Monday, February 10, 2014

The 50 Most Powerful Women in Business: Global edition

Title: CEO
Company: General Motors
Age: 52
Country: U.S.

The first woman to run a global automaker, Barra oversees more than 212,000 employees in 396 GM facilities on six continents. An electrical engineer who has spent her entire career at GM (GM, Fortune 500), the new CEO faces big challenges in the U.S., where market share is at a historical low and profit margins are below Ford's, and Europe, where GM's Opel brand has lost billions. But companywide, profits are back, and Barra has the board's approval to invest to make GM prosper again.

Title: Chairman, CEO, President
Company: IBM
Age: 56
Country: U.S.

Despite a recent earnings miss that prompted Rometty to give up her bonus, IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) remains formidable on the global stage, with customers and employees in 170 countries. She sees big opportunity especially in Africa; she'll visit several countries there this year. With a market capitalization of almost $200 billion, IBM is the world's most valuable woman-helmed company.

Title: Chairman, CEO
Company: PepsiCo
Age: 58
Country: U.S.

Nooyi has more than doubled sales from outside the U.S. in her seven years running PepsiCo (PEP, Fortune 500). International markets now make up about half of the company's $65.5 billion in revenue. Indian-born Nooyi has made sure her product pipeline reflects her consumer base: Since 2012, "innovation centers" have popped up in Shanghai, Hamburg, and Monterrey, Mexico.

Title: CEO
Company: Petrobras
Age: 60
Country: Brazil

At no. 25, Petrobras, with annual revenues of $144 billion, is the highest-ranking woman-led company on the Fortune Global 500. Foster faces Many challenges: She is selling off assets to shore up the energy company's balance sheet even as she plans to spend $237 billion on production and exploration projects.

Title: Chairman, CEO
Company: DuPont
Age: 58
Country: U.S.

Kullman's reinvention of DuPont has a distinctly international flavor to it: Her 2011 acquisition of Danish food enzyme maker Danisco was key to an effort to push the company deeper into agriculture and nutrition (along with biotech and advanced materials). A third of the company's sales, $15.5 billion in the past six months, come from developing markets.

Title: Chairman, CEO
Company: Mondelez International
Age: 60
Country: U.S.

After Rosenfeld split Kraft (KRFT, Fortune 500)in two, she took the reins of the more international entity (and gave it an exotic-sounding name): Mondelez (MDLZ, Fortune 500), a snack maker, gets 83% of its revenue from outside the U.S., and Rosenfeld has invested accordingly. Last year the company said it would spend $190 million to build the largest chocolate manufacturing plant in India

Title: Chairman, President, CEO
Company: Lockheed Martin
Age: 60
Country: U.S.

Hewson is making a big push to increase international sales, which make up 17% of revenue. (Pretty much everything else is sold to the U.S. government.) The defense contractor has 10 international buyers for its F-35 fighter jet. But even when Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500) doesn't sell to foreign clients, its products have a huge indirect impact on global diplomacy.

Title: President, CEO
Company: Hewlett-Packard
Age: 57
Country: U.S.

Some of Whitman's biggest battles are playing out on the global stage, with HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) rival Lenovo (LNVGF), a China-based company, now bulking up in servers. (Lenovo has already unseated HP as the world's No. 1 PC maker.) And indeed, the whole world is watching to see if Whitman can deliver a long-awaited turnaround of the iconic company.

Title: Chairman, CEO, President
Company: Archer Daniels Midland
Age: 60
Country: U.S.

The Australian government stymied Woertz's global expansion plans when it blocked ADM's (ADM, Fortune 500) $3 billion bid to buy the country's largest grain company. Despite the setback, Woertz has serious international credibility: The $89-billion-a-year-in-revenue company not only produces food nearly everywhere but also moves freight around the world through its logistics division.

Title: Managing Director, CEO
Company: Westpac
Age: 57
Country: Australia

Kelly is just about as global as they come: Born in South Africa to British parents, she taught Latin in Zimbabwe before becoming a banker and moving to Australia. Her Westpac, with $43.6 billion in revenue, is the country's second-largest bank by market value, and with about a 70% return during Kelly's six-year tenure, it is also one of the country's top performers.

Title: COO
Company: Facebook
Age: 44
Country: U.S.

As the No. 2 of Facebook (FB, Fortune 500), which is available in some 70 languages and generates more than half its revenue from outside the U.S.,Sandberg plays a critical role in fostering global conversations. She's also trying to spread her personal message of career empowerment: Her career book, Lean In, has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Title: Chairman, CEO
Company: General Dynamics
Age: 56
Country: U.S.

General Dynamics (GD, Fortune 500) is slowly but steadily increasing its international operations, which now make up 20% of revenue—up from 18% in 2010. The defense company may be benefiting from new wealth in emerging markets. Sixty-five percent of the backlog in her aerospace unit, which produces Gulfstream jets, comes from international orders.

GoPro plans IPO what a min camera

Action cam maker GoPro announced plans for an initial public offering on Friday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Video camera maker GoPro has announced plans for an initial public offering of stock.

The company filed its IPO confidentially, so GoPro won't reveal its financials until a later date. Twitter (TWTR) filed a similar confidential IPO in September 2013.

GoPro was widely expected to be filing for an IPO around this time. To help prepare for the IPO, GoPro appointed Jack Lazar as chief financial officer on Tuesday. Lazar has previous experience taking a company public, serving as CFO of Atheros during its 2004 IPO. Lazar served various roles at Atheros until last year, including helping to oversee the company's sale to Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500) in 2011.
GoPro rose to fame with its action cams - small, weatherproof, mountable video cameras that offer excellent video quality and battery life, considering their size. Thrill seeker Felix Baumgartner famously used a GoPro camera to record his free fall from space in 2012.
The cameras were initially sought by action and extreme sports enthusiasts, but other hobbyists have been quick to find new uses for the compact video cams. Drone enthusiasts, for example, have found the GoPro ideal for mounting to their flying vehicles, capturing footage from the skies.
But GoPro is also facing increased competition from some unlikely places. As companies like Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Samsung push wearable technologies like Glass and the Galaxy Gear watch, more people will be wearing dedicated video-capturing cameras -- a market GoPro has largely cornered thus far.
In late 2012, Foxconn invested $200 million in the company, giving the electronics manufacturer a 9% stake in the company. Foxconn is a Chinese electronics maker most famously known for manufacturing Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhones and iPads. At the time, the investment valued GoPro at about $2.25 billion.

