How to stay under the radar when communicating online |
- How to stay under the radar when communicating online
- Japan trade deficit quadruples on-year in March to US$14b
- Blatter repeats backing for winter 2022 World Cup
- Hollywood plays to the faithful, finds hits with God
- Volkswagen to outsell foreign rivals in China?
- Moyes endures horror return to Everton as Martinez outwits United
| How to stay under the radar when communicating online Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:51 PM PDT
In the past, most services designed to keep conversations private and cover users' tracks on the web were developed for computer specialists, hackers and political activists. The VPN service A/I (Autistici/Inventati), which lets users disguise their location, is a prime example. But ever since Edward Snowden's revelations on the NSA's Prism surveillance program, a wider set of users are looking for more confidential communication services than the ones that have already proven vulnerable to the US government's prying eyes (Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Lavaboom, a new free webmail service out of Germany, guarantees that all a users' emails are encrypted and that accounts are impenetrable to spying by any organisation. The service also offers a paid subscription option for users who require larger data storage capacity and a more secure, three-level authentication process. In the mobile sector, a number of apps have cropped up to offer enhanced data confidentiality. Among the most popular is Wickr, which provides advanced encryption of emails, text messages, shared images and videos. There is even a "self-destruct" option to ensure there is literally no trace of communications after they have been read. Telegram, a confidential option for mobile instant messaging, ensures that chats are heavily encrypted and also offers a self-destruct feature. The developers behind these new services are catering to users' growing distrust of more mainstream platforms, which are inherently less secure. These apps provide users with some semblance of privacy on the net, at least for now. Useful links: Lavaboom: lavaboom.com A/I: autistici.org Wickr: mywickr.com Telegram: telegram.org — AFP-Relaxnews  |
| Japan trade deficit quadruples on-year in March to US$14b Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:47 PM PDT
Japan logged a deficit of ¥1.45 trillion yen (RM45.37 billion) against the year-before shortfall of ¥356.9 billion, the finance ministry said. Exports rose 1.8 per cent to ¥6.38 trillion, thanks to higher shipments of cars and processed fuel products. But imports grew a much faster 18.1 per cent to ¥7.83 trillion due to higher imports of crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Energy imports surged after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of Japan's nuclear reactors, which once supplied a third of the nation's power. A sharp decline in the yen, which is good for exporters' profitability, has also forced up the cost of importing. The yen was an average 8.7 per cent cheaper against the dollar in March compared with the year-before level, according to customs data. Japanese domestic demand for gasoline and other products also picked up in March ahead of the April 1 sales tax hike from 5.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent. — AFP |
| Blatter repeats backing for winter 2022 World Cup Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:44 PM PDT
He also repeated his belief that football's world governing body cannot be held responsible for the deaths of construction workers racing against time to complete venues for this year's World Cup in Brazil. Pressure has been building for the 2022 tournament to be moved from its traditional June-July slot due to temperatures which rocket to the high 40 degrees in the Middle East. A decision will not be taken until 2015. "The best date would be the end of the year," Blatter told BeIN Sport television in France. "One has to remain realistic. If you change because you can't play in the summer then you must play in winter at the end of the year." Blatter was also quizzed over the deaths of seven men working on the stadiums for the World Cup in Brazil. "The organisation of the work has been done poorly," said Blatter. "This is not the cause of football. The big companies, especially the German and French companies, are responsible." ― AFP |
| Hollywood plays to the faithful, finds hits with God Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:44 PM PDT
The movie "Heaven is for Real," which depicts the story of a young boy who claims to have visited heaven during a near death experience, is the fourth faith-based film this year to stir movie-going audiences with impressive box office numbers. Made for US$12 million (RM38.9 million), the film, which stars Greg Kinnear, collected US$21.5 million over the Easter weekend in US and Canadian theaters, finishing third at the box office behind bigger budget films "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" from Walt Disney and "Rio 2" from Fox. Two other Christian-based films also cracked the top 10. "Noah," from Viacom's Paramount Pictures, stars Russell Crowe as the biblical figure and was ninth. It has generated more than US$93 million at domestic theatres since opening in March, according to the site Box Office Mojo. "God's Not Dead," about a religious