Latest news with #Sunshine
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok's Launched a More Positive Version of the App in Europe
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. TikTok's launched an alternativee version of app in Europe which aims to enhance the positive, beneficial aspects of the TikTok experience, while it's also launched new initiative that'll make it easier for businesses to support charity organizations in the app, First off, TikTok's launching a new 'TikTok Pro' app in Germany, Portugal and Spain, which TikTok says will allow 'people to experience and engage with joyful and entertaining content.' Which is seemingly different to the main TikTok app because it's focused on positive, educational content. As per the TikTok Pro description on the German App Store: 'TikTok Pro is a global video community where you can discover the coolest, funniest, and most educational short videos and share special moments with your friends. A useful app with a whole world within itself. TikTok Pro gives you the best video experience with helpful videos, engaging STEM content, and more personal expression.' So it's a custom, more positivity-focused TikTok experience. It could be an offering to appeal to regional regulators, by removing all of the more questionable elements. Also, no e-commerce. TikTok's not looking to sell you stuff in this version of the app. TikTok Pro will also come with TikTok's new 'Sunshine' program built in, which 'offers a unique way for charities and NGOs to engage with new audiences, and allows the TikTok Pro community to support them.' As per TikTok: 'Users can accumulate 'virtual Sunshine' by referring others to join and by engaging with content from charities, such as liking or reposting charity videos, following charity-related accounts and performing charity-related searches. People can then use that virtual Sunshine on a charity in the programme, and TikTok will make a donation to that charity.' So it's like TikTok, but only positive, with charity donation processes built into the app direct. So it's less about getting you to buy stuff, and more about getting you to help others, with the whole principle of the new app being focused on facilitating a more positive impact and experience. So why does TikTok need another app to do this? I don't know exactly, but again, it could be an attempt to better align with local market regulators and rules, with TikTok still under scrutiny in many regions. Indeed, German politicians have repeatedly raised questions about the app, with some suggesting that TikTok should be banned due to the danger it poses to democracy, as 'an instrument" in China and Russia's hybrid warfare.' The EU Commission has also raised questions about TikTok's influence on younger users in particular, after recent controversy around the rise of the #SkinnyTok hashtag, which encouraged potentially harmful behaviors. EU regulators are also still exploring TikTok's algorithmic approach with respect to the EU Digital Services Act, and it could be that this new TikTok Pro app aligns with broader efforts by TikTok to address related concerns. The more positive content approach also mirrors how the Chinese local version of TikTok operates, with the Chinese Government overseeing content trends, and ensuring that more beneficial elements are promoted to Chinese youth. Maybe, then, this is an experiment on that front also, though I don't know that non-Communist countries will be as welcoming of such controls. (Note: I've asked TikTok for more information on this alternate version of the app, and will update if/when I heard back.) TikTok says that it's partnering with a number of global and local charities on its Sunshine program, including Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), WaterAid, Aktion Deutschland Hilft and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). It's also looking to add more charity partners over time. It seems like an interesting concept, though it'll probably be a hard sell getting people to switch over to an alternate, more sanitized version of the app. Maybe, eventually, that'll be the only version available to younger users, or TikTok could look to push it in other ways. But it's an interesting development amid ongoing concerns about social media regulation and restriction.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
ADVERTISEMENT Edmonton Watch July 28 WxBlast Sunshine and some heat for the rest of the week as daytime highs get back to the 25-30 degree range in Edmonton. Looks cooler and wet for the coming weekend, though. Here's your Monday WxBlast video:
Edmonton Watch Sunshine and some heat for the rest of the week as daytime highs get back to the 25-30 degree range in Edmonton. Looks cooler and wet for the coming weekend, though. Here's your Monday WxBlast video:
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
Queensland's homeschooling parents pleased with outcome from review
