Monthly Archives: January 2020

Hank Azaria says he won’t voice Apu on The Simpsons anymore after controversy – The Week Magazine

Posted: January 18, 2020 at 11:30 am

Some major changes are apparently coming to Springfield.

Hank Azaria has revealed he'll longer voice Apu on The Simpsons, telling /Film, "All we know there is I won't be doing the voice anymore, unless there's someway to transition it or something."

The Simpsons faced renewed criticism over Apu since the release of the 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, in which comedian Hari Kondabolu and others discuss the character who Kondabolu has described as "a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father."

The documentary sparked a conversation about whether The Simpsons should write out the character some view as an offensive Indian stereotype, though others suggested keeping Apu but recasting Azaria with an Indian voice actor. Azaria, who also voices other characters on the show like Moe and Chief Wiggum, appeared to allude to that option Friday by referencing a possible "transition." But while Azaria said it's "up to them and they haven't sorted it out yet," he made clear that "I won't do the voice anymore," also saying, "We all made the decision together."

The Simpsons previously addressed the criticism over Apu in a meta 2018 episode, in which Lisa, looking directly at the camera, says, "Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect." She then looks at a picture of Apu and asks, "What can you do?" Marge and Lisa, again addressing the audience, promise this will be "dealt with at a later date," "if at all." That later date is evidently coming up.

Azaria previously expressed his willingness to step down from the role of Apu, saying on The Late Show, "the idea that anybody who is young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad." No official announcement about the future of the character has been made. Brendan Morrow

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Morning Report: Gompers Teachers Union Effort Hits a Snag – Voice of San Diego

Posted: at 11:30 am

An ongoing unionization effort at Gompers Preparatory Academy has led to infighting between the schools divided teacher corps and its administration.

Gompers is a charter school serving more than a thousand middle and high schoolers. It has been lauded for its push to help under-served student groups get into college, but tarnished by reports of grade inflation.

A majority of Gompers teachers voted to unionize last year, but now some 30 percent of the schools teachers are trying to get the new union decertified, reports Ashly McGlone. Any decision about whether the union can be removed may be a long time away, however.

Thats because of other grievances surrounding the union. The Gompers union has filed an unfair practice charge against the schools administration. The union alleges that the schools administration bargained in bad faith, retaliated against a teacher and tried to dissuade employees from becoming union members.

That formal complaint could essentially delay any decertification vote from taking place.

The union is seeking, among other things, higher pay. Average pay for San Diego Unified School District teachers hovers around $80,800, but pay at Gompers was around $56,400.

A lawyer for one of the teachers who wants the union decertified accused the union of legal trickery to trap teachers in a union they oppose by blocking their right to hold a decertification election.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer promised to continue to focus on addressing the citys homelessness and housing crises in his final State of the City address on Wednesday night.

And he said he was done being politically correct about homelessness.

What Im talking about tonight is obvious to almost anyone walking our streets but considered politically incorrect by many insiders. These are ideas that most people in power actually believe in, but are afraid to say, let alone do, Faulconer said. Drug laws that hurt people, tragic mental illness, public health scares, a historic housing shortage They all must be addressed to solve the homeless crisis.

Faulconer committed Wednesday to championing reforms to state policies he said have hampered cities ability to aid homeless Californians struggling with addiction. He did not elaborate on the specifics of those efforts Wednesday night but cited Proposition 47, which reduced many drug crimes to misdemeanors, and Proposition 57, which led to an overhaul of the states prison parole system.

The mayor said he also plans to work with county officials to open a county-run shelter, move people with substance abuse issues into residential care and deploy mental health teams at existing city shelters. County spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests from VOSD about those initiatives on Wednesday night.

On Faulconers watch, the city has ramped up police enforcement affecting homeless San Diegans, an approach that advocates and the citys new homelessness action plan have scrutinized. Hes also vastly expanded homeless services in the city and pursued a slew of reforms to try to address lagging housing production, particularly for middle-class and low-income San Diegans.

Faulconer pledged to stay committed to those efforts in his final year in office.

He said he plans to push forward this spring a series of reforms hes dubbed his Complete Communities initiative that are meant to encourage more homebuilding citywide, particularly near transit stops.

The mayor also encouraged city voters to back Measure C, a March hotel-tax measure that would fund a Convention Center expansion, homeless initiatives and road repairs. He noted that the measure would provide the citys first dedicated funding for homelessness and road repairs and pay for a Convention Center expansion supporters have said would bolster the local economy.

If you cant believe this is the 10th State of the City when a mayor talks about the Convention Center expansion, you can make it the last time by voting yes on Measure C, Faulconer joked.

Californias homeless crisis has provoked many tense, uncomfortable discussions but rarely are the fears laid out as openly as they were during an Encinitas forum last week about a city decision to open a safe parking lot for homeless people with cars.

Kayla Jimenez was there and reports that it got tense. Speakers complained that the city, among other things, was misusing taxpayer funds and putting child safety at risk. One resident even called for the removal of the four Council members whod approved the lot.

County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar did not organize the event, but she emerged as its leader. She called the lot well-intentioned but misguided. Proponents of the lot say the program will focus on getting residents into permanent housing, but Gaspar disagreed.

I fundamentally believe that housing will not end homelessness, she said. It is a community that will.

Michael McConnell, a homeless advocate in San Diego who attended the meeting, called the event a whole new low.

Chula Vistas city attorney is backing away from a proposal to use new tax dollars to hire more people in his office who can aid with criminal charges against illegal pot shops. When Chula Vista residents approved Measure A in 2018, they did so on the promise that the money would be primarily spent on police officers and firefighters.

The U-T reports that City Attorney Glen Googins informed elected officials this week he was surprised by the intensity of the pushback. In a hand-written letter, District Attorney Summer Stephan urged the Chula Vista City Council not to go forward with the hires, in part, because her office is already responsible for prosecuting crime in the South Bay.

Because the sales tax money goes into the general fund, it can be used on any lawful municipal purpose. Last month, Googins told a financial oversight committee that his proposal to hire a paralegal and investigator remained within the spirit of Measure A.

