Adidas unveils Cyberpunk 2077 shoes and they look grittily cool – GEEKSPIN

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The highly anticipated release of Cyberpunk 2077 is just a month away, so collaborations promoting the video game have started to roll out. One of the exciting collabs is a shoe line from Adidas and CD Projekt Red, which is the developer and publisher of the video game.

Officially revealed last week, the collection is comprised of X9000L4 and X90004D sneakers that incorporate the typeface and color schemes seen in the teasers for Cyberpunk 2077. The X90004D features a black Primeknit upper with yellow CYBERPUNK logo, laces, and heel counter lettering.

The X9000L4, meanwhile, comes in four different colors: gray, black, white, and a leopard pattern. Each of these silhouettes has its own flashy accents ranging from turquoise, red, gold, purple, and silver.

Reactions to the shoe line are mixed. While some sneakerheads think the designs of the shoes capture the cool grit of Night City (the setting of the video game), others find them unappealing. Apparently, the pricing is also an issue for some fans. For $200 Id never wear them, commented one Twitter user on a tweet by Hypebeast about the collection.

The shoe line doesnt have an official release date yet, but many are expecting a November 11th launch with prices ranging from $190 to $250. Unfortunately for some fans, CD Projekt RED business relations director Rafal Jaki revealed that the sneakers will not be available worldwide.

As Im getting a lot of questions about this the Adidas X Cyberpunk 2077 Collab is available in selected Asian markets only. As a partner we dont make the distribution decisions as that is Adidas core competence, Jaki wrote tweeted, along with some pictures of the sneakers and characters from the video game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 10th.

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Adidas unveils Cyberpunk 2077 shoes and they look grittily cool - GEEKSPIN

Gear Up For Night City With The Razer Viper Ultimate Cyberpunk 2077 Edition Wireless Gaming Mouse – Geek Culture

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This article was originally published on 15 October 2020.

Were just a little over a month till the release of CD Projekt Reds Cyberpunk 2077. And this time, there wont be any more delays getting in the way of our maiden romp in Night City. To celebrate the upcoming launch of the ambitious new RPG, CD Projekt Red has teamed up with various brands such as Secretlab, Xbox, Seagate, Funko and even Adidas in the name of hyping things up.

Razer has one more reason to get pumped for the game with the announcement of the new Razer Viper Ultimate Cyberpunk 2077 Edition. This super-slick neon yellow/black take on Razers wireless gaming mouse is the perfect companion for PC players of the game.

The Cyberpunk 2077 logo is featured prominently on the top of the mouse, while the Razer logo glows with a nice, contrasting turquoise at the bottom. The mouse comes with a detachable 2.4GHz USB dongle, as well as a similarly-hued charging dock. Oh yeah, and the scroll wheel, Razer logo and the base of the charging dock all glow turquoise when the mouse is charging. Surely, this is something Johnny Silverhand will approve of.

Specs-wise, expect the exact same performance as a standard Razer Viper Ultimate: 2.4GHz Hyperspeed wireless connection, over 70 hours of use when fully charged, 5 on-board memory profiles and 8 programmable buttons on Razer Synapse, and a Focus + Optical Sensor for the most accurate mouse movement perfect for scoring those headshots on annoying cybernetic gang members.

The Razer Viper Ultimate Cyberpunk 2077 Edition is currently on pre-order for S$249.90 (US$159.99) and will ship on 23 November 2020. If you cant get enough of Cyberpunk 2077, Razer is also offering a full range of Razer Customs for the Razer Gigantus V2 gaming mats and Razer Arctech Pro phone cases for your complete theming pleasure.

Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witchers body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as Mind Flayer and Magic Missile, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.

READ ALSO: Adidas' The Mandalorian Sneaker Collection Is The Way To Celebrate Season 2 Premiere

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Gear Up For Night City With The Razer Viper Ultimate Cyberpunk 2077 Edition Wireless Gaming Mouse - Geek Culture

OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition is out tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of fans ordered the smartphone – Phone Mantra

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The OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition has a unique three-stage design case, as well as 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of flash memory.The top of the smartphone is glass, reflecting the order and future of high tech cyberpunk.The middle section represents an unknown opportunity between high technology and low living standards.The lower part reflects the night, as well as the complex and hectic life of the city.

OnePlus designers have changed the icons of system applications, added a bright neon color to the main theme, new animation when unlocking by fingerprint, charging animation simulates the process of hacking from the game.Also, OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition has completely new sound effects.The OnePlus team worked with the developers to create recognizable ringtone and alarm music.

OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition has a 6.55-inch display, a Snapdragon 865 single-chip system, LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.1 flash memory, a front-facing 16-megapixel and 48-megapixel quad camera.The battery capacity is 4500 mAh, 65W fast charging is supported.

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OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition is out tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of fans ordered the smartphone - Phone Mantra

Netflix launches its first TV channel that streams shows just like regular telly – The Sun

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NETFLIX is testing out its own TV channel in France.

The channel is called Netflix Direct and will provide rolling content just like a regular TV channel.

2

The shows and films on the channel will be from Netflix's current library.

It's said to be avaliable for current Netflix subscribers.

Netflix said in statement: "Maybe youre not in the mood to decide, or youre new and finding your way around, or you just want to be surprised by something new and different.

Netflix is said to have chosen France for the Netflix Direct launch because traditional TV is hugely popular there.

2

The streaming brand wants to try and fit in with the culture of not having the pressure of choosing what to watch.

Netflix Direct has started to roll out in some parts of France already.

There's plans to expand it further in December.

This is good news for the millions of French Netflix subscribers.

It could also be useful for people who live in different households but who want to watch a show at the same time.

They could just turn on the channel whenever its playing their preferred TV series and watch the exact same content.

Use Netflix on a computer or laptop? Try these useful shortcuts

Here are some handy keyboard shortcuts...

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In other news, Apple One, thetech giant's big servicesbundle, has launched.

Samsung may befollowing in Apple's footstepsand ditching free chargers and earphones from the box of its next smartphones.

And, Virgin Media is bringing superfast broadband to three million more homes in the UK.

What are your thoughts on the Netflix TV channel? Let us know in the comments...

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Netflix launches its first TV channel that streams shows just like regular telly - The Sun

Greta Thunberg on 2 very surreal years of protest and fame – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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NEW YORK In the first days of Greta Thunberg's solitary sidewalk protest outside Swedish Parliament in August 2018, most walk right past her. Some pause and ask why she's not in school. But people steadily begin to take notice of the steadfast 16-year-old girl.

Those humble beginnings of Thunberg's protest the unlikely birth of a global movement are seen in the opening minutes of the new documentary "I Am Greta." Since then, Thunberg has met world leaders, been vilified by others, and seen countless join her in an ever-growing resistance to environmental complacency. It's a journey she readily describes as totally surreal "It's like living in a movie and you don't know the plot," she says but also affirming.

"I look back and I remember how it felt. I think: Oh, I was so young and naive back then which is quite funny," says Thunberg, recalling her first days of protest in an interview. "So much has changed for me since then but also so much hasn't changed from the bigger perspective."

"I feel like now I'm happier in my life," she adds. "When you do something that's meaningful, it gives you the feeling that you're meaningful."

"I Am Greta," which debuts Friday on Hulu, is the first documentary to chart the meteoric rise of Thunberg from an anonymous, uncertain teen to an international activist. As an intimate chronicle of a singular figure, it plays like a coming-of-age story for someone who seemed, from the start, uncannily of age. The film, directed by Nathan Grossman, captures the head-spinning accomplishments, and the toll they sometimes take, on the bluntly impassioned Thunberg.

For an activist who insists on putting the cause before herself, it's also a somewhat uncomfortable acceptance of the spotlight. "I haven't really achieved anything," Thunberg says, speaking by phone from Sweden. "Everything the movement has achieved."

She doesn't endorse everything about the documentary. It should come as no surprise that Thunberg, who has called her Asperger's syndrome her "superpower" a condition she believes only enhances her ability to be straightforward and focused has a few notes.

"I don't really like the title of the film, 'I Am Greta.' It makes it seem like I take myself very seriously," says Thunberg. (In Sweden, the film is simply called "Greta," but that title was recently taken by the 2018 Isabelle Huppert film.) "Also the poster. I look like I have make-up on. I don't like the poster and the title."

Grossman began filming Thunberg soon after she began protesting in August 2018, but he didn't expect much from it. He told Thunberg he might not stick around for more than a few hours. He shot in half-resolution to save memory cards.

But as time went on, and young people around the world began following Thunberg's lead, Grossman realized he had unwittingly captured the first moments of an unfolding zeitgeist. The project evolved and Grossman continued to shadow Thunberg up to her scorching speech at the United Nations in which she admonished world leaders: "We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you."