Alcatel partners with Marvel for Iron Man 3

One Touch Idol smartphone to appear in the latest offering in the franchise, which is released nationwide next Thursday
Alcatel One Touch has partnered with Marvel to be the exclusive smartphone partner for comic book publisher’s latest film, Iron Man 3.

The partnership will see the manufacturer’s One Touch Idol smartphone appear in the film, which is released in UK cinemas next Thursday, March 25.
The One Touch Idol is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and runs the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. It has a 4.66-inch screen, eight megapixel rear camera, two megapixel front camera and internal memory of 4GB that can be expanded by 32GB with a microSD card.
Alcatel One Touch chief marketing officer Dan Dery said: “Being part of the Iron Man phenomena is a great thrill for us. We are big fans of the franchise and are honoured to be involved.”

Alcatel One Touch Idol, Idol Ultra, Glory 2T, Scribe Easy Now On Sale Online: Price Starts Rs 4199

Early this week, renowned smartphone brand Alcatel, a subsidiary of TCL Communications unleashed two handsets - One Touch Idol Ultra and One Touch Idol. These new additions to the product portfolio of Alcatel do adhere to the company's USP of manufacturing slim and light Android devices.
Alcatel One Touch has partnered with Marvel as the exclusive smartphone dealer for the Iron Man 3 movie in cinemas from April 25. The French smartphone manufacturer has confirmed it will be the official smartphone supplier for the third film in the franchise.
Further, the handsets in Alcatel's One Touch lineup are launched with bundled Idea Cellular plans that provides 1GB 3G data and 3 months of Idea TV subscription with a recharge of Rs 261 on prepaid and an additional plan of Rs 259 on postpaid for free.
Now, it appears that Alcatel has tied up with Infibeam as the smartphones in the One Touch lineup have been made available for pre-order in India via the online retailer. There are a total of four Alcatel smartphones that are listed on Infibeam as of now and they are One Touch Glory 2T 4005D, One Touch Idol 6030A, One Touch Idol Ultra 6033X and One Touch Scribe Easy 8000D. Also, these handsets are now on pre-order and they will be released starting from April 24, 2013 claim the listings.
Below is a gallery listing the specifications and the price of the Alcatel smartphones available on Infibeam. Have a look at it below.

How Samsung fooled benchmarking and inflated its performance scores

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launch in Indonesia on 26 September. Photograph: Zulkarnain/Corbis

Samsung's in trouble over benchmarks. Early in September, the team at the technology website Ars Technica ran some benchmark apps on the Galaxy Note 3 – a "phablet" (giant screened) phone – and discovered that they ran 20% faster than those run on an LG phone with exactly the same processor.
Benchmarks are programs, or apps, that repeat a single task or set of tasks to stress-test a system, and might be just a single complex calculation that repeats again and again; in general, you'd hardly ever do what they do. They're meant to highlight key performance differences between similar devices. But, in fact, they're not useful.
How could that be? Commendably, Ars Technica dug into the Note 3's system files and discovered one called "DVFSHelper.java", which contains a list of benchmarking apps.
If the system detects that one of a hard-coded list of apps is running, it turbo-charges the graphics processing unit (GPU), yielding that 20% boost. Then when the test is over, it scales it right back, because turbo-charging uses up the battery.

To prove this, the Ars team took the code from a benchmark called Geekbench and tweaked how it would present itself to the system. "Stealthbench", as they christened it, was the same benchmarking code, yet the Note 3's GPU didn't turbo-charge. No 20% boost – just the same performance as the LG.
Samsung has pulled this trick before with built-in lists of benchmark apps for its Galaxy S4, which yielded similar 20% speedups.
When queried, the company insisted: "It is not true that Samsung did benchmark boost. The Galaxy Note 3 maximises its CPU/GPU frequencies when running features that demand substantial performance and it was not an attempt to exaggerate particular benchmarking results."
So how, I asked, did it explain the difference in performance between Geekbench and Stealthbench? This provoked a very long silence (so long it's still unbroken, days later, as I write).
Unsurprising, really. The obvious interpretation is that Samsung is gaming benchmarks to rank highly on sites that use them.
Not that it's the only company doing this; Anandtech, a site where you could get the (wrong) impression that benchmarks are the only reason to own a gadget, showed that lots of Android companies do this; Samsung just happens to have a bigger list of benchmarks for which it ramps up the GPU or central processor to give a "better" result.
What a lot of pointless effort. For the average user – most all of us – benchmarks are essentially useless, because they don't tell you about the actual experience of using the device. Android handset CPUs used to benchmark ahead of Apple's iPhones. Yet reviewers kept reporting that scrolling and screen operations on Android was "laggy" or "jerky" — and smooth on the iPhone.
Why? Because Apple's software prioritised reacting to user input (the finger "pushing" a list). The processor might run slower, but the software prioritised the user – not other processes. And aren't we usually the most important process around a gadget?
Eventually, Google began Project Butter to deal with the problem of jerky list scrolling – though it took until June 2012 to release it (and more than half of Android devices in use still don't run the Android version that introduced Butter).
Benchmarks are easily fooled – and unreliable. Don't trust them. Ask what the device is like to use instead.

women empowerment in tanzania is like a burning bush fire )(((( Kidogo Cases Lift Tanzanian Women From Poverty)))))

Kidogo Kidogo means "little by little" in Swahili. And for sisters Kim and Kim Waeber, who founded the cell phone case company by that name, this is just how they are working to change the world. The women sell colorful iPhone cases so that they can afford to donate phones to women in Tanzania, changing their worlds drastically.
"In Tanzania mobile banking is extremely common, and a phone provides women a way to make secure banking transactions," said Kristen Waeber. "Mobile phones are also used monitor consumer markets and receive health reminders and updates. Women with mobile phones also report a much higher feeling of personal safety than those without."
Currently, only 36 percent of women own mobile phones, and the number one reason preventing them from ownership is the initial cost of a mobile handset. Mobile phones in Tanzania are prepaid; owners can buy credits at bodegas and other small stores around the county.

