North Korea sends ‘coded message to Donald Trump’ as WW3 threat looms – Daily Star

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NORTH Korea has sent a coded message to Donald Trump as the world braces itself for nuclear war, an expert has claimed.

The regime led by Kim Jong-un seemingly backed down from its threat to nuke the US overseas territory of Guam overnight.

In a statement, Pyongyang said it planned on watching the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees before committing to a strike.

North Korean officials announced: The US Imperialists caught the noose around their necks due to their reckless military confrontation racket... (but) he would watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees spending a hard time of every minute of their miserable lot.

GETTY

Since 2008, photographer Eric Lafforgue ventured to North Korea six times. Thanks to digital memory cards, he was able to save photos that was forbidden to take inside the segregated state

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Taking pictures in the DMZ is easy, but if you come too close to the soldiers, they stop you

The unknown factor in this is not Kim, its Trump

But an expert has claimed there may be a hidden message in the statement.

Dr Genevieve Hhnen, of Edith Cowen University, said this should be taken to mean Kim Jong-un is actually offering an olive branch to Trump.

This isnt the kind of statement that would be interpreted as aggressive -- despite all the aggressive rhetoric, Edith Cowan Universitys Dr Genevieve Hohnen said. The fact Kim Jong-un says he will respond only if the US does not de-escalate the situation is significant, she told news.com.au.

The Western Sea Barrage in the coastal town of Nampo is a stopping-off point for tourists. The beach is a destination for work groups from the neighbouring area

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Beach-goers dancing at the West Sea Barrage beach outside the coastal city of Nampo, southwest of Pyongyang

She continued: The problem is that Kim Jon-un is largely the same personality type as Trump both are paranoid, narcissistic and have huge egos.

Weve never really had leaders like that on both sides before.

The unknown factor in this is not Kim, its Trump. Kim Jong-un is acting as we expect him to behave.

Weve actually been expecting something like this. Todays quite an important day in North Korea. The North Koreans usually do something in terms of military development to coincide with such events, she added.

It comes after Donald Trump warned he would meet North Korea with fire and fury following the hermit states repeated threats towards the US.

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Crazy Enough to be Correct – HuffPost

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Scientific journals almost always limit themselves to reporting the results of highly technicexperiments. Magazines for a general audience often treat scientific findings clumsily as metaphors. I have wondered whether wed be served by a third type of publication, which would solicit conjectures that the author is not equipped to test, or otherwise fails to test, but that might inspire some one else.

For example, what if this publication contained conjectures like Fermats famous marginalia (his last theorem), scribbled in a book in 1637 but only proven in 1994? Of course, most conjectures have not been as fruitful as Fermats, not to say correct. We tend to forget that the process of discovery, taken as a whole, is often messy. Unlike Fermats, most conjectures are wrong, so the challenge is not only proving the few, but generating the many and then considering them.

I am told that at Google, its a firing offense to shoot down any idea before its had an opportunity to be explored, even played with, and perhaps to inspire still other ideas.

When at Columbia University the physicist Wolfgang Pauli presented his non-linear field theory of elementary particles, worked out with Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr was in the audience. Asked for his groups opinion, Bohr replied, as reported by Freeman Dyson, We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.

Of course far from all ideas that seem crazy turn out to be correct, but ideas that challenge a prevailing paradigm often seem crazy. What if there were a publication that contained not reports of careful experiments, after peer review, as scientific journals do, but unproven conjectures? As at Google, now one of the most valuable corporations in the world, perhaps even an idea that turns out to be wrong would be useful in suggesting a further idea.

Thanks to the recorder on my cell phone, I can offer on example. Sitting alone in a diner booth, I overheard the following conversation

A: What if our brains are always generating the imagery associated with classic psychedelics? What if ordinary reality is produced by relegating this wild imagery to the unconscious?

B: That feels ridiculous, even (unintelligible). Everyone knows that psychedelics work by amplifying what we call ordinarilyconsciousness, or distorting or playing with it, by activating new circuits in the brain.

A. Well, just play along for a while. Its widely recognized that an optimal psychedelic session does not involve the operation of heavy machinery, or exposure to other dangers.

B: or irrevocable life decisions. I know, but how does that prove your point?

A: Well, imagine that in evolutionary history, this wild imagery developed, as we know that the ability to dream developed, and the ability to speculate (to imagine things that arent but might be). In the case of wild imagery, this ability might impose an evolutionary disadvantage, and would be either selected against or somehow suppressed.

B: But you speculate that we all still have this psychedelic flow?.

A: Yes, and that we developed the ability automatically to keep it out of consciousness, just as we learn that dreams arent real and we learn to keep secret fantasies that are socially and maybe personally unacceptable.

B: So, in the case of this constant stream of psychedelic imagery, we somehow block it from consciousness?

A: Yes, in order to deal with immediate demands of life.

B: And psychedelics do what?

A: In this conjecture, they deactivate the part of the brain that ordinarily keeps this imagery out of consciousness.

B: They temporarily block the mental blocker favored by evolution?

A: Yes. We know the brain is highly selective with regard to socially unacceptable fantasies, and to what Jung called the shadow, or impulses that are contrary to our identity and that we may project onto others.

B: Well, the vision of a constant flow of psychedelic imagery would cast the war on drugs in a new light.

A: As the ideas of Freud and Jung and other psychologists in the last century taught us the brain is up to more tricks than people normally acknowledged.

B: Okay, lets explore some implications.

A: I appreciate your taking this seriously, at least for a while, or at least pretending to do so.

B: Okay, what you are saying is that psilocybin or another classic psychedelic doesn't create the wild imagery; it reveals the imagery?

A: Yes, and this includes a conjecture about evolutionary history. Somehow the wildness began to get started in the connections of all those neurons, but it was disadvantageous for ordinary life. An emergent part of the brain that kept the flow out of consciousness was selected for. Here we are.

B: But I gather that magnetic resonance imaging has shown a brain activation after the ingestion of psychedelics.

A: That is not inconsistent with the conjecture. When the restraint is deactivated by the drug, then new connections could occur.

B: So this conjecture posits a brain structure that ordinarily keeps an ongoing psychedelic flow out of consciousness?

A: Yes, and as you suggest, an inherent psychedelic flow in every human, a flow that he or she is ordinarily unaware of.

B: That is a mischievous idea, almost a scandalous idea.

A: So if this conjecture were correct, psychedelics feel dangerous not because they induce fantasies, but because they uncover something that is naturally occurring.

At this point the waitress came by with my change, and noticing the time, I had to leave. But if I ever hear of a website devoted to conjectures, I will try to find these guys. They looked normal, at least for graduate students. Chances are, they are mistaken, but who knows?

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Crazy Enough to be Correct - HuffPost

Cyberpunk horror hacker >observer_ arrives on Xbox One – TheXboxHub (blog)

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Its 2084 and its time to start hacking the minds of millions. Yep >observer_ is here!

Available right now on Xbox One, >observer_ will set you back just 23.99 as the team behind the horrific Layers of Fear threaten to deliver another horror filled masterpiece.

>observer_ from Blooper Games places you in the shoes of an elite neural detective, Daniel Lazarksi, before leaving you to hack into the minds of both criminals and their victims in order to find clues behind numerous atrocities. Expect to find the deepest, darkest, most disturbing truth as >observer_ delivers a cyberpunk horror experience that is most definitely intended for the more mature gamer out there.

If you have interest and fancy being shocked, then the Xbox Games Store holds access to the game. Just pay it a visit, splash the cash and prepare to be taken deep into the minds of the criminal fraternity.

If you need convincing that 23.99 is a price worth paying for >observer_, then our full review will be with you in the coming days.

Game Description:

What would you do if your fears were hacked? The year is 2084. You are Daniel Lazarski, an elite neural detective known as an Observer, and part of a corporate-funded police unit whose purpose is to hack and invade suspects minds. When you receive a mysterious message from your estranged son, a high-level engineer for the almighty Chiron Corporation, you journey to the seedy Class C slums of Krakow to investigate. As you hack into the minds of criminals and their victims to find clues, you are forced to relive their darkest fears. How far will you go to discover the truth? Developed by Bloober Team, the creators of Layers of Fear, >observer_ is a cyberpunk horror game meant for mature audiences. What you see will disturb you.

