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WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- For the second time since it opened last week, the Cape Fear Fair & Expo is closed due to bad weather. That's affecting revenue for the fair.
Business is already down because of the slumping economy. Fair manager Skip Watkins says that if it's going to rain then this is a day for it, because weekday revenue is usually less than weekend revenue.
Last year the Cape Fear Fair & Expo brought in about 40,000 people for its entire run at the Wilmington International Airport. So far this year the total stands at about 28,000, but Watkins says there is a silver lining to all this.
"With the good weather coming tomorrow and the ground crews coming tomorrow and Saturday, we will probably recover the people we lose tonight since they have two more nights to come," Watkins said.
The ground crews Watkins mentioned will pump water out from the fairgrounds as early as tonight. Then they will spread wood shavings, so that when you come out to the fair tomorrow you'll be nice and dry.
The fair opens at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the "Fairport" and will remain open till 2 a.m. for Midnight Madness. Tickets are $16. That gets you parking, entry and unlimited rides. For more information visit http://www.capefearfair.com.


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A delegation of textile industry representatives from 26 leading associations met Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani in Delhi on 29th September in New Delhi and urged the Centre to come out with a cotton fibre security policy. According to a press release issued by the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), cotton fibre security policy is necessary to curtail price volatility of white fibre during the coming season.
The delegation stated that growth of the cotton textile industry and exports had stagnated due to cotton price volatility, the release said.
According to the release, 26 textile associations decided to collectively urge the government to direct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to procure around 8 million bales during the peak season, when prices are lower than international cotton prices. Such a move would ensure that the procured cotton is used as a buffer and sell it to actual users during May and September, the release said.
Though the cotton season is October to September, more than 80 per cent of the arrivals happen between November and March. Prices soar during off-season (May to September), as mills do not have the wherewithal to stock cotton and are therefore pushed to procure cotton at high rates for at least five months, release said.
The release said that a 19-member delegation led by Tamil Nadu BJP State General Secretary Vanathi Srinivasan and SIMA Chairman M Senthilkumar met the Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi and submitted a joint memorandum. The delegation said that the cotton fibre security policy is essential since more than 80 per cent of the units are in the MSME category. The SIMA Chairman said that the price had skyrocketed from Rs 33,000 a candy (of 356 kg) to Rs 50,000 during July 2016, thus increasing clean cotton price up to Rs 65 per kg, while the yarn price was up only by Rs 20-30 a kg. Due to this, spinning mills had to incur a loss of Rs 20-25 per kg during the last three months. Many units were compelled to cut production by 20 to 35 per cent, rendering many jobless. Downstream sectors such as handlooms, power looms and apparels also incurred huge losses since there was a fall in the export of cotton textiles.

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If the iPhone’s fingerprint scanner is such a big deal, why didn’t fingerprint scanners replace passwords on laptops?
cuetip 14 weeks ago
There has been a lot of articles online today about the iPhone 5S and it’s revolutionary fingerprint scanner. Well, I have a fingerprint scanner on my 3 year old laptop, so it doesn’t seem all that revolutionary to me. Why all the excitement over the iPhone 5S being able to scan fingerprints?
Topic: Mobile & WirelessAnswer this Question
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The downturn in the PC industry may soon reach rock bottom, where it could stabilize even as cheap tablets stay hot, an analyst said today.
You thought you were shopping for family and friends this holiday season, but in doing so you may have also given a nice present to retailers: your data.
Baseband is often dismissed as little more than a curious piece of firmware responsible for blocking those who run afoul of Apple's locked-down operating system, but there's much more to it than that.
Blackberry is turning to Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics, to jointly develop and produce some models of handset, the two companies said on Friday.
Simple.TV wants to free you from those high cable company bills.
After a nearly disastrous year and facing an expected negative earnings report Friday, BlackBerry hopes to start 2014 on a more positive note with its news interim CEO and a commitment to help developers more easily port Android apps to the BlackBerry World app store.
Over the last 12 months, CIOs have had to swallow their pride and embrace BYOD.
All developers will be required to submit apps that are compatible with iOS 7 and built with Xcode 5 as of February 1, 2014.
Microsoft withdraws a firmware update to its Surface Pro 2 tablet and will wait until 2014 to issue a fix.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson Wednesday told the airline's employees Wednesday that Delta will not allow cellular or VoIP calls during its flights, even if the FCC says it's okay.
White Papers & Webcasts


