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The globally renowned German based high end car manufacturer, Audi has announced the booking for their latest version of the Audi A8 will be open in a few days. This marks the second release by Audi this year as they target a growth of double digits this year, a top employee of Audi had said.
Audi is one of the leading companies producing and retailing top end and luxury vehicles. Just like BMW and Mercedes Benz, the company is based in Germany. The company was founded back in 1909 and is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group which is a conglomerate that parents multiple other automobile companies such as Skoda, Porsche, and Lamborghini.
The Audi A8 has been one of Audi’s most popular and best-selling vehicles of all time, not only in India but worldwide for them.
The company’s spokesperson said that the Audi creates their cars by adding the highest quality and not compromising on any feature of the car. The car blends speed, comfort, and quality drives with this new release. The experience of driving the new A8 will ooze luxury. The technology that is added to car is also said to be state of the art.
Neither the production nor assembly of parts will take place in India and Audi has chosen to import them as a completed unit which will likely be from the Neckarsulm plant in Germany.
The car is also set to be quite powerful boasting a big 3 litre engine. To put some perspective, the Mercedes C class contains an engine that is just under 2 litres on average.
The booking for the car will commence in a few days while it will take a few weeks for the car to be officially launched. However, no confirmed dates have been released.
The first release by Audi this year was the latest Q7 and it has been just over two months since it came out and its ex-showroom price was quoted at Rs. 79.99 lakh. The price for the new car has yet to be released as well.
The head of Audi, India was very confident that the growth of the company will hit double digits this year after two years of slumped numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. He then said that the company is nevertheless working hard despite of other challenges such as a scarcity of semiconductors, the pandemic in China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.


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McDonald's is bringing back the U.K. fan-favorite Maltesers McFlurry for a limited time, but customers might notice that it's only half as good.
The chain quietly replaced the regular McFlurry with a "reduced" version on menus to be trialled at various locations in London.
Mini versions of the Maltesers McFlurrys are also being shopped.
The vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and Maltesers candy clusters have proven to be a big hit in the past, so customers are hoping McDonald's will supersize the reduced and mini McFlurrys to standard size soon enough.
Fans of the tiny addition took to social media to share their feelings on the matter.
Can't wait to get my chubby little sausages on a Maltesers Mcflurry 😍😍😍— Sophia Lyas (@SophiaLyas) February 9, 2018
Maltesers mcflurry is definitely up there in my all time favourite mcflurrys 😍— Dan Page (@Dan_Page93) February 9, 2018
Best day of my life because the MALTESERS McFlurry is back, yes boysssss— Est (@EstherPeacey) February 8, 2018
Elsewhere in Europe, the Golden Arches' new plant-based burger is selling like hotcakes.
McDonald’s reports its newest addition, the McVegan Burger, is showing strong sales in Finland and Sweden, where it was first served in January. Orkla Foods, the company that helped the fast-food chain develop the new burger, revealed that more than 150,000 McVegan Burgers were sold during its first month throughout Nordic regions, VegLife reports.
Peter Ruzicka, CEO of Orkla Foods, said that the success of the new burger is due in part to people wanting to “eat more plant-based food.” He also suggested that the record sales are partly due to the fact that people recognize that plant-based foods are more eco-friendly.
The McVegan Burger, which is currently only offered in Finland and Sweden, has a similar presentation to the iconic Big Mac, with a soy-based patty, lettuce, tomato, onions, ketchup, and mustard. Given its early success, the McVegan is expected to hit U.S. locations soon.
While the McVegan isn't in American McDondald's stores quite yet, and Maltesers likely won't make their way across the pond, the fast food giant has made some big changes to the American menu over the past few months — namely, the dollar menu.
The new value menu gives customers the option to order off the $1, $2, or $3 tier.
In the $1 tier, customers can grab a Sausage Burrito, a McChicken, a Cheeseburger and any size soft drink.
The $2 tier offers a Sausage McGriddle, a 2-Piece Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, a Bacon McDouble and any small McCafe beverage.
Finally, the $3 tier features a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, a Classic Chicken Sandwich, a Triple Cheeseburger and Happy Meal.

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LG NEXUS 4
LG launches Q6+ for Rs 17,990 in India
The device has a 18:9 wide screen for better visual experience, facial recognition and military grade durability
Smartphone companies bring in parity in online, offline discounts
GST was rolled out on July 1. Promotions by Amazon and Flipkart have genera...
Great Indian Festival: Amazon India website suffers outages on heavy demand
Amazon has been paying special emphasis on fashion and app-only d...
Great Indian Festival: Amazon gives Prime users a boost with early deals, 60% discount on white goods
Starting at noon today, Amazon's Prime members will get exclusive deals, discounts and cashbacks on a range of products across brands and categories.
Flipkart Big Billion Day Sale: Exchange your old TV for new, fashion sees price drop of 80%
With day 1 of its mega BBD sale kicking off today, the e-commerce player has a stockpile of offers on fashion, home furnishing and large appliances lined up.
Consumer goods cos ready for festive ride, line up freebies
Manufacturers, including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Haier, are pinning hopes on pent-up demand post GST after destocking by trade partners in June, to keep their sales counter ticking.
Vivo V7+ Review: Smartphone raises the selfie-game
The front camera has a 24MP wide angle camera with f2.0 aperture and front LED flash.
6 Android alternatives to iPhone X
Apple’s iPhone X comes with a number of firsts. But, there are devices available on Android too that boast of enviable features at a cheaper price.
LG Q6 review: Smartphone's 'FullVision' display is impressive in the mid-segment
Is the LG Q6 all about the display or is there more to it? Find out ...
From LG V30 to Sony RX0: Here are the notable new launches from IFA 2017
Companies from all across the world descend upon the German capital to show off their latest smart devices.
need2know: Nine macro triggers that should matter for market today
Consumer durable makers expect to clock up to 40% sales growth this festive season by offering freebies and discounts to woo consumers
Increase capacity of waste to energy plants: Lt Governor Anil Baijal to civic bodies
The L-G directed the EDMC to immediately take up expansion of the capacity of the existing waste to energy plant and in the first phase, said Lt Governor's office in a statement.
How Havells is transforming from an electrical goods maker into a consumer durables brand
From a revenue of Rs 2,055 crore in 2008, Havells closed the last financial year with Rs 6,720 crore, an over three-fold jump in nine years.
LG launches the Q6 smartphone at Rs 14,990
The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor coupled with 3GB RAM & 32GB ROM and runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system.
Supreme Court to consider setting up constitutional bench to hear Delhi govt's pleas on power
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar considered the submission of the Delhi govt that the Const issue needed to be adjudicated upon urgently.


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As MMO early access launches go, the release of Myth of Empires has certainly been the weirdest. First arriving to our radar at the beginning of the year and releasing to Steam early access this past November, the combination survival sandbox and real-time strategy title was suddenly taken down from Steam due to a claim of copyright infringement from ARK: Survival Evolved developer Studio Wildcard and publisher Snail Games.
Myth’s studio Angela Game has since swung back at the companies, filing a lawsuit with the Central District of California this past Thursday, as first reported by MMO Fallout. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment of non-liability for copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation in a jury trial, which effectively means that Angela Game wants the case to be heard by a jury in court. The suit also seeks damages from Snail Games over the infringement accusation along with lawyer fees and legal costs.
As part of the filing, Angela Game lawyers included two pieces of evidence that feature a letter and code examples from both ARK and Myth sent from Snail Games to Valve. The filing argues that Snail Games’ complaint to Valve “does not present any material or substantial quantity of Myth of Empires software code, but attaches a document that misleadingly presents, out of order, an extremely small set of ‘names’ that exist in Myth of Empires source code; and omits software code that actually drives the operation of [the game].”
Whether Studio Wildcard or Snail Games will respond is something that will have to be answered in time, but for now it would appear that this legal battle is just getting started.


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When Walmart announced last year that it planned to investigate its 100,000-plus suppliers with a Sustainability Index, the idea was hailed as revolutionary, if not a bit overly idealistic. But now IBM is following Walmart’s lead by asking its 28,000 suppliers in 60 countries to establish environmental goals and measure energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste management/recycling practices. If suppliers want to stay on IBM’s radar, they have to report their results and ask subcontractors to do the same thing.
Wayne Balta, the company’s vice president for corporate environmental affairs and product safety, explains further on IBM’s SmarterPlanet blog:
A key aspect of this program is that we want suppliers to create a management system that works for their particular business operations. Since our suppliers are diverse, there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution. Some are huge publically [sic]-traded companies while others may be small businesses with much fewer employees. We want them all to build long-term sustainability in a way that is integral to their routine operations, not as an add-on fix. As we set these new requirements, let me point out that we are not going to publicly ‘grade’ suppliers. This is a carrot, not a stick approach. Our goal is to help them improve their businesses, whether they work with IBM or someone else. We want them to succeed.
So environmental management systems will look different for IBM suppliers in different industries. An electronics supplier might begin to phase out toxic chemicals from production, while a call center could install energy-efficient lighting and turn off computers at night.
IBM isn’t giving suppliers a deadline for compliance, but the company hopes that changes will be complete by 2011. And if suppliers don’t get on board, IBM will eventually take its business elsewhere. They won’t be able to hide from sustainability audits for long–now that both Walmart and IBM are on board, it’s only a matter of time before other big companies start demanding the same things.