freshman college student who debates his professor over the existence of God, was tenth and has totalled US$48 million over five weeks, despite playing in only about half the numbers of theatres of Hollywood's larger films. Fox's "Son of God," an adaptation of producer Mark Burnett's 10-hour TV mini-series "The Bible," generated more than US$59 million in domestic ticket sales after opening earlier this year. "This audience has long felt left out by Hollywood and it certainly looks like this isn't the case anymore," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior market analyst of box office tracking firm Rentrak, in an email. "The numbers will encourage studios to make more of these types of films." Studios have been searching for more faith-based films since Mel Gibson's 2004 "The Passion of the Christ," which tallied US$611.9 million in worldwide ticket sales and was made on a modest US$30 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. In the last five years alone, Hollywood has made 26 movies that the site classifies as "Christian" films, including three based on "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis that literary academics say adopted several Christian themes. "There's a core audience and they're very interested in seeing films with a faith-based centre," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribute for Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose TriStar Pictures unit distributed "Heaven is for Real." "The one main ingredient most have is that they are somewhat inspirational in nature," said Bruer. "People feel like they get something out of it." Not all get great reviews. "Heaven is for Real" got a positive "fresh" rating from only 31 of 59 reviewers, according to the site Rotten Tomatoes. But some of the films can have a built-in marketing vehicle, according to David A. R. White, whose company Pure Flix produced the film "God's Not Dead." White told Entertainment Weekly that Pure Flix waged an aggressive grass-roots campaign that included screening the film for 8,000 pastors prior to its opening. "We have a lot of relationships to the gatekeepers who can rally their people to go to the movie theatre," White told the magazine. He added of the American audience, "160 million plus people call themselves Christians. They go to church once a month, at least. That's a lot of people." ― Reuters |
| Volkswagen to outsell foreign rivals in China? Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:37 PM PDT
VW expects China deliveries to rise at least 10 per cent from last year's record, pushing deliveries above 3.5 million vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said in the run-up to the Beijing auto show, which opens to public on this week. Though he didn't specifically refer to GM, which sold about 110,000 fewer vehicles than VW in China last year, the Detroit-based company said in February it would keep up with a market that's poised to grow 8 per cent to 10 per cent. "It's a horse race," GM China President Matt Tsien said yesterday in Beijing, when asked whether GM would be able to beat VW's sales target. For China's two-biggest foreign automakers, the competition is intensifying in the country and the battle-lines are shifting toward smaller cities as the economy slows and anti-pollution measures spread. That's prompting automakers to customize more car features catered to Chinese tastes and speed up the introduction of new models into the country. "We're certainly seeing cities in China place restrictions, there are pressures on the infrastructure, there are pollution issues," Finbarr O'Neill, president of JD Power & Associates, said in an interview. "But as a whole, the growth throughout China in the tier 3 and 4 cities, in the west, and the aspiring middle class, assures continued growth for the automotive industry." Dealer expansion VW, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker that owns a dozen automotive brands, is planning to increase its number of dealerships in China to more than 3,600 by 2018, up 50 per cent from now, the company said. VW said it will also introduce a range of low-to zero-emission models to meet rising demand for such cars in the country, starting with the e-Up! and e-Golf this year, followed by models such as the Audi A3 E-Tron plug-in hybrid. "We will intensify our customer orientation even further so that we can respond even faster and more flexibly to customers' wishes — particularly here in China," Winterkorn said. Close race Outselling GM in China helped VW surpass the US automaker as the world's second-biggest carmaker by sales last year. VW, whose businesses include the Audi and Porsche premium marques and the Skoda mass-market nameplate, has said that it may sell more than 10 million vehicles for the first time in 2014, four years earlier than planned. The German company will introduce more than 100 new or revamped models through next year in a strategy to overtake Toyota Motor Corp as the global industry leader by 2018. Still, VW lagged behind GM in China during the first quarter, according to figures released by the companies this month. GM, which had been the top-selling foreign automaker in the country for eight straight years before losing that spot in 2013, saw first-quarter China deliveries rise 13 per cent to 919,114, edging out VW's 880,700 units. GM is unveiling a redesigned