Showing results by narrator "Mark Ashby"

Stop me if this sounds familiar: You’re about to install a new game or shoot more video on your smartphone, but then a message pops up on the screen that says something like “There is not enough available storage.” Sheesh.

Amazon is making it easier for customers to get free shipping with their orders, regardless of whether they subscribe to its Prime service.

"It's Easier to Get Free Amazon Shipping Now, Even Without Prime" is from the February 20, 2017 Tech section of USA Today. It was written by Brett Molina and narrated by Mark Ashby.

Brainfluence explains how to practically apply neuroscience and behavior technology and behavior research to better market to consumers by understanding their decision patterns. This application, called neuromarketing, studies the way the brain responds to various cognitive and sensory marketing stimuli. Analysts use this to measure a consumer's preference, what a customer reacts to, and why consumers make certain decisions.

The Somme: these words conjure the image of war rigidly fought by traditional means even when catastrophe clearly loomed. Relying on personal testimonies never before published, this study of those who survived the first day of battle (July 1, 1916) captures this epic conflagration from all angles. Follow the action as soldiers crawl across No Man’s Land in the face of German guns, struggle with the conditions in the trenches, and survey the scene from the air as the RFC tries to control the skies above the battlefield.

Every 13,000 years on Earth a sacred and secret event takes place that changes everything. Mother Earth's Kundalini energy emerges from its resting place in the planet's core and moves like a snake across the surface of our world. Once at home in ancient Lemuria, it moved to Atlantis, then to the Himalayan mountains of India and Tibet, and with every relocation changed our idea of what spiritual means. And gender. And heart. This time, with much difficulty, the Serpent of Light has moved to the Andes Mountains of Chile and Peru.

A decade after the cold war ended, policy makers and academics foresaw a new era of peace and prosperity, an era in which democracy and open trade would herald the "end of history." The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, sadly shattered these idyllic illusions, and John Mearsheimer's masterful new book explains why these harmonious visions remain utopian.

It opposes constitutional democracy and is bad for America.

Starting in 1948 and reaching its climax during the Six-Day War of 1967, The Hope begins the story of Israel, a country fighting for its life - outmatched and surrounded by enemies. Zev Barak, Sam Pasternak, Don Kishote, and Benny Luria are all officers in the Israeli Army, caught up in the sweep of history, fighting the desperate desert battles and meeting the larger-than-life personalities that shaped Israel’s fight for independence. 

Will Israel survive? That question hasn’t really been asked since 1967. Then, a far weaker Israel was surrounded on all sides by Arab dictatorships that were equipped with sophisticated weapons from their nuclear patron, the Soviet Union. But now, things are far worse for the Jewish state.

Co-founder Brian Chesky wrote on Twitter to stay tuned for more information on how this will work--and "contact me if urgent need for housing."

He added: "Not allowing countries or refugees into America is not right, and we must stand with those who are affected," and, "Open doors brings all of US together. Closing doors further divides US. Let's all find ways to connect people, not separate them."

"Airbnb Offers Free Housing for Refugees" is from the January 28, 2017 Tech section of USA Today. It was written by Jefferson Graham and narrated by Mark Ashby.

Why hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Georgia to Maine? For some people it’s a rite of passage, a transition from youth to adulthood, or maybe a way to heal a broken heart. Others do it for the physical challenge, or to simply be in nature and stay off the grid for months at a time.

Jung Gwang-il does something unusual for a living: He sends information via helicopter drones into North Korea. The drones bear USB sticks and SD cards, which contain South Korean television shows, American movies, and more. This "more" includes videos of North Korean defectors, telling people back home what the outside world is like.

President Trump's long-term rhetorical war on the press is heating up again, thanks to a tweet declaring the media "the enemy of the American people" and concerns that Trump's increasingly acerbic rhetoric is the cutting edge of authoritarianism.

"McCain Defends Free Press, Raises Specter of Dictatorship From Trump's Attacks" is from the February 19, 2017 News section of USA Today. It was written by David Jackson and narrated by Mark Ashby.

I was recently invited to make some remarks at a charity dinner for a cause that I strongly support. The organizers worried that, because their cause affected only Third World nations, they would have a hard time raising money from an American audience. Localism, it seemed, in everything from farm produce to charity giving, was the new vogue. People wanted to see their dollars at work locally rather than watch them disappear into the coffers of some international organization. Could I help them make the case for international giving?

Most presidents, before and after holding office, are offered multifarious opportunities to get rich, most of them unimaginable to Americans without access to influential and wealthy concerns. But none have so flagrantly circumvented laws and ethical norms as have Bill and Hillary Clinton, a tandem who in little more than a decade went from self-described financial want to a net worth likely over $100 million, or even $150 million.

Russian hacking requires a stronger response than it has received.

When bullets start to fly, who cares who is their target?

America’s wars of the 20th century seem to confirm that ancient wisdom. A complacent, naïve, and isolationist United States came late to both world wars. Nonetheless, once engaged, the United States almost immediately amassed huge armies ex nihilo and produced unprecedented quantities of arms to ensure Allied victories in both conflicts. No other power fought in so many theaters of battle to such effect and with such consideration for reducing its own casualties.

Following the Brexit, Europe may witness even more plebiscites against the undemocratic European Union throughout the continent. The furor of ignored Europeans against their union is not just directed against rich and powerful government elites per se, or against the flood of mostly young male migrants from the war-torn Middle East. The rage also arises from the hypocrisy of a governing elite that never seems to be subject to the ramifications of its own top-down policies.

The America’s Cup, first awarded in 1851, is the oldest trophy in international sports, and one of the most hotly contested. In 2000, Larry Ellison, co-founder and billionaire CEO of Oracle Corporation, decided to run for the coveted prize and found an unlikely partner in Norbert Bajurin, a car radiator mechanic who had recently been named Commodore of the blue collar Golden Gate Yacht Club.