BUSINESS INSIDER – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Sun, 02 Oct 2016 16:00:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 BUSINESS INSIDER – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 The new PlayStation VR comes with an adorable miniature PlayStation 4 https://soranews24.com/2016/10/03/348271/ https://soranews24.com/2016/10/03/348271/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2016 16:00:12 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=348271 
The “PlayStation VR Processor Unit” acts as a middleman between the headset and the PS4 console itself.
This holiday, Nintendo’s selling a miniature version of its classic Nintendo Entertainment System.
▼ The NES Classic Edition costs $60, has 30 games, and is available on Nov. 10.
Nintendo
It is, frankly speaking, adorable.
On the flipside, Sony’s releasing a cutting edge virtual reality headset in PlayStation VR for the PlayStation 4. It’s a $400 headset that enables high-end virtual reality games and experiences right in your living room, and it’s all powered by the PlayStation 4 you already own.
What you might not know about this headset, though, is that it comes with its own miniaturized game console. The “PlayStation VR Processor Unit” acts as a middleman between the headset and the PS4 console itself.
It’s also, basically, a miniature PlayStation 4. Just look at this cute little guy:
▼ Adorable!
Sony
It’s even got a similar design aesthetic, dividing line and all:
Sony
The idea is that you take the wires extending off the PlayStation VR headset and plug them into the front of the Processor Unit, which then connects to the PlayStation 4 itself.
Notably, you’ll need an extra wall plug for the Processor Unit — here’s a look at it from the back:
▼ It’s got a fan!
Sony
Not only does the Processor Unit act as a go-between (so the VR headset’s wires are running behind your PlayStation 4), but it enables what Sony’s calling “social screen” functionality. Silly name aside, the idea is simple: Whatever the VR user is seeing in their headset is replicated on the TV. This can also be used in other ways, where players use the TV in one way while the VR headset user experiences something else.
Here’s a look at the entire PlayStation VR package that arrives on October 13 for $400:
Sony
There’s also a demo disc that comes with the headset, which has 18 different games and experiences to try. Check out a full unboxing of the headset right here:
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/10/03/348271/feed/ 0 348271 psvr_processorunit_1 psvr_processorunit_1 this-is-the-nes-classic-edition-as-you-can-see-its-quite-small-it-can-fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand-and-it-will-fit-nicely-in-any-entertainment-center psvr_processorunit_1 psvr_3 psvr_4 psvr Business_Insider North Korean defectors are going to prison for drugs, and it’s part of a larger problem https://soranews24.com/2016/09/22/north-korean-defectors-are-going-to-prison-for-drugs-and-its-part-of-a-larger-problem/ https://soranews24.com/2016/09/22/north-korean-defectors-are-going-to-prison-for-drugs-and-its-part-of-a-larger-problem/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2016 04:00:37 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=346624 North Korean defectors face significant obstacles even after escaping the country.
▼ North Korean men sit and smoke by a river in the North Pyongan Province, North Korea
As more North Korean defectors make their way into their southern counterpart, one would think that that life in South Korea would be rife with opportunity when compared to the North.
A recent parliamentary report from Rep. Kang Chang-il of the Minjoo Party of Korea, however, provided evidence that this may not always be the case. According to Yonhap News, crimes involving drugs have been the number one factor for the incarceration of North Korean defectors.
From the start of this year to July, about 815 defectors were estimated by the Unification Ministry to have left North Korea — a 15% increase from 2015. And as of late-August, 129 North Korean defectors were reported to be imprisoned — a nearly 40% increase from 5 years ago.
Of the 129 imprisoned defectors, 38 of them were convicted of drug-related crimes.
“Under the burden of livelihood difficulties and homesickness, more defectors tend to get involved in crimes with the number of defector prisoners on the rise,” Kang said in Yonhap News. “There’s pressing need for a system that consistently provides crime prevention education and job consulting to defectors, especially as the population of North Korean defectors in South Korea is nearing 30,000.”
In a Wall Street Journal article, North Korean defectors also confirmed accounts of past drug use in North Korea; however, it remained unclear how they managed to refrain from its continued use. Prof. Kim, a former Unification Ministry official, explained that some of the defectors failed to acknowledge the addictive qualities of methamphetamine.
“They say you can stop it whenever you want. All you need to do is sleep all day long, for three or four days,” Kim stated in The Wall Street Journal.
▼ A group of North Korean visitors listen to a guide at Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, in Pyongyang, April 9, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
Traditionally, drug-related crimes in South Korea have been relatively low. Although the US Department of State reports that an “undetermined quantity of narcotics is smuggled through South Korea to Japan and other countries,” narcotics production and abuse has been deemed “not a major problem.”
North Koreans, on the other hand, are invested in the proliferation of narcotics. According to a study by Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, an illicit hub of activity has emerged beyond the control of the North Korean regime.
Having been originally funded and manufactured by the government after a severe famine and economic hardships, substances like opium were required by the regime to be grown by farmers in the 1970s.
Since then, the country has eased its control by closing state-sponsored labs in an attempt to show the world that it was no longer a player in the production of narcotics. After these reforms, however, private production of the drugs seems to have increased, and what was once a state-run industry is now state-tolerated.
Testimonies from defectors and sources in Pyongyang confirm that methamphetamines have been habitually used by the populace — even going as far to say that construction project managers were issuing the drug, often called “ice,” to their workers in order to speed up construction.
Although North Korean officials continue to deny allegations of drug usage and abuse in their country, Dr. Greiten’s study and Rep. Kang’s report indicate a correlation to a problem that may be bleeding beyond the Hermit Kingdom.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/09/22/north-korean-defectors-are-going-to-prison-for-drugs-and-its-part-of-a-larger-problem/feed/ 0 346624 ap_16186249182644 ap_16186249182644 rtr30imb Business_Insider Here’s how the biggest social networking company in China compares to Facebook https://soranews24.com/2016/08/24/heres-how-the-biggest-social-networking-company-in-china-compares-to-facebook/ https://soranews24.com/2016/08/24/heres-how-the-biggest-social-networking-company-in-china-compares-to-facebook/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2016 16:00:49 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=340561 There’s a new king of tech in China.
Earlier this week, it was reported that internet holding company Tencent had overtaken ecommerce behemoth Alibaba to become the most valuable tech company in China. Like any giant, Tencent has its fingers in many pies, but might be best known for running the social messaging apps WeChat and QQ, which are enormously popular in its home country.
The following chart from Statista compares Tencent to Facebook, likely its closest equivalent in the US, and should give you a better idea of just how big it is. Though Facebook is still bigger across the board, Tencent still brought in more than $3 billion in profit through the first six months of the year, while WeChat averaged a massive 800 million active users per month.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/08/24/heres-how-the-biggest-social-networking-company-in-china-compares-to-facebook/feed/ 0 340561 20160819_tencent 20160819_tencent Business_Insider This is the best any ‘Final Fantasy’ game has ever looked https://soranews24.com/2016/08/09/this-is-the-best-any-final-fantasy-game-has-ever-looked/ https://soranews24.com/2016/08/09/this-is-the-best-any-final-fantasy-game-has-ever-looked/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2016 11:30:13 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=337901 “Final Fantasy” is one of the longest-running video game series of all time, with roots dating back to 1987.
