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Former President Donald Trump has launched his new "free speech" oriented Twitter-style social media platform, Truth Social, on President's Day, and 12 hours after its debut, it has hit number 1 on Apple's App Store.
As of this writing, Truth Social is the highest-ranking free app on the App Store in the U.S. The rest of the Top 10 are: Talking Ben the Dog, HBO Max, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Messenger and Peacock TV. Truth Social also is the No. 1 trending title in the App Store’s “Social Networking” category.
Despite all the buzz surrounding the launch of the app, Truth Social has been plagued by "launch day woes," with many users reporting errors when trying to sign up. The demand has also moved many users to a "waiting list" after finally successfully creating their profile. The app is currently only available for Apple users, leaving many Android users out in the cold (though an Android version is reportedly in development).
Former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who is the CEO of Trump's technology start-up Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), said that Truth Social will be "fully operation" by the end of March when "anyone can get on the platform within the United States at any time."
Truth Social is a Twitter-style app that invites users to share their opinions on a platform that is "free from political discrimination." It's unclear if Trump plans to participate as an active user on his own social media platform, but if he does, it could be the boost it needs to compete with Twitter itself.
TMTG has said that its mission is to "create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America."
TMTG also has plans to launch its own subscription-based streaming service, filled with "non-woke" programming. Recently, right-leaning The Daily Wire has dipped its toe into content creation as well. No word on if the proposed streaming service looks to take on Netflix as Truth Social is designed to take on Twitter.


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Agragami, a step to bridge gap between old and new designers, entrepreneurs
New Delhi: Rohit Bal, Raghavendra Rathore and Leena Singh - the big names from the the fashion industry came together to motivate and guide new talent at Agragami, a first of its kind designer-student conclave.
"In the glitz and glamour of the fashion industry, we loose opportunities to promote new talent and this somehow blocks the industry expansion. Creative industries need constant infusion of new ideas to break new barriers and this initiative (Agragami) is a nice approach," Leena Singh told reporters.
Designer duo Shantanu-Nikhil were also at Agragami (which means frontrunner), organised by International College of Fashion (ICF) at India Habitat Center Saturday to provide a platform for synergy and networking between aspiring and established designers.
"ICF, through this medium, focuses on encouraging and promoting the new generation of designers and design entrepreneurs in the Indian context. Structured and nurtured design thinking combined with local innovation and Indian mindset can play a very crucial role in achieving a strong growth path even for new talent. Winning by design should be the new age mantra for new India," said Vinod Kaul, joint managing director, International College of Fashion (ICF).
"With the growing interest of fashion in India, a lot of promising designers are coming up. They, however, need the support of the existing fashion ecosystem ranging from peers, technicians, merchants and models in a co-optetion model for their own and the fashion industry`s success. The Design Conclave will be instrumental in raising issues which are critical for implementation of successful design innovation as well as design practices in various enterprises," he added
ICF offers an entrepreneurship programme and Kaul said: "We specialise in an education based around the business of fashion. The objective is to equip a student to not only fashion designing, but also to be a successful entrepreneur."

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Here at Marketing Pilgrim, we always seem to be ahead of the curve. Yesterday, we mentioned an AdAge article that claimed that Facebook should have Google shaking in its boots. Today, Adotas and Red Herring have taken on the topic, the former advising Google to acquire Facebook and the latter stating that Google’s already working on its own solution.
Adotas thinks that Google should pursue Facebook as part of their “recent spending spree” (starting with YouTube, which confirmed 8 months ago, but seems much longer ago than that). However, Adotas notes Google’s current agreement with MySpace, which they say “is responsible for about 11% of Google’s search traffic.” Adotas says Google should pursue Facebook without endangering that agreement (which has a noncompete clause).


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Agricultural producers, enthusiasts and industry experts made their way over (or through) the snowy Sierra Nevadas to sunny Tulare, California, for the annual World Ag Expo Feb. 13-15. With the theme “Best Farm Show on Dirt,” the international ag show offered seminars, exhibits, demonstrations, tours and more for attendees to enjoy during their time in the Central Valley.
The Farm Credit Dairy Center was full of dairy enthusiasts interested in learning about the latest technologies available. A steady stream of attendees wandered the barn each day bringing many lively conversations. Companies displayed new products, technologies and software during the trade show, with a heavy focus on automation and precision technology.
Dairy seminars during the event focused on sustainability within the industry. Researchers with the University of California – Davis (UC – Davis) and the University of California Cooperative Extension discussed surveys and efforts being done with soil, air and manure to mitigate methane emissions in central California. UC – Davis’ CLEAR lab continues to work on investigating feed additives as a method of controlling methane emissions. Other seminars included pre-weaning calf management, manure monetization, challenges and benefits of raising alfalfa in the West, and additional livestock-focused seminars.
Industry experts and producers made their way to a session focused on milk prices for 2024 from Rabobank Agrifinance – the outlook for the remainder of the year seems similar to what dairy producers experienced in 2023, with hopes that the fourth quarter will see an increase in milk prices.


