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ATLANTA (Reuters) – With the U.S. coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia, Oklahoma and a handful of other states took the first tentative steps at reopening for business on Friday, despite the disapproval of President Donald Trump and health experts.
Gyms, hair salons, tattoo parlors and some other businesses were cleared to open their doors by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who disregarded warnings from public health officials that relaxing restrictions could lead to more infections and deaths.
The southern U.S. state has become a flashpoint in the debate over how quickly the country should return to work. While the COVID-19 illness is killing thousands of Americans daily, stay-at-home policies have made millions jobless.
Despite the lost revenues, not all eligible businesses in Georgia jumped at the chance to reopen. Shay Cannon, owner of Liberty Tattoo in Atlanta, said he would reopen in May by appointment only and did not foresee a return to normal until June or later.
“We’re just watching the numbers and doing what seems right to us,” Cannon told Reuters.
The U.S. COVID-19 death toll, the highest in the world, topped 50,000 on Friday, having doubled in 10 days, according to a Reuters tally, and the number of Americans known to be infected surpassed 875,000.
Jasmine Maskell, owner of Timeless Tattoo in Atlanta, said she was not opening on Friday but would slowly resume business over the next couple of weeks under strict precautions.
The shop would operate as if everyone is infected, Maskell said. “We will just operate under that notion and then we can keep everyone safe here.”
Oklahoma was opening some retail businesses on Friday, Florida started letting people visit some of its beaches last Friday, South Carolina began easing restrictions on Monday, and other states will relax guidelines next week.
A Republican, Trump has given mixed signals about when and how the country should begin to get back to work after weeks in lockdown. This month he called for Democratic governors to “liberate” their states but, in a reversal this week, he told a news conference he disapproved of Georgia’s move to reopen.
Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over the prospects for treating COVID-19, suggesting that scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectant.
The comments prompted doctors and health experts to warn the public not to drink or inject disinfectant. On Friday, Trump said his remarks were meant as sarcasm.
Asked about the 50,000 deaths and whether he felt any responsibility, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday: “I think we’ve done a great job.” He pointed to early estimates that suggested the coronavirus could lead to at least 100,000 deaths in the United States.
“We’re going to be, hopefully, far below that. If we didn’t take quick action, you could have lost many millions of people.”
CONFUSING FOR CUSTOMERS
U.S. Representative Doug Collins from Georgia, a Republican like the state’s governor Kemp, said reopening on Friday was confusing for customers.
“Everyone’s supposed to be staying home, but yet we’re opening up these businesses,” Collins told Fox News. He cited federal guidelines calling for states to experience a two-week decline in cases first, and said parts of Georgia were still struggling to treat patients.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has been the worst hit by the coronavirus, said reopening the economy too early in any U.S. state was a danger to others.
“Assume the virus got on the plane that night and flew to New York or flew to Newark airport. That has to be the operating mentality,” he told a news briefing.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told the ABC News “Good Morning America” program that Georgia did not have the hospital capacity to handle the outbreak and warned of a second wave of cases.
According to a model maintained by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, which is used by the White House, hospitalizations in Georgia will peak next week.
Oklahoma, with far fewer cases and deaths than Georgia, began opening hair and nail salons, barber shops and other personal care businesses on Friday. The IHME model predicts that Oklahoma already hit its hospitalizations peak on Tuesday and could loosen restrictions on June 17.
Tennessee reopened most of its 56 state parks on Friday.
Texas on Friday began it’s “retail-to-go” phase of the reopening, allowing retail shops to either deliver products to homes, or letting customers wait in cars in parking lots and have items handed by store workers.
In practice, many Texas businesses have been doing this for weeks or stayed open outright, as Governor Greg Abbott’s classification of essential businesses included all big-box stores, bike shops, dry cleaners and farmers markets.
In Austin, tech worker Dan Jones, 32, sat in his car outside the Party City retailer that offers curbside pickups on its items for birthday parties, holidays and other festivities.
“We should definitely not be reopening everything, but this has been fine, I feel safe because I’m not having to walk around in the store with a bunch of people,” said Jones, wearing a black mask and with his window halfway down.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Friday extended her stay-at-home order through May 15 but she lifted restrictions on some businesses and allowed the public to take part in outdoor activities such as golf.
Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Susan Heavey and Jeff Mason in Washington, Brad Brookes in Austin and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Writing by Nathan Layne and Alistair Bell; Editing by Frank McGurty and Howard Goller


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Google had a customer service problem on its hands. Shoppers who returned Nexus smartphones and tablets that they bought from the company’s online store failed to get a promised refund. E-mails and repeated calls to Google’s help line yielded only vague assurances that the money would soon be on its way.
After weeks of waiting, the customers decided enough was enough: They lodged complaints with the Federal Trade Commission. “I have called multiple times and talked to multiple customer support representatives, but as of this date I have not received a refund,” a customer from Greenville, S.C. wrote. “Seems the company is unwilling or unable to do so.”
The missing refunds are just one example of the discontent Google’s users shared last year with the F.T.C., the agency responsible for enforcing most of the nation’s consumer of millions of protection laws. Keeping more than 1 billion users happy is a difficult job, particularly for a company whose products have become so central to life in the digital age.
An author from Lockport, Ill. complained that Google had illegally copied his book and made it available for free online. Business owners grumbled about malicious customer reviews in Google’s local pages that they wanted deleted. Someone from McKees Rocks, Penn. vented about buying $425 in Google Play Gift Cards and learning after reading the fine print that it could not be used to buy a tablet computer in Google’s online store. “I’m losing confidence that Google desires or has the ability to properly remedy the situation,” the would-be shopper wrote after contacting Google’s customer service and waiting more than two weeks for a reply.
The number of complaints against Google has grown rapidly in recent years. F.T.C. received 15,837 complaints related to Google in 2012, nearly triple the 5,974 filed a year earlier. In 2010, Google had 2,835 complaints. The reason for the big increase is unclear. At least part of it is likely due to Google’s growing base of users and new products.
Still, the number of complaints is just a small fraction of Google’s overall users. Worldwide, the company has 1.2 billion users via desktop computers alone, according to comScore. But it is also true that only a small percentage of consumers ever bother to formally file a complaint about their problems.
The F.T.C. provided a sampling of complaints for Google in 2012 in response to a Freedom of Information Act Request. To protect privacy, the agency redacted the names of the filers along with some other sensitive information. The data included a number of complaints forwarded to the F.T.C. from law enforcement and the Better Business Bureau. (Facebook faces similar scrutiny.)
What the complaints show are the huge range of mundane problems that any business of Google’s size has to deal with. There was a common theme, however: Most people who complained told of being ignored by Google’s customer service or receiving canned responses by email that failed to address their problems.
Google tries to handle most customer service issues by pointing users to its online help center and support forums. Assistance by phone is generally not an option for people who use its free services. “Our goal is to give customers the fastest answer with the best possible experience,” Google said in a statement. “We’ve found that online support forums and help center articles better serve our users since many have the same questions.”
Phone support is available only for paying customers like advertisers, businesses that use its premium e-mail and people who buy its electronics.
Despite the rising number of F.T.C. complaints, Google is not among the top targets of consumer anger. Last year, that ignominious distinction went to “credit card services,” a broad category encompassing an array of financial services firms, with 321,496 complaints. T-Mobile was the first specific company listed at No. 9 with 46,392 complaints, followed by Bank of America with 45,262 and DirectTV with 29,221.
The F.T.C. invites consumers to file grievances about any company that they suspect of fraudulent business practices, and hundreds of thousands of people use the system annually to voice their displeasure. Few large businesses escape the public’s anger.
The F.T.C. can open investigations and sue companies that it believes have broken the law. But in reality, many of the complaints merely reflect bad customer service, not fraud. If consumer grievances about a particular issue soar, the agency sometimes forwards them to the company responsible so it can fix the problem. Otherwise, they’re catalogued in a database and largely forgotten.
Over the years, Google has been a frequent target of F.T.C. investigations. In addition to approving the company’s acquisitions, the agency has probed Google for antitrust abuses and privacy violations. In several cases, Google settled accusations – including paying a $22.5 million fine last year for tracking Apple Safari users – and agreed to change its business practices.
Complaints filed by privacy groups and other public interest organizations were not included among those the F.T.C. provided. Rather than submitting through the public complaint system, they generally lodge their grievances directly to agency staff.
The concerns of such groups are in sharp contrast to what worries the public. Relatively few of their complaints raised any concern about antitrust issues or privacy. Among them was a resident of Kahului, HA. who railed against Google for failing to honor the “do not track” option in Firefox’s browsers that signals a user wants to remain anonymous. Meanwhile, a Web site owner from Granada Hills, Calif. encouraged the F.T.C. to investigate Google for antitrust violations after his Web site lost its top spot in search results because of a change in Google’s algorithm.
“The FTC needs to stop Google – this is a complete antitrust issue,” the Web site owner wrote before adding that Google has “shut us down.”
Google declined to comment about the problems refunding money owed to shoppers. Complaints about the matter tapered off after a couple months, however, suggesting the company eventually fixed the issue.
Google advertising accounted for another large block of complaints. Owners of a photography studio in Doylestown, OH., for example, said that Google continued charging for advertising after they had shut down their account. Meanwhile, several online publishers groused that Google had wrongfully expelled them from its network and confiscated their earnings. One from Miami said Google took $29,347 without providing any rationale beyond “policy violations.”
In general, Google said that its policies are designed to protect advertisers from publishers that fraudulently inflate visitor traffic, among other misdeeds. Money confiscated from publisher accounts is refunded to advertisers. Online publishers can appeal the decision in writing to be reinstated, although the success rate is unclear.
Whatever the topic, appear to have little chance of ever being resolved, at least by Google. The company has a detailed set of policies that conflict with what some people want done. A self-described member of the military from Tacoma, Wash., for instance, demanded that all information about him or her be deleted from Google’s search results. Any terrorist could the use the information to track his or her family down, the complaint said. But Google generally refuses to remove search results from its index and recommends that people take up the issue with those who published the information.
“I have been violated and feel my rights have been taken by this company,” the person wrote. “I fight for my country and this is how I’m treated?

domain: news


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The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that the average monthly household income of the nation had become 926,400 MNT, a 52,000 MNT increase compared to 2016.
The average increase of salary by 23,300 MNT or 4.8 percent a month and the surge in welfare by 23,900 MNT or 14.9 percent have been the main factors for the increase.
Just as revenue increased by 52,000 MNT, the average household expenditure increased by 53,100 MNT, effectively negating the increase in income.
As of the second quarter of 2017, the average monthly expenditure of a household is one million MNT. The increase in spending of non-essential products and services by 43,500 was cited as the main reason for the increased by the NSO.


