Head of Telecom Retail quits | Computerworld New Zealand

Telecom Retail CEO Alan Gourdie has resigned and will leave on October 31, the company announced today.

Gourdie was hired by former Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds, and joined the company in August 2008. Gourdie returned to New Zealand to take up the role, leaving his London-based job as managing director of UK and European operations at Asia Pacific Breweries.

Telecom?s new CEO, Simon Moutter, will appoint a new head of the retail business after he takes up the CEO position on August 13. Moutter was originally expected to start on September 1.

The Telecom Retail business unit provides calling, access, mobile and data services to more than two million customers, including consumers and small to medium enterprises.

Acting Telecom CEO Chris Quin says: ?Alan has done an exceptional job growing the business during one of the most significant periods of competition and change in Telecom?s history.

?He has led a significant improvement in the company?s relationships with its customers, fundamentally reshaped Telecom?s mobile offerings to compete in a highly competitive and fast moving market, and continued to develop Telecom?s fixed line business.?

Alan Gourdie, who told media he was applying for the Telecom CEO role when Reynolds resigned, says he is proud of what Telecom and the Retail team have achieved over the last four years.

?We now have the customer focus and brand required to be a highly competitive retail service provider in the new world of telecommunications in NZ,? says Gourdie.

?The company has a bright future after demerger and I am pleased to be leaving the business with very good momentum.?

During Gourdie?s tenure he hired three high profile marketing executives: Florida-based Paul Hamburger, who oversaw the marketing launch of the XT Network and then left the company in 2010; Kieren Cooney who fronted for the company after the "abstinence" Rugby World Cup campaign was pulled, following a leak to the media; and Jason Paris, who replaced Cooney following a brief stint at Mediaworks and who remains with the company.

Source: http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/head-of-telecom-retail-quits

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Discover India's rising design talent with leading creator Aki Narula

With Lady Gaga championing milliner Little Shilpa and the likes of Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry sashaying the red carpet in Manish Arora, India's fashion industry is hitting the big time. On the eve of Lakm? Fashion Week, the country's premier fashion event, leading designer Aki Narula tells Relaxnews why there's a great deal more to get excited about.

Looking good has always been an integral part of Indian culture, and since the launch of Lakm? Fashion Week in 1999, the country's clothing industry has gone from strength to strength -- for the 13th edition Mumbai will welcome some 86 designers from across the country to present their Winter/Festive 2012 collections.

Nurturing homegrown talent has always been a key element of the event, and for the latest edition renowned designer and stylist Aki Narula -- whose collection was taken up by British store Selfridges after his Lakm? Fashion Week appearance in 2000 -- will be returning as a mentor for the Gen Next program.

"This is my fourth season now mentoring the Gen Next designers at Lakm? Fashion Week.

"What I have achieved today either in fashion or styling is all because of the Indian fashion industry. I think it is an invaluable experience that I am gaining in return by mentoring the future stars of our country," Narula told Relaxnews.

"It is the most important show for me, because it is my way of getting back to the fashion industry."

While Lakm? Fashion Week is now in its 13th edition, the Gen Next program, which invites designers from across the country to showcase their debut collections, is now in its seventh year.

This August designers including Mumbai's Aniket Satam, Kolkata's Sneha Arora and Kanpur's Kavita Sharma are among the debutants, all of whom Narula is fiercely proud of.

"It's very difficult to choose (a favorite) out of this batch of the Gen Next designers. It is literally like selecting one among your seven babies. The process from over hundreds of entries to these seven has been a special one. I think everyone has an originality of their own," he explains.

"We have a wide range and variety of creativity in each one, from a very Boho Traveller to someone who is greatly influenced by the north eastern region -- Asa (Kazingmei) whose creation is all black and red.

"We also have a little bit of studio 54 with white and blue, so it's very difficult to actually choose.

"I think everyone has got their fingertips on the right trends and everyone cuts their silhouettes right."

Aside from the Gen Next scheme, Narula cites Kallol Datta and Nimish Shah as two of his favorite contemporary Indian creators, praising the former for his "colors and silhouettes."

Keep up to date with live streams from Lakm? Fashion Week, which runs August 3-7 in Mumbai via www.lfwtv.in.