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Lawmakers mull bill requiring supermarkets to donate excess edible food
A bipartisan group of Connecticut lawmakers is co-sponsoring a bill that would require supermarkets to periodically donate unsold food that’s still edible. At a General Law Committee public hearing Tuesday, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers voiced support for encouraging supermarkets to establish food donation programs. But there was debate over whether to mandate donations.
Democratic Representative Dorinda Borer, a co-sponsor of the bill, says many supermarkets in Connecticut already donate food that is still edible to food banks, but she says there are gaps in the current arrangement: “Not all supermarket chains donate…[and] for those large chains that do donate, not all stores within that chain donate so we want to put formality around the process.”
The bill would require Connecticut supermarkets to periodically make excess edible canned and perishable foods available. The goal is to address hunger and food insecurity. Thirteen percent of Connecticut residents reported using a food bank since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Data Haven. In the state’s “urban core,” or poorest and most dense cities, that number jumped to 24%.
The legislation is also aimed at reducing food waste and supporting the operation of food banks or food recovery organizations.
The bipartisan support was not without exception: some lawmakers suggested removing wording that would require supermarkets to donate unused food. “To actually put it into language that a business needs to donate is quite different from any other piece of legislation that we’ve had,” said Republican Representative Tim Ackert.
New York passed a similar bill last year, which did not include a requirement for supermarkets to donate.


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1. How would you characterize the current situation in Mexico economic development?
Mexico is considered to be among the most rapidly developing nations globally and the Mexican Economy is ranked 14 largest. The nation is also aggressively expanding into different fields resulting in the country’s economy being ranked at an impressive 10th position in terms of its purchasing power. The Mexican economy has experienced rapid development in many areas thus making it an important economy in the region (Sheehan and Riosmena).
2. What are the US interests at stake? Are you aware of any policy discussions?
The nation entered into a Free trade agreement with the North American states in 1992 but it only comes in to effect in 1994 when the nation began aggressively exporting manufactured products to the northern states. By 2006, 90% of all Mexico exports were being sent to the northern states while 55% of the nation’s imports come from the northern states. This was due to the lack of taxation on the import and export between Mexico and the Americas Northern States (Clausing). Mexico has recently passed an import tax which is likely to see US products being taxed when importuned to Mexico. This would result in reducing US exports to Mexico resulting in a major trade imbalance.
3. What do you see right now as some of the key intelligence questions that you will address?
The aggressive trade between the northern states and Mexico is expected to reduce in the future due to Mexico recently passing the import tax bill. Congress union of Mexico has passed the import tax reforms which should see imported goods being taxed in the future. But it doesn’t stop at this! Since Mexico also risks losing its northern states export markets due to them taxing the northern state's imports to Mexico. If the northern states were to tax the imports Mexico risks losing the market to its Asian competitors that are looking for the opportunity to tap into this lucrative Northern American States market.
4. What sources are available that you have read to get needed background/context?
The events linked to Mexico’s economic development have been documented in several journals where the different time frames where assessed and evaluated. This has also resulted in a wide debate being started about the passing of the import tax legislature by the Mexican congress union. Information related to the free trade treaty is easily available on many books, journals and websites on the internet.
5. What sources will you consult to get the latest developments on the ground?
To get the latest news and information linked to the topic I will be consulting and following trade news reports which will cover the story extensively. Data and information will also be collected from stakeholders who have been directly affected by the move. Several American manufacturers and exporters are destined to experience serious losses making them an important source of the latest development (Wood and Roberts).


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Trucking across America
Keep truckers healthy
America runs on trucking companies to get our products to us. If the industry came to a grinding holt, we would be without food, water, mail and any other products we need to run our daily lives and even the luxuries we obtain for our homes. Picture life without furniture, appliances, toiletries, clothing and anything else that you could imagine that would fit in a semi.
Truckers are given an unfair job of not only being able to be home with their families but unable to purchase healthy foods so that they can be healthy. Truck stops do not offer healthy meals, nor do any convenience stores that they could possibly stop at. Many drivers live off of high calorie snacks and eat a large unhealthy meal when they stop for the night.
Not only is eating a problem but they are unable to get the healthcare they need because it is impossible to make an appointment and keep it because they are never home. Their lives are cut short because of their inability to be healthy.
Truck stops need to start serving healthy foods for these men and women. There are no choices of what they can eat because their parking space is limited because of their truck sizes. Only 14% of all truck drivers are not obese and that number is sad.
So how can this problem be solved so that we can keep our truckers healthy. The answer is simple. Start providing healthy meals at the places they eat. Stop selling high calories snacks and junk and provide healthier snacks so that they have more options to choose from.
My husband is a driver for a company here in Jacksonville and he said it is horrible what they are made to eat. He is fortunate that he is not obese, but he still says the choices of food are aweful to say the least.
We depend on these men and women to get our goods to us. The least we can do is provide healthy and nutritious meals so that they can be healthy and happy.
Keeping our truckers healthy
Eighty-six percent of the estimated 3.2 million truck drivers in the United States are overweight or obese, according to a 2007 study in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association.A few years ago, Mr. Blowers’s group conducted a blood pressure screening of more than 2,000 drivers at an annual truck show. “We sent 21 directly to the emergency room, and one of them had a heart attackon the way there,” he recalled.
It’s a problem not just for truckers, but for anyone who shares the road with them. In 2010, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 13 percent of all fatal occupational injuries, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 2007 report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that 87 percent of crashes involving truckers stemmed to some degree from driver error. Twelve percent of these cases were because the driver was asleep, had a heart attack, was in diabetic shock or had some other health problem.
“Of the accidents that are preventable, I’d say about 10 to 25 percent, if not higher, were from drivers who were tired, had sleep apnea or were not physically fit,” said Chad Hoppenjan, director of transportation safety services at Cottingham and Butler, an insurance broker in Dubuque, Iowa.
The United States Department of Transportation requires drivers to pass a certifying medical exam every two years. Drivers are checked for severe heart conditions, high blood pressure and respiratory maladies, including sleep disorders.
While the statistics are bleak, they’re not especially surprising. Driving is a sedentary activity. Most truckers are paid by the mile, so they tend to squeeze out every last second of the 11 hours they’re allowed on the road in a 24-hour period.
So why is the DOT allowing unhealthy drivers to drive over the road? It seems that they could help in some way to get these men and women healthy and give them alternative choices instead of eating out of greasy spoons.
We need a solution to this ever growing problem and it needs to start at home. If your wife wants to keep you around longer, get a refrigerator installed in your truck and pack it with good food, that way you will be eating healthy and keep a healthy weight.


