Misbah steps down as Twenty20 captain

Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down as Pakistan's Twenty20 captain and Mohammad Hafeez has been named his successor for the Sri Lanka series in June.

Misbah had captained Pakistan in eight games. His last Twenty20 assignment was the three-match series against England in the UAE in February, which England won 2-1. Misbah scored 67 runs there, with a strike-rate of just over 80.

Hafeez said he was looking forward to the additonal responsibility. "Representing Pakistan is always an honour and captaining it is more than that. Now being a captain, I don't see any added pressure," Hafeez said. "The strategy might be different but while implementing them I will take my coaches and the PCB on board to get the best results for the team."

Fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who last played for Pakistan in 2010, made a comeback. Sami had taken only one wicket in five matches for Karachi Dophins in the domestic Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup in March, but had finished as the joint leading wicket-taker in the Bangladesh Premier League for Duronto Rajshahi. He was particularly successful against Dhaka Gladiators, claiming a hat-trick and then figures of 5 for 6 against them in two league games.

The new faces in the squad include Sialkot Stallions batsmen Shakeel Ansar, who came into the limelight with his maiden Twenty20 hundred against Peshawar Panthers in March in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup, and Haris Sohail who went through that tournament scoring 173 runs in four matches without being dismissed. Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who claimed 12 wickets in five games in the Super Eight T20 Cup for Sialkot, also made it to the squad.

Pakistan will play two Twenty20s, five ODIs and three Tests between June 1 and July 12 in Sri Lanka.
 © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Facebook tests 'pay to promote post' tool

The 'promote a post' system has so far only been
tested in New Zealand 

Facebook has started testing a system that lets users pay to highlight or promote posts.

By paying a small fee users can ensure that information they post on the social network is more visible to friends, family and colleagues.

The tests are being carried out among the social network's users in New Zealand.

Facebook said the goal was to see if users were interested in paying to flag up their information.

Money maker
The tests of the "pay to promote" system were discovered by a Facebook user in Whangarei, reported New Zealand's news magazine Stuff.

At first, said Stuff, the user thought the offer to pay to promote a post was a con trick.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the BBC the offer was genuine.

"We're constantly testing new features across the site," said the spokesperson. "This particular test is simply to gauge people's interest in this method of sharing with their friends."

Different methods of highlighting posts were being tested, said the spokesperson. These would see a range of charges being levied to make posts more visible. Comments on the tests suggest the highest price being charged was £1.25 ($2) while others cost 25p or 50p.

Payments could be made via credit card or PayPal.

The spokesperson said some of the methods it was trying out would incur a charge but others would highlight a post for free. The spokesperson would not be drawn on when the test would end or if it would be tried in other territories.

"We're going to see a lot more ideas like this where they are testing out different ways to try to make money," said Ian Maude, internet analyst at Enders Analysis.

Both Facebook's imminent stock market flotation and a recent slowdown in revenue growth were helping to concentrate its attention on ways to make money, he said.

"In the last few years their overall revenue has grown much more quickly than their audience," he said. However, he said, that rapid growth had slowed in the last six months and had perhaps prompted it to experiment.

The flotation will add more pressure, said Mr Maude but he added that the way the stock would be split could lighten that burden a little as Mark Zuckerberg would be left 57% of the shares.

"He's always said he wants to make money to run the company not run the company to make money," said Mr Maude.

Fergie hoping for City slip-up

City sit top of the table on goal difference heading into the final day of the season having overthrown United at the summit.

Roberto Mancini's men will lift the trophy on Sunday if they match or better the Red Devils' result against Sunderland when they host QPR at the Etihad Stadium.

Ferguson is hoping for a late slip-up from United's neighbours to gift his team what would be their 20th title.

Something stupid

He said: "We can only do our best and try to win the match and hope something stupid happens with City."

The manager has called on QPR to emulate the Aberdeen side he managed in 1983, who upset Real Madrid to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup.

