YouTube's newest feature is a one-click face scrambler for uploaded videos. The target audience? Syrian activists... and soccer moms who don't want their child's face online.
Citizen reporters in war zones and unfree societies around the world, from Syria to Zimbabwe, have embraced YouTube. YouTube has now launched a new tool for users in dangerous environments--a facial obscurer that digitizes faces in videos uploaded to YouTube. The algorithm-driven feature allows authors to automatically blur the faces in any video, public or private, on YouTube. A post on YouTube's official blog also indicates the feature is aimed towards parents who do not want their children identified in publicly available video clips.
The facial obscurer is based on existing technology from Witness, a New York-based human rights video organization cofounded by musician Peter Gabriel. YouTube and Witness have had an ongoing relationship; the two collaborated (along with Storyful) on the recent launch of YouTube's Human Rights Channel, which curates citizen journalism and news from unfree societies in a one-stop shop for activists, politicians, journalists, and interested members of the public.
Witness's Sam Gregory told Fast Company that “Visual anonymity applications like YouTube's new face blurring tools are important for a broad spectrum of individuals. These include people sharing testimony of human rights violations but who want to protect witnesses at the same time, to protestors in Syria being identified and targeted by the security forces to anyone who needs anonymous speech in our increasingly visual and networked age. Having these options is useful to a survivor of sexual violence in rural Zimbabwe speaking out, a whistle blower putting themselves in danger of reprisal attacks or intimidation, or a person who is filmed at an LGBT event who is not out at work yet lives in a state that allows employment discrimination.”
Previous products by Witness include ObscuraCam, an app for Android camera phones that allows activists in unsafe situations to obscure the identity of people they are filming and easily strip video metadata. YouTube's feature is integrated into their Video Enhancements toolkit, and is designed to obscure the identities of everyone in a video.
According to YouTube, there are still several technical issues concerning the facial obscuring feature. Depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions, or video quality, the algorithms used sometimes have difficulty detecting faces or faces in individual frames. Thanks to YouTube's global reach, the video sharing site has become the de facto search engine for citizen journalism from dangerous environments worldwide.
Citizen reporters in war zones and unfree societies around the world, from Syria to Zimbabwe, have embraced YouTube. YouTube has now launched a new tool for users in dangerous environments--a facial obscurer that digitizes faces in videos uploaded to YouTube. The algorithm-driven feature allows authors to automatically blur the faces in any video, public or private, on YouTube. A post on YouTube's official blog also indicates the feature is aimed towards parents who do not want their children identified in publicly available video clips.
The facial obscurer is based on existing technology from Witness, a New York-based human rights video organization cofounded by musician Peter Gabriel. YouTube and Witness have had an ongoing relationship; the two collaborated (along with Storyful) on the recent launch of YouTube's Human Rights Channel, which curates citizen journalism and news from unfree societies in a one-stop shop for activists, politicians, journalists, and interested members of the public.
Witness's Sam Gregory told Fast Company that “Visual anonymity applications like YouTube's new face blurring tools are important for a broad spectrum of individuals. These include people sharing testimony of human rights violations but who want to protect witnesses at the same time, to protestors in Syria being identified and targeted by the security forces to anyone who needs anonymous speech in our increasingly visual and networked age. Having these options is useful to a survivor of sexual violence in rural Zimbabwe speaking out, a whistle blower putting themselves in danger of reprisal attacks or intimidation, or a person who is filmed at an LGBT event who is not out at work yet lives in a state that allows employment discrimination.”
Previous products by Witness include ObscuraCam, an app for Android camera phones that allows activists in unsafe situations to obscure the identity of people they are filming and easily strip video metadata. YouTube's feature is integrated into their Video Enhancements toolkit, and is designed to obscure the identities of everyone in a video.
