Wednesday, December 18

Month: December 2014

Japan’s New Secrecy Law Called “an Unprecedented Threat to Freedom of Information”
16Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
World

Japan’s New Secrecy Law Called “an Unprecedented Threat to Freedom of Information”

Japan has passed a strict new state-secret law, which Reporters Without Borders is calling "an unprecedented threat to freedom of information." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it's essential to convince allies to share intelligence with Japan, but critics charge that the law will help the Japanese government conceal its misdeeds, limit freedom of the press, and chill whistleblowers. "This law will restrict the peoples' right to know," said protester Tomoki Hiyama. "It's full of ambiguity and will take us back to the 'public peace and order' controls of World War Two." Though the law was passed over a year ago, it came into effect December 10. Protesters waved banners and beat drums in Tokyo's streets, hours before it came into force. Now, whistleblowing will come at a heavy cost. Public s...
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TV May Not Be the Future of Marketing, But GoDaddy Shows That Interactive TV Ads Are Possible
15Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Business

TV May Not Be the Future of Marketing, But GoDaddy Shows That Interactive TV Ads Are Possible

With online marketing and social media taking over the majority of a business's marketing and advertising campaigns, it's almost surprising that something like a TV commercial -- which is incredibly limited in terms of audience engagement and interaction, by comparison -- could grab news headlines. But when it comes to Super Bowl advertising, TV commercials reach a whole new level of dedication and creativity. It seems unlikely that any business would be able to drum up the same level of audience engagement with a TV commercial that can be found with just a few tweets, but as Variety reporter and senior TV editor Brian Steinberg notes, the web service company "GoDaddy" may have accomplished the impossible. It's no secret that Americans have a special place in their hearts for Super Bowl...
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Students in Asia Have Been Cheating on the SAT For Months
15Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
World

Students in Asia Have Been Cheating on the SAT For Months

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has confirmed it: students in Asia have been cheating on the SAT for months. In October, "a small number of test-takers had an unfair advantage on the test," said ETS spokesperson Thomas Ewing, citing confidentiality concerns. ETS, which administers the SAT worldwide, decided to temporarily withhold the October 11 results because of suspicions of cheating "based on specific, reliable information," because of "organizations that seek to illegally obtain test materials for their own profit, to the ultimate detriment of all students." In November, another probe was opened after more allegations of cheating were made following the administration of the SAT in Asia. Since only a few private schools in China are allowed to administer the SAT, many students...
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Immigration Attorney Accused of Scamming Dozens of Families out of More Than $200,000
12Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Local

Immigration Attorney Accused of Scamming Dozens of Families out of More Than $200,000

UPDATED 11/25/2020 If you or your loved one has gotten in trouble with the law for whatever reason, but more importantly for a suggested crime and you need good legal representation, then you should hire a criminal law attorney for your criminal defense. Make sure that you hire someone who has been practicing law for a number of years as a criminal defense trial lawyer. Before you make your final pick on which lawyer is going to represent you, be sure to go through a list of legal professionals and contact each of them to ask criminal defense questions that relate to your case. It is not just criminal law, but also the details of your case that you should bring to mind. In some cases, depending on the details of your case, things could settle out of court. If your case has solid...
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Did This Brooklyn Seafood Restaurant Try to Bribe Yelp Reviewers With Free Meals?
12Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Business

Did This Brooklyn Seafood Restaurant Try to Bribe Yelp Reviewers With Free Meals?

First, there was the carpet cleaner who sued anonymous Yelp reviewers over bad reviews. Then there was the hotel that withheld deposits from guests who left negative comments on the popular review site. Now a Brooklyn restaurant is offering free meals through Craigslist to customers willing to rave about its food. The now-removed ad, posted on Dec. 4, sought out Yelp reviewers with established or elite profiles to review the Littleneck seafood restaurant in exchange for meals. It doesn't specify "good" reviews, but that seems to be implied. Aaron Lefkove, one of the owners of Littleneck, told amNY that the ad didn't come from them, and that he may pursue legal action against the person who posted it. "We definitely did not post that," LefKove told amNY in an email. "I imagine it's an un...
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More Industries Using More Robots: What Experts Say About the Next Decade’s Manufacturing
11Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Business

