Thursday, August 6, 2015

BSH mban të palëvizur normën bazë të interesit

Banka e Shqipërisë ka njoftuar këtë të enjte se ka vendosur të mbajë të pandryshuar normën bazë të interesit në nivelin 2 për qind.

Sipas një njoftimi për shtyp të këtij institucioni, vendimi u mor në mbledhjen e Këshillit Mbikëqyrës.

Kjo strukturë vendosi pasi shqyrtoi raportin tremujor të politikës monetare, saktësohet më tej në njoftimin zyrtar.

Veliaj: Subjektet, 1 javë kohë për lirimin e hapësirave publike

Lokalet që kanë nxjerrë tavolinat në trotuar apo në rrugë, ata që kanë zënë vendparkim me blloqe betoni apo vazo lulesh, si dhe hapësira pranë stadiumit “Dinamo”, e cila është zënë me makina për shitje kanë afat deri në fund të javës tjetër.

Kryetari i Bashkisë, Erion Veliaj deklaroi të enjten se lirimi i hapësirave publike do të nisë nga njësia numër 5, ku dhe prezantoi administratoren Violeta Kile.

Veliaj vizitoi edhe kopshtin numër 42, ngjitur me njësinë 5, për të parë nëse është gati për të pritur vogëlushët në shtator. Ndërkohë, i pyetur nëse do të mbajë premtimin për banesat sociale, ai tha se po verifikohen listat.

Kryetari i Bashkisë së kryeqytetit premtoi edhe fillimin e dhënies së kredive të buta, por kjo do të ndodhë në një kohë të mëvonshme, pasi  buxheti i bashkisë në këto momente nuk premton për pagesat e inetresave të kredive të buta.

The 10 smartest kids' bicycles

(Pedal) power to the (little) people
Adults tend to view bicycles as “mobility solutions” — tools for getting to work or getting in shape. But to a child, a bike is something more, something mythical. It is the mechanised embodiment of freedom, a simple machine that is powered by legs yet faster than feet. Bikes represent power – the power to move ourselves – during a period of our lives when we have very little of it. Bikes are important to kids, and that’s showing no signs of changing. And cycling options for young riders are more varied and interesting than ever. Herewith, we present a highly subjective list of the 10 smartest bikes on the market, including a carbon-monocoque balance bike for cutting-edge toddlers, a kid-sized cargo hauler and banana-seat neighborhood prowler with classic look and a famous name. (Credit: Zumzum)

The latest iPhone 6s features, specs, release date, rumours and leaked pictures - or should that be the iPhone 7?

9to5Mac obtained images of what appears to be the iPhone 6s
9to5Mac obtained images of what appears to be the iPhone 6s Photo: 9to5Mac
  by https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010130521770
 
10:00AM BST 05 Aug 2015
Comments1 Comment
 
Few events work the technology world into a frenzy quite like an iPhone launch, and this year's anticipated event looks set to be no exception. Read on for the latest rumours, features and specs circulating the internet.

When will it be launched?

There is a significant size difference between the iPhone 5s (L), launched September 2013, and iPhone 6 Plus (R), launched September 2014
New iPhone launches have settled into a regular schedule which sees new models each September. For several years we have seen a major update every other year, with more incremental improvements carrying s or c monikers. For instance, in September 2012 we got an all-new iPhone 5, followed by the updated iPhone 5s and 5c in September 2013.
The new handset is likely to be launched during a keynote speech by Apple chief executive Tim Cook, with additional speeches from senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller and senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue, who helped to showcase the 6 and 6 Plus last year.
The new model will run iOS 9, the newest version of Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch software which was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June.
Updates and features include Siri becoming more proactive in recognising your behaviour, longer battery life and improvements to existing apps including Maps and Notes. The new News app aims to provide an experience akin to reading a magazine, with big glossy visuals.

What will it be called?

A popular concept image for the iPhone 6
Good question. Going by the above pattern, and assuming that Apple keeps a small (4.7-inch) and large (5.5-inch) version, designating the latter 'Plus', we'll have the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
However, there are also rumours that we will get a third phone this year - an iPhone 6c. Earlier in May Apple appeared to leak a picture of what could be the iPhone 6c on its site - what looked like an updated iPhone 5c with an Touch ID sensor on its home button. However, it's more likely this was a poorly-rendered picture of an original 5c, and the image has since been removed from the site.
Despite all this, Apple could choose to buck its own naming convention and go straight in with the iPhone 7. We'll just have to wait to find out.

When will it go on sale?