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Cyberpunk horror hacker >observer_ arrives on Xbox One - TheXboxHub (blog)

What’s Behind Edap Tms SA (EDAP)’s Movement – Stock Daily Review

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Needle moving action has been spotted in Edap Tms SA (EDAP) as shares are moving today onvolatility-1.81% or -0.05 from the open.TheNASDAQ listed companysaw a recent bid of 2.71 and44618shares have traded hands in the session.

Following all the swirling information about publically traded companies can be quite a task. Every day there may be new pieces of news that emerge about a specific company. The prudent investor is typically able to keep abreast of the information, but most importantly figure out what news is worth paying attention to, and what news should be filtered out. Keeping a sharp eye on earnings reports and fundamental company data can play a big part in picking the right stocks for the portfolio. Once the numbers have been crunched, investors should be able to see things a little bit clearer and know what the general feel for the stock is. Of course there will be stocks that look good after thorough examination but still fail to perform as expected. Investors who are able to wipe the slate clean and take a fresh look at a certain stock may be able to make more informed decisions that will hopefully lead to increased profits in the long-term. Figuring out when to sell an underperforming stock may end up being just as important as figuring out which stocks to buy.

Deep diving into thetechnical levels forEdap Tms SA (EDAP), we note that the equitycurrently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of -97.36. Active investors may choose to use this technical indicator as a stock evaluation tool. Used as a coincident indicator, the CCI reading above +100 would reflect strong price action which may signal an uptrend. On the flip side, a reading below -100 may signal a downtrend reflecting weak price action. Using the CCI as a leading indicator, technical analysts may use a +100 reading as an overbought signal and a -100 reading as an oversold indicator, suggesting a trend reversal.

Edap Tms SAs Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R currently sits at -92.75. The Williams %R oscillates in a range from 0 to -100. A reading between 0 and -20 would point to an overbought situation. A reading from -80 to -100 would signal an oversold situation. The Williams %R was developed by Larry Williams. This is a momentum indicator that is the inverse of the Fast Stochastic Oscillator.

Currently, the 14-day ADX for Edap Tms SA (EDAP) is sitting at 22.62. Generally speaking, an ADX value from 0-25 would indicate an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would support a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would identify a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would lead to an extremely strong trend. ADX is used to gauge trend strength but not trend direction. Traders often add the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) to identify the direction of a trend.

The RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a widely used technical momentum indicator that compares price movement over time. The RSI was created by J. Welles Wilder who was striving to measure whether or not a stock was overbought or oversold. The RSI may be useful for spotting abnormal price activity and volatility. The RSI oscillates on a scale from 0 to 100. The normal reading of a stock will fall in the range of 30 to 70. A reading over 70 would indicate that the stock is overbought, and possibly overvalued. A reading under 30 may indicate that the stock is oversold, and possibly undervalued. After a recent check, the 14-day RSIforEdap Tms SA (EDAP) is currently at 33.63, the 7-day stands at 26.81, and the 3-day is sitting at 28.98.

Active investors are typically interested in the factors that drive stock price movements. Buying an individual stock means that you own a piece of the company. The hope is that the company does very well and becomes highly profitable. A profitable company may decide to do various things with the profits. They may reinvest profits back into the business, or they may choose to pay shareholders dividends from those earnings. Sometimes stocks may eventually become undervalued or overvalued. Spotting these trends may lead to further examination or the underlying fundamentals of the company. A company that continues to disappoint on the earnings front may have some issues that need to be addressed. It is highly important to make sure all the research is done on a stock, especially if the investor is heavily weighted on the name. Sometimes earnings reports may be good, but the stock price does not reflect that. Having a good understanding of the entire picture may help investors better travel the winding stock market road.

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What's Behind Edap Tms SA (EDAP)'s Movement - Stock Daily Review

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TMW Introduces Portfolio of Transportation-Focused Apps – Heavy Duty Trucking

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August 15, 2017

TMW Systems has introduced a portfolio of 11 mobile apps for professionals at every level of a transportation business from operations to drivers and vehicle maintenance personnel to complete a wide range of business-critical activities from their Android- or iOS-based devices.

The companys extensive new set of mobility tools supports users of the TMW.Suite, TruckMate and Innovative IES transportation management solutions, as well as TMT Fleet Maintenance software. Each app is available via the Apple App Store and Google Play marketplace.

The transportation and logistics industry is undergoing a digital transformation that is being driven by mobile technology, said Ray West, senior vice president and general manager, TMS solutions, TMW. Each of our new mobile apps is designed to enhance business efficiency and competitiveness by providing the information and functionality users need to make the right decisions at the right time.

Among the new tools are the following mobile apps for operations personnel, freight brokers, logistics managers and other professionals who want to access core TMS application data and complete a wide range of activities:

TMW also offers these new mobile apps providing drivers with access to key information and related capabilities:

Also available is the new TMW Vehicle Inspection app, which enables drivers to perform pre- and post-trip inspections, review prior inspection reports and confirm that appropriate repairs have been completed. The app also connects with TMT Fleet Maintenance software to streamline the creation of accurate repair orders and help reduce vehicle downtime.

TMW earlier this year introduced the TMW Parts Room app, which enables fleet maintenance and service center personnel to perform a variety of parts inventory management processes. The company also offers the TMT Mobile Mechanic Workstation, an app that can be used by service technicians and mechanics, whether or not they are connected to the internet, to track labor and parts usage, open and close repair orders, and recall repair service history when working on equipment.

The TruckMate TMS platform can be used to automate cross-dock operations and eliminate misdirected freight with the TMW TruckMate ConnectedDock mobile app. ConnectedDock streamlines unloading and receiving processes; data collection and documentation based on dimensions, weight, pieces and pallet; and loading for through trips and partial unloads.

TMW says its commitment to mobile applications extends beyond its product offerings. TMW also offers a library of user training videos via mobile devices. The free new Learn.TMW app helps industry professionals quickly search for and access any of the more than 300 videos and other training resources available through the Learn.TMW web portal.

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TMW Introduces Portfolio of Transportation-Focused Apps - Heavy Duty Trucking

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Risky Play or Bargain? Update on EDAP TMS SA (NASDAQ:EDAP) – FLBC News

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Fine tuning their focus in onEDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) stock, investors are taking a closer look at the equity in recent weeks. Most recently the shares moved0.00% landing at a price of$2.76. Despite the fact that the price is less than a cup of coffee, is there any value here?

Here well take a quick glance athow the stock price is currently trading in relation to some of its simple moving averages. At current levels, EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) shares have been seen trading -9.26% away from the 20-day moving average. The stock has been recently separated from the 50-day moving average by -13.77%. Using a broader approach, shares have been trading -7.44% off of the 200-day moving average. After the latest check-in, company stock is -28.31% off of the 50 day high and 5.13% away from the 50 day low price.

Overall, 2017 has been a good year for small-cap stocks thus far. Investors may be examining their portfolios and trying to decide if they have the proper exposure to small-caps. Deciding on small-cap portfolio weighting may depend prominently on the risk appetite for each individual person. Investors also may need to evaluate their short-term and long-term goals when deciding how best to tackle the equity market.

Small-cap stocks have historically outperformed early in economic expansion cycles, and underperformed later in the cycles. With the current economic cycle in year eight, it begs the question as to why small-cap stocks have still been chugging along and outperforming certain averages.

In terms of performance, shares of EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) are -15.85% since the start of 2016. Over the past week, shares are -5.80%. Moving out to look at the previous month performance, the stock is at -16.36%. For the quarter, performance is at 6.56%. During the past six months, EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP)s stock has been -11.54% and -9.21% for the last 12 months.

Investors are constantly attempting to find the next great stock to own. Picking the next winner to bolster the portfolio may involve some hard work and a little bit of stock market magic. Sifting through the wealth of information about public companies can be a daunting task. Many sharp investors will attack the equity markets from many different angles.

This may include keeping close tabs on fundamental and technical data. This may also include tracking analyst opinions and following what the big money institutions are buying or selling.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and information expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any company stakeholders, financial professionals, or analysts. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples.