"She felt that a movie about her could help clarify things," says Grossman. "In the media, I think, she hasn't felt that she recognized herself. The one-dimensional character of Greta is a very angry, frustrated girl. In the movie, you see so much more that she's also funny and has different sides."

Part of the power of Thunberg is that, as a 17-year-old, she literally embodies a future imperiled by the inaction of older generations. "I Am Greta" is in a way a profile of generational divide, where adults and politicians line up to take selfies with a young woman who despite her stature sometimes struggles to get out of bed for an appointment or cries for home while sailing across the Atlantic.

But if Thunberg, Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2019, is recognizably human in "I Am Greta," she's also ruthlessly frank. She doesn't mince words on Earth's trajectory. She dismisses superficial gestures for change. And she shrugs off those who dismiss or mock her message. Asked how she felt watching news clips of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin deriding her in the film, Thunberg laughs.

"That's one of the highlights! It's hysterically funny," Thunberg says. "It just proves that you're doing something right. If you're being attacked by these kinds of people that shows you're doing something right. It just shows how desperate they are not to talk about the climate."

During the pandemic, Thunberg has seen climate slip from front pages. But she wishes the climate could generate the same level of alarm that COVID-19 has. "It feels like we're stuck no matter what we do," she says. "We won't achieve real change unless we actually start to treat the climate crisis like a crisis."

In September, Thunberg was again outside Swedish Parliament for a socially distanced climate protest, part of thousands of school strikes held that day. But watching the U.S. presidential debates, where climate was a little-discussed issue and summarily dismissed by Trump, she says, has been eye-opening.

"It surprises me. I knew the situation in the U.S. was bad when it comes to climate, that it's being treated as an opinion rather than actual scientific fact, but I didn't know it was this bad," says Thunberg. "Europe and Sweden, we are very, very far from where we need to be in the discussion. But compared to the U.S., it's just surprising."

Earlier this fall, Thunberg returned to school after taking a year off.

"I've missed it a lot. It just feels very good to be back in school and to do normal things, to have routines. I love routines that's probably a lot because of my autism," she says. "And in this environment, I'm almost anonymous in a way. People know who I am, of course, but I'm not there because I'm famous. I'm there to do something else, I'm just like the rest."

Anonymity might no longer be a long-term option for Thunberg, who will turn 18 in January. But it's a tradeoff she will make. When she reflects on the last two years, she sounds dangerously close to being something few would label Thunberg: an optimist.

"Before I started doing this, my experience was that no one cared. Now I've been proven wrong. Obviously, many people, especially young people, care about the climate crisis and the future, and that's encouraging," says Thunberg. "Humanity has not yet failed. We are failing, but humanity has not failed."

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Greta Thunberg on 2 very surreal years of protest and fame - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Cenotaph shame: When Extinction Rebellion is so hateful how can anyone respect its cause? – Express

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Extinction Rebellion activists prompted fury this Armistice Day by co-opting the Remembrance display at the Cenotaph with demonstrations and placing an unlicensed wreath above those dedicated to fallen soldiers reading CLIMATE CHANGE: ACT NOW. A banner, reading HONOUR THEIR SACRIFICE: CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS WAR was also carried and attached to the gate, blocking the view of the memorial. They were removed by Met Police two hours later.

Why they remained on display for so long is anyone's guess.

Former private Donald Bell spearheaded the stunt, in uniform, and stepped through poppy wreaths laid at the memorial to place his, paramount, above the rest.

XRs latest stunt might be their most staggering show of climate-fuelled anti-natalism and anti-humanism yet.

XR co-founder Stuart Basden wrote the movement isnt about the climate, but instead dismantling the cruelty and violence of 600 years of colonialism conducted by European civilisation, and its institutions of patriarchy, white supremacy, and heteronormativity.

Fellow XR co-founder, Roger Hallam, has said that forcing governments to act or bringing them down in order to implement XRs preferred climate policies will require some to die in the process.

A sticker campaign calling Humans the disease and Corona the cure landed an East Midlands XR chapter in hot water in March (another chapter claiming to be the main XR group did distance themselves from the claim but the structure is so murky it is very difficult for the public to know who to believe.)

In the States, Green New Deal supporter and 2020 Presidential primary candidate Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed expanding abortion access in third-world nations, to reduce carbon emissions through population control.

Previous prophecies havent panned out. From the Population Bomb, to Al Gores Inconvenient Truth, and even Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortezs recent inflated claim that the IPCC report says the world is to end in 12 years, these crazy predictions never come true.

When the climate narrative is controlled by out-of-touch radicals like this who continually demonstrate their disregard for working people and a disdain for the West, is it any surprise so many are opposed to the activism currently characterised as representative of the environmental movement? The 44 percent of Brits driven to apathy about climate issues by proclamations of an impending ecological apocalypse are excoriated as anti-science and deniers.

In a time of economic downturn and supply-line interruption, working families are rightly concerned about what their family requires, and the security and reliability of obtaining that.

Further disruptions to our way of life after a tumultuous year will inevitably be opposed, and all the more fervently when advocated by a group demonstrating such little respect as Extinction Rebellion often do.

But optimism may be derived from this flagrant display of disrespect. National lockdowns have served as an incidental repudiation of eco-socialists position that ending capitalism will stop the oncoming eco-pocalypse.

The halting of travel and production in nations worldwide for months was found to have a negligible impact, compared to predicted proactive responses invigorated by green stimulus and reductions in fossil fuel investments.

For all their theatrics and rhetoric, these cultish Luddites dont have any actual answers.

Our solutions will instead come from the experts and entrepreneurs developing tech to transport us into a clean, capitalist future.

If empowered by less government intervention, the private sector will fulfil the UK Institute of Directors business purpose clause of allowing the free market to profit from providing solutions toinstead of creatingproblems for our planet and its people.

The pathway to post-COVID economic and environmental recovery is through responsible free-market action. And nothing refutes radicalism better than results.

Quite simply, XR represents no one.

They do not represent British young people. They do not represent rational, sensible environmentalists. And they certainly do not represent groups like the British Conservation Alliance.

It is inexcusable to obfuscate this century-long tradition of solemnly honouring and expressing gratitude for lives lost in armed conflict with a ghoulish hijacking to platform an ideological obsession.

As the Royal British Legion rightly objected, Armistice Day is not for political protest.

No sacred cow of our contemporary zeitgeist entitles you to make a memorial service your soapbox.

The sacrifices made by Britain and her allies armed forces should not be made of subordinate concern to some zealots fixation with contemporary events.

Former Royal Green Jackets captain and current Conservative party MP, Tobias Ellwood, reiterated how alienating this stunt will prove to be, particularly if copycat theatrics are attempted at other events. Those with sense and decorum hope that the righteous objections to this stunt dissuade radicals from further attempts at distasteful thefts of the limelight, and encourage principled and pragmatic approaches to contemporary climate issues going forward.

Connor Tomlinson is Policy Director at the British Conservation Alliance a Conservative young persons organisation with student representation at 30 British universities.

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Cenotaph shame: When Extinction Rebellion is so hateful how can anyone respect its cause? - Express

Names in the news – Marshall News Messenger

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Positive COVID-19 test sidelines FGLs Tyler Hubbard at CMAs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Florida Georgia Lines Tyler Hubbard is the second artist so far that will miss a scheduled performance at the CMA Awards on Wednesday due to COVID-19.

Hubbard posted a note on his Instagram page on Monday saying he was asymptomatic and quarantining on his bus outside his home. It comes days after another artist, Lee Brice, also revealed he had tested positive and would also not perform on the show, which airs on ABC from Nashville, Tennessee.

The Country Music Association said in a statement that while it was disappointing that both artists would not perform, but it was a sign that their COVID-19 precautions were working.

We have been extremely diligent with our testing process in advance of anyone entering our footprint, the statement said. Every single person has been tested, and many will be tested repeatedly throughout the week. This is in addition to wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) and of course practicing social and physical distancing.

Although the show doesnt have a normal audience of fans because of the pandemic, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern had promised to bring country stars together in one room for the awards show, while keeping them physically distanced.

Greta Thunberg on 2 very surreal years of protest and fame

NEW YORK (AP) In the first days of Greta Thunbergs solitary sidewalk protest outside Swedish Parliament in August 2018, most walk right past her. Some pause and ask why shes not in school. But people steadily begin to take notice of the steadfast 16-year-old girl.

Those humble beginnings of Thunbergs protest the unlikely birth of a global movement are seen in the opening minutes of the new documentary I Am Greta. Since then, Thunberg has met world leaders, been vilified by others, and seen countless join her in an ever-growing resistance to environmental complacency. Its a journey she readily describes as totally surreal Its like living in a movie and you dont know the plot, she says but also affirming.

