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|By Marketwired .||
|November 19, 2012 01:00 AM EST||
LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwire) -- 11/19/12 -- As Alcohol Awareness Week begins (19 - 25 November) Callcredit Information Group is highlighting to online retailers to ensure strict ID checks are in place when alcohol is being purchased online.
Experts in the fields of credit referencing, marketing services, consumer information, interactive solutions and consultative analytics, Callcredit is in strong support of the initiative, organised by Alcohol Concern to raise awareness of the social and health issues surrounding alcohol, and is keen to highlight the importance of strict online identification as this is a potential area of vulnerability for the retail sector.
The reality is that few young people now wait until they are 18 to drink, more than eight out of 10 have already tried alcohol by the time they are 15, and where underage drinking has actually declined in recent years, those who are drinking are consuming more alcohol, more often. A recent report published by Plymouth University and underage sales auditors Serve Legal highlighted online sales as being a 'significant' problem in the battle against underage drinking, with illegal purchases being difficult to police.
Selling alcohol to minors is an offence punishable by a fine of up to GBP 20,000 - as well as causing significant reputational damage to the seller - and retailers have responded by introducing strict ID checks at the checkout, with 'Think 21' or 'Think 25' policies becoming increasingly common, however these strict verifications are still to be seen online.
Ben Allott, Business Development Manager, Callcredit Information Group said: "The challenge for online traders is arguably greater when their customers can hide behind the relative anonymity that the internet offers. Online sales are an area of growth for retailers with online alcohol sales in general shown to be increasing 25% year-on-year. Although this isn't the figure for the amount of alcohol purchased by underage drinkers online and many of these purchasers are likely to be adults, the possibility that underage drinkers are using online services as a means of obtaining alcohol cannot be ruled out.
"We understand the difficulty online retailers face when it comes to online alcohol sales and ID verification and most major retailers do have some safeguards in place to meet their legal responsibilities when selling and promoting alcohol online, more does need to be done at the point of sale by all retailers to ensure that underage alcohol purchases are identified at the earliest possible stage rather than the responsibility often resting with the delivery driver."
To help online retailers with identity and age verification Callcredit has produced a lightweight and transparent Age Verification solution enabling online retailers to verify a customer's personal details via a wide range of independent data sources, including the Electoral Roll, driving licence records, passport information and financial data. Once a customer has registered on the retailer's site, their details are automatically checked against these databases and an instant decision is returned. In addition, the system can check the bank account and card details of the customer once they are provided during the transaction, giving additional confidence in confirming age and preventing fraud.
A new mandatory licensing condition is shortly expected to require robust age verification for online and mail order sales of alcohol, alongside the Online Purchasing of Goods and Services (Age Verification) Bill currently being considered in relation to other products and services - making it vital that retailers act now.
Ben added: "With alcohol abuse a growing concern in young people online retailers need to improve their age verification procedures as it isn't enough just relying on the driver checking identification at the point of delivery and making a decision to withhold the order if they suspect the purchaser is under the age of 18."
For further information on Alcohol awareness week visit http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/campaign/alcohol-awareness-week.
About Callcredit Information Group - www.callcredit.co.uk
Callcredit Information Group's leading approach to deploying consumer information brings together experts across the fields of credit referencing, marketing services, interactive solutions and consultative analytics to provide clients with a range of innovative and effective products to discover new customers and to engage with current customers to optimise and increase profitability.
Products include award-winning fraud verification tools and database solutions to positively verify consumers, global operations to help expand businesses into new markets, digital solutions to improve the overall journey consumers make during interaction with a brand, customer handling to ensure consumer satisfaction at all levels and consumer marketing data and segmentation to improve understanding and targeting of customers and prospects.
Callcredit also offers products for their clients to assess a customer's credit risk and affordability and their experts in collections and recoveries provide tailored debt recovery and tracing tools. Their market analysis and network planning function helps organisations develop profitable retail networks, and their tools in multi bureau, analytics and metrics work to provide fully assessed bureau data.
WebRTC is the future of browser-to-browser communications, and continues to make inroads into the traditional, difficult, plug-in web communications world. The 6th WebRTC Summit continues our tradition of delivering the latest and greatest presentations within the world of WebRTC. Topics include voice calling, video chat, P2P file sharing, and use cases that have already leveraged the power and convenience of WebRTC.
Jan. 16, 2017 08:30 AM EST Reads: 3,003
"A lot of times people will come to us and have a very diverse set of requirements or very customized need and we'll help them to implement it in a fashion that you can't just buy off of the shelf," explained Nick Rose, CTO of Enzu, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 18th Cloud Expo, held June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Jan. 16, 2017 06:30 AM EST Reads: 4,478
WebRTC sits at the intersection between VoIP and the Web. As such, it poses some interesting challenges for those developing services on top of it, but also for those who need to test and monitor these services. In his session at WebRTC Summit, Tsahi Levent-Levi, co-founder of testRTC, reviewed the various challenges posed by WebRTC when it comes to testing and monitoring and on ways to overcome them.
Jan. 16, 2017 06:30 AM EST Reads: 5,818
Every successful software product evolves from an idea to an enterprise system. Notably, the same way is passed by the product owner's company. In his session at 20th Cloud Expo, Oleg Lola, CEO of MobiDev, will provide a generalized overview of the evolution of a software product, the product owner, the needs that arise at various stages of this process, and the value brought by a software development partner to the product owner as a response to these needs.
Jan. 16, 2017 05:30 AM EST Reads: 1,072
SYS-CON Events announced today that Enzu will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Enzu’s mission is to be the leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions worldwide. Enzu enables online businesses to use its IT infrastructure to their competitive ad...
Jan. 16, 2017 05:15 AM EST Reads: 1,498
WebRTC services have already permeated corporate communications in the form of videoconferencing solutions. However, WebRTC has the potential of going beyond and catalyzing a new class of services providing more than calls with capabilities such as mass-scale real-time media broadcasting, enriched and augmented video, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communications. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Luis Lopez, CEO of Kurento, introduced the technologies required for implementing these idea...
Jan. 16, 2017 04:30 AM EST Reads: 4,474
Enterprise networks are complex. Moreover, they were designed and deployed to meet a specific set of business requirements at a specific point in time. But, the adoption of cloud services, new business applications and intensifying security policies, among other factors, require IT organizations to continuously deploy configuration changes. Therefore, enterprises are looking for better ways to automate the management of their networks while still leveraging existing capabilities, optimizing perf...
Jan. 16, 2017 04:00 AM EST Reads: 3,700
Using new techniques of information modeling, indexing, and processing, new cloud-based systems can support cloud-based workloads previously not possible for high-throughput insurance, banking, and case-based applications. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, John Newton, CTO, Founder and Chairman of Alfresco, described how to scale cloud-based content management repositories to store, manage, and retrieve billions of documents and related information with fast and linear scalability. He addres...
Jan. 16, 2017 04:00 AM EST Reads: 5,257
The WebRTC Summit New York, to be held June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, announces that its Call for Papers is now open. Topics include all aspects of improving IT delivery by eliminating waste through automated business models leveraging cloud technologies. WebRTC Summit is co-located with 20th International Cloud Expo and @ThingsExpo. WebRTC is the future of browser-to-browser communications, and continues to make inroads into the traditional, difficult, plug-in web co...
Jan. 16, 2017 03:30 AM EST Reads: 2,833
The Internet of Things will challenge the status quo of how IT and development organizations operate. Or will it? Certainly the fog layer of IoT requires special insights about data ontology, security and transactional integrity. But the developmental challenges are the same: People, Process and Platform. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Craig Sproule, CEO of Metavine, demonstrated how to move beyond today's coding paradigm and shared the must-have mindsets for removing complexity from the develop...
Jan. 16, 2017 03:30 AM EST Reads: 5,217
While not quite mainstream yet, WebRTC is starting to gain ground with Carriers, Enterprises and Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) alike. WebRTC makes it easy for developers to add audio and video communications into their applications by using Web browsers as their platform. But like any market, every customer engagement has unique requirements, as well as constraints. And of course, one size does not fit all. In her session at WebRTC Summit, Dr. Natasha Tamaskar, Vice President, Head of C...
Jan. 16, 2017 03:15 AM EST Reads: 5,720
"We are an all-flash array storage provider but our focus has been on VM-aware storage specifically for virtualized applications," stated Dhiraj Sehgal of Tintri in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 19th Cloud Expo, held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Jan. 16, 2017 03:00 AM EST Reads: 2,372
Who are you? How do you introduce yourself? Do you use a name, or do you greet a friend by the last four digits of his social security number? Assuming you don’t, why are we content to associate our identity with 10 random digits assigned by our phone company? Identity is an issue that affects everyone, but as individuals we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Ben Klang, Founder & President of Mojo Lingo, discussed the impact of technology on identity. Sho...
Jan. 16, 2017 02:30 AM EST Reads: 3,910
SYS-CON Events announced today that Catchpoint Systems, Inc., a provider of innovative web and infrastructure monitoring solutions, has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's DevOps Summit at 18th Cloud Expo New York, which will take place June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Catchpoint is a leading Digital Performance Analytics company that provides unparalleled insight into customer-critical services to help consistently deliver an amazing customer experience. Designed ...
Jan. 16, 2017 01:45 AM EST Reads: 6,141
DevOps is being widely accepted (if not fully adopted) as essential in enterprise IT. But as Enterprise DevOps gains maturity, expands scope, and increases velocity, the need for data-driven decisions across teams becomes more acute. DevOps teams in any modern business must wrangle the ‘digital exhaust’ from the delivery toolchain, "pervasive" and "cognitive" computing, APIs and services, mobile devices and applications, the Internet of Things, and now even blockchain. In this power panel at @...
Jan. 16, 2017 01:45 AM EST Reads: 2,658