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Science suggests people who watch porn have smaller brains; Wearables etiquette: How to use your devices without people hating you; Top Android tablets (June 2014 edition); Freeware Game of the Week – Red Eclipse; 10 must-have accessories for your tablet; 50 Best iPhone Apps; All The News From WWDC 2014; Turn old PC hardware into a home server with FreeNAS; Press H To Hack: Hacking in Videogames; Apple says many users “bought an Android phone by mistake”; Oliver Stone: ‘America always wins’; Tech worker groups boycott IBM, Infosys, Manpower; Amazon workers in Germany extend strike over wages; Gaming Site is New Home to Spammed Free Movie Links; As Snowden Anniversary Nears, EFF Urges Users to Ramp Up Privacy and Security.
John Oliver spends 13 minutes delivering the best Net Neutrality explainer ever – If you are looking for a good explanation of Net Neutrality in a format that is both amusing and thorough, John Oliver absolutely nails it. He’s tackled climate change, elections in India, and now he’s dedicated nearly half of an episode to Net Neutrality. If you have someone in your life who is unfamiliar with Net Neutrality or why they should care about the things happening at the FCC right now, this is the video you show them.
Science suggests people who watch porn have smaller brains – Many porn studies and analyses have been performed and found that, despite what people may or may not own up to doing when asked, a lot of people watch porn. In 2013, PornHub found that its engine alone received 1.7 million visits per hour, totaling 15 billion visits — and that’s just one site. Earlier this year, it was also revealed that people pirate porn overall more than anything else — more than movies, music, or software. Last year, PornMD also disclosed its search engine statistics, revealing the habits and interests of porn watchers by region. So, basically, it would seem that everyone watches porn. Regardless of how you feel about porn or people who watch it, a ton of people are into it. A new study suggests that those people who frequently partake may have smaller brains.
Five PE Analysis Tools Worth Looking At – In the world of malware analysis, having the right tools can make all the difference. When looking at malicious binaries, they are often in the Windows Portable Executable (PE) format. For this reason, it’s good to have a tools capable of performing in-depth analysis of this file format; fortunately, there are many to choose from, many of which are absolutely free.
Wearables etiquette: How to use your devices without people hating you – One of the newest ways our standards of manners and etiquette is being tested is through wearable technology. Some are more obvious than others: fitness-focused wearables, like Fitbit or Shine, require less interaction; others like Google Glass, well, require you to talk to yourself and tap the side of your head in public. But these are early days.
Wearable tech tsunami approaching – It’s inevitable. Just about every company you can think of is coming out with some sort of wearable tech and most of them seem to have some sort of health-related functionality.
Top Android tablets (June 2014 edition) – Given the broad choice, and combine that with rock-bottom prices, there’s never been a better time to pick up a new Android tablet! Here are my pick of the top Android tablets for June 2014.
Freeware Game of the Week – Red Eclipse – I’ve seen multiplayer shooters only half as good as Red Eclipse and you have to pay for them with your hard earned cash. Red Eclipse is a fun-filled new take on the casual first person arena shooter, built as a total conversion of Cube Engine 2, which lends itself toward a balanced gameplay, with a general theme of agility in a variety of environments. In a classic, no nonsense, multiplayer style, Red Eclipse is a polished, slick and gorgeous looking game. Its small download size of around 650 MB, belies its true potential. The game is very easy to set up, has customisable controls, graphics and other features and you can even design your own maps. Find a server in game or simply play offline against bots. Have a look at the YouTube trailer for a taste:
10 must-have accessories for your tablet – Most of the gadgets in this collection will work with any tablet, with only a few specific to certain models. They are good purchases for self-owned tablets, and good gifts for tablet toting friends and family members. Father’s Day is coming up so these might be just the ticket.
50 Best iPhone Apps – From mainstay essentials to notable newcomers, here’s the 2014 edition of our 50 Best iPhone Apps list.
The Start Menu won’t be back until Windows 9 – The good news is that isn’t too far off: Windows 9 is expected to arrive in April of 2015. We’re not used to Microsoft releasing a major version update for Windows that early in the year, but the cycle has changed a lot in the last three years. Windows 8 has already undergone two fairly big revisions, and it’s not even two years old yet. Microsoft’s also been releasing a new Internet Explorer every year, something which took at least three years prior to IE9.
Turn old PC hardware into a home server with FreeNAS – PC lovers tend to collect a lot of hardware as the years roll by. Instead of leaving it to collect dust, why not repurpose it as a file-slinging server? Several free and open-source operating systems run extremely well on a wide array of older hardware. One in particular, FreeNAS, is extremely stable, easy to set up, and laser-focused on storing and sharing files across your home network. All you need is a working system with a reliable hard drive (or three) and a little time to configure everything.
All The News From WWDC 2014 – Apple carpet-bombed the OS X and iOS world at its 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference, lifting the curtain on OS X Yosemite, iOS 8 and more, including the ability to allow iPhones to make calls through a Mac. What follows is TechCrunch’s complete coverage of the announcements including hands-on reports with the upcoming OS X and iOS features.
The desktop, flattened: OS X Yosemite in pictures – The final operating system won’t be released until the fall, but Apple’s site is replete with screenshots that show off most of the biggest changes. We’ve collected those changes below for you to look over while you wait to be accepted into the public beta program.
Apple will preview OS X Yosemite to first 1M beta testers – Apple today said the public can try out early versions of the OS X Yosemite operating system, the first time since 2000 the company has let large numbers of outsiders get an early look at an upcoming Mac OS.
Where to sign up for Apple’s OS X Yosemite beta – Apple just revealed OS X Yosemite, and is letting anyone sign up for a public beta of the new software.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Bing turns five, celebrates with history and Bing homepage gallery – Bing is celebrating its fifth year anniversary with a homepage gallery and brief synopsis of its five year evolution. Behind Google and Yahoo, Bing is the youngest of the three largest search engines.
Four reasons to get a remote control for your iPhone – Your iPhone is smaller than many remote controls—and can function as a remote control itself. So why would you need a remote control for your iPhone (or other iOS device)? A few months ago I would have thought the idea ridiculous. But it turns out that adding a Bluetooth remote control to my iOS devices has enabled me to solve some interesting problems and to make my iOS devices more useful. If you’ve never considered a remote control for your iOS devices, I’d like to suggest four uses that may change your mind.
Governments disrupt botnet “Gameover ZeuS” and ransomware “Cryptolocker” – The Justice Department announced Monday that over the weekend an international law enforcement operation had effectively disrupted a sprawling botnet that delivered “Gameover ZeuS”—a trojan that siphoned passwords to online banking sites from Microsoft Windows computers—as well as the malicious ransomware “Cryptolocker,” which locks individuals out of their own files until they agree to pay ransom to the criminals.
Download: CryptoPrevent 5.2 – CryptoPrevent is a tiny utility to lock down any Windows OS to prevent infection by the Cryptolocker malware or ‘ransomware’, which encrypts personal files and then offers decryption for a paid ransom.
How to protect yourself against Gameover Zeus and other botnets – The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the Gameover Zeus (GOZ) botnet has been taken down in an effort dubbed “Operation Tovar.” The action was the result of a multinational effort between government agencies, law enforcement, and private companies to shut down the massive botnet responsible for more than $100 million in losses for victims. The cooperation necessary to take down the botnet is impressive, but there will be more, and it’s important for individuals to understand how to avoid falling victim to these threats.
Cybercriminals targeting the vulnerable: Symantec – As part of Stay Smart Online Week 2014, online security companies are warning children, parents, and businesses to remain cautious about the growth of cybercrimes, particularly when it comes to mobile devices.
Press H To Hack: Hacking in Videogames – With the release of Watch Dogs, we ponder the reality of a CCTV World and look at some of the best and worst examples of hacking in video games….
Gaming Site is New Home to Spammed Free Movie Links – Spammers move beyond blogging platforms to direct users to supposed movie downloads and streaming sites. Most recently, they’re using Steam….
Intel to deliver cheaper 4K monitors in partnership with Samsung – Intel has partnered with Samsung to get you a 4K monitor very soon, and at half the price you’d pay today. Intel is specifically partnering with Samsung to increase delivery on high-quality, 23.6-inch PLS 4K panels, with a stated aim of such monitors hitting a US$399 (£239, AU$430) price point. For Intel based All-in-Ones, Intel believes we will also see 4K All-in-One prices starting from US$999 (£599, AU$1,080). This is around half the typical current price of 4K IPS and PLS monitors. These PLS, or Plane to Line Switching, monitors are very high-quality, with 100 percent sRGB coverage and Technicolor certification.
Google investing $1bn to bring Internet worldwide via 180 satellites – The new project will be an extension of Project Loon, which uses high flying balloons to carry Internet signal across the 40th parallel of the southern hemisphere. The project will be launching 180 high capacity low-orbiting satellites across the world, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Greg Wyler, satellite communications expert and founder of O3b Networks is said to be leading the project.
Apple says many users “bought an Android phone by mistake” – Apple CEO Tim Cook spent a moment during his keynote at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference today comparing user adoption of OS X Mavericks with that of Windows 8, mocking Microsoft’s OS for only managing to convince 14% of the total Windows user base to the 8.x versions. But Windows wasn’t the only operating system that he spent time berating.
5 iOS 8 features Apple obviously borrowed from Android – Tim Cook sure took some time out of today’s WWDC keynote to pick on Android users and the fragmentation that plagues the platform. He then followed up the jabs by introducing a slew of new features to the forthcoming iOS 8 that sounded really familiar—because many of them seem to have been lifted from Android.
Nine more countries to get Chromebooks, says Google… with a poem – Google has revealed that nine new markets around the world will soon be able to buy Chromebooks – although its announcement came in a slightly unusual manner; specifically, in the form of a poem.
Tech worker groups boycott IBM, Infosys, Manpower – Three U.S. tech worker groups have launched a labor boycott of IBM, Infosys and Manpower, saying the companies have engaged in a pattern that discourages U.S. workers from applying for U.S. IT jobs by tailoring employment ads toward overseas workers. The companies should look first for U.S. workers to fill U.S. IT jobs, said representatives of Bright Future Jobs, the Programmers Guild and WashTech.
Intel unveils Devil’s Canyon, its first 4GHz CPU, plus a 20th-anniversary Pentium processor – Intel’s fifth-generation Core processor family—code-named Broadwell—might be late, but the company has cooked up a couple of brand-new Haswell-class desktop CPUs that PC enthusiasts are sure to dig. Code-named Devil’s Canyon, Intel unveiled the all-new Core i7-4790K and Core i5-4690K processors at Computex on Tuesday (Taiwan time). Intel is also marking the 20th anniversary of its Pentium processor by introducing the all-new Pentium G3258.
Amazon workers in Germany extend strike over wages – Amazon’s trouble with workers in Germany isn’t going away, and the situation appears to be getting a bit worse. More than 600 people walked off the job over the weekend following a dispute over pay.
Games and Entertainment:
‘Dark Souls’ Now Available for Free on Xbox 360 – Xbox 360 owners with an Xbox Live Gold subscription can now pick up a free copy of From Software’s Dark Souls. Normally priced at $20, the game is free for Xbox Live Gold members from now through June 15 as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Games With Gold program. Even better — Microsoft this month is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Games With Gold by offering gamers an extra free Xbox 360 game on top of the usual ration of two. The two other free titles for June are Charlie Murder (normally priced at $10) and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (normally $30). These two will be available for download from June 16 to June 30.
Xbox One Games with Gold become unplayable if you stop paying for Xbox Live – Microsoft has confirmed that for Games with Gold on its latest console, you can only play the games with an active subscription. If you stop being a paid Gold member, the games remain on your Xbox One hard drive, but they are unplayable. However, if you start your subscription again they unlock.
VIDEO: Mortal Kombat X Coming in 2015 – Start practicing your finishing moves, because Mortal Kombat X is headed to a console near you in 2015. There is no official word on compatible platforms, but based on a leaked listing posted to Amazon U.K. Sunday, which was quickly removed, the title will be available for PC, PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One sometime next year.
Homefront The Revolution preview: Overthrow American occupiers with open-world guerilla warfare – I’ll be honest: I’d sort of forgotten that THQ ever contracted Crytek for a Homefront sequel. I’d definitely forgotten that Crytek then purchased those rights when THQ went bankrupt just so they could finish creating said sequel. It exists. Crytek is making Homefront 2—titled Homefront The Revolution—a reality. They’re really making a sequel to a game best remembered (and not in a good way) for its infamous “Press X to hide in a mass grave” sequence. Even more of a surprise? Homefront 2 actually looks pretty interesting.
Apple gets heavy with gaming, announces Metal development platform: Epic, Crytek, PopCap reveal working demos of games with “ten times” the power – On Monday, Apple announced a new gaming development platform, dubbed Metal, at its Worldwide Developer Conference. The platform, much like DirectX12 or Mantle, bypasses the overhead of OpenGL, which currently serves as the standard for 3D graphics in iOS games and apps.
Off Topic (Sort of):
How does your brain respond to pain? The answer may surprise you – How does your brain handle pain? That’s the question educator Karen D. Davis set out to answer in her TED Ed educational video, an animated short that shows just how differently our brains respond to painful stimuli. It’s only about five minutes long, which shouldn’t be too, um, painful for you to sit through.
Oliver Stone: ‘America always wins’ – Oliver Stone got so sick of always reading the sanitised version of US history that he decided to write his own. He talks about the real reason America dropped the atom bomb, how Kennedy is a hero and why he can’t stand Hillary Clinton.
VIDEO: Kids React to 90s-Era Internet – Whether it’s at work or at home, the Web users of 2014 are constantly connected. Using the Internet today is easy, but 20 years ago, it was a relatively new tool that today’s teenagers take for granted. That was evident in the latest video from The Fine Brothers, who have a popular YouTube series in which they ask kids about a variety of topics – from gay marriage to early Apple computers. Their latest video features teenagers reacting to a very cheesy video tutorial of the Internet from 1997.
Dice rolled in space: a collection of space photography – Dice — or perhaps just a singular die — was rolled in wide-open space for what may be the first time by American astronaut Reid Wiseman, who snapped a picture of the little red cube as it floated above the Earth. Despite how it might appear, the die is entirely real, and is accompanied by some other nifty images.
New process can extract clean water from cow poop, and it might change the world – This new solution takes advantage of the fact that manure, like almost everything else in biology, is made up mostly of water. Extracting that water can reduce the sheer volume of the poop enormously, making it easier to store and discard. What’s more, this technique lets the researchers extract some of the most useful agricultural substances in the manure, so the clean, extracted water can itself be used as a fertilizer.
Watch the secret life of your dirty dishes – In 2013, YouTube user Bito had a dream: To see exactly what goes on inside his running dishwasher. So he stuck a GoPro Hero 3 camera in there, along with two light sources, and let ‘er rip! Ladies and gentleman, this is what happens during the full wash cycle of Bito’s older-model dishwasher. Spoiler: The video’s footage may make you feel a little more dirty than clean. You’ve been warned.
Something to think about:
“History is more or less bunk.”
– Henry Ford
Today’s Free Downloads:
NirLauncher – NirLauncher is a package of more than 100 portable freeware utilities for Windows, all of them developed for NirSoft Web site during the last few years.
NirLauncher can be used from USB flash drive without need of any installation.
NirLauncher and all the utilities in the package are completely freeware, without any Spyware/Adware/Malware.
NirLauncher package includes variety of tools that you may need for your daily computer use, including utilities to recover lost passwords, to monitor your network, to view and extract cookies, cache, and other information stored by your Web browser, to search files in your system, and more…
For every utility in the package, you can easily run it, view the help file, or jump to the Web page of the utility.
When using it from USB flash drive, the configuration of every utility is saved into .cfg file on the flash drive.
On x64 systems, NirLauncher automatically run the x64 version of the utility, when there is a separated x64 version.
NirLauncher also allows to add more software packages in additional to the main NirSoft package.
Simple Sticky Notes – Simple Sticky Notes is a lightweight and easy to use piece of software designed to enable you to take notes so you never forget about anything ever again.
This application will sit quietly in your system tray, just in case you need it and help you create as many notes as you might need.
Colorful and Transparent
Snap to desktop edges
Hide/Show all notes option
In Pursuit of Freedom – The Pushback Continues:
As Snowden Anniversary Nears, EFF Urges Users to Ramp Up Privacy and Security – Time flies when you’re having fun. But it apparently also flies when there’s a new story every other day about NSA surveillance. It’s been nearly one year since the first story sourced from the documents Edward Snowden stole from the agency appeared, and with that in mind, the EFF is encouraging people to commemorate the day by installing privacy and security tools to protect their communications.
The EFF has been at the forefront of the resistance to NSA surveillance programs for years, filing a number of lawsuits and legal challenges to the agency’s authority and collection programs. The group also has been lobbying Congress to pass legislation to restrict the NSA’s surveillance activities. Now it’s trying to get everyday users to motivated to resist mass surveillance efforts by installing and using a group of privacy and security apps and extensions for Web and mobile communications.
The Privacy Pack, which is what the EFF is calling the group of tools, includes encrypted chat apps, encrypted text and private calling apps for Android, encryption extensions for browsers, as well as the Tor anonymity tool. Along with Tor, the bundle includes HTTPS Everywhere, Textsecure and Redphone for Android, Pidgin and Adium for private chats and GPGtools and Enigmail.
Edward Snowden NSA whistleblowing story to be filmed by Oliver Stone – He has tackled the Kennedy assassination and the Watergate break-in, the Vietnam conflict and the Bush administration’s “war on terror”. Now the Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone is set to whip up fresh controversy with his adaptation of The Snowden Files, an account of the ongoing NSA scandal written by the Guardian journalist Luke Harding.
Stone’s thriller will focus on the experiences of the American whistleblower Edward Snowden, a contractor at the National Security Agency who leaked thousands of classified documents to the former Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald back in June 2013. The film is to be produced by Stone’s regular business partner Moritz Borman, with Harding and other Guardian journalists serving as production and story consultants.
“This is one of the greatest stories of our time,” Stone, 67, said in a statement. “A real challenge. I’m glad to have the Guardian working with us.” Stone’s previous films include Platoon, JFK and W. The director has also made documentaries on Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, together with a 2012 TV series, Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States.
Daniel Ellsberg: Snowden would not get a fair trial – and Kerry is wrong – As the author knows from direct chat-log conversations with him over the past year, Snowden acted in full knowledge of the constitutionally questionable efforts of the Obama administration, in particular, to use the Espionage Act in a way it was never intended by Congress.
John Kerry was in my mind Wednesday morning, and not because he had called me a patriot on NBC News. I was reading the lead story in the New York Times – “US Troops to Leave Afghanistan by End of 2016” – with a photo of American soldiers looking for caves. I recalled not the Secretary of State but a 27-year-old Kerry, asking, as he testified to the Senate about the US troops who were still in Vietnam and were to remain for another two years: How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?
I wondered how a 70-year-old Kerry would relate to that question as he looked at that picture and that headline. And then there he was on MSNBC an hour later, thinking about me, too, during a round of interviews about Afghanistan that inevitably turned to Edward Snowden ahead of my fellow whistleblower’s own primetime interview that night:
There are many a patriot – you can go back to the Pentagon Papers with Dan Ellsberg and others who stood and went to the court system of America and made their case. Edward Snowden is a coward, he is a traitor, and he has betrayed his country. And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so.
On the Today show and CBS, Kerry complimented me again – and said Snowden “should man up and come back to the United States” to face charges. But John Kerry is wrong, because that’s not the measure of patriotism when it comes to whistleblowing, for me or Snowden, who is facing the same criminal charges I did for exposing the Pentagon Papers.