Moshi’s new phone helps her with her spinach selling business

So when you buy a case, they buy a phone (or phone credits) for a woman who could not otherwise afford it. The phones are then distributed to women through established non-profit partners already working in Tanzania. Kidogo Kidogo has partnered with FINCA, a global charitable microfinance organization, whose mission is to provide financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.
They have also partnered with an environmental NGO in Tanzania, Sea Sense. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the sea turtle case will be distributed to Sea Sense who works closely with coastal communities in Tanzania to conserve and protect endangered marine species.
"These phones are also much more to these women than just a way to communicate with family and friends, although they do enjoy this as well," said Waeber. "A mobile phone is a flashlight, a watch, a calculator, a camera and a radio," and for women running businesses to support their families, a phone can literally be a lifeline.
That was the case for Moshi, a Tanzanian mother of six, with all of her kids currently in either primary or secondary school. Both she and her husband are farmers; Moshi’s spinach plot is strategically located near a bus stand for easy access to distribution for her crops.
Kidogo Kidogo provided Moshi with a phone to replace her previous one, which had a busted battery, and say that, "Looking at her new phone now as a tool for business, Moshi is so excited about the possibilities."
Food vendor Tabia has a similar story, except that she is a widow who provides the only income for her seven children to live on. Three months ago her mother passed away in another region of Tanzania. Upon going to Mtwara she found that much of her family were in even worse financial shape than she was.
Knowing it would be easier for her to borrow a phone than it would be for her relatives to get one in Mtwara, Tabia left her mobile phone there for her relatives. Waeber said, "Receiving a phone meant the world to her. It meant reconnecting to her family and giving her back a tool she knew was so valuable that by leaving it behind she would be helping her family."
This company merges consumer needs with social change in a unique and sustainable way. The iPhone cases feature some of Tanzania’s most iconic wildlife, designed by esteemed Tanzanian-based artist, Sarah Markes. They are priced to retail at $30 each. There are five iPhone 5/5s case designs and two iPhone 4/4s case designs.
"At Kidogo Kidogo, we sell iPhone cases," said Waeber. "But these cases do a lot more than just look good and protect your phone -- they are putting life changing mobile technology into the hands of women across Tanzania."

What We Can Learn from Beyoncé

As an undergraduate student in the University of Southern California's Music Industry program, one of the many objectives we try to accomplish is determining the new ways to make money in a turbulent and ever-evolving music industry. With society's gradual shift from CDs to MP3s, from actually purchasing music to pirating it, and from pay-per-download distribution to music subscription services, the major labels are scrambling to try to stay ahead of the curve. As a student, I'm fascinated by Beyoncé. Please don't take this lightly: what Beyoncé did last week changed everything.
In case you had not already noticed, Beyoncé released a surprise album, Beyoncé, at midnight on December 13, 2013. No one knew it was coming, and the album has been met with critical acclaim.
It simultaneously confirmed concerns of how the music industry allocates funding to projects and further raised doubt specifically into the utility of the way that labels pump millions into album marketing campaigns. While Interscope approved millions of dollars for Lady Gaga's Artpop only to find projected losses estimated at $25 million and sales at just 258,000 copies in its first week, Columbia spent nothing to see over 800,000 digital copies sold in just 3 days. What does that say?
The nature of distribution of this album is also fascinating. Beyoncé was released exclusively on iTunes until December 20th (at which point physical copies were available in stores) and was sold only as a complete album. That being said, there were no singles released prior to the album and therefore, no audio marketing to anticipate the album release. No banners on city busses, no TV promo performances. Sales of Beyoncé broke the iTunes Store record for the fastest-selling album ever on iTunes and went to #1 in 104 countries.

One of most impressive facts of the surprise release of Beyoncé is how, truly, no one was expecting it. With 14 tracks and 17 videos, her team keeping this album a complete secret is unheard-of. While regularly-marketed albums often leak a couple weeks before their release dates, it's an absolute wonder that not only did Beyoncé's album not leak, but its sheer existence also remained under lock-and-key.
It takes an artist of incredible clout like Beyoncé to pull-off a feat like this. Oh, how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in her marketing pitch to Columbia records. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield sums-up Beyoncé pretty accurately with,
Only two scenarios could have occurred: anticipation for the album would have been non-existent, and sales would have been poor as a result of that, rendering the thousands of dollars that Columbia invested into this venture a lost cause, OR the current reality, where preaching to the choir that could already be depended-upon to buy the album was avoided, and redundant marketing never happened. In short, either album sales would be terrible, or they would be blindingly impressive, effectively shattering everything we once knew about marketing strategies in the music industry. Obviously, the latter became reality.
But what does this mean for retailers? Stores like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy feel jaded, having not been the limited-time exclusive distributor for this album. Some to the extent that they simply will not sell the physical album in-store. iTunes is laughing its way to the bank with all its distribution royalties, while Beyoncé is thanking her lucky stars that her master plan worked. And what's more, buyers were originally forced to purchase the album in full; iTunes wasn't permitting individual song purchases. If you visit the iTunes Store today, the option to purchase individual tracks has been restored, and over 23,000 reviews have been left by iTunes users, with the average rating at 4.5 stars out of 5.
Buzzfeed posted an article with graphics of world maps in a time-lapse that reflected the moment Beyoncé was released and the Twitter mentions for the album. Beginning at Beyoncé's drop at 9pm EST, 12am PST, 5am GMT, etc., Twitter users mentioned Beyoncé 1.2 million times for the next 12 hours.
Needless to say, the way that Beyoncé was released was unorthodox. She and her team took a monumental risk in how this album was marketed (specifically, in that it wasn't), and it has absolutely paid off. With literally no marketing fees to recoup with record sale royalties, other labels are likely considering a similar strategy for album releases for their own top-tier artists. And in an industry where being ahead of the curve is imperative for staying in business, this is not at all the end of impressively creative marketing strategies. There is surely more to come.

MTG launches free-TV channel in Tanzania

Modern Times Group (MTG) has launched its first ever advertising funded free-TV channel in Tanzania under the TV1 brand.
The channel is available through Tanzania’s digital terrestrial network, and reaches up to 30% of the 48 million people in the country.
TV1 is a general entertainment channel with a mix of locally produced news and entertainment content, as well as international movies and TV series. The channel is focused on a broad, slightly female skewed, target audience of 15-49 year olds.

