Sunday, January 31, 2016
Turkey warns Russia after alleging new airspace breach
Turkey has warned Moscow of "consequences" after saying that a Russian warplane ignored several radar warnings not to violate Turkish airspace, in the latest spat between the two countries.
Two months after Turkey's army shot down a Russian jet for allegedly crossing over its territory, Ankara said on Saturday that it had summoned the Russian ambassador after a Russian SU-34 jet crossed into Turkish airspace.
The Russian defence ministry denied that there was any violation and dismissed the Turkish accusations as "baseless propaganda".
"There has not been a single violation of Turkish airspace by Russia air force planes in Syria," ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
He added that Turkish radar installations were not capable of identifying a particular aircraft or its type or nationality, and that no verbal warning had been issued.
Rising tensions
Relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades, prompted by the November 24 downing of the Russian jet by Turkish forces.
Moscow imposed a series of economic sanctions against Ankara after the incident, sparking the biggest crisis between the two countries since the Cold War.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Friday's incident was a sign that Russia wanted issues between the two countries to deteriorate.
"We regard this infringement which came despite all our warnings in Russian and in English as an effort by Russia to escalate the crisis in the region," Erdogan said on Saturday.
"If Russia continues the violations of Turkey's sovereign rights, it will be forced to endure the consequences," he added, saying he wanted to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after the incident.
Sweden: Arrests and scuffles after anti-refugee rampage
Swedish police have made three arrests following reports that scores of black-clad men targeted foreigners as they rampaged through central Stockholm on Friday.
Local media reported on Saturday that up to 100 men had attacked people and handed out leaflets threatening violence against foreigners, highlighting growing tensions in a country of 10 million people that received 163,000 asylum seekers last year.
Friday night’s incident was followed by an anti-refugee protest on Saturday, which resulted in some scuffles with counter-demonstrators, according to local media.
"Racist groups are spreading hate and violence in our streets. This has to be met with force," Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said in a statement on Saturday.
Swedish newspapers said that according to witnesses a number of people had been attacked by the gang on Friday, who they reported to be hooligans associated with local football teams.
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One witness told the Aftonbladet newspaper that he had seen a group of men beating people in the middle of the capital's busy central Sergels torg square.
Police said three arrests were made on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.
The police also said one man had been arrested on Friday night for punching a plain clothes officer and another for carrying a knuckleduster, but the extent of assaults on immigrants was not clear.
Friday's incident came a day after a 22-year-old female worker was stabbed to death in a centre for unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in the southwest of the country.
'Our duty'
The leaflets handed out on Friday, which police said were also posted to Swedish social media, said: "When Swedish streets are no longer safe for ordinary Swedes it is our DUTY to fix the problem ... The police have amply shown that it lacks the means to rein them in and we now see no alternative than for us to mete out the punishment they deserve."
The Swedish government said this week it was likely to deport between 60,000 and 80,000 of last year's applications for refugee status in a move that drew criticism from rights groups.
More than 35,000 unaccompanied minors sought asylum in Sweden last year, roughly half of them registered as 16 or 17-years-old. More than 23,000 of them came from Afghanistan.
Doomsday Clock Moves Three Minutes To Midnight
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock that countdowns to a possible global catastrophe such as nuclear war or extreme climate change. It is a visual representation of how close humanity is from imploding on its own extinction. It hangs in the Bulletin's office in the University of Chicago and has been maintained there since 1947. There has been no change in the clock since 2012 when it was announced by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that humanity is "five minutes to midnight." However just this month, the committee announced yet another movement for the symbolic clock.
Last January 19, 2015, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that mankind is currently a mere metaphoric three minutes away from impending doom. The scientists explain that humanity is threatened by several factors including climate change and global warming, global nuclear weaponization and out sized nuclear weapons arsenal. Unfortunately, leaders are failing to safeguard humanity with these possibly destructive elements.
"The clock ticks now at just three minutes to midnight because international leaders are failing to perform their most important duty-ensuring and preserving the health and vitality of human civilization" read a part of the post.
The team of scientist' behind the doomsday clock has since suggested possible solutions to the earlier mentioned threats. According to them, there is a need to take action to regulate the use of greenhouse gases and spending on nuclear weapons. They were however quick to explain that technology is not the enemy. It is a matter of managing how humanity utilizes it.
"We can manage our technology, or become victims of it. The choice is ours, and the Clock is ticking. The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon" furthered the press release.
Apple MacBook Pro 2016 Release Date Set In March? Two New Variants To Be Introduced?
The new Apple laptop 2016 lineup, according to a recent report, may not be released all at once but on a staggered launch throughout the year.
Mac Rumors, in its report, confirmed that Apple's manufacturing partners are expected to start producing new 12-inch MacBook and 13-inch MacBook Pro models late March or early April in 2016 while the 15-inch MacBook Pro models to follow in the third quarter of this year.