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Lost USB keys have 66% chance of malware
Sophos studied 50 USB keys bought at RailCorp's 2011 Lost Property auction in Sydney. The study revealed that two-thirds were infected by malware, and quickly uncovered information about many of the former owners of the devices, their family, friends and colleagues. Disturbingly, none of the owners had used any sort of encryption to secure their files against unauthorised snoopers.
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- PGP creator, other top cryptographers head 2014 National Cyber Security Hall of Fame class
- Startup backs services with elasticity of AWS, Azure clouds to outlast DDoS attacks
- Rogue cell towers discovered in Washington, D.C.
- Apple beefs up security with 2-factor authentication for iCloud backups
- Twitter patches vulnerability that could have impacted advertising accounts


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A hacker recently leaked the usernames and passwords of about 23 million players of Webkinz World, a multi-award winning virtual world game for boys and girls. The game was launched in 2005 as an online counterpart of a line of Ganz plush toys, reports ZDNet. The data breach took place earlier in April.
The anonymous hacker also posted a part of the game's database on a popular hacking forum and uploaded 1 GB file online with 22,982,319 pairs of usernames and passwords. The passwords had been encrypted with the MD5-Crypt algorithm. Moreover, hackers also managed to obtain hashed versions of parents' email addresses but didn’t leak that data. It was through an SQL injection vulnerability that the hacker managed to get access to the game’s database.
The vulnerability was found to exist in one of the website’s web forms. In fact, the details about this vulnerability had been floating around online on hacking forums and chat groups for months.
"Webkinz has never asked for last names, phone numbers or addresses and all transactions happen through our eStore, which has its own servers and accounts, which are in no way accessible through Webkinz [...] So even if someone was to decrypt a password, there is no information of value on the accounts beyond the game data itself,” said the spokesperson for Webkinz.
The company is currently reviewing all the loopholes in its data online to make sure that the attack doesn’t work elsewhere. They’re also figuring out if the leaked data has any value and if certain accounts are really at a risk.


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Worldwide fiber production comes up short
The worldwide fiber-shortage dilemma is the same from Japan to the United States. Simply put, not enough optical fiber is being produced. Despite the fact that fiber makers throughout the world are operating their plants at full capacity, they are running short of exploding demand.
In Japan, the supply of optical fiber has trailed markedly behind production forecasts, with some countries increasing new orders 10 times over last year`s levels. Japanese customers such as Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. have priority on the nation`s optical-fiber output. This puts a damper on customers` needs outside the country. Japanese manufacturers are aiming at increasing production, but these efforts will not get off the ground until spring, at the earliest, and some Japanese experts say that the shortages in supply will continue until the next decade.
In the United States, some fiber-industry experts say that despite the shortages, customers who really need fiber are finding ways to get it. To illustrate the point, the entire 1997 cable production of Siecor Corp., Hickory, NC, is already contracted. The company is jointly owned by Corning and Siemens AG and is the largest assembler of fiber-optic cable.
Siecor opened a new $30 million cable plant in Winston-Salem, NC, that employs about 225 people. The company plans to spend about $20 million to double the size of its southeast Hickory, NC, specialty cable plant, adding 100 jobs. This expansion will help Siecor add to its sales of about $1 billion annually.
And at the world`s largest producer of optical fiber, Corning Inc., Corning, NY, Cliff Hund, director of worldwide marketing, confirms that his fiber-manufacturing facilities are operating around the clock, seven days a week. Hund is responsible for Corning`s product line management and strategic planning of the telecommunications products division`s fiber business.
Additionally, Corning is in the midst of a $250 million plant expansion of its Wil mington, NC, fiber-making facility, and simultaneously is building a second fiber-manufacturing plant in nearby Concord, NC. This plant will come onstream in 1999.
This second Corning plant in North Carolina represents an investment of several hundred million dollars, Hund says. During the next four years, Corning expects to more than double its fiber-making capacity.
In the meantime, Hund explains, "We are adding new technology, bricks, and mortar for new facilities, and working with our international partners to cope with the shortage problem. The worldwide information highway is being paved with fiber," he declares.
"Despite the fact that consumers may not be getting all the fiber they need when they want it, there is an `ebb and flow` in the market that is not widely recognized," he observes. "This means that there may be a surplus at times."
The second-largest optical-fiber maker, Lucent Technologies, in Norcross, GA, saw demand exceed fiber supply by about 10% in the past year. This leaves the supply about 1.25 million miles short of the amount buyers need. According to Jim Carboy, acting president of Lucent`s Network Cables System in Norcross, "Our production was up 30% for this past year, and we could have increased it 10% to 15% more, if we had had the materials. We expect to complete a six-year $250 million to $300 million expansion in our fiber-making facilities in 1997 and are planning a `Phase 2 expansion` on top of this."
He emphasizes that Lucent is meeting its commitments to customers. "It`s obvious that if we are expecting growth of 20% annually, we are going to have to further expand our facilities." He notes that farming out multimode fiber manufacturing to smaller companies has freed up facilities for singlemode fiber production.
Other positive measures to cope with the fiber-shortage problem are being taken by Alcatel, a subsidiary of Paris-based Alcatel Alsthom, in Hickory, NC. The company is spending $50 million to add a research center and to enlarge its optical fiber and fiber-optic cable plants in Claremont, NC.
Despite fiber shortages, the market is booming, in the opinion of several market analysts (see Lightwave, July 1995, page 1). Steve Montgomery, vice president and chief operating officer of ElectroniCast Corp. in San Mateo, CA, sees North American production of fiber-optic cable rising impressively over the next decade from $2.67 billion in 1995 to $10.8 billion in 2005.
In 1996, the global fiber market amounted to 16.25 million miles. This is a global fiber market of about $6 billion, with about one-third of the sales in North America, according to Kessler Marketing Intelligence Corp., an international fiber-optics market research firm in Newport, RI.
Industry analysts and telecommunications companies concur that new forms of competition unleashed by the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 ensure that fiber demand will remain strong. Montgomery of ElectroniCast observes there are now roughly 25 to 30 major competitors in the newly defined North American communication services market, including telephone companies, interexchange carriers, major wireless networks, cable-TV multiple- system operators and competitive access providers. He expects an acceleration of the trend toward mergers, partnerships, and joint ventures.
For example, SpecTran Corp., Sturbridge, MA, and General Cable Corp., Highland Heights, KY, have formed a joint-venture company to develop, manufacture, and market fiber-optic cable. The new entity, which will initially build on the products, assets, and facilities of Applied Photonics Devices (APD), previously a wholly-owned SpecTran subsidiary, will be called General Photonics. SpecTran and General Cable each will hold a 50% ownership interest in the new company.
General Photonics, to be based in Dayville, CT, plans to make the full range of fiber-optic cable products previously sold under the APD name, as well as introduce new products for the premises fiber-optic cable market.
SpecTran has fared well from the inability of the corporate fiber giants, such as Corning and Lucent Technologies, to meet demand. For example, Corning has agreed to subcontract $17 million in optical-fiber business to SpecTran over three years. Lucent Technologies also followed Corning`s deal with another $35 million pact with SpecTran. q


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With its $1 billion-a-year investment in technology, UPS is empowering its intelligent logistics network with more efficient delivery routes that save money and reduce emissions while advancing such leading-edge tools as 3-D printing, drones and robotics.
“We really feel we are a technology company,” said David Abney, chairman and chief executive officer of the global supply chain megafirm, which boasts fleets of more than 600 aircraft and 100,000-plus delivery vehicles – and an information technology network that can hold more than 20 quadrillion bytes of data.
“We have a lot of planes; we have a lot of trucks,” Abney said at a June 30 gathering at UPS headquarters in Atlanta suburban Sandy Springs, Georgia. “But we really are a technology company.”
Since the company was initiated in 1907 by two Seattle teens as a messenger service and especially from around the time Abney began his UPS career in the mid-’70s using strip maps to navigate his delivery route in Greenwood, Mississippi, UPS has clearly moved to the logistics industry forefront when it comes to technology.
“Technology is really a foundation for our growth initiatives,” Abney said, noting that it is facilitating UPS expansion in international markets, encompassing more than 220 countries and territories, while serving demands of e-commerce and such fast-growing segments as healthcare and aerospace.
Click here to read more.
Paul Scott Abbott


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RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--Streaming-game service OnLive, which launches in two weeks, gave attendees at D: All Things Digital a look at both its initial service as well as some things that might be possible down the road.
OnLive CEO Steve Perlman said that, although, the service is really aimed to tap the power of cloud computing.
"If we can make gaming work, we can make anything work," said Perlman, a WebTV founder who also spent time at Apple and Microsoft.
In addition to playing games on televisions or computers that couldn't normally play them, the service lets users quickly launch a game, take "brag clip" video highlights as well as watch friends play games.
To use a TV with OnLive, you need a tiny console that will be available later this year. The small set-top box consists of an Ethernet jack, power supply, and HDMI port. The electronics cost less than the connectors and case, Perlman said.
He also showed a technology demo of OnLive running on an iPad, but Perlman stressed that this was just a demo and might never be available.
Originally announced as a $14.95-a-month service, Perlman said the company now expects to charge less when it announces pricing next week because costs have come down. "We have some surprises," he said, without detailing the new pricing plan.
Perlman said that, with additional servers, the service is designed to handle millions of gamers, although those wanting to use the service have to be within 1,000 miles of a data center. The company currently has three such centers--one near Washington, D.C., one near Dallas, and one in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Asked by Walt Mossberg what other applications might someday be possible, Perlman said the sky's the limit, noting that the service is backed by a huge graphics chip-powered supercomputer.
"We can deliver anything," he said.


