TV Aerials Warrington: September 2019

Monday, 30 September 2019

Facebook to selectively pay media orgs desperate for its news tab scraps

Show appreciation for your kind and generous digital overlord.

Facebook is set to launch its latest feature, news tab, this fall — setting up yet another political battle over what media outlets are or aren't promoted by the tech giant. While the company has taken great pains to emphasize that it will be different this time around, one thing remains eminently the same: Not all participating publishers will benefit to the same degree.

That's because, as the Wall Street Journal reports, only roughly 25 percent of the 200 participating publications will receive any monetary compensation from the tech giant in exchange for allowing Facebook to populate its news tab with their content. The remaining 150 will apparently be doing it out of the kindness of their digital media hearts. Well, that and the hopes of raking in that sweet, sweet incoming web traffic. Read more...

More about Facebook, News Tab, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/T8apLyYq4Bc/
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Upstart banking company Dave is now worth $1 billion, as Norwest puts in $50 million

Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees, the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up.

The company used its overdraft protection service and money management display to shift customers’ focus away from the total balance that their account would show by giving them a sense of how much was actually left in their accounts once debits were included in their statements.

“What was cool about our financial management product was that we were trying to use Dave as a replacement for their current bank,” says Jason Wilk, Dave’s co-founder and chief executive.

Dave now counts over 4 million users for its financial management app and has roughly 800,000 people on the waiting list to use its banking services, Wilk says.

The company has taken a methodical approach to opening its doors as a digital bank, in part because it wants to have the necessary support infrastructure in place to service the demand that Wilk expects to see for its service.

“It’s one thing to help people with budgeting. It’s another to actually manage their money,” says Wilk.

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Dave will use the $50 million raised from Norwest to significantly expand its product and engineering team within the next 12 months, in order to double down on the core business and ensure the success of the banking product.

“We can prove that Dave can be helpful by showing how we can help you manage your current account, and then Dave banking is the marketing lever from there,” says Wilk.

For now, customers need to have the financial management app installed to be able to access the company’s banking service.

Dave charges $1 per month for access to its financial management tools and that also gives customers the ability to use a cushion of between $50 to $75 to avoid being hit with overdraft fees from their current bank account. Dave asks for a tip every time a customer uses that cushion to cover expenses — something that Wilk says is still cheaper than having to worry about overdraft fees.

And, to add a bit of environmental spin, for every tip that Dave receives, the company plants a tree. “We plant millions and millions of trees,” says Wilk.

The company is FDIC insured through a partner bank, the Memphis-based Evolve Bank and Trust, which acts as a backstop for the company’s financial management activities.

“We already had a relationship with them for some payment processing stuff,” says Wilk. “We liked the team and liked the terms and went with them.”

Terms between financial services firms can vary, and, Wilk says, Evolve Bank was willing to give the company a good deal on splitting the interchange fee, which is a big source of revenue for upstart banks.

It’s possible that Dave could have received a bigger check at a potentially higher valuation, but Wilk says the startup is trying to stay lean.

“The company is growing so quickly, we didn’t want to get too diluted on this round,” he says. “We think the company is quite a bit more valuable than [$1 billion]. You don’t want to raise too much money too quickly if you really think the valuation is going to climb… Since we signed the term sheet the company has already grown another 40%.”

It was only four months ago that Dave was announcing a $110 million credit financing with Victory Park Capital and the launch of its banking product.

Dave’s products and services have a few advantages for customers that are just getting started on the path to financial security. The company monitors everyday monthly payments and reports them to credit agencies to improve customers’ credit ratings. The company also provides up to $100, interest-free, overdraft protection.

“Banks have failed their customers by building products that put their own interests ahead of the humans who use them. People don’t need predatory fees, they need tools that actually solve their challenges around credit building, finding work and getting access to their own money to cover immediate expenses. Dave is the banking product that works with its customers, not against them,” said Wilk, in a June statement announcing the funding and banking product launch.

While Dave is getting some hefty firepower and a generous valuation from Norwest, it’s also operating in a market where its core services that were a point of differentiation are quickly becoming table stakes.

