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INDUSTRY
WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM ,
THE E3 VIDEO-GAME SHOW WF
CYBERTHEFT ADDS TO US-CHINA TENSIONS AHEAD OF
NEED REASON TO PAY BY PHONE APPLE, GOOGLE ADD NEW FEATURES 12 TOP 10 APPS
HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN SOON PAY WITH YOUR PHONE 38 iTUNES REVIEW
GOOGLE ADDS FREE AD-SUPPORTED TIER TO MUSIC APPIN THE US 76
TOP 10 SONGS
SHOWTIME PRICE TRIMMED TO $91N DEAL FOR HULU SUBSCRIBERS 116
TOP 10 ALBUMS
FACEBOOK NOW WORTH MORE THAN WAL-MART ON STOCK MARKET 120
TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 1
SCIENCE: LASERS, MAGNETISM ALLOW GLIMPSES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN AT WORK 124
HEALTH: WHITE HOUSE: ACTION NEEDED NOW TO SLOW CLIMATE CHANGE 134 TOP 10 1TV ia
INSTAGRAM USERS IN N. KOREA WARNED SITE PUT ON BLACKLIST 152 TOP 10 BOO!
CYBERTHEFT ADDS
TO US-CHINA
TENSIONS AHEAD
OF UPCOMING
TALKS
Tensions between the U.S. and China are
growing over its island-building in the South
China Sea and over suspicions that Beijing
was behind a massive hack into a federal
government server that resulted in the theft of
personnel and security clearance records of 14
million employees and contractors.
But both powers have incentives to calm the
waters ahead of the Chinese leader’s visit to
Washington in the fall.
The two countries’ top diplomats and
finance officials meet here next week for the
annual U.S.-China strategic and economic
dialogue. The Obama administration says the
two governments won't be papering over
their differences, but they are expected to
accentuate the positive, stressing areas of
cooperation, like climate change.
Civilian and military officials will meet Monday
to discuss thorny security issues. Secretary of
State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob
Lew kick off two days of talks Tuesday with Vice
Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang
Jiechi on a sprawling agenda, including plans for
a bilateral investment treaty.
China, in particular, is presenting the dialogue
as a prelude to Xi Jinping’s visit to the White
House slated for September, his first since
becoming China’s president in 2013.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called it
an opportunity to push for new progress in
the building of a new model of major power
relationship, the state-run Xinhua news agency
reported Friday.
But it’s a model with cracks in it. Relations
between the world’s two largest economies,
with their divergent political systems and
priorities, rarely run smoothly. But recent
months have been particularly rocky.
China’s reclamation of more than 2,000
acres of land on disputed islands and atolls
in the South China Sea since last year has
raised international alarm over its territorial
ambitions. Washington took the unusual
step last month of publicizing a U.S. military
surveillance flight that showed the massive
scale of China’s island-building.
China says the islands are its sovereignty
territory, but Washington argues that the
continuation of building work and militarization
of the islands could enflame complex territorial
disputes with China’s neighbors, with whom
the U.S. is seeking to forge closer ties while
preserving freedom of navigation in sea lanes
crucial for world trade.
Nobody is interested in conflict here and
there’s no reason why it needs to devolve into
conflict. Again, that’s why next week’s meeting
is so important, State Department spokesman
John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
Cybersecurity is another source of acrimony
that’s up for discussion, given fresh urgency
by the massive security breach that led to
the theft of personal information of as many
Mi
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as 14 million current and former U.S. federal
employees. The Obama administration believes
that China’s government, not criminal hackers,
was responsible for the breach that included
detailed background information on military
and intelligence personnel.
China has denied involvement in the break-in
and says it is also a victim of cyberattacks.
The U.S. business community, meanwhile, is
concerned that regulatory barriers in China are
growing, not easing, despite Xi’s promise to
advance economic reforms. Progress has been
slow on the bilateral investment treaty the U.S.
and China agreed to pursue two years ago, and
China has reportedly submitted a long list of
sectors it wants excluded.
Daniel Russel, top U.S. diplomat for East Asia,
said that the U.S. and China wouldn’t ignore
their differences, including on human rights
issues. Since taking power two years ago, Xi
has consolidated China’s authoritarian system,
squelching dissent and civil society.
We don’t always see eye to eye but the fact is
global challenges require that we cooperate,
Russel told reporters Thursday, citing recent
cooperation on fighting the Ebola virus in
Africa, the transition in Afghanistan and
diplomacy by world powers to prevent Iran
from developing a nuclear weapon.
As the push for a global climate change deal
intensifies ahead of a December summit
of world leaders in Paris, President Barack
Obama needs China’s support. Obama and
Xi committed to curbing emissions when
they met in Beijing in November, which
environmentalists hailed as a sign that reluctant
nations like China were finally getting on board.
Climate change will be a hot topic at next
week’s dialogue in Washington, China’s Xinhua
agency said in Friday’s report. The South China
Sea and cybersecurity didn’t get a mention.
| 11
| CL
NEED REASON TO PAY BY PHONE APPLE,
GOOGLE ADD NEW FEATURES
The tech industry has been saying for years
that smartphones would make traditional
wallets obsolete. But most people still use
cash or plastic when they shop in stores.
That could change later this year when three
leading tech companies are promising to give
shoppers more reasons to use digital wallets.
Apple said last week that it’s adding store-
issued credit cards and store rewards
programs to Apple Pay, the mobile payments
service it launched last fall. Google is
readying a similar service for millions more
smartphones to run on its Android software.
And Samsung promises a service for its
newest Galaxy smartphones will be accepted
in more stores than both Apple Pay and
Google’s Android Pay.
Our ultimate goal is to replace the wallet,
Apple vice president Jennifer Bailey told
software developers last week.
The new options come as numbers show
mobile payments are still in their infancy
About 16 million U.S. shoppers used
smartphones to pay for $3.5 billion in
| 13
store purchases last year, according to the
eMarketer research firm. That includes
payments with Apple Pay, other services
like PayPal and apps from merchants like
Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.
While that’s a tiny slice of the $4.3 trillion
spent in stores overall last year, eMarketer
expects mobile payments will grow to $27.5
billion in 2016.
We'’re still in this very early stage of laying the
groundwork to be able to make this happen,
said analyst Brian Yeager at eMarketer. But
there’s progress being made.
The progress follows years in which the
industry has struggled to get digital wallets off
the ground as major players failed to agree
on technical standards, security measures
and financial terms. Some big merchants have
balked at services developed by Apple or
Google, saying they’d rather build and control
their own system.
Still, Apple opened the door for widespread
adoption of digital wallets last year when it
launched Apple Pay with endorsements from
major banks and retail chains. With Apple
Pay, which only works on the latest models
of iPhones and the Apple Watch, users link a
credit card or bank account to their iPhone.
Once that’s done, a user only has to hold the
phone next to a device at a store counter.
The phone and the store device communicate
wirelessly, prompting the user to authorize
payment by pressing the phone’s fingerprint
sensor instead of swiping a plastic card. Apple
Pay uses encrypted codes to protect shoppers’
financial information.
Apple says shoppers and merchants have
embraced Apple Pay, although it hasn’t
released usage details.
One early fan is Allison Lucas, a 35-year-old
tech worker who tapped her Apple Watch to
pay for a box of breakfast cereal and other
items at a Walgreens store in San Francisco’s
Financial District last week.
You don’t realize how much freedom it gives
you until you try it, said Lucas, who used her
watch to pay for lunch on another day when
she accidentally left her wallet at home.
But not everyone is convinced they need
Apple Pay.
| might come around and try it at some point,
but | haven’t really seen a reason, said Amalia
Bornstein, a 29-year-old data analyst. Though
she carried her iPhone 6 in hand as she walked
along a busy San Francisco sidewalk, Bornstein
said she still uses cash or plastic for most
purchases.