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Earlier this month, Google hosted an unusually low-key 20th anniversary and future of search event. At the event, Google revealed several new updates, improvements and expansions of existing capabilities.
The two Google Search related announcements introduced new Activity Cards and improved Collections:
This new feature will display “where you left off in search”, highlighting previous pages/ sites visited and previous search term queries used. Google explains that these results will not show up every time or for every search term. In addition, users will have the ability to edit and remove results from the Cards.
This feature has been available in Google Ads for a while now, however, the new, updated version can be closely tied to Activity Cards. Collections now allow users to save and organise content on their mobile phones. People using Google to search will now be able to save pages to their Collections, directly from Activity Cards. Within this, there will also be suggestions for related topics.
Collections already existed, but it’s not clear how many people have been using it. Collections allow users to save and organize content on their phones. The new version of Collections is closely tied to Activity Cards.
Google is adding a “Topic Layer”, designed by scanning all the content that exists online for a particular topic and develops hundreds of subtopics. From this, Google identifies the most relevant articles and videos and then analyses patterns to understand how these subtopics relate to each other. Ultimately, this allows Google to display the type of content you may want to explore next. In the picture below, Google are displaying distinct subtopics for each dog breed. Google have based this on their AI understanding of the relationships between the breeds and related queries and content.
During the event, Google announced that the Google Feed has 800 million monthly active users, and is quickly becoming a source of traffic for third-party publishers. On this basis, the Google Feed has evolved into “Discover” and will be available on the mobile version of the Google homepage.
Within this update, Google have introduced several design improvements and the addition of new features.
Now, users are able to follow topics and select whether they want to see more or less content on a particular topic. Also, each news or content item will now be accompanied by a topic heading that is effectively a search term, allowing users to learn more about the particular topic. Finally, Google will be adding more video content to the feed.
Do you feel you miss the latest Google Ads updates and feature releases? If so, then contact Mabo today to see how your PPC advertising could benefit from working with our team of PPC management specialists.

domain: news


text: General Motors and Ford Motor, US automakers trying to boost the results of their European units, are moving to break even or turn a profit in the market this year amid the continent\'s economic problems, executives said. \"This time two years ago our operations in Europe were in severe difficulty, losing a lot of money,\" Nick Reilly, president GM Eur-ope, told reporters at the Frankfurt motor show. \"Two years later, the atmosphere is totally different.\" GM, based in Detroit, is trying to end losses in Europe, which have totalled $14.5 billion (Dh53.25 billion) since 1999. Ford\'s surprise $51 million pre-tax loss in Europe in 2010\'s fourth quarter began a 40 per cent slide in its share price this year through Tuesday. Pre-tax profit in Ford\'s European operations plunged 45 per cent to $176 million in this year\'s second quarter. \"Wall Street expects you to be making profit all over the world, including Eur-ope,\" Rebecca Lindland, an industry analyst with IHS Automotive, said in an interview on the floor of the auto show. The efforts by GM and Ford come as Europe has become entangled in concerns about sovereign debt, including a possible default in Greece which has imperiled the stability of the euro. \"We\'re worried, yes,\" Reilly said. \"Having said that, so far we have seen no impact on our order intake.\" GM\'s goal for Europe is to be \"profitable by just better than break-even before restructuring charges\", Reilly said. \"In 2012, we won\'t have those restructuring charges. They\'re mostly done. We\'ll get the full 12-month benefit of the restructuring that we\'ve done.\" Those operations include Opel, which should turn a \"healthy profit\" next year, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, head of Opel and Vauxhall, told reporters. The company\'s European operations earned $102 million before taxes and interest in the second quarter following a first-quarter loss of $390 million, including a writedown of goodwill. Without that cost, GM\'s European operations would have generated a first-quarter profit of $5 million. GM\'s Europe sales increased 7.7 per cent to 912,000 during the first six months from the first half of 2010. That increased its market share in Europe to 8.8 per cent from 8.7 per cent. The gain was largely driven by sales increases in Germany and Russia. The company, which went through a US bankruptcy reorganisation in 2009, also revamped its European operations, including paring production capacity by 20 per cent, closing a plant in Belgium and cutting 8,000 jobs.


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Every two years the office furniture world converges in Cologne for Orgatec, the leading international trade show for modern working environments. As also occurred in 2016 a whiteID development for the office furniture manufacturer Wilkhahn will again be presented at the trade show, this year in the form of the new Inline table range.
For use at the world’s leading trade fair for industrial coating technology whiteID Integrated Design has developed a new trade fair design for Onsystem Technic, the coatings specialists from southern Germany. To raise the general profile of Onsystem Technic in the sector the design focused on generating awareness and the long-distance impact. With the objective of “less product presentation, more communication” an over-sized white belt (representing a polishing or grinding belt) was the fundamental design element of the trade fair stand.


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The largest insider buys this week were for UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI).
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH): Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 2,000 shares
Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 2,000 shares of UNH stock on Aug. 28 at the average price of $227.55. The price of the stock has increased by 2.83% since.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. is an American managed healthcare company that was ranked number five on the Fortune 500 rankings in 2018 by total revenue. The company focuses on offering healthcare products and insurance services and is the world's largest healthcare company by revenue. The company is also a component of the S&P 100. The company has a market capitalization of $221.76 billion, and as of Aug. 30 it traded at $234.00.
On Aug. 14 UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced that the company's board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $1.08 per share. The dividend will be paid on Sept. 24 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on September 16.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC): CFO George S. Davis bought 5,458 shares
CFO George S. Davis bought 5,458 shares of INTC stock on Aug. 28 at the average price of $45.7. The price of the stock has increased by 3.74% since.
Intel Corp. is an American international technology corporation that is the world's largest and highest valued semiconductor chip maker based on revenue. The company is also the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the type of microprocessors found in most personal computers. The company has a market capitalization of $210.03 billion, and as of Aug. 30 it traded at $47.41.
On Aug. 29 Intel Corp. announced that it has begun shipments of the first Intel Agilex field programmable gate arrays to early program customers, including Colorado Engineering Inc., Mantaro Networks, Microsoft and Silicom. These customers are using the new arrays to development advanced solutions for networking and accelerated data analysis.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM): Director Mark D. McLaughlin bought 2,705 shares
Director Mark D. McLaughlin bought 2,705 shares of QCOM stock on Aug. 28 at the average price of $73.84. The price of the stock has increased by 5.32% since.
Qualcomm Inc. is an American international semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company that designs and markets wireless telecommunications products and services. Most of the company's revenue comes from chipmaking and patent licensing businesses. The company has a market capitalization of $94.54 billion, and as of Aug. 30 it traded at $77.77.
On Aug. 27 Qualcomm Inc. announced Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platforms. The new platform is the company's second-generation Wi-Fi 6 networking offering and uses the company's new Wi-Fi 6 architecture. The platform is designed for densely congested networks and allows for the onboarding of many devices without degradation of user experience.
Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI): Executive Chairman, 10% Owner Richard D. Kinder bought 300,000 shares
Executive Chairman, 10% Owner Richard D. Kinder bought 300,000 shares of KMI stock on Aug. 26 at the average price of $19.76. The price of the stock has increased by 2.58% since.
Kinder Morgan Inc. is an American energy infrastructure company that specializes in owning and controlling oil and natural gas pipelines and terminals. Currently, the company is the largest energy infrastructure company in North America and operates approximately 84,000 miles of pipelines and owns about 180 terminals. The company has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, and as of Aug. 30 it traded at $20.27.
On Aug. 21 Kinder Morgan Inc. announced that it has agreed to sell the company's U.S. portion of the Cochin Pipeline to Pembina Pipeline Corporation for $1.546 billion. The transaction pricing is approximately 13 times the company's expected 2019 Ebitda. Furthermore, Kinder Morgan Canada Limited announced that it has reached an agreement with Pembina under which Pembina has agreed to acquire all the outstanding common equity of Kinder Morgan Canada.
For the complete list of stocks that were bought by their company executives, go to: Insider Trades.
Disclosure: I do not own stock in any of the companies mentioned in the article.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
- Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with UNH. Click here to check it out.
- UNH 15-Year Financial Data
- The intrinsic value of UNH
- Peter Lynch Chart of UNH


