SpiderFarm is a factory that reconstructs the environmental conditions of a spider’s natural habitat. Within the ‘farm’ the spiders spin silk for human use. The SpiderFarm is an open-ended project that intends to develop new materials and yet unrealized objects.
In the spider factory nature’s perfect balance is reproduced. At the same time the system is intended to evoke a strong awareness of nature’s vulnerability.
The factory mimics the natural setting in which spiders live in the wild, recreating the essential aspects that allow them to prosper. In this setting - a factory as an imitation of nature to facilitate the production of spiders - the animals are stimulated to produce silk for human use. Eventually the system might create a material, and objects, with an as yet unrealized potential.
Suspicions grow that China's slowdown is worse than data tell
Official figures on Chinese economic growth are due today, and the consensus among economists is that a year-on-year gain of 7.6% is likely. But many suspect the true story is grimmer than that, a fact that would compound problems for a global economy that continues to be burdened by the eurozone crisis and slow U.S. growth.
Key Chinese province of Guangdong sees poor first half
China's bellwether industrial province of Guangdong has experienced a sharp slowdown across a range of economic measures since the beginning of the year, Gov. Zhu Xiaodan says. Zhu mentioned lower-than-targeted figures for first-half GDP growth (7.4%), investment, expenditure, foreign trade and financial revenue, citing long-term structural problems and economic fluctuations for the poorer performance.
As Europe's banks fail to lend, ECB may take further steps
With banks failing to step up lending in response to the European Central Bank's new 0% overnight-deposit rates, the ECB held out the possibility of a further jolt. The bank's main interest rate of 0.75%, cut by a quarter point only last week, could be lowered again. "Should the situation deteriorate, there is no article of faith preventing us from going below 0.75 percent," said ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot.
U.S. weekly jobless claims drop sharply, but meaning is uncertain
The number of U.S. weekly unemployment claims fell last week to a four-year low of 350,000, but the drop may only reflect a delayed shutdown at auto plants for annual retooling. The weekly figures also were in conflict with other recent indicators pointing to a broad economic slowdown.
S. Korean lawmakers are warned against hamstringing conglomerates
Foreign investors may be upset if South Korean lawmakers go too far in curbing the power of the nation's corporate conglomerates, warned Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan. "If we adopt systems quite different from international standards in the process of discussing economic democratization, we may get objections from overseas," Bahk told the parliamentary finance committee. The fear is that too much regulation could cut into the conglomerates' hiring and investment.
China accuses EU of "lack of trust" in trade dispute
China strongly warned the European Union on Thursday that continued investigation of trade practices involving makers of Chinese telecommunications equipment may lead to retaliation. China called the EU investigation of possible government subsidies "groundless" and said that if the EU persists, China may launch its own probe of subsidies in several EU export industries.
Market Activities
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS OVERVIEW
Slowing global growth and despair over the apparent absence of any sense of urgency by the U.S. Federal Reserve weighed down European stocks Thursday. And the sentiment carried over into the U.S. market, where poor corporate earnings added to the gloom, sending the S&P 500 down 0.5% for the day. Here is a continuously updated list of global stock indexes.
Economic Trends & Outlook
India's industrial output rebounds in May
India's industrial output rebounds in May
India's industrial output staged a modest comeback in May, rising 2.4% and reversing the 0.9% contraction in April. However, the latest rate is down from 6.2% a year earlier, and concerns remain over the capital goods and mining sectors.
Moody's is upbeat on ASEAN nations
Sustained investment and household spending have helped buoy the ASEAN economies despite a turbulent global market, Moody's declared as it projected a positive outlook for the region. Only the worldwide slowdown is keeping annual growth among Association of Southeast Asian Nations members slightly below its potential at 5%, Moody's said.
Japan's corporate-goods prices drop at steepest rate in 27 months
Sharp declines in prices of crude oil and other raw materials helped push down Japan's corporate-goods prices in June at their fastest rate since March 2010, the Bank of Japan reported. The eurozone debt crisis and global economic slowdown contributed to the fall.