Earlier in September, the new startup banking company Chime announced that it had hit 5 million banking customers and was offering its own overdraft protection service.

Chime now has 5 million customers and introduces overdraft alternative

The San Francisco-based bank has also raised a lot more capital for a potential piggy bank to raid if it needs to acquire or spend on engineering talent to build out new products and services. Earlier this year, the company announced a $200 million round and said it had hit roughly 3 million customers. Clearly Chime is adding new banking customers at a torrid pace.

And they’re facing global competition as well. N26, the European startup bank with a $3.6 billion valuation and hundreds of millions in financing launched in the U.S. a few months ago as well.

The company sees a global opportunity to create new digital banking services in a world where large amounts of capital and an elite set of consumers move easily between international markets.

“We have an opportunity that we build a bank that has more than 50 million users around the globe. Today, we only have 3.5 million users but we’re accelerating,” said N26 chief executive, Valentin Self, in an interview with TechCrunch. “From a country perspective, we have agreed already that we go to Brazil. There’s no plan after Brazil yet. Now let’s focus on the U.S., then on Brazil, then next year we’ll find out what’s the feedback from these two markets.”

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/30/upstart-banking-company-dave-is-now-worth-1-billion-as-norwest-puts-in-50-million/
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Britain's pine marten population to double overnight in conservation effort

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/30/britains-pine-marten-population-double-overnight-conservation/
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Reddit widens its anti-harassment policies to enable swifter crackdowns

Reddit is toughening its anti-harassment policies, and that's having consequences for parts of its community. The social site's new approach no longer limits harassment to those instances of "continued" or "systematic" activity, and includes any ins...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/30/reddit-widens-anti-harassment-policies/
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Theresa May says she will never write a tell all book like David Cameron, but may do one on walking

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/30/theresa-may-says-will-never-write-tell-book-like-david-cameron/
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Apple will pay 25 percent tax on five imported Mac Pro parts, thanks to Trump tariffs

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

The US Trade Representative’s office has denied Apple tariff relief on five parts for its new Mac Pro computer, as reported by Bloomberg. Each of the imported parts — the optional wheels, a circuit board for managing input and output ports, power adapter, charging cable, and a cooling system for the processor — are now likely to be subject to the proposed 25 percent tariff on goods imported from China.

Apple initially asked the Trump administration to exclude parts for its Mac Pro desktop from tariffs back in July, including the exterior enclosure, the Magic Mouse 2, and the Magic Trackpad. The office recently granted Apple exclusions on 10 different items, so not every imported part will be subject to the tax.

The news comes on the...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/30/20892201/apple-25-percent-tax-five-imported-mac-pro-parts-trump-tariffs
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Two girls aged 14 and 16 arrested on suspicion of murdering 80-year-old found dead at home

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/30/two-girls-aged-14-16-arrested-suspicion-murdering-80-year-old/
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Rocket Lab launch switcheroo shows the flexibility of the new orbital economy

New Zealand-based launch provider Rocket Lab has announced its next commercial mission, “As The Crow Flies,” taking an Astro Digital satellite to orbit in October. Interestingly, this launch originally had a different payload, but was switched out on fairly short notice — not exactly a common practice in this business.

The launch, scheduled for a two-week window starting October 15, will take a single spacecraft created by Astro to low Earth orbit. Corvus — the genus to which crows and ravens belong — is the name of the series of imaging satellites the company has already put up there; hence the name of the mission.

But this mission wasn’t scheduled to launch for some time yet. October’s launch, the fifth this year from Rocket Lab, was set to be another customer’s, but that customer seems to have needed a bit of extra time to prepare — and simply requested a later launch date.

And because the weather is fine, and one Electron rocket is much like another, Rocket Lab and Astro Digital just decided to use that launch window anyway and head to orbit a bit early.

From launch to launch: Peter Beck on building Rocket Lab’s orbital business

This kind of thing really isn’t done much in the world of launch services. There are so many moving parts and so much red tape, not to mention weather, labor, and everything else involved, that launch dates are often set years in advance, frequently delayed anyway, and then either lift off or sit on the launchpad until they do. But flexibility is fundamental to the Rocket Lab business model, as founder and CEO Peter Beck has said repeatedly.