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Nutrition facts labels on food packages are going to be completely revised.
First lady Michelle Obama is expected to announce final rules for new labels in a speech Friday morning as part of her “Let’s Move!” campaign to combat childhood obesity.
“This is going to make a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices,” the first lady said in a statement.
For food companies that make less than $10 million in annual sales, there’s a three-year grace period.
Reaction to the labels from food companies has been mixed since they were first proposed. While some companies have fought the new line for added sugar, others have supported it. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the food industry’s largest companies, has supported the larger print for calories.
Some key changes to the Nutrition Facts Labels:
1. Serving sizes. This is perhaps the most important and controversial update and one that has not been changed in 20 years. The serving sizes now reflect what people currently eat — not how much companies think they should be eating.
2. Calories. The total count is now highlighted in huge letters rather than being in the same type size as the other nutrition information. This change, FDA officials have said, will address the country’s growing obesity epidemic.
3. Added sugars. This completely new category is important given recent updates to the dietary guidelines urging Americans to cut down on sugars that come from processed foods like cakes and cookies. Added sugars are measured in both grams and as a percent daily value. The sugar industry has said that this emphasis on added sugars is “not scientifically justifiable,” but the FDA has said it believes the evidence against over-consuming this type of sugar is strong.
4. Multi-serving products. For some food products that could be consumed in multiple sittings there will now be two columns to indicate the per-serving and per-package calorie and nutrition information that will save you from doing some math.
5. Odd-sized packages.Packages or containers that are between one and two servings — like 20-ounce bottles of sodas — will now be labeled as one serving.
6. Sodium and dietary fiber. The percent daily values for sodium, dietary fiber and vitamin D will change for many foods based on the new 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Institute of Medicine recommendations.
7. Vitamin D and potassium. In the past, labels only had the percent daily values for vitamin D and potassium, but they’ll now also show the gram amount. “These are nutrients that some people are not getting enough of, which puts them at higher risk for chronic disease,” the FDA said in a statement.
8. Vitamins A and C. These will no longer be required on labels since deficiencies of these vitamins are rare nowadays
9. Fat. Based on research that shows the type of fat is more important than the amount, the “Calories from Fat” line will disappear. However, “Total Fat,” and the subcategories “Saturated Fat,” and “Trans Fat” will still be required.
10. Percent Daily Value. The explanation of what this is continues to appear at the bottom of the label and is still based on a 2,000 calorie diet but it is more streamlined.


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Apple has a lofty goal to stop relying on mining for the raw materials needed to make iPhones, iPads, and Macs. There isn’t a plan for how the company will accomplish that, or at least there isn’t one yet.
The problem Apple is facing is that some of the metals and toxic materials for electronic devices are mined, and in some cases that involves child labor and slave labor. Apple has a history of pushing for better environmental responsibility and is an advocate for better working conditions, so it makes sense that the company wants to distance itself from these mining and labor issues.
Apple’s commitment doesn’t, however, include a plan. Apple Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson told Vice,
We’re actually doing something we rarely do, which is announce a goal before we’ve completely figured out how to do it. So we’re a little nervous, but we also think it’s really important, because as a sector we believe it’s where technology should be going.
Apple does say in its 2017 environmental report, “One day we’d like to be able to build new products with just recycled materials, including your old products.”
So Apple’s idea is to recycle the raw materials that have already been mined. The trick now is to figure out how to actually make that happen. That’ll involve recycling on a whole new scale, and finding additional sources for those reclaimed raw materials.
Jackson said Apple is looking to purchase recycled metals from suppliers and combine those with materials harvested from old products customers return. Apple doesn’t have a time frame yet, which makes sense considering the plan right now is little more than a commitment.
Still, Apple keeps moving forward with its environmental initiatives. The company continues to reduce the toxins in its devices, and nearly all the power for Apple’s corporate and retail locations comes from renewable sources. Now it looks like Apple is ready to take on the environmental and human issues surrounding mining operations.


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AT&T has started rolling out call validation display to selected Android smartphones in order to help users fight against spammers and robocallers.
Earlier this week, Samsung started rolling out a new major software update with many Note 10 features for the Galaxy S10 series in Germany and Switzerland. Now, the update is available in few other European countries.
Mobile gaming has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and the smartphone industry has certainly reacted in kind and 2019 is set to be a big one for the industry. Here are some of the top releases you can expect to see.
Samsung Galaxy S10 series of handsets in brilliant new Cardinal Red color has become available in the UK exclusively via EE.
Samsung's latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S10, S10e, and Galaxy S10+ are now available for purchase from UK mobile carrier Vodafone.
Some customers who have preordered one of Samsung's Galaxy S10 flagships are reported to be receiving their units in unsealed boxes.
Samsung has globally launched its flagship smartphones around the world, the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e, and Galaxy S10 Plus are now available for purchase in approximately 70 countries.