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By ending a wait that lasted almost two years, the developers of ScummVM announced the arrival of a new version for the virtual machine preferred by graphic adventure fans: also known as “Lost with Sherlock”, ScummVM 1.8.0 is hailed as one of the most hefty releases ever prepared by the team with the addition of many games and game engines, the substantial update of graphics and sound sub-systems and the availability of new conversions for minor platforms.
2015 started well for fans of old-school graphic adventures, thanks to a new official release of ResidualVM and the addition of a couple new titles to the always-growing list of games supported by ScummVM. The two gaming virtual machines are related, seeing that ResidualVM was created by the same developers of ScummVM, and they both are projects defined by a steady advancement process devouring new games like a Grue devours players lost in the Zork underground world.
Yeah I know, it’s an old new, but considering that we are talking about a text adventure dating back to 28 years ago a few months more or less aren’t of so much difference. Moreover Zork isn’t only ready to return on the web with a permanent on-line multiplayer adventure but also on ScummVM, adventurers’ preferred virtual machine that recently grew rich with part of the videogaming universe ascribable to the mythologic adventure created in the mists of time by four MIT hackers.


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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Tax Day will be here before you know it, but are you ready?
News 10 spoke to Michael Perkins with Larrison's Tax Service. He says business is slow now, but that will all change come April 1st.
Perkins says one big concern this time of year is tax scams.
He says they get several calls daily from customers saying they've been called by the IRS. Perkins says it's important to keep your guard up, because the feds will not contact you like that.
He says, "This is not something the IRS will do. They will never call you. They will never email you, and just hang up. Don't give any of these people any information. They're just trying to scare you and scam you out of money."
Don't forget, April 15th falls on a Sunday this year, and Emancipation Day is on the 16th. That means Tax Day this year is April 17th.
To get some tax help of your own, you can contact Larrison's Tax Service at 812-232-6864.
Another helpful tools is the IRS’ “Dirty Dozen” list. The IRS has compiled the most common scams consumers deal with this time of year. Click here to check them out!


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Eight of the eleven people interviewed as part of the investigation said they'd consumed kratom "in pills, powder or tea", the CDC notes, adding, "No common brands or suppliers of kratom have been identified".
Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is a plant in the coffee family that's native to Southeast Asia.
While it investigates, the agency is recommending people abstain from using the product. A few months later, in the autumn of 2016, the DEA said it would delay rendering a decision on kratom until the FDA was able to complete a scientific evaluation of the supplement. Known for its stimulant effects, the plant has been considered by governmental agencies as an opioid substitute, a concern that hits home as the United States continues to struggle with an ongoing opioid crisis. The outbreak, which began in October, has resulted in at least 11 people being admitted to hospitals for treatment, but no deaths have been reported.
The federal agency had received confirmation of 28 people across 20 states with infections from Salmonella I 4, , 12:b:- as of February 16, according to the outbreak notice posted today.
The FDA has always been skeptical of the benefits of kratom, having placed import alerts on the substance in 2012 and 2014.
The CDC is urging Kratom users to stop taking the plant in any form because the source of the contamination has not been identified. It can cause psychosis, seizure and death, according to the CDC. Earlier this month, Food and Drug Administrator Scott Gottlieb warned consumers about kratom, saying an FDA analysis shows compounds in the plant act like prescription-strength opioids. There are now no FDA-approved therapeutic uses of kratom and importantly, the FDA has evidence to show that there are significant safety issues associated with its use.
The American Kratom Association and patients who use the supplement for pain control immediately pushed back on that decision.