The next entry in the fantasy role-playing franchise, “Final Fantasy XV” — you read that right, fifteen — is due out later this fall. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like one of the most visually stunning games we’ve ever seen. If nothing else, it’s the most gorgeous any “Final Fantasy” game has ever been. Take a look.
“Final Fantasy XV” takes place in Eos, a beautiful world that mixes elements of sci-fi and fantasy.
You play as Noctis, who you can see here casually re-fueling his futuristic flying car.
No, really. It can fly.
Noctis spends a lot time driving (and flying) around with his buddies, going on adventures and fighting monsters in the gorgeous world of Eos.
Square Enix, the company that makes “Final Fantasy” games, provided gaming site IGN with detailed models of the game’s main cast, which we have re-produced below.
This is an up-close look at Noctis, our main hero. He’s the prince of the Kingdom of Lucis.
According to Art Director Yusuke Naora, the game accurately simulates “subcutaneous light penetration,” a fancy phrase that means light will appear to actually seep into the skin and illuminate it.
This is Luna, a powerful Oracle and one of Noctis’ childhood friends.
According to Naora, “Her hairstyle was designed to look like something that would require the assistance of a handmaiden, to reflect her noble birth … we deliberately left some dispersion and variability at the tips of her hair to prevent her from appearing too formal and prim.”
Another of Noctis’ close friends is Gladio, whose “sultry gaze” was designed to add a more intellectual depth to a character that could easily be read as a dim-witted beefcake.
Ignis is another of Noctis’ pals, whose slender appearance and glasses intentionally give him a “smart and intellectual image.”
In addition to his gray hair, the subtle textural changes in King Regis’ skin make his age more realistic and believable.
The final portrait given to IGN was that of Ardyn, a bureaucrat whose “aloof manner shrouds [him] in mystery.”
And if you’re wondering whether these characters will actually look this good when you’re playing the game itself…
The answer is basically, “Yes.” This is a screenshot of in-game footage.
And so is this.
In addition to fighting fearsome critters, you’ll be able to walk around more peaceful, populated areas that hum with activity.
But regardless of whether you’re fighting for your life or just trying to buy some new equipment, “Final Fantasy XV” looks like one of the most gorgeous games we’ve ever seen.
It will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 30. Just beware of whatever this thing is, please. (It’s called a Malboro, I’m just trying not to show off.)
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/08/09/this-is-the-best-any-final-fantasy-game-has-ever-looked/feed/ 0 337901 final-fantasy-xv final-fantasy-xv final-fantasy-xv-takes-place-in-eos-a-beautiful-world-that-mixes-elements-of-sci-fi-and-fantasy you-play-as-noctis-who-you-can-see-here-casually-re-fueling-his-futuristic-flying-car no-really-it-can-fly noctis-spends-a-lot-time-driving-and-flying-around-with-his-buddies-going-on-adventures-and-fighting-monsters-in-the-gorgeous-world-of-eos square-enix-the-company-that-makes-final-fantasy-games-provided-gaming-site-ign-with-detailed-models-of-the-games-main-cast-which-we-have-re-produced-below this-is-an-up-close-look-at-noctis-our-main-hero-hes-the-prince-of-the-kingdom-of-lucis this-is-luna-a-powerful-oracle-and-one-of-noctis-childhood-friends another-of-noctis-close-friends-is-gladio-whose-sultry-gaze-was-designed-to-add-a-more-intellectual-depth-to-a-character-that-could-easily-be-read-as-a-dim-witted-beefcake ignis-is-another-of-noctis-pals-whose-slender-appearance-and-glasses-intentionally-give-him-a-smart-and-intellectual-image in-addition-to-his-gray-hair-the-subtle-textural-changes-in-king-regis-skin-make-his-age-more-realistic-and-believable the-final-portrait-given-to-ign-was-that-of-ardyn-a-bureaucrat-whose-aloof-manner-shrouds-him-in-mystery and-if-youre-wondering-whether-these-characters-will-actually-look-this-good-when-youre-playing-the-game-itself the-answer-is-basically-yes-this-is-a-screenshot-of-in-game-footage and-so-is-this in-addition-to-fighting-fearsome-critters-youll-be-able-to-walk-around-more-peaceful-populated-areas-that-hum-with-activity but-regardless-of-whether-youre-fighting-for-your-life-or-just-trying-to-buy-some-new-equipment-final-fantasy-xv-looks-like-one-of-the-most-gorgeous-games-weve-ever-seen it-will-be-available-for-playstation-4-and-xbox-one-on-september-30-just-beware-of-whatever-this-thing-is-please-its-called-a-malboro-im-just-trying-not-to-show-off Business_Insider The latest spat between the two Koreas took a really bizarre turn https://soranews24.com/2016/07/29/the-latest-spat-between-the-two-koreas-took-a-really-bizarre-turn/ https://soranews24.com/2016/07/29/the-latest-spat-between-the-two-koreas-took-a-really-bizarre-turn/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2016 07:00:14 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=336150 
The dispute between the two Korean nations took a really odd turn when North Korea accused their southern counterpart of releasing deadly snakes along the border.
Pyongyang’s fresh, albeit unorthodox, claim comes as the nation warns its military personnel to remain wary of snakes.
The Guardian reports that Pyongyang has told its military personnel to be wary of the serpents, as they were allegedly released by the South’s spy agency to cause chaos.
According to The Guardian, multiple sources in North Korea have stated that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service were using the creatures “as part of a ‘cunning scheme’ to challenge our unity.”
North Korea’s Ministry of People’s Security has reportedly issued a warning to its citizens, and guards stationed at the border have been ordered to capture these reptiles that have been appearing in larger than average numbers this season.
On the other side of the border, South Korea accused their northern counterpart of dropping propaganda leaflets near the Han River next to Seoul for the first time.
According to the Associated Press, the South Korean military discovered dozens of plastics bags that contained about 20 leaflets — each of which held threatening messages of missile attacks. The leaflets also were intended to tell the South that North Korea remained the victors of the Korean War.
Traditionally, South Korea would be the perpetrators in this ongoing propaganda feud — even activists take part since the South Korean government considers the dropping of leaflets into the North as a freedom of speech and expression.
Much to the chagrin of North Korean officials, thousands of balloons containing various goods, such as radios, dollar bills, and sweets have been sent by concerned activists from the South.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/07/29/the-latest-spat-between-the-two-koreas-took-a-really-bizarre-turn/feed/ 0 336150 gettyimages-113263772 gettyimages-113263772 Business_Insider We finally know the age of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un https://soranews24.com/2016/07/09/we-finally-know-the-age-of-north-korean-dictator-kim-jong-un/ https://soranews24.com/2016/07/09/we-finally-know-the-age-of-north-korean-dictator-kim-jong-un/#comments Sat, 09 Jul 2016 03:00:00 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=331757 
US officials closely monitor North Korea’s activities, so it might come as a surprise that we’ve been missing some basic information on its leader, Kim Jong Un.
But it wasn’t until yesterday that the US Treasury Department, after placing sanctions on Kim, officially identified his date of birth as January 8, 1984.
So he’s 32 years old.
In doing so, the Treasury Department added his information into its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list — a compilation of individuals and companies owned or controlled by targeted countries. After being added, the individual’s assets would be blocked, and US citizens would be prohibited from dealing with them.