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Published 4:00 am, Friday, August 30, 1996
AH: CNBC clears Dorfman of any wrongdoing New York CNBC said it found no evidence of improper securities trading by its correspondent Dan Dorfman.
The television network, which is owned by General Electric Co., said law firm Shearman and Sterling reviewed Dorfman's record of securities accounts, bank accounts and tax returns.
"After a lengthy review process, the law firm found no evidence that Dan broke any law or violated CNBC policy relating either to his own activities or to his relationship with third parties," Jack Reilly, CNBC vice president and managing editor of CNBC Business News, said in a statement.
Dorfman, 64, suffered a mild stroke May 7.
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Union Pacific cutsDenver work force Denver Union Pacific Corp. said it will transfer a portion of its Denver administrative operations to St. Louis and Omaha, Neb., as part of its planned $5.4 billion acquisition of Southern Pacific Corp.
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The next Star Wars Celebration event is set to go down this week at the Anaheim Convention Center, as was announced back in July of 2013.
But unlike past years, where the convention required you to attend to take in all of the excitement, this year everyone around the world unable to attend in person will be able to enjoy the event. Even you! It’s been announced that for the first time ever, Star Wars Celebration will be streamed live for all online.
You can read the full announcement below and find out where to watch.
And apparently this doesn’t mean only being able to watch some of the panels and such; according to the official Twitter account it means you’ll also be able to watch exclusive footage shown…like perhaps maybe a new trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens?
Here’s the full announcement:
For the first time ever, highlights and more than 30 hours of exclusive video content from Star Wars Celebration Anaheim will be officially live streamed to a worldwide community of fans on StarWars.com, all powered by Verizon.
Launching with a live stream of the highly-anticipated kickoff panel featuring Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy, the StarWars.com Celebration live stream powered by Verizon will continue providing coverage throughout the four-day event from a specially-designed Star Wars Cantina set located in the middle of the action on the convention floor.
Verizon and StarWars.com will deliver 30-plus hours of live streamed content following Thursday’s Celebration kickoff, featuring over a dozen panels and events, including discussions with actors Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid, and several other performers associated with the Star Wars saga. Additionally, StarWars.com and Verizon will be live streaming the Star Wars Fan Film Awards; the Smuggler’s Bounty radio drama; EA’s new Battlefront videogame; and several other exclusive Celebration events that might otherwise be missed by members from Star Wars’ global fan community.
Between the live, on-stage events, StarWars.com will feature live interviews with celebrity guests within the Star Wars Cantina set specially built to capture the mood and atmosphere of the infamous Mos Eisley watering hole from A New Hope. These segments will have a fun, variety show flavor to them that brings a bit of the Star Wars Celebration vibe to those enjoying the event from afar.
Exclusive clips from throughout Star Wars Celebration event will also be available on demand from Verizon, allowing fans to celebrate Star Wars long after the live streams are over.
The live streaming begins at 10:00 a.m. PST, Thursday, April 16, on StarWars.com with the Celebration kickoff panel and continues with 30-plus hours of coverage through the closing ceremony on Sunday, April 19, beginning at 3:30 p.m. PST. Watch exclusive highlights and on-demand clips from Verizon on Twitter, @VerizonWireless, and at Facebook.com/Verizon.
StarWars.com. All Star Wars, all the time.
Stay tuned to Star Wars for the live stream starting tomorrow, which is available to any and all who have access to YouTube.


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What just happened? Back in July, Nintendo launched a lawsuit against two ROM-hosting sites for trademark and copyright infringement. Now, the married couple behind them have agreed a settlement with the Japanese gaming giant that will exceed $12 million.
Nintendo has long been known as a firm that does what it can to fight third-party emulators and ROMs. This was made abundantly clear when it issued lawsuits against LoveRETRO and LoveROMs, both run by Jacob and Cristian Mathias.
The lawsuit asked for $150,000 in statutory damages for each of Nintendo's games hosted on the sites and up to $2 million for each trademark infringement. After infringing on 140 titles and 40 trademarks, the theoretical maximum damages could have reached $100 million.
With both parties wanting to avoid lengthy and costly court proceedings, the couple took down the sites and entered a settlement deal with Nintendo. TorrentFreak reports that the two sides have agreed to a consent judgment. And while they won't be handing over $100 million, documents state: "Plaintiff is hereby awarded judgment against all Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $12,230,000."
Additionally, the parties have agreed to a permanent injunction, meaning the couple can't infringe on Nintendo's copyrights again in the future. They must also hand over all their Nintendo games and emulators and sign over the LoveROMs.com and LoveRETRO.co domains to the company.
$12 million is, of course, a lot of money, but it looks as if Nintendo is hoping to deter anyone else from operating similar sites. Ultimately, however, the couple may end up paying a much smaller sum.


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Waitrose digital director Ben Stimson has confirmed his departure at the end of September “once Waitrose.com has completed its transition to become the only place to buy Waitrose food online”.
Stimson has been with the company for a decade and moved into his current role in May 2019. He was previously retail director. He survived a major management cull at the company, which came into effect in February.
Through the pandemic Stimson led a massive ramping up of Waitrose’s online grocery operation, increasing capacity by 100,000 weekly orders online. Last month, Waitrose.com saw its biggest ever week of online orders at 163,000, an increase of 185% compared to the start of the year.
The effort had started prior to lockdown, as Waitrose prepared to split from Ocado.com which has been its online fulfilment partner for nearly 20 years. Speaking to The Grocer in June, Stimson said the preparations proved a “big advantage” to Waitrose in meeting demand through the pandemic.
“While I wouldn’t say for one moment we were ready when the crisis hit, my job was to make sure we moved as fast as we could and that we had the confidence we could pull this off,” he said.
This year Waitrose.com was shifted onto a new ecommerce platform, and more stores began fulfilling online orders. A £100m capital investment programme which included a new dedicated Customer Fulfilment Centre in Enfield was accelerated. The new CFC opened in May.
Stimson’s team also boosted Waitrose’s rapid delivery capability - which delivers a basket of up to 25 grocery items in less than two hours – expanding it to an additional 20 stores in April.
Stimson told The Grocer his two proudest achievements during his tenure were the major change “in the way we ran our shops to make them more flexible, and more efficient” implemented when he was retail director, and “the decision taken five years ago to shift from a rapid growth strategy online to refocus on creating profitable foundations and sustainable growth”.
“In the short term, sales growth slowed as we incentivised less, but that gave us the basis for the online business we have today and our willingness to invest in it,” he added.
Waitrose said it was too soon to confirm if the role of digital director would remain, or if a replacement for Stimson would be sought.
“I’d like to thank Ben for all he has done for the business. Ben has led our Waitrose.com team through a period of significant change and rapid development - including most recently our response to the unprecedented demand caused by the pandemic,” said Waitrose recently appointed executive director James Bailey.
“We all at Waitrose wish him the very best for the future.”.


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Crypto Exchanges have caught on in India. The decentralised nature of the crypto exchanges, along with their fast and easy trading features, has been instrumental in attracting many young traders in India. The integration of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has further fuelled the growth of the crypto market in India. However, the recent ban on the use of UPI services for crypto transactions had affected the market. But why has this ban been imposed? How will it affect crypto users and the market as a whole? Read on to find answers to these questions.
Crypto Adoption In India
India has seen mass acceptance of crypto culture in recent years. Since 2021, India has grown as a market for decentralised digital trading. Stablecoins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have acquired an impressive list of followers. Other coins and tokens have also emerged.
Currently, India accounts for the largest crypto market in the world. Considering the country’s population and the rate at which the crypto market is growing, India can change the contours of the crypto world in the near future. Despite a 30% tax on profits for crypto traders, it hasn’t discouraged businesses from accepting crypto as a source of passive income. It is, in fact, believed that taxation will stabilise the current market value of crypto.
UPI services were recently banned from crypto exchanges for a temporary time. The RBI also introduced CBDC recently.
UPI Integration In Crypto Exchanges
UPI is a network of several banks that unifies multiple banking functions under one roof. Formerly, transactions on crypto exchanges had to be done through third-party wallets or through bank transfers. The introduction of UPI simplified the process.
Some popular Indian crypto exchanges also integrated UPI into their payments interface. Doing this creates a unique QR code for each transaction. Users can simply open their respective UPI payments app, scan the dynamic QR code and make the transaction. The unique QR code can be used across India for crypto UPI payments.
Ban on UPI for Crypto Transactions
Earlier this month, Surojit Chatterjee, chief product officer, Coinbase, announced the introduction of UPI on their platform. Three days later, the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), a government body responsible for managing UPI, blocked all transactions temporarily on the platform, saying they were “not aware” that crypto uses UPI payment methods.
Following this, several other popular Indian crypto exchanges also temporarily disabled the UPI money transfer feature on their respective platforms. This resulted in widespread chaos amongst Indian traders as the active trading volume decreased by roughly 90%.
While crypto trading is not illegal, the RBI has a strong stance against the digital asset trading trend. It resents the idea of a decentralised trading system.Though the Supreme Court had denied charges against the ban of crypto exchanges in India, a 30% tax on the profits made from crypto trading has been levied by the government, which is said to take effect from July 1.
India Market Growth
India has more than 10 crores verified crypto traders as of 2022. This makes our country the world’s fastest-growing crypto market. As per The Economic Times, India saw a 641% growth in crypto users between June 2020 and June 2021.
Since the ban by the NCPI, trading volumes across India have seen a dip of almost 50%. While people are looking for answers, crypto exchanges are offering alternative methods of transferring money.
India has faced opposition against the adoption of a decentralised trading ecosystem in recent years from the government. This has significantly affected the crypto business in the country and is discouraging new investors. Time will tell how the market will develop in the future. If you are interested in reading more about crypto, visit Zebpay, India’s largest crypto exchange.


