Month: October 2013

AT midnight on 30 September the US government officially shut for the first time in more than 17 years, after the Senate and the House of the Representatives failed to pass a federal spending bill to keep the government running.The US government has been shutting its non-essential services because US politicians on Capitol Hill haven’t managed to agree new budget for the new US financial year (which started on 1 October).

The side effects would be tremendous such as unemployment, falling of stock price and some immediate effects, such as the closing of national parks and museums, would be easily seen, while other services may only see delays.

A  government shutdown occurs when a government discontinues providing services that are not considered “essential.” Typically, essential services include police, fire fighting, armed forces, utilities and corrections. Interestingly, Congress and the President are exempt from the furlough and continue to receive compensation despite the fact that other services are suspended.Hundreds of thousands of workers are told to take an unpaid holiday.Citizens will be the biggest victim from the incident. Stores and restaurants near federal buildings relying on daytime foot traffic would suffer and Metrorail revenues would plummet from lower ridership.

News from（http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/oct/06/us-government-shutdown-teaching-resources）

According to Xinhua news Agency,with the powerful support of central government,Shanghai is expected to exceed HongKong, becoming a financial centre which is almost second to none in the Greater China region.

Obviously, this plan will promote trade and regional integration process in Shanghai in a certain extent and also allow Shanghai to develop world-leading commodities exchanges.In addition,for the Foreign banks in Shanghai,they can have more room to develop them rapidly and easily,and for some domestic banks, the establishment of free-trade zone will make great effect in their overseas activities. What makes we citizens joyful is that shanghai will definitely turn to be a shopping paradise and we can easily buy relatively cheap luxuries.

On the other hand, it is not yet clear what it will really bring us since innovations are sure to produce price differences inside and outside the zone. It is said that the more ambitious there are, the more likely it is to fail.So,I believe we can try to take it one step at a time and just watch the influence.

The iPlayer, launched in December 2007, is already hugely popular and increasingly being used on mobile devices.Of 234m requests for BBC TV and radio content in August, 32% came from smartphones and tablets.

The iPlayer company highly related to the consumer needs and consider the value proposition.The Value Proposition is the reason why customers turn to one company over another. It solves a customer problem or satisfies a customer need.  Tony Hall(a former BBC director) is expected to say that developing the next generation of the iPlayer, focusing on personalising the choice of BBC programmes offered to users, will be a key ambition for the corporation in his first significant speech since taking over in April.

Key Partnerships in this case is strongly developed ,which can be motivated by needs to acquire knowledge, licenses, or access to customers. Hall announced plans to put a wide range of cultural programming back at the heart of its output. There will be a 20% rise in investment and a new brand for arts content across radio, the internet and television. A new set of BBC partnerships with national arts institutions such as Tate, the British Museum, the National Theatre and Manchester international festival is also promised, along with relaunching The Space, the BBC’s experimental digital arts service developed in partnership with Arts Council England.

News from The Guardian, Sunday 6 October 2013 14.29 (http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/oct/06/bbc-next-generation-iplayer-digital)