Bloomberg Video: How three men and an arcade hit launched the video game industry |
- Bloomberg Video: How three men and an arcade hit launched the video game industry
- UN: Climate change could cost developing countries annual US$500b by 2050
- Guardians of Peace? Sony Pictures employees get threats from hackers
- ‘Boob raffle’ runs foul of Argentine authorities
- Sony launches underwater pop-up store in Dubai to highlight water-resistant devices
- 2015 Grammy Award: Leading nominees
| Bloomberg Video: How three men and an arcade hit launched the video game industry Posted: 05 Dec 2014 05:00 PM PST Duration: 07:11, Published 6 Dec 2014 For its 85th anniversary, Bloomberg Businessweek chronicles the most disruptive ideas of the past 85 years. In 1972, Atari releases 'Pong', the video game that pioneered an entire industry. — Bloomberg  |
| UN: Climate change could cost developing countries annual US$500b by 2050 Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:55 PM PST
The figure was about 20 times today's public spending on climate adaptation, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) that warned of a "significant funding gap after 2020." And the number could be further inflated if countries fail to meet the UN target of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. "The impacts of climate change are already beginning to be factored into the budgets of national and local authorities," UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said in a statement. "The escalating cost implications on communities, cities, business, taxpayers and national budgets merit closer attention as they translate into real economic consequences," he added. In 2012-13, the amount of global public finance committed to adaptation was about US$23-26 billion, of which 90 per cent went to developing countries. Adaptation support is a key sticking point at UN negotiations under way in Lima to hammer out the broad outlines of a new world pact to curb global warming. Poor countries most vulnerable to climate-change-induced impacts ― extreme weather events, floods, droughts and sea-level rise ― are demanding that a rich nation commitment to adaptation and finance help be written into the pact. But many developed countries insist the deal, due to be signed in Paris in December 2015 to enter into force by 2020, should focus on mitigation ― meaning efforts to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Steiner said the new report "underlines the importance of including comprehensive adaptation plans in the agreement." 'Significant underestimate' The UN's top climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has projected adaptation costs in developing countries to reach US$70-100 billion per year by 2050, based largely on World Bank figures from 2010. But the new UNEP report said this was likely a "significant underestimate", even if warming can be limited to two degrees Celsius this century ― which many scientists say is unlikely. Data gathered by research institutions, based on a wider and more detailed database, found that "at a minimum, the costs of adaptation are likely two to three times higher," it said. And on some calculations, based on national-level rather than global-level studies, "adaptation costs could climb as high as US$150 billion by 2025/2030 and US$250-500 billion per year by 2050" ― and double that if the global average temperature rise is allowed to approach 4 C. Senior climate change advisor Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid said some developing countries were already at their financial limit for climate adaptation. "It's a cruel irony that it is the rich countries whose carbon emissions helped create these climate change impacts that don't want adaption to be a central part of the Paris agreement," he said. Sandeep Chamling Rai, adaptation policy advisor to green group WWF, added that the report "opens up a window onto a nightmarish future, where the global economy is crippled and the most vulnerable countries are even further disadvantaged. "This is not a gap, it's an abyss. We can avoid falling into it, but we're running out of time." Gathering 195 states and the European Union bloc, the 12-day Lima meeting has as one of its tasks to draft guidelines for nations when they make emissions-cutting pledges next year ― commitments that are at the heart of the new pact. The climate negotiations have been bedeviled for years by rifts between rich and poor nations over who should shoulder the burden of emissions cuts, which require a politically and financially difficult shift from cheap and plentiful fossil fuel to cleaner energy sources. Finance remains a sore point, with developing nations insisting that rich economies must show in Lima how they intend to honor promises to muster up to US$100 billion in climate finance per year from 2020. To date, nearly US$10 billion in startup capital had been promised for the Green Climate Fund, the main vehicle for channeling the money. Norway yesterday said it will provide US$258 million to the fund over the next four years. — AFP |
| Guardians of Peace? Sony Pictures employees get threats from hackers Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:48 PM PST
The email from a group calling itself Guardians of Peace (GOP) also warned that "all hope will leave you and Sony Pictures will collapse," according to the industry journal Variety. A Sony Pictures spokesman confirmed to AFP the threatening email that was sent to some staff, but not the nature of the threat. "We understand that some of our employees have received an email claiming to be from GOP. We are aware of the situation and are working with law enforcement," the spokesman said. Sony Pictures earlier this week confirmed the hack attack, calling it a "brazen" effort that netted a "large amount" of confidential information, including movies, as well as personnel and business files. It is not clear who GOP are, but Sony Pictures has downplayed a report that North Korea was behind the attack. The spokesman, Robert Lawson, did not verify the full content of the threatening email, but a transcript published by Variety warned that, "removing