“Electron is a launch on demand service – we’re ready when the launch customer is,” he told TechCrunch regarding today’s announcement. “Electron is designed for standardized, rapid production — we don’t build to tail numbers. This ensures we can have launch vehicles on standby, ready to be assigned a payload for launch on demand.”

When the inevitable delays happen, whether for product, funding, or regulatory reasons, both provider and customer have to be ready to work with one another.

“The systems are complex and everything has to be right before launch, so we always want to ensure our customers have the flexibility to make launch timing work for them,” Beck said. “We’re accommodating that reality but allowing our customers to adjust their launch schedule as required, without causing disruption to the other missions on our manifest.”

As the new space economy grows, the old methods and infrastructure are increasingly unable to keep up, necessitating this kind of flexibility. Other launch providers are building towards small scales and adjustable timeframes as well, and there’s a line around the globe of small satellite makers who are waiting to take advantage.

You’ll be able to watch the launch from the Māhia Peninsula complex live whenever weather permits takeoff, sometime after October 14.

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/30/rocket-lab-launch-switcheroo-shows-the-flexibility-of-the-new-orbital-economy/
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Hyundai hires a NASA engineer to run its new 'flying car' division

Today, Hyundai threw its hat into the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ring. The company announced that it's working to develop its own flying vehicles. Hyundai appointed Dr. Jaiwon Shin as head of its new UAM division. Most recently, Shin led NASA's Aeronau...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/30/hyundai-flying-cars-uam/
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AWS IQ matches AWS customers with certified service providers

AWS has a lot going on, and it’s not always easy for customers to deal with the breadth of its service offerings on its own. Today, the company announced a new service called AWS IQ that is designed to connect customers with certified service providers.

“Today I would like to tell you about AWS IQ, a new service that will help you to engage with AWS Certified third party experts for project work,” AWS’s Jeff Barr wrote in a blog post introducing the new feature. This could involve training, support, managed services, professional services or consulting. All of the companies available to help have received associate, specialty or professional certification from AWS, according to the post.

You start by selecting the type of service you are looking for, such as training or professional services, then the tool walks you through the process of defining your needs, including providing a title, description and what you are willing to pay for these services. The service then connects the requestor with a set of providers that match the requirements. From there, the requestor can review expert profiles and compare the ratings and offerings in a kind of online marketplace.

You start by selecting the type of service you want to engage

Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president at AWS, says they wanted to offer a way for customers and service providers to get together. “We built AWS IQ to serve as a bridge between our customers and experts, enabling them to get to work on new projects faster and easier, and removing many of the hassles and roadblocks that both groups usually encounter when dealing with project-based work,” he said in a statement.

The company sees this as a particularly valuable tool for small and medium-sized vendors, which might lack the expertise to find help with AWS services. The end result is that everyone should win. Customers get direct access to this community of experts, and the experts can more easily connect with potential customers to build their AWS consulting practice.

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/30/aws-iq-matches-aws-customers-with-certified-service-providers/
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NASA is now officially accepting proposals for landers to take people to the Moon

An artistic rendering of what a future Artemis lunar lander could look like | Image: NASA

NASA is now officially accepting proposals for lunar lander designs that can carry humans to the surface of the Moon. The space agency issued a final call to the commercial space industry today, with proposals due November 1st.

Human lunar landers are a critical component of NASA’s Artemis program, an initiative to send people back to the Moon’s surface in less than five years. These landers are meant to live at a new space station that NASA wants to build in orbit around the Moon called the Gateway. Astronauts will supposedly travel to the Gateway in NASA’s future rocket — the Space Launch System, or SLS — and from there, they’ll travel in the landers down to the Moon.

Specifically, NASA is looking for landers that consist of two to...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/30/20892202/nasa-artemis-program-moon-human-lunar-lander-industry
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SpaceX details Starship and Super Heavy in new website

After CEO Elon Musk shared new details about its in-development Starship spacecraft on Saturday, SpaceX has updated its website with a new section dedicated to the fully reusable cargo and passenger vehicle. The new Starship website also provides a bunch of info about Super Heavy, the first-stage booster that will propel Starship to orbital altitudes and beyond.