The hermit kingdom is notoriously opaque, and until now, the public didn’t know for sure what year Kim was born. CNN noted last year that North Korean state media hasn’t ever acknowledged Kim’s exact date of birth.
Some experts have speculated that he was born in 1982, while others have suggested it was 1983.
Kim’s youth could be a reason behind the enigma.
“It could be because he is a young leader,” Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at South Korean think tank the Sejong Institute, told CNN. “Being young could have its advantage and disadvantage.”
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/07/09/we-finally-know-the-age-of-north-korean-dictator-kim-jong-un/feed/ 0 331757 kim jong un 2 kim jong un 2 Business_Insider Rare photos from inside North Korea’s mysterious buildings https://soranews24.com/2016/06/16/rare-photos-from-inside-north-koreas-mysterious-buildings/ https://soranews24.com/2016/06/16/rare-photos-from-inside-north-koreas-mysterious-buildings/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:30:57 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=326811 
Kim Jong Suk Creche, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
For 10 days, architect, photographer, and architecture and design critic for The Guardian, Oliver Wainwright, traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea where he got tours inside buildings, with permission to photograph.
“Having been told that photography would be strictly monitored by the official guides, I was pleasantly surprised by the freedom we were given to shoot pretty much anything we wanted,” Wainwright told Business Insider. “The only restrictions were on building sites — they like everything to look finished it’s photographed — as well as anything connected to the military, and people at work.”
He visited hotels, health and recreation centers, study houses, and more. Ahead, see rare photos inside North Korea’s buildings.
Wainwright was on an official guided tour organized by a Beijing-based company, Koryo tours, that has been taking foreigners into North Korea for over 20 years.
Yanggakdo International Hotel, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Wainwright said it took months of negotiation before North Korea allowed him to join the tour because “journalists aren’t given the same freedom as tourists,” he said.
Grand People’s Study House, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
“I have never been anywhere where a national ideology is so totally embodied in the architectural fabric of the city,” Wainwright said. “To see the urban fabric, from the layout of streets to the specific design of interiors, expressing the values and ambitions of such an ideologically-driven regime was a fascinating thing to behold.”
Changgwang San Hotel, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Changgwang San Hotel, Pyongyang.
“You might expect endless streets of crumbling grey concrete apartment buildings, but Pyongyang is one of the most colorful cities I have been to,” Wainwright said.
Changgwang Health and Recreation Complex, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Changgwang Health and Recreation Complex, Pyongyang
“The two things that most struck me about North Korea interiors were the sense of symmetry and the recurring pastel color palettes,” Wainwright said.
Changgwang Health and Recreation Complex, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
National Drama Theatre, Pyongyang.
Wainwright said the interiors themselves were a big enough inspiration for him to want to partake in this series. “From the Soviet-era buildings from the 1950s and 1960s, when North Korea was heavily reliant on the USSR, to the more brightly colored recent renovations masterminded by the current leader, Kim Jong-Un,” he said.
National Drama Theatre, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang.
“Organized around long axial boulevards, the city is punctuated with gargantuan monuments and memorials, with statues and mosaics of the leaders everywhere you look,” Wainwright said. “As well as the pink and red ‘Kimjongilia’ and ‘Kimilsungia’ flowers, which represent the leaders, Kim Jong-il and Kim Il Sung.”
Kim Jong Suk Creche, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Chongnyon Youth Hotel, Pyongyang.
Pyongyang Diplomatic Club.
Pyongyang Diplomatic Club.
“Symmetry is one of the guiding principles of Juche architecture, espoused by Kim Jong-il in his 1991 treatise, On Architecture,” Wainwright explained. “It is usually used as a means of emphasizing the importance of the statues and portraits of the leaders, with architectural elements designed to exaggerate the perspective and increase the sense of awe.”
Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang.
“[Symmetry] is a very theatrical device, which is why I think so many North Korean spaces feel like stage sets,” Wainwright said. “They’re designed to evoke an emotional response”
Paektusan Academy of Architecture, Pyongyang Oliver Wainwright
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/06/16/rare-photos-from-inside-north-koreas-mysterious-buildings/feed/ 0 326811 wainwright-was-on-an-official-guided-tour-organized-by-a-beijing-based-company-koryo-tours-that-has-been-taking-foreigners-into-north-korea-for-over-20-years north-korea-interiors wainwright-was-on-an-official-guided-tour-organized-by-a-beijing-based-company-koryo-tours-that-has-been-taking-foreigners-into-north-korea-for-over-20-years wainwright-said-it-took-months-of-negotiation-before-north-korea-allowed-him-to-join-the-tour-because-journalists-arent-given-the-same-freedom-as-tourists-he-said i-have-never-been-anywhere-where-a-national-ideology-is-so-totally-embodied-in-the-architectural-fabric-of-the-city-wainwright-said-to-see-the-urban-fabric-from-the-layout-of-streets-to-the-specific-design-of-int changgwang-san-hotel-pyongyang you-might-expect-endless-streets-of-crumbling-grey-concrete-apartment-buildings-but-pyongyang-is-one-of-the-most-colorful-cities-i-have-been-to-wainwright-said changgwang-health-and-recreation-complex-pyongyang the-two-things-that-most-struck-me-about-north-korea-interiors-were-the-sense-of-symmetry-and-the-recurring-pastel-color-palettes-wainwright-said national-drama-theatre-pyongyang wainwright-said-the-interiors-themselves-were-a-big-enough-inspiration-for-him-to-want-to-partake-in-this-series-from-the-soviet-era-buildings-from-the-1950s-and-1960s-when-north-korea-was-heavily-reliant-on-the- rungrado-1st-of-may-stadium-pyongyang organized-around-long-axial-boulevards-the-city-is-punctuated-with-gargantuan-monuments-and-memorials-with-statues-and-mosaics-of-the-leaders-everywhere-you-look-wainwright-said-as-well-as-the-pink-and-red-kimjon chongnyon-youth-hotel-pyongyang pyongyang-diplomatic-club pyongyang-diplomatic-club (1) symmetry-is-one-of-the-guiding-principles-of-juche-architecture-espoused-by-kim-jong-il-in-his-1991-treatise-on-architecture-wainwright-explained-it-is-usually-used-as-a-means-of-emphasizing-the-importance-of-the koryo-hotel-pyongyang symmetry-is-a-very-theatrical-device-which-is-why-i-think-so-many-north-korean-spaces-feel-like-stage-sets-wainwright-said-theyre-designed-to-evoke-an-emotional-response Business_Insider People in Japan are being paid to have babies, and it seems to be working https://soranews24.com/2016/06/10/people-in-japan-are-being-paid-to-have-babies-and-it-seems-to-be-working/ https://soranews24.com/2016/06/10/people-in-japan-are-being-paid-to-have-babies-and-it-seems-to-be-working/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2016 20:30:03 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=325480 
Japan’s nationwide fertility rate just hit its highest level in 21 years.
The total rate increased to 1.46 in 2015, slightly up from the previous rate of 1.42 in 2014, according to the health ministry.
The biggest contribution to the increase came from women 30 to 34, according to Bloomberg.
This is no doubt a good sign for a country struggling with a looming demographic crisis.
