Monthly Archives: June 2017

Freedom of Expression Under Siege in Okinawa – The Diplomat

Posted: June 6, 2017 at 6:07 am

The Abe government has been particularly harsh on cracking down on dissent in Okinawa.

By Taisuke Komatsu for The Diplomat

June 06, 2017

In contrast to several positive developments in part of the region with respect to democracy, rule of law, and human rights, Japan is falling back. Despite consistent concerns from the opposition and civil society on the potential impacts on civil rights, such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association, the Abe administration is stubbornly pushing for the adoption of the so-called anti-conspiracy bill without seeking consensus inthe Parliament. The draft legislation is widely criticized for its broad scope, which leaves worrying room for arbitrary use of the legislation against ordinary people.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci, recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to share his serious concerns on the bills possible negative impacts on human rights. Since the draft laws definition of an organized criminal group is too broad, the UN rights expert raised specific concerns in his letter on the potential restrictions on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), especially on those working in areas of national security.

The draft bill couldjeopardize the work of many human rights and environmental NGOs if the authorities use it against NGOs critical of the government in order to surveil, or worse, criminalize their work. Yet among Japanese civil society, many feel that Okinawa, the prefecture encompassing the countrys southernmost islands, is particularly threatened, because environmental and rights groups are energetically fighting against the governments project to build a new U.S. military base. Critics fear that a planned new base in Henoko, reportedly the largest U.S. military facility-to-be in East Asia,will lead to environmental destruction and human rights violations as well as the exposure of the islands as a military target.Many Okinawans carry bitter memories of the Battle of Okinawa, during which a quarter of the local population was lost in the last phase of the Pacific War because the islands were forced to serve as the Japans final line of defense.

Since the local civil society facilitates protests against the Henoko base construction and demands the maximum possible access to information concerning the militarys activities in order to assess impacts on their rights, the work of Okinawan civil society groups can be arbitrary interpreted as threatening Japansnational security.

Dozens to hundreds of protesters gather around the Henoko construction site on land and at sea on a daily basis. Among them is Hiroji Yamashiro, the chairperson of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, who has been a long-time leader of non-violent protests. His personal commitments to peace, human rights, and environmental protection for the islands have turned him into a symbol of the resistance in Okinawa. Yet at the same time, he has been targeted by the authorities because of this leadership role. In late 2016,he was arrested on minor chargesmultiple times in two months. As requests for bail were repeatedly turned down, he wasdetained for fivemonths under exceptionally restrictive conditions. He was not allowed to meet anyone except lawyers, supposedly due tothe risk of destruction of evidence. His wife finally managed to see him in detention for the first time after four and a half months, shortly before his release in March. The retroactive arrests and prolonged detention were condemned by civil society as arbitrary measures to spread a chillingeffect and discourage the protest movement. However, many say that the Yamashiros case is just the tip of iceberg.

Under the Abe administration, media freedom has been struggling. Japan ranks 72nd for press freedom among 180 countries, the lowest for a G7 country, representing a dramatic drop from 11thin 2010 at the time of the previous government led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Journalists critically covering the Okinawan issues are often portrayed as anti-Japan by influential figures, leading to undermining of the countrys media freedom. Two local newspapers, the Ryukyu Shimpo and the Okinawa Times, are the most targeted among the Okinawan media. Due to their critical coverage of the Japanese governments policies on U.S. military facilities, the newspapers and their reporters are constantly attacked by conservative lawmakers and their allies.

One of the notorious examples is the so-called Hyakuta incident. Naoki Hyakuta, a best-selling writer and close friend of Abe, was invited to a study session in June 2015 organized by junior politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The attendees included then-Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato and Koichi Hagiuda, a special adviser to Abe at that time. Though the study session was to discuss the revision of the Constitution, the participants went further to have a heated debate on how to punish media outlets critical of the government. The novelist attacked the two Okinawan newspapers by saying, The two Okinawan newspapers must be destroyed. I believe if some of the islands in Okinawa [Prefecture] were to be invaded by China, although such a thing should not happen, they will awake from their sleep.No lawmaker present at the session questioned the remark; many endorsed it. Although this incident sparked outrage within and outside Okinawa, the regression of freedom of expression did not stop.

Last week, another United Nations human rights expert released a report on Japan, sending a serious alert aboutthe countrys bitter reality when it comes tofreedom of expression. While the special rapporteur on the freedom of expression, David Kaye, refrained from touching on the draft anti-conspiracy bill, he identified significant worrying signals that undermine Japans democratic foundations. In addition to his concerns on the lack of political will to ensure media independence and access to information, Kayespecifically pointed out the situation in Okinawa, saying he found the availability of space for dissent and access to information for those throughout Japan about the situation there is restricted.The Japanese government bluntly rejected the UN rights experts views.

Whenever questions are raised on the situation of freedom of expression, the Abe administration repeats the claim like a broken record that the countrys constitution guarantees human rights. However, objective observations by human rights experts are shedding light on the different sides of the country. In describing his detention after being released, Hiroji Yamashiro revealed the countrys bitter reality:I was detained for such a long time baselessly. I believe that was intended to intimidate Okinawans.

In any democratic country, such a high price should not have to be paid for dissent. Pressures within and outside the country are intensifying for the Abe government to make substantial steps to create a society where everyone can embrace the right to freedom of expression without fearing any consequences.