Starship, once complete, will be “world’s most powerful launch vehicle,” according to SpaceX, with a cargo capacity of 100 metric tons (that’s over 220,000 lbs) to Earth orbit. With orbital refueling, it’ll also be able to take its freight — and passengers — to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Per the new Starship site, the final vehicle will be 160 feet tall (without the booster) and 30 feet in diameter, with a propellant capacity of 1,200 metric tons of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Payload, and crew depending on configuration, will occupy the top third of the rocket, while the bottom two-thirds will house the propellant and six Raptor engines, including three for atmospheric flight and three for propulsion in space. At the top of the rocket there are two actuated (meaning you can control their movement) fins that will move to orient the rocket for re-entry and landing. At the bottom, two large fins will also help produce drag, crucial for its controlled descent. Starship will be made of stainless steel, and one half of its surface will be covered in glass tiles to take the brunt of the worst of the heat upon atmospheric entry.

As for Super Heavy, it’ll have the same 30-foot diameter, but be much taller, at 223 feet, with a propellant capacity of a massive 3,300 metric tons, and a thrust capability of 72 meganewtons (MN) (the thrust of the Saturn V rocket was only 35 MN, by comparison). Actuated grid fins near the top of the rocket will be used for its controlled landing, much like those found on the Falcon 9 boosters SpaceX uses today. The bigger booster will have 37 Raptor engines, however, and six landing legs for stability when it comes back down to be readied for re-use. It’ll be made entirely of stainless steel.

SpaceX notes that Starship is used to deliver satellites at “a lower marginal cost per launch” compared to Falcon, and that the design of its cargo compartment will provide the largest potential cargo fairing of any current planned space freight vehicle. This will allow it to carry even very large objects like assembled space telescopes, the company notes.

It’s also designed to continue to service the International Space Station with cargo resupply, and would be able to transport a lot more cargo in one go than the current Dragon capsules SpaceX uses. It’s also designed to be able to deliver cargo and people to the Moon and other planets, and to return for multiple trips.

SpaceX also provided updated specs for the Raptor engine that will power the Starship system. Each Raptor will be 4 feet in diameter, 10.2 feet high and have a thrust capability of 2 MN (which is just over the thrust force of the Space Shuttle’s main engine during takeoff, coincidentally).

On the site, SpaceX says it’s targeting orbital flight for Starship in 2020, and at the event Musk went further still, saying that Starship should attain this milestone in less than six months — and even allowed for the possibility that it could fly with people on board in one year.

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/30/spacex-details-starship-and-super-heavy-in-new-website/
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Reddit changes its harassment policy and bans major incel community

Reddit is taking bullying and harassment on its website more seriously.

In a post on Monday, Reddit announced that it was broadening its policies when it comes to threats made on the site. Specifically, it has significantly revised what constitutes bullying and harassment.

According to the new policy, Reddit defines behavior in violation of these rules as “anything that works to shut someone out of the conversation through intimidation or abuse, online or off.” This is a huge update from the previous rules that defined bullying and harassment as putting an individual in “fear of their real life safety” or so that a user “no longer feels that it's safe to post online.” In the announcement, the company points out the inadequacy of a policy that set a “high bar of users fearing for their real-world safety to qualify.” Read more...

More about Reddit, Harassment, Bullying, Incels, and Tech

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/Og56FBpQwZE/
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Twitter rolls out filter for potentially offensive DMs

Twitter is quickly acting on plans to filter potentially offensive direct messages. It's rolling out the filter to all users on Android, iOS and the web. As during the test, there isn't much mystery to how this works. If a message contains questio...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/30/twitter-rolls-out-dm-filter/
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New video by Late Night with Seth Meyers on YouTube

