In recent times firms such as Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft have been targets of surprise raids by Chinese officials. Unlike in other countries the legal protections offered to business are few. Michelle Price and Norihiko Shirouzu wrote about how companies have learnt to live with the raids:

• Companies have started conducting mock raids to teach employees how to act in the event that one happens.
• Workers are encouraged to offer their raiders tea or coffee and to have lunch with them as a sign of cooperation and openness.
• Exchanging business cards is seen as polite and can help to build a rapport, as well as allow legal experts to track down raiders through China’s plethora of bureaucracies.
• The raiders maybe distracted by other things at their targets’ offices. In at least one case a raider spent most of his time flirting with a secretary.

Read about the relative absence of legal protections in China, why it matters which organization is doing the raiding, and more over here.

Source: Reuters

Square Enix, the publisher of the Tomb Raider games, announced that the latest installment of its franchise would be exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox, and would not be available at first on Sony’s PlayStation. This has surprised and upset gamers as the Tomb Raider franchise has typically been a cross-platform one. Kyle Orland outlined the business reasons for the decision:

• Games these days have monster production costs that approach $100 million.
• This means that publishers have to sell millions of copies before they can begin making a profit.
• There is a lot of risk, but an exclusivity deal mitigates that risk. Microsoft will have paid Square Enix a substantial amount for exclusivity rights, reducing the game’s breakeven point.
• Exclusivity will also mean that Xbox will better promote and market the game, further driving sales.
• As this is a “timed exclusive” the game will eventually launch on other platforms after a delay, meaning that in the long run the publisher eventually will reach its entire customer base.
• From Microsoft’s perspective this will help sell more Xbox consoles, and a greater install base mean it’ll eventually be able to charge more software licensing fees, creating a virtuous revenue boosting cycle.

Read about the likely business details of the arrangement, why the internet rage will die down, and more over here.

Source: ArsTechnica

Visitors to Times Square will be familiar with the individuals dressed up in costumes offering to take pictures with visitors and (sometimes aggressively) asking for tips in return. Edgar Sandoval and Celeste Katz wrote about their plans to unionize:

• The police have launched an educational campaign informing tourists that tipping the characters is optional.
• The government has also announced plans to register the performers due to concerns about their behaviour.
• Performers are unhappy with both developments, arguing that they are being treated as criminals.
• 50 of the characters are planning to meet and discuss ways that they can form a group and speak with one voice.

Read more over here.

Source: New York Daily News

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the 2014 installment of the long-running Call of Duty franchise released a Multiplayer Reveal Trailer yesterday. Dan Seitz took a look at some of the technologies showcased in the trailer and how far we are from developing them:

• Soldiers in the game will have exosuits that allow players to get a speed boost or allow for killing stomps. Real life exosuits are less focused on such “superpowers” and more on providing support such as allowing soldiers to carry heavier loads.
• Seemingly inspired by Xbox’s Titanfall the game also features jump jets. The ones the military is developing are too bulky to be used in combat. Instead they’re for providing quick response medical aid.
• Ray guns. They’re in the game and we have the technology to set targets on fire with invisible rays as well. But real world counterparts require massive amounts of energy and need to be mounted on giant vehicles.

Read more about how we’re doing on enemy highlighting systems and other details over here.

Source: Uproxx

Jet packs based on water propulsion are the next big tourist industry pull writes Jennifer Medina:

• On coastal towns people can enjoy 15 minutes of airtime for about $200.
• The activity is so popular that waiting lists can be up to a month long.
• Canny operators give tourists Facebook ready photos and high definition videos of the experience, professionally edited to fit their favourite song.
• At least one couple has gotten married while they were in the air.
• Supply is limited in part due to the cost of the jetpacks themselves – they used to cost $100,000 each. Nowadays though it’s possible to purchase one for as little as $10,000.
• Another factor constricting supply is officials cracking down on the practice due to complaints about noise and scared residents mistaking users of them for the beginnings of an alien invasion.

Read more about the business, what those who have tried it have to say about it, and more over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution

The Economist took an exhaustive look at the sex industry. In particular they analyzed at the factors that affect supply and demand:

• Prices vary with the type of services provided – those who are willing to have sex with multiple individuals at the same time can make the most.
• They also vary with the physical attributes of the seller. Blonde women with long hair who are described as athletic and have at least a D have the highest earnings.
• In fact breast implants will make sense for many flat chested prostitutes who can upgrade to a D cup for $3,700. This will boost hourly wages by about $40 and pay for itself after 90 hours.
• Just like in other job markets having a degree boosts wages as well – likely because educated prostitutes have clients that are paying for longer, more intimate sessions, rather than just sex.

