text:
Safer-at-home orders, social distancing and quarantines have added a new level of difficulty to beating the summer heat and serving safe and yummy food at a family gathering. While cooking and socializing outdoors can minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19, there are still other summer food safety measures people should follow.
Terence Martin, the Urban Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program coordinator with Alabama Extension at Alabama A&M University, offers some food safety tips for outdoor festivities this summer.
Food transport and storage
The novel coronavirus is not known to grow on food. However, Martin said harmful bacteria will grow on meat between 41 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Keep this in mind when picking up meat, poultry or seafood from a store,” Martin said. “It’s wise to bring a cooler and ice packs to keep food at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or colder during transit.”
Martin said it is important to prepare or refrigerate meat, poultry, eggs, seafood and other perishable items within two hours of purchasing.
“Never allow meat, poultry or seafood to sit at room temperature for longer than one hour if the air temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said. “Remember to wash surfaces with hot, soapy water or a bleach solution if food leaks occur.”
Consumers are more aware than ever of the importance of washing their hands, but Martin said this is the most important step in food preparation.
“Wash your hands for 20 seconds before and after you handle any type of food,” Martin said.
While many people freeze meat for use at a later date, there are many of those same individuals who have no idea how to properly thaw a package of meat.
The following are tips for safely preparing thawed food:
• Thaw food in a refrigerator or in cold water. Change water every 30 minutes;
• Cook food promptly when thawed;
• Avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw meat separate from other food;
• After thawing, be sure to cook food at the temperatures indicated by foodsafety.gov;
Before cooking and serving out of the kitchen, Martin said it is important to clean and disinfect kitchen counters using reusable or disposable gloves.
“Clean surfaces with soap and water, then use a disinfectant,” he said. “Soap and water will reduce germs. Disinfectants will kill germs that grow on surfaces. Surfaces that are touched daily, such as kitchen countertops, should be cleaned frequently.”
Avoid using disinfectants manufactured for hard surfaces, such as bleach or ammonia, on cardboard or plastic food packaging. Wash dishes and eating utensils in hot soapy water, or place dishes in a dishwasher to effectively sanitize and kill germs.
“When serving, keep hot food hot and cold food cold,” Martin said.
Other safety tips for serving food include:
• Limiting access to food areas;
• Assigning food servers to limit the number of people handling utensils; and
• Purchasing individual condiment packets.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also offers safety tips for summer entertainment during COVID-19. Some of those tips include:
• Advising sick people to stay home;
• Hosting activities outside whenever possible;
• Maintaining social distancing by placing tables and chairs at least 6 feet or two arm-lengths apart;
• Wearing masks when proximity is less than 6 feet; and
• Engaging in activities like frisbee or dancing that requires little or no contact.
For more help or to ask questions, visit www.aces.edu or call 256-232-5510.
— Posted by Katie Nichols.
The Importance of Regular Boiler Maintenance
How to Save Money on Your Roof Replacement
The Ideal Design For Your Bathroom Renovation