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Risky Play or Bargain? Update on EDAP TMS SA (NASDAQ:EDAP) - FLBC News

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Nigerian held for duping 100 by cloning cards – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: A Nigerian man has been arrested for cloning debit cards of over 100 people and withdrawing money fraudulently from their accounts. The victims had swiped their cards at ATMs in upscale south Delhi colonies.

The man identified as Kingsley had a unique modus operandi. Police said he would identify an ATM kiosk that didn't have a security guard around. He would go inside, rip open the card swiping slot of the machine and place a scanner behind it. Black tape would hold the device in place. Next, Kingsley would place a camera somewhere on the machine so that its focus would be on the keypad.

Whenever an ATM user swiped his card, the scanner would capture the details while the camera would record the PIN as the customer keyed it in. Once the customer stepped out, Kingsley would go inside, fetch the card reader and camera, and clone the card with the details. Then he would swipe the cloned card at other ATMs and withdraw money. In this way, customer after customer fell victim to Kingsley's fraud.

Until one day, a woman who operated an ATM near Hari Nagar found a large transaction done from her card long after she had withdrawn money. She immediately reported the matter to the police, who then obtained footage of CCTV cameras installed nearby.

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Nigerian held for duping 100 by cloning cards - Times of India

Disgraced Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk loses legal battle over … – The Korea Herald

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Hwang Woo-suk, a South Korean stem cell scientist who caused a major stir in the scientific community for academic fraud in 2005, has recently lost a legal battle over the rights to a technique critical to re-creating the woolly mammoth.

According to local reports Tuesday, Hwang had filed a criminal complaint against Park Se-pil of Jeju National University and his research colleagues, accusing them of embezzlement and attempted blackmail.

However, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office said it did not find sufficient evidence of the claims against Park and his team, closing the case that had been open for years.

The plan was to replicate the mammoth cells in a lab. From the copied cells, researchers would extract the nucleus, which contains the animals genetic information. The nucleus would then be inserted into the eggs of female elephants, the closest living relatives to the now-extinct animal.

Hwangs mammoth cloning project had garnered international attention at the time, even prompting National Geographic to air a detailed documentary on the Korean scientist and his work in 2013.

However, Hwang and his Russian research partners ran into technological hurdles even before the cloning process could begin. For years, the team continuously failed to artificially cultivate the mammoth cells in the lab.

In 2015, Hwang recruited the help of Park and his team, who claimed they were able to successfully cultivate the mammoth cells needed for the nucleus transplant, based on the samples provided by Hwang.

Hwang and Park ended up clashing over the ownership of the cell cultivation technology. Hwang argued that Parks work constitutes a part of his own research and that he thus possesses the sole rights related to all the related experimental methods.

Meanwhile, Park claimed Hwang provided the mammoth cells without prior conditions and the research should be considered a collaborative effort, as his teams cell cultivation method plays a critical role.

According to records, Park refused to hand over his work to Hwang without signing proper terms of agreement, stating that he would rather dispose of the cultivated mammoth cells than freely pass them on to Hwang.

Hwang then sued Park and his team on embezzlement and attempted blackmail. However, the prosecution decided not to pursue the charges of the alleged offenses earlier this month.

The recent investigation has also prompted new allegations that Hwang illegally imported the mammoth samples into Korea without duly reporting to local authorities. Hwang has denied such allegations to the prosecution, according to local reports.

Hwang Woo-suk, 64, is a former professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University. He was placed at the center of one of the worlds biggest scientific scandals in 2005 for fabricating evidence he had successfully cloned human embryos and yielded stem cell lines from them.

Recently, the disgraced scientist rose to the domestic spotlight for being a close collaborator to Sunchon National University professor Park Ki-young, who was recently appointed as the new chief of the Science, Technology and Innovation Office at Koreas Ministry of Science and ICT.

However, Park, who had been a co-author of Hwangs fraudulent research paper in 2005, resigned from her post last week after the local science community and politicians fiercely opposed her appointment, citing ethical lapses.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)

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Using ‘tap and go’ will protect against fraud through ‘ghost’ EFTPOS terminals, police say – ABC Online

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Updated August 15, 2017 16:45:25

Police are urging people to use the 'tap and go' chip on their bank cards in order to protect themselves from fraud through "ghost" terminals.

Detectives from the NSW fraud squad are investigating a series of fraudulent ATM withdrawals across Sydney's south-west using "cloned" credit and debit cards.

Cloned cards are made by swiping the magnetic strip data and PIN from legitimate cards and then transferring the information to a plastic card with a magnetic strip, often a cheap store loyalty card.

"For a cloned card to be used in an ATM they need to have two pieces of information," Acting Superintendent Matt Craft said.

"They need to have the information on the magnetic strip and your PIN if they don't have your PIN they can't make the transaction.

"So it's about reducing the opportunity for criminal syndicates to get access to your PIN by covering it and making sure people can't see you enter your PIN."

Superintendent Craft said criminal syndicates obtained data from card's magnetic strips using a skimming device attached to an ATM or EFTPOS terminal, or they used so-called "ghost" terminals.

He said magnetic strips were "old technology" and customers should rely on their card's secure chip instead.

"It is very difficult for individuals when they're conducting transactions to identify a device that's been placed on an ATM that shouldn't be there or indeed a ghost terminal," he said.

"Often ghost terminals, which are used to capture your data, look very much like the original device.

"You need to be very cautious about using those devices and wherever you can, you should use the chip and tap that's the most secure way."

The prevalence of card cloning in Australia is much lower than overseas, Superintendent Craft said, but it has risen 13 per cent in the past year.

EFTPOS terminals in taxis, restaurants and small businesses, or skimming devices placed on ATMs, were the most common culprits for card skimming and cloning.

The fraud squad has released CCTV footage of a man who is believed to have used a cloned card to steal several hundred dollars in cash.

The man stole the money from several ATMs at Peakhurst and Roselands in Sydney's southwest on June 19.

He is described as Caucasian, aged in his 30s or 40s with short brown hair and a full beard.

He can be seen wearing a black T-shirt with a yellow and white print on the back, black jeans and white sneakers.

He was also wearing a wrist brace or bandage on his right hand.

Topics: police, consumer-protection, fraud-and-corporate-crime, nsw

First posted August 15, 2017 16:42:55

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Using 'tap and go' will protect against fraud through 'ghost' EFTPOS terminals, police say - ABC Online

DollyWould: Sh!t Theatre’s fringe tribute to the country singer and the cloned sheep – The Guardian

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If we are asked to sell out, then we gladly will Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole in DollyWould. Photograph: The Other Richard

The theatrical double-act Sh!t Theatre got their name as a joke. Founders Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit heard the sort of work they do performance art combined with theatrical improvisation described as just shit theatre. But the self-deprecating designation caused problems for broadcasters. The first time we ever appeared on radio, remembers Mothersole, it was to talk about a show called Sh!t Theatre Presents Sh!t Theatre, and we were told that we couldnt say the name of the company or the production. Which obviously made marketing it quite hard.

The duo have since won a Fringe First award at Edinburgh and they received Arts Council funding for their latest project, DollyWould, which is one of the standout shows at this years fringe. Applications for public funding must be supported by a mission statement, which, the women admit, was difficult to write in support of DollyWould. Having previously made shows that were documentary based and political Guinea Pigs on Trial concerned medical research, while Job Seekers Anonymous was about the benefits system they wanted to create a piece that was pure fun, exploring their joint obsession with Dolly Parton, who they admire for her musical theatricality and consider a lesbian icon.

The shows framing device is an entertaining variation on a verbatim musical, with Mothersole and Biscuit duetting a cappella answers from Parton interviews, including a 1977 American TV encounter with Barbara Walters, in which the performer, not yet having honed her hokey-jokey media persona, was startlingly unguarded about her career, marriage and body.

The last subject prompts the performers, at one point in DollyWould, to cut two circles in their T-shirts, exposing nipples and areolas for much of the show. In a culture where female nudity on stage has to be carefully negotiated and justified, was this a hard moment to agree? Not at all, they say together, before Biscuit continues: At some level, a show about Dolly Parton is going to be about breasts. But one of the rules we set ourselves was that the word breasts would never actually be spoken. So the idea is that they are just literally out there. Mothersole adds: And were not actually topless were still wearing tops so it doesnt feel as exposing as you might think.