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Sensor Tower has revealed the top grossing mobile titles of August showing that Diablo Immortal is still experiencing strong growth, entering the charts for the first time in terms of overall revenue with over $97 million earned throughout the month, a 42 percent month-on-month rise.
This surge is attributed to the game’s release in China on July 25th following a delay. Most of the game's global player spending came from Chinese users with the figure at 61 percent, eclipsing the United States which was the second largest market for the game with 16 percent of spending coming from there.
Honor of Kings topped the charts with $222 million. Again, the game did extremely well in China, which accounted for 94 per cent of the total player spend. This was followed by Taiwan (2.3 percent) and Thailand (1.8 percent).
China also proved to be a key market for PUBG Mobile, which earned $156.3 million in August, of which Chinese gamers contributed 60.7 percent.
The US tops the charts
In total, the mobile gaming market generated $6.6 billion in revenue worldwide across the App Store and Play Store, which is a 12.4 percent year-on-year decrease.
Despite the fact that China contributed so heavily to the success of both the previously mentioned games, the US was the month’s top market for global revenue with $1.9 billion – approximately 28 percent of the total. Japan came in at number two with just shy of 20 percent, with China in third place at 17.4 percent. This discrepancy is due in part to the fact that Google Play isn’t available in China.
Diablo Immortal may not have been the top performer of the month, but the game’s continued popularity has seen it earn over $200 million since its release. Last month, we listed the game’s developer Activision Blizzard and publisher NetEase as two of the top 50 biggest mobile game developers of 2022 here at Pocketgamer.biz.


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The Mastercard Economics Institute’s Shifting Wallets: New consumer spending habits report looks at how consumers across the world are holding tight to habits that offer convenience, experience or both.
Asia-Pacific has seen a sharp recovery in outbound travel following the re-opening of borders, despite the growing cost of air travel. This is notable in markets like Singapore and Australia, with strong demand persisting even beyond the initial loosening of restrictions. Equally, spending on experiences is continuing to exceed spending on things, reflected in the spending patterns for experiences including dining out or entertainment. Asia-Pacific consumers are ordering from restaurants – both in-person or online – over making their own meals at home, with spending on restaurants up 16% in August 2022 from January 2022 levels, while grocery spending is down 5%.
“Consumers in Asia-Pacific are looking to make up for lost time after a challenging few years,” said David Mann, chief economist of Mastercard AP & MEA. “The pent-up demand to see new places and experience new things is influencing consumer spend in a big way. With the ongoing prioritisation of getaways, dining, entertainment, and experiences, we are expecting to see even more rebound in the travel and entertainment sectors.”
There are also new opportunities for online businesses, as both goods and experiences spending shifts away from the weekends. As digital shopping and remote work continue to influence everyone’s daily habits, consumers will adjust and re-adjust their spending preferences accordingly.
Consumers prioritise travel spending
Despite personnel shortages and a surge in crude oil prices pushing up the cost of air travel, spending on travel and experiences remains strong for consumers in South-east Asia.
Singapore shows the greatest demand in South-east Asia for international travel, with consumer flight bookings at more than 10% above 2019 levels as of June 2022, despite heightened logistical challenges and price pressures.
In Australia, longhaul flight bookings are up 92% in August 2022 compared to August 2019, and short-haul flight bookings are up 155%.
Consumer spending in South-east Asia is experiencing a recovery in the key categories of retail, travel and entertainment, with retail spend at 1.5x pre-pandemic levels as of June this year.
Small businesses show gains in online services
Globally, large businesses dramatically outperform smaller ones in the shift to digital – but small online service providers in South-east Asia are still finding ways to thrive.
In Singapore, small online business services (tutoring, healthcare, and personal care services) rose over 3.5x compared to 2019.
However, the gap between large and small online businesses is particularly evident in the retail sector in more developed economies – e-commerce sales for Singapore’s large businesses grew 200% versus 59% for small online retailers in August 2022 compared to 2019. Similarly, for Australia, large businesses grew 93% versus 24% for small online businesses.
Gone are designated days for spending
Working from home and the shift to digital have blurred the lines: date night is any night, and leisurely shopping trips are no longer limited to Saturday and Sunday. This has significant staffing and supply chain implications for retailers, restaurants, and other businesses.
Consumers in Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand have drifted away from weekend entertainment in 2022 as compared to 2019, beating the weekend crowd by going for weekday tickets and emptier theatres on Mondays and Tuesdays.
This blurring of lines from conventional weekend spend is also apparent in department stores. In Hong Kong, the share of spending on Saturdays and Sundays at department stores fell, by 1.22% and 1.42%, respectively, relative to 2019, while spending on Tuesdays rose 2.84%.
A similar effect was seen in retail-loving Singapore, where department store spending fell 2.8% and 2.46% on Fridays and Saturdays respectively, but increased 1.87% on Thursdays.
Conversely, eating places have seen a boom in weekend spend, with strong share shifts on Saturdays for Hong Kong, up 2.75%; Malaysia, up 2.1%; and Singapore, up 1.8%.
View the full report here.


