The Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA) approached Washington, D.C.-based digital animation and visual design firm Pixeldust Studios to develop a creative new way to reach out to U.S. hospices with the message about the need for additional partners.
The result is a three-minute web video that depicts through 2D animation and graphics the dramatic contrast between what it means to provide hospice and palliative services in the U.S. and what it takes to provide such care in an African country where resources are few and the need so great.
At the core of its mission, FHSSA works to develop partnerships between U.S. hospice programs and those in 13 countries in Africa. Through these partnerships, African hospices gain technical assistance, support, and most importantly, friendship.
“Hospice programs across the U.S. have so generously opened their hearts and arms to programs in Africa, and they work closely together to expand access to much needed palliative care. The rewards are tremendous and quite mutual, but we continue to look for more U.S. programs to join in such a partnership,” said John Mastrojohn, executive director of FHSSA. “Sometimes what it takes to get a message across is a fresh and creative way of delivering that message. We’ve hit a homerun with Pixeldust and are most grateful.”
Ricardo Andrade, executive director/founder of Pixeldust Studios, served as director and art director on the video, teaming with company colleagues Brian Monroe as VFX artist, Kody Roman as 3D artist and Mark S. Andrade as music composer. Writer was Shelley Smith, FHSSA director.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More