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Gangtok, 31 May:
Just like American pop culture was exported all over the world in the latter half of the last century, South Korea is now taking over with its K-pop, drama, beauty, fashion and cuisine gaining increasing popularity.
K-pop or Korean pop music is on its way to global domination mainly with the likes of South Korean super groups-BTS, Blackpink, iKON and many more. K-pop includes all music from pop, rock, hip hop, blues to ballads. The first generation of K-pop artists like Wonder girls, Shinee, Big Bang, SNSD and 2ne1, kickstarted the phenomenon that K-pop has now become. Leaders of the time, these groups introduced the genre to fans across the globe. Then the second generation of K-pop artists like BTS, EXO, GOT7, iKON, Winner, EXID, took it a step further breaking all barriers of language, culture and geography.
While K-pop’s major fan base is the young, even the older lot seem to enjoy it.
"I first encountered K-pop through BTS songs. I found their songs so fascinating and catchy and it gradually led me to check out songs by other K-pop artists as well,” says 20-year-old, BTS fan, Shreya Pradhan. “My parents are not huge fans of K-pop but they like their songs and find it interesting and inspiring," she adds
BTS is currently the world’s biggest boy group and a huge K-pop sensation. They took K-pop onto a new platform and brought home 5 Billboard Music Awards in total. They are still the most talked about group in the world.
"I was so happy when BTS received the award last month. I think I cried when their name was announced for best song. I felt so nervous when they went on stage to get the award. The funny thing is I don't understand Korean but when they gave their thank you speech in Korean I was nodding my head as if I understood each and every word they said," says 16-year-old, Rinzing Ongmu Bhutia student of Tashiding Government Senior Secondary School.
The third generation groups such as Red Velvet, NCT, Blackpink, Wanna one, Momo land are now taking K-pop forward. Currently, Blackpink is also breaking many charts, records and achieving much success not only in Korea but also internationally.
"When I was in middle school we had this trend going on about Korean culture, drama and stuff. I started watching Korean dramas and then ended up searching for everything about them. Those days Bigbang was in vogue, so I got to know about them and started digging up everything about them. They are so influential, the way they work day and night, they don't even get to sleep sometimes. They are people who can sing, rap, act, dance, all at the same time," says 21-year-old, Sangay Choekye, a fan of iKON.
"What is interesting to me is that they don't pretend to be good, they actually work to be really good. And here I am not just talking about Bigbang but whole K-pop as a whole," shares Sangay. She further adds that they also have super realistic variety shows where they show fans their true selves.
She mentions that she has not attended any concert but she wishes to one day.
"I am actually a multi-fan but I really like iKON and their fans are called iKONIC. I would be glad if people all around the world could know about their struggles and not make fun of K-pop. I'd really like people to appreciate it," she adds.
For 19-year-old, Pema Zangmu Bhutia, a student of Paljor Namgyal Girls’ Senior Secondary School (PNGS), going to Korea has become a dream.
"I and my sister got into K-pop last year and it has become our dream to go to Korea," she shares.
Not just music, Korean fashion and beauty have also taken the world by storm. Alien cultures are, however, prone to criticism.
"I really don't understand why people say "wannabe Korean”. It's not wannabe, it's just about trying a new style and learning a new culture. Everyone has the right to look nice and no one has the right to judge," says 19-year-old, Keshang Choden, a student of Nar Bahadur Bhandari Degree College.
This interest in everything Korean has also led to many youngsters learning the Korean language. Jigmee Choden, a student who is an EXO fan explains that learning a new language can be tough but when you get to understand what your BIAS (a term fans use for their favourite idol) says without the help of subtitles, one feels proud of oneself.
“I’m learning Korean language through online websites like LingoDeer, Learn Korean and through Youtube tutorials,” shared Jigmee.
If you hear the young speaking in a tongue that is completely unfamiliar, well, they very well could be speaking in Korean.
"It's not like I don't understand Korean, I do but only some words like 'Gamsahamnida' (thank you) 'saranghae' (i love you) 'joahamnida ' (i like you). These are the most common and often used Korean words by people like us. I'm learning Korean right now so that I don't have to watch dramas with English subtitles. I want to be an expert in Korean," says Pema Zangmu.
Another major export from Korea has been their beauty products. Trends like ‘glass skin’ have spread across the globe and Gangtok, of course, is no exception.
“It has been three years since I have been using Korean beauty products and believe me when I say this but it has made great changes to my face and skin,” explains Kavya Pradhan. “Innisfree, Cosrx, IOPE, and Blossom Jeju are some of the brands that I use and the face mask are made of pure herbal and also the products” she adds.
The 7-step skin care, popularized by Korean beauty experts, is one of the most famous methods to get glass skin. It requires 7 different beauty products starting from oil based cleanser, water based cleanser, exfoliating scrub, toner, essence, lotion and eye cream, moisturizing and hydrating mist. Every product has its own benefit and care for the skin.
“It’s just been three months that I have been using Korean beauty products. I will not say that it has made a huge difference but it has made my skin clear and soft,” 15-year-old Yangzum Bhutia mentions.
Korean food has also found its way onto tables in restaurants and even homes across the world. Gangtok too has a restaurant serving exclusively Korean food. Mu Kimchi at Namnang road is a popular haunt for youngsters.
“We go to Mu Kimchi to eat Korean food and it feels like we are eating in Korea! The Bulgogi set and Kimchi are some of my favorites. Whenever we visit the restaurant we always order this set first. We now know the menu by heart,” shares Pema Zangmu.
With the growing popularity of Korean cuisine, Mu Kimchi has become a place not only for Korean lovers but also for family get-togethers.
"It was in July 2016 that this shop was opened. We wanted to introduce a different taste for the people of Sikkim," shares manager of Mu-Kimchi, Kumar Rai. The restaurant has nine staff in total and the head chefs from Nepal and Darjeeling.
"We come twice a month to this restaurant with our family as well as our friends. Samgyup set, kimchi and Bulgogi set are our favorites. The décor is also very Korean and the table, with the barbeque grill in the centre, is unique,” says a Sikkim University student who was at Mu Kimchi with her friend.
Ramyeon or Ramen, the Korean version of instant noodles has been a hit with the youth and are now available almost everywhere in Gangtok.
“With the change in teenagers’ tastes, I decided to change the products of my shop from Sikkim noodles to Korean Ramen. Now students come asking for Korean noodles which are spicy. It has different flavors with different levels of spiciness and they are more in demand inside and outside Sikkim, so I decided to go along with the market’s demands,” informs Tshering, a shop keeper at Lal bazaar who owns shop number 143.
He sells Ramen at wholesale rates with a big packet selling for Rs 600 and small packets for R 130-150.
The K-pop groups of South Korea have faced many ups and downs in recent years. One of the legends of South Korea, Big Bang has faced massive criticism from people around the world after one of its youngest members was caught up in a sex trafficking controversy. In February 2019, he along with many members from different groups were also found involved in sex trafficking. Many idols have also succumbed to the pressure of being in the limelight and committed suicide. The pressure to adhere to unrealistic beauty standards has also made South Korea the world’s capital of cosmetic surgery. Despite these drawbacks, one cannot deny the success of South Korea’s soft power and how it has managed to gain worldwide popularity.


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Here you have the leaked images of the new Instax360GO:
This is the new GoPro MAX camera!
CNBC sees a grim future for the Digital Camera market:
Some analysts believe the digital camera market will shrink faster than previously expected, prompting further changes. The latest facet of this trend is consumers increasingly turning to multi-lens smartphones instead of pricey digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras.
We feel that increasingly higher quality imaging, including copies, scans, photos and other images will likely be available on multifunction devices like smartphones. Standalone cameras will exist for artists and the artistic wealthy
A positive exception is Sony:
The winning technology used to be the lens but has become the imaging sensors, and Sony has been the big winner on this front
And they see a dark future for Nikon:
for Nikon, Thong said the evaporating camera market is a bigger threat, it part because it failed to embrace video early on. That was a misstep in a rapidly evolving industry that’s seeing fewer and fewer standalone cameras.
I tend to agree that Digital Camera Market will only have a future within a small niche of super enthusiasts. The mass market is in steady hand of the smartphone makers.
The EISA AWARD winners 2019-2020 have been announced. And for the first time ever you will find NO DSLR camera on the winners page!
Oh this is quite a statement made by Engadget:
Is the S1R worth $3,700? If you had asked me this even a month or two ago, I would have said yes. However, Sony’s incredible new 61-megapixel A7R IV has put me in a tight spot here, based on the brief look we had. For $200 less, you get a lot more, including much higher resolution, phase-detect autofocus with incredible AI powered eye detection, and video features on par with the S1R.
Sony simply hasn’t given Panasonic an inch in performance, and has a proven track record with three previous A7R models. It’s a shame, because the S1R is a pretty incredible camera, but like Canon and Nikon, Panasonic is simply getting lapped by Sony in the mirrorless race.