Apple says it’s offering more reasons this fall
with its next software update, which will let
shoppers charge store credit accounts and
redeem loyalty points from major chains.
Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru
said frequent shoppers see loyalty rewards as
an important benefit, and they want an easy
way to use them.
Walgreens expects more customers will pay
with smartphones or watches when 80 million
members of the chain’s Balance Rewards
program will be able to use their loyalty points
with Apple Pay, said Ben Weiss, Walgreens
mobile products manager. J.C. Penney also
is betting iPhone users will want to use
their store-label credit cards. Spokeswoman
Daphne Avila said the store’s own credit card
is used on more J.C. Penney transactions than
any other payment card, because customers
earn points for every transaction.
Google, which had struggled to win support
for its earlier Google Wallet service, says major
banks and retail chains have signed on to its
new Android Pay. The service will work similarly
to Apple Pay when released later this year.
| 17
18 |
Google says it will incorporate store rewards,
but won’t work with store credit cards to
start. Android Pay will work on a variety of
phones running the two latest versions of
Android software - or about half of all Android
phones in use.
Samsung, meanwhile, says it’s addressing
another hurdle with a service called Samsung
Pay, due for release this fall. Unlike rival
services Apple Pay and Android Pay, Samsung
says its technology will work with traditional
store credit-card readers.
Apple Pay and Android Pay only work in
stores with equipment capable of receiving
data from smartphones via near-field
communication or NFC radio. But new
models of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones
will transmit two kinds of signals - one for
NFC readers and one that works with older
equipment that merchants use to read the
magnetic stripe on credit cards.
Many smaller stores don’t have NFC readers.
But Visa and MasterCard are pushing retailers
to meet an October deadline for installing
new terminals that read cards with embedded
microchips, which are more secure than
magnetic stripes. While the technologies are
separate, many chip-card readers will accept
NFC signals too.
Some experts are hopeful the changes will
draw more shoppers to use digital wallets.
But there remain some big challenges. For
instance, Wal-Mart has declined to accept
Apple Pay and is part of a consortium working
on its own mobile payment system.
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, said Yeager,
explaining that shoppers won’t embrace a
service if stores won’t accept it, while many
stores want to know consumers and banks are
backing a system before they invest in new
check-out terminals.
| 19
BATKID
SET FOR U.S.
Wz
NOT JUST ANOTE
SUPERHERO MO’
22 |
THE STORY THAT TOUCHED HEARTS
ACROSS AMERICA
We all love a superhero movie, right? Well
in that case, you might want to consider one
for a slightly different kind of superhero.
Released by Warner Bros on June 26
following its debut at January's Slamdance
Film Festival, Batkid Begins centers on the
touching story of Miles Scott, the child and
cancer survivor whose wish to be Batman's
sidekick was dramatically and touchingly
realized with the help of many thousands of
social media followers.
It all began with a request by Scott to the
San Francisco branch of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation, the non-profit organization
that arranges experiences, or "wishes",
for children with life-threatening medical
conditions. In the case of northern California
native Miles, who had been diagnosed
with lymphoblastic leukemia at just 18
months old, his wish was to celebrate the
completion of his chemotherapy treatments
by becoming 'Batkid'.
HOW BATKID BECAME REALITY
To put the plan into action, Make-A-Wish duly
got in touch with the San Francisco Bay Area
chapter, which with the help of a marketing
agency, sent out an email a month before
the event requesting supporters. The initial
hope was for a mere few hundred people
to be present at the closing ceremony, but
by the night before the event, some 12,000
volunteers had come forward.
| 23
Image: Paul Sakuma _
|
On 'Batkid day’ itself, more than 10,000
people showed up at various venues to
cheer on Miles as Batkid and his younger
brother, who was dressed as Robin, as they
got involved in a series of staged crime
scenarios in parts of the city with the help of
‘Batman’ himself.
For one day only, San Francisco was actually
Gotham City - the San Francisco Chronicle
even marking the occasion by publishing
a special edition of the paper as the
Gotham City Chronicle, complete with the
headline "Batkid Saves City: Hooded hero
nabs Riddler, rescues damsel in distress."
Combined with the immense interest on
social media and even the Make-a-Wish
Foundation's website crashing due to the
onslaught of visitors, it's fair to say that the
event was quite the phenomenon.
25
261 A P a .
: : Image: Ramin Talaie =
Bea
NOW, MILES IS A MOVIE STAR
As if all of that dream-fulfilling in one day
wasn't enough for Miles, fast-forward to this
month, and a now in-remission Miles can
look forward to seeing himself on the silver
screen. Yes, that's right - a documentary film
has been produced, written by Kurt Kuenne
and Dana Nachman, the latter taking on
directorial duties. It tells the story of how
the big day was organized and unfolded, and
let's just say that it greatly touched many a
usually-hardened critic.
Among those critics was Christopher Campbell,
who wrote for Nonfics that the movie was
"obviously adorable and heartwarming from
start to finish". He drew particular attention to
the involvement of Kuenne, whose best-known
film Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His
Father was "famous for being possibly the most
gut-wrenching documentary of all time. He
made a lot of people weep with devastation
with that one, and now he's got a new doc that
will have you crying happy tears instead."
A WARM-HEARTED DOCUMENTARY
It's clear from the reviews that Batkid is a film
that knows precisely what it wants to be: it's
there to enchant and enthuse people with an
infectious sentimentality and positivity, not
get into the grittier aspects of the story that
many people might prefer to avoid.
This is not to suggest that the documentary
didn't cover a lot of ground. After all, it
actually takes the story back to the very
beginning, with Miles' medical condition and
| 29
application to Make-A-Wish, followed by all of
the preparatory work for the big day and the
astonishing rise, rise and rise again of support
from around the world, largely facilitated by
social media.
We also get to completely follow the event
itself, as Batman (former LucasArts video
game developer Eric Johnston), Batkid and
Robin pursue the Penguin and the Riddler
(local actor Philip Watt) and even save a
damsel in distress (Sue Graham Johnston),
who was tied up on the train tracks of San
Francisco's historic cable cars in the Russian
Hill area of the city. At one point, the Penguin
- played by Mike Jutan - even 'kidnaps' the San
Francisco Giants' mascot Lou Seal.
With Gotham City saved, Batkid turned up at SF
City Hall to a hero's welcome, being presented
with a key to the city by San Francisco mayor
Ed Lee and even receiving a video tweet from
President Barack Obama at the White House.
The film captures the sense of overwhelming
occasion and emotion, commentary being
provided by such people involved in the
elaborate undertaking as Scott's parents,
leaders at the Bay Area Make-A-Wish and the
actors who portrayed the various characters.
BUT NOT A 'WARTS AND ALL’
However, as undoubtedly life-affirming and
inspirational as the documentary is, it would
be wrong to pretend that there was zero
criticism of the 'Batkid' phenomenon, with
some feeling that important questions were
left unanswered by the documentary film
| 31
32 |
as well as the event itself. San Francisco city
supervisor Eric Mar was perhaps the most
notorious detractor, wondering aloud on
Twitter "how many 1000s of SF kids living off
SNAP/FoodStamps could have been fed from
the $$" - comments that earned him a rebuke
from Townhall.com as "Jerk of the Week".
The accusation from Townhall.com writer
Christine Rousselle was that instead of
learning "the heartwarming lesson behind
the day", Mar had "decided to politicize the
event." Mar, to his credit, responded to the
uproarious response to his comments with
dignity, praising Miles as "a lovable and brave
little boy" and the Make-A-Wish Foundation
"for the incredible and inspiring work they
do bringing joy to the lives of so many other
brave children."
But he continued: "The words that | tweeted
today regarding this event are not meant
to diminish how special today was. | simply
wanted to urge that we, as a City, find similar
amounts of love, compassion and empathy for
children living every day in dire circumstances
who, in the vast majority of cases, will not be
supported or even recognized by our society."