text:
In the early ’90s, a handful of violent
video games sparked a national debate
that changed the video game industry.
Parents and advocacy groups rallied.
They argued that video game
violence had gone too far.
And the U.S. Government agreed.
So in 1993 the Senate
gave the industry an ultimatum:
regulate yourselves or we’ll do it for you.
From that order, the Entertainment
Software Rating Board was born,
more commonly known as the ESRB.
You can see the effects of it
on any video game you buy today.
This is the story of a few games that
permanently changed the industry
and the way we buy video games.
In the mid ’80s and early ’90s, rap went mainstream.
MTV came into its own.
Cartoons got edgier.
But as the entertainment industry pushed the envelope,
politicians and advocacy groups pushed back.
They wanted to protect children
from inappropriate lyrics and images.
So music, television, and even video games
came under fire.
There were Senate hearings
to discuss so-called “porn rock,”
where everyone from John Denver to
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider
defended the music industry.
A group known as the Parent’s Music Resource Center
created a list of 15 songs that
they said should be banned from radio airplay,
known as the “Filthy Fifteen.”
The group successfully campaigned
for parental advisory labels on music.
TV didn’t have it easy either.
REPORTER: “Beavis and Butt-head”
is MTV’s most popular show,
drawing four times MTV’s average audience.
But some don’t find the two protagonists poignant.
They think they’re dangerous.
BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD:
Breakin’ the law! Breakin’ the law!
Let’s burn something.
REPORTER: Just last week, an Ohio mother claimed
her five-year-old son set fire to his family’s trailer
and got the idea watching Beavis and
Butt-head playing with a lighter.
His two-year-old sister died in the fire.
NORM: In the wake of the controversy,
MTV moved “Beavis and Butt-head” to a later time slot
and put a disclaimer before each episode.
There were also Senate hearings
to discuss television violence.
Meanwhile, video games
evolved at an unprecedented rate.
They became more colorful and complex,
players’ capabilities expanded
and the storylines grew.
All of a sudden, players weren’t
fighting abstract pixelated enemies,
and that became a problem.
Ultimately, three games sparked the controversy:
Mortal Kombat, Night Trap and Lethal Enforcers.
Mortal Kombat was the most
commercially successful game.
Developed by Midway, it hit arcades in 1992
and was the number-one arcade game that year.
But it really gained notoriety in 1993
when Acclaim Entertainment
launched a $10 million campaign
to celebrate its multi-format release
on to the home console scene,
dubbed “Mortal Monday.”
There were sweepstakes and
commercials to promote the event.
They even played previews in movie theaters.
The campaign brought a lot of attention to the game
but it wasn’t all good.
Suddenly, a lot more people were
aware of the game’s violent content.
Sega’s version was much more graphic than Nintendo’s.
By putting in a code, players could
unlock blood during combat.
Sega also kept in the gruesome finishing moves.
You could decapitate an enemy and
watch their spinal cord dangle,
or rip an opponent’s heart out of his chest.
Meanwhile, Nintendo replaced all the blood with sweat
and toned down the finishing moves
As a result, Sega’s version easily outsold Nintendo’s.
Then there was Night Trap,
a full-motion video game released on the Sega CD.
Although significantly less popular than Mortal Kombat,
Night Trap was just as controversial.
Developed by Digital Pictures as a
campy parody of a vampire movie,
the player’s goal is to protect a slumber party
of scantily clad women from alien vampires.
But it got the attention of politicians and parents
for its depiction of violence against women.
Finally, there was Lethal Enforcers,
a 1992 shooting game that used digitized
photos rather than cartoony images.
And, just like Mortal Kombat,
it got its start in the arcades.
Developed by Konami, players take on the role
of a police officer who is fighting a crime spree.
Console versions were released following year
and came with a revolver-style
gun to shoot down enemies.
At the height of the controversy,
console versions of Lethal
Enforcers weren’t even out yet.
But ads for the game featuring
the Konami Justifier gun
caught the government’s attention.
As the public became more
concerned about violent video games,
some video game companies
tried to mitigate the problem.
Nintendo had strict content policies
and they’d been in place for a while.
They put limits on things like
graphic depictions of death,
sexual content and profanity,
which explains why their version of
Mortal Kombat was less graphic than Sega’s.
For their part, Sega actually had its own rating system.
Sega’s Videogame Rating Council divided
its games among three age-based categories:
GA for general audiences,
MA-13 for mature audiences,
and MA-17 for adults.
Mortal Kombat was rated MA-13.
Night Trap and Lethal Enforcers were both rated MA-17.
Sega introduced the ratings in the spring of 1993,
after getting heat for the graphic games
being released on their consoles.
They also publicly encouraged other video
game companies to rate their games as well.
The suggestion infuriated Nintendo.
They didn’t buy the idea that
Sega created its rating system
as a way to inform parents and protect children.
Peter Main, Nintendo’s marketing director,
accused Sega of throwing up, quote,
“smokescreens to justify the marketing
of increasingly violent games.”
Nintendo also suggested that
rating a game like Night Trap MA-17
actually made it *more*
appealing to young kids.
But regardless of Sega’s motives,
the ratings didn’t hold much clout.
A lot of customers didn’t even know about the ratings,
and the ones who did found the three-
category system too vague to be helpful.
In short, parents had no idea
exactly how violent a game was
until they saw it for themselves.
In their own living rooms.
And a lot of them didn’t like what they saw.
And that feeling wasn’t limited
to just a few upset parents.
Researchers, advocacy groups and politicians
from both sides of the aisle were concerned.
At the time, a growing body of evidence suggested
that television violence led children
toward more aggressive behavior.
A lot of people worried that
video games would do the same.
Maybe even worse.
California’s Attorney General Dan Lungren
argued that video games could be more
harmful than violent television or music,
since video games are
interactive forms of entertainment.
In a letter to leaders in the video game industry,
he wrote that violent video games have a, quote,
“deadening, desensitizing impact
on young impressionable minds.”
As for the other side of the argument…
well, video games didn’t have many defenders.
Even industry insiders were concerned about how
violent video games might affect children.
But many questioned whether
government intervention was the answer.
They didn’t want children to be harmed,
but they didn’t want censorship either.
Public concern was growing
and the industry’s attempts
to police itself weren’t working.
Then in late 1993,
something totally unremarkable happened.
A 9-year-old boy asked his parents
for a copy of Mortal Kombat.
They almost gave it to him,
until the boy’s father did some research on the game
and became upset with what he saw.
In fact, Bill Anderson was so upset
that he discussed it with his boss,
Senator Joe Lieberman.
And that’s where the story gets a lot more remarkable.
Sen. Lieberman was alarmed by what he’d heard.
So he did something about it.
Just in time for the 1993 holiday buying season,
Sens. Lieberman and Herb Kohl
spearheaded a joint congressional hearing
on violence in video games.
They proposed legislation calling for a rating system
that would help buyers gauge a
game’s violence and sexual content.
The senators were clear that they
wanted the video game industry
to create its own independent ratings system,
but that if they refused,
the government would step in.
Not everyone liked the idea.
Some people called it censorship.
And a few maintained that the industry
was doing a good job policing itself.
The other side was much more skeptical.
Many wanted video game producers to just
stop making games that featured graphic violence.
Others didn’t trust the industry at all.
And it was that environment of distrust, concern,
and a demand for change
that heaped so much attention on
the heated congressional hearings.
During the hearing, a packed crowd watched the
most violent portions of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman held
the Konami Justifier for all to see
as photographers snapped photos.
The researchers and advocacy groups testified
that the video game industry was lining its pockets
at the expense of America’s children.
No one–least of all, the senators–
Marilyn Droz of the National
Coalition on Television Violence
told the senators that the industry
shouldn’t be allowed to regulate itself.
She compared the idea to, quote,
“leaving the troublemaker in charge of the classroom.”
Parker Page of the Children’s Television
Resource and Education Center
testified that research on television violence showed
that violent screen images led
children to more aggressive behavior,
made them less cooperative,
and more afraid of the world outside their homes.
Page said that since video games were
still relatively new and constantly evolving,
there wasn’t enough research to
definitively show how they impacted children.
But he did say that the few studies available showed
that violent video games had the same
negative effects as violent television.
As he wrapped up his testimony,
Page took a final swing.
PAGE: Video games that allow young players
to participate in heinous acts of cruelty,
should not be portrayed, regardless of profits.
NORM: But the hearing wasn’t
just about violence in general.
Panelists took the industry to task for
its portrayal of violence against women
and claimed that female video game characters
were frequently portrayed as victims or sex objects.
And sometimes both.
Eugene Provenzo, a professor
at the University of Miami,
said that his research on
America’s most popular video games
showed that violence was a major theme.
He also noted that many games featured
scenarios in which women were kidnapped.
He pointed out that *sometimes*
men were kidnapped, too.
But they were never rescued by women.
But no one hit this point home quite as hard
as Marilyn Droz.
She talked about video games
as an exciting new technology.
One that if done responsibly
could actually prepare kids for the 21st century.
She claimed that in the early days of video games
boys and girls played them with equal interest.
But that as games became more geared toward boys,
girls missed out.
DROZ: Girls are being trained in dressing Barbie dolls.
And boys are being trained in technology.
This has to change.
As a mother, as a parent,
as a woman, and as an American citizen,
I’m stating this needs to be changed.
NORM: She noted that very few female video
game characters had much control or power.
Not long after the senators
watched footage from Night Trap,
Droz looked around the packed
room and asked a question.
DROZ: I mean, how would you
like to have a teenage daughter
go out on a date with someone
who’s just watched or played
three hours of that game?
NORM: The testimonies were damning
and showed a united front
against the video game industry.
One might expect that the video game
panelists would be equally united.
they were on the same side.
The atmosphere changed when
the video game leaders testified.
As representatives from Sega and
Nintendo scrambled for moral high ground,
they turned on one another.
Remember, Sega had its own rating system,
but it was vague and the general
public didn’t know much about it.
Nintendo had the real advantage.
Thanks to their guidelines,
their version of Mortal Kombat was
more family-friendly than Sega’s version.
And, as they were quick to point out,
they had nothing to do with Night Trap.
It’s equally important to consider *who*
represented Sega and Nintendo at the hearing.
Nintendo chose Howard Lincoln,
who at the time was Senior Vice
President at Nintendo of America.
Lincoln was a talented lawyer
who proved his value during Nintendo’s successful
legal battle against Universal over Donkey Kong.
Lincoln’s testimony was polished.
He spoke with confidence.
He admitted that Nintendo wasn’t perfect.
But maintained that it had, and always would,
make an effort to create fun, appropriate games.
Their games would never
feature gratuitous sex or violence
because Nintendo’s own guidelines wouldn’t permit it.
In a clear dig at Sega,
he stated that Night Trap, quote,
“simply has no place in our society.”
None of this let Nintendo off the hook.
But what Lincoln said, and the way he said it,
seemed to resonate with the senators.
By contrast, Sega of America was represented by
their Vice President of Marketing Communications,
He looked less comfortable than Lincoln.
He occasionally stumbled over his words.
He came across as defensive,
and with good reason.
Sega produced more graphic games than Nintendo,
and it was clear to Bill White that he was in the hot seat.
White’s main point was that video
games weren’t just for children.
He pointed out that the average
Sega CD user was 22 years old,
and that the average Sega
Genesis user was 19 years old.
He argued that adults played video games too,
and that over time the industry
would attract more players of all ages.
Although White made some good points,
he was in an unenviable position.
DORGAN: And I honestly, Mr. White, I–
you know, I read your statement
and I honestly think
that you don’t understand
what we’re talking about here.
Let me tell you why.
NORM: To say the senators were skeptical
of Sega’s motives would be putting it mildly.
Sen. Lieberman called Sega’s rating system, quote,
“a fig leaf to cover a lot of transgressions,”
and asked the company to apply some self-control.
Sen. Byron Dorgan pressed Bill White
on the rating system age categories.
DORGAN: And, and do you view those, uh…
over the age of 13 as mature?
WHITE: There’s, there’s three designations
that the independent rating council chooses
to designate product. It’s MA-13,
appropriate for teenagers and older,