But what’s particularly interesting about this spike in fertility is that there was a correlation with cash incentives for new parents.
Christopher Wood, author of CLSA’s weekly Greed & Fear newsletter, pointed out in his latest installment that the highest fertility rate among Tokyo’s wards was in the Minato Ward, where parents get one-time cash payouts of up to 180,000 yen – about $1,684 – a birth.
Moreover, he noted that the biggest improvement in fertility in the country was in a town called Ama on the island of Nakanoshima, which has a “leveraged scheme to incentivize mating”: parents get 100,000 yen (about $940) for the first baby, but get 1 million yen (about $9,400) for the fourth kid. The town’s fertility rate bumped up to 1.80 from 1.66 between 2014 and 2015.
Wrote Wood in the note:
This fits a point made by GREED & fear before, namely that the best way to deal with Japan’s demographic issue is via financial incentives, with ¥10 million per child seeming to [us] about the minimum level of incentive required in central Tokyo given the costs of parenthood, a reality [we are] well aware of.
CLSA
Notably, some economists have argued that women who lived in developed economies are dis-incentivized to reproduce precisely because having kids is very expensive. Or, another possibility here, as o n e of my economics professors once put it a few years back: “Why would a woman choose to have another kid that costs $250,000 a year when she can instead go work in finance and rake in $1 million a year?”
So Wood’s ideas are quite interesting: It appears that cash incentives, at least somewhat, address the whole issue of not having kids because they’re too expensive.
Wood added in his note:
In the end nothing can detract from the power of financial incentives.Just as higher minimum wages will encourage the acceleration of robot technology, the provision of a meaningful capital sum should encourage child rearing. It is certainly superior to negative rates, and also more reflationary.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/06/10/people-in-japan-are-being-paid-to-have-babies-and-it-seems-to-be-working/feed/ 0 325480 rtr4y3s3 rtr4y3s3 screen shot 2016-06-03 at 11.27.35 am Business_Insider An ad agency created a dinner plate that cuts 30 calories from each meal https://soranews24.com/2016/05/19/an-ad-agency-created-a-dinner-plate-that-cuts-30-calories-from-each-meal/ https://soranews24.com/2016/05/19/an-ad-agency-created-a-dinner-plate-that-cuts-30-calories-from-each-meal/#comments Thu, 19 May 2016 06:00:43 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=321225
Thailand has the second-highest obesity rate in south-east Asia, largely due to the fact that its delicious cuisine can be rather greasy.
Since people in Thailand are unlikely to change the food they eat, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and BBDO Bangkok decided to tackle how they eat their food. (We first saw this campaign over at Adweek.)
And so the “AbsorbPlate” was born.
The design of the plate was inspired by the surface of a sponge and contains hundreds of tiny holes to allow oil to slip away from a meal and be absorbed at the bottom.
The promotional video claims the plate can soak up about 7 ml of oil, or 30 calories on average, from each meal.
Here’s the full ad:
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/05/19/an-ad-agency-created-a-dinner-plate-that-cuts-30-calories-from-each-meal/feed/ 0 321225 screenshot 2016-05-18 at 08.23.42 Business_Insider This map predicted how Japan would attack the US during World War II https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-map-predicted-how-japan-would-attack-the-us-during-world-war-ii/ https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-map-predicted-how-japan-would-attack-the-us-during-world-war-ii/#comments Wed, 18 May 2016 07:00:53 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=321119 On November 7, 1937, the Los Angeles Examiner published a prescient map predicting how Imperial Japan could attack the US during World War II.
Created by Howard A. Burke, the map imagined a Japanese attack on the US that closely predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four years later on December 7, 1941. Burke rightly noted that Japan’s first target would be Hawaii and the US fleet docked at Pearl Harbor.
“The first objective must be capture of Hawaii,” Burke notes on the map. “This would mean crippling or annihilating the U.S. fleet, giving Japan one of the world’s greatest naval bases — Pearl Harbor.”
After that attack, Burke then imagined that Japan would follow up the assault with a two-pronged naval and aerial strike from Hawaii against Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a simultaneous Japanese assault from Alaska working its way down the Pacific Northwest.
You can see Burke’s map below:
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-map-predicted-how-japan-would-attack-the-us-during-world-war-ii/feed/ 0 321119 1608dd9f-40f9-4320-912e-d2d4418d696a 1608dd9f-40f9-4320-912e-d2d4418d696a Business_Insider This is a pretty worrying chart for China’s demographic future https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-is-a-pretty-worrying-chart-for-chinas-demographic-future/ https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-is-a-pretty-worrying-chart-for-chinas-demographic-future/#comments Tue, 17 May 2016 20:30:07 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=321123 It’s no secret that many countries face looming demographics problems as their populations age.
Much has been written about developed markets like Japan, Germany, and Italy, which have the largest percentages of their populations age 65 and up.
But another country also deserves attention: China.
In a recent note to clients, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch team led by Beijia Ma shared a chart showing that China’s working-age population — aka people 15 to 59 — has already started shrinking and is set to continue to decline.
The BAML team wrote in the note:
“For China to rise to be the world’s #2 economy, the country saw its working-age population expand by 380mn people between 1980 and 2015. During this time, millions of people from rural China migrated to cities for urban manufacturing jobs. While this has pushed China to be the world’s largest manufacturing economy in 2010, it is expected to peak in 2017.”
But “by 2050, the size of China’s population will decline by around 60mn, while the working-
age population will decline by 212mn or around 1/3. This is the size of the current population of Brazil, the world’s 5th most population nation,” they noted.
This is particularly startling given that China’s also going to have a huge over-65 population in the near future — meaning that it will see the same kinds of problems as aging developed markets like Japan.
In March, a report on the global-aging phenomenon from the US Census Bureau illustrated some comparisons between China’s over-65 population and the total population of several big developed markets:
- In 2015, the number of older people in China (136.9 million) exceeded Japan’s total population (126.9 million).
- By 2030, Japan and Egypt’s combined total projected populations (231.8 million) will be smaller than China’s projected 65-and-up population (238.8 million).
- And by 2050, China’s projected older population (348.8 million) will be approximately equal to the combined total projected populations of Japan, Egypt, Germany, and Australia.
The Census Bureau report also included population pyramids, which illustrate the sex and age breakdown of a country’s population, for China in 2015 and 2050. The most striking thing in the charts is the huge growth in the over-65 category, which you can see below:
Another thing that stands out is the relatively small population of younger people, which is partially because of the one-child policy introduced in the late 1970s. And even though the government recently retired it, the impact from that won’t be seen for some time.
Putting this all together, in the coming decades there will be far more older residents who will likely want to retire and fewer working-age citizens to support them, assuming that the projections hold.
Historically, aging populations have generally been a problem that more developed markets like Japan have had to deal with, rather than emerging economies like China, as we have noted before. So, the graying of China could present new problems and opportunities that we haven’t seen in other markets before.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/05/18/this-is-a-pretty-worrying-chart-for-chinas-demographic-future/feed/ 0 321123 Screen Shot 2016-05-17 at 17.06.10 screen shot 2016-03-29 at 8.25.39 am Business_Insider China’s taste in cars is looking even more like America’s in one important way https://soranews24.com/2016/04/26/chinas-taste-in-cars-is-looking-even-more-like-americas-in-one-important-way/ https://soranews24.com/2016/04/26/chinas-taste-in-cars-is-looking-even-more-like-americas-in-one-important-way/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2016 10:00:52 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=317317 It’s big, it’s bold, it’s brash, and it’s going to China.