According to YouTube, there are still several technical issues concerning the facial obscuring feature. Depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions, or video quality, the algorithms used sometimes have difficulty detecting faces or faces in individual frames. Thanks to YouTube's global reach, the video sharing site has become the de facto search engine for citizen journalism from dangerous environments worldwide.
Yahoo has promoted two in-house journalists, Hillary Frey and Aaron Task, to newly created editor-in-chief roles. Frey, new editor in chief of Yahoo News, has held the post of managing editor since last year, following her job as Adweek’s managing editor. Task, newly appointed editor in chief of Yahoo Finance, has been with Yahoo since 2008 as a correspondent for the Yahoo Tech Ticker, switching over after a nine-year stint (per his LinkedIn profile) at TheStreet.com. While not quite as high profile as Yahoo's hire of Google’s Marissa Mayer, the two job changes are consistent with Yahoo's intention to make changes within the organization. ComScore’s review of general news sites in April 2012 had the Yahoo-ABC News Network partnership leading the U.S. general news category with 89.1 million visitors. Yahoo held a conference call to discuss Q2 results yesterday.
Google Slips Email Onto Cellphones In Africa With "Gmail SMS"
Gmail is bringing out a free service in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya that’ll funnel email via SMS to feature phones without 3G or Wi-Fi connections. Once you toggle the feature and enter in your phone number, the service automatically forwards on emails to your cell phone, even letting you compose a reply and send it via text, that your recipient will receive in their inbox. While a shift to cheap smartphones is beginning in areas in Africa, basic cell phones are still hugely popular. Keeping that in mind, in a similar move, Facebook partnered up with Orange to allow feature phones on the cellular network to plug into Facebook.
PayPal Buys Card.io To Drive Mobile Payments
PayPal has announced that it's buying Card.io in what seems to be a talent and technology grab to help the company challenge the threat of Google's Wallet, devices like Square, iZettle, and a purported iWallet from Apple. Card.io's technology uses the camera on smartphones to capture credit card data from traditional plastic cards, a system that PayPal could easily incorporate into its existing payments systems to enable mobile transactions. According to PayPal the Card.io team will be joining its global product team in San Jose, but Card.io's existing partners should be okay because the tech will remain accessible for them to build into their applications.
EPEAT To Review (Apple's) Gold Certified Laptops, Results In Four Weeks
EPEAT’s CEO Robert Frisbee has posted a written update saying that the organization would carry out “surveillance testing” of certain ultrathin laptops listed on its registry post haste. The investigation will take about four weeks he wrote, provided that unexpected delays did not crop up. The laptop line in question, though he doesn't mention it, is Apple's MacBook Pro Retina display line, which landed on the registry soon after Apple rejoined EPEAT last week after dropping out a few days earlier.
Just before the Apple product line went back up at the registry, tear downs site iFixIt had pointed out that there were design issues in the Apple laptop that were in conflict with the EPEAT standards. In particular, iFixIt head Kyle Weins wrote, the glue holding in the battery was unusually strong, likely making it difficult for anyone other than Apple to likely be able to replace a burnt out battery. It would also make recycling the device difficult. This raised the question of how Apple product line, including its newest members, had made it into the EPEAT Gold certified lists..
It seems EPEAT is addressing those ambiguities directly, with Frisbee writing that EPEAT's public report will disclose "the general compatibility of adhesive use with the 4.3.1.3 and 4.3.1.5 criteria," those last two criteria being: "Easy disassembly of external enclosure" and "Identification and removal of components containing hazardous materials," respectively, and the very thing iFixIt was concerned about.
AT&T To Introduce Shared Data Plans In August
AT&T is changing the structure of its shared plans. With the new Mobile Share plans, members can share the data they buy across multiple devices, with unlimited calling and texting thrown. This follows Verizon’s June announcement of a similarly structured, data-based, Share Everything plan scheme. Plan rates are based on the size of the data pool, and each device added on--this could include smartphones, laptops and tablets--comes with an extra charge. Mobile Share will be available in late August.
