African currencies have been under pressure for some time now, with various factors at play in the foreign exchange markets having a distinct impact on the pockets of ordinary Africans.
Friday, 2 October 2015
US, China reach cyberespionage agreement
The U.S. and China have reached their first ever cybercrime and cyberespionage agreement, but the deal is quite general and how it will translate into actions is still unclear.
Leaders of both countries announced the deal in Washington on Friday after two days of top-level talks, but both dodged questions on specific hacking incidents or the indictment last year by the U.S. of five Chinese military hackers for cybercrimes.
"We have agreed that neither the U.S. or the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage," President Obama said at a White House news conference.
And that appears to be the main thrust of the agreement -- government-sponsored cyberespionage for the economic gain of companies. It doesn't cover government espionage and is pretty specific in its definition but, as President Obama indicated: It's a start.
The deal also seeks to improve cooperation between law enforcement in both countries on cyber investigations.
"We have made significant progress in agreeing how our law enforcement investigators will work together, how we are going to exchange information and how we are going to go after individuals or entities that are engaging in cybercrimes or attacks," said President Obama.
Chinese President Xi endorsed the deal and acknowledged that disagreements between the two countries over hacking were something to be avoided.
"We should strengthen dialogue and cooperation," he said through an interpreter. "Confrontation and friction are not the right choices for either side."
But Obama, preempting the questions that would undoubtedly be asked on the deal, went on to say what everyone was thinking.
"The question now is, are words followed by actions. We will be watching carefully to make an assessment as to whether progress has been made in this area," he said.
Neither leader addressed a question about whether China would hand over hacking suspects to the U.S. Last year's indictment of the five accused military hackers illustrated that without an agreement on extradition, such moves were more symbolic than anything else.
Obama, though, indicated that the U.S. remains ready to act against Chinese cyberattacks while working with the Chinese government.
"I believe we can expand our cooperation in this area even as the United States will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to protect United States companies, citizens and interests," he said.
The two governments also said they would work together to try and establish international "rules of the road" for conduct in cyberspace.
iPhone 6S Teardown: Smaller Battery, Heavier Display, Kinda Repairable
With the arrival of the iPhone 6S in eager hands around the world today, iFixit has already torn the new phone apart. Here’s what’s inside.
It’s not the first iPhone teardown, but it is certainly the prettiest and likely the most comprehensive. With glass and metal prised apart, the slightly thicker and marginally heavier phone spilled its secrets to iFixit. Here are some choice findings:
- The battery of the phone is indeed smaller, with a capacity of 1715 mAh rather than 1810 mAh.
- In fact, the new Taptic Engine takes up a chunk of space below the battery — which may explain the reduction in capacity.
- Some of the extra weight of the phone comes from the new display: it now weighs 60 grams, which is a 15 gram increase over the one in the iPhone 6.
- The A9 chipset is a little bigger then the old phone’s A8 unit, measuring 14.5 x 15 mm compared to 13.5 x 14.5 mm.
There is, of course, way more detail in the full teardown over on the iFixit website. Once nice finding, though, is that “the battery is straightforward to access. Removing it requires a proprietary pentalobe screwdriver and knowledge of the adhesive removal technique, but is not difficult.”
That was enough to snag the phone a repairability score of 7 out of 10—not bad for an Apple product.
China Says It Will Start the World’s Biggest Carbon Market by 2017
The announcement allows China to implement something that evaded President Barack Obama during his first term in the White House: an economy-wide reform putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions and encouraging big polluters to develop alternative ways to generate energy. Ultimately, the program is intended to curb the planet-warming emissions that are generated by burning fossil fuels.
To those who have closely followed China’s extensive actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, today’s announcement that the planet’s biggest emitter of CO2 will launch a nationwide cap-and-trade sysetm will not come as a surprise. The program—which builds upon seven regional carbon markets that are already active across the country—has been in the works for some time, and first appeared in the press last year.
But Friday’s high-profile announcement marks the first time that the Chinese president has committed to the cap-and-trade program—as well as the first time China has laid out a firm timetable—says Li Shuo, who tracks international climate negotiations for Greenpeace. “To date, there has been no official policy paper that confirms [the program],” he said in an email. “The fact this will be officially announced from the president’s level during the world’s most important bilateral meeting is significant. It also delivers the message: Now the Chinese will put a price tag on carbon nationwide—how about the US?”
According to a source briefed by US officials about Friday’s announcement, the new cap-and-trade program will cover “the lion’s share of China’s emissions.”
“It’s not just the power sector: It’s steel, it’s cement…it’s basically all heavy emitting industries,” this source told me. A cap-and-trade system essentially puts a price on every ton of carbon emitted by polluters, and it allows those companies involved in the program to trade permits allowing them to pollute. In the pilot carbon markets already operating across China, prices per ton of carbon are roughly comparable to other international markets. China will now become the biggest and most important hubin a string of Asian countries that have adopted, or are in the process of building, carbon trading programs.
