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When Mylan Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that it would be giving a $300 "savings card" discount to patients buying a two-pack of EpiPens — a prescription with a retail price of around $600 — it didn't do much to fend off ire from politicians and the public.
So on Monday, the specialty- and generic-drug maker made another $300 move — this time to make an "authorized generic" version of the EpiPen that will cost that amount. It plans to launch the product in "several weeks," depending on when it can whip up the new labels.
The EpiPen is a device used in emergencies to treat anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that can make people go into shock, struggle to breathe, or get a skin rash.
In 2007, the drug cost about $100. It's since gone up to $608.61, an increase of about 500%. The $300 price for the generic roughly puts it back at the price the drug was at 2013, but still a 200% increase over 2007.
What exactly is an 'authorized generic'?
For a set period of time, a drugmaker has the chance to have an exclusive on the market for a drug it developed. But once that time is up, other companies can come in with their competing versions that are virtually identical to the original.
So authorized generics are basically a drugmaker's way of staying in the game after generic competition comes to the market. The Food and Drug Administration keeps track of all the authorized generics that the makers of original branded products have created.
The authorized generic is identical to the original drug, but it doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of the branded product. In this case, the pen will be the same, but the packaging might be a different color or carry just the "epinephrine auto-injectors" title.
This way, Mylan can keep its original list price up on the EpiPen while keeping users who might be deterred by price from going to a competing emergency-epinephrine device. And for those without commercial insurance, this should put the price in line with those paying $300 while using the savings card.
Generic competition could be here by early 2017
The EpiPen has positioned itself well as the only game in town. It's become a household name, and the company has disseminated information that makes it relatively easy for anyone to use in an emergency.
To be sure, competing products have been on the market: One, called Auvi-Q, has been recalled since last October, and the other one, called Adrenaclick, uses a different injection system that makes it a bit more difficult to use, even if it's the cheaper option.
Other generic versions have not yet been approved by the FDA. Two makers of generic versions received "complete response letters" in the past year, meaning the FDA still has some questions that need to be addressed before it can approve the drug.
Adamis Pharmaceuticals, a smaller pharmaceutical company with a market cap of $77 million, is one of those coming out with a generic epinephrine device. It hopes that by early 2017, the company's prefilled syringe could be approved as a low-cost alternative to the EpiPen, as long as the company can show the FDA that people know how to use the device.
Mark Flather, a spokesman for the company, told Business Insider that the company thinks the syringe will be even easier to use than the EpiPen.
"Our belief is that our device is simpler to use," he said. Unlike an auto-injector pen that comes with a training device, a prefilled syringe should be relatively straightforward to administer, he said.
Adamis was down about 15% on Monday after surging last week while the EpiPen came under fire.


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25 November 2022
Antiquarian book fair, library programme for children and sale festival conducted by the Department of Historical Research and National Library under the Ministry of Religious and Culture began on Friday at the National Library (Nay Pyi Taw).
25 antiquarian books released between 1766 and 1989 are on display at the book fair.
Director , Dept. of Historical Research and National Library , Pyone Pyone Aye said " The antiquarian books are over 200 years old. The oldest one is Myanmar Thin Pone Gyi Book and the other books are about colonial era administration, Kone Bong era administration, the administrative form of Myanmar people, laws during the reign of King Bagan, culture and tradition of Myanmar, travel and tourism and historical documents. For the children, we have storytelling progromme in which the Children are to create their own stories. In addition, art tools are ready for them to draw paintings. There’s also a quiz programme. We will award the outstanding children."
Book shops, souvenir shops and food shops are included at the sale festival. This Antiquarian book fair, library programme for children and sale festival is set to take place till the 27th of November.
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domain: news


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Next week sees the staging of the sixth annual Serviced Apartment Summit Europe, the premier gathering of serviced apartment, aparthotel, corporate housing, extended stay and short-term rental...
Serviced Apartment Summit
.@amexgbt predicts that global car rental rates will remain stable over the next year, though prices could drop across Europe https://t.co/Ozeh3BTy6j
Heathrow airport has proposed phasing in a vehicle access charge of up to £15 for cars entering car parks and drop-off zones in an effort to tackle emissions https://t.co/SyTrSftoMi


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The United States Department of Homeland Security defines resilience as “the ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions, and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions.” Building cyber resilience, in order to protect privacy and data assets, is the topic of one of today’s sessions at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2016, of which BlackBerry is proud to be a sponsor.
Cyber security is garnering more and more attention in corporate, public sector, and individual circles, as devices and services continue to connect us more than ever before. According to the TRUSTe Consumer Confidence Privacy Index, consumer concern is rising: 92% of individuals worry about their privacy online, and 42% are more worried about their online privacy than one year ago. When it comes to corporate data, you need only look to the headlines. All industries are being affected, from higher education to high tech to healthcare, where 8 of the 10 largest breaches took place in 2015.
By all counts, this is a topic worth discussing and a concern that will only grow over the rest of the year. In keeping with the Milken mantra of “where others see problems, we seek solutions”, here are 5 steps that BlackBerry is taking to get in front of this threat and tackle it so you don’t have to:
- We’re fostering collaboration with experts in the field, by co-creating a new conference on Security and Privacy for the Internet of Medical Things and hosting panels with partners like Microsoft to discuss data security in the cloud, for example.
- We’re reacting quickly, by being the first OEM to deliver security-related patches in line with Google’s public disclosure of vulnerabilities, significantly closing the window of exposure for our customers.
- We’re creating new standards for connected devices, starting with the DTSec medical device cybersecurity standard with contributions from physicians, nurses, medical manufacturers, university researchers, and more.
- We’re helping lead the way on security research & development, with the BlackBerry Center for High Assurance Computing Excellence, or CHACE, which seeks to drive worldwide innovation and improvement in computer security.
- We’re not only protecting business data, but also championing consumer rights to privacy. By turning decades of secure mobility experience towards the Android platform, BlackBerry has put privacy in control of consumers with the PRIV secure smartphone with DTEK by BlackBerry.
The battle for data protection and privacy that can be trusted isn’t over. But with some of the most innovative minds and forward-thinking organizations coming together to tackle these issues together, the future is bright for cybersecurity.
What do you see as the top cybersecurity issues facing businesses, governments, and individuals today? What does the future hold for data protection? Join the conversation here on the BlackBerry Blogs and on Twitter with @BlackBerry4Biz and #MIGlobal.


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This is not your father’s Microsoft.
The tech titan has been radically changing its game plan, especially after CEO Satya Nadella took over early last year. Today, look no further than the company’s recently filed annual report to find evidence of the company’s ongoing strategic shifts.
One big difference between this year’s 10-k filing and last year’s is a new section right at the top titled “Our vision.” After a bit of throat clearing—such as the repetitive refrain “mobile-first, cloud-first”—Microsoft gets down to business, culling its strategy into three solitary pillars.
These pithy “ambitions that drive us” represent a summation of the company’s three main focus points:
- Reinvent productivity and business processes.
- Build the intelligent cloud platform.
- Create more personal computing.
Each bullet translates to a piece of Microsoft’s business: Software (Office 365), cloud-computing (Azure), and personal computing (Windows 10, apps, games), respectively.
Interestingly, the Redmond, Wash.-based company appears to be deemphasizing Windows this time around. It’s as though the operating system’s purpose—beyond allowing Microsoft to more neatly stitch its cross-device electronic ecosystem together—is to be a vassal in service of Microsoft’s other businesses.
That’s a big change for one of the company’s historical moneymakers. But it does reflect the company’s latest financial trends: Sliding device sales and growing cloud revenue, that is.


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Last month we reported that Steam Summer sale will start on June 23rd. Now it is confirmed that Steam Summer sale will indeed start from June 23rd.
The confirmation comes from a redditor Redditer who uploaded a screenshot on an email he received from PayPal. The mail states that Steam Summer sale will go live on June 23rd, so get ready for the savings. You can checkout the screenshot of the mail below.
Valve hosts a summer sale every year on steam, and gives 50 to 75 percent of discount on countless AAA and indie titles. Like every year we can expect Ubisoft, EA, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and many other Publisher’s games will be added to Steam Summer sale.
It is not known that how long this summer sale will continue but it is rumored that the sale will last for 2 weeks, which is plenty of time to grab games that you have been waiting for to go on sale for quite some time.
Games can be purchased using Steam cards, credit cards and Bitcoins which is the latest form of payment method through which you can purchase games on Steam.
In last year’s Summer sale only 24 percent of the discounted games made at least $160 million. On the other hand the 76% of the games sold less than 5000 copies or even significantly less than that, so together those 76% of games made less than $9 million in revenue.
What is more interesting is that, on average those games which were discounted at least 66 percent sold more compared to those games who were discounted 75 percent. However, 50 percent discounted games sold the most.
These stats came from Galyonkin’s Steam Spy analytics platform, however, Galyonkin did mentioned that the figures are only for those games who sold more than 5000 units.