Taisuke Komatsu is a human rights advocate from Japan currently working as the UN Advocacy Coordinator of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). He holds a masters degree in Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex in the UK.

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Freedom of Expression Under Siege in Okinawa - The Diplomat

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California and China Have Signed an Agreement to Develop Clean Energy Technology – Fortune

Posted: at 6:07 am

The government of California said on Tuesday it will work with China's science ministry to develop clean energy technologies, cooperate on emissions trading and explore other "climate-positive" trade and investment opportunities.

The two sides agreed to establish the California-China Clean Technology Partnership designed to drive innovation and commercialization in areas such as carbon capture and storage, as well as advanced information technology that could help cut greenhouse gas emissions.

President Donald Trump announced last week that he would pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, a move branded as "insane" by California governor Jerry Brown, who is visiting China this week.

Joint pledges by China and the United States ahead of the Paris talks helped create the momentum required to secure a global agreement, and included a promise by China to establish a nationwide emissions trading exchange by this year.

Brown told Reuters last week that he would discuss linking China's carbon trading platforms with California's, the biggest in the United States.

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California and China Have Signed an Agreement to Develop Clean Energy Technology - Fortune

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Nasdaq 10000. Disruption. Disintermediation. Innovation. Technology – Forbes

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Forbes
Nasdaq 10000. Disruption. Disintermediation. Innovation. Technology
Forbes
Are we ready to concede the fact that the Nasdaq will hit 10,000 in the very near future? Probably within the next couple years. Disruption. Disintermediation. Innovation. Technology as the driver of change. How is this different than year 1999 when ...

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Micron Technology (MU) Presents At Stifel 2017 Technology, Internet And Media Conference (Transcript) – Seeking Alpha

Posted: at 6:07 am

Micron Technology, Incorporated (NASDAQ:MU)

Stifel 2017 Technology, Internet and Media Conference

June 05, 2017 12:10 PM ET

Executives

Ernie Maddock - Chief Financial Officer

Analysts

Kevin Cassidy - Stifel Nicolaus

Presentation

Kevin Cassidy

Okay. Good morning, and welcome to Stifel 2017 Technology, Internet and Media Conference. My name is Kevin Cassidy Im one of the semiconductor analysts at Stifel. And it's my pleasure to introduce from Micron Technologys, Ernie Maddock. Ernie is the Chief Financial Officer. Welcome Ernie.

Ernie Maddock

Good morning. Thank you.

Kevin Cassidy

Thank you for coming. And were going to start off everyone of our key note presentation on -- our fireside chat presentation with three basic questions to talk about your Company, your competitive landscape and your growth opportunities. So Ernie, if you could, if there isnt anyone in the audience that doesnt know about Micron, Ernie will give you an overview.

Ernie Maddock

Sure. So we provide a broad array of memory solutions encompassing three or rationally four core technologies; so first of those is DRAM; second is NAND; third is NOR; and the forth 3D XPoint. I would say that DRAM and NAND are the vast majority of the Companys -- the basis of the vast majority of the Companys solutions. But in terms of and market, we play in a very broad array. We have leadership positions and automotive market share, which tends to be products that combine NAND, DRAM and NOR. We have a very strong position in the SSD market, competing in the clients all the way through the enterprise scale SSD space. Mobile solutions both had a component level, as well as in MCP level, for predominantly Asian customers. And then obviously in the client compute datacenter segments more plastic DRAM.

Memory, I think is beginning to be appreciate as a really big component of the future that all of us, I think, live each day both in terms of the capture and storage of the vast amounts of information that are being captured about us and about the world in which we live. And then the conversion of that information into meaningful business insights and memory plays a vital role in each step of the way as we go through that transformation. So the memory right now, if youre conservative, its probably outgrowing overall semi by 3 to 4 times, if you want to be on the more aggressive end of the estimate, you should say that memory in general is outgrowing the basic semiconductor TAM by as much as 5 times. And thats a statement of a 2016 to 2018 expected TAM.

So really a renaissance of usefulness of memory and I think some very, very high profile companies are beginning to publicly talk about the fact that memory performance and memory capacity and capability is as important to them as the process or performance that underlies whatever application or whatever solution theyre trying to bring to the market. So its a great place to be in.

Kevin Cassidy

I agree. And thats been our thesis for many years on Micron. But the importance of memory, if you want to get a higher speed, phone is that more DRAM and it gives you better performance, I am just putting in a new processor. And so with that, whats also interesting in the market has been the consolidation. And maybe, if you just talk a little bit about the competitive landscape of where Micron stands now, maybe where it was five-10 years ago, and what does it look like for the future?

Ernie Maddock

Sure. So there are three fundamental IP holders and competitors in the DRAM space, Samsung, Hynix and Micro. That share position has actually been relatively constant. We are all producing at the 20 nanometer and the 1x node, Micron probably little more on 20, a little less on 1x that will be changing considerably over the course of the next 12 months or so.

And then you have four fundamental IP holders that are distributed among six participants; so Micron and Intel jointly own IP, but both address the market separately; Toshiba and WD jointly have IP, they address the market separately; and Hynex and Samsung as well. So a fairly consolidated industry, certainly, compared to the way the DRAM industry in particular look even five to eight years ago where you had multiple competitors. I think at one time there were as many as 32 DRAM companies, and that we know it's way down to three and a lot of that Micron was able to leverage by scaling and taking advantage of the exit of other players from the industry.