TV1 will be MTG’s second African free-TV channel, and follows the launch of Viasat1 in Ghana in 2008. Viasat1 Ghana has grown rapidly since launch, and is now the country’s second largest free-TV channel with a 24% commercial share of viewing in the target audience group. The Ghanaian operation also reported its first quarterly profit already in 2013.
Four of MTG’s Viasat thematic pay-TV channel brands are also available on networks in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Mozambique. MTG’s production company Modern African Productions (‘MAP’) also creates a wide range of content for a number of African markets, and will support the launch in Tanzania.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, president and CEO of MTG, commented: “We are proud to launch our second African free-TV channel. We are committed to further expanding our presence not just in Tanzania but also in other fast growing African countries and economies. We will bring viewers a wide range of local and international shows that will provide top quality entertainment for the whole family.”
Joseph Hundah, executive VP of the Group’s African operations, commented: “TV1 is our second free-TV channel launch in Africa, and we have benefitted both from our experience of launching a channel in Ghana, and from our presence in Tanzania through our pay channels over the past few years. We have built everything from the ground up to ensure that we have the best possible local facilities, to provide the platform for future growth and, most important of all, to ensure that we deliver the most exciting, relevant and engaging TV experience for our audience.”

Beyoncé Lounges in Lingerie While Blue Ivy Plays With Her Mother's iPhone—See the Cute Pic!

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The "Drunk in Love" singer is shown lounging on a glamorous white chair while wearing a satin robe with a matching bra and underwear.

Queen Bey accessorized her sultry look with a pair of ivory marabou pumps and platinum tousled hair. Gorge!
Secondly, Blue Ivy is standing by and looks like she's about to snap pics of her mama on an iPhone.
The 2-year-old looked like she was picking the perfect filter before posting the image on her Instagram account (ugh, we wish!).
Yoncé shared several other pics on her Tumblr page Wednesday morning, including a series of her posing in a sweatshirt with the word "Flawless" written on it (in honor of her hit song, obvs.).
The 32-year-old paired the top with a pair of skinny jeans with leather panels and sky-high ankle boots.
And speaking of flawless, the Grammy-winning songstress also shared a makeup-free selfie late last week.
Bey looked like she was still in bed in the two pictures, which flaunted her perfect complexion and bedhead.

Jolie fading away on 'ancient grains' diet

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has shocked fans with her very skinny frame at a recent party in Australia.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has shocked fans with her very thin frame at a recent wrap party for her latest film Unbroken in Queensland, Australia.

Now sources blame her skinny appearance on her literally eating like a bird. The 38-year-old actress is reportedly following a diet consisting of "ancient grains".

Ancient grains (also called heritage grains) include crops such as amaranth, quinoa, millet, chia seeds, kamut, spelt and buckwheat, which have been around, unchanged, for millennia.

Weighing only 42kg

“Angie’s always been a fan of healthy seeds and grains, but lately she’s taken it to a whole new level,” an insider told The Enquirer.

“She’s into eating products made with ‘ancient grains’ and raves about their health benefits. She claims they provide her with nutrients she can’t find anywhere else, plus shinier skin. But the problem is that she’s not balancing her diet with fruits, meats or vegetables.”

Angelina's weight has reportedly plummeted to only 93 pounds (42kg) and she is said to have collapsed of exhaustion on the set of Unbroken, a new movie she directed Down Under. She is only 1.69m, meaning her Body Mass Index (BMI) is 14.7, which is severely underweight.

Calculate your BMI

Ancient grains and seeds are very healthy. Since they are closer to their original roots than grains such as wheat and rice (which have been bred selectively over thousands of years) their nutritional value and taste have been retained much better.

Read: Healthy nuts, seeds and grains

Balanced diet is key

However, eating only a few grains and seeds every day, as Angelina Jolie has reportedly been doing, is unhealthy, as her daily diet is unbalanced. For optimal health, the body needs a balanced diet which also includes fruit, vegetables and lean protein.

Spice of your daily meals by trying out some of the ancient grains listed below, but make sure that your diet still includes all five food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein foods and dairy.

Spelt is a tasty whole grain with a nutty flavour and often called the distant cousin of wheat as it contains a wider range of nutrients, is high in fibre and can be used in baking.

Amaranth is a "pseudo-grain" as it is seen as both a herb and vegetable. Is is a very nutritious food high in protein and fibre and contains no gluten - making it perfect for people with gluten intolerance.

Chia seeds are rich in antioxidants and minerals. They are also the highest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids and contain more fibre than flax seeds or nuts.

Quinoa is actually a seed, not a grain and completely gluten free. It is often described as a superfood as it is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa is cooked similarly to rice.

Read: Is Quinoa a miracle food?

Millet is another highly nutritious gluten-free seed with a sweet, nutty flavour.

Kamut is a naturally sweet ancient cereal grain with strong antioxidant properties.

Buckwheat is another pseudo-cereal crop which contains all essential amino acids, making it a complete protein and a great choice for vegetarians.

World's oldest-known living cancer '11,000 years old'

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The cancer has survived for 11,000 years

The world's oldest-known living cancer dates back 11,000 years, according to UK scientists.
It arose in a single dog and has survived in canines ever since, with the cancer cells passing between animals when they mate.
A team led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge decoded the DNA of the cancer.
It revealed the "genetic identikit" of an ancient husky-like dog, which first developed the disease.
The animal was of a medium size with a short, straight coat that was coloured grey-brown or black.
"We do not know why this particular individual gave rise to a transmissible cancer," said lead researcher Dr Elizabeth Murchison.
"But it is fascinating to look back in time and reconstruct the identity of this ancient dog, whose genome is still alive today in the cells of the cancer that it spawned."
The cancer studied is extremely rare - one of only two known types of the disease, both in animals, that is sexually transmissible. Known as dog-transmissible cancer, it causes genital tumours.
By decoding the genome of the cancer, and looking at a type of mutation that acts like a "molecular clock", researchers were able to pinpoint its origin to 11,000 years ago.
Remarkably, the cancer has survived, despite accumulating millions of genetic changes.
Rather than dying out with its first host, the cancer spread by "jumping into other dogs", Dr Murchison added.
The research, published in the journal Science, shows the cancer existed in an isolated population of dogs for much of its history.
Then it spread around the world in the last 500 years, perhaps carried by dogs accompanying explorers on sea voyages.
Apart from this one, the only other known transmissible cancer is facial cancer in Tasmanian devils, spread by biting.
"The genome of the transmissible dog cancer will help us to understand the processes that allow cancers to become transmissible," said Prof Sir Mike Stratton, Director of the Sanger Institute.
Most cancers arise when a single cell in the body gains mutations that cause it to divide out of control.
Cancer cells often spread to different parts of the body in a process known as metastasis, but it is very rare for cancer cells to leave the bodies of their original hosts and spread to other individuals.