Ford
Ford announced late last week that it would introduce the Raptor super-truck in China, another example of a long developing trend: China’s taste in cars is looking more and more like the United States’.
Carmakers are enjoying huge sales of SUVs in China. Last week, a surprising earnings beat by GM was in large part thanks to the trend. At the Beijing Auto show this week, several other automakers introduced SUVs, some of them specific to the Chinese market.
While Ford missed projections, it has been rapidly expanding its Chinese operations, especially in SUVs.
It is no surprise that considering its success at selling the same big vehicles American consumers love, Ford should want to try its hand at selling that other great bastion of American automotive taste: the pickup truck.
It’s also the first vehicle from Ford’s “Performance Division” to make it to China, an attempt by the company to the introduce the “halo effect” to the fastest-growing car market in the world.
Exciting, range-topping vehicles like the Raptor truck — while only to sell in limited quantities — will attract buyers to the rest of the Ford lineup.
Ford Performance marketing manager Henry Ford III recently told AutoBlog that the Focus RS, the sporty hatchback also from the Performance lineup, would also make it to China in the near future, while there are currently no plans to bring the Performance Division variants of the Mustang over there.
But for now, the few lucky Chinese Ford Raptor customers will enjoy some serious off-roading capability mated to a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and a brand-new 10-speed transmission.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/04/26/chinas-taste-in-cars-is-looking-even-more-like-americas-in-one-important-way/feed/ 0 317317 raptor02_final raptor01_final Business_Insider The most fun I’ve had behind the wheel this year was with Toyota’s unusual vision for the future of mobility https://soranews24.com/2016/04/12/the-most-fun-ive-had-behind-the-wheel-this-year-was-with-toyotas-unusual-vision-for-the-future-of-mobility/ https://soranews24.com/2016/04/12/the-most-fun-ive-had-behind-the-wheel-this-year-was-with-toyotas-unusual-vision-for-the-future-of-mobility/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2016 17:30:14 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=314439 
The future of mobility is an exciting frontier that everyone in the automotive world is trying to explore. As a result, companies have taken creative and odd approaches to meet the challenge.
Recently, Toyota gave me the chance to test out their i-Road concept. The i-Road is one of Toyota proposed solutions to solving urban transportation.
To be honest, most of the prospective future mobility offerings I’ve seen thus far have either been impractical, boring to drive — or just flat out strange.
When it comes to cars, I’m a traditionalist. I love the visceral experience that a great drive can engender. The sound of the engine, the shifting of the gears, and the feedback from the steering. In the right car, it all comes together to create perfection. Although speed is often a fun aspect of a great car, it isn’t entirely necessary — you can chase some thrills without eye-tearing 0-60 acceleration.
So it was with a bit of apprehension that I tried out Toyota’s i-Road concept.
In one of the large halls of New York’s Javits Center, I got my first look at one of Toyota’s “urban mobility solutions.”
At first sight, the three-wheeled i-Road is anything but boring. It’s not quite what I would call a “car,” but it’s so much more than an electric scooter with a canopy. What the design allowed Toyota to do was combine the small, nimble characteristics of a scooter with the wet-weather capabilities and driving stability of a small city car.
After taking some photos of the car, I jumped in for test drive on the twisting indoor course Toyota set up.
With a single headlight, the three-wheeled, electric i-Road looks unlike anything on the road today.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
When it comes to future mobility, more conventional solutions like the Chevrolet Bolt EV or …
Chevrolet
… the BMW i8 hybrid sports cars are more in my wheelhouse.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
But it has to be said that the i-Road and its “dumbo ear” doors have a certain amount of charm to them.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
At less than three feet wide and …
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
… a tad over seven and half feet long, the i-Road should be a breeze to handle on tight urban streets.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
But with a range of 31 miles on a single charge and …
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
…. a top speed of 37 mph, you probably wouldn’t want to venture beyond the confines of an urban center.
Toyota
The i-Road is charged through a socket located below the front windshield.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Step inside …
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
…. and you’ll find a conventional driver’s cockpit, complete with steering wheel, turn indicators, and accelerator and brakes pedals. It’s even got the interior door handles from a Camry.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Although Toyota says there’s room for second passenger behind the driver, you’re better off as a solo act.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
In front of the driver is a digital instrument display.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Here goes the test drive!
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
As with most electric cars, the torquey electric motor gives the i-Road quick reaction off the line.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Stopping power is courtesy of these disc brakes.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
But it’s in the corners where the real fun starts.
Toyota
The Toyota leans into the corners like a skier. The car will even alert you if you are going too fast or banking at too extreme an angle. (Note that this is not me driving!)
Toyota
Another interesting element to the i-Road’s handling dynamics is its rear-wheel steering.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Initially, the sensation created by the swiveling rear wheel is a bit strange. But once you get used to it, you realize the i-Road offers a very nimble and spirited driving experience. I’m not saying driving the i-Road inside of a convention center is like piloting a Porsche 911 in the Swiss Alps, but it’s certainly far from boring.
Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
The Toyota i-Road is currently not for sale in the US. The car is being tested on the streets of Tokyo in Japan and Grenoble in France.
Toyota
All in all, the Toyota i-Road was fun, funky and innovative. Toyota was able to mesh the conventional with the orthodox to create interesting take on future urban mobility. Sign me up!
Toyota
Here’s a video of the i-Road in action with a Toyota test driver at the controls.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-e2QtsFeID/
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/04/12/the-most-fun-ive-had-behind-the-wheel-this-year-was-with-toyotas-unusual-vision-for-the-future-of-mobility/feed/ 0 314439 5 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Business_Insider The women’s wrestling league in Japan is way more intense than WWE https://soranews24.com/2016/04/11/the-womens-wrestling-league-in-japan-is-way-more-intense-than-wwe/ https://soranews24.com/2016/04/11/the-womens-wrestling-league-in-japan-is-way-more-intense-than-wwe/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2016 08:30:39 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=314394 If you thought the WWE was intense, you haven’t witnessed Stardom, the professional women’s wrestling league in Japan.
While the WWE’s Wrestle Mania involves a lot of violent action, Stardom consists of real, full-on body slams, kicks, and bright, colorful costumes.
Japanese women’s professional wrestling is an entertainment show that involves a dance-routine performance before every highly intense wrestling match.
Wrestler Kairi Hojo jumps at her opponent.
Thomas Peter
Stardom was founded in 2010, five years after the All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling came to a close after the president became ill.
Stardom became popular quickly after it was founded. Here are some of the most intense moments from professional women’s wrestling in Japan.
Stardom’s style is much like martial arts, with many of the wrestlers relying on kicking as their main line of defense.
Thomas Peter
Like in the martial arts, kicks are paired with jumping to make them harder and more intense.
Thomas Peter
The female wrestlers are required to wear bright and colorful costumes.
Thomas Peter
Some of the fights involve more than just two wrestlers.
Thomas Peter
There are tag team matches in which teams of six go up against each other.
Thomas Peter
Below, teams participate in a tag-team match.
