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Academy trusts ‘no better than councils’

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Exam hall

Academy trusts are no better than local authorities at raising school standards, researchers have found.

The Education Policy Institute think tank has produced a league table of academy trusts and councils in England.

David Laws, former schools minister and the institute’s chairman, said successive governments had been “in denial” about failing academies.

The Local Government Association said it showed academies were no “magic bullet” for improving schools.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our ambition remains for all schools to become academies.”

‘Rash and dangerous’

Mr Laws said that when he served as education minister in the coalition government there had been internal data showing weaknesses in academy trusts, but there had been a reluctance to publish such information when ministers were promoting academy expansion.

But the Education Policy Institute has now published its own rankings showing how local authorities compare with multi-academy trusts with at least five schools.

The findings show that academy trusts are among the most and least successful at improving pupil performance, at both primary and secondary level.

In between is a spread of success and underachievement, with the analysis concluding that there is little overall difference between academy trusts and local authorities.

The average for academy trusts and local authorities is described as “almost identical”.

Mr Laws says that it shows it would have been “rash and dangerous” to press ahead with forcing all schools to become academies, as it would have meant that some high-achieving local authorities could have been put into lower-achieving academy trusts.

The former education minister said that for successive governments there had been a “lack of political will to show that some academies are not doing well”.

Mr Laws, a former Liberal Democrat MP, said that a “lot of political capital has been invested” in presenting academies as the way to raise school standards.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has had to abandon plans to force all schools to become academies, but Mr Laws says their political protection went back to the early days of the first academies created by Labour governments.

Mr Laws said that they were seen by the government as “a small and precious flower that people wanted to stamp on”.

The comparisons produced by the think tank are based on how much pupils have improved, rather than exam results, as a way of measuring the effectiveness of local authorities and academy trusts.

Many academies operate as stand-alone schools, so these are not included in the rankings, which compare multi-academy trusts.

Mr Laws said that the findings highlighted the need to find ways to scrutinise and improve weak academy chains – but that did not mean that the principle of academies, with greater autonomy, was flawed.

But he suggested that it showed successful local authorities should be able to set up their own academy trusts, rather than have schools taken away from them.

Report author Jon Andrews also highlighted other factors, such as regional differences. Schools in London are higher performers – and he says that both local authorities and academy trusts are likely to do better if they have schools in the capital.

The Sutton Trust education charity has also published a report warning that too many academy trusts are not providing a good enough education for disadvantaged pupils.

It says that one in five academy chains is “performing substantially below the national average for attainment and improvement” for children from poorer families.

Lizzie Rowe, chief operating officer of the Education Fellowship, the lowest rated primary academy trust, said that trusts needed to be given time to make progress and that this was not always shown in immediate results.

“Data enables you to judge the pace and direction of a journey – data is not the journey. Some political powers forget this.

“Our strategy is very sound in developing leadership and enabling teachers to deliver outstanding lessons.

“Some of the most successful academies started well over a decade ago and were given millions of pounds to get established. We are a new trust working within an area of neglect and deprivation by all political bodies.”

She said: “We receive no support from our regional schools commissioner, only negative challenge.”

Roy Perry, chairman of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “Councils have long been highlighting the fact that school structures are not a magic bullet to improve education, and what really matters is outstanding teaching and strong leadership.

“Every school and every community is different, and head teachers need the freedom to choose, in partnership with parents and councils, the structure that is most appropriate for them.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “These reports highlight many impressive multi-academy trusts that are driving up standards and delivering an excellent education to thousands of children across the country.

“They are playing a vital and increasingly important role in the school system – thanks to their ability to share resources, expertise and provide support to schools that are struggling.

“Our ambition remains for all schools to become academies with more schools joining multi-academy trusts – our evidence shows this is the best way to bring about sustained improvement.”