but not for young children with parental–
– But does it have the
word “mature” attached to that?
– Yes, I believe it does.
– And so the presumption is
those over 13 years of age are mature?
– Are you kidding me?
– With parental discretion.
– I’m referring now to–
– What are you thinking about–
– the MA-13 title.
– that you’re suggesting that–
NORM: The senators even tried using
Sega’s own policies against them.
LIEBERMAN: As always, Sega will
not approve products which contain,
A-1) material that encourages criminality of any kind.
making a game and selling it that
encourages a kid to point a gun
at a television set
his success, or her success,
by increasing the firepower of the gun
encouraging criminality? I mean,
we’re all aware of this incredible outbreak of
gun violence in our country.
Is it responsible?
Let me put it another way:
is it within the terms of the guidelines?
NORM: Lieberman argued that Sega was
marketing its mature and adult games to children.
He proved his point using a Sega pamphlet
which contained a blurb on Night Trap
alongside blurbs for children’s games,
with nothing to distinguish the games for adults
from the games for kids.
He drove the point home a moment later when
he played a Sega commercial for Mortal Kombat.
According to Sega’s own rating system,
the game was inappropriate for children under 13.
But Lieberman said that the hero
of the commercial looked under 13
and that the ad seemed clearly geared toward children.
But no one shut Sega down quite as hard,
or as effectively,
as Nintendo’s Howard Lincoln.
LINCOLN: Let me make just a couple of other points.
I can’t sit here and allow you to be told
that somehow the video game
business has been transformed today
from children to adults.
It hasn’t been, and Mr. White,
who is a former Nintendo employee,
knows the demographics as well as I do.
Furthermore, I can’t let you sit here
and buy this nonsense that this Sega
Night Trap game was somehow
only meant for adults.
The fact of the matter is
this is a copy of the packaging.
There was no rating on this game
at all when the game was introduced.
Small children bought this at Toys “R” Us
and he knows that as well as I do.
When they started getting heat about this game,
then they adopted the rating
system and put ratings on it.
But today, just as I’m sitting here,
you can go into a Toys “R” Us
store, or a Walmart, or a Kmart,
and you know as well as I do
that you can buy this product
and no one,
certainly no sales clerk at retail,
is going to challenge you.
NORM: Howard Lincoln also
shot down Bill White’s assertion
that Sega had no control over
violent or objectionable ads
produced by licensees.
Sen. Lieberman ultimately
praised Nintendo for being, quote,
“a damn sight better than the competition.”
Toward the end, Bill White was clearly frustrated.
Sega was being painted as pure evil
and Nintendo was escaping unscathed.
It was all too much for him.
None of his arguments had been very effective.
Showing side-by-side gameplay
footage of Nintendo and Sega games,
which showed similar levels of violence,
didn’t resonate quite like he’d hoped it would.
He needed people to know
that Nintendo games contained violent content, too.
And he wanted nothing more than to
knock Howard Lincoln down a notch.
So, White took another swing.
But thanks to an embarrassing slip of the tongue,
it didn’t land.
WHITE: I may also point out
that Sega produces product
a rapid fire machine gun
that uses the same technology, to our
understanding, with several games available.
And they have no rating on that product
to suggest that product’s for adults.
LIEBERMAN: Nintendo produces it, you’re saying?
NORM: The congressional hearing made a
public spectacle out of the console wars.
But it did more than just bruise
the egos of the industry leaders.
It also got them to publicly agree to,
and move forward with,
a rating system.
LIEBERMAN: The best thing you can do,
not only for this country but for yourselves,
is to self-regulate.
And believe me, it’s not only gonna be
important to our kids, it’s gonna be important
to the ultimate credibility and success of your business.
The congressional hearing drew
a lot of attention from the media.
Suddenly, the most violent portions of Mortal Kombat
and Night Trap were common knowledge.
Some people didn’t like what they saw.
“We don’t need companies to put
warning labels on video games
as they have now offered to do at
the point of a senatorial shotgun,
nor do we need another
government entity policing the industry.
All we need is one teensy regulation.
All video game inventors must use the faces
of their own children on their characters.
So let’s get personal, guys.
Let’s put your kids out there in that four-way
intersection as see how fast you swerve.”
Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
One week after the hearing,
Toys “R” Us pulled Night Trap from its shelves.
FAO Schwarz soon followed.
That same week,
Sega announced that Lethal Enforcers
would be available at computer software stores
but not at toy stores.
In January of 1994,
Sega withdrew Night Trap from the market.
Tom Zito, the president of Digital Pictures,
which made Night Trap, spoke out.
He said the game had been unfairly
attacked over a tiny excerpt of footage.
He told the New York Times
“while it is certainly not an
appropriate game for an 8-year-old,
Night Trap is actually very benign
and is designed as a parody of a vampire movie.”
But his defense didn’t seem to matter.
Across America, people were
fired up about violent entertainment
and they wanted something done.
“Imagine an intruder entering your home
seizing your children and forcing
them to watch 8,000 murders
and a hundred thousand acts of violence.
A monstrous crime? Yes!
A crime that would do untold
psychological harm to your children.
No question about it.
Wake up, parents!
Chances are that *your* child
is the victim I just described.”
Sen. Earnest “Fritz” Hollings.
On February 3, 1994,
just a few months after the December hearing,
Sens. Lieberman and Kohl introduced
the Video Game Rating Act of 1994.
The bill would allow the government
to create a five-member commission,
appointed by the President of the United States,
that would help the industry create a rating system.
The industry was given a deadline of just one year
to pull together or face government intervention.
But working together was easier said than done.
The Senate hearing had been rough.
At times, it was just plain embarrassing.
Nintendo and Sega had always
been vicious competitors.
But their battle during the hearing
took their animosity to another level.
That spring, the anger boiled over once again.
It started with a news report which revealed that
Nintendo had provided a congressional committee
with a tape of the most violent portions of Night Trap
prior to the December hearing.
Sega of America president Tom Kalinske
spoke out via a press release.
“I’m really amazed that Nintendo
would so irresponsibly drag retailers
and the entire video game industry through the mud
in their efforts to slow our momentum.”
But if Nintendo was supposed to feel ashamed,
it didn’t work.
Sega may have been thrown under the bus,
but Nintendo thought they deserved it.
Nintendo felt that none of this–
the public outrage, the government intervention–
would have happened if Sega had just
kept graphic violence out of their games.
Howard Lincoln wanted to respond
in a way that perfectly summed up
how sorry he felt for Sega.
So, he drafted his own press release.
Roses are red, violets are blue.
So you had a bad day.
All my best, Howard.”
Sega and Nintendo would never get along.
But if there was one thing they
disliked more than each other,
it was the thought of government intervention.
During the follow up congressional
hearings in March of 1994,
Jack Heistand of the newly-
formed Industry Rating Council
announced that seven companies,
including Sega and Nintendo,
would comply with a rating system,
just in time for the holiday season.
What’s more, the ratings wouldn’t
just appear on a game’s packaging.
The groups agreed to include ratings
in ads and other marketing material.
They committed to a customer
and retailer education campaign
and promised to make the ratings
easy for customers to understand.
They said that the ratings board would be independent,
and that they’d seek public input as they finalized
their guidelines and ratings categories.
They also stated that there would be tough sanctions
for any company that got a rating fraudulently
by, for example, withholding critical information.
But they stood firm on some issues.
Jack Heistand told the senators that the
ratings board wouldn’t be in the business
of regulating game content.
In other words, they could give
customers information about a game,
but they wouldn’t tell software developers
what to include or remove from a game.
When Sen. Lieberman asked about going back
and rating all previously published games,
the group stood firm once again.
HEISTAND: In total there are probably four or five thousand titles in the marketplace today
and there are 50,000 retail outlets.
For us to try and go back and rate those products,
sticker all those products,
would put such a burden
on accomplishing what we’re trying to do for
the next six months, it’s virtually impossible.
NORM: The fact that so many video game
companies were working together
on a rating system was significant.
Together, the companies accounted
for 60 percent of video game sales.
But the senators wondered whether that was enough.
KOHL: As I understood you to say,
or perhaps you can, uh…
enlighten us, you do not, or you cannot say today
that you represent the entire industry.
– That’s correct.
– So isn’t that going to be a
problem that needs to be addressed successfully,
again, as we move towards the route
toward what our goal is, which is to
assure the American people that we have
resolved the problem?
– Isn’t that a problem that needs to be addressed?
NORM: The group was powerful,
but they couldn’t do it alone.
After all, what would stop some
other video game company–
one that wasn’t part of the group–
from making its own unrated games?
In a word: money.
Everyone knew that there needed to
be some sort of financial disincentive
for companies that wanted to sell unrated games.
Going around the rating system would
have to be not just morally irresponsible,
but financially irresponsible.
They needed help from the biggest names in retail.
And they got it.
KERBY: Upon implementation of
an industry-wide rating system,
Walmart will only purchase video games
that have gone through the rating process
and received a rating.
LIEBERMAN: Mr. Kerby, by congressional
standards, that was an unusually short
statement, but I would add
it was unusually significant.
And I appreciate it very much.
SULLIVAN: Once the industry-wide
rating system is established,
Toys “R” Us would also only purchase rated games.
– We’re on a roll!
– That’s great. Thank you.
NORM: With the support of major retailers
and the main players in the video game industry,
the rating system moved forward.
When they reconvened in July,
the Industry Ratings Council had a new name:
the Interactive Digital Software Association.
They had more video game companies onboard, too.
What started less than a year before
as outrage over violent games
was quickly working toward a resolution.
At first, Sega pitched that the
IDSA use their rating system.
But Nintendo disagreed.
The idea of using a competitor’s rating
system on their products was too much.
And, as many people outside
the industry had pointed out,
Sega’s rating system was
vague and otherwise flawed.
So the group agreed on an entirely new rating system.
LIEBERMAN: Today is a turning point
in the battle to protect our kids
and re-establish some standards.
Today, the video game industry
is announcing the establishment
of an independent rating system
that promises to give parents
for the first time a clear idea of which
video games are good for their kids
and which should stay out of their homes.
NORM: And so, the Entertainment Software
Rating Board, or ESRB, was born.
The independent group came up
with five categories to rate games,
based on help from parents, researchers,
and child development experts.
Kids to Adults,
and Adults Only.
This also included 17 content descriptors.
Developers had to pay a fee and
send a videotape of pertinent content
to get their game rated by the ESRB.
While this was all voluntary,
the console makers could
refuse a title if it wasn’t rated.
Just as they promised it would,
the ESRB began rating games
prior to the 1994 holiday season.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
During the July hearing, Sen. Lieberman
said that violence in video games
wasn’t going away.
As proof, he disgustedly shared
details of a new first-person shooter
Overall, the senators were pleased with the ESRB.
They wanted the industry to regulate itself.
And it had.
In response, Sens. Lieberman and Kohl
shelved the Video Game Rating Act of 1994.
Over the years, the ESRB has evolved with the industry.
In 2005, they created the E10+ category,
and today there are 30 content descriptors.
They’ve put more teeth behind their sanctions
and created public awareness
campaigns to educate parents.
Since its creation, Sen. Lieberman
has called the ESRB ratings, quote,
“the most comprehensive in the media industry.”
But the ESRB is not unique.
In Europe, you have the
Pan European Game Information system,
also known as PEGI.
It was created in 2003 to help unify a
number of national ratings with a single system.
In 2002, Japan created the
Computer Entertainment Rating Organization,
which assigns game a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or Z.
An “A” rating means the game is suitable for all ages,
while a “Z” is for 18 or older.
They also include content
descriptors in the form of pictures.
For example, a ghost icon means
there are themes of horror in the game.
While I do believe the public outrage over
graphic video games was a bit overblown,
putting a rating system on video
games was, in the end, a good thing.
There’s nothing wrong with informing the
public about what kind of content a game has.
And the ESRB has helped legitimize
video games as an industry
and as a form of entertainment.
That’s all for this episode of Gaming Historian.
Thanks for watching.
Funding for Gaming Historian is
provided in part by supporters on Patreon.