I look back and I remember how it felt. I think: Oh, I was so young and naive back then which is quite funny, says Thunberg, recalling her first days of protest in an interview. So much has changed for me since then but also so much hasnt changed from the bigger perspective.

I feel like now Im happier in my life, she adds. When you do something thats meaningful, it gives you the feeling that youre meaningful.

I Am Greta, which debuts Friday on Hulu, is the first documentary to chart the meteoric rise of Thunberg from an anonymous, uncertain teen to an international activist. As an intimate chronicle of a singular figure, it plays like a coming-of-age story for someone who seemed, from the start, uncannily of age. The film, directed by Nathan Grossman, captures the head-spinning accomplishments, and the toll they sometimes take, on the bluntly impassioned Thunberg.

For an activist who insists on putting the cause before herself, its also a somewhat uncomfortable acceptance of the spotlight. I havent really achieved anything, Thunberg says, speaking by phone from Sweden. Everything the movement has achieved.

She doesnt endorse everything about the documentary. It should come as no surprise that Thunberg, who has called her Aspergers syndrome her superpower a condition she believes only enhances her ability to be straightforward and focused has a few notes.

I dont really like the title of the film, I Am Greta. It makes it seem like I take myself very seriously, says Thunberg. (In Sweden, the film is simply called Greta, but that title was recently taken by the 2018 Isabelle Huppert film.) Also the poster. I look like I have make-up on. I dont like the poster and the title.

Grossman began filming Thunberg soon after she began protesting in August 2018, but he didnt expect much from it. He told Thunberg he might not stick around for more than a few hours. He shot in half-resolution to save memory cards.

But as time went on, and young people around the world began following Thunbergs lead, Grossman realized he had unwittingly captured the first moments of an unfolding zeitgeist. The project evolved and Grossman continued to shadow Thunberg up to her scorching speech at the United Nations in which she admonished world leaders: We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you.

She felt that a movie about her could help clarify things, says Grossman. In the media, I think, she hasnt felt that she recognized herself. The one-dimensional character of Greta is a very angry, frustrated girl. In the movie, you see so much more that shes also funny and has different sides.

Part of the power of Thunberg is that, as a 17-year-old, she literally embodies a future imperiled by the inaction of older generations. I Am Greta is in a way a profile of generational divide, where adults and politicians line up to take selfies with a young woman who despite her stature sometimes struggles to get out of bed for an appointment or cries for home while sailing across the Atlantic.

But if Thunberg, Time magazines Person of the Year in 2019, is recognizably human in I Am Greta, shes also ruthlessly frank. She doesnt mince words on Earths trajectory. She dismisses superficial gestures for change. And she shrugs off those who dismiss or mock her message. Asked how she felt watching news clips of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin deriding her in the film, Thunberg laughs.

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Names in the news - Marshall News Messenger

Words of 2020: Nominees Announced | Nippon.com – Nippon.com

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On November 5, the publisher Jiy Kokuminsha announced its list of nominees for the words and phrases encapsulating the zeitgeist of the year 2020. A complete list of the nominees, explained.

As expected, the COVID-19 pandemic figured heavily in this years list of nominees for the Word (or Words) of the Year. The spread of the novel coronavirus meant that terms describing the disease and medical measures taken in response, along with those talking about its impact on society and peoples lives, were certain to appear frequently on the list of 30 terms released annually by the publisher Jiy Kokuminsha, whose annual language guide Gendai ygo no kiso chishiki (Basic Knowledge on Contemporary Terminology) is also likely to focus on them in its next edition.

As Japan grappled with its new normal, and people who were not essential workers were pressed to stay at home, perhaps ordering from Uber Eats and passing the time with some Animal Crossing, the Japanese language saw these phrases, and many more listed below, enter the mainstream of everyday communication.

4 Ai no fujichaku/Dai-yoji Kanry bmu. South Koreas hit Netflix drama Sarangui bulsichak (Crash Landing on You) told the story of a cross-border love affair between members of the southern and northern elite. Under its Japanese title, Ai no fujichaku, it was seen as part of a fourth Korean wave to hit the countrys shores.

Atarashii seikatsu yshiki/Ny nmaru. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people in Japan and around the world have adjusted the way they live to reduce the risk of infection. Increases in wearing of masks and working from home are among such actions representing the new normal.

Atsumori. Launched in March 2020, shortly before Japan declared a pandemic state of emergency calling on residents to stay indoors, Nintendos smash simulation game Atsumare: Dbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing: New Horizons) offered a way to pass the time that was enthusiastically taken up by many.

Abenomasuku. Face mask shortages in the early stages of the pandemic prompted Prime Minister Abe Shinz to institute a policy distributing millions of cloth masks to households across Japan. Nicknamed Abenomasks after his Abenomics economic policies, the face coverings came under fire, however, for being too small.

Amabie. One unexpected result of the COVID-19 outbreak was a revival in popularity for the ykai (supernatural spirit) Amabie, which legend claims first emerged from the sea in the nineteenth century. Its purported efficacy against disease led to its image appearing on many goods, and it even formed the model for wagashi sweets.

b tsu. With more people staying at home, food delivery firm Uber Eats got a boost, and bicycle and motorbike riders carrying its cubic backpacks became a familiar sight on Japanese streets.

AI-goe. Prodigy Fujii Sta made further strides in shgi this year, winning his first two major titles either side of his eighteenth birthday. His instinct for the best move led him to be described as better than AI.

Essensharu wk. Japan was among the countries noting the contributions of essential workers who cannot operate remotely, such as health workers, supermarket clerks, and waste collectors.

Ouchi jikan/sutei hmu. As politicians called on residents to stay at home, people found new ways to spend the ouchi jikan (home time). Singer Hoshino Gen created social media buzz with his Instagram-released song Uchi de odor (Dance at Home).

Onrain . Zoom and other services provided venues for online activities that were previously normally face to face, including medical checks, lessons, work meetings, family visits, and drinking parties.

Kaogei/Ongaeshi. The popular drama Hanzawa Naoki returned to broadcaster TBS, entertaining fans with its characteristic over-the-top showmanship. Viewers have delighted in the kabuki-like exaggerated facial expressions of performers, the kaogei typically captured close-up for full dramatic effect. Actor Kagawa Terayuki, in the role of wada Akira, struck a chord with his line promising ongaeshirepayment in kind for the offenses of a rivaldelivered with spine-tingling impact.

Kagopaku. Supermarkets and other retailers rolled out preventive measures after enduring an uptick in customers walking off with shopping baskets to avoid paying newly mandated fees for plastic bags that went into effect in July. The term combines kago (basket) with the colloquialism pakuru, meaning to steal.

Kimetsu no yaiba. The comic series Demon Slayer by Gotge Koyoharu has come to be a social phenomenon in Japan, with fans of all ages mimicking the catch phrases of characters and tuning in to watch the animated television spinoff. In October, an anime movie based on the work shattered Japanese box office records, earning over 10 billion in the first 10 days after its release.

Kurasut. As the coronavirus pandemic rages, Japan has made scouting out and preventing clusters, or groups of cases tied to a certain place and time, a central plank of its COVID-19 response strategy.

Ksui. Musician Eito found unexpected fame with his song Ksui (Perfume). Released in April 2019, the tune stayed under the radar until early 2020, when TikTok users began sharing covers of the tune on the app, bringing it to the attention of celebrities who then featured the song in videos.

GoTo GoTo kyanpn. The government rolled out its controversial GoTo campaigns in a bid to boost the countrys service industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. The programs provide subsidies of varying amounts for travel, eating out, shopping, and attending events, but they have drawn criticism due to cases of abuse and health concerns over spreading the coronavirus.

3 San mitsu (mittsu no mitsu). The World Health Organization has recently adopted the strategy of avoiding the three Cs to prevent the spread of COVID-19, borrowing a page from the Japanese three mitsu playbook of steering clear of confined and enclosed spaces (mippei), crowded places (missh), and close-contact settings (missetsu).

Jishuku keisatsu. In the early months of the pandemic, the government asked residents to show self-restraint (jishuku) by refraining from going out unless absolutely necessary and likewise implored shops to close their doors for a set time. While authorities had no legal means to enforce the policy, do-gooders stepped in as self-appointed police (keisatsu), scolding people for not wearing masks, berating drivers with out-of-prefecture plates, and rebuking businesses for staying open.

Zoom Zoom bae. With remote work on the rise, employees using conferencing apps like Zoom are trying to stand out at online meetings with eye-catching virtual backgrounds and perfectly applied makeup. The newly coined phrase combines the popular service with the verb haeru, meaning to look nice or stand out.

