Lee Kuan Yew, the statesman who transformed Singapore from a small port city into a wealthy global hub, has died at the age of 91.
The city-state’s prime minister for 31 years, he was widely respected as the architect of Singapore’s prosperity.
But he was criticised for his iron grip on power. Under him freedom of speech was tightly restricted and political opponents were targeted by the courts.
A state funeral will be held on 29 March, after a week of mourning.
The most visible part of Starbucks’ campaign to get customers talking about race — putting the slogan “Race Together” on coffee cups — has come to an end.
The company received widespread criticism of its Race Together Initiative, which was announced last week. But Starbucks spokeswoman Laurel Harper told NPR that the move occurred right on schedule and was unrelated to the fallout. “This is not a change at all,” Harper said. “We are not straying from what we set out to do, in fact, we are doing more.”
Read More @ NPR
Vincent Laforet, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer known for his stunning photo essays of New York and Las Vegas, is taking his unique style of photography to San Francisco. Harnessing himself to a helicopter 7,200 feet in the air gives Laforet a chance to capture San Francisco like never before — the photos put new meaning into the term bird’s eye view.
See all Pics @ Mashable
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a €6m (£4.3m) deal with FC Köln to sign the central defender Kevin Wimmer in the summer.
The club are determined to build for the longer term and over the duration of the manager Mauricio Pochettino’s five-year contract. In January, he oversaw the signings of DeAndre Yedlin, the 21-year-old right-back from the Seattle Sounders, and Dele Alli, the 18-year-old midfielder from MK Dons. Alli has been loaned back to the Dons for the remainder of the season.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season at the German club, starting in 24 of their 25 Bundesliga matches, and he has impressed Tottenham with his composure, physicality and aerial ability.
Wimmer, who is 6ft 2in tall, moved to FC Köln from Linz in his native Austria for €250,000 in 2012. He fits the profile of the type of player that Tottenham want to add, as he is young, talented and hungry to progress.
Read More @ The Gaurdian
The pregnant woman who was attacked after responding to a Craigslist ad is shown in herFacebook profile photo less than a month before the incident beaming in a rainbow tutu and proudly wearing a “Mommy to Be” sash.
Michelle Wilkins, 26, who police say was stabbed and had her baby stolen, went to high school inGuatemala and studied sustainable development at college in North Carolina, where she sold hand-made pottery, her family confirmed.
“Thanks to everyone for the outpouring of sympathy and support,” the Wilkins family said in a statement released Thursday evening. “Longmont first responders and the United Hospital staff saved our daughter’s life for which we will always be grateful.”
“We grieve for the many victims of this senseless attack, but mostly for a precious child whose life was ended before she had a chance to live,” the statement read.
Wilkins was allegedly stabbed by a woman identified by police as Dynel Lane, who police say had posted on Craigslist that she was selling baby clothes.
Read More @ ABC news
About
Hungama was founded in 2005 as a marketing and communications agency that offered services such as interactive gaming, lead promotion and community building for brands. Eying the growth of mobile, it branched out to entertainment in 2009, and today it is arguably India’s most prominent player in that space. (The original, marketing-focused side of the business was sold to WPP in 2012.)
The total audience for Hungama’s services hit 48 million users in February. Of that figure, a whopping 43 million consumed content on a mobile device, with 13.8 million paying for some form of content across its platform. Hungama’s services were used by 227 million consumers during its last financial year, with around one-third spending money in some way.
Comptetion
The company’s main competitors in the music streaming space in India include Times India-owned Gaana, Saavn — which recently hit 11 million monthly users — and Rdio, whichentered India in January having acquired Dhingana in 2014. There is also operator Airtel’s Wynk service.
Read More @ Tech Crunch
On Thursday, a federal judge in St. Paul, Minnesota approved a $10 million offer by Target to settle a class action lawsuit, according to an attorney representing those who were hacked.
The more likely scenario? Target will reimburse victims for “lost time,” as it says in court papers.