A win for homeschooling parents in Queensland, fighting to make the system more accessible for families. The Queensland government has accepted all 8 recommendations of an independent review into the Home Education Unit. The regulatory review, which published its report in September 2024, was prompted by widespread opposition to the previous state government's attempts to enforce legislation that would impose the Australian curriculum on homeschooling students. That move was firmly rejected by parents like Danika, who homeschools her neurodiverse 8-year-old son Ben. Danika says she's most excited about a recommendation to trial a shorter style of written reporting, alongside an online interview. She says this would offer a promising alternative for Queensland parents, after a positive experience with a moderator while homeschooling in Western Australia. "Whereas in Queensland, you feel it's just cross your fingers and hope that you can continue to do, and there's a lot of uncertainty around the processes over here, and it is quite daunting to submit a report every 12 months with no real guidance, no real reassurance that you are doing what they require. Having a person to report to would be humanising to the procedure, so that would be quite nice to have someone, a face, face to the documents would be nice. So yeah, I think that it is very exciting to have that process possibly come into play for us and just alleviate that kind of stressor." Sunshine-based parents Danika and her husband Joel, made the shift to homeschooling in 2022 after Ben's classroom anxiety reached a tipping point. Danika is among thousands of Queensland parents who moved to homeschool their children after 2020, with the Queensland government saying there was a 230% increase in home education over the past 5 years. It brings the current number of homeschooling students in Queensland to more than 11,000. Brisbane-based Patricia Fitzgerald is campaign manager of the Free2Homeschool movement, which gathered more than 21,000 signatures opposing the former Queensland government's attempts to enforce the Australian curriculum on homeschoolers. She says the government's decision to accept all of the report's recommendations is a great move forward for the community. 'I just think that with the reviews, the recommendations that have been proposed, it's going to be a really good opportunity for the HEU to connect with the community and build that connection and more support rather than just having the regulatory side. Having that educational leader there to bridge that gap and to build that supportive side as well is going to help a lot of the families who are trying to find that information and trying to find the community." Ms Fitzgerald pointing to the first of the recommendations - to transform the Home Education Unit, which will be renamed Queensland Home Education, to ensure greater practical support and regulatory oversight. There are hopes the appointment of education leader Dr Renae Acton will improve processes for families, alongside enhancing resources, such as program templates and exemplar annual reports. Queensland's Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek told SBS he supports a parent's right to choose the best type of education for their family. "We as a government support choice, I've done distance education myself or correspondence as we called it, partly because I lived in another country in Papua New Guinea. And the important thing is that if parents choose to do it, we want to make sure we support them just as we support them in the other frames of schooling that they might choose, whether it's state or non-state schooling." Minister Langbroek couldn't outline a date for when the recommendations would be legislated, saying his government prioritises consultation. This comes as legislation to raise the age cut-off from 17 to 18 for homeschooling students is still under review, after it was tabled in March. But Mr Langbroek says some of the recommendations from the regulatory review are already being enacted - including changing the name of the unit to Queensland Home Education, as well as extending the stakeholder consultation via the Home Education Expert group, by another six months. "We used to criticise the former government for consulting but already having made a decision about something. So this is genuine consultation with the group, so we want to keep the momentum going about the positive work we've been able to do with parents and stakeholders, and then continue parent engagement before we try to make any legislative change." One of the key aspects of the recommendations is to enhance resources and supportive tools for parents meeting regulatory requirements. Danika welcomes access to learning programs and reporting scaffolds, which are particularly helpful in teaching a neurodiverse child with individualised learning. "The learning plan that I have for Ben being neurodiverse, we very much follow his interests at the time. And having an online reporting scaffolding will really help me just report as we learn because we do have a plan in place, but obviously following just natural interests and natural ways of learning, it does change as we go. So having a formalised reporting structure will help us just keep tabs on where we're at and what we're learning and how we're learning it." But she would like to see state and local governments offer greater support for homeschooling co-ops, which allow groups of homeschooling families to collaborate and provide educational and social opportunities for their children. "We really need the support from local government backed by, sorry local councils backed by government, to ensure that we are setting up safe spaces for our children. All the boxes are being ticked to keep it a safe environment for our children and that they can continue to build regular foundational relationships within those groups instead of being shut down every couple of months because local councils are getting one complaint from someone who doesn't agree with the way that we are teaching our children. So I think that's another way that the government could help us all support us on our journey." The Queensland Family and Child Commission released a separate report in December 2024, in response to concerns raised by the Child Death Review Board in their 2022-2023 report. It "affirmed a parent's right to choose the most suitable learning environment for their child", but called for improved information-sharing between state government departments to ensure child safety. Minister Langbroek told SBS that his government are considering the work of the Queensland Family and Child Commission, acknowledging past obstacles around information sharing. "And Premier Crisafulli has been very clear that he wants me as education minister working closely with the Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm, the Attorney General Deb Frecklington, and