More Industries Using More Robots: What Experts Say About the Next Decade’s Manufacturing

Robotics have been a staple of the automotive industry for some time, but a new report has found that automation is moving into other sectors of the economy, as well. In countries with the highest use of robotics -- Japan, Germany and the United States -- the International Federation of Robotics reports that the density of robots in the automotive sector is seven times that in all other industrial areas. Japanese automakers use about 1,520 industrial robots for every 10,000 of their human employees, leading the way in the industry. Other industries in Japan, Germany and the U.S. use only around 214 robots per 10,000 workers -- but that number is slowly climbing. The newest industrial robots are poised to enter other, undeveloped parts of the manufacturing industry. The International Fed...
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Why Teeth Whitening Can Sometimes Be Too Much of a Good Thing
10Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Lifestyle

Why Teeth Whitening Can Sometimes Be Too Much of a Good Thing

The $1.4 billion that Americans spend each year on tooth whitening products and procedures might be doing more harm than good in some cases. In fact, bleaching one's teeth too much -- an increasingly common habit as Americans yearn for that perfectly pearly set of teeth -- might actually make teeth appear darker, in addition to a number of other less-than-desirable effects. According to a November 24 Daily Mail article, teeth that have been whitened too much will appear darker because over-whitening makes them more transparent, meaning that the mouth's dark shadows show through them. It's not just the appearance of teeth that is compromised by over-bleaching. The Daily Mail reports that over-bleaching results in brittle, hypersensitive teeth, receding gum lines and even the permanent lo...
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Why Americans Are Not Annuitizing — and Why They Should
9Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Lifestyle

Why Americans Are Not Annuitizing — and Why They Should

Retirement is something that almost every working American looks forward to and depends on, but that future isn't so secure for many Americans -- and they know it. One in four Americans think that they will have to work until the age of 80 -- well past the traditional retirement age of 65 -- to be able to retire comfortably. Part of the problem, it seems, is that Americans are more attracted to large lump sums than ensuring that they have a steady stream of income in retirement. According to Time, an academic panel hosted by Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), two professors -- Michael Finke of Texas Tech and Stephen Zelde of Columbia University -- discussed why Americans are not annuitizing and why they should. Though annuities haven't been favored in ...
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The Mystery of the Missing Brains Has Seemingly Been Solved
9Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
World

The Mystery of the Missing Brains Has Seemingly Been Solved

If you had a bunch of brains floating in jars, you probably wouldn't lose them too easily. However, that's precisely what the University of Texas in Austin did over 10 years ago. Luckily, the mystery of the missing brains has seemingly been solved. Apparently, about 100 of them were accidentally destroyed. From the 1950s through to the 1970s, a resident pathologist at the Austin State Hospital, which was formerly known as the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, began collecting the brains of deceased patients in jars of formaldehyde. This was during a time when surgical lobotomies and electroshock therapy were quite common. When Dr. Coleman de Chenar -- the pathologist collecting the specimens -- died in 1985, he'd amassed about 200 brains. Rumor had it that one of the brains in the collection w...
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Mobile Apps and Websites Aim to Transform How Apartments Are Advertised
8Dec By Daily InboxNo Comments
Business

Mobile Apps and Websites Aim to Transform How Apartments Are Advertised

For a long time, apartment hunting was quite the ordeal, and anyone seeking a new place to live had to drive around looking for yard signs, sort through cryptic classified ads, and play phone tag with landlords and property managers.Thankfully, the times are a changin'.Mobile app startup companies, online real estate heavy hitters, and even good ol' local listing firms are preparing to streamline the fragmented business of apartment advertising and hunting, hoping to make it more reliable for landlords and property managers as well as more user-friendly for prospective tenants. The goal is to transform a thriving business -- nearly 2.3 million households rent apartments, rather than own their home, in Los Angeles and Orange Counties -- into a modern, successful marketplace, making the p...
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