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New Delhi :Wholesale onion prices at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, Asia’s biggest bulb market, today fell further by Rs 3 per kg to Rs 45 on increased arrival of the crop.
The retail prices are still ruling high up to Rs 80 per kg across the country, making consumers’ budget go haywire.
As per the data maintained by the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), wholesale onion prices today declined to Rs 45 per kg at Lasalgaon mandi from Rs 48 per kg last week.
Onion prices had peaked to Rs 57 per kg on August 22. The rates have started softening due to an increase in arrivals after the government restricted exports and decided to boost supply through imports.
According to the Consumer Affairs Ministry data, retail onion prices today are ruling at Rs 67/kg in Delhi , Rs 61/kg in Mumbai, Rs 50/kg in Kolkata and Rs 47/kg in Chennai.
In Aizwal and Varanasi, onion was retailing as high as Rs 80 per kg, the data showed.
To check prices, the Centre has approved bids—floated by state-owned MMTC—for import of 1,000 tonnes of onion at Rs 45 per kg and the shipments are expected to arrive by September 10.
MMTC, which has been asked to import onions till prices come under control, has floated the second tender for overseas purchase of 10,000 tonnes of the key kitchen staple.
That apart, the central agency SFAC, along with NAFED, is suppling onions through Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets and booths of Delhi Milk Scheme for sale at subsidised rate in the national capital. Even the Delhi government is also selling onions at cheaper rate through fair price shops.
Last week, the government had said onion production this year is likely to be close to last year’s level of 18.92 million tonnes.


text: When a mobile game pivots: Y Combinator-backed MinoMonsters, a Pokémon-inspired game from two of the incubator’s youngest founders made a bold move earlier this summer when they released version 2.0 of the iOS game. This wasn’t a minor feature release – they significantly changed the gameplay. Instead of exploring worlds and performing quests with battles in between, the game’s focus shifted to become entirely about the battles. That strategy, it seems, is working. MinoMonsters has now passed 1.5 million players, and nearly every other metric has improved as well. The team has even taken in an extra bit of funding.


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In the last few years, every company and their sister has announced some form of virtual reality (VR) technology. Sony with their Project Orpheus and now Valve. Valve’s VR headset looks identical to the Oculus Rift.
If I had to make an educated guess, I’d imagine it was using some internal technology similar to the Oculus Rift, but not exactly like it, because you know, patent infringement and all that. Below is a video of someone wearing the headset while playing a game. Again, it looks just like the Oculus Rift to me.
What I don’t understand is the reasoning behind creating these VR headset’s that aren’t pushing any real boundaries in the field. Sega, years ago, created a VR headset and it looks identical to what we’re seeing now with Sony’s Project Orpheus, Valve’s headset, the Oculus Rift, and the abysmal attempt that was Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. I believe VR headset’s will have a place in gaming at some point, but not in the next 10 years. VR headset’s must get to a stage where they can be easily used, end things like motion sickness, and of course, not look like a mini-microwave on the front of your face.
Check out an image of someone wearing the headset.


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To start the manufacturer, CEO Zahir Dossa, 34, and his co-founders chipped in about $30,000, then obtained $5,000 in this article and there from a variety of family members. But then Silicon Valley, exactly where Dossa experienced roots, came calling. Functionality of Magnificence was one of the initial immediate to client providers commence-up accelerator Y-Combinator backed, which meant the brand could get mentorship, funds, and accessibility to a network of likely traders.
Even now, some investors failed to usually get the notion. “It was a enterprise and a value proposition that a whole lot of regular VCs just failed to truly fully grasp to begin with,” says Dossa. But buyers were drawn to the idea of staying able to choose their have scent and increase elements to handle distinct hair problems. And a lot more investment money adopted. “Once [investors] saw development and traction, it truly is seriously hard to disregard these factors,” he states.
He also will make the scenario for having self-assurance in oneself. “At the close of the day, we actually did feel we were being fixing the most important trouble in attractiveness with the pretty finest crew.”
Never Be Much too Eager to Choose the Largest Check
When Hero Cosmetics launched in 2017, it was with a single stylish K-beauty encouraged item: the Mighty Patch. Now, it’s expanded into a far more complete pores and skin-treatment line concentrated on acne, such as multiple sorts of pimple patches, a publish-pimples treatment method, and a cleanser. Co-founder and CEO Ju Rhyu, 41, just closed her to start with round of funding for Hero, which is bought at Ulta, Amazon, Concentrate on, CVS, Walmart.com, and other suppliers.
Rhyu made the final decision to mature her brand slowly but surely, and it was financially rewarding early. But having products in several countrywide shops suggests you have to be in a position to retain up with massive orders. If you cannot, it can “spoil models,” claims Rhyu. So she essential to discover a Goldilocks amount of funding.
When a brand name can take on an investor, the founders are essentially offering up a percentage of the enterprise, so Rhyu desired to be strategic about wherever she received the hard cash Hero desired to grow. Some prospective buyers ended up talking about quantities that built her uncomfortable. “Huge checks likely come with large expectations,” Rhyu points out. “If an trader places in a large amount of dollars, they are almost certainly likely to have to have some form of a number of return on that more than a specified time period of time.”
The model started the process of wooing buyers in February 2020, a system Rhyu says was served together by all the push coverage the brand name has gained. Then COVID-19 hit, the Dow dropped, and all bargains have been off the desk. The model eventually struck a deal that labored for all people involved in November.
Rhyu considers investors extensions of the founding group, encouraging her to navigate the upcoming. Her piece of guidance? Carry on to be disciplined about how you invest an influx of funds. “I feel it can destroy those people great patterns and split your self-discipline and then you commence just shelling out crazily,” states Rhyu.
A variation of this story initially appeared in the February 2021 problem of Attract. Discover how to subscribe below.
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Now, acquire a tour of Charlotte Tilbury’s closet-slash-lavatory:


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Huawei has confirmed that a dual-OS smartphone will be available in the US in Q2 2014, running Android and Windows Phone operating systems.
“We are still committed to making Windows Phone devices,” Shao Yang, Huawei’s CMO, told TrustedReviews.com in an interview published Wednesday. The executive countered, however, that Android devices are a higher priority, and that a “dual OS” strategy might be necessary.
Dual OS prospects have attracted attention in recent months, as evidence mounts that future Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone devices could include access to Android apps. It seems that despite Microsoft’s desperate push, device manufacturers like Huawei still consider its Windows Phone OS a secondary option to Google’s Android.
Yang further said, “With Windows Phone, one direction for us – and one that we are now following – is dual-OS. Dual-OS as in Android and Windows together.”
“If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone. If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone,” added Yang.
Yang didn’t provide any additional details about the dual-OS device.


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(StraightNews.org) – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used to manipulate images of online products to make them look better than they are. NPR published an article last month featuring an interview with a shopper who purchased a jacket for $40, and when it turned up, it looked nothing like the coat he thought he was buying. The purchaser believed the image of the coat was AI-enhanced, and experts are now warning that he was probably right.
Tech specialist Marva Bailer compared the sales trick with purchasing living room furniture based on an image of a “five-piece living room set with hand-painted throw pillows,” but all that turns up is the sofa. “Free tools that create professional images and campaigns are launched in minutes, reaching global audiences of millions,” she said, adding that such technology falls into the hands of scammers who offer what seems too good to be true. They are just that, she said, “too good to be true.”
The advance of AI has made fraud much easier, experts warn. Grant Cardone, an entrepreneur and internet personality, described how the AI works and what to do to avoid becoming a victim of fake advertising. He said all scammers need to do is verbally instruct a piece of software to create an image of a product. The AI application then generates a picture based on the verbal description.
Cardone said this differs from legitimate businesses using photography to capture their products in the best light, because the product is entirely fabricated and does not exist as seen in AI-generated images.
Mr. Cardone argues that sales platforms, such as eBay or Amazon, are responsible for preventing sales scams and should remove unscrupulous sellers from their sites. Hany Farid, professor of Digital Forensics at the University of California, believes digitally created images should automatically have a watermark that singles them out and lets buyers know the image is not of a genuine product.
“We will need to be vigilant,” Mr. Cardone concluded.
Copyright 2024, StraightNews.org