How Will The iWatch Be Powered?

The New York Times has reported that Apple is testing alternative ways to power its much awaited iWatch, in a bid to overcome the constraints of normal battery life.
One method Apple is rumoured to be exploring is charging the battery wirelessly by the means of magnetic induction. This would be similar to the technology that Nokia smartphones currently employ, charging via a ‘plate’ that creates a magnetic field via an electrical current.
iWatch

Apple has a patent dating back to 2009, which describes how a device could be charged through movement. A tiny charging station that powers the smartwatch, could be triggered by the wearer swinging their arm.
Or it’s possible that the company will choose to go down the solar-power route, adding a solar-charging layer to the curved glass display that it is rumoured to have. It is a viable option as Apple obained a patent for a flexible battery that would “easily couple with a flexible solar panel layer.”
Apple have rumoured to have been having problems in the development of the iWatch, delaying its release. Hopefully once the best power supply has been selected, that will another job ticked off the to-do list for the company.

President Obama Not Allowed To Use iPhone

It’s a common misconception that the President of the United States can do whatever he wants to do. One would be easily forgiven for thinking that the President could have whatever kind of technology he wanted in his hands at any moment of the day or night. He’s the President, after all. Who’s going to tell him no? Well, apparently the White House security detail has been refusing to allow President Obama to have a very popular piece of technology: the iPhone. In fact, President Obama is still stuck with his Blackberry (he may be the only person who still uses a Blackberry) and says his staff may have to pry it out of his hands before he will give it up. So, if you would one day like to be President, but enjoy using an iPhone, you’d better give one of those things up right now.
President Obama Not Allowed To Use iPhone

Even The President Can’t Always Get What He Wants
Here’s an ironic twist to this story – President Obama can use an iPad, but not an iPhone. And, to rub it in even more, President Obama’s daughters are allowed to have and use their own iPhones. Maybe he can get a voice calling app on the iPad and settle for the next best thing.
So why can’t the President of the United States use Apple’s iPhone? It all comes down to potential security problems with the phone that must not exist with the iPad. One of those potential problems could be individuals locating the President based off of location data sent by the iPhone.
Since the NSA is acutely aware of how to spy on people around the world through their phones, it is likely that there is some merit to all of the security concerns with President Obama using an iPhone. Perhaps Apple should address these concerns as well and create a phone that doesn’t report location data quite so easily.
So, no – the President of the United States can’t just do whatever he wants whenever he wants to do it. I wonder if his security team would let him use an Android phone in the future?

How Will The iWatch Be Powered?

it seems that Google wants a finger in every technology pie. It has made its intentions clear where robots are concerned and now, according to a report from Bloomberg, the tech giant is also considering designing its own server processors.
Using ARM technologgy, Google hope to better manage the interface between its hardware and software, claims the report. It also states that this potential move by Google, could prove to be a threat to Intel’s current market dominaton, especially seeing as Google is Intel’s fifth largest customer.
server processor

Google hasn’t confirmed or denied anything yet but has said: “We are actively engaged in designing the world’s best infrastructure. This includes both hardware design (at all levels) and software design.”
ARM-based chips are used mainly in the mobile sector but AMD has announced that it does plan to implement the ARM architecture within the server market.
Google has shown that it does have some interest in the chip market. In August it joined a group which licenses technology used in data centers, including chips for servers.
It will be interesting to see how this one develops and whether Google will continue to pursue this.

Google Could Make Chips In The Future

Google Wants To Put Android In Audi Cars

As we all know, Google always has some big plan or other. The latest news suggests that Google is planning to have Android installed in cars, starting with Audi.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the company will announce a joint venture with Audi next week at CES 2014. Sources say that Android will be used to power in-car entertainment systems for Audi, which will run on hardware built directly into the car, rather than on a smartphone.
Audi Quattro with Android

NVIDIA is also in on the plans, with navigation also being included in the system, as well as entertainment and communication functions.
Audi recently annouced that LTE would be available with select models and it looks as though Google has got in before anyone else. EE Times suggested that Google had something up its’ sleeve as far as automobiles were concerned, especially because Apple too had announced its own initiative to put iOS in cars, with the help of BMW and Daimler.
There have been no product demonstrations yet but watch this space.

Why Google Glass Will Not Succeed In 2014

When Google Glass was first announced, we all got excited about the idea. Well, perhaps that is too much of a sweeping statement. After all, there are a lot of people who are not that pleased with the idea. We’ve even heard about patrons being banned because of Google Glass; and while there are individuals who have had the chance to play with this particular piece of wearable tech, the general public still has no access to Google Glass. Eight months since the gadget was made available to some people, we’re already looking at whether or not Google Glass will get a break this year.

Having had no personal experience with the device, my opinion is based on secondhand information, and when it comes to that, why not allude to what Robert Scoble has put on record? Yesterday, he wrote a post on Google+ which sums up his opinion neatly: Google Glass is doomed. Here are the highlights of why he thinks this is going to be the case – at least for this year.

Expectations are too high.
These are too hard to buy and acquire. They need to be custom fitted and, because they have a new user interface, users need a bit of training on how to use them.
Not enough apps.
The current UI can’t handle lots of apps.
Battery life.
Photo workflow sucks.
Facebook is our main addiction and I can’t do it in Glass.
No contextual filtering.
Developers are being held back because there isn’t any distribution system for apps or Glass experiences.
The Gruber problem. He just doesn’t like the idea of Glass, even if Apple were to bring out one.

I think it all boils down to the first point: expectations. The hype surrounding Glass was high from the get go, and while it may have died down, the chances are that expectations from the device will still be sky high when it finally hits the shelves. All the other points stem from expectations; more so, we have to remember that this is a very early stage for Google Glass and other wearable devices. Translation: more features will come at some point. Probably not this year or even the next.
So yeah, we probably won’t be seeing Google Glass the way we see iPads (and other tablets) this year, but that’s not to say that’s going to stay the same in 5 years or so.
What do you think, is Google Glass doomed (this year or even beyond)?

Google Glass Now Available to All Access Subscribers

The Google Glass device has, up until now, only been made available to a selected few individuals. All that is about to change, as Google has just opened up its Glass Explorers programme to subscribers of its All Access music streaming service.
The worlds biggest search engine company has recently sent out emails to subscribers of the service informing them that they are now eligible to buy a Google Glass Explorers device. Google reportedly sent out the emails this Tuesday, according to Gizmodo.

