May the 4th means a wave of Star Wars debuts and promos, and that even includes deals on kitchen tech. Williams Sonoma is discounting its Star Wars Instant Pots, with a 3-quart BB-8 model selling for as low as $60, the 6-quart Stormtrooper model going for $80…
Leaving the house for the first time in weeks to brave the coronavirus-infested wilds of western Pennsylvania, I ducked into the ruins of an Ace Hardware. I knew I was in danger because I could hear the rasping, plaintive moaning of the dead from deep within.…
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of...
llustrator Robert Jimenez was inspired to create the new "Garbage Pail Kids Kitchen" one day eating lunch. Robert is a longtime illustrator of Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) cards and was peeling a banana when he had a flashback to Banana Anna, a classic GPK card de…
Let's get down to business: with no access to in-person shopping, you don't have the luxury of window shopping anymore. So we did you a favor and scoured deals around the internet you'll actually want to take advantage of. Below is a list of items you'll fin…
Negativland recently released video for "This is Not Normal" is giving me some serious Koyanisqaatsi vibes. From the album 'True False' on Seeland Records, released on 25 October 2019 Negativland previously on BB (since 2001!) (Nag on the Lake) Read the rest
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced successful completion of the MITRE ATT&CK;® APT29 evaluation. BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Security (UES) solutions were examined for their ability to detect sophisticated tactics and techniques used by APT29, a group that cybersecurity experts believe operates on behalf of the Russian government.
The firm invests following the principles laid out by Benjamin Graham Continue reading...
View this post on Instagram a fun game collab w cyber bb @404loko A post shared by Aiden :) (@aidenarata) on May 13, 2020 at 4:29pm PDT I've shared some of Aiden Arata's other delightful digital quarantine art, and once again,…
Spoiler Alert! This article has spoilers for just about the entire Star Wars universe. Read at your own risk! When it comes to fictional portrayals of artificial intelligence technology, the Star Trek universe stands head and shoulders above all others. Serie…
BlackBerry (BB) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.
(Bloomberg) -- Shopify Inc.’s C$38 billion ($27 billion) stock-market gain since the beginning of the year has some analysts calling a time out.The e-commerce services provider has surged 61% to a market value of C$97 billion. That briefly catapulted it ahead of Toronto-Dominion Bank on Monday to become the second-most valuable company on Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite index, though it fell back to No. 3 on Tuesday as global markets slumped.“It’s tough to make money at the valuation Shopify is trading at,” said Jefferies analyst Samad Samana, one of the most bearish analysts on the stock. Risk-reward is not attractive and it’s hard to recommend a buy, he said. He has a hold call on the stock and a price target at $400, below estimate consensus and well off $585, its current price in New York.Brian Peterson, an analyst at Raymond James, noted the stock is trading at about 39 times his 2020 estimates.Its near-record valuation is “somewhat surprising” given the uncertain consumer spending environment, especially for discretionary products, which Raymond James believes is the key driver behind the company’s withdrawal of its 2020 revenue guidance earlier this month.Peterson sees Shopify’s monster boom as good news for the future adoption of the platform though, as merchants are forced to migrate online, but its expansion may not “necessarily equate to sales volume.”Read More: Shopify Valuation Already Reflects Pandemic Boost, Wedbush SaysA likely recession, “if we’re not in one already,” will inevitably see a downturn in sales as “no one is immune” to the pandemic, Samana said. The biggest concern is the spike of unemployment in the U.S., which has been the biggest revenue gainer for Shopify.Consumer discretionary products, sold by many of Shopify’s merchants, are among the hardest hit. While sales decline, Shopify may still be able to get a piece of a smaller pie, Wedbush analyst Ygal Arounian wrote in a note Monday. However, some merchants are also expected not to renew their subscriptions amid a tougher environment, Arounian noted.The excitement surrounding Shopify has not worn out, however, as the stock has 15 buys, 14 holds and three sells, according ratings compiled by Bloomberg.Shares on loan to short sellers are still relatively low at 3.8% of Shopify’s float, according to data from financial analytics firm S3 Partners.As Shopify inches closer to the top of Canada’s stocks leader board, investors are also reminded of the so-called curse that has seen former Canadian technology behemoths like BlackBerry Ltd. and Nortel Networks Corp. plunge after reaching seemingly indestructible levels.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Part 8 of Tristan H. Cockcroft's nine-part expanded "Playbook" details the advanced stats that are helpful in fantasy baseball, from xwOBA and Hard Hit Rate to Spin Rate and xFIP.
