Thiago Silva: I never wanted to leave AC Milan

The Brazil international has once again claimed that he was forced out of San Siro but remains glad that the Italian outfit made a healthy profit on him

Thiago Silva has reiterated that he did not want to leave AC Milan but says that he takes some consolation from the fact that his sale helped balance the club's books.

The Brazil international was offloaded to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2012 for €42 million and he was joined at Parc des Princes just a few days later by another Rossonero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Both players have subsequently spoken of their displeasure at being forced out of the door of Milanello but while the manner of his departure does still rankle with him, Thiago Silva can at least understood the club's thinking.

"You must ask those in charge [about the transfer] because I have always said and repeated that I did not want to leave Milan,"  the centre-half told Sport Week. 

"Then, however, the club chose to go this way and we found some common ground. 

"Certainly, the Rossoneri did a great deal because they bought me for €10 million and sold me for €42m, so, in one sense, I can say that I've given the club a big hand.

"When you sell a player of this class that can make a difference, and I'm speaking not only of myself but also Ibrahimovic, you lose something from a technical point of view.

"What you gain on one hand, you pay for with the other, inevitably. But, ultimately, this choice was accepted by both parties."

Milan are currently struggling in Serie A and owner Silvio Berlusconi has stated that he wants to once again take a more hands-on approach to the running of the club.

Thiago Silva has welcomed the news, particularly as it has at a time when CEO Adriano Galliani is battling for control of the Italian outfit with Berlusconi's daughter, Barbara.

Indeed, when asked who he is supporting, the Selecao skipper stated: "I'm with Berlusconi, because nobody will do for AC Milan what he's done up until now with Galliani.

"Is Barbara the right heiress? I don't know her well enough to have an opinion. I only met her once, when she was with [Alexandre] Pato, at the opening of [Clarence] Seedorf's restaurant.

Light your tree with your phone

I will admit right at the top here that the following how-to is more fun than practical. You should try it anyway.

There's never been a high-tech distraction this inexplicably amusing to me since the invention of kittens and laser pointers (they really should come bundled).

This year, instead of plugging your holiday lights into your old, reliable socket timer, why not drop $80 on an Internet-connected power strip that you can control with your phone? That's what I did, and the novelty has yet to wear off. In fact, I'm going to take a break right now to turn on my Christmas tree from 15 miles away.

I can't explain it, but it feels like the future. So, if you want to add the same nerdy thrill to your holidays, here's what to do.

First, you'll need to invest in a power socket adapter that can hop on your home Wi-Fi. Belkin makes one called the WeMo Switch, which can be had for around $50, adapts a single socket, and can be managed using a smartphone app. Feeling the full weight of my CNET expense account, I opted for the latest competitor, the Quirky Pivot Power Genius.

The Quirky Pivot Power Genius.

(Credit: Colin West McDonald/CNET)

I don't know about your holiday lights, but I need more than one socket to get it all done. The Pivot comes with four, laid out on a flexible power strip that can be twisted around to accommodate all manner of wall warts. Granted, only two out of the four sockets can be switched remotely using their iOS/Android-compatible Wink app, but they can both be managed and scheduled independently, which is nice.

After plugging in the power strip, the next step is to download the free Wink app. Open it up, and you'll be prompted to create an account, with some basic information. Next, it will ask you to confirm the name of your home Wi-Fi router, and enter in your Wi-Fi password.

Now, it's not that the app has any use for your Wi-Fi info. It's asking, because in the next step your phone will literally flash that info over to the Pivot Power Genius, requiring you to hold your phone over a sensor located at the top of the power strip while it blinks the screen on and off. It's like having your gadgets talk to each other in Morse code. After a few seconds, your phone will give a little buzz to signal that it's all done. If all goes well, the next screen you'll see should look like this.

(Credit: Screenshot by Donald Bell/CNET)

From here, straight away you can get to remotely toggling the power to your sockets. The switching response isn't immediate. I found that even when both my phone and the Pivot were on the same network, it took around 3-5 seconds for the switch command to trickle over. What's cool, though, is that even when I was miles away and just using a cellular connection, the switch response time was about the same as sending a text message -- let's say around 10 seconds. And if all else fails, the people at Quirky were smart enough to include physical toggle buttons on the side of the strip.

Without a doubt, manual control is the real thrill of this device. But you can also easily set each of the two controllable sockets on their own schedule, using the same Wink app.

(Credit: Screenshot by Donald Bell/CNET)

A click on the clock icon next to either of the two switch controls takes you to a screen where you can set any number of scheduled on or off commands. It's as simple as tapping the Schedule New Event button, selecting whether the event is to turn the switch on or off, and then dialing in a time. It's dead simple, however, as we noted in CNET's review of the Pivot Power Genius, some added control over scheduling weekday and weekend modes would make the product better.