"Exactly 29 year ago today, I took Aberdeen to beat Real Madrid in a European final, with 11 home grown players," he said.

"That's QPR's challenge - to do an Aberdeen. The odds are stacked against them, City are in tremendous form.

"But as long as human beings are human beings you never know."

Mass student protests in Spain

Students hold up course books during a student protest
in Valencia. Picture: AP Source: AP

THOUSANDS of Spanish students were preparing to take to the streets yesterday to demonstrate against crisis cuts in education, the first in several days of social protests across the country.

The national Students' Union has called demonstrations in more than 50 towns, its leader Tohil Delgado told AFP, predicting that thousands of students and teachers would join in despite looming exams.

"We have called this demonstration as an initial response to this attack on public education, which is without precedent in the past 35 years," he said, citing reforms that protesters say are disrupting classes.

As Spain fights to stabilise its public finances, schools and universities have for months been complaining of shrinking budgets for research and extra work for teachers.


Since the last student marches on February 29, the government has announced a further three billion euros in cost-cutting reforms.
On April 20, the central government said it would let regional authorities expand class sizes by a fifth and raise university fees to an average 1500 euros ($1924) from 1000 euros.

Protests in cities including Madrid and Barcelona were due to start at noon (20.00 Australian eastern standard time) on Thursday, the union said.

Spain's universities have been a traditional centre of protest since the time of General Francisco Franco's 1939-1975 dictatorship.

The latest demonstrations are part of a wave of anger at the austerity measures launched since the conservative Popular Party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took over the government in December.

In a broader protest, the movement known as the "indignant" on May 15 marks one year since it sprang up and occupied central Madrid for weeks with a tent city on the Puerta del Sol square.

The movement has promised four days of protests from May 12 to 15.

The "indignants" appear divided over their internal organisation, however, as traditional labour unions take centre stage, mobilising huge protests.

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated during a general strike on March 29, and a strike across the whole education sector is planned for May 22.

"The government has not hesitated to continue on its course of destroying the welfare state, but this will only inflame the spirits of the workers and the young people," Delgado said.

"We are convinced that in the coming weeks and months there will be many more social protests, not only by students and teachers but by all workers."  (AFP)

Forever Young? Teen Finds Anti-Aging Serum In Trees!

Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tam has discovered that cellulose, a material found in trees that helps them stand up straight, is an antioxidant with potent anti-aging properties.

Tam's study of minute particles in tree pulp known as nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC) led to an "a-ha"! moment for the young innovator -- she had unearthed a super-durable material that had the power to fight disease and prevent aging. This unbelievable discovery won Tam the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, a national competition for young scientists.

NCC is similar to antioxidants Vitamin C and Vitamin E in terms of its ability to fight damaging free-radicals, but it may even be superior insofar as it is more stable and therefore potentially longer-lasting.

"It would be really nice to commercialise this," Tam told AFP. "I envision it more as an ingredient that would be added to existing formulations, so it could be added to tablets or bandaids for a wound dressing or it could be added to cosmetic cream."

Her game-changing innovation -- which could literally shape the face of the anti-aging product industry -- earned Tam a a $5,000 award from the National Research Council of Canada.

In addition to Tam, 12 other bright high school juniors and seniors total were selected to competed in the national finals, with experiments guided by the competition's theme, "How will you change the world?" Second-place winner Rui Song developed advances into the creation of more nutritious lentils, and third place was awarded to Alexander Tigert and Zelun Zhang, who used genetically-modified baker's yeast to test the effects of drug treatments for depression and anxiety.

Headline May 12,2012.The Asian Expression

THE ASIAN EXPRESSION

Respectful dedication Bollywood

I must start with a thank you note! It is very difficult to answer an avalanche of support, advise and opinions. I thank you as sincerely as I possibly can. I also personally thank Dr I Bokhari/Imperial College of Sciences, for his thunderous applause and graciousness for Samurai. And with this I revert to the post.