Trump and GOP Melt Down Amid Ukraine Scandal, Impeachment: A Closer Look
Seth takes a closer look at the president accusing Democrats of treason as Republicans flail in their attempts to defend him from impeachment. » Subscribe to Late Night: http://bit.ly/LateNightSeth » Get more Late Night with Seth Meyers: http://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-seth-meyers/ » Watch Late Night with Seth Meyers Weeknights 12:35/11:35c on NBC. LATE NIGHT ON SOCIAL Follow Late Night on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LateNightSeth Like Late Night on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LateNightSeth Find Late Night on Tumblr: http://latenightseth.tumblr.com/ Late Night with Seth Meyers on YouTube features A-list celebrity guests, memorable comedy, and topical monologue jokes. NBC ON SOCIAL Like NBC: http://Facebook.com/NBC Follow NBC: http://Twitter.com/NBC NBC Tumblr: http://NBCtv.tumblr.com/ NBC Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/NBCtv/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nbc NBC Instagram: http://instagram.com/nbctv Trump and GOP Melt Down Amid Ukraine Scandal, Impeachment: A Closer Look- Late Night with Seth Meyers https://youtu.be/m_42Kx36kDw Late Night with Seth Meyers http://www.youtube.com/user/latenightseth

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Failure is an Accomplice to Success, Not Its Enemy (Or, Why We Need to Rethink Failure)

We don’t fear failure in itself.

Continue reading on Medium »

from Handpicked stories about Self on Medium https://medium.com/@melissachu/failure-is-an-accomplice-to-success-not-its-enemy-or-why-we-need-to-rethink-failure-5dd2ca106c73?source=rss-------8-----------------self
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Your Need for Approval is Killing Your Future

So here’s how to get over it.

Continue reading on Mind Cafe »

from Handpicked stories about Self on Medium https://medium.com/mind-cafe/your-need-for-approval-is-killing-your-future-5bc924d923b2?source=rss-------8-----------------self
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Desperate Migrants on the Border: ‘I Should Just Swim Across’

A growing number of migrants, blocked at the border by new immigration policies, are using riskier tactics to get in

Continue reading on The New York Times »

from Handpicked stories about Politics on Medium https://medium.com/the-new-york-times/desperate-migrants-on-the-border-i-should-just-swim-across-f85e6c32f3d5?source=rss-------8-----------------politics
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You Say You Want a (Data) Revolution

Lessons learned making data a first-class citizen in enterprise

Continue reading on Towards Data Science »

from Handpicked stories about Technology on Medium https://towardsdatascience.com/you-say-you-want-a-data-revolution-6ceefded38b7?source=rss-------8-----------------technology
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Trippy video breaks down how YouTube demonetizes LGBTQ creators for using words like 'gay'

It's long been rumored that YouTube's machine learning algorithm specifically demonetizes LGBTQ content — despite YouTube's denials.

But the allegations got a boost over the weekend when two creators published videos pointing out how they think YouTube goes about blocking LGBTQ content from making money.

YouTube Analyzed fed more than 15,000 words used in titles to YouTube's bots to figure out what the platform deems too scandalous for advertisers. Words that triggered demonetization in his tests include "gay" and "homosexual."

Another channel, Nerd City, then broke down YouTube Analyzed's data in the acid trip of a video seen above. Before tackling YouTube's shadowy demonetization policy, Nerd City was known for diving into Jake Paul's insidious marketing schemes, exposing family vlogging channels as exploitative, and highlighting obviously edited Instagram photos as bad for young followers' self esteem. Read more...

More about Youtube, Lgbtq, Culture, and Web Culture

from Mashable https://mashable.com/video/youtube-demonetize-lgbtq-words-nerdcity/
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Facebook to selectively pay media orgs desperate for its news tab scraps

Show appreciation for your kind and generous digital overlord.

More about Facebook, News Tab, Tech, and Big Tech Companies

from Mashable https://mashable.com/article/facebook-news-tab-pays-publications/
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How Lainey Lui Became a Top Entertainment Journalist

It involves being a productivity expert. Let her explain.

Continue reading on Wake-Up Call »

from Handpicked stories about Culture on Medium https://medium.com/wake-up-call/lainey-lui-productivity-time-management-tips-c6371718db47?source=rss-------8-----------------culture
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Why Facilitation is the Most Important Skill for Creative Leaders

What is a “creative?”

