Second Roma Sevens title for South Africa
24 June 2014 Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell has expressed his satisfaction with his squad following a successful defence by South Africa of the Roma Sevens tournament title in Rome, Italy over the weekend. They won the tournament in convincing fashion to retain the title they won as part of their 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens preparations last year.Commonwealth Games preparation This time around, they were using the tournament as part of their preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Scotland next month. Powell’s squad was made up of some fringe players, together with regulars on the HSBC Sevens World Series along, including senior playmaker Cecil Afrika, who is on the comeback trail from injury.‘He is on track’ “Cecil came through the tournament well and l am pleased that he is on track for the Commonwealth Games,” Powell said in a statement on Monday. “We managed his game time, as he last played in Hong Kong in March, but I took confidence from his performance. “The fringe players in the squad also showed up well. We had some decent opposition in the form of national teams, such as Italy, Brazil and Georgia, so it was a good test for our players.” Results The South Africans won all three pool matches on day one and kept on winning during the knock-out stages on day two. They won the final 42-5 against 7 SIRS, an international invitational team, after beating Switzers Rugby 29-0 in the quarterfinal and Midi Olympique Froggies 24-7 in the semifinal. “The idea was to test our depth, play against some quality teams, and try some new elements in our game. It all worked out fine,” Powell said. SAinfo reporter
A Web Developer’s New Best Friend is the AI Wai… Top Reasons to Go With Managed WordPress Hosting Related Posts Tags:#Amazon#E-Books#news#web 8 Best WordPress Hosting Solutions on the Market
frederic lardinois According to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, “millions of people now own Kindles.” Sadly, Amazon has always kept the exact number of Kindle sales under wraps. According to some analysts, consumers in the US bought roughly 3 million e-readers in 2009 and the majority of these were probably Kindles. Amazon also doesn’t release any data about how many e-books it sells. In a press release that accompanied the company’s Q4 earnings report, however, Amazon yesterday announced that it now sells six Kindle books for every 10 physical books when both editions are available.Given that Amazon doesn’t give give us exact numbers, we have to take the company’s word at face value. The idea that Amazon is getting close to selling just as many e-books as physical books when both editions are available still seems hard to believe however. Explaining These NumbersOne explanation for the phenomenon comes from Slate’s Marion Maneker. Maneker points out that books that are available on the Kindle tend to be bestsellers and Amazon’s strategy of pricing new releases at $9.99 means that Amazon is probably selling most of its Kindles to users who are also the heaviest consumers of these commercial titles. After all, even though Amazon already offers steep discounts on recent hardcover releases, the Kindle edition is always the cheapest option. Indeed, those publishers and authors who want make use of Amazon’s new 70% royalty option have no other choice but to sell their Kindle editions for at least 20% below the price of the physical book. If Kindle owners are also Amazon’s best customers and also the most likely to buy bestsellers, then these numbers make sense. What About Sony and Apple?Just like Amazon, Sony doesn’t release exact numbers of its e-reader sales, though in an interview with TechOn earlier today, Fujio Noguchi, the deputy president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, notes that Sony’s e-reader sales in the US quadrupled on a year-over-year basis.Right now, of course, all eyes are on Apple’s new iPad, and even though it doesn’t feature an e-paper display, the iPad does have the opportunity to capture a large share of the e-reader market. According to Steve Jobs, Apple expects to sell e-books for the same price as Amazon, though it isn’t clear if he expects Amazon to raise its prices or if Apple plans to sell new releases at $9.99. Why Tech Companies Need Simpler Terms of Servic…