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War on Cash: New York Fed Launches “Digital Dollar” Pilot Program BY MICHAEL MAHARREY for Schiff Gold
On Tuesday (Nov. 15), the New York Federal Reserve announced a 12-week pilot program in partnership with several large commercial banks to test the feasibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The “proof of concept” program will test an “interoperable digital money platform” on a regulated liability network (RLN) for “technical feasibility, legal viability, and business applicability of distributed ledger technology,” according to a press release.
The pilot program will use digital “tokens” that represent bank deposits. Institutions involved in the program will engage in simulated transactions to test the viability of the system. According to Reuters, “The pilot will test how banks using digital dollar tokens in a common database can help speed up payments.”
Banks involved in the pilot program include BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, Mastercard, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Truist, US Bank and Wells Fargo. The global financial messaging service provider SWIFT is also participating “to support interoperability across the international financial ecosystem.”
Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve released a “discussion paper” examining the pros and cons of a potential US central bank digital dollar. According to the central bank’s website, there has been no decision on implementing a digital currency, but this pilot program reveals the idea is further along than most people realized.
Digital dollars would be similar to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They would exist as virtual banknotes or coins held in a digital wallet on your computer or smartphone. The difference between a government digital currency and bitcoin is the value of the digital currency is backed and controlled by the state, just like traditional fiat currency.
The digital dollar could ultimately replace physical cash. Proponents tout its convenience and security. A Business Insider article gushed over the idea.
A Fed-backed digital dollar would then provide many of the benefits touted by cryptocurrencies without their wild price swings and usage fees. In theory, a CBDC would meld the best aspects of physical and digital currencies for the average American.”
Government-issued digital currencies are sold on the promise of providing a safe, convenient, and more secure alternative to physical cash. We’re also told it will help stop dangerous criminals who like the intractability of cash. But there is a darker side – the promise of control.
At the root of the move toward government digital currency is “the war on cash.” The elimination of cash creates the potential for the government to track and even control consumer spending, and it would make it even easier for central banks to engage in manipulative monetary policies such as negative interest rates.
Imagine if there was no cash. It would be impossible to hide even the smallest transaction from government eyes. Something as simple as your morning trip to Starbucks wouldn’t be a secret from government officials. As Bloomberg put it in an article published when China launched its digital yuan pilot program, digital currency “offers China’s authorities a degree of control never possible with physical money.”
The government could even “turn off” an individual’s ability to make purchases. Bloomberg described just how much control a digital currency could give Chinese officials.
The PBOC has also indicated that it could put limits on the sizes of some transactions, or even require an appointment to make large ones. Some observers wonder whether payments could be linked to the emerging social-credit system, wherein citizens with exemplary behavior are ‘whitelisted’ for privileges, while those with criminal and other infractions find themselves left out. ‘China’s goal is not to make payments more convenient but to replace cash, so it can keep closer tabs on people than it already does,’ argues Aaron Brown, a crypto investor who writes for Bloomberg Opinion.”
China launched its digital yuan pilot program last year. The Chinese government-backed digital currency got a boost when the country’s biggest online retailer announced the first virtual platform to accept the Chinese digital currency.


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New 50 shops just opened in Qatar
There is happy news for people who are interested in buying gold in Qatar as a brand new Gold Souq, housing 50 shops, was inaugurated at Souq Najada yesterday.
Following the opening, PEO managing director Nasser Rashid Al Nuaimi toured the new Souq where he was briefed on the shops and jewellery displayed.
“An office for issuing certificates for the sale of gold will open soon within the Souq. The Souq will includes some of the most important jewellery stores in Doha that specialises in the sale of jewellery and yellow gold. The stores also have second floors that can be used as workshops,” Souq Waqif Director Mohammed Al Salem was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.
The souq also boasts of 250 underground parking slots.


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With the rise in online grocery shopping leading to many new delivery and pickup options in addition to shopping in-store, there are many ways you can get groceries nowadays. If your goal is to save money, you will be able to find more grocery staples like produce and frozen food at one iconic discount store. Dollar General fresh foods will have more options, according to company leaders.
The fresh and frozen food products the store already has is the top sales driver. In a conference last week, Dollar General’s CEO said they are expanding the healthier options to keep up with demand. The whole initiative is called DG Fresh, and at the end of 2019, about 5,500 stores were taking part. The company is increasing that to 14,000 stores by the end of 2020, according to Grocery Dive.
One way they are putting more perishable food in stores is through “Better For You” items. Brands like Nature Valley, Annie’s, Kashi, and their own called Good&Smart are included and are already in 6,000 stores. However, 1,000 more will get shipments before the year is over. (Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Drink a Smoothie Every Day.)
Of the customers they are hoping to target with the produce and perishable food expansion, CEO Todd Vasos says, “We are seeing through our credit card data and what she’s telling us … that she’s made multiple trips over the last few months into the brand to buy her needs, she likes what she sees and she’s continuing to want to shop us.”
The year isn’t over so not all locations will have things like fruit, deli meat, and dairy products yet. But, you can still place an order for pickup. Around 16,000 stores offer the service. Keep an eye out for Dollar General fresh foods in the future, though, to hopefully snag some great deals.


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February 18/Girona, Spain/LiveScience -- Bacteria from baby poop can help make sausages, which could transform savory meats into health foods much like probiotic yogurts, according to new research.
For millennia, cultures across the globe have relied on microbes to help create a dazzling variety of foods and drinks. The most familiar examples are the yeasts used to make wine, beer and other alcohol.
Bacteria and yeast ferment sugars in foods, generating acids, gases and alcohols. Bread gets its spongy texture from bubbles of carbon dioxide released by fermenting yeast; cheese, pickles and kimchi traditionally often got their sharp taste via fermentation as well.
In addition, many types of sausages -- including pepperoni and salami -- are made with the aid of bacterial fermentation, which helps give these sausages their characteristic tangy flavor and, in many cases, their chewy texture and intense red color.
Fermented sausages are made from mixtures of ground meat, salt, sugar, spices and curing agents stuffed into casings. They are typically fermented by either bacteria naturally found in the raw meat or commercially available bacteria added to the meat during manufacturing. The lactic acid these fermenting bacteria produce, together with the drying of the meat, suppresses the spread of germs that would otherwise spoil the sausages.
In recent years, scientists have discovered that foods such as yogurt that contain live probiotic bacteria can have a wide variety of health benefits. For instance, these microbes could help burn away belly fat, treat depression, lower inflammation, prevent urinary-tract infections and fight infant gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation.
Scientists in Spain reasoned that probiotic bacteria could be used in fermented sausages as well.
"Probiotic fermented sausages will give an opportunity to consumers who don't take dairy products the possibility to include probiotic foods to their diet," said study co-author Anna Jofré, a food microbiologist at Catalonia's Institute of Food and Agricultural Research's (IRTA) food safety program in Girona, Spain.
For probiotic bacteria to work, they must survive the acids in the digestive tract. As such, the researchers focused on microbes found alive in human feces.
The scientists concentrated on 43 fecal samples of healthy infants up to six months old. The samples were taken from diapers, mostly provided by midwives in support groups for new parents.
The two kinds of bacteria used most often in probiotics, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are far more abundant in infant poop than in adult excrement. In addition, "infant feces are natural samples, easy to obtain," Jofré said.
The scientists tried fermenting six batches of sausages using three strains of bacteria found in baby poop and three other, commercial probiotic strains of bacteria. Studies they had done in the past established the strains they used from infant excrement were safe for people.
Specifically, the investigators made "fuet," a kind of Mediterranean fermented pork sausage commonly found in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It resembles the Spanish fermented sausage known as chorizo, although fuet does not contain paprika like chorizo does and is also usually shorter, thinner, less acidic and less fatty. (The sausages the researchers made had no feces in them, only bacteria cultured from the poop.)
Only one of the six strains of bacteria became the main, dominant microbes within the sausages: one of the strains from infant feces. In fact, this strain grew "to levels of 100 million cells per gram of sausage," Jofré said, "enough to produce health-promoting effects to people."
Moreover, professional tasters confirmed all the sausages tasted like regular fuet, even though all were healthier, low-fat, low-salt versions. The scientists detailed their findings in the February issue of the journal Meat Science.
The scientists tried their creations as well.
"We ate them, and they tasted very good," Jofré told LiveScience.
Future research needs to confirm if this strain of bacteria actually has probiotic effects. "Meanwhile, they can be used for the production of tasty fermented sausages," Jofré said.
No companies are currently interested in commercializing these sausages, Jofré noted.