This partial nudity is ended when each of the women dons one large fake bouncy breast that covers their torso. They came up with such props during the rehearsal period, but admit to spending a lot of money on devices that are never used. A large model of a mouse with an ear growing out of its back a reference to a briefly famous experiment in the cloning of human organs is stored in London, having been dropped from the show before they travelled north.

Although they have never previously gone so flat out for jokes, DollyWould also has more typically journalistic sequences: featuring the history of the first cloned sheep, named Dolly after the singer, and the macabre Body Farm, an FBI facility for investigating the decomposition of bodies, which incongruously neighbours the performers theme park Dollywood, with surprisingly similar memorabilia on sale in both gift shops.

At one point in the show, Mothersole and Biscuit, who met in the improv group Alphabetties, tell the audience that they split up last year, but were reunited through the singer whose biggest hits include the song D.I.V.O.R.C.E. Thats all true, says Biscuit. She and Mothersole, their relationship fractured by creative disagreements, moved out of the north London apartment block referenced in their 2016 show, Letters to Windsor House, which explored the law relating to opening correspondence sent to previous occupants of an address.

The trip to Dollywood was the first time we really got back together, says Mothersole. DollyWould is their eighth joint appearance at the fringe, having started at the free non-ticketed festival, before slowly graduating to their current peak-time (9.15pm) slot at Summerhall. Performing on the fringe is notoriously expensive in the early years, they once shared the bedroom of a relative who was a student in the city with seven other performers and, even now, August on the fringe is economically daunting. You end up losing money, says Biscuit, but, if it works, exposure in Edinburgh gets you bookings elsewhere. (DollyWould and Letters to Windsor House already have post-Edinburgh dates around the UK.)

Sh!t Theatre recently received ACE funding for a 2018 show, which they expect to bring to Edinburgh. Noting that the Arts Council is funded by donations from the National Lottery, they came up with an idea for a show that would use a grant from the cultural funding body to buy Lottery tickets, returning any winnings to their patron.

After talking to the Arts Council and lawyers, says Biscuit, it turned out that we wouldnt legally be allowed to use a funding grant in that way. So were going to do something more general about money and wealth. Mothersole adds that it will probably be in a very different format to anything weve done before a sort of gameshow, with lots of audience participation.

One of their early ideas was to perform the show only on Wednesday and Saturday nights, coinciding with the Lottery draws, but that would have the effect of making an Edinburgh residency even less economic, although they hope to come to Scotland every August, unless lucrative commercial offers intervene.

Weve already made the moral decision over that, says Mothersole. If we are asked to sell out, then we gladly will. But, until then, well go on being performance artists.

DollyWould is at Summerhall in Edinburgh, to 27 August. Box office: 0131 560 1580. Then on tour.

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DollyWould: Sh!t Theatre's fringe tribute to the country singer and the cloned sheep - The Guardian

Amy Heckerling and Beyond: The Evolution of Teen Girls On Screen – Film School Rejects

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With some great women at the helm, teenage girls are anything but overlooked.

Picture the 1980s for a minute. It heralded the vast popularization of the blockbuster in full force. Horror films prevailed. Kevin Bacon/dancing movies were undoubtedly a thing. And then theres John Hughes. Hughes solidified many a filmgoers ideal expression of teenage life. Judd Nelsons triumph is palpable in our marrow when he throws his fist in the air at the end of The Breakfast Club.Everyone probably still secretly wants to be Ferris Bueller for a day.

The 80s teen movie has a rather special inclusion in its arsenal:Amy Heckerling, who burst onto the scene with the Cameron Crowe-penned Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The film celebrates its 35th anniversary this week, and it is considered quintessential in its portrayals of teenage concerns. Heckerling navigates baby-faced future Hollywood mainstays through the trials of growing up and makes a particularly lasting impression with the young women in the film.

So many of our memorable teen girls are directed by men, which made Heckerling and the mainstream appeal of Fast Times all the more historic. There is constant warranted pushback against pervasive masculinity in media, from print to broadcast to cinema and digital screens of today. Particularly in the male-infused film scene of the 80s, Heckerling provided a kind of alternative to constructing teen girl identity.

Here, we examine a brief timeline of womens portrayals of teen girls over the last 35 years. This is not an exhaustive study. Instead, it is a selection of some of the most memorable of films in that time period and perhaps those that deserve more recognition and finding a pattern of teen girl identity within them.

Lets start with a meaty quote here because its a kind of sentiment that is often repeated. The debate over the presence of women in art and media rages on, and rightly so:

the exclusion of a female imaginary certainly puts women in the position of experiencing herself only fragmentarilyas waste, or excess, what is left of a mirror invested by the (masculine) subject, to reflect himself, to copy himself. (Irigaray as in Bainbridge, 130)

There are many things about teen movies that are stereotypical you dont need us to tell you that. But more prevalent in the 80s was the constant reinforcement of reductive tropes characterizing young women as boy-obsessed and not much else. In Fast Times, Stacy Hamiltons (Jennifer Jason Leigh) only concern is sex and dating. As a virginal 15-year-old sophomore, she constantly wonders what her first time will be like. Unfortunately for Stacy, each of her sexual encounters leaves her underwhelmed. One even leads to an abortion. However, she finally realizes that a relationship is what shes after and ends the movie in a passionate love affair with Mark (Brian Backer) one good guy in a sea of inconsiderate, terrible ones.

Universal Pictures

Its easy to be dismissive about teenagers lives given the general presumptions people have about them in the first place. Watch enough teen films and youll know that the quest for a straight romance is usually treated with the utmost importance. In 1961, Jessie Bernard published a journal article titled Teen-age Culture. The abstract alone classifies such culture as a product of affluence, with specific material concerns (clothes, cars, recreation) and nonmaterial concerns (language and customs). There is an assumption of nonchalance and even vapidity when it comes to teen culture, with the era of high school being the pinnacle of teen existence.

That is evident in films like Fast Times. At the very least, Stacy has her best friend, Linda (Phoebe Cates), to go to for advice. While Linda very much enables Stacys quest for sexual fulfilment and truthfully, both girls dont talk about anything besides boys, Heckerling builds a sense of amity between them. Theyre positive forces and support systems in each others lives no matter the boy trouble.

Universal Pictures

In contrast, theres a film like Martha Coolidges Valley Girl a flat-out fairytale of a movie. Loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, the premise is simple: Girl meets Boy, but they are tragically from different worlds. Boy introduces Girl to brand new, exhilarating experiences, and widens her worldview. They are the only ones who can make each other happy.

This is an against all odds kind of story. Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman) isnt supported by her clique. They instead tease her about wanting to hang out with someone so urban and dangerous. For a moment, Julie actually caves under that pressure and returns to her obnoxious, unappreciative high school boyfriend.

The film ends with Julie and her new beau, Randy (Nicolas Cage), riding off into the distance after literally causing a food fight as a distraction, ostensibly leaving the mess of high school and popularity contests behind. True love conquers alland viewers are left feelingas fulfilled as Julie supposedly is. However, if ending up in a relationship is the only thing these young girls seem to care about, its easy to question the legitimacy of that freedom too.

Atlantic Releasing

The chick flick is on the rise and that includes a bunch of Shakespeare adaptations. Anything between Heckerlings own Clueless and Gil Jungers 10 Things I Hate About You prove to be a commodity between their modern take on classic literature and highly attractive casting decisions. In the case of Clueless a film often included in many best of the 90s lists Heckerling continues to lead by example by bringing the fashion-conscious, well-intentioned, but painfully obtuse Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) to life.

Cher is a Popular Girl in the vein of Julie Richman. Rather than focus solely on boyfriends and dating (although she does obsess about them), she is very headstrong and possibly takes too much pride in her talents and achievements. Cher believes herself to be a good Samaritan, setting up her teachers on dates and trying to rehabilitate the awkward new girl, Tai (Brittany Murphy), by bringing her into the inner circle of affluent popularity. However, Cher treats people as projects until it backfires completely. Tais popularity begins to eclipse her own and so begins an avalanche of bad luck, in her eyes.

Cher may not be the most likable girl on campus, but she is certainly someone we learn to empathize with over the course of Clueless. Her romance with Josh (Paul Rudd) figures in a more incidental fashion than the ones in most teen films he playfully mocks her for her superficiality but that in itself doesnt push her towards the change she needs to make in her life. Self-reflection and an investment in her good intentions do it for Cher.