Continue reading on Medium »

from Handpicked stories about Creativity on Medium https://medium.com/@johndmcginnis/why-facilitation-is-the-most-important-skill-for-creative-leaders-4b54352b9b3b?source=rss-------8-----------------creativity
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Sunday, 29 September 2019

Tenpin Warrington gives away free bowling games for charity

FREE games of bowling will be given away during a charity fundraiser this weekend.

from Warrington Guardian | News https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/17932632.tenpin-warrington-gives-away-free-bowling-games-charity/?ref=rss
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Warrington Extinction Rebellion hold ‘die-in’ at Parr Hall

CLIMATE change protesters will stage a ‘die-in’ at the Parr Hall this weekend.

from Warrington Guardian | News https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/17931983.warrington-extinction-rebellion-hold-die-in-parr-hall/?ref=rss
via Aerials Warrington

Ryan Guest banned from operating as company director

A CONSTRUCTION business owner has been banned from acting as a company director for 11 years.

from Warrington Guardian | News https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/17932890.ryan-guest-banned-operating-company-director/?ref=rss
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Tenpin Warrington gives away free bowling games for charity

Warrington Extinction Rebellion hold ‘die-in’ at Parr Hall

New 'The King's Man' full trailer has more jokes, more knife-fighting, and more Black Sabbath

Unlike the super serious teaser, the full trailer for The King's Man wants you to know that this is still a comedy, OK?

The origin-story prequel for the Kingsman series — they've split the original film's name into two separate words, just so it's not confusing! — gives fans a better peek at Rhys Ifans (aka Spike from Notting Hill) as Rasputin, as Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou fight "tyrants and criminal masterminds" in the midst of World War I. The trailer also boasts a snarling soundtrack thanks to Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and Fiennes trying to convince his team to try this newfangled thing called a parachute. Read more...

More about Trailer, Matthew Vaughn, Ralph Fiennes, Kingsman, and The King S Man

from Mashable https://mashable.com/video/the-kings-man-new-kingsman-3-trailer/
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YouTube is 'really happy' with viewership for its live MLB games

Now that the regular MLB season is winding down, how has YouTube's exclusive game streaming deal fared? Quite well, relatively speaking. The online video giant reported that its 13 livestreamed games racked up an average of 1.2 million viewers (inc...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/29/youtube-happy-with-mlb-viewership/
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Africa’s top mobile phone seller Transsion lists in Chinese IPO

Chinese mobile-phone and device maker Transsion has listed in an IPO on Shanghai’s STAR Market, a Transsion spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, Transsion is a top-seller of smartphones in Africa under its Tecno brand. The company has also started to support venture funding of African startups.

Transsion issued 80 million A-shares at an opening price of 35.15 yuan (≈ $5.00) to raise 2.8 billion yuan (or ≈ $394 million).

A-shares are the common shares issued by mainland Chinese companies and are normally available for purchases only by mainland citizens.

Transsion’s IPO prospectus is downloadable (in Chinese) and its STAR Market listing application available on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s website.

STAR is the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s new Nasdaq-style board for tech stocks that went live in July with some 25 companies going public.

Transsion plans to spend 1.6 billion yuan (or $227 million) of its STAR Market raise on building more phone assembly hubs and around 430 million yuan ($62 million) on research and development, including a mobile phone R&D center in Shanghai, a company spokesperson said.

To support its African sales network, Transsion maintains a manufacturing facility in Ethiopia. The company recently announced plans to build an industrial park and R&D facility in India for manufacture of phones to Africa.

The IPO comes after Transsion announced its intent to go public and filed its first docs with the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April.

Listing on STAR Market puts Transsion on China’s new exchange — seen as an extension of Beijing’s ambition to become a hub for tech startups to raise public capital. Chinese regulators lowered profitability requirements for the STAR Market, which means pre-profit ventures can list.