The report added that the new 12-inch MacBook and 13-inch MacBook Pro may debut at Apple's rumored March media event, alongside other new Apple products such as the new 4-inch iPhone, iPad Air 3 and the Apple Watch 2. Other reports have it on June during the WWDC event.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, may find two possibilities: that it would be launched after the WWDC event or be launched at the WWDC and the be shipped later in the year.
Mac Rumors further revealed that the new 2016 lineup of MacBook laptops will come with Intel's faster Skylake processors and the Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C.
The Skylake processors, Breathecast noted in its report, can make the new MacBook even more powerful as it promises significant improvement in terms of performance. Moreover, the new wireless feature in Skylake could also change the display, charging and data transfer cables of the new Apple laptops.
The report also highlighted that fans are looking forward to a combination of power and energy efficiency Skylake with power enhancements.
According to BGR, Apple is already tipped to ship 20 million units of Macs next year, with its MacBook and iMac models expected to boost Apple's average selling price. In 2015 alone, Apple managed a 4.03 percent increase in sales in 2015 compared to 2014 as it sold a total of 20.38 million Macs, 5 million of which are iMacs.
Cruel Microsoft's Smart Decision To Kill Windows Phone
The death of Windows Phone is not a sign of Microsoft’s weakness, it’s one of the most promising signs that CEO Satya Nadella has turned the company around to a new way of thinking.
With only 4.5 million Lumia devices sold in Q4 2015, Microsoft’ mobile hardware reached the heady heights of a 1.1 percent market share. The guiding principle of ‘cloud-first mobile-first’ is evident in Microsoft’s approach – and the key takeaway is that it says ‘mobile’ and not ‘Windows Phone’ (or even ‘Windows 10 on s smartphone’).
Of course Microsoft’s mobile hardware ambitions (then with Windows Phone, now with Windows 10, but always with the Lumia brand name) have been on the slide for some time. The appointment of Satya Nadella as CEO brought a renewed focus on getting everyone to use Microsoft’s cloud-based software platform, moving away from the blinkered view of using only Microsoft’s own hardware platforms.
In theory Windows Phone could be licensed, but in practice Windows Phone was all about running Microsoft’s code on Microsoft’s hardware. Consumers had to want Microsoft’s services and be prepared to buy and use Microsoft approved hardware. For smartphones that meant living with Steve Ballmer’s view of mobility: ‘if you want to use Microsoft you have to buy everything from us.’
That’s no longer the case. If you want a Microsoft service and you have an iOS or Android device, then you’ll have access to Microsoft’s cloud, you can use your music subscription, you can sync OneNote, you can use all of Microsoft Office. The cloud is no longer limited by your hardware or operating system choices.
It’s far more accessible for Microsoft to offer its services and software on iOS and Android than the old strategy of ignoring the dominant mobile platforms to force people into Windows Phone. Nadella’s move to put the cloud first, no matter the device the consumer has, is not only commendable, but has given Microsoft a long-term strategy that doesn’t rely on wishful thinking.
Microsoft continues to lose money on every Lumia device sold, but it makes a profit on the users in its cloud-based system. It has lifted the average revenue per Windows 10 user significantly compared to the income from Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. Minimzing losses, pursuing ongoing revenue from users, and maintaining a presence on mobile is the key to its future.
Windows Phone bridged a gap and kept Microsoft involved in the mobile space as it worked on a new company-wide (and arguably internet-wide) strategy. With Windows 10 coming on-stream on the desktop that mobile that bridge is no longer needed. Hence the drop in numbers on Lumia sales witnessed in Q4 2015.
Microsoft makes money from users. It’s making more money from them on Windows 10 than on other platforms. But if a user is not on a Windows-based OS, Microsoft can still offer them services and find the profit. Windows 10 is one gateway to its cloud, no matter if it is in a smartphone, an OEM laptop, or the latest Surface tablet (or even Surface Phone). Nadella has made sure that Windows 10 is not the only gateway.
Windows Phone is dead. Lumia can fade away. But Microsoft has already moved on.
Everything coming to Netflix and Amazon Prime in February (watch them before it's too late )
Look, I get it. It’s super fun to get all mad when a movie you like leaves Netflix. "That’s not fair," you say, slamming your fists against the table. "I don’t care that they’re not supposed to have everything, and I don’t care that I’ve never watched that movie in the last three years it was on the service." You want it, and you want it now. Except soon you won't want for anything ever again... because space dementia is coming to Netflix next month.
That’s right. I’m talking about Armageddon.
Ben Affleck, with his freshly-capped chompers. Owen Wilson, doing the Owen Wilson thing before we knew what the Owen Wilson thing was. Liv Tyler. Bruce Willis. Steve Buscemi. Animal crackers.
