Following the leaks by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden that began in the summer of 2013, encryption and encryption backdoors have become hot-button topics of discussion.
That's because many companies, including Apple and Google, have been going out of their way to encrypt products after the public learned that the US had embarked on a massive, legally and morally suspect electronic spying operation against its own citizenry and the global community at large. Fearing encryption is undermining their surveillance capabilities, government officials from the US and across the pond in the UK have been increasingly decrying encryption or at least demanding a government-accessible backdoor to unlock said encryption.
One of the latest rants against encryption occurred Wednesday.
It looks like the class action lawsuit against Stratasys & MakerBot is proceeding, the latest court docs were filed last week.
This is a federal securities class action against Stratasys and certain of its officers for violations of the federal securities laws. Plaintiffs bring this action under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§78j(b) and 78t(a), and SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, on behalf of themselves and all persons or entities who purchased or acquired the publicly traded common stock of Stratasys (the “Class”) between January 6, 2014 and April 28, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Plaintiffs allege that, during the Class Period, Defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate the Company’s stock price by both misrepresenting and concealing the true operational and financial conditions of the Company and its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, MakerBot Industries, LLC (“MakerBot”).
MakerBot Begins to Lose Footing to Competitors …15
D. To Maintain Its Market Position, the Company Rushed MakerBot’s 5th Generation Printers to the Market Despite Severe Quality and
Reliability Issues……….16
1. The Design of the 5th Generation Printers Was Severely Flawed………….18
2. MakerBot’s 5th Generation Printers Suffered from the Use of
Non-Conforming, Uninspected, and Low Quality Materials…………………24
E. Consumers Rejected MakerBot’s 5th Generation Printers, Resulting in
Negative Feedback, Product Returns, and Warranty Claims……………………………26
1. MakerBot Received an Avalanche of Complaints and Negative
Feedback from Consumers After the 5th Generation Printers Were Released ………..26
2. MakerBot Was Deluged with Expensive Product Returns and
Warranty Claims as a Result of the Defective 5th Generation Printers…..27
3. Returns and Warranty Claims Related to the 5th Generation Printers
Were Expensive and Hurt the Company’s Margins …………………………….31
F. MakerBot’s Defective 5th Generation Printers Caused the Company’s Sales Growth to Plummet and Disrupted Its Distribution Channels ………………………….32
1. MakerBot’s Direct Sales of the 5th Generation Printers Were
Especially Poor ………………………………………32
2. MakerBot’s Indirect Sales Through Distributors Were Also Poor…………33
G. Numerous Facts Support Defendants’ Knowledge of MakerBot’s Undisclosed
Problems and Their Impact on the Company ………..34
1. Defendants’ Public Statements Confirmed Their Knowledge of the Problems Associated with MakerBot’s 5th Generation Printers ……………34
2. MakerBot’s Production and Sale of the 5th Generation Printers Were
Core Operations of the Company, Supporting Defendants’ Knowledge…36
3. Former MakerBot Employees Confirmed Defendants’ Knowledge of
the Problems Associated with the 5th Generation Printers……………………38
H. Defendants Misled the Market and Failed to Disclose MakerBot’s Product
Quality Issues and the Resulting Financial Problems Affecting the Company …..39
I. Defendants Were Motivated to Maintain a Positive Market Perception of the Company, and the Company’s Artificially Inflated Stock Value……………………..42
J. The Company’s Stock Price Ultimately Collapsed When the Market Learned
of the True Extent of the Company’s Problems……..43
V. DEFENDANTS’ FALSE AND MISLEADING CLASS PERIOD STATEMENTS
AND OMISSIONS ………………46
A. Defendants’ False and Misleading Statements and Omissions from
January 6 Through May 8, 2014 ………………………….47
1. Press Release and Interview Regarding the Release of MakerBot’s 5th Generation Printers …………………………………47
2. Press Release Regarding the Company’s 2014 Financial Guidance
and Statements at the Needham & Company Growth Conference…………50
3. Press Release, Conference Call, and Annual Filing Regarding the Company’s Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Results ……..52
B. Defendants’ False and Misleading Statements and Omissions from
May 9 Through August 6, 2014…………………………..59