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With a net worth estimated at $53.5 billion, Carlos Slim Helu, according to Forbes Magazine, is the world's richest person in 2010. Carlos Slim edged out Bill Gates whose net worth is estimated at $53 billion. Gee, Forbes is going to quibble about a measley $500 million?
This is the first time at the top of the list for Carlos Slim who came in third last year behind Gates and Warren Buffett. Slim leaped ahead in the rankings because of the $18.5 billion increase in the value of the shares of the telecom company that he got in a privatization deal with the Mexican government in the 1990s.
While the economies of many of the world's countries have stumbled and faltered over the past year putting millions out of work and out of their homes in many cases, the holdings of the super rich have increased dramatically in value over the same period. In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
The US still has the biggest number of billionaires with 40% of the names on the list hailing from the good ol' USA, but that number is down from 45% last year. Of the 97 new members on the list only 15 are from the US. Most of the newcomers came from Asia which now has only 14 fewer billionaires than Europe. 27 of those Asian billionaires are from China. China now has the most billionaires outside the US, but only if you include Hong Kong. One of those Chinese billionaires plans to buy Swedish automobile brand Volvo from Ford in December of 2010.
Life is not perfect for all the world's billionaires. 30 members of last year's exclusive billionaires club fell out of the rankings. Maybe things will turnaround for them again next year and they will be able to climb back into the club. Suffering a more permanent setback 13 members from last year's billionaire club list died, which just goes to prove again that no matter how much you have everybody always ends up with the same bag of dirt.
Did you know that Hong Kong is considered the freest market economy in the world? It is about eight places ahead of the United States which is actually slipping in the rankings of free economies. That should tell you something shouldn't it? How ironic is it that Hong Kong, which is part of the last remaining Communist monolith, enjoys more economic freedom and a more favorable business climate than the United States of America, the first country on earth founded on the principles of individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including, without limitation the happiness of getting rich.
You probably won't become a billionaire, but it probably wouldn't hurt to learn how to trade stocks from the old time master traders either.


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On Dec. 11, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Cincinnati seized two shipments that contained hundreds of fake jewelry pieces and watches.
The first shipment originated in Shenzhen, China, and was headed to a private residence in Norcross, Ga.
The package held a declared value of $315. It held 171 items of jewelry or watches purporting to be from Versace, Michael Kors, Cartier, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Bulgari, Armani, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Hublot, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Louis Vuitton, Fossil, Omega, and Rolex.
If the pieces had been genuine, their total manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) would have been $8,419,017.
The second shipment came from Hong Kong and was headed for an unnamed individual in West Palm Beach, Fla. It contained 113 counterfeit Cartier bracelets. If the pieces had been genuine, their MSRP would have totaled $1.17 million.
The items were determined to be counterfeit by CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise.
This is not the only action CBP has taken recently with regard to jewelry shipments.
In November, CBP seized a package worth $20.7 million in jewelry, which a Canadian citizen had intended to send to a New York City auction house, because its contents had not been declared properly at the U.S.–Canadian border.
Top: Some of the seized fake Armani jewelry (photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
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O2 - "We're better...connected"
24 January 2012
Comms giant, O2 have been inadvertantly been sharing your mobile number with websites.
News broke on Twitter this morning that telecoms giant O2 have been inadvertently sending out customers phone numbers to every website they visit. O2 have yet to come back with an official explanation but it would seem to be an error.
Industry expert and Glow Technical Director, Thom Shannon, realised that a consequence of this allows anyone to collect mobile phone numbers from O2 iPhone customers, simply by sending them an email.
“Potentially, this would allow spammers, unscrupulous websites and basically anyone else to very easily harvest lists of phone numbers” Commented Thom Shannon. “From O2’s customer point of view that’s very worrying. Phone numbers are normally hard to get hold of, used in personally identifying individuals and frequently abused by spammers”
The issue was first demonstrated by Lewis Peckover with a simple demonstration page. Our Technical Director Thom Shannon has since shown how it could be used to get phone numbers from individuals email addresses. A malicious attacker can send it out a carefully crafted email to any number of people. Anyone viewing it on their phone would inadvertently reveal their mobile phone number to the attacker.
To see a demonstration of this, the following image code can be embedded in an email, if that email is read on a mobile over O2 3G, the image should show that phones number. We're not logging anything on our server, but we can't say the same about anyone else!
<img src="http://assets.glow-internet.com/mob.aspx" />
Thom Shannon added "This approach could be used to augment a stolen database with mobile numbers, allowing a malcious individual to scam people more effectively. It could even be used by an investigator with a celebrities email address to get their phone number and hack into their voicemail!"
You can read the full story covered by Internet Industry website TheNextWeb


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Banking association The Clearing House (TCH) has contracted UK payments infrastructure operator VocaLink to develop a national real-time payment service in the US. “VocaLink has commenced work to ensure the system is built rapidly,” the companies say. “Individual financial institutions and their service providers have already commenced efforts to integrate and adopt the new real-time payment system.” TCH and its member banks revealed plans to build a real-time payment system in October 2014.
- Rambus explores five key reasons retailers should have a mobile wallet
- TSB to roll out iris scanning tech
- Wells Fargo wants its ‘Control Tower’ to manage your digital financial life
- Mastercard expands QR payments choice
- Amazon Pay Places lets you pay for real-world shopping using your Amazon info


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Hearing about the financial damages caused during Operation Pillar of Defense, organizations and individual Israelis have made it their mission to purchase whatever they need in the affected communities as a goodwill gesture to businesses in the area.
The Gesher organization recently sent a group of people to Ashdod to purchase supplies and food, which they then donated to the needy.
Reports say the most recent Gaza-Israel flare-up cost businesses and factories in the south about $55 million.
This coming weekend the Jerusalem Municipality will host a two-day food and crafts fair featuring small business from the southern communities. The measure is meant to help residents of the affected areas recover financial losses.
Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov met with tourism industry leaders to formulate a plan to rehabilitate tourism and to ensure a return to normal in the industry.
“Rehabilitating tourism and ensuring that residents in the south once again have income is an important part of the victory and is a national mission,” said Misezhnikov.


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Donald Trump’s Mugshot is all over the internet this week! Former President of the United States reemerged on the digital scene via platform X (formerly Twitter) after a hiatus since January 2021. His reappearance, featuring a mugshot, has sparked a meme spree and propelled Trump’s NFT collection’s value.
- Former US President reemerges on X with a mugshot, igniting meme frenzy and propelling his NFT collection’s value.
- Trump’s NFT cards surge by 62% following legal case image release, coinciding with his digital comeback.
- Amidst 2024 election dynamics, Trump’s reentry sparks crypto and political conversations, while DeSantis vows against central bank digital currencies.
Donald Trump Mugshot Moons His NFT Collection!
This surge followed the release of an image linked to his legal case in Georgia, where he faces allegations related to the 2020 election. The OpenSea NFT marketplace data indicates a significant jump in his NFT trading card collection’s minimum price, surging by over 62% from 0.138 to 0.224 Ether (ETH) or $1,654 on August 24. This coincided with the release of his mugshot, showcasing his steadfast demeanor during his surrender.
Trump’s online appearance on August 24 marked his first digital foray since his suspension from X. His appearance and release on a $200,000 bond were not without their legal challenges. This includes federal charges in Washington D.C. and a New York criminal case related to a payment to Stormy Daniels.
Despite past skepticism about cryptocurrencies, it emerged that Trump held over $2.8 million in an Ethereum wallet. His digital reentry aligns with President Biden’s regulatory push for digital assets. X users quickly transformed his mugshot into memes, highlighting his return.
Though a major contender for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination, Trump abstained from the party’s initial debate on August 23. Fellow candidate Ron DeSantis vowed to outlaw central bank digital currencies if elected. The upcoming 2024 election, characterized as a “referendum on fiat currency,” promises to shape the future of digital assets in politics.


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Meet Marcio Castro and Arão Guerreiro co-founders of Kepya , an online market place that connects farmer directly with offtakers and freight companies and helps them to get higher prices for their produce and farm with increased predictability.
In the interview Marcio and Arão share
- How they came up with the idea for the venture
- How they tested the model for Kepya and matched their first farmer with an off taker
- What challenges they faced on their journey and how they overcame them
- And what their advice for young Angolans is
They also share a lot of insights around the challenges farmers face and how the solved the challenge of getting smallholder famers to use technology and actually work through the Keypa online platform.
There is a lot of good stuff in this interview and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
And now, without further ado, enter Marcio and Arão.


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PhilipsThe EnduraLED A21.
LED lamps are expected to revolutionize the lighting industry because of their sharply reduced power consumption and their long life compared with standard incandescents. But to date, market acceptance has been slow given the high initial cost ($50 and up in many cases) and limited brightness. LED lamps have only been able to emit light equivalent to a 60-watt standard bulb.
Now Philips is looking to change that game, announcing that it will market an LED lamp later this year whose light output equals that of a 75-watt incandescent.
The bulb, the EnduraLED A21, will retail for about $40, last 25,000 hours and produce 1100 lumens of light by consuming just 17 watts of electricity. (A standard 75-watt lampfrom GE produces 1170 lumens.) Over the life of the lamp, consumers will save $160, the company says.
While 75-watt equivalent LED lamps have been available in PAR sizes (the types of reflector lamps typically placed in recessed ceiling fixtures), Philips says its EnduraLED is the first 75-watt equivalent in a standard “A” lamp shape. The company expects it to earn the government’s Energy Star rating prior to release.
“The trick with an A lamp is how to project 1100 lumens in 360 degrees,” said Ed Crawford, general manager of lamps for Philips Lighting, North America. “It’s absolutely more difficult to do 1100 lumens in an omni-directional lamp.”
To accomplish that, the new lamp, available around September or October, contains 18 LED modules fixed in multiple directions. Various metal fins surrounding the lamp are used to dissipate heat.
Unlike low-wattage compact fluorescents, which often produce light of a very harsh color, the new lamp will create light that will be indistinguishable from a standard incandescent, Mr. Crawford says.
According to Philips, some 90 million 75-watt incandescent light bulbs are sold annually in the United States, making it the second most popular wattage bulb after the 60 watt (425 million per year).
While it’s definitely wishful thinking on the company’s part, it says that the nation’s energy use would be cut by 5,220 megawatts if if everyone switched to one of Philips’ new lamps.
See the original post:
Philips Brightens Its LED Lineup


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Bank of America Corp. has deferred $7.7 billion of loans for commercial clients in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
About 2% of clients’ commercial loans had been modified as of July 23, mainly consisting of payment deferrals of as long as 90 days, according to a quarterly regulatory filing Friday. Interest continues to accrue on those loans, and some borrowers received short-term waivers on covenants. In the consumer and small-business division, deferrals reached $28.5 billion.
“The U.S. and global economies have been negatively impacted and are likely to be so for an extended period of time, as there remains significant uncertainty about the timing and strength of an economic recovery,” Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, said in the filing. “Should current economic conditions persist or continue to deteriorate, we expect that this macroeconomic environment will have a continued adverse effect on our businesses.”
Consumer deferrals have started to roll off in recent weeks, with 1.4 million in place on July 23, down from about 1.7 million two weeks earlier. More than 95% of customers who requested to delay credit-card payments were current on their accounts, according to the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender. Of those granted credit-card deferrals, about 61% have made at least one payment, while 33% have made a payment every month.
In consumer cards, 7% of balances had loan modifications. The program comprises initial deferrals of as long as 60 days, with automatic extensions for payments due through Aug. 15.