Top performing secondary academy trusts and local authorities, based on pupil improvement

1. Inspiration

2. Barnet

3. Merton

4. Southwark

5. Outwood Grange

6. Hackney

7. Kent Catholic Schools Partnership

8. Wokingham

9. Surrey

10. Peterborough

Lowest performing secondary academy trusts and local authorities

165. Salford

166. Stoke on Trent

167. Newcastle upon Tyne

168. Woodard

169. Wolverhampton

170. Greenwood

171. Oldham

172. Nottingham

173. Knowsley

174. College Academies Trust

Top performing primary academy trusts and local authorities, based on pupil improvement

1. Harris Federation

2. First Federation Trust

3. Redcar and Cleveland

4. Kensington and Chelsea

5. Greenwich

= Camden

= Newham

= CFBT Schools Trust

Hounslow

Waltham Forest

Darlington

LEAD

Reach2

Lowest performing primary academy trusts and local authorities, based on pupil improvement

212. Discovery

= Walsall

= Diocese of Leicester

= Diocese of Norwich

216. Rutland

217. Poole

218. Education Fellowship Trust

[Source:- BBC]

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Tech Update

Google faces first EU fine in 2016 with no deal on cards: sources

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

BRUSSELS – Google is likely to face its first European Union antitrust sanction this year, with little prospect of it settling a test case with the bloc’s regulator over its shopping service, people familiar with the matter said.

There are few incentives left for either party to reach a deal in a six-year dispute that could set a precedent for Google searches for hotels, flights and other services and tests regulators’ ability to ensure diversity on the Web.

Alphabet Inc’s Google, which was hit by a second EU antitrust charge this month for using its dominant Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals, shows little sign of backing down after years of wrangling with European authorities.

Several people familiar with the matter told Reuters that after three failed compromise attempts since 2010, Google has no plan to try to settle allegations that its Web search results favor its own shopping service, unless the EU watchdog changes its stance.

Such a change of heart appears unlikely, with European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager — a Dane whose team is leading the Google investigation — showing little interest in reaching a settlement where there is no finding of wrongdoing or a fine against the company, other people said.

Underpinning Vestager’s tough approach, and the Commission’s case, are scores of complaints from companies, big and small, on both sides of the Atlantic.

MICROSOFT’S SHADOW

For Google, which has denied any wrongdoing, the stakes are high. Some rivals are convinced that any fine is effectively a cost of doing business and it has more to gain in profit from its existing business model than conceding to complaints.

Google and the European Commission both declined to comment.

“From a pure profitability perspective, it is better off dragging out the competition case, continuing its practices for as long as possible, and ultimately paying a fine that will be smaller than the profits it generates by continuing the conduct,” Thomas Vinje, a lawyer who advises several of Google’s competitors, told Reuters.

However, some sources said they see last week’s low-key pact with arch-rival Microsoft to withdraw all regulatory complaints against each other as a signal that Google might in time choose to strike a deal with Brussels.

By doing so it would avoid a repeat of Microsoft’s damaging fight with the European Commission and by settling at least its dispute with the EU over Internet shopping might also head off possible actions by other regulators.

To date, Google has a mixed record in taking on regulators globally, winning some battles and losing others.

However, Microsoft offers a salutary lesson to those who want to take on the Commission, Ioannis Kokkoris, a law professor at Queen Mary University of London, said.

Microsoft ended up with fines of more than 2.2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) after a decade-long battle with the Commission.

“You are entering a long battle, an expensive battle. And if you go to court, the outcome would not necessarily be better,” Kokkoris said.

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Online Marketing

Indian govt is tracking online shopping on Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal. No, nothing is illegal here

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

As the Indian e-commerce is growing and the online retailing market is projected to hit $69 billion in 2020, the RBI is mulling to include it while calculating the consumer price index (CPI).

The Statistics Ministry is planning to monitor discounts on Amazon,Flipkart and Snapdeal in this regard.

CPI is a prime indicator for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to determine the monetary policy.

“Online shopping is not in our CPI basket now and since price movements may be different for a few items as compared to the regular shopping, we may include some of them as we find there is a scope for improving the basket,” an official told ET.