The Google Glass Explorers device is the company’s testing programme for the massively anticipated wearable technology device. Those people who are wanting to buy the device will still need to come up with the $1,500 which Google Glass costs, which the first wave of users had to pay last year, when the device first became available.

Owning Google Glass is an exclusive club so far, as only certain developers, celebrities and contest winners have been allowed to purchase the device so far. The company did put up a waiting list for the general public last year and the All Access subscribers are now part of that exclusive group. In November last year, Google added All Access support for the headset, so it was only a matter of time before it became available to them. The device has won awards for innovation in 201

Google Has The Human Intelligence Behind Its Artificial Intelligence

Google’s World Domination Plan

If you have been following Google recently you will have noticed how the company seems to snapping up every robotics company and intelligence system in sight. Just in the last few months, Google has acquired Nest, the company responsible for making the smart thermostat, as well as Boston Dynamics, the robotics company. Even as recent as last week, Google splurged $400 million on the artificial intelligence specialists DeepMind Technologies.
robot

So what is Google’s strategy in all of this? When you look at the number of acquisitions it becomes clear that the company is exploiting an inefficiency in the market so that it can become the leader in the field of intelligent computing. Google obviously thinks that in the future any intelligent or automation system will be served by robots. In acquiring all the related companies, Google becomes the big player before any of its competitors even get a look in. It’s not just the companies that Google is snapping up but also all the expertise of the talented engineers, that will no doubt be a big bonus going forward.

Imagine how difficult it must be to find talented engineers and researchers in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. No wonder Google has targeted this area and was willing to spend so much in acquiring the creme de la creme. All the resources and talent will be at Google’s fingertips, ready for when it wants to progress with its artificial intelligence systems.
At the moment the company is working on a type of ‘personal assistant’ through the use of Google Now, allowing information to be delivered to users via an automated, intellectual context. There is still a way to go in developing this system but it becomes clear how artificial intelligence will play a big role in its further development.
So where do all the robots fit in to Google’s world domination plan? It could be that robots will be employed in the data centres or even play a role in Google’s driverless car plans. However, it could be that they are applied to something completely new. The technology is applicable in everything from analyzing financial data to manufacturing.
In whatever way robots are applied, the fact remains that Google has the best brains behind this venture. Ray Kurzweil is considered to be the world’s best expert on artificial intelligence, while Andy Rubin, the man behind the Android platform, is now heading up Google’s robotics department. That’s only mentioning a couple of the many workers Google has at its disposal.
It is a risky strategy on Google’s part to be putting a lot of eggs in one basket though. If it is unable to successfully create the next generation of artificial intelligence, then we could see this field of technology come to a stand still, with no progress being made.

Concerns Over Security And Ethics

There are security and ethical concerns too when it comes to artificial intelligence. Everyone’s first thought tends to be of robots taking over the world and destroying humans, like in Terminator. But it seems that Google is trying to allay these concerns, as it has agreed to create an ethics board which will monitor the use of the technology acquired through DeepMind.
Of course, although Google appear to have the monopoly over artificial intelligence, it’s important to remember that companies like Microsoft Research, Amazon, DARPA, Qualcomm and Intel are all involved in working on various aspects of artificial intelligence. Any one of these could pose a threat to Google’s strategy, as long as they keep on their toes.

Samsung Signs Dual Patent Deals With Google & Ericsson

Currently, Samsung and Apple are involved in multiple court conflicts over handset technology. Both Google and Samsung have contracted a universal patent cross-licensing agreement geared towards limiting “the potential for litigation” and improving modernisation.
This deal will cover “a broad range of technologies and business areas” which will apply to not only already existing patents but any filed over the next ten years as well. Samsung and Google already have a close-knit relationship, as Samsung uses Google’s operating system, Android, for its mobile devices.
Samsung has said that the deal is “highly significant for the technology industry” and has also announced that this deal significantly reduces the possibility that Google and Samsung will have to face each in court regarding intellectual property rights. It will also fortify their position against opponents, such as Apple, who has filed numerous proceedings worth billions of dollars for suspected patent violations.
PATENT

“Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from co-operating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes,” stated head of Samsung’s Intellectual Property Centre, Seungho Ahn.
Samsung is the largest smartphone creator and faces lawsuits from large global companies, like Apple in the US, as well as countries, like South Korea, over mobile technology patents. Apple asserts that Samsung has taken liberties with their best-selling Galaxy smartphones and copied the design from the iPhone. This patent dispute has continued on for a few years now and both chief executives of Apple and Samsung are planning to meet for conciliation in February.
Another high-profile case involving patent disputes is the Rockstar consortium – which includes Apple, Microsoft and Sony. They have sued Google as well as six other smartphone manufacturers that use the Android OS. Eight lawsuits were filed in the US involving Google’s mobile technologies and user-interface design. Google’s Moterola Mobility Unit, which owns a big patent collection, is also involved in a disagreement with Apple. In order to counter this, technology Goliaths have looked to raise their patent numbers, as well as sign contracts like the one announced by Google and Samsung.
Analysts say that these moves enforce strength by numbers. “The more patents you have the more protected you are from litigation,” says analyst Andrew Milroy who consults at Frost & Sullivan, “I’m not sure if the agreement means Samsung can use Google patents and vice-versa. But if they are collaborating it protects them from litigation, since the pair of them together is a stronger unit.”
[Image via phonearena]
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25908364

Are drones the next target for hackers?(DRONES WAY TO FAR )

A "hacked" RQ-170 drone in Iran (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty)