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This is the eighth deal to be announced by the Mukesh Ambani-led firm in four weeks, stepping up its stake-sale process that has seen marquee investors back the firm so far. The valuation of the company, however, remains at Rs 4.2 trillion — a worrying sign, say sector experts.
Analysts were expecting the valuation of the firm to touch at least Rs 4.5 trillion, as the stake-sale process proceeded. It hasn’t happened so far.
On Tuesday, RIL closed trade at Rs 2,210.15 per share on the BSE — down 0.05 per cent over the previous day’s close.
So far, RRVL has raised Rs 37,710 crore, offloading 8.48 per cent stake to investors. Analysts say that Reliance will complete small deals with financial investors, although induction of a strategic investor into the company cannot be ruled out to strengthen its back-end and supply-chain management.
Last week, the company announced four transactions — one by General Atlantic for Rs 3,675 crore, which would pick up 0.84-per cent stake in the firm.
The second was by the co-investors of private equity giant Silver Lake, which would invest an additional Rs 1,875 crore into RRVL. This would take the combined investment by Silver Lake and its co-investors in RRVL to Rs 9,375 crore in exchange for 2.13-per cent stake.
On Saturday, GIC and TPG said they would put Rs 5,512.50 crore and Rs 1,837.50 crore, respectively, into the company for 1.22-per cent and 0.41-per cent stake, respectively, in the firm.
The week earlier, KKR had put Rs 5,550 crore for 1.28-per cent in the firm.
Speculation is rife that tech investors may come on board, although a Reliance spokesperson said the company would not comment on market speculation.
“As a policy, we do not comment on media speculation and rumours. Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis. We have made and will continue to make necessary disclosures in compliance with our obligations under the Securities and Exchange Board of India and our agreements with the stock exchanges,” the spokesperson said.
RRVL though has given the option to investors in Jio Platforms to consider backing the former as it seeks to unlock value. So far, the investors in RRVL are those that have invested in Jio Platforms earlier.
RRVL remains the largest organised retail player in the country, with the company recently announcing the acquisition of the retail, wholesale, and logistics assets of Future Group in a Rs 25,000-crore transaction.
In a statement, Ambani, who is chairman and managing director of RIL, said that ADIA was a “valued investor”, committed to the Indian market.
Along with Jio, retail contributes 35 per cent to RIL’s consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, Ambani had said at the firm’s annual general meeting (AGM) in July.
Reliance had offloaded nearly 33 per cent stake in Jio Platforms to 14 investors for Rs 1.52 trillion between April and June, emerging as the only firm in the country to go in for a massive monetisation exercise at the height of the lockdown.
Ambani had indicated at the AGM that “global partners and investors” were also keen to invest in RRVL and that they would be inducted into the company in the forthcoming quarters.


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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created a buzz in the fintech community when it issued a no-action letter to the online lender Upstart Network.
It is the first issued to a fintech company, and it gives the San Carlos, Calif., startup a bit of a break from regulatory enforcement as it increasingly uses alternative data to make credit and pricing decisions — a practice that raises regulatory concerns. In return, Upstart will regularly report lending and compliance information to the CFPB to aid the bureau’s understanding of the real-world impact of alternative data on lending.
The arrangement is part of the bureau's Project Catalyst program that is meant to foster innovation.
In an interview Friday, Upstart co-founder and CEO Dave Girouard explained why the fintech applied for the letter and how it works. Girouard was previously president of Google Enterprise and a software developer at Accenture.
Is it fair to think of a no-action letter as a stay-out-of-jail-free card?
DAVE GIROUARD: We’re careful about not trying to interpret it in any way that is different than what the CFPB says it is. The letter makes it clear that they have reviewed what we do and how we do what we do and that they don’t find issue with it.
What drove you to apply for a no-action letter? Were you concerned the CFPB might start some sort of investigation?
We had no such concerns. Even before we came out as a company, we had a lot of sensitivity to the fact that we are in a very regulated environment. We made an early decision that we would operate in a very transparent and proactive manner with regulators.
So even before we launched our product, we saw the CFPB in person and said, here’s what we’re aiming to do and why we’re doing it and why we think it’s a benefit to the consumer. And over time, as we’ve talked to investors, banks, people that are partners of ours in one way or another — naturally people asked about fair lending and, because we’re using alternative data, do we feel we have issues there.
We began measuring for disparate impact quite a while ago. Taking our word for it is only one step, but having a statement from a regulator such as we got [Thursday] is much more meaningful to a third party who is contemplating doing business with us in some fashion.
We early on decided this was an important issue to get in front of. The CFPB was very open and helpful to somebody like us who was breaking some new ground in terms of their own education and their own ability to regulate in a new world. But we never had any threat of enforcement that pushed us in this direction.
How do you feel about the agreement?
We’re pleased that the CFPB recognized the consumer advantage of alternative data and machine learning, the fact that it could make affordable credit more broadly available to more people. We’re demonstrating that.
So it’s not just about Upstart for sure — it's the acceptance of these more modern techniques because they can and will benefit consumers broadly over time. From our perspective, that’s what makes this really compelling.


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HUNDREDS of animals have died in Dhaka’s biggest pet market after stores were forced to close during Bangladesh’s coronavirus lockdown, leaving owners desperate and rights activists angry.
“We need to keep the doors open so the animals don’t suffocate,” shop owner Mohammad Polash said.
About 400 birds and dozens of dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs have died since the market shut on July 1, according to Rahman Shikder, a spokesman for the Katabon market’s store owners’ association.
“At least 20 per cent of our animals have died,” he added.
After the deaths made national headlines, the government on Wednesday (14) ordered police to let the pet market’s 75 tiny shops open their doors for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
Animal rights activists have accused the shops of keeping pets in hazardous conditions.
“Places like Katabon should not exist in the first place,” the head of animal rights group Obhoyaronno, Rubaiya Ahmad, said.
“The animals there were already kept in extremely inhumane conditions and it’s no surprise they met such horrible deaths,” she added.
Police patrolling Katabon on Wednesday (14) gave shopkeepers a warning for opening outside of the permitted hours.
“Police would fine us if we open our shutters,” owner Bappi Khan said.
Bangladesh has allowed some lockdown measures to be lifted since Thursday (15) for Eid al-Adha, the country’s second-biggest religious festival.


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In Norway, 25% of the almond potatoes are sold for the year in the two weeks before Christmas. This is according to the Norwegian Agricultural Association. Last year, Norwegians bought about 9,000 tons of almond potatoes. A quarter of these were bought at Christmas time.
Elin Hoel, Landbruksdirektoratet's Senior Adviser, says, "We see that Norwegian are buying fewer potatoes at stores than before. Sales of normal potatoes have fallen. These were 20% lower in 2018 than in 2017. However, almond potato sales only dropped by ten percent. At Christmas, everyone suddenly wants almond potatoes."
If all goes well, there will be sufficient almond potatoes on the shelves for Christmas. The supply might, however, not last until next season. Norway experienced a cold spring this year. Cultivation was, therefore, not at its best.


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Islamabad: The federal government is looking to establish a private limited company called the ‘Pakistan Single Window Company’ for international trade engagement — a news source reported earlier today (July 8). The company will oversee a number of trade-related functions currently overseen by the Pakistan Customs and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday reviewed the Pakistan Single Window Bill 2020 under which the company will be established. Meanwhile, the FBR has begun the process of hiring the company’s top management — with offices having been rented in Karachi and Islamabad for the firm’s employees.
The company is being established as a part of the federal government’s efforts to simplify trade locally and internationally for Pakistan, and to reduce the cost of doing business. The World Bank had recommended setting up the company for the purpose, since Pakistan does not have any effective trade assistance mechanisms.


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Nikki Beach recently severed its ties with a condominium hotel project under development in Playa Blanca on Panama’s Pacific Coast, and has taken legal action against the local developer, Panama’s Casa de Campo Farallon, S.A., according to Peter Higney, director of operations, Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts, Miami Beach.
"As a global five-star brand, we set certain standards for the design, construction and operation of our properties," Higney said in a written release. "We have a responsibility to maintain our brand standards and under no circumstances would we allow the developer to use our brand and misrepresent us to our loyal Nikki Beach customers."
On Thursday Nikki Beach filed an injunction in U.S. District Court in Miami against the Panama developer to prevent the unauthorized use of its name, brand and any other intellectual property belonging to the company.
Referring to the situation in Panama, Higney said that as of August 2010, the local developer had breached an operating agreement by failing to conform to the brand’s standards, architectural guidelines and operating requirements, as well as by misrepresentation of the brand. Additionally, the developer missed the opening date in 2008.
Consequently, Nikki Beach declared the developer in default, but gave the developer another chance to correct the numerous problems found by an on-site inspection in September 2010. When the developer did not respond, Nikki Beach sent a notice of termination on November 22, 2010.
Without Nikki Beach serving as the “exclusive operator” of the resort as called for in the contract, the developer had no right to open the resort in December, 2010 using the Nikki Beach brands, added Higney in the release, since Nikki Beach had no way to insure quality control over such unauthorized use of its five-star brand.