For more details on Lakm? Fashion Week and runway schedules see http://www.lakmefashionweek.co.in/index.php

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/discover-indias-rising-design-talent-leading-creator-aki-163302515.html

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MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice | Play Your Way to ...

Managing your personal finances well is a reward in and of itself, but for many of us, that?s the problem. Despite the well-known benefits of managing money wisely, including having less debt and better prospects for a secure retirement, it still remains difficult to limit credit card spending and pass up costly indulgences in favor of funding a savings account.

However, you might be able to achieve your personal finance goals if you seek an extra motivational boost from the concept of gamification.

What is gamification?

Gamification is an emerging discipline that?s being successfully applied to many arenas, including weight loss, classroom education, employee motivation and more. It?s a long word for a simple concept: using the features that make video games so effective at encouraging us to play them ? like visual cues, ranks, rewards and social interaction ? to change behavior in other areas.

At Mint.com, you can see gamification in action by clicking the ?Goals? tab from the main page. The progress bars in Mint.com are examples of how gamification uses visual cues to tell you how you?re doing on, say, saving up for that vacation or paying off debt.

How gamification helps you reach your financial goals

Let?s assume you have a goal of paying off your credit card. After you click the ?Pay off Credit Card Debt? button on the ?Goals? page, Mint.com will display the credit card accounts that you may want to whittle down. You can select candidates for elimination by clicking next to the account name, which will allow you to give your paying down debt campaign a catchy name, such as ?The Everlasting Freedom Project.?

In the following screens you may need to update interest rates and minimum payments on accounts you?ve chosen. Then, Mint.com will present a slider bar allowing you to vary the amount you plan to pay each month. Click-and-drag in a manner familiar to any computer gamer to find out how soon you?ll be free if you commit to paying a certain monthly amount.

In the final screen, Mint.com verbally slaps you on the back with a congratulatory, ?Boom!? Then you get some good advice: make your commitment more public by posting details via social media. It?s been shown that people do better sticking to goals when others get involved.

After you?ve set up your campaign, you?ll see a thermometer-shaped graphic that looks like a charity?s goal-raising campaign status indicator. These sorts of visual cues have been demonstrated to help motivate and guide people to achieve their objectives.

In this way, Mint.com?s gamification helps make it a little easier and even somewhat fun to do things like save for emergencies, build a retirement nest egg and save for college. You can also create custom goals to suit your unique needs and wishes.

The future of gamification

While video games have been around a long time, the concept gamification is still somewhat new. Only a few of the basic elements of what can make a chore seem like a game are fairly well understood. Graphic illustrations of progress, stair-stepping levels of achievement, recognition in the form of badges and ranks, and social involvement with peers are all elements of most gamification approaches.

As we learn more about the concept of gamification, we?ll be seeing a lot more of it ? and not just in personal finance. Businesses hope to gamify interactions with customers to create loyal markets for their goods and employers hope to gamify work so that employees are motivated to engage in behaviors that benefit the organization.

If gamification becomes more widespread, it may lose some effectiveness if people become desensitized or start resisting it. At least until then, gamification represents an intriguing and effective new way to help us win one of the most challenging games around ? the money game.

?Play Your Way to Financial Security with Gamification? was written by Mark Henricks.?

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Source: http://www.mint.com/blog/goals/play-your-way-to-financial-security-with-gamification-072012/

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Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal: News and Views on Thai Cinema ...

Thai animation is back in the news after a hiatus of a few years, making history this week with Echo Planet (?????? ???????????, Echo Jew Kong Loke), the first Thai animated feature to be released in stereoscopic 3D.

It's the latest effort by Kompin Kemkumnird, who made his debut as a director with 2006's Khan Kluay. Thailand's first computer-animated feature, it's the tale of a little tusker who would become the brave war elephant of King Naresuan the Great. Despite its very nationalistic historical storyline, Khan Kluay attracted overseas buyers and made a name for Kantana Animation.

It also spawned a sequel, Khan Kluay II, that was released in 2009, but Kompin wasn't really involved with it. A veteran of animated features at Disney and Blue Sky Studios, Kompin was busy researching his next project, Echo Planet.

It aims for even broader international appeal with an environmentally themed story about a gifted Karen boy who can talk to animals and his tough older sister who wears the traditional Karen neck-stretching rings. They rescue a foreigner boy scout who is the son of the president of Capital State. The three of then set off on an adventure in which they have to stop a project that will cause environmental havoc.