The ministry is looking at price movements at various sites due to discounts offered by them.

Last year, the Central Statistics Office revised the CPI base year from 2010 to 2012 to make it consistent with the international practice of shorter reference periods for most food articles and longer reference periods for items of infrequent consumption and purchase.

India’s retail inflation eased to 5.18% in February compared with 5.69% in January and 5.37% a year ago.

[Source:- Businessinsider]

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Internet

Qualcomm President Says No Plans to Exit Data Centre Business

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Qualcomm President Says No Plans to Exit Data Centre Business

Qualcomm has no plans to abandon its efforts to create processors for data centres, the company’s president, who oversees the chip division, said.

Qualcomm, the largest maker of chips in mobile phones, last year launched chips that use technology from Softbank Group Corp’s ARM Holdings to power the workhorse computer servers behind cloud-based services such as social networks.

Qualcomm’s push to enter the data centre market puts it in direct competition with Intel Corp, which dominates data centres and now draws half of its revenue from servers and other “data-centric” chips.

But in May, Bloomberg reported that Qualcomm was exploring whether to sell or shut down the server chip unit.

Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon told Reuters on Monday that the chipmaker is making staff reductions in the unit but intends to keep operating it, albeit with a narrower focus on large Internet companies in the United States and China.

“We are not looking at strategic options. We are not selling. We are still focused on it,” Amon told Reuters.

San Diego-based Qualcomm declined to say whether it had considered selling the server chip unit at some point in the past. The company instead pointed to an April earnings call in which Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf said Qualcomm was considering cost-cutting options in areas that are not central to Qualcomm’s business, which overwhelmingly comes from selling chips and licensing technology for mobile phones.

Amon told Reuters that the server chip business will be rolled into Qualcomm’s CDMA Technologies unit, which designs and sells mobile phone chips, to gain cost efficiencies.

Amon said the restructured server chip unit will focus on large cloud computing players. He would not name US targets, but said the company is hoping to sell to Chinese Internet giants such as Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, and Baidu through a joint venture in China.

Large Internet companies tend to write much of their own Internal software and can customise it for Qualcomm’s chips. That means they will not struggle like smaller players to adapt off-the-shelf data centre software that is overwhelmingly written to run on Intel’s so-called x86 chips.

“It’s very clear to us that the ARM opportunity is focused on a few players where you don’t have the software x86 barrier to entry,” Amon said.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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Blogging

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging? One Fashion Influencer Says No

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

If you regard livestreaming as the undisputed “best” marketing tactic, you haven’t been in marketing long, especially if you think it’s a standalone strategy. Established brands know getting traction for a full blog requires good, consistent writing combined with patience and measurement, especially if tying in video — edited or live.

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging?

One livestreamer and public speaker says blogging is worthwhile for numerous reasons. If you’re unsure about the value of serious blogging on the web, Rebecca Casserly’s strategy will set you straight. Small Business Trends first met Casserly at a livestreamers’ meetup in New York City in June of 2016. Her understanding of where blogging overlaps with brands, livestreaming, growth, metrics, events and publicity was why we reconnected for this interview.

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging? One Fashion Influencer Says No

Rebecca Casserly, known online as “BecBoop” (and @BoopFashionista on Twitter), is a London based livestreamer and blogger. She is a finalist in the 2017 Shorty Awards for Periscoper of the Year and was a finalist in the UK Blog Awards 2016 for best use of social media. Casserly blogs about fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle at BecBoop.com while engaging with her community of over 135,000 followers across her social media platforms. In 2016, Onalytica.com ranked her the number 4 global beauty influencer based on Twitter influence, and top 50 fashion influencer in 2017. Casserly has worked with many global brands on her blog and was also the first livestreamer to cover London Fashion Week on her Periscope channel. She has presented as an industry expert about her livestreaming experience at Twitter UK’s 10th birthday event and also at MojoCon, the world’s largest mobile journalism conference.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: I was happy to learn that you’re aware of the Moz metric named “Domain Authority”, or DA for short. Where did you learn about DA? What’s your favorite site to learn more about it?