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A Cruise Down Memory Lane: Barrett-Jackson celebrates 50 years of collector car auctions
By Jordan Houston
Barrett-Jackson in the last five decades has made a name for itself as a barometer of the car collector industry, attracting enthusiasts from across the globe to its World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions and automotive lifestyle events. Dubbed America’s No. 1 Attraction for Car Lovers in the 2019 USA Today Readers’ Choice Contest, the Scottsdale Airpark-based auction company is revving up to celebrate 50 years of milestone achievements — with a birthday bash unlike ever before.
Barrett-Jackson’s anticipated anniversary, advertised as the “world’s most exciting automotive lifestyle event,” will take place at its annual flagship auction at the WestWorld of Scottsdale, located at 16601 N. Pima Road, from Saturday, January 22, to Sunday, January 30.
The auction promises an “action-packed” festivity featuring an alluring collector car docket, the latest vehicles from top automakers, symposiums on a variety of automotive-related topics, and hundreds of exhibits and displays. Among the collector cars set to cross the block with No Reserve is a rare 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder, one of only 918 of the hybrid hypercars produced worldwide.
Barrett-Jackson CEO and Chairman Craig Jackson says the event will commemorate the company’s rich history in paving the way for the collector car hobby, including its live collector car auctions dominating in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Texas.
“This will be the first event where you’ve got everybody sort of coming back together,” he says. “Everybody has been anticipating celebrating. Everybody is chomping at the bit to get back to business. This is the first event coming back in some sort of normalcy. I think that’s what everybody wants.”
“I miss seeing a lot of the people I haven’t seen since COVID-19 started,” Jackson continues, emphasizing his eagerness to work with his colleagues in implementing new developments learned over the last two years. “(And) having all of that comradery working on everything to elevate the experience, and things learned during COVID that we’re implementing as to make the experience even better.”
The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions, which include authentic automobilia auctions and the sale of private collections, have evolved over the last half-century into world-class automotive lifestyle events where thousands of the world’s most sought-after automobiles cross the block in front of a global audience — in person and on live national and international television.
Barrett-Jackson partners with A+E Networks to feature live television coverage of its events on FYI and The History Channel via a produced livestream on barrett-jackson.com, Jackson says.
The 2022 Scottsdale auction will highlight several barrier-breaking cars guaranteed to change the name of the game, Jackson assures.
“All of these cars are going to be looked back on as those pinnacle years when we started going toward hybrids and electric,” the CEO expresses. “These are the collector cars of the future.”
The 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder is among the “Holy Trinity” of hypercars and one of the final 918s delivered that year. Sporting a white coat and red leather interior, it’s powered by a naturally aspirated 4.6-liter V8 engine paired to Porsche’s seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. The 918, capable of 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds, produces 887 horsepower with 282 horsepower coming from two electric motors. It has a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, rides on Magnesium wheels and boasts just over 300 actual miles.
A 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor Tribute Edition, owned by seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star and three-time World Series champion Buster Posey, is another highly anticipated vehicle set to cross the block, Jackson says.
The Mustang, capable of producing 828 horsepower routed to the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic Bowler Performance Transmission, features custom parts, modern technology and design throughout. Selling with No Reserve, the ultimate Pro-Touring muscle car comes with several items adding to its provenance, including an Eleanor Tribute Edition Certificate of Authenticity, a box full of memorabilia and the build appraisal book with receipts and images.
“Car collecting has broadened. When we first started 50 years ago, the cars were all pre-war classics and antique cars — there were very little post-war cars,” Jackson notes. “I grew up as a car restorer, and our families were just enthusiasts. That’s why I think we have a better vision as to what people want when they come to an event and what they expect out of the cars.”
In addition to rare hypercars and customs, the Scottsdale docket will include a 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake, one of only three continuation Super Snakes authorized by Shelby.
A one-owner CSX4404, powered by a 427ci V8 engine with twin Paxton superchargers mated to a four-speed manual transmission, will also sell with No Reserve. The Cobra comes complete with its Build Sheet and the original Shelby Automobiles Inc., MSO signed by Carroll, as well as his signature on the dashboard.
But the anniversary celebration doesn’t just stop there.
The Barrett-Jackson Cup presented by eBay Motors, which recognizes the talent and craftsmanship of custom car and truck builders, will return as part of the company’s commemoration.
For the second consecutive year, the cup will be limited to 50 custom builders who will compete for multiple awards: the coveted Barrett-Jackson Cup “Ultimate Best in Show,” selected by two renowned builders, Bobby Alloway and Troy Trepanier, and the “People’s Choice Award,” voted on by Barrett-Jackson fans nationwide via social media.
The 50 entries, which will be selected by Barrett-Jackson from the total number of registrations submitted, will be introduced to auctiongoers via a parade across the world-famous auction block during Family Day on Saturday, January 22, before being showcased inside the exhibitor marketplace at the auction.
All in all, the lavish gathering aims to “pay homage to the people who started this” while reflecting on the company’s extraordinary evolution in the car-collecting industry, Jackson says.
“We’re working with our broadcast partners, and we’re going to be showing clips of the history of Barrett-Jackson,” he says. “It’s been like going down that memory lane and remembering why I like cars and trying to share that. It’s the experiences. It’s seeing people win a bid on a car; it’s the excitement of fulfilling their dreams.”
Aiding in its memorialization, the Scottsdale auction will feature the company’s new “Barrett-Jackson: Celebrating 50 Years” coffee table book, which “marks the milestones of the World’s Greatest Collector Car Auctions.”
The hardcover read boasts hundreds of pages of history, from the “cars that changed the hobby to the people and the auctions that influenced the industry.”
Despite Barrett-Jackson’s skyrocketing success, enduring legacy and ever-changing stature, its awe-inspiring origin stems from humble beginnings.
In 1971, Craig Jackson’s father, Russ, and his business partner, Tom Barrett, founded the car collector auction company. The pair initially set out to raise money for the Scottsdale library with a local car show.
Craig took over the reins in 1995 with the mindset of expanding the “best collector car auctions in the world” into unprecedented automotive lifestyle events.
“I grew up in this business since I was a kid,” Jackson recalls. “Watching it, being part of the evolution and Barrett-Jackson being on the forefront of car collecting, I had a goal — and the goal was to take us and bring more people into car collecting.”
Tapping into the bountiful resources of live television broadcasts 26 years ago played a monumental role in helping Jackson not only achieve his dream but surpass it.
Jackson attributes the broadcasts, which he says made the hobby more accessible to the public, in expanding car collecting to include other types of vehicles.
“Back then, if you didn’t pick up a niche publication, you weren’t really exposed to it,” Jackson says. “By putting us on the internet in ’94 and then putting us on live television in ’96, it broadened car collecting.”
Constant innovation and evolution are crucial elements in remaining at the forefront of the industry, he continues.
Barrett-Jackson was among the first to adopt muscle cars. It was also an early adopter of hot rods and resto-mods, classic cars that have been restored and modified with modern parts and technology.
“Over the decades, when I see and talk to people about new, cutting-edge stuff, sometimes I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s figure out how to implement this,’” Jackson says.
“We keep evolving and on experiences at the auction, we go and see other shows and look at what other people are doing — not necessarily just in the automotive world but in general.”
Also woven into the auction company’s fabric from the beginning is its emphasis on giving back, Jackson says. Barrett-Jackson is committed to using its celebrated auction block as a platform to raise awareness and funds for charitable organizations, he explains.
To date, over $135 million has been raised across the company’s auction venues across the United States for charity. Jackson has been named twice to Motor Trend’s Top 50 Power List in the automotive industry and has also captured the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Business Services category in the Arizona/Orange County region.
Not only will the 2022 Scottsdale auction highlight an impressive stack of charity cars, it will also serve as a major economic engine for the city, Jackson notes.
“I think if people who live here ever thought of coming to a Barrett-Jackson event, they should take advantage of it,” the chairman says. “It has a huge economic impact for the city and state. Come out and experience it in person. It’s unique, fun and interactive.”
“I think what the pandemic is showing us is that we’re not going to live forever,” he says. “If you want to go out and have those experiences, go out and do it.”
Barrett-Jackson: The World’s Greatest Collector Car Auction
WHEN: Saturday, January 22, to Sunday, January 30
WHERE: WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale
COST: Tickets start at $23
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General Scene Newz
iPhone 5/5C and iPad 4 users rejoice as your devices are jailbroken forever!
Lately, the iPhone/iPad Jailbreak scene has been coming back with storm, and hot on the heels of news that Apple is indeed 'slowing down' older devices to make you upgrade, it is nice that developers tihmstar and siguza decided to be Jailbreak Santas!
Better stock up on Sega Megadrive Mini's, they could become the next hot Retro Mini Console must-have holiday gift!
Just like the official Nintendo NES/SNES Mini's, it trues out the new Sega Megadrive Mini Flashback HD licensed model from ATGames is infact hackable and exploitable, and once there is release by someone, someday, somewhere you will be able to load up your own ROMs
Yes, you read that correctly. Tihmstar has released a new browser-based jailbreak tool for iOS 9.1-9.3.4 32-bit devices.
It has been long long time, since we seen some new action in the previous very popular iOS Jailbreak scene that was started by GeoHot, since those early much heated days, Apple has done alot of security research to lockdown their iPhones / iPads better, and it has basically killed off the Jailbreak scene and even most Cydia repos have closed down or never been updated in years, but recently there has been an re-surge in the iOS scene, and today JailbreakMe is back for 32bit devices still running the older v9 iOS series.
Someone at Bin Laden's hideout liked Final Fantasy VII
CIA released a ton of files, docs, from the Osama Bin Laden raid on the compound 4 years ago, and amazing enough browsing thru the released collection, we find that the 9/11 terrorist mastermind like, Anime, Bootleg Video Games, and Classic Emulator Cover Art.
Atlus: "it isn’t the emulator itself we object to, it is the use of Persona 5... that we took issue with".
We have reported on the amazing progress of the RPCS3 Emulator before on MaxConsole, but sadly the development team posting videos of their PS3 Emulator playing 'Persona 5' has opened up a can of worms, with Altus USA taking the DMCA Takedown legal route to stop them promoting the fact their emulator can play their game, because one reason it is not perfect and still has 'framedrops' and other issues, making the experience worse than on actual PlayStation 3 hardware, but this is not the first time an emulator has come under fire, the most famous case was Sony vs. Bleem, when they developed an emulator to play PS1 games perfectly on the Dreamcast.
Play classic CD games and more on your modern TV
Yet another Retro Gaming System has appeared on IndieGoGo, but this one is bit different in that it contains an CD/DVD Player to allow you to play your original Classic gaming discs, and also has optional adapter for 'original cartridges', instead of other Retro systems that purely just run emulators with SD Cards, this one contains extra hardware to allow 'original discs & cartridges' to play directly, and so far at press time they have raised 26% of their $50,000 goal and published an impressive list of features and specs. as listed below:
Except with recent top films.
EU Commission spent a ton of money and few years studying the problem of 'piracy' in regard to actual sales, and afterwards the study could not find any link in fact for each game that was pirated 100 times, 24 additional sales will be made on average.
YouTube Takedown Bots Are So Strong, They Predict Your Uploaded Video Content Before It Even Exists!
We all have heard of YouTube Censorship and Takedowns, but in this case an video streamer before she even started streaming, had her content given a strike over 3 hours before it even exists, so it seems now you can report content before it exists or is uploaded!
NEWS SOURCE: @GiovannaLiviana (via) Twitter
Targets included Brazilian Minecraft servers and the PlayStation Network
Everyone remembers, the Mirai botnet attack wave that last October brought down all major services, but a new report suggests the original target was really PlayStation Network, and the attackers were a large group of 'Angry Gamers' that used the 'Internet of Things' malware to take over most of the world's connected devices to launch one of the largest attacks ever recorded so far on the Internet.
Prosecutors: 6 charged with making fake Pac-Man games in Santa Clara
Gamers still have love and passion for Arcades, but finding the old cabs and restoring them is costly, and most retro gamers, just want to play the games, so there is big business in importing Pandora all-in-one-boxs, loaded with hundreds of the old classics, and installing them into new wooden cabs that look like the originals, but sadly it still against the law, as the games are still trademarked and copyrighted.
A hacker going by the name Manfred spent much of the last two decades finding ways to make money by manipulating the economies inside MMOs.
Def Con 2017 was on this weekend in Las Vegas and one of the more intersting stories to listen to was from Manfred as he talked about how he raped the MMO's for over twenty years, but now has turned good and wants to help the companies to close up the exploits.
Nothing Better than Trashy-Shack '80s Retro Look for your Google Home!
The amazing tech days of 'Radio Shack' and their cool store-branded unique electronics are gone, with the last bits of the company finally auctioned off for good, but thanks to the wonderful work done by 'MisterB' recently, you can bring back some of that original '80s glory when 'home intercoms' were all the rage, and turn it into the latest new tech craze of using 'Google Home' everywhere by giving it a true retro look for your home, and as you can see from the report by GizMoBo below, its well worth it as nice DIY project.
Now that Retro is Cool, Everything Old is New Again!
Lotharek company has developed an improved and expanded version of Side 3, the Atari modding device that allows you to use an SD memory card instead of hard disk, this improved version adds internal 'memory' and now allows loading of cartridges and other disk images on your old Atari computer with its own version of SpartaDOS X added on-board for total plug&play and ease-of-usage.
Hackers would sell pirated channels to users over WhatsApp!
Normally, you hear recently about the 'bad' Kodi TV Boxes, and how they are being used to 'stream' illegal content, but this time around Roku has been attacked by large cable giant in Mexico, getting the courts behind them to stop all sales of the devices.
But their upcoming 'Liberty City in GTA V' mod project has been forever cancelled!
The modding community on the Internet has been screaming ever since Take-Two came down hard on the very popular GTA V modding tool called 'OpenIV' serving them an Cease and Desist letter back on June 14th, that forced the website to remove the 'tool' for downloading, but after much discussion the tool is back with updates and will be allowed to continue but with some changes.
After years of hunting, digging through the code and searching every inch of the game, GTA V fans have finally found life from beyond the stars.
Everyone loves Aliens right, and they for some reason been missing from Grand Theft Auto, but no longer, modders and hackers have found an 'easter egg' of sorts or in this case an 'alien egg', and it seems to be some sort of upcoming UFO Crashing into Los Santos mission, all tho its not officially available, GTA modders were able to tweak the 'code variables' to get parts of it to be playable!
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Fans of the NFL are getting their game on and buying tickets like crazy at BargainSeatsOnline.com, the well-known online ticket seller.
Brookfield, WI (PRWEB) January 06, 2012
Fans of the NFL are getting their game on and buying tickets like crazy at BargainSeatsOnline.com, the well-known online ticket seller. Some fans are even able to get tickets to sold out games. The Super Bowl gets closer every day and that means the excitement will continue to grow as football fanatics try all available outlets to get tickets to the biggest game of all.
Football fans are gearing up for one of the hardest hitting games in recent Super Bowl memory. The weeks are ticking down and Superbowl tickets are on everyone's mind, and for good reason. The NFL season is red hot this year, and America's love affair with football shows no signs of abating. Super Bowl tickets are probably going to be on many people's wish list this year as well.
Many fans who buy 2012 Super Bowl tickets will arrive early for the game. Experts, in fact, recommend this. Buying Superbowl tickets is just the beginning of the entire affair. Some football aficionados will spend the entire week leading up to the game in Indianapolis, where the game is being played. That means Super Bowl tickets are just one of the things they purchase. Hotel rooms in the area will sell out, so fans who are planning a week-long football vacation need to start booking rooms right now.
Even motels 20 miles and more from Lucas Oil Stadium expect to be sold out of rooms. Most of the city of Indianapolis is going to see a difference, as this is the first time the big game has ever been played there. 2012 Super Bowl tickets are selling fast as fans all over the country prepare for the ultimate test of gridiron ability.
Superbowl tickets are being sold on BargainSeatsOnline.com. This online ticket retailer has lots of experience selling tickets to hot events. Super Bowl tickets are currently one of their best sellers. Tickets to playoff games are expected to sell well, also.
Besides tickets to the NFL, BargainSeatsOnline.com also sells BCS tickets, Broadway tickets and Wicked tickets. Big name concert performers are on their list as well. They offer a secure website that is easily accessible, and have served thousands of fans over the years.