Paramount Pictures

Yet on an abruptly darker note, another of the decades most prominent woman-directed films was Sofia Coppolas The Virgin Suicides. Coppolas film introduces a variety of contradictory perceptions of teen girls. It is told from the perspective of a group of boys observing the comings and goings of the reclusive Lisbon family. Confined and constrained by deeply religious parents, the Lisbon sisters try to secretly navigate the teen experience, including sneaking out, going to a school dance and having sex. But their isolation eventually causes them meet dire ends.

Everything is portrayed through Coppolas surreal and dreamy filmic gaze. The camera pans softly over the girls who are both idealized and brutalized. The boys end up admitting that they did not actually know the Lisbon sisters, but could only guess from the legends that they came to be. This along with the films structure of telling and retelling provides apt commentary about how young girls themselves are viewed, reshaped for consumption by men without having voices of their own.

Paramount Classics

It would be remiss to talk about powerful cinematic images of young women of the early 2000s without mentioning Lindsay Lohan. She steadily worked on a wide variety of pictures directed by women and men for the first five years of the decade bringing teen girls to life. The Disney Channel Original Movie, Get a Clue (directed by Maggie Greenwald), featured Lohan as a teen detective investigating a teachers disappearance. Sarah Sugarmans Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a teen rom-com with a touch of personal drive and female friendship goals. Finally, Angela Robinsons Herbie: Fully Loaded sees Lohan as the newest driver of the famous sentient Volkswagon Beetle. As an actress, Lohan portrayed feisty go-getting characters throughout most of her teen idol career, those ranging from petulant to bubbly but never scrimping on likability. It sealed her status as a poster child of the modern teenage girl.

Meanwhile, across the Pond, Gurinder Chadhas Bend It Like Beckham further brought inclusion to the table. In the film, 18-year-old Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) desperately wants to play football despite her parents disapproval. But despite their protestations, she manages to strike a balance between upholding culture and chasing her dreams, eventually moving away from home on a sports scholarship to university. Chadhas later effort, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, riffs on similar themes to Clueless. 14-year-old Georgia (Georgia Groome) ostensibly stresses out over her 15th birthday party while awkwardly trying to woo the boy of her dreams (baby-faced Aaron Taylor-Johnson). But ultimately, the films emotional crutch hinges on acquired self-awareness and a commitment to be a better person.

The 2000s also brought the supernatural to a fever pitch. Yes, were talking about Twilight. Catherine Hardwickes adaptation of Stephenie Meyers bestselling novel was perhaps the only film in its four-part life cycle in which Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) had any regard for herself outside of her relationship with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Twilight is the epitome of grand fantasy wherein its protagonist falls in love and uncontrollably so. Bella is willing to sacrifice a lot for Edward, and it is debatable whether she is ultimately strong or weak in her decisions.

On the flipside, there is Karyn Kusamas Jennifers Body, which has thankfully gained cult classic status since its lukewarm initial release. Its a movie that allows a teenage girl to take her power back in every sense of the word. Girls and horror have long been associated with each other, whether its the so-called inherent horror of girlhood (see:Carrie) or the final girl trope in its many iterations. In Jennifers Body, Needy (Amanda Seyfried) bookish and shy has to contend with her popular, supernaturally-imbued, literally boy-hungry best friend, Jennifer (Megan Fox). They face off towards the end of the film but overall the narrative celebrates female friendships albeit to an extremewith Needy eventually taking on supernatural capabilities and being able to fend for herself without Jennifer.

Paramount Pictures

Summit Entertainment

Strong female characters continue to permeate blockbusters as the YA adaptation craze reignited with films such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. (These were still directed by men.) Despite this, consistent calls for industry inclusion have brought more arthouse efforts to the forefront. As a result, noteworthy women-led and women-directed films have appeared at a higher frequency in recent years.

Dee Rees Pariah tells the story of a lesbian African-American girl, Alike (Adepero Oduye), and depicts the struggles she faces coming to terms with her identity and cultivating relationships with the people around her, including family and friends. While not every relationship is mendable and not everyone is accepting of her, Alike chooses her destiny as best as she can.

The French drama Girlhood follows 16-year-old Marieme, a working-class girl longing for a life away from her abusive brother and vocational training. The film is a sobering look at developing identity, friendship and loyalty. Marieme greatly depends on the sisterhood she forms with Lady (Assa Sylla) and her girl gang, however questionable their activities were. A particularly iconic scene one celebrating excess and female camaraderie set to Diamonds by Rihanna is as carefree as she gets. Marieme ends the film at a crossroads after realizing she never attained the independence she was after in the first place.

Mustang, directed by Deniz Gamze Ergven, is essentially a more positiveVirgin Suicides situation. Five Turkish girls fight for autonomy of their actions. Not a single boy tells their story for them, and none of them dies. The film is far from devoid of the dark recesses of violence and oppression, but it importantly gives its girls a much sweeter, warmer ending.

Andrea Arnold consistently deals with realism onscreen and is regularly concerned with teenage girls. Fish Tank and American Honey focus on young women in the throes of poverty trying to pave their way to stability. Arnolds teenage girls display both worldliness and naivete, allowing them to boldly go for what they want but without necessarily letting them land on their feet completely. Their revelations about themselves are heartbreaking but life-affirming in the long run.

And coming full circle and looking back at the 80s is Kelly Fremon Craigs The Edge of Seventeen. Fremon Craig has described the film as an homage to John Hughes movies for this age. The film tracks its deeply troubled protagonist, Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), as she struggles with issues of self-discovery. She attempts to deal with the fast-paced changes happening in her life involving her brother, her best friend and two potential love interests, while juggling feelings of self-loathing and jealousy. Its not a pretty film in the slightest, which is whats amazing about it. But it does so without perpetuating harmful stereotypes. In the end, Nadine begins to willingly open up to others, and theres a genuine sense of hope for her as a person.

Focus Features

STX Entertainment

These werent 35 wasted years in the slightest, even if many films aimed at women including those helmed by women continue to operate on face value. The quest for women paving the way for themselves looks promising regardless. It is definitely much easier to appreciate the simple and the feel-good when its tempered by realism and even heartbreak. If anything, the trends of the last three and a half decades prove that womens cinema is slowly but surely moving out of the shadows, finding a middle ground of much-needed representation and respect for teen girls.

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Amy Heckerling and Beyond: The Evolution of Teen Girls On Screen - Film School Rejects

CRE Opinion: The Evolution of Tenant Representation in DFW – D Magazine

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Ran Holman of Cushman & Wakefield

Dallas is a real estate town, it always has been. With so much homegrown talent, there was a time, not that long ago, when major firms from faraway places like New York, LA, and Chicago had some challenges in establishing a tenant representation foothold here. Those firms had high-level relationships that they brought to DFW, but had stiff competition in developing organic, local business. The hometown firms in Dallas were smart, aggressive, and unique. And due to the citys periodic explosive growth, they were battle-tested.

But times change, and so has the industry. I recently reviewed a list of the top 75 office prospects in DFW and found something interesting: The top three global firms control two-thirds of the top 75 deals in the market. Even more stark was the fall off after No. 3.

Thats not to say that firms outside the top three are not successful. Many are very productive, creative, and formidable. But in the larger requirement arena, the shift to the larger firms is very apparent. The reason for this is a function of the evolution of our industry and the deep and sophisticated requirements of major users. Those needs are specialized, costly, and difficult to pencil without scale. Our business at its core is transactional; however, what many clients need before and after that transaction has changed. Simply put, major users want more, and they want consistency, irrespective of geography.

The good news is, there are a lot of fish in the ocean. And although the big deals capture a lot of attention, there are myriad others that are meaningful and do not require the scope and depth of resources that many of the larger tenants do. There will always be room for entrepreneurs in DFW.

Dallas offers one of the best business environments in the world. Thats good news for commercial real estate in DFWand for the clients we all serve.

Managing Principal Ran Holman leads Cushman & Wakefields Dallas-Fort Worth office, one of the largest and most active within the global organization.