News.com.au
21-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Barber in Melbourne's west says farewell after six decades
A Sunshine barber shop that operated for 60 years is set for a new chapter. The former Gents Continental hairdresser is one of three shopfronts within a single building at 74 and 76-78 Hampshire Rd that went under the hammer with a $1m-plus asking range on the weekend. Although it was passed in, the site will remain on the market for private sale. Fourth-generation barber Raffaele Mucilli, now aged 88, opened the barber shop in 1959. He also ran a woman's hairdressers in the back for about a decade. Mr Mucilli, whose father taught him the art of hairdressing, migrated from Italy to Australia when he was 20 years old. He worked as a builder and for other barbers, before opening his own business. Mr Mucilli's late wife, Lucia, was a dressmaker who occasionally sold Italian-imported shoes from the barber shop. Individual touches at the address include barber's chairs featuring footstools with an image of the Italian flag on them. Some of his customers included three generations of the same families, from grandparents to grandkids. Legendary Footscray footballers, father and son duo Ted Whitten and Ted Whitten Jr, were among Mr Mucilli's clients. In addition to his sporting career, the elder Mr Whitten ran a food store and milk bar in Sunshine. 'He had a little grocery shop one shop after mine,' Mr Mucilli said. He recalled how Mr Whitten and Collingwood icon Lou Richards, who often appeared on television together, would make bets between themselves based on football results. One of these wagers involved Mr Richards cutting grass with nail clippers, near a house attached to the shop, when Footscray won a game. 'The street was full of people,' Mr Mucilli said. The father-of-two is well-known in the local community. 'If I go shopping in Sunshine or any other place even further away, people recognise me and scream at me, 'You're the barber, you're the barber,'' he said. Mr Mucilli's daughter, Pia, described her father's barber shop as 'like a time capsule' from the 1950s and 1960s. The premises were used to record scenes for a 2018 short film titled The Widow, set in 1965 and starring Matrix Reloaded and Underbelly actor Steve Bastoni. The building's other two shopfronts are currently leased to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studio and a pilates studio. Douglas Kay Real Estate Sunshine director Peter Kay has the listing.
New York Post
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Nicky Jam asks $4.35M for his massive Miami condo
Reggaeton hitmaker Nicky Jam is poised to list his Miami condo for $4.35 million. The global music superstar bought the glam unit for $4.1 million just more than a year ago — in March 2024, The Post previously reported. Born in Boston, Nick Rivera Caminero is a Latin music royal who goes by the stage name Nicky Jam — and boasts hits including 'X,' 'Travesuras,' 'En la Cama,' and 'Hasta el Amanecer.' The father of four lost 110 pounds in six months after undergoing gastric bypass surgery. He is reportedly keeping the weight off, feeling happier and healthy, thanks to exercise and mindful eating. His most recent work, 'Sunshine,' dropped in February — it was his first release under Virgin Music Group and features collaborations with Geo and 4Rain. And now, he's looking for a change of pace. 8 Nicky Jam. Getty Images 8 The home gets abundant natural light through its massive exposures. Legendary Productions 8 The kitchen is a jewel. Legendary Productions 8 There's plenty of room for an open dining area. Legendary Productions 8 A spa-like bath retreat. Legendary Productions 8 One of the bedrooms on offer. Legendary Productions 8 The home's terrace also captures lovely vistas. Legendary Productions 8 Among the amenity perks: a pool. Legendary Productions 'Nicky wants to take a break from the downtown living scene for a bit to enjoy the ample space, lush greenery and the calmer lifestyle that the Miami suburbs have to offer,' said Douglas Elliman's Fernando Rodriguez, who shares the listing with Miguel Solis. The three-bedroom, 3.5-bath unit is a spacious 3,100 square feet in the luxury Elysee building, on Biscayne Bay in the Edgewater neighborhood of Miami. It boasts dazzling waterfront and city skyline views. Even sweeter is a 1,100-plus-square-foot terrace that also showcases the scenery. Inside, the home opens from a private foyer and features floor-to-ceiling windows that frame those jaw-dropping vistas. The 57-story glass tower, designed by renowned Arquitectonica's Bernardo Fort-Brescia, was built in 2021 and comes with 100 condo units, with interiors by top French designer Jean-Louis Deniot, who also recently designed the new Waldorf Astoria Residences in New York. Building amenities include a bayfront lounge and a 'sunrise' pool. There's also a wellness level with a resort-sized lap pool, an outdoor kitchen with a barbeque terrace, and a gym.