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New product announcements included enhanced automation around AP Automation and Sage Intacct Vendor Payments, powered by CSI.
Sage recently held their Transform 2021 event, the rebranded version of the customer event – hybrid for the first time – that Intacct used to hold before their acquisition by Sage. The event showcased advances in the Sage Intacct product, through both internal development and new strategic partnerships.
“We are calling 2021 the Year of the Customer, which is why this event has a new name,” said Dan Miller, EVP of Sage Intacct. “We believe Sage Intacct is all about business transformation. This reflects our focus on transforming the work that you do, every single day. Its all about elevating your work, using technology to make the day-to-day stuff easier and more efficient.”
Miller broke Sage Intacct’s philosophy into three buckets. One allows customers to own their own time, with additional automation that gives them time back. The second allows them to grow their way, reflecting the fact that every organization is unique. Finally, the third allows empowerment of customer teams, making them able to connect and collaborate at a high level.
“It’s all about automation,” said Julie Adams, Sage Intacct’s VP of Product Management. “We are helping our customers own their own time by streamlining workflows with automation. Automation has always been a key area of focus for us.” Existing innovations around automation include bank feeds and reconciliation, allocations, payments, approvals and Salesforce integration for NFP.
Sage also announced new automation enhancements at the event.
“Everyone will be super-excited to hear what we are doing on the AP Automation side,” Adams said.
These enhancements around digitalizing the process of inputting and paying bills will see the system be able to automatically read both PDFs from email attachments and old-fashioned mail, and then create an Accounts Payable bill in the system for review.
“We will streamline and automate from your bill ingestions to payment and reconciliations, all with proper controls,” said Winifer Cheng, Senior Director of Core Financials at Sage Intacct. “Sage Intacct will help you get your AP bills into the system.
“Many vendors email you bills as attachments,” Adams said. “You have to download those attachments , save them locally or some place shared, and then log into Intacct, manually enter all that bill information, and hit that post button. It’s a ton of manual steps right there”
“Intacct is going to automate that for you,” Cheng said. The customer only needs to forward these emails to the Sage Intacct Provider email address, and it will turn them into a draft AV bill for your review.
If the customer is sent a paper bill, it will have to be scanned and saved locally, but it will be automated too.
“You scan the draft bills and it’s all filled in in real time,” Cheng indicated.
This is all assisted by a new list screen, with what Adams called major usability enhancements.
“There is now a really powerful filtering capability,” she said. “You can now also cross-table attributes and drag and drop personalization.”
Another new addition is the new Sage Intacct Vendor Payments, powered by CSI.
“This is a new way to streamline and automate the global payment process,” Cheng said. “Intacct manages the best economic ways to pay a vendor, by cheque, ACH or virtual cards, depending on what your vendor accepts.” This eliminates having to manually print and mail payments by cheque.
“You also have real time visibility along the way as to where the payment is,” Adams added.
Adams noted that customers will start to see some of this in their hands, starting in the middle of next year.
Sage Intacct is also focused on helping customers grow their own way, by building the solution out into deeper and broader verticals and across all the geographic regions, This includes broadening beyond financials, and building out operations capabilities around pick-pack-ship in wholesale distribution, for example. Some of this will be built out internally, and some will be done through partnerships.
One of these first partnerships will be with ScanForce.
“We have a number of partners that we really want to do more with to better serve this vertical,” said Pamela Novoa Ralli, Vice President of Strategic Pursuits at Sage Intacct. “We are starting with ScanForce to provide inventory automation, barcode scanning and transactional capability, across all key warehousing capabilities. We are taking the same focus on real estate, working with our partner Paya.” This allows Sage Intacct to meet construction companies’ very specific demands for payroll.”
“That allows us to focus on delivering very specific things for construction, things like change management and construction-specific billing and construction-specific reports and analytics,” Adams said.
Another new partnering announcement is the delivery of Sage Intacct Payroll, powered by ADP.
“The single greatest solution that we got from customers for an integrated solution related to payroll,” Novoa Ralli said. “ADP is already a member of our thriving marketplace with over 200 shared customers. The deeper and newer integration will be coming really soon.”
“We have also been working with AWS in bringing AWS into the marketplace,” said Aziz Benmalek, EVP, Partners & Alliances, at Sage. “We launched it and are doing a pilot and engaging with some key customers.”
Benmalek stressed that in addition to pursuing deeper vertical and horizontal expansion, Sage Intacct is also expanding globally, by enabling multinational customers.
“We are already in the market globally and have been particularly strong in English-speaking countries – the U.S., U.K., Australia, South Africa, Canada,” he said. “We are continuing to expand there but are also looking to expand to non- English speaking countries.”
Benmalek noted for example that there is not a French version of Sage Intacct today, even though they sell into Canada.
“The legislation around accounting, specifically taxes and compliance, needs to be done as well,” he said. “We are looking at getting this done by the second half of our fiscal year.” Sage’s fiscal year started in October.
Benmalek also emphasized that Sage’s partner channels will be even more critical going forward.
“Our strategy is very clear, that a partner-led strategy is necessary to scale and grow in a big way,” he said. “We have established different partner ecosystems. Our reseller business is strong, particularly in driving that transformation into the cloud, and it can drive more cloud-connected and cloud-native business. We also had a major PWC announcement this week, and outsourcing offering based on Intacct into their intermediate accounts from a BPOS point of view.”
Benmalek said that Intacct is popular among Sage’s large accountancy channel.
“Our accountancy channel benefits by Sage Intacct being the preferred solution for the accountants, over 80,000 of them,” he indicated.
Sage’s third channel around Intacct is the ISV ecosystem, which the company continues to strengthen and grow, and the fourth is the services ecosystem.
“Some of these are VARs and some are services companies, who build practices around our medium business products like Intacct and X3,” Benmalek said.
Finally, Benmalek noted that Sage is strong in Canada on both the VAR and the accountant side.
“Adding more Intacct is a big focus for us in Canada on the VAR side in the medium segment,” he said. “The Sage Intacct Accountant Program allows CPA firms to build outsourced offerings to customers based on Intacct. This has been a successful program, and we are launching it in Canada as well.”