More Chinese markets see higher property prices
Across 70 major Chinese cities tracked, housing prices were up in 25 during June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The number, the highest in nearly a year, suggests that property buyers think the government might eventually ease its tightening policy, in which case prices could jump as past patterns suggest, analysts say.
U.S. housing starts surge in June
Seasonally adjusted U.S. housing starts were up 6.9% in June from a year before for the biggest monthly gain in more than three years. The latest figure is one of the few recent positive signs for the U.S. economy, although the much-reduced housing sector is now a less important factor overall. "Housing continues to be the one sector of the U.S. economy that is outperforming expectations," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays in New York.
Swift action on eurozone banking union is urged
A banking union in the eurozone is needed imminently, well ahead of the timeline extending into next year envisioned by some European officials, said Christian Noyer, a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council. "We have got to put a banking union in place very quickly. ... It needs to be in place this autumn," Noyer said in a radio interview. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund called on the ECB to inject more cash into the eurozone, and new data indicated further deterioration in Spain's banking and housing sectors.
Bank of America returns to profit
Bank of America recovered from a loss of $8.83 billion a year ago to a profit in the latest quarter of $2.46 billion. However, the bank, the second-largest by assets in the U.S., reported lower revenue in most of its business lines.
Corn prices might set record as U.S. crop dries up
Record prices might be in store for corn as the worst U.S. drought in decades continues to wither this year's crop. Futures are trading just below the 2008 record of $7.9925 a bushel, but analysts say the price could soon climb to $8.50 as harvest projections fall below 12 billion bushels.
Market Activities
China eyes expanded precious metals trading
The Chinese government is looking toward a major expansion of the country's precious metals trading. The move would bring trading in commodities such as gold to China's interbank market. The Shanghai Gold Exchange already has released rules to govern the trades.
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS OVERVIEW
Surprisingly upbeat corporate earnings, particularly in tech shares and Bank of America, helped lift U.S. stocks Wednesday, with the S&P 500 adding 0.7%. Similarly in Europe, earnings were the key factor, with Nordea Bank and Credit Suisse posting strong results. Here is a continuously updated list of global stock indexes.
Economic Trends & Outlook
Report confirms India's inflation remains in double digits
Confirming recent forecasts, the Indian government reported a 10.02% rise in consumer prices for June, with food the chief culprit. The inflation rate was down slightly from 10.36% the month before but remained in double digits for the third consecutive month.
Persistent global ills cloud Malaysia's economic outlook
Heading into next year, the economic outlook for China, Europe and the U.S. holds little promise for Malaysia's economy, said Zakariah Abdul Rashid, executive director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research. Bright spots include domestic demand, which remains strong, and a modest inflation rate of 1.7%, Zakariah said. But with persistent difficulties abroad, the overall outlook for 2013 remains murky.
Late-payments data may signal struggling Australian economy
Amid tightening global credit markets, Australia's economy might be signaling a pullback as the number of businesses delaying bill payments grows. Payment terms are now at 53.2 days for small businesses, according to new figures from Dun & Bradstreet, up from 51 days three months ago and 45 days in 2003. The widening figure could presage a run of business failures, as it has in the past.
Euro crisis outweighs FTA as South Korea trade surplus with EU thins
Despite a free-trade agreement with the European Union that took effect a year ago, South Korea's trade surplus with the EU narrowed sharply -- to $1.9 billion from $14.5 billion -- due to the festering eurozone crisis. "The drop in exports and the trade surplus are directly related to persistent economic concerns surrounding some European countries that have effectively caused demand for goods to fall across the board," the Korea Customs Service said in reporting the latest figure.
Capital Markets & Financial Products
China names new managers for pension funds invested overseas
JPMorgan is on the new list of global investment managers chosen by China's national pension fund for the 20% or less of its portfolio invested overseas. The others selected are Lombard Odier, Nueberger Berman, Schroders, Standish, Stone Harbor Investment Partners, AGF Management, Investec, RBC Global Asset Management, AEW Capital Management, AMP Capital and European Investors.