To be fair to Mar, he was probably only
highlighting the very real unease that some
people do have with hugely-publicized and
sentimentalized events like 'Batkid day’. There
is a lingering suspicion among some that,
as heartwarming as it all unquestionably
is, it might all be some kind of attempt to
compensate for our societal guilt that we
don't do more to help a wider range of
ill, hungry and disadvantaged children to
Image: Ramin Talaie
‘(fr ef Botha
Seo. Batman
Image: Robert Galbraith
overcome their obstacles in growing up and
enjoy fulfilling lives.
Unsurprisingly, the film does not mention
Mar's controversial comments, and
although it is mentioned that there were
some complainants about taxpayer money
being used for the event, this is answered
with the disclosure that a generous couple
had agreed to foot the entire bill. Clearly,
the filmmakers couldn't bring themselves
to include anything that couldn't be
counteracted with an upbeat response.
A MUST-SEE FOR POSITIVITY-SEEKERS
Nonetheless, this is a movie that doesn't
pretend to be anything that it is not. The
intention of Nachman, Kuenne and co was
never to make Batman Begins a hard-hitting
examination of precisely why 'Batkid' became
such a viral colossus. The film never asks, for
example, whether all 10,000-20,000 people
who turned up to see Batman, Batkid and
Robin traverse San Francisco as 'Gotham
City' really did so simply out of support for
a cancer-surviving little boy, or instead to be
involved in a massive viral event.
That lack of scrutiny is not necessarily a big
problem if you're not expecting a film that
ducks 'beneath the surface’. In its own right,
the Batkid phenomenon is a very interesting
and inspiring one indeed, and if you are looking
to be uplifted at the theaters this summer, you
really couldn't hope to choose a better film. m
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
| 37
38 |
HERE ARE SOME
WAYS YOU CAN
SOON PAY WITH
YOUR PHONE
Big tech companies are competing to help you
pay for a store purchase with your phone. Here
are some options:
APPLE PAY:
How it works: Apple Pay lets you pay by
placing an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, or Apple Watch,
next to a store device equipped for near-field
communication (NFC) signals. You authorize the
transaction with your fingerprint. For security,
Apple Pay uses a “tokenization” method that
replaces your credit or bank account number
with an encrypted code and generates a second
code for each transaction. The service works
with most bank cards; it’s adding Discover and
store cards this fall.
Where it works: Apple says it will be accepted
at 1 million locations by next month. Most are
chains, although some independent stores have
NFC readers as well. A few chains like Wal-Mart
are resisting Apple Pay while an industry group
works on an alternative. Apple Pay also works
with many online sites and apps.
4O |
ANDROID PAY:
How it works: Google struggled to win traction
for its old app, Wallet, but it’s struck deals
with major banks, retail chains and wireless
carriers to support a new service called Android
Pay. It will use “tokenization” and work much
like Apple Pay. Android Pay will be available
for any smartphone with an NFC chip and
Android software known as KitKat, Lollipop or
the upcoming M. For older phones without
fingerprint readers, it will require a PIN to
authorize transactions.
Where it works: Google says the new Android
Pay will be accepted at 700,000 retail locations
to start, including many of the same chains
that accept Apple Pay, and even some vending
machines with NFC readers. It will work with
major payment cards, including Discover,
merchant rewards programs, online sites and
apps - but not store credit cards initially.
SAMSUNG PAY:
How it works: Samsung plans its own payment
service for new Galaxy S6 smartphones later
this year. Like Apple Pay and Android Pay,
the Samsung service will use the phone’s
fingerprint reader and transmit digital “tokens”
instead of account numbers, for security.
Where it works: Samsung Pay promises to work
at millions of stores, regardless of whether
they have an NFC terminal. New Samsung
phones will have an NFC chip and a separate
technology that communicates with older store
devices that read the magnetic stripe ona
standard credit or debit card.
| 41
PAYPAL:
How it works: PayPal is working on a variety of
mobile payment technologies. Its smartphone
app shows a list of participating stores near you.
Once there, you swipe your screen to “check
in” after making a purchase or ordering food. In
some cases, the app sends a wireless notification
to the store, where a clerk completes the
transaction and charges your PayPal account.
Other stores may require you to type a PIN into
their check-out device, or show a bar code that
appears on your phone screen.
Where it works: PayPal is accepted by a number
of online sites and independent retail stores, but
only a few major chains such as Home Depot,
Foot Locker, Autozone and Toys R Us.
Image: Kim White
AA |
APPLE’S ABOUT-FACE REVEALS
CRACKS IN MUSIC INDUSTRY
Apple’s abrupt about-face on paying royalties for
songs during a three-month free-trial period for
its new music service was a symbolic victory for
superstar Taylor Swift and other artists, and a
shrewd business move by Apple, at a time when
the streaming phenomenon is causing major
changes in the music industry.
The olive branch extended by Apple comes
as music is increasingly being consumed on
streaming services like Spotify and Deezer -
to the detriment of album sales and iTunes
downloads - heightening tensions between
artists, labels and service providers over who
gets paid and how much.
| 45
Apple had already agreed to share revenue
from the new Apple Music service once users
start paying a $10-a-month subscription fee for
the service, which it plans to launch June 30.
But the technology giant wasn’t planning to pay
artists and labels directly for the use of their
music during the free, 90-day trial period that
it’s offering to get fans to try the service.
That changed quickly Sunday, after Swift
posted an open letter to Apple opposing the
lack of royalties during the free period, and
declaring she’d be withholding her latest
album 1989 from Apple Music because of it.
Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue reversed
the company’s trial-period terms, which had
gone out to thousands of independent labels,
including Swift’s Big Machine Label Group, after
the technology giant reached a deal with major
label groups Universal, Sony and Warner in
early June.
The company needed to avoid a PR nightmare
and quickly extinguish the firestorm that Swift
had created, said Daniel Ives, tech stocks analyst
with FBR Capital Markets.
They needed to handle this perfectly, Ives said,
because Apple is facing an uphill battle against
competing services like Spotify that are already
well-established. There can be no snafus or
speed bumps, from the artists’ perspective, or
any type of consumer backlash.
Apple hasn’t publicly revealed how much it will
pay in royalties for the free streaming period.
Cue declined to offer financial details in an
interview with The Associated Press on Sunday,
but he said the payments will be based on a
different formula than the company had already
negotiated for sharing subscription revenue,
since Apple won't be collecting any revenue
from the 90 days of free streaming. Instead,
Cue said, royalties for the free streaming will be
based on a standard amount for each time a
song is streamed.
| 47
I\f/
48 | /|
Jeff Price, the CEO and founder of royalty
collection firm Audiam, said the free-period
royalties could amount to about $25 million per
month in the U.S. alone if Apple Music pays the
same as Spotify did in December 2014, according
to publishers’ data. Ives noted the cost to Apple
is not even a rounding error for a company that
made $39.5 billion in profit and $182.8 billion in
revenue for its last fiscal year.
While Apple Music doesn’t have any subscribers
yet, compared to the 4.7 million Spotify had in
the U.S. then, its global launch in 100 countries
could quickly change that. Still, Price says the
gesture will likely be worth it for Apple.
It got them an unlimited amount of public
goodwill and artist goodwill, Price said.
Some artists did praise Apple Monday for its
decision, while many more cheered Swift for
taking her public stand. Rocker Elvis Costello
called Swift our future president on Twitter and
added, You tell ‘em, Girl.
Artist grumbling about the lack of compensation
during Apple Music’s lengthy free trial had been
brewing since the unveiling of service at Apple’s
developer conference two weeks ago.
The American Association of Independent
Music expected a flood of sign-ups at launch,
suggesting to its members in an email they
should reconsider releasing music to the
platform right away We are struggling to
understand why rights holders would authorize
their content on the service before October 1.
The fact that independent labels drove this
change highlights their growing power in the
music industry - and Apple’s practice of simply
offering independent labels terms that had been
negotiated with the majors, said Rob Enderle,
principal analyst of the Enderle Group.