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Swedish Day in the UK has arrived again, and tomorrow for around six hours there will be a gathering of nearly 200 vehicles who have their routes in Swedish. Take a look at the Swedish Day website for more details.
Over 60% of them will be Saab with Volvo catching up fast, but this year we have around 14 Swedish Trucks coming along as well, both Scania and Volvo. Sadly no Koenigseggs have been in touch, but maybe one year.
Weather forcast is looking good so fingers crossed for a dry sunny show.
Many of the French and Belgium visitors are arriving in England as I type and we will all join together tonight for a meal at the local Sparkford Inn, no dout chatting until past closing time.
Everyone is welcome to take a visit and we look forward to seeing lots of visitors. A few of last years pictures are at my flickr page.
According to SR/Ekot Volvo has placed a bid for parts of Saab. It seems like the revised bid includes more assets than the original one and is aimed at equipment and tools.
Volvo Cars will have made a bid for a large part of Saab’s bankruptcy estate, said sources of P4 West. The bid must be extended and go beyond what it had previously been interested in. – We have already told us that we are interested in parts of Saab. We are in close contact with the administrators, but I can not say anything about a bid. It is up to the administrators to tell about it, says Per-Ake Froberg, at Volvo’s press department. According to P4 West’s sources, Volvo will buy all the equipment in the factory. Volvo Cars is not interested in having any production in the factory, according to a source familiar with those matters. Instead, it is likely that the equipment will be moved to China, where Volvo and owner Geely is now building factories or equipment used in the factory in Torslanda, the source said.
Of course it may upset many here that it is Volvo who may want to ship the factory to China but please stay calm. First of all this is something that may only take effect if all parties who want to restart Saab should not get a deal done. The chance that this happens is fairly small as there are indications that some of those have a real desire to get hold of Saab as a whole. Additionally the receivers also want to find the best solution for Saab, the employees and the region. Second, it is a normal thing that any company that is in need of certain machinery shows interest in Saabs assets. This is pure business thinking, not emotional.
Swedish Day 2011 was another great success and even though the weather looked like it might be cruel to us and give us some rain, it ended up very dry, warm and sunny with a steady wind blowing through the site
As in 2010 the weekend started on Saturday evening with a successful Carvery at The Sparkford Inn. 33 Swedish Fans sat down and enjoyed a three course meal followed by lots of chat until closing time. Many of our friends from Europe were there sharing their love for both Saab and Volvo. Luckily for us, the English language was known by everyone. Chris Hamley, a Saab specialist from Devon, arrived with his whole garage staff and their families and almost took over the pub car park with their six cars including a 9000 Limousine and Saab Astra van.
I moved this to the front page since it was only up for an hour until Spyker’s press releases started to fly out, including the announcement of JAJ’s retirement. It deserves some time on the front page. -Jeff
This isn’t about Saab, per se. I guess you could say it’s more of a perspective piece on the industry as a whole. As I’m about to dip my toes into this industry, I’ve found it interesting to take a wider perspective and try to understand a little more of the ‘why’ – from the company’s point of view.
A trial fleet of around 400 Volvo C30 Electrics is coming, and anyone who wants one had better have an awful big piggy bank. Speaking at a media launch near Indianapolis, IN today, the president of Volvo Car Special Vehicles, Lennart Stegland, said that, while the final price for the car hasn’t been set, Volvo will not sell the EV, but instead offer the car through a three-year lease for around 1,500 Euros. Per month.
I can’t imagine the digital decibels that would reverberate through comments if this were VolvosUnited. I can picture it now – we’d all be pleased as punch in the lead up to the vehicle’s introduction and then Volvo’s PR group would drop the pricing hammer and we’d go nuts.
And I can understand why, too. That’s a bucketload of money for any car, let alone a small 4-seater with a ill-shaped hatch opening.
That figure – which translates into around US$2,200 per month, by the way – is what first got my attention. Reading further into the article got me feeling a little bit sorry for our much larger Swedish compatriots.
…..so if you stick it out for the full 36 months, you get to spend $76,674 to not buy a car. Even worse, Stegland said that Volvo will lose money on the deal. Ouch. Developing electric vehicles for mass production is more than mildly expensive.
Isn’t that just a little bit amazing?
The company does the work, brings that work to market. They have to charge megabucks just to scrape back some of the cost and despite bringing such an innovative vehicle to market, they’ll still have to take the negative publicity that goes with such a high price as well as taking a loss on the vehicles.
Electrification, despite its prominence at recent motor shows, is still a niche when it comes to actual products for market. Toyota have been the most successful with partial electrification, selling Prius hybrids for over a decade now. Despite the age of their hybrid technology and there dominant market share in the sector, the most recent information I could find suggests that they’re still making a loss on each one the Prius lost around $10K per car and has only recently started to make real money per unit sold (corrected with a more recent source).
In other words, we’ve really only got widespread availability of hybrid Toyotas because the company was massive enough and profitable enough to absorb the cost of producing them for an entire decade or so.
This is the first post I’ll be making in what will hopefully become a regular series. While we’re clearly a Saab blog, every now and then it’s nice to keep one eye out on what the competition is cooking up for those interested in seeing what Saab will be facing off against in the future. As relevant stories come up, you’ll hear about them and get our take on what it impact they have on Saab (or what elements were ripped off from them). For those worried that we’ll be serving more articles with Bavarian cream around here fear not, lingonberries remain the topping of choice for our coverage.
First up is what is surely the most direct competitor (or copy) BMW has ever had to the classic 900, the 3 Series GT.
Tomorrow will be an important day for Saab, not only because of the anniversary, which is already quite important on its own, but because Saab will show what they have been able to do in the first year of independence.
Around five years ago now, Saab unveiled a concept car at the Stockholm Motor Show. It was just after the Geneva Salon of 2006, and consequently it got lost in the backwash of the stunning Aero X concept.
That car was the Saab 9-3 BioPower Hybrid – a hybrid car in a Saab 9-3 Convertible body. What wasn’t known widely at the time (and still isn’t) is that that concept car was also intended to be presented as a plug-in hybrid vehicle. GM ordered the press release to be changed and it’s rumoured that the plug cover – the rear badge – was glued shut.
So….. the concept of a plugin hybrid running in concert with environmentally friendly fuel isn’t a totally foreign concept where Saab is concerned. The only thing is, they haven’t actually built one yet.
And apparently Volvo have.
The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid combines rear electric motors with a regular diesel engine at the front to consume just 1.9 litres of diesel per 100km, emitting just 49g/km of CO2 when in hybrid mode.
The diesel engine produces 150kW and 440Nm and the electric motors at the back add another 50kW and 200Nm, meaning this car will have the capacity to drive ‘big’ when needed.
It also has three switchable modes – electric, hybrid and diesel, meaning it can run purely off the fuel engine, the electric engine, or a combination of the two.
The car will go on sale in 2012 (they don’t say when in 2012).
Saab’s 9-3 replacement vehicle will go on sale in the last quarter of 2012.
Saab’s 9-3 replacement will have a new rear-drive electric propulsion system to work in conjunction with a fossil fuel motor at the front.
Volvo have chosen an existing vehicle for their new groundbreaking drivetrain, which means they can show it now. Saab will be using an all-new vehicle, which means we won’t see it for some time.
The big question is – can Saab do something as compelling as what this Volvo seems to be? Will it offer a plug-in charging capability? Does it need to? Do Saab’s engineers have any more tricks up their sleeve? Can they bring a new dimension to the marketplace in 18 months from now?
I’m pretty sure they can, but it will be very interesting to watch.
BIG thanks to Jeff P for the LA Auto Show banner featuring at the top of the website all this week!
Outstanding stuff. I know a few people have commented on it already, so Jeff – it’s put smiles on people’s faces already……. job done!
This might be the final entry on SU before I hit LA, so there’s a bit of stuff to cover.
People and cars.
That’s what this stuff is all about. People and cars.
One of Finland’s former parliamentarians, Riitta Uosukainen, is doing some free promotional work for Saab after she and her husband had a collision with a moose on the weekend:
“We were driving with my husband at 17.00 (this time of the year it’s really dark outside in Finland at five O’clock), when suddenly a giant moose jumped out from the dark straight on to our car.”
The impact was so severe that Mrs. Uosukainen thanks the rugged build of the car, and thanks to that nothing bad happened to the people inside it: “The car was totaled. If it hadn’t been a Saab we both (She and Her husband) would of been dead.”
Then she thanks all the officials who arrived to the scene and gives compliments to the Police, ambulance staff, tow-car company and the hospital. Everything worked flawlessly. “I think it’s good for everybody to know”.
The she gives a warning to all drivers out there: “It’s unbelievable how this situation could surprise us all. The way it came (the moose, translators clarification), there are no words to describe it. It’s such a noise that it felt as if it fell from the sky.”
Thanks to Pekko for the translation.
Assuming they’ll order a new 9-5 to replace the one the moose just totalled, perhaps VM could deliver it personally to keep the story rolling?
I had a great catch-up dinner with a couple of Sydney Saab friends this evening. OK, Richo’s moved over to the dark side, but I still sense good in him, as does Princess Lea [sic]. Brendan B was there with his Viggen convertible, too.
The other members of the Sydney Saab clan that I usually catch up with were probably sick of seeing each other’s faces as they had what looks like a great meet-and-drive event on the weekend.
I had to put two shots of the Viggen in there – because it used to be mine! It’s now owned by a guy named Wayne G, who tells me it’s purring like a cat.
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Restaurants now have a new way to encourage customers to order from them directly versus turning to an app like Grubhub or Uber Eats as eateries across the country shift primarily to takeout because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Restaurants will soon be able to communicate their preferred ordering method to customers through Google, the search giant announced on Wednesday. When tapping a link to order food from a restaurant’s Google business profile — the listing that appears on Google Maps and Search — customers will be able to see which platform the restaurant prefers.
That means restaurants will be able to explicitly encourage customers discovering restaurants through Google Maps to order from their own website versus a third-party app.
The announcement comes as restaurants are rallying against the use of delivery services like Grubhub and Seamless, arguing that the processing fees that come with using a third-party service can make it difficult for restaurants to benefit from such orders. Some restaurants, like Pitas and Sticks in Brooklyn, even include a note in orders placed through Grubhub asking customers to order directly from the eatery instead, according to NBC News.
Grubhub also came under fire in April over its “Supper for Support” promotion, which offered discounts to promote ordering in but required restaurants to pay the cost of the discount. Grubhub had since said that “there was some initial confusion” about the promotion, adding that it’s made changes that include putting $30 million toward participating restaurants to stimulate food sales.
“It’s cost prohibitive because these fees are pretty astronomical and the restaurants really aren’t generating the profit they need from that,” Jason Kaplan, CEO of restaurant and hospitality consulting firm JK Consulting, said to Business Insider in a previous interview.
The ability for merchants to specify their preferred online ordering partner will be coming this summer, Google says.
Google is also launching a few additional features geared toward helping people interact with businesses remotely. The search giant will now allow virtual kitchens, which are restaurants that do not have a physical location but offer food deliveries, to verify their businesses on Google.
It’s also going to start allowing users to book virtual classes and appointments directly through Google by expanding its Reserve With Google platform, much like the way it currently offers the ability to book a table at a restaurant or purchase tickets to a physical event. Businesses can also now add links to their Google profile for customers to make donations or purchase gift cards.
The new features are designed to make it easier for small local businesses to reach consumers at a time when restaurants and stores are adjusting the way they operate to cope with COVID-19-related restrictions.
But they also serve as another reminder that Google Maps has become far more than just a navigation app for getting from point A to B, even as concern has grown in recent years about the reach and influence of large tech firms like Google.
Rather, Google has been turning Maps into a platform for doing everything from finding curated guides to local points of interest to booking a restaurant reservation. Google even redesigned its Maps app earlier this year to further emphasize that Maps is designed for more than just getting directions.
REPOSTED FROM BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – READ FULL ARTICLE HERE


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Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
New Nike Apple Watch Bands Now Available for Purchase [Updated]
The new bands are available in four shades of pink and blue "inspired by the shade of the sky, from dawn to dusk," and each one matches a Flyknit shoe. Nike has offered Nike+ bands since the Nike+ Apple Watch debuted in 2016, but this is the first time the company has made an effort to introduce bands that match its shoes.
Nike's new Apple Watch bands are made of the same flexible fluoroelastomer material that's used for Apple's line of Sport bands, but Nike bands add perforations for ventilation purposes.
The bands are available from the Nike website for $49 each, and starting today, select Nike stores will also begin carrying them. Apple plans to start offering the new Nike+ bands in stores, from authorized retailers, and in specialty department stores in "early June."
Nike's matching Flyknit running shoes are also available starting today for $190.
Update: Many of the new Nike+ bands and Flyknit shoes have already sold out.


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Ridge, N.J. – Verizon Wireless plans next Wednesday to unveil its
next-generation Motorola-made Droid.
carrier didn’t disclose details but said speakers at a launch event in New York
would include Verizon Wireless executive VP/chief marketing officer John Stratton,
Google engineering VP Andy Rubin, Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha, and Adove CEO
currently offers five Android-based phones: Droid by Motorola, Droid Eris, Droid
Incredible by HTC, Motorola Devour and LG Ally.
current Droid features the Android 2.1 OS, but the new model might ship with the
2.2 version of Google’s Android OS, recently unveiled by Google. The updated OS
will operate faster, turn Android smartphones into mobile Wi-Fi hot spots, support
Adobe Flash within the browser and add new camera/camcorder features, Google
said during a
The upgraded.2 OS also supports
voice dialing over Bluetooth, supports Microsoft Exchange for enterprise users,
and lets users make room for more apps by storing them on memory cards.
the handset into a Wi-Fi hot spot that can be shared with up to eight devices,
Android 2.2 phones could also be used as a wireless modem when connected to a
Windows or Linux laptop via USB cable to share a wireless data connection, the
Motorola and Verizon


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new ISO certifications
Creo Inc., based in Vancouver, BC, has announced that its entire design and manufacturing operations are now certified to ISO 9001:2000 standards for quality management, and to ISO 14001:1996 standards for environmental management.
Creo designs and manufactures digital prepress and printing systems in Canada and in Israel. Operations in Israel were recently certified to ISO 9001:2000 quality standards, and certification was renewed for ISO 14001 environmental management standards by the Israel Institute for Standards. Canadian operations were certified earlier.
ISO 14001 is a recognized environmental management system standard through which a company can demonstrate its commitment to sound environmental performance, pollution prevention and continual improvement. ISO-9001:2000 certification assures customers of quality standards for the design, manufacturing and delivery of products and services.