Thomas Peter
Sometimes the rules of the ring are completely ignored. The fights can, at times, get serious and have to be stopped.
Thomas Peter
Stardom places heavy emphasis on physical attractiveness.
Thomas Peter
Many of the wrestlers are, or were previously, models. They publish many modeling-photo books and calendars annually.
Thomas Peter
The audience is predominantly male.
Thomas Peter
Below, wrestlers Kris Wolf and Starfire fight during their Stardom professional wrestling show.
Thomas Peter
The wrestlers have to partake in ice-spray treatments during shows to help numb any pain they are having.
Thomas Peter
The Red Belt is the first place Championship title, and the White Belt is second place. There are also Championship belts offered for the team matches.
Thomas Peter
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/04/11/the-womens-wrestling-league-in-japan-is-way-more-intense-than-wwe/feed/ 0 314394 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Business_Insider Here’s why Japan won’t do anything about the crazy yen surge https://soranews24.com/2016/04/09/heres-why-japan-wont-do-anything-about-the-crazy-yen-surge/ https://soranews24.com/2016/04/09/heres-why-japan-wont-do-anything-about-the-crazy-yen-surge/#comments Sat, 09 Apr 2016 01:00:55 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=314008 The Japanese yen is on fire.
The currency surged for the fifth-straight day on Thursday, strengthening by as much as 1.7% to 107.92 against the dollar.
That’s the strongest level since October 19, 2014 — right before the Bank of Japan shocked the markets by boosting its quantitative-easing program.
The yen is now up about 10% vs. the dollar in 2016.
Thursday’s surge followed comments from the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, who suggested that the central bank could ease policy even further if needed.
Generally speaking, a weaker currency helps Japan’s exporters and corporate profits. So, some economists argue that a surging yen is bad for business.
Moreover, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said later on Thursday that “We’re watching the foreign exchange market with a sense of tension,” adding that “the government believes excessive and disorderly movements in the exchange rate have a negative effect.”
Credit Suisse
Despite all of that, analysts don’t think the BoJ will intervene this time around given the imminent G7 meeting next month.
“With Japan hosting the next key G7 meeting on 26-27 May, we doubt that politically challenging intervention is likely at this stage, especially if USDJPY’s decline is slow and steady and the Nikkei avoids a disastrous meltdown,” a Credit Suisse research team led byShahab Jalinoos argued in a note on April 6.
“The summit is the focal point of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s diplomatic strategy for the year and intervention to weaken the yen would destroy any chance he has of G7 leadership,” explained the Financial Times’ Robin Harding and Claire Jones.
For what it’s worth, Abe told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that countries should avoid competitively devaluing their currencies.
As an end note, the Credit Suisse team also cited other tricky political concerns.
“We suspect at a sensitive time ahead of the US presidential election in November, and with the recently agreed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal still far from being passed by Congress, Japan will not want to risk becoming a candidate for official inclusion in the US Treasury’s FX manipulation report,” they wrote.
“Indeed, aside from brief periods in the post-2008 period, the type of ‘line in the sand’ strategy that was employed in the early 2000s has not been a feature of Japanese currency policy in recent years,” they added.
The yen is stronger by 1.2% at 108.43 against the dollar as of 3:49 p.m. EST.
Investing.com
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/04/09/heres-why-japan-wont-do-anything-about-the-crazy-yen-surge/feed/ 0 314008 rtr2bspl rtr2bspl screen shot 2016-04-07 at 3.42.44 pm screen shot 2016-04-07 at 3.49.52 pm Business_Insider The dirty reason China can’t always tell North Korea what to do https://soranews24.com/2016/03/29/the-dirty-reason-china-cant-always-tell-north-korea-what-to-do/ https://soranews24.com/2016/03/29/the-dirty-reason-china-cant-always-tell-north-korea-what-to-do/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2016 10:00:54 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=311926 Global consumption of coal has declined significantly over the past year, driven by China, which makes up about half of the world’s demand for coal.
But the Asian giant’s break from one of the world’s dirtiest fuels is unlikely to be a clean one: While China seems to be reducing coal production and consumption domestically, political concerns suggest that Beijing will maintain support for coal production in North Korea.
A villager selecting coal at a coal depot near a coal mine of the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, on October 23.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
This relationship has led China to push for sanctions exemptions for its coal trade with the hermit kingdom, even as Beijing winds down its own coal production — the livelihood of an increasingly restive portion of the Chinese population.
‘There isn’t going to be change’
China’s economy grew 6.9% in 2015, the lowest rate in 25 years, and Reuters has reported that the government intends to lay off 5 million to 6 million state workers over the next two to three years, “as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution.”
In northeast China, a hub of industrial and coal production, those layoffs have already started.
Local economies in parts of Heilongjiang, in far northeast China, fell 10% in 2014. Coal prices in those areas have fallen by half since 2011, and the Chinese pullback from coal and heavy industry has left many workers without work and with few prospects.
Projections for Chinese coal production in 2020, much of which will come from the country’s north.
Chinese leadership has promised that the 1.8 million workers who will be fired from government-run coal and steel firms (others will be laid off from private companies) will be retrained and rehired.
“The opportunities for middle-aged or even elderly former coal miners and steel plant workers are more limited in a province where the economy really has slowed to virtually zero,” Geoffrey Crothall of the nonprofit China Labor Bulletin, which has tracked a significant spike in labor strikes in China over the past six months, told the Associated Press.
Unrest has grown in the northeast, and large protests have taken place. Many workers, mostly young ones, have left the area for manufacturing centers in southern China, according to the AP.
Those who remain, and still have work, say they haven’t been paid in months.
Miners waiting for an elevator to go down into a coal mine in Lvliang, Shanxi province, China, in 2012.
REUTERS/Stringer
“I don’t even have anywhere left to borrow money from,” Li Jiuxian, a 51-year-old miner in Jundeshan, in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, told the AP outside a dingy mahjong parlor. “There isn’t going to be change.”
‘The government hasn’t issued any notice’
Despite the domestic measures that have diminished coal production, China seems more reluctant to put checks on the coal it brings in from North Korea.
“Over two weeks after the United Nations slapped harsh new sanctions on North Korea, several Chinese shipping and trade sources say they have not been told of any curbs on the import of coal from the isolated nation,” Reuters reported in mid-March.
Coal is North Korea’s largest export and one of its only sources of hard currency.
An employee walking between front-end loaders, which are used to move coal imported from North Korea at Dandong port, in the Chinese border city of Dandong, Liaoning province, in 2010. Dandong port, near the China-North Korea border, serves as an import center for coal and iron ore from North Korea.
REUTERS/Stringer
“At this point, nobody has come to us and said you shouldn’t do it,” an official at a company in the port city of Dalian that imports North Korean coal and other goods told Reuters. “I’m not even clear on what the specific sanctions are.”
While China has taken action against some North Korean traders in line with sanctions on the North’s weapons programs, Chinese officials and other experts have cautioned that taking too hard a line against the pariah country could lead to economic disaster.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receiving a delegation of the Communist Party of China on an official goodwill visit on October 9, in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency.
REUTERS/KCNA
“China regards stability on the Korean peninsula as its primary interest,” a report from the Council on Foreign Relations said earlier this year, citing China’s desire to maintain a strategic buffer between it and South Korea as well as Beijing’s fear of a wave of North Korean migrants heading north should their country collapse.
