With several central banks around the world, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) already collaborates closely. This holds true for the topic of Central Bank Digital Currencies , a type of Cryptocurrency , as well as for the printing of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies). G+D has its own solution for countries that want to issue a CBDC, and it also offers other services like advice and help to make sure the Cryptocurrency meets the requirements. In addition, a large number of people use digital services and shop online as our lives grow more interconnected. Therefore, a digital form of fiat money is required, one that satisfies customer demand for quick and simple transactions. That's CBDC. Dr. Ralf Wintergerst , Chairman of the Management Board and Group CEO of Giesecke+Devrient and chair of the North Africa Middle East Initiative of German Business (NMI), said in an exclusive interview with Local news media that an increasing number of states are looking into the implementation of ...
MOVIE REVIEW OF THE WEEK: Pacific Rim, You like monsters, right? We're talking mega-monsters that don't mess about none. Godzilla-ish beasts from an alternate dimension that are here to wreck the planet, and to heck with the consequences. The slimy, scaly, scary monsters of Pacific Rim can crunch entire continents for fun, and will munch on all mankind for short-term sustenance.
What about robots? You dig on them, too?
Wait until you get a load of the 'bots of Pacific Rim. They are all-terrain automatons the size of skyscrapers, and are weaponised with all the latest death-rays and stuff. One last question. Are you into monsters fighting with robots? Well, Pacific Rim isn't shy about laying on an all-you-eat buffet of creature-versus-machine smack-downs. Get set to gorge yourself. Or go get a ticket to something else.
Still keen? Just keep the following in mind. There are no stars in the cast. No characters remotely worth caring about. No story that can possibly be understood by mere mortal moviegoers. There is a prologue in Pacific Rim that is supposed to bring us up to speed on a terrifying near-future for Earth. However, it takes the entire opening act to arrive at what filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is really driving at here.
At some point late in the 2020s, life as we know it is being held to ransom by the Kaiju. That is the collective name given to the monsters, though not all of them look (or lash out) the same. The Kaiju regularly rise from the ocean via a portal that begins in their own world. Once in our world, the Kaiju just want to smash all our stuff, and squash all of us.
All that stands in their way are the Jaegers. They are the robots, and they are all we have in terms of keeping the Kaiju at bay. The technology powering the Jaegers is fairly impressive. They look a bit like Transformers, only with two human pilots inside. The combat skills of each pilot team (who should be called Jaegermeisters, but are not) are enhanced by a "shared neural pathway." Which kind of means the pilots are joined at the brain whenever operating a Jaeger that is fighting a Kaiju.
Got all that? Doesn't really matter if you don't.
All that matters in Pacific Rim are those many moments when the Jaegers and the Kaiju embark upon yet another tectonic skirmish. The vision that del Toro is pursuing in these epic action sequences is quite unlike anything seen on screen before.
Though most viewers will not always be able to understand what the hell is happening, they will always be impressed by the scope of del Toro's achievement here.
The mesmerising special-effects work in Pacific Rim - especially when welded to a bone-shaking sound design - amounts to a force field that magnetically conquers your attention, then overpowers the senses with ease.