The Morning Report was written by Jesse Marx, Lisa Halverstadt and Will Huntsberry, and edited by Sara Libby.

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Apple v. Attorney General Barr: Giving feds access to smartphones is a bad call | TheHill – The Hill

Posted: at 11:30 am

It is easy to be sympathetic to Attorney General Bill Barrs frustration with Apple just as it was easy to be sympathetic in 2016, when the Justice Department was equally frustrated with the tech giant after jihadists in San Bernardino murdered 14 innocent people.

This time, another jihadist, Saudi air force lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, murdered three members of the U.S. Navy and wounded several others after opening fire at a naval training base in Pensacola, Fla. The jihadist was in possession of two iPhones. He was sufficiently concerned about the contents of one that, during the firefight in which he was killed, he took the time to place it on the floor and fire a round into it, obviously hoping to destroy its contents. But the FBIs adept technicians have the phones working again.

Theres just one problem the same problem that plagued the San Bernardino investigation: The investigators cannot get access to the phones contents without the passwords.

The presumption, just like last time, is that Apple has the trade-secret algorithm that would unlock the phones without triggering any defensive privacy programs. Such a program might erase the contents after a few unsuccessful attempts to break the code, were the FBI to try.

Apple, yet again, is reluctant to help the bureau. And, just as I argued in the San Bernardino case, the company is making an important point. In fact, notwithstanding my admiration for the attorney general and my sympathy for his effort to protect the country, it is a point that has gotten stronger in the ensuing four years. That owes to the governments misconduct and its arrogant indifference to the rights of Americans and the authority of Congress to conduct oversight.

Lets first rehearse the liberty and privacy stakes. These are usually given short shrift, if they are mentioned at all, because these disputes between the states investigators and private tech firms invariably arise after some horrific incident, which we badly want law enforcement to solve.

Its a natural response, but it gives us tunnel vision.

It is not the presumption of our constitutional society that the state is entitled to every private actors assistance in solving crime, nor that the peoples privacy rights are limited by the states claimed need to breach them whenever it declares some emergency. On the contrary, in our republic, the people are sovereign. The government does not have an inherent power to press private actors into its service. (An exception is military service in wartime because, as the Supreme Court observed during World War I, the Constitution expressly empowers Congress to raise armies.)

When legitimate privacy interests exist, it is the governments burden to overcome them, not the publics to justify them. The government is the servant, not the master, and very often the master tells the government no, regardless of how dire the emergency appears to be. The state does not get to ride roughshod over, say, the privilege against self-incrimination, the attorney-client privilege, or the spousal privilege just because its investigators really, really need the information for the purported greater good of solving a case, or even protecting lives.

These are not easy questions, consideration of which is confined to public-safety cases. They have broad implications, calling for excruciating cost-benefit analyses. In modern society, terrorists and dangerous criminals make up a negligible percentage of information-technology consumers. Vastly more common are innocent interlocutors. So are corporations, health care providers and financial institutions, responsible for safeguarding business records, identification data, intellectual property, trade secrets, medical information, financial assets, credit transactions and power grids, to say nothing of protecting their own formulas for thwarting hackers, fraudsters, identity thieves and so on.

In any society with such a premium on information exchange, and therefore such vulnerability to the compromise of vital or personal information, privacy is not merely a desire. It is a valuable commodity. It would be commercial suicide for Apple to ignore that fact to fail to appreciate that, if a tech company shows insufficient zeal in safeguarding its customers privacy, the customers will shop elsewhere.

The government does not want to hear this, but it has made the situation immeasurably less attractive for companies inclined to cooperate. In an era of increasing regulation and criminalization, the unintended revelation of private information can lead to prosecution and civil liability. Crusading state attorneys general use the power to compel production of sensitive information as a painful financial weapon.

In the post-9/11 era, moreover, government has become cavalier about privacy rights, rationalizing that mass intrusions on law-abiding citizens are the necessary price for minimizing the chance of a terrorist attack, and for avoiding the politically-incorrect use of more discriminating surveillance that would spur complaints about profiling.

The public largely tolerated this approach as long as it believed that the threat was severe, and that the government was sincerely confining its efforts to counterterrorism. Over time, however, as 9/11 has faded from memory, the perception of threat is not profound. Indeed, many entering college today were not yet born when those attacks happened. Perhaps more significantly, the government has serially abused and politicized its investigative powers.

The most worrisome aspect of the Russia collusion caper is the erosion of trust in government investigators. National security is one aspect of governance in which our agencies must be able acquire and use intelligence covertly if the mission is to be accomplished. They have to be able to look the public in the eye and say, You can trust us to wield these awesome powers responsibly to use them only for their intended purpose of protecting the American people.

When these awesome powers are used, instead, for political purposes, or to interfere in our electoral process or when the government makes misrepresentations to courts and harvests the sensitive communications data of innocent people then the public becomes convinced that the government cannot be trusted to respect privacy.

And when no one is ever held accountable when officials close ranks to castigate and frustrate examination of their agencies performance the public is apt to say the government cant be trusted with new powers to intrude on privacy. Americans and their congressional representatives may even decide that the powers already conferred need to be reconsidered.

I worry about this a lot. I worked on terrorism cases. Attorney General Barr is right to suggest that we cannot protect the country without robust investigative authorities, and without the cooperation of public-spirited private actors.

It would be nice if Apple could help the Pensacola investigation without weighing all the competing concerns, and if the Justice Department could afford to make its demands for investigative assistance without self-awareness of its role these last years in fueling public skepticism. But that is not the world were living in.

The government does not have an absolute right to commandeer private assistance and intrude on privacy. And tech companies cannot create a backdoor for good-faith investigators to breach the confidentiality of jihadists without making everybodys confidentiality vulnerable to bad actors, who will figure out how to exploit that backdoor.

This is not a problem for Apple to solve. Nor is it a problem for the courts and the Justice Department to navigate based on case-by-case exigencies. It is a difficult challenge in which Congress needs to weigh all the competing concerns and enact a solution if there is one.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow atNational Review Institute, a contributing editor at National Review, and a Fox News contributor. His latest book is Ball of Collusion. Follow him on Twitter@AndrewCMcCarthy.