Kevin Cassidy

Great. And weve talked a little bit about the growth outlook, things right now that were in the shortage period and the capacity increases that both Micron and the industry is putting out for DRAM. Can you say what that is and whats the limiting factor of increasing capacity?

Ernie Maddock

Sure. So we believe that from a supply point of view that you will have somewhere between 15% and 20% bp growth at the supply, and that is a combination of two things; one is advancing technology nodes, which are progressively yielding fewer and fewer bits. But probably if we were only dependent upon simply the bits provided by the incremental technology nodes, you might be at the lower end of that range or maybe even slightly below the low end of that range. And then all the competitors tend to want to do what they can to hold the way for output flat. So anytime you do a technology shrink, you essentially get more bits off of each wafer, but you have fewer wafers that you process because it takes longer to process a wafer on a smaller technology node.

And so the result is that you would simply add wafers such that your aggregate output from that fab or that facility would remain flat. So that you at least get the full benefit of the bp growth across however many wafers you were producing prior to the technology transition. And that would move you into the, probably to the middle, to the upper end of that range of 15% to 20%. I think beyond that, you have to think about adding fairly significant amounts of wafer capacity. And certainly as we see the supply growth that is governed by an influence by what we think is happening on the demand side and the demand side right now feels as if this between 20% and 25%. And so there really isnt a very strong reason to add significant capacity based upon the view of the demand as we go out over the next few years.

Kevin Cassidy

And maybe if you could just touch on that, what were the Greenfield fab costs to put new wafers on?

Ernie Maddock

Well depending on the size and scale, youre probably conservatively looking at $5 billion to $10 billion. And again it depends upon the specific scale, but it's quite an investment. And dont forget that even if you were to make that decision today that a two year to 2.5 year decision, so youre -- and the economic return horizon on something like that is probably 15 years, because certainly in the first four or five years, youre not going to have positive NPV coming from that investment. Youre going to count on that investment providing NPV for you out in the terminal value calculation in a traditional financial analysis. So it's a very interesting set of economics.

Kevin Cassidy

And key to that calculation would be the gross marginally that you get for the product. One of -- when Microns talked about at the Analyst Day about, what things you can control with the market the end average selling price, you cant have control over. But you can control your costs. Can you talk about some of the improvements youve made to costs of DRAM, in particular?

Ernie Maddock

Sure. Well, you get a benefit with every successes of technology shrink and we have talked about over the course of fiscal 16 through 17, we have provided an aggregate cost reduction on CAGR basis of 15% to 25% for DRAM. We said the same CAGR would likely apply if you wanted to measure from say 2016 through 2018 its actually -- a little higher than that for NAND because the bp growth is higher. We talked about this out over the prior two year period, ending with fiscal 17, that was somewhere in the 25% to 30% range; so averaging right at or slightly above market as a result of fully implementing the 20 nanometer technology node, which the Company get at a later time than its competitors. And then as we go forward, we said that we expected to grow at about the same rate as the industry. So we are pursuing our technology roadmap. Were comfortable with the technology position we have and were deploying capital to roll that out.

Kevin Cassidy

And maybe as we talk about that, it seems average selling price, at least in our read through, are continuing to be at least flat, if not up, so gross margins are improving. But can you talk about -- you said 20% to 25% demand. Can you say whats different in the market? What are those end market demand drivers, what market segments growing the fastest for you and which was, do you think, youre adding the most value?

Ernie Maddock

Sure. So if I think about, what I would consider to be the core of that market demand today, certainly, that is roughly evenly split between the mobile business and between the datacenter server hyper scale, there is a few things that people call it. But its basically that datacenter environment no matter where it's realized or implemented, and then the mobile business. And then on the fringes of that is obviously the classic PC space, which I would put to the less of that continuum. And then on the right of that continuum is a really important market for the Company, which is the embedded in automotive space, which from a size perspective is not the largest of the Companys markets but which has some very solid growth potential and probably will outgrow some of these other markets over the course for the next three to five years.

But both, depending on how you want to slice it, Id say, that the mobile business and the datacenter business today are roughly equivalent in terms of the amount of contribution they provide to the bits, and the bp growth that the Company is going to experience from a sales perspective. And they actually both provide some interesting opportunities for the Company to further differentiate and provide a solution based approach as opposed to simply commodity or a component based approach. And the server segment, in particular, also has a small sub-segment related to graphics and very, very high performance memory that is particular strength of the Company given our position in video and the well recognized leadership position that we have in graphics and high performance related memory.

Kevin Cassidy

And maybe if we even add on to that, I think, we mentioned Nvidia as part of the excitement around is the deep learning or machine learning. And all of that requires high speed memory?

Ernie Maddock

Yes.

Kevin Cassidy

So, thats -- Nvidia is getting a great valuation multiple, and if Micron could get that, what people appreciate that the DRAM involves in every one of those designs. And maybe if we turn a little bit to the flash market

Ernie Maddock

Sure.

Kevin Cassidy

NAND flash, and again were short of product this has been an industry transformation over to 3D NAND. And I think out of all the flash companies Micron is one that benefit the most for this transition to 3D. Can you talk about where Micron was with planar NAND and where you are with 3D NAND?

Ernie Maddock

Sure. So I think Micron benefited tremendously from 3D transition. We unlike many of our competitors, we did not do what would be considered a quote-on-quote final generation of planar shrink. And so we had a very significant cost decline from our last generation of planar to our first generation of 3D, many competitors companies actually had to go to a second generation of 3D before they saw that same cost benefit. So 3D has been absolutely essentially in terms of changing Microns competitive position relative to addressing the most important parts of the flash market, which I would consider to be mobile and the SSD space.