Australian unemployment ticks up
After a run of favorable jobless figures, Australia's unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 point in June to 5.2% as employers cut 27,000 jobs. The new rate, though much lower than in other advanced economies, is more in line with other Australian indicators and reflects big layoffs at some major employers.
As S. Korea's housing prices fall, declining consumption might follow
A new report indicates that falling prices in South Korea's housing sector may lead consumers to slow their purchases, adding further downward pressure on the nation's economy. "A structural change in Korea's housing system -- such as weakening demand for house ownership -- currently is likely to be a painful procedure for Korean consumers, whether or not they own houses," said Na Hong-suk, an analyst at Macquarie Equities Research, which prepared the report.
Economists see near term as rocky for Malaysian economy
New figures due this week for Malaysia's industrial output in May are likely to show year-on-year growth of about 4.6%, a survey of economists reveals. But the outlook is choppy, with little improvement expected before the end of the year.
Capital Markets & Financial Products
Chinese banks issued loans at a surprisingly high pace in June
China's banks are lending at a rapid pace, topping expectation in June with $144.3 billion in yuan loans, according to the People's Bank of China. The new figures support Premier Wen Jiabao's stimulus plan and Beijing's assertions that the economy is stabilizing. Looking ahead, "the data confirms our view that further rate cuts are not needed and thus are unlikely," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB.
Chinese banks buoy Singapore bid for yuan trading
Singapore's drive to become a major yuan trading hub is getting a boost from two Chinese banking giants -- Bank of China and Industrial and Commerce Bank of China -- which are competing for the right to clear such trades in the city-state. Given the "immense pent-up demand for the yuan," as described by Singapore Exchange chief Magnus Böcker, competition is fierce among London, Tokyo, Taipei, Luxembourg, Kuala Lumpur and others to become the world's second offshore yuan-trading hub after Hong Kong.
Looking ahead, Bank of Korea institutes first rate cut in 3 years
Anticipating repercussions from ongoing global economic turmoil, the Bank of Korea reduced its key interest rate to 3.0%, the first cut in more than three years. "The rate was cut in the hope to affect companies and the real economy rather than real estate. We see that it will give a plus to the real economy and alleviate burden on household debts," said BOK's governor, Kim Choong-soo.
Philippines sees foreign investment funds reverse course
Foreign money that flooded into the Philippines a year ago is now on the way out. According to the Philippine central bank, the net outflow in June was $7.69 million, reversing the year-earlier inflow of $353.79 million.
Industry & Regulatory Update
China clarifies boundaries for yuan FDI
In a clarification issued to financial institutions, the People's Bank of China lays out restrictions for yuan-denominated foreign direct investment. Barred are investments in securities, derivatives and property. These rules have been already implemented, a central bank official said, noting as well that the rules are not related to recent changes in economic indicators and cross-border capital flows.
China bars primary bond funds from IPOs
Primary bond funds in China can no longer subscribe to equity IPOs, a practice previously common to this type of fund. The Securities Association of China instituted the ban, effectively transforming primary bond funds into pure bond funds.
Washington OKs U.S. investment in Myanmar
Following up on the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar in May, the Obama administration has given the go-ahead to U.S. companies for investment in the newly open country. Worries had grown that the delayed approval from Washington would put American companies at a disadvantage, particularly in competition for access to Myanmar's oil fields.
Ethics & Standards
Japanese government looks at new ways to penalize insider trading
Looking to apply sterner penalties for insider trading, Japanese lawmakers are preparing to require that the country's pension funds refrain from any future dealings with asset managers who engage in the practice. With fines against companies accused of insider trading restricted by law, the government is taking other steps aimed at "seriously moving to clean up the Tokyo market," said Tsutomu Okubo, lead director of the upper house's financial affairs committee.
The world's cheapest tablet is now commercially available... and only costs $81. On Wednesday, Indian firm Simmtronics announced the launch of their new XPad tablet in Dubai. Retailing for approximately $81, the 7-inch tablet includes a Cortex Arm 8 processor, multi-touch display, and wifi capabilities and runs on Android 4.0. Simmtronics is aiming the tablet towards students; more expensive models offer capabilities such as larger screen size and more stoage. The $81 tablet has only 4GB of storage.