And cap-and-trade will be just one part of a wide-ranging agreement announced between the two countries, building on a breakthrough deal forged by President Obama and President Xi last November in Beijing, in which China promised to finally start to taper its coal use. In that deal, the US pledged to cut emissions by up to 28 percent by 2025, while China agreed that its emissions would peak around 2030 and promised to get one-fifth of its power from non-fossil-fuel energy sources by the same year.
While we must wait to see the final text of the deal, the person briefed by officials told me the announcement will also include a new agreement on heavy duty vehicle standards and building efficiency standards. China will also pledge “pretty major financing” to help developing countries reach their goals of slashing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change. (China plans to contribute to another fund, rather than the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund that other countries have agreed to back. The US has pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund.) Crucially, China and the US will also agree to a common system of reporting and transparency for greenhouse gas emissions ahead of December’s high-stakes climate negotiations in Paris, and there will also be diplomatic language announced about the goals for a Paris accord.
The announcement by the White House ahead of tomorrow’s state dinner is also fascinating for what it says about the statecraft of Xi’s historic visit to the US. Climate action is vital to both Obama and Xi at this crucial juncture ahead of the Paris talks, and this public commitment counterbalances thornier issues such as the militarization of the South China Sea and cybersecurity, on which China and the US share far less common ground. “They’ve been working on it pretty hard, and it’s part of the few bright spots in the overall China-US relationship,” the person who was briefed by US officials told me. “So this is an area they have been collaborating and found some common ground.”
“This seems like a pretty significant contribution and hopefully will build momentum towards Paris,” the source said. “This is not going to resolve everything, but it’s an important signal between the two biggest players.”
Samsung and Oculus unveil new Gear VR, available in November for $99
Samsung is expanding its support for virtual reality.
Gear VR launches as a consumer product this November for $99, we learned today from the Oculus Connect event in Los Angeles. It supports all of Samsung’s 2015 smartphones, and the company worked with Oculus to make sleeker and slimmer. This makes the device the first consumer VR product to go on sale.
It works with the Samsung Note 5, Galaxy S6, and other phones that Samsung has released since the beginning of the year.
This ensures that people can get a taste of VR content without having to buy a high-end PC. But it also doesn’t include some of the important functionality — like positional tracking of your body — that you’ll get in the Oculus Rift proper.
Oculus confirmed it’ll have a ton of content available when it launches. This includes a virtual 1980s-style arcade along with Twitch and Netflix apps.
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Sangkaya Thai Coconut Ice Cream @ Queensbay Mall, Penang
Sangkaya's Signature Combo (Rm 10.50) allows us to pick 4 scoops of Ice Cream, a choice between Thai Coconut Ice Cream andCha Yen/ Thai Milk Tea; and 3 different toppings, served using their signature Coconut Shell. You may of course, opt to have 4 scoops of Thai Coconut Ice Cream or 4 scoops of Thai Milk Tea Ice Cream but the best bet is nevertheless, to have a mix of both flavors. The Coconut Ice Cream was good- delicate, silky smooth and refreshing with a creamy Coconut Milk flavor while the Thai Milk Tea flavor paled in comparison. The flavor was there but it did not stand out. We especially enjoyed ours with a fleck of Oat flakes. The combination paired seamlessly- both flavor and texture. Not exactly the cheapest treat but we were happy with the quality.
Ratings:
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Price: 7/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)
Service: 7.5/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Ambiance: 7/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Parking: 7/10 (1-3 bad, 4-7 average, 8-10 good)
Pork-Free
Service Charge: No
Additional Information:
Address: Lower Ground Floor of Queensbay Mall, 100, Persiaran Bayan Indah, 11900, Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Business Hours: 11 am to 10 pm. Opens Daily.
Contact Number: N/A
IPHONE 6S AND 6S PLUS DROP TESTS ARE HERE
Apple’s new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus go on sale today in selected markets. Not surprisingly, several drop tests have already been performed on these shiny new gadgets. Looking at these videos, one thing is certain: if you drop your new iPhone facedown, there’s a good chance the screen will crack.
The first drop test comes from YouTuber Keaton Keller of Techsmartt. In his testing, both the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus manage to survive the first two drops, which were performed from the height of his pocket and head (according to Keller, he’s about 180cm tall). However, in both instances, the phones landed on their side and back. In the third drop test, where the phones are dropped from above Keller’s head, the iPhone 6S hit the ground facedown, cracking the display. The 6S Plus, on the other hand, still landed on its back.
As the iPhone 6S Plus is still functional, Keller decided to drop it again from above his head while he was standing on a chair. Surprisingly, even when the 6S Plus hit the ground face first, the display didn’t crack.
However, in another drop test performed by the folks over at PhoneBuff, the 6S Plus didn’t fare so well. Even a drop from waist-level (with the device hitting the ground facedown) was enough to crack the screen. Chances are, what kind of surface the iPhone hits will determine how likely it is to survive a drop.
At the end of the day, you wouldn’t want to drop your brand new iPhone – or any smartphone, for that matter. While a casing does affect the overall look of your phone, it will at least offer some form of protection against accidental drops.
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