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China's Advantech Capital Partners Ltd. has led a US$65 million series B funding round in a two-year-old Chinese robotic start-up Rokid at a US$450 million valuation.
In a short span of 13 months, over US$300 million in venture funding has been raised to support co-working space projects in China, as over half a dozen start-ups are vying to cater to growing demand for more flexible and collaborative work environment.
Another Chinese drone maker just got venture funding. Chinese social network Renren Inc has co-led a RMB72 million (US$11 million) series B funding round in Simtoo, a Shenzhen-based portable drone maker.
Chinese asset manager Harvest Global Investments and retail giant Intime Commercial (Group) Ltd. has invested a combined US$84 million in a series C+ round in U51.com, a credit card and online financial services mobile app.
BlueRun Ventures has raised a U.S. dollar and a RMB-denominated fund totaling US$500 million to make early stage investments from angel to series A round in Chinese start-ups, the firm announced today.
China has a shot at playing a leading role in the worldwide race to build connected cars, because Chinese consumers are young and keen to adopt advanced smart technologies, says a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hong Kong-based movie studio Shaw Brothers Holdings Ltd. has appointed Li Ruigang (pictured), founder of CMC Capital, as chairman and non-executive director to deepen cooperation with mainland film and entertainment industries.
LeEco founder and chief executive Jia Yueting must have had a tough two weeks. Last week, LeEco could not show its anticipated electric smart car for its U.S. debut because the truck carrying "the car of the future" got into an accident while driving to the press conference.
Chinese wealth management firm Noah Holdings Ltd said Sequoia Capital China has agreed to make a RMB348 million (US$51.7 million) strategic investment in Noah's asset management subsidiary, Gopher Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Intel Capital has invested US$38 million in 12 technology start-ups globally, including two in China: a smart city developer Eazytec and a wi-fi front-end devices firm Grand Chip Microelectronics.
JD Finance has led a US$30 million strategic investment in Shanghai-based human resources and IT outsourcing services start-up Microseer, the company announced in Beijing today.
Chinese online education firm iTutorGroup, backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and other venture investors, has appointed Tang Zhengrong as its chief technology officer (CTO), responsible for developing and leading technology tactics for the start-up.
Singapore-listed property firm CapitaLand Ltd. has raised US$1.5 billion for its third private property investment vehicle to back integrated development projects under its Raffles City brand in gateway cities in China, the company announced today.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has invested US$375 million in Raffles City China Investment Partners III, CapitaLand's third integrated development private investment fund in China, to take a 25% stake in the vehicle.
Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has agreed to acquire an approximate 25% stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. from the Blackstone Group LP for about US$6.5 billion, after the global private equity giant realized several exits this year by selling assets to Chinese buyers.
Two years after China started pushing for a nationwide policy of "Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation", the country has witnessed a jump in the number of new start-ups. But the government-driven campaign risks the danger of turning into a political movement potentially causing massive waste of capital and resources.
Baird has appointed Lydia Xu, an ex-managing director at BDA Partners, as managing director and Head of China Investment Banking based in Shanghai, responsible for expanding services to strategic Chinese buyers and private equity firms looking to buy and sell assets, make new investments or refinance debt.
A US$239 million deal led by Chinese drugmaker Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd. and private equity firm Primavera Capital to acquire Australian vitamins maker Vitaco Holdings has won approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), clearing a major roadblock and pushing the deal closer to completion.


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The UK Intellectual Property office has released A review of Intellectual Property and Growth An independent report by Ian Hargreaves
The Review makes 10 recommendations designed to ensure that the UK has an IP framework best suited to supporting innovation and promoting economic growth in the digital age.
– the UK should have a “Digital Copyright Exchange”: a digital market place where licences in copyright content can be readily bought and sold, a sort of online copyright shop.
– the Government should legislate to permit access to orphan works, where the owner cannot be traced. For example some copyrighted works remain locked away because their authors either aren’t known or can’t be traced to give permission for use. In the worst cases, where one owner cannot be located – just one out of hundreds contained in a film or TV programme – they can effectively hold the interests of others to ransom as it becomes a criminal offence to exploit that work commercially.
Download your copy here: Digital Opportunity


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MGM owns the rights to iconic films like James Bond, Rocky, RoboCop, Pink Panther, 21 Jump Street, and The Hobbit. MGM also has a large library of TV shows including “Stargate SG-1,” “Vikings,” “Fargo,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Get Shorty,” “Fame,” “Teen Wolf” and “In the Heat of the Night.”
Vudu’s Movies On Us free streaming service first launched two years ago and already offers over 3,000 movies and TV shows. This new partnership with MGM should help expand their library of free movies and TV shows.
This all comes a few months after it was reported that Walmart plans to launch an on-demand subscription streaming services to take on Netflix. Walmart is hoping to expand outside of their traditional big box retail stores. Right now, Walmart is seeing more competition from places like Amazon and cheaper stores like Dollar General. This has been eating into Walmart’s growth and profits.
Walmart already has experience in online streaming. In 2010, Walmart purchased Vudu and has used their existing stores to push the service. Now Walmart is hoping that a new subscription video service and expanded free streaming will help them grow past their current big box store market.
Did you know we now have a FREE app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire? Click HERE to download our app.


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The Logistics Long(er) Run
The current expansion phase for U.S. industrial and logistics real estate appears poised to surpass the typical lifespan of an economic cycle due to demand from e-commerce companies, according to a new report from CBRE.
U.S. economic cycles tend to run for seven to eight years. Yet the current expansionary cycle, which started in 2009, already is among the longest on record for the American economy. CBRE’s report highlights two factors that likely will fuel the U.S. industrial market even longer.
First, the industrial and logistics market—warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing buildings, and other industrial facilities—tends to lag the broader economy by a couple of years. For example, the industrial market’s recovery didn’t begin until 2011, well after the broader economy had started its rebound. Thus, the industrial market’s expansion isn’t as seasoned.
Second, the rapid growth of e-commerce in recent years has created a permanent, structural shift in the market as an increasing portion of U.S. consumer goods is distributed to consumers through warehouses rather than stores. Given that e-commerce still has substantial room to grow within American retail sales, that ongoing shift likely will continue to support the industrial and logistics market’s expansion.
"There are few historical precedents for e-commerce’s effect on the industrial real estate market," says David Egan, CBRE global head of industrial and logistics research. "The market still is establishing its new baseline, though most evidence indicates that expectations have reset at higher levels for the foreseeable future."
Because of these factors, it’s feasible that markets that are further along in the current industrial and logistics cycle than most—such as Houston, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Los Angeles—can continue to generate gains, according to the report.
Meanwhile, markets still in an expansion phase, such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Orlando, likely still have time to continue on their trajectory.


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Ekori — THE people of Ekori in Yakurr Local Government Area, Cross River State, have been called upon to embrace bamboo planting as part of efforts to sustain the Toothpick industry inaugurated by the state government as well as eradicate poverty.
The state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, made the call at the weekend when he launched an ultramodern Toothpick factory at Ekori, built to produce 31 million toothpicks a day.
Why we established toothpick factory --Ayade
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Ayade said: "The country does not just change by mere promulgation of policy. The country changes by systematic, active and very visionary step-by-step approach towards the realisation of set objectives and one of the set objectives is to move Cross River State from third world to first world under my eight years in office.
"The Ministry of Agriculture in 2016 decried an average of 18 million dollars spent annually importing toothpicks into Nigeria; hence the Federal Government put toothpicks importation under the dollar access prohibition list. Which means it cannot give you dollars if you intend to import toothpick, so we decided to take advantage of the policy to set up this factory," he said.
The governor disclosed that only Cross River has such a factory as a state-owned project with 100 per cent management by indigenes of the state, while creating jobs for the teeming unemployed men and women.
Urging indigenes to embrace bamboo planting, he said: "It has a short gestation period that is why it belongs to the grass family and it grows very fast. If you cultivate enough bamboo trees; we can produce 31 million toothpicks in a day and that is lot of business and a lot of money with massive turnover."
First industry in Yarkurr --Monarch
Speaking in his palace, the Obol of Ekori, Obol Donatus Ibor Ofem, lauded Governor Ayade for the gesture, while enjoining his people to embrace bamboo planting as a way to get out of poverty and a means to sustain the first industry of its kind in the community and local government area.
He said: "Your industrialisation drive spread across the state and it is a record no governor had ever beaten over the years. Since 1611 when Ekori came into existence, no governor has ever visited this palace except Ayade.
"Ayade's feats in siting a factory in the area as well as the offer of appointments to our sons and daughters have tremendously helped to put food on our tables, while reducing the rate of crime.
"This is the first industry in Yarkurr. We are happy with Ayade, we have had governors but this one is too much. We have a lot of bamboo that we do not know what to do with, but because of this industry, there is now a high demand," the monarch said.
According to the king: "We have much bamboo, we used to burn them, but now, we will bring them here to sell, the economy will improve, youth's restiveness will be put in check and more of our children will be employed."
NDV learnt that the factory, one of the many factories conceived by the Ayade administration, produces the finest, strongest, organic and beautiful toothpicks, which have brought significant economic value, creating wealth and introducing socioeconomic development in the area.
Excited indigene speaks
One of the indigenes of the area, Mr. Okar Ofem said that they were excited at the establishment of the industry because a lot of bamboo used to waste without them knowing what to do with it but all that was now in the past.
"Already, I have started benefiting, in fact, we have even formed a cooperative society to be able to have bamboo plantations in Ekori because we want this industry to stand the test of time and create more jobs for our teeming youths because the market is huge in Nigeria," he said.