Kevin Cassidy

And where are you right now as far as your bp output planar versus 3D NAND?

Ernie Maddock

So, we talked on our last earnings call that by the end of year wed be somewhere in the 75% range. And then as we role forward through 2018, closer to 85%. The reason that number isnt a 100% is that really important automotive business that we support is supported with planar NAND right now. We are now just in the qualification process of 3D NAND. For those of you who may not be familiar with automotive design cycles, those youre calling now for cars that will be produced in 2019-2020 and then once youre called, you have to keep production at that same level of technology for decade or so. So the automotive systems providers are much more interested in stability of supply, quality of supply than they are on any cost reduction benefit they may get by a subsequent generation.

And so the reason the Company doesnt expect in the near term to have a 100% of its output of 3D is not that were not capable of getting there or dont think we have great technology, it's that we have a very, very stable requirement for planar output that were going to try to provide as efficiently as possible. And that part of the business generates the appropriate returns to accounts for the fact that that cost of producing is a little bit higher.

Kevin Cassidy

Maybe if you could just do the same type of demand versus supply that you had talked about for the DRAM. Whats the industry supply output that youre expecting for this year, and where is the demand?

Ernie Maddock

So, weve centered around the 40% bits growth for this year. I know we tend to be slightly on the higher end versus what you might hear from some other competitive companies. But the range tends to be 30% to about 40%, were at the upper end of that range. We think at that level of output you are limiting demand, that demand actually in a very natural way, if you were following a more natural price curve, would be higher than that 40% level, maybe as much as 50% give or take. Its hard to tell, because youre not producing that but there are certain modeling techniques that you can use to get you to a reasonable conclusion there.

And I think that that is a result of the fact that this is a year when many competitors are going through the brunt of their 3D transitions. And if you look whats happened in the industry in the first part of the year, theres been very slow bp growth, because of course you have to take planar capacity offline to do the conversion or you maybe ramping up a new 3D fab. And we expect that bp growth in the back half of the calendar year and certainly as we go forward into 18, we expect that bp growth from a supply point of view is going to be increasing as best we can see. You still dont have a situation where bp growth increase or bp growth supply increase is going to be materially in excess of what reasonable demand looks like based upon all the modeling that we can do. And so we think that while next year will be better in terms of the balance between supply and demand we certainly do not subscribe to the idea that there will be a vast oversupply of 3D NAND here over the next four to six quarters.

Kevin Cassidy

Even within the 3D NAND and solid state drive, with the prices of 3D going up or maybe with costs of solid state drives going up. Have you seen any de-specking in the PC industry?

Ernie Maddock

I think youre seeing some slower conversion to higher density drives, which depending on your definition of de-specking. But thats really about the only place that youre seeing any impact at all and even that is actually relatively limited, because of course, we are really focusing on the mobile and the cloud SSD space and the enterprise SSD space. And in those spaces even add todays SSD pricing, you still have a 30% or so cost of ownership advantage and thats a TCO, not a unit-per-unit cost advantage. But a solid state drive based storage environment can cost about two-thirds of what an HDD based storage environment looks like. And so even at what is a relative supply demand imbalance this year, even with that result and cost and place, youre still seeing some fairly favorable economics for folks in the cloud and enterprise space to implement SSD based storage environments.

Kevin Cassidy

Okay. Maybe similar to the end market for solid state drive, so little bit about the percentages, are they markets for growth also looking out over the next two to three years?

Ernie Maddock

Yes. I mean this is one of those things where each of the markets is growing at significant rates. And its almost little bit of an academic exercise to argue which market is growing faster. Because certainly, I think the one thing you could conclude is that the client market will be more heavily dependent on ongoing technology advancement, and therefore, cost per bp reductions in order to really ubiquitously replace HDDs in all PCs, all laptops, all desktops, et cetera, et cetera. So were not there yet from a costing perspective and a result in pricing perspective. But certainly, if you look at the industry roadmap, youd think that youre going to get there easily over the course for the next couple of years.

And in the other markets youve got 40% plus growth, so whether it's 40% or 50%, its way more growth than many, many, many other markets. So the demand horizon right now looks rather unlimited in the context of that discussion and the ability to reasonably grow bits. And you see the same opportunity on the mobile side, perhaps a little less aggressive growth. But nonetheless, very, very strong opportunity; particularly, for Micro, where we had less market share presence on NAND in the mobile segment a real opportunity for the Company to grow share substantially, which translate for us into similar rates for us as we see in the SSD space.

Kevin Cassidy

And maybe, Ernie, you touched on it a little bit on the competitive landscape. Where do you see yourself right now compared to say Samsung or Hynex and Western Digital? And then whats the gap, I guess, in terms of month well say in technology?

Ernie Maddock

I dont believe that there is a significant gap of any kind. We have very competitive 32 layer TLC base 3D SSDs are out computing in the market effectively from a pricing perspective, and were comfortable with, although, not satisfied with the margin that thats providing to the Company. And we thats only going to improve, we have the world smallest eye size on our 64 layer device that will not necessarily translate into the absolute lowest cost, but certainly it is a further step up in the cost competitiveness of the Company. So I dont think there is going to be very significant differentiation of any kind Mircon vis--vis competitors relative to our cost competitiveness. I think were going to at industry leading cost and therefore be able to provide industry leading solutions based upon that cost platform. And as a result of that I think there is continued opportunity for the Company relative to positioning our output in the highest value added segments.