India has started projecting hard power with all its manifestations. Poor Pakistan!!! Haha!

But, not least through its naval involvement in anti-piracy operations off Somalia. More important has been the growing outreach of Indian Companies, buying prestige brands such as Jaguar Land Rover in the UK, and increasingly active in Africa.

Indian firms proudly describe a "triple A" advantage to their products in other developing countries; the products are appropriate, adaptable and affordable. True!

The growing popularity of Bollywood films are frequently cited as one of Key means of selling India overseas. At the same time, India, meanwhile, tends to be everybody's favourite partner, its claims of non-aggression being taken at face value. In 2006, U.S, signed a controversial deal with New Delhi to provide Nuclear Technology and help it with its Nuclear Programme,  and giving it the green light to expand its nuclear-weapons technology.

U.S's rationale was interesting enough: It considered India a stable democratic partner in a unstable region. It has to hope it stays that way!!

Jawant Singh, a former Foreign Minister recently noted : "If you sit for too long on the fence, the fence enters yoru soul!!"

Good night and God bless!

SAM Daily Times - The Voice of the Voiceless

Facebook's IPO said to have more demand than shares available

Facebook's recent IPO filing and upcoming debut on the Nasdaq may be eliciting speculation of weak demand, but some sources say the social network is doing just fine in rounding up investors.

According to Reuters, which spoke to sources familiar with the share listing, Facebook's IPO is "already oversubscribed." The news source reported that institutional investors have currently "indicated demand for more shares than Facebook has available."

But it hasn't been so rosy up til now. Just yesterday, news broke that the social network amended its S-1 filing with the SEC to emphasize how the shift of its users to mobile devices is hurting what it can charge for ads, threatening its long-term revenue. And last month, first-quarter financial results showed that while the company's revenue rose, its profits fell.

Facebook announced its IPO pricing details a week ago, saying that it's seeking to raise as much as $13.6 billion in its IPO. That would value the company at roughly $88 billion. The company is aiming to price its shares between $28 and $35 and begin trading on May 17 or 18.

An analyst for Sterne Agee, Arvind Bhatia, says he believes the stock could hit $46 within the next 12 months. And even if the company prices its shares at the midpoint of the $28 and $35 range, it could land $5.6 billion in cash in the offering. A higher price would help it raise even more cash, which Facebook says could be used to help it grow.

According to Reuters, one major institutional investor earlier today put in a big order for shares and was "calling around syndicate desks trying to acquire more."

Source

Will Google battle get Oracle just $150,000 in damages?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle's situation in its intellectual property legal battle against Google is looking more bleak by the day.

At one point in time, Oracle was going after Google with the intent to receive up to $6 billion in damages. Slowly that figure has dwindled down to somewhere around $1 billion and then a few hundred million.

Now, it looks like Oracle could end up with just $150,000 -- if anything at all given that the threat of a mistrial looms and we're still in the middle of the second phase of the trial covering patent infringement.

Judge William Alsup warned Oracle at the U.S. District Court of Northern California here this morning that the "most" the plaintiff might end up with is statutory damages over the nine lines of code in the rangeCheck method -- the only item on the verdict form during phase one of the trial in which the jury found Google's conceded use was copyright infringement.

"The fact that they have nine lines out of many millions, you have no damage study tied in," Alsup exclaimed to Oracle.

Although it is up to the jury to determine damages, the maximum limit for statutory damages is $150,000.

Alsup suggested they "might want to find a way to streamline for some dollar amount," hinting they should try to negotiate a settlement in order to avoid a long third phase of the trial dedicated to determining damages.

Nevertheless, all of this is still to be determined as Google has filed a motion for the copyrights phase of the trial to be declared a mistrial. The judge has not ruled on that issue yet.

Even if Google had to fork over $150,000, it could still be a huge win for the Internet giant considering how much Oracle originally wanted.