The Rise and Rise of Mobile Payment Technology Tags:#Augmented Reality#mobile#web Related Posts You’re walking down the street. Your phone buzzes, a map or a screen overlay pops up and you’re shown a note left in that location by one of your friends – along with an ad for your favorite pizza. Walk into the pizza place and your phone buzzes again – your friends have something to say about the guy behind the counter. That might have sounded far-fetched a few years ago, but it doesn’t so much anymore, does it?18 months ago Yahoo! filed a sophisticated patent on VIRTUAL NOTES IN A REALITY OVERLAY and that patent was published last week. Check out the patent sketches below.The technology envisioned by the team of senior researchers who filed the application is reminiscent of now-available apps like Loopt, BlockChalk, Junaio and others. The whole vision of location, social and advertising features put together, however, may be quite unique. The patent also goes beyond location to include notes tied to mobile objects like cars and people. Update: This report at first mistakenly claimed that the patent in question had been granted. In fact it has merely been filed and published. The US Patent Office customarily publishes patents 18 months after they have been filed, then evaluates them as soon as it is able to afterwords. (Usually not very soon.) Given the pace of web technology these days, that process sounds absurd, but I apologize for reporting on it incorrectly anyway. Why IoT Apps are Eating Device Interfaces What it Takes to Build a Highly Secure FinTech … Role of Mobile App Analytics In-App Engagement Yahoo’s patent was filed in July of 2008, published after the customary 18 months last Thursday and first blogged about by upstart tech news site GoRumors this morning. The same team of inventors had another related patent application published at the end of last year on an augmented reality device that would discover audio, video and other information that’s pertinent to a user’s physical surroundings and display that information on a screen overlay.The technology described in this latest patent isn’t just location-based social networking, or Augmented Reality “air tagging” – it includes social graph analysis, permissioning, expiration dates, contextual advertising and more. It’s not just text notes, it includes methods of augmented reality with photos, videos and more. While the most popular mobile augmented reality apps on the market today focus on text on top of locations – there’s no reason why reality can’t be augmented in other ways as well.There’s no indication that the technology exists yet outside of the patent application and sketches below, but if Yahoo! could put together such an integrated vision of location-based features then it would have a very interesting service on its hands.This vision puts emphasis on limited visibility of public notes based on the social connections of people doing the reading and writing, on the use of the tool for communication between people more than for public graffiti, on notes tied to entities and not just to places and on advertising based on a reader’s past expressed interests. That sounds like the kind of thing Facebook might do with its inevitably forthcoming location services. Will anything come of this patent? It’s hard to say, since it’s Yahoo, where genius flowers but then too often gets left out in the cold to die. Just two months before this innovative patent was filed, were were heralding Yahoo’s brand new Location Database API as a would-be fountain of location-aware apps. Almost two years later, though geo is hotter than ever, it seems that nothing much has come of that effort. (Please, correct me if I’m wrong about that.) Six months ago we ran an article titled Yahoo! Launches Major Challenge to Facebook Connect. That doesn’t seem like such a hot topic anymore, either. We asked Yahoo! for comment this morning about this latest patent and haven’t been put in touch with anyone yet.None the less, these are some very interesting ideas. Someone is sure to build something like this very soon. Maybe it will be Yahoo.Watch this space for ReadWriteWeb’s next public event and future research reports on Augmented Reality and geolocation. marshall kirkpatrick
4 Keys to a Kid-Safe App Tags:#gaming#Open Source#STEAM#SteamOS#TV#Valve#video games 5 Outdoor Activities for Beating Office Burnout 12 Unique Gifts for the Hard-to-Shop-for People… Related Posts Sony and Microsoft are betting big on their first console launches in seven and eight years, respectively. But it’s no longer just their show.Valve—the company behind Steam, the hit digital-games distribution service—has a wrench to toss into the living-room works. The company has just announced SteamOS, a wide-open operating system that helps PC games make the hop to the TV. Breaking Down BarriersGamers have been watching Steam for a while now in anticipation of the fabled Steam Box, a Valve-built console that’s still in the works. Before the hardware hits, though, we’re getting software: SteamOS, built with Linux, will extend Valve’s distribution service to the living room. Prior to the rise of Steam, PC gaming was idling in a dark age, largely in the hands of Microsoft. Steam is fiercely loved among its users for offering gamers an operating-system agnostic platform to connect with other gamers and manage a collection of games which are synced to Steam’s servers.Here’s what Steam wrote:As we’ve been working on bringing Steam to the living room, we’ve come to the conclusion that the environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself. taylor hatmaker SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen. It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.Between SteamOS and the Ouya, an Android-based gaming console, the living