domain: news


text:
The General Motors Board of Directors, meeting for the first time ever outside the United States, participated in an All-Employee Meeting on Monday at the GM campus in Shanghai. China is now GM’s largest national market, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Italy.
More than 700 employees from Shanghai-based GM International Operations (GMIO) and GM China listened as Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson—who was driven to the meeting in an EN-V concept vehicle popularized during the 2010 Shanghai Expo&madsh;gave an update on GM’s business. He was then joined by fellow board members Steve Girsky and Patricia Russo to answer employees’ questions. GMIO President Tim Lee moderated the Q&A.
Board members later were given an overview of GMIO and GM China as well as an introduction to SAIC-GM-Wuling’s lineup of models, including the new Baojun 630, which recently went on sale in China.
The board also visited Shanghai GM, where members participated in the celebration of the production of the joint venture’s 5-millionth vehicle. Shanghai GM, which produced its first vehicle on 17 Dec. 1998, reached the milestone earlier than any other automaker in China.


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Portsmouth Flip Out set to unveil improvements
PORTSMOUTH trampoline centre Flip Out is now bigger and bouncier than ever after undergoing a refurbishment.
It has just finished an upgrade which allows it to introduce more exciting activities for people of all ages.
The centre advises that whether you’re an ‘advanced flipper’ or ‘bouncing beginner’, you’ll enjoy the new facilities on offer.
The business’s latest investment project has provided a super trampoline, sprung gymnastics floor, parkour area, stunt box section, 15-metre tumble track, dodge ball area and even a multi-level soft play frame for children aged five and under.
Flip Out said it had listened carefully to customer feedback as it wanted to tailor the centre towards locals and what they expect.
The new parkour area (which also features a stunt box section), the sprung gymnastics floor and the super trampoline provide a space for the more enthusiastic, daring jumper.
Fun may be the ethos of the centre, but the Flip Out team are also passionate about improving fitness.
The park runs ‘flip fit’ classes throughout the week and all class and availability details are posted on the company website. The sessions incorporate various sections of the centre to provide a full body workout.
Flip Out has also rejuvenated The Delicafe, a cafe which allows visitors to watch over their family and friends as they enjoy the centre. The cafe has been redecorated and received a kitchen upgrade, offering a wider menu choice including pizzas, baguettes and toasties.
General manager Russell Dillingham said: ‘We have spent a considerable amount of time listening to customer feedback and researching other sites to determine what new activities we install and we are confident the new arena will be a huge hit!
‘We first opened our doors in December 2015 and feel now is the right time to take this site to the next level.’
The grand opening of the refurbished centre will be held on July 17 and doors will open at 9am.
For more, go to flipout.co.uk/locations/portsmouth/


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[THE INVESTOR] Korean steelmakers said on March 2 that they would seek measures to counter or at least mitigate the impact of the recent heavy tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump on all imported steel products.
POSCO, the nation’s largest steelmaker, is gearing up efforts to request state governments for tax exemptions in case Trump’s order takes effect.
“The tariffs may have a high influence (damage) on the supply and price of materials of POSCO products in US and, therefore, on domestic industries, including automobiles and appliances that require steel,” said a POSCO spokesperson.
POSCO's Seoul headquarters.
“We will work harder to call on the US government and related industries to exclude materials used by POSCO in the US from the tariffs,” he said.
POSCO has set up two companies in the US, both joint ventures, that process steel products with raw materials shipped from Korea.
On March 1, Trump told reporters that the US would impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel products. The US president is expected to sign an order to impose the tariffs next week. Korea is the third-biggest steel exporter to the US, after Canada and Brazil.
Currently, 88 percent of Korean steel exports to the US already face antidumping tariffs or countervailing duties. Due to these protectionism measures, Korean steel exports to the US declined 37.8 percent between 2014 and 2017.
The local steel pipe industry will be hit hardest, industry watchers say. Their exports to the US account for more than half of Korea’s total steel exports to the country, which stand at around an annual US$3.2 billion.
“Still, we hope there will be some changes when a final decision is made next week,” said one executive from a Korean steel pipe company.
There could some changes in the policies due to strong resistance from Washington’s trading partners. Canada and the EU have said they would bring forward countermeasures, while Mexico, China and Brazil have also said they are considering retaliation.
The Korean government said Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong visited the US over the weekend to meet Gary Cohn, chief economic adviser to President Donald Trump, and US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to raise trade law issues and called for new measures that can minimize damage to Korean companies.
Some industry watchers note that that the protectionist measures would ultimately raise global steel prices and offset the losses of Korean steel makers.
“US steel makers are likely to respond by raising prices instead of increasing capacity. This will push up the prices of US and global manufactures, and again increase the global steel prices, which could then offset the losses for the local companies,” said Baek Jae-seung, an analyst at Samsung Securities.
By Shin Ji-hye/The Korea Herald (firstname.lastname@example.org)


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A few weeks ago we reported that Nintendo was about to end Wii U production. Then Nintendo denied the report, and now it appears that they are in fact ending production of the Wii U console.
The news comes from their official Wii U webpage in Japan, where a note says that the console “production is scheduled to end soon within Japan”. This follows a trend — Nintendo has previously discontinued consoles by a similar note posted on the official website.
Which means that there will likely be no Wii U holiday deals or sales from Nintendo. We already know that their Black Friday deal only concerns the 3DS — the company is selling the 3DS for $99 on Black Friday.
There are still some big games coming to the Wii U, such as Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which will be released next year. By that time, the Wii U should have ceased production and likely won’t be available for purchase anywhere in the world.


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Qualcomm's upcoming server chips are being tested by top-tier cloud players, but now developers can also work with them through a new cloud service.
For a while it was hard to get a hand on an ARM, but that may not be the case soon.
IBM's Internet of Things platform can now work with IoT processors designed by ARM, thanks to a new partnership between the two companies.
Apple streaming service likely at WWDC...Intel shows Skylake tab in Taipei...ARM looks to IoT security, possible acquisition...and more tech news.
Every flagship smartphone you buy contains a processor designed by ARM. On Tuesday, ARM described what those flagship phones will look like in 2016 -- and they'll all be powered by its new chip, the Cortex A-72 processor.
Intel's US$740 million investment in software company Cloudera will help sell more x86 chips in Hadoop installations, but it could also be a defensive move to maintain its server lead from the emerging threat posed by 64-bit ARM servers.
For more than a decade Arm Holdings has designed chips that have powered mobile handsets and smartphones like Apple's iPhone. The company now faces a challenger in Intel, which recently demonstrated a smartphone, LG Electronics' GW990, based on its u...
For once, Intel knows how it feels to be the underdog.
If you still blanche at the term "netbook" for being an ungainly piece of vendor-speak, then prepare to be nauseated later this year as "smartbook" supporters start to bang that marketing drum.
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OpenView targets software and Internet companies that have already created a product or service, and begun generating revenue. "We look for companies that have around $5 million in revenue when we invest," Maxwell says, "so it's really expansion investing, giving them the resources they need for growth." OpenView will invest in start-ups anywhere in the world, Maxwell adds, "but the company needs to have a North American strategy." Often, that entails setting up a new headquarters in the U.S. and hiring a CEO here. OpenView's current fund totals $233 million, Maxwell says, and typically the firm puts about $7 million or $8 million into a company as its initial investment.
While a partner at Insight (a Manhattan-based firm), Maxwell brought three companies — Astaro, Imceda Software, and Acronis — to Burlington from Germany, Australia and Russia, respectively. Intronis, a cloud-based back-up service that started life in New Jersey, is now operating out of OpenView's Fort Point Channel office, and Zmags, an online merchandising company founded in Denmark, is now headquartered in the same neighborhood. Two other companies, Exinda and Open-e, have established headquarters in Boston after raising money from OpenView.
Most of the companies are still relatively small; all told, they account for perhaps 250 jobs in the state, according to OpenView's figures.
"Boston is just the best place to set these companies up," Maxwell says. Often, they start by using space in OpenView's offices.
"It's really difficult to grow a company in Silicon Valley," he continues. "There's too much competition for hiring, the costs are high, and people in Massachusetts work a lot harder. For business-to-business companies, the labor pool is incredible here, and there are plenty of salespeople. And I say all that as a California native."
About Scott Kirsner
Scott Kirsner was part of the team that launched Boston.com in 1995, and has been writing a column for the Globe since 2000. His work has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Variety. Scott is also the author of the books "Fans, Friends & Followers" and "Inventing the Movies," was the editor of "The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England," and was a contributor to "The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston." Scott also helps organize several local events on entrepreneurship, including the Nantucket Conference and Future Forward. Here's some background on how Scott decides what to cover, and how to pitch him a story idea.
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LiveFitter was appointed as Regional Branding Agency for Optimum Nutrition & BSN.
GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Whey Protein Ingredients markets.
Debut of the new N.O.-XPLODE(TM) Pushes Athletes, Workouts, Category Beyond Previous Limits BOCA RATON, Fla., June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BSN® (Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition)
Global Sports Nutrition Leader Now on Cusp of Game-changing New Product Announcement BOCA RATON, Fla., June 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognized internationally for its series of category
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DUBLIN, April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets ( http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9x8vc3/global_protein) has announced the addition of the "Global
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- A ceramic container used inside a fuel-fired kiln to protect pots from the flame.