Read More @ CNN MONEY
Be clear about expectations for email and other communications, and set up policies to support a healthy culture that recognizes and values single-tasking, focus, and downtime
Vynamic, a successful healthcare consultancy in Philadelphia, created a policy it calls “zmail,” where email is discouraged between 10pm and 7am during the week, and all day on weekends.
Also, take a hard look at the attitudes of leaders regarding an always-on work environment. The (often unconscious) belief that more work equals more success is difficult to overcome, but the truth is that this is neither beneficial nor sustainable.
Read More@ HBR
Many students smuggled in textbooks and notes into the examination centers despite tight security – and parents and friends were photographed scaling the walls of test centers to pass on answers to students during the current secondary school examinations.
Most of the incidents of cheating this year have been reported from Saharsa, Chhapra, Vaishali and Hajipur districts.
Photojournalist Dipankar, who took the photos in Saharsa district, says when he went into the examination hall and began taking pictures, the students did not seem worried at all.
Read More @ BBC
While Tunisia’s P.M. has named the two suspected gunmen killed in the Bardo Museum attack, any possible terror group link remains unknown
Two gunmen, identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, were killed when authorities swept in and freed the hostages.
Stats
Health Minister Said Aidi said Thursday that the death toll rose to 23 people, including 18 foreign tourists and the two gunmen, and almost 50 people were wounded. Five Tunisians were killed, including the attackers. Aidi said all the injuries were from bullet wounds.
Read More @ USATODAY
A gunman opened fire inside a motel room in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa on Wednesday, killing a man and wounding two women before shooting three more people as he sought to elude an exhaustive manhunt that ended in his capture, police said.
“At this time we believe he is responsible for each and every one of these shootings,” Police said the motive for the rampage was still unclear but that the initial gunfire erupted following an argument at the motel.
Read More @ reuters.com
Updated at 3:32 p.m. ET
Rep. Aaron Schock, the Illinois Republican whose lavish spending has come under heavy scrutiny, has resigned.
NPR’s Juana Summers tells our Newscast unit that Schock will resign his House seat at the end of the month.
Here’s Schock’s statement on his resignation, which was first reported by Politico:
“Today, I am announcing my resignation as a Member of the United States House of Representatives effective March 31st.
“I do this with a heavy heart. Serving the people of the 18th District is the highest and greatest honor I have had in my life. I thank them for their faith in electing me and letting me represent their interests in Washington. I have given them my all over the last six years. I have traveled to all corners of the District to meet with the people I’ve been fortunate to be able to call my friends and neighbors.
“But the constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself.
“I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents and I thank them for the opportunity to serve.”
Read More @ npr.com
Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users this summer, but Microsoft is also extending its offer to software pirates. “We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10,” says Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Windows chief, in an interview with Reuters. The move means that thousands, perhaps millions, of machines will get a free copy of Windows 10 even if a license has not been properly acquired. “Anyone with a qualified device can upgrade to Windows 10, including those with pirated copies of Windows,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. “We believe customers over time will realize the value of properly licensing Windows and we will make it easy for them to move to legitimate copies.”
Read More @TheVerge.com
Kraft Foods is voluntarily recalling some of its macaroni and cheese boxed dinners because some of the product was reportedly found to have pieces of metal in it.
Read More@ BusinessInsider
But yesterday the official James Bond Twitter account (presumably run by Mr. Bond himself in between secret missions) tweeted out what amounted to an announcement for a poster. Yes, this really is the era of teaseploitation, and I suppose I should stop being a grump about it.
It’s no secret that SPECTRE will allegedly try to balance the line between “modern and serious” Bond and the Roger Moore-era flights of fancy….
Read More @forbes.com
Read More @ Verge.com
1)Reading
2)Inquiry
3)Flexible Thinking and the Use of Evidence
4)Conversation
5)Collaborations
6)Engagement
7)Well-Being
Read More @ Bostonglobe
Despite denying it would ever do such a thing, Nintendo will start creating new games for mobile devices via a partnership with developer DeNA.