Rebecca Casserly: I first heard of DA when brands or PR’s were requesting it as a statistic in order to work with bloggers. This got me wondering what my own blog DA is — BecBoop.com is currently DA 32 — and the factors which affect blog DA. To be honest, I mostly read about DA and how to increase it through various blogging groups on Facebook or blog posts. It is a pretty well-known statistic in the blogging world now and it’s something most bloggers try to work to increase.

Small Business Trends: Yes, bloggers realize brands prefer DA 30 and higher, so bloggers discuss it. Livestreamers almost never talk DA this or DA that, especially Periscopers. I’ve noticed tons of Periscopers don’t even have a blog, and that’s partly why brands aren’t contacting them. And blog posts generally don’t scare brands. When did you start blogging? Do you embed videos into your blog posts? Is it important for live streamers to blog?

Rebecca Casserly: I have been blogging for over four years now, and after two years of blogging I made the move from a small city in the west of Ireland to London. I started livestreaming when Periscopelaunched two years ago and then developed a strategy to incorporate livestreaming into my blog content. I think it’s really important for livestreamers to have a website or blog to share their content outside of the platform where they create it. For instance, I usually embed my livestreams into blog posts where relevant.

Small Business Trends: What’s your subscription box “BoopBox” about, and where can people learn more about it?

Rebecca Casserly: I have just launched my first community based product which I am really excited about! I have been working on this project for months and I couldn’t wait to tell my followers on Periscope. The BoopBox is a monthly themed lifestyle subscription box with a twist. Every month the box will have a specific theme and will be full of products which I have curated. Along with this, subscribers will have exclusive access to my private broadcasts, social media tips, giveaways and other fun and exciting content. You can sign up at www.BoopBox.com

Small Business Trends: What other platforms do you use?

Rebecca Casserly: I have recently started focusing a lot on my YouTube channel and I create travel vlogs and weekly vlogs over there. I try to upload one video a week. Along with this, I am on Snapchat and Instagram as Bec_Boop.

Small Business Trends: Are you asking your Periscope followers to also follow you on Twitter, or do most of them just do that naturally?

Rebecca Casserly: I always ask my followers to follow on Twitter. Mostly because Twitter is my favourite platform to use, it is the platform I am most active on and I check most regularly. So Twitter is the easiest way for my community to get in touch with me and also see the content which I am sharing. I have also started recommending my followers turn on live-video notifications on Twitter to get a notification every time I start a Periscope broadcast. This way they will have more of a chance to experience the broadcast live.

Small Business Trends: How should people get in touch with you?

Rebecca Casserly: It’s really easy to get in touch with me! I’m @BoopFashionista on Twitter, or you can email [email protected]

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]

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Blogging

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging? One Fashion Influencer Says No

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging? One Fashion Influencer Says NoIf you regard livestreaming as the undisputed “best” marketing tactic, you haven’t been in marketing long, especially if you think it’s a standalone strategy. Established brands know getting traction for a full blog requires good, consistent writing combined with patience and measurement, especially if tying in video — edited or live.

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging?

One livestreamer and public speaker says blogging is worthwhile for numerous reasons. If you’re unsure about the value of serious blogging on the web, Rebecca Casserly’s strategy will set you straight. Small Business Trends first met Casserly at a livestreamers’ meetup in New York City in June of 2016. Her understanding of where blogging overlaps with brands, livestreaming, growth, metrics, events and publicity was why we reconnected for this interview.

Can Livestreaming Replace Blogging? One Fashion Influencer Says No

Rebecca Casserly, known online as “BecBoop” (and @BoopFashionista on Twitter), is a London based livestreamer and blogger. She is a finalist in the 2017 Shorty Awards for Periscoper of the Year and was a finalist in the UK Blog Awards 2016 for best use of social media. Casserly blogs about fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle at BecBoop.com while engaging with her community of over 135,000 followers across her social media platforms. In 2016, Onalytica.com ranked her the number 4 global beauty influencer based on Twitter influence, and top 50 fashion influencer in 2017. Casserly has worked with many global brands on her blog and was also the first livestreamer to cover London Fashion Week on her Periscope channel. She has presented as an industry expert about her livestreaming experience at Twitter UK’s 10th birthday event and also at MojoCon, the world’s largest mobile journalism conference.