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266.16 -0.53 (-0.20%)
After hours: 4:51PM EDT
|Bid||266.65 x 1200|
|Ask||266.75 x 1100|
|Day's Range||265.81 - 275.41|
|52 Week Range||231.23 - 385.99|
|Beta (3Y Monthly)||1.47|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||85.45|
|Earnings Date||Jan 15, 2020 - Jan 20, 2020|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||N/A (N/A)|
|1y Target Est||360.05|
Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman, Adam Shapiro, Rick Newman, David Jorgenson - Equiteq CEO and Akiko Fujita discuss Verizon's latest initiative.
Biogen stock was a big winner Tuesday on news it plans to file for U.S. regulatory approval for its Alzheimer's treatment aducanumab.
Disney-Lucasfilm's new "Star Wars" movie has outsold this year's "Avengers" megahit in early ticket sales. Disney stock rose.
America's economy is showing cracks. It's not just the ongoing trade war with China. Global economic weakness unrelated to China is weighing here at home. Uncertainty around Brexit, instability in the Middle East are among the contributors. As a result, there are a number of vulnerable stocks to watch, as another push could send them over the cliff.Yes, the Federal Reserve is helping to ease the pain with lower interest rates. But consumers still are dealing with higher costs in health care, education and food. Consumer spending, which has been a sign of strength of late, even started to turn recently, cooling off in August.Several stocks already are showing serious fundamental issues, such as stagnant growth, high levels of debt, lack of free cash flow (FCF; essentially, what's left over once the company spends and invests to maintain and expand its business). Continued volatility in the market could exacerbate the drop in currently falling stocks, and start the slide in others. In some cases, a broader market downturn on sentiment alone could do the trick; in others, further signs of economic fragility could unleash the sellers.Here are 13 vulnerable stocks to watch. Some of these are deeply troubled stocks that might not warrant investor funds even in a strong market. A few are more stable companies that could experience outsize stock losses from temporary weakness - but might warrant buying on a future dip. SEE ALSO: The Pros Say No: 7 Large-Cap Stocks to Sell or Avoid
Netflix says 64 million households watched "Stranger Things 3" in its first month and 32 million households watched “Unbelievable." Are those figures believable?
Netflix Inc. is planning to raise another $2 billion in debt as it moves to raise the financing needed for new content as the battle for streaming customers heats up with a slate of new offerings on tap.
(Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. sold around $2.2 billion of bonds in the U.S. and Europe as it continues to bolster its original content in the face of expanding competition.Investors bought $1 billion of dollar-denominated bonds and 1.1 billion of euro bonds ($1.2 billion) from the TV streaming company, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Netflix had said Monday it would sell about $2 billion of debt with the proceeds being used for general corporate purposes, including content purchases and production as well as potential acquisitions, according to a statement.The dollar-denominated 10.5-year bonds, which can’t be bought back, will yield 4.875%, down from around 5.125%, according to a person with knowledge of the price talk. The euro notes, which have the same maturity, will pay 3.625%, after initially discussing around 3.875%, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.Netflix issued debt after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates and saw overseas growth that helped sooth investors’ concerns about a slowdown at home. The company burned through $551 million of cash in the third quarter and is “slowly” moving toward becoming free cash flow positive, Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said in a letter to shareholders last week. In the meantime, Netflix will continue to tap the high-yield market for its investment needs, he said.The Los Gatos, California-based company reiterated expectations to burn through $3.5 billion in cash this year as the war for content heats up. It’s been raising prices -- often at the expense of subscriber gains -- in some of its largest territories, trying to shift toward profitability as streaming service competition mounts from companies such as Walt Disney Co., AT&T Inc. and Apple Inc.Netflix has historically relied on the high-yield bond market to finance its growth, typically issuing debt following its first- and third-quarter earnings in April and October, respectively. Its debt load, including operating lease liabilities, has steadily grown to around $13.5 billion since first tapping the market in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Netflix has become one of the largest issuers in the U.S. junk-bond market. Its dollar bonds may have a market value in the $10 billion to $10.5 billion area, placing Netflix as the 11th largest borrower in the benchmark Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.What Bloomberg Intelligence Says“Netflix may issue new junk bonds for several more years as proceeds from debt sales fuel not only free-cash-flow deficits, but also repayment of bond principal. While Netflix may not produce free cash flow until 2023, it must address a $500 million bond principal in 2021 and another $700 million in early 2022.”\--Stephen Flynn, corporate credit analystClick here to view the research reportThe company last borrowed $2.24 billion of junk bonds in April, and said that it would reduce its reliance on debt financing at the time. CEO Hastings walked back that language in a July letter to shareholders, saying Netflix planned to still use the high-yield market to fund content investments.Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank AG and Wells Fargo & Co. managed the bond sale, the data show.\--With assistance from Rizal Tupaz, Laura Benitez and Gowri Gurumurthy.To contact the reporters on this story: Molly Smith in New York at email@example.com;Elizabeth Rembert in New York at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at email@example.comFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Netflix Inc. is mobilizing ahead of the launch of two big new competitors in November with an armory of 59 new offerings next month, including the arrival of 43 original programs.
All Verizon wireless unlimited customers as well as new Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers will get a year of Disney's new streaming service for free.
What’s coming to Netflix next month includes 43 original programs as competition increases; the company plans to issue more debt to fund new projects
(Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc. will give wireless subscribers a year of free access to Walt Disney Co.’s upcoming Disney+ video service, as the streaming battle heats up against established players Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Prime Video.Existing Verizon mobile customers and new Fios Home customers are eligible for the service, which Disney plans to launch on Nov. 12 for $6.99 a month, the telecom company said Tuesday. Netflix shares fell as much as 3.5%, while Disney rose as much as 2.4%.The move highlights the largest U.S. carrier’s strategy of attracting customers by partnering with media companies rather than owning its own programming, unlike its peer AT&T Inc. Verizon is fighting for subscribers against the popular T-Mobile US Inc., which offers free Netflix service to its customers.Verizon already offers a free trial of Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube TV to all of its new 5G Home customers. The choice of Disney+, featuring programming from Marvel, Pixar and other family-friendly outlets, comes just weeks ahead of Apple Inc.’s expected launch of Apple TV+, a $4.99-a-month streaming service.Next week, AT&T is scheduled to outline more details about its HBO Max streaming service, which the company plans to launch next year. AT&T needs a successful rollout to help justify its media strategy, which is under scrutiny from activist investor Elliott Management Corp.(Updates with Netflix, Disney stock moves in second paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at email@example.com, John J. Edwards IIIFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Verizon said Tuesday it will give customers free one year access to Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS)'s new streaming platform, Disney+. The promotion will be made available to existing and new Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers. Verizon will make the promotion available across any platform as of Nov. 12.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Glamour stocks may be losing their allure.Buying profitable businesses at a reasonable price is one of the oldest and most trusted — and some might say boring — playbooks in investing. The father of security analysis, Benjamin Graham, plied the strategy, as did his protege Warren Buffett, legendary mutual fund manager Peter Lynch and countless other stock investors. But there’s been little interest in it in recent years, at least when it comes to U.S companies.Instead, investors have been betting on glamour stocks — companies with big expectations and pricey shares, but little or no profit — in the hope that they will blossom into cash cows like Facebook Inc. or Google parent Alphabet Inc. Think, for example, electric car maker Tesla Inc. or online video service Netflix Inc., or even pot stocks.Glamour has paid off big, not because those companies are suddenly minting fat profits — on the contrary, many still lose money — but because their popularity has boosted their stock prices. Glamour stocks, or shares of the most expensive and least profitable U.S. companies, have outpaced boring stocks, or shares of the cheapest and most profitable companies, by an astounding 16.8 percentage points a year over the last six years through August, including dividends. That’s when they began to take off relative to boring stocks, according to numbers compiled by Dartmouth professor Ken French.It’s not a bet for the faint of heart. Glamour stocks are likely to continue fetching high prices as long as investors hold out hope that profits will materialize, but if they tire of waiting, the reversal could be intense because glamour stocks have a lot of room to deflate. They traded at a weighted average price-to-book ratio of 10.1 as of August, compared with just 0.8 for boring stocks. Since 1963, the first year for which numbers are available, that difference was only higher during the height of the dot-com bubble in 1999, and not by much. In fact, there are signs that investors are beginning to lose their patience. Some of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings of glamour companies this year have been a bust so far. Shares of ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are down 30% and 43%, respectively, since their public market debuts. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF, the first U.S.-listed marijuana exchange-traded fund, has tumbled 51% over the last year. And who can forget WeWork’s implosion from a $47 billion valuation in January to a proposed bailout that could value the office-sharing company below $8 billion.It’s not just a few companies. I compared the stock price performance of the companies in the Russell 3000 Index with their profitability over the last year. Roughly 45% of companies posted a profit margin greater than the weighted average margin for the index, and their stock prices rose by an average of 2%. By contrast, the stocks for the 30% with a profit margin less than the index declined by an average of 3%, and the remaining 25% that lost money were down an average of 10%. The results are similar when looking at other measures of profitability such as return on equity.Those results are also echoed by French’s numbers. His glamour stocks are down 4.3% over the last year through August, while the boring ones are up 6.4%.Even if the recent reversals turn out to be a short-term blip, investors must also navigate the likelihood that many glamour stocks will disappoint eventually, if they survive at all. That’s evident in their unflattering longer-term record. Glamour stocks have beaten boring ones just 25% of the time over rolling six-year periods since July 1963, counted monthly. And the vast majority of those victories are clustered around only two periods — the current one and a similar growth-at-any-cost binge during the late 1960s and early 1970s.That earlier episode is instructive. Then as now, investors eagerly paid any price for companies that held out the promise of outsized growth. The results were great while everyone played along. During the six-year period from October 1966 to September 1972, glamour stocks beat boring ones by 16.8 percentage points a year, a margin that matches glamour’s success over the last six years. But when those companies stumbled or failed to deliver on their promise in the ensuing years, investors abandoned them. During the following six years that ended in September 1978, glamour’s fortunes reversed, and boring stocks won by 17.3 percentage points a year. Sure, those with the foresight to pick future winners from a sea of glamour stocks have little to worry about. But, to rip off Dirty Harry, this might be a good time for investors to ask themselves one question: Do I feel lucky?To contact the author of this story: Nir Kaissar at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at email@example.comThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nir Kaissar is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the markets. He is the founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm. He has worked as a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell and a consultant at Ernst & Young. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Shares of Netflix were down 3.1% to $269.49 per share on Tuesday morning after Verizon announced that it will offer a full year of rival streaming service Disney+ for free to certain customers. Starting Nov. 12 when Disney+ launches, Verizon will offer 12 months of the service to all of its new and existing unlimited wireless customers, as well as to new Verizon Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers. Disney's new direct-to-consumer streaming service will feature original and library content from the company's Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic studios.