room is more open than ever. Consumers have an infinite array of combinations for living room entertainment, and Valve will be getting involved in the hardware game soon too. SteamOS offers what it calls “in-home streaming” that lets users stream Steam games from a Windows or Mac machine to a system running SteamOS.See also: Ouya Is A Tiny Box Open To Many Game PossibilitiesThe remaining question: What system will run SteamOS? Presumably the Steam Box, which Valve may announce as soon as this week—though recent layoffs have caused some to call the project into question. (Valve head Gabe Newell’s dismisses that possibility.)Steam also says it’s working on bringing video and music to SteamOS boxes, though nothing’s been confirmed yet.Whether Valve makes the box that runs SteamOS or third-party manufacturers pick it up, the entry of Steam has made the console market more interesting.The Contenders, ComparedSteamOS: No hardware yet, free software that works with any Steam-compatible PCBuilt on Linux and other open-source softwareStreams gameplay from a Windows or Mac PC to the TVLibrary of over 2,000 games, both major and indie titles (Dota 2, Skyrim, Civilization V, to give a decent cross-section of the selection) Indie gamer and developer-friendly (Valve takes roughly a 30% cut)Games all digitally distributed (no discs)Enables mods and hacks not possible or more difficult on major consoles (like putting monocles on crabs in Skyrim—because why not?!)Free to join Steam, no subscription feesOuya:$99 online or through retail partners (Gamestop, Best Buy, etc.)Runs a modified version of Android, the mobile operating systemMod-friendly, easy-open hardware; all systems are built to work as developer’s kitsAll Ouya games must meet a “free to play” requirement (trial modes, free and premium tiers)Games all digitally distributed435 games available in the Ouya library—not impressive, but growingStreaming video and non-gaming apps can be side-loaded onto the Ouya, native apps not yet availableXbox One:Microsoft gaming console, will retail for $499 on November 22$60/year Xbox Live membership required for online play and multimedia like Netflix and Hulu PlusDigital game downloads available over the Xbox Live networkLaunch exclusives: Halo 5, Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, Ryse, Below and (many) morePlayStation 4:Sony’s gaming console, will retail for $399 on November 15$50/year PlayStation Plus subscription required for online gaming, but not for streaming media like Netflix and HuluDigital game downloads available over the PlayStation Plus networkLaunch exclusives: The Order: 1886; Infamous: Second Son; Knack and moreWhen it comes to flashy, big-name gaming titles, indie upstarts like the Ouya and Steam can’t compete—but that’s not really what they’re about, anyway. Once Steam’s living-room hardware gets up to speed, Valve’s gaming platform will likely remain complementary to the major consoles where big titles live. But for dedicated PC gamers looking for a fresh, big-screen experience, SteamOS might just open up a whole new world of gaming—once it finds a hardware home, that is. 9 Books That Make Perfect Gifts for Industry Ex…
One of Twitter’s challenges, revealed in today’s IPO filing, is its stalling growth: At 215 million users, the social network for broadcasting short bursts of information is still signing up new users, but nowhere near as torridly as it did in 2012.One of the smartest things it can do to boost those numbers could be going public.The LinkedIn EffectBesides swelling its coffers—according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter is seeking to raise $1 billion—and making investors and employees wealthy, Twitter’s public offering will inevitably splash the service’s name across the headlines.If the IPO goes poorly, like Facebook’s, that could be a negative. But if the offering is well-received, like LinkedIn’s, the IPO could end up being a marketing event for the company. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner often talks about the effect his company’s public offering had on the site. The net effect of being publicly traded, he points out, is that you’re taken more seriously by consumers, partners, and advertisers. LinkedIn has grown at a swift clip since its stock-market debut in May 2011, and now has more than 200 million members.While Twitter is well-known, it’s not well-used. Views of Twitter timelines, a measure of engagement with the service, actually stalled in the second quarter of this year in the United States. The buzz around an IPO could get people who previously tried the service and abandoned it to give it another shot—or get new users to sign up for it.Taking Twitter SeriouslyTwitter is no longer the joke of a business it was in its early days, with frequent site outages and turmoil in its top ranks. But its revenues—now about $500 million on an annual basis—are shadowed by the multiple billions of dollars a year that Facebook and Google, its larger rivals, pull in. It could afford to be taken more seriously, and trading as TWTR, with a valuation assigned by the stock market, not the hopes and dreams of venture capitalists, could give it more clout.It was inevitable that Twitter go public: It grew past the point where it was an easy acquisition for Google or Facebook years ago. But if Twitter’s executives play their cards right, the value it gets from being public could exceed the cash it raises from investors. The Dos and Don’ts of Brand Awareness Videos Facebook is Becoming Less Personal and More Pro… Related Posts Guide to Performing Bulk Email Verification