C. Defendants’ False and Misleading Statements and Omissions from
August 7 through November 4, 2014……………………64
1. Press Release, Conference Call, and SEC Filings Regarding the Company’s Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results ……………………………64
2. Statements from the Company’s 2014 Analyst Day Conference Call,
the Announcement of Defendant Pettis’ Removal as MakerBot CEO,
and Media Day Event………………………………69
D. Defendants’ False and Misleading Statements and Omissions from
November 5, 2014 through February 1, 2015………..74
VI. THE TRUTH BEGINS TO EMERGE BUT DEFENDANTS CONTINUE TO MISLEAD THE MARKET …………………………………………..80
VII. THE FULL TRUTH IS FINALLY REVEALED……………..89
The Supreme Court’s ruling that marriage equality is the law of the land in all 50 states not only means that same-sex couples can now get married in any state, but also that any married couples living in a state where same-sex marriages were formerly illegal can now receive federal marriage benefits. Well, now that the U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has put the ruling into action, it does.
Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell that every couple has the same right to participate in the institution of marriage, whether the partners are of the same-sex or opposite sexes, I directed Justice Department staff to work with the agencies to ensure that the ruling be given full effect across the federal government. Thanks to their leadership and the quick work of the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, today I am proud to announce that the critical programs for veterans and elderly and disabled Americans, which previously could not give effect to the marriages of couples living in states that did not recognize those marriages, will now provide federal recognition for all marriages nationwide.
This is one of the reasons the SCOTUS ruling was such a major win. Previously, even though marriages remained legal when carried over to states where they couldn’t be performed, benefits like social security had to be given out based on the laws where a couple lived. So now not only can people get married to whomever they love all across the country, but anything that marriage legally entitles them to will follow wherever their lives take them.
Truly, we are living in a freer country thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling—no matter who wants to think otherwise.
In a speech at a policy conference yesterday (see transcript), she listed numerous reasons why Internet access really is necessary in the modern age:
Not a necessity... during a time when the majority of Fortune 500 companies post new job listings strictly on websites? And where if you are fortunate enough to secure a position, your new boss expects you to have an e-mail address?
Not a necessity... where, in a growing number of states, those who are income-eligible can only apply for benefits or aid online?
Not a necessity... when most colleges and universities post and accept student admissions electronically?
Not a necessity... as the evidence grows daily, on how technology is bridging long-standing gaps when it comes to the delivery, quality of service, and cost efficiencies for access to health care and wellness?
And when you make that face-to-face appointment or conduct business in person, when was the last time you bought or referred to a folded map when you traveled to that destination?
This could be seen as just a debate over semantics. O'Rielly doesn't argue that Internet access is unimportant, rather he says the word "'necessity' should be reserved to those items that humans cannot live without, such as food, shelter, and water."
The couture shows, currently underway in Paris, could be said to represent the pinnacle of femininity in fashion. Couture is about women, and the most fanciful, elaborately constructed gowns a designer can conjure to clothe them. There are no couture men’s shows.
So it was notable that John Galliano, in his first return to Paris haute couture since his firing from Dior, sent a trio of guys down the runway at his amazing show for Maison Margiela yesterday (July 8). But more than just carrying on fashion’s ongoing obsession with blurring gender lines, the models played perfectly into the guiding principles that made the collection a resounding success: strangeness and transformation.
They’re not exactly burly, of course.(Francois Durand/Getty Images)
One look featured in the show appeared to be made of burlap rice sacks, cut and sewn into a coat and then delicately embroidered with a brightly colored peacock. (It was a much fancier version of Lucy Ricardo’s burlap gown.)