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By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - 6:00 am Print This Story | Subscribe
Leader Electronics reports a
The Honda CR-V is up against a lot of newer rivals, but there's still lots to like about this venerable family crossover.
Ah, the trusty Honda CR-V.
While waiting times for the Toyota RAV4 stretch out to 12 months, Chinese SUVs like the Haval H6 and MG HS rapidly gain ground,
Hyundai's latest electric crossover hits all the high marks
The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an excellent battery-powered crossover that features bold styling, rapid charging, innovative technology, and playful performance.
The electric vehicle (EV) race is, on and traditional auto
Users wishing to make online payment, instead of scanning a QR code or entering a UPI-linked number, now will just have to tap their phone on the POS terminal and authenticate the payment from their phone by punching in their UPI PIN
Digital payment is all set to be a breeze with Google
Google Pay has recently launched a new feature in India, ‘Tap to pay for UPI’ in collaboration with Pine Labs. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
The story so far: Google Pay has recently launched a new feature in India, ‘Tap to pay for UPI’, in collaboration with Pine
Topics Google Pay | Pine Labs | Digital Payments
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Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Friday commissioned a smart classroom
Apple is rumored to be launching a few desktop lines and new models this year and, with that, support for some of the older computers has got to go. Is your Mac about to become obsolete? Or does Apple still consider it to be "vintage?" What does any of this mean?! What about your old iPhone th


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The sale of dogs through online marketplace DoneDeal has been temporarily suspended as the site looks to help “improve animal welfare” amid a rise in dog thefts across the country.
According to a spokesperson, DoneDeal will introduce measures to further improve animal welfare and advertising transparency.
While other animals can still be bought and sold on the site, the advertising of dogs has been suspended.
DoneDeal said it is working with animal welfare bodies amid growing concerns about the sale of dogs in recent months but, a spokesperson said, they are concerned that removing dogs from their platform "may push activity offline and lead to reduced transparency when it comes to advertising dogs".
The website said it has introduced a number of measures in recent months in order to improve transparency around the advertisement of dogs.
These include the introduction of a two-factor phone verification for advertisers in the dogs’ section, capturing the microchip number of dogs at the point of advertisement, and the publishing of microchip numbers.
“At DoneDeal we will continue to work hard with animal welfare bodies to find the best possible solutions to maximise transparency and protect animal welfare when it comes to the advertisement of animals,” a spokesperson for DoneDeal said.
The decision comes as an increase in dog thefts has put pet owners on high alert.
The rise in dog thefts is believed to be linked to a rise in demand over the Covid-19 lockdown period.
Earlier this week, gardaí in Limerick uncovered ten dogs from a property in Rathkeale.
They found no dog licences or proper identification papers for the animals, and are now trying to reunite the dogs with their owners.
Gardaí say they have not recorded a spike in dog thefts in the first half of 2020, but a spokesperson said they are aware of "significant social media activity in respect of the theft and loss of dogs in recent times".
Gardaí advise dog owners to take steps to keep their animals safe, including micro-chipping and, potentially, installing CCTV.


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In the following video, Andrew Tonner discusses Nokia, one of the best-performing tech stocks in recent memory, up more than 15% in the past three months as part of a larger rally that has seen the stock rise nearly 125% since last July.
Andrew says Nokia has put behind investors' concerns that it wouldn't be able to break into mobile in a big way and that the company would go out of business. Nevertheless, despite a partnership with Microsoft that drove demand for the Lumia handset, Nokia isn't out of the woods yet.
Shipping 4 million phones to Apple's 47 million, Nokia is still a bit player in the mobile-phone market. Andrew claims that Nokia, at 140 times forward earnings, has great expectations reflected in its price, even as it remains unprofitable within a cutthroat industry. But he finds it too rich for his blood and foresees difficulty as the company tries to compete with Apple and Google, calling the stock a mixed bag and ultimately putting a hold rating on it.


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Hyderabad: Many social media posts are claiming that ahead of Father's Day, actor Sonu Sood gifted Mercedes- Maybeach GLS600 worth Rs 3 crore to his son.
The claim made is False.
Sonu Sood is one most loved by the public. This news would have made headlines by the mainstream media.
While doing the research, we found that the rumor had actually gone viral through a video which claimed that the actor had gifted this luxury car to his son.
According to these viral videos, the actor is seen taking the car's delivery and then taking it out for a spin with his kids.
According to these reports, the actor had denied buying the luxury car for his son.
"There is no truth to this. I haven't bought a car for my son. The car was brought to our home for a trial. We went on a test run. But that's it. We didn't buy the car," he said
According to a report by Cartoq, some online publications even mentioned it as a gift that Sonu Sood gave to his son on Father's Day. The actor has no idea where the Father's Day angle came from. He said, "Why would I give my son a car on Father's Day? Shouldn't he be giving me something? After all, it's my day!"
The viral posts and videos had also claimed that the cost of the car is Rs 3 crore.
However, when we searched for the actual amount of the car, we found a report by the Auto car which stated that the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4Matic has been launched in India at a base price of Rs 2.43 crore.
Evidently, the claim made is False. Actor has neither bought the car nor gifted it to his son.


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PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — iReviews.com, a company known for providing reviews, comparisons, and news of unique products and services, has developed a new web application – The iReviews Shopping Assistant. The Palo Alto, CA-based company has garnered a significant reputation for helping individuals and small businesses find the right products and services to meet their needs. Now, iReviews.com has developed a new app to help consumers find Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards, which have been very hard to find. The app is designed to help consumers figure out where this often sold-out item is in stock. The app can also help users find the outlet with the best price.
The Nvidia RTX 30 Series Graphics Card Remains Difficult To Find
The supply chain issues have impacted individuals and businesses across the globe, and some of the most difficult products to find are the Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards. Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards are powered by Ampere, featuring faster 2nd-generation Ray Tracing Cores, and are in high demand by creators, gamers, and numerous other professionals. Because the Nvidia RTX 30 series has become so popular, they have been incredibly difficult to find, particularly during the past few months. Now, iReviews.com offers an app that gives everyone a solution, making it easier to locate this popular graphics card.
Gamers Can Rely on the iReviews Shopping Assistant To Find the Nvidia RTX 30 Series Graphics Card
Gamers who desire to elevate their experiences can use the iReviews Shopping Assistant to help them locate these valuable Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards. The app can help users figure out where these graphic cards are in stock, how much they cost, and who has the best price. The web application is straightforward, intuitive, and compatible with browsers across multiple platforms. The app can also help users save time and money by automating the search for Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards, helping gamers find the best equipment to meet their needs.
iReviews.com is a popular website that features reviews, comparisons, and news of unique products and services. The company is based in Palo Alto, CA, and is releasing a new app that can help everyone, including gamers, find Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards. To learn more about the iReviews Shopping Assistant, visit https://ireviews.com/shopping-assistant/.


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May. 14, 2015 3:27 AM ET | About: Kroger Co. (KR), Includes: COST, SFM, WFM by: Daniel Jennings Summary Safeway is closing stores in several states because they are not competitive. Safeway has sold 146 stores to another grocer called ... Seeking Alpha, 1 week ago
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Startup CogniVue announced some details of its next-generation vision core that will be available this fall. Opus is the next offering in an increasingly crowded field of vision chips, initially gaining traction in automotive ...EE Times, 1 week ago
Desktop-style apps on mobile unlikely to woo switchers, but still points new direction Although Microsoft is lagging as very distant third in the smartphone space, it has not yet given up on the hope that it can eventually gain some market ...IPod NN, 2 weeks ago
on your WebpageAdd Widget >Get your members hooked!


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Listen to this Article
A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association finally solves unanswered questions about calcium and heart health. Depending on HOW you get your calcium, it can either be good or bad for your heart. These results have real implications for the 43% of people who take a supplement that includes calcium.
This was big news. Calcium can be bad for your heart. Here’s how they figured it out.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine took a deep dive into 10 years’ worth of medical tests on over 2,700 adults participating in US government heart study.
Most importantly, they looked at calcium intake as well as the SOURCE of the calcium. They separated the results into those taking calcium supplements and those getting calcium from food.
The results are striking. They found that those taking calcium supplements had a significant increase in the risk of heart disease and had higher rates of plaque buildup in their arteries.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Erin Michos said, “Our study adds to the body of evidence that excess calcium in the form of supplements may harm the heart and vascular system.”
Several studies have previously suggested calcium from supplements does not get to bones or is not fully excreted, and so accumulates in soft tissues.
Now for the good news: Researchers were able to show a huge benefit for heart health when calcium came from FOOD sources.
People who got calcium from food—such as dark leafy veggies or dairy—had a much lower risk of heart disease.
Why should there be an increased risk from supplements but not from food sources? Study co-author John Anderson, who is the professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, put it this way:
“It could be that supplements contain calcium salts, or it could be from taking a large dose all at once that the body is unable to process.”
Since heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women, this study should cause everyone to look at the source of calcium they consume.
Most vitamin supplements contain calcium carbonate which is produced by either:
To find out what’s in your supplements simply look at the ingredients. You want to see whole food sources and not calcium carbonate.
It’s now clear that for heart health you need to get calcium from food. If you tolerate it, dairy is a good source. However the best sources are plant-based. That’s because calcium in plants comes with all the needed co-factors for absorption.
Wondering how to get enough calcium to protect your bones, while also protecting your heart? Here are 5 plant sources for heart-healthy calcium:
If you’re not getting all your calcium from your diet, make sure the supplements you use source calcium from FOOD (not rocks).
An easy way to add more greens to your diet is to turn to a superfood juice powder.