It certainly showcases to Apple that if they step
on the labels, some of them can step back pretty
hard, Enderle said.
| 49
50 |
Withholding their latest releases from services
like Spotify had already become the norm
among top artists who see more to gain from
download sales in the initial release period,
including Swift and Adele, who herself is set
to release 25 sometime later this year. But
few artists have the same clout, and because
download sales are falling in favor of revenue
from streaming services, few spoke out publicly
either for or against the plan.
Cue wouldn’t comment on whether Swift will now
make her album 1989 available on Apple Music.
Ben Bajarin, a longtime Apple watcher and
founder of research firm Creative Strategies,
said he’d never seen Apple make such a quick
reversal on a major business issue. But he said
Apple had no reason not to change position after
it was clear artists were upset. And it will likely
even gain more favor among fans.
If there were people on the fence about trying
the new service, there are tens of millions that
will probably try it now, just to see what it’s
about, and that will help Apple achieve its goal
faster, Bajarin said.
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& OKES THE HYPE
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THE GAME THAT FANS HAVE BEEN
WAITING FOR
This November, another Star Wars video
game is released - not massively surprising
news, you might have thought, given the
immense anticipation that already surrounds
the upcoming reboot of the iconic film
franchise, the J. J. Abrams-directed The Force
Awakens. Indeed, with little information
about the new game having been released so
; much of the fuss has centered on a pretty
small number of previews and demos.
However, the fact that such scant information
has already been enough to get people talking
in feverish terms about the next Star Wars
game might reveal quite a few things. It's
telling, for sure, of the lack of truly memorable
games based around the franchise to have
been issued soar. But it also suggests that
Star Wars Battlefront - which will be available
for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and the
Xbox One - might be the game to buck that
trend of relative mediocrity.
A LESS-THAN-DISTINGUISHED VIDEO
GAME HISTORY
Let's have a quick run-through of some of
the games that have been released as tie-ins
to the Star Wars franchise down the years,
as long ago as 1978. That was the year when
an unlicensed game was released by Apple
Computer on the cassette format for its Apple
Il. It enabled the player to assume the role of
a "space pilot trainee", destroying TIE fighters
via a first-person heads-up display.
Me by
Games to have followed since include 1982's
The Empire Strikes Back for the Atari 2600, as
well as the 1991 platform game Star Wars that
was available for the Nintendo Entertainment
System, Sega Master System, Game Boy and
Game Gear. Fast-forward to 2004, and the
first Star Wars: Battlefront game saw the light
of day, kick-starting a series of first- and third
person shooter video games developed by
such firms as Pandemic Studios, Free Radical
Design and George Lucas' own LucasArts.
60 |
HOPES OF BUCKING THE TREND
For the latest Battlefront installment, it's
EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment,
commonly known as EA DICE or just DICE,
that steps into the breach - ironic, given its
responsibility for the acclaimed Battlefield
series of games that early Star Wars:
Battlefront games were accused of being
clones of. There is admittedly a certain logic,
though, to turning to the developer that
might have somehow ‘inspired it all’.
That's not the only sign of promise. The juicier
processing power of the PlayStation 4, Xbox
One and the latest PCs might just provide the
first opportunity for a truly realistic Star Wars
gaming experience for the first time - one in
which fans can feel genuinely transported into
the world of Skywalker, Leia, Vader and co.
More and more now, video games are
considered to be as 'state of the art' as the
motions and graphics of the silver screen, to
such an extent that people are asking whether
Stars Wars Battlefront might be ripe for the
truly immersive experience that only the very
latest generation of 3D glasses can provide.
It remains to be seen whether that will be the
case, but the thorough work that DICE has
already conducted into the original Star Wars
props and locations suggests that it is striving
to make the new game an instant classic.
That became clear in a video that showed
every inch of the graphical flair that you might
expect, as well as creative director Niklas
Fegraeus' comment that "There's so much
love and detail in these pieces that we want
to get into the game."
* apis
62 |
64 |
A POSITIVE EARLY RECEPTION
The initial videos that have been released
have certainly given us hope of Star
Wars Battlefront being something of a
breakthrough title among the franchise's
game tie-ins, with one such gameplay
demo appearing at the recent Electronic
Entertainment Expo, or E3.
The GamesRadar site perhaps summed up
the general reaction better than we could,
declaring it to be "dazzling" and "insane"
before adding, "It plays like someone just
threw a first-person camera into a Star
Wars movie battle. It has all the exciting,
flash-bang bombast you want, and all the
chaotic, intimate, human focus Star Wars
needs. It is, quite frankly, a relentless, giddy,
air-punch generator".
There were similarly warm sentiments
expressed by a recent GameCentral hands-
on preview, which while admitting the game
to be "already review-proof", added that it
was actually "very good - and so far seems
perfectly deserving of the hype and its
inevitable sales."
That review also drew attention to key
differences between this Battlefront and
the preceding games in the series by other
developers, pointing out that DICE didn't
stick "particularly close to the original
template" in its decision to omit space
battles, a story campaign and even the
Galactic Conquest mode that is a signature
of the series.
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—____STAR. WARS.
BATLLEFRONT
From a set-up and controls that were
"purposefully uncomplicated" to graphics
that were described as "drop dead
gorgeous", there were many good things
that GameCentral had to say about the
upcoming game. The site even concluded
that "after playing the E3 demos we're
almost as excited for the game as we are
for the new film."
a
THUMBS UP WERE NOT UNIVERSAL
However, in the interests of balance, it's
probably a good idea to point out that not
everyone who has had the chance to try the
game out has necessarily had very positive
things to say about it. In one particular
review, with the title DICE's Star Wars
Battlefront feels like a half-assed Battlefield
mod, Jed Whitaker - writer for Destructoid -
made unflattering comparisons with DICE's
own long-lived franchise.
Whitaker said that the fears of some fans
since EA's initial announcement that the game
would turn out to be "Star Wars Battlefield"
seemed to have come true. He said, for one
thing, that "First person felt ripped from
Battlefield, with aiming down sights or
through scopes", adding that "| found myself
dying far more often than | remember in
classic Battlefront games, and that has been a
problem for me in Battlefield games as well."
Even Whitaker, however, conceded that
"the game was still enjoyable" and "looked
and sounded like Star Wars". Another
reviewer to try their hand at a Hoth
multiplayer campaign at E3 was The Verge's
Bryan Bishop, whose own early verdict
more closely echoed the aforementioned
widespread positivity. He said that despite
being concerned on the evidence of the
earlier-publicized gameplay trailer that "the
game was going to be extraordinarily busy",
he "needn't have worried."
Bishop continued: "Battlefront is simple
and streamlined, allowing anyone that has
| 71
ever played a first-person shooter to jump
right in with next to no learning curve." Of
the incorporation of the original trilogy's
weapons, models and props, he said that
"the final result in the game is staggering.
This didn't feel like | was watching a bad E ig
video game riff on the Hoth battle; this ‘
felt like | was truly inside a scene from The
Empire Strikes Back that had somehow hit
the cutting room floor.
"And let's get real: while | may be wondering
about the long-term shelf life of the game, I've
already placed my pre-order. It's Star Wars."
A STAR WARS VIDEO GAME THAT
COULD YET TRIUMPH
It's a fair bet that Star Wars Battlefront will
sell in the truckloads in much the same way
as admission tickets for The Force Awakens
will - the anticipation has already been too
much for any other result to be conceivable.
The debate will continue, however, as to
whether the game will do justice to the
legendary status of the Star Wars franchise,
in the way that almost every previous title
has failed to do.
But with the early signs being such
encouraging ones, we suspect that the force
will, indeed, be strong with this one.
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
74 |
GOOGLE ADDS FREE AD-SUPPORTED
TIER TO MUSIC APP IN THE US
ns
Google is adding a free tier to its subscription
streaming music service in the U.S., aiming to
convert the millions of people who click on the
Google Play Music app every month but turn
away because they’re prompted for payment
information.
