Cover Media: A new take on the classic tale of Peter Pan |
- Cover Media: A new take on the classic tale of Peter Pan
- Facebook ‘dislike’ button doesn’t get Zuckerberg’s vote
- Move over Uber! Washington comes up with its own taxi app (VIDEO)
- Sony hack shows NFL’s ‘Concussion’ battle plan — Kavitha Davidson
- Kerry wants to head off UN showdown over Palestinian statehood
- Is Uber just a glorified taxi company? (VIDEO)
| Cover Media: A new take on the classic tale of Peter Pan Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:59 PM PST Duration: 1:55, Published 13 Dec 2014 The new adventure drama Pan centers on the life of a little boy whose destiny it is to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan. — Cover Media  |
| Facebook ‘dislike’ button doesn’t get Zuckerberg’s vote Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:56 PM PST
During a question-and-answer session with an audience at the Facebook headquarters in Northern California, available online yesterday, Zuckerberg gave a thumbs-down to the idea of a button to register disdain for posts at the social network. "That's not something that we think is good for the world," Zuckerberg said, expressing concern that "like" and "dislike" buttons could turn into a voting system to judge posts. "The thing that I think is very valuable is that there are more sentiments that people want to express." While Facebook's well-known thumbs-up "like" buttons let people easily show support or enthusiasm for posts, some folks think the sentiment seems off-target for somber subjects such as news of death or other sadness in the lives of friends. "We are talking about a right way for people to easily express a broader array of emotions," Zuckerberg said, giving examples such as empathy, surprise, or laughter. No changes along those lines were on the immediate horizon. "We need to figure out the right way to do it so that it is a force for good and not a force for bad in demeaning the posts that people are putting out there." Facebook would also risk irking advertisers by giving members a quick way to tag marketing messages with "dislikes," according to analysts. Zuckerberg noted that Facebook members are free to comment on posts, but can wind up feeling pressured to be witty or insightful. — AFP |
| Move over Uber! Washington comes up with its own taxi app (VIDEO) Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:55 PM PST WASHINGTON, Dec 13 — Washington is developing a smartphone app to enable its taxis to compete head-on with Uber and other ride-sharing services, the US capital's taxi commission said yesterday. Beta testing of the Universal DC TaxiApp is scheduled to begin in March, and if all goes well it could be fully in service by late spring. "We are the first in the country to have a universal taxi cab app," DC Taxi Commission spokesman Neville Waters told AFP. "This is not targeting Uber per se," he said. This is a result of what consumers have been demanding—and it enables taxis to compete on a level playing field with other private operators." All 7,000 licensed taxis in Washington will be obliged to make themselves available on the app whenever they are out on streets and on duty. Drivers and taxi companies will be free to keep using alternative taxi-hailing apps alongside the Universal DC TaxiApp, Waters said. Consumers, meanwhile, will still be at liberty to opt for Uber, Lyft, Sidecar or other ride-sharing services in lieu of a conventional cab. While the DC Taxi Commission is developing the app, it will be up to an taxi industry cooperative to maintain it and set user fees. In New York, the city council is considering a bill that would not only create a similar app, but also enable taxis to be called using Uber, Lyft or other third-party apps. "Instead of making new technologies illegal or regulating them out of business, we should provide a level playing field with fair competition so that companies, drivers and riders all win," said New York councillor Ben Kallos, the bill's sponsor.
A darling of Silicon Valley, Uber has disrupted the taxi industry enough to trigger bans in Spain and Thailand and lawsuits in some big US cities. It is currently prohibited from operating in New Delhi after a passenger alleged she had been raped by one of its drivers late last week. Six months ago, several hundred taxi drivers in Washington snarled downtown traffic to condemn smartphone car-hailing services—mirroring protests in several global cities. Hailo, a privately-run taxi hailing app, pulled out of Washington in October. It still operates in nine European and Asia-Pacific cities, as well as in Ireland. — AFP |
| Sony hack shows NFL’s ‘Concussion’ battle plan — Kavitha Davidson Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:45 PM PST DECEMBER 13 — The fallout from the Sony Pictures e-mail hacks continues, and the latest revelation might not make the National Football League too happy. Buzzfeed's Lindsey Adler found a memo among the enormous document dump discussing the company's strategy to combat any anticipated action by the NFL before the release of a feature film on brain disease in football. The upcoming drama, under the working title "Concussion," stars Will Smith as Bennet Omalu, the real-life neuropathologist credited with discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy after conducting the autopsy of former Pittsburgh Steelers centre Mike Webster. According to Buzzfeed, one of the e-mails was sent by Allan Mayer, head of the strategic communications division at 42West, a public-relations firm employed by Sony. In it, he warns the studio not to underestimate "a powerful adversary that may try to prevent the movie from being made." Mayer postulates that the NFL would take a two-pronged approach by casting doubt on the film's accuracy while engaging in a "pressure campaign" not unlike the one that caused ESPN to pull out of its partnership with PBS on the Frontline documentary, "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis." As Adler notes, Sony won't be as easy to push around as ESPN, which has a longstanding business relationship with the NFL that includes the television rights to Monday Night Football. But there are some seeming conflicts of interest: After a one-year hiatus, the league once again offers its NFL Sunday Ticket streaming service through Playstation game consoles, despite its close partnership with Sony competitor Microsoft, and Madden NFL 15 is a perennial best-seller among video games. (Then again, as another leaked email reveals, it seems the NFL has already managed to hit Sony where it hurts: Jeopardy.) Mayer outlines a path for Sony to deal with the NFL, emphasising that it needn't be "purely (or even mainly) defensive." First, the film needs to be factually solid when it comes to its "science and history," something you'd hope the filmmakers would have ensured anyway. Then, he advocates playing up the "David-and-Goliath aspect" wherein the fans and their loyalty to teams and players are distinct from the interests of the league. Along those lines, he suggests that the problem depicted in the film isn't the game of football—it's "the people who thought they were protecting the game by trying to suppress the truth about CTE."