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In latest weeks, AFEN has gained unprecedented traction on social media and cryptocurrency information platforms. A lot of the buzz across the AFEN mission was from however not restricted to its swift public sale held on Julswap. The IDO bought out in lower than a minute, a lot to the delight of AFEN’s rising group. The African startup is decided to reinvent sure African sectors, so we determined to delve deeper into the mission’s buzz. What we found is revealed within the following paragraphs – a mission value following.
AFEN’s Dedication to Decentralization and Digitization
AFEN is dedicated to digitizing Africa’s ART, REAL ESTATE, and EDUCATIONAL sectors by using the Binance good chain community by means of good contracts. The mission identifies the challenges of those sectors and proposes using blockchain expertise to handle points comparable to excessive intermediary cuts, dishonest transactions, and undervaluation of African arts. The main target of the AFEN platform is to create an NFT market for legacy African arts and selection actual property properties to be minted and exchanged respectively. Merely put, revolutionize alternatives by means of blockchain expertise. The $AFEN token will likely be utilized in alternate on the AFEN platform.
Partnerships, Listings and a New Roadmap
The AFEN team’s work charge is very commendable. This truth is simple, with over 5 new partnerships fashioned because of its itemizing, a brand new authorities endorsement, and listings on Coingecko and Trustwallet. The workforce is at the moment engaged on a central alternate itemizing, in accordance with rumors. Issues are heating up at AFEN; earlier this week, the publication said that improvement of the AFEN NFT platform had begun. Deborah Ojengbede, a 27-year-old ex-banker, leads AFEN. In a latest slew of tweets, Deborah assures the AFEN group of sustaining the latest momentum. Consequent to this, Quidax introduced a partnership settlement with AFEN and is about to checklist the AFEN token very quickly. Additionally, the AFEN workforce launched a brand new roadmap that particulars the event means of the NFT platform middle to the operations of the AFEN group.
Be part of AFEN’s rising group: t.me/afenblockchain


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30/09/2021catge, cats, community, DeFi, doge, dogs, meme
Cats Against Dogs: Interview With CEO Of CATGE.
“Away from token manipulation, CATGE backs up the Startup Token Launchpad exchange and develops a strong ecosystem allowing investors to exchange crypto on printed papers – just like cash bills. Moreover, NFT is another value-generating mechanism on the platform: with that, the platform is planning to launch a Pokemon-style card game where CATGE will have to contest the DOGE characters. Eventually, the CATGE project is after integrity, and stands up against manipulation by introducing a decentralized community-driven asset based on open source. They promise to disrupt the internet with soon-to-become famous cats.”


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Final demand prices advanced 0.5 percent in May and 0.1 percent in April. On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index moved up 3.4 percent for the 12 months ending in June, the largest 12-month increase since climbing 3.7 percent in November 2011.
In June, most of the rise in the index for final demand was attributable to a 0.4 percent advance in prices for final demand services, the largest advance since a 0.5-percent rise in January.
Prices for final demand goods edged up 0.1 percent in June following a 1.0 percent rise in May.
Prices for final demand less foods, energy and trade services moved up 0.3 percent in June after rising 0.1 percent in May. For the 12 months ending in June, the index for final demand less foods, energy and trade services climbed 2.7 percent.


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The other Asian giant, India, aims for Honduras
While sectors of the Central American diplomatic community are buzzing with news about China's growing influence in the region, few have given India, the other Asian giant, much more than a cursory consideration.
This Friday, however, a delegation of Indian pharmaceutical companies are due to visit San Pedro Sula in a bid to establish business links. "These are companies that have world recognition," said an organizer of the event.
Few people in Central America know much about India, with its 1.3 billion population and average economic growth of 7 percent a year, and 15 percent in consumer goods.


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Go Ask Mom
Consignment sales in Raleigh, Wake Forest, Benson this week
Here's your weekly consignment sale reminder!Posted — Updated
By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
We have three consignment sales in the region this week. Here's where you'll find them!
The Triangle Mothers of Twins & Triplets will hold its annual and very large and popular clothing and equipment sale from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturday, at the Kerr Scott Building on the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.
Take 2 Kids Kids Consignment Sale in Benson is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday when some items are half off. Find the sale at 603 S. Wall St. in Benson.
And as I wrote on Monday, Kidaround Kidsale is at The Factory in Wake Forest this week. Public shopping hours are noon to 8 p.m., Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday when some items are half off.
For a full list of consignment sales in the region, click here.
Copyright 2023 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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‘Heritage on Wheels’ train may turn into restaurant soonMay 8th, 2009 - 2:00 pm ICT by IANS
By Anuradha Shukla
New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) After ferrying tourists to see the splendours of the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan for two years, the once popular “Heritage on Wheels” luxury train, currently consigned to the railway yard, may soon be transformed into a restaurant in Jaipur.
“It is rather sad that this beautifully-designed train is parked in a railway shed instead of carrying passengers. We don’t want the effort to go waste,” said B.K. Sharma, the general manager of the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corp that was running the service.
“A high-end restaurant is what we have in mind. With traditionally done interiors, this train-restaurant will be a unique concept in itself. We are confident it will attract both tourists and residents,” Sharma told IANS.
The fully air-conditioned luxury train service started operations in January 2006, with 14 lavishly decorated coaches, two restaurants and a well appointed bar-cum-lounge. But last December, it was left to idle away at a shed in Jaipur due to several reasons.
“We are exploring various options for a suitable spot where we can park ‘Heritage on Wheels’ in its new avatar. But what we know for sure is it will be inside the main Jaipur city,” said Sharma.
“We are giving final touches to the proposal. I feel it will come up for approval soon. Perhaps, after the elections are over, we will have concrete news to share.”
With the “Palace on Wheels” as a model, “Heritage on Wheels” was demanding a tariff of $300 per person per night for single occupancy, $200 for double occupancy and $150 for triple occupancy. The service covered three nights and four days.
The state’s tourism promotion officials said the service was suspended not just because of low occupancy but also because of a change from metre gauge into broad gauge on that sector. The service was running on metre gauge.
Some of the other luxury trains that operate in the country include The Deccan Odyssey, covering Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ajanta and Goa, and The Golden Chariot, covering Bangalore, Mysore and Goa.
With the new plan now for “Heritage on Wheels”, officials hope well-heeled tourists will start coming on board to get a taste the country’s rich heritage.
(Anuradha Shukla can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org)
- Slowdown takes the steam out of Indian luxury trains - Apr 12, 2009
- India's new super luxury train flagged off from New Delhi - Sep 06, 2010
- Palace on Wheels: A royal caravan journey into history (Feature) (With Images) - Sep 05, 2010
- Karnataka's luxury train to chug through southern states - Mar 09, 2010
- Train to Khajuraho and more: Rail budget brings cheer to Agra - Feb 26, 2011
- Rajasthan to promote rural tourism at travel expo - Apr 11, 2011
- Train taxi drivers to boost tourism: Study - Jun 24, 2012
- Poll strictures could hurt Goa's tourism season - Jan 24, 2012
- Good taxi drivers key to tourism, says study (Lead) - Jun 24, 2012
- With Wendell busy, Goa tourism scouts for designer to make uniforms - Jun 10, 2011
- Goa campaign against 'water injustice' (Letter from Goa) - Jun 29, 2012
- Soon, Goa tourist hubs on your mobile phone - Jun 23, 2011
- Goa, Rajasthan hit wedding destinations for US tourists - Mar 08, 2011
- Hike in taxes disappoints Goa hotel industry - Mar 02, 2011
- Family tourism to replace Thailand's 'sex tourism' tag - Aug 19, 2011
Tags: broad gauge, deccan odyssey, double occupancy, final touches, jaipur city, luxury train, luxury trains, metre gauge, New Delhi, palace on wheels, railway yard, rajasthan tourism, shekhawati region, shukla, suitable spot, tariff, tourism development, tourism promotion, train service, triple occupancy


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Island Poke starts year with two restaurant openings in London
It also has plans to grow in Edinburgh in the next few years.
Island Poke kicked off the new year with two restaurant openings in London.
Last January 5, the poké operator opened stores in Wembley Park and Northcote Road in Battersea. The brand brought their £1 poké bowl day to the new venues.
Island Poké founder James Gould-Porter said: “It’s our mission to grow our ohana across London and beyond, bringing people a great and fresh alternative to the traditional lunch and dine-out offering.”
Island Poké is set to forge ahead with further growth plans in 2022 including plans for four new restaurants in Edinburgh over the next two years and a new partnership with dark-kitchen operators REEF. The brand currently has 18 outlets in London and nine in France.