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CRE Opinion: The Evolution of Tenant Representation in DFW - D Magazine

The Evolution of Christopher Nolan’s Widowers – Film School Rejects

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Christopher Nolan has a thing for widowers.

I like to think there are two main classes of Nolan film: high concept and Dark Knight. (And a smattering of others that now includeDunkirk). The former are the films that play with time and perception, that make you question what youve seen and studied it later. These films areMemento, The Prestige, Inception,andInterstellar.

And they all star widowers.

Each of these films protagonists loses his wife, and his character is shaped by it. How much hes shaped varies, however, because with each successive film you can see a very clear progression. The protagonists grow and evolve, becoming less defined by and obsessed with their wives deaths, more focused forward. They find solace and meaning in the future, in their children. Its as if each is a new moment in the grieving process, working toward acceptance and catharsis over the course of the 14 years in which the films come out.

Does this mean Nolans widowers are all the same person? Maybe. They certainly all share a tragedy, and the ways in which they cope with it follows a clear progression that Ill study below.

But firstthe deaths of these characters wives arent particular spoilers since they come early or even before the start of the film. Im going to talk about their deaths in the context of the rest of the films, however, and that will be spoiler heavy. So tread carefully if you havent seen these films. Or dont tread at all. Its up to you.

If youre still here, lets get started.

Newmarket

Memento(2000) is about Leonard (Guy Pearce), a man obsessed with revenge. Leonards wife was raped and murdered in front of him, and hes devoted his life to tracking down and killing the person who did it. As avengers go, Leonard is more obsessive than mosthe cant form new memories, and the last thing hecan remember is his wifes death. Hes innately defined by his loss.

Of course, the big reveal at the end of the film is that Leonards wife actually survived the night she was raped. And the implication is that he accidentally killed her himself, giving her too much insulin when she tried to call his bluff on his memory problem.

Leonard has conditioned himself to believe his wife was murdered, altering his final memory of her and devoting his life to tracking down the person he thinks killed her. Whats worse is that he does find and kill the man who raped her, but he decides to expunge the evidence of it. This way he can devote the rest of his life to revenge, the only thing that matters.

Leonards existence is informed exclusively by his wifes deathhe literally cant form any new reasons to live. His entire life takes place in his distant past, and his only plan for the future is a vengeance he doesnt know hes already achieved.

Warner Bros.

The Prestige(2006) could be argued to have two (or three) protagonists, but since far fewer of his secrets are kept from the audience, I would argue that the main character is Robert (Hugh Jackman). Early in their careers, Robert and Alfred (Christian Bale) are friends. The friendship ends when Roberts wife drowns during a magic trick because she cant undo the knot Alfred has tied around her hands. This sparks a desperate, lifelong feud.

Just like Leonard inMemento, Robert becomes obsessed with his wifes killer. But unlike Leonard, he knows exactly who his target is. And instead of killing him, he devotes his life to besting him, to being a better magician. Healthy it is not, but this obsession is at least focused more outwardRobert lives his life, and he excels at what he loves. His revenge is productive, rather than destructive.

And most importantly, he has an eye to the future. When Robert sees Alfred with a wife and baby, it kills himhe begrudges Alfred for having everything that hes lost, everything hell never have. Near the end of the film, he actually adopts Alfreds daughter. Its meant to be one more insult for Alfred, of course, but it also gives Robert a portion of the future he lost. Unlike Leonard, he has something new to live for.

Its the first appearance of children in these widowers lives, and its an important introduction that will get more and more prominent.

Warner Bros.

Inception(2010) is a big step forward for our widowers. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has turned his anger inwardhe considers himself wholly responsible for his wifes death, and his grief and guilt make it almost impossible for him to work. Cobb may not be set on revenge, but his subconscious is.

Importantly, though, Cobb has children. Unlike his predecessors, he has the future to look to. He has people to live for.

And he does live for them. The entire plot of the film hinges on Cobbs desperation to see his children again. He exposes himself and his team to all kinds of danger so he can get back to them. And, against all odds, it works. (I wont get into it here, but the prevailing theory of many interpretations is that the final sequence of the film does take place in reality).

This success of Cobbs plan is important because hes the first of Nolans widowers to get a happy ending. And that happy ending is contingent upon both the past and the futurethe plan can only succeed if Cobb finally lets go of his wife. By accepting Mals death and voicing the guilt he feels, Cobb can rescue Saito and return to reality. By rescuing Saito and returning to reality, he can be reunited with his kids.

Cobb gets past defining himself by his wifes death, and he moves into the future with his children.

Warner Bros.

Interstellar(2014) is the continuation of Cobbs happy family life. Coop (MatthewMcConaughey) has lost his wife to cancer. He resents his post-science world for not having the technology to save her, but thats all it isresentment. Theres no guilt, no thirst for revenge.

In fact, this explanation of Coops wifes absence is one of her only mentions. Another comes when Coop quotes her, trying to convince Murph that he has to leave:

After you kids came along, your mom said something to me I never quite understood. She said, Now were just here to be memories for our kids. And I think now I understand what she meant. Once youre a parent, youre the ghost of you childrens future.

This is some obvious ghost foreshadowing, of course, but its also a strong message about the secondary nature of parents and, by extension, of spouses. The moment his children were born, they became the most important thing in Coops life. His wifes death has been hard on him, of course, but by the start of the film hes already achieved the acceptance it took Cobb almost all ofInception to get. He lives entirely for his children, and for the future.

Because thats what the entire film is for: the future. Coops world is dying, and he devotes himself to finding a better one for his children. In the end, Coop succeeds, getting the human race off of Earth and pointing them toward a new home. Just as importantly, however, he gets to see his own future generations. When he visits Murph on her deathbed, shes surrounded by her children and their children and on and on. Its the ultimate continuation of living for your children.

Coop doesnt just let go of his pasthe sees his future.

Warner Bros.

The widowers of Christopher Nolans concept films follow a clear trajectory toward healing and redemption. Little by little, each lets go more of the past and defines himself less by grief, focusing instead on his children and the future. They go from living completely in the past and bent on revenge, to living for a present revenge with half an eye to the future, to letting go of the past in favor of the future, to abandoning a lifetimes worth of the past and working exclusively for the future.

Is this the mark of a filmmaker whos aging, both refining his craft and shifting his priorities as he has children of his own?

Probably.

But its also possible to think of these widowers as a single character of sorts, gradually dealing with the same tragedy over the years, healing and coping more with each iteration.

Nolans asked us to accept stranger things, after all.

Christopher NolanHugh JackmanLeonardo DiCaprio

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The Evolution of Christopher Nolan's Widowers - Film School Rejects

The evolution of network security strategies being adopted by the financial services sector. – Finextra (blog)

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The rise in popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and a consumer desire to access valuable data on various devices has led to network security becoming increasingly complicated for financial services providers.

As financial institutions transition their network security strategies to meet these consumer demands and grant greater individual access to their networks, they must also be conscious of the ever-evolving threat landscape. The cyberattacks of today are constantly becoming more sophisticated in order to outwit traditional network security measures. In addition, increased access to the network by IoT devices (such as mobile phones, and tablets) has resulted in an increase of possible attack vectors. As such, the need for evolved network security is further emphasised by the attention it has garnered from government regulators, who are shining a spotlight on compliance and security at financial institutions of all sizes.

The Challenge

Strong network security revolves around two key factors: speed and service. Network experience is typically judged by how quickly bits of information get from point A to point B, and how quickly applications are able to respond to queries. In finance in particular, rapid communication and effective security is vital, and neither can come at the expense of the other. Furthermore, consumers have come to expect access and the ability to edit information stored within the network through the web. This ability is integral to staying competitive, with more than 60 per cent of financial institutions currently developing cloud strategies as a result.

Network security strategies are having to change and adapt to meet this increase in demand for real-time, on-demand services. Data must now be more secure, travel faster, and be more readily available across devices, all of this in spite of being constantly under attack from sophisticated threats.

Looking ahead, financial services firms will be forced to respond to new attack vectors that threaten their core functions. And as these trends persist, robust network security strategies need to evolve to include the following tactics:

Detection

In order to adapt to meet these new challenges requires moving away from the traditional tactic of simply focusing your security efforts at your network perimeter whats required is something much more comprehensive. As todays perimeters are become more dynamic and increasingly temporary, rendering edge-based protection less and less relevant. Whats more, security professionals have come to understand that it is simply impossible to stop every attack. The reality is, an organisation will be breached, and security needs to be designed with this in mind.