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The cyber arena is an integral part of the life of millennials because of which nothing ever seems to take place offline. However, anti-phishing protection becomes necessary when we deal with new websites, new people, and new technological advancements every day as the times are difficult, and cybersecurity is at stake with the existence of countless malicious actors. There are innumerable instances of cyber-attacks being launched by the attackers, which have made individuals, companies, and governments suffer financially, socially, politically, and emotionally. Here is an account of the most recent cybercrimes to help you better analyze the dark reality of the digital world.
Massive Increase In The Spread Of Shade Ransomware
Recently, multiple groups of researchers have pointed out the sudden and drastic rise in the spread of Shade ransomware with 1100 instances of phishing emails being recorded in June 2019 and the figures rising to over 6000 in the next quarter. The targets predominantly target Mexico and Russia; however, potential victims were from the UK and Germany.
The ransomware is continuously being updated by its developers, and now it can encrypt not only files but also mine cryptocurrencies and amplify traffic to generate revenue in particular websites. The Shade ransomware is the most widely circulated malware over email phishing attacks. Selling by the name Troldesh, the ransomware uses constantly changing Tor command-and-control (C2) servers, which make it untraceable and unblockable.
Researchers further noted that Shade ransomware is the primary malware used to attack computers in H1 2019. Troldesh comes with unique readme#.txt files that leave the ransom message on the infected system. The ransomware has been quite popular and very successful in tricking people by dint of its ability to evade phishing email prevention methods.
Attackers Impersonate Retail Websites
The newest and widely used means of conning people employed by the attackers include creating fake domains that largely resemble the websites of retailers. These fraudulent domains use valid TLS certificates to enhance their credibility and are targeting 20 retailers from the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Australia. This method comes as a great invention to fool online shoppers into giving away their bank credentials and thereby stealing their money and personal details.
It is interesting to note that the attackers have already registered over 100,000 fake domains so far, and a particular US retailer has more than 49,500 look-alike domains created by the attackers that target its many customers.
A majority of fake domains use free certificates from Let’s Encrypt.
What Can Be Done?
To prevent phishing attacks, the retailers must look for such fake domains and help the whistleblowers in blacklisting these malicious websites. They must also incorporate Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) to the DNS records of their domains and subdomains as a security measure. As for the customers, they are to properly check the authenticity of a website before entering their personal details.
Expect Phishing Emails Ahead Of Black Friday
As Black Friday (29 November) approaches, researchers ask customers to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails that might appear to be from the retailer but are actually attempts at cyber attacks. An email with an offer that seems too good to be real must be re-verified to check whether or not it’s genuine. Research has shown that a scary majority of 85% of the European retailers have not incorporated anti-phishing solutions to safeguard themselves and their customers from cyber-attacks.
Black Friday is the time when many shoppers scavenge for the best possible deals available online. This means that it is also the time when retailers send out emails to their customers citing their best deals. It is this opportunity that attackers seize. Retailers are supposed to incorporate strict domain-based message authentication, but 60% of the retailers in the UK do not have any such email phishing protection. This makes them all the more prone to attacks and shows the attackers an easy way to steal the identity details of persons and businesses.
As per a study, the retailers in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands are most vulnerable to email frauds, and although the UK based retailers aren’t the prime target of attackers, 60% of them still remain vulnerable to phishing and other email frauds.
What Can Be Done?
- Strong passwords should be used by customers to keep themselves safe.
- They must also ensure that they do not use the same password for more than one account.
- Furthermore, avoiding the use of open-access Wi-Fi is advisable as it enables the attackers to intercept the data transferred over such an open network.
- Customers must adequately analyze whether a website begins with “https” or “http” as unencrypted transfer protocols like “http” are unsafe to make online purchases.
- Also, users must watch out for fraudulent websites that look exactly like genuine ones. These can usually be demarcated via minute grammatical errors or typos that often go unnoticed.
- Lastly, one must be extremely cautious and not click impulsively on any link that’s attached with an email with questionable origin or nature.
Data Breach From PACS Servers
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) are used by hospitals and healthcare organizations to preserve medical images for future references. However, these PACS are often unprotected, and a consequence of this was a recent leak of over 1.19 billion confidential medical images from nations like the United States, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Ecuador who are known to use PACS. Leaky PACS servers were used by these nations, who collectively account for 75% of the total images exposed.
Over 786 million of the publicly exposed images are found to be from the United States, 121 million images from India, 38.2 million from South Africa, 42.3 million from Brazil, and 13 million from Ecuador.
Why Did The Breach Happen?
The pictures of patients are out there on the web available to the access of almost anyone. The primary reason behind this leak is the poor implementation of anti-phishing measures. The healthcare providers in the affected nations failed to follow the HIPAA rules because of which 6.6% of their consumers underwent such serious medical identity theft. The healthcare providers must have a list of public-facing IP addresses of their organizations and maintain them regularly to check for threats. The physicians, too, must take some security measures such as encrypting data and adhering to data privacy rules before storing patients’ data.
Decryption Tool Unveils Jigsaw Malware
In the latest technological invention, tech security company Emsisoft came up with a free decryption tool for Jigsaw ransomware. The Jigsaw ransomware functions by borrowing themes from horror movies and thereby inducing fear in the minds of victims to pay the ransom. This Emsisoft tool can unlock 85 variants of the Jigsaw malware presently and shall be updated from time to time to unlock its new variants as and when they emerge.
How Does The Malware Work?
The ransomware Jigsaw has been pestering people to pay up ransom since 2016 and has been causing quite some chaos through its vicious policy of encrypting and deleting files when the due date for paying the ransom has passed. The malware keeps deleting files by the hour, and at the end of 72 hours, all files get deleted. It re-launches itself if a user happens to reboot his system. Depending on its variant, the ransom demanded may range from $20 to $2,000.
However, Emsisoft’s innovation is a benchmark in phishing protection and shall hopefully prove to be the answer to the malicious actions of Jigsaw.
Major Ransomware Attack Hits French Hospital
In what seems like the most severe ransomware attack in Europe after the 2017 WannaCry attack that hit the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, Rouen University Hospital-Charles Nicolle in the north of France was hit by a ransomware attack. The attack affected all 5 sites covered by the hospital complex. It is a reasonably large hospital with 10,000 staff members and 2,500 beds, and to stop the attack from inflicting further damage, the hospital had to bring down its IT systems.
However, by the afternoon of 18th November, the hospital could restore over a quarter of its affected applications. With the assistance of the French National Agency for Information Systems Security, the hospital is expected to be able to restore all its systems within a week.
Although it is not yet known who the attackers are, no ransom has been demanded so far. But as per rumours, 1,500 Euros (approx. $1,660) have been demanded to unlock each of the 6,000 infected computers. Not many concrete details have presented themselves, but what we can say for sure is that the attack hasn’t led to the loss of any patient data.
New Android App Enables Viewing Private IG Accounts
An android app called “Ghosty” comes with a ghost-like feature of going right through someone’s privacy. The app allows a user to spy on private Instagram accounts – the feature that is disabled by Instagram itself. Facebook had spotted this faulty app and brought it to Google’s notice, who was quick in removing the app from the Google Play Store. However, chances are, the app still persists in its malicious intents.
Facebook had warned Ghosty to send a cease and desist letter, which proved to be momentarily effective as the application was soon removed.
What Does The App Do?
The developers of Ghosty exploited the trust placed on them by people. The app functioned in a chain-like process wherein users needed to provide access to their profiles and also invite other people to do the same. Now, when a person with access to a private profile joined the network, everyone else on the network also got the same access. The app also charged a subscription fee from its users.
Instagram said that it takes necessary measures to prevent phishing attacks, but it’s still a mystery to them as to how Ghosty could evade its privacy filters. A Facebook spokesperson notified that work is in progress to ensure protection against phishing and to take action against the developers of Ghosty.
Mozilla Triples Payouts For Bug Finders
In perhaps an attempt to match up the rest when it comes to rewarding researchers who find glitches in their servers, Mozilla has announced that it will expand its bug bounty program to cover a range of new sites and services and also triple its maximum payout. This comes as a step to celebrate fifteen years of its existence. This means that a person who manages to find a legitimate fault in the code execution bug in Firefox, its payment subscription service, VPN, localization, code management tools, speech recognition, etc. stands a chance of winning $15,000.
However, Mozilla’s rewards are still incomparable to its contemporaries. For instance, Intel, offers $500 – $100,000 (based on the severity); Microsoft offers $15,000 – $300,000; Dropbox offers up to $33,000; Twitter offers up at $20,000; Google offers at least $150,000 to anyone who can crack its ChromeOS in guest mode. Huawei announced that it will pay $220,000 to anyone who points out a critical vulnerability in any of its Android devices (Mate, P, Nova, Y9, and Honor) and up to $110,000 for a high-severity spot. But the greatest of them all is the amount offered by Apple. Apple pays $1,000,000 to anyone who can hack an iPhone without anyone clicking or tapping something. These prove to be a nice means of encouraging all those who religiously work towards ensuring protection against the perpetrators.
With that being said, Mozilla’s decision to triple its payout in spite of being a nonprofit symbolizes that it’s profitable for a company to follow the ongoing trend and engage in such bug hunting. It also hints at Mozilla’s attempts at trying to get more users onto its services.
24-Year Sentence Doesn’t Hinder Malicious Works Of Nigerian Hacker
Arrested and given a 24-year sentence for being the mastermind behind an intricate web of internet fraud schemes traversing two continents, Nigerian internet fraudster Hope Olusegun Aroke is once again in the limelight. Only this time, he has executed a mega scam from one of the most secure prisons (the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison) worth at least $1m (£773,000).
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is brainstorming on how could Aroke possibly continue working from inside the Lagos prison. Apparently, Aroke was illegally allowed to use the internet and his phone. He was also frequently admitted at the Nigeria Police Hospital in Lagos for an “undisclosed ailment”. In addition to this, he was able to leave the facility to stay in hotels, meet his family, and attend social functions.
Further research revealed that he had two bank accounts under the fake name of Akinwunmi Sorinmade and had purchased a luxury car and homes while he was still at the prison. He also had access to his wife’s bank account token while he was in prison and used it to transfer funds. The Nigerian Correctional Service (who manages the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison) has kept mum about these revelations.
The war against phishing attack prevention fails when government-employed officials lose their integrity at the offering of some amount of money. It is suspected that the reason why Aroke managed to work in the dark world despite being imprisoned is that he received the cooperation of certain corrupt prison officials.
Cyborg Being Propagated Under The Cover Of Windows Update
Cyber attackers are now spreading the ransomware ‘Cyborg’ via phishing emails claiming to be notifications of Windows Update. They are sending people emails that seemingly contain a “Critical Windows Update” but are indirectly installing Cyborg ransomware in the computers of the victims. The attachment in the email contains an executable file which is disguised as a “.jpg” file and leads to the ransomware and also its builder. This can then be sued to create variants of the ransomware.
Unlike other phishing campaigns and emails, the cyborg email didn’t contain a long body message. It instead had a one-liner and to-the-point subject stating, “Install Latest Microsoft Windows Update now! Critical Microsoft Windows Update.” The worst part about this ransomware is that it can be created and spread by anyone with access to the builder. Furthermore, it can be spammed and attached in multiple ways to evade phishing email prevention gateways.