In regards to the patents part of the lawsuit -- which as Groklaw described as a "roll of the dice for both parties" -- Google put up a better offer in April for up to $2.8 million in damages over two patents in question. Furthermore, Google also offered a deal of 0.5 percent from Android revenue for one patent through December 2012 and 0.015 percent on a second patent through April 2018.

The catch is that this offer was only a stipulation for damages if (and only if) Oracle prevails on patent infringement.

Oracle reportedly rejected it.

Source

Intel CEO dings ARM's Windows 8 'legacy' vulnerability

Intel CEO Paul Otellini took aim at a vulnerability of the ARM chips running Windows 8 when he addressed investors today at a meeting at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.

"There's been a lot of debate that [Windows 8] is going to be a real entree for the ARM camp into Windows for the first time," he said. "While at face value, that's true...[but] I think they have a big uphill fight," he said.

Intel showed off an ultrabook with a touch screen running Windows 8, demonstrating how easy it is to switch between the touch-centric Windows 8 Metro mode and the classic keyboard-mouse based Windows, so-called legacy mode.

"With one button you can get to legacy mode...this is critically important for CIOs who want to preserve all of their investments in software," he said, referring to "tens of millions" of programs built around Intel's x86 design.

"We have the advantage of the incumbency, advantage of the legacy support. Not just in terms of applications but devices."

Windows RT -- referred to previously as Windows on ARM -- has been criticized recently for its lack of corporate enterprise readiness.

Suppliers of ARM chips include Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments.

Otellini also mentioned that Intel is ramping production of its newest mainstream PC processor Ivy Bridge, which is now shipping at a rate of two million units a week.

The event is being streamed live from Intel headquarters.

Source

Nesting (2012)

Nesting is a romantic comedy from writer-director John Chuldenko. A comedy about acting your age, or not, writer-director John Chuldenko's "Nesting" focuses on a thirtysomething Los Angeles couple who, worried they've settled down too fast, try to revisit their free-spirited youth (all of 10 years earlier). It will open the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival in March.

Synopsis: Neil and Sarah used to talk about bands they love, now they talk about gift cards. They are, in short, in that uneasy transition from hipster to yuppie, and they're asking themselves that universal question of all thirtysomething married couples: How The Hell Did That Happen? In an effort to rekindle their relationship, they set out on a trip that lands them back in their old neighborhood, in a trendy section of Los Angeles. A few drinks bring back a few memories, and Neil and Sarah end up breaking into the apartment they used to share, and squatting illegally for a few days in their twentysomething lives. After throwing a raging "housewarming" party, Neil and Sarah must rely on their grown-up resources to avoid some serious consequences.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother's exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.

All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua's iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.

Here are some things Amy Chua would never allow her daughters to do:

• have a playdate
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin

The truth is Lulu and Sophia would never have had time for a playdate. They were too busy practicing their instruments (two to three hours a day and double sessions on the weekend) and perfecting their Mandarin.

Of course no one is perfect, including Chua herself. Witness this scene:

"According to Sophia, here are three things I actually said to her at the piano as I supervised her practicing:
1. Oh my God, you're just getting worse and worse.
2. I'm going to count to three, then I want musicality.
3. If the next time's not PERFECT, I'm going to take all your stuffed animals and burn them!"

But Chua demands as much of herself as she does of her daughters. And in her sacrifices-the exacting attention spent studying her daughters' performances, the office hours lost shuttling the girls to lessons-the depth of her love for her children becomes clear. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is an eye-opening exploration of the differences in Eastern and Western parenting--and the lessons parents and children everywhere teach one another.

Supermodel Bar Refaeli Stars in Israeli Spy Movie

After a top Hamas commander was murdered in his luxury hotel room, Dubai police used surveillance camera footage to "solve" the crime and place the blame for the 2010 assassination on a multi-member Mossad hit squad.

Now an Israeli director has reimagined the real-life thriller as a spy movie, in which supermodel Bar Refaeli plays the Mossad agent tasked with luring the Palestinian militant into her web – but the actual hit is carried out by criminals who want to frame the Israeli spy agency for the murder.