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WESTMINSTER -- When disasters like the 2008 ice storm, the 2011 October blizzard or Hurricane Sandy paralyze the area, consumers often find themselves in long lines paying higher prices for things like gasoline and power generators, but economists disagree on what role, if any, the government should play in restricting prices.
Michael Greenwood, chairman of Mount Wachusett Community College's business department, said when you have an emergency the fundamentals of supply and demand kick in. Important items and commodities such as gasoline are in high demand, but short supply, so their values tend to rise considerably.
Although those items may become much more valuable, Greenwood said it's not always in the interest of the business to raise the prices too high because of both social responsibility and long-term profits.
"When people are hurting there needs to be a balance with profits at any cost and keeping a lifetime customer," said Greenwood.
He said the public will often take it personally if they think a business is taking advantage of a disaster and shop elsewhere when the disaster is over.
"It's up to the consumer to vote with their dollars," said Greenwood. "These businesses put their future at risk."
Free market economists say letting prices rise naturally in a disaster will help get resources where they are needed the most. Entrepreneurs looking to profit will resupply the area if there is enough money in it for them, and the consumers most willing to pay the heavy markups will be the ones who need the goods the most.
Barbara Anthony, the undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, said most people misunderstand what price gouging is.
Under Massachusetts law, price gouging is technically only when gasoline prices rise after the governor has declared a state of emergency, and only if there is a gross disparity between the price increase and the cost of the merchant's supply. She said it's not illegal to raise prices to the consumer when the supply price also goes up, as long as it's within reason. She said there is no specific percentage it has to surpass.
"It's a little like the Supreme Court's definition of pornography, you know it when you see it," said Anthony.
For products other than gasoline, the state Attorney General's office can intervene for dramatic price increases under the concept of unconscionability. Anthony gave the example of a 2010 water main break in Boston where some merchants were selling 12 oz. bottles of water for $5.
"We ended up fining some retailers for that conduct," said Anthony.
She said these issues are very rare because under normal circumstances, competing businesses will undersell merchants who post huge markups.
"You'd be cutting your own throat if you tried that," said Anthony. She said things are different in disasters, where supply lines may be cut off, the number of sellers can drop and they would have a limited pool of supplies to sell to a captive audience.
"From a public policy perspective, that's a market failure," said Anthony. She said there will be some people who can afford huge markups, but a lot of people who can't and without intervention they could be unable to afford crucial supplies.
Luis D. Rosero, assistant professor of economics at Fitchburg State University, said he supports having price gouging laws in extreme cases, but he said it only really comes up during major disasters when the local government is overextended.
"From an enforcement point of view, that's not a priority," said Rosero. "The priority is dealing with the tragedy."
Rosero said manipulating the prices is going to run the risk of causing market failures. He said it's not the prices that should be the government's big concern, it's the supply and demand levels that determine those prices.
"In the case of emergencies, I partially don't think anti-gouging laws are really as effective as direct intervention into the underlying problems, which is a change with the supply," said Rosero.
He said gasoline is a very different commodity from drinking water or generators, but applauded efforts in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy in which the government released reserve fuel into the local market where supplies were low.
He said the government shouldn't just leave emergency situations to sort themselves out, but helping increase the supply should be the focus and will naturally bring down prices and stop temporary monopolies from forming.
The same tactic doesn't work with goods like generators, Rosero said, which are a different market and the aren't as crucial for most people.
Charlie Aubuchon, vice president of distribution center operations for the Westminster-based Aubuchon Hardware, said they had 400 large generators in storage before Hurricane Sandy struck. Now they are down to five.
Aubuchon said they do not increase their generator prices during disasters -- the 6,000-watt models sell for $899 -- because they have a consignment deal with a company in New York.
Aubuchon said most companies don't keep a large supply of generators on hand because they are expensive and rarely sold outside of an emergency. In the past, companies could hold on to them for four or five years before they sold.
However, the company has seen four recent disasters that increased the demand: The ice storm of 2008, the ice storm of 2010 in southern Massachusetts, the 2011 October snowstorm and Hurricane Sandy from this month.
Before those disasters struck, the company struck a consignment deal with a New York distributor. Aubuchon Hardware would store a large supply of generators in their Westminster warehouse and buy them as needed for their 121 locations. If the distributor needed them, they would be moved there. He said this kept them from having to raise prices.
Aubuchon said when disasters strike, the cost for hardware stores to buy generators shoots up because of the sudden demand. He said the consignment deal shields them from that problem.
"You've got Joe's Hardware on the corner, he's got to go out scrambling for a couple of generators and will have to mark them up," said Aubuchon. "At that point the wholesaler could be marking it up before they get them and he will have to mark them up to the customer.


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Construction has started on another massive Amazon e-commerce warehouse in the Houston area, a building where robots will be used to package and ship items to customers around the world.
The new treatment center is under construction on 93.5 acres of land at 10507 Harlem Road in Richmond, southwest of Houston. There will be more than 850,000 square feet of the footprint, Seattle-based company and Texas developer Trammell Crow Co. said on Thursday in a statement.
The project is expected to bring 1,000 jobs to the region when it opens next year.
The reopening of Houston: How the owners of Kirby Maison de Glace are opening a new location during the pandemic
Amazon opened its first processing center built here a few years ago. The company received a 10-year tax break in Harris County to develop the North Houston building. The tax cut was planned to save Amazon by $ 180,000 a year.
Amazon also has 1 million square feet, the Brookshire Processing Center, west of Katy, and 300,000 square feet, the sorting center near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Life Sciences and Real Estate: Hines to be developed for mixed use project near Med Center
Fort Bend County and the Fort Bend Economic Development Board said they worked with Amazon on the Richmond project, but details were not immediately available.
Ware Malcomb, Graycor Construction Co., ASH & Associates, Langan Engineering, Jordan & Skala Engineers and Harrington Group Inc. are involved in the project.
Paul Takahashi’s previous statement.


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Tesla announced its investment of $1.5 Billion USD in Bitcoin. “PayPal”, America most secured online payment platform, also invested $700 Million USD and made their payment platform operable for buying and selling cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin sold at its all-time highest hitting a climax of $58,000, which witnessed a surge after it rose from $43,000 despite Bitcoin suffering a major backlash after a United States House of Representative member said Bitcoin was unsafe and unsecured denouncing the token as unreliable, unstable and volatile.
The world’s second billionaire has aforementioned his “Tesla” shares was also high and it made shares dropped 8%. His shares have reached an all-time high of $800
This development has come after Jeff Bezos the “Amazon” CEO took over again as the world’s richest man after they have been at loggerheads for the world’s wealthiest man. Musk dropped to second place after Tesla stock suffered a $4 Billion USD drop in his shares as Tesla owner and CEO.
Elon Musk was born in South-Africa and moved to Canada. His interest in Space exploration and Artificial Intelligence had his net worth spike from $40 Billion to $180 Billion in a year.
“Could just one statement from the world’s second wealthiest man also makes him a formidable force“? or could it be a regularization strategy to control the autonomy Cryptocurrency has enjoyed which has rendered conventional banking methods unorthodox.
Bitcoin price stands at $47,490 at the time of writing this article.


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Tesla shares are up 6.6% on the day, after hitting new record highs.
The stock gained 12.6%.
The company is expected to report results on Monday that could lift Tesla’s market capitalisation by more than $6bn to $60bn.
The shares rose more than 4% in after-hours trading.
Tesla has already reported a net loss of $1.3bn for the quarter ending March 31, compared with a profit of $3.9bn for a year earlier.
Investors are also likely to see higher profit on their Tesla-related investments.
“I think people are going to look for the next-generation cars to be better in the next few years,” said analyst James Ristevski, of BMO Capital Markets.
“It is going to be a very aggressive year for Tesla.
That’s probably the best way for them to do it.”


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Large camera sensors offer image quality that isn't found in cameras with smaller sensors, which are far more common and found in nearly all point-and-shoot compact cameras. Using a camera with a large sensor often means using a camera that is larger overall, something that doesn't appeal to some users. It is that particular photography niche that Samsung's NX mini targets.
Yet another camera manufacturer partially calls it quits in face of the onslaught of smartphones. Accoring to the Nikkan Kogyo, Canon has decided to let go of its low-priced digital compact camera business and instead focus its resources on high-end, and more expensive, digital single lens reflex or DSLR cameras.
Among the other cameras Canon has unveiled tonight, the camera maker has taken the wraps off its new PowerShot G1 X Mark II, an update over the previous model that offers photographers a compact body with a larger-than-average image sensor and 12.8-megapixels. We've got the full specifications for you after the jump.
Canon has announced a new gaggle of digital cameras this evening, among them being the latest entrant to its EOS Rebel product line, the EOS Rebel T5 DSLR. This particular Rebel is aimed at entry-level photographers, and brings with it an 18-megapixel CMOS APS-C sensor and a DIGIC 4 processor.
Panasonic has announced what it says is the first ever Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (DSLM) camera that offers 4K video recording. Photographers can use the camera to both record Ultra HD videos and snap stills, doing so with a 16.05-megapixel Digital Live MOS Sensor and a quad-core processor.
A lower-on-the-totem pole option than the recently announced WG-4 and WG-4 GPS models is the Ricoh WG-20, a rugged compact digital camera for individuals who do a lot of shooting outdoors or underwater. The camera brings with it a host of features similar to the WG-4 models, though with a smaller display and sensor.
Ricoh has introduced a couple of new cameras for the outdoorsy folks among us: the Ricoh WG-4 and the WG-4 GPS. Both cameras bring waterproof and shock-resistant bodies to the table, providing protection against harsh environments where your average digital camera wouldn't tread. We've a breakdown of the specs after the jump.