Echo Planet appears to be another landmark for the Thai animation industry, which has moved in fits and starts over the course of decades. The first Thai animated feature was 1979's The Adventure of Sudsakorn by Payut Ngaokrachang. Animation is labor-intensive, and penny-pinching Thai studios figured they could make live-action movies cheaper. So altough there are many Thai animated shorts and TV shows, there wasn't another animated feature until 2006's Khan Kluay. That was quickly followed by the ghost tale Nak and Buddha, Khan Kluay II. Also due out this year is the fantasy Yak, a project from Workpoint Entertainment.

Read more about Echo Planet in a Nation article today.

There's a few different trailers and music videos to promote the film, and the "action version" is embedded below.

Source: http://thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com/2012/08/thai-animation-enters-3d-age-with-echo.html

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Romney stays on message in Poland after UK, Israel missteps

After offending Britons with comments about the Olympics, Mitt Romney continues to face criticism over remarks he made about Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, he wraps up his ?trip abroad with a visit to Poland. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Updated 7:17 a.m. ET: WARSAW, Poland -- Capping a weeklong foreign trip, Mitt Romney on Tuesday praised the people of Poland for marching toward "economic liberty and smaller government" rather than "heeding the false promise of a government-dominated economy."

In a speech Tuesday in Poland's capital, Warsaw, the Republican presidential candidate also lauded Poland for its higher living standards and strong military.

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The presumptive Republican nominee?s thee-country trip had been intended to project the image of a leader ready to stand on the world's stage but has been sidelined somewhat over alleged missteps in Britain and Israel.

Romney's comments in Poland fit into his campaign's themes of smaller government, reduced federal spending and fewer regulations on business. He says Poland is thriving because it sought to "stimulate innovation, attract investment, expand trade and live within its means."

Romney compliments Olympic preparation after tizzy in British press

Romney said Poland's success was a reminder that "free enterprise can propel an economy and transform a society."

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had another diplomatic misstep ? this time in Israel. The Romney campaign pushed back, disputing the reporting of Romney's comments. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Earlier Tuesday, Romney met with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. The two men discussed the longstanding ties between the two nations as well as the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

Poland has also been a significant contributor to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"On behalf of our countrymen, I express deep appreciation for your willingness to fight with us, to stand with us, and to be our friends in times of crisis and military conflict," Romney said.

"Poland has excellent ties with the United States, regardless of which American party is in power," Sikorski said. "We remember Ronald Reagan's warm feelings for Poland's Solidarity and also the fact that we joined (NATO) during Bill Clinton's term."

The two-day trip to Poland is aimed at Polish-American and Catholic voters in the United States and highlighted Romney's stance toward Russia. He has labeled Russia as America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe," a characterization that's not unwelcome in a country that still fears Russia. Poles generally have been skeptical of President Barack Obama's "reset" with Russia, and Romney has cited Polish concerns in his criticism of Obama.

As a former Soviet Bloc nation that has been subjugated by bigger European powers throughout history, Poland remains particularly worried about Russian policy.

Full international coverage on NBCNews.com

Romney received words of encouragement on his visit to Poland on Monday from Lech Walesa, a former union leader and ex-Polish president, who said: "I wish you to be successful because this success is needed for the United States of course, but for Europe and the rest of the world too. Governor Romney, get your success. Be successful."

But Solidarity, the union led by Walesa in the 1980s that helped topple communism in Poland, distanced itself from Romney, who it said "supported attacks on trade unions and employees' rights."

Romney angers Palestinians
Earlier, Romney was forced to fight off controversy after he called Jerusalem the Israeli capital and said later that differences in culture powered Israel's economic success compared with the Palestinians.

Both comments angered Palestinian leaders, just days after Romney annoyed Britons during a stop in London by questioning their readiness to host the Olympic Games.

Candidate Mitt Romney, who was slammed by the British media for comments he made about London's preparedness for the Olympics, now says that "after being here a couple days ? ?I'm absolutely convinced that the people here are ready for the Games."

The United States is the dominant broker in efforts -- paralyzed since 2008 -- to set up a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel, and Palestinian leaders do not want to antagonize key players, including Romney.