Nintendo started experimenting with free-to-play games featuring paid downloadable content (DLC) last year
Nintendo dropped an unrelated bombshell about a new “dedicated game platform” codenamed “NX.”
Read More @ engadget.com
Also @ techcrunch.com
While Microsoft has dropped hints that the Internet Explorer brand is going away, the software maker has now confirmed that it will use a new name for its upcoming browser successor, codenamed Project Spartan
Internet Explorer will still exist in some versions of Windows 10 mainly for enterprise compatibility, but the new Project Spartan will be named separately and will be the primary way for Windows 10 users to access the web
Read More @ verge.com
“Patrick’s ‘real’ (i.e. Brythonic) name was Maewyn Succat, or in Latin, Magonus Succetus.
Approximately 13 million pints of Guinness will be consumed worldwide on St. Patrick’s Day.
The phrase “drowning the shamrock” is rooted in a tradition in which a shamrock worn on the lapel for St. Patrick’s Day was tossed in the last drink of the evening.
he first St. Patrick’s Day celebration took place in America in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737.
From 1903 until 1970 all pubs were closed on the holiday due to religious observances.
According to the most recent census data, 33.3 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry, which is seven times Ireland’s total population, cites WalletHub.
Read More @ abcnews.go.com
Under pressure on the eve of a surprisingly close election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday doubled down on his appeal to right-wing voters, declaring definitively that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state.
The statement reversed Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, and fulfilled many world leaders’ suspicions that he was never really serious about peace negotiations. If he manages to eke out a fourth term, the new stance would further fray Mr. Netanyahu’s ruinous relationship with the Obama administration and heighten tension with European countries already frustrated with the stalled peace process.
Read More @ nytimes.com
Today at Convergence, our CEO Satya Nadella encouraged companies to embrace the open exchange of information using intelligent, collaborative tools that enable people and organizations to achieve more. Delivering technology that helps people connect—to discuss, share and collaborate—is central to Microsoft’s mission to reinvent productivity.
We announced last November that the next version of Microsoft Lync would become Skype for Business. I am thrilled to announce that the technical preview of the Skype for Business client starts today, and that the new client, server and online service will become generally available starting in April! The tech preview gives current Lync customers a chance to trial Skype for Business and get ready to upgrade.
Read More @ MicroSoft Blogs
Nearly everyone following the riveting HBO series The Jinx agrees that the documentary had at least something to do with the arrest of its subject, Robert Durst, on Saturday night.
We based our actions based on the investigation and the evidence,” LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese Albanese told the Los Angeles Times.
Never mind that Durst was arrested just twenty hours before HBO aired the six-part series’ finale—during which Durst practically confessed—or that last Sunday’s show revealed a damning piece of evidence previously unavailable to police. The arrest was due to LAPD’s hard work—the timing was just a coincidence—sure.
Read More @ gawker.com
No one wants their kids engaging in any risky behavior, but if one pediatrician had to chose between their teen experimenting with alcohol or with pot — the answer was clear.
“When someone asks me whether I’d rather my children use pot or alcohol, after sifting through all the studies and all the data, I still say ‘neither.’ Usually, I say it more than once. But if I’m forced to make a choice, the answer is ‘marijuana’.
Read More @ sfgate.com/
and also @ NYTimes
Since late 2008, the Fed has held short-term interest rates at zero in an effort to stimulate economic growth. But it is expected to begin raising them in the coming months..
Low interest rates are one of the Fed’s main tools for stimulating the economy — pushing the interest rate lower encourages borrowing, which encourages economic growth
It’s true that unemployment has fallen to 5.5 percent, but wages still are just barely keeping up with inflation
Read More @ vox.com
Nearly a decade on, Britain still has only that same 68-mile (109km) stretch of track, but China has built itself the longest high-speed network in the world.
At more than 12,000km (7,450 miles) in total, it is well over double the length of the European and Japanese networks combined.
So if you want to get a sense of what the future of rail travel might look like, China would seem to be the place to come.