Effective security strategies have had to transition from simply relying on intrusion protection to intrusion detection as well. Intrusion detection systems operate on the assumption that an attack will breach network perimeter defences. They are able to scan the network for abnormal behaviour in order to detect live attacks that have evaded the perimeter in order to reduce the time security teams are kept in the dark, because the longer an intruder or malware resides undetected within the network, the higher the probability it will be able to find and steal valuable information. The goal is to detect and mitigate the threat before data loss occurs.

This expansion from perimeter-based protection to include security measures at network segmentation demarcation points, deep in the core of the network marks, and out to the cloud are an important strategic shift in network security as financial services firms navigate todays threat landscape with the digital evolution of the modern workforce.

Response

With intrusion detection systems in place, incident response is the next logical step in ensuring attacks are mitigated quickly and effectively once detected. With todays new threats, incident response is required to go beyond having a list of procedures to follow in the event of an attack. A response needs to include integrated tools that provide full visibility into the security posture of the network. It should also include automated solutions that are able to identify and respond to the abnormal activity, and the forensic tools to analyse and ensure similar threats are thwarted in the future. Once malware is detected, its important to have an integrated security structure in place across your entire extended network to mitigate its impact before it can further compromise your network.

Intelligence

Once a threat has been mitigated, the incident response team needs to assess the threat to ensure that protocols are updated to keep similar threats from being successful in the future. Threat research is just as important as intrusion prevention and incident response. Teams study critical areas such as malware, botnets, and zero-day attacks in order to identify device or network vulnerabilities, uncover weak threat vectors, and create mitigation signatures, putting your organisation in the best possible footing to face down threats in the future. In doing so, the broader network security is hardened, and updated with abnormalities to look out for, and enhanced with the tools needed to stop them from causing damage. Solid threat intelligence is key to keepings your network steps ahead of attackers by establishing protocols for both known and unknown vulnerabilities.

Four key changes have made it necessary for financial institutions to re-evaluate their approach to network security: cloud-based infrastructure and services, the rise of IoT, the ever-increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, and stricter government regulations. As the internal network interacts more with the cloud, and attacks become more grandiose, it is inevitable that an attack will successfully breach the network. Which is why it is critical that an organisations security focus shift in order to ensure that once malware has made it into the network, it can be detected and remediation efforts can begin as quickly as possible to ensure the least possible damage and reduce the chance of recurrence.

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The evolution of network security strategies being adopted by the financial services sector. - Finextra (blog)

Editor’s Letter: The Evolution of Travel – Cond Nast Traveler

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I recently reconnected with my college friend Cindy, whom I'd scarcely seen since the summer after graduation when we traveled for a month throughout Italy and France . She reminded me of the time we raced back to the youth hostel in Verona after an open-air concert in the amphitheater to make curfew. I can still hear the clapping of flip-flops on cobblestones behind us and the hopeful lilt of Australian accents calling for us to hold the doors open. We made plans to meet those same Aussies in Avignon later that month, the logical coda to an easy kinship born of averted misadventure. That night, we all slipped into our travel sheets, money belts safely stowed, and slept the deep hummingbird sleep that only relief brings.

Nostalgia sparked a conversation about our shared lifelong wanderlust, the places we have yet to visit, and the bittersweet sense of a foreshortening future at middle age. "My working theory is that we have a better (or worse?) sense of time now, because we know the next thing's coming and the next," she wrote to me in an email. "We always see the horizon line, so we don't have that slow unfolding we once had as kids." Add to that our compulsive need to document and share every sunset and avocado toast , and there are few occasions when we actually allow a moment to play out.

Except, of course, when we travel. While we may have moved from American Express Travelers Cheques and postcards to Apple Pay and Facebook Live, what doesn't change is the way in which walking into a medieval hilltop town square in Liguria at the golden hour, or diving through a pristine wave in Sumba, reminds us how lucky we feel to be alive, and changes our perception of time.

In the age of TMI, and the deafening chorus of self-anointed expertise across digital and social media, we've almost come full circle in our desire to narrow the universe to those recommendations we trust most. When Sir Harold Evans launched Cond Nast Traveler 30 years ago, he did just that, creating a publication that drew a hard line between travelers who crave genuine connection to place and mere tourists ticking off a bucket list.

Thirty years later, we still believe that the very best kind of travel comes when we are armed with the right information, itineraries, on the ground inteland, yes, technology to move through the world with a confidence that allows for serendipity. I know I should be less concerned with timing the afternoon light so it reflects off the church steeple just so for my Instagram. But I am also keenly aware that what took me off the highway in pursuit of that church in the first place was a description I read by my favorite food writer (and confirmed by a local bartender), its corresponding Insta geotag, and Google Maps. It takes both vulnerability and confidence to follow the recommendation of a no-frills osteria meal over an acclaimedif overratedMichelin-starred one. But it is only in stepping outside of our comfort zone, permitting ourselves to move toward something we can't quite picture, that we allow for the slow unfolding of memories in the makingand, yes, for that horizon line to inch back just a little further.

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Editor's Letter: The Evolution of Travel - Cond Nast Traveler

Making the Grade: Robotics comes full circle; student becomes teacher – Atlanta Journal Constitution

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In 2005, Jon Welsch was president of the robotics club in his Forsyth County high school. We made little Erector Set robots and entered robotics competitions where wed build huge ones, he recalls. Every January, wed compete with different schools. Thats what got me going on this track.

That track wasnt being an engineer or designer. Instead, Welsch so enjoyed working on the team projects that he earned a degree in career and technical education from UGA in 2012 an immediately went into the classroom. I knew I wanted to come back and work with the next generation of students, he said.

In 2013, Welsch started teaching at Forsyths STEM academy, and three years ago, he became the engineering and tech teacher at North Forsyth Middle. Neither of those jobs would have been possibilities before he joined the robotics team, something Rick Folea knows as well. Folea, a senior tech marketer at Automation Direct in Cumming, was there when the robotics program kicked off in the county. His son, Chris, had worked on a robotics project at North Forsyth High, and he and his friends, including Welsch, wanted to start a team to enter competitions.

I quickly realized it wasnt just about robotics, said Folea. It was about getting students engaged in learning through competition. My son had never touched a robot, but he wound up at [Savannah College of Art and Design], and now hes a fulltime animator.

Folea went to his employer and asked for the backing to support robotics teams in every county school. The idea flourished and with the companys assistance, grew into the Forsyth Alliance.

Its a farm system, if you will, that gets kids from elementary and middle schools into these programs in high (schools), said Folea. Almost all the funding comes entirely from Automation Direct. These are after-school, extracurricular activities and some of these competitions cost $5,000 to register. We can help with that and things like travel and parts - things that would be stumbling blocks for the schools. We do it because we believe in the idea hat if you get a young kid involved in a program theyre interested in, it gets them exited to learn. Kids go from sitting in class with a glazed look in their eyes to I have to learn this stuff to make my robot work.

Today, Welsch said, robotics programs flourish in the countys five high schools, 10 middle schools and about 15 elementary schools. That came about because Automation Direct saw the value of our program way back in the beginning, he said. They wanted to get it into all the schools.

The teams enter contests on an almost monthly basis and face off with students from around the world. About two dozen teams have won spots at national and world competitions. Last year, Welsch coached six teams, all of whom went to state finals; two went to the nationals. The teams successes have spurred more interest across grade levels, he added.

In my program alone, I had 50 7th and 8th graders last year. I also have 240 students in classes where we do robotics, too. Having it in class has also changed my numbers; last year, it was 60-40 boys to girls, and this year, Im looking at the opposite. Robotics have really become a big part of what the students do here, and I love seeing what it does for them.

Folea is happy to see that an idea from a handful of kids has mushroomed into meaningful learning. There are now schools running more than a dozen teams in the same school, even at the elementary and middle levels, he said. Jon was on that very first team, so the program has come full circle.

Information about the ForsythAlliance Robotics teams: facebook.com/ForsythAlliance.