WINDSOR, Ontario and WATERLOO, Ontario , May 11, 2020 /CNW/ -- The University of Windsor and BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced they have partnered to develop and deliver a cybersecurity curriculum for the University's Graduate Master's Program in Applied Computing. The curriculum, called BlackBerry Bootcamp, will be taught as part of a required Network Security course, and completion of the curriculum will account for a portion of the student's final grade. BlackBerry Bootcamp will cover a range of cybersecurity topics including digital identity protection and privacy, software engineering, the latest techniques of cybercriminals, advanced threat detection technologies, and more. "The University of Windsor is pleased to partner with BlackBerry to provide learning opportunities for our students," said Rob Gordon , President at University of Windsor.
Do you happen to own a remote controlled R2D2 or BB-8? Well, chances are that the purchase of your favorite Star Wars droid helped the toymaker behind it pivot into the military and police robot space! Sphero, the company behind those RC Star Wars droids, ann…
DENVER , May 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, today filed its audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 , annual management's discussion and analysis for the corresponding period, related management certifications of annual filings and its annual information form. The Company has received loan proceeds of approximately $562 thousand under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the United States .
(Bloomberg) -- Shopify Inc. surged on Wednesday to become Canada’s most valuable company -- but can the e-commerce giant survive being No. 1?Ottawa-based Shopify edged past Royal Bank of Canada to become the largest publicly listed company in Canada. The achievement comes with a dubious distinction, however: those that leapfrogged the value of Canada’s largest bank in the past have faltered.Royal Bank, incorporated in 1869, has been Canada’s most valuable company for years, but has been been eclipsed on a few occasions. Shopify closed with a market value of C$121.3 billion ($85.6 billion), surpassing Royal Bank’s C$120.5 billion.The last company to surpass Royal Bank’s market capitalization was drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. in July 2015. Months later, the value of the Quebec-based company plunged amid controversies over business practices, accounting and drug pricing. Valeant has since been renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc. and has new management and a different ticker symbol.Before that, BlackBerry Ltd. --- the inventor of the smartphone and then known as Research in Motion Ltd. -- crossed Royal Bank briefly in 2007. It held the top spot for about five months in 2008, before Apple Inc.’s iPhone and other handset makers rose up to steal its market away.Further back, Nortel Networks Corp. became the biggest Canadian company in 2000, swelling to a market value of C$366 billion and accounting for as much as 35% of Canada’s benchmark index, before crashing in the tech wreck. The telecommunications-equipment maker ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was liquidated.The dramatic collapse of two Canadian tech giants in a country more known for being hewers of wood and drawers of water has hung over the country’s corporate psyche for years. So Shopify’s rise has been cheered on by many.“I think it’s obvious in hindsight the leadership of both those companies got disconnected from their underlying markets,” said Eric Jackson, founder of a Toronto-based tech-focused hedge fund EMJ Capital Ltd., referring to BlackBerry and Nortel.Jackson believes Shopify “should be held up as a poster child for what Canada should be trying to encourage in it’s tech sector because it’s been remarkable what they’ve done,” he said. Jackson had owned the company’s stock but doesn’t currently have a position. Its U.S.-listed shares have risen by 43 times since the initial public offering at $17 in 2015.Too Fast?This year’s rally, which has seen the stock double, has drawn its doubters.“On just about any valuation metric, this is one of the most expensive stocks in Techland,” Mark Mahaney, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco told clients in a note Wednesday. Shopify also holds the highest sales multiple, though has the largest sales growth outlook, RBC added. The bank rates Shopify with the equivalent of a buy.The rally has made founder and chief executive officer Tobi Lutke, Canada’s fourth-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 39-year-old has added $2.8 billion to his wealth this year, and is now worth $6.3 billion. The billionaire has about 7% of Shopify, according to its 2019 proxy circular.Lutke, a German immigrant with vivid blue eyes and a penchant for tweed caps, began building software to launch an online snowboard store in 2004. It became obvious that the software was more valuable than the snowboards, according to his website profile, and he went on to launch the Shopify platform in 2006. RBC was incorporated in 1869.Shopify sells tools to help companies set up an online, a business model seen flourishing during the coronavirus pandemic that has shuttered bricks and mortar stores. In April, the company’s chief technology officer tweeted Shopify was handling “Black Friday-level traffic every day” to bring thousands of businesses online.Amazon ComparisonAt Bloomberg’s Sooner Than You Think conference in New York last year, Lutke said Shopify isn’t competing with Amazon.com Inc. but helping other people do so.“They’ve obviously become the anti-Amazon, they’re all about empowering everybody else except Amazon on the online e-commerce world to be successful and they’ve expanded and expanded their suite of services,” Jackson said.He believes Shopify has the opportunity to keep rising and have a market value of several hundred billion dollars in the years ahead.“They are still just getting going. People who complain they are ‘too expensive’ don’t understand how much revenue and profits they’ll drive in the years ahead,” Jackson said.(Updates with new information on value of Lutke’s stake, gain since IPO.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced the BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program and the BlackBerry Cylance Partner Program both received a 5-Star rating from CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, in its 2020 Partner Program Guide. The annual guide is the definitive listing of the most rewarding partner programs from technology companies that provide products and services through the IT channel. This is the fourth consecutive year both programs have received the 5-Star rating awarded to an elite group of companies that offer solution providers the best of the best in their partner programs.