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Posted on August 1, 2013 at 9:00 AM by Iowa Corn
In most households, women are the decision makers when it comes to food purchases. And more and more women are becoming interested—and in some cases, concerned—about what they are hearing about where their family’s food comes from and how it’s produced.
Who better to talk with about these concerns than a fellow mom who helps produce that food? That’s the focus of CommonGround, a national initiative in which volunteer farm women interact with urban women in grocery stores, food shows and other events across America. While many CommonGround conversations take place in large urban areas, these conversations are also taking place in Nebraska communities such as Grand Island, Norfolk and Hastings.
“Our goal is to have conversations between women who grow food and women who buy food,” said Dawn Caldwell, an Edgar farmer and CommonGround volunteer. “We want them to realize that, in most cases, the media coverage is much more colorful and exaggerated than real life.”
According to Caldwell, older women tend to know where their food comes from, but have questions
regarding the value of organic versus conventional— or the differences between corn-fed and grassfed beef. Younger consumers are concerned about the use of antibiotics, hormone implants and the general safety of the food they eat.
“We actually tend to do more listening than talking,” she added. “Then we explain how and why we do what we do—and that we’re very comfortable with the choices we’re making as producers.”
One of the most memorable experiences was a trip to New York City to meet with leading food editors from national media. “We were the only booth not serving food, but we were also the only booth with people who actually grow food,” Caldwell said. “We had a long line of editors waiting to talk with us—many of whom had never been outside the city.”
Caldwell said, “ t’s important that urban women understand that their concerns are shared by the farm women who help grow their food.” “We’re normal people just like them. We shop in the same grocery stores and eat in the same restaurants,” she said. “In the end, it’s all good—organic, processed foods and conventional agriculture. It really comes down to having the information you need to make the right decisions for you and your family.”
To find out more visit, findourcommonground.com.
~ CornsTalk Summer 2013 Issue


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SHANGHAI, Sept 3 (Reuters) – China stocks ended lower on Thursday, as investors pulled out of high-flying consumer firms on worries over lofty valuations, while Sino-U.S. tensions also dented sentiment, outweighing optimism stemming from upbeat services sector data.
** The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.6%, to 4,817.10, while the Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.6%to 3,384.98.
** The tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext slipped 0.9%, while the STAR50 index dropped 1.5%.
** Selling intensified in the afternoon, as investors retreated from leading consumers firms following stellar gains in recent weeks.
** The CSI300 consumers staples index ended down 0.4%, with bellwether Foshan Haitian Flavouring slumping 6.5% after hitting an all-time high in morning trade.
** The CSI300 healthcare index shed 0.6%, with Zhangzhou Pientzehuang Pharmaceutical pulling back from a record high to close 2.5% lower.
** “We had been strongly recommending consumer firms including liquor makers and flavouring firms for quite a long time, though we now no longer sing a song of praise to record-breaking consumer players,” analysts at China Galaxy Securities said in report.
** The United States said on Wednesday it would now require senior Chinese diplomats to get State Department approval before visiting U.S. university campuses or holding cultural events with more than 50 people outside mission grounds.
** The recovery in China’s service sector activity extended into a fourth straight month in August, an industry survey showed, with companies hiring more people for the first time since January.
** The services sector, which accounts for about 60% of the economy and half of urban jobs, had been slower to return to growth initially than large manufacturers, but the recovery has gathered pace in recent months as coronavirus curbs eased. (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)


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Beef, Pork Processors Unlikely To Return To Normal Soon -- Market Talk
12:27 ET - Sanderson Farms' CEO says beef and pork processors aren't likely to return to previous levels of production anytime soon. "I think they've made some progress but I kind of believe it's going to be a while," Joe Sanderson says on an investor call covering quarterly results. Prices for those proteins remain elevated at grocery stores, he says, and Sanderson is shifting production to meet stronger demand from retailers. Amid that changeover, the chicken producer expects to produce 5.9% fewer pounds in F3Q than it projected earlier this year. Shares fall 1.6% to $137.99. (firstname.lastname@example.org; @MicahMaidenberg)
09:28 ET - Poultry producer Sanderson Farms says that it expects feed grain prices in 2020 to stay lower than they were in 2019 for the rest of the year. "There are ample supplies of both corn and soybeans worldwide, and the pandemic has had a material impact on demand for feed grain, especially corn used for ethanol," the company says in its earnings release. Sanderson cites the USDA crop progress reports as evidence of this--with corn planting progress at 88%, up from 55% at the same time last year. CBOT futures are mixed this morning, with corn up 0.4%, wheat gaining 0.5%, and soybeans down 0.3%. (email@example.com; @kirkmaltais)
STORIES OF INTEREST
Chicken Giant Sees Slow Restaurant Recovery -- Market Talk
12:25 ET - Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson doesn't expect a rapid rebound in restaurant traffic or sales, which represent around 60% of the poultry processor's sales. Sanderson says on his company's quarterly call that only 50% of restaurants are now open, and just 46% of consumers want to go out to eat right now. Following the 2008-2009 economic crisis, Sanderson says, it took nearly a decade for restaurant traffic to fully recover. Sanderson is considering switching over one of its foodservice-oriented plants to supply to supermarkets, he says. (firstname.lastname@example.org; @jacobbunge)
Order Sizes Growing for Uber Eats -- Market Talk
09:38 ET - Uber Eats says its food delivery business continues to grow in May due to the pandemic, including larger order sizes. "People are home more, ordering for their families," Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber Technologies' Uber Eats division says at an investor conference. Average basket sizes of orders in the US grew 14% in April compared to February, he says. The company is looking to add more breakfast and lunch options and cater to more families as it seeks to boost its Eats business. (email@example.com; @heatherhaddon)
Hog Futures Close Day Nearly Limit Down -- Market Talk
15:57 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME finish the day off 6.2%, or 3.65 cents per pound--close to the 3.75 cents per pound limit for the July contract. Hogs closed at 55.65 cents per pound, making it the lowest the contract has ended since April 30. The main drivers for the hog drop includes the big decline in pork cutout prices, as well as tensions between the US and China shaking trader hopes that China will continue to buy greater amounts of pork exports from the US this year. "A decline in wholesale values applied pressure to livestock futures today as well, even though the spread between futures and cash remains historically wide," says Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. Cattle futures finish trading up 0.5% to $1.01175 per pound. (firstname.lastname@example.org; @kirkmaltais)
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - May 28
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
May 28 +$102.96 +$ 57.26
May 27 +$99.03 +$ 56.17
May 26 +$116.51 +$ 74.89
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
For Today Choice 165.3
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 163.9
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell $8.21 per hundred pounds, to $369.56, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $6.11 per hundred pounds, to $344.09. The total load count was 149. Wholesale pork prices ros3 51 cents, to $88.37 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.


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Overwatch 2 devs reveal how Hanamura and other 2CP maps could return
While Overwatch’s 2CP maps remain some of the most controversial in the game, the development team working on OW2 has revealed that it may return in an all-new mode.
If there’s one thing that has divided the Overwatch community, it’s Assault Maps. Colloquially known as 2CP due to their two different checkpoints, players appealed to Blizzard to remove them from ranked rotation – and remove Paris altogether.
Although these were dropped for the new Push mode in the game’s highly anticipated sequel, Overwatch 2, the developers have long hinted that we might see them return in some form in the next installment’s life cycle. .
One suggestion is to integrate them into an entirely optional game mode – and it seems that’s exactly what Blizzard is planning.
Overwatch 2 devs want to “reuse” 2CP cards
During a Reddit AMA, a player asked “what are your plans for maps that will remain unused once OW2 launches publicly, such as Temple of Anubis and Hanamura? Will they be reused/extended into other existing game modes? ?
“In a similar pace, are there any plans to reinstate and rework maps like Paris or Horizon Lunar Colony to fit the molds of other game modes as well?”
Overwatch 2 Systems Designer, Winter, was quick to respond. “I have a few ideas that I’d like to try when it comes to repurposing them for potential new game modes,” they wrote, noting “these ideas may only see the light of day in the distant future considering our current plans.
“If we found a way to give them a new mode, we would want to do extensive testing in the Arcade or other formats where we can get community feedback. We know how divided Assault (2CP) has been. a large chunk of our player base and we agree there were issues, so we wouldn’t bring these cards back without a lot of testing.
When asked about the Escort version of Hanamura seen in the game’s trailer, they replied “we don’t have a payload version of Hanamura. Converting these maps to a payload would be a huge effort and it’s not is not the one we have undertaken.
“The mode I’d like to prototype for an Onslaught replacement would require some of the tech we’re developing for the PvE side of OW2, but again, that’s just a twinkle in my eye right now.”
So while it looks like we won’t be seeing the return of Paris or Hanamura anytime soon, there are clear plans to try and bring these iconic locations into Overwatch 2.
So keep an eye on the weather on the lunar horizon (get it?) Assault fans; your favorite cards might end up in OW2 after all.


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Independent developer Dylan Fitterer's Audiosurf put a walloping on the rest of the Steam catalog last month, outselling everything else, in terms of dollars and units sold, Valve announced today. The IGF nominee was released mid-month, which makes the accomplishment even more impressive. We're sure that $US 9.95 price tag didn't hurt, but it sure sounds like there's money to be made for indies on Steam, something I'm sure the Valve marketing team wants to make sure everyone knows.
Audiosurf Tops Steam Charts
Trending Stories Right Now
One of the easiest bits of news to miss on Monday’s Gamescom Opening Night Live show was tucked away in an ad for the Epic Games Store. A simple sizzle reel that showcased a number of games exclusive to the controversial digital PC game storefront included an upcoming indie that previously wasn’t in Epic’s roster: Oddworld Soulstorm. Shortly after, Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning posted a message via the Oddworld Twitter account.
With the rise in high-profile video games running into the wall of Australia's classification system, it's high time we revisited an old chestnut: Australia might have an R18 rating for video games, but we also have some hugely strict limits on what can actually be classified R18.


