Ever had the nagging suspicion that your car’s manufacturer was charging outrageous prices for parts simply because it could? Software might be to blame. Reuters has obtained documents from a lawsuit indicating that Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, Renault and other automakers have been using Accenture software (Partneo) that recommended price increases for spare parts based on “perceived value.” If a brand badge or other component looked expensive, Partneo would suggest raising the price up to a level that drivers would still be willing to pay. It would even distinguish parts based on whether or not there was “pricing supervision” over certain parts (say, from insurance companies or focused…
Author: Loknath Das
Microsoft has confirmed reports that it is acquiring software development platform GitHub. The firm is paying $7.5B in stock … Today, we announced an agreement to acquire GitHub, the world’s leading software development platform […] More than 28 million developers already collaborate on GitHub, and it is home to more than 85 million code repositories used by people in nearly every country. From the largest corporations to the smallest startups, GitHub is the destination for developers to learn, share and work together to create software. It’s a destination for Microsoft too. We are the most active organization on GitHub, with more than…
ASMS 2018 – Scientists working in metabolomics, pharmaceuticals, food safety, and environmental and forensic science can now use a fully integrated software toolkit to transform complex, unknown mass spectra generated from small molecule analysis into actionable data. The new Thermo Scientific Compound Discoverer 3.0 software is an integrated set of libraries, databases and statistical analysis tools linked in customizable workflows. The software processes the information-rich data generated from high-resolution accurate-mass (HRAM) Orbitrap mass spectrometers and transforms it into meaningful results. The software is easy to use and designed to require minimal training or expertise. Thermo Fisher Scientific is showcasing the new software during…
Brazilian coaching legend Carlos Alberto Parreira will be leading FIFA’s Technical Study Group at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. Having been a part of every tournament since England 1966, the TSG will be applying their considerable footballing expertise to analyse the games during the competition. Parreira himself has proven his understanding of the game at the very highest level, leading his nation to being crowned world champions at USA 1994. Meanwhile, he has also taken charge of a record five teams at the finals, leading Kuwait (1982), United Arab Emirates (1990), Brazil (1994 and 2006), Saudi Arabia (1998) and South Africa…
Veteran venture capitalist Mary Meeker recently released her annual Internet trends report, considered to be one of the most important tech analysis statements of the year, at Recode’s Code Conference in California. As part of the report, she noted that smartphone shipments and Internet adoption growth went down over the past year, as did the global average price of smartphones; AI will become a big part of enterprise spending for companies like Google and Amazon; and she also elaborated on China’s Internet success story. Smartphone shipments stagnate At the 2018 edition of the Code Conference earlier this week, in Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ Mary Meeker released 294 slides of her Internet…
After days of negotiation, HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular and the Congress have finalized the division of power — with the crucial finance ministry going to the regional party and the home department to the Congress. The cabinet expansion is expected over the week-end, said party sources. The Congress is expected to get 22 of the 34 ministries and the JD(S) 12. Last week, only Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of the Congress took oath amid speculation of conflict between the coalition partners over cabinet portfolios. Sources said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who is currently abroad,…
A task team appointed by Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga has recommended that history be made compulsory in schools. As Huffington Post reports, the History Ministerial Task Team (MTT) was set up in 2015, and after three years, its findings were finally made public on Thursday. According to MTT’s recommendation, history should replace Life Orientation (LO) as a compulsory subject between Grades 10 and 12, which should only remain compulsory until Grade 9. The team came to these findings after spending three years researching how 12 other countries have taught history in their schools. “History education at school has the potential to offer explanatory, analytical…
The news that ex-offenders wanting to study at university will no longer have to declare their criminal convictions is welcome, though long overdue. Announcing the move Ben Jordan, from the university admissions service, Ucas, said he hoped the change in policy reaffirmed that “higher education is open to everyone”. It’s better late than never. But our high seats of learning should not expect an avalanche of applications from those with criminal convictions. By and large, offenders tend to come from more fractured backgrounds than those who walk the straight and narrow, and this is reflected in the educational statistics from our jails.…
A weird thing happened to me recently. I was daydreaming about hanging out with someone I’d met, someone I liked, when suddenly I had a realisation: I wasn’t just imagining us together. I was imagining how we’d look together if another person was watching footage of us on Instagram Stories. The extent to which social media — and the exhibitionism and voyeurism upon which it depends — had embedded itself into my unconscious fantasies shocked me. But really, it shouldn’t have. The fact is: to be a hyper-connected millennial today is to exist in multiple realities. To be both present…
Whether you’re looking for followers, running a business or simply looking for fame, social media can make or break your success. Innovative programs like the Social Media Rockstar Bundle are helping people all over the country learn what it takes to have a killer social presence without having to spend any coin on followers. Twitter Bootcamp Sure, Twitter may seem easy to use, but crafting the perfect viral tweet is a skill (just ask Chrissy Teigen). The Social Media Rockstar Bundle includes a Complete Twitter Marketing Boot Camp where you’ll learn all about how to use Twitter to not only gain followers, but to build…