Read More @ bbc.com
The Russian military on Monday launched sweeping military manoeuvres in the Arctic and other areas, a show of force ordered by President Vladimir Putin amid spiraling tensions with the West over Ukraine.
The five-day Arctic drills involving 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 surface ships and submarines and 110 aircraft are intended to check the readiness of Russia’s Northern Fleet and the military’s ability to deploy additional forces from central Russia.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said “the new challenges and military threats require further increase of the armed forces’ capabilities.”
Read More @ctvnews
More than a million Brazilians have joined demonstrations against President Dilma Rousseff, with many asking for her impeachment.
The protesters say the president must have known about a corruption scandal in the state oil firm, Petrobras.
Protests have taken place across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia.
The largest demonstration went ahead in Sao Paulo, a major opposition stronghold, attracting more than 500,000 people.
Read More @bbc.com
This month, women’s rights are in the headlines, as a U.N. conference looks at efforts to bring about gender equality.
So men are the forgotten sex.
Only not entirely. A new UCLA report, which looks at “inequalities in legal rights for women and girls around the world” includes a surprising section – on paid paternity leave.
Currently, 96 countries around the world mandate paid leave for men after a child’s arrival, either through leave specifically designated for fathers or parental leave which women and men can use. Scandinavian and most European countries lead the way. But an increasing number of of lower- and middle- income countries are also passing laws that mandate government-paid paternity leave. Think Gambia, Mauritius, Togo, Laos, Armenia, Azerbejan, Beloruss, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uzbekistan (see map). The number of days offered can range from two on up to 14 weeks and more.
Read More @ NPR.com
Just when we were placing our bets on how long it would be before Dior-obsessed “Cinderella” star Lily James would get a contract with the iconic French fashion house, Dior signed on a less obvious new face: Rihanna.
The superstar singer was shot this week by Steven Klein at Versailles for the fourth installment of Dior’s “Secret Garden” campaign; each part thus far has been set at the royal chateau and has starred a model rather than a celebrity. A rep for the brand confirms that Rihanna will indeed star in a short film and print ad set to debut this spring. WWD originally reported the news.
Read More @Fashionista.com
Girls Can celebrates the women who are doing their thing no matter how they do it, how they look or even how sweaty they get. They’re here to inspire us to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome
One of the Pacific Ocean’s most powerful ever storms devastated the island nation of Vanuatu on Saturday, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees and killing at least eight people with the toll set to rise, aid officials said.
The United Nations was preparing a major relief operation and Australia said it was ready to offer its neighbor whatever help it could.
With winds up to 340 kph (210 mph), Cyclone Pam left Vanuatu cut off, with little power, poor communications and a looming threat of hunger and thirst.
Unconfirmed reports said the number of dead could run into dozens but aid workers said it would be days or weeks before the full impact was known.
Read More @ Reuters
It is a work of great historical interest because it is where the symbol π appears for the first time in scientific literature to denote the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
Jones realized that the decimal 3.141592 … never ends and that it cannot be expressed precisely.
It is thought that he chose π either because it is first letter of the word for periphery (περιφέρεια) or because it is the first letter of the word for perimeter (περίμετρος). (Or because of both).
Read More @ TheGuardian
Microsoft is planning to bring its Cortana digital assistant to iOS and Android as a standalone app.
Cortana would come to additional operating systems, Reuters reports that the standalone app will be available on phones and tablets running iOS and Android. Microsoft is currently building Cortana into Windows 10, which is set to debut later this year, and it’s likely that the digital assistant will make its way on to Android and iOS alongside its PC expansion.
MICROSOFT IS WORKING ON A NEW VERSION OF CORTANA FOR LATER THIS YEAR
Read More @ TheVerge.com
The Collective Project: Robert Downey Jr. Delivers a Real Bionic Arm
Robert Downey Jr. and Albert Manero, a #CollectiveProject student who founded Limbitless, surprised a very special child with a new bionic 3D printed arm at no cost to the family. To learn more about Albert and the #CollectiveProject visit:
Microsoft Office Tumblr: http://office.tumblr.com
Microsoft OneNote Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OneNote
Microsoft OneNote Twitter: https://twitter.com/msonenote
DeMarco Murray got the money and opportunity he wanted from his former team’s biggest rival.