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Henry Golding loved cursing in Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’ – Toronto Sun

Posted: at 11:30 am

NEW YORK Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding breaks into a laugh as he tries to explain his meteoric career trajectory that has seen him go from being a travel host to rom-com leading man to foul-mouthed villain in Guy Ritchies gangster romp, The Gentlemen out this Friday.

Its crazy isnt it? Golding muses as a wedge of sunlight pushes its way into a suite of a midtown Manhattan hotel.

The 32-year-old British-Malaysian actor, who just a few years ago was working in New Zealand for the BBC and Discovery Channel Asia, was plucked out of obscurity to play Nick Young in 2018s crowd-pleaser Crazy Rich Asians. He then played Blake Livelys husband in the thriller A Simple Favor. Just a few months ago, Golding starred opposite Emilia Clarke in the frothy holiday rom-com Last Christmas.

This week, hes back onscreen as the Chinese gangster, Dry Eye, opposite an ensemble cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell and Michelle Dockery.

McConaughey plays Mickey Pearson, an American heavily invested in the London drug trade who is looking for a way out. Goldings Dry Eye is one of several villains angling to take over his business.

Ive played fairly similar characters to who I am as a person, Golding says. Nick Young (Crazy Rich Asians) and Tom Webster (Last Christmas) are very happy-go-lucky guys who wont let much put them down. But then this character in The Gentlemen, he has a big chip on his shoulder He thinks he can muscle in on something. So playing Dry Eye was a licence to let go.

After his success behind the camera for Disneys live-action Aladdin last year, The Gentlemen marks Ritchies return to the fast-paced crime comedies he became famous for at the beginning of his career, including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

He dipped his toe back in with (2008s) RocknRolla, but I dont think that film hit the same patina Lock, Stock and Snatch had. The Gentlemen is definitely in the vein of those two earlier pictures This throws it back to those classic Guy movies.

After a whirlwind weekend in New York, Golding is heading back to Japan where hes in the midst of filming the lead role in Paramounts G.I. Joe spinoff Snake Eyes.

Golding says the variety of projects and the diverse directors hes worked with has made him want to be more than just a rom-com star, but so far being in front of the camera has been a dream come true.

Its crazy, because I used to stay up with my friends, after a house party and wed stick in Snatch and wed all just watch and crack up all the way through. I dont know how many times Ive watched that film, but its countless now Im working with Guy Ritchie, he says, grinning.

On an unseasonably warm January morning, Golding traced his arc from hairdresser to box office star, mused on the politically incorrect barbs he and his castmates hurl in The Gentlemen and told us why critics were wrong about Last Christmas.

Youve been having a great couple of months. First Last Christmas, which my wife and I had a fun time watching, and now The Gentlemen.

Last Christmas was definitely a crowd-pleaser. Not much of a critic-pleaser (laughs). But Ive had much more of a response off of the backend of Last Christmas than Crazy Rich Asians. It really meant so much to people It was lovely. Moviegoers understood what it was. Its just that bubbly sort of Christmas movie thats like eating a pile of chocolate. You just cant help but love it.

So you were nice guy Tom Webster in Last Christmas and now youre the baddie Dry Eye in The Gentlemen. What was that transition like?

I was filming both of them in London during the same time. One day I was Tom Webster and I woke up the next day and I had to play Dry Eye. But it was less challenging than people would think. It was a lot of fun to play someone so far from my own reality.

Henry Golding as the villainous Dry Eye in Guy Ritchies The Gentlemen. (VVS Films)

What was the best part of playing the villain?

In this case, the barrage of swear words (laughs). Just being able to reel off as many profanities as you can possibly think of in the most creative ways was immense fun. Thats what Guys films are about. Theyre about trying to insult the other person in funny ways. Its what we grew up with watching Snatch and Lock, Stock theyve got so many classic one-liners that we can quote to this day. So working in that environment, especially alongside Matthew and Michelle, was phenomenal. It was one of my favourite experiences Ive had.

Why do you think those early Guy Ritchie gangster movies still resonate?

Some of the scenes in Lock, Stock and Snatch had never been done in British cinema. So when it came to heist movies, he was definitely a trendsetter in that sense. The only other British director from that time that was creating groundbreaking movies in a similar vein was Danny Boyle with 28 Days Later.

Some of the early reviews for The Gentlemen have talked a lot about the films political incorrectness. But thats the world Guy Ritchie is playing in. It wouldnt have occurred to me that some people could take offense.

You know what these films are about. Back in the early days, no one would have complained about the political incorrectness. But now, people are a lot more sensitive, and while they are entitled to their opinion, this is a world which is exaggerated and its full of the bottom of the barrel characters, who arent going to be nice to you. If you met any of the people in this movie, theyd insult you in the most demeaning manner.

Sometimes thats casual racism or sexism or things like that. Youd be fooling people to pretend that doesnt happen. But you have to take it with a pinch of salt. Its entertainment. Its not meant to be seen as a racist film. Everyone in this movie is giving as good as they get. All these characters are, in my words, c- trying to kill each other. Of course theyre going to be nasty Look, we can talk about it til were blue in the face, but its not for everyone (laughs). Thats all I can say. But if youre not too sensitive, youre going to have the time of your life. Its a hoot. Its just a lot of fun.

Two years ago, people hadnt been introduced to you yet. Tell me about your crazy rise?

I dont know how to explain it. It feels earned, for sure. I can safely say that I have worked so hard at doing the best I can and adapting as quickly as possible to this. People often dont realize how much work goes into making a movie, not only the production part, but this part. Coming out, flying 12 hours, getting zero sleep, to promote a movie for three days, non-stop. They see the clips and the interviews, and maybe they think it looks easy.

You not only have to be able to do your job in front of the camera, you have to be able to function inside a marketing machine. But, in terms of the movies, Ive been able to work with some amazing filmmakers. Paul (Feig) twice, John (M. Chu), Guy (Ritchie), Hong Khaou, Robert Schwentke. After this, Im just excited to get myself involved in more eventful movies and Snake Eyes is going to be huge.