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In a heartbreaking U-turn, Nissan has confirmed that the new X-Trail originally planned for its Sunderland plant will in fact be made in Japan. In a letter issued to its workers, it said continued Brexit uncertainty is not helping firms to “plan for the future”. Back in 2016, Nissan said it would build the new model in the UK after “assurances” from the government. Unions described the news as “disappointing” and said they were “seriously concerned”. UK government said the decision was a “blow to the sector” but that no jobs would go as a result.
Nissan has made cars at Sunderland since 1986 and employs almost 7,000 people. Talking about its decision, Nissan said that since 2016 “the environment for the car industry in Europe has changed dramatically,” including “changing emissions regulations”. Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott said the move was “devastating news for our city and the region.” She added, “The uncertainty around Brexit is always a factor now in any decisions made in manufacturing.” Labour leader Jeremy Corbynn said, “The Conservatives' botched negotiations and threat of a no-deal Brexit is causing uncertainty and damaging Britain's economy.”
UK's car industry has been suffering a major rough patch from quite some months. Job losses have been announced at Jaguar Land Rover and Ford, and the cancellation of Nissan's X-Trail investment at its Sunderland plant is just one of the latest disappointments. The industry is nervous about border taxes and customs delays disrupting its just-in-time model of manufacturing. Nissan has been clear the decision to cancel its Sunderland X-Trail investment is a commercial decision. But it chose to say “continued uncertainty” around the UK's future relationship with the EU “is not helping” it plan for the future.
Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said Nissan had “all sorts of problems that are nothing to do with Brexit” including “very considerable corporate governance problems” arising from ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn's arrest. Production of the Qashqai- the best-selling crossover vehicle in Europe, makes up the majority of the current work at Sunderland.


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Last year, Bob Chapel died at the age of 68. And many thought the death of the man would also mean the death of his business,
But his daughter and her husband, Diane and Karl Zacchara, took over the store, at least for the time being. But after a year of 13-hour days and an inability to find anybody to buy the profitable business, the Zacchara’s have been forced to close
“It’s kind of sad, because it was such a big part of my dad,” Diane Zacchara said.
Bob’s Rod & Tackle will officially close on Dec. 23. Until then, the Zaccharas are hold a going-out-of-business sale on all products.
Chapel was a fisherman almost his entire life. At the age of 58, he decided to open Bob’s Rod & Tackle, his dream, Diane Zacchara said.
“This was his hobby,” Karl Zacchara said. “This shop was his baby.”
But in 2010, his rectal cancer got worse and worse. Not that it stopped him, working at the store until two weeks before his death.
"He was here, right to the end," Karl Zacchara said. "And none of the customers knew what he was going through, he never complained."
He also managed to fight long enough to see the birth of his great grandson, Bentley. Bentley was just a few weeks old when Chapel died.
“He loved him,” Diane Zacchara said. “(Chapel) was so excited whenever he saw (Bentley).”
The Last Year
After Chapel died, Diane and Karl Zacchara took it over, giving all the money to Diane’s mother, Chapel’s wife. They tried to find somebody to buy the shop, and although it is “very profitable,” no buyer could be found, Diane Zacchara said.
Eventually, the Zaccharas had to get back to their own jobs. They are closing the business, after a year of fixing fishing poles and selling bait.
“I’m going to miss it,” Diane Zacchara said. “But we have to get back to our lives."