The movie "Kidon" – "spear" in Hebrew – borrows the alleged name of Mossad's assassination squad. As in the January 2010 incident, the victim is Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas commander who had allegedly helped capture and kill two Israeli soldiers in the 1980s and also smuggled weapons into Gaza. The Israeli beach resort of Eilat stands in for Dubai.

The rest of the movie, however, departs from the script. Because of the extensive use of surveillance cameras in the Gulf state, Dubai police were able to piece together the movements of an alleged hit squad in the hours leading up to Mabhouh's murder. A 26-person team that included two women, and adopted disguises that included wigs and tennis rackets, seemed to have entered Dubai using false European passports in the hours prior to Mabhouh's arrival, and left shortly after his death.

Based on their reconstruction of events, Dubai police believe the team followed Mabhouh to his hotel, where two men entered Mabhouh's room, injected him with muscle relaxant and then smothered him with a pillow.

Dubai authorities blamed Mossad for the hit, and the names on the passports, but not the faces, were traced to real people who had either been to Israel or were dual citizens. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the operation, but Israeli cabinet member Benjamin Ben Eliezer applauded the result, and said, "None of their people are untouchable, they can all be reached."

Israeli vendors soon began selling t-shirts and other merchandise boasting of the hit.

Though women were allegedly involved in the real operation, none of them played a role like that of Bar Refaeli in "Kidon." Refaeli's character, Einav Schwartz, sets a "honey trap" for Mabhouh, attracting his attention in a hotel bar and then leaving with him -- a moment caught, ironically, by the hotel's surveillance camera.

But Refaeli teased reporters on the set of the film, which will be released in France and Israel next year, by suggesting her part might be non-fiction.

"I would love to be in the Mossad and maybe I am," she said, according to the Associated Press. "Who knows? I think that being a famous model is the best cover."

Take-Two delays 'BioShock Infinite' to February

NEW YORK (AP) — Take-Two has delayed the release of "BioShock Infinite," an eagerly awaited shooter game set in 1912.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said Wednesday that the game will launch on Feb. 26, rather than in October as it said previously. Ken Levine, creative director of Irrational Games, the developer of "BioShock," said the game was delayed so its creators can get more time to work on it. The development studio is a subsidiary of Take-Two, which publishes the game.

"BioShock Infinite" will be the third installment in the popular series. The first "BioShock" launched in 2007 and was well-received by critics and players alike. It was an early sign that Take-Two was moving beyond its one-hit-wonder status, in which it relies on the wildly popular "Grand Theft Auto" games.

"Infinite" is set in the early 20th century in a city called Columbia, built by the U.S. government as a floating world's fair designed to travel around the world to promote America. It's not that simple, though.

"Unknown to most, Columbia was also a 'death star,' secretly packed with weaponry," the developers explain on the BioShock website. "Political strife caused Columbia to secede from America and the city disappeared. No one knows how to get to Columbia."

Players take the role of Booker DeWitt, a former detective who's sent to Columbia to find a young woman who's been imprisoned there since she was a little girl. DeWitt frees her, but the two still need to escape the city as it falls from the sky.

Take-Two's stock fell 76 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $12.65 in afternoon trading Wednesday after the announcement was made.

Sony shares hit 32 year low after $1.8bn loss

Sony is expected to shortly announce its first annual profit in nearly five years, even that however can't hide from the fact the company made a loss of $1.8bn

 

Sony's shares have slumped to their lowest value in nearly 32 years following the news that the company made an annual loss of $1.8bn last year.

It's believed that investors are concerned about the company's ability to compete in the TV and smartphone market. While traditionally perceived as a global leader in these areas the likes of Samsung and LG have been able to overtake Sony.

The smartphone sector is a similar story with concerns that Sony would be unable to compete with the likes of Samsung's Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 4S despite launching a new range of premium smartphones.