Moreover, keeping the North Korean regime in power accentuates Chinese authority in the region, prevents a pro-West government from coming to power, and forestalls the possibility of North Korea’s nuclear material falling into the wrong hands, according to Douglas Schoen and Melik Kaylan in “The Russia-China Axis.”
Coal deliveries to China from North Korea spiked by 26.9% in 2015, according to Reuters, to 21.7 tons with a value of $1 billion.
While Beijing, which is North Korea’s biggest trading partner, has become more willing to criticize and punish Pyongyang, it has also worked to carve out exceptions to sanctions imposed by the international community.
China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and its source for many essential goods.
Eleanor Albert, Julia Ro/Council on Foreign Relations
“I think it’s an indication that the Chinese managed to negotiate a wide exemption for the coal trade,” Andrea Berger, deputy director of the proliferation and nuclear policy program at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters.
“Coal is a big lever for them,” Adam Cathcart, a North Korea-China specialist at the University of Leeds, said to Reuters. “They’re wise from the Chinese standpoint to keep some leeway (so) they’re not branded as sanctions violators if a train goes from China to North Korea (carrying resources).”
Rough neighborhood
Despite all its economic and military power, China’s continued willingness to take North Korean coal is likely a sign that it still can’t totally dictate its relations with Pyongyang — which has few other friends.
“It’s clear that the Chinese have enormous leverage over North Korea in many respects,” said Daniel Sneider of Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Research Center, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
“But can China actually try to exercise that influence without destabilizing the regime? Probably not.”
Soldiers in front of portraits of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung and the late leader Kim Jong Il after a military parade to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang in 2012.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip
At a time when China is navigating its own domestic economic distortions (and the fraught political conditions they have wrought) as well as a contentious geopolitical scene in the South China Sea, a quiet North Korea is likely in its interest, even if that means shelling out for more dirty coal.
“There is no reason to think that political risks emanating from North Korea will lead China to withdraw its economic safety net for North Korea any time soon,” Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Scott Snyder wrote in mid-2014.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/03/29/the-dirty-reason-china-cant-always-tell-north-korea-what-to-do/feed/ 1 311926 china coal mine china_coal_2020_1 rtr33rot rtxvhud kim jong un china diplomats meeting china-nktrade_table_v3 rtr30r9d Business_Insider This could be our first look at Nintendo’s next-generation gaming controller https://soranews24.com/2016/03/24/this-could-be-our-first-look-at-nintendos-next-generation-gaming-controller/ https://soranews24.com/2016/03/24/this-could-be-our-first-look-at-nintendos-next-generation-gaming-controller/#comments Thu, 24 Mar 2016 02:00:58 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=310482 There’s been lots of speculation about Nintendo’s next generation gaming console, which will reportedly be called the NX.
Now that speculation is likely to get another big boost, after pictures that purport to show the controller for the NX have leaked.
The photos, which were posted on Reddit, show a slick, oval-shaped controller with nubs on either end.
The pictures come courtesy of Reddit user perkele37, who posted the pictures in a thread, along with the following details:
- Only the upper ‘nubs’ of the sticks move. The bottom part is static (kind of like the circle pad, but it moves along the bottom ‘sphere’.
- The rollers on the top feel and look pretty much identical to a mouse scroll-wheel. Though I do don’t believe this will be the final design.
- Haptic feedback is feels like Apples ‘taptic’ engine. Not like regular rumble.
- 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom.
This is the second series of leaked images supposedly of the controller to appear on Reddit this week. And there’s reason to be skeptical about whether these are the real deal. In both cases the pics were posted by unknown Reddit users who had only one thread to their name. And while similar images from different sources often lend credibility to the legitimacy of the pictures, all of the photos in this case show the controller turned off. There’s no proof that there’s anything inside the casing, although a wire is plugged into the bottom.
Both sets of pictures are consistent with an image found in a patent that Nintendo was granted last year, which could either strengthen or lessen the validity of these pictures depending on your point of view. Even if they’re fake, there’s enough interest in the NX for two different people to fake images of it. Coupled with the easily accepted news that the Wii U was on its last legs, Nintendo has a clear signal that their fans are eagerly awaiting something new.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/03/24/this-could-be-our-first-look-at-nintendos-next-generation-gaming-controller/feed/ 0 310482 Screen Shot 2016-03-24 at 10.31.22 screen shot 2016-03-23 at 3.25.27 pm Business_Insider How to play Go, the game that humans keep losing to Google’s highly intelligent computer brain https://soranews24.com/2016/03/15/how-to-play-go-the-game-that-humans-keep-losing-to-googles-highly-intelligent-computer-brain/ https://soranews24.com/2016/03/15/how-to-play-go-the-game-that-humans-keep-losing-to-googles-highly-intelligent-computer-brain/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2016 13:00:36 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=308377 
After seeing Google’s artificial intelligence system “AlphaGo” beat one of the best Go players alive last week, I decided to try the popular game myself.
I know how to play the game, but I’m still a beginner. The last time I played Go was almost 15 years ago, so I didn’t have any luck beating any of the online gaming systems I played against.
But playing Go a few times made me realize why Google may be so obsessed with it — and it probably has nothing to do with the game itself.
Here’s how to play Go, and what I learned returning to the game after more than a decade.
For those who haven’t been following, a program called AlphaGo, developed by Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence team, is currently playing a 5-game series against Lee Sedol, one of the best Go players in the world.
AP/Lee Jin-man
AlphaGo’s already won the best-of-five series, taking the first three matches they played. Sedol won the fourth match — his first win — over the weekend. AlphaGo’s win marks the first time ever an artificial intelligence program has defeated a top-ranked human Go player without a handicap.
▼ Demis Hassabis
AP
AlphaGo has been working up to this point for a while now. DeepMind, the company that developed AlphaGo, was founded in 2010 by chess prodigy and AI researcher Demis Hassabis. So far, AlphaGo has studied a database of Go matches that gave it the equivalent experience of playing the game for 80 straight years. Google acquired DeepMind in 2014.
▼ Demis Hassabis (L) with Lee Sedol
Google Deepmind
What makes Go such a great target of DeepMind and Google’s AI team is the nature of the game itself.
Goban1Created more than 2,500 years ago in China, Go has simple rules, but requires a mixture of complicated strategy and foresight.
Flickr/adavey
The game begins with an empty board. There’s only one type of stone, unlike Chess that has six different pieces. The two players alternate turns, placing one of their stones on any vacant intersections of the lines at each turn.
cosumi.net
The stones are not moved once they’re played. However they may be “captured,” in which case they are removed from the board. You can capture stones by completely surrounding them, like this (white is one stone away from capturing the black stone in this example).
YouTube/nature video
But the goal isn’t to capture as many stones as possible. The main object of the game is to use your stones to form territories and occupy the most space possible. The more you play, you’ll realize there’s a countless number of patterns and moves that really make the game intriguing.
Flickr/jciti
In fact, the sheer number of possible moves is what makes Go such a complicated game to learn. After the first two moves of a chess game, there are 400 possible next moves — in Go, there are close to 130,000.