Chevrolet Cruze sedan at the Beijing auto show, picking China for the model's global rollout. The Cruze, Chevrolet's best-selling model in China last year, is one of the six new or refreshed models under the brand being brought to the nation this year by GM. The Detroit-based company is also showing three dozen other vehicles at the show. Redouble efforts GM will introduce more than 60 new and refreshed models by end-2018 in China, according to Tsien. The largest U.S. automaker is spending US$12 billion (RM38.9 billion) in China from this year through 2017 to boost products and manufacturing capacity. Elsewhere, Ford Motor Co. is bringing its premium Lincoln cars to China decades behind Audi and BMW, testing whether the second-biggest US automaker can emulate the recent turnaround of its namesake brand. Even though the company started producing cars in China in 2003, about two decades behind VW, the popularity of its SUVs and Focus cars helped Ford see a 49 per cent surge in China sales last year, overtaking Toyota to become the nation's fifth- largest foreign automaker. This year, it's on pace to overtake Hyundai Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co for third place. Ford prototype Ford unveiled a prototype of a seven-seater off-road SUV that will preview a model sold for the first time with Jiangling Motors Corp. To catch up in China, Toyota will introduce 15 new models by the end of 2017 as part of its goal to become the No. 1 Japanese automaker in the country, said Executive Vice President Yasumori Ihara. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker, which first entered China with the Crown 50 years ago, forecasts sales in the country will expand to 1.1 million vehicles this year. At the show, the world's largest carmaker is displaying 38 vehicles and concepts. Jun Seki, head of Nissan China, said in an interview the company will keep its position as the nation's third-largest foreign automaker. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, which trails VW's Audi in China deliveries, displayed a new luxury concept car in a world premiere in Beijing. The model drew the attention of VW CEO Winterkorn, who was at the BMW stand pouring over the car. Among local brands, China FAW Group Corp. unveiled the most expensive Chinese car ever, the Red Flag L5, at a starting price of C¥5 million (RM2.6 million). That's enough to buy a Ferrari FF in the country, according to auto pricing website Cheshi.com. — Bloomberg |
| Moyes endures horror return to Everton as Martinez outwits United Posted: 20 Apr 2014 05:24 PM PDT
The result ended United's slim hopes of Champions League football next season as Everton stayed firmly in contention for a place in the top four with a clinical victory that highlighted their opponents' struggles under Moyes. The Scot, who enjoyed 11 successful years at Goodison Park before replacing Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford at the end of last season, was booed by the home fans when he appeared from the tunnel at the start of the game. His fortunes did not improve as Everton took command with a Leighton Baines penalty in the 28th minute following a Phil Jones handball, before the hosts doubled their lead through Kevin Mirallas's low finish just before the break. Despite controlling possession, a toothless United struggled to carve out any meaningful chances and rarely troubled Everton keeper Tim Howard before falling to their 11th Premier League defeat of the season. "We had a lot the ball, passing, and controlled the majority of the game," said Moyes, whose side are seventh in the table with 57 points from 34 games. "But we didn't have a cutting edge and got done on the counter attack. We gave away two dreadful goals." United fielded the attacking quartet of Shinji Kagawa, Juan Mata, Nani and Wayne Rooney, but lacked a creative spark when they got into Everton territory. Moyes, however, said the wheels were in motion to strenghten the squad for next season. "We couldn't find the telling pass, or clever play in the final third that makes the difference," he said. "I thought we did well, were the better team at 2-0 down in the first half. "We'll do everything we can to win the remaining four games. We are under way with what we are doing to improve next season and try to give ourselves a better chance to compete at the top end of the table." Martinez again showcased his managerial talents to mastermind a seventh victory in eight matches which kept them one point behind fourth-placed Arsenal with three games to play. The Spaniard, who led Wigan Athletic to FA Cup success last season, has been a revelation since taking over from Moyes and his team have played an attractive and positive style of football which has earned many plaudits. Everton enjoyed just 38 per cent possession against United, their lowest of the season, but were rarely troubled by the visitors and Martinez praised their "electrifying" counter-attacking performance. "Sometimes you need to adapt to what you face on the pitch," he told the BBC. "It was a case of the quality United had on the pitch, we had to be solid, organised and use the dynamic football we have. "The 2-0 lead allowed us to be more economical with our performance. We were very clear in what we had to do and we did that. We were electrifying on the counter." ― Reuters |
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