The iPhone 6s' sale date has been given away in a leaked internal email from Vodafone. The email reveals the newest handset will go on sale on September 25, with pre-orders being accepted from September 18. The memo, seen byMobile News, does not clarify the exact name of the model, called simply 'the new iPhone'.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has asked its suppliers to producea record number of new models - between 85 million and 90 million compared to last year's 70-80 million, suggesting strong faith the new generation of iPhones will outsell its predecessors.
One thing we can expect is to see the return of the queues snaking around Apple stores across the globe. For the launch of the Apple Watch, Apple decided on a soft 'online-only' launch, meaning the April 24 date effectively only meant some models started shipping that day and were not available to buy in the shops. Retail chief Angela Ahrendts told staff in a memo seen by the Telegraph that not every new Apple product would be launched in this manner. "We all love those blockbuster Apple product launch days - and there will be many more to come," she said.
So regardless of when the new phone goes on sale, we're likely to see the same old faces at the head of the queues.

What new features can we expect?

How designer Martin Hajek envisions a home button-less iPhone
The Taptic Engine and Force Touch from the new MacBook and Apple Watch are rumoured to be making an appearance on the new iPhone, giving users new ways of interacting with their handset. Force Touch detects how hard the user is pressing and allows different actions to be carried out accordingly. Press the fast-forward button in a video player, and you can vary the speed at which it skips by pressing lighter or harder, for instance.
In late June it was reported that initial production had started on two 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones, both equipped with Force Touch technology.
The next version of the iPhone will see the “biggest camera jump ever”, offering quality to rival a DSLR, according to blogger John Gruber. He reported in November that the new device would include a "weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery.” What exactly the “two lens” system refers to is unclear, and is likely to remain so until the launch. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities claims the next camera will receive a welcome bump up to 12MP, with the front camera capable of recording 1080p video at 60fps, 240fps in slow motion mode and flash support.
According to research from Barclays, the 6s will sport a new near-field communication (NFC) NXP 66VP2 chip, up from the 65V10 used in the 6 and 6 Plus. Another new STMicro chip is also likely for inclusion, which could be used for any function requiring data security, including soft SIM, health or biometric data, secure multimedia streaming, Enterprise authentication, or Automotive.
The composition of the iPhone 6 camera lens
Sapphire glass - a scratch resistant material used in screens - is another likely feature. It was widely slated for an appearance on the iPhone 6 butmanufacturing problems reportedly got in the way.
There could also be a new processor - the A9 - produced by Samsung. It will be smaller, faster and use less power, just as you'd expect from a new chip. The current A8 series use a 20nm process and the new ones would use 14nm. RAM is also likely to be upgraded to 2GB from the current 1GB.
One unusual update could be a safety feature that uses the vibrating motor, "air foils" or ejecting batteries to spin the handset in mid-air if it's dropped and ensure that it always lands screen-up. The company claims that this will reduce the chance of cracked displays, and has been granted a patent on the idea.
Another rumour that has persisted for some time is the idea of Apple doing away with the home button altogether, to create a more streamlined device with a larger display. To do so, however, the company would have to find a way of integrating its Touch ID technology into the entire display, rather than just within the home button's sensor.
Apple has filed numerous patents around this, including one which would allow the phone's display to identify multiple fingerprints at once. It's pretty unlikely we'll see this development in iPhones for a couple of years, however.
Another feature that may take a few years to make it into final models is Apple replacing the iPhone's current LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen - also used in the Apple Watch. It effectively means we could see flexible-screened iPhones by 2018 as suppliers are already working towards production of the new displays, according to reports.
We've known that Apple has been interested in bendy devices for a while now - several patents have been granted in recent years.

What will it look like?