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Those who work in the public relations field know too well that capturing the attention of reporters is a perennial challenge.
PR professionals compete with much-needed airtime to convey their message. But, companies should learn to align their PR strategies with current journalist trends. By knowing what drives reporters to pick up stories—or ignore them altogether—your PR campaign stands a higher chance of making its way to your target demographic.
Social networking sites have made it easier for businesses to reach a wider audience. And whether we like it or not, social media has become an appropriate channel to convey your story to the world. Babbler.us stressed though that posting on Facebook or posting Tweets isn’t all there is. Reporters don’t have the time to sift through the greater influx of news on social media.
One technique to gain their attention involves a comprehensive and concise plan. Pitch a story idea backed by reliable facts and well-researched information. Most journalists are likely to cover news that prioritizes accuracy.
Stand Out and Connect
You’ve contacted a reporter to tell your story, so how do you maintain that relationship? Providing them with engaging content is your answer. Companies should also make sure that their websites are accessible through mobile devices. Studies show that more consumers are browsing online through the use of smartphones. Aside from that, the website should be user-friendly. Clicking a lot to get the contact details of the PR team is not ideal.
A newsworthy idea becomes useless without a storyteller. Amid all the fluff, how do you plan to stand out to journalists?


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It’s time to again analyze what’s going on in the Indian industrial laser market and what is coming in the future. According to government import data, the laser market (except for laser diodes) has gone up from slightly more than 13 thousand units in 2017-2018 to almost 18 thousand units in 2018, which is reflected in the number of machines sold last year.However, an interesting fact is that overall business volume, revenue-wise, has reduced from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019. This clearly shows that in spite of increases in the number of lasers sold, the overall business volume has reduced, which suggests the selling price of lasers has dropped significantly—up to 25–30%. For laser machines or systems (it’s difficult to segregate specific laser-based systems), data indicates a growth of 25–30%.
The laser market is driven by industries such as automotive, heavy industry, infrastructure, electronics, consumer durables, railways, and others. The automotive sector is growing at a pace of approximately 10% CAGR and the Indian automotive industry (including component manufacturing) is expected to reach Rs 16.16–18.18 trillion ($251.4–282.8 billion) by 2026. Thus, the automotive industry is the main driving force for the laser industry.
Note that the government is putting in place a policy for electric vehicles (EVs), Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) norms, and safety regulation. It will take some time for the automotive sector to get ready for these changes and we will see some temporary slowdown in this sector, but it will certainly pick up after a quarter. Automotive manufacturers have started to prepare for these changes, especially with EVs. Maruti, the leading automotive car manufacturer, is already building a battery plant in Sanand Gujarat and other companies will also be getting into EVs.
Automotive sector laser applications include cutting, welding, marking, hardening, cladding, and texturing, thereby covering all major automotive applications for lasers. Let’s have a look at how the market for various laser applications did in 2018 and what’s in store for the future.
Fiber laser cutting growth
The 2D fiber laser cutting machine market is currently the fastest-growing laser market in India. The overall number of cutting machines sold in 2018 was in the range of 800–1000 units, which is double the number sold in the previous year. It is mostly dominated by Chinese machine manufacturers such as HSG Laser, Bodor Laser, Han’s Laser, and many others through their distributors/resellers that include Laser Technologies Mumbai, Laser Lab Delhi, and another 25–30 distributors selling Chinese cutting machines, apart from Han’s Laser and Golden Laser, which have their own offices in India.
Most of these machines use fiber lasers from either IPG Photonics or Chinese fiber lasers from Raycus or Max Photonics as the source. International cutting machine suppliers TRUMPF, Amada, and Bystronic have reduced their selling prices—however, they are mainly focusing on high power. An interesting point to note is that a significant percentage (25–30%) of the market has been captured by Indian machine integrators with Suresh Indu Laser (Pune) taking the lead with the largest share, followed by Mehta CAD CAM (Ahmedabad), Sahajanand Laser Technology (Ahmedabad), Messer, Protec, and many others.
This market is anticipated to grow further in 2019 to 50% more than what it was previously. I believe that Indian integrators’ share in the overall laser cutting market will continue to grow year after year.
Status of other laser processing technologies
Going to 3D cutting, the scenario is opposite, as it is mainly dominated by European suppliers led by TRUMPF (Germany), Prima Power Industries (Italy), and others, with an overall market size in the range of 20 machines. Chinese manufacturers are not that strong in this segment and it looks they will take some time to catch up. Therefore, in the coming year this market will grow, but the European dominance will still be there—however, we can see Chinese machine manufacturers breaking into this market, making it more competitive.
Another market that is anticipated to grow this year is tube cutting. This segment has started to pick up due to cost-effective Chinese tube cutting solutions. This was seen at the Blech India exhibition, held in April 2019 in Mumbai, where Han’s Laser, HG Laser, and others demonstrated their tube cutting machines.
Laser marking, which was once a lucrative market for integrators and machine builders, is now an off-the-shelf product, as prices for complete 20 W marking machines have gone down to <$2000 and there are more than 100 resellers that are offering machines. The marking sector is still growing and will continue to grow further. 3D marking and blue laser marking are driving the market upward, but selling price is a key factor for the majority of customers. Quality-specific applications cause customers to prefer non-Chinese machines, but this volume is far less than what it used to be.
Another new application is laser cleaning, which is being promoted heavily by Chinese as well as local integrators. It will grow once people understand the value and advantage of laser cleaning over conventional processes in their applications. Price is the key factor in high-energy laser cleaning applications—low-power lasers are used for solutions such as mold cleaning and I believe that once the price barrier is broken, this market sector will flourish like the marking machine market.
Laser cladding and hardening sales are stable at 4–5 units a year and is largely dominated by Laserline, TRUMPF, and IPG Photonics. However, with reductions in fiber laser prices, this market also will grow.
The laser welding market, which has been limited in the number of systems sold, has seen a jump in the number of pulsed yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) lasers up to 50 (excluding jewelry). More than 50% of such YAG machines are from Chinese machine manufacturers, while the remainder are from U.S. and European suppliers such as Alpha Laser and TRUMPF (Germany), Coherent (U.S.), and Amada (Japan).
High-power laser welding systems experienced growth in industry as well as in R&D labs. Their number has doubled every year in both sectors, mainly due to the government pushing for new technology that is desired by industry. This market is set to grow more than double in the coming year and will continue to grow further. The leading players for high-power welding still are European companies such as TRUMPF, IPG Photonics, Laserline, Coherent, Amada, and other integrators. However, Indian integrators such as Suresh Indu Laser (Pune), Scantech Laser (Mumbai), Sahajanand Laser Technology (Ahmedabad), Meera Laser Solutions (Chennai), and others are providing laser welding solutions using lasers from IPG Photonics, TRUMPF, Coherent, and others.
The above markets are based on fiber lasers and IPG Photonics is the leading supplier of fiber lasers in India, with offices in Bangalore, Ahmadabad, and Delhi, while other suppliers include Coherent, SPI Lasers, nLIGHT, and others. Chinese laser companies Max Photonics and Raycus are rapidly trying to catch up by dropping their selling price every year and enhancing service support by having their offices in India. Now in China, there are more than a dozen companies making high-power fiber lasers that are keen to explore the Indian market and thus are aggressively pricing the fiber laser selling price. One needs to see how long companies go on reducing the fiber laser prices—I feel that in a year or so, prices should stabilize as consolidation occurs.
The application making the most buzz globally is additive manufacturing in metals and nonmetals. This technology has just started to grow in India and is moving into the next phase of growth. Of the two technologies, powder-bed fusion (PBF) and laser metal deposition (LMD), PBF is leading the race in 3D printing, with EOS (Germany) having the largest installation base. Suppliers such as 3D Systems, SLM Solutions, Renishaw, TRUMPF, SISMA, and others are trying to catch up with EOS. The markets for additive manufacturing are mainly dental, aerospace, and job shops that offer complete additive/3D printing services, such as Intech DMLS, Wipro3D, and Imaginarium, which will certainly grow with more new applications being explored in automotive and other sectors.
The market for LMD is still in its initial years and is not used much in industrial applications in India. A few of these systems are mainly in R&D labs. Recently, the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) placed an order for a FormAlloy (U.S.) system for LMD. The technique has an advantage of faster speed and allows for new material/alloy development. It looks like both technologies, PBF and LMD, will be growing as the Indian government is giving a push to defense and aerospace manufacturing.
The other markets for lasers, such as medical, jewelry, entertainment, packaging, sensors, and biomedical, are growing rapidly and need to be analyzed separately. The diamond industry, which was once the largest laser user, has been going through hard times the last couple of years, especially with the introduction of artificial diamond—and still is not in the best of shape.
So far, I have focused on metals—however, carbon-dioxide (CO2) lasers offer cost-effective solutions for nonmetal processing. The CO2 laser market is growing steadily for all nonmetal applications in cutting paper and leather, among other nonmetal materials. Chinese suppliers dominate the market with continuous flow-type lasers and Indian integrators such as Suesh Indu Laser are providing local integrated solutions and giving Chinese manufacturers a run for their money. I anticipate companies offering sealed metal tube lasers from manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. will have a difficult time in the coming year, as Chinese sealed metal tube suppliers are offering lower prices. However, 24/7 performance over the years of the Chinese laser is still to be tested. For harsh environment applications, European/UK/ U.S. suppliers such as Rofin UK, Synrad, Coherent, and Universal Laser Systems have an edge.
Metal/ceramic tubes sold by Synrad, Coherent, and Universal Laser Systems are used in machines from Europe and Asia. Domestic integrators such as Suresh Indu, Mehta CAD CAM, Aditi Laser, and others are providing cost-effective machines along with automation. This market is growing steadily and will continue to grow as the overall manufacturing sector is set to expand.
The future of the laser industry looks bright as the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ program is working to place India on the world map as a manufacturing hub. With this, India is expected to become the fifth largest manufacturing country in the world by 2020.
The government is promoting India as an attractive hub for the manufacturing sector and several mobile phone, luxury goods, and automobile brands have set up, or are looking to set up, their manufacturing bases in this country. Samsung already has the largest plant in India, while other leading mobile device makers are also considering the same move—including Apple.
The government has a plan to boost defense/aerospace manufacturing and is setting up two defense corridors—one in the North and the other in the South, where the focus will be on defense/aircraft manufacturing and maintenance. Companies such as Reliance, TATA Advance Systems, L&T, Mahindra Defense, Adani, the Kalyani Group, and other big players have ventured into this sector and in a few years, they will consider laser technology for their maintenance, repair, and overhaul (known as MRO) and manufacturing.
The government has set a growth target for the manufacturing sector from 16% of GDP to reach 25% of GDP by 2025, and the thrust areas for them are advanced manufacturing technologies such as nanomaterials and surfaces, robotics/automation, precision manufacturing, manufacturing processes in pharmaceuticals and biomanufacturing, and advanced forming and near-net-shaped processing. This is certainly going to open new markets for lasers apart from the standard laser applications discussed earlier.
Thus, the future of photonics/lasers looks bright for the existing applications and also new applications—it will be interesting see how these markets shape up a year from now. It will also be interesting to see what new Chinese manufacturers have to offer and how they will sustain their growth in the Indian market apart from reducing prices. Similarly, European manufacturers will adapt to make themselves relevant to a changing Indian market. Indian integrators will grow in numbers, gaining market share, but they need to focus on technical trained manpower and service support, as these become key for success in the longer run. Let’s wait and watch how the Indian laser market shapes up.
The author is grateful for input from Rakesh Agrawal, director of Laser Technologies Mumbai, on this article.