So there you have it, a fun and easy (though not exactly inexpensive) way to manage your holiday lights from your phone. Be sure to check out my video walkthrough as well.

Cement sellers irked by ‘artificial’ supply shortage’

Price hike: Rs510 to Rs520 per 50kg is the expected price of cement. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

KARACHI: 

Cement retailers have complained that companies in Karachi are creating an artificial supply shortage that will result in a significant increase in prices in the coming weeks.

Contrary to these reports, cement companies deny any shortage in the country as there has been no significant change in supplies or sales, especially in Karachi.

However, a retailer said that the companies are restricting their sales for a week. “Cement companies, especially renowned brands, in Karachi are restricting their sales to retailers since last week,” a cement retailer told The Express Tribune, “This has led to shortages, which can increase the cement prices in the coming weeks.”

All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) Chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba, commenting on the reports, said there is no cement shortage anywhere in the country especially in Karachi where a large number of cement producers are functioning.

APCMA is a group of over one-and-a-half dozen cement producers that have often been accused of working as a cartel in the country.

Cement producers say that, an increase in cement prices is inevitable as they have to pass the burden of increased electricity rates onto their consumers. “Cement companies will have to pass on the price increase they have witnessed with the high rates of power and transportation,” added Tabba.

Company officials say cement prices will hover between Rs510-Rs520 per 50-kg bag depending on the cement brands.

When the government raised power rates for the industrial sectors in August, cement producers’ retaliated by stating they will gradually increase cement prices in coordination with high cement demand or sales.

Cement prices are on the rise but this time the trend of price increase is different. Average cement prices in the domestic market is surging constantly but, unlike preceding years, the magnitude of the price increase is not noticeably high.

For instance, cement prices on September 21, 2013 were Rs501 per 50-kg bag, Rs502 on October 24, Rs507 on November 7 and Rs512 on November 28, according to the data compiled by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Summit Capital analyst Sarfraz Abbasi said, “Cement companies are increasing prices in the range of Rs2 to Rs5 per 50-kg bag a month unlike previous increases of Rs10-Rs15 at a given time.”

According to Abbasi, the average cement prices have been around Rs503 per bag in the first five months of the fiscal year 2014 against per bag price of Rs452 in the corresponding time period of the previous fiscal year showing an increase of 11% year on year.

“The unprecedented hike in the electricity tariff, rising fuel costs and freight rates have impacted the profitability of the cement companies and, thus cement prices will keep surging till the cement price per bag reaches to Rs520-Rs530 per bag,” said Abbas

Pakistan's total debt up Rs1 trillion in first 3 months of fiscal year

Total debt increased to Rs15 trillion by September, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign debt increased to Rs403 billion due to depreciation of the rupee since Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came to power, taking the total debt to approximately Rs15 trillion.

By end of the last fiscal year (June 30, 2013), the central government’s total debt was Rs14 trillion. That total increased to Rs15 trillion by the end of September 2013 — an increase of Rs1 trillion, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

The Ministry of Finance informed the National Assembly on Friday that “the public and publicly guaranteed foreign debt including IMF has increased by Rs403 billion as a result of depreciation of the Pakistani rupee during the present government.”

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Parliamentarian MNA Nafisa Shah raised the issue in Parliament.

In response her question, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan raised points on the devaluation of rupee, stating that initiatives like building up of reserves and enhancing exports were required to strengthen the rupee.

“We have planned substantial foreign exchange inflows, loans from multi-lateral and bilateral sources,” he said.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have declined to a 12-year low of $2.9 billion, hitting its lowest level since November 2001, according to newly released data.

China: We have 'substantial' info on Qualcomm price fixing

China's top antitrust regulator says there is "substantial" evidence against the chipmaker but doesn't go in to detail, according to China Daily.

(Credit: Jason Jenkins/ CNET)

Qualcomm might soon find itself in some legal hot water in China.

Xu Kunlin, head of the National Development and Reform Commission in China, revealed to reporters Wednesday that his agency has "substantial evidence" chipmaker Qualcomm could be engaging in price fixing, according to a report Thursday from China Daily. The report did not reveal any details about the evidence the NDRC has against Qualcomm.

If Qualcomm is found to be violating any laws, it could fall under Xu's auspices as antitrust watchdog. The NDRC, which is undergoing an "unprecedented expansion," according to China Daily, said its antitrust probes are focused on six industries -- aerospace, daily chemicals, automobile, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and home appliances.Qualcomm confirmed last month that the Chinese government had launched an investigation into its business, but said it was not aware of any violations. The company promised to cooperate with investigators.

CNET has contacted Qualcomm on this latest development. We will update this story when we have more information.

First 3D game built in ASM.js hints at future of Web-based gaming

The debut of the Web-based game Monster Madness heralds the rise of HTML5 and the descent of browser plugins.