Images of what is claimed to be the iPhone 6s were leaked to 9to5Mac in early July, showing internal and external views of silver metal casing, which looks very similar to the anodised aluminium used in the iPhone 6. However, in reality this could be the Series 7000 aluminium alloy used for the Apple Watch Sport - a new strengthened composite.
9to5Mac obtained images of what appears to be the iPhone 6s
The casing appears to be the same width as the 6, suggesting Apple is indeed planning to keep to the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch dimension precedent.
iPhone 6s schematics: slightly thicker than the 6
However, schematics leaked by a source with a Chinese supply line toEngadget Japan suggests the iPhone 6s will be 0.2mm thicker than its predecessor at 7.1mm, a potential concession to Force Touch given the capactive glass surface and the internal taptic engine used within the recently-released 12-inch MacBook and refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pro.
How Force Touch works within a MacBook trackpad
A small rectangular hole cut into what appears to be the underside of an iPhone 6s display panel (according to 9to5Mac) could be a space for the taptic engine required for Force Touch.
The small rectangular hole in the underside of what could be the iPhone 6s' display panel
Steve Hemmerstoffer of Nowwhereelse.fr has sourced what appears to be CAD renderings of the purported iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with the same dimensions of 7.1mm thickness. The 6S Plus appears to be 7.3mm thick, extending to 7.8mm thanks to the protruding camera.
CAD renders obtained by Uswitch suggest the same dimensions
The mounting points are in a slightly different position
Internally the frame sports newly-located mounting points to support a new logic board. The speaker holes, headphone jack, microphone and lightning charging ports remain in the same places.
The camera may still enjoy an internal upgrade, but the hardware looks to be the same size as the iPhone 6
The charging port remains in the same place
Designer Antonio De Rosa envisions the next iPhone as taking on theApple Watch's digital crown on its right hand side - an unlikely but nonetheless good-looking concept.
Will the next iPhone sport a digital crown? Almost definitely not.
Designer Martin Hajek's vision of a rose gold iPhone, pictured next to a rose gold Apple Watch Edition
Kuo again claims the iPhone 6s will come in a new rose gold hue, and that Apple is planning to stick to the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch size conventions established by the 6 and 6 Plus, scotching previous rumours a 4-inch version was in development.
Chief executive Tim Cook has said that the company takes Chinese consumer tastes into account when it designs many of its products, and considers details including colour palettes to suit local tastes. The decision to offer a gold iPhone in 2013 reflects in part the popularity of that color among Chinese users, he added.
It's unknown whether the new model would be rose gold-coloured anodised aluminium, like the current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus' gold option, or actual 18-carat rose gold like the luxury Edition Apple Watch, which is priced from £8,000.
How the new iPhone 6s line up could look | picture courtesy of @RosieLondoner
Apple filed a patent which could potentially see the end of the thin plastic strips which run across the width of the iPhone 5 upwards back in December 2013. The filing, which was published on June 18, details how the company is developing a metal composite to replace the plastic strips, which are necessary for the phone's antenna to send and receive signal. Future iPhones could see a complete anodised alumnium unibody design.

What about the iPhone 6c?

It's possible that Apple is also working on a refresh of the colourful iPhone 5c line, updating the device with Touch ID sensors and Sony camera sensors, according to GSM Dome.

CASINO

This article is about establishments for gambling. For other uses, see Casino (disambiguation).
"Gaming industry" redirects here. For video games, see Video game industry.
 
The Las Vegas Strip is renowned for its high concentration of casino resort hotels
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate over whether or not the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated.[1] In the United States, some states that have high unemployment and budget deficits have turned to legalizing casinos, often in places that are not tourist destinations. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events.
 

Etymology and usage

The term "casino" is a confusing linguistic false friend for translators.
Casino is of Italian origin; the root casa (house) originally meant a small country villa, summerhouse, or pavilion.[citation needed] During the 19th century, the termcasino came to include other public buildings where pleasurable activities took place; such edifices were usually built on the grounds of a larger Italian villa orpalazzo, and were used to host civic town functions, including dancing, gambling, music listening, and sports; examples in Italy include Villa Farnese and Villa Giulia, and in the US the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. In modern-day Italian, the term casino designates a bordello (also called casa chiusa, literally "closed house"), while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent.[2]
Not all casinos were used for gaming. The Catalina Casino,[3] a famous landmark overlooking Avalon Harbor on Santa Catalina Island, California, has never been used for traditional games of chance, which were already outlawed in California by the time it was built. The Copenhagen Casino was a theatre, known for the use made of its hall for mass public meetings during the 1848 Revolution, which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy. Until 1937, it was a well-known Danish theatre.[4] The Hanko Casino in Hanko, Finland—one of that town's most conspicuous landmarks[citation needed]—was never used for gambling. Rather, it was a banquet hall for the Russian nobility which frequented this spa resort in the late 19th century and is now used as a restaurant.
In military and non-military usage in German and Spanish, a casino or kasino is an officers' mess.[citation needed] Curiously, in Italian—the source-language of the word—a casino is either a brothel, a mess, or a noisy environment, while a gaming house is called a casinò.[citation needed]

History of gambling houses

The precise origin of gambling is unknown. It is generally believed that gambling in some form or another has been seen in almost every society in history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Napoleon's France and Elizabethan England, much of history is filled with stories of entertainment based on games of chance.
The first known European gambling house, not called a casino although meeting the modern definition, was the Ridotto, established in Venice, Italy in 1638 to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season. It was closed in 1770 as the city government perceived it to impoverish the local gentry.
In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons. The creation and importance of saloons was greatly influenced by four major cities;New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco. It was in the saloons that travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, and often gamble with. During the early 20th century in America, gambling became outlawed and banned by state legislation and social reformers of the time. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada. America's first legalized casinos were set up in those places. In 1978 New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, now America's second largest gambling city.