According to Middle Eastern technology site ITP, Simmtronics' Indrajit Sabharwal said that "By launching the XPad in the UAE, we believe in taking the tablet revolution to as many people as possible."
A previous attempt to build a $35 tablet in India, the Aakash, ended in failure.
Twitter And Buddy Media Introduce "Age Screening" So Brands Can Screen Who Follows Their Accounts
As Twitter continues to court advertisers to purchase real estate on the platform, it also has to come to terms with the rules that bind certain brands. Today Twitter and partner Buddy Media introduced age screening, a new opt-in feature that lets brands with age-restricted or adult content prevent minors from following their accounts. Now, when you try to follow a brand such as Jack Daniels Honey or Miller Lite, you'll receive a direct message that will take you to age.twitter.com to verify your age. After you verify once, you won't have to do it for every opted-in brand you want to follow.
Digg, Darling Of The Pre-Facebook Web, Sells To Betaworks For A Rumored $500,000
Via WSJ: Digg, the social news site and former Web 2.0 darling that was eventually pushed into obsolescence by then-newcomers Facebook and Twitter, has been acquired by Betaworks, the New York tech development behind popular links shortener bit.ly and analytics service Chartbeat, among others. The Wall Street Journal reports the price tag for the deal was just $500,000, though TechCrunch cites a source who disputes that number. That's a paltry sum for a company that Google reportedly offered $200 million for in 2008, before the deal fell through. However, trouble for Digg started to mount in 2010 after a controversial redesign led to the loss of a quarter of its audience; founder Kevin Rose departed in March of 2011; and the site lost its tech staff to The Washington Post this April. (Rose recently joinedGoogle Ventures as a partner). Betaworks CEO John Borthwick will head Digg and reportedly plans to have the team behind News.me, Betaworks' news reader service, manage from hereon out. What to expect next? A startup approach to rebuilding Digg, which means smaller budgets and faster cycles for new products, such as a cloud-based Digg in the works.
Columbia Amps Online Courses, Appoints Sree Sreenivasan First Chief Digital Officer
Columbia University is about to start amping up its online-only distance learning programs, as well as its traditional courses that lack a robust digital presence. To that end, the school just appointed long-time professor and journalism school dean Sree Sreenivasan as its first chief digital officer. Columbia's pursuit of the digital route is further affirmation that a new crop of digital education companies is starting to have a trickle-up effect on traditional institutions. Current players in the space range from teach-anyone-anything companies such as Skillshare, online education portals like Khan Academy and Coursera, open education initiatives like OpenCourseWare, and other storied institutions such as MIT and Stanford.
Facebook Makes Events More Useful, Groups More Snoopful
One of the nice things about Facebook when it first launched was that it gave you a quick, casual way to communicate with large groups of people--everyone attending your weekend zombie costume party for example, could be informed of the last minute switch to a pirate theme--without the messiness of endless multi-responder email threads.
Facebook recently made some deft changes to two key group talk tools, Facebook Events and Facebook Groups. On Groups, Facebook has introduced a feature that snitches to Group admins about which members have and haven’t seen new posts on the Group message boards, and when they've seen it. (Update: Members of a group and users who've been included in the visibility settings can also see time stamps and read receipts.) The introduction of these read receipts is in some ways a departure for Facebook, which is traditionally guarded about revealing users’ browsing habits within Facebook to other users. But then, others argue, the feature isn't so different from read receipts Facebook already has for personal messages.
The changes to Facebook's Events feature incorporate ideas born at one of its hackathons. “A couple of us felt there should be a better way for people to see their friends' birthdays a few days in advance and make plans for the weekend. So we built it,” Facebook engineer Bob Baldwin wrote in an introductory blog post. Birthdays, suggested events, and events you're invited to now show up as a list or as thumbnails in a calendar, letting you respond to an invite from a drop-down box that appears within the calendar view. Coincidentally, or not so much, this follows the launch of a plush new events feature on rival Google+. Google+ Events, first showed off and activated at Google's I/O conference in late June, makes good use of Google’s multiple products, seamlessly linking Google+, Google Calendar and Gmail features, with convenient but non-essential add-ons, like letting event attendees automatically upload photographs to a group bin on the event page.