 Speaking to Reuters one trader said: "There's really nothing in there that can justify buying the stock. You see the loss narrowing in the TV business. That's fine, but I don't see any future in the TV business, so it doesn't matter what they do." (T3)

Panasonic loss balloons for record red ink

TOKYO (AP) — Panasonic's January-March losses ballooned 10-fold to 438 billion yen ($5 billion), completing a year of record red ink at the Japanese electronics maker battered by natural disasters and an ailing TV business.

Panasonic Corp. had racked up a 40.7 billion yen loss the same period the previous year.

The Osaka-based maker of Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras reported Friday a record loss of 772.2 billion yen ($9.6 billion), a reversal from the 74 billion yen profit a year ago and among the biggest in Japan's manufacturing history.

That comes a day after Panasonic's archrival Sony Corp. racked up a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) in its fourth straight year of red ink.

Sony, which makes the Walkman portable audio player and PlayStation game machine, had a 255 billion yen ($3.2 billion) loss January-March — its fifth straight quarterly net loss to round out a fiscal year that was the worst in its 66-year corporate history.

Both companies' TV operations, centering around flat-panel sets, have been battered by a powerful Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and other Asian players.

A strong yen has also eroded the value of overseas earnings for the Japanese.

Like Sony, which is hoping for a turnaround under a new president, Kazuo Hirai, Panasonic has tapped Kazuhiro Tsuga as president. The appointments still need shareholder approval.

Panasonic is forecasting a return to profit for the fiscal year ending March 2013, at 50 billion yen ($625 million) profit on 8.1 trillion yen ($101 billion) sales, up 3 percent.

Panasonic does not have the entertainment or gaming businesses of Sony. But it is struggling as it attempts to strengthen solar panel and battery operations, including auto batteries, to find new areas of growth.

In a strategy released Friday, Panasonic said it will focus on business customers, not just individual consumers. It will increasingly target global buyers such as refrigerators in China and TVs in India, it said.

The company booked 767 billion yen ($9.6 billion) in restructuring expenses over the fiscal year ended March, to turn itself around, including cutting costs in TV operations.

Panasonic's sales fell in every major region, including the U.S., Europe, Japan, China and the rest of Asia.

Quarterly sales slipped 8 percent to 1.88 trillion yen ($23.5 billion). Annual sales plunged 10 percent to 7.85 trillion yen ($98 billion).

"Business conditions deteriorated," Panasonic said in a statement, listing as negatives the supply chain disruptions from the tsunami in northeastern Japan and the floods in Thailand.

It also blamed the European financial crisis for slowing demand and cited worries about a steady and cheap electricity supply as a concern.

The tsunami last year set off meltdowns at several reactors at a nuclear power plant and is putting the supply of cheap power at risk.

Panasonic lost 1.5 percent to close at 570 yen in Tokyo. Trading ended shortly before results were released. (Yahoo)

Facebook tests 'pay to promote post' tool

Facebook has started testing a system that lets users pay to highlight or promote posts.

By paying a small fee users can ensure that information they post on the social network is more visible to friends, family and colleagues.

The tests are being carried out among the social network's users in New Zealand.

Facebook said the goal was to see if users were interested in paying to flag up their information.

Money maker

The tests of the "pay to promote" system were discovered by a Facebook user in Whangarei, reported New Zealand's news magazine Stuff.

At first, said Stuff, the user thought the offer to pay to promote a post was a con trick.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the BBC the offer was genuine.

"We're constantly testing new features across the site," said the spokesperson. "This particular test is simply to gauge people's interest in this method of sharing with their friends."

Different methods of highlighting posts were being tested, said the spokesperson. These would see a range of charges being levied to make posts more visible. Comments on the tests suggest the highest price being charged was £1.25 ($2) while others cost 25p or 50p.

Payments could be made via credit card or PayPal.

The spokesperson said some of the methods it was trying out would incur a charge but others would highlight a post for free. The spokesperson would not be drawn on when the test would end or if it would be tried in other territories.