Gambling in casinos

 
Slot machines in Atlantic City. Slot machines are a standard attraction of casinos
Most jurisdictions worldwide limit gambling to persons over the age of license (16 to 21 years of age in most countries which permit the operation of casinos).[5]
Customers gamble by playing games of chance, in some cases with an element of skill, such as craps, roulette, baccarat,blackjack, and video poker. Most games played have mathematically determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an overall advantage over the players. This can be expressed more precisely by the notion of expected value, which is uniformly negative (from the player's perspective). This advantage is called the house edge. In games such as poker where players play against each other, the house takes a commission called the rake. Casinos sometimes give out complimentary items or comps to gamblers.
Payout is the percentage of funds ("winnings") returned by players.
Casinos in the USA say that a player staking money won from the casino is playing with the house's money.
Video Lottery Machines (slot machines) have become one of the most popular form of gambling in casinos. As of 2011 investigative reports have started calling into question whether the modern-day slot-machine is addictive.[6]
 

Design

Casino design—regarded as a psychological exercise—is an intricate process that involves optimising floor plan, décor and atmospherics to encourage consumer gambling.[7]
Factors influencing consumer gambling tendencies include sound, odour and lighting. Natasha Dow Schüll, an anthropologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, highlights the audio directors at Silicon Gaming’s decision to make its slot machines resonate in, “the universally pleasant tone of C, sampling existing casino soundscapes to create a sound that would please but not clash”.[8]
Dr Alan Hirsch, founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, studied the impact of certain scents on gamblers, discerning that a pleasant albeit unidentifiable odour released by Las Vegas slots machines generated approximately 50% more in daily revenue. He suggested that the scent acted as an aphrodisiac, facilitating a more aggressive form of gambling.[9]
Casino designer Roger Thomas is credited with implementing a successful, disruptive design for the Las Vegas Wynn Resorts’ casinos in 2008. He broke casino design convention by introducing natural sunlight and flora to appeal to a female demographic. Thomas inserted skylights and antique clocks, defying the commonplace notion that a casino should be a timeless space.[10]

Markets

The following lists major casino markets in the world with casino revenue of over $1 billion USD as published in PricewaterhouseCoopers's report on the outlook for the global casino market:[11]

By region[edit]

RANKLOCATIONCASINOSREVENUE (2009)
US$M		REVENUE (2010 PROJECTED)
US$M		REVENUE (2011 PROJECTED)
US$M
1United States 57,24056,50058,030
2Asia Pacific 21,84532,30541,259
3Europe, Middle East, Africa 17,25916,18616,452
4Canada 3,7123,8354,045
5Latin America 425528594
 Total 100,481109,354120,380

By markets[edit]

RANKLOCATIONCASINOSREVENUE (2009)
US$M		REVENUE (2010 PROJECTED)
US$M		REVENUE (2011 PROJECTED)
US$M
1Macau3314,95522,44528,379
2Las Vegas, Nevada12210,2479,95010,300
3Singapore22,1192,7505,479
4France1893,9653,9093,957
5Atlantic City, New Jersey123,9433,5503,330
6Australia112,6972,7692,847
7South Korea17[12]2,4012,4302,512
8Germany762,0732,0552,081
9South Africa36[13]1,8451,7822,012
10United Kingdom1411,2121,1931,209
11Poland36[14]1,0891,0911,126
12Niagara Falls, Canada21,1021,1141,203

By company[edit]

According to Bloomberg, accumulated revenue of biggest casino operator companies worldwide amounted almost 55 billion US dollars as per 2011. SJM Holdings ltd. was the leading company in this field and earned 9.7 billion in 2011, followed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. (7.4 bn). The third biggest casino operator company (based on revenue) was Caesars Entertainment with revenue of 6.2 bn US dollar.[15]

Significant sites[edit]

While there are casinos in many places, a few places have become well-known specifically for gambling. Perhaps the place almost defined by its casino is Monte Carlo, but other places are known as gambling centers.

MONTE CARLO, MONACO[EDIT]

Main article: Monte Carlo Casino
Monte Carlo has a famous casino popular with well-off visitors and is a tourist attraction in its own right. A song and a film named The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo need no explanation—they clearly refer to the casino.
Monte Carlo's Casino has also been depicted in many books including Ben Mezrich's Busting Vegas, where a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technologystudents beat the casino out of nearly $1 000 000. This book is based on real people and events; however, many of those events are contested by main characterSemyon Dukach.[16]
The casino has made Monte Carlo so well known for games of chance that mathematical methods for solving various problems using many quasi-random numbers—numbers with the statistical distribution of numbers generated by chance—are formally known as Monte Carlo methods. Monte Carlo was part of the plot in a fewJames Bond novels and films.