Transsion’s IPO comes when the company is actually in the black. The firm generated 22.6 billion yuan ($3.29 billion) in revenue in 2018, up from 20 billion yuan a year earlier. Net profit for the year slid to 654 million yuan, down from 677 million yuan in 2017, according to the firm’s prospectus.

Transsion sold 124 million phones globally in 2018, per company data. In Africa, Transsion holds 54% of the feature phone market — through its brands Tecno, Infinix and Itel — and in smartphone sales is second to Samsung and before Huawei, according to International Data Corporation stats.

Transsion has R&D centers in Nigeria and Kenya and its sales network in Africa includes retail shops in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Egypt. The company also attracted attention for being one of the first known device makers to optimize its camera phones for African complexions.

On a 2019 research trip to Addis Ababa, TechCrunch learned the top entry-level Tecno smartphone was the W3, which lists for 3,600 Ethiopian Birr, or roughly $125.

In Africa, Transsion’s ability to build market share and find a sweet spot with consumers on price and features gives it prominence in the continent’s booming tech scene.

Africa already has strong mobile-phone penetration, but continues to undergo a conversion from basic USSD phones, to feature phones, to smartphones.

Smartphone adoption on the continent is low, at 34%, but expected to grow to 67% by 2025, according to GSMA.

This, added to an improving internet profile, is key to Africa’s tech scene. In top markets for VC and startup origination — such as Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa — thousands of ventures are building business models around mobile-based products and digital applications.

If Transsion’s IPO enables higher smartphone conversion on the continent, that could enable more startups and startup opportunities — from fintech to VOD apps.

Another interesting facet to Transsion’s IPO is its potential to create greater influence from China in African tech, in particular as the Shenzhen company moves more definitely toward venture investing.

In August, Transsion funded Future Hub teamed up with Kenya’s Wapi Capital to source and fund early-stage African fintech startups.

Transsion’s Future Hub and Kenya’s Wapi Capital partner on Africa fund

China’s engagement with African startups has been light compared to China’s deal-making on infrastructure and commodities — further boosted in recent years as Beijing pushes its Belt and Road plan.

Transsion’s IPO is the second event this year — after Chinese owned Opera’s venture spending in Nigeria — to reflect greater Chinese influence and investment in the continent’s digital scene.

So in coming years, China could be less known for building roads and bridges in Africa and more for selling smartphones and providing VC for African startups.

Opera founded startup OPay raises $50M for mobile finance in Nigeria

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/29/africas-top-mobile-phone-seller-transsion-lists-in-chinese-ipo/
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State Department revives investigation of Clinton's private emails

Hillary Clinton's private email server may once again be a hot-button issue three years after the FBI said it wouldn't press charges. Washington Post sources claimed State Department investigators have contacted "as many as" 130 officials to let the...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/29/state-department-revives-investigation-of-clinton-email/
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Switch Lite added to class action lawsuit over controller drift

Nintendo's Switch Lite is mired in legal trouble just a week after launch. Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith has added the Lite to its class action lawsuit over controller drift. The law firm pointed to multiple reports of wayward ana...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/29/switch-lite-class-action-lawsuit-controller-drift/
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Graves of British WWII heroes finally restored after being left to crumble in the Iraqi desert for decades

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/graves-british-wwii-heroes-finally-restored-left-crumble-iraqi/
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Girlguides urge parents to cut down on clingfilm as they launch war on plastic waste

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/girlguides-urge-parents-cut-clingfilm-launch-war-plastic-waste/
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Fiona Bruce: Would I have got Question Time job 10 years ago? I very much doubt it

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/fiona-bruce-would-have-got-question-time-job-10-years-ago-much/
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Prisoners are throwing boiling water at staff during regular outbreaks of serious violence, damning report finds

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/prisoners-throwing-boiling-water-staff-regular-outbreaks-serious/
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Hundreds of children in care are being 'marched back' to visit their abusive parents, study finds

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/hundreds-children-care-marched-back-visit-abusive-parents-study/
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New video by 20th Century Fox on YouTube