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Two Ohio representatives have submitted a bill that would curtail the kinds of local government debit and credit card misuse that, in one recent instance, allowed the administrator of a small village to charge more than $700,000 in personal items to taxpayers.
House Bill 312, introduced late last month, would ban debit cards for all but “law enforcement purposes” and require local government entities to establish policy limiting credit card use. Though it provides some latitude in how those policies are written, it does specify that the policy must include rules on credit limits, who is authorized to use the card, and what constitutes acceptable use.
The bill appears to have received at least some tepid support among municipalities. Kent Scarrett, executive director of the Ohio Municipal League, told Watchdog.org that though his group is always concerned about state mandates on local government, it remains neutral on the bill.
“We don’t oppose it – there were some changes we sought and received,” Scarrett said. “It’s kind of in the vein of good government and setting some guidelines … it’s something we’ve already been talking to our members about, and we’re kind of following along.”
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Dave Greenspan, R-Westlake, and Kirk Schuring R-Canton, comes in light of a recent report by the state auditor, summarizing $1.2 million in local government card fraud discovered through 35 investigations since 2011.
In its most high profile example, the administrator for the Village of Mt. Sterling – with just over 1,700 residents – used over $724,000 in public funds to buy personal items ranging from a washer and dryer for his girlfriend, to a camper. Nearly half of the expenditures were made using the village credit card. The fraud, which began as early as 2012, was only discovered after the manager, mayor and the village’s fiscal officer simultaneously retired in 2016.
The manager, Joseph Johnson, faced 10 felony counts and ultimately entered into a plea deal in which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and an agreement to repay the $724,000.
After finding that many of the instances of fraud stemmed from poor or lacking credit card policies, State Auditor David Yost sent out a survey to local government entities to determine the extent to which local government controlled credit card use. Though roughly 90 percent of respondents claimed to have some form of policy in place, a majority of those did not spell out “allowable expenses” as part of that policy.
“The response and findings were solid and provided the framework for the auditor and several state legislators to pursue … policies to safeguard credit-card use and protect taxpayers,” a representative for the Auditor’s office, Benjamin Marrison, told Watchdog.org. “In the meantime, the findings have encouraged local government employees, citizens and others to more closely examine credit and debit card spending, limits and policies.”
A representatives of the State Auditor’s office said that HB 312 was written in close consultation with the auditor’s legislative team.
Illinois’ most prominent action on limiting credit card use came in a state Supreme Court ruling nearly a decade ago against the former mayor of the City of Pekin, who used the town’s credit card for gambling-related cash advances during his term beginning in 2004. After he was caught, People v. Howard made its way to the the Illinois Supreme Court, which disagreed with the former mayor’s argument that since he repaid the withdrawn funds from his personal accounts, it was not misconduct. It ruled that the violation of the policy from the outset was a violation of the Illinois Constitution, regardless of whether the money was ultimately returned.
Since then, the Illinois Municipal League has warned members that even paying a double-occupancy fee for an accompanying spouse at a professional development event should be booked first with personal funds and reimbursed minus the fee. Like Ohio, Illinois’ rules on local government credit and debit cards appears to be at the discretion of local entities.
The Ohio bill also addresses increased oversight of credit card use, which the auditor advocated as part of its report. The report highlighted a township in Franklin County where the fiscal officer spent nearly $40,000 on unauthorized purchases over two years, including retail stores, amusement parks and more. In the ensuing investigation, it was uncovered that local policy made the officer responsible for not only deciding who received the township’s credit cards, but also for signing the monthly payment checks to those cards, and “maintaining support for expenditures.”
“In other words, she had total power over using and accounting for debit and credit cards,” the report said. “With no one looking over her shoulder, it was a situation ripe for exploitation.”
Provisions in the bill help enforce checks and balances, including regular reviews of credit card purchases by boards and councils and, for instances where local government has limited home rule, rules against appointing the fiscal officer to be the credit/debit card compliance officer mandated by the bill.
The ban on debit cards appears to stem from concerns expressed in the auditor’s report that such cards can be used for difficult-to-trace cash withdrawals.
If passed by the Ohio legislature, local governments in Ohio would have three months to establish a policy, or submit to a board policy.
The Ohio Senate and House are scheduled to reconvene floor sessions in September.


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Whether or not the Republicans win big next week, it is already clear that the "transformative" aspirations of the Obama presidency—the special promise of this first black president to "change" us into a better society—are much less likely to materialize. There will be enough Republican gains to make the "no" in the "party of no" even more formidable, if not definitive.
But apart from this politics of numbers, there is also now a deepening disenchantment with Barack Obama himself. (He has a meager 37% approval rating by the latest Harris poll.) His embarrassed supporters console themselves that their intentions were good; their vote helped make history. But for Mr. Obama himself there is no road back to the charisma and political capital he enjoyed on his inauguration day.
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We expect the Galaxy S4 Mini to launch on Verizon and AT&T, but according to a new FCC filing the device may be headed for Sprint as well. The recently-discovered document lists a handset with model number SPH-L520 which features Sprint’s brand of LTE, dimensions just slightly larger than the S4 Mini, and clear Samsung branding.
There’s no actual confirmation this is the Galaxy S4 Mini. Samsung may be working on an exclusive handset for Sprint, but we have a pretty strong suspicion this is the smartphone maker’s miniaturized flagship. With the S4 Mini on the horizon for America’s two biggest carriers, it’s no surprise to learn the phone could also land on Sprint.
The Galaxy S4 Mini comes equipped with a 4.3-inch qHD screen, a dual-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing shooter. It comes running Android 4.2.2 out of the box with Samsung’s own custom UI on top.
We still don’t know when the device will be released on or how much it will cost on-contract, though imagine it will fall around the $99 price point.


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The bulk of video and audio tapes released in Russia this year are counterfeit, Pyotr Poroikov of the Russian press ministry confirmed at a RIA Novosti press conference on Thursday.
In the first 10 months of 2002, the country sold about 220 million audio tapes, of which 186 million were counterfeit, reported Poroikov. Of the 95,000 video tapes sold during the same period, 80 million had been manufactured illegally. The unit weight of counterfeit products on the CD and DVD market reached about 80%.
The high piracy rate in the given sphere tells on the country's international authority and the process of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation, stressed the spokesman for the press ministry. The advantageousness of illegal video and audio businesses also accounts for a large number of organised criminal groups and growth of shadow economy. In 2001, according to the ministry's information, direct loss from short-received taxes alone amounted to 3.5 billion rubles.
Russia has been developing an energy module on the basis of the megawatt-class nuclear power plant since 2010. The spaceship needs neither sunlight nor solar batteries
There are legitimate authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk republics now, with which Russia can implement the project of the economic integration of the Donbass
Austria does not intend to expel Russian diplomats because of the spy scandal


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PeckShield investigators have confirmed what some members of the crypto community have already been warning: hackers are exploiting a bug in OpenSea, the world's largest NFT marketplace.
About 332 ETH (BRL 4.1 million) were stolen from the platform this morning (24) through a breach opened by a “front-end issue”, tweeted PeckShield, without going into further details.
But apparently the problem is not new. This is a bug that allows attackers to buy NFTs at much lower prices, reported in old listings and that should no longer appear on the platform.
After buying the NFTs at low prices, they resell them at a new price that matches their current valuation, giving the attacker a large profit margin. The problem therefore directly affects platform users who are losing their NFTs.
BAYC #8274, for example, was “bought” this morning for 22.9 ETH and then sold for 130 ETH, giving the attacker a profit of 100 ETH in a few minutes, around BRL 1.2 million at the time. current Ethereum price.
As analyst Tal Be'ery has shown, the original holder listed the token on OpenSea for 22.9 ETH on July 9, 2021, and it was at this price that the attacker was able to take the item.
The person behind the attack is known for jpegdegenlove and in addition to the Bored Ape Yacht Club, he also stole NFTs from other famous collections such as the Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Cool Cats.
User @ToastVirtual was another victim of the bug and confessed on Twitter his frustration with what happened: “Shit OpenSea. I'm very upset with your damn website now, I just woke up on a Monday morning to find that my monkey Bored Ape just sold for 6.66 ETH overnight due to an old listing price.”
How the bug is being exploited
Developer Rotem Yakir explained that in order to unravel the loophole, it is necessary to understand that part of the trading on OpenSea takes place off-chain (off-chain) to save fees from the Ethereum network.
“When you list an item for sale (or bid), you are signing data that validates that you are willing to sell your NFT at that price. The signature is saved in the Open Sea off-chain database and when someone wants to buy your NFT, they will send their previously signed data to the smart contract, where the signature and sale information (such as expiration and price) is validated in the chain. before making the transfer”, he explains.
The problem is that this way, the old listings are still saved in the database, even if the user creates a new listing for the same NFT. To avoid this problem, the holder who gives up on selling an item is now obliged to carry out a transaction to save his decision on the blockchain.
As seen this morning, an attacker can save the signed listing — which is public on https://orders.rarible.com or the OpenSea API — and exploit it later, even if the listing has been removed from the UI. .
“The on-chain transaction will save the fact that you canceled that sale in your smart contract, and even if someone tries to use your previously signed data, the on-chain validation will reject the sale,” says Yakir.
While it is now mandatory to transact to unlist on OpenSea, this was not always the case, and it is precisely the NFTs listed before the change that are being explored at this time.
In the past, users could sell an NFT at a new price, without having to cancel the previous listing. To solve this problem, users themselves must act, as the developer advised: “If you want to be 100% safe, just transfer your NFT to a different wallet”.
So far, the OpenSea team has not commented on this morning's exploit.
The post Hacker Profits 332 ETH With OpenSea Bug That Allows You To Buy NFTs At Old Prices appeared first on Bitcoin Portal.