China Asset Management seeks OK for five new ETFs
China Asset Management is pursuing regulatory clearance to launch five exchange-traded funds designed to reflect various sectors -- consumer staples, materials, energy, financials and real estate, and health care -- represented on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The new offerings would qualify as "sponsored funds," a category approved last month by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
ADB's Trade Finance Program to include Chinese, Indian currencies
The Chinese and Indian currencies are now part of the Asian Development Bank's Trade Finance Program. The ADB says the move will meet growing demand for deals in the two currencies and "advances our promotion of trade in the region, which is crucial for boosting job creation and economic growth."
South Koreans sharply boost direct investment overseas
The eurozone accounted for the largest share of the $9.5 billion that South Koreans directly invested in foreign-currency-denominated equities and bonds in the first half of the year, a total that was up 44% from a year earlier. By political grouping, the eurozone investment total of $7.81 billion was up 59%, while investment in Japan more than quintupled to $210 million, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository.
Industry & Regulatory Update
Indonesia sets bank ownership limits, with some exceptions
Indonesia has established a 40% upper ownership limit for the nation's banks, although some exceptions might apply if the banks are listed and considered to be in sound condition. The exemption will allow DBS Group to continue its $7.2 billion bid for Bank Danamon.
Ethics & Standards
U.S. pursues further talks with Chinese over suspected accounting fraud
Seeking records related to allegations of accounting fraud, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for a delay in court proceedings as it continues talks with regulators in China. The case involves a Chinese unit of accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The SEC wants the U.S. federal court where the action was filed to hold up proceedings for six months as talks with the Chinese go forward.
South Korea CD rate-setting investigation expands to banks
Four major South Korean banks have been added to an investigation by the country's Fair Trade Commission into alleged collusion in the setting of rates on certificates of deposit. The commission's probe began with similar allegations against a number of brokerages.
The study, from Ernst & Young and a collection of pro-business groups that includes the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, looked at the impact of raising taxes on capital gains and dividends and hiking the top two individual tax rates to 36 percent and 39.6 percent respectively. It also included the tax hikes for health-care reform.
The report found that all of the hikes combined would cause output to fall by 1.3 percent and capital stock and invetsments to fall by between 1.4 percent to 2.4 percent. It said employment “in the long run” would fall by half a percent, or by about 710,000 jobs. Wages would fall 1.8 percent.
“This report finds that these higher marginal tax rates result in a smaller economy, fewer jobs, less investment, and lower wages,” the report stated.
President Obama and his fellow Democrats have proposed extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone except those making more than $250,000 in annual income. Republicans advocate extending the tax cuts for everyone.
While the debate over taxes has been framed around wealthy Americans, the study said that flow-through businesses are also in the two top income brackets. The study said that flow-through companies employ half of the private sector work force and pay 44 percent of federal taxes.
The study said that if the tax cuts expire, the top tax rate will rise to 40.9 percent from 35 percent, while the top tax rate on dividends will rise to 44.7 percent from 15 percent and the rate for capital gains will rise to 24.7 percent from 15 percent.
( CNBC )
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Supernus) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products for the treatment of central nervous system diseases, including neurological and psychiatric disorders. Supernus is developing several product candidates in neurology and psychiatry to address opportunities in epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Supernus’s two epilepsy product candidates are SPN-538 and Epliga. Epliga is in Phase III clinical trials. Supernus ADHD product candidates include SPN-810 (molindone hydrochloride), a treatment for impulsive aggression in patients with ADHD, and SPN-812, a non-stimulant treatment for ADHD. Both of these programs are in Phase II. In addition to these four products candidates, Supernus has several additional product candidates in various stages of development, including SPN-809. Its wholly owned subsidiary includes TCD Royalty Sub LLC.