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When going through risk assessment procedures regarding environmental hazards, it's important to go one step further to ensure sustainable business practices. Incorporating sustainability was the top obstacle for businesses for the third year in a row with 62 percent of survey takers saying it was their biggest leadership challenge, according to the State of Sustainable Business Survey for 2013 conducted by BSR and GlobeScan. Sustainability professionals often find it difficult to change the attitudes of the company's leadership, such as by swaying their leaders to believe sustainability has a major impact.
"Convincing leadership of the value of integrating sustainability and changing management mentality are the most commonly mentioned barriers," the report stated. "This may be a result of other mentioned barriers, such as the difficulty in demonstrating the value of integrating sustainability, especially when there are financial constraints and where profit is prioritized over sustainability."
Harvard Business Review cautions businesses that they will have to eventually change the minds of their leaders in order for sustainability to grow on a larger scale. Leaders might see business as separate from nature, as social and ecological factors cannot be quantified as much as revenue and other concrete indications of business growth. To change this mindset, corporate sustainability leaders might have to use analytical tools and models along with contextual understanding to ensure sustainability initiatives are successful.
Achieving sustainability initiatives
Despite this challenge, some businesses have had successfully integrated sustainability within their business and its operations. In the survey, 53 percent of companies had moderate integration while 23 percent were able to achieve significant integration in 2013.
This year, companies were most likely to engage in supply management and workers' rights-related issues, especially those who live in developing countries. As for trends in sustainable business management for next year, companies predict that climate change and water management will have the biggest impacts.
Initiatives regarding sustainability have also had trouble engaging workers. In the area of corporate finance, 16 percent of respondents said they reach out to their co-workers about this. Despite this, there appears to be a high level of engagement with corporate communications with 75 percent of participants saying they interact with these workers involved in this type of function on a regular basis.
Harvard Business Revenue recommends companies ask themselves what insights and practices can galvanize engagement for sustainability not only within the company but also the industry. Companies could help increase efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of their operations through sustainable sourcing, in the hope that other businesses in the industry will follow their example.