Small Business Trends: I was happy to learn that you’re aware of the Moz metric named “Domain Authority”, or DA for short. Where did you learn about DA? What’s your favorite site to learn more about it?

Rebecca Casserly: I first heard of DA when brands or PR’s were requesting it as a statistic in order to work with bloggers. This got me wondering what my own blog DA is — BecBoop.com is currently DA 32 — and the factors which affect blog DA. To be honest, I mostly read about DA and how to increase it through various blogging groups on Facebook or blog posts. It is a pretty well-known statistic in the blogging world now and it’s something most bloggers try to work to increase.

Small Business Trends: Yes, bloggers realize brands prefer DA 30 and higher, so bloggers discuss it. Livestreamers almost never talk DA this or DA that, especially Periscopers. I’ve noticed tons of Periscopers don’t even have a blog, and that’s partly why brands aren’t contacting them. And blog posts generally don’t scare brands. When did you start blogging? Do you embed videos into your blog posts? Is it important for live streamers to blog?

Rebecca Casserly: I have been blogging for over four years now, and after two years of blogging I made the move from a small city in the west of Ireland to London. I started livestreaming when Periscopelaunched two years ago and then developed a strategy to incorporate livestreaming into my blog content. I think it’s really important for livestreamers to have a website or blog to share their content outside of the platform where they create it. For instance, I usually embed my livestreams into blog posts where relevant.

Small Business Trends: What’s your subscription box “BoopBox” about, and where can people learn more about it?

Rebecca Casserly: I have just launched my first community based product which I am really excited about! I have been working on this project for months and I couldn’t wait to tell my followers on Periscope. The BoopBox is a monthly themed lifestyle subscription box with a twist. Every month the box will have a specific theme and will be full of products which I have curated. Along with this, subscribers will have exclusive access to my private broadcasts, social media tips, giveaways and other fun and exciting content. You can sign up at www.BoopBox.com

Small Business Trends: What other platforms do you use?

Rebecca Casserly: I have recently started focusing a lot on my YouTube channel and I create travel vlogs and weekly vlogs over there. I try to upload one video a week. Along with this, I am on Snapchat and Instagram as Bec_Boop.

Small Business Trends: Are you asking your Periscope followers to also follow you on Twitter, or do most of them just do that naturally?

Rebecca Casserly: I always ask my followers to follow on Twitter. Mostly because Twitter is my favourite platform to use, it is the platform I am most active on and I check most regularly. So Twitter is the easiest way for my community to get in touch with me and also see the content which I am sharing. I have also started recommending my followers turn on live-video notifications on Twitter to get a notification every time I start a Periscope broadcast. This way they will have more of a chance to experience the broadcast live.

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]

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Gadgets News

AT&T Exclusive no more: Galaxy S8 Active coming to T-Mobile and Sprint

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

The Samsung Galaxy S “Active” model has been around ever since the Galaxy S4 Active. The Galaxy S’ Active series offered the latest flagship features and specs of the concurrent-generation Galaxy S model and repackaged it into a rugged beast – one that would feature a larger battery, Military-spec durability, and water resistance.

The situation since then has been that AT&T was the only carrier in the United States to carry the ruggedized flavor of the Galaxy flagship. It catered to a niche market of folks who enjoyed fishing, hiking, or camping, as well as those with physically demanding jobs like construction workers, welders, or anyone who wanted a phone that could really take a beating.

Rumors (1,2) have been circulating for a couple of months now, however, Samsung is officially announcing that the Galaxy S8 Active will make its way to Sprint and T-Mobile starting this month. The phone will be available from the two new carriers in Meteor Gray, so it looks like AT&T is keeping the Titanium Gold color option exclusively in the states.