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NEW DELHI: One of India’s largest fashion retail enterprises, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), has been the victim of a huge data breach. Data including over 5.4 million email addresses were allegedly scraped and released online from the Aditya Birla Group-owned portal.
Personal client information such as names, phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, order histories, credit card details, and passwords are allegedly saved as Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5) hashes in the purported database. The data leak is claimed to include employee information such as salary, religion, and marital status.
ShinyHunters, a hacker gang, has made the claim that Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail database public. Have I Been Pwned, a data breach tracking website notified some impacted customers of an ABFRL account breach. In December of last year, it is reported that 5,470,063 Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited accounts were breached and ransomed. The ransom demand made by the hacker gang was apparently denied, and the material was then made public on a famous hacking site.
Visit the Have I Been Pwned page and enter your email or phone number to see if you were a victim of the breach. ABFRL has been contacted by Gadgets 360 for comment on the incident. When we receive feedback, we will update this report.
According to RestorePrivacy, ShinyHunters had access to the ABFRL database for several weeks. According to the allegation, the allegedly compromised information included ABFRL employee data such as complete name, email, birth date, physical address, gender, age, marital status, salary, religion, and more. It is also reported to contain ABFRL client data, hundreds of thousands of invoices, the company’s website source code, and server logs.
The data contains server logs and vulnerability reports for ABFRL Indian clothing brands such as American Eagle, Pantaloons, Forever21, The Collective, Van Heusen, Peter England, Planet Fashion, and Shantanu & Nikhil, according to RestorePrivacy.
The hacked database is reported to contain financial and transaction information, as well as 21GB of ABFRL bills. ShinyHunters told RestorePrivacy that they had obtained credit card information from ABFR customers, notably Pantaloons. The ABFRL personnel is alleged to be aware that ShinyHunters has such information.
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Enter to Win and Make Skin Young Again
Click on the image above to enter to win a skincare package from DefenAge!
Can your skin naturally turn back the clock? According to a new study...YES!
Scientific research shows that a peptide, defensin, can reprogram our body to make skin visibly younger and younger every day. Scientists at DefenAge implemented this authentic revolutionary invention in DefenAge’s formulas that were tested and proven in rigorous clinical studies.


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In Africa, Bitcoin’s popularity continues to soar. The crypto-currency market offers Africans the means to take control of their financial destiny. The buying and selling of Bitcoin in Africa continues to grow at a remarkable rate.
The majority of digital currency activity may take place in Asia, but this is mainly due to speculation and investment. While Africa is proving to be an active center for the trading of crypto-money, especially Bitcoin.
There are very compelling reasons why people in Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe and other African countries have been eager to accept crypto currencies. One of these reasons is that Bitcoin offers financial stability in a region known for its volatile and inflationary national currencies.
Africans convert their savings into crypto to protect their wealth against hyperinflation. The Nigerian currency, Naira, has lost 90% of its value against the USD and EUR in the last two years alone. Meanwhile, Bitcoin grew by over 1,000% in 2017.
Another reason why the buying and selling of Bitcoin in Africa has become so popular is that crypto-money allows unprecedented economic opportunities. Sellers can sell their goods and services to a global audience, and be paid in Bitcoin, which, despite its recent volatility, is much more stable than most of the continent’s sovereign currencies. The opportunity to participate in the global online economy brings additional benefits because successful entrepreneurs can then hire more employees, helping to stimulate the local economy.
This opportunity to participate in a global financial market can take many forms. Thanks to the use of cryptocurrency, Africans can open their Bitcoin portfolios, and invest in companies around the world. Even a small amount of BTC allows a person to buy tokens during an ICO that could eventually be worth much more. A person living in the smallest colony in Ghana or Nigeria, could still be an active investor in fintech startups located across the globe by simply using a smartphone and his Bitcoin portfolio.
Another major reason why buying Bitcoin in Africa has become so popular is that it allows individuals to escape restrictive banking regulations. Banks in Nigeria limit a person to only be able to spend $100 a month on online purchases. However, people with Bitcoin portfolios can bypass such measures. The decentralized, peer-to-peer aspect of cryptomoney allows people to reclaim their economic freedom in their own hands and from those of centralized institutions.


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Bitcoin came around 10 years back, and from that point forward, it pulled in genuine enthusiasm for the monetary segment. Despite the fact that many individuals use it mostly to get presentation to its value named in fiat monetary forms, there are a great deal of organizations that acknowledge Bitcoin as an installment technique.
In 2013, the famous American travel office Cheapair started tolerating Bitcoin as a methods for installment. This prompted different organizations actualizing it too, and now customers can utilize their bitcoins to book flights and lodgings all around the globe.The digital currency can be utilized to legitimately book a trip with Norwegian Air that likewise permitted it as an installment alternative prior this year. Strikingly enough, the organization is likewise allegedly investigating making its cryptographic money trade.Individuals can likewise utilize Bitcoin to book certain lodgings. For example, a huge Canadian gathering called Sandman Hotels began tolerating BTC in 2014. All the more as of late, a Swiss lavish lodging, The Dolder Grand, declared that its customers could utilize the biggest digital money to pay for their convenience.
In the event that you are into staggering and adrenaline-boosting encounters, at that point chances are you have found out about departure rooms. Those genuine riddle rooms where you need to settle a great deal of secrets and issues to escape a particular space have gotten out and out available. Curiously enough, there are many break rooms that acknowledge crypto as a methods for installment.On another note, a nearby variety of an online library, the Internet Archive, that incorporates tremendous heaps of data, is likewise tolerating gifts in crypto. Probably the most mainstream ones incorporate Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, Zcash.As CryptoPotato revealed not long ago, digital currency selection and use proceed with one of the most mainstream sports on the planet – soccer. An acclaimed Portuguese group, S.L. Benfica, enables its fans to utilize Bitcoin and Ethereum to buy its product.
Since Bitcoin's thought is to be an electronic, distributed installment technique, it's just coherent that online stores are among the main organizations to ever acknowledge it. The tech monster Microsoft included the well known digital money in 2014 for a portion of its items.From that point forward, others rushed to follow in these strides. Overload, the famous US-based online retailer, was among the main significant stores to acknowledge Bitcoin as a real installment technique. The individuals who need to buy their gadgets with crypto can do as such with Newegg also, which is a tech-centered online store.
This is the place things get somewhat intriguing on the grounds that it's still to some degree extraordinary to pay for your Sushi with Bitcoin. Be that as it may, there are a lot of settings which would readily take it. Customers can make the most of their preferred suppers from pizzas to burgers while paying with their digital currency resources.In 2010, on May 22nd, a man from Florida called Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two huge pizzas. This sum is right now worth millions, and it's maybe one of the most well known Bitcoin exchanges in the generally short history of the digital currency. Obviously, in those days Hanyecz paid somebody in Bitcoin just to arrange him two pizzas for his very own FIAT but at the same time was a method for spending your Bitcoins.though a large portion of the data originates from cheap food chains and takeaways, Bitcoin, as a type of installment, has been as of late added to other significant outlets in the business. Reports have it that the Amazon-claimed Whole Foods are tolerating Bitcoin in their stores as of this current year.
Lambo (from Lamborghini) is a term frequently utilized in the digital currency network while depicting a potential value flood. The inquiry "When Lambo?" is maybe one of the most ordinarily utilized ones inside the network. In any case, for reasons unknown, Lamborghini businesses have seen an expanded number of exchanges including cryptographic forms of money, particularly around the 2017 allegorical value blast.A few settings take into consideration the most critical digital money to be utilized to buy noteworthy models from carmakers like Aston Martin and Ferrari. All things considered, customers can likewise pick exemplary vehicles, too.Moreover, utilizing Bitcoin for vehicle buys spreads past just supercars. Various nearby vendors, just as goliaths in the car game, have received it as an installment technique.
NOVEMBER 17, 2019
" for latest information client free news letter "


