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Toshiba sees finances improving after narrowing its business

The Japan Times

Toshiba Corp. said its profitability will improve in the next fiscal year as it scales back on products such as personal computers and home appliances. Operating profit will be 120 billion ( 1.1 billion) and revenue 4.9 trillion in fiscal 2016, the electronics maker said on Friday, in a presentation titled "A road map to a new Toshiba." Analysts were projecting, on average, a profit of 145.5 billion on sales of 5.77 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Toshiba, which makes everything from computers to nuclear power equipment, is seeking to revive profits by narrowing the scope of its business lines. An accounting scandal has left the Japanese conglomerate in tatters, facing record losses, job cuts and potential spinoffs.


Rafeef Ziadah: 'Make a pariah state of Israel'

Al Jazeera

And no sound bite I come up with, no matter how good my English gets, will bring them back to life." First written in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza, these words from Rafeef Ziadah's poem "We Teach Life, Sir" became popularised by a 2011 performance that went viral. A Palestinian performance poet based in London, Ziadah is an activist in her own right and a member of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee. She has helped spearhead many of the initiatives calling for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel until it adheres to the demands granting Palestinians rights under international law. The poem is now featured on Ziadah's latest album of the same name, which blends her poetry with original music composed by Phil Mansour. Al Jazeera spoke with Ziadah about her latest album, the inspiration and politics of her art, as well as her UK-based activism. Al Jazeera: Your poems were previously known for your captivating performance. Why did you decide to add music to your poems? Rafeef Ziadah: Both my first album "Hadeel" and this second one "We Teach Life" have been collaborations with wonderful musicians who deliberately worked to ensure the music strengthened and emphasised the words. With an album, unlike live performances, people are not able to see me and relate to my facial expressions or hand gestures - on the album we wanted to recreate that connection and music really helped to bring the poems to life. I was happy to work with activist-artist Phil Monsour (who produced the album). The music has also helped introduce the work to a broader audience and is beginning to have radio play on independent radio stations around the world. Al Jazeera: How long did it take you to make this album? Why have you decided to release it now and what do you hope will come out of its release? Ziadah: The album was a slow collaboration that started with a number of poetry pieces and slowly grew in number. It took about 12 months to complete the final production, but the poems were written over several years and recorded in a few countries depending on accessibility. It is really an attempt to capture in words a number of recent experiences of Palestinians inside historic Palestine and in exile as well. This work is also - in many ways- a collective effort beyond myself and the musicians because we launched a crowd funding campaign to support the final stages of production and many people generously donated to make sure narratives that are largely absent in the Western mainstream can be heard. As I explain in the album's artwork "the poems and music here have been written over several years, three wars, two sieges, too many borders and many protests and picket lines.


Microsoft hired dancers in 'schoolgirl' outfits for games industry networking event

The Independent - Tech

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display


Robots should be introduced into classrooms to attract more girls into coding, says technology leader

The Independent - Tech

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display


[In Brief] News at a glance

Science

In science news around the world, the first part of the two-part ExoMars program is on its way to the Red Planet, Google's DeepMind computer program AlphaGo beats the human world Go champion four games to one, China plans to create its own "Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces plans to further limit methane emissions from oil and gas wells, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration green-lights a plan to release mosquitoes in Florida that have been genetically modified to be sterile, and more. Also, German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen, who was accused of plagiarism in her 1990 dissertation, was cleared of misconduct by her degree-granting institution. And a watercolor painting showing the intricate structure of an Ebola virus wins the 2016 Wellcome Image Awards' overall prize.


Your Friendly Neighborhood Video-Game Museum

The Atlantic - Technology

OAKLAND, Calif.--It's not hard to find monuments to technology in the Bay Area. Down in the valley, Google, Apple, and Facebook have each built their own cathedral-monastery, architectural showpieces that bound over the landscape. In the city itself, the Internet Archive is housed in an old church of Christian Science, its door gated by a marble Corinthian portico. And further downtown, where the land meets the bay, new obelisks even now are rising. Plenty of places will let you salute Fair Software and Tender-Hearted Hardware.


A Brief History of Robot Law

The Atlantic - Technology

When the robot found the shipwreck, the humans controlling it must have been elated. The SS Central America, a paddle wheel steamboat, had gone down in a hurricane in 1857, loaded with gold from the California Gold Rush. For more than a century treasure seekers searched in vain. But in 1988, a robotic submersible operated by an outfit called the Columbus-America Discovery Group finally found the wreck roughly 200 miles off the Georgia coast. Lawsuits soon challenged Columbus-America's claim to the gold.


Machine Unlearning

The Atlantic - Technology

Humans have a tendency to rely on machines as a way of understanding ourselves. The mechanical world has long provided metaphors for how the human body works. "We've always had technological analogies to try to explain biology," said Chris Atkeson, a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University. "One idea of how the brain worked was it's hydraulic. People described hydraulic clocks and the heart pumping blood.


Uber shopping around for self-driving fleet: report

USATODAY - Tech Top Stories

Uber and other sharing services are growing in popularity with business travelers, according to a new report from expense management firm Certify. SAN FRANCISCO - Uber allegedly has placed an order for a number of 100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans, fueling speculation about the ride-sharing company's plans to ultimately field a fleet of self-driving automobiles. The German automaker's technology showpiece at present does not feature fully autonomous driving capabilities. Rather, it offers driver-assistance features such as lane-keeping and blind-spot monitoring. But apparently "(Uber) wanted autonomous cars," a source told Germany's Manager Magazin Friday citing officials at both companies.


Google now shows presidential campaign finance data directly in search results

Washington Post - Technology News

Looking up a presidential hopeful's campaign finance information is now just a Google away. If you look up a candidate's name using the search engine, it now pulls up a quick summary of how much the candidate's campaign has raised -- and a breakdown of what percentage of funds comes from super PACs and other groups versus individual donations. All of this is located in the sidebar. Making the search a little more specific by looking for something like "clinton campaign finance" will put the same summary at the top of your search results. A tab at the bottom of the summary will let you expand to get more details -- like how many donations came from people in what industry, and where the candidate stacks up against the competition in fundraising terms.