You heard me. Armageddon.
There’s other stuff coming, too. Full Metal Jacket. Sin City. Dope. The long-awaited debut of Fuller House. Amazon’s got some surprises: Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq. Amy. The one true and holy Batman, as played by Mr. Michael Keaton. Hulu’s even getting in on the action, releasing its Stephen King adaptation 11.22.63 on February 15th.
You could say it’s a pretty good month all around, even though Netflix is losing things like Doctor Who and The Terminator. But really, who cares? There’s only one movie that matters.
That’s right. Armageddon.
Coming to Netflix
February 1st
- A Picture of You
- Armageddon
- Better Call Saul, season 1
- Charlie’s Angels
- Collateral Damage
- Cruel Intentions
- A Faster Horse
- Full Metal Jacket
- Game Face
- Jennifer 8
- Johnny English
- The Little Engine That Could
- The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, season 1
- Losing Isaiah
- Masha’s Tales, season 1
- My Side of the Mountain
- Para Elisa
- Pokemon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction
- Pokemon: XY, season 1
- Scooby-Doo
- Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
- Sin City
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
- Stardust
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
- Teen Witch
- Tin Man: Search for the Emerald
- The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom
February 2nd-15th
- Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave
- I Love You Phillip Morris
- Gaspar Noe’s Love
- Care Bears & Cousins, season 2
- Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado
- Mad Men, season 7: part 2
- Turbo: F.A.S.T., season 3
- Lila & Eve
- Dope
- The Girl in the Book
- The Face of Love
- Open Season
- XXY
February 16th-24th
- Asthma
- Atonement
- The Returned, season 2
- Cooked, season 1
- Love, season 1
- 3rd World Cops 2
- Bare
- Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight!
February 26th-29th
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
- Fuller House, season 1
- Theo Von: No Offense
- Finding Vivian Maier
- Ashes and Embers
Leaving Netflix
February 1st
- Bad Santa
- Benny & Joon
- Big Fish
- Blue Crush
- Doctor Who
- Rain Man
- Ray
- Terms of Endearment
- The Firm
- The Hurt Locker
- The Naked Gun
- The Terminator
Coming to Amazon Prime Video
February 1st
- A Better Life
- Amy
- Batman (1989)
- Deliver Us From Evil
- How To Steal a Million
- Kings of Summer
- Like Sunday, Like Rain
- Lost in Translation
- Men in Black
- Night Watch
- Nintendo Quest
- The Fifth Element
- The Fury
- The Karate Kid (1984)
- The Truth About Emanuel
- To Be Or Not To Be
- Twelve O’Clock High
- Waking Ned Devine
February 2nd-5th
- Adaline
- Myanmar: Bridges to Change
- The Identity Theft Of Mitch Mustain
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
- Chi-Raq
- Fire City: End of Days
- Ouija Exorcism
February 15th-29th
- Solomon Kane
- Love & Friendship
- Digging for Fire
- Inequality for All
Clinton keeps slim edge over Sanders in latest Iowa Poll
Hillary Clinton has kept a tight grip on her slim lead over Bernie Sanders in the waning hours leading into the Iowa caucuses, a new Iowa Poll shows.
Clinton is the top pick for 45 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers, with Sanders at 42 percent, The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows.
Clinton's support is up 3 percentage points from earlier this month, and Sanders' is 2 percentage points higher.
“This race is as tight as can be,” said David Axelrod, a national political strategist. “If Bernie Sanders had momentum headed into the final month, the race now is static and essentially tied."
“It comes down to who can grind it out on the ground on Monday night,” said Axelrod, a senior political commentator for CNN and an architect of Barack Obama's successful 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
The results are within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"Turnout is everything," Axelrod said. "If turnout is within a normal range, Hillary likely wins. If it goes higher, approaching 200,000, it will be a good night for Bernie."
Clinton leads Sanders among Democrats who say they will definitely hit caucus sites, while Sanders leads among Democrats who say they will probably caucus.
Clinton, a former first lady and former secretary of state, wins a majority among caucusgoers who are 65 and older, Catholics and moderates. Sanders, a U.S. senator representing Vermont, wins a majority of those under 35, first-time caucusgoers and political independents.
"Clinton's voters are more certain and much more likely to have caucused before," Axelrod said. "Bernie's organizational task, counting so heavily on first-time caucusgoers — many of them young — is greater."
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley snags 3 percent of likely caucusgoers' support. He had 4 percent support in early January.
Clinton is helped by supporters who think the system works reasonably well for people working hard to get ahead, the poll shows.
Sanders benefits from supporters who believe the system is rigged against all but the very rich and powerful.
Overall, about two-thirds of Democrats believe the system works against them.
“That theme is probably why this race is so close,” said Ann Selzer, who conducts the Iowa Poll.
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