If you were watching Iranian state TV in early December 2011, you would have seen an unusual flying object paraded in front of viewers. Windowless, squat, with a pointed nose, its two wings made it the shape of a manta ray. The trophy on show was an RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone, a key weapon in the intelligence gathering arsenal of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Standing in a hangar on a military airfield, the drone was seemingly undamaged. Indeed, Iranian officials insisted that it had not been shot down; rather, they claimed an unusual coup: to have hacked the drone while it was flying near Iran’s border over Afghanistan and forced it to land.
Outside Iran, many snorted in disbelief at hearing such claims. Todd Humphreys, assistant professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas in Austin, US, was one of the sceptics. Soon, though, he would prove himself wrong.
So, how easy is it to hack a drone? Along with the military, could police and private citizens also lose control of their aircraft? And if so, what might a hacker do with a stolen drone?
One way to hack a drone involves messing with the system it uses to navigate. US military drones use encrypted frequencies of the Global Positioning System (GPS), and this was the RQ-170’s Achilles heel, said the Iranians. They first jammed its communications links, which disconnected it from ground controllers and made it switch to autopilot; it also interrupted the secure data flow from the GPS satellites. The drone was forced to search for unencrypted GPS frequencies normally used by commercial aircraft. At this point, the Iranians said, they used a technique called “spoofing” – sending the plane wrong GPS coordinates, tricking it into believing that it was near its home base in Afghanistan. And so it landed on Iranian territory, directly into the welcoming arms of its kidnappers.
The US rejected the hacking scenario, insisting that its flying robot simply had malfunctioned. Military drones usually have a back-up system to guide them home automatically if contact with operators is lost. But that clearly didn’t work.

Military reconnaissance drones carry camera footage that enemies covet. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

The more Humphreys thought about the incident, the more he felt that such an attack might work, at least in theory. Together with students at his university’s Radionavigation Lab, which he directs, he invited the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to watch how his team could spoof a civilian drone mid-air.
Using equipment costing less than $2,000, Humphreys mimicked the unencrypted signals sent to the GPS receiver on board a small university-owned drone. With DHS officials watching, he managed to fool the drone in a matter of minutes to follow his commands. “I first dismissed the Iranians’ claims as extremely unlikely, but have since revised my estimate to ‘remotely plausible’,” he says.
Confused drone
Jamming GPS satellite signals “so the drone's sense of its own location begins to drift away from the truth” is quite doable for both military and commercial drones, he says, because these signals are so weak. “The US military is scrambling right now to reduce their drones' susceptibility to GPS jamming, but it's going to take some time before they've got a satisfactory fix.”
There are other vulnerabilities, too. Intercepting data links from the drone, such as knowing precisely what the plane is looking at, is also easy to do if the feeds are not encrypted. In 2008, Iraqi militants intercepted unencrypted video feeds from unmanned US spy planes. And in 2012, drones at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada were reportedly infected with malware after an operator apparently had used a drone’s computer to play “Mafia Wars” – and in the process installed a virus on the PC.
A military drone hacked by criminals is obviously a dangerous scenario. But what if hackers were to gain control of civilian flying robots? Drones are already being exploited for search and rescue organisations, police authorities for surveillance, or for crop or wildlife monitoring, for example, and they may soon be joined by postal services and online retailers.

A clever hack could make Parrot AR drones target each other. (Wikimedia)

Independent IT security analyst Samy Kamkar showed that taking control of a civilian drone was possible in December 2013. He equipped a Parrot AR Drone 2.0 with a tiny Raspberry Pi computer, a battery and two wireless transmitters. The microcomputer ran a simple piece of software, which directed the drone to search for the wi-fi signals used to control nearby Parrot drones. Once his drone had found a victim, the program used the wireless transmitters to sever the target drone’s link to its owner and took control. According to Kamkar, a handheld computer on the ground can do the trick too.
Humphreys calls Kamkar’s work “a clever hack” and predicts that “it won't be the last one against commercial drones; hackers will find flaws and exploit them.”
David Mascarenas, who works for the National Security Education Center at Los Alamos National Labs, agrees. As drones are nothing but flying computers, he says they “have the potential to exhibit never before seen security flaws that couple both cyber and physical security concerns.”
Yet what would be the motivation for a hacker to take control of a civilian drone?
“The reason to hack a drone would be like any other reason people hack,” says Peter Singer, director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings Institution, a think-tank based in Washington DC. “It might be to cause an act of terror, an act of mischief, to carry out some kind of crime, or the “white hat” type, to show that it can be done in order to warn others of the vulnerabilities.”

DHL delivery drones carry cargo that hackers may want to steal (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Delivery drones could be hacked to steal their cargo, the expensive machine itself, or even to encourage black market activities. “If a drone can deliver a book, it can also be used to deliver narcotics” or sneak contraband into a prison, says Mascarenas. Indeed a drone has already been used for smuggling cigarettes into a prison yard in Georgia, US.
Another example might be corporate espionage. A drone that normally operates within a factory could be redirected and tagged with a tiny broadcasting camera, allowing a hacker to spy on sensitive commercial information.
Then there may simply be people who don’t want drones spying on them. One town in Colorado has already proposed drone “hunting licences” that would allow people to shoot down drones. While Humphreys says the idea is farcical, the anti-surveillance sentiment behind it is real. “If I saw an unfamiliar drone snooping around my back yard, you can bet I'd be sorely tempted to jam its GPS receiver to shoo it away – or bring it down,” he says. “GPS jammers can be purchased for less than $50 online and they're quite effective.”
So can the threat be prevented? At the Los Alamos National Laboratory Engineering Institute, Mascarenas and colleagues are testing software that would make drones unpredictable – for example by taking random paths while still achieving their goals – to reduce the possibility of ambush.
Yet such methods will likely prove to be the start of an arms race between hackers and the security professionals who wish to stop them. “The bottom line is that a drone is a flying computer. And computers can be hacked,” says Singer.

Syfy’s ‘Helix’ Is Perfect for Fans of Horror and Drama

Syfy

We love horror; we love the edge-of-our-seats, don’t-watch-it-with-the-lights-off, scare-the-pants-off-us type of horror. So far, AMC’s The Walking Dead has been our go-to for scares on television, but Syfy’s Helix has tossed their show into the mix. Though showrunner for Helix, Steven Maeda, hates any comparison between the two series, they do fall into the same category. Helix is a dramatic sci-fi thriller series, similar to the zombie hit, but that’s where the comparisons end.

Helix revolves around a group of doctors from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a research center in the arctic in order to stop an outbreak of an unknown virus. Helix combines the best aspects of a thriller — crazed infected people going on murderous rampages, crawling through the air ducts, and leaping out from the shadows — with all the great staples of drama — conspiracies, lies, and a love triangle (because why not?). Plus the unknown virus has a serious ick factor: in the first episode it turns two scientists into bags full of black goo (cue the dry heaving).