The King's Man | Official Trailer 2 [HD] | 20th Century FOX
This February, witness the rise of the civilized. Watch the new trailer for The King’s Man now. As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King's Man. Director: Matthew Vaughn Based on the Comic Book “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons Produced by: Matthew Vaughn, David Reid, Adam Bohling Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, with Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingsmanmovie Twitter: https://twitter.com/KingsmanMovie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingsmanmovie/ Hashtag: #TheKingsMan

View on YouTube Aerials Warrington »

How the rush to impeachment makes a Center-Left shift in US politics less likely

By Richard Pasquier

Continue reading on Medium »

from Handpicked stories about Politics on Medium https://medium.com/@tuf53462/how-the-rush-to-impeachment-makes-a-center-left-shift-in-us-politics-less-likely-c51fdaa1c30d?source=rss-------8-----------------politics
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Tesla's first major V3 Supercharger rollout is taking place in Canada

If you want to top up your Tesla using an extra-speedy V3 Supercharger, your best bet may be to embark on a Canadian road trip. Tesla told The Verge that 26 of the 46 Supercharger stations under construction along the Trans-Canada Highway (a set of...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/29/tesla-first-major-v3-supercharger-rollout-in-canada/
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Facebook Messenger's role in child sexual abuse online raises troubling questions

A Sunday report from the New York Times lays bare a chilling statistic regarding the role social media platforms can play in facilitating child sexual abuse and the spread of child pornography online.

Of the 18.4 million reports of child sexual abuse worldwide in 2018, a staggering 12 million trace back to Facebook Messenger. That's according to "people familiar with the reports." Although it's only one facet of a much more widespread problem, the outsize role played by Messenger is hard to overlook.

Even more troubling is the fact that efforts in the tech space to protect users could only worsen the situation. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg wrote at length back in March about the company's plans to create a more secure platform, and it's a process that includes encrypting private content on the site. Read more...

More about Facebook, Encryption, Facebook Messenger, Child Sexual Abuse, and Child Pornography

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/ZrfTBXZUjwE/
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Rockstar isn't making single-player DLC for 'Red Dead Redemption 2'

You won't be thrilled if you're hoping for a single-player add-on for Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar's lead online production associate Katie Pica told VG24/7 in an interview that the developer is "100% focused" on Red Dead Online. She argued that R...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/29/no-red-dead-redemption-2-single-player-dlc/
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Ex-MI6 chief says British spies are angry with John Le Carré for making them look heartless and immoral

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/ex-mi6-chief-says-british-spies-angry-john-lecarre-making-look/
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If Software is Eating the World

What’s Alexa got to do with it?

Continue reading on Towards Data Science »

from Handpicked stories about Technology on Medium https://towardsdatascience.com/if-software-is-eating-the-world-8522d037a046?source=rss-------8-----------------technology
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However this shakes out, the damage is already done

What we’ve been witnessing in real time over the past several years is akin to the proverbial bull in a china closet.

Continue reading on Peter Warski »

from Handpicked stories about Politics on Medium https://peterwarski.com/however-this-shakes-out-the-damage-is-already-done-e8eeba5bc384?source=rss-------8-----------------politics
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Saturday, 28 September 2019

Elon Musk aims to put SpaceX’s Starship in orbit in six months

Last-minute touches are made to the Starship prototype near sunset on September 27. | Pauline Acalin

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would like his Starship spacecraft to make it to orbit in six months, he said during an evening presentation on September 28. The event seemed aimed squarely at fans, with little new information and a lot of SpaceX history.

“This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months,” Musk said. “Provided the rate of design improvement and manufacturing improvement continues to be exponential, I think that is accurate to within a few months.”

During the presentation at SpaceX’s testing facility near Boca Chica, Texas, just north of the Mexican border, Musk also said that he expected the Starship prototype towering behind him to do...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/28/20888978/spacex-starship-super-heavy-update-elon-musk
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'Fallout 76' will get a public test server in 2020

Fallout 76's software quality has been... not-so-stellar. Soon, though, you might have a way to help address issues before they create another fiasco. Bethesda now plans to introduce a Public Test Server sometime in 2020. It won't share more about...

from TV Aerial Installation Services Warrington https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/28/fallout-76-public-test-server/
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