Speaking of Snake Eyes, what can fans expect of that movie?

This is an origin story. Its interesting because you have the long-time fans and they have a vision of Snake Eyes in their head, and thats a character that theyve loved for years and years. So, of course, we want to be able to do justice to them. But, at the same time, we want to bring something fresh to it as well. I think weve been able to create a balance within Robert Schwentkes script that pays homage, but at the same time creates our own identity.

You became famous at 30 years old after being a hairdresser and a TV presenter. What was the best part of finding fame as an older person?

I think it helped that I had been able to live a regular existence. You often hear of young stars who get a little taken away by it all. I know that if it all ends tomorrow, Id be pretty fing happy. It wouldnt be as fun, but Id still be going to the cinema to watch movies.

Of course Id be longing to be back in this industry, but Ive had many careers. I was a hairdresser, I was a journalist, and I was a television presenter. Now Im a movie star. Where it goes from here? I dont know. Im just along for the ride.

But I give 110% to it. Thats why I think I can be successful at it. The dedication is real. I think a lot of people, if you just throw yourself into whatever it is you want to do and do the best job and expend the most energy you possibly can, you can succeed at most things. Or at least thats what I hope.

The Gentlemen opens Friday.

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Uyghur Real Estate Magnate Confirmed Jailed Along With Brothers, at Least 20 Employees – Radio Free Asia

Posted: at 11:30 am

The Uyghur head of a successful real estate firm in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and two of his brothers have been confirmed jailed on charges including extremism, along with at least 20 of his employees, according to official sources.

Ekber Imin, the 51-year-old head of the Guzel Makan (Beautiful Land) Real Estate firm, as well as several other companies, in the seat of the XUARs Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture went missing in mid-2018, a Uyghur source living in exile in Turkey told RFAs Uyghur Service, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

The source said that Imin, who was also known as Ekber Dalu, first became wealthy working in the jade trade and had been targeted by authorities after he amassed more than 1 million yuan (U.S. $146,000).

While investigating the whereabouts of Imin, RFA learned from publicly available records that Guzel Makan, which also had dealings with foreign entities, was established in 2007 and had total combined assets of 13.3 million yuan (U.S. $1.9 million).

RFA recently called the Hotan City Public Security Bureau and spoke with a staff member who said they were not familiar with this situation, when asked about Imins disappearance.

An employee with the citys Tax Bureau told RFA that she was unable to answer questions like this when asked whether Guzel Makan was still operating, due to an order issued by the Public Security Bureau, and referred further inquiries to her superiors.

However, a third source, who used to work with a Hotan prefectural legal and political bureau, told RFA in an interview that Imin owned some 30 16-story apartment buildings in Hotan city which together are known as the Baht (Happiness) Apartment Complex, and cited a colleage as saying that he had been imprisoned for reasons that were not immediately clear.

It was about two years ago that they said hed been taken, said the source, who also declined to provide his name, adding that, Where he is, where hes gone, whats happened to himI know nothing.

We heard 25 years, the former legal worker said, referring to the length of Imins sentence.

When asked whether the nature of Imins business had led to his imprisonment, the former legal worker said he was unsure, but that he heard that the company had foreign ties.

Everyone, young and old, knows about [his sentence], he said.

RFA also spoke with a police officer in Hotan city who said he had heard from members of his social circle that Imin was detained, but was unsure when.

They detained him when he was going through a [border] checkpoint, he said, without specifying which one. The XUAR shares borders with Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and the region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is the subject of a territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and China.

The police officer said he believed Imin had been sentenced for life, but admitted that he did not know for sure.

Brothers and staffers

However, a police officer at Hotans Ilchi Market told RFA that not only Imin, but his brothersMemetturdi Imin, 56, and Memetjan Imin, 48were jailed along with at least 20 of Imins employees.

The police officer said that one of the crimes Imin was convicted for was propagating extremist ideology by incorporating ethnic and religious elements into building designs.

I am aware that drivers and staffers of Ekber Imin and his brothers were sentenced, but I dont know the exact number, he said, adding that some of them are serving sentences in a prison run by the Bingtuana name used to refer to the quasi-military Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

Ekber and his brothers were sentenced for five different reasons. One was providing so-called cover for a criminal. Memetturdi Imin provided housing to a [camp] detainee who had been released. He was arrested for that reason.

Other sources also confirmed that Imins brothers and staffers had also been either sentenced or sent to camps.

There were two people from our township who had worked at Ekber Imins company and I attended their court hearing, a ruling Communist Party secretary from Hotan citys Ilchi township told RFA, without providing a date for the proceedings.

There were two sessions. One was related to Ekber Imins case. In that case, more than 30 were sentenced.

A businessman from Hotan city who is familiar with the Imins told RFA he knew that Imins two brothers had each been sentenced to 20 years in prison, but I dont know about the names and number of their partners who were jailed.

Another businessman from Hotan prefecture said that seven people, including Ekber Imin, his brothers, and business partners, were sentenced in the last months of 2018.

They are serving their sentences in a prison in Aksu (Akesu) prefecture, he added.

Recent sentences

Last month, sources told RFA that one of the wealthiest Uyghurs in Hotan prefecture had been confirmed jailed for life after his whereabouts were unknown for more than three years, and that dozens of his relatives and employees had also been sentenced to prison.

Eli Abdulla, the CEO of Xinjiang Yu Cheng (Jade City) Real Estate Development Ltd.a company based in the XUAR capital Urumqi that deals in real estate, development, and rentals, as well as the sale of construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and mechanical equipmentwent missing in mid-2016, and was believed to have been arrested by authorities and sentenced a year later.

His situation could not be confirmed amid an information clampdown in the XUAR, where authorities are believed to have detained some 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities accused of harboring strong religious views and politically incorrect ideas in a vast network of internment camps since April 2017. Camp incarcerations are largely extra-judicial decisions.

In September 2018, multiple reports from official media said that Chinas central government had ordered local authorities to investigate the finances of all owners of private companies throughout the XUAR, at the same time that internment camps were being built in the region.