Flickr/evoo73
Here’s how the game played out for me. I played black. Early in the game, you start by trying to establish your territories. You can already tell which parts of the board black and white are going after…
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
But to expand your own territory, you need to invade and attack the territory your opponent has formed. You can see the white side attacking me in the bottom right side of the board.
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
This is where the game starts to get really interesting. You have a series of little battles like these, where you have to count ahead of your opponent and out-maneuver their moves to prevent getting captured or losing territory — remember if your stone gets surrounded it’s essentially “killed.”
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
The more we played, white took control of most of the board. I tried to attack, as you can see on the upper left side of the board.
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
That didn’t turn out too well. I ended up taking only a small portion of its land.
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
It was clear the white side was better. I only managed to take control of about a third of the board (the right side).
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
Eventually, I had to resign.
Screenshot/ cosumi.net
In the end, you count the number of squares you have under control to determine the winner. It’s typically hard to know the exact score by just looking at the board during the game.
Flickr/alper
I played a few more games, but I kept losing. It felt like my moves were being read and my opponent was always a few moves ahead of me.
I doubt the online game I played had any AI capabilities, but it still was able to predict my next move and read certain sequences. It was reading my patterns and had the ability to tell what my next move was likely going to be.
REUTERS/Andy Clark
And that’s probably the exact reason why Google’s so obsessed with Go — it wants to build a system that’s capable of predicting human behavior. So why not try to master the game that’s supposed to be the most complicated game out there?
In fact, there were multiple moments when Sedol reacted in utter disbelief at AlphaGo’s ability to read his next move, like here, where he literally drops his jaw and then rocks backwards in surprise.
And as Google gets better at reading and predicting human behavior, it will be able to apply its progress in AI to other areas. According to Brown University computer scientist Michael L. Littman, AlphaGo’s technology could be applied to Google’s self-driving cars, where the AI has to make decisions continuously, or in a problem-solving search capacity, like showing a gluten-free baking recipe.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Hassabis told the Verge that smartphone assistants that are smart and contextual could be the next area of focus for DeepMind, as well as healthcare and robotics. DeepMind’s ability to sift through massive amounts of data and come up with the best possible next move could immensely help all of those industries.
Google DeepMind
Or it could test itself with another game. Google Senior Fellow Jeff Dean said the next target could be “Starcraft,” the smash-hit PC game that involves a similar level of foresight and intelligence. Some people call Go an analogue version of Starcraft.
Either way, Google’s ambition at predicting human behavior is clearly much bigger than just outsmarting the best Go player in the world. “Ultimately we want to apply this to big real-world problems,” Hassabis said.
AP/ Lee Jin-man
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/03/15/how-to-play-go-the-game-that-humans-keep-losing-to-googles-highly-intelligent-computer-brain/feed/ 0 308377 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Business_Insider China is trying to build an empire of electric cars—but the strategy has one huge flaw that will benefit Tesla https://soranews24.com/2016/03/11/china-is-trying-to-build-an-empire-of-electric-cars-but-the-strategy-has-one-huge-flaw-that-will-benefit-tesla/ https://soranews24.com/2016/03/11/china-is-trying-to-build-an-empire-of-electric-cars-but-the-strategy-has-one-huge-flaw-that-will-benefit-tesla/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2016 20:30:18 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=307579 The Chinese government is going all in on electric cars. After all, China is currently plagued with some of the worst air pollution in the world.
It’s also one of Tesla founder, Elon Musk’s prime targets for the company’s global expansion.
While the Silicon Valley-based automaker has made a name for itself selling high priced, high performance electric cars, Musk’s goal has always been to become more like Henry Ford than Enzo Ferrari.
This means Tesla’s future will be in the production of mass market vehicles for the everyday consumer rather than niche luxury supercars.
However, the real growth in China’s electric car market has been in the form of something a considerably more pedestrian than even Tesla’s slowest model — the low speed electric car or LEV.
According to Bloomberg’s Adam Minter, the Chinese government is going as far as regulating these cars with a top speed of just 43 mph.
“The boom in low-speed electric vehicles (or LEVs) is an unplanned disruption in a Chinese auto market accustomed to central planning,” Minter wrote.
“LEV makers are out-innovating and out-selling their upscale electrified counterparts. Production of LEVs is growing quickly, and sales exceeded 300,000 in 2014, accordingto state media, far outpacing estimates of traditional electric-car sales.”
At the same time, Tesla’s China sales have been tepid at best and will likely remain that way for some time. But Elon Musk need not worry. The Chinese government is fully committed to electric cars. Plus, the LEV and Tesla’s consumer base will likely have little to no overlap.
Much of China’s LEV market is aimed at the country’s rural and secondary or tertiary cities. They will be crucial in replacing the millions of dirty two-stroke gasoline powered vehicles as well as tiny Kei car-based city runabouts prevalent throughout China. Furthermore, many of these LEVs will be deployed as taxis and commercial vehicles.
Tesla, on the other hand, will target a decidedly more affluent and urban clientele. The middle and middle-upper class of China’s megacities are not pining for the chance to buy an LEV golf cart. But, they may one day, dream of owning a shiny new Tesla.
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/03/11/china-is-trying-to-build-an-empire-of-electric-cars-but-the-strategy-has-one-huge-flaw-that-will-benefit-tesla/feed/ 0 307579 rtx1ubka rtr3ma89 rtx1ubka Business_Insider This is the most ridiculous claim that China has on the South China Sea https://soranews24.com/2016/02/26/this-is-the-most-ridiculous-claim-that-china-has-on-the-south-china-sea/ https://soranews24.com/2016/02/26/this-is-the-most-ridiculous-claim-that-china-has-on-the-south-china-sea/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2016 20:30:44 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=304268 Since the establishment of modern China following World War II, both China and Taiwan have claimed nearly the entirety of the South China Sea as their own.
The countries established such a claim with a Nine Dash Line throughout the region that, Beijing and Taipei assert, show how the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to them.
Whether the Nine Dash Line has any basis in international law or not, it is far from the most ridiculous basis for a claim that China has over the sea.
Chinese Admiral Yuan Yubai.
US Navy Photo
Instead, Chinese Vice Admiral Yuan Yubai was responsible for the most ridiculous claim for why all of the South China Sea belongs to Beijing.
Speaking at a defense conference in London on September 14, 2015, Yuan said that “the South China Sea, as the name indicates, is a sea area that belongs to China.”
“And the sea from the Han dynasty a long time ago where the Chinese people have been working and producing from the sea,” Yuan continued.
Yuan’s remarks came following a comment at the conference by Japanese Vice Admiral Umio Otsuka, who said that deterrence was becoming increasingly important throughout East and South Asia. To back up his views, Otsuka pointed at China’s expansionism throughout both regions.
After Yuan responded to Otsuka that the region belonged to China due to the sea bearing China’s name, Yuan took a slightly more conciliatory measure by saying that “the real situation in the South China Sea at present is safety and freedom of navigation.”
Currently, the various islands and atolls in the South China Sea are claimed and disputed by a mix of countries, principally by Taiwan, Vietnam, China, the Philippines.
(Click to enlarge)
Mike Nudelman/Business Insider
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2016/02/26/this-is-the-most-ridiculous-claim-that-china-has-on-the-south-china-sea/feed/ 0 304268 south china sea map_05.png 1 south china sea map_05.png Business_Insider