September, 2016

• 8 September

  Dell finalizes huge EMC pact to become tech titan

  

    AFP US computer maker Dell said it completed the acquisition of data storage firm EMC, creating the largest privately held technology group with a range of computing services. The completion creates a new firm called Dell Technologies and finalizes a record $67 billion deal for EMC, which will help the struggling PC maker accelerate its efforts in cloud and ...

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• 8 September

  Washington Post unveils ‘Lightning-Fast’ mobile site

  

    AFP The Washington Post announced it was rolling out a “lightning-fast” mobile news site that would provide near-instant load times for both articles and advertising. The Post, purchased in 2013 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said in a statement was combining its own technology with Progressive Web Apps and the Google-led Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technologies “to create a ...

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• 8 September

  Thousands of students to be affected, as ITT to shut institutes

  

    AFP ITT Educational Services Inc said it would shut its flagship ITT Technical Institutes, following a U.S. Department of Education order, affecting thousands of students and employees. ITT’s move is the latest blow to the over $20 billion U.S. for-profit education industry, which has come under fire from the government in the past couple of years for its poor ...

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• 8 September

  Britain’s experts are invested in a Brexit disaster

  

    David Davis, the U.K.’s new Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, made a statement to the House of Commons this week on the meaning of “Brexit means Brexit.” Commentators were roundly unimpressed. If I may be allowed to say, their apparent determination to be unimpressed is beginning to grate. To be sure, the complaints were partly justified: ...

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• 8 September

  EU fiscal stimulus is just a rule change away

  

    The European Central Bank is expected to extend its quantitative easing program further during the meeting of its governing council this week. The irony is that while the ECB has various options for continuing a program that isn’t working, national governments have relatively few options for embarking on one that most agree is sorely needed. As Mario Draghi and ...

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• 8 September

  As new space age dawns, China and US must cooperate

    When NASA officials recently dropped in on their counterparts in Beijing, they arrived in secret, issued no press release and, when queried by a reporter, initially didn’t acknowledge the meeting. The topic of such furtive talks? The two sides merely hoped to work together on climate satellites. As it happens, doing so may well be illegal. Since 2011, Congress ...

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• 8 September

  Ocean economy needs urgent protection

    Small low-lying islands are vulnerable even to mild climate swings. The monster of global warming is posing an existential threat to them. The annual regional summit of 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which kicked off on Thursday, saw an upbeat start despite the clouds of uncertainty hovering over these countries. Reason behind the euphoria: They felt that they had ...

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• 8 September

  You’ll miss what you don’t use on the new iPhone

  

  You’ve probably been thinking to yourself, “Gee, I wish I couldn’t charge my phone while also listening to music.” Or perhaps, “Gosh, if only my headphones were more expensive, easier to lose and required frequent charging.” If so, you’re in luck. Apple’s newest iPhone, unveiled on Wednesday, lacks the familiar 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. You can listen to music through the ...

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• 8 September

  Obama’s pivot to Asia has failed to deter China

  

  It is tragic and fitting that President Barack Obama’s latest failure to reach a cease-fire in Syria would take place at Hangzhou, China, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit Monday. It’s tragic because this latest diplomatic flop in Syria will mean the death toll in that civil war, already at a staggering 400,000, will grow. It’s fitting, though, because ...

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• 8 September

  In global banking, apps and security don’t mix

  

    The greatest bank robberies happen from the inside, Manchurian-Candidate style, where a sleeper agent infiltrates an organization and collects intelligence until it’s time to strike. Such was the case in the Bangladesh bank heist. Back in February, Bangladesh’s central bank revealed that it had fallen victim to an $81 million theft. (Actually, the Philippine Daily Inquirer broke the news ...

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