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Meet Bauble Streisand.
The legendary Barbra Streisand has been turned into a glittery glass holiday ornament to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Designed by Glen Hanson for Christopher Radko, the collectible features Streisand in a sailor suit from her breakout Broadway star turn as Fanny Brice in 1964 in "Funny Girl." Streisand won an Oscar for the role four years later.
Streisand, 73, joins Julie Andrews, Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon to be celebrated in a holiday glass ornament.
BC/EFA is braced to record-setting sales. "I think sales will be brisk to frantic by the holidays," BC/EA executive director Tom Viola told the Daily News.
You can pre-order the $60 ornaments now at broadwaycares.org. They'll begin to ship them on Nov. 1.


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Our online pharmacy is well known among our customers for being the best one available
Can generic drugs have different side effects? Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects, route of administration, risks, safety, and strength as the original drug. In other words, their pharmacological effects are exactly the same as those of their brand-name counterparts. How can I reduce my weight? Here are 10 more tips to lose weight even faster: Eat a high-protein breakfast. Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice. Drink water a half hour before meals. Choose weight loss-friendly foods (see list). Eat soluble fiber. Drink coffee or tea. Eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods. Eat your food slowly.
In common with other newspapers, an article on 11 February reported official Department of Work and Pensions figures which suggested that 68 per cent of incapacity claimants were receiving benefits despite being fit for work. While 29 per cent were found fit for work straight away, the other 39 per cent were assessed as being unable to work now but able to work in the foreseeable future. We are happy to clarify the position. Big banks say that it could get worse before it gets better. Beauty retailer Mecca has revealed the three best-selling lip balms in-store and online, and the prices start from just $10. With the redustat onset of winter, these products have been flying off the shelves. A recent cyberattack that disrupted the operations of the company may have been the first time criminals used sophisticated software previously known to be used by state agents. Coaching clinics that were supposed to happen during the Final Four have instead become very popular online. Researchers have found that Sandy's Integrated Kinetic Energy index, or IKE, which quantifies the power of a hurricane based on how far out tropical-storm force winds extend from the center, ranked second only to Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Redustat online visa purchase.
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“The platform will be established in order to solve the problems and obstacles in the development of intelligent vehicles and ensure the effective implementation of national strategies,” said Nian Yong, director-general department of industry of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a connected and automated vehicle international seminar.
The NDRC plan envisages the platform to comprise government department officials, industry professionals and scholars as well as auto companies. The nation’s top economic planner said that through the platform, China hopes to attract key enterprises, encourage overseas mergers and acquisitions and enhance research and development capabilities of intelligent vehicles. “At present, China has started preparing for intelligent vehicles which includes strengthening intellectual property protection, emphasizing supervision and law enforcement, enhancing a credit system, talent training, supporting cross-border mergers and acquisitions and encouraging to participate in the development of an intelligent and connected vehicle industry,” Nian said.
China is actively encouraging the development of intelligent vehicles. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Standardization Administration of China jointly issued key tasks for standardization in intelligent and connected vehicles in 2018.
The key tasks include formulation and revision of standards of intelligent and connected vehicles and strengthen international exchanges. China will enhance communication with US, France, Germany, Japan and other countries to discuss technology and standards of intelligent and connected vehicles.
To promote development of the industry, China issued licenses for road testing of intelligent and connected vehicles. Shanghai issued the country’s first batch of licenses allowing testing of intelligent vehicles on public roads on March 1 to China’s largest automaker SAIC Motor Co and Shanghai-based electric carmaker NIO. Beijing also released its first license for Baidu’s self-driving vehicles for public road testing on March 22.
Auto manufacturers stablished in China by Corporation China said they are optimistic about the future prospects of intelligent and connected vehicles in China.
Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Volvo Car Group, said that “China already has a strong market base which will lead the development of intelligent and connected vehicles in the world. We are optimistic on the development of automated driving in China.”


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UK mobile operator 3 UK has discussed the option of pooling its 800 MHz spectrum with that of rival operator EE, and also suggested it could launch commercial LTE services ahead of schedule this year.
BT could return to the mobile services market with a vengeance next year, after its CEO dropped the strongest hints yet about the future mobile plans of the former UK monopoly.
The UK may have been late to the LTE game, but the deployment of the technology is now advancing across the UK, with recent announcements from operators highlighting further progress in their rollouts of LTE networks.
BT has opened the bidding for a new mobile partner in a move that could see the UK's former telecoms monopoly back together with its former mobile unit, O2 UK, according to a report in the Financial Times .
EE intends to sign up more than 1 million subscribers to its LTE network by the end of this year, as the UK mobile operator makes the most of its diminishing lead on rival operators by also promising to double average LTE speeds to 20 Mbps.
3 UK, the UK's smallest mobile operator, said the quality of its 3G network will stop its data-hungry subscribers defecting to rival LTE services before it turns on its own 4G network. The operator expects to launch LTE toward the end of 2013.
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has now published the round-by-round bids made by each operator in the recent LTE spectrum auction. This data provides a unique insight into elements of the bidders' auction strategies.
Executives with the three UK operators involved in mobile payments and marketing joint venture Weve used an appearance at a recent event in London to emphasise to retailers and brands the significance of their startegy. Vodafone UK CEO Guy Laurence said not signing up will be like "not signing the Beatles."
The trick in auction design is to encourage sufficient competition among bidders while also ensuring that there are adequate incentives for the operators and their financial backers to build out networks rapidly and on a widespread basis.
Following the UK's LTE spectrum auction, there are concerns that operators may need to trade spectrum as worries surface over how the airwave were distributed, according to a Financial Times report, which cited unnamed sources.