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Credit: yoonaya + 90haz0517 *Also known as “Korean Version Photobook”
Credit: twinklepaparazzi Jessica performed this at the “PYL Younique Auto Runaway Show” on 17th of October.
Credit: H.Y. + yuri1989kwon Photobook DVD
Credit: Soshified Nine months after Girls’ Generation’s second tour through Asia ended in Bangkok, Thailand, SM Entertainment will now be releasing the “2011 Girls’ Generation Tour DVD”, featuring footage from the concert tour’s start in Seoul, South Korea on July 23rd and July 24th. The DVD hits shelves on November 30th and will cost 33,000 won. It … Continue reading


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Grocery shopping can often feel like a grueling or demanding task – what do we need from the market this week? Are we really out of bread and milk? Thanks to Snapstar, a brand loyalty app that allows customers to be rewarded for their various food purchases through a prize system, grocery shopping is about to become more engaging.
Constructed under the umbrella of OurCart, a data-driven direct-to-consumer loyalty and engagement platform for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands with dual headquarters in Boston and Tel Aviv, Israel, Snapstar rewards shoppers for purchasing ordinary brands like Kellogg’s or Chobani to gain points toward prizes like an Amazon gift card or wireless headphones.
Snapstar utilizes a phone’s camera to capture a receipt to identify various brands for points, which shoppers can use it toward free items or gift cards, as well as daily giveaways, too. Snapstar released its beta product earlier this month for Android, but will soon be available for iOS users.
“Snapstar is provides CPG manufacturers with a direct consumer channel, so they can get deeper insights about their shopping behaviors and provide more targeted offers,” said Guy Bauman, who is the company’s CMO and Co-Founder.
Snapstar recently gained the attention of PepsiCo, earning first place in the PepsiCo Insight Challenge by presenting their business-to-business (B2B), receipt based direct-to-consumer loyalty algorithm. And according to Bauman, roughly 300-350 companies pitched ideas, but it was Snapstar that secured the top spot, along with a partnership with PepsiCo. Both companies plan to work together on how to implement their direct-to-consumer marketing programs, according to Bauman.
Redefining grocery shopping
While the app maybe new to the market, the feedback the company has received has been quite positive. Bauman said roughly 55 to 60 percent of their users are using the app to upload their receipts at least twice a week. And according to various studies, along with Bauman’s research, “People today are going grocery shopping on average twice a week, so those numbers fit right in with that statistic.”
Bauman and his team know the app will continue to improve over time, minus a few hiccups they have faced, including identifying cherry or strawberry yogurt. Luckily, a small glitch can be fixed and applied to an update of Snapstar.
Loving what you do
It’s the old adage, find something you love and you’ll never work a single day in your life.
For Bauman, creating and working on Snapstar has been extremely exciting, knowing he and his team are creating a new way shoppers can make their trips to grocery stores rewarding. Additionally, he also considers his product a great way to connect consumers and CPG brands together, too.
“The coolest thing is to put a product in the market, learn from the market and then to end up with something you feel like will resonate with everyone,” said Bauman. “And that is the cool thing.”
Snapstar may not be the first loyalty brand app that shoppers can utilize at their local markets, but it is beginning to separate itself as an app that can help brands understand what shoppers want, but also reward their buyers for purchasing their product.
“Sometimes you start a company based on an assumption and that’s fine, but the smart thing to do is say, ‘this is what we thought, but based on the data and based the feedback from the market, this is really what they need,’” he said. “Let’s give the market what it needs and we have made some adjustments, and that is the fun part.”
Creating a new way to connect consumers and CPG users together is certainly fun for Bauman and his team.


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AD romantic encounters SHARE 'MISSION' OF CARMAKER VIA VOLUNTARY EFFORT Dodge dealer advertising companies will fund local airings of spots created for national broadcast for the division's black friday gifts vehicles this fall. They have agreed to improve Chrysler Corp. Division's brand image by spending a percentage of their budgets to run the country's campaign spots in local time slots. The style is voluntary; The groups will you truly need percentage of their ad budgets are allocated to running the nation's campaign spots locally. "The casino dealer body buys into what we're trying regarding Dodge, Shown Dick manley, President chief creative officer of BBDO online, Southfield, Mich, Which handles both Dodge Division and dealer group thanksgiving 2015 black friday sale options. "We've has changed the dealer/ factory/agency collaboration. They begin playing around by run our[Nationalized system] Internet marketing share our mission, $35 MIL submit FIRST HALF Dodge dealer ad groups spent $35 million in measured media very first six months of 1997, While Dodge agency spent $294 million, To become able to Competitive Media Reporting. Dodge dealer groups have current debts change their contributions to regional ad budgets from thanksgiving black friday 2015 the minimum 1% black friday websites 2015 of each vehicle's base cost up to 2%. The pact went into full swing with the 1998 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, Marketed in early sept. But Dodge's entire production is roofed. Dealers also are employing a share of their budgets to run national campaign spots for the Dodge Stratus. Most of dealer groups started using national TV ads before present-Daily push, Thought meat Fitzgibbon, Chairman of the country's Dodge Dealer Council. Nearly every regional group is now running the country's campaign, He was quoted saying. Mister. Johnson said the push to the country's ads started in January, When more dealer groups ran Dodge's brand commercial the most important Super Bowl, With a big putting on this fall. PRICE INFO USUALLY useful Regional dealer commercials usually contain more price and feature suggestions. They often promote special lease deals or limited time price promotions deals and do understand clear previous model year vehicles. The spots also will be tagged with the regional group's name. Mister.
Johnson said dealer groups are increasingly running spots from the country's campaign without local tags. Dodge said hello uses staggered, Stand alone ad splashes for its three new vans this fall the Dodge Ram Quad Cab, The Durango sport laptop or computer and the Intrepid(AA, Sept. 29).
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Katy Perry has worn a watermelon romper, a dress with a carousel skirt, and a dress with eyes on the bust. She’s worn plenty of bizarre creations but isn’t viewed in the high-fashion world as truly stylish—or avant-garde, like Lady Gaga. So she wasn’t supposed to be the most talked-about person at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala. But Perry sauntered onto the red carpet wearing what looked like a standard silk-chiffon ball gown. Moments later, after she pressed a button nestled in the bust, strips of 3,200 LED lights began flashing through the fabric, like she was a crazy bioluminescent undersea creature. The next day, Women’s Wear Daily put her on its cover. Fortuitously, Lady Gaga had to skip the red carpet (she had to prepare for her performance) and wasn’t in the unusual position of being possibly upstaged.
The dress is the brainchild of a small London-based outfit called CuteCircuit. It’s the nerd fabulous: Perry’s stylist suggested she wear something by the label after seeing one of its light-up creations on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Designer Francesca Rosella said she tried to make Perry’s Gala dress “more romantic.” The exposure has helped legitimize the label. “There is press in every continent about her dress,” Rosella said. “And it’s very fun to see because there are polls on every website asking people, ‘Did you like it?’ And a majority of the people liked it.”
But high-fashion people didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as the Internet’s vox populi. WWD sneered, “Guess no one told [Perry] there’s a difference between dressing to stop traffic and dressing like a traffic stop.” (To be fair, she kept the dress powered down during dinner.) “I am trying to lighten up the party,” the singer said on the red carpet. “Because sometimes fashion can have a stick up its ass.”
The industry has taken a shine to light-up clothes before. In 2007, Hussein Chalayan showed a well-regarded LED dress at Paris Fashion Week. This season, Jimmy Choo created $2,495 platforms with flashing lights inside. (Perry’s worn them, too.) Janet Hansen, another science-based light-up-clothing designer, who has put on a fashion show in partnership with MIT, has put Kanye West in flashing sunglasses, Daft Punk in light-up helmets, and illuminated M.I.A. with a technology called “EL-WIRE.”
Though Rosella says she received requests from about 30 celebrities within two days of Perry’s debut, she believes technologically enhanced apparel is the future of dressing: “It’s not just to do something strange for one time.” After studying architecture, she began her design career at Valentino, which was cool to her light-up dress ideas. In her next job, at Esprit, she suggested embedding GPS devices into handbags. Esprit also said no. So she started CuteCircuit in 2004. Her current collection of machine washable and dryer-friendly LED ready-to-wear ranges in price from about $135 to $450.
“Sometimes you see some experiments in fashion technology and everybody looks totally geeky,” Rosella says. “But we really didn’t want to do that.” And Perry traded up, not dressing like a piece of fruit—one of her favorite gimmicks. “I feel a bit like a terrorist, I won’t lie. Probably not a good time to say that,” Perry mused at the gala of the switch between her breasts. “When Anna [Wintour] walks over and says, ‘Turn that crap off,’ I’m like, ‘Okay, it’s off—I won’t be annoying anymore, until you leave.’ ”
Have good intel? Send tips to firstname.lastname@example.org.


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The website Breaking News English.com has upgraded its pages to be easier to use mobile phones and tablets. This improvement means students and teachers who wish to browse the lessons, read the news articles or do the activities their mobile devices can now do so with ease. The Internet has changed recognition since it started a few decades ago. Being online today is worlds apart the worldwide web 20 years ago. then, web pages simply consisted text and took an age to load. People could only view them bulky desktop computers. Today, we have movies, music, games, GPS and a whole plethora apps our mobile phones.
The owner Breaking News English commissioned the website developer markbaindesign.com to make the site mobile friendly. Designer Mark Bain has created many eye-catching sites some the world's leading educators. Mr Bain summed his thoughts today's online world saying: "Expectations what can be done a phone are rising every day." His work Breaking News English is already popular. Saeed from Kuwait said: "I'm extremely happy the new look. It is now much easier to get to grips the activities." Another student, Rosa from Bolivia, said she could now interact with the news articles and exercises her daily commute work.