"We're going to see a lot more ideas like this where they are testing out different ways to try to make money," said Ian Maude, internet analyst at Enders Analysis.

Both Facebook's imminent stock market flotation and a recent slowdown in revenue growth were helping to concentrate its attention on ways to make money, he said.

"In the last few years their overall revenue has grown much more quickly than their audience," he said. However, he said, that rapid growth had slowed in the last six months and had perhaps prompted it to experiment.

The flotation will add more pressure, said Mr Maude but he added that the way the stock would be split could lighten that burden a little as Mark Zuckerberg would be left 57% of the shares.

"He's always said he wants to make money to run the company not run the company to make money," said Mr Maude. (BBC)

Québec City Tourism goes mobile

Québec City Tourism (QCT) launches its new mobile app for iPhone in French and English as phase one of a comprehensive strategy.

Impressive content“You now have everything you need in the palm of your hand! Once you arrive in Québec City, you’ll be able to choose from over 100 restaurants, shops, tourist attractions, activities, and events,” explained QCT director Gabriel Savard. “The app even helps you plan your trip by giving you access to over 300 hotel establishments.” It is packed with information covering Québec City, as well as Côte-de-Beaupré, Île d’Orléans, Jacques-Cartier, Portneuf, and Wendake.

“As project partner, CLD de Québec feels that the launch of the mobile tourist app is in keeping with the objectives set by regional partners, particularly with regard to revitalizing and developing our tourism offer,” asserted CLD de Québec president Françoise Mercure. “On top of helping with content, CLD de Québec provided financial support that directly contributed to furthering local technological expertise, which is one of our top strategic goals.”

This wealth of content is updated continuously based on information in the QTC database. Some of the app’s main features include

  Detailed information on local attractions, accommodations, restaurants, and stores
  A complete schedule of events
  A description of the region, its neighborhoods, and must-see attractions
  A host of handy tips once visitors have arrived
  Locations of tourist information offices and public washrooms

Thanks to GPS technology, visitors will even be able to use the app to view and easily locate the points of interest around them.

“Say you’re on a trip to Québec City and you have your smartphone with you. 

With the QCT app you can navigate in either online mode, an option available throughout most of the area, or offline mode to avoid roaming fees—the bane of many foreign travelers,” added Gabriel Savard. “But regardless of whether you use the online or offline mode, you’ll enjoy the same quality of graphics, maps, and information.”

Unlike many other travel guides for mobile devices, the QCT mobile app is free. You can download it in the App Store or find the direct link at www.quebecregion.com/app (English version) or www.regiondequebec.com/mobile (French version). The websites also feature a short video describing the app. The app will be adapted for Android devices in May, and an enhanced version for iPad is slated for fall. A mobile website will also go online in 2012.

To spread the word about the mobile app, a QR (Quick Response) code will appear on QCT publications and ads in Québec City and abroad. This code will allow people to download the app before they come to Québec City.

Our partnersThe official app of the Québec City area is brought to you by Québec City Tourism, in partnership with CLD de Québec and with the support of Tourisme Québec, Bureau de la Capitale-Nationale, and Ville de Québec, as well as Tourisme Côte-de-Beaupré , CLD de l’Île d’ Orléans, Tourisme Jacques-Cartier , CLD de Portneuf, and Tourisme Wendake. The app was produced by Nebbio and coordinated by Amalgame.

 (Breaking Travel News)

Cannes film festival puts spotlight on rising stars

Rising stars will compete against established Hollywood names for the limelight at this year's Cannes film festival, with Robert Pattinson, Zac Efron, Kristen Stewart and Shia LaBeouf all appearing in highly anticipated movies.

They will rub shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman, as well as some of the great names in directing, at the world's biggest and most glamorous cinema showcase.

"I think there's a whole new wave of acting talent that has come in on to the scene literally in the last couple of years," Australian director John Hillcoat said.