owen thomas Tags:#IPO#Jeff Weiner#LinkedIn#LinkedIn IPO#twitter#Twitter IPO A Comprehensive Guide to a Content Audit
Prestige and development don’t go hand in hand or so seems to be the case with Jharkhand’s Lohardaga parliamentary seat.The constituency, spread over Lohardaga, Gumla and parts of Ranchi district, has been represented by former Ministers, including Kartik Oraon, Aviation and Communications Minister in the 1980s, and Rameshwar Oraon, who was the chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The outgoing BJP MP, Sudarshan Bhagat, is also a Cabinet Minister in the Union government.Besides the political importance, Lohardaga also enjoys an iconic status in the State because of Jari, the village of Param Vir Chakra recipient Albert Ekka. Lance Naik Albert Ekka was martyred in the Battle of Hilli during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War in Tripura’s Gangasagar. No health centreJari’s history has prompted successive governments to shower promises for its development. Yet Balamdina Ekka, the octogenarian widow of the war hero, does not stay in the village as no health institution is available nearby and her grandchildren are admitted in schools 10 km away from the village.Jari, which was upgraded to a block having five panchayats and 29 villages under its jurisdiction in 2010, does not have a health centre, a quality school and water supply system. The Opposition Congress alleges that since the relatives of Ekka refused to accept the soil, reportedly brought from the martyred soldier’s grave in Tripura, from Chief Minister Raghubar Das at a public function on December 3, 2015, the village fell off the development map. The family members had doubts over the authenticity of the urn procured by the administration. They later themselves visited Gangasagar where the war hero was laid to rest.“Since it was the village of a Param Vir Chakra awardee, Many projects were lined up for Jari, but the Chief Minister felt offended when Ekka’s family members refused to accept the urn from him. Development of a region should be kept above personal ego,” said Zakir Khan, a local Congress leader.Projects shelvedDillip Baraik, the mukhia (village head) of Jari village and a BJP leader, claimed “there were plans of setting up a Sainik School, health centre and an army recruitment centre in the village in honour of Lance Naik Ekka. However, the family members of the war hero were “misguided by the Congress and the projects were shelved”. With power outage being a frequent phenomenon, residents of Jari and many nearby villages are forced to travel to Chainpur, the sub-division, to even charge their mobile phones. “People pay ₹10 per phone for full charge of battery in the shops here,” said Prakash Routiya, who runs a phone charging shop at Chainpur.Development has become a casualty in the game of political one-upmanship in Lohardaga. As per the estimates of 2011 Census, out of total 18,68,433 population in Lohardaga, 93.44% is rural and 6.56% urban. Some of the social indicators, as per National Family Health Survey-4, show how development has taken a backseat in the constituency. The rate of institutional birth in Lohardaga is 71.8% and Gumla 69.3% against the national average of 78.9%. Similarly, against the national average of 87.6% household with improved drinking water source, Lohardaga and Gumla stand at 71.2% and 47.5% respectively.Lohardaga, which goes to polls on April 29, saw close contests in 2009 and 2014 elections, when the victory margin was below 10,000. Mr. Sudarshan Bhagat is contesting against Sukhdeo Bhagat, the Congress nominee, who is a candidate of the Opposition alliance. The outgoing MP may find it difficult to hold on to Lohardaga this time.
TagsTransfersAbout the authorCarlos VolcanoShare the loveHave your say Alaba backing Bayern Munich move for Atletico Madrid defender Lucasby Carlos Volcano10 months agoSend to a friendShare the loveBayern Munich wing-back David Alaba is backing their move for Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez.Even though Alaba plays at left-back, a position where the France international could earn minutes, the Austrian would be keen to see him sign.”He is certainly a good player,” he told BILD.”If he wasn’t then Bayern wouldn’t be interested in him.”I am sure he would be capable of helping us.”Addressing the potential competition for left-back minutes that this signing could provoke, Alaba explained that he isn’t worried.”I know that left-back works for me, but at this time I wouldn’t be worried about changing to a midfield position,” he stated. 