Sgteki, fukanteki. Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide drew sharp criticism from opposition leaders and scholars for rejecting six appointees to the Science Council of Japan, a leading academic body in the country. Suga refrained from giving a specific reason for the refusal, insisting instead that the decision was to ensure the comprehensive (sgteki) and panoramic (fukanteki) activities of the organization.

Ssharu disutansu. Social distance was the imported term describing the space people needed to maintain among themselves to avoid the three Cs and stay safe from COVID-19 infection while taking part in activities in social settings.

Soro kyanpu. Solo camping was one popular way for people to maintain that distance while enjoying the great outdoors. Camping had a growing allure for nature-lovers before the pandemic kicked in, with the comedian Hiroshi launching a popular YouTube channel detailing his outdoor exploits and glamping, glamorous camping with comfortable lodgings and high-end cuisine, also attracting big spenders to Japans wilder locations.

Terewku/Wkshon. Telework became a mainstay for white-collar workers able to do their jobs from home or other non-office locations, while workations were promoted by national and local governments, along with some major employers, as a way to keep the engines of industry running while workers enjoyed time in resort settings. Rimto wku (remote work) and zaitaku kinmu (performing ones duties at home) were also commonly heard terms in 2020.

Toki o modos. Lets go back in time was the phrase used by Shinji Taiy, half of the comedy duo Pekopa, to get the conversation back on track when his partner, Shpei, made a foolish statement as the boke, the dim-witted foil to Shinjis sharp-tongued tsukkomi character. The pairs popular acts revolved around Shinjis clever last-minute verbal gymnastics to turn an insult toward Shpei into an (often snobbish) admission that his point of view had something to it as well.

NiziU Pronounced nij in Japanese, this all-girl idol group came out of the Nizi Project, which held grueling auditions in the standard Korean pop-music style to choose its members from a pool of Japanese and Korean applicants. Produced by J. Y. Park, who also put megastars like Twice and 2PM on K-pop fans radar, NiziU saw its popularity boom with a website sharing the groups videos with eager viewers.

Nk sesshokusha. Close contacts were people who had spent a considerable amount of time with, or been physically close to, confirmed carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Health workers sought to track down these contacts, who had a high likelihood of testing positive themselves, before they could spread COVID-19 to others. The technical definition of these close contacts eventually came to encompass people who had been near (within 1 meter of) a confirmed virus carrier, without wearing masks or taking other precautions, for 15 minutes or more within two days of the carriers hospitalization.

BLM BLM und. The Black Lives Matter movement made its impact felt in Japan, too, after George Floyd, an African-American, was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, touching off protests that spread across the United States and then worldwide. Tennis star saka Naomi boosted awareness of the movement in Japan with the masks that she wore bearing the names of victims of racist violence.

PCR PCR kensa. Polymerase chain reaction testing is a common, if complex, way to test for SARS-CoV-2 infection in an individual. Positive results for these tests represent the bulk of the total confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Japan to date.

Fuwa-chan. The stage name taken by Fuwa Haruka for her YouTube exploits became a highly recognized moniker across all media this year. Usually clad in neon colors and a sports bra, Fuwa-chan is an energetic celeb who has successfully made the leap from her video channel to television shows ranging from comedy to infotainment.

M n. Yeah, well, youre right there was a catch phrase used by the members of the female comedy team Boru-jukuparticularly Tanabe Chika, who commonly says it when Kgo Anri manages to defuse an insult delivered by her or the third group member, Kiriya Haruka, about Tanabes appearance. (A fourth member, Sakayori Nozomi, is taking time off for childbirth, but narrates the groups videos on YouTube.)

(Originally published in English. Banner photo: People lined up for the reopening of Tokyos Ueno Zoo on June 23, 2020, maintain social distance as they wait to enter. Jiji.)

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Words of 2020: Nominees Announced | Nippon.com - Nippon.com

Reckoning With 2020 Vision: Is it Over Yet? – KC STUDIO – kcstudio.org

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So how has your year gone?

And do we have anything more to worry about?

As I write this, I do not know whether today, as youre reading, we have a conclusive view of the current state of our democracy. But lets hope and work for the best, and perhaps count our proverbial turkeys in this usually thankful, resoundingly transformed, season.

In recent months, against the backdrop of isolation and noise, I managed to fill my time with work, sustenance and cultural reflection.

Opportunities increased to experience music as its being made, both online and in safely distanced physical settings. Symphony players in the Nelson-Atkins sculpture park. Latin American string music warming the chilled night air from the alley stage at The Ship. Joyce DiDonato streaming live in a gorgeous recital from Germany. An African drum troupe celebrating the 100th birthday of Charlie Parker.

My current major writing project has been gathering steam as the manuscript takes shape and fills out, and as new material arrives via archives, books and human sources almost daily.

Another research project, involving art and jazz, led me to discover a 60-year-old movie, Paris Blues (1961). I couldnt believe Id never watched it before, and I was astounded by how relevant it could feel. Like the recent Netflix series The Eddy, the film is centered around a small Paris jazz club, and its major concern has to do with race.

Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier play American ex-pat musicians in the City of Light for their own different reasons. One day, the inter-racial musical friends encounter two free-spirited American women Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll, one white, one Black, of course on a vacation lark together. Well, as these things happen, relationships ensue. In the case of Newman-Woodward, the affair steamed up in ways you never saw in, say, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, which was made three decades later (in Paris and Kansas City) from the Evan Connell novels.

A trumpeter played by Louis Armstrong makes a vibrant cameo appearance in the club. But beyond the music, the interpersonal drama reaches its peak tension in dialogue between the two Black lovebirds. Carrolls character wants Poitier to go home with her to America. He explains why thats not possible, why he remains more comfortable in his Blackness away from the states.

Just this year, as we all know, we have entered a new era of racial reckoning.

For historical perspective, I cant recommend highly enough Isabel Wilkersons new book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Wilkerson threads together the global history of brutal social systems under which torture and lynching were matters of widely accepted practice, and American segregation and anti-miscegenation laws inspired the German Nazi regimes march to genocide in the 1930s and 40s. Such gut-wrenching, violent experience gives the lie to the whining bros who think that, in the midst of the troubling pandemic, their mask-free liberty has been at stake. They know nothing of suppression and indignity.

Books on African American history and race issues quickly became abundant and reached bestseller status this year. Another one that I found enlightening was The Sword and the Shield, a dual biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, by Peniel E. Joseph, which presents a more nuanced account of the triumphs, tragedies and mutual aims of these two leaders than the typical gloss has it. The background of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s will spark frequent reminders, alas, that we have been here too many times before.

One new thing: The KC Art on the Block project made a large and important impression on the citys streetscape. Six Black Lives Matter pavement murals, each designed by a different artist, stretched for a collective 2,000 feet. The project successfully reflected community collaboration and a sense of the Zeitgeist.

On the day the painting began, an opportunity occurred to me, and I posted about it briefly on social media. Standing in the middle of Troost Avenue as the outlines of the words Black Lives Matter were being filled in with paint struck me as a momentous step beyond the citys regretful past. This street had long symbolized the stark segregation built into the infrastructure of Kansas City as elsewhere. Perhaps we have found a new road forward. I shudder to think of the alternative.

Above: Looking north toward 63rd Street at the creation of the 63rd and Troost Black Lives Matter mural designed by Warren Stylez Harvey for the KC Art on the Block project (photo by Steve Paul).

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Reckoning With 2020 Vision: Is it Over Yet? - KC STUDIO - kcstudio.org

Tech Giants and Antitrust – Delta Business Journal

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By chip pickering

Americas tech giants are not the problem and antitrust is not the solution. As we enter into a new age of competition and rivalry with China on strategic, on national security, on economic grounds, we have a lot of people in Washington who are wanting to now either break up or heavily regulate the internet companies just at the wrong time and in the wrong way. As you look at every measurement of consumer welfarelower prices, more innovation, greater investment across all parts of the economyAmerican tech companies are creating greater growth, lower prices, better servicesand thats a hallmark of a very competitive market and not a concentrated monopolistic market.

Ask yourself, is it not the American way to encourage innovation with our brightest minds? Do we want to stifle our ideas and productivity, which is what I would argue is the very thing that has put us on top. Fourteen of the worlds top twenty tech companies are American; we are in a new age of competition and rivalry with China. The U.S. tech industrys global market position is at risk and has huge ramifications for re-starting the American economy and our long-term prospects. Its clear the American technology and e-commerce sector drives U.S. growth. States are aggressively competing on a daily basis for good technology jobs. Our universities and colleges are investing in more and more technology and public-private partnerships. Lawsuits will definitely damage our fastest growing industry and threaten these American jobs.