The service uses Songza, an Internet radio
app that Google acquired a year ago but
whose innovations it had reserved for paying
customers.
Now playlists curated by Songza music experts,
like Drop-a-Beat Workout and Songs to Raise
Your Kids To, will be available to U.S. users for
free, interspersed with ads. Playlists that are
76 |
78 |
= _ Listen Now
It's Thursday morning
Play music for.
Having Fun at Enjoying the
Work Morning
Recent activity
Recently played or added
SweetSoul : The Happiest
Revival Radio Pop Hits Radio
Radio station Radio station
Throwback
Thursday
Beach-Bound
Beats Radio
Radio station
We'll play you great music while you're at work. Just pick a
category.
Throwback Thursday
Playing Office DJ: Indie (SFW)
Coding Your Face Off
Clearing Your Inbox: Pumped-Up Hits
Taking It Easy: Lite FM
Totally Rad Hits of the ‘80s
automatically generated according to genres,
songs or artists will also be available.
Google hopes the free tier will entice users to
pay $10 a month for a subscription that unlocks
features like on-demand playback without ads,
offline listening, and use of the YouTube Music
Key app, a music streaming service that includes
videos and is still in development.
Zahavah Levine, vice president of content
partnerships for Google Play Music, said the free
tier is a way to engage curious users.
Up until now, this has been a lost opportunity to
bring more people in, she said.
According to publishers’ data verified by royalty
tracking firm Audiam, Google Play Music had
around 815,000 paying subscribers in the U.S.
in December 2014, far behind market leader
Spotify with 4.7 million. Spotify said this month
that it now has 20 million paying subscribers
globally.
Along with video ads that will play before songs,
banners and interactive pitches, Google will
also plug its paid service. For now, Google is
not announcing any expansion of the free tier
outside the U.S., though the paid plan is now
available in 52 countries.
| 79
WINNERS AND
LOSERS FROM THE
E3 VIDEO-GAME
SHOW
The video-game industry’s annual Electronic
Entertainment Expo, which occupied the Los
Angeles Convention Center this past week, was
an overwhelming, exhausting experience - so
many games, so little time. But most of the
attendees had a similar reaction: “This is really
fun.” Still, some companies came off better than
others. So who won E3?
MICROSOFT VS. SONY
At this point in the Xbox One/PlayStation 4
battle, exclusive games are the best way to
attract new buyers. Microsoft’s Xbox has “Halo 5:
Guardians,” “Gears 4,” “Rise of the Tomb Raider”
and the endearingly weird “Cuphead.” Sony’s
PS4 has “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End,” “The Last
Guardian,” “Horizon: Zero Dawn,” “Dreams”
and the spooky “What Remains of Edith Finch.”
WINNER: Slight edge to Sony if the long-awaited
“Last Guardian” lives up to its promise.
| 81
OLD VS. NEW
Microsoft won over many fans by promising
it would be making the most of the games for
its previous console, the Xbox 360, playable on
the newer Xbox One. Sony’s announcement
of a remake of 1997’s “Final Fantasy VII” drew
rapturous applause. But there are still plenty
of eye-catching new titles on the horizon,
from the universe-spanning “No Man’s Sky”
to the down-and-dirty brawler “For Honor.”
Even established properties like “Fallout” and
“Call of Duty” have some new tricks up their
sleeves. WINNER: New.
| 83
NINTENDO VS. ITS FANS
Nintendo die-hards took to social media
to express their frustration with the
company’s threadbare E3 lineup. Nintendo
President Saturo Iwata responded with .
well, not exactly an apology, but at least an
acknowledgement of the negative feedback.
Nintendo’s still a huge part of E3, but it isn’t
doing much to turn around the fortunes of its
fading Wii U. WINNER: The fans. They may not
be happy, but they’re justified.
86 |
PROJECT MORPHEUS VS. OCULUS RIFT
Two companies are spearheading the drive
to make immersive, three-dimensional
virtual reality the next big thing in electronic
amusement. Sony’s Project Morpheus is still
rough around the edges, though we were
quite taken with a Harmonix-designed app
that lets users zone out to psychedelic images
synched to music. The Oculus Rift, though, has
come a long way, making this critic feel for the
first time that this was exploration of a real 3D
environment. WINNER: Oculus.
| 87
[o,0)
(oe)
“TOYS TO LIFE” MELEE: This category, in
which physical toys become animated onscreen
characters, got more crowded with Warner
Bros.’ “Lego Dimensions,” which features
Batman, Scooby-Doo and favorites from “The
Lord of the Rings” and “The Lego Movie.” Disney
has added the cast of “Star Wars” to its “Infinity
3.0.” Nintendo’s adorable “Animal Crossing”
critters are heading for the amiibo lineup, and
Donkey Kong and Bowser are crossing over to
Activision’s “Skylanders.” That franchise is also
adding toy vehicles, so don’t expect it to put on
the brakes anytime soon. WINNER: “Skylanders,
the original and still champ.
”
90 -
- YARNY VS. YOSHI: Yarny, an awkward little
creature made from wire and red yarn, is the
unlikely hero of Electronic Arts’ “Unravel.” His
creator says the yarn represents “love, and the
bonds that we make,” and a physical version
of the character charmed social media with his
adventures on the E3 show floor. Still, he’s no
match for Nintendo's Yoshi, whose upcoming
“Yoshi’s Woolly World” is being accompanied by
an adorable woven-yarn amiibo of the spunky
dinosaur. WINNER (by a thread): Yoshi.
i
92 |
NETFLIX
#01 — Fallout Shelter
By Bethesda Softworks LLC
Category: Games
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#02 — Facebook Messenger
By Facebook, Inc.
Category: Social Networking
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#03 - Facebook
By Facebook, Inc.
Category: Social Networking
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#04 - YouTube
By Google, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#05 - Instagram
By Instagram, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#08 - Netflix
By Netflix, Inc.
Category: Entertainment
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#10 - Google Maps
By Google, Inc.
Category: Navigation
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#01 - OS X Yosemite
By Apple
X 10.68 or later
By Dag Agren
Category: Utilities
Compatibility: OS X 10.6.0 or later
om Lo ag #01 — Minecraft - Pocket Edition
By Mojang
(mill REY
HERES Category: Games / Price: $6.99
Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#02 - Heads Up!
By Warner Bros.
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Apps ae
» By Jackadam
Category: Weather / Price: $3.99
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
(
#04 - Plague Inc.
By Ndemic Creations
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
*
e Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
. i — 7 This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
eam e
. .* * yee ,
\ ite #05 - NOAA Radar Pro
By IAC Search & Media Europe Ltd.
Category: Weather / Price: $1.99
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
pp is optimized for iPh¢
_ #07 - TexMoji
By CO Holdings LLC
Category: Utilities / Price: $1.99
Requires iOS 8.3 or later. Compatible with i
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iP
#08 — Facetune
By Lightricks Ltd.
Category: Photo & Video / Price: $3.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c,
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5
Se ‘ iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
sas : oS Bite,
“i Be #09 - Geometry Dash
By RobTop Games AB
Category: Games / Price: $1.99
Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5
#10 - Minute Workout Challenge
By Fitness Guide Inc
Category: Health & Fitness / Price: $2.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
94 |
lage! #05 — Fantastical 2
By Flexibits Inc.
1 ¢ Category: Productivity / Price: $39.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor
#06 — FaceTime
By Apple
Category: Social Networking / Price: $0.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.6.6 or later
- Logic Pro X
#08 - 1Password
By AgileBits Inc.