About the authorPaul VegasShare the loveHave your say Brighton boss Potter proud of players in Aston Villa defeatby Paul Vegas6 days agoSend to a friendShare the loveBrighton boss Graham Potter was proud of his players following their last-gasp defeat to Aston Villa.The Seagulls fell to Matt Targett’s last-minute strike, with the hosts prevailing 2-1, and the head coach stressed how proud he was of the players having seen his side play for a large part of the contest with ten men.He said, “It’s tough to take because the players were amazing and gave me everything.“With 11 players we were really good and worthy of our lead – the sending off affects the game and we played for nearly an hour with a man less, while still contributing to the match. “We still attacked often, so it’s heartbreaking to lose with the last kick, but I’m really proud of the performance.”Despite being a man down, Potter’s men created chances throughout the match in the Midlands, and the boss discussed the attacking style his side continued to maintain. “We still looked to win the game and the best way of hanging onto something is to continue to be yourselves,” he continued. “We played through their defence numerous times and weren’t camped inside our own half trying to defend.“We were positive and that’s what makes it more difficult to take – the reaction of the fans afterwards showed that they saw the quality and courage, but the game can be cruel.” 
The takeover was worth about $3.3 billion when proposed in September but has fallen to less than $2.5 billion because of deterioration in Husky’s share price.Earlier this week, a CIBC oil and gas analyst said the recent deterioration in crude oil prices makes it unlikely that a better offer will emerge to force Husky to sweeten its hostile bid.Husky has said that it has received all necessary regulatory approvals for the takeover of MEG and is now waiting for shareholders’ response to its offer which expires in mid-January. CALGARY, A.B. – MEG Energy Corp. says it will waive its shareholder rights plan in its fight against a hostile takeover offer by Husky Energy Inc.However, the company says it continues to unanimously recommend shareholders reject Husky’s cash-and-share offer.MEG noted that since Husky announced its intention to make its offer on Sept. 30, Husky’s share price has fallen more than 30 percent, eroding the value of the offer.
Vatican City: Pope Francis denounced the “cruel violence” of the Easter Sunday slaughter of Christians and foreigners in Sri Lanka as he celebrated the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar by lamenting the bloodshed and political violence afflicting many parts of the world. Francis skipped his homily during Easter Mass but delivered his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (To the city and the world) speech highlighting conflicts in the Mideast, Africa and the Americas and demanding that political leaders put aside their differences and work instead for peace. Also Read – Saudi Crown Prince ‘snubbed’ Pak PM, recalled jet from US”May the one who gives us his peace end the roar of arms, both in areas of conflict and in our cities, and inspire the leaders of nations to work for an end to the arms race and the troubling spread of weaponry, especially in the economically more advanced countries,” Francis said from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica overlooking the flower-decked square below. In a special appeal at the end, Francis lamented the “grave attacks” on Sri Lankan hotels and churches, which occurred just as the Christian faithful were celebrating Easter Mass that marks the resurrection of Christ following his crucifixion. Also Read – Record number of 35 candidates in fray for SL Presidential polls”I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence,” Francis said. “I entrust to the Lord all those who were tragically killed and pray for the injured and all those who are suffering as a result of this dramatic event.” More than 130 people were killed and hundreds wounded following near-simultaneous blasts at three Sri Lankan churches and three hotels frequented by foreigners. In his roundup of global conflicts, Francis warned that the world was increasingly becoming resigned to the ongoing conflict in Syria. He called for a “renewed commitment for a political solution” that would respond to Syrians’ need for freedom, peace and justice and allow for millions of refugees to return home. In Yemen, he lamented how children in particular are “exhausted by hunger and war,” while in North Africa, Libyans are enduring a fresh round of fighting between rival forces battling for control of Tripoli, the capital “I urge the parties involved to choose dialogue over force and to avoid reopening wounds left by a decade of conflicts and political instability,” he said of Libyan leaders. Francis said he hoped the political and religious leaders of South Sudan would open a “new page in the history of the country” and work for reconciliation. Francis hosted South Sudan’s president and opposition leader for a remarkable retreat at the Vatican earlier this month, during which the pope bowed down and kissed their feet, begging them to work for peace. And history’s first Latin American pope also offered prayers for Venezuelans and Nicaraguans experiencing political and economic hardship and “all those who lack the minimal conditions for leading a dignified and secure life due to a crisis that endures and worsens.” The Vatican said popes sometimes either deliver an off-the-cuff homily on Easter Sunday or skip it altogether, given the lengthy speech and blessing that follows.