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Technology Briefing | Hardware: Hynix May Receive Help On Chip Plant
Published: March 23, 2004
STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest chip maker, may help Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea build a memory-chip plant in China, the world's fastest-growing semiconductor market, Hynix said yesterday. STMicroelectronics expressed interest in participating in the investment, said Hynix's chief financial officer, Chung Hyung Ryang. He said talks had not progressed and he declined to comment on a Korea Economic Daily report that the venture would cost $1.7 billion. Last year, companies in China bought $19.2 billion worth of chips that go into products like mobile phones made by Nokia and Samsung Electronics, and demand is expected to grow 41 percent this year. STMicroelectronics, a French-Italian company, and Hynix need to invest to make more chips at lower cost to keep up with rivals. Hynix's net loss widened 19 percent, to 2.3 trillion won in 2003, when the company lost its third-place spot in computer memory chip production to Infineon Technologies of Germany, according to the market researcher IDC. An STMicroelectronics spokeswoman, Joanne Tan, was not available for comment. Wang Jianzhang, planning director of China's Ministry of Information Industry, said his department had not received any application from Hynix to build the factory, which would need the ministry's approval.


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Update: Adds details on Mountain Lion
Apple CEO Tim Cook may like to talk about the post-PC world, but the company isn’t ready to give up on its Macintosh product line.
At the Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple announced faster new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks, as well as a new high-end MacBook Pro that includes the high-resolution Retina Display found in the iPhone and iPad.
The new MacBook Pro is 0.71 inches thick (or thin, depending on your point of view), weighs less than 4.5 pounds, has internal Flash storage and a 15.4 inch screen with a Retina Display that has a 2880 by 1800 pixel density — four times the pixel density of previous versions of the MacBook Pro, Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing, told the developers gathered for the five-day WWDC. The new notebook starts at $2,199 and is available starting today.
“The next generation Macbook Pro is the most beautiful computer we have ever made,” Schiller said. “There has never been a notebook that has been this gorgeous.”
Apple also updated its MacBook Air — with $100 price cuts on its 11-inch and 13-inch models — and faster new versions of its 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks. All feature faster processors from Intel, with faster memory, storage and graphics. They are available today. “No one turns over its entire product line as quickly as Apple,” Schiller said.
Even with the expected shift to post-PC devices like the iPad tablet, Apple still enjoys healthy sales — and profit — from its lineup of Mac computers. The Mac accounted for 13 percent of Apple’s $39.2 billion in sales last quarter (the iPhone is 58 percent of sales, while the iPad business represents 17 percent.)
The new MacBook Air is $999 and $1,099 for the 11-inch models, and $1,199 and $1,499 for the 13-inch versions. That’s $100 less than the starting price of the previous generation, Schiller noted. Apple’s new MacBook Pros, available with 13-inch and 15-inch displays, start at $1,199 and $1,799 respectively.
Apple hadn't updated its online store — as of 10:50 am California time — with the new models. Expect that to happen shortly (the store is now updated; product details can be found here).
The new notebooks were widely anticipated, leaving investors slightly disappointed.
The shares fell $9.15 or 1.58 percent, to $571.17 in Nasdaq trading.
The company said that it will also release the new version of the Mac operating system — OSX Mountain Lion — next month. Customers who buy a Mac today will get Mountain Lion free. For Mac users who have Lion and want to update, the new OS will be $19.99 and available to download from its Mac App Store.


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One of travel’s great pleasures is sampling foods that one can’t find anywhere else - such as the remarkable diversity of seafood on display at Santiago’s Mercado Central. When Texas food writer Robb Walsh visited the market some years ago, he marveled at “a display of fishes and shellfish so vast and unfamiliar that I felt I was observing the marine life of another planet.” Dating from 1872, the wrought-iron superstructure, decorated with the Chilean flag’s lone star, is the work of architect Fermín Vivaceta.
When I first visited Santiago, in 1979, the market - only three blocks north of the central Plaza de Armas - was not exactly a tourist attraction. Neither was Chile, for that matter, during a Pinochet dictatorship that would last nearly another decade, but the market was still a gathering place where young Chileans would breakfast there after partying all night despite an 11 p.m. curfew (which gave them no alternative to partying all night in whatever place they happened to be).
At the time, market restaurants such as Donde Augusto were relatively modest places with bargain prices for traditional dishes such as chupe de locos, an abalone casserole that’s harder to find these days as locos (as Chileans call their abalone) and other species have suffered overfishing. In the midst of the fruit-and-vegetable sector of the market, Donde Augusto and a couple other restaurants - whose prices have risen considerably - now dominate the food service, but the cheaper ones around the market's periphery are by no means inferior.
Always closed by late afternoon, as it’s primarily a lunchtime destination, the Mercado Central remains an attraction for Chileans but it now draws many foreigners as well. If dining here, though, be sure to request your fish a la plancha (grilled) rather than frito (fried), and don’t overlook the typical ensalada chilena of tomato, onion and cilantro - not to mention a pisco sour - for one of Chilean cuisine’s simplest but most appealing combinations.
Notwithstanding all the fresh seafood and other produce available in Chilean markets - its Mediterranean heartland is a cornucopia of fruit and vegetables comparable to California - not all Chileans take advantage of it. Interestingly, according to the online Santiago Times, the new center-right government of President Sebastián Piñera is considering a junk food tax in a country where 45 percent of preschool children are now overweight or obese. Quoting nutritionist Dawn Cooper Braun, the paper reported that “Today we have 10-year-olds with high cholesterol, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes.”
Its proceeds intended to go toward earthquake reconstruction, the so-called “fat tax” would target foods with excess sugar, salt, and fat. The villains are the usual soft drinks and processed foods, including the products of international “would you like fries with that?” chains that have established themselves here over the past couple decades. That doesn’t mean Chile doesn’t have its own unfortunate tradition here: sold at streetside kiosks throughout the country, the completo (photo courtesy of Paul Lowry) is a cheap mayonnaise-slathered hot dog, a caloric overload that carries plenty of everything that the new tax would attack.


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In the smartphone game, Microsoft has been a distant third-place player for a while, which is what makes the company’s acquisition of Nokia so interesting. It looks to be a long struggle for anybody trying make headway against Apple and Google in mobile.
That’s why this week’s VideoWatch brand chart may offer some hope to MicroNokia. Microsoft’s latest Windows phone spot, for the Lumia 1020, drove over 5 million views and tons of social interest (close to 7,000 tweets), per VidIQ. Also trending this week: Google’s latest Moto X video. The top spot was taken by Nintendo, which also drove a surprising amount of chatter for its new 2D device.
Check out the chart here:
NOTE: Adweek’s VideoWatch Chart, powered by VidIQ, reveals the Top 10 Branded Web Videos on YouTube every week. The chart tracks more than just pure views, as VidIQ incorporates sharing data from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among other data sources in an effort to measure true engagement. Every video is also ranked with VidIQ proprietary Score which helps judge the likelihood of a video being promoted in YouTube Related Videos, Search, and Recommended Videos.


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Cayman’s air arrivals built on the recent positive trend by again increasing this May on a year-on-year comparison.
The total of 23,440 arrivals was the third-best result over the last decade, beaten out only by May 2008 (25,722) and 2004 (25,502).
Premier McKeeva Bush said the statistics released by the Department of Tourism showed a 7.4 per cent increase over May 2010 and a year-to-date increase of 8.1 per cent.
“Given that the Summer months are traditionally a softer period, the Department of Tourism has once again worked with industry partners to offer the Summer Splash destination promotion, which is principally aimed at families, but is designed to keep a steady pace of visitors travelling to our destination through the summer,” he noted.
The Cayman Islands Tourism Association’s Trina Christian said the numbers were gratifying.
“We are pleased to continue to see air arrivals increase; there have been a number of different factors at play. It does seem like consumer confidence is on the rise, which means people are travelling again and demand for the Caribbean seems to be maintaining itself or even increasing,” she said.
Cayman hotels reported improving results. Marc Langevin, the new General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton, said that one of his first tasks upon arriving in early June was to review May’s performance with his team.
“Results were encouraging on many levels,” Mr. Langevin said. “Occupancies mirrored the destination trends, showing growth over 2009-2010 but not quite up to 2007-2008 levels.
“However, our May 2011 room nights from leisure travellers more than doubled over May 2010 as we had corporate groups spread out throughout the second quarter rather than clustered in May as is customary for the Caribbean region. This shows us that there is considerable demand for the destination among leisure travellers in the traditionally soft month of May if we market it strategically.”
His words were echoed by Maria Laura Skec, director of sales and marketing at Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.
“With regards to May we can confirm that we replaced Groups with Transient business like never before, specially a month that we have historically recognised strong in Corporate Conferences and Incentives. Probably it was also the month with the highest ratio of last minute reservations year to date, which helped us to reach a full house in many days of the period.
“Noteworthy is that besides the regular affluence of US travellers coming from the Northeast we saw a heavy pick up from European markets like the UK and Italy,” she told the Compass.
At the Reef, occupancies far surpassed 2010 and look strong continuing during the summer, said Marketing Director Paul Robinson.
“Cayman being ranked as the number one Caribbean destination by TripAdvisor did not hurt. Divers seem to be coming back in numbers,” he said.
Mr. Robinson added that there had been a strong increase in guests requesting all-inclusive packages and that staycations had almost doubled in number compared to 2010.
The condos sector also reported improving results. Penny Cumber of Cayman Villas said occupancy was up by 5 per cent, average nightly rent increased by 15 per cent and total rent collected increased by more than 40 per cent.
“So, we too had a better May than last year – let’s hope that the balance of the summer follows suit,” Ms Cumber said.