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“San Fransicko” author and “Twitter Files” journalist Michael Shellenberger says Gov. Newsom is “out to lunch” by running for president and attacking GOP member instead of addressing California’s crime.
Workers at a San Francisco Whole Foods Market were routinely threatened with weapons before the crime-plagued store announced it was shuttering after a little more than a year in business.
Records of 568 emergency calls to the Market Street store over 13 months showed chaotic incidents, including vagrants throwing food, yelling, engaging in fights and attempting to defecate on the floor, according to the New York Times.
Stocks in this Article
"Male [with] machete is back," according to one 911 call; "Another security guard was just assaulted," according to another call.
WHOLE FOODS IN SAN FRANCISCO CLOSING ONE YEAR AFTER OPENING DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS: REPORT
A Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco announced in April it was closing, citing crime near the store. (Fox 2 / File)
One call noted that security guards at the store were assaulted by a knife-wielding man, who then sprayed employees with a fire extinguisher.
One man reportedly overdosed from fentanyl and methamphetamine in the bathroom in September, according to the Times.
At least 14 people were arrested during the 13 months the Whole Foods in the downtown was open, which included serious charges of grand theft and battery, according to the outlet.
WHOLE FOODS MARKET EXPLORES BUILDING OFF-SITE KITCHENS TO SUPPLY FOOD BARS
Workers at a San Francisco Whole Foods Market were routinely threatened with weapons before the crime-plagued store announced it was shuttering after a little more than a year in business. (Reuters / Carlos Barria / File / Reuters Photos)
Police noted that criminals were seen emerging from the store with large quantities of alcohol, and that more than 250 baskets were stolen before the store stocked another 50 that also went missing.
The store cut its operating hours in October amid high theft and hostile visitors, one of the store's managers told the San Francisco Standard. In November, the store changed its bathroom rules after workers found syringes and pipes.
The Standard noted that deteriorating crime and drug use conditions on the street near the grocery store led to its closure.
WHOLE FOODS ASKS SUPPLIERS TO LOWER PRICES
Whole Foods Market, which is owned by Amazon, lasted 13 months in downtown San Francisco before closing amid rampant crime and drug use. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images / File / Getty Images)
"We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being," a Whole Foods spokesperson said in a statement at the time. "If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location."
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The San Francisco Police Department has hemorrhaged more than 330 officers since 2017 and its staffing level of about 1,500 officers falls short of its goal of 2,100 officers.
FOX Business' Landon Mion contributed to this report.


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Rumors have been swirling around about Google making some tweaks to the navigation bar in Android P, and thanks to 9to5 Google, we’re getting a glimpse at exactly how that’s going to look. There are no official screenshots outside of what Google has accidentally leaked, but there’s enough information to at least figure out the gist of the remodel.
Keep in mind that this isn’t simply a change in the default icons at the bottom of your screen. This time around, Google is legitimately changing some functionality of Android’s navigation bar to make things flow a bit better and feel more seamless.
Instead of the simple triangle/circle/square that we’re all so used to, you’ll find a small horizontal pill shape where the circle home button used to sit, and that’s not. That’s not too dissimilar to the iPhone X, although Google has implemented slightly different gestures and controls.
You won’t swipe up to go home, but can instead tap the pill icon like you’re already used to. Long-pressing for Google Assistant is still present, too. However, swiping up on the pill will bring up a new multitasking interface that scrolls horizontally instead of vertically. Besides that, there’s no more back button.
At least, there’s no back button when you don’t need it. The back key is situational and will disappear when it’s not needed or can’t do anything, and will pop back up in its normal place as necessary. It’s unclear exactly how that will be set, but we’ll certainly find out when Android P is officially released.
Aside from that we still have questions about how the entire system will be implemented on, say, a Samsung device that’s updated to Android P. Will manufacturers be forced to adopt the new tap-and-context system, or will they be able to keep using the old system and putting the back button on the wrong side of the screen? Hopefully we’ll learn that very soon.
source: 9to5 Google


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India has the potential to be a leader in the Blockchain revolution, Canadian expert Bob Tapscott said in Kerala…reports Asian Lite News
“When I was working in Silicon Valley, it was staggering to see the percentage of products created by people in India that has perfect ecosystem getting ready with talent and skill.
“Considering the talent in the country, I can clearly say India has the capability to lead Blockchain revolution,” said Tapscott at the “BlockHash Live 2018” summit organised by the Kerala Blockchain Academy (KBA) here.
The three-day event offered an opportunity for the global businesses in Blockchain to look into expansion of their operations in Kerala as well as across the country.
“Canada is aspiring in this field while Switzerland has taken the lead in crypto but not necessarily the lead in Blockchain revolution. In terms of knowledge, capability and technology, India is in a position to lead,” Tapscott stressed.
He, however, said Blockchain would not eliminate jobs in the future.
“Instead, it has the potential to eliminate unnecessary intermediaries and making organisations more efficient. In fact, it’s a job creator. In case of Artificial Intelligence (AI), drivers are working in warehouses and working as cooks as AI technology eliminates jobs,” the expert emphasised.
Nissan Opens Hub
Nissan opened country’s first global digital hub at the Technopark campus at Thiruvanathapuram.
Nissan currently has employability of 300 professionals, which will be ramped up to 500 by the end of this financial year, and has plans to scale up the employee strength to 1,500 in the next two years, according to the company.
Inaugurating the facility, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said: “Nissan coming to Thiruvananthapuram marks the beginning of a new era for Kerala IT. We will do our best to ensure Kerala proves to be Nissan’s second home after Japan.”
This centre at Technopark will be the first of kind in a number of software and information technology development centres in Asia, Europe North America and Latin America.
The hub will allow Nissan to provide application portfolio management, best-in-class user experiences, product development capabilities, data science, cyber security and connectivity as the automotive industry evolves, with growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology, a company official said.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of State K.J. Alphons said the government of India is keen and proactive in supporting investments in technology sector and that has contributed to Nissan’s decision to set up their first Global Digital Hub in India.
Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, said, “Japan-India relations have never been as strong as they are today based on the trust between our two prime ministers.
ace During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan in October, both governments agreed on digital partnership and the cooperation in the field of IT. I hope that this partnership helps to drive forward the future of innovation, technology collaboration and talent sharing between our two great nations.” said Hiramatsu.
Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor said he is happy that he could play an early and useful role in convincing the Nissan management about the advantages of opening the hub in Thiruvananthapuram, which is his constituency.
“This hub will serve as an important engine to drive Nissan’s global digital transformation and we already have some of the finest technology talent driving outcomes to serve our customers around the world better,” said Tony Thomas, Chief Information Officer at Nissan.


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BENGALURU: Inter-city trucking and supply chain startup Blackbuck has raised $150 million in its Series D round led by Goldman SachsInvestment Partners and Accel US, with participation from B Capital and Sequoia Capital. This takes the total amount of funds raised by the company to over $230 million.
ET had first reported about the financing round in its March 14 edition. The latest fund raise values the Bengaluru-based Zinka Logistics Solutions, which runs Blackbuck at around $800-850 million.
As part of this round, employees at BlackBuck have access to liquidate 25% of their total vested stocks, CEO Rajesh Yabaji told ET. The company’s employee stock pool stands at 4.7% and is valued at Rs 300 crore. According to Yabaji about 50% of this corpus is eligible for vesting which makes the total ESOP transaction in this round close to Rs 37 crore. About 200 employees hold ESOPs at Blackbuck, however all may not be eligible for vesting. “The programme is under board approval,” Yabaji said.
Founded in 2015 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam, BlackBuck uses technology to match a shipper with a trucker and facilitates price discovery. It also enables infrastructure around trucking including payments, insurance, financial services.
“Fleet owners on our platform have been able to reduce idle time by 45% leading to an increase in earnings between 20 and 30%,” Yabaji told ET. BlackBuck has over 300,000 trucks and 60,000 fleet owners on its platform.
The company plans to deploy cash to penetrate deeper into the market, by on boarding new trucking partners, expanding to new transportation corridors, and on the technology front invest heavily in product and data sciences capabilities, to enable more efficient freight matching processes.
“We see enormous potential for innovation in the full truck load logistics market in India,” said Sami Ahmad, head of Asia for Goldman Sachs Investment Partners Venture Capital & Growth Equity team. “Currently, the market is fragmented and inefficient due to highly manual and opaque processes, leading to poor experiences for stakeholders across the value chain.
Blackbuck competes with the likes of SAIF Partners and Warburg Pincus backed Rivigo, as well as SoftBank funded Delhivery in its trucking business vertical, and Matrix Partners-backed Loadshare in its B2B business. These startups are competing in a market which is underdeveloped, highly fragmented and fraught with inefficiencies which can be potentially disrupted through technology adoption. Of the unorganized market, trucking makes up the largest share with 85% of the Indian trucking market made up of small fleet owners with 5-20 trucks.
Blackbuck’s revenue rose about 60% to Rs 901.9 crore, while its expenses increased in almost equal proportion to Rs 1,018.61 crore in FY18 compared to a year earlier. Rivigo’s revenue stood at Rs 720 crore on expenses of Rs 990 crore in FY 2018, filings show.
This time last year the industry continued to face headwinds owing to the global semiconductor shortage and the lingering threat of a new Covid variant, Omicron. Now these anxieties have fizzled out. However, all is not well. While some segments are cheering heads on, others still have to deal with challenges like price hikes and rising financing costs.
According to ETAuto sources, the raid began at the company’s Corporate office in Gurgaon around 3:00 PM and continued till the story is filed. The latest development comes in light of heightened scrutiny by law-enforcement agencies on companies operating in India which have links with neighboring country, China.