Another piece, in vibrant Yves Klein blue, looked like it started life as a shop apron before deciding to extend into a dress, and featured a girly bow morphed into utilitarian pockets.
Getting hitched.(Francois Durand/Getty Images)
The climax of the show arrived in a bridal gown that recalled origami made of a duvet—perhaps a direct nod to house founder Martin Margiela’s use of home furnishings—and wrapped strategically in clear plastic. It was a symbol of femininity, gleefully subverted.
Kind of like those male models: Roan Louch, John Whiles, and Carl Hjelm Sandqvist. Waifish, with high cheekbones and long hair, they weren’t even immediately recognizable as men, and consequently showed that idealized femininity—or the fashion industry’s conception of it, at any rate—isn’t restricted to females.
It was weird and dramatic, as Galliano has been throughout his career, and as has been his tenure thus far at Maison Margiela. This is the same designer, after all, who inventively sent models skulking and creeping down the catwalk in place of their usual gait.
At the same time, Galliano managed to incorporate his signatures, such as red-carpet ready pieces that will undoubtedly have celebrities like Amal Clooney, who Galliano dressed for the Met Gala, lining up.
And yet that motif of turning one thing into another—burlap sacks into a coat, a shop apron into a dress, men into women—was also very much in keeping with the deconstructive ethos and experimentations of Martin Margiela.
It was Galliano’s best collection to date in his new role—a terrific fusion of his vision and the house founder’s—and shows that Galliano has managed to do what was once unthinkable: he’s transformed Maison Margiela itself.
A butt-kicking princess, a cat with a bow and arrow, and a fearless female fighter pilot: during their panel today at San Diego Comic-Con, Oni Press announced three new titles from a diverse line-up of comic creators, and The Mary Sue is pleased to be able to present exclusive previews and interviews for each.
The hero of writer and artist Natalie Nourigat’s Over the Surface is Ava Lefevre, an aspiring fighter pilot undeterred by the fact that her fictitious country of Solvera refuses to allow women into its Army. Nourigat told TMS via email that Ava is “an amalgamation of people like Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart. She loves flying, she’s good at it, and she knows better than to let anyone else define her limitations, especially on the basis of something like gender.”
Nourigat explained to TMS that Over the Surface‘s art was heavily influenced by actual World War-era propaganda:
I knew I wanted Ava to be an aspiring war-time pilot, but as I thought more about her motivation and the elements at play in her country’s conflict with a neighboring country, I became particularly interested in how military recruitment operates, what effect combat has on pilots, how technological advances have affected warfare and people’s conceptions of combat, etc. I looked to history for examples of how different scenarios have already played out in our world, and especially how they are reported and perceived by the general public. World Wars 1 & 2 have pretty fascinating trends in propaganda and reporting that gave me lots of ideas for what I could explore in Over The Surface. I’m horrified and fascinated by the idea that war efforts need marketing teams; that citizens need to be sold on a war in order to support it.
The Mighty Zodiac, written by J. Torres with art from Corin “Rin” Howell, concerns an entirely different type of army. Here’s Oni’s synopsis for the title:
When six stars fall out of the sky and fall to earth, Master Long sends a message to his students, all members of the Zodiac Clan, to collect the stars and return them to their base. However, the Moon Rabbit Army is also after the stars, and will stop at nothing to make sure they don’t get back to Master Long – even if it means snuffing them out. It’s up to the Zodiac Clan to not only collect the stars, but protect their ailing Master Long from the Moon Rabbit Army’s might.
As Torres told The Mary Sue, “who doesn’t want to see a dog wielding a samurai sword and a cat with a bow and arrow take down some rabbit invaders from the moon?” Torres’ love of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Usagi Yojimbo influenced the series (while Howell says she took some inspiration from Disney’s Robin Hood and Guarnido’s Blacksad), but the title clearly has its foundations in the Chinese Zodiac. According to Torres,
Zodiac means “circle of animals” and The Mighty Zodiac are a clan of animal warriors based on the Chinese Zodiac who act as peacekeepers, defenders of the weak, righters of wrongs. While other myths explain why those particular twelve animals were chosen to be in the zodiac, we have our own explanation and backstory as part of our world building. It’s a big, diverse cast of characters who have been fun to flesh out and make distinct and entertaining in a sprawling world of magic and fantasy and butt-kicking action.