Category: Productivity / Price: $34.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor
#09 — Final Cut Pro >
By Apple
Category: Video / Price: $299.99 ae
Compatibility: OS X 10.10.2 or later, 64-bit processor af See aS : *¥ a
#10 - BetterSnapTool
By Andreas Hegenberg
Category: Productivity / Price: $1.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor
ilunes
Trailer
Manglehorn
Delivering arguably his finest performance in
years, Al Pacino plays small-town locksmith
AJ. Manglehorn, who was left heartbroken
by the loss many years ago of the woman he
loved. But then along comes a kindhearted
bank teller, Dawn (Holly Hunter), who may just
be able to draw the eccentric key-maker out
of his shell.
FIVE FACTS:
1. Manglehorn is directed by David Gordon
Green.
2. Harmony Korine and Chris Messina also star.
3. The film was selected to compete
for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice
International Film Festival.
4. Shooting of the movie took place in
Austin, Texas in November 2013.
5. It was also screened in the Special
Presentations section at the 2014
Toronto International Film Festival.
American Heist
When James Caley (Hayden Christensen) and EN CHRISTENS
eral
older brother Frankie (Adrien Brody) commit
a crime together, the latter ends up taking the
rap to save the former's life. A now-released
Frankie, back on the streets and with no
money, turns to his underworld connections
and convinces James to accompany him on
one last job.
FIVE FACTS:
1. American Heist is directed by the Armenian
director of films and commercials, Sarik
Andreasyan.
2. It is based on the 1959 film The Great
St. Louis Bank Robbery.
3. Jordana Brewster and Akon also star, as
Emily and Sugar respectively.
4. The movie was screened in the Special
Presentations section of the 2014
Toronto International Film Festival.
5. Principal photography began in June
2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Rotten Tomatoes
G3 20s,
100!
1101
is
Behind the Scenes with Jordana Brewster
Nothing Without Love
104|
‘Tu nes Preview |
isi fy)
Genre: Alternative
Released: Jun 12, 2015
12 Songs
Price: $7.99
KKK KK
390 Ratings
Grand Romantic
Nate Ruess
If you don't recognize the name, you will
almost certainly recognize the voice, Ruess
having been the lead singer of indie pop hit-
makers Fun since its 2008 formation. Now,
for the first time, he strikes out on his own,
his debut album spearheaded by a single -
“Nothing Without Love’- that he recently
performed on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show.
FIVE FACTS:
1. He was born Nathaniel Joseph Ruess in
lowa City, lowa on February 26, 1982.
2. In 2001, at the age of 19, he launched the
band the Format with longtime best friend
Sam Means.
3. With Fun, he scored the 2011 number one
US Billboard Hot 100 single “We Are Young’,
featuring Janelle Monae.
4. “Some Nights’, the follow-up single from
the album of the same name, peaked in the
top three of the same chart.
5. Writing for Alternative Press, Jack Appleby
described the album as “proof-positive
more Nate Ruess is always a good thing.”
See more in
iTunes
1105
Interview with Nate Ruess
Before This World
James Taylor
The five-time Grammy Award winner's 17th
studio album is also his first album of original
material since 2002's October Road, and it’s
fair to say that it has been worth the wait. The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee worked
with producer Dave O'Donnell, drummer
Steve Gadd and bassist Jimmy Johnson,
writing nine of the 10 songs himself.
FIVE FACTS:
1. James Vernon Taylor was born in Boston,
Massachusetts on March 12, 1948.
2. His breakthrough single was the number
three hit “Fire and Rain” in 1970.
3. He achieved his first number ne F
following year with the Carole I
“You've Got a Friend”.
4. Taylor's four siblings, Alex,
Hugh and Kate as well as his children with
Carly Simon, Ben and Sally, have all had
careers in music.
5. In 2000, he was inducted into both
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the
Songwriters Hall of Fame.
108|
Kk kk
1109
AW
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\
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110|
Finally, while not one
in this review, an ho
go to Lad: A Yorkshire St
distributed film that has won.
festival awards and proved a hit with vie
and critics around the world, despite being
made on just a fraction of the budget of the
Hollywood blockbusters.
Based on the story of a teenage boy coming
to terms with the loss of his dad in Yorkshire,
England, Lad has been described as“a
possible turning point in self-distribution”
Although it remains to be seen whether it
lives up to that billing, there’s no doubt that
it is a film that has firmly punched above its
weight.
112|
A Yorkshire story
armen
Trailer
116|
SHOWTIME PRICE TRIMMED TO
$9 IN DEAL FOR HULU SUBSCRIBERS
The price of Showtime is being trimmed to
$9 a month for Hulu subscribers in a deal that
will make it the first premium pay TV service
offered through Hulu.
That’s less than the $11 a month it costs to
access Showtime’s app on its own and would
bring the price of Showtime plus Hulu Plus to
$17 a month.
Showtime shows will be integrated into
the Hulu platform and be available ahead
of the July 12 premiere of Season 3 of “Ray
Donovan.”
|117
Showtime, owned by CBS Corp., has been
pushing distribution of its service separate
from traditional cable and satellite TV
packages in the last month, similar to rival
HBO. Earlier this month, Showtime announced
its app would be available on Apple TVs, Roku
streaming equipment and Sony’s PlayStation
Vue online TV service.
Showtime is also available from traditional
cable and satellite TV providers for $10 a
month to existing TV subscribers.
Showtime CEO Matt Blank said that prices are
set by retailers. He told The Associated Press
in an interview, “Hulu is in fact subsidizing the
price difference.”
He also said he wasn’t worried about the
lower price causing existing Showtime
customers on other platforms to switch.
don’t think someone is going to drop a big
package of video services to save a dollar on
Showtime.”
“|
Showtime has nearly 24 million existing
subscribers while Hulu Plus has nearly 9
million.
Tim Connolly, Hulu’s senior vice president
of distribution and strategic partnerships,
said the price cut was a way to “reward our
existing subscribers and attract new ones.”
1119
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120|
Ff,
Me, ! pve
™
Facebook is now bigger than Wal-Mart, at least
when it comes to its value on the stegk market.
The world’s biggest online social network
knocked the world’s largest retailer out of the
top 10 list of the highest-valued companies in the
Standard & Poor's 500 index on Monday and the
gap widened on Tuesday.
- a 1421
122|
While the switch is mostly symbolic - nothing
specific happened this week to warrant it, and
the difference between the two giants is not
that big - it signals investors’ insatiable appetite
for successful tech stocks. Apple, Microsoft
and Google top the list of the highest-valued
companies in the U.S., and Facebook looks to be
on its way to joining them.
A company’s market value is calculated by
multiplying the number of shares of stock it has
in circulation by the current price of one share.
Facebook Inc. was valued at $238 billion in
Tuesday afternoon trading, according to FactSet.
Its stock was up $2.77, or 3.3 percent, at $87.51.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was valued at $234 billion.
Its stock dipped 30 cents to $72.49.
Facebook, which is based in Menlo Park,
California, has been on a roll this past year, its
shares up about 34 percent in the past year
compared with just 8.2 percent for the S&P 500
index. Its quarterly results have consistently
surpassed expectations.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart,
meanwhile, asked for investor patience after its
most-recent earnings report showed a 7 percent
profit decline due to the effects of the strong
dollar and higher worker wages and spending on
its online operations.
Comparing the two companies’ financial results,
though, shows just how much Wall Street is
investing in growth and potential - Facebook -
versus existing size and might - Wal-Mart. In the
first three months of this year, Facebook’s total
revenue of $3.54 billion amounted to just a little
more than Wal-Mart’s total profit for its fiscal
first quarter of $3.34 billion. But while Facebook
saw revenue grow 42 percent in the same
period, Wal-Mart’s declined slightly.
That said, none of the nine companies that
follow Apple in the top 10 come even close
to the mighty iPhone and Mac maker, whose
market capitalization is about $735 billion.
124|
LASERS,
MAGNETISM
ALLOW
GLIMPSES OF
THE HUMAN
1125
126|
To the untrained eye, the graph looked like a
very volatile day on Wall Street - jagged peaks
and valleys in red, blue and green, displayed
ona wall. But the story it told was not about
economics.