Kevin Cassidy

And when we speak of the competitors, I dont think theres a day that goes by that I dont get a phone call and a question about Chinese coming into the DRAM market. Whats your view is on Chinas interest in investing into memory?

Ernie Maddock

Well, I mean, you cant raise a paper and not believe that Chinese are not interested in and in deploying capital to address the market. Their real challenge is there is no source of IP other than the existing industry participants. And those industry participants I think are appropriately thoughtful about whether or not they want to license or otherwise share that IP with a potential new industry entrant. And in the absence of that IP I think, that the opportunity for China to successfully enter is significantly hampered, I would never say never, but possessing IP has been key to every other industry participant successfully entering the market. And even then they were not able in many cases to have the wear with all to continue in the market and to compete in the absence of having a viable credit source of IP that challenge becomes even more significant.

Question-and-Answer Session

Q - Kevin Cassidy

Right. Ive got to open it up to the audience for any questions, if not all. Well go on with -- we have a new CEO, we do Sanjay Mehrotra, Co-Founder of SanDisk. Can you say what strategy changes you might be expecting or what change this might bring to Micron?

Ernie Maddock

I think its premature to expect that there would be strategy changes. As the Board articulated when both Marks retirement was announcement and Sanjays appointment was announced, there are comfortable with the strategy of the Company. And I think that, listen Company strategy evolves overtime, it does not -- you dont do in about say as quickly, and I certainly wouldnt expect to anything like that here. I think that Sanjay brings a, what I would consider to be, a Silicon Valley perspective into the business at the very highest level. And by that, I mean, a level of challenge, a level of pushing to do better that weve all become very accustom to if youve lived and worked in Silicon Valley. And which isnt necessarily something that the breadth of the Company experience for a very long time. I think Micron has always been positioned effectively and push hard.

I will tell you that Sanjay pushing even harder, and I think that is net beneficial, whether its Micron or any other company. The most significant achievements are typically made when you have leadership that pushes to do thing, so you didnt think were possible or pushing you to do things that you thought in fact might be impossible, and by the way doing those impossible things a little more quickly than you might have thought. So I think its sort of that energy, that drive.

And then also anytime an enterprise, as big as Micron has to adapt to someone who is new, that in and of itself creates the opportunity for change, and a heightened level of performance. So Im personally really excited and I think that he was exactly the right choice for the Company and a great -- he is looking forward to building on the legacy that Mark left behind. So what a great way to inherent the Company to be in such fantastic shape from a technology point of view, a capital deployment point of view, as Sanjay have the luxury of coming in this Company during that time, which was a result of what market done during his tenure.

Kevin Cassidy

Okay. And maybe if we touch on that when we talked about doing the impossible. But maybe 3D XPoint, first new memory introduced to the market in 40 years or so, and you and Intel have co-developed this. Can you say how is that market evolving and whats Micron positioned in this?

Ernie Maddock

Weve set fairly modest expectations about 3D XPoint. Because we have to work through enablers to enable solutions, and there will be solutions in the datacenter and potential storage solutions. And I would say that we are still exploring. So we really dont have an update for 3D XPoint since our Analyst Day. And at the point in time where we feel its appropriate, well share more about what were planning to do with that.

Kevin Cassidy

Okay, anything from the audience? How about, you mentioned capital allocation, what are you views for capital allocation through this year and then into next year?

Ernie Maddock

Well, we pretty much set the course for this year relative to capital. We have talked about a nominal $5 billion plus or minus CapEx budget and provided the outlet for that, which is somewhere in the 40% to 60% DRAM range, 30% to 40% non-volatile memory and the balance is sort of engineering, backend, test, configuration. Weve also said and have actually reduced that by about $1 billion. So weve deployed about a billion or so of the free cash flow. We said that remains an important priority. So theres possibility that we will do more of that here as we exit our fiscal year. And then of course we typically share our fiscal, what would be our fiscal 18 capital budget towards the end of the summer and we plan to be doing that this year.

Kevin Cassidy

Okay. So youre not going to give any more details on what your future plans are, or the mix be about the same?

Ernie Maddock

Well, well give those details when we finalize our 2018 plan. And there is a massive planning effort going on now in the Company. But listen when you have these two core technologies, its a reasonable thing that youre going to make significant investments in both as you look forward through fiscal 18 budget.

Kevin Cassidy

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Micron Technology (MU) Presents At Stifel 2017 Technology, Internet And Media Conference (Transcript) - Seeking Alpha

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Brandon Marshall embracing Giants’ use of progressive technology – Giants Wire

Posted: at 6:07 am

Two years ago, the New York Giants began using drone technology to help them analyze their practices. It was the first step of many to come as they began shifting towards more progressive analyzation techniques.

As technology and technological methods continue to advance, todays coaching staffs have no choice but to get accustomed to using the tech equipment. From drones to tablets, the use of technology is at the forefront of everyday life in the NFL.

The Giants big offseason acquisition, veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall, recently praised the team and head coach Ben McAdoo for their implementation of these new technologies.

Our league is a lot of times stuck in its ways, the tradition, Marshall said via ESPN. Theyre doing the same things from 40 or 50 years ago, running the same plays, the same terminology, same teaching message. When you have younger coaches or coaches who are innovators like Coach Mac, they are more receptive to doing things like that. . . I love it.

