Skip to main content

Home/ ThoughtVectors2014/ Group items tagged combat

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
wstrahan

"Spotify Was Designed from the Ground Up to Combat Piracy" | TorrentFreak - 0 views

torrentfreak.com/und-up-to-combat-piracy-131204

spotify combat piracy

shared by wstrahan on 11 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • “Spotify was designed from the ground up to combat piracy,” the company confirms. “Founded in Sweden, the home of The Pirate Bay, we believed that if we could build a service which was better
  • than piracy, then we could convince people to stop illegal file-sharing, and start
  • consuming music legally again.”
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Right from the beginning Spotify founder Daniel Ek held a solid belief that if his service offered a better experience and superior convenience than that being offered by The Pirate Bay, people would jump on board.
  • And they have. Earlier this year the service confirmed it had amassed a total of 24 million users worldwide, 18 million on their ad-supported service and 6 million paying a subscription.
  • The notion, that “it’s impossible to compete with free”, sat well with lawmakers and governments, who looked at offerings coming out of The Pirate Bay and thousands of other similar sites and widely agreed that no-one will pay for something if they can get it for nothing.
  • “A key part of this [success] has been in ensuring that Spotify has a free [ad supported] tier. By offering this free tier, Spotify is able to compete with piracy on cost and bring music consumers into the legal framework,” the company notes.
  • In Sweden, a market that should be the most difficult to turn around if file-sharing traditions are any barometer, Spotify says that the number of people who pirated music fell by 25 percent between 2009 and 2011.
  • In Denmark the IFPI reports that 48% of users using streaming services had previously been illegal downloaders. An impressive 8 out of 10 of those have now stopped completely.
  • Norway, a success story documented earlier this year, has seen its piracy rates drop to just one-fifth of their levels four years earlier, with streaming services taking most of the credit.
  • There can be little doubt that torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay will always have a following, but when services such as Spotify offer their basic services for free, one has to question why people wouldn’t at least try them
normonique

Psychotronic and Electromagnetic Weapons: Remote Control of the Human Nervous System | ... - 0 views

www.globalresearch.ca/...5319111

bioengineering brain neurocommunication neurodevelopment neurogrowth neurology neuroscience neurotechnology normonique technology

shared by normonique on 29 Jun 14 - Cached
  • Britain’s Daily Mail, as another exception, wrote that research in electromagnetic weapons has been secretly carried out in the USA and Russia since the 1950’s and that „previous research has shown that low-frequency waves or beams can affect brain cells, alter psychological states and make it possible to transmit suggestions and commands directly into someone’s thought processes.
    • normonique
      normonique on 29 Jun 14
       
      My initial question of whether technology will have the ability to influence the nervous system directly relate to this post. Yet I had not thought of neurotechnology being used a weapontry. It actually seems more dangerous than a bullet. 
  • In 2002, the Air Force Research Laboratory patented precisely such a technology: using microwaves to send words into someone’s head
  • ...6 more annotations...
    • normonique
      normonique on 29 Jun 14
       
      If technology has the ability to heal patients by sending pulse or microwaves to their brain aside from health how could this affect social communication.
  • An innovative and revolutionary technology is described that offers a low-probability-of-intercept radiofrequency (RF) communications. The feasibility of the concept has been established using both a low intensity laboratory system and a high power RF transmitter.
  • Dr. Robert Becker, who was twice nominated for Nobel Prize for his share in the discovery of the effects of pulsed fields at the healing of broken bones, wrote in his book “Body Electric”
  • hypnotist
  • Transmitting human speech into the human brain by means of electromagnetic waves is apparently, for the researchers, one of the most difficult tasks.
  • People who claim to be victims of experiments with those devices complain, aside of hearing voices, of false feelings (including orgasms) as well of aches of internal organs which the physicians are unable to diagnose.
  • normonique on 29 Jun 14
     
    This article help answer my question to 'Technology connecting to the nervous system directly'  -it also provide information of how this could harm and help people.  -I believe it's crazy that they use microwaves in combat. 
wstrahan

In Africa, Li Keqiang Refutes Charge of Chinese 'Neo-Colonialism' | The Diplomat - 0 views

thediplomat.com/...rge-of-chinese-neo-colonialism

#neocolonialism

shared by wstrahan on 25 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang finished his four country tour of Africa, making stops in Ethiopia (including the African Union headquarters), Nigeria, Angola, and Kenya. China’s activities in Africa are increasingly gaining media attention around the world, particularly as speculation heats up about a competition for the continent between China and the U.S. (or even China and Japan).
  • Li promised to devote “more than half of its foreign aid to Africa,” with no conditions attached to the funding. Li pledged China’s friendship to Africa, and reiterated Chinese support for Africa playing a larger role in world politics as it continues to develop. Li also stressed that China “will never attach political conditions to its assistance to Africa and will never use its aid programs to interfere in the internal affairs of African countries,” a tacit criticism of Western countries who often refuse to provide funding to countries seen as human rights violators.
  • Li Keqiang also acknowledged in a speech that China-Africa relations have encountered some “growing pains,” a nod to tensions in some African countries over issues such as illegal Chinese mining operations and resentment against local Chinese traders. But Xinhua was quick to emphasize that these “growing pains” are “problems that inevitably occur during the development of relations” — meaning no one (especially not China) is to blame.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Like Xinhua, Li was at pains to combat perceptions of China acting as a “neo-colonial” power in Africa. His tour largely ignored the question of resource exploitation, and instead emphasized China-Africa cooperation in fields such as infrastructure, training and education, poverty reduction, environmental protection, and cultural exchange.
  • Li promised that China will help develop high-speed railways, highways, and regional airports in Africa, citing infrastructure construction as a top priority for Africa’s continued development.
  • These assurances will help counter Western criticisms that even China’s infrastructure development in Africa provides little benefit to the continent, as construction is often done by imported Chinese work crews.
  • coverage of Li’s stop in Angola, a major oil supplier, barely mentioned China’s oil deals. Instead Li focused on more general Chinese investment in the country, including plans to expand cooperation in infrastructure and agriculture.
  • Starting with Mao Zedong, China forged a strong bond with Africa based on their common identities as victims of colonial exploitation.
  • China wanted to emphasize its altruism, playing up the unconditional nature of its aid money, and emphasizing the real-world benefits its investment and technology transfers would bring to African people
1 - 3 of 3
Showing 20▼ items per page