Our story opens with the death of the Blue Dragon, one of the four guardians of the sky. With his passing, seven stars fall out of the sky and with that comes a darkness that threatens to destroy The Mighty Zodiac. Those stars will help the Zodiac return order and light to the world unless the Moon Rabbit Army gets to them first!
Another Castle, from writer Andrew Wheeler and artist Paulina Ganucheau, tells the story of a very unconventional princess who, in Ganucheau’s words, demonstrates that “femininity isn’t weakness”:
As a kid my princess dolls never needed saving, they did the saving. It was their job to slay the monster. Seeing a book reflect that and to be actually WORKING on that story is a childhood dream realized. My part in this comic is for that little girl inside of my heart that knew her princess dolls could punch the great evil into the sky and save the kingdom.
I think it’s a really important choice. A lot of times when people create strong female characters, femininity is seen as detrimental or less than. I don’t agree with that. Femininity is strength. It’s power. Like when people say pink is girly, as if it’s a bad thing. Of course it’s girly and girls RULE! I don’t want to diminish that. Pink powerful princesses for life.
Wheeler explained that he was inspired to write an atypical princess story because the damsel in distress trope is “so ripe for subversion! It’s embarrassing that this cliche, this idea that the role of the leading woman in so many stories is to be saved by a man, is still so prevalent. And if the idea won’t die, well, we’ll keep twisting it until it breaks. We’ll keep mocking it until it’s so embarrassed that it shuffles away.”
It’s heartening to see Oni’s newest titles demonstrating the imaginative, important, and highly original stories that diverse creators have to tell. As Nourigat explained to TMS,
I think it’s extremely important (and rewarding!) to seek out and read the writing of people with different experiences, identities, and beliefs than our own. Part of being a human being on this planet is making our best effort to understand one another. When we write, we can show people the world through our eyes, and invite them into our experience, which they might NEVER have access to otherwise. I love autobiography for this reason, especially from people with different racial, cultural, and sexual identities than my own. It’s a really intimate look at a new experience of the world, a new point of view, which gives me a slightly better understanding of the whole picture. Who wouldn’t want to pursue better understanding the world?
Or, as Ganucheau puts it:
Women are underrepresented in all forms of media and in an industry dominated heavily by male characters and creators, the books written by women or drawn by women or staring women give a new perspective and sensibility on things. Do you want to read the same stale stories over and over again? I sure don’t.
Neither do we. What do you think of Oni Press’ newest titles?
WASHINGTON—Saying that in most places they are piled up 5 or 6 feet high, a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center revealed that every one of the country’s ditches is currently overflowing with the children of worried parents. “Following an exhaustive survey of ditches and gutters across the U.S., we found that every single one is presently filled beyond capacity with young children whose mothers and fathers are, at this moment, wondering where their kids are and when they’ll be back home,” said lead researcher Alicia Smith, noting that of the millions of 4- to 10-year-olds nationwide who had been allowed to play unsupervised in the backyard for a few minutes, bike to a nearby convenience store, or walk to a friend’s house just across the street, virtually all of them are now wedged in between countless others in a muddy, filth-strewn drainage ...
A brown and white baby goat stood upon his hind legs and made repeated efforts to head butt a friendly horse, who more than anything, seemed to be entertained by the persistent youngster.
The Hydro Hammock is a portable hot tub complete with a separate heating system. The synthetic material of the hammock means that it can be used out in cold as a hammock or at the beach as a sort of in-ground pool. It’s worth noting that the hammocks come in two different versions–a single- and double-layer version–and the heater that actually makes the thing hot is sold separate. The folks behind the gadget are currently raising funds via a Kickstarter campaign.