The fact that the Giants are the first team that Marshall has been on implementing these new methods shows how progressive the Giants have become. In particular, the GPS utility being used has excited Marshall in his short time with the team. The new-aged tactics have helped during training, on the sideline, in the film room and in the diet/nutrition category as well.

Some of todays players are too young to remember a time without coachs challenges and booth reviews, let alone the new training technology. Marshall certainly didnt have access to these methods when he made his way through college and into the NFL.

[My Father] used to take us to the hill, we used to run the hill, we used to pick up old tires, put tires together, run through tires and ropes. It was tough. Marshall said.

Although technology is changing the game, Marshall reiterated that hes still where he is today because of the work he put in prior to the advancements.

I think that is one of the reasons Im here today. My dad instilled that work ethic with me and my brother, he added.

This past weekend, Marshall came together with Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram and former Jets teammates at the Recievers Factory to help teach kids about the fundamentals of the game and the use of new technologies.

The up-and-coming generations certainly have a leg up with everything at their fingertips. It wasnt until college that Marshall was introduced to VHS tapes used to watch film.

When I was younger there wasnt really a YouTube or a Google. I didnt really have a computer to see what Jerry Rice was doing or Terrell Owens or Randy Moss, Marshall said.

As these new-aged tactics continue to grow, NFL teams will continue to adjust their approach. And so long as veterans like Marshall embrace the changes, the more advanced the game itself will become.

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Apple’s WWDC 2017: The big takeaways for technology pros – ZDNet

Posted: at 6:07 am

Apple's marathon WWDC 2017 opening session touched on a bevy of key themes enterprises need to ponder. Overall, artificial intelligence was a key theme and enterprises may be able to step up their augmented reality games. Developers also got a bevy of notable software developer kits.

Here are the big takeaways for technology professionals.

Apple is now playing the artificial intelligence and machine learning game too. Based on a Jackdaw Research analysis, AI has occupied a big chunk of the major developer---Microsoft, Facebook and Google---keynotes in 2017. Apple has now joined the club.

Executives frequently mentioned machine learning and noted how Siri could do more things (like Google Assistant) and use more voices. Siri will get an upgrade on watchOS as well as iOS. As I noted in a preview, Apple's main task was to outline key AI moves. The company got into the game and conversation with WWDC 2017. More: WWDC 2017: Apple gives Siri top billing on watchOS 4, Apple Watch | CNET: Apple wants Siri to read your mind and take over your home

Hardware upgrades woo pros back and set stage for developers to use augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Apple upgraded its entire Mac line to handle more graphics processing. The iMac Pro could be a nice showpiece or workstation for enterprises. Apple has been behind the curve with hardware updates and has closed the gap with the PC industry.

The extra horsepower was needed given Apple needed to make a stand in augmented reality. Meanwhile, enterprises and content pros will have more faith in the Apple upgrade cycle. Content pros now have better systems. WWDC 2017: Apple reveals macOS refresh, High Sierra | Apple iMac Pro, worth the $4,999 | Apple announces new iMac range, powers up the MacBook | TechRepublic: Apple unleashes 18-core iMac Pro with 128GB RAM, bumps other Macs to Kaby Lake

Developer tools for Siri and AR support the strategic shift to be more AI and AR centric. SiriKit and ARKit were notable additions. If Siri is going to be the primary screen across devices Apple will need to use its developer base to help. On the AR front, ARKit will expose the technology to more developers and consumers. Both of those software developer kits will be strategically important going forward. Apple launches augmented reality developer tools with ARKit | Apple positions Mac updates, Mac OS High Sierra for VR developers

Apple is commerce. Yes, Apple's main theme was AI and AR, but don't forget what will pay the bills. Apple Pay will be more integrated and easier to use with iMessage integration. Meanwhile, an iOS 11 upgrade to Maps will include malls and inside spaces. You can see the connective tissue here as Apple profits from the handoff from Apple Pay to internal maps to closing sales and collecting fees. CNET: Apple Pay takes on Venmo with personal money transfers

An App Store revamp may result in more developer profits. Apple's App Store walkthrough focused on games and apps, but developers had to be thinking better economics. Apple is promising a faster review process and more customer engagement. Let's face it: You can't discover many apps on the current App Store. The upgrade will make it easier to find apps and then conduct transactions. TechRepublic: Apple macOS High Sierra kills AutoPlay in Safari, uses machine learning to improve privacy

Apple's iPad Pro update was overdue, but features like drag and drop and files were outlined like they were something groundbreaking. And those features were great--20 years ago or more. Apple is making the iPad Pro more of a productivity device with its updates, but the company over rotated on the Apple Pencil and will still struggle to convince me an iPad Pro is better than a MacBook. Apple refreshes larger iPad Pro with 10.5-inch display | Your iPad will finally show you files | iOS 11 for iPad includes customizable dock and drag and drop features

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Webcam showing off progress on downtown Lubbock’s Buddy Holly Hall – LubbockOnline.com

Posted: at 6:06 am

Fans interested in the progress of the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, 1300 Mac Davis Lane, now can follow its construction progress online, courtesy of a time-lapse construction camera launched by Lee Lewis Construction Inc. (LLCI) and the Lubbock Entertainment/Performing Arts Association (LEPAA).