It was a glimpse into the brains of Shaul Yahil
and Shaw Bronner, two researchers at a Yale
lab, as they had a little chat.
“This is a fork,” Yahil observed, describing the
image on his computer. “A fork is something you
use to stab food while you’re eating it. Common
piece of cutlery in the West.”
“It doesn’t look like a real fancy sterling silver
fork, but very useful,” Bronner responded. And
then she described her own screen: “This looks
like a baby chimpanzee ...”
The jagged, multicolored images depicted what
was going on in the two researchers’ heads
- two brains in conversation, carrying out an
intricate dance of internal activity. This is no
parlor trick. The brain-tracking technology at
work is just a small part of the quest to answer
abiding questions about the workings of a three-
pound chunk of fatty tissue with the consistency
of cold porridge.
How does this collection of nearly 100 billion
densely packed nerve cells, acting through
circuits with maybe 100 trillion connections, let
us think, feel, act and perceive our world? How
does this complex machine go wrong and make
people depressed, or delusional, or demented?
What can be done about that?
Such questions spurred President Barack
Obama to launch the BRAIN initiative in 2013.
Its aim: to spur development of new tools to
investigate the brain. Europe and Japan are also
pursuing major efforts in brain research.
The mysteries of this organ, which sucks up
about 20 percent of the body’s energy, are
many and profound. But with a collection of
sophisticated devices, scientists are peering
128|
inside the working brains of people for clues to
what makes us tick.
At the Yale lab, Yahil and Bronner were
demonstrating a technique being used there to
investigate how our brains let us engage with
other people.
That’s one of the most basic questions in
neuroscience, as well as an ability impaired in
autism and schizophrenia, said lab director Joy
Hirsch.
As the two researchers chatted, each wore a
black-and-white skullcap from which 64 slender
black cables trailed away like dreadlocks. At
the tip of half of those fiber optic cables, weak
laser beams slipped through their skulls and
penetrated about an inch into their brains.
There, the beams bounced off blood and
reflected back to be picked up by the other half
of the cables.
Those reflections revealed how much oxygen
that blood was carrying. And since brain circuits
use more oxygen when they’re busier, the
measurements provided an indirect index to
patterns of brain activity as Bronner listened to
Yahil and replied, and vice versa.
The mostly widely used brain-mapping
technique, however, is a different one called
functional magnetic resonance imaging, or
fMRI. Basically, fMRI does what Hirsch’s laser
system does: It uses oxygen levels in blood as
tracers of brain-cell activity. But it penetrates
much deeper into the brain, using powerful
magnetic fields. That lets it seek subtle magnetic
signals to track blood oxygen levels on a tiny
scale; a bump in oxygen levels indicates active
brain cells nearby.
The fMRI technology can detect vanishingly tiny
changes in brain activity that are associated with
tackling particular tasks. And it can show the
activity of a brain that is not focused on doing a
task. In this resting state, the brain continues to
“Wireless” Con
TNIRS Investigatio
\Munication Between Humans:
1 of neural mechanisms for dialogue
Joy Hirsch, Ph.D
rain Function Laboratory
Yale School of Medicine
Settecece ee
ONS
130|
hum along, and scientists are studying what this
can reveal about it and its illnesses.
Another major emphasis in brain mapping these
days is delineating the circuitry that lets the
brain operate.
Communication flows along an estimated
150,000 miles of nerve fibers in the average
brain. Individual fibers are too fine to see in
brain-scanning machines, but they form bundles
that can be detected as they cross the deep
central portion of the brain.
Those bundles are one focus of researchers who
are mapping out the brain’s “connectome,” the
complex web of these connections between
areas of gray matter, where thinking takes place.
One goal is better understanding what parcels
of tissue do what jobs in the brain’s outer layer,
the cerebral cortex.
Some brain-scanning research rises from the
informative to the truly startling, like decoding
- looking at brain activity patterns to figure
out what somebody is seeing, or even thinking
about.
In 2011, for example, researchers reported that
they could reconstruct very rough visual replicas
of movie clips that people were watching while
their brains were scanned. And two years later,
Japanese scientists reported evidence that
they could get some idea of what people were
dreaming about - at least, better than chance
under highly controlled conditions.
Such findings are valuable for learning how
the brain is organized. And in the near term,
decoding technology might help people
whose medical condition prevents normal
conversation, said Jack Gallant of the University
of California, Berkeley.
If portable devices that peer closely into the
brain can be developed, new possibilities
open up for brain decoding. And not just for
scientists.
\
(25, 69, 16)\""
\List
\
132|
Gallant foresees a future in which composers
write music just by imagining it. Or “you can just
think about the picture you want to paint” and
let a computer do the rest.
Writing a letter, he says “would be like dictation,
except you would just be talking to yourself.”
And in the future, why be confined to your own
language?
“1 can think in English and my little brain hat
would read my thoughts, send it to Google
and it would come back in Japanese,” he says.
“You’d talk out of a little speaker in your hat.”
1133
NEEDED NOW
TO SLOW
CLIMATE
CHANG
EE |
1135
Failure to act on climate change could cause
an estimated 57,000 deaths a year in the
United States from poor air quality by 2100,
the Obama administration argued in a report
released Monday that warns of dire effects of
global warming. The report says inaction on
climate change could cost billions of dollars a
year in damage from rising sea levels, increased
wildfires and drought, as well as higher costs
for electricity to cool homes and businesses
in hotter temperatures. The Environmental
Protection Agency report argues that action
now on climate could save billions in avoided
costs for maintenance and repairs on roads and
bridges made vulnerable by global warming and
save the lives of an estimated 12,000 people
in 49 U.S. cities who could die from extreme
temperatures in 2100.
The report comes as Republicans in Congress
seek to undo the administration’s environmental
policies, including an expected plan by the EPA
to target coal-fired power plants, and days after
Pope Francis issued a stern warning about global
warming’s consequences, especially for the
poor and underdeveloped nations. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last
month was the hottest May around the globe in
136 years of global records.
A global health commission organized by the
prestigious British medical journal Lancet
recommended on Monday that substituting
cleaner energy worldwide for coal will reduce
air pollution and give Earth a better chance at
avoiding dangerous climate change. The panel
said hundreds of thousands of lives each year
are at stake and global warming “threatens
to undermine the last half century of gains in
development and global health.”
The White House report is part of a weeklong
effort to emphasize climate change to mark the
two-year anniversary of a “climate action plan”
announced by President Barack Obama.
|137
138|
While the most severe effects of global warming
would not be felt for decades, the Obama
administration said decisions about climate
change need to be made now.
“Decisions are not going to wait 50 years,” EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters
at a White House briefing. “They are today’s
decisions.” McCarthy called the report “a wake-
up call for some who may not be aware” of the
potential damages of climate change.
Obama, in an interview out Monday with
comedian Marc Maron for his popular podcast,
said he was acting on his own on power plants
and other environmental regulations because
the GOP-controlled Congress has blocked more
comprehensive efforts.
‘We'll get that stuff done,” Obama said, adding
that “it would be a lot better, it would be a lot
more helpful, if we had some cooperation from
Congress, and if | didn’t have the chairman of
the energy and environment committee in the
Senate holding up a snowball as if that was proof
that climate change wasn’t happening, that
would be useful.”
Obama’s comments referred to Sen. James
Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee,
who tossed a snowball in the Senate chamber
in February to demonstrate his claim that global
warming is a hoax.
The EPA report says actions to slow climate
change could save about $3.1 billion in expected
costs from sea-level rise and storm surge in 2100,
while the power sector could save as much as
$34 billion by 2050 in avoided costs for additional
electricity for air conditioning and other uses.
An estimated $3 billion in avoided damages from
poor water quality could be saved by 2100, the
report said.
1139
32
33 8
be)
#
Se es Sa Oi ll
ee ie
Stree:
WHE
Actions begun in the next few years could reduce
droughts by at least 40 percent by 2100 and save
an estimated 6 to 8 million acres from being
burned by wildfires, the report said.