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By M&C Report team2010-07-20T08:51:00+01:00
Travel hub operator SSP has simplified its menus by up to 50-60% during the pandemic, which could result in smaller menus remaining post-covid, according to an analysts’ note by Peel Hunt.
East Coast Concepts, the Manchester-based restaurant and bar group, has been bought out of administration.
BrewDog has confirmed it will be opening a 4,000 sq ft bar at The Barcode, the new leisure and entertainment development, located next to Drake Circus in Plymouth city centre.
Hawthorn CEO Mark Davies has told MCA the “sky’s the limit” for the pub company when it lists as a separate entity.
The strength of the tied model has been validated during the pandemic thanks to the support that pubcos have been able to provide to their tenants, according to Clive Chesser, chief executive of Punch Pubs.
Revolution Bars Group is looking to expand its portfolio of brands from two to four, in order to capitalise on property opportunities post-pandemic, chief executive Rob Pitcher has told MCA.
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Shailaja NeelakantanSenior Editor | TOI
Note ban a 'foolish decision, not bold', Paytm means 'Pay to Modi', says Rahul Gandhi at demonetisation protest
Rahul Gandhi said Paytm really means 'Pay to Modi', accusing the PM of acting to benefit a few with demonetisation. Rahul also said the PM 'is running away' from debate. E-wallet companies, especially Paytm, have a seen a boost in their users since Rs 500 & Rs 1,000 notes were banned by government.
Mamata Banerjee's barb at Narendra Modi: Now children say Paytm is 'Pay PM'
"Children these days say that the other word for Paytm is 'PayPM' ", Banerjee said today at an anti- demonetisation rally in Patna.
Chinese mall opens 'nursery' room for husbands
A new mall in Shanghai has set aside a space for what it is calling a 'husbands nursery', where it hopes bored spouses will hang out while their wives are shopping in the mall, CCTV reported.
Chinese goods' boycott in India 'not a success', says Beijing media
Chinese media bemoans that "Chinese products are often the victim when regional situations get tense". It accuses Indian politicians of "exaggerating", then tries to prove that Indians' boycott call "has not achieved success".
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When it comes to the number of users and ad revenue generation, the social media giant Facebook is perhaps the number one competitor of Google. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg thought that it’s time to offer something that their competitor is known for and thus was born a new search feature of Facebook named â??Graph Searchâ?. [...]Read More
Whilst several American states have legalised the recreational use of Cannabis, online giants such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook have taken a very clear stance against advertising the drug. All networks have commented that they’ll regularly review their advertising policies, and it’s been implied that things might change in the future. Still, experts have commented [...]Read More facebook, google, SEO, twitter
Thinking about running a Facebook contest for your business? It can be a brilliant business tool, but like everything else when it comes to marketing, it requires a structured and thought-out approach. After all, if you’re giving something away for free, you need to know that you’re going to be able to reap the benefits [...]Read More facebook, Facebook contests, social media, social media competitions, social media marketing
Penguin has moved us away from the murky water of black hat SEO and towards more ethical techniques such as social signals. Though, we can’t be sure as of yet how important these social media signals are to SEO, there certainly is a change in their direction. So, what do you need to know? What [...]Read More authorank, facebook, google, SEO, social signals, twitter
Google+ is an SEO behemoth and one that is a completely open book for SEO. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which operate closed policies, Google+ provides amazing SEO effectiveness for effort. And even if for marketing it is a different story than the two aforementioned platforms, it really provides a lot more scope for search engines. [...]Read More circlerank, circles, facebook, google, SEO, social media, viral growth
Research shows that Facebook has cut the reach of its brands’ posts by around half, meaning that fans only see the most engaging of posts. Changes to the EdgeRank algorithm have meant that brands now have a harder time staying in the newsfeed and that Facebook has levelled the playing field between commercial and non-commercial [...]Read More algorithm, edgerank, engagement, facebook, facebook fall
Last updated by Mark Johnson at .


