhilarating sport was played by the indigenous people of North America as […]
Donald Trump has named Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn to head the White House National Economic Council, marking his third top appointment from the ranks of the bank despite his pledge to sever links between Wall Street and Washington. The appointment of Mr Cohn, who serves as chief operating officer, leaves Goldman nursing another big departure from its leadership team just weeks after the news that the […]
BMC announced Monday that Peter Leav is joining the enterprise software firm as its new president and CEO. Leav comes to BMC from Polycom, the global collaboration company where he served as president and CEO for the last three years. He’s succeeding Bob Beauchamp, who will continue to serve as chairman of the Board of Directors for BMC. BMC, which went private in 2013, is entering its […]
Following Friday’s report by RCB’s Charlie McElligott which sought to answer “THE” question every investor is asking, namely “what could derail this rally“, today’s the cross-asset strategist has released a follow up analysis in which he warns that even though the bond battering continues – and is likely to continue for a while – the market is now being set up for a “massive mean-reversion” counter-trend rally […]
“It’s just abnormal,” said Doc Rivers, the coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. “I never even spent one second thinking about what I was going to say,” said Kevin McHale, the former coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets. Continue reading the main story A flash of insight? A burst of banter? Those are considered monumental successes in the in-game interview genre, which tends to consist […]
ABU DHABI // Women members of parliament have an important role in brokering peace in the Middle East and beyond, a conference heard on Monday. About 50 women who preside over parliaments met in Abu Dhabi for the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament. For the first time men were invited to participate, including Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, who […]
3D printing is often touted as a great tool for designers to test and refine their designs prior to manufacturing. But you can do a lot more with 3D printing, even with inexpensive home printers. For example, you can use a 3D printer to create and produce a replacement part for something you use every day. In my case, I made a replacement back cover for a […]
Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari have scrapped plans to merge Viacom and CBS, the two media companies they control, amid disagreements about valuation and management control. The news surprised investors, who had been betting on a merger after months of discussions between America’s leading broadcast network and the owner of Paramount Pictures and MTV. Viacom shares fell as much as 8 per cent in morning trading […]
Prosecutors have declined to pursue charges against a lawyer for the city of Philadelphia suspected of helping to vandalize a grocery store with anti-Trump graffiti. The assistant city solicitor investigated in connection with the Nov. 25 incident agreed to perform community service and will keep his job, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer: Duncan Lloyd, 32, was identified in surveillance footage that captured Lloyd and a second man walking […]
LONDON Hundreds of thousands of commuters in south London and southern England along with travellers to Gatwick Airport were facing travel misery on Tuesday as a strike by train drivers was set to bring rail services to a standstill. Drivers working for Southern Rail, which runs trains from central London to Gatwick and Brighton on the south coast, will walk out for 48 hours over a long-running […]
Exchange traded funds have led to excessive trading and changed the way the stock market works, according to the man widely regarded as the father of passive investing, who is now calling for politicians to re-examine the sector. Writing in an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Jack Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Group, the world’s largest passive manager, complains that the annual turnover of shares […]
For the last 28 years, I have written a prediction column for the new year. I study our research and look for trends that provide hints of what might impact the tech industry in the near future. In 2017, be on the lookout for augmented reality products (more so than VR), the further development of autonomous vehicles and smart cities, and the impact of the […]
A new report by leaders in computational methods and reproducibility lays out recommendations for ways researchers, institutions, agencies and journal publishers can work together to standardize sharing of data sets and software code. The paper ‘Enhancing reproducibility for computational methods’ appears in the journal Science. (via WSJ)
ABU DHABI // With kindergarten pupils making up nearly 20 per cent of the private schools population, investors are being encouraged to open more schools catering to the early years education. The Abu Dhabi Education Council, which regulates private schools in the emirate, recently held a workshop for about 60 prospective and current investors to offer information on the business opportunities available in the education market. It […]
Doctoral student Shuo Li shakes hands with an optoelectronically innervated prosthesis. Credit: Huichan Zhao/Provided Most robots achieve grasping and tactile sensing through motorized means, which can be excessively bulky and rigid. A Cornell group has devised a way for a soft robot to feel its surroundings internally, in much the same way humans do. A group led by Robert Shepherd, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering […]
The murky moral maze of the Middle East’s burgeoning home-help industry comes under the spotlight in A Maid for Each, a stark documentary that had its regional premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival on December 10. Most of this sobering film takes place inside the cramped confines of a small, but thriving, agency in Beirut, Lebanon, that matches well-off families with incoming immigrant workers. The cameras […]
By Ahmed Rasheed | BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Several thousand Iraqi federal police are ready to join the assault against Islamic State in east Mosul, a spokesman said on Monday, reinforcing troops who have faced weeks of fierce counter-attacks from the militants. The extra forces are being deployed as the gruelling U.S.-backed campaign to crush Islamic State in its Iraqi stronghold enters its ninth week. Elite army troops have […]
In Australia, over 137,390 animals once called pets are received annually by the RSPCA [PDF] alone, with rescue homes and animal shelters receiving surrendered animals faster than they can re-home those already in care. With few options other than euthanasia for those animals unable to be placed, self-taught coder John Bishop decided he needed to do something and launched Pet Rescue in 2003, an online service connecting […]
Photo Credit Angie Wang More than 25 years ago, at the height of the effort to pass hate speech codes on college campuses, I wrote a monograph about how to do it without censorship. It began with a quotation from a student who had been bullied because he was Asian-American: “I wish they had hit me.” If he had been beaten, he said, the damage would have […]
DUBAI // A 30-year-old tourist confessed to working as a prostitute when she appeared at Dubai Criminal Court. The Nigerian woman was caught by a security guard inside a men’s accommodation block in the Al Quoz industrial area where she had sex with several men for Dh150 each in October this year. “The security guard told me that he caught the woman after she got out of […]
ISTANBUL The death toll from Saturday night’s twin bombings in Istanbul has risen to 44, of whom 36 were police officers, Health Minister Recep Akdag was cited as saying by state-run Anadolu agency and other media on Monday. An offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings outside an Istanbul soccer stadium, which also wounded around 150 people. The death toll […]