BlackBerry is growing its revenue again, but its margins are contracting as it faces macro headwinds and tougher competitors.
Why are credit ratings and credit risk still used interchangeably? In today’s environment, distinguishing between the two seems more important than ever Continue reading...
Samara Ginsberg (previously at BB) performs Stu Philips' Knight Rider theme tune on eight cellos. PREVIOUSLY: Alternate version of the Knight Rider theme tune BONUS: Australian beer ad ☟ Read the rest
Nintendo staffer Rob Heiret and his colleagues worked on the localization of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, translating its Japanese dialogue and culture for an English-speaking audience. Well, on Sunday, in a long and insightful Twitter thread, Rob shared so…
Philadelphia Flyers' mascot / Real American Folk Hero Gritty has been passing his (its?) quarantine time with daily 15-minute Instagram livestreams. Topics range from Spelling Bees, to Charades, to Golf Tips, to … Gritty literally explaining the meta-ness of …
From BB+J parfait to a West African soup, peanut butter is good for more than eating out of the jar (but no judgment if you do that too)It’s hard to pick the best PB combo, but PB+J must be pretty far up the list. Layer the flavour with yoghurt, PB and a quic…
Here's a puzzle from Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games column, which ran for many years in Scientific American. I found it in his low-priced Dover edition anthology, My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles. Imagine that you have three boxes, one containing t…
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced the launch of QNX Black Channel Communications Technology, a new software solution that OEMs and embedded software developers can use to ensure safe data communication exchanges within their safety-critical systems.
Coronavirus restrictions have effectively frozen the restaurant world in carbonite, forcing many of us to assume the role of home chef whether we like it or not — so this Star Wars Day (that is, May the Fourth), we figured some fun new cookware is in order. W…
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that its BlackBerry® Government Mobility Suite has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization. BlackBerry Government Mobility Suite, a cloud-based endpoint management solution developed specifically for U.S. government agencies, protects sensitive data, whether stored or in transit, and allows secure browsing and access to applications behind government agency firewalls.
DENVER , April 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies Corporation ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, today provided an update on its business and Board of Directors. Intermap is pleased to welcome Jack Hild as an independent member of the Board of Directors of Intermap Technologies Corporation.
DENVER , April 16, 2020 /CNW/ - Intermap Technologies ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, today announced important software subscriptions to its data-as-a-service and analytics, InsitePro in the U.S. and Aquarius RMA in the EU. InsitePro has added a leading Lloyd's of London syndicate to a multi-year subscription, working with InsitePro to support their entry and expansion into the U.S. flood market.
During Passover last month, I posted about The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 epic silent film version of the biblical Exodus story (plus a related modern story that I never bothered to watch.) As part of tomorrow night's DAWN online celebration of…
BlackBerry (BB) launches Spark Suites to curb cyber threats and help enterprise customers manage endpoint needs with a Zero Trust security environment.
Build the world’s newest, simplest trebuchet and break some chuckin’ records! Read more on MAKE The post Walking Arm Trebuchet appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.
BlackBerry Spark Suites Launch to Provide Companies Intelligent Security, Everywhere
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) announced today that BlackBerry Radar® continues to grow its distribution reach with more than 12 new channel partners having signed on in the past six months including two within Mexico, expanding the company's monitoring solutions outside of the U.S. and Canada for the first time.
The last X-Wing has left the station and the Death Star is shutting down: Star Wars Battlefront II will no longer receive big content updates. While the servers will remain up, the game will not be supported in a major way by Dice or EA moving forward. Releas…
Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that Sai Ho, who is a company insider, recently bought...