Below is the Press Release of the news
Tuesday, 17 Jul 2012 04:05pm EDT
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has entered into separate settlement arrangements with Mylan Inc. and its subsidiary, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. and its subsidiary Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. to resolve pending patent litigation involving Silenor 3 mg and 6 mg tablets. The settlement agreement with Mylan grants Mylan the exclusive right to begin selling an authorized generic version of Silenor (i.e., a generic version sold under Somaxon's New Drug Application) on January 1, 2020, or earlier under certain circumstances. Mylan's right to sell such an authorized generic product could extend for a period of as long as 360 days, and after such period Mylan will have the non-exclusive right to sell a generic version of Silenor under its Abbreviated New Drug Application. In connection with the settlement agreement, the parties also entered into a supply agreement under which Mylan has agreed to supply the Company with commercial quantities of Silenor 3 mg and 6 mg tablets. The settlement agreement with Par grants Par the right to begin selling a generic version of Silenor 180 days after the earlier of the date that a third party's generic version of Silenor is first sold in the United States under a license from Somaxon or a final court decision that the asserted patents are not infringed, invalid or unenforceable, or earlier under certain circumstances.
About Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Wednesday that his office would target more sites in the upcoming month.
The closed websites were all run from abroad, he said.
"We will block more porn sites during Ramadan, though that doesn't mean that we will allow such sites to operate during the rest of the year," the minister said.
The minister said there were around two billion websites providing pornographic content, and that public involvement in curbing online pornography was crucial.
"Online pornography is an industry and the producers always seem to find new ways of escaping detection," he said.
Ramadan is due to start July 19 in Indonesia.
The game, to be released on July 20, is based on the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
The iconic saga of fictional superhero Batman is about to be retold with the upcoming movie - The Dark Knight Rises. To cash in on the popularity of the movie, game publisher Gameloft has now announced that it will launch a new mobile game based on the official The Dark Knight Rises movie and with the same title on July 20 - the day on which the movie will officially be released.
The Dark Knight Rises game will be made available on the Apple iOS, Google Android and Java mobile platforms.
The Dark Knight Rises is the epic saga of Batman who sets out to save Gotham city from the attack of maniacal super-villain Bane and Selina Kyle aka Batwoman. Gameloft will be releasing a mobile game with the same title for Android, iOS and Java devices.
Gameloft has posted the official mobile game trailer on YouTube and more details about the game in the Facebook App. The game video also has a secret URL that leads to a landing page revealing the secret code to unlock exclusive content in the game.
The cost of the game is not decided yet, but you can certainly get it on the same day and play it while you wait for the movie to begin.
Movie based games aren't new and recently we saw The Amazing Spiderman mobile game from Gameloft. The Dark Knight Rises game will hopefully be available worldwide through the Apple app store and Google Play store.
The iconic saga of fictional superhero Batman is about to be retold with the upcoming movie - The Dark Knight Rises. To cash in on the popularity of the movie, game publisher Gameloft has now announced that it will launch a new mobile game based on the official The Dark Knight Rises movie and with the same title on July 20 - the day on which the movie will officially be released.
The Dark Knight Rises game will be made available on the Apple iOS, Google Android and Java mobile platforms.
The Dark Knight Rises is the epic saga of Batman who sets out to save Gotham city from the attack of maniacal super-villain Bane and Selina Kyle aka Batwoman. Gameloft will be releasing a mobile game with the same title for Android, iOS and Java devices.
Gameloft has posted the official mobile game trailer on YouTube and more details about the game in the Facebook App. The game video also has a secret URL that leads to a landing page revealing the secret code to unlock exclusive content in the game.
The cost of the game is not decided yet, but you can certainly get it on the same day and play it while you wait for the movie to begin.
Movie based games aren't new and recently we saw The Amazing Spiderman mobile game from Gameloft. The Dark Knight Rises game will hopefully be available worldwide through the Apple app store and Google Play store.