Uber Taste-Tests On-Demand Ice Cream Trucks
Uber, the mobile app that lets you order private cars on-demand, is getting a little sweeter. Tomorrow, the company is test-driving a mini-fleet of ice cream trucks in seven cities across the country and in Toronto. Uber users, who can already order the service's cars on their phones, will be able to request an ice cream truck to purchase treats in bundles. (In New York, for example, you can get a five-pack of ice creams from city favorites Van Leeuwen and Cool Haus for $12.) It's the cherry on top of a great week for Uber: It just won a major victory against the Washington, D.C. City Council that would have required the on-demand service to charge five times the cost of a D.C. taxi by law. It's also an interesting peek into a world in which Uber can offer customers more than just cars. Which makes us wonder: What else can we Uber?
Hackers Publish 450,000 Usernames Pilfered From Yahoo Voices
Hackers have infiltrated a Yahoo service, sneaking out 450,000 passwords and usernames and posting them online. Ars Technica was among the first to spot the breach, which seems to have affected the otherwise low-profile Yahoo Voice network, a voice service associated with Yahoo chat. The hacker group behind the heist is calling itself the D33Ds Company. Worryingly, as the Guardian points out, Yahoo had not encrypted the passwords. The lack of similar first-level security landed LinkedIn in trouble when hackers accessed and published 6.4 million passwords online last month. Yahoo has yet to comment.
Amazing Alex, The New Game From Angry Birds Creators, Launches For iOS And Android
Amazing Alex, the second game from Angry Birds maker Rovio, is now out for iPhones, iPads and Android devices. Like Angry Birds, the mobile game is based on physics and falling, but in Amazing Alex you don’t break, you build. As the teaser video below shows, the game is about balancing regular objects and creating chain reactions, to help engineering nut Alex get things done in a creative way. As a bonus, users can create and share game levels they make. So far, some users are running into difficulties accessing the iOS Game Center after downloading the game, but Rovio says it is looking into it.
Judge Rules New York's Aereo TV Retransmission Service Is Legal
A New York district judge has now ruled that Aereo, which retransmits live TV signals to iPhones and iPads using a complex and strange array of antennas, can continue its business. Aereo asserts its merely sending signals to users on a different device than they'd be watching free TV on at home--because you can't take your domestic TV on the road. TV networks see it differently and say Aereo is infringing their copyright, but Judge Alison Nathan has ruled that the law is on the side of Aereo. An appeal is expected to be filed immediately.
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A teenaged girl was beaten up badly by a mob of around 20 people in full public view on Monday night as she was returning home after a party at a city bar at the Christian Basti area. Check out the video.
A collaboration of the University of Michigan Medical School technology and clinical expertise, the app guides users through a series of 23 photos, covering the body from head to toe.
Photos are stored within the app and serve as a baseline for future comparisons. The app will create a reminder to repeat a skin self-exam on a regular basis.
If a mole appears to be changing or growing, the photos can then be shared with a dermatologist to help determine whether a biopsy is necessary, according to a Michigan statement.
"We recommend skin self-exams for everyone in order to detect skin cancer at the earliest stages, when treatment is less invasive and more successful," said Michael Sabel, associate professor of surgery at the Michigan Medical School, who led the project to develop the app.
"If you have fair skin or burn easily, have had sunburns in the past or used tanning beds, or have a family history of melanoma, you are considered high-risk, and so it's even more important," Sabel added.
"Whole body photography is a well-established resource for following patients at risk for melanoma, (the most dangerous form of skin cancer)," said Sabel.
"However, it requires a professional photographer, is not always covered by insurance, and can be an inconvenience. Now that many people have digital cameras on their phones, it's more feasible to do this at home," added Sabel.
More than two million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, and some 50,000 will be diagnosed with melanoma. Regular skin checks can help people discover melanoma in its earliest stages.
Becoming ,’ Crorepati’ is a dream which every Indian has. But the critical question is how to do that. While there are many ways to do become a crorepati, the one which strikes the mind is to participate in the popular television channel,’ Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and win a crore in the game show. But there comes the catch .It is not only difficult to get selected for the show, it is even more daunting task to win a crore in the program. But hang on! You need not get tensed! There is an easy way out and it comes from a common sense approach to investment. An investor you need to do two things to achieve the target. One is to start early and second is to invest with a long time horizon.