More on London 2012: Hosting the Olympic Games

However, Romney's comments on Sunday about Jerusalem prompted a strong response.

The Palestinians want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem, captured and annexed by Israel in 1967. Most of the world, including the United States, does not recognize the annexation. Every U.S. administration since Lyndon Johnson has decided to keep the American embassy in Tel Aviv.

McCain: Israeli-Palestinian differences have 'nothing to do with cultures'

But on Sunday, Romney said flat out that Jerusalem is Israel's capital and strongly suggested he would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem if he were president, supporting two key Israeli demands.

The fate of Jerusalem is one of the main sticking points in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not give up any part of the city, taking a harder line than two of his predecessors who were ready to discuss partition.

Previous U.S. presidential candidates, including then-Sen. Obama in June 2008, have referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital ahead of elections, only to row back when taking power and suggest the issue should be resolved by negotiations.

Romney: US has duty to protect Israel

Seeking American Jewish and fundamentalist Christian votes, Romney has criticized Obama on Israel, alleging last year that the president had "thrown Israel under a bus" in pushing hard for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

In 2008, Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote, a lead into which Romney's campaign would love to make inroads.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney sparked a political firestorm during an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, in which he questioned whether London was ready for the Olympics. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Romney points to 'culture' gap
Romney pointed to the big difference in wealth between Israel and the Palestinians and suggested Israel's culture was the reason for the gap.

More coverage of the Middle East and North Africa on NBCNews.com

"If you could learn anything from the economic history of the world, it's this: culture makes all the difference," he told a fundraising event in Jerusalem.

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat said that Romney's comments amounted to "a racist statement that shows a lack of knowledge."

He added, "Everyone knows that the Palestinians cannot reach their full potential given the Israeli restrictions imposed on them."

Mitt Romney visits Western Wall, one of holiest sites in Judaism

A senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdeineh, said Romney's statements were unhelpful, stood in the way of a peace settlement and "contradict the previous positions held by the American administration."

In Jerusalem Sunday, Mitt Romney said the U.S. should "employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course." NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a chief Romney foreign policy surrogate, appeared to differ with Romney even as he tried to defend him.

"I am sure that Gov. Romney was not talking about difference in cultures, or difference in anybody superior or inferior," McCain said Monday in Tampa, Fla. "What I'm sure Gov. Romney was talking was that the Israeli economy has grown and prospered in a dramatic fashion. And unfortunately, the Palestinians have not had that same economic development."

White House: Some 'scratching their heads' over Romney comments

McCain continued:?"And that goes to the leadership of the Palestinians. ... And we also know that the Palestinian people have not been blessed with the kind of government that has lower regulations, less taxes, entrepreneurship, which have caused the Israeli economy to be one of the world's most successful. It has nothing to do with cultures. It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority."

NBC News staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13045853-romney-aims-to-avoid-poland-missteps-after-uk-israel-stops?lite

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Gaming Advance: Review: Slender [Scariest video game ever?]

The Slender Man is perhaps one of the most famously unknown and terrifying stalkers talked about throughout fictional history and now thanks to the work of a single man he's gotten a little more exposure. But first, a little backstory on who -- or what -- the Slender Man actually is.

The Slender Man was created at the Something Awful Forums in a thread entitled "Create Paranormal Images." He is seen as wearing a black suit, a tuxedo, and as the name suggests he is extremely thin and is able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his victims -- children. Once his arms are outstretched his victims are put into something of a hypnotised state, this is where they are completely helpless to The Slender Man's evil-doings. He is also able to create tendrils from his fingers and back that he uses to walk on in a similar fashion to Doc Ock, the Spider Man villain in the Marvel Universe. The superhuman stretching ability can also be seen as a similarity between himself and Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. Whether he absorbs, kills, or mearly takes his victims to an undisclosed location or dimension is also unknown as there are never any bodies or evidence left behind in his wake to deduce a definite conclusion.

The game Slender, created by Parsec Productions (a one-many army) places the player in the midst of a dark, spooky forest in the middle of nowhere. The player assumes the role of a female child where you are immediately instructed to collect eight pages, which are found scattered intelligently random throughout the forest. There is no tutorial, there is no prologue, there is no introduction to the game. Much like in real-life you hear yourself climb the fence and flick your flashlight on. You are now completely alone and defenceless, well, The Slender Man will be sure to keep you comforted in your journey.