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A top Chinese official says the government is pushing ahead a plan to ban cars that run on fossil fuel and is instead encouraging the application of electric vehicles.
Xin Guobin, China’s vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, was quoted by media as saying that the move would profoundly affect the path of the country’s auto industry.
"Many countries have adjusted development strategies. Some countries have worked out a timetable to stop production and sales of traditional-fuel vehicles," Xin told an auto forum in the northern city of Tianjin.
"Now the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched a study as well, and will work with related departments on a timetable for our country," he added.
The move is seen as part of China’s efforts to curb air pollution in the country which is considered as one of the worst in the world.
Accordingly, the government is expected to force engine makers and car companies to pivot away from fossil fuels, speeding the implementation of electric vehicles in a bid to meet global climate standards laid out in the 2016 Paris Accords, Bloomberg reported.
World’s auto industries are expecting that the Chinese car electrification plan would lead to a dramatic shift in the market given that the country’s consumers represent the largest car-buying population on Earth.
To the same effect, they are already preparing to respond to what could be a revolutionary industrial move by the Chinese government.
Honda will introduce an electric car to Chinese buyers in 2018, according to Honda China COO Yasuhide Mizuno, in cooperation with Chinese business entities Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda, creating a new brand, Bloomberg added.
Other automakers and investors have quickly followed suit.
Chinese startup automaker Nio will begin selling its ES8 battery-powered SUV as soon as mid-December, according to a company statement.
Nio is collaborating with the Chinese state-owned Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, which itself is currently involved with Volkswagen to introduce an electric SUV in China as early as 2018, according to reports.


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Honda has made some fantastic vehicles in its 75 years as a company. But if you had to pick just one car to represent the distilled essence of Honda, what would it be? From the humble Civic CVCC to the world-beating NSX, there’s a tremendous breadth of engineering excellence under the H banner. Is it even possible to narrow it down to just one? Maybe not, but make your arguments here.
What Honda model is the most Honda?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite Japanese car commercial?“. Continue reading
At long last Toyota has revealed the full story of how they recreated their first race car, the 1951 Toyopet Racer. News of the car’s existence was only made public last year, and after 71 years lost to history no examples had survived. Toyota sought to build a replica from scratch, and though the car was primitive by today’s standards the project, even with all the manufacturing might behind one of the largest automakers in the world, proved much more difficult than it might seem at first. Continue reading
Toyota has released a teaser showing a white-gloved chauffeur hand resting on the door handle of a tall and upright black vehicle. What else could this be but the rumored Century SUV? It was rumored to arrive before the end of 2023 and camouflaged test mules have already been spotted all over Japan. It’s as good as official, people. Continue reading
In his second novel, former International Editor for Road & Track magazine Sam Mitani continues to blend gripping action and international intrigue with fast cars, most of which are Japanese. It’s not hard to understand why. Almost 30 years ago Mitani put Japanese tuner cars on the greater automotive map when he gathered legends like GReddy, RE-Amemiya, and Veilside for a seminal R&T article that showed pre-internet Americans there was more to the aftermarket than Saleen Mustangs and Callaway Corvettes.
From the moment you open the cover, Red Mist is nonstop action where the hero drives cars like a Lexus RC F, Mazda RX-7, and Subaru WRX STI. Fans of action thrillers tend to geek out over gadgets like cars, aircraft, and weapons, and it can be frustrating when a story doesn’t get these details right. That is never the case with Red Mist. Continue reading
There’s a new anime series out that looks to feature some cool classic cars. We haven’t actually seen High Card, but the trailer and opening credits include a healthy dose of automotive mayhem. The plot sounds completely cuckoo-bananas ridiculous, but the star car is apparently a Datsun Fairlady roadster, and plenty of other real-world cars appear throughout. Continue reading
Today, August 28, is the 70th anniversary of Japan’s first television broadcast and, thus, it is also the 70th anniversary of Japan’s first television commercial. TV signals began beaming at 11:20 am; the first commercial aired 40 minutes later. It was supposed to be a Seiko spot announcing the first noon on TV, but a mistake in the studio caused the film to be reversed and the sound muddled. The ad was halted after three seconds. Another version announcing 7:00 pm aired that evening as the second commercial. Since then, Japanese TV spots have evolved to an art form all its own.
What’s your favorite Japanese car commercial?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the worst trend in car culture these days?”. Continue reading
No blast down Tokyo’s legendary Wangan would be complete without an encounter with the Rainbow Bridge. The 2,618-foot suspension bridge links the city’s Shuto expressway to the Bayshore Route, sites of Tokyo’s storied street racing scenes. On August 26, the famed landmark of the hashiriya celebrates its 30th anniversary. Continue reading
Today, August 24, is the birthday of a car that is pretty unique in the annals of automotive history. It’s the day the fifth-generation Toyota Celica Convertible was introduced, a car that most observers don’t think of as being particularly noteworthy. However, this humble Celica has the distinction of being the first factory convertible equipped with 4-wheel steering. Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged celica, T180, toyota
In 1971 NHK went around Tokyo documenting scenes of everyday life. The footage shows a vibrant city full of hope and possibility. From children checking out at Mazinger Z toys in a Ginza department store to advertisements for Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury at the Nichigeki theater, it’s a time warp to an age when the capital was booming. Cars aren’t the focus of the hour-long film but they pop in and out of the many street scenes, making us drool over brand-new Mazda Savanna RX-3s and Nissan Bluebird 510s. Continue reading
If you grew up watching Ultraman or Power Rangers you’ve seen a tokusatsu television series. Meaning “special photography” in Japanese, these action shows for kids usually had a sci-fi theme and used elaborate costumes and primitive live-action special effects to populate a world of superheroes, robots, and/or aliens. Of course, these characters needed similarly futuristic vehicles to get around in. This often resulted in regular cars dressed up as ornate, crime-fighting machines that were completely unrecognizable from their base models. Welcome to a new series on JNC where you guess the tokusatsu car. Continue reading
Apologies for the late QotW, thanks to a big storm that knocked out power a JNC HQ. It was an annoyance, but not as big an annoyance as the many atrocities committed by car people. We, for one, cannot wait for the matte paint trend to go away. Back in 2009 we were saddened to see that Lexus USA painted their LFA press car matte black while introducing their brand new V10-powered engineering marvel in front of the world. Fourteen years later we’re still waiting for the fad to disappear. There are many crimes, both fashion and actual, committed in the name of cars.
What’s the worst trend in car culture these days?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your saddest story of saying goodbye to a car?”. Continue reading
Seeing old cars is one thing, but how about an entire city-full of what are today rare classics? A portable video camera would have been very expensive back in 1970, but luckily someone had the foresight to get one and record an everyday drive through Tokyo.
Despite what the title says this is clearly in the early 1970s based on the cars on the streets. We see countless Toyota Crown taxis, but also privately owned cars like 510 Bluebirds, Glorias, a Toyota Corona, Honda Life, a rare Publica pickup and even a Porsche 911. Billboards for Canon, Toshiba, Sony and Mitsubishi all float by, and the last segment passes through Ginza right by the soon-to-be demolished San’ai Dream Center with the Morinaga Globe looming in the background. The air is probably thick with hydrocarbons but the views are simply amazing.
Posted in Showa Snap
Tagged 510, bluebird, corona, gloria, honda, life, nissan, publica, San'ai Dream Center, t80, toyota
Enkei has revived a classic wheel design that looks like a steelie but is actually cast aluminum. The original Enkei Al’Life debuted in 1990 with the same “looks like steel but lighter” concept. The remake is called the Al’Vita, appropriately, as vita is Latin for “life”. It’s equally fitting that Enkei’s hero car is an ND Roadster — the Al’Life could’ve been fitted to any car with a 4×100 bolt pattern, but was mainly created for the NA Roadster. Continue reading
One of the the oldest Nissans in the USA is currently for sale. Nissan established a foothold in the US market one year after Toyota in 1957, and this 1958 Datsun 1000 would have been among the first sold. It might not look like much, but its build date is what’s historically significant here, and we can’t remember ever seeing one in such good condition. Continue reading
Posted in for sale
Tagged 210, datsun
A couple of weeks ago we wondered what “JDM” car Barbie would drive if she wasn’t in a Corvette. Turns out this chick has more cars than Jay Leno. We learned more than we ever wanted to know about her car collection, which includes a ton of weird made-up vehicles but also some that are actually cool. As a dad who doesn’t want to give his daughter unrealistic car toys, it was a deep rabbit hole to fall into. Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged Escudo/Sidekick, Harrier, lexus, Lexus RX, mazda, miata, Miata NA, nissan, porsche, suzuki, toyota, z32
Today, August 14, is Japan’s official End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Day. This is because the numbers 8-1-4 can be read ha-i-sha, or “scrapped car”. While Japan is pretty good about recycling disused cars, they’re probably a bit more trigger-happy when it comes to disposing of cars in the first place, compared to the US. In any case, everyone’s got an automotive sob story about a car which met its demise, whether too early or at the right time but in a still painful way.
What’s your saddest story of saying goodbye to a car?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What was the most important machine ever invented?”. Continue reading
Soichiro Honda’s name may have been on the buildings, but Takeo Fujisawa was just as important a figure in making Honda the global powerhouse it is today. As brilliant as Soichiro Honda was as an engineer, Fujisawa was equally talented as a salesman. This year Fujisawa was posthumously inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. Continue reading
Between coverage of the latest variants of the Nissan Z and Skyline, we’re pretty NISMO’ed out. Instead, let’s return to NISMO’s heyday, when the R32 Skyline GT-R first appeared on the scene. It had been nearly 20 years since the GT-R name had been put on a Skyline, and no one knew yet what an absolute monster the R32 would be on the track. In its inaugural year it decimated the formerly dominant Ford Sierra RS500, the A70 Toyota Supra Turbo A, and E30 BMW M3. Continue reading
Not content to launch just a Z NISMO, Nissan has also released a Skyline NISMO in Japan. Nissan Motorsports hasn’t touched a new Skyline since the GT-R was split off into its own model, and this marks the first time the Skyline has seen an official NISMO Skyline since the R34 Z-Tune. The model was created in part to honor 60 years since the first hotted up Skyline – the Prince S54A-1, predecessor to the Nissan Skyline GT-R — stepped onto the scene. Appropriately, the launch event held in Japan had the legendary sports sedan on stage. Continue reading
The “Is it cake?” trend is a couple of years old now, but people still can’t get enough of ultra-realistic desserts. For the launch of the J250 Land Cruiser, Toyota had a 1/10-scale FJ40 cake made to commemorate the occasion. It also happened to be the 72nd anniversary of the Land Cruiser, but luckily the cake wasn’t stabbed with 72 candles. Continue reading