The Hydro Hammock works as a Hammock, Hammock Hot Tub, Portable HotTub Liner for sand or snow, Hammock WaterBed, Swinging Pool.. Our Water Heater System heats pressure water added by a garden hose, can draw from a stream or lake, or just recirculates the water in the Hammock heating it to your desire. The Water Heater System also works as an outdoor Shower which with a basin and strainer / filter one may take a 2 hour shower with less then 3 gallons of water.
An undersea, fiber-optic cable that supplies Internet connectivity to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was reportedly cut more than 48 hours ago, taking tens of thousands of people offline. Access is being gradually restored to the US territory, located north of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean.
IT&E, the primary telecommunications provider, said yesterday that "in the next 2 to 3 days, we’ll be able to provide a better timeline for the full restoration of services." While IT&E attempts to fix the undersea cable, it has partially restored service by reviving an old microwave link.
Not knowing when a natural disaster might strike can make it difficult to create an efficient and fast way to produce large volumes of shelters at a moment’s notice. Japanese prefabricated building maker Daiwa Lease has solved this conundrum by setting up a production line in emerging Asian countries that can be efficiently diverted to make temporary housing units for Japan when a disaster strikes.
The “New Temporary House” (NTH) was designed by architect Shigeru Ban, who won the Pritzker prize for his innovative and low-cost shelters for disaster survivors, including recyclable paper tube houses used by refugees and evacuees from Rwanda to Turkey, to India, to Japan.
Survivors of natural or manmade disasters are often stuck for months in cramped and unsanitary mass shelters, where disease, and disillusionment spread quickly. After the massive tsunami that struck Japan’s northeast coast in March 2011 for example, many evacuees slept on cold gymnasium floors for months as the country’s prefab makers struggled to complete enough temporary housing units.
Daiwa Lease realized the potential in making a single unit that could serve multiple needs. Daiwa’s new plan may be have been developed just in time. Scientists warn that a tremor of magnitude eight or above along the Nankai trough, a fault line that runs the length of Japan’s south coast, could leave hundreds of thousands dead and even more homeless. Daiwa Lease, which supplied a tenth of the 53,000 temporary housing units after the 2011 tsunami, was worried that simply scrambling to find spare temporary units and factory capacity after a disaster has already happened would not be sufficient in the event of such a quake.
Meanwhile, demand for weather-resilient and sanitary low-cost housing in emerging Asian nations is rising, but local homebuilders continue to focus on the expanding middle class rather than those at the bottom of the ladder. Realizing disaster housing and low-cost housing shared many requirements—inexpensive, quick and easy to construct, suitable for families—Daiwa Lease realized the potential in making a single unit that could serve both needs.
“We are matching the two markets together. There’s huge demand for low-cost housing in emerging nations, but the governments aren’t doing anything and private companies there are only focused on high-end housing, where there’s bigger profits,” Hideto Kobayashi general manager of Daiwa Lease’s overseas development planning division, told Quartz.
One of Daiwa Lease’s big selling points is the durability of their products, which are meant to be used long-term. Daiwa Lease is hoping to bring its housing units to markets across Asia including the Philippines, where the population is rapidly growing and there is a shortage of almost four million low-cost homes. The Filipino NTH unit is estimated to cost around 300,000 pesos, the upper limit for accommodation to be “low-cost” housing in the region. The company is also conducting a feasibility study in Indonesia and would like to expand across other emerging Asian nations with a deficit of inexpensive housing. In each, it will use local construction firms and local laborers to manufacture and construct the houses.
One of Daiwa Lease’s big selling points is the durability of their products which are meant to be used long-term and are therefore of higher quality than existing disaster housing. The units supplied to evacuees of Japan’s 2011 tsunami for example were only designed to last two years and are now molding and falling apart as the search continues for land on which to build more permanent housing.