Continuing on, it's incredibly easy to learn the controls and mechanics of the game. Left-click is the action button (which is pretty much to collect pieces of paper), right-click is your flashlight, left shift is to sprint and buttons Q and E are used to zoom in and out respectively, with an appropriate lens-zoom sound effect as they are held down. Finding and collecting the first page initiates the first stage of ambient music: an off-in-the-distance drum echoing that will continue playing from now on. Now for every two additional pages you find, the next stage of ambient sounds will layer on top of each other, progressively becoming more chilling and intimidating. It's a very effective, but simple, technique to ensue paranoia and fear.

Without spoiling, the pages can be found around landmarks in the forest; so you're not going to find a page randomly on the floor in the middle of a bunch of trees; however, there is some level of consistency and visual clues as to where they can be. Also, at the beginning of each session of play, the pages' locations are randomly generated in specific "hot spots" so you will not always find the same page at the same spot every single time. Now, picking up from before about music, the first stage of ambient sound is an audio cue to tell you that The Slender Man is on to you. There is no message that appears to break the immersion and tell you that you're being stalked. Everything is naturally integrated in to the gameplay itself. The author of this game was definitely aiming for the most immersive and frightening video game experienc, by keeping the screen HUDless and replacing user interface elements with both an adaptive mix of visual and audio.

With this in mind, I found myself constantly looking around my surroundings, especially outside; expecting The Slender Man to appear right in-front of my eyes. As a matter of speaking, he has the ability to teleport anywhere on the map to where-ever you're not looking at, but I learned that pretty quickly after finding my first page. With he continuation of the building-up ambient music along with the fear of seeing The Slender Man appearing right behind me with the classic "DUNN!" B-movie horror sound effect, my hands were physically sweating and my mouth was open the entire time I was playing; just waiting to be scared. I feel Slender is a self-selling game that makes you question your own psyche subconsciously. It was my own fear that that was keeping me motivated to play. I wasn't sure if seeing or not seeing The Slender Man was for the better or not because it could mean he was going to either appear before my eyes any second, or if I did see him, then I would have just got scared by seeing him! This is what I mean when I say it is a self-selling game, I, myself, the player, was scared no matter what I did because of the tension that I created.

Is Slender the scariest video game ever made? Maybe.... It's certainly the scariest video game I've ever played. Its efficient and simple style of gameplay makes up for a very convincing and addicting atmosphere. The realisation that you are indeed alone and helpless, and that all you can do is dig yourself a deeper grave, is spectacular. Its casual approach makes it open to all and any type of person to play, even if you don't like to play video games, there is a strange addiction and compulsion to keep going and keep playing until the bitter end, a "so close yet so far" philosophy.

Slender was finished multiple times with a total of 5/8 pages, played on version 0.9.5 beta. For those who regard score as an important factor to a review, Slender receives a 10/10. It's simply one of the most scary experiences you will have whilst playing video games, maybe even in your life, and should be played by everybody.

Guru Meditation is a regular author for GamingAdvance. You may contact Guru Meditation through the email address: gurumeditation@gamingadvance.com.

Source: http://www.gamingadvance.com/2012/08/slender-review.html

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Hulu Plus app live on Apple TV

We haven't seen any official information yet, but tipsters report and we've confirmed on our own that Hulu Plus is quietly rolling out to Apple TV set-top boxes this morning. It was on our hockey pucks when we turned them on, while reports on Twitter indicate losing the connection before the icon appeared once the box came back online. We're checking it out now, and like Netflix, it allows users to pay for the service via iTunes if they choose. The menus and UI are all appropriately Apple TV styled, if you're not seeing it yet on your box then it should probably be there after a reboot. Otherwise it's the same old Hulu Plus, just (finally) on Apple TV without any hacks or redirects needed, any new users can snag a 1 week free trial by signing up on the website or through the device itself.

Update: We have official confirmation now, check the Hulu Blog for more information, or after the break for two quick demo videos.

Gallery: Hulu Plus on the Apple TV

[Thanks, Rune]

Continue reading Hulu Plus app live on Apple TV

Hulu Plus app live on Apple TV originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/hulu-plus-app-live-on-apple-tv/

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