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Grangers has announced that work is complete and its new headquarters near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, will officially open in February 2019.
The keys to the new 43,000 square feet headquarters built by G F Tomlinson in partnership with Henry Boot Developments, were handed over to Grangers on 30 November. Occupying a 2.8 acre site, the new headquarters will bring all of the brand’s core functions under one roof including Grangers’ manufacturing arm, distribution, finance, design, sales and marketing teams.
It follows news that the renowned polar explorer and record-breaking long-distance skier, Ben Saunders, has been signed as Grangers’ first brand ambassador.
Karolina Jones, Grangers General Manager, said: “Grangers has undergone a remarkable journey of growth since the brand was founded, supporting the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, supplying the British Military and helping today’s polar explorers stay warm, safe and dry.”
Grangers, which was founded and set up operations in Watford more than 80 years ago, first moved to Alfreton in Derbyshire in 1990.
Karolina, continued: “In the 28 years since Grangers moved to Alfreton, the brand has gone from strength to strength. The last 10 years in particular have been particularly successful both in the UK and abroad and we have seen 40 percent international year-on-year growth in volume for the second year running in 2018.
“Many exciting new retail partnerships have also been established in the last 12 months and this new custom-built headquarters will enable the business to capitalise on that growth and continue to drive innovation in technical apparel aftercare. At the same time it will further improve Grangers’ operational capability.”
Karolina added: “This is an exciting time for Grangers which I am proud and delighted to be a part of, as the brand continues to be recognised for its innovative and environmentally-responsible aftercare products.
“Bringing all of our people in the brand’s core functions together in one location, the new headquarters will help the business to work even more effectively, researching and driving the development of new technologies which combat the very worst weather conditions around the world.”


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By Sergio Gatlan
April 25, 2019
Source: Bleeping Computer
“Credential stuffing attacks consist of automated attempts to log into online services using user credential databases.
“…An extensive report which shows how cybercriminals have been able to employ sets of millions of credentials stolen from high profile online platforms and companies such as Adobe, Dailymotion, VK, Bell, Tumblr, Comcast, Fling, Sony, and LinkedIn, as well as huge collections of hundreds of millions of stolen accounts sold on the dark web marketplaces…”


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Dr. Jörg Sennheiser was yesterday presented with a Deutsche Gründerpreis (German founders) Award 2015, in the Lifetime Achievement category. He was presented with the award to honour his many years of service as head of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG and his commitment to entrepreneurs and start-up enterprises.
The awards are a joint initiative between Sparkassen savings bank, the magazine stern, the broadcaster ZDF and the car maker Porsche. Since 2002, the awards have been presented to persons with exemplary achievements in setting up and developing innovative and sustainable business ideas and companies. The award ceremony is held every year at the ZDF studio in Berlin.
In what is the 70th anniversary year for Sennheiser as a company, the Lifetime Achievement was "a real surprise" for Jörg. He said: "It is a great honour for me to see that the pursuit of perfect sound, which has accompanied me throughout my entire life, is being recognised with this award."
During his time as CEO of Sennheiser, Jörg Sennheiser modernised the structures of the company and introduced, among other things, job descriptions and strategic planning for the entire company.
Like his father before him, Jörg also further advanced the technical development of microphones and headphones, fully in keeping with the company's philosophy of the pursuit of perfect sound.


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I believe the government is failing to understand that cryptocurrencies are not about speculation and trading but there’s much more to it. Many cryptocurrencies like Cashaa & Ethereum have a strong use case especially for developing economies like India. Government is presently in a state where they don’t know what exactly is the right decision and approach towards regulating cryptocurrency. It has to be a dynamic approach and will change according to how markets adopt it. GST can be taken as an example, it changed dynamically with the market response. The same thing will happen will cryptocurrencies, the present stand might be little harsh just for the stake of counterfeiting scams and illegal trades but gradually it will slow down towards a better approach. As our government and Prime Minister is very futuristic towards technology and would always encourage technologies that will push humanity forward.
2. Govt to explore BlockChain technology to strengthen digital economy
The use cases of Blockchain are not just limited to cryptocurrencies but a lot more than that can be achieved. It is just the beginning, moving of land records into blockchain could save million dollar scams and bribes. The system can be made more deterministic and optimized. Our very own digital identity Aadhar can be brought into blockchain which will open up a completely new shift in the technology world, Auxesis Group’s Auxledger with over 50 million people is an outstanding example for using blockchain technology for digital ID. Digital identity of users will kickstart a new ecosystem in blockchain based solutions, many use cases like profile scoring of individuals based on karma points can also be done.
@Technuter.com News Service


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New Zealand’s penchant for pre-owned cars could be holding back the development of technologies for the transportation sector, according to Ministry of Transport briefing papers.
The documents presented to Transport Minister Phil Twyford noted that the transportation system would become modernised, including increased connectivity and automation. Electric vehicles have begun to gain traction as well, with more than 5,800 units on the road by Nov. 30.
The briefing papers highlighted several initiatives that could address certain issues such as road congestion. However, it will be hard to implement them due to more people preferring to buy used vehicles, even if they are often ready to welcome new technologies, according to the documents.
For instance, shared car services will only move forward “if attitudes towards vehicle ownership also change” among Kiwis. The transport ministry aims to solve this problem through incentive programmes, promotional marketing, funding and regulatory changes. In the meantime, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) said that vehicles sales in New Zealand would reach a record high figure in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year.
MIA CEO David Crawford said that a rising number of migrants in the country fuels the growth of car sales, as “more people means more cars.” Vehicle ownership also rose with almost 780 people owning a car per 1,000 Kiwis compared to 740 in 2014, based on data from the transport ministry.
You will save on costs when you decide to buy used cars, although the money you save should be spent on fleet maintenance expenses. More Kiwis, however, have bought new cars since the price difference between brand new and second-hand cars have been smaller in the last 25 years, according to Crawford.
Technology developments in the transportation sector are important, but are you willing to turn your back on used cars to support the modernisation of vehicles?


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Popular investment bank Cowen, which offers its services to US users, yesterday announced the launch of a special division focused on digital assets.
The financial institution said in a statement the innovations will allow it to expand the range of services provided, thereby attracting many new customers from the cryptocurrency industry.
The bank started to be interested in virtual currencies back in May 2021, when it entered into a partnership with the Standard Custody and Trust Company. Then, the financial institution planned to start providing services for the storage of cryptocurrencies.
Now, Cowen Bank has not only expanded its range of services, but it has also created an entire division with a large number of experts and analysts.
Cowen Digital, the new division of Cowen, will carry out transactions with “Bitcoin and a number of other cryptocurrencies”, however, it is unknown which other cryptos it will support.