If you are 20 year old, all you need is to put Rs.28.50 in your piggy bank daily, withdraw it after a month and invest the same in a mutual fund. There is no need even to invest money daily. This can be your way to be a crorepati. While there is no element of guaranteed return here, power of compounding can work in favour of investor and help him achieve his target.
Let us understand it with an example and a set of assumptions. Assumptions are as follows:
Mr. X is 20 years old
He accumulates Rs. 28.50 every day for a month for 40 years in a piggy bank. After the end of month he withdraws money from piggy bank and invests it through SIP in a well diversified mutual fund
Mutual fund gives a return of 12% p.a., compounded monthly
Options are available to invest saved amount or else he can change the amount of investment to meet requirements of SIP amount.If Mr. X continues this process for 40 years, he will become a crorepati if all the assumptions mentioned hold good. Rs. 28.5 invested daily for a period of 40 years grows into a crore because of magic of power of compounding. This opportunity is available to even older people. However, they have to forgo some other consumption though in small quantity only. As a 30 years old person, you need to save Rs. 95 daily. As the age progresses, the savings required increases naturally. The chart below shows that:
Age
|
Time Frame
|
Daily Savings(In Rupees)
|
Expected Rate of Return
|
20
|
40 Years
|
28.5
|
12% p.a. (compounded)
|
30
|
30 Years
|
95
|
12% p.a. (compounded)
|
40
|
20 Years
|
340
|
12% p.a. (compounded)
|
So, what do you need to achieve the target of Rs. 1 crore as a twenty year old? No gigantic effort. Just skip a cup of tea and two cigarettes daily. What if, you are already a non-smoker and even don’t drink it. Find out an easy way of thriftiness, without changing your life style substantially. Thriftiness needs to be little more for a 30 year old person and much more for a 40 year old person. So why not start early as well.
( Moneycontrol, By Vivek Sharma, Financial Planner and Trainer )
Facebook has made it easier for its over 900 million users to keep track of upcoming events such as birthdays and parties with a its Events makeover. This comes close on the heels of Google launching feature rich events for its Google Plus social networking service.The new additions to Facebook events are the Events calendar and a List view that highlight upcoming events so that users can plan well in advance for them.
A note by Facebook engineer Bob Baldwin on the Facebook engineering page said, "Today we announce a new list and calendar view that makes it easier to scan upcoming birthdays, invites and suggested events. Scroll through these events and respond to invites without leaving the page. Suggested events are recommended to you based on your friends, Pages you like, places you've checked in at and the apps you use on Facebook."
This Facebook Events redesign is the result of a Facebook hackathon, where Facebook engineers get together to hack on new ideas and try to build a prototype overnight. The Events hackathon project had started about a year ago.
That means that $9 billion trading was just a misfortune of J P Morgan and the latest report might shred the earlier tarnished image of J P Morgan
The 84-year-old had suffered severe brain damage following a cardiac arrest last week. He was shifted home from hospital on Wednesday night as his family wanted his final moments to be spent at home.
The grim news shook the film industry as well as the political fraternity. Actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, "Dara Singh ji passed away this morning. A great Indian and one of the finest humans..An entire era of his celebrated presence gone!"
Actor Shah Rukh Khan also tweeted, "Wrestlers r made of sweat,determination & a hard to find alloy called guts...most apt for Dara Singhji our very own Superman.Will miss u sir." (sic)
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "He distinguished himself not only as a sportsperson but also as an actor and a Member of Parliament."
The 84-year-actor was admitted to Kokilaben Hospital in an emergency condition on July 7. He had suffered a cardiac arrest and since then he has been in the ICU.
The Commonwealth wrestling champion entered film industry in the fifties and is known for his roles in 'King Kong' and 'Faulad'. He was last seen in Imtiaz Ali's 'Jab We Met' (2007) playing Kareena Kapoor's grandfather.
The veteran actor had played the character of Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar's epic television series 'Ramayan'.