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|By PR Newswire||
|July 31, 2014 03:45 AM EDT||
MUNICH, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
- Cashless payments with Bijlipay
- PCI certified chip-and-pin terminals
- Cross reference: Picture is available at epa european pressphoto agency (http://www.epa.eu) -
Wirecard AG is providing the technology for Skilworth Technologies Private Limited to introduce its innovative white-label mPOS solution to the Indian market under the brand "Bijlipay". The Nationwide distribution of Bijlipay will start in September, following a successful initial rollout at selected retailers in Southern India over the past few weeks.
Bijlipay is one of the first certified mPOS solutions based on chip-and-pin technology in the Indian market and enables small and medium-sized retailers in the travel, transport, gastronomic and retail industries to accept credit and debit card payments via their own smartphone.
Skilworth Technologies Private Limited is headquartered in Chennai and partners with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), the local acquiring bank for Bijlipay card transactions. Wirecard has provided Bijlipay with a fully certified white-label end-to-end platform for chip-and-pin mPOS services, integrating chip-and-pin terminals and terminal management, mobile applications and merchant management as well as card acquiring processing and fraud management.
Pavan Kachibhatla, CEO at Bijlipay commented: "Conventional point-of-sale terminals did not prove to be economically viable for the majority of the Indian market, but with Bijlipay we are now able to offer retailers a cost-effective alternative to securely accept cashless payments." Kachibhatla continues "Demand is already strong from initial marketing in Tamil Nadu and we are expanding our support base rapidly to cover nationwide expansion in the coming months. Wirecard's proven platform provided us with the quickest route to market and was easily customised to provide us with a product that is tailor made for India."
"India is experiencing an incredible growth in card payments," Jörn Leogrande, Executive Vice President Mobile Services, at Wirecard, explains. "Furthermore India is already the third-largest market for smartphones after the USA and China, and has the biggest growth rates in this regard. The high density of smartphones alongside a growing proportion of cashless payments creates an excellent opportunity to introduce mPOS in India. We are looking forward to extending this and other services nationwide in partnership with Bijlipay."
Wirecard AG is one of the world's leading independent providers of outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payment transactions. The Wirecard Group has been supporting companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. A global multi-channel platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods, supplemented by fraud prevention solutions. When it comes to issuing their own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, Wirecard provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licenses for card and account products.
Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI).
Bijlipay is the go-to-market brand of Skilworth Technologies Private Limited, headquartered in Chennai, India. Bijlipay is creating new and innovative payment solutions for emerging markets like India. In partnership with some of India's leading public sector banks, Bijlipay is poised for tremendous growth in one of the World's largest markets for financial services. With deep knowledge of the Indian marketplace and a team of globally experienced payments professionals, Bijlipay is set to change the payments landscape in the region.
Bijlipay Media Contact:
Skilworth Technologies Private Limited
'bijli house', Type II/15, Dr. VSI Estate,
Old Mahabalipuram Road, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai- 600041, Tamil Nadu
E-Mail: [email protected]
SYS-CON Events announced today that Avere Systems, a leading provider of enterprise storage for the hybrid cloud, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Avere delivers a more modern architectural approach to storage that doesn’t require the overprovisioning of storage capacity to achieve performance, overspending on expensive storage media for inactive data or the overbuilding of data centers ...
Feb. 10, 2016 08:46 AM EST
SYS-CON Events announced today that iDevices®, the preeminent brand in the connected home industry, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. iDevices, the preeminent brand in the connected home industry, has a growing line of HomeKit-enabled products available at the largest retailers worldwide. Through the “Designed with iDevices” co-development program and its custom-built IoT Cloud Infrastruc...
Feb. 10, 2016 08:00 AM EST
Sensors and effectors of IoT are solving problems in new ways, but small businesses have been slow to join the quantified world. They’ll need information from IoT using applications as varied as the businesses themselves. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Meike, Distinguished Engineer, Director of Technology Innovation at Intuit, showed how IoT manufacturers can use open standards, public APIs and custom apps to enable the Quantified Small Business. He used a Raspberry Pi to connect sensors...
Feb. 10, 2016 08:00 AM EST
Eighty percent of a data scientist’s time is spent gathering and cleaning up data, and 80% of all data is unstructured and almost never analyzed. Cognitive computing, in combination with Big Data, is changing the equation by creating data reservoirs and using natural language processing to enable analysis of unstructured data sources. This is impacting every aspect of the analytics profession from how data is mined (and by whom) to how it is delivered. This is not some futuristic vision: it's ha...
Feb. 10, 2016 07:45 AM EST Reads: 432
Silver Spring Networks, Inc. (NYSE: SSNI) extended its Internet of Things technology platform with performance enhancements to Gen5 – its fifth generation critical infrastructure networking platform. Already delivering nearly 23 million devices on five continents as one of the leading networking providers in the market, Silver Spring announced it is doubling the maximum speed of its Gen5 network to up to 2.4 Mbps, increasing computational performance by 10x, supporting simultaneous mesh communic...
Feb. 10, 2016 07:00 AM EST
Advances in technology and ubiquitous connectivity have made the utilization of a dispersed workforce more common. Whether that remote team is located across the street or country, management styles/ approaches will have to be adjusted to accommodate this new dynamic. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Sagi Brody, Chief Technology Officer at Webair Internet Development Inc., focused on the challenges of managing remote teams, providing real-world examples that demonstrate what works and what do...
Feb. 10, 2016 06:00 AM EST Reads: 280
CIOs and those charged with running IT Operations are challenged to deliver secure, audited, and reliable compute environments for the applications and data for the business. Behind the scenes these tasks are often accomplished by following onerous time-consuming processes and often the management of these environments and processes will be outsourced to multiple IT service providers. In addition, the division of work is often siloed into traditional "towers" that are not well integrated for cro...
Feb. 10, 2016 04:00 AM EST Reads: 478
The principles behind DevOps are not new - for decades people have been automating system administration and decreasing the time to deploy apps and perform other management tasks. However, only recently did we see the tools and the will necessary to share the benefits and power of automation with a wider circle of people. In his session at DevOps Summit, Bernard Sanders, Chief Technology Officer at CloudBolt Software, explored the latest tools including Puppet, Chef, Docker, and CMPs needed to...
Feb. 10, 2016 03:00 AM EST Reads: 308
Let’s face it, embracing new storage technologies, capabilities and upgrading to new hardware often adds complexity and increases costs. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Seth Oxenhorn, Vice President of Business Development & Alliances at FalconStor, will discuss how a truly heterogeneous software-defined storage approach can add value to legacy platforms and heterogeneous environments. The result reduces complexity, significantly lowers cost, and provides IT organizations with improved effi...
Feb. 10, 2016 01:15 AM EST Reads: 234
The cloud promises new levels of agility and cost-savings for Big Data, data warehousing and analytics. But it’s challenging to understand all the options – from IaaS and PaaS to newer services like HaaS (Hadoop as a Service) and BDaaS (Big Data as a Service). In her session at @BigDataExpo at @ThingsExpo, Hannah Smalltree, a director at Cazena, will provide an educational overview of emerging “as-a-service” options for Big Data in the cloud. This is critical background for IT and data profes...
Feb. 10, 2016 12:45 AM EST Reads: 195
Predictive analytics tools monitor, report, and troubleshoot in order to make proactive decisions about the health, performance, and utilization of storage. Most enterprises combine cloud and on-premise storage, resulting in blended environments of physical, virtual, cloud, and other platforms, which justifies more sophisticated storage analytics. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Peter McCallum, Vice President of Datacenter Solutions at FalconStor, will discuss using predictive analytics to ...
Feb. 10, 2016 12:45 AM EST Reads: 387
Father business cycles and digital consumers are forcing enterprises to respond faster to customer needs and competitive demands. Successful integration of DevOps and Agile development will be key for business success in today’s digital economy. In his session at DevOps Summit, Pradeep Prabhu, Co-Founder & CEO of Cloudmunch, covered the critical practices that enterprises should consider to seamlessly integrate Agile and DevOps processes, barriers to implementing this in the enterprise, and pr...
Feb. 10, 2016 12:00 AM EST Reads: 382
SYS-CON Events announced today that Men & Mice, the leading global provider of DNS, DHCP and IP address management overlay solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. The Men & Mice Suite overlay solution is already known for its powerful application in heterogeneous operating environments, enabling enterprises to scale without fuss. Building on a solid range of diverse platform support,...
Feb. 10, 2016 12:00 AM EST Reads: 203
Cognitive Computing is becoming the foundation for a new generation of solutions that have the potential to transform business. Unlike traditional approaches to building solutions, a cognitive computing approach allows the data to help determine the way applications are designed. This contrasts with conventional software development that begins with defining logic based on the current way a business operates. In her session at 18th Cloud Expo, Judith S. Hurwitz, President and CEO of Hurwitz & ...
Feb. 9, 2016 10:15 PM EST Reads: 238
It's easy to assume that your app will run on a fast and reliable network. The reality for your app's users, though, is often a slow, unreliable network with spotty coverage. What happens when the network doesn't work, or when the device is in airplane mode? You get unhappy, frustrated users. An offline-first app is an app that works, without error, when there is no network connection.
Feb. 9, 2016 06:00 PM EST Reads: 198


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Number one on Y Combinators incredibly popular Hacker News site is a new startup called Launchaco that is focused on helping new startups do just what the name says, launch a company. They have a pretty slick website builder and a tool for helping startups find the best domain.
I found it super interesting to see the default TLDs that they choose to go with as it’s a clear window into the TLDs that are resonating well with startups right now:
Five TLDs show up in their Default TLD list, .COM, .CO, .IO, .NET, and .XYZ. If it were up to me I’d probably swap .NET with .ME as I think it’s a way more popular extension with startups than .NET is but otherwise it’s a pretty solid list. Also very interesting to see .XYZ on the list given how new it is, the rest of the TLDs up there have been around for a while.
It’s a cool idea and with the #1 spot on Hacker News it’s likely going to get a bunch of people using it to find a domain and quickly whip up a site. Feel free to check it out yourself at Launchaco.com.