It said meaningful actions also could prevent the
loss of about one-third of U.S. supplies of oysters,
scallops and clams by 2100, as well as 35 percent
of Hawaiian coral reefs.
Failure to act could lead to summers in Illinois to
“feel like Louisiana” today, McCarthy said, while
South Dakota summers may be as hot as those
in Arkansas. The Republican-controlled House
is expected to vote this week on a bill to scale
back the plan on coal-fired power plants, the
centerpiece of Obama’s second-term push to
confront climate change.
The bill would allow states to opt out of the
plan if the governor determines it would cause
significant rate hikes for electricity or harm
reliability of service in the state. The bill also
would delay the rule until all court challenges are
completed. The House also is expected to take
up a separate spending bill that would bar the
EPA from enforcing the power plant rules, cut
the agency’s budget and attack other prominent
EPA regulations on air and water pollution.
Obama has managed to thwart GOP efforts in
the past, but Republicans are renewing their
efforts now that they control the Senate as well
as the House.
1141
GOOD FOR YOU (FEAT. ASAP ROCKY)
RACHEL PLATTEN
CHEERLEADER
(FELIX JAEHN REMIX RADIO EDIT)
Om
FIGHT SONG
RACHEL PLATTEN
BAD BLOOD (FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR)
TAyLor SWIFT
HONEY, 'M GOOD.
AwNpy GRAMMER
CAN'T FEEL MY FACE
THE WEEKND
SHUT UP AND DANCE
WALK THE MOO
fi
a:
SEE YOU AGAIN (FEAT. CHARLIE PUTH)
Wiz KHALIFA
GIRL CRUSH
Lit7te Bic TOWN
WORTHIT (FEAT. KID INK)
FiftH HARMONY
144|
ALBUMS
UNBREAKABLE SMILE
(BONUS TRACK VERSION)
Tor! Keuty
1989
Tayior SWIFT
DARK BEFORE DAWN
BREAKING BENJAMIN
PAGEANT MATERIAL
Kacey Muscraves
BEFORE THIS WORLD
JAMES TAYLOR
pun WILDER MIND
o 4 Mumrorp & Sons
ie — iM ‘ee
<)
— COMING HOME
x” a y Leon BRIDGES
GRAND ROMANTIC
Nare Ruess
BLURRYFACE
TWENTY ONE PILOTS
MONTEVALLO
Sam Hunt
1145
MUSIC VIDEOS
BAD BLOOD (FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR)
TayLor SWIFT
GIRL CRUSH
Lime Bic TOWN
UPTOWN FUNK (FEAT. BRUNO MARS)
Mark Ronson
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
(LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS)
[FEAT. JASON BONHAM]
HEART
FUN (FEAT. CHRIS BROWN)
PiTBULL
DEAR FUTURE HUSBAND
MEGHAN TRAINOR
HEY MAMA (FEAT. NICKI MINAJ, AFROJACK
& BEBE REXHA)
Davip GUETTA
THINKING OUT LOUD
Eb SHEERAN
SHAKE IT OFF
Taylor SWIFT
WORTHIT (FEAT. KID INK)
FietH HARMONY
|147
148|
IVSHOWS
FIGHT THE SHIP
The Last Sui, SEASON 2
#BATTLEOFTHEBODS
#RicHKips oF Beverty Hits, SEASON 3
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
Prerry Lirrte Liars, SEASON 6
HISTORY YET TO BE WRITTEN
OrPHAN BLACK, SEASON 3
HOW'S LADY POLE?
JONATHAN STRANGE & Mr NorRELt
GONE GIRL
Mustresses, SEASON 3 (US Series)
EPISODE ONE
POLDARK, SEASON 1
I'LL BE WATCHING YOU
Mistresses, SEASON 3 (US Series)
MIDNIGHT NEVER COME
SALEM, SEASON 2
SECONDO
HANNIBAL, SEASON 3
|149
GREY
EL James
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Hotty Mabison
THE MELODY LINGERS ON
Mary Hicains CLARK
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Pauta HAWKINS
WICKED CHARMS
JANET EVANOVICH & PHOEF SUTTON
SAFE AT LAST
Maya Banks
ON MY KNEES
J. KENNER
TRUTH OR DIE
James PATTERSON & HowarD ROUGHAN
PAPER TOWNS
JOHN GREEN
on Chrome
INSTAGRAM USERS 1.2.2.2
IN N. KOREA pets
za =1(Warning!)
WARNED SITE PUT
ON BLACKLIST
psite be
)
Warnings are appearing on Instagram accounts
in North Korea that say access to the popular
photo-sharing app is being denied and that the
site is blacklisted for harmful content.
Opening the app with mobile devices on the
North Korean carrier Koryolink has resulted in
a notification in English saying: “Warning! You
can’t connect to this website because it’s in
blacklist site.” A similar notice in Korean says
the site contains harmful content, though that
is not mentioned in the English version. i _|
em
152|
People Window Help
Jacklist site ,
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154|
Such warnings have also appeared when
websites that link to Instagram are accessed
through desktops or laptops using LAN cables
on the North Korean Internet provider. The
warnings have been appearing on and off for at
least five days.
The Internet and any kind of social media
remain off-limits to virtually all North Koreans,
but North Korea decided in 2013 to allow
foreigners in the country to use 3G on their
mobile phones, which generally require a local
SIM card to get onto the Koryolink mobile
carrier network.
That opened the door for them to surf the
Internet and post to social media such as
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. More
recently, even live-streaming video had been
posted using the new Twitter app Periscope.
Photos from North Korea on Instagram posted
by foreigners - though regular users are very
few in number - provide a rare window on daily
life in North Korea. But they have also posed
a quandary for North Korean officials who are
highly concerned about the flow of information
and images in and out of the country.
Tech support staff at Koryolink said they were
not aware of any changes in policy regarding
Instagram. There has been no notice from
the government or from the mobile phone
service to its customers that Instagram has
been blacklisted. Instagram officials had no
comment when contacted by The Associated
Press. Instagram is owned by Facebook, which
is functioning normally in Pyongyang.
It was still possible to use the app, despite
the warnings, on some mobile devices. But
attempts on others to post photos or view
user galleries through the standard Koryolink
connection have been virtually impossible,
suggesting that some access was indeed being
obstructed.
156|
It was unclear where the blockage was
originating, how widespread it was, whether
it was a hack of some sort or if it had any
connection to a fire on June 11 at a luxury hotel
often used by tourists and foreign visitors in
Pyongyang. Photos of the fire leaked out of
the country and were carried widely by media
around the world. But the fire has not yet been
reported by the North’s state-run media.
Besides Facebook, Twitter and other social
media sites were also functioning normally.
Other websites were viewable as usual even
on mobile phones on which Instagram was not
functioning.
It is estimated that more than 2 million North
Koreans now use mobile phones, but with
few exceptions they are not allowed to access
the Internet, meaning the mobile service is
available primarily to foreign visitors, residents
and businesspeople in the country.
Andrea Lee, CEO of Uri Tours, which organizes
tours to North Korea, said she was not aware of
a policy shift toward blocking Instagram.
“NWNe have been using Instagram to post photos
from our (North Korea) tours since Koryolink,
the local provider, announced that 3G SIM cards
would be available to foreigners for purchase,”
she said. “While I’m unaware of this recent shift
in policy toward blocking Instagram, | hope this
will be a temporary policy as it’s been a great
tool for our company to show prospective
travelers what our tours are like and to get
people motivated in traveling there.”
She added that the SIM cards are priced more
for the long-term frequent traveler, and usually
tourists who are in the country for just a few
days opt not to purchase them. “But those
who do possess the SIM card have near open
access to the web, including social media sites
like Facebook, Twitter, Google and many other
sites that have historically been blocked in
places like China.”
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