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The anti-tobacco bill proposes a phased ban (3-5 years) on smoking in all public places, including bars, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, and even apartment stairwells. Source: Lori / Legion Media
Russia’s State Duma is due to hold the third reading of the Ministry of Health's draft law entitled "On Protection of Public Health from the Effects of Tobacco Consumption." The bill was passed on its first reading in late December.
It proposes a phased ban (3-5 years) on smoking in all public places, including bars, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, and even apartment stairwells. The only exceptions to be made will be for specially equipped places in open areas and specially isolated premises fitted with ventilation systems.
It is difficult, however, to imagine how smokers will be forced out onto the streets. Several years ago, for instance, a measure was introduced to permit fireworks in designated areas only. Nonetheless, fireworks are still freely let off in backyards across the country.
The situation with smoking in restaurants will depend on the fine. "If the fine is a hundred rubles [$3.30], smoking in bars will continue as usual; but if it's a few thousand, we'll see a much faster turnaround," said Ivan Kotov, director of A. T. Kearney in Russia. Global practice shows that smoking bans reduce clientele to begin with, but soon afterward, people return to their favorite haunts.
Some restaurateurs find a smoking ban could cut costs. "You have no idea how expensive a powerful ventilation system is and how much air you have to pump in. If I shoo all smokers outside and install a heater or a separate room for them, I'll be much more in pocket," said restaurant owner Dmitry Levitsky.
Whereas restaurateurs are bracing themselves for temporary losses, tobacco producers need not worry. Another restrictive measure proposes a ban on the open display of retail cigarettes. Cigarette boxes will be stacked so that only the lateral face is visible, which, according to the authors of the bill, should reduce the urge to buy them — especially among minors. However, the cigarette brand name will still be perfectly legible and, moreover, the warning label will be out of view.
The bill also prohibits the sale of cigarettes at small outlets. The official reason claims that small retailers are the main violators of current legislation, including the sale of cigarettes to minors; meanwhile, major retailers are not willing to risk their licenses for the sake of a few extra cents. The ban on the sale of cigarettes is detrimental (and potentially fatal) for kiosks and small shops, but not for tobacco companies.
In actual fact, tobacco distribution in Russia is controlled by just two companies: Metropolis and SNS. If the bill is passed, these two companies will just redistribute the logistic flows. The bill’s ban on sponsorship will also be far less troubling for cigarette producers, as they had no advertising yield in the first place.
Finally, the Ministry of Health is trying to ban all scenes of smoking in new Russian films, unless "essential to the artistic concept." However, this constraint has little to no effect in reality, even in the U.S., where a similar ban was imposed long ago.
Meanwhile, the main tool in the fight against smoking will likely not be the law, but the hike in excise tax. It is already rising, on average, by 20-30 percent a year; but that, according to Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, is not enough. The department insists on increasing the excise tax to €1.28 ($1.70) per pack, which represents the minimum rate in the poorest parts of Europe.
In 2013, the excise tax in Russia on a pack of cigarettes is set at 12-14 rubles. If the Ministry of Finance approves the Ministry of Health's recommendations, and if the rate of increase is maintained, then the price of a pack of cigarettes will cross the 100-ruble threshold and hit the minimum European price (around 150 rubles).
Commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Russia's New Economic School estimates that higher excise taxes, along with cigarette prices at the lowest EU level, will raise an additional 600 billion rubles ($19.8 billion) in budget revenue and save 2 million Russian lives over the next five years.
The tobacco industry presents different figures. According to the ITIC and Oxford Economics, a hike in price to 150 rubles per pack will cut the number of smokers, but only slightly. Smugglers, meanwhile, are in luck. According to the study, the legal market will halve, with illicit trade in cigarettes climbing to 35 percent.
Accordingly, the rise in budget revenue will not be quite as healthy as the Ministry of Health forecasts, falling far short of the 600-billion mark and landing at 250 billion rubles instead.
Russia is currently regarded as a source, instead of a recipient, of contraband cigarettes — on a par with Belarus, Ukraine, and China. Russia’s main supply lines go through Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg. However, Russia has recently seen an inflow of goods from Belarusian producers, whose output is substantially larger than the volume of orders placed by international tobacco companies.
The surplus is believed to be illegally exported to the EU. Now Russia, too, finds itself in the firing line: with illicit trade accounting for less than 2 percent of the market, there is plenty of room for smugglers to expand operations.
Belarus, however, is a mote of dust compared to the king of counterfeiting — China. Russia’s largest neighbor accounts for 80 percent of all global trade in illicit cigarettes and is now eyeing the Russian market with interest.
"We estimate that, as long as the cost of cigarettes remains less than 10 percent of the average family budget, smuggling will not be an issue," said Vadim Zhelnin, head of the tobacco association Tabakprom. "But as soon as that threshold is crossed, the Chinese will be knocking at the door."
The article is abridged and first published in Russian in the Kommersant-Dengi magazine.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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The coveted LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) Prize has announced its 20 semi-finalists for 2021 and Cape Town-based designer Lukhanyo Mdingi is among them.
It is no secret that 2020 was a challenging year for designers. But the LVMH Prize finalists were able to adapt and expand.
Delphine Arnault, executive vice-president of Louis Vuitton and founder of the LVMH Prize, said they received over 1 900 applications. She added that many of the young designers showed maturity in their work.
“Today, designers are asked to be much more than designers, and the candidates have adapted to this new reality. They are very aware of their image, they build their businesses, and above all they think about creation and its environmental issues. All the semi-finalists show a sincere and deep commitment, whether it be social, ethical, artisanal, environmental or local. They are anchored in today’s world,” she said.
Other designers who made the list include Alicia Robinson, a 30-year-old designer who is the founder of AGR, a British womenswear brand based in the UK. Also from the UK is Bianca Saunders, 28, who creates menswear. From France are Charles de Vilmorin, 25; Andreas Steiner. 36; and Federico Cina, 27. Again from the UK are Conner Ives, 25; Nensi Dojaka, 28; Saul Nash, 31; and Amy Trinh and Evan Phillips, who own Wed, a British womenswear brand. Representing the US are Colm Dillane, 30, and Christopher John Rogers, 28. Kika Vargas, 38, represents Columbia, while Cynthia Mehrej, 32, is from Lebanon.
From China are Rui Zhou, 27, and Shuting Qiu, 27, while Takuya Morikawa, 39, and Tadu Midorikawa, 39, represent Japan. Dongjoon Lim, 29 is there for South Korea, and Adeju Thompson, 30, represents Nigeria.
The 2021 winner will receive a €300 000 (about R5 268 726) prize and a year of mentorship from designers and executives within LVMH. The winner of the Karl Lagerfeld special prize will receive €150 000 and a year of mentorship.
In 2019, Thebe Magugu won the LVMH Prize.


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To talk about StarCraft: Ghost we have to go back to the Tokyo Game Show of 2002, in that year the game for Xbox and PS2 was announced. Title was being developed by Nihilistic Software. The years went by and the development passed to Swingin ’Ape Studios in 2004. By then, the game had been in development for four years. And although it was announced in 2002, the project began two years earlier.
The years went by and there was no new news regarding StarCraft: Ghost. Finally, Blizzard decided to cancel the game's development in 2014. Now, in the middle of 2020, they have leaked a playable version of StarCraft: Ghost for Xbox. On YoTube, many gameplays have been released overnight. Then you can watch one of these videos.
According Kotaku, the game was present in a development kit of the first Xbox, that's where they got the game. It is not a full version since the development of StarCraft: Ghost was never completed. Only six missions are available. In addition, it is not optimized and there are many bugs


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New Zealand owners of Volkswagen Group vehicles affected by the emissions cheating scandal might be able to sue the carmaker, says Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin.
But they would need to show under the Consumer Guarantees Act that they had been hurt financially. “They could certainly say that VW has falsely advertised that its vehicles meet emissions standards,” she said.
“However, to actually make a claim against VW they’d need to demonstrate that they’d suffered damage or loss.
“It doesn’t seem to me that they have, although it’s conceivable, albeit unlikely, that the resale price (of the vehicle) could be affected, and if that turns out to be the case they may have the basis for a claim.”
Ms Chetwin said any fix the VW Group made to emissions software would constitute a repair and that would discharge VW’s obligations under the Act.
“The issue wouldn’t warrant rejection under the Act and, again, for further redress a customer would have to demonstrate that they’d suffered loss or damage,” she said.
Factory software designed to hoodwink diesel emissions testers is on upwards of 7500 new VW Group vehicles in New Zealand – 4639 VWs, around 1600 Audis, and 1328 Skodas – made between 2009-15 and each using the codenamed four-cylinder EA189 turbo-diesel engine. Used imports are also likely to be affected.
The offending VW vehicles are 1411 Tiguans, 1357 Passats, 874 Amaroks, 680 Golfs, two Polos, two Sharans, and one Touran. The Audi list is mostly A3 hatchbacks and A4 sedans and wagons and a handful of Q3 and Q5 SUVs. The affected Skodas are 535 Superbs, 497 Octavias, 267 Yetis, and 29 Rapids.
Meanwhile, designated VW chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch has pleaded for public trust in advertisements in Germany’s national newspapers, saying the scandal could pose “an existence-threatening crisis for the company.”
One German newspaper reported that a VW internal probe has found several engineers who admitted installing the cheat software in the EA189 engines because they couldn’t meet both emissions standards and cost controls.
The scandal began when the US Environmental Protection Agency found VW had installed a ‘defeat device’ software algorithm on its cars to manipulate exhaust emissions tests, making its cars appear cleaner than they are.
The net result is that cars pass strict US emissions limits under laboratory conditions, but when unplugged from the testing rigs, the diesel engines emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) up to 40 times the legal limit. More than 11 million cars worldwide have been affected.