The Galaxy S8 Active is not “watered-down” in any way. In fact, it’s been beefed up with a 4,000 mAh battery, and features a shatter-resistant display. This is the exact same display found on the standard Galaxy S8 model with the same eye-pleasing color reproduction that we’ve come to love from Samsung. The one major difference is that the Active model does not have a dual-edged display.

Otherwise, the phone is chunkier, but it doesn’t need to be thrown into a case. The phone has reinforced bumpers built into the phone and a grippy, textured backside. Oh yeah, and the phone still gets the same Iris scanner, Samsung Pay, 12MP camera, IP68 water resistance, and even wireless charging.

As far as pricing goes, the AT&T version goes for the same price as the Galaxy S8+, so we may expect Sprint to do the same.

T-Mobile announced the S8 Active will become available on the carrier website on November 17 and will be available in select stores starting on November 22 for $100 down and $30 per month ($820). The T-Mobile variant will also be take full advantage of T-Mobile’s 600 MHz LTE band will support 4×4 MIMO and 256 QAM.

@Admin321

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Internet

Alibaba’s Jack Ma: PH internet ‘no good’

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

LOADING. Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma weighs in on a number of topics, including Philippine internet, in a forum at De Le Salle University on October 25, 2017. Photo by Alecs Ongcal/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ slow internet had even the ever-optimistic Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of global tech giant Alibaba Group, frustrated.

“I arrived late last night and I tried to test the speed of Philippine internet… It’s no good,” the Chinese tycoon said in a forum at De La Salle University on Wednesday, October 25, after having been awarded an honorary degree in Technopreneurship.

The remark drew laughter from the audience, which happened to include Globe Telecom chief executive officer Ernest Cu and PLDT chief revenue officer Eric Alberto. Later on, Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion once again drew attention to both firms when discussing the slow internet in the country.

Last May, Akamai Technologies’ Global State of the Internet Report showed that the Philippines has the slowest average internet speed in Asia Pacific.

Its average connection speed is just 5.5 mbps, falling short of the global average internet connection speed of 7.2 mbps.

Search for more competition

Many observers blame the situation on the duopoly in the Philippine telco sector between Globe and PLDT.

Early on in his presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte even warned both telcos to beef up their services or he would open up the sector to foreign competition. (READ: PLDT, Globe, Meralco: Yes to foreign players)

For a time last year, it seemed that more competition would come from the domestic front in the form of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and its would-be partner, Australian firm Telstra Corporation.

But that deal fell through and the saga of the search for a 3rd major player to provide more competition to the two established firms took another turn earlier this week when the Court of Appeals affirmed Globe and PLDT’s P69.1-billion deal to split SMC’s telco assets.

Ma, however, took a diplomatic approach to the situation, pointing out that the business sector should simply focus on solving the problem.

“Honestly, it’s unfair to blame anyone for slow internet. Opportunity exists in areas most people complain about. If you can solve a complaint, you have a chance,” he said.

Ma also offered some hope, recounting how when he started Alibaba in 1995, “the internet speed in China was terrible, much worse than the speed of the internet in the Philippines today.”

“So that’s not an excuse for the telcos but it’s a great opportunity for telcos to invest [in providing more bandwidth to users]. This is an investment where I guarantee you will get your return back,” Ma said.

“Faster internet, be it 4G or the future 5G, is an opportunity for everybody.” 

Source:-rappler

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Internet

HBO Hack: No Game of Thrones Material in Latest Leak

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

HBO Hack: No Game of Thrones Material in Latest Leak

HIGHLIGHTS

  • HBO hackers released unaired episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm
  • The latest dump includes Sunday night’s episode of Insecure
  • The criminals may be holding on to more damaging data

Hackers continue to pester HBO, but didn’t release any material related to the network’s hit show Game of Thrones in their latest leak.

The hackers, who broke into HBO’s computer network and have been doling out stolen information for the past several weeks, released more unaired episodes, including several of the highly anticipated return of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which debuts in October.