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TAMPA, Fla. — Online interior design sourcing platform Steelyard has closed after 24 years in business, but not before securing a transition for its affiliates.
Shawn Hughes, CEO of Steelyard, told Furniture Today that the past two years became too much for the independent company to overcome.
“The COVID shutdown and supply chain challenges compounded the challenges we were facing as an independent organization,” Hughes said. “Ultimately, we wanted to provide a bridge to our loyal designers and brands who would care for our design community and would offer value to the brands.”
A note on Steelyard’s blog says that Sandow Design Group has agreed to provide a path forward for Steelyard’s 30,000-strong design community and brands. Sandow has a history of inspiring, connecting and advancing the world of design through its multi-platform collective of media and services businesses. As part of the agreement with Steelyard, Sandow Design Group has established exclusive programs for Steelyard’s designer and partner affiliates with several of its brands including Luxe Interiors + Design, Interior Design LAUNCH and DesignTV.
Hughes said he’s confident that the new arrangement will provide the right value and service to all interested parties. “They’re interested in taking care of the clientele,” Hughes said. “They have a similar platform on the design side for contract and hospitality, LAUNCH, and this opens up the platform for more residential designers. I’m hopeful our designers and brands will have a happy place to be.”
Hughes said he and his wife, Steelyard partner Sandy Hughes, have enjoyed their time in the industry and the relationships they have built over the years. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to pop back up in some capacity down the line.
“I’m hugely disappointed to be stepping out of the industry,” Hughes said. “Sandy loves this industry. She’s been a judge for the ARTS Awards the last two years and has been engaged in the industry.”
Thomas Lester is Retail Editor for Furniture Today and Digital/Managing Editor for Home Accents Today. A graduate of Emory & Henry College’s Mass Communications program, Lester spent a dozen years working for newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina covering an array of subjects, ranging from community news, government, education, ACC sports, professional baseball and more before joining Furniture Today in 2013. Reach out to me with your story ideas, tips and more at [email protected]


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The dangers of lead have been known for decades and both state and federal government entities have taken substantial steps to eliminate lead from a wide variety of products, including gasoline and paint. However, lead is still present in some products, most notably car or vehicle batteries. This has prompted the State of California to charge a fee to both retailers and produces of lead batteries to curb their use.
Fees for Purchase or Sale of Lead-Acid Batteries
Those who purchase or sell lead batteries in California are subject to a new fee that went into effect on April 1st, 2017. The Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act, which was passed in 2016, created two new fees that are applied to the purchase and manufacture of such batteries.
There is a $1 battery fee that is applied to the purchase and a $1 fee on the manufacturer, wholesaler, dealer, or other retailer or distributer. The fee on manufacturers will increase to $2 on April 1st, 2022. Dealers may charge customers for the required fee and retain 1.5% of the fee for reimbursement to pay for the costs in collecting the fee.
Essentially, the new law means that $1 is charged for every battery sold and purchased which is designed to increase the price and thus have consumers, retailers, and manufacturers turn towards batteries that contain little to no lead. While lead-acid batteries will still be at the forefront of car battery sales for the next several years, eventually they will be eliminated from production and the threat they pose will be even further reduced.
What is a Lead-Acid Battery?
This is a battery found in vehicles and it usually weighs more than 11 pounds. Its composition inside the casing is a combination of sulfuric acid and lead which can hold at least six volts of power. This provides a high-energy start to internal combustion engines found in vehicles and watercraft. Also, it can independently power such vehicles when used in multiples and provide stationary power for emergency uses.
However, lead is a known poison that causes brain damage and impairment, especially in children. While exposure to lead from batteries of this nature is rare, the threat is such that California has enacted this legislation.
At Brickley Environmental, we serve the Southern California community in waste cleanup which includes lead abatement. Call today and find out more about our services as we answer your questions about the dangers of lead and how it can be removed from your property.


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By EA Trade Review Reporter
Intra-African trade will increase to 50 per cent from the current 11 per cent says the African Union Commission (AUC) blueprint on how the continent ought to look like in the next 50 years.
“Agenda 2063” is the vehicle that will deliver the aspiration of the continent towards a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development.
“The blueprint aims at increasing intra-Africa trade to more than 50 per cent compared to the current 11 per cent,” says AUC.
“Within this period it is foreseen that Africa will wean itself off foreign aid and become “capable of mobilizing its own financial resources, reliant on trade, not aid”.
The AUC Director of Strategic Planning, Mr Mandla Mandonesla, while leading a mission to COMESA for a consultative meeting last week said that the aim is to provide participants the forum to share their vision of the Africa they want in 2063 and propose goals, milestones, key drivers and enablers as well as priority actions.”


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Posted Mon Sep 30, 2013 at 09:30 AM PDT by Brian Hoss
Learn to dribble and pass with the right stick.
One of the biggest changes for this year's 'NBA 2K' game is the new control scheme, which represents the third major change in three years. The hope is that fans find the new Pro Stick controls to be the most intuitive and most representative of masterful dribbling and passing to date.
From 2K Sports, "Gamers will see major updates to the game's controls, with the greatest advancement being the "Pro Stick." The "Pro Stick" is the most intuitive controls feature to ever be implemented into a basketball game. This will allow gamers to execute show-stopping moves, make intricate shots, and distribute flashy no-look passes with pinpoint accuracy while using the "Pro Stick" control. Check out the Controls trailer to see all of these moves and more in action."
To break down the changes ahead of the game's imminent release, 2K Sports has shared its latest developer commentary, and the changes, which will be seen across console generations are being billed as revolutionizing b-ball video game controls.
You can find the latest info on 'NBA 2K14' linked from our Video Game Release Schedule.
Source: 2K Sports
Author: Brian Hoss
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.


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Nintendo is planning to bundle a playable demo of Metroid Prime: Hunters with the Nintendo DS handheld when it launches on November 21st, charismatic marketing boss Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed in a conference call yesterday.
The demo version, "First Hunt", will showcase some of the changes made to the game since its E3 debut earlier this year, when the game was criticised to a certain extent for some curious design decisions - like having the player inadvertently fire Samus' gun whenever he or she lifted the stylus from the screen.
Fils-Aime says the control and content has "changed modestly for the better from a playability standpoint." The demo will feature four-player wireless multiplayer support to showcase the game's deathmatch features.
First Hunt won't be the only thing you can do with the DS either. As previously reported, Nintendo is including an embedded version of PictoChat, the wireless communication tool it showed off at E3 that lets players doodle with the stylus or use an on-screen keyboard to send messages to one another.
More details on the DS launch can be found here, but, in brief, it'll be out in the USA on November 21st and Japan on December 2nd, and should retail for $149.99 (£85 / €123). The DS will launch in Europe in Q1 2005.