MACAU[EDIT]

Main article: Gambling in Macau
The former Portuguese colony of Macau, a special administrative region of China since 1999, is a popular destination for visitors who wish to gamble. This started in Portuguese times, when Macau was popular with visitors from nearby British Hong Kong where gambling was more closely regulated. The Venetian Macao is currently the largest casino in the world.[17] Macau also surpassed Las Vegas as the largest gambing market in the world.

SINGAPORE[EDIT]

Singapore is an up-and-coming destination for visitors wanting to gamble. Although there are currently only two casinos(both foreign owned), in Singapore. TheMarina Bay Sands is the most expensive standalone casino in the world, at a price of US$8 Billion, and is among the worlds top ten most expensive buildings. TheResorts World Sentosa has the worlds largest oceanarium.

UNITED STATES[EDIT]

Main article: Gambling in the United States
With currently over 900 casinos, the United States has the largest number of casinos in the world. The number continues to steadily grow as more states seek to legalize casinos. 38 states now have some form of casino gambling. Relatively small places such as Las Vegas are best known for gambling; larger cities such asChicago are not defined by their casinos in spite of the large turnover.
The Las Vegas Valley has the largest concentration of casinos in the United States. Based on revenue, Atlantic City, New Jersey ranks second, and the Chicago region third.
Top American casino markets by revenue (2009 annual revenues):[18]
  1. Las Vegas Strip $5.550 billion
  2. Atlantic City $3.943 billion
  3. Chicago region $2.092 billion
  4. Connecticut $1.448 billion
  5. Detroit $1.36 billion
  6. St. Louis $1.050 billion
  7. Tunica Resorts, Mississippi $997.02 million
  8. Biloxi, Miss. $833.50 million
  9. Shreveport, Louisiana $779.65 million
  10. Boulder Strip (Las Vegas) $774.33 million
  11. Reno, Nevada $715.23 million
  12. New Orleans, Louisiana $653.05 million
  13. Downtown Las Vegas $523.82 million
  14. Laughlin, Nevada $492.51 million
The Nevada Gaming Control Board divides Clark County, which is coextensive with the Las Vegas metropolitan area, into seven regions for reporting purposes.
Indian gaming has been responsible for a rise in the number of casinos outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Security[edit]

Main article: Casino security
 
A sign at the Thousand Islands Casino
Given the large amounts of currency handled within a casino, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat and steal, in collusion or independently; most casinos have security measures to prevent this. Security cameras located throughout the casino are the most basic measure.
Modern casino security is usually divided between a physical security force and a specialized surveillance department. The physical security force usually patrols the casino and responds to calls for assistance and reports of suspicious or definite criminal activity. A specialized surveillance department operates the casino's closed circuit television system, known in the industry as the eye in the sky. Both of these specialized casino security departments work very closely with each other to ensure the safety of both guests and the casino's assets, and have been quite successful in preventing crime.[19] Some casinos also have catwalks in the ceiling above the casino floor, which allow surveillance personnel to look directly down, through one way glass, on the activities at the tables and slot machines.
When it opened in 1989, The Mirage was the first casino to use cameras full-time on all table games.[20]
In addition to cameras and other technological measures, casinos also enforce security through rules of conduct and behavior; for example, players at card games are required to keep the cards they are holding in their hands visible at all times.

Business practices[edit]

Over the past few decades, casinos have developed many different marketing techniques for attracting and maintaining loyal patrons. Many casinos use a loyalty rewards program used to track players' spending habits and target their patrons more effectively, by sending mailings with free slot play and other promotions.[21]

Crime[edit]

One area of controversy surrounding casinos is their relationship to crime rates. Economic studies that show a positive relationship between casinos and crime usually fail to consider the visiting population at risk when they calculate the crime rate in casino areas. Such studies thus count the crimes committed by visitors, but do not count visitors in the population measure, and this overstates the crime rates in casino areas. Part of the reason this methodology is used, despite it leading to an overstatement of crime rates is that reliable data on tourist count are often not available.[22] In a 2004 report by the US Department of Justice, researchers interviewed people who had been arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines and found that the percentage of problem or pathological gamblers among the arrestees was three to five times higher than in the general population.[23] According to some police reports, incidences of reported crime often double and triple in communities within three years of a casino opening.[24]

Gallery[edit]

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