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An annual membership to Element Lifestyle’s luxury concierge services will set you back $36,000. But for that sum, a member – or his or her executive assistant – can get 24/7 support for any and all (legal) requests.
On Element’s fulfilled list: organizing a custom 10-day version of “The Amazing Race” across nine European countries; finding a rare Faberge golden egg; and producing a Sweet 16 party with rapper duo LMFAO.
For the 1 percent, that fee might even seem like a bargain. In fact, some pay for memberships with more than one concierge service, to increase chances that a request will be completed, said Element co-founder Joubin Bral. Members are kept anonymous, but the industry is clearly expanding in Los Angeles, given Element’s steady growth and a recent push into the area by Quintessentially, a globally recognized concierge service.
“Someone who’s extremely wealthy just wants it to get done, and one place may have better access than the other for certain things.”
Bral, a former premium ticket broker, started the company in November 2009 with Edgar Estrada, who took care of elite passengers for American Airlines, and Michael Albanese, a former concierge at high-end hotels in New York City. Through their relationships with premier hoteliers and restaurateurs and other luxury-minded businesses around the globe, the eight-person team fields and fulfills requests for its nearly 100 members – on average, 10 to 20 requests per hour.
In the end, the value proposition is just human empathy and old-fashioned customer service, Albanese said. Element has hired an accounting manager, travel coordinator, director of client management and director of business development. Most of Element’s team is under 35 and paid on salary or as independent contractors.
“Say a client is getting off a safari in Africa and wants fish and chips in England. A traditional travel agency will just book and send a confirmation, but I’ll be up making sure their suite is ready for a 6 a.m. arrival.” Starting at an extra $5,000 a day, Element team members also will travel with the client to ensure a seamless experience.
A market for experiences
“Luxury concierge is an interesting company category that makes a lot of sense,” said Eric Johnson, founder of marketing agency Ignited and co-president of media, marketing, and advertising collaborative thinkLA.
At their core, concierge services guarantee VIP treatment anywhere in the world – particularly in an unfamiliar city where the client has no contacts.
“These services are ultra exclusive, ultra unique, and come at an ultra cost,” Johnson said. “There have always been people who want to have the best, and if these companies can deliver experiences that (the wealthy) can’t get on their own, the fee structure seems quite reasonable.”
A recent survey of Travel Leaders Group agents reported nearly 30 percent of luxury clients listed either “unique activities” and “exclusivity” of experiences as the most important component when spending money on travel.
L.A., of course, doesn’t lack for wealth. In 2012, Capgemini ranked the city second-highest in millionaires – meaning people who have at least $1 million to invest – with more than 255,000 calling the city home.
That’s one reason why U.K.-based Quintessentially, a 1,500-person luxury lifestyle group known globally for its “lifestyle management” services, has made L.A. the foothold for its West Coast expansion. The company offers several tiers of membership, from virtual assistant-like “dedicated” memberships ($5,500), to “global elite” memberships (up to $60,000 per year) that offer an entire on-call team.
The company also works with hundreds of brand partners to take care of clients from major corporations such as HSBC and Jaguar. It recently announced a partnership with Ferrari.
“L.A. was a destination office, but we’re here to boost the membership because the city is back,” said Quintessentially’s co-founder Aaron Simpson. He noted the region is becoming a major hub for technology, media, entertainment, advertising, and real estate — not to mention premium inbound and outbound travel to Asia.
“Traditionally it was San Francisco, but entrepreneurs seem to be gravitating here,” added Senior Vice President Jon Goss.
The company moved in November from a tiny, four-person satellite office at The Grove into 4,000 square feet on Sunset Boulevard. Membership, though capped in any one city at 5,000, has grown 200 percent to 300 percent in the past three months.
Although the lifestyle concierge business is core to Quintessentially’s West Coast expansion, the company has also begun operating standalone sister businesses, as they do in Europe, where they boast more than 30 divisions spanning high-end publishing, real estate, hotels, wine, florists – even a sourcing service for butlers, nannies and executive assistants.
Later this summer, L.A. members will be able to partake in a new retail business that Quintessentially is working on in partnership with Fred Segal, which will facilitate high-end gifting giving among agencies and studios, and source hard-to-find luxury items for personal shopping requests.
“It’s completely organic growth, a natural extension of what our clients are requesting the most,” Goss said. “The way we see is our business is as a platform that enhances a lifestyle.”
In April, Element Lifestyle purchased a loft space in the Arts District in Downtown L.A., where the plan is to partner with independent travel agents and contractors, as 80 percent of the company’s business revolves around luxury travel.
Growth shouldn’t be too challenging.
Capgemini and the Royal Bank of Canada released its annual World Wealth Report earlier this month and reported that the number of “high net worth individuals,” or people with $1 million or more to invest, grew by 15 percent. Their total net worth grew by 14 percent to a record high of $52.6 trillion in 2013.
According to a survey by research firm The Harrison Group, the wealthy spend an average of $14,548 on vacations every year, and many of them spend far more than that.
In 2013, after a four-year hiatus, luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent reintroduced private-jet journeys with around-the-world itineraries (usually priced at $70,000 and up), and sold out in a matter of weeks. Other high-end operators like TCS Expeditions said passenger counts doubled in 2013.
As a boutique, Element has an advantage over the competition in the lifestyle and travel concierge space. Often, concierge services are solo operations, or big corporate players like Quintessentially and American Express Centurion (known as the Black Card), which have tiered services.
“We charge almost double, but you’re not just an account number to us,” Bral said. He has a Centurion card as well, but the agent mixed up the cities for his hotel reservation.
Another way Element differentiates itself is a 17-page questionnaire that members can fill out — not just with frequent flyer information, but their favorite authors and musicians for aspirational requests, and what they hate spending money on.
“That answer reveals so much about who they are,” Bral said. “One of our clients booked a royal penthouse suite for 25,000 euros a night for five nights, for what a house goes for in the U.S. But all she cared about was that we secured free breakfast for her in the morning. So we arranged a private chef to cook it for her ensuite on a complimentary basis.”
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.org


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- Jai Das of Sapphire Ventures has watched Netskope, Auth0, Box, and Square flourish while other companies have failed.
- Das says an economic downturn "accelerates what happens with startups," and the good ones will address current problems.
- Das lists Uptycs, Splashtop, and Hopin as promising companies that could find great success in the current climate.
- Trends to emerge from this year could include remote performance management, identity authorization, and hybrid conferences that are both online and in-person, he believes.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Jai Das, president and managing director at Sapphire Ventures, is an expert at spotting tech companies with big potential during tough times.
His firm invested in several companies that are booming in the COVID-19 era, including Netskope, the cloud-security startup that has reached a $3 billion valuation, and Auth0, the identity-security startup that doubled its valuation to $1 billion. Das previously invested in Box and Square, and is a member of the board of AI startup DataRobot. Eleven of his investments have become publicly traded companies and 9 have been acquired.
"An economic downturn accelerates what happens with startups," he says. "That means the good ones can pop. We look for companies taking a different approach – maybe the founders come from a different field and experienced a problem as a user. When they pursue a problem with real urgency and don't worry too much about the money, you know you're onto something. They call you in the middle of the night on Saturday night because they're working on something. Those are the ones you want."
In a conversation with Business Insider, Das identified five startups he believes have big potential to break out during this erratic economy, and named three trends he believes could also emerge.
Uptycs: Security for dispersed companies
"Cloud security is going to be extremely, extremely critical right now," Das says. "Protecting the new way of working is quite valuable." Uptycs allows companies to get data and check security across different operating systems and devices. The Boston startup raised a $30 million B series round a few weeks ago led by Das, who joined its board. Its valuation is not available.
Splashtop: Accessing computer desktops from anywhere
Splashtop is an app that provides remote access to apps and data from any device, anywhere. "Splashtop has skyrocketed because of the need for remote work, collaborative work, and project management. People working separately need access and update project management documents much more," Das says. The Silicon Valley startup, also a Das investment, has raised $49 million to date with a valuation of $127 million.
JFrog: Helping developers push software updates
JFrog, which helps developers to continuously release software updates, is "booming right now during remote work because engineers must continue to work," Das says. It's currently used by millions of developers and over 5,600 customers, including giants like , Google, Amazon Web Services, Facebook, and Cisco. Its valuation has been reported at $1.5 billion, and an IPO may happen this year, the company told Business Insider.
Hopin: Online conference startup blowing up
London-based Hopin has raised a $40 million Series A from IVP, Salesforce Ventures and Accel, but is not a Sapphire investment. Just a year old, it has attracted frenzied interest from backers as the coronavirus disrupts conferences and live events. Das says the demand for virtual conferences will continue after quarantine lifts.
Monday.com: Remote project management
Monday has raised $234 million, including $150 million last July in a series D round led by Sapphire that brought the Tel Aviv startup's valuation to $1.9 billion. Das says Monday, an online project-management platform, will benefit from a hybrid workforce that needs to stay connected.
Das also pointed out several trends he sees developing during this quarantine period.
Online performance management
"Every company is struggling with how to manage people without surveilling them or pinging them to death," Das says. "When you can't see them, how can you evaluate their performance? Do you look at how much time they are spending on, or look at their calendars?" Das says companies with employees in different locations will need to focus on establishing key performance indicators that are accurate and understood. "You have to define those and then give people a chance to make sense of them."
"The digital transformation of security has to be done now, and it probably should have been done a long time ago," Das says, of the business revolution centered around cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and automation. "When things are working, nobody wants to address tough problems. That's where we were last year with passwords, then COVID hit, and we all had to play catch up. One of the ways things are changing quickly is with the adoption of identity-based authorization instead of passwords. That's one of the main things that will come out of this period."
Conferences that mix digital and on-premises attendees
"Like anything else right now, I think these will develop into a hybrid model. A lot of them will go online. Some people will want to be there, for networking and the personal aspect. But a lot more people will watch online, and that will change how conferences and events are organized. People will learn to network better online. Every aspect of our lives will be affected by the quarantine, and hopefully we'll learn how to appreciate the real-life aspects more."