“The living conditions in the current emergency housing are not good, it has to be said. However, they were built with the aim of supplying shelter as quickly as possible, not providing the best living environment possible. The most important thing was speed,” notes Kobayashi.
The NTH units, in contrast, should last for at least 20 years and include features like wall panels are built with Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP), that Ban says is a light but sturdy material that is also a good insulator, meaning that houses will be less likely to develop mold.
Daiwa Lease NTH house interior.(Daiwa Lease)
Although the NTH has a floor space of just 30 square meters, just over the legal minimum for temporary housing in Japan, its spacious feel demonstrates its architect’s expertise in providing comfort within strict constraints. The residents who lived in temporary housing units fashioned out of stacked shipping containers designed by Ban for the tsunami-damaged town of Onagawa, are reportedly healthier and happier than evacuees in standard-issue units elsewhere.
Japan’s prefab industry is one of the most efficient and sophisticated in the world, and high seismic standards ensure many of its houses are disaster-proof. Daiwa Lease’s next goal is to create a network of suppliers that could quickly respond to disasters when they happen, wherever they are in the world.
“We’re aiming at an international network of disaster housing. After typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last year, we didn’t have enough equipment or funds to respond,” Kobayashi says. “If another country made a request, we would of course respond. But if we had some kind of prior agreement we could get moving immediately after a disaster.”
Follow Sophie on Twitter at Twitter at @Kishakishi. This article is based on Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation’s recent study on the living environment in Japan. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.
The music and typeface industries have a lot in common. Both deal with rampant piracy. Both see artists having to sell their creations as retail work. Both make Kanye West emotional. I'm assuming Kanye gets emotional about music, at least — he's only explicitly said that about fonts.
Intentional or not, Yeezy Display is a statement on both. Designer Tyler Finck has created a bold, all-caps typeface (KANYE HAS NO TIME FOR LOWER CASE) designed with titles, headlines, and quick one-liners in mind.
In Finck's own words:
"With three contextual alternates per character, each word is as fresh as Yeezy's next album, which should probably use this font. Seriously. That's the goal here. It's stencil-ready, with hard edges, round corners, and enough punctuation/accents for latin-based languages (English, German, Icelandic, whatever). Take a look."
It's also priced for the Yeezus that walks among us, at $50,000 — reportedly the cost of one pre-Pink Friday Nicki Minaj verse — which will go toward paying for Finck's wedding. After all, why pay money for a Luxury type when you can buy a luxury type specifically designed for you?
The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management’s system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday.
Christopher Soghoian, the ACLU’s Principal Technologist and an outspoken advocate for privacy and free speech, noticed Thursday that Hacking Team employee Daniele Milan joked about gathering enough Bitcoins to pay for his assassination. His email was dated April 16.
A United Airlines captain threw bullets in a trash bin accessible to passengers and later flushed them down a toilet on board a flight that he was piloting to Germany.
A United spokeswoman said Thursday that the pilot should not have thrown the bullets in the toilet. She said the pilot hasn't been fired but that the incident is still under investigation.
Airline spokeswoman Karen May said the pilot is allowed to carry a gun on domestic flights under a post-9/11 federal program intended to make planes harder to hijack. She said the pilot dumped the bullets in a waste bin then in a toilet after realizing he had them in his bag on a June 23 flight from Houston to Munich. Germany has strict gun laws.
"He did incorrectly dispose of the ammunition," May said, "but it is likely that the pilot is not going to face any criminal charges." (Permalink)
“What are you?” I am the Dragonborn. “No, I mean, what’s your gender?” Dragonborn, learn to listen better. “No, just tell me what’s in your pants!” Forty eight heads of lettuce and an enchanted battle axe.
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Another Castle, from writer Andrew Wheeler and artist Paulina Ganucheau, tells the story of a very unconventional princess who, in Ganucheau’s words, demonstrates that “femininity isn’t weakness”:
Super Opinionated.
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OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy