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Oil, cars, drugs and scotch. Britain is a global A-list player in export terms with much to be proud of — but our business prospects tend to be let down by a lack of confidence.
However much we strive to focus on world-beating, added-value goods and services, there can be a tendency to talk ourselves down.It is uncertain whether we suffer from a lack of ambition or a lack of confidence — although those two things could amount to the same. But with government expenditure forecast to shrink by 1.4 per cent between now and 2015, and consumer spending to be half of what it was before the financial crisis, the onus lies with the corporate sector to drive growth.
And while the corporate sector has record levels of cash to deploy (more than £750 billion in total according to some estimates), businesses appear increasingly defensive about investment and not ambitious enough to tap into fast-growth markets further afield through exports and acquisitions.
Deloitte’s Chief Financial Officer Survey, which tracks the risk attitudes of CFOs, shows that corporates are more defensive now than they were a year ago. In the past quarter, reducing costs and increasing cash flow were seen as key priorities for most finance departments. A greater proportion of CFOs surveyed this quarter said that defensive strategies were more important to them than expansionary strategies, despite the improving balance sheets. Is this cautiousness prudent or does it smack of a lack of ambition?
Britain is of course in a vulnerable position with the eurozone crisis on its doorstep. The continental nations are our biggest trading partners. Almost half of the CFOs surveyed said that they anticipated a break-up of the eurozone would have some effect on their company, with 20 per cent saying that it would have a “significant” or “severe” effect.
Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, recently admitted that the single currency’s difficulties were painful: “Of course it has a massive impact on our trade — half of our exports go to the eurozone countries, our banks are quite substantially exposed to those countries.”
What is more, the majority of outbound merger and acquisition deals from 2005 to 2011 were focused on expansion in Europe rather than into companies in the growth economies. There have been more than nine times more acquisitions of companies in developed economies than those in the BRIC nations, while deals into Europe account for 49 per cent of all outbound merger and aquisition activity.
Lloyd Dorfman, the founder of Travelex, recently delivered a call to arms for British business to look further afield “to create sustainable prosperity in the new global village, Britain urgently needs more of its businesses to move into international markets.I’d simply say to Britain’s entrepreneurs and business leaders: get out there”.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has turned trade missions into a key part of his strategy, taking groups of British business leaders to India and China. But more needs to be done to enable British companies to expand further afield — drawing up a national export strategy and increasing the availability of export finance, for instance.
That is not to say that Britain doesn’t excel in some areas. We now export more cars than we import. Our pharmaceutical and chemical industries are world renowned. Meanwhile, British luxury brands such as Burberry, Mulberry and Jimmy Choo are a hit overseas, including with the growing middle classes in China and India. It is time for British business to confidently build on these achievements.
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For years, registered dietitians and nutrition scientists alike have touted the perks of eating plants and cutting back on meat. And it seems people are catching on. A study notes that plant-based diets have gone mainstream — partly because the advantages have been well researched and healthcare practitioners recommend this way of eating as many have seen incredible results from their patients. (1)
Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN, a dietitian based in Brooklyn, New York, and the author of The Southern Comfort Food Diabetes Cookbook, says it’s also popular because it can reduce humans’ environmental impact, and many celebrities, including Beyoncé and Tom Brady, have embraced this way of eating. “Whether you are an animal lover, an environmental advocate, or want to live your healthiest life, being plant based is the one underlying thread that seems to be compelling to so many of us,” Feller says.
Going plant-based is not so much a diet as it is a general approach to eating. There’s no need to count calories or stress about meeting certain macronutrient goals each day. In essence, it’s simply about eating more plant-based foods (and fewer animal-based ones while you’re at it).
There are several different interpretations of the diet:
- Vegetarian Diet Individuals who are vegetarian may eat cheese, eggs, and milk, but they do not eat meat, such as chicken, pork, and beef. Instead of meat, they lean on plant-based protein.
- Vegan Diet These people choose to forgo animal products altogether (including milk, cheese, and honey) and exclusively eat plants as part of a vegan lifestyle.
- Raw Vegan Diet Others may follow the aforementioned rules and eat only raw, plant-based foods.
- Flexitarian Diet Some people are more flexible. They try to simply cut down on their meat intake and eat a diet that’s primarily filled with plants but with some animal products here and there
1. A Plant-Based Diet May Lower Your Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, can increase the risk for health issues, including heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. (2) Fortunately, the foods you eat can make a difference. Several studies have shown that sticking with a plant-based diet can reduce blood pressure, thereby reducing your risk for those conditions. A meta-analysis explored data from 39 studies and concluded that people who followed a vegetarian diet had lower blood pressure on average than those who followed omnivorous diets, meaning those including plants and meat. (3) And another study found that vegetarians had a 34 percent lower risk of developing hypertension than nonvegetarians. (4)
2. A Plant-Based Diet May Keep Your Heart Healthy
Meat contains saturated fat, which can contribute to heart issues when eaten in excess. So by cutting back on meat and loading up on plant-based foods, you’re doing your ticker a favor. (5) A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that eating a plant-based diet may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by 16 percent and of dying of this health condition by about 31 percent. (6)
But it’s not just about limiting meat: To help prevent cardiovascular disease, you want to consume foods that are anti-inflammatory, which happen to be mainly plant-based foods. These include green leafy vegetables, yellow vegetables, whole grains, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, fatty fish, tomatoes, and fruits. Likewise, you’ll want to avoid pro-inflammatory foods, such as processed meats, processed foods, fried foods, and refined sugar.
3. A Plant-Based Diet May Help Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
It’s well known that there’s a link between diet and type 2 diabetes. Weight is a major risk factor since more fatty tissue makes the cells more resistant to insulin, according to the Mayo Clinic. (8) But which type of diet is best to avoid type 2 diabetes? Studies suggest that a plant-based one has benefits.
A study found that eating a plant-based diet filled with high-quality plant foods reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 percent. (9) It’s likely because plants are lower in saturated fats than animal foods, which raises cholesterol levels and your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, notes the American Diabetes Association. (10) Another study, published in Diabetes Care, found the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 7.6 percent among nonvegetarians and only 2.9 percent for vegans. (11)
4. Eating a Plant-Based Diet Could Help You Lose Weight
Your risk of obesity decreases when you swap a meat-heavy diet for a plant-based one. In short: Plant eaters tend to weigh less, even if that’s not always the No. 1 goal. “The idea is to nourish the body and cells to improve health outcomes, but weight loss may be a by-product of replacing and reducing certain foods,” Feller says. The aforementioned Diabetes Care study found substantial body mass index (BMI) differences between non-meat eaters and meat eaters. (11) The mean BMI for vegans was 23.6, while for nonvegetarians it was 28.8, which qualifies as overweight, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (11,12)
Eating more plants can help you drop pounds, too. A small study found that 65 overweight adults who followed a whole-food, plant-based diet for one year lost 9.25 pounds on average. Plus, this diet was not calorie-restricted; the participants were allowed to eat what they wanted and still lost weight. (13)
One reason for the weight loss is that whole grains and vegetables are relatively low on the glycemic index — which means they’re digested more slowly — and fruit contains antioxidants and fiber, which helps prolong fullness, according to research. (14) It’s incredibly important to prioritize healthy, quality plant-based foods if weight loss is your goal. “Someone can eat a very healthy plant-based diet, but they can also eat a very unhealthy plant-based diet,” Linares says.
5. Following a Plant-Based Diet Long Term May Help You Live Longer
All of the other potential benefits listed here roll into one major one: living longer. The Journal of the American Heart Association study found that a plant-based diet lowers the risk of all causes of mortality by 25 percent. (6) And beyond that, the protective levels increase if you stick with healthy plant-based foods. Another study found that eating healthy plant foods versus unhealthy ones extends that protection layer by another 5 percent. To determine healthy plant foods, researchers assigned various nonanimal products a score between 1 and 17. Less-healthy foods — like soda, cake, and white bread — though meat-free, received a low score; meanwhile, healthier plant foods— like whole grains, veggies, and fruit — received a higher score. (15)
6. A Plant-Based Diet May Decrease Your Risk of Cancer
As we’ve seen, following a plant-based diet has many health benefits — but can it help prevent cancer? Research suggests that the answer could be yes. The American Institute for Cancer Research says the best way to source cancer-protective nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, is to eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and some animal foods. (16) And the same goes for cancer survivors. A review published in Cancer Management and Research notes the protective benefits are there, though they’re moderate (lowering the risk for certain cancers by about 10 percent) and are likely due to the nutrients present in plant foods and because eating this way promotes a healthy weight. (17)
7. A Plant-Based Diet May Improve Your Cholesterol
High cholesterol can lead to fatty deposits in the blood, which can restrict blood flow and potentially lead to heart attack, stroke, or heart disease. (18) But a healthy diet can help keep cholesterol levels in check. Specifically, moving away from a diet filled with animal products toward one that’s primarily plant based can lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by between 10 and 15 percent, while those following a strict vegan diet can lower their LDL cholesterol by as much as 25 percent, according to a review of 27 studies published in The American Journal of Cardiology. (19)
8. Eating a Plant-Based Diet May Minimize Your Risk of Stroke
Your risk for stroke increases if you have high blood pressure, are overweight, have diabetes or heart disease, have high cholesterol, or smoke, drink, or use drugs. (20) As noted above, most of those risk factors can be wiped out by following a plant-based diet and making healthy lifestyle choices. After all, half of strokes are preventable. (20) One simple way to reduce your risk is by increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables. The highest consumers of fruits and veggies had a 21 percent lower risk of stroke than those who consumed the least, according to a study. (21)
9. Ramping Up Your Plant Intake May Keep Your Brain Strong
The physiological benefits of following a plant-based diet are many, but there are some possible mental ones, too. “There is some compelling research examining plant-based diets and their role in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s,” Feller says. A review of nine studies found that eating an extra 100 grams of fruits and vegetables per day (about one-half cup) led to a 13 percent reduction in the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. (22)
The likely reason: Fruits and vegetables are rich in polyphenols, which an article published in Nutrients notes are in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (aka, the cornerstones of a plant-based diet). Polyphenols may help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and may help reverse cognitive decline, according to a review published in Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. (23)
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Photography gets even better with Apple's new iPhones. Although the iPhone is already among the best smartphones for everyday shots, the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models offer 50 percent more detail.
If you use spoken commands to initiate Google searches on your iPhone or Android device, you might notice that the results you're getting are not only more accurate but coming in faster than ever.
Tech giant Apple is expecting records sales of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The next-gen of Apple’s smartphone hit stores Sept 25. As always, Apple says the phones are the “most advanced ever."
The FTC might again be investigating Google for potentially anticompetitive practices, this time in relation to the company's handling of its Android mobile operating system and related apps.
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