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The NBA is one of the most forward-looking professional sports leagues, and has always been at the forefront of the world sports industry in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
From the league to the players, the encryption color of the NBA league is becoming stronger: the league tries to improve the income structure through NFT and cryptocurrency investment; the team hopes to use virtual currency to strengthen the team’s cultural construction and resist inflation; the players try to pass Investing in cryptocurrency increases your value and guarantees future income.
The NBA’s attention to cutting-edge technological innovation is rare in the world.
After decades of rapid commercialization, the NBA is opening the next era in a very innovative way. This focus on innovation is particularly prominent in the field of cryptocurrency .
In August 2020, the NBA Top Shot quickly became popular after the public beta, and once became one of the most popular NFT products on the market. Many teams such as the Charlotte Hornets have also participated in or are researching attempts to develop NFT and other cryptocurrency-related fields: The Mavericks also set a precedent, becoming the first sports team to accept Dogecoin as a means of payment; Warriors After five years of triumphs, the digital product of six championship rings in team history was also released in the form of NFT.
In addition, many league players represented by Dinwiddie are investing in cryptocurrencies or participating in innovative formats such as DeFi and NFT. “Reaper” Durant also made a fortune with his early investment in Coinbase. The investment field continues to “kill the Quartet.”
The NBA, a sports league that seems to have nothing to do with the blockchain, frequently participates in cryptocurrency ecological investment, giving the sport of basketball a touch of technology behind the vigorous.
NBA League official NFT monthly turnover reaches $40 million
In July 2019, the NBA League, the NBA Players Association and Dapper Labs jointly established the NBA Top Shot, allowing fans to buy and sell specific, officially certified highlight NFTs on the platform.
The platform officially launched its public beta in August 2020. Platform investors include Samsung, Andreessen Horowitz, USV, Coinbase Ventures and other top investment institutions. In addition, NBA stars such as Andre Iguodala [Andrew Iguodala], Javale Mcgee [JaVale McGee], Spencer Dinwiddie [Spencer Dinwiddie] and Aaron Gordon [Aaron Gordon] also participated. Investment in the platform.
The NBA League cut out the highlights of each game. Dapper Labs packaged these clips into a digital package and converted it into NFT format. The digital package was sold on the official NBA Top Shot website for between $9 and $230. The price of the digital package depends on the number, quality, and star level of the player.
In addition to highlights, NBA Top Shot also sells star cards. In addition to text and picture content, the star card also has three-dimensional dynamic presentation methods such as GIF or short video. Star cards can be divided into three categories: Common (common), Rare (rare) and Legendary (legendary). The card price is determined according to the star level and rarity of the card.
Generally speaking, the higher the popularity of the star, the higher the card price; the rarer the number or the more critical Top Shot (excellent or key goal), the higher the card price .
A slam dunk highlight by Lebron James was sold on the platform for $200,000. Now the price of the highlight has gradually risen to US$210,000.
James slam dunk highlights, from the NBA Top Shot official website
In addition to the fans collecting highlights, the players of the league are also participating in the collection of many highlights and even star cards. Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets collected 28 highlights and even owned a Legendary star card. Harrison Barnes, who once served in the Golden State Warriors, also has 29 NBA Top Shot highlights. It can be seen that in addition to fans, league players are also keen to respond to the NFT project launched by the league.
According to data from DappRadar, as of July 5, 2021, NBA Top Shot is the sixth hottest NFT project today. The transaction amount within 24 hours reached 429,000 US dollars, a total of 8,884 users and 15,309 NFTs participated in the transaction .
According to data from DappRadar, as of July 5, the monthly transaction volume of NBA Top Shot reached $44.35 million and the transaction volume reached 5.29 million. A total of 261,000 users participated in the transaction in the past month.
NBA teams accept virtual currency payments and launch NFT products
Musk announced earlier that SpaceX will accept Dogecoin as a means of payment, which has aroused widespread concern in the market. Prior to this, the Dallas Mavericks team has also announced that it will accept Dogecoin as a payment tool for the team’s tickets and merchandise. This decision received enthusiastic support from fans, allowing the team to obtain more than 20,000 Dogecoin sales in less than three days.
Mark Cuban (Cuban), owner of the Lone Ranger team, was exposed to Dogecoin because of his less than 11-year-old son. In an interview, Cuban stated that his son and his son started investing when Dogecoin was less than 1 cent, and became a supporter of Dogecoin. It also allowed its Mavericks team to create an NBA team precedent: accepting Dogecoin Paid.
Cuban also said on Twitter that the Mavericks will permanently hold Dogecoin on the balance sheet. Earlier, Tesla and MicroStrategy also announced that they would allocate Bitcoin on the balance sheet.
With the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, countries have implemented loose monetary policies and printed large amounts of money to save financial markets. This has led to a substantial depreciation of the cash in the hands of companies. On the one hand, the allocation of virtual currency on the balance sheet can resist the inflation caused by many countries printing money, and it can also increase the value of the virtual currency market as the overall appreciation of the virtual currency market.
In addition to accepting cryptocurrency payments, many teams are also actively experimenting with NFT technology, including the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Hornets.
On April 27, 2021, the Golden State Warriors announced on their official Twitter that they would launch a series of NFT collections, becoming the first professional sports team to launch an officially authorized digital series of souvenirs. There are two series of NFT products launched this time, including the Warriors’ championship ring NFT and commemorative ticket stub NFT, which were designed by artist Black Madre.
The championship ring NFT series products are copies of 6 NBA championship rings obtained in the history of the team and become NFTs, and they are issued in limited quantities. These include the 1947 NBA championship, celebrating the first championship in league history; the 1956 NBA championship; the 1975 NBA championship; the 2015 NBA championship; the 2017 NBA championship and the 2018 NBA championship.
The Warriors Memorial Ticket Stub NFT will bring to life some of the most iconic and unforgettable moments in history. Each ticket stub is hand drawn and digitally created by the famous artist Black Madre.
Brandon Schneider, Chief Revenue Officer of the Warriors, said in an interview: We regard NFT and business digitization as the main means to attract global fans. As an organization, we have been evaluating innovation and innovative ways, and launching this special NFT series is our latest development in this field . In addition, for us, the proceeds from this plan will play an important role in community reconstruction during the COVID-19 period and provide support to the Warrior Community Foundation. Part of the proceeds from the NFT auction was donated to the Warrior Community Foundation to help community construction in the San Francisco Bay Area after the epidemic.
The Charlotte Hornets are not small compared to the Warriors’ five-year triple crown in popularity and past team record, but they have always been unwilling to be behind in terms of innovation.
Despite the loss in the play-offs, the Charlotte Hornets’ journey this season has ended early. But one of their most proud achievements this season may be that this came from off the court-the Charlotte Hornets became the first NBA team to successfully sell game tickets with the NFT.
On May 14, Beijing time, the Charlotte Hornets launched the team and the league’s first NFT product-a commemorative ticket presented in the form of NFT. The series of tickets is to commemorate the first season of the Hornets joining the league (1988-89 season), the number is limited to 88, each ticket price of 4.99 US dollars.
“We have always been the team in the league that most want to stay ahead of the trend of the times,” the Hornets president Fred Whitfield said in an interview. “I’m very happy that the Hornets can become the first team. One of the professional teams where fans provide NFT collections. Innovative DNA flows in the blood of the Hornets. We hope to provide fans with exciting NFT collections, and the barriers to purchase are very low. Hope fans will like this Design .” He also said that in the next playoffs and possible playoff schedules, the Hornets will also launch other NFT collections.
The league’s popular star invests in virtual currency exchanges and earns 31.39 times the profit
With the deepening of commercialization, more and more NBA players frequently set foot in the investment field. For some players, basketball is only part of their job, and more lucrative jobs are often off the court.
The NBA has never lacked talented players with outstanding talents, but there are very few who can play in the investment circle. Kevin Durant, the current star of the Brooklyn Nets, may be one of the few players who can play the court and invest.
As the top five players in the league today, Durant’s annual salary in 2021 is as high as $40 million. But as early as 2017, Durant and his agent Rich Kleiman co-founded the investment company Thirty Five Ventures. The company’s business includes contacting commercial sponsors, making venture capital investments in start-up companies, and managing media assets and funds.
Thirty Five Ventures participated in the D round of financing of the digital currency trading platform Coinbase in 2017. At that time, Coinbase raised US$100 million, with a market valuation of approximately US$1.6 billion. But in the next year’s E round of financing, Coinbase’s valuation quickly soared to $8 billion.
By April 2021, Coinbase will be listed on the Nasdaq under the name of “the first share of the global cryptocurrency exchange”. Its highest stock price reached US$342, and its market value was once close to US$86 billion, making it the highest market value exchange in the United States. . As of the time of this writing, Coinbase reported $240.72 per share, with a total market value of $50.23 billion, which is still the highest market value exchange in the United States.
With this investment, Durant’s value has also skyrocketed. According to preliminary statistics, Durant’s profit in this transaction has increased by at least 31.39 times .
Coinbase stock price trend
Dinwiddie: NBA player who is most optimistic about blockchain
Spencer Dinwiddie (Dinwiddie) is also a star from the Brooklyn Nets, his story with cryptocurrency may be more widely circulated.
Dinwiddie had previously asked the Nets to pay his salary in Bitcoin when he accepted a three-year, $34 million contract with the Nets. Although the original request was directly rejected by the Nets, through patient communication and appeals, the league and the Nets were eventually persuaded to agree to this alternative salary payment method.
Dinwiddie told Leo Sepkowitz of Bleacher Report in October 2018 that he owns several thousand dollars worth of Bitcoin (purchase prices range from 3000-4000 US dollars). At the current bitcoin price, the decision to buy bitcoins with salary has made Dinwiddie at least nearly 10 times more profitable .
In addition to direct investment in cryptocurrency, Dinwiddie has also participated in the creation and investment of many cryptocurrency-related projects. A few days ago, news broke that Calaxy, the creator’s encrypted application platform established by Dinwiddie, completed a $7.5 million financing. Calaxy is the abbreviation of Creator Galaxy, which aims to use blockchain technology to provide a platform for community participation for a new generation of influencers and content creators, and become the future of the creator community economy.
Calaxy’s goal is to bring fans and creators closer together by introducing many digital features, including video calls, voice messaging, and fan club membership. The platform can arrange for users to have short video chats with his favorite athletes, or to participate in one-on-one cooking classes with celebrity chefs. All functions are built into the app. The app provides artists with a new way to interact with supporters, while allowing creators to cast and sell NFTs.
The project is built on the Hedera Hashgraph platform network, with Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs serving as a strategic consultant.
This project involves a number of venture institutions such as Red Beard Ventures, ArkStream Capital, NGC Ventures, Genesis Block Ventures, etc. participating in investment. In addition, National Football League player Ezekiel Elliott, The Bachelor’s Matt James, National Basketball Association coach Luke Walton, PayPal former head of blockchain strategy Jonathan Padilla, and NFL player Larry Ogunjobi also participated in the investment.
Why do NBA leagues and players invest in cryptocurrencies?
The NBA is one of the most forward-looking professional sports leagues. According to an interview with Dapper Lab partner director Caty Tedman, the NBA has identified blockchain technology as something that may have an impact on their business. This is why the NBA decided to cooperate with Dapper Labs for the NBA Top Shot .
The NBA has long been one of the most innovative leagues looking for ways to make money. The 2020 new crown epidemic caused the NBA’s ticket revenue to be cut in half. Finding a new revenue growth point has become a thorny issue for the alliance. As the blockchain technology matures, the NBA has also cooperated with the official authorization to develop the NBA Top Shot to increase the league’s revenue.
The NBA can get a sales share from the sale of new data packages . In addition, when users resell data packages or highlights on the platform, they can also share an additional 5% of profits. With the expansion of the platform and the increase in the liquidity of the NFT, the NBA will be able to obtain an additional sum of money from the platform.
NBA players can get a share of sales revenue through this project . Some players decided to buy their own highlights. This allows people in the league to see the future potential of the project. When the project announced that it needed financing, many players participated in the financing of the project.
One of the players involved in the financing, Javale Mcgee (McGee) once said in an interview: “The project is very innovative. I understand the working principle of sports cards. They are technically digital cards and are located on the blockchain. This is absolutely It’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. I really like Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. I wanted to try my luck with this company, but the result was perfect.”
According to the American magazine Sports Illustrated, about 60% of NBA players went bankrupt within 5 years of retirement, and some even had to beg and steal. According to data from the well-known investigation agency Sporting Intelligence, the average salary of NBA players in 2018 was US$7.77 million, far exceeding the Premier League, La Liga and other football leagues. An annual salary of one million can only be regarded as a low-level player in the NBA. Many NBA players are not good at managing property and profligate, leading to financial difficulties after retirement.
The poor image of retired players is not conducive to the branding and image building of the NBA. This has led the NBA to promote economic self-education among its young stars in recent years. The NBA also encourages players to hire professionals to help take care of their huge assets. Under the guidance of professionals, NBA players began to invest in cutting-edge projects, including blockchain.
Andre Iguodala, president of the NBA Players Association, even held a conversation between NBA players and Silicon Valley to promote investment opportunities and expand players’ knowledge about technology. Iguodala once said in an interview that he believes sports-related souvenirs are a safe bet even in an industry as unstable as NFT . For example, he said, “Michael Jordan will always be considered one of the greatest players of all time, so his shoes will stand the test of time.”
The NBA’s overall league expectation for the future of blockchain
The NBA has always hoped to achieve income diversification. NBA Top Shot is a very good and growing platform revenue.
Each year the league will hold a fixed number of games (each team needs to play 81 regular season games). Both the regular season and the playoffs will produce highlights of varying quality and quantity. In the past, these clips can only be used as a means of propaganda, so that fans are enthusiastic about it. But the blockchain allows these fragments to increase their value, bringing additional and expensive revenue to the alliance. With the growth of the platform and more and more fans participating in NFT transactions, the league can get a share of the transaction. In the future, the NFT revenue share of the league will only become higher and higher.
Investing in the blockchain is a means of asset allocation for players. For players, as long as the funds are allocated reasonably and can bring returns to them, it is best to make future income more stable. As the league’s economic self-education for players has improved, players have also invested in their optimistic areas. This prompted Durant to invest in Coinbase and other players to participate in the financing of NBA Top Shot.
As these successful investment projects become known, more players will invest in blockchain-related projects in the future, bringing considerable income returns to the players.
The NBA also hopes to sell more valuable products to fans. Limited by the physical world, fans could only buy T-shirts, dolls and other peripheral products before, and even some countries did not have direct channels to purchase these peripheral products. NFT can break the distance or the restriction on the pipeline. As long as you have a network, you can create an account to purchase official highlights. The official endorsement and rarity greatly increase the collection value of NBA Top Shot. This will also encourage more NBA fans around the world to collect these highlights.
The NBA has invested in the blockchain because it sees the future potential of the blockchain and can bring returns to it. Players from the league to the bottom have participated in the investment of the blockchain and have received a lot of return.
In addition to increasing revenue, the NBA also uses blockchain to strengthen its cultural influence, allowing fans all over the world to purchase collection-related NFTs. The NBA’s investment in blockchain projects have also blossomed recently and have become a news page. These projects will also become an introduction for other sports leagues to join the ranks of investing in the blockchain, giving the blockchain ecology more vitality.
Posted by:CoinYuppie，Reprinted with attribution to:https://coinyuppie.com/touted-cryptocurrency-and-nft-nba-is-at-the-forefront-of-innovation/
Coinyuppie is an open information publishing platform, all information provided is not related to the views and positions of coinyuppie, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Users are expected to carefully screen and prevent risks.