BB-8, the spherical orange and white robot that makes whirring noises as cute as kitten purrs doesn’t exactly seem cut out for use in a police force or military. It’s a great toy, but not designed for detonating bombs, sniffing drugs, or whatever else those a…
(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.’s ambitious dream to create a city of the future on Toronto’s waterfront is over. Millions of dollars and years of lobbying weren’t enough, and the tech giant’s urban planning unit, Sidewalk Labs, officially shuttered the project on Thursday.The stated reason was the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on real estate prices. Without the ability to profitably sell office space and homes in the development, the project wasn’t viable, Sidewalk Labs Chief Executive Officer Dan Doctoroff said in a blog post.But even before the virus swept over the world, Sidewalk’s Toronto ambitions had been scaled back significantly. Years of opposition from privacy activists and urbanists, as well as pushback from prominent members of Canada’s tech industry had relegated Alphabet to a 12-acre plot of land that would essentially only have room for a handful of residential and commercial buildings.Sidewalk Labs’ failure signals how much attitudes toward big technology companies and their influence over our lives has shifted in recent years. If a company like Alphabet, with its talent and resources, can’t pull off such a project, it’s not clear anyone can.“I would like to think this is the defeat of the privately owned city,” said Greg Lindsay of NewCities, an urban policy think tank, and a visiting scholar at NYU’s transportation policy school.Privacy and control over one’s digital data is a more mainstream concern than it was just two or three years ago. Ideas that initially seemed futuristic and exciting to many are now being questioned, with politicians around the world more likely to gain support for attacking companies like Google, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. than they would by embracing them.Sidewalk Labs’ Toronto project was announced in 2017, after Canadian officials put out a request for private companies to help develop a large swath of the city’s formerly industrial waterfront that had sat mostly dormant for years. In one of the hottest real estate markets in the world, the project was potentially lucrative.The plan was ambitious, complete with heated sidewalks, underground garbage disposal and tall timber buildings. Sensors would monitor the area, feeding data to AI-enabled computers that would manage stormwater systems and direct traffic. One proposal included a light rail line that would connect the area to the rest of the city’s transit network. Sidewalk invested more than $50 million in the project, including opening a 30-person office on site. The company said it will keep an office in Toronto will stay open and re-assign staff to other projects.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed Alphabet with open arms, hosting a high-profile interview with then-chairman Eric Schmidt at a conference meant to showcase the country’s tech sector. Trudeau, two years into his tenure, had made tax credits for big U.S. tech firms bringing jobs to Canada a tenet of his economic policy.That didn’t sit right with some local business leaders, including the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, Jim Balsillie, and John Ruffolo, one of the country’s best-known venture capitalists. They argued homegrown startups would be squashed by U.S. giants under Trudeau’s policies. Sidewalk Labs became an easy target, and the two wrote columns and lobbied politicians to stop the project.At the same time, long-standing questions about data privacy and the role of private companies in city development became more relevant as Torontonians faced the prospect of an American corporation monitoring and collecting information about part of their city. Local activists, tech researchers and urbanists joined together to demand more transparency from Sidewalk Labs.“They really didn’t have answers when people wanted them,” said Alex Ryan, senior vice president at MaRS, an organization that promotes tech and startups in Toronto. “So in the place of answers were conspiracies and concerns on privacy, the business model, and the scale of the project.”Complicating matters, the organization overseeing the project was made up of representatives from the local, provincial and federal governments. Everyone wanted a say, and the project went through an endless series of proposals, meetings and consultations.Sidewalk Labs, staffed by former New York City administrators, was accused of being tone deaf to the Canadian political context. Local indigenous leaders said their concerns had been ignored. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association sued the company, accusing it of proposing tech that would infringe on Canadians’ privacy rights.Sidewalk’s retreat from Toronto coincides with broader changes at its parent company. Sundar Pichai took over the CEO role from founder Larry Page in December. With Covid-19 devastating the global economy, Alphabet has cut back on spending, slowing down hiring and focusing its resources on fewer projects.Doctoroff hinted that Sidewalk could turn its attention to coronavirus-related projects. “The current health emergency makes us feel even more strongly about the importance of re-imagining cities for the future,” he said. Doctoroff is a former CEO of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and a deputy mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg.Alphabet’s final goals for the Toronto project never seemed clear throughout its life.“Their business model continually shifted, and they never presented a final plan,” Lindsay said. “It appears that they never settled on one.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.