But it's also true that football is an inherently dangerous sport, and ignoring that fact in order to shift the focus onto the admittedly culpable league in the name of promoting a film simply serves to obscure the broader, more complex discussion surrounding player safety, personal responsibility and the choice to expose one's self to harm. This isn't an either-or conversation—given that football is unsafe, the league is still on the hook for whitewashing just how unsafe it is. Players who have been properly educated on the dangers of football have the right to make an individual choice to put themselves in harm's way, but that assumes more faith in the NFL's health initiatives than I, personally, have. And the discussion of safety in football goes far beyond the professional level. A recent Bloomberg Politics poll revealed that half of Americans don't want their kids playing football, but as Will Leitch points out, a good chunk of these people are high-income and college-educated. In other words, as Leitch put it, "Rich people might now want their own kids to play, but that doesn't mean they don't want someone else's kids to play." The point is that any honest discussion about concussions, to which Sony's "Concussion" movie presumably aims to contribute, needs to begin with the admission that football is dangerous. The cognitive dissonance reflected in that Bloomberg poll stems from the ability to fool ourselves into thinking that going forward, technological advancements coupled with the NFL ceasing to be grossly negligent can prevent the catastrophic health consequences of the past. At the same time, the more immediate goal of ensuring that players are properly protected and compensated isn't served by deflecting attention away from their built-in occupational hazards. Again, it's not an either— or situation. Plenty of writers have pondered the "death of football," given what we know about its effects. I'm not so naive that I think that's actually a possibility, given the game's enormous popularity, ever-expanding in the face of controversy. But by the same token, I'm not so naive that I would buy a movie studio's line that in the story of concussions, the game of football was an innocent victim to the NFL's Goliath. * To contact the author on this story: Kavitha Davidson at kdavidson19@bloomberg.net To contact the editor on this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net * * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Kerry wants to head off UN showdown over Palestinian statehood Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:45 PM PST
"There are a lot of different folks pushing in different directions out there, and the question is can we all pull in the same direction," Kerry told reporters during a visit to Colombia. The Palestinians are carrying out a major campaign aiming to submit to the UN Security Council a draft resolution setting out a two- or three-year timetable for an end to Israeli occupation. They have said they would like to see the text submitted before the end of the year, prompting a surprise meeting next Monday in Rome between Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "What we're trying to do is figure out what makes sense," Kerry told reporters in Bogota. "We're trying to figure out a way to help defuse the tensions and reduce the potential for more conflict, and we're exploring various possibilities to that end, which is why I'm also meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu." The Palestinians' UN push comes amid tensions in the region and as a wave of European countries have seen parliamentary votes urging their governments to recognise a state of Palestine. The Portuguese parliament meanwhile became the latest to press for recognition of Palestinian statehood "in coordination with the European Union," adding that the government should "choose the moment best suited" for the decision. France's upper house voted Thursday to urge its government to recognise Palestine hard on the heels of a similar motion in the Irish parliament on Wednesday. Lawmakers in Britain and Spain have already passed their own motions and Sweden has gone even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state, in a move that prompted a furious Israel to recall its ambassador. Kerry led a nine-month peace bid that collapsed in acrimony in April, and Washington has long opposed what it calls "unilateral" moves to achieve statehood, which it says will only come through a negotiated deal. Demands for 'action' State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington's position had not changed, and stressed there was no draft resolution yet. "But the fact is there are a number of countries out there that want to see action at the UN that are pushing for that," Psaki told reporters. "There are a number of countries out there who have taken their own action, even non-binding action. And so this is an appropriate time to have the discussions." Kerry suggested that he may be travelling on from Rome to other European capitals, but did not specify details. On the margins of a UN climate talks in Lima on Thursday, the top US diplomat had discussed the tensions in the Middle East with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius. France is believed to be among those looking to craft a UN resolution. And yesterday, Kerry telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss "recent developments" in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the region, along with initiatives at the United Nations, Psaki said. Russia and the United States both hold veto power at the UN Security Council. Kerry also phoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to discuss the situation in the Middle East, a senior state department official said. The official said Kerry had "expressed his condolences" over the death of Ziad Abu Ein, a Palestinian official who died Wednesday after being struck in the chest during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers. The incident has triggered protests and clashes in the occupied territories, as the Palestinian leadership has blamed Israel for "killing" the 55-year-old official. — AFP |
| Is Uber just a glorified taxi company? (VIDEO) Posted: 12 Dec 2014 04:42 PM PST NEW YORK, Dec 13 — Uber has a 'special' problem. As in, the company thinks it is really, really special. But according to Bloomberg's Brendan Greeley, Uber needs to come to the realisation that they are just a glorified taxi company using Silicon Valley technology. — Bloomberg
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