Sony Pictures on earth is a very tiny work for our group which is a worldwide organization. "What we have done so far is only a small part of our further plan. It's your false if you think this crisis will be over after some time. All hope will leave you and Sony Pictures will collapse." In clearly non-native English it continued: "Many things beyond imagination will happen at many places of the world. Our agents find themselves act in necessary places. "Please sign your name to object the false of the company at the email address below if you don't want to suffer damage. If you don't, not only you but your family will be in danger." According to security researchers, the Sony hackers leaked sensitive personal information on some 47,000 individuals, including celebrities. An analysis by the security firm Identity Finder found full names, social security numbers, birth dates and home addresses, allowing "a clear path for criminals intent on committing identity fraud." The researcher found 601 files containing this data including spreadsheets and Word documents. They said more than 15,000 of the social security numbers belonged to current or former Sony employees. Variety has reported that unreleased Sony movies, including the upcoming "Annie", have been made available on illegal file-sharing websites. The war film "Fury", as well as "Mr Turner", "Still Alice" and "To Write Love on Her Arms" were also made available. — AFP |
| ‘Boob raffle’ runs foul of Argentine authorities Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:43 PM PST
The club, Hibrido, tried to organise a "sorteo de lolas" (boob raffle) for December 13 but called it off under pressure from Argentina's National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). The owner of the club in the southern Patagonia region apologised, saying he had planned to write the winner a check equivalent to the cost of the operation — between 25,000 and 30,000 pesos (RM10,230 and RM12,275) — not pay for her surgery directly. Cosmetic surgery is popular in the South American country, where surgical breast and buttocks augmentations increased by 500 per cent from 2009 to 2013, according to the Argentine Congress of Aesthetic Medicine Specialists. — AFP |
| Sony launches underwater pop-up store in Dubai to highlight water-resistant devices Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:41 PM PST
The store, which will stay open for just three days, is just like any other smartphone shop in that there's an assistant on hand to walk customers through the features of Sony's various handsets. However, in order to shop there, you'll need to undergo a scuba-diving induction class first. But even if you're already a seasoned scuba diver, all visitors to the store have to be accompanied on the journey down by a professional diving instructor. And once inside, because the pop-up store has been constructed like a diving bell, masks and breathing apparatus can be removed, making it much easier to ask questions and of course smile while taking the obligatory selfie. As well as having a limited duration, who can drop in at the underwater store is also strictly reserved for competition winners, VIP guests and members of the press. Making smartphones and tablets water and dust resistant is a growing and welcome trend in the industry and is one that Sony can claim to have started. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| 2015 Grammy Award: Leading nominees Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:36 PM PST
The nominees for Album of the Year nominees were set to be announced last night, when CBS television airs its "A Very Grammy Christmas" show at 9pm. Following is a list of the nominees in key categories. Winners will be announced at the 57th annual Grammy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2015. RECORD OF THE YEAR "Fancy" - Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX "Chandelier" - Sia "Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) - Sam Smith "Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift "All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor SONG OF THE YEAR (Songwriters award) "All About That Bass" - Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters "Chandelier" - Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters "Shake It Off" - Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters "Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) - James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters "Take Me To Church" - Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter BEST NEW ARTIST Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark Haim Sam Smith BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM "Ghost Stories" - Coldplay "Bangerz" - Miley Cyrus "My Everything" - Ariana Grande "Prism" - Katy Perry "X" - Ed Sheeran "In The Lonely Hour" - Sam Smith BEST ROCK ALBUM "Ryan Adams" - Ryan Adams "Morning Phase" - Beck "Turn Blue" - The Black Keys "Hypnotic Eye" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "Songs Of Innocence" - U2 BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM "Sail Out" - Jhené Aiko "Beyoncé" - Beyoncé "X" - Chris Brown "Mali Is..." - Mali Music "Girl" - Pharrell Williams BEST COUNTRY ALBUM "Riser" - Dierks Bentley "The Outsiders" - Eric Church "12 Stories" - Brandy Clark "Platinum" - Miranda Lambert "The Way I'm Livin'" - Lee Ann Womack BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM "Syro" - Aphex Twin "While (1<2)" - Deadmaus "Nabuma Rubberband" - Little Dragon "Do It Again" - Röyksopp & Robyn "Damage Control" - Mat Zo BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM "This Is All Yours" - Alt-J "Reflektor" - Arcade Fire "Melophobia" - Cage The Elephant "St. Vincent" - St. Vincent "Lazaretto" - Jack White BEST RAP ALBUM "The New Classic" - Iggy Azalea "Because The Internet" - Childish Gambino "Nobody's Smiling" - Common "The Marshall Mathers LP2" - Eminem "Oxymoron" - Schoolboy Q "Blacc Hollywood" - Wiz Khalifa PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL Paul Epworth John Hill Jay Joyce Greg Kurstin Max Martin. — Reuters |
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