With a global pandemic threatening the entire world, again ask yourself where would we have been over the last six months without technology to assist our businesses to continue to operate, to educate our children with distance learning, and to provide much needed health care by the use of telehealth? In a recent nationwide survey by the Connected Commerce Council, 93 percent of small businesses reported they were disrupted by COVID-19 and nearly 3 in 4 increased their use of digital tools with COVID-19. A majority of small businesses found digital tools more helpful during COVID-19 than before it. Most also plan to continue to use more digital tools after the pandemic.

By attacking U.S. companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, the Justice Department, members of Congress, and some state attorneys general have taken a step back in time and are forgetting the hard work that has been done on the issue of antitrust. Companies being too large or successful is not a violation of antitrust laws. Antitrust was established to focus on the consumer and there is a robust consumer welfare standard in our antitrust laws now. Plus, many of the technology companies that are currently being attacked provide free services to our families, services that we use every day in our lives. Comments have been made about political bias within our technology companies from both sides of the aisle. There are solutions to political bias, but mistakenly using antitrust is not the right way to encourage free speech.

Politicizing antitrust by attacking our technology companies and filing federal and state antitrust lawsuits are not the way to go for our countrys future. Lawsuits are a distraction from real issues that need to be addressed and a waste of taxpayers money. Solutions are out there; decision makers and our technology companies can find them together. Lawsuits will only cause delay, distraction and economic losses. Our technology jobs and our future are at stake. DBJ

Pickering represented Mississippis 3rd congressional district as a Republican in the United States House of Representatives. First elected in 1996, he chose not to run again in 2008. He is currently the CEO at Incompas.

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Tech Giants and Antitrust - Delta Business Journal

China to Stop its Tech Giants From Becoming Too Powerful – Variety

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Singles Day, a Black Friday-like shopping festival dreamed up by large retailers, is normally boom time for Chinas major online platforms. And indeed Alibaba, which this year started its 11.11 event back on Nov. 1, claims a record $56 billion (RMB372 billion) of business, and sales coming in at up to 583,000 orders per second.

But Chinas tech investors are doing anything but cheering. Thats because the mainland government Tuesday said that it is in the process of issuing regulations to rein in the power of tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, JD.Com and Meituan-Dianping.

The StateAdministration for Market Regulation released draft rules that, for the first time, clearly defines anti-competitive behavior. They appear to cover areas including pricing, payment methods, and use of data to target shoppers.

That appears to run directly contrary to the business models of Chinas consumer-facing tech giants, who have built huge and diverse empires spanning e-commerce, payment systems, delivery, and dematerialized services such as gaming and video entertainment. The ecosystems are often supported by so-called super apps that aim to keep users engaged and within the vast walled garden for as long as possible.

It has long been suggested that Chinese customers are used to being spied upon by their government and are therefore far less worried than Western consumers about data privacy issues. The convenience and range of services available through each of the major platforms has allowed everyday Chinese society to become more technologically advanced that many Western countries.

It has also allowed the Middle Kingdom tech companies to account for a far larger portion of the Chinese economy than their equivalents in North America and Europe. That may be the bigger worry for the Chinese government.

Even though they already largely cooperate with the central government on matters such as censorship, Chinas tech companies are now so large and multi-tentacled that they have the potential to represent another source of power and organization in Chinese society other than the Communist Party-led government.

The draft regulations, which are open for public comment until the end of November, were announced exactly a week after Chinas securities regulators effectively halted the IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong of Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group, two days before share trading was to have begun. The company is a new age finance industry giant that would have had an initial market capitalization of $310 billion.

Tuesdays draft regulations may also limit variable interest entities (VIEs), special purpose companies which allow Chinese companies to raise finance and list shares abroad. If these are indeed to be unwound there could be huge upheaval for corporations and in financial markets.

While some commentators have seen the Ant Group debacle in personal terms, a second slap-down for Alibaba founder Jack Ma, the broader message may be that politics always trumps economics: No company is too big to be punished. And no power, organization or personality can be bigger than the Party.

Those reminders bring multiple potential complications and contradictions. The firms now being targeted are the same fast-evolving digital companies that are driving Chinas post-COVID recovery. Reacting to U.S. pressure, the government has set out further plans to become more self-sufficient in technology, a challenge that has willingly been taken up by private sector. Are they now to be stopped? And PRC authorities dream of denting the U.S. dollars role as a reserve currency, and to make the Chinese currency more a medium of international trade than its current low level. Hurting its innovators hinders that.

Alibaba executives shrugged off the Ant Group shambles in their financial results presentation on Thursday last week. They have yet to react publicly to the draft regulations. Alibabas fiercest competitor Tencent will have its chance to form a response when it announced its third quarter figures on Thursday.

Investors have already demonstrated their fears by pulling the shares of the biggest tech firms off their recently-achieved all-time highs. Both Alibaba and Tencent fell by more than 7% on Wednesday. At HK$248.40 on Wednesday, Alibaba shares are 13% lower than their close on Friday Oct. 30. Tencent is 7% down on the month at HK$551 per share.

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China to Stop its Tech Giants From Becoming Too Powerful - Variety

Alexa, Why Are These Tech Giants Funding the Apocalypse? – Highsnobiety

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At the end of last month, we posed the question: Will Politicians Still Be As Apathetic When the Apocalypse Kicks In?At the time, that query was geared towards Amy Coney Barrett's appointment to the Supreme Court and her inexcusably lethargic response toaddressingthe climate crisis. Now, thanks to a new study courtesy of Bloomberg, we have a clearer answer to the question.

Rather thanacknowledging the climate threat (perthe UN) as "the defining issue of our time," Barrett'stake is that it's merely a "matter of public debate." Of course, it's not a stretch to imagine thatTrump's new McJustice probably knows that the climate crisis spells impending doom for us all, but rather chooses this head-in-the-sand angle, like many politicians do, because of one significant and obvious factor money.

We've written at length about who finances political campaigns (and why you should care) but Bloomberg's study shows how this funding ties into greenwashing, too. Better still, it puts it intoquick, digestible context, and in relation to brands you'll be more than familiar with Microsoft and Google.

For example, Microsoft, while actively and publicly stating that it will become carbon negative by 2030 and remove all the carbon emissions it has ever produced by 2050, has donatedto the campaigns of political candidates who actively obstruct climatepolicies. The report found that the tech giant gave $20k to Republican Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who apparently made 62 anti-environment votes in 2018 and 2019 alone.

Google, meanwhile, has reportedly donated more to those that hinder progressive climate legislation, as did its parent company, Alphabet. Using analysis via League of Conservation Voters (LCV, which tracks law-makers voting records on key climate bills), it showed that Alphabet contributed more to candidates whose pro-climate action was rated under 10 percent. Or, in other words, candidates who had voted in favor of climate-related causesat most 10 percent of the time over the course of their career.

(For what it's worth and it's worth a lot LCV found that the vast majority of Washington lawmakers score either below 10 percent or above 90. Republicans "almost exclusively [score] low and Democrats almost exclusively [score] high.McCarthy's LCV score is three percent.)

After looking into the financial campaign choices of 106 American companies from 2018 to October this year, Bloomberg asserts that For every dollar these corporations gave to one of the most climate-friendly members of Congress during this election cycle, they gave $1.84nearly twice as muchto an ardent obstructionist of proactive climate policy.

$68 million was donated in total by these companies; one-third of that went to political candidates with LCV scores under five percent, and almost half scored under 10.

Of course, this is purely scratching the surface of therelationship between government and the climate crisis, but when you look at how much money is actively involved, even from the brands who (for the most part) appear to have noobvious reason to push against it, it gives you a glimpse of just how deep this planet-fuckingrabbit hole goes. And unless this changes, the answer to the apocalypse apathy question is yes.

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Alexa, Why Are These Tech Giants Funding the Apocalypse? - Highsnobiety

Google wants you to help train its AI by labeling images in Google Photos – The Verge

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Google has updated its Google Photos app on Android with a new option that lets users tell the search giant about the contents of their pictures. By labeling these images, Google can improve its object recognition algorithms, which in turn make Photos more useful. Its a virtuous cycle of AI development best deployed by tech giants like Google which have lots of data and lots of users.

This isnt an unusual practice at all. Machine learning systems dont just learn by themselves, and the vast majority of these applications need to be taught using data labeled by humans. Its the same reason that CAPTCHAs ask you to identify cars and motorbikes in images. By identifying these objects youre training AI to do the same.