The All-Pro running back agreed Thursday to a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Murray’s deal was valued at $42 million, with $21 million guaranteed, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because terms weren’t disclosed.
Murray helped the Cowboys win the NFC East title last season while rushing for a franchise-record 1,845 yards. He broke the Dallas record held by NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith and also set a league mark with eight straight 100-yard games to start the season.
Murray will replace two-time All-Pro LeSean McCoy, the NFL’s rushing leader in 2013. Kelly traded McCoy to Buffalo last week in a flurry of stunning moves.
Read More @YahooSports
Assange has been wanted in Sweden since the accusations were made against him in August 2010.
Swedish prosecutors are expected to question Julian Assange in his London refuge after the lead prosecutor bowed to pressure from his lawyers, Swedish legal opinion and the courts to attempt to break the deadlock in the case.
The prosecutor will ask the UK government and Ecuador for permission to carry out an interrogation at Ecuador’s embassy in London, where Assange has been staying since August 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, from which he fears being handed over to the US to face espionage charges.
Read More @ theguardian.com
The company tweeted on Thursday: “Forecast: Winter weather ahead! @DisneyAnimation developing #Frozen2”
It was accompanied by a picture of sisters Elsa and Anna, with Sven the reindeer and Kristoff.
There’s no news on a release date yet.
Frozen was released at the end of 2013 and went on to become the highest-grossing animation of all time, and the fifth biggest film overall.
The movie won two Oscars in 2014 – best animated feature and best original song for Let It Go.
Read More on bbc.co.uk
Around 14 million children are suffering hardship and trauma from the war in Syria and Iraq, the United Nations children’s agency said on Thursday, highlighting the needs of children struggling to cope with severe violence, and the danger to the rest of the world of failing to help a generation preyed on by extremist groups.
As the crisis enters its fifth year, this generation of young people is still in danger of being lost to a cycle of violence…
Read More @nytimes.com
“It was a mistake,” Gates admits to an audience left laughing at his honesty. “We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn’t wanna give us our single button.” David Bradley, an engineer who worked on the original IBM PC, invented the combination which was originally designed to reboot a PC. “I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,” Bradley said in an interview previously, leaving Bill Gates looking rather awkward…
Read More @ theverge.com
A blind service dog named “Smiley” will never fail to put a smile on people’s faces.
The Golden Retriever’s owner Joanne George saved Smiley, who was born with dwarfism and without eyes, from a puppy mill and a death sentence at the age of two. Nearly a decade later, the dog’s story is continuing to help others in need.
“People were so drawn to him, so inspired by him.” George told CBS News. “I realized this dog has to be a therapy dog — I have to share him.”
Read More @ cbsnews.com
The Chinese telecom firm had a surprise hit at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week with its stylish Huawei Watch
In 2009, Huawei unveiled its first Android smartphone. Since then it’s built an impressive lineup of low- to mid-tier Android and Windows Phone handsets, although its efforts to gain a foothold in the U.S. market haven’t gotten it very far yet.
Huawei Watch
This is the first device to come out of Huawei that’s made anyone look twice at the company. If it’s priced reasonably and can actually make good on its promises, the Watch could change Huawei’s reputation as a maker of less-than-impressive devices. And it could give Google a shiny new weapon in the coming wearable war against Apple.
All in all, whether it’s behind the next Nexus or not, you’d better learn how to pronounce “Huawei.” You’ll be saying it a lot more pretty soon.
Read More @ readwrite.com
some cool stuff to watch – pay attention to the creativity !