His competition movie "Lawless", a Depression-era gangster tale, features Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Labeouf and Mia Wasikowska among others, and he also singled out Michael Fassbender as an example of fresh talent coming to the fore.

"It's been a while since we've had (young) actors that have that kind of range, depth, gravitas and intensity that this wave of actors do."

Cannes organizers will be keen to avoid the controversy that overshadowed last year's edition -- Danish director Lars Von Trier was banned after making Nazi jokes at a press conference, a decision criticized by many festival goers.

Film critics have at least given organizers the thumbs up for their selection of movies in 2012, although what looks promising on paper does not always make for a good festival.

Opening the whirlwind fortnight of screenings, parties and publicity campaigns on Wednesday is the glitzy world premiere of Wes Anderson's children's fantasy

"Moonrise Kingdom", starring Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton.

For Anderson, the walk down the famous red carpet-cum-fashion catwalk, flanked by showbiz media from around the globe, may be as daunting as for the debutant child actors in his cast.

"I've never been before, so for me just going to Cannes at all is exciting," the director told in an interview.

"What I know about Cannes is from still photographs of people walking up those steps and paparazzi images, so I don't really have any expectations."

Asked whether he would be busy on the crowded party circuit, he replied: "I haven't received any invitations yet."

SALLES ADAPTS KEROUAC CLASSIC
In the main competition of 22 films eligible for awards, Brazilian director Walter Salles' adaptation of Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation novel "On the Road" has generated plenty of buzz, not least because Stewart takes on a leading role.
Best known as Bella Swan from the "Twilight" vampire blockbusters, the 22-year-old American will be joined on the sun-kissed French Riviera by Twilight co-star Pattinson.

The British actor appears in another competition movie "Cosmopolis", directed by Canada's David Cronenberg, a topical tale of corporate greed that follows a successful New York financier whose world disintegrates around him.

Previous winners of the coveted Palme d'Or prize for best film who are in contention again are Austria's Michael Haneke with "Amour" (Love), Iran's Abbas Kiarostami ("Like Someone In Love"), Briton Ken Loach ("The Angels' Share") and Romanian Cristian Mungiu ("Beyond the Hills").

Efron, Matthew McConaughey and Kidman all star in Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" and Pitt appears in Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly".

Among the favorite European film makers in Cannes this year are Jacques Audiard with "Rust and Bone" featuring Marion Cotillard, and 89-year-old French director Alain Resnais with "You 'Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!".

Hot topics on the big screen include the Arab uprisings, with Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah's "After the Battle" in competition, and the pitfalls of celebrity culture in "Antiviral", the debut feature from Cronenberg's son Brandon.

British rocker Pete Doherty, famous for his run-ins with the law and relationship with supermodel Kate Moss as much as for his music, stars alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg in "Confession of the Child of a Century".

Animated blockbuster "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" comes in 3D, while British comic Sacha Baron Cohen will give a provocative in-character appearance as General Aladeen to promote his latest satire "The Dictator".

MAKE OR BREAK
The stakes for hundreds of directors and performers from around the world who walk the famous red carpet into the Grand Theatre Lumiere cinema are high.
Cannes is an ideal launchpad for a film, as last year's Oscar darling "The Artist" proved, but it can be a cinematic graveyard if notoriously picky critics and journalists leave the crammed press screenings unimpressed.

It is also a key event for thousands of financiers, studio bosses and producers who wheel and deal at the giant film market or over champagne and caviar aboard the expensive luxury yachts anchored offshore.

Despite the veneer of wealth and wellbeing, conversations over cocktails in Cannes are as often about economic uncertainty, internet piracy and falling DVD revenues as they are about lucrative deals and awards glory.

But it remains the one event on the crowded film festival calendar that the big players most want to attend.

"Showbusiness loves to get its heart revving, and that's what Cannes is all about," said David Linde, head of Lava Bear Films and former chairman of Universal Pictures. (Reuters)