Then the news magazine delved into why hourly rates for prostitutes have tumbled:

• They have decreased by close to $100 an hour, and the global financial crisis explains at least some of that.
• Migration which has led to an influx of lower earning sex workers has also brought down prices.
• The rise of the internet has allowed more women to get into the trade more discretely further boosting supply.
• While demand has likely decreased – free sex is easier to find than ever before with apps such as Tinder, and the ease with which couples can get divorces means there are fewer sexually frustrated marriages.
• The internet has moderated the effects of demand shocks. During the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions an influx of prostitutes to the cities where they were held limited price increases.

Read more details, see visualizations of the data, and find out why The Economist ultimately supports legalizing prostitution over here.

Source: The Economist

Over at Vox Brad Plumer wrote an exceptionally good article about how casinos get players to play for extended periods:

• Casinos are designed so that guests don’t have to turn at 90 degree angles – doing so activates decision making sections of the brain, and they don’t want that.
• Slots are now responsible for up to 85% of a casino’s profits. Regulators have encouraged them as a cheap source of tax revenue in challenging economic times, without the negative stigmas associated with other types of gambling such as poker.
• Technological advances have let casinos better manipulate human emotions through slots. They used to be all or nothing machines, but these days the machine can give you 30 cents back if you play for a dollar – the brain registers such “partial wins” as real wins.
• Gambling houses these days come with ergonomic seats that don’t cut off circulation and allow players to stay seated for hours.
• They also design seats so that buttons are as close to the player as possible, requiring very little movement of them.
• Casinos have learnt that having players feed coins into machines gives them time to think. Instead they encourage the use of cards with magnetic stripes, so the money being lost seems less real.
• The stereotypical gambler in Las Vegas is now a 35 year old mother of two.

Read how casinos use food to retain your attention, why some players are irritated when they win the jackpot, how machines skirt the edge of the law by making adjustments to the volatility of machines based on your mood and much more over here.

Source: Vox

Hollywood is struggling, writes Pamela McClintock. They have to spend more money than ever before to convince people to go watch their films.

• The latest Transformers film has become China’s all-time top grossing film, making over $300 million.
• It only cost about $5 million to market the film in China – incredible returns when compared to the $100 million spent on advertising in North America.
• Marketing costs for films have shot through the roof; in 2007 the original Transformers spent $150 million on ads. Now ad campaigns are around the $200 million mark – a 33% increase.
• And marketing campaigns in general are becoming less effective. They rely heavily on television but there’s no one single show that commands a wide audience. So movies have to be advertised on multiple timeslots and networks.
• Yet television spots aren’t getting any cheaper. They can go for as much as $700,000.
• Executives seem to underappreciate the power of social media. They only spend about $1 million marketing on it, but it plays an outsized influence on people’s movie preferences.

Read more about how the Chinese government helps keep marketing costs down abroad, why movie revenues are trending down, and more over here.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

The Economist took a strong stand against streetcars:

• Proponents of streetcars note that they bring prosperity and development. Areas in Arizona, Washington D.C., and Texas are all considering implementing lines.
• However it’s much cheaper to build a bus line. The capital cost per mile of streetcars can go up to $75 million, while the equivalent amount for buses is just $30 million.
• Moreover buses are able to move around obstacles, while streetcars are stuck until the obstacle is removed. Thus more often than not streetcars adds to congestion rather than alleviate it.
• Streetcars are also slow, and typically have more frequent stops over walkable distances.
• Developers seem to like building them because they’re ‘sexier’ than buses and because they attract tourists. All in all though the benefits aren’t worth the costs.

Read more of the argument, find out why they work better in Europe, and see details of the cost-benefit analysis over here.

Source: The Economist

The American national security establishment did not react well to the Red Wedding

We’re in the golden age of television and pesky business like running the world shouldn’t get in the way of enjoying it. Molly Fitzpatrick wrote about the TV watching habits of the world’s foremost leaders:

• Think of any moderately popular TV show and Obama has probably claimed to have watched it. Critics suggest he has an addiction while others think he merely watches enough snippets to keep in touch with his young support base.
• The Queen of the United Kingdom visited the studio where Game of Thrones is filmed, but refused to say whether or not she watched it, and declined an opportunity to sit on the Iron Throne.
• Meanwhile her Prime Minister, David Cameron, loves murder mysteries so much he’s used them to justify his national security strategy.
• Biden – America’s Vice President – being Biden has admitted to watching the Toddlers and Tiaras spinoff “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” on…Air Force One of all locations.
• In contrast the Dalai Lama professes a love for the Discovery Channel.
• Canada’s Prime Minister loves the Canadian Murdoch Mysteries so much he even made a cameo appearance on the show where he played a character who doesn’t recognize the Prime Minister.

Read more about the world leader who loved Mickey Mouse cartoons, the surprising individual whose obsessed with The West Wing, and what Popes past and present like to watch over here.

Source: The Guardian