According to the directive, the reports said, private business owners were required to fill out declaration forms at the time that provided detailed financial information about their assets and submit them to relevant government departments, where they were subjected to strict review.

Reported by Shohret Hoshur. Translated by Alim Seytoff, Mamatjan Juma, and Elise Anderson. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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What is cloud computing | IBM

Posted: at 11:29 am

Enterprises eager to undergo digital transformations and modernize their applications are quick to see the value of adopting a cloud computing platform. They are increasingly finding business agility or cost savings by renting software. Each cloud computing service and deployment model type provides you with different levels of control, flexibility and management. Therefore, its important to understand the differences between them.

Common convention points to public cloud as the delivery model of choice. But, when considering the right architecture of cloud computing for your applications and workloads, you must begin by addressing the unique needs of your business.

This can include many factors, such as government regulations, security, performance, data residency, service levels, time to market, architecture complexity, skills and preventing vendor lock-in. Add in the need to incorporate the emerging technologies, and you can see why IT leaders are challenging the notion that cloud computing migration is easy.

At first glance, the types of cloud computing seem simple: public, private or a hybrid mix of both. In reality, the choices are many. Public cloud can include shared, dedicated and bare metal delivery models. Fully and partially managed clouds are also options. And, in some cases, especially for existing applications where architectures are too complex to move or the cost-benefit ratio is not optimal, cloud may not be the right choice.

The right model depends on your workload. You should understand the advantages and disadvantages of each cloud deployment model and take a methodical approach to determining which workloads to move to which type of cloud for the maximum benefit.

Dive deeper into specific cloud service and deployment models, cloud computing architecture and cloud computing examples

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Top 7 emerging hybrid cloud computing trends to watch in 2020 – Express Computer

Posted: at 11:29 am

By Nitin Mishra

Cloud computing industry is evolving at a lightning speed with new trends and developments emerging every year. However, one thing has become quite clearthe future of cloud is hybrid. Combining the higher security for mission-critical applications that comes with private cloud with the flexibility and scalability offered by public cloud, hybrid cloud promises organizations the best of the both worlds.

Given the advantages, hybrid cloud has emerged as the preferred implementation model that will drive the progression of the cloud industry. This trend is corroborated by the findings of the research firm Gartner, which reveals that 77% of enterprise global infrastructure decision makers that are planning, implementing, or upgrading cloud technology say that they are in a hybrid cloud environment.

As hybrid cloud space continues to mature, it is undergoing a rapid evolution. Lets look at some definitive trends that will define the hybrid cloud future in the coming year:

Consistent hybrid experienceThe talks around hybrid cloud being the future have been doing rounds for quite some time. The year 2020 will see that turn into reality. With new innovations in hybrid cloud space, organizations will be able to ensure seamless experience across the environment instead of looking at public cloud and on-premise or private cloud as separate pieces. Organizations will be able to move past the latency challenges and experience truly consistent hybrid experience.

Hybrid multicloud on the riseOrganizations across industries are picking and mixing technologies and services from multiple cloud providers as per their specific business needs to avoid vendor lock-in and gain from the best-of-the-breed capabilities. As multiple cloud providers get added to the public piece of hybrid cloud puzzle, hybrid multicloud will become the new IT normal. Using a mix of on-premise and/or private / public cloud from multiple providers, hybrid multicloud offers organizations freedom and flexibility to run their workload on-permise or cloud and even change cloud providers, if required. Further, a hybrid multicloud approach enables organizations to adopt common management and software development capabilities across the environment. Through 2020, hybrid multicloud will emerge as a dominant trend that will shape the cloud industry. As per McKinsey & Company, hybrid, multicloud is set to be a USD 1.2 trillion market opportunity by 2022.

Edge computing gains greater relevance in hybrid cloud strategiesEdge computing, a model where computations are performed as close as possible to the sources and sinks of data and content, will become a critical element of hybrid cloud strategies. Combination capabilities of hybrid cloud and edge computing brings a great value proposition for organizations, wherein hybrid cloud ecosystem can be used to aggregate most relevant data and back-end functions, while edge can support processing and real-time analytics. In 2020, as number of IoT devices increase, more and more enterprises will tap into the advantage of edge with hybrid cloud model to discover key business insights.

Containerization continues to riseIndustry pundits are widely recognizing containers as the core of an effective hybrid cloud model due to their capabilities to provide consistency, regardless whether a workload is deployed on-premise or on one or more clouds. Containers simplify deployment, management, and operational concerns associated with a hybrid cloud, helping organizations to maximize the business value from their hybrid cloud strategy. In 2020, while containers will not become mainstream, we can expect stronger adoption. With every tech giant introducing platforms to simplify deployment and management of clusters, organizations will consider tapping into the power of containers in making hybrid cloud heterogenous and workload agnostic.

Hyperconverged infrastructure for hybrid cloud gains tractionHyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is emerging as a best match to support the hybrid environment as it addresses the biggest concern with the environmentincreased complexity. HCI enables organizations to integrate cloud into their environments by eliminating the need to manage compute, storage and network resources as separate tiers. Organizations gain the ability to manage everything from a single pane of glass. Further, pre-integrated, consolidated compute and storage resources of HCI solutions enable cloud implementations to run faster, scale higher and respond quicker. As hybrid cloud continues to gain momentum, HCI solutions are evolving in order to align with the needs of hybrid cloud world. In 2020, expect more and more organizations to run their hybrid cloud on HCI, which according to industry watchers, will eventually become the go-to infrastructure platform for hybrid cloud.

DR and backup requirements will spur hybrid cloud adoptionIn todays always-on business scenario, effective DR and backup has become more important than ever to ensure business continuity and data safety. Providing scalability, flexibility and cost efficiency, a hybrid cloud approach for DR and backup can prove extremely beneficial for businesses. DR is complex and cost and resource-intensive activity, hence cloud-based DR and backup is emerging as a viable option. Using hybrid cloud model enables organizations to have the secondary off-site backup location in the cloud, which is way more effective than traditional storage, while having the flexibility to host sensitive data on private network and meeting compliance requirements. Increasing DR and backup requirements will continue to drive hybrid cloud adoption through 2020.

Stronger uptake for hybrid cloud managed servicesIn 2020, a large number of organizations will partner with cloud service providers to define and determine the optimum approach to cloud management. Organizations will choose providers to handle complexities associated with hybrid cloud and effectively manage instances across cloud providers and hosted on various deployment models (private cloud and on-premise). Cloud providers offering a combination of robust Cloud Management Platform and Managed Services will emerge as preferred partners on account of their capabilities to help organizations ensure a single view and holistic and seamless experience of their hybrid infrastructure.

As we enter a new decade, cloud is certainly braver and stronger than ever before. Hybrid cloud will continue to grow and evolve to offer organizations more flexibility and consistency and help them speed up application deployment cycle.

(The author is the Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Product Officer, NTT-Netmagic)

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Top 7 emerging hybrid cloud computing trends to watch in 2020 - Express Computer

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Socionext Side Steps the Pitfalls of Cloud Computing with New Edge Computing Devices – News – All About Circuits

Posted: at 11:29 am

Socionextrecently partnered with Foxconn Technology Group and Network Optix to produce a newsolution for edge computing, the BOXiedge. But what drives this multicore, edge-computing server and how does its SoC point to the trend in edge computing?

Cloud computing has its disadvantages: latency, security vulnerability, and unreliable network connection. These disadvantages have given rise to edge computing. Edge computing allows IoT devices to run AI algorithms that are trained on the cloud.

Socionext claims that BOXidege is one such edge computingsolution. The fanless deviceincludesa 24-core mini-server that uses 30 watts of power. The BOXiedge is designed for edge computing applications that require intelligence, including factory automation, retail, agriculture, and digital health.

By using many cores on a local system that is capable of running AI algorithms, users will not need to rely ona stable,secure internet connection. Sensitive data is also stored locally on the server, improving security.

A deeper dive into the processor that drives the BOXidege may illustratehow the virtues of edge computingare reflected in the hardware design.

The SynQuacer SC2A11 is a 24-core, 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53clocked at 1GHz. The SoC includesthree levels of cache with 4MB of L3, DDR4 RAM, PCIe, and LAN.

It also includesvarious IOs including UART, I2C, and GPIO.

Each core has two processorstwo levels of cachewhile the L3 cache is used in theinterconnects with all the cores. The SC2A11 is scalable, supporting 64 devices in parallela total possible core count of 1,536.

Designed for power efficiency (specifically, 5W),the SC2A11 is aimed at servers,industrial applications, and edge computing applications. The many cores are said to allow large amounts of data to be processed simultaneously.

The SC2A11 is housed in a metal lid BGA package, measuring 30mm x 30mm. This compact designmakes it a useful option for applications requiring a large number of cores. Several security features are also integrated into the SC2A11, including OPAL andan ethernet processor. Socionext also offersan evaluation board for the device.

The evaluation board includes the SC2A11 with multiple DDR4 memory slots and various I/O.

Microcontrollers are oftengeared for processing a single task.

The SC2A11, however, demonstrates that microcontrollers may take a new direction:multicore designs. While the SC2A11 is a dramatic example of a multicore SoC, it does show how designs are being influenced by edge computing.

The demand for more secure systemsand lower-latency devices (such as those required in self-driving vehicles) emphasizes the utility of parallel designs. It's likely that this focus on security and latency will influence futuremicrocontrollers, including the integration of multiple cores and AI co-processors.

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Exploring the Future of Cloud Computing in 2020 and Beyond – G2

Posted: at 11:29 am

Cloud computing has become a fundamental requirement for most organizations.

With this in mind, cloud computing is massively on the rise in the current day and age. In fact, 81 percent of companies with 1,000 employees or more have a multi-platform strategy. The number is to rise to more than 90 percent by 2024. Between 2018 and 2021, worldwide spending on public cloud services is to grow to 73 percent, from $160B to $277B.

Cloud computing has been around for so many years, and this sudden growth might surprise a lot of the industry players.

Cloud computing became a phenomenon in the early 2000s. However, due to the lack of awareness about the potential of technology, many brands hesitated to adopt it for their products and processes. Bart McDonough, CEO of Agio, believes the recent rapid adoption of cloud is mainly due to the understanding of ease of use and scalability of the technology.

As organizations expand their understanding of the enormous benefits of cloud computing, they are now more willing to conduct workload tests on cloud and even migrate entire applications to the cloud.

Let's take a look at some major moments in cloud computing's recent history.

Since cloud computing simplifies the process of monitoring resource consumption, the brands were able to use it for development and services delivery with a much higher level of confidence. Gradually, real-time streaming services started processing data over the cloud. Capitalizing on the opportunity, Microsoft launched Power BI, a business analytics and intelligence tool with comprehensive interactive visualization.

Tech giants are always eager to unleash breakthroughs to dominate the industry. In October 2019, Google announced a Quantum Breakthrough that could revolutionize cloud computing. Google claims to achieve results that well beyond the limitations of conventional technology.

A quantum machine has significant implications in areas like artificial intelligence. It actually makes todays most powerful supercomputers look like toys. The Google device performs a mathematical calculation in fewer than three and a half minutes. In comparison, a modern supercomputer would require more than 10,000 years to complete the calculation. Thats not all.

Google launched Stadia, a cloud gaming service where users can stream and can play AAA games on the go. All processing is done on the cloud, and users can play the games without requiring specialized gaming hardware. This is a massive breakthrough for gamers who now do not have to invest in expensive hardware.

Kris is the CSO and Co-Founder of Egnyte. He is responsible for creating and implementing Egnyte's global information security and compliance management strategies, policies, and controls that protect all customers content and users.

He notes that the future of cloud computing is on its own very robust track that impacts everyone. The latest news about quantum computing indicates very early theoretical advances that will take many years before it is going to be available to the public. Eventually, the same advances in quantum computing may expand the scope of what is available via cloud computing in general.

The growth of cloud computing will only underscore the importance of getting people to focus on business value and customer acquisition first. The time and energy spent on foundational infrastructure requirements will be significantly offset by the core capabilities available immediately via cloud computing resources. As a result, key metrics like time to value will only become accelerated.

As cloud computing becomes mainstream, organizations are now moving toward adopting it into the in-house processes. As such, almost all industries are witnessing an increase in the use of cloud-based platforms and services.

Traditionally, all the marketing data/metrics (including campaign stats, strategy plan, number of engagement, etc.) were collected and reported separately. A marketer had to sit down with an analyst to connect all the dots to come up with a detailed picture that could then be used for setting up a future course of action.

A cloud-based marketing platform is an end-to-end digital marketing platform that integrates with marketing tools such as emails, analytics tools, and social management measurement tools. All integrated data helps marketers build and optimize marketing strategies. The cloud-based marketing solution also allows simplifies the execution and management of multi-channel campaigns (social media, mobile, email, and web).

The purpose of the marketing cloud platform is to help develop a great marketing strategy, improve customer engagement, and increase return on investment.

Gone are the days when the search for information required a library. These days, digitally-enabled classrooms to allow students to create and submit presentations online; attend classes remotely through web conferencing; and collaborate and participate in globally distributed projects.

Hospital records before the era of cloud-based health management systems were notorious for their bulk. To figure out a course of treatment, hospital staff has to wade through a mountain of forms and files to discover patient history from paper files. Fast forward to today, all data is on secure cloud solutions. Information sharing and access among all relevant stakeholders (medical professionals and insurance) is a breeze.

Cloud-based solutions ensure excellent and timely treatment without unnecessary delays. Recently a remote surgery was performed from thousand of miles away. Such innovation could revolutionize the healthcare industry.

RELATED: Read about other high technologies like artificial intelligence making noise in the world of healthcare.

The future is bright for cloud computing. Analysts at IDC estimate that the field will evolve rapidly in the coming years, with almost 75% of data operations will be carried out outside the normal data center. Moreover, 40% of organizations will deploy cloud technology, with edge computing becoming an integral part of the technological setup. Also, a quarter of end-point devices will be ready to execute AI algorithms by the year 2022.

Cloud computing facilitates businesses to focus on achieving their goals, with performance at the core, without any fuss. When a five-pronged cloud computing phenomenon that leverages flexibility, agility, security, mobility, and scalability combines with existing processes, the level of business performance rises to a new level. The idea is to help businesses get computational power they need, and how they want it to work for them, and move on.

Software development agencies tend to follow the agile framework. With a launch-and-learn mindset working to their advantage, they work on continuous integration of processes and delivery, meanwhile, publishing many open-source software.

Online security firms are now using zero-trust enterprise security model from Google, instead of the traditional firewall standards. This practice has led them to let users work remotely from any location on Earth, with approved devices. With a managed hosting service working behind-the-scenes, users do not have to bother about the network level access to secure their devices. Therefore, the devices security remains intact.

Data analytics firms now work on continuous data help businesses make informed decisions. The data is first fed into a machine learning system to get better results out of it. Today, every process has become continuous. This means we cant label any process or product as completely finished.

Even the transition into this new digital world is a continuous journey. There are always updates and iterations being released by the organizations, thus testifying the process is in a continuous flow.

Similarly, the security is not a fixed process, but rather it a steady flow of events, an ongoing practice that demands continuous upgrades. Also, data analytics is not just faster, but iterative. That being said, cloud computing calls for not just working faster, but working in a more efficient way. This is why cloud computing unleashes a completely new set of possibilities to think about and work within the technological environment.

This fact brings us to the point that technological transition has created a strong social impact, both within the organizations and the people whom these businesses work with.

Document sharing is one of the best examples of how collaborative technology works. It favors the continuous process of writing, editing, commenting, and publishing a document. Similarly, developing videos with a click of a button has strengthened the value of communication, thereby speeding up the actions.

Availability of rich data streams has transformed the way to design a prototype with an emphasis on personalization.

When it comes to product development lifecycles, cloud-connected objects are having a positive impact on the whole process, thereby forcing the organizations to make frequent updates to the software they offer to the users. New versions of highly effective subscription-based model is one such example. Last year, Tesla had to improve the brakes of the cars with an over-the-air download. This is an example how cloud-connected objects influenced an alteration in the hardware system of a car. Both these examples pinpoint the fact that today, customers have become more conscious about the products they buy.

This is why they want businesses to understand their wishes and pain points in advance and anticipate what they want next. This paradigm shift in the thinking of a common customer has raised the bar for competitors within the industry.

Businesses like logistics and supply chain have also embraced the technological shift. Such organizations are readily accepting streaming capabilities. Blockchains have triggered a revolution in real-time payments and virtual warehousing. Similarly, Uber-like delivery services have played their part in making the payment processes continuous. Shippabo is a company that optimizes route management and compliance to make operations fast, thanks to the cloud-based infrastructure.

Just a decade ago, no one could have imagined the specifications of the consoles and mobile devices that we use today. Similarly, the application of cloud in the form of the popular marketing cloud platforms, healthcare-based cloud platforms, and the emerging cloud-based educational applications are poised to change the way we work (and play) in the coming years.

With this rapid growth, all major processing and computational capabilities will soon move on to the cloud and the end-users will be able to leverage this power anywhere through an on-demand consumption model.

The best part? Users no longer have to invest in equipment because the cloud would take over the current endpoint hardware processing requirements. For brands, this opens up a whole new avenue of building computational and processing infrastructure that users could access through simple UI. The main challenge in this scenario is to ensure the sustained and consistent delivery of these services to a globally distributed user base and continue to provide value through new features and services.

As many futurists envision, cloud computing will give rise to a whole new breed of API and microservices that would become the main service/product delivery channel for the brands. This would simplify the process of development for the end users because now they can ship releases faster without getting bogged down into code writing issues.

Lets dive into some cloud computing trends making waves in 2020.

Quantum computing will transform the business world like never before. Companies like Google are leveraging the principles of quantum physics to make breakthroughs by developing next-generation products for the end users. The supercomputers are the best example of how quantum computing can work wonders if put into proper use. Corporations like IBM, Microsoft, Google, AWS are making efforts to gain competitive advantage over their competitors by adapting to the new quantum technology.

Quantum computers use the principles of quantum physics to perform complex algorithm calculations and process massive datasets in quick time. These powerful computers can be used to encrypt electronic communication and help in augmenting cybersecurity.

Financial institutions can use quantum computing to their advantage by making the transaction process faster. Consequently, this practice will save more time, making the process efficient. In quantum computing, data is stored in qubits, making the process much quicker, as qubits is a simpler form of data. Using quantum computing will also reduce any additional costs required to incur new resources to handle already optimized operations.

Automation helps business organizations improve their productivity without spending too much time and effort. The automation tools available to us have proved to be very important when it comes to addressing errors in business processes, meanwhile streamlining them to generate fruitful results.

For instance, developers can make changes to their websites hosted on the cloud before going live. If anything goes wrong, they can restore an older version of the website without affecting the sales process or user experience. As soon as the website goes live, it starts getting traffic. Opting for cloud means there will be more data consumption involved. Managing applications and routine tasks can become tedious. Developers can use automation to get rid of the manual process they have to use to carry out daily operations.

Many organizations take security for granted. They simply misunderstand the concept of cloud-based security. The high-ups in the organizations think that the cloud service provider must also be responsible to provide cloud security. Thats where the misunderstanding lies. The fact remains that the security compliance is a shared responsibility of all the stakeholders involved overseeing the security operations of the organization, by proper resource usage.

It is important to note that for a SaaS company the cloud service provider offers an extra layer of security along with the already built in features that come with the service package. In case of shared hosting, the user(s) must implement security measures and compliance to enhance the application of existing services and policies.

We live in the world of Internet of Things (IoT). With every device connected to the internet businesses now encourage use of IoT in almost every aspect of organizational operations. The IoT devices can leverage cloud computing as it offers, high speed, performance, flexibility, and ample storage space to keep the data safe, find resources, and share information among different users within the same space.

There is another phenomenon the Internet of Everything (IoE) an offshoot of IoT that helps us interact with each other via connected devices to a particular network. This concept is continuously evolving and it is about time when everything we use will be interconnected to an already populated network of devices.

The serverless paradigm is the next revolution in waiting, according to the CTO of Amazon. The concept of serverless paradigm relates to the fact that it facilitates cloud to execute a code snippet without any hassles for the developers.

Using this approach developers can divide software into chunks of code to upload on cloud to address customers desires, thereby delivering valuable experience. This practice ensures faster release cycle for software. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has already started using the serverless paradigm to its advantage.

As cloud computing continues to make inroads in enterprise worlds, all stakeholders are looking forward to the evolution of the model. As things stand today, almost every significant innovation such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, AR/VR, robotics, and IoT rely on cloud computing technology.

Its not just computational power, networking speed, or storage capacity that makes cloud computing great. Those are just operational metrics that better technology would eventually change and replace over time. The real value of technology is what it does, not what its made of.

While you're pondering the future of cloud computing and its benefits, find the best cloud file storage software on the marketplace to use today!

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Exploring the Future of Cloud Computing in 2020 and Beyond - G2

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How Alibaba plans to improve the Olympics with cloud computing – MarketWatch

Posted: at 11:29 am

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) Alibabas promise to the Olympic family is to bring its technological might to help organizers, broadcasters and fans.

The Chinese tech giants Olympic sponsorship deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and runs for 12 years, starting in 2017 and continuing through the upcoming Tokyo Games and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and into the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

We are not just putting the rings alongside our logo, Alibaba BABA, +1.56% chief marketing officer Chris Tung told The Associated Press in an interview at the Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, the IOCs home city. We also like to leverage our technology to help transform and upgrade the games. That is always what we have in mind by being a sponsor.

At this years Tokyo Olympics, broadcasters will gain the most from Alibabas cloud computing work. Fans will see the biggest changes at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing as ticketing and merchandise operations become more digital.

Then it should be the turn of organizers as they reap more rewards from Alibabas expertise at the 2024 and 2028 Games.

We expect Paris and L.A. will be a total explosion of what has been tested and what has been discussed with the previous games, Tung said.

Now clearly established in a top tier of global partners working with both the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, Alibaba is looking to improve sports events on top of helping finance them. With Olympic sports and anti-doping bodies now regularly targeted by hackers, including from Russia, cybersecurity is cited as an absolute must, by Tung.

Asked about integrity issues confronting Chinese tech giant Huawei, Tung pointed to Alibaba enjoying the trust of 200,000 brands using its e-commerce platforms Tmall and Aliexpress.

The two-week Winter Youth Olympics will test Alibabas work with the IOC subsidiary Olympic Broadcasting Services to create a better service for rights-holding national networks in Tokyo. Routing thousands of hours of action and interviews through Alibabas cloud servers should be faster, more efficient with fewer staff and less equipment on site and create more content for social media.

What works in 2020 should be improved in 2022 when Beijing becomes the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

Fans and athletes will experience a totally different Olympic Games with a lot of support from cloud technology, Tung said, predicting long lines at souvenir stands replaced by immediate delivery to hotels from ordering on Alibabas online platforms.

After a decision by FIFA in October, China and Alibaba will get an extra forum to test hosting ideas seven months before the Winter Olympics. In June 2021, a revamped 24-team Club World Cup will kick off in China bringing tens of thousands of soccer fans worldwide to see games in several cities. Alibaba Cloud is already the title sponsor of the existing annual, but low-key, club tournament.

We are excited about the opportunity, Tung said, adding Alibaba awaited details from FIFA about new Club World Cup plans. Its very strategic for us to increase the reach and influence of (soccer) as a sponsor.

Many observers see a logical next step in Alibaba joining Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and Visa on FIFAs World Cup slate especially as China is widely expected to host in 2030 or 2034.

We, Tung said, are open to the possibility.

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How Alibaba plans to improve the Olympics with cloud computing - MarketWatch

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