A construction webcam located in downtown Lubbock streams a high definition video from a fixed position camera that continually captures video.

The video can be viewed at the LLCI website at leelewis.com, and at the LEPAA website at LEPAA.org.

The time-lapse camera will document progress from excavation to completion.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the $150-million-plus project was hosted in April.

Tim Collins, chairman of the LEPAA board of directors, said, This is an exciting addition to an already exciting project for the Lubbock community. We love the idea that our community, donors and fans can view construction progress happening in downtown Lubbock at any time, from anywhere in the world.

Construction of Buddy Holly Hall will take thousands of man hours and a team of contractors state-wide, noted Sam Krier, LLCI senior project manager. Through the construction cam, the public has a unique chance each day to see the tremendous amount of work that goes into a project like this.

Collins said, We hope this technology will allow our community to see what their donations are making happen in downtown Lubbock. Every dollar raised by LEPAA goes toward construction of this world-class performing arts venue.

Donations for Buddy Holly Hall can be made online at LEPAA.org/donate.

Buddy Holly Hall will be privately operated, and entirely privately funded through donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, said Collins.

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Monday Morning Mailbag: Treadwell’s Progress, OTA Standouts, More – Vikings.com

Posted: at 6:06 am

Do you have a comment or question? Send it to the vikings.com Mailbag! Every Monday well post several comments and/or questions as part of the vikings.com Monday Morning Mailbag. Although we cant post every comment or question, we will reply to every question submitted.

Click hereto submit a comment or question to the mailbag. Remember to include your name and town on the email.

After watching the highlights from OTAs, I have seen Laquon Treadwell has been lining up against Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes a lot. In your opinion, is this a good sign that he will be lining up as the WR3 on game day? From the highlights, it seems like he has taken a very large step forward offseason. -- Theron Merrick

The coaches have given Treadwell an opportunity to win that job and hes done a good job of taking advantage of that opportunity. Theres no doubt that, for me, Treadwell has been a standout in the first six OTAs. Hes getting a lot of reps with Sam Bradford and he is usually the third guy in three-receiver sets. Hes had some great battles with Rhodes, too, which will only help him as he tries to take a big step forward in his second season. The arrow is definitely point up for Treadwell.

In your observations of rookie Dalvin Cook, what do you feel his greatest physical strengths will be running or receiving? Also, how would you rate his intellectual capabilities as a player? How well is he learning his roles, the playbook, etc.? -- Phillip Taylor

Cooks main contribution to the offense will be as a runner. I dont know if hell wind up being the lead back at some point this year, but he has all the makings and completely looks the part of a back who can be the lead dog. One of my favorite traits of his is his vision; he seems to be decisive in his cuts and hes rarely running into blockers or tacklers in practices. The speed with which hes playing tells me hes picking up the playbook just fine; he doesnt look like a guy who is out there thinking too much because hes overwhelmed by the mental part of the game.

Do you see any surprises so far in camp from the third or even fourth team in terms of players who might make the team based upon what you have seen? -- Bob Holan Jacksonville, FL

Take this with a grain of salt because weve only had six OTAs and these guys are running around in shorts, not pads. But Ive been impressed with DE Tashawn Bower, an undrafted free agent out of LSU. He has great size (6-5, 250) and length, and reminds me a lot of what Danielle Hunter looked like as a rookie. TE Nick Truesdell has made a lot of plays, as has rookie receiver Rodney Adams.

Since Cordarrelle Patterson has left, are there any rookies who might lead in the competition for the gunner spot on the punt team? -- Steve Wodke Woodbury, MN

A question about the competition for a gunner spot on the punt teamVikings fans are awesome. I love it! Steve is totally dialed into the team with that kind of question in the early part of June. This will be interesting to watch because weve seen Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer get creative with his gunners. Everson Griffen played gunner at one time, and of course Patterson emerged in that role last year. Marcus Sherels is one of the gunners, and hes the best gunner in the NFL for my money. A guy like Jerick McKinnon wouldnt surprise me, given Priefers creativity and McKinnons willingness to do whatever the team asks of him; he also has a great skill set for that kind of role. At this stage, though, its too early to tell and I wouldnt rule anyone out given Priefers creativity.

What player who was on the roster last year but is not on the roster this year will be the biggest void to fill? -- Kevin Willier California

Patterson has been the best kickoff returner in the NFL the last few seasons, so one could argue that position right off the bat. Id say Captain Munnerlyn in the nickel role and Chad Greenway as a starter at outside LB in the base defense is a big void, too. Given how often defenses are using a sub package in todays game, Id argue the nickel CB vacancy is the biggest void to fill, but Id also argue the Vikings have a great plan/contingency plan in place to fill that void with second-year player Mack Alexander and veteran Terence Newman in the fold.

With Sam Bradford healthy and Teddy rehabbing, what is the QB2 spot looking like? And QB3 for that matter? -- Blake Dufner Richmond, MN

Case Keenum was signed this offseason to be the backup and it looks for now as if hell be able to secure that job. Three-year pro Taylor Heinicke and undrafted rookie Wes Lunt are the other two QBs on the roster and Id guess Heinicke will go into training camp ahead of Lunt for the third quarterback job.

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The Hard Limits of Progress – Daily Reckoning

Posted: at 6:06 am

Until the 19th century, technological and economic progress advanced inch by agonizing inch.

The fastest transportation in A.D. 1776 was the fastest transportation in 1776 B.C. the horse.