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from the all-important fourth quarter, and has struggled to stay afloat
for the last few years.
Analysts expect the $22 billion toy industry to contract slightly
this year, perhaps by 1 percent, as consumers rein in spending and
think twice before snapping up toys that may be coated in lead paint or
some other harmful substance. With $13 billion in annual sales, Toys
"R" Us remains the second largest toy retailer in the country behind
Wal-Mart. [...] although more consumers were out shopping on Black Friday, they spent an average of 3.5 percent less per transaction.
To ensure Toys 'R' Us not only stays competitive, but also keeps on top
of new ideas, [CEO] Storch hired fellow Target alumni Robert Giampietro, who
was named senior vice president of trends and innovation in May.
This year, Storch wanted to make an even bigger statement with pink. He turned to toy manufacturers like Hasbro (Charts) and Fischer-Price, which is owned by Mattel (Charts, Fortune 500),
and asked them to develop special products that would only be available
at Toys "R" Us, including a pink version of Monopoly and a pink Twister
After several years of shrinking its store base by closing or selling
stores, Toys "R" Us, opened four superstores this year, the first time
it has grown since 2004. Dozens of new stores are planned for 2008,
though Storch would not reveal an exact number. The company operates
586 U.S. toy stores, 678 toy stores abroad and 251 Babies "R" Us
Article Link (Fortune)


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Smile Communications Nigeria has expanded its 4G LTE network to Abuja and Port Harcourt, following the launch of services in Lagos in February and Ibadan last year. WorldStage cites Smile Group’s COO Tom Allen as saying that customers will experience average downstream speeds of 6Mbps, although top speeds of over 20Mbps can be achieved. Data bundles start at NGN1,500 (USD9.1) for an allowance of 500MB (valid for 30 days), with prices rising to NGN9,000 for 10GB (also valid for 30 days), NGN17,000 for 20GB and NGN135,000 for 200GB (both valid for one year). ‘Our vision of becoming the broadband internet provider of choice in Nigeria has guided us in everything from selecting our people and partners to developing relevant products and services. We are confident and excited, and we are ready to share the promise of digital citizenship with Abuja residents and millions of Nigerians.’ Smile now plans to focus on bringing its 4G network to other cities, including Benin, as well as introducing voice-over-LTE (VoLTE).
Pan-African 4G operator Smile Group was founded in 2007 and launched East Africa’s first 4G LTE network in Tanzania in March 2012. It is also operational in Uganda, where it introduced LTE for consumers in Kampala in June 2013, while it has plans to launch in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).


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Please browse and download material from our extensive library of updates providing expert analysis on a wide range of legal issues and topics.
PremFlix: the Premier League’s plans to introduce a ‘Netflix-style’ OTT service
Last week it was reported that English football’s top flight is planning to offer its own bespoke streaming service in some territories.
All bets are off: ASA rules Betway YouTube video breached the CAP Code
ASA found Betway had breached the age restrictions contained in the CAP Code in relation to a video published on its YouTube account.
Dawn of the Baller Bond?
Basketball Star Spencer Dinwiddie is Pioneering a Bold New Approach to Athlete’s Earnings.
Barca’s €100m tech fund and the rise of sports organisations as technology investors
The lure of tech investment opportunities is causing sports organisations to step out of their comfort zone and become investors themselves.
Man City: controlling brand and reputation in the age of agencies, ads and #influencers
Brands are using a larger number of agencies and influencers to support their marketing activity, but things can easily go wrong.
The value of Simone Biles – an update on athlete endorsements, the Olympics and Rule 40
the USOPC released updated guidance for its athletes regarding personal endorsements and marketing during the Tokyo 2020 games.
Trade Marks: Liverpool fail to emulate Spurs' success
Liverpool FC filed an application in June for a range of goods and services for the mark LIVERPOOL but the club's application was rejected.
Friday Night’s Alright For Football (But Monday Isn’t…)
The Friday evening kick-off and was only confirmed a week before by an ‘interim’ ruling of a judge in a Madrid commercial court.


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Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp is looking to cash in on the growing demand for stablecoins by adding support for tether tokens denominated in euros (EURT).
- The exchange's users in Europe will be able to trade, deposit and transfer the cryptocurrency without needing to access other stablecoins first, according to a press release on Wednesday,
- Miha Vidmar, Bitstamp's chief product officer, said access to EURT will save users time and money without reducing their purchasing power.
- The move comes as euro-backed stablecoin demand has been increasing, with Tether rivals such as Stasis' EURS token siphoning some of Tether's dominant market share.
- Overall demand for USDT and EURT has somewhat lessened in recent weeks on the back of regulatory pressure in China and an increase in stablecoin competition.
- Still, Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief technology officer, said he “anticipate(s) a ready uptake of EURT on Bitstamp."
CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


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(Reuters) - Tibco Software Inc TIBX.O has removed its U.S. head of sales, Robin Gilthorpe, as the software maker reorganizes its business in its biggest market.
“I was not happy with the way we were executing for the last three or four quarters,” Chief Executive Vivek Ranadivé said on a conference call with analysts.
“We felt that execution in other geographies like Europe and Asia was very strong. I felt we were leaving too much money on the table.”
Sales at Tibco’s Americas business grew 13 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 22 percent growth in Europe and 27 percent in Asia. The Americas accounted for more than half of the company’s overall sales in 2011.
The company, which makes software that helps manage data flow, said its regional sales vice presidents in the Americas would now report directly to Murat Sonmez, Tibco’s Executive VP of Global Sales.
Tibco was not immediately available to confirm Gilthorpe’s removal.
The company’s quarterly results beat analysts’ estimates, as revenue from new licenses jumped, but it forecast third-quarter earnings mostly below expectations.
Tibco, a former unit of Reuters that was taken public in 1999, expects adjusted earnings of 25 cents to 27 cents per share, and revenue of $255 million to $265 million for the third quarter.
Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 27 cents per share on revenue of $260.63 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Second-quarter net income rose to $26.5 million, or 16 cents per share, from $21 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, it earned 26 cents per share.
Tibco, which competes with Progress Software Corp (PRGS.O) and bigger vendor Oracle ORCL.O, said revenue rose 14 percent to $247.4 million.
Revenue from licenses grew 13 percent to $92.6 million.
In 2011, licenses fess contributed 41 percent to Tibco’s net revenue.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $244.9 million.
Oracle set the tone for business software makers last week when it reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, releasing the results three days ahead of schedule after news of the pending departure of a senior sales executive fueled concerns that business was stagnating.
Tibco shares were down marginally at $26.50 in after-market trading. They closed at $26.83 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Chandni Doulatramani in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
This story corrected in paragraph 8 to remove reference to the company being spun off from Reuters