After inadvertently teasing the existence of a new Chromebook Pixel last month, Google is today coming clean and announcing the new laptop. The new Chromebook Pixel has asimilar boxy design as its predecessor (including the fancy light-up strip on the lid), but it has upgraded internals, better battery life, and a new price tag. That new price tag is still steep — at $999, it’s by far still the most expensive Chromebook you can buy — but it’s a few hundred dollars less than the Pixel was two years ago. If you really feel the need to splurge, Google is also offering an “LS” (which, yes, stands for Ludicrous Speed) version for $300 more that has even higher-end components.
The standard Chromebook Pixel is no slouch, however. It has a new Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. The LS model steps that up to a faster Core i7 chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. If the LS model didn’t exist, the regular Pixel would easily be the most powerful Chromebook ever made. The original Pixel’s namesake 3:2, 2560 x 1700 pixel touchscreen display remains largely unchanged in the new model, though Google says it has a wider color gamut than before. Oddly, Google doesn’t seem to be offering an LTE version this go around, or at least it’s not talking about it today if it’s planning to.
Read More @ theverge.com
More details @ google.com
Lebron gets the nasty block off the glass, which leads to a fastbreak which is cemented by a Timofey Mozgov putback dunk
Amy Poehler and Bill Hader brought the exclusive first look at the trailer for their new Pixar film, “Inside Out”! Check it out right here.
Seven Marines and four soldiers were presumed dead this morning after going missing Tuesday when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a routine night training exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, military officials said.
There are no further details released at this time. Officials will be holding a news conference later today.
Read More @ abcnews.com
The color red is also posing a problem in works like Wheat Stack Under a Cloudy Sky, and researchers are now moving closer to finding out why, Chemistry Worldreports.
Van Gogh often used a pigment known as red lead. The stuff, also called minium, turns whiter when it’s exposed to light. Seeking to understand the process, researchers analyzed a tiny dot of paint from the work.
The process, which involved shooting X-rays at the paint, showed that the red lead is now covered with what Chemistry World calls “degradation products” in the form of other chemicals.
The researchers found a substance they call the “missing link” in the degradation process: It’s a mineral lead known as plumbonacrite, Hyperallergic reports. Light shining on the plumbonacrite has apparently caused the buildup of other chemicals.
Read More @ foxnews.com
ResearchKit, the company’s new medical research and health platform, is clearly the technology with the most potential to actually improve people’s lives.
The platform aims to give anyone with an iOS device the opportunity to participate in medical research, join programs that can help them track their symptoms, or share information with their doctors. Like any new technology, it’ll take some time to ramp up, but the eventual uses—and some already in development—have the potential to really help people.
By linking your phone with health institutions and research organizations, the information you log, steps you take, and trials you participate in all go back to the people who designed them—presumably doctors and researchers who are able (and eager) to sift through the information you provide.
Read More @ lifehacker
Little more than a century after the Wright brothers launched a gas-powered airplane from a sandhill outside Kitty Hawk, a team of Swiss explorers took off Sunday for their own run at aviation history, in a plane fueled only by sunlight.
Strapped into the cramped, single-seat cockpit of a plane called the Solar Impulse 2, former fighter pilot André Borschberg lifted off just after 11 p.m. EDT Sunday from a military airport near the Strait of Hormuz and began the first leg in a quest to fly a solar-powered craft around the world.
Borschberg will head first to Muscat, Oman, gradually climbing toward 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) as a vast array of solar panels stretched across the wing tops and fuselage drink in sunlight and power the craft’s four electric engines. After Oman the plane will continue east, visiting cities in India and China before attempting to reach Hawaii on a perilous, multi-day crossing of the Pacific.
The path
Read More @ nationalgeographic.com
Wina’s online ad went viral, prompting a local news outlet to track her down and confirm that the offer was genuine. “Indeed it’s true, Wina is ready to be married by a house buyer,” the headline says, as tweeted by Sleman’s unofficial Twitter account.
Wina, a single mother, told news outlet Kompas.com that the idea was dreamed up when she mentioned her desire to once again find a partner.
Read More @time.com
Developing Newz 