Maritime commerce flowed to the fickle rhythms of wind and tide, as it had since the opening chapter.

Life was intensely agricultural.

Night was lit by candle and torch to the extent it was lit at all.

And economic growth?

The Western worlds annual growth rate through 1820 averaged a millimetric 0.06% a year, according to Angus Maddison, economic historian.

Thats 6% a century.

The history of global GDP per capita, 15002003:

The chart reveals three centuries of economic dusk.

Then in the mid-to-late-19th century, a light bulb flickered on literally

An unlikely series of inventions came along in the mid-to-late-19th century that raised the curtain on a golden age of technological and economic progress an era of such razzle-dazzle that had no equal in history.

The electric light bulb turned night into day. Electric power brought progress on a thousand fronts.

The railroad, steamship and internal-combustion engine finally put period to the homely plod of hoof and sail that paced transportation for millennia.

The telegraph, telephone and radio unhorsed the twin tyrannies of time and distance.

Industry exploded. So did populations. And cities.

The result was a special century of technological and economic progress, 18701970.

These inventions were so thunderous and so transformative that some argue their impact can never be equaled.

Robert Gordon is an economist at Northwestern University.

Last year he wrote a book called The Rise and Fall of American Growth. From which:

The economic revolution of 18701970 was unique in human history, unrepeatable because so many of its achievements could happen only once the revolutionary century after the Civil War was made possible by a unique clustering, in the late-19th century, of what we will call the Great Inventions What makes the period 18701970 so special is that these inventions cannot be repeated.

With a few notable exceptions, Gordon adds, the pace of innovation since 1970 has not been as broad or as deep as that spurred by the inventions of the special century.

It seems theres justice in this view.

The light bulb can only be invented once.

It can be improved, refined, brought within sight of the perfections.

But not reinvented. Edison remains on his throne.

And is it coincidence that broader American prosperity began petering around 1970 as the great inventions ran their course?

It is by no means the only answer. But perhaps a partial answer.

What truly astounds is the pace of it all.

They crammed more technological progress into that one special century than a previous dozen combined.

Man walked this ball some 40,000 years before he took his fledgling flight above the dunes of Kitty Hawk in 1903.

The 12-second flight managed about a dozen feet of altitude and 120 feet of distance.

Sixty-six years later, man was rocketing to the moon.

Impossible but there it is.

Has there been progress since 1970?

Only a fool would argue there hasnt.

But it seems more a progress of the margins a progress of efficiencies.

They can build a more efficient jet, for example.

But the jet that whisks you across the ocean at 563 mph is no faster than the jet that whisked your father across the ocean at 563 mph in 1958.

Its true they can make a better, faster car with every whistle and bell.

But cars had air conditioning as early as 1933. They were going over 100 mph by the end of the 1930s.

Progress at the margin.

In no way do we deny the reality of progress.

But we havent hatched the equivalent of the internal-combustion engine or the telephone not to mention electricity.

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel lamented in 2012 that:

Whether we look at transportation, energy, commodity production, food production that with the exception of computers, weve had tremendous slowdown.

Thiel concludes, pithily:

We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters.

We cant help but agree.

Its a counterfeit progress when someone in Kathmandu can follow the capers of Kim Kardashian on Twitter but burns the same gasoline that powered a Model T.

But is all this about to change? Are we in for another great technological revolution?

Some argue the worlds perched on the bleeding edge of revolutionary breakthroughs in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), computing and other technologies.

They claim the decades ahead will rival if not excel the special century.

German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab said the coming revolution will be bigger than anything the world has seen before It will be a tsunami compared with previous squalls.

A gust of rhetoric?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

James Altucher pins his hopes on the technologically based innovation economy currently taking shape.

Here is the future, James argues. Here is salvation.

In fact, he argues, The world will be fixed by the next generation of the economy.

Time will tell of course but we hope hes right.

Lord knows nothing else seems to be working

Regards,

Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning

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A’s Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly – SFGate – SFGate

Posted: at 6:06 am

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

As Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly

Shortstop Marcus Semien, who had wrist surgery April 18, began hitting off a tee on Monday, but he might not be back with the As this month.

Semien will need plenty of time to work his way back from a hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone, and when he goes on a rehab assignment within the next few weeks, it wont be just two or three games, according to manager Bob Melvin.

Position players can spend a maximum of 20 days on a minor-league rehab assignment, but Semien isnt expected to need that much time. A happy medium of a week or two is likely.

Melvin said that Semien is allowed only to hit with a light fungo bat so far, so hes searching around for the biggest fungo he can find, trying to simulate a bat. ... Its going to be more about holding him back - hes got a target in his mind when he wants to be playing. Hes eager, he wants to be moving along. He wants to get out there as quickly as he can.

Semien is eligible to come off the DL on June 14, and Melvin said Semien really would like to be back for the Marcus Semien action figure giveaway night, which is June 18. Thats when he wants to play but I dont know if that will be the case, Melvin said. I hate to put a number on it but I would say June is probably going to be tough.

Melvin said that starters Kendall Graveman (shoulder) and Chris Bassitt (Tommy John surgery) are improving but neither has resumed throwing.

Reliever Bobby Wahl (shoulder) said he is not yet throwing, either, but he is getting treatment and is strengthening the shoulder and hes feeling much better. Initially, he was having trouble even washing his hair, but he said within a week of going on the DL last month he was able to do all everyday activity.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser

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