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Making the Grade: Robotics comes full circle; student becomes teacher - Atlanta Journal Constitution

A robotic technology stack aimed at developers on a budget – ZDNet

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With HEXA, Vincross is taking aim at a market that founder and CEO Sun Tianqi feels has long been ignored: Independent tinkerers and developers on a budget.

Vincross, a Beijing-based robotics company, has announced a small programmable robot called HEXA. The new bot runs on MIND, an operating system built on the Linux kernel and optimized for robotics.

It's the second bit of news from Vincross in the last few months. The company was a CES 2017 Asia Innovation Award Honoree in May.

With HEXA, Vincross is taking aim at a market that founder and CEO Sun Tianqi feels has long been ignored: Independent tinkerers and developers on a budget.

"There hasn't been a single robot or platform built for the masses -- especially for those developers and innovators eager to create [new] robots," said Sun.

HEXA, which, as its name implies, is a sensor-rich, six-legged robot that resembles a crab. It's designed to be a platform and not a finished product.

"We all have this dream of what robots should be, of robots interacting with and helping humans on a daily basis," Sun said. "But the reality is, robots have a long way to go. To date, the industry has focused on single-use robots for industrial labs or household cleaning purposes or robots for children."

Sun's reference to the Roomba vacuum, which is the best-selling consumer robot of all time, is perhaps poorly chosen. iRobot has offered its own programmable platform based on the Roomba and targeting developers for some time. It's become a go-to for STEM classrooms, college robotics teams, and tinkerers in need of small mobile robots for all kinds of tasks.

Still, HEXA is a capable piece of technology. Because it has six legs, it can handle terrain that a platform like the Roomba never could. Sensors include a camera with night vision capability, two three-axis accelerometers, an infrared transmitter, and a distance-measuring sensor.

The idea is that developers can pick up one of these for about $500 and -- using Vincross's standard developer kit -- shape it into anything they'd like. Some examples on the company's website include surveying volcanos on Mars or helping save lives after earthquakes.

"The single biggest impediment to technologies like robotics and AI is that talented developers don't have ready access to the full technology stack required to engineer new products," Jenny Lee, managing director at GGV Capital said. GGV Capital recently invested in Vincross's $6 million series A round.

Vincross has chosen to launch HEXA as a Kickstarter campaign. Funded companies are doing this more and more, and it raises some issues in this case. Vincross's campaign is slick, bespeaking resources that unfunded DIY developers looking for crowdfunding can't afford. Since crowdfunding dollars are limited, that edge seems to fly in the face of the "for the masses" ethos the company is promoting.

Vincross COO Andy Xu defended the play in an email to me.

"This is a go-to-market strategy that we've seen work well, especially in the US and allows us both to distribute and market HEXA to a broader audience. We're not relying solely on this money to build our robots -- we have a full-fledged manufacturing operation set up in China, but Kickstarter's larger unit orders allow us to drive down costs to the end user."

Units ordered via Kickstarter pledges will be delivered on a rolling schedule between December and February.

There are some cool videos and project ideas on the Kickstarter page. Given the price point and functionality, I have a sense we're going to see some novel stuff built on this platform in 2018.

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A robotic technology stack aimed at developers on a budget - ZDNet

UD lab in Lewes home to cutting-edge robotics – CapeGazette.com

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The University of Delaware's Robotic Discovery Laboratories in Lewes is all about about automation.

At least that's the way robotics is headed, as researchers, interns and students develop ideas for jet-powered kayaks and automated drones that can capture data about coastal ecosystems for an array of projects.

The high-tech equipment housed at the university's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment or the College of Earth, Wind and Fire if you're U.S. Sen. Tom Carper is impressive enough to attract the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Park Service as well as the Department of Defense, federal agencies that have taken advantage of the advanced robotic systems found at the lab.

We develop and utilize robots in a variety of applications, whether it's tracking sharks and sturgeon to using aerial drones for mapping, said robotics professor Art Trembanis, who added that UD hosts one of the nations largest collections of coastal robotics systems. And even since last summer, we've acquired some other toys I mean, equipment.

Carper stopped by the lab Aug. 8 to meet and greet the minds that operate the fancy tools, pose for photos on the quadski a combination between a jet ski and an ATV that looks more like fun than work and try his hand at flying one of the school's automated drones.

I'm not an oceanographer, but I know a little bit about the ocean, Carper said, noting his naval career as a flight officer. Meanwhile, researchers showed off underwater contour maps highlighted by an augmented reality display and sensors that can help find buried munitions along the beaches.

UD's robotics lab, which officially opened in 2014, previously focused on underwater robots. Much of the data collected by robots is used for localized studies on coastal habitats and marine life, but the tools can have much broader application, explained Katy O'Connell, executive director of Project Recover.

Robots are being used in Project Recover, a public-private partnership that helped locate a downed World War II aircraft in the waters surrounding the Pacific Islands last year. The idea is to help locate the resting places of those who went missing in action, information that is then passed on to the Department of Defense, she said.

It's a chance for us to use those technologies in a meaningful way, Trembanis said.

The lab also offers a unique opportunity for U.S. Naval Academy students to study the science that will support their future military endeavors. An educational partnership between the college and the academy allows students to step up their engineering game while also receiving a four-year degree.

Sussex Tech High School graduate Natalie Sava is pursuing a bachelor's in ocean engineering through the program before she is commissioned into the Navy. The Seaford native, who was nominated by Carper and Sen. Chris Coons for the U.S. Naval Academy, said she is considering a future in aviation.

I do hope to do something with the ocean degree once I retire from the Navy, and who knows where that's going to take me, Sava said. I think the partnership is awesome. I knew about this lab from growing up in the area, and this has kind of connected my two worlds together.

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UD lab in Lewes home to cutting-edge robotics - CapeGazette.com

UC Berkeley Robotics Expert Joins Company’s Advisory Board – Patch.com

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UC Berkeley Robotics Expert Joins Company's Advisory Board
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From Business Wire: ROBO Global, creator of the first benchmark index to track the global robotics, automation and artificial intelligence market, continues to hand-pick world-renowned robotics and automations experts for its team. Famed researcher and ...
ROBO Gl Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (ROBG.L) Moves 0.94%Morgan Research
Needle Tilting Mid-Session For ROBO Gl Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (ROBG.L)Evergreen Caller

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UC Berkeley Robotics Expert Joins Company's Advisory Board - Patch.com

Global robotics market set to soar – Investment Week

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The global robotics market is expected to grow by 10% yearly until 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group. The uptick is projected to be driven by an increase in consumer demand, as well as falling prices and an increase in private investment in robotics.

The underlying technology that enables advanced robotics is only in its formative stages but considerable value has already been created, says Johan Van Der Biest, Senior Fund Manager at Candriam Investors Group.

Candriam, a European multi-specialist asset manager with 102bn of assets under management, launched a new Robotics and Innovative Technology strategy in March this year. The fund has been designed to invest in companies within the technology and robotics space who are developing innovative products to positively impact the future.

And it's not just start-ups that investors should be eyeing, says Van der Biest. "Opportunities also exist in known brands, which have reinvented themselves to benefit from this automation trend. These include Delphi, which was a unit of General Motors and is now a prominent independent player in autonomous and electrical vehicles. Or John Deere, the largest producer of agricultural equipment, which is reinventing its legacy products."

Candriam perform sophisticated screenings on thousands of companies worldwide and assess which companies derive meaningful revenues from robotics and/or innovative technologies. The use of machine learning, big data technology, virtual reality, 5G technology, advanced robotics and programmatic advertising are examples of exciting trends the group are investing in.

In the sensors and mechatronics area there are still some excellent names with nice upside, explains Van der Biest, but in terms of industrial robots and service robots, those valuations are starting to become rather stretched.

The manager, who has been with Candriam since 1993, added that the demographic angle is a long-term market driver behind all this and to cope with an ageing population we will have to automate.

"Going forward one of the most important factors to evaluate is economic activity. If we observe that global economic activity continues to go well then I think there might be some further upside."

Value and wealth in the sector has been created for years and this is likely to accelerate as the "fourth industrial revolution" becomes a significant driver of the global economy, Candriam's manager concludes.

Click here to learn more about industry trends in robotics and computing power, and how Candriam are unearthing market-leading technology at sensible prices.

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Global robotics market set to soar - Investment Week