Entertainment
Hollywood actresses slam Harvey Weinstein over sexual harassment claims
Los Angeles, Oct 10 (IANS) Hollywood actresses like Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Winslet, among others, have condemned producer Harvey Weinstein amid a growing number of sexual harassment allegations against him. However, besides George Clooney, other actors have not opened up on the case yet.
Weinstein, who has been fired from The Weinstein Company, has been accused by multiple women of sexually harassing them over a period of nearly three decades. He reportedly invited women to hotel rooms for business reasons and then greeted them nude or asked them to massage him or watch him shower.
Filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, David O Russell and Michael Moore have refused to comment on the issue, reports theguardian.com.
“I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein’s behaviour. I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting,” Lawrence said.
Streep said that “the disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled” all the people who have worked with him.
She added: “The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes. One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally.”
Dench said that like others in the industry, she too was “completely unaware of these offences which are, of course, horrifying”.
“I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out,” she said.
Winslet called all the women who have accused Weinstein “brave” and said: “The way Harvey Weinstein has treated these vulnerable, talented young women is not the way women should ever deem to be acceptable or commonplace in any workplace.”
Actor-filmmaker George Clooney didn’t slam Weinstein, but called the allegations “indefensible”.
“That’s the only word you can start with. Harvey’s admitted to it, and it’s indefensible. I’ve known Harvey for 20 years. He gave me my first big break as an actor in films in ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, he gave me my first big break as a director with ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’.
“We’ve had dinners, we’ve been on location together, we’ve had arguments. But I can tell you that I’ve never seen any of this behaviour — ever.”
–IANS
sas/rb/dg
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
Content provided by Adverloom