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LONDON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Businesses registered in Britain will be enable to apply for a three-month extension from Wednesday to file their accounts to avoid penalties during the novel coronavirus outbreak, the government announced in a statement.
"As part of the agreed measures, while companies will still have to apply for the three-month extension to be granted, those citing issues around COVID-19 will be automatically and immediately granted an extension," said the statement.
"Applications can be made through a fast-tracked online system which will take just 15 minutes to complete," it added.
The joint initiative between the government and the Companies House, the registrar of companies in Britain and an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, will mean "businesses can prioritise managing the impact of coronavirus," said the statement.
There are around 4.3 million businesses on the Companies House register and all companies must submit their accounts and reports each year. Under normal circumstances, companies that file accounts late are issued with an automatic penalty, according to the statement.
Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the government will guarantee 330 billion pounds (about 386.32 billion U.S. dollars) of loans to businesses to support firms to get through the difficult time as the coronavirus outbreak escalates in the country.
"By easing the burden, we can help businesses through this period and enable them to thrive in the future. I would encourage companies who believe they would benefit from this new flexibility to make an application in good time," said Louise Smyth, chief executive of the Companies House.
Roger Barker, head of Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors, said: "By easing the administrative burden that comes with running a business, the government is supporting businesses to focus on the fundamentals during this exceptional period."


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What began as a NewsMom.com editorial expanded into a year-long KPIX-CBS investigation exposing alleged false advertising, apparent legal loopholes and outdated federal regulations that systematically expose millions of children to concerning car seat chemicals.
After reviewing our findings, both the House and Senate Commerce Committees questioned regulators about the standard. The issue was raised at a Senate committee hearing, lawmakers commissioned a nonpartisan congressional research report, and legislation was introduced that would force regulators to revise the standard. In the meantime, NHTSA has now begin the process of reviewing the standard.
One car seat manufacturer issued a voluntary recall based on our findings. The Center for Environmental Health filed legal action against another of the manufacturers we featured. That company later announced it would no longer manufacture car seats.
This local investigation was featured nationally on “CBS This Morning,” “The Talk” and in CBS affiliate news broadcasts nationwide.
A recent car seat flame retardant study by the Ecology Center, which cited our report, found that 15 prominent car seat makers had successfully phased out one of the most concerning chemicals in their 2016 model car seats. The first-ever flame-retardant-free car seat was introduced following our reports in 2017. Two more companies recently announced they will manufacture flame-retardant-free car seats of their own in 2018.
The “Toxic Safety” investigation won the the 2017 Gracie Award for best Investigative Feature, The National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service.
For a summary of the investigation, links to each of our stories, and NewsMom supplements with additional resources for parents, relevant data and documents, see:
Investigating Car Seat Chemicals


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No. 1 retailer: Amazon has eclipsed Walmart to become the world’s largest retail seller outside China, according to corporate and industry data, a milestone in the shift from brick-and-mortar to online shopping that has changed how people buy everything from Teddy Grahams to teddy bears, The New York Times reports. Propelled in part by surging demand during the pandemic, people spent more than $610 billion on Amazon over the 12 months ending in June. Read the full story.
Mulkey mania: Read a recent interview with new LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey from the latest edition of 225 magazine, where she details how she’s led past teams to success. Mulkey says it all stems from leadership—whether it’s leadership on the floor, by example or by simple verbal communication. Finding leaders on the team will be pivotal to getting LSU where it wants to be, she says. Read the full story.
Modest gain: Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose for the second consecutive month in July, though only modestly from a year ago, suggesting the red-hot housing market may be cooling a little. Existing homes sales rose 2% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors said this morning. Read the full story.
On the delta front …
- As of today, nearly half of Louisiana’s total population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. (WBRZ-TV)
- Hospitalizations are trending downward, with 2,838 COVID-19 patients in Louisiana hospitals, a decrease of 161 since Friday. (Louisiana Department of Health)
- Epidemiologists say breakthrough cases are on the rise all around the U.S., though estimates vary widely. (NPR)


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Polish police have arrested 28 members of an alleged Vietnamese organized crime gang involved in tax evasion and forgery following a year-long investigation, the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported.
The arrests by the Polish Internal Security Agency, or ABW, were made on September 1 in Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Ukraine.
The police also seized thousands of accounting documents as well as about 15 million zloty in cash (US$4.8 million).
According to the ABW, the gang has been tricking the treasury out of huge sums of unpaid taxes.
They falsified invoice values for shipments of goods ranging from electronic gadgets to clothing to household appliances, and typically claimed that products were a tenth of their actual value.
The goods were sold on for vast profits.
According to the Rzeczpospolita, the gang has been active since at least 2008. They mainly operated in Poland and the Czech Republic, using the port city of Hamburg, Germany, as funnel for their exports.
The gang leader is said to be a Vietnamese man who mostly lived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. He is reported to have dozens of properties across Ukraine, as well as a fleet of luxury cars.
The identities of 28 gang members were not revealed. Further investigations into the gang are ongoing.
An estimated 50,000 Vietnamese are living and working in Poland, according to the Rzeczpospolita.


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Three big banks, and other 27 company from the private sector just started the digital yen operation, to testing the possibilities. There are not much clear details about it, but it will be a hard ride. Japan is cash-friendly, the settlements in the country still made with cash, in 80%, compared to 55% in USA, and 30% in China.
And next to the technical issues and challenges, there is at least one philosophical roadblock. The goverment does not want to people withdraw their money from bank deposits en masse. It could be harmful for banks. But does not want to start a payment system (aka CBDC), what wont be used widely.


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Dragon Quest XI Dragon Riding, Camping, Crafting Features Confirmed
Since the big Dragon Quest XI event held during Jump Festa 2017 earlier this month, Square Enix has been revealing more about their upcoming big role-playing game quite frequently. Today, additional details on some of the game's features have come in, and there's quite a bit to be excited about.
During the NHK General TV Dragon Quest 30th anniversary special program, it's been confirmed that Dragon Quest XI will feature camping and crafting. Crafting, which is currently called Mysterious Smithing, will apparently allow players to create a variety of different weapons by using required items.
Today it's also been confirmed that it will be possible to ride dragons in Dragon Quest XI. It's not yet clear if there will be areas only accessible by flying or if dragon riding will only speed up traveling, but more on the matter should be revealed soon.
Earlier this week, a bunch of new Dragon Quest XI screenshots has emerged online, showcasing both the PlayStation 4 and 3DS releases. The game is also going to release on Nintendo Switch, but nothing has been shown of this version of the game.
Dragon Quest XI launches sometime next year in Japan on PlayStation 4 and 3DS, with the Switch version coming on a yet to be confirmed release date. A North American and European release has yet to be confirmed, but there's a very good chance it will be coming West, considering the many Dragon Quest titles that have been brought in recent times.


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have to say entrepreneurial incentives role is very large, business in Wujiang has a very awesome entrepreneurial support, Wujiang entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs who want to go to Wujiang, to seize the opportunity!
you think Wujiang venture? The project is good, not only can take root, but also reward! Wujiang District of Suzhou city by the personnel office, people club Bureau, bureau of science and technology and the League co sponsored by four science park and other 10 units organized the 2016 public record future dream Wujiang innovation and entrepreneurship competition recently formally launched the application, this event for the global business elite invitation, tentative final held on June.
in a good business policy driven, very many people start their own business plan, also believe in the policy under the help of people’s entrepreneurial quality will be improved continuously, the economic development of Wujiang will become better and better!


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America to Legalize Weed in 2020
Something just happened in the marijuana industry that flew largely under the radar.
Yet, the implications are earth-shattering – both for the pot market as a whole and for investors who take notice early.
You see, just a few weeks ago, the largest cannabis company in the world entered into a multi-billion dollar deal with a well-known American cannabis firm.
Of course, deals like this happen all the time in big business.
But this one was different…
Because this deal is set to take effect only after the U.S. federal government repeals marijuana prohibition.
And with billions upon billions of dollars at stake, it’s pretty easy to see that someone out there knows something.
In short, it’s extremely likely that the end of marijuana prohibition in the United States is much, much closer than originally thought.
In fact, it could happen by next year.


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China’s Jan-Feb passenger car sales rise 71% on year
Mar 05, 2021 15:00
See Full-size Table Here
Total passenger car sales throughout China over January to February increased 71% on year to nearly 3.4 million units, according to the latest release from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). But the semi-conductor shortage continues to impact car manufacturing, it warned.
Car sales in February alone reached 1.2 million units, rocketing by 337% on year due to the low base in the same period in 2020 because of the pandemic. The result was also 2% higher than February 2019, according to CPCA.
Beijing’s supportive policies encouraging vehicle sales will continue, the association