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January 16, 2010 |
NEW DELHI: Taking a leaf out of its slogan 'Athithi Devo Bhava' , the tourism ministry is likely to waive off 50 per cent of the visa fee charged from visitors of Commonwealth nations as an incentive to boost slagging foreign tourist arrivals. This is part of its effort to incentivise tourism to India for the Commonwealth Games to be held in October. "We are considering a proposal to waive off 50% of the visa fee. The expense will be borne by the tourism ministry," a source said.
October 27, 2009 |
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when a 10% drop in tourist numbers is considered routine for most destinations, Kerala tourism has managed to hold on to its numbers of last year in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, and scored a marginal growth in the number of domestic tourist arrivals in the first half this year. "There has been no negative growth, and our figures up to June 2009 show that we have managed to hold to our numbers in foreign tourist arrivals", Kerala tourism director M Shivshankar told ET. In 2008, foreign tourist arrivals in the state stood at 5,98,929, representing a 16.11% growth over the previous year.
September 29, 2009 |
SILIGURI: Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayas, has failed to get the targeted tourist footfall this festive season. This has also affected Indian tour operators, a major indirect beneficiary of Bhutan tourism. If the famous Thimphu Tshechu festival is considered an indicator, there has definitely been a drop in foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in Bhutan. According to the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), around 2,000 tourists have come to see the three-day festival that started on September 28. This is 1,000 less over last year.
June 6, 2009 |
NEW DELHI: Government has earned more foreign exchange from tourism in May this year as compared to the same period during 2008. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism were Rs 3,249 crore in May this year as compared to Rs 2,988 crore in 2008, registering an increase of 8.7 per cent. However, there is a marginal decline in foreign tourist arrival in May this year. 2,95,124 foreign tourists visited the country in May 2009 against 3,00,840 in 2008. The decline is only 1.9 per cent which is marginal, said a senior Tourism Ministry official.
April 18, 2009 |
Although hotels in India lost out on big business after the IPL venue was shifted to South Africa, some are hoping they will partly recoup the loss from increased food and beverage revenues. Even ITC, the official hospitality partner, which was the most hit by the venue change, believes that IPL II will be a booster shot. Says ITC's hotel division COO Dipak Haksar: "We will be running promotional activities in our pubs and restaurants to woo families and corporate executives during the IPL season and footfalls will definitely increase . " Adds the Lalit Hotels' COO Vijay Wanchoo: "We anticipate an increase of 10-15 % in sales generated by restaurants and pubs, especially during the semi-finals and finals.
April 17, 2009 |
PARIS: If there is one message that France wants to convey to the world, it is this: the country will have none of the economic slowdown talk. At least not in tourism. The message was pretty evident at the just-concluded 'Rendez-vous en France 2009', the flagship French travel trade exhibition organised on March 31 and April 1 this year in Paris. The event saw an overwhelming 800 tour operators and travel agents from across 60 countries, including India, interacting and striking travel deals with over 650 French tourism suppliers.
April 15, 2009 |
NEW DELHI: With just four days left for season two of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to kick off, travel bookings for South Africa, which were initially slow, seem to have picked up. Travel companies say bookings are largely being driven by corporate travellers, even as tour operators lock horns to garner volumes through a price war. "Nearly 70% of the bookings have come from corporates that are either sponsoring the teams or are looking...
April 15, 2009 |
MUMBAI: Long weekend expeditions or short haul holidays have emerged as a popular trend in leisure travel. With 2009 having the maximum of long weekends, as many as 14, compared to the last two years, tour operators are cashing in on this opportunity. They say the time-pressed corporate professionals and the double income no kid (DINK) couples are opting for domestic destinations over foreign shores as the economic slump bites both travellers and holiday planners alike. Tour operators said that the response to weekend packages is encouraging and positive as travellers take advantage of bargain deals.
April 10, 2009 |
NEW DELHI: Tourism industry has started feeling the pinch of global slowdown with the number of foreign tourists arriving in India showing a significant decline this year. The number of tourists visiting the country touched 4,71,627 in March this year as against 5,41,478 in March 2008, which is 69,851 less than the corresponding period last year. The decrease in March this year is due to the global slowdown, a senior Tourism Ministry official. However, the official said, there is no let up on our part to showcase our tourist destinations abroad to attract visitors.
March 15, 2009 |
Get ready for the Great Indian Summer holidays. Tour operators across the country are wooing Indian vacation travelers like never before. On offer are an array of flexible budget options and personalized services. This year thing are not same as last year when both in-bound and out-bound tourism to and from India registered a 15% to 20% growth. Many in the industry believe that this time around it would be difficult to register growth numbers as compared to last year.


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WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook sarees are the latest fad!
It seems like social media has now become a part and parcel of life. Women have started wearing sarees with social media logos (Image courtesy: Facebook)
Bengali social media silk saree on JioBangali.com (Image courtesy: JioBangali.com)
A sales lady wearing a pink saree with social media icons (Image courtesy: Bhumika Thakkar, Twitter)
WhatsApp on smartphones, tablets, desktop and now on sarees too? (Image courtesy: Facebook and Pinterest)
A woman was seen inside a metro train wearing a red saree with Facebook logo ( Image courtesy: NewsMobile)
Will Apple fans begin to flaunt their obsession for Apple products on sarees too? (Image courtesy: NewsMobile)


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Supermarket chain Somerfield is to ask its 10 million customers to help choose one of two leading cancer charities to be its 2007 charity of the year in a vote in its stores and online.
From this week, the UK's fifth-largest food retailer will invite shoppers in its 1,100 stores to choose between Marie Curie Cancer Care and Macmillan Cancer Support. Each charity has been given 100 words to pitch its case to shoppers. These will be displayed on ballot leaflets and posters in stores and on the supermarket's website.
The decision will be based equally on the results of the customer and staff votes. The winning charity will be announced on 20 October and will benefit from an estimated £2m to be raised by staff fundraising events and collections in the stores throughout the year.
"Simply by chance, two cancer charities gave fantastically strong and exciting presentations to us during the short-listing process," said Pete Williams, head of press and PR at Somerfield. "It is awkward - and we did have reservations - but in the end it just felt right to go on the strength of pitch."
Chris Dainty, a spokesman for Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: "Whichever charity wins, cancer patients will benefit. Equally, the campaign will give us the chance to increase public knowledge about our services."
Jason Suckley, head of corporate partnerships at Macmillan, said: "We see the vote as an opportunity to raise awareness of our services. We are enlisting the help of supporters, fundraisers and volunteers to win - but the real winners will in the end be those affected by cancer."
Somerfield's incumbent charity of the year, the Association of Children's Hospices, has so far received almost £2.5m through the partnership. In June, the supermarket collected more than 250,000 signatures on a petition to the Government to increase funding for children's hospices.
THE BIG FOUR
- Tesco Whizz-Kidz will hand over to the British Red Cross in January after a staff vote
- Asda stores each select local charities to support, and the company holds national events for Tickled Pink, Everyman, Brake and BBC Children In Need
- Morrisons staff voted for Breast Cancer Campaign to be its charity of the year
- Sainsbury's partnership with Comic Relief lasts until 2011.


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At the beginning of the week, just prior to CES 2018, HTC Vive made some big announcements. The most attention grabbing was HTC Vive Pro, updating the original with integrated headphones and improved resolution. There was also the Vive Wireless Adaptor for users keen to free themselves from cables. Both of these are still to come, so for HTC Vive users keen on trying something new today they can now try the early access release of Viveport VR.
As reported at the time, Viveport VR is a new way for Viveport users to find and consume virtual reality (VR) content through HTC Vive’s store. So not only are there new menus and layouts to improve the VR store experience the entire environment has been completely reworked.
The main addition of Viveport VR is the VR Preview this allows users to sample content prior to purchase very mush in a similar vein to traditional demos. Developers can choose what content they show, from just an environment to actual playable content so users know what the gameplay is like.
Today, HTC Vive has made another announcement. The Viveport Subscription which launched last year offering one month’s free trial will now be reduced. From the 16th January Viveport will only offer a 14-day trial period to new users, meaning that anyone not yet signed up has five days to make use of the one month period, allowing them to experience up to five VR titles from a selection of over 300.
Apart from the monthly subscription Viveport also offers several plans each covering a certain amount of months, saving customers money they longer they subscribe. So there’s a three-month plan for £19.99, a six-month plan for £39.99 or a 12-month plan for £79.99. Each works exactly the same as before offering five titles per month that are then swappable. So if you paid the standard monthly cost of £6.99 over 12 months you’d spend £83.88.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of HTC Vive and Viveport, reporting back with the latest announcements.