The feature appears in the most recent version of Google Photos. Just tap on the search button in the apps menu, scroll down, and youll see an option to Help improve Google Photos. As reported by 9to5Google, click on it and youll be presented with four tasks: to describe your printing preferences for photos; your preferred collages or animations; to identify which photos belong to which holiday events (eg Christmas or Halloween); and to identify the contents of photos (Name the most important things in this photo).

As Google explains on a help page about the feature: It may take time to see the impact your contributions have on your account, but your input will help improve existing features and build new ones; for example, improved suggestions on which photos to print or higher quality creations that you would like. You can delete your answers at any time. (To do so, tap the three-dot menu at the top right of the screen and hit Delete my answers.) At the time of writing, it seems the update is available only on Android, not iOS.

Although this looks to be a new addition to the Google Photos app, the underlying software is much older. The process is powered by Crowdsource by Google, a crowdsourcing platform that the company launched in 2016. It gamifies data-labeling, letting users earn points and badges by completing tasks like verifying landmarks, identifying the sentiment of text snippets (is a review positive or negative, for example), transcribing handwritten notes, and other similar jobs. To be clear, though: users dont get any real rewards for their work beyond virtual kudos from Google.

Its worth remembering all this when using Googles whizzy machine learning products: they wouldnt be half as good without humans helping teach them.

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Google wants you to help train its AI by labeling images in Google Photos - The Verge

After being dominated by mega-cap tech, the ‘average’ stock is making a comeback how to play it – CNBC

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Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NYSE

The broader U.S. market is seeing a larger number of shares do well after being dominated by a handful of mega-cap names for most of 2020, signaling a comeback for the so-called average stock.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight exchange-traded fund (RSP) has jumped more than 6% this week, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up just 1.8% over that time period. Those gains helped the RSP narrow its year-to-date performance gap against the SPY.

Those gains came as investors cheered positive coronavirus vaccine news that lifted expectations of a broad economic recovery, shifting money away from tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft and into beaten-down names such as United Airlines and cruise operator Carnival. But for investors who want to ride this market shift, but in a less risky way, the RSP could be the way to go.

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After being dominated by mega-cap tech, the 'average' stock is making a comeback how to play it - CNBC

Biden’s thaw: how the lives of tech giants will change after the US presidential election – Phone Mantra

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Joe Biden

The industry has clashed with the Trump administration at almost every stage of Trumps presidency: over immigration, trade, net neutrality, and, more recently, social media content moderation. With the election of Biden, some indulgence is expected in the industry. I think everyone will love this boring presidency, which will be relatively calm.Not the anxiety and chaos that Trump and I experienced every day, investor Bradley Tusk recently told Protocol.Inconsistency is a problem.

But things shouldnt be expected to go back to the blissful days of Barack Obama when the president touted Silicon Valley as a dark spot for the US economy. Too much has changed since then. The election of President Donald Trump in 2016 and subsequent events irrevocably changed the public perception of the tech giants and demanded the attention it deserves from legislators and the public. These checks will not disappear under the Biden administration.

Throughout his campaign, Joe Biden did not rely on the tech industry like Obama, nor did he criticize it like Trump.Therefore, it is difficult to predict what will happen next.Especially in connection with the possible division in the US Congress: Democrats will control the House of Representatives, and the Senate may remain with the Republicans.

But it is already clear that Mr. Biden appears poised to repeal many of Trumps immigration orders, including restrictions on the entry of highly skilled professionals. Over the course of four years, the Trump administration has added new hurdles to the H-1B visa application and renewal process, resulting in huge delays that have created uncertainty for foreign technical workers, their families, and the companies that employ them. However, Joe Biden promised to increase the number of visas for permanent immigration at work and to lift restrictions on obtaining green cards for a number of countries.

Another area: net neutrality and broadband access to the Net.Mr. Biden said he fully supports the Obama-era rules that allowed the FCC to punish companies that try to block, restrict, or force consumers to pay for broadband traffic. Biden also outlined a plan to invest $ 20 billion in broadband infrastructure, but this will require congressional support.

Relief in relations with China is also expected.Joe Biden is going to strengthen cooperation between the United States and China to combat climate change, contain the COVID-19 pandemic, and so on. Experts believe that further aggravation of relations is unlikely, as it was under Donald Trump (for example, in the case of TikTok or Huawei).

Perhaps the biggest unknown for the tech industry that leads the Biden administration is his approach to antitrust issues.Will the new president follow the calls of his partys progressive wing for dividing up the big tech companies?This is one of the few policy areas around which there is a bipartisan consensus.There may not be much difference between the antitrust actions of the Trump or Biden administration, said former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now a partner of Cooley.

If antitrust investigations and legal battles against large tech companies continue, the next 4 years may not be easy for the tech sector (albeit easier than the previous 4).

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Biden's thaw: how the lives of tech giants will change after the US presidential election - Phone Mantra

GOOGL: 3 Best Technology Stocks to Buy After the Election – StockNews.com

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Last week, the stock market rallied as the 2020 election results rolled in. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 8.6%. Donald Trump and Joe Biden were in close competition on electoral votes. Over the weekend, Joe Biden dethroned Donald Trump in the race for the next U.S. President. However, Bidens win doesnt guarantee him a blank check to implement his policies as it appears Republicans will remain in control of the Senate.

Before the election, State Street Global Advisors Chief Investment Strategist Michael Arone stated that the stock market would rally irrespective of the election results on the back of low-interest rates and fiscal and monetary policy. While he is right so far, three tech stocks Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) will benefit from a split Congress. These stocks soared 9%, 11.5%, and 5%, respectively, on the expectation of congressional gridlock.

How will a split Congress benefit tech stocks?

In October, GOOGL and FB came under fire when the Justice Department launched an antitrust lawsuit. The big four tech giants, including Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), have digital monopolies in their respective fields. GOOGL controls the search and advertising space, and FB controls the social networking space.

The subcommittee report made several suggestions to address the anti-competitive practices of the four tech giants. Some of these suggestions were:

These suggestions, if implemented, could take a long time and significantly deleverage the tech giants power of data and efficiency. While US tech giants faced an antitrust threat, BABA was negatively impacted by the US-China trade war.

The three companies came under the scrutiny of Democrats and Republicans ahead of the election. But the divided control of the Senate could make it difficult to pass US antitrust laws that are targeted towards internet giants. According to a Bloomberg report, Synovus Trust Company Senior Portfolio Manager Dan Morgan, in an email, wrote, A Democrat-controlled Senate would be more likely to create overhaul and fine on Tech giants. Whereby, a Republican-controlled Senate (which seems to be most likely) would have a more laissez-faire stance.

Morgan also stated, A massive capital gains increase is not going to get through a Republican-controlled Senate. This will bring significant tax savings for tech investors who have generated huge profits on the tech stock rally over the last few years. Moreover, gridlock could ease global trade tensions, especially with China.

Internet stocks and Chinese stocks could rally significantly this week on the back of a favorable election outcome.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)

GOOGL rules the online search and advertising space. Before the elections, both Democrats and Republicans argued that GOOGL has way too much control over the way people shop, search, and consume information. The Justice Department filed a monopoly-abuse suit against GOOGL last month to stop its anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.

The department noted that GOOGL favors its products by giving them higher ranking over third-party content. It also wades out the competition by acquiring potential competitors like Android. The department suggested banning product favoring and the acquisition of tech startups to create an even playing field. It also suggested breaking up GOOGL. If GOOGL was to be broken up, its Android OS and Search were more likely to be split.

GOOGL has built its search monopoly by collecting a large amount of data from users and feeding it into its algorithm to create more behavioral data. The Justice Department suggested interoperability, wherein GOOGL would be required to interconnect with other networks to ensure the same services are available across firms.

GOOGL collected this data by offering free products to consumers. It earns 84% of its revenue from advertising. Any of the above suggestions would reduce its advertising revenue and hurt consumers who are getting free or low-cost products.

These antitrust threats had little impact on the stock, with GOOGL gaining 8.6% last month. However, the election results reduced the antitrust threat, relieving investors and pushing the stock up 8.9% in the first week of November. The search engine giant should continue to grow in this age of digitization.

How does GOOGL stack up for the POWR Ratings?

A for Trade Grade

A for Buy & Hold Grade

A for Industry Rank

A for Peer Grade

A for overall POWR Rating

You cant ask for better. The stock is also ranked #2 stock in the 58-stock Internet industry.

Facebook (FB)

Like GOOGL, FB also uses its monopoly in social networking, messaging, and user data to dictate the terms of advertising. It favors its products and content over third-party content. Also, it acquired its potential competitors WhatsApp and Instagram. It even acquired many startups so no new company could come close to challenging its dominance.