The latest dump includes Sunday night’s episode of Insecure, another popular show, and what appear to be episodes of other lower-profile shows, including Ballers, the unaired shows Barry and The Deuce, a comedy special and other programming.

ALSO SEEHBO Hack: Probe Still Ongoing, Company Says

The network acknowledged the hack in late July, and the thieves have been dribbling out stolen video and documents since then while demanding a multimillion-dollar ransom .

They have leaked Game of Thrones scripts, sensitive internal documents like job offer letters and a month’s worth of emails from a programming executive. But the intrusion has so far fallen well short of the chaos inflicted on Sony when the studio was hacked in 2014.

Still, the criminals may be holding on to more damaging data – both intellectual property, like unaired programming, and sensitive personal information of HBO employees – that they can use as leverage to try to get money from HBO, said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan.

ALSO SEEHBO Offered $250,000 to Hackers to Prevent Leaks: Report

“It’s kind of like kidnap and ransom and torture,” she said. “Eventually HBO may have to give in.”

In an emailed statement Sunday, HBO said it’s “not going to participate” in what it described as attempts to generate attention by dropping “bits and pieces of stolen information.” The company added that it was not in communication with the hackers. It has said previously that it doesn’t believe its email system as a whole was breached.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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News Update

Massive No Man’s Sky update adds multiplayer, 30 hours of story and much more

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games just released Atlas Rises, the third major update for the space exploration game, on both PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. Coming 367 days after No Man’s Sky launched, Atlas Rises sounds like the game’s biggest expansion yet. Significant new elements include a preliminary implementation of multiplayer features, 30 hours of story content alongside a revamped quest system, the ability to edit terrain, and an overhauled galactic economy.

“This update marks the one year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, and a lot has changed,” said Hello Games. “This is the next step on our journey.”

As with the two previous expansions to No Man’s Sky, November’s Foundation update and March’s Path Finder update, the Atlas Rises update is full of changes and fixes based on community feedback. No Man’s Sky players have long been asking for features such as the ability to salvage crashed freighters, fly close to planets’ surfaces and land a ship without being automatically ejected from the cockpit — and they can now do all of those things.

 GRID VIEW
1 of 8
A new alien race arrives in the universe of No Man’s Sky with the Atlas Rises update. Hello

Hello Games’ willingness to adapt to its fans’ desires is noteworthy, particularly because some of its post-launch changes to No Man’s Sky have seemed to contradict the studio’s original vision for a “chill game.” At launch, the game was a relatively directionless experience. It soon became clear that the majority of players wanted more structure — or at least more activities — and Hello Games has responded in Atlas Rises with a new story. Here’s the studio’s synopsis:

In the Atlas Rises story, the fabric of existence is starting to falter. A mysterious new interdimensional race have appeared. Glitches are causing ancient portals to activate. […] Discover the truth behind the Abandoned Building logs, the World of Glass, the Sentinels, the Redemption of the Gek, and the meaning of sixteen… After Waking Titan, Atlas Rises.

Hello Games is promising “double the lore and interactions of the existing game”; presumably, the new alien race will provide much of that. The studio has implemented a proper quest system, along with new features to support it, such as a communicator inside your ship that allows you to interact with characters even when you’re on the go. The developer has also expanded upon the existing fetch-quest-style missions with “constantly generated” missions that are “unique and rewarding.” And the process of building up your reputation with each alien race — as well as other elements of your progress through the game — is now codified and tracked in the redesigned menu interface.

The Atlas Rises update also brings more variety to No Man’s Sky, just as the Foundation and Path Finder updates did. In this case, the changes are centered around planets and their biomes, with new “exotic planet types” popping up as you approach the galactic core. Atlas Rises also gives you the power to change planets yourself: A new terrain manipulator allows you to sculpt the landscape with the Multi-Tool. It works “anywhere on any planet,” and lets you choose from various materials, shapes and sizes.

 Source:-polygon
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