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|By Marketwired .||
|January 31, 2013 01:29 PM EST||
ANAHEIM, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/31/13 -- Instead of a card or chocolates this Valentine's Day, a personalized gift of a framed photo uniquely celebrates the holiday. With SnapBox (www.snapboxez.com) from JONDO-USA, consumers will love how easy it is to transform their smartphone and digital photos into museum-quality framed artwork, starting at less than $10 for a 5x5 or 5x7 print on stretched gallery-wrapped canvas.
With the proliferation of smartphones and the popularity of Instagram, consumers are capturing billions of photos that often go unused. This year, Valentine's Day shoppers can up their game by putting those special images to use by instantly creating and ordering personalized framed photos for friends and family. To make it even more convenient, SnapBox gifts can be shipped to selected recipients or picked-up and paid for by the consumer at 8,000 retail locations, including CVS/pharmacy and Bartell Drugs, with free shipping to those locations.
"A personal framed print is truly a gift from the heart and by choosing SnapBox users are assured a true photo giclée museum-quality wrapped print that loved ones will enjoy every day in their home or office," said John Doe, CEO of JONDO. "Not only are SnapBox prints stunning works of art, but the ordering process is simple, fast and affordable -- just order right from your smartphone or computer."
SnapBox framed prints for smartphone photos and digital camera photos are available in a choice of multiple sizes at prices ranging from $9.79 to $24.49. The sizes include a 5x5, 5x7, 8x10, 10x13, 9x9, with the 5x5 and 9x9 square SnapBox prints ideal for Instagram photos.
SnapBox framed prints optimize smartphone photos for the best quality image and are printed on stretched canvas -- a high-quality poly cotton blend made exclusively for JONDO-USA.
To order a SnapBox framed print, consumers simply email their selected photos to [email protected]. A response email arrives in minutes allowing consumers to preview their SnapBox photo or photos, select and order from the different size options. Alternatively, they can also visit the web site (www.snapboxez.com) to upload and order one or more prints in a single transaction. SnapBox framed print orders are completed and delivered in a few days from one of JONDO's state-of-the-art production facilities in Anaheim, Seattle or Albany, NY.
With decades of experience in fine art reproduction, proprietary digital workflow, and ongoing investments in lean manufacturing practices, JONDO-USA is a market leader in providing both superior product quality and exceptional price value. JONDO began in 1989 as Harvest Productions, utilizing state of the art IRIS technology to reproduce artists' watercolor paintings. The business grew, based on innovations in print technology, and the company is recognized as an early developer of high resolution input, edit, and output workflows. JONDO-USA is extending its product offerings to consumers with the goal of enhancing the consumer experience through unique and affordable photo décor products, easy online access, and quick regional manufacturing/fulfillment centers.
For more media information, contact:
CommStrat for SnapBox
SYS-CON Events announced today Isomorphic Software, the global leader in high-end, web-based business applications, will exhibit at SYS-CON's DevOps Summit 2015 New York, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Isomorphic Software is the global leader in high-end, web-based business applications. We develop, market, and support the SmartClient & Smart GWT HTML5/Ajax platform, combining the productivity and performance of traditional desktop software ...
May. 4, 2015 07:30 PM EDT Reads: 564
DevOps Summit, taking place Nov 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 17th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long developmen...
May. 4, 2015 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 489
Application metrics, logs, and business KPIs are a goldmine. It’s easy to get started with the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana) – you can see lots of people coming up with impressive dashboards, in less than a day, with no previous experience. Going from proof-of-concept to production tends to be a bit more difficult, unfortunately, and it tends to gobble up our attention, time, and money. In his session at DevOps Summit, Otis Gospodnetić, co-author of Lucene in Action and founder...
May. 4, 2015 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,075
While Docker continues to be the darling of startups, enterprises and IT innovators around the world, networking continues to be a real mess. Indeed, managing the interaction between Docker containers and networks has always been fraught with complications. Without automation in networking, the vision of running Docker at scale and letting IT run the same apps unchanged on the laptop and in the data center or for any cloud cannot be realized.
May. 4, 2015 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 596
DevOps Summit 2015 New York, co-located with the 16th International Cloud Expo - to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY - announces that it is now accepting Keynote Proposals. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long development cycles that produce software that is obsolete...
May. 4, 2015 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 4,298
“The year of the cloud – we have no idea when it's really happening but we think it's happening now. For those technology providers like Zentera that are helping enterprises move to the cloud - it's been fun to watch," noted Mike Loftus, VP Product Management and Marketing at Zentera Systems, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at Cloud Expo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
May. 4, 2015 06:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,373
“We are a managed services company. We have taken the key aspects of the cloud and the purposed data center and merged the two together and launched the Purposed Cloud about 18–24 months ago," explained Chetan Patwardhan, CEO of Stratogent, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 15th Cloud Expo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
May. 4, 2015 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,890
SYS-CON Events announced today that CenturyLink, Inc., a leader in the network services market, has been named “Platinum Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States and is recognized as a leader in the network services market by technology industry analyst firms. The company is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and ...
May. 4, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,133
Database apps on mobile devices shouldn't stop working when there's limited or no network connectivity. In his session at 16th Cloud Expo, Bradley Holt, a Developer Advocate for IBM Cloudant, will discuss how to bring data stored in a cloud database to the edge of the network (and back again), whenever an Internet connection is available. He will demonstrate techniques for replicating cloud databases with mobile devices in order to build offline-enabled mobile apps that can provide a better,...
May. 4, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 974
In his session at 16th Cloud Expo, Simone Brunozzi, VP and Chief Technologist of Cloud Services at VMware, will review the changes that the cloud computing industry has gone through over the last five years and share insights into what the next five will bring. He will chronicle the challenges enterprise companies are facing as they move to the public cloud. He will delve into the “Hybrid Cloud” space and explain why every CIO should consider ‘hybrid cloud’ as part of their future strategy to a...
May. 4, 2015 03:46 PM EDT Reads: 600
"Blue Box has been around for 10-11 years, and last year we launched Blue Box Cloud. We like the term 'Private Cloud as a Service' because we think that embodies what we are launching as a product - it's a managed hosted private cloud," explained Giles Frith, Vice President of Customer Operations at Blue Box, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at DevOps Summit, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
May. 4, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,619
"SOASTA built the concept of cloud testing in 2008. It's grown from rather meager beginnings to where now we are provisioning hundreds of thousands of servers on a daily basis on behalf of customers around the world to test their applications," explained Tom Lounibos, CEO of SOASTA, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at DevOps Summit, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
May. 4, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,448
Docker is becoming very popular--we are seeing every major private and public cloud vendor racing to adopt it. It promises portability and interoperability, and is quickly becoming the currency of the Cloud. In his session at DevOps Summit, Bart Copeland, CEO of ActiveState, discussed why Docker is so important to the future of the cloud, but will also take a step back and show that Docker is actually only one piece of the puzzle. Copeland will outline the bigger picture of where Docker fits a...
May. 4, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 5,234
Puppet Labs on Wednesday released the DevOps Salary Report, based on salary data gathered from Puppet Labs' industry-recognized State of DevOps Report. The data confirms that market demand for DevOps skills is growing, and that DevOps engineers are among the highest paid IT practitioners today. That's because IT organizations today are grappling with how to be more agile and responsive to the business, while maintaining the stability of their infrastructure. DevOps practices, such as continuous ...
May. 4, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,199
“This win means a great deal to us because it is decided by the readers – the people who understand how use of our technology enables new insights that drive the business,” said Matt Davies, senior director, EMEA marketing, Splunk. “Splunk Enterprise enables organizations to improve service levels, reduce operations costs, mitigate security risks, enhance DevOps collaboration, create new product and service offerings and obtain deeper insight into customer behavior. Being named Best Business App...
May. 4, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,869


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Launched on December 3, 1990. Nagaland Post is the first and highest circulated newspaper of Nagaland state. Nagaland Post is also the first newspaper in Nagaland to be published in multi-colour.
Ban on sale of chicken lifted from today
DMC ‘temporarily’ revises broiler chicken rates Poultry Union Dimapur (PUD) has called off its ban on sale of poultry under its jurisdiction in Dimapur which will take effect from May 19 after the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) responded by reviewing...
PUD bans poultry sale in Dimapur
Days after Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) revised rate of poultry meat, the Poultry Union Dimapur (PUD) on Tuesday called for an indefinite ban on sale of poultry meat in Dimapur with effect from May 17.Speaking exclusively to Nagaland Post,...


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UPDATED 7:14 PM PT – Wednesday, October 20, 2021
The U.K. recently struck a free trade deal with New Zealand in yet another success for Boris Johnson’s Brexit agenda.
The deal was announced on Wednesday and includes mutual cuts on tariffs, along with easing the movement of goods, services and people between the two countries. The total worth of mutual trade was estimated at $3 billion last year and is expected to increase.
“I think it’s a great deal,” said Prime Minister Johnson. “I think it means that we will be able to have the benefit of our wonderful New Zealand products even more cheaply than before. We’ve got from Sauvignon Blanc to Manuka honey and kiwi fruit and all sorts of other benefits. So, I think it’s a good deal for both of us.”
The Prime Minister and @JacindaArdern have agreed a ground-breaking trade deal between the UK and New Zealand:
🚢 ending tariffs
✂ cutting red tape
🚀 creating jobs and growth
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) October 20, 2021
The U.K.-New Zealand deal comes amid an ongoing trade standoff between Britain and the EU and it’s expected to give London more bargaining power in future talks with Brussels.
“This is a historic, but substantial deal and it’s been achieved basically in a year,” said New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern. “That has never been done before.”


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For the third time this year, the Finance Ministry has raised the inflation forecast. Initially, it put the inflation rate for the year at 8.5%, but raised the outlook to 10% in spring and, now, to 11%. Many analysts say that inflation could reach 15%, meaning the rate could go under review again.
For the fifth consecutive year, Russia has had a surplus budget, with the Stabilization Fund increasing faster than planned and sufficient investment. The economy is growing, though not as fast as the Kremlin would like it to. GDP is expected to grow by 20% within three years. But the inflation rate, which was to be cut to below 10%, is seriously worrying the government.
The bulk of the guilt in the inflation climb rests with taxes on natural monopolies like energy, gas and railway companies and rising fuel prices. Though coordinated with the government, these tariffs continue to spur inflation.
The situation with fuel providers is even more complicated. Oil companies cannot officially be termed as monopolies, but petroleum prices are pointing to cartel collusion.
The government made its choice when it postponed monopoly reform, setting the economy up for more inflation problems.


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US retail media ad spend will hit $45.15 billion this year, an increase of almost 20% over 2022, according to our forecast. Growth will accelerate each year through 2027, when we expect spend to reach $106.12 billion.
Beyond the chart: Retail media ad spend is growing faster than the digital ad market overall. By the end of 2027, it will account for more than a quarter of US digital ad spend. But in order for the channel to reach its full potential, retail media networks will have to address measurement inconsistencies.
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Samsung Galaxy M31 price in India likely to start at Rs 15,999, as per a new report. The Galaxy M31, which is all set to go official in India on February 25, will be available in two variants with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Key specifications of the Galaxy M31 include 6000mAh battery, 64MP quad-camera setup and Super AMOLED screen. The Galaxy M31 will come as a successor to the Galaxy M30s which also featured a 6000mAh battery. While the launch of the Galaxy M31 is scheduled to happen later this month, the first sale of the handset will take place in the first week of March, says the report. Going by various reports on the web, the Galaxy M31 will be a minor upgrade over the Galaxy M30s with almost identical hardware.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Price in India Leaked
To recall, the Galaxy M30s was launched at a starting price of Rs 13,999 and it’s now selling for Rs 12,999 in the country. Coming to the upcoming Galaxy M31, the phone will be available in two variants- 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB, according to IANS. The base variant to retail at Rs 15,999 and the report did not reveal the price of the high-end variant. But we expect it to cost Rs 16,999 since only the internal storage is more.
Also, the IANS report says the M31 will be available for purchase in the first week of March. The report also added that Samsung would be selling the Galaxy M31 across leading offline stores as well. The Galaxy M series is primarily aimed at the online market, but the change in strategy could be due to increased competition. Samsung lost its second spot in the Indian market to Vivo last year due to strong offline sales of the latter.
Samsung Galaxy M31: Rumoured Specifications and Features
The Galaxy M31 will be a marginal upgrade over the Galaxy M30s, at least that’s what the rumoured specs suggest. The Galaxy M31 will have a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen similar to the Galaxy M30s. Underneath, the handset will have the Exynos 9611 chipset, paired with 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage. The phone will feature a 64MP primary sensor on the back, coupled with a 13MP ultrawide angle sensor and two 5MP sensors. The phone will be backed by a 6000mAh battery and it will run OneUI 2.0 based on Android 10.