The Justice Department suggested interoperability as well as data portability, wherein users can migrate their FB data to other platforms. Here again, FB collected this data over the years by offering free services. It is now monetizing this data through advertising and e-commerce.

FBs entire revenue comes from advertising. The above suggestions could hurt its revenue. Hence, its stock went through a rollercoaster ride in October, but the overall impact was positive. The stock surged 5.3% last month and 4.4% in the first week of November. With the ease in regulatory concerns, FB can focus on its e-commerce venture to boost future growth.

FB is rated Buy in our POWR Ratings system. It also has an A for Trade Grade, Peer Grade, and Industry Rank, and a B for Buy & Hold Grade. In the Internet industry, it is ranked #5.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA)

BABA dominates the Chinese e-commerce market. It also leads in the cloud computing space and is now expanding into internet content services. But all this dominance is in the Chinese market. For a giant like BABA, it needs to expand beyond China to sustain growth.

In September 2014, BABA launched the worlds largest IPO of $25 billion on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with a stock price of $68. Since then, it has grown fourfold to $272 on the back of growth in e-commerce and other sectors. While BABAs earnings were unaffected by the US-China trade war, it was investors fear that prevented the stock from rallying above $200 on the NYSE in 2018-2019.

However, the pandemic-infused e-commerce wave drove BABAs stock up 41% year-to-date to $299. BABAs stock dipped 8% last week even though it reported robust earnings. The stock dipped as Chinese officials and regulators suspended the $37 billion IPO of fintech company Ant Group, after Jack Ma gave a speech critical of the Chinese banking industry at a summit.

Amidst this heat, the US election outcome came as pleasant news. A gridlock Senate would ease the U.S. tariffs on China and revive US investors confidence in the Chinese giant. BABA should continue to ride the digitization wave and report strong growth in the future.

Hence, BABA is rated a Strong Buy in the POWR Ratings. It holds straight As in Trade Grade, Buy & Hold Grade, Peer Grade, and Industry Rank. It is also ranked #1 in the 115-stocks China industry.

Note that BABA is one of 8 stocks in the Reitmeisters Total Return portfolio. Learn more here.

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GOOGL shares were trading at $1,806.26 per share on Monday morning, up $46.53 (+2.64%). Year-to-date, GOOGL has gained 34.86%, versus a 14.06% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

Puja is a seasoned writer working with financial publishing companies like Motley Fool Canada and Market Realist. With over 13 years of experience in the field of fundamental research, she brings a blend of comprehensive, well-researched insights into her articles. More...

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GOOGL: 3 Best Technology Stocks to Buy After the Election - StockNews.com

Will Biden Crack Down on Facebook as Misinformation Spreads? – GovTech

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(TNS) AsPresident Trumpand his supporters continue to spread false information about the results of the election, officials from the incoming Biden administration are ramping up criticism of tech companies, in particularFacebook.

In a move that may telegraph a more muscular approach to fighting online misinformation, one of Biden's senior aides unleashed a broadside against the social networking giant in a series of tweets.

"If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after,"Bill Russo, a Biden deputy press secretary, wrote Monday on Twitter.

Russo lambasted theMenlo Parkcompany for allowing what he said were appeals for violence to remain on its core network for hours, even days, before being taken down. He also called the company out for carrying a live stream of a Trump campaign news conference that conservative-leaningFox Newscut away from because it advanced unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud during the election.

"We knew this would happen. We pleaded withFacebookfor over a year to be serious about these problems. They have not," Russo wrote. "Our democracy is on the line. We need answers."

Russo's fiery posts were not the first anti-Facebookrhetoric to come from the Biden camp.

"I've never been a big (Mark)Zuckerbergfan," nor ofFacebook, then-candidate Biden said late last year, referring to the company CEO during a December interview with the New York Times editorial board.

Facebookdefended its performance in combating misinformation.

"In the lead-up to this election, we announced new products and policies to reduce the spread of misinformation and the potential for confusion or civil unrest," spokesmanDaniel Robertssaid in a statement.

"We built the largest third-party fact-checking network of any platform and they remain actively focused on claims about the election, including conspiracy theories," Roberts added. "We changed our products to ensure fewer people see false information and are made aware of it when they do."

Facebookalso owns Instagram andWhatsApp, both of which have been vectors for political misinformation in elections around the world.

The president-elect's approach to regulating social media remains uncertain. He supports revoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields tech companies from liability from user posts. He has said that the law lets tech companies spread falsehoods without any consequences, but any change to it depends on an act ofCongress, where the balance of power remains unclear.

A Biden spokesman didn't respond to questions about the president-elect's tech policy priorities.

Earlier this year, Trump sought to weaken the same section through an executive order, but was motivated by what he said was tech company censorship.Republicanshave complained that social media companies are biased against conservatives.

Experts say that revoking Section 230 would have a much greater effect beyond social media companies.

"This is the foundational law that has enabled the development of the internet as we use it today," saidMichael Petricone, senior vice president of government affairs and regulation at theConsumer Technology Association, a tech trade group.

"The potential impact here is huge," Petricone said. "We often talk about Section 230 in the context of a few big companies," but any consumer review service like Yelp, digital marketplace, or other websites like Wikipedia or Reddit could face litigation for posts on their sites without the protection.

Supporters of Section 230 are calling for measured reforms. Zuckerberg himself has called for updates to ensure it is working as intended through collaboration between businesses and lawmakers.

"Section 230 is a foundational principle for protecting users' voices online. It allows platforms to host a wide array of public speech without worrying they'll be sued for every comment posted on their service and, critically, it allows them to respond to things like hate speech and misinformation," saidAlexandra Givens, CEO of theCenter for Democracy & Technology, an advocacy group partially backed by the tech industry.

She said any reforms should recognize "the important balance attained by Section 230," which specifically allows tech companies to moderate user posts without losing their protection from liability, and respect the First Amendment. The group sued to block Trump's order on Section 230.

Biden has said Zuckerberg and his company should face civil penalties for what he said was knowingly allowing misinformation and intentional disinformation to spread on their sites.

The New York Times "can't write something you know to be false and be exempt from being sued. But he can," Biden said in December.

Tech groups still see prospects for an improved relationship with theWhite Houseafter its occupant changes in January.

"Considering the fraught relationship the industry had withPresident Trumpover issues of content moderation, trade, immigration and net neutrality, this is a welcome shift for the tech community. Biden is a centrist and is more pragmatic than his predecessor," saidJennifer Stojkovic, executive director of SF.citi, an advocacy group forSan Franciscotech companies.

As watchful as tech companies might be over their relationship withWashington, they are equally if not more concerned with the perception of their efforts to manage fake news and polarization inside their ranks.

Since Trump's election in 2016, concern over misinformation has roiled management, hurt morale and even hindered recruiting at some bigBay Areatech companies. But workers expressed some satisfaction with how their companies handled the election through an informal poll run for The Chronicle by Blind, an app that lets workers talk about their companies anonymously and verifies they work at a particular company through their work email.

More than three-quarters of the 25Facebookemployees who responded to one survey question said their company had handled the election results as best as it could. About 70% of the 42 Google respondents said the same of their company.

Responding to a different survey question, the vast majority of nearly 60 tech employees felt that their company had handled the election better than other tech giants. On yet another question, most of the more than 50 tech workers who responded some fromFacebookand Google did not believe their companies had unfairly affected the results. Most said they would not consider changing jobs because of how the election results were handled on their sites.

More urgent crises, including an ongoing pandemic and a flailing economy, could impede the Biden administration from prioritizing tech policies.

"There's no shortage of crises of the moment that we need to address," including the worsening coronavirus pandemic, saidCori Zarek, a professor atGeorgetown Universityand formerU.S.deputy chief technology officer during the Obama administration.

"At the same time, we can't turn away from the increase in the reach of online speech and where it's headed," Zarek said.

Elected officials will still have huge influence through social media which they can use, as Trump has, to drown out media sources.

"The challenge is getting people elected who are going to reduce their own media power in the best interest of the country," saidJennifer Grygiel, a professor atSyracuse Universityand an expert in social media.

Grygiel said while Biden is likely to use sites like Twitter and Facebook without spreading falsehoods, the potential for governments to abuse social media will remain long after Trump.

"Just because another administration might be more respectful of the norms, it doesn't make the risk go away," Grygiel said.

(c)2020 the San Francisco Chronicle.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Will Biden Crack Down on Facebook as Misinformation Spreads? - GovTech

Why Microsoft is bringing an Azure cloud region to Taiwan – Tech Wire Asia

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Digital map of Taiwan. Source: Shutterstock

Microsoft looks to be the latest tech giant planning a significant investment in Taiwan, with moves underway to establish Microsofts first cloud data center region there by 2024.