It’s hard not to see the similarities between The Walking Dead and Helix. They both deal with a virus that infects and changes people. However, while The Walking Dead deals with the aftermath of a virus and what it takes to survive that kind of destruction, Helix focuses on the outbreak as well as the struggle to contain and cure the virus. That being said, fans of The Walking Dead are sure to love Helix as well, and vice versa. These are the two best horror dramas TV has to offer at the moment.

Do We Need a Female Superhero Before We Can Have a Female Villain?

Marvel
With so many superhero movies and reboots to keep track of, it's no surprise that Fox's planned Fantastic Four reboot has gotten somewhat lost in the shuffle. The project has been in the works for some time, although it was rumored to have originally been concived as a starring vehicle for Michael B. Jordan. The Fruitvale Station actor has been all but confirmed as the new Johnny Storm, but although the studio has been looking at many different actors to fill out the rest of the lineup, nobody else has remained a constant. Most recently, Jordan's That Awkward Moment co-star Miles Teller was rumored to be in the running for Reed Richards, with British actor Christian Cooke testing for the role of Ben Grimm, and Emmy Rossum and Kate Mara becoming the latest actress to test for Sue Storm. However, the most interesting news that the studio has revealed in these casting reports is that Dr. Doom will definitely be the film's villain, but although they are hoping to cast a big name in the role, the team is interested in looking at both male and female actors for the part — meaning that Fantastic Four could possibly have a female super villain.
Of course, since these are still only early reports, we can't know for sure how likely a female Dr. Doom is, but the news is still exciting nonetheless. Good female roles have been notoriously hard to find in superhero films, and all of the latest reboots and sequels have left many comic book fans desperate to see a female hero on the big screen. A female villain is not quite as significant, but it would still be a major step forward for superhero films.
There are many popular female villains in comic books and video games, but these villains tend to be smaller side villains who either assist the big bad with their plans, or are dispatched with early on in the film. Both Poison Ivy and Catwoman have been featured on the big screen, but neither of them were given the same amount of screentime or story attention as the main villains of those films were (unless you count Halle Berry's Catwoman movie, which you shouldn't). And although Harley Quinn has a massive fan following, she's more of a sidekick for the Joker than anything else. Dr. Doom, on the other hand, is a major villain, one whose backstory and motivations have been given a great deal of attention and screentime, and he's always been the Fantastic Four's primary adversary. Casting a woman in this kind of role would mean that she would get significantly more attention, as well as guaranteeing her a spot in multiple Fantastic Four films.
Since this films would be a reboot and origin story, the story would have to dedicate a significant part of the plot to establishing Dr. Doom's backstory and explaining her motivations, which would help to create a character that is three-dimensional and sympathetic. It's possible, then, that Dr. Doom could become a popular character amongst fans who can empathize with her or who find the character to be complicated and interesting, like the Marvel fans who have rallied behind Loki as their favorite character. While that doesn't necessarily mean that Dr. Doom would then get her own film, it might help encourage studios and filmmakers who are worried that a female superhero wouldn't be well received. After all, if a female villain could earn a huge following, who's to say that a female hero couldn't earn a bigger one?
Of course, changing Dr. Doom to a woman would cause a great deal of backlash before there would be any opportunity for her to build a following. Many comic book fans are resistant towards seeing their favorite characters changed for the big screen, and since even small tweaks (like upping Batman's age for Ben Affleck to play him, or the possibility of Lex Luthor not being bald) tend to result in a great del of outrage, the reaction towards turning Dr. Doom into a female character would likely be even bigger. Fantastic Four has already had to endure controversy over the decision to cast Jordan as Johnny Storm, since in the comics, the character is white, which might make the team behind the film even more hesitant to take a chance on an unusual casting choice. Not to mention, by and large, the reaction to female characters from male comic book fans tends to be more negative than positive — even fan favorite Black Widow is often attacked whenever a new Avengers film is released.
However, even if fans could get past the shock of a female Dr. Doom, making a woman a super villain seems like the easy way to give females more prominent roles in franchises. Generally, there is a type of actor who plays villains, and a type who play heroes, and there is very little overlap between those two groups. In much the same way, portraying women as villains could keep both studios and audiences as viewing women as heroes. The protagonist of a film is the character through which the audience views the story, and since superhero films are generally targeted at a male audience, studios prefer to keep the protagonist a man, buying into the impression that the audience can better identify with a male, and therefore will come see the film and its sequels. They believe that men will have a harder time identifying with female protagonists, which means that studios are reluctant to mount a female superhero film, since they are worried that a male audience will have more trouble connecting with the character and the film, and therefore enjoy it less. However, studios might feel it's easier for men to identify women as villains than as heroes — particularly since a great deal of pop culture stereotypes women into "nagging wife" or "femme fatale" characters — and so it's an easy way for them to make progress with female characters without jeopardizing their target demographic.
All of which means that just because female character may start playing a bigger role in Fantastic Four or other superhero franchises, it doesn't mean that a female superhero film will hit theaters any sooner. It's easy to make women the villain, because it's easier for audiences to accept that, and therefore easier for studios to guarantee a return. But a female-fronted superhero film is a risk, and since studios can't guarantee that it will be a success, it's not a risk they're willing to take. And if audiences get comfortable seeing women as villains, it makes it even more difficult to put a female hero film in motion, because it makes it even harder for audiences to picture a female superhero film.
We would love a female Dr. Doom, or any female super villain, but in the end, it's not likely to help get that female superhero film made. In fact it could end up doing more harm than good. But that doesn't mean that fans should stop pressuring filmmakers and studios to make them, because we shouldn't be forced to just accept the way things currently are. And then, once we finally get that Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel or even a Black Widow or Scarlet Witch solo film, we can add in female villains, from Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy to a female Dr. Doom, and have films that feature both good and bad women, and female characters that are just as complex, interesting, and worth rooting for or against as the current crop of male superheroes and villains are.

TheHItDotCom

Monday, February 10, 2014

1. Mary Barra

2. Ginni Rometty

3. Indra Nooyi

4. Maria das Graças Silva Foster

5. Ellen Kullman

6. Irene Rosenfeld

7. Marillyn Hewson

8. Meg Whitman

9. Patricia Woertz

10. Gail Kelly

11. Sheryl Sandberg

12. Phebe Novakovic

Video camera maker GoPro has announced plans for an initial public offering of stock.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has shocked fans with her very skinny frame at a recent party in Australia.

Google’s World Domination Plan

Concerns Over Security And Ethics

Do We Need a Female Superhero Before We Can Have a Female Villain?

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