The new online game Monster Madness may look like many of its 3D competitors, but the fact that you can play it in any browser without a plugin makes it something of a gaming unicorn. Unlike that mythical animal, however, there are plans to ensure that Monster Madness is only the first of many.

Monster Madness (click to play), which debuted on Thursday as a pre-alpha for gaming enthusiasts from Trendy Entertainment, is the first game coded in C++ and then brought to the Web using the JavaScript language subset ASM.js, the JavaScript compiler Emscripten, and the Web port of the Unreal Engine 3 gaming engine. Given that the Mozilla-developed ASM.js isn't even a year old, that's an impressive feat: Monster Madness runs smoothly at 60 frames per second.

"ASM.js is not processor specific, it can run on any hardware. That's a huge advantage for the testing process, and it future proofs it -- if it can run ASM.js, it can run the game," he said.Jeremy Stieglitz, the inventor of the gaming Reality Engine and chief technical officer of Trendy, said that his company has been looking for an easy way to bring its games to the Web for some time, but it was only when he saw the first demo of ASM.js earlier this year that he realized he had found what his company wanted.

But the clincher for Stieglitz was that to get a basic demo version of the game running took about a day, an incredibly short time. "Graphics, audio, and input took only a week," he said. The final version of the game isn't due until May, but people with a browser that supports ASM.js -- right now, that's Firefox, Chrome, and Opera -- can play the rough preview of the game immediately.

Martin Best, Mozilla's game platform strategist, noted that the pace of development on ASM.js has impressed him.

Monster Madness runs at a full 60 frames-per-second, even though it's still being worked on.

(Credit: Trendy Entertainment)

"We have spent the months since ASM.js and Emscripten [demo] to squeeze more performance out of them," he said. "We're excited that it's taken only six months from the first real demo showing it off to a commercial game using it. There's no additional technology required. It's just the open web."

Being "just" the open Web is a bet that Mozilla has been gambling on since it was founded. Even though ASM.js performance is only about 40 percent of native code in Firefox, and even less in Chrome, Vlad Vukicevic, engineering director for Firefox at Mozilla and the inventor of the in-browser, 3D graphics-rendering protocol WebGL, prefers the current pace to the glacial pace of WebGL -- which, he said a bit sourly, took Microsoft three years to adopt.

However, there were other games in town that Stieglitz could've chosen instead of ASM.js. Trendy tried a Flash code compiler, but found it to be "slow" and suffering from inconsistent behavior between browsers because the Chrome plugin for the compiler was based on Google's Pepper project.

"We were worried that Flash might not be around in two years," he said. And when the company looked at Google's NaCl and PNaCl, he said he hit another problem: having to test it on too many different kinds of processors.

Trendy has plans to add in-game purchasing, which it expects will be easy since it's based on the Web.

(Credit: Trendy Entertainment)

"I'm very suspicious of putting processor-specific code on the Web. That's not really what the Web is," he said. And yet, he conceded that had he not seen the Emscripten demo, Trendy likely would've have gone with Google.

Vukicevic said that the company still had work to do on ASM.js.

"We have to encourage the other browsers to fully support it," he said. On the performance side, ASM.js doesn't yet support the complex multi-threaded chips in today's computers and devices, another issue that will have to be faced.

Perhaps the biggest victory for the nascent ASM.js is that it passed Stieglitz's "mom test."

"I sent the link [to Monster Madness] to my mom, and she opened it and began playing without any instructions," he said.

Monster Madness is a long way from Crysis-level graphics. But if Flash is the Big Bad of HTML5's story, ASM.js may eventually prove to be the final stake in its heart

Blockbuster to call it quits in the UK

The move follows the decision by parent company Dish to shut down all company-owned stores in the United States.

(Credit: Blockbuster)

Blockbuster is closing the doors on all of its remaining stores in the UK.

The decision was revealed in a statement Thursday by Moorfields Corporate Recovery, which was in administrative charge of the Blockbuster UK chain. All 91 remaining stores in the UK will close by December 16, resulting in a loss of 808 jobs, according to Moorfields. Any items still in stock will be sold by December 15 at up to 90 percent off the regular price.

An FAQ posted on Blockbuster's UK site offers full details for existing customers and subscribers.

Blockbuster's UK business had been placed into the hands of administrators in January. Investment group Gordon Brothers bought 264 stores in March, but that effort failed to pay off, forcing the chain back into administrative hands."It is with regret that we have to make today's announcement, we appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their professionalism and support over the past month," joint administrators Simon Thomas and Nick O'Reilly said in a statement. "Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a buyer for the group as a going concern and as a result had to take the regrettable action to close the remaining stores."

This latest move is a further nail in the coffin of the once-popular DVD rental chain. In November, Blockbuster parent Dish announced plans to close all 300 of the remaining company-owned retail outlets as well as distribution centers in the US.