The US software giant will also invest in developing local digital talents for over 200,000 people over the four years, with an eye towards turning Taiwan into an Asian design hub and home for Microsofts expanded Azure hardware engineering team.

Once operational, the new cloud data center region will become one of 66 global cloud regions under its belt, Microsoft clarified in a statement, and will deliver Azure cloud services along with Microsoft 365, before adding Dynamics 365 and Power Platform services to the services offered later on.

Microsoft did say the Taiwan region would include Availability Zones, which are physically separate locations within an Azure region, each comprising of at least one data center equipped with its own independent power, cooling, and networking.

To ensure data and operational resiliency, a minimum of three separate zones are established in all enabled regions,a move that Microsoft has saidaims to safeguard applications and data from datacentre failures. ASoutheast Asia Azure Availability Zoneserved out of Singapore, was launched in December 2018.

Microsoft has longstanding ties with the Taiwanese technology fraternity, having previously launched an Internet of Things (IoT) research center in Taipei, Taiwans capital, to connect startups and study integrating cloud and data services with the IoT supply chain.

The Windows OS creator also works with local tech firms like Acer, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and Trend Micro to build customized applications for their clientele. To meet the regional industry regulatory requirements, Microsoft stated that its local region would support more than 90 compliance certifications imposed on the local technology sector.

The Azure cloud data center region expansion in APAC echoes other regional cloud data center growth by other American cloud giants, including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Ironically, Google was the first American tech giant to build a data center in Taiwan, nearly eight years ago.

ZDNet shared that a Microsoft spokesperson would not reveal details about the size of its investment in new data center locations, or how many customers can be supported on its local cloud data center only that the company intends to build scalable and resilient infrastructure to support the needs of its customers in the market.

What we can share right now is that cloud is creating new business opportunities that will help support economic recovery. Building the datacenter region in Taiwan is timely as it will continue to accelerate the digital transformation journey of businesses and organizations, the Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet, also revealing the facility will be part of Microsofts aim to be carbon negative by 2030, fully tapping renewable energy for its data centers by 2025.

The [Taiwan cloud] data center region will enable private and public sectors to further embrace innovation through our cloud products and services. More specifically, Microsoft Cloud in Taiwan will help customers to meet local data residency requirements within Taiwan, especially for highly regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services and public sector.

The Redmond, Washington-headquartered company did not outline how many new people would be hired to man its regional infrastructure engineering team that it plans to establish. But it does target to equip a minimum of 200,000 individuals in Taiwan with digital skillsets over the next four years, offering skills acquisition programs for youth, non-profits, startups, and enterprises, with planned initiatives including reskilling workshops for women.

Joe Devanesan| @thecrystalcrown

Joe's interest in tech began when, as a child, he first saw footage of the Apollo space missions. He still holds out hope to either see the first man on Mars, or Jetsons-style flying cars in his lifetime.

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Why Microsoft is bringing an Azure cloud region to Taiwan - Tech Wire Asia

Tech giants thrive on collaboration and need staff back in offices – Independent.ie

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Is it a double standard to talk up remote working while wanting as many staff in your office as possible?

Thats a question that some of the biggest tech multinationals in Ireland might now face.

On one hand, Google (8,000 workers), Facebook (4,500 workers), Microsoft (2,500 workers) and others extol the benefits of working flexibly from home. On the other, none want to downsize their truly massive Irish office campuses.

How do they square these seemingly contradictory positions?

In two ways. First, tech multinationals have invested a hell of a lot of cash in those Irish offices. Google is now one of the biggest property investors in Dublin 4, having sunk 1.1bn into its multiple buildings there. Microsoft recently spent 134m on its own Sandyford campus.

And Facebook, while it doesnt own its new Ballsbridge headquarters, is also nevertheless spending a fortune on its long-term development.

In Cork, Apple recently opened a large new extension on its Holyhill campus. It employs over 6,000 workers in the southern city.

Its not just the physical space, either. The layouts and facilities in some of these office buildings is state-of-the-art. They generally set the pace for almost everyone else, inside and outside the tech sector.

So theres a powerful instinct against ditching an office-first work environment, no matter how eloquent they make remote working sound.

Even if they had not sunk so many millions (or billions) into their buildings, these goliaths have other reasons to want workers back under one roof.

For all the enlightened talk about productivity outside the office, the core Silicon Valley work culture is still based around collaboration through physical presence. And its not, as cynics sometimes suggest, to keep you locked up under their supervision. Tech companies have had a productivity edge for years because of the way they organise their offices, from project workflows to reporting systems between colleagues and managers. Its one of the reasons why young people rate them so highly as a first or second employer -- they learn far more about how to get stuff done, to an elite tech standard, than in many other workplaces. That culture, executives say, is far more difficult to nurture or grow when key staff are confined to their bedroom, kitchen or parents house, only interacting with colleagues at specified Zoom call times.

This is particularly the case with workers who came to work in Dublin from other countries. Part of the draw for them is to be physically located in the office of Google, Facebook, Microsoft or any one of the dozens of high-end tech offices here. If offices remain closed, and key staff are sitting with a laptop in a small apartment kitchen, theres a risk not only to tighter collaboration on work projects but also to retaining these (mostly continental European) staff in the first place.

And that brings up another major problem -- tax. If a French, Dutch or Spanish worker tries to go home and still work for the Dublin-based company, there are significant tax and regulatory implications. This is one reason why none of the big tech multinationals allows permanent relocation from outside the country as part of a remote working setup.

But the longer the offices here remain closed, the harder it is to keep all of these staff physically in the country.

Tech bosses, from Mark Zuckerberg down, have conceded that some staff will work flexibly forever. But the rest, it is hoped, will be back in their offices soon.

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Tech giants thrive on collaboration and need staff back in offices - Independent.ie

Generation Z and spiritual wellness The Famuan – Famuan

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Millennials are showing increasing interest in spirituality. Photo courtesy Refinery29

Teens in 2020 are trading in their parents Bibles, crucifixes and holy water for Tarot cards, crystals and sage.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, only about 52% of millennials say that they believe in God with absolute certainty and about 41% of millennials think that religion is an important aspect in their lives.

So, why are millennials straying from traditional religious doctrines and leaning toward more free spirited spiritual identifications? What is it about spirituality that is so attractive to the younger generations?

Ayanna Foster, a 21-year-old psychology student at Florida A&M University, felt as though her disconnect to the church was a factor in her waivering religious beliefs.

I grew up questioning everybody including God and I honestly didnt find a church I could relate to until I was 19, which was a big struggle for me, Foster said. Not having a church that spoke to my heart and not feeling like I was being good enough as a Christian played a big part in me feeling lost.

Fosters story is one that mirrors those of many millennials and kids of Generation Z growing up in a fundamentally religious household and straying from the path that was laid before them by their parents.

I realized that I dont have a specific belief, Foster explained. But I realized I dont have to put a title on it. I believe in astrology, spirituality, witchcraft and God. I talk to my guides, I talk to God. I talk to my ancestors. Thats just what it is. I guess Im just a free spirit.

It can be noted that some of the strict teaching in many religions do not align with the current progressive ideals of young adults we see today. The upcoming generations are ones setting out to demolish every problematic ism the same isms that are found within the sacred texts of the religions they followed growing up.

Social media plays a vital role in the spreading of these spiritual beliefs and practices.

Brittany, a worker at locally owned metaphysical store Stone Age who declined to provide her last name, has seen firsthand the effect that social media has on young peoples spiritual beliefs.

Spiritual objects have become more popular with social media like TikTok and Twitter, Brittany said. We had a lot of people coming in asking about Tarot cards, pendulums and moldavite.

Moldavite, a forest green rock formed by the impact of a meteorite over 15 million years ago, surged in popularity on the social media platform TikTok as hundreds of thousands of videos were created dubbing the rock the worlds most powerful crystal.

Every single day we were getting phone calls asking if we sell moldavite and where it could be bought, Brittany said. The whole market bought moldavite and could barely keep stock because of importing issues and shortages.

The power of social media on the spiritual and religious beliefs of young people shouldnt be overlooked.

Foster feels as though social media helped to further propel her into her spiritual journey.

I follow many spirituality pages that educate me and give their experiences about their journeys, Foster said. Maybe tell me things I didnt know that make me wanna pick up a book or get on google and learn more about it. Maybe I saw something that I didnt understand and then Ill get on Twitter and itll explain it deeper for me. Or Ill go on YouTube and watch others talk about their spiritual journeys and deeper explanations of spirituality.

Millennials are continuing to carve out their own spiritual path by any means necessary and this shift is anything but unprecedented.

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Generation Z and spiritual wellness The Famuan - Famuan