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Starting today, you can read Barnes & Noble's Nook ebooks on the web, and B&N is throwing in six free titles to kick things off. The company released a web version of their reader for Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. B&N already has a Nook app out for iOS, Android and even the Kindle Fire. Amazon, Barnes & Noble's big competitor in this game, already has a web version of its e-reader, called the Kindle Cloud Reader, for Macs and PCs running Chrome and Firefox.
Autodesk Buys Socialcam For $60 Million
Video sharing app maker Socialcam is being bought by Autodesk, best known for its professional design software made for engineers, architects and designers. Autodesk is buying the four-member company for $60 million, the two announced today. Socialcam was started in March 2011, completed a stint in the Y Combinator program, and has been recently been growing legs thanks to YouTube and Facebook.
In a young but competitive market, with peers like Viddy and Burst, Socialcam scored a recent success, being chosen by the Washington Post as its social video partner for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in London.
Samsung Buys CSR's Mobile Chip Business For $310 Million
Samsung has bought U.K. chip maker CSR’s mobile business for a little over $310 million. As Bloomberg and others have pointed out, what makes this deal more interesting is the extra $35 million Samsung is paying to gain a 5 percent stake in the company and access to CSR’s patent stash. Samsung, which has seen some recent loses against Apple on patent lawsuits, is likely adding to its IP stock in preparation for further battle. CSR, formerly known as Cambridge Silicon Radio, builds chips that power bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS technology on mobile devices, some of which appear in Samsung’s line of Galaxy phones and tablets.
Return Of The (Larry) King, Now On Hulu
Former CNN talk show host Larry King is settling back into interviewers seat--this time with a show on Hulu and Hulu Plus. Hulu Associate Editor Ben Collins announced in a blog post today that King’s show, Larry King Now, will post 4 episodes a week. In fact, the inaugural episode featuring a chat with Seth MacFarlane (of Family Guy and new release Ted) is already up. As we'd heard earlier this year, Hulu is distributing the show in partnership with Ora.TV, funded by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu. Larry King Now is the digital network's first venture, which it plans to follow with "a full slate of comedy, entertainment and other unscripted shows over the course of next year."
In an interview posted on the Hulu blog, King admitted that Hulu “... was a whole new world to me. I don’t think there’s anybody here over 30 years old. Maybe one guy is 32.”
King’s debut on Hulu, after his decades of radio and television talk shows on CNN, comes at an interesting time as online video streamers--Hulu, Netflix, LoveFilm and the like--battle established cable networks for turf and viewership. Increasingly though, they seem to be meeting in the middle: take for example the U.K. cable network BSkyB’s movie and sports streaming service, Now TV, launching this week.
As King describes it, his new Web-only show is just an extension of what he’s been doing for decades: Back in 1980, he says in the Hulu interview, “I started the first cable international talk show, taking phone calls from around the world, on CNN. And now I bring that concept to Hulu.”
LG, Samsung Already Embroiled In OLED Espionage
Although OLED technology hasn't yet really moved beyond smartphone screens in real-life consumer applications, and OLED TVs remain a pipe dream, LG and Samsung--two of the primary movers in the OLED TV game--are deeply embroiled in a corporate espionage scandal about the tech. On the weekend several LG executives are said to be among 11 people charged with leaking OLED technology from Samsung. Samsung has now demanded LG apologize because it may lose "trillions" of won (billions of dollars) due to the leak. But LG has said it absolutely was not involved and has threatened to sue Samsung over the statement.
Recently LG had said that while it had been behind Samsung in previous-generation display tech, in OLED "we can run far faster than the rival," and it has separately just been picked by the government to develop OLED screens on flexible, transparent backing in sizes up to 60 inches--for public signage and display advertising purposes. Sony and Panasonic, traditional rivals to both LG and Samsung, recently announced they were forming an OLED TV production partnership.