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Starbucks says the new format is in response to a growing consumer need for speed and a quick “in and out”.
Starbucks is confident that its new Teavana range, which will be rolled out across the UK this summer, will attract a more youthful audience and “rejuvenate” the tea category.
Facebook and Amazon, which both enter the global top 10 for the first time, are two of the fastest risers in this year’s BrandZ ranking of the most valuable brands in the world. Both have moved up seven spots to claim 5th and 7th places, respectively.
Pernod Ricard is confident Christmas will be a strong period for its alcohol brands despite the cost of living crisis, with factors like the World Cup and the absence of Omicron this year expected to bolster sales.
Though it’s easy for marketers to be seduced by the short-term wins that come with lower-funnel activities, the evidence is clear: it takes a full-funnel strategy to make it through a downturn unscathed.
New data suggests corporate-NGO partnerships will only increase in importance over the next three years amid the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine.
With more than half of marketers admitting effectiveness is not a defined role and rarely a priority in their business, are brands thinking clearly about how to properly resource their teams?


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There are stories of extraordinary achievements in the constantly changing banking and financial sector that pique the interest of people around the world. One such enthralling tale is that of Michael Gastauer, the CEO responsible for Black Banx‘s growth to become a billion-dollar financial empire.
This article goes into how Gastauer steered his creation to unmatched success while navigating the financial world’s maze of regulations and regulations.
Questions were raised concerning Black Banx’s procedures and practises. The company’s reputation was put to the test as allegations abounded, regulatory agencies looked into them, and media attention increased.
Despite the difficulties, Gastauer’s foresight and tenacity allowed Black Banx to surmount difficulties and maintain its upward trajectory. The business extended its services across national boundaries to customers in various parts of the globe.
Black Banx’s humble beginnings
In 2014, Gastauer established Black Banx, a company whose name captures its mysterious and audacious approach to banking as well as its dedication to offering a singular and unmatched customer experience.
The primary goal of Black Banx was to close the gap between conventional banking and modern financial technologies. Gastauer had a vision for a platform that would provide streamlined, safe, and effective banking solutions to both consumers and companies.
Black Banx embraced emerging fintech technologies that were transforming the financial landscape. With global investment rising by 96% over the previous year, the fintech industry is experiencing an upsurge of trends.
Through innovation, the business aimed to improve security, streamline processes, and give clients a banking experience like never before.
Like every ambitious project, Black Banx had its share of difficulties in the beginning. Significant challenges included the need to gain the trust of potential clients as well as regulatory constraints and skepticism from industry rivals.
But Gastauer’s strategic insight and the team’s unshakable commitment paved the way for noteworthy victories, which enabled the business to build a solid basis for growth.
Rapid expansion and global reach
Black Banx gained momentum and saw significant growth in its home market thanks to its creative strategy and keen attention to the needs of its customers.
The business’s early success acted as a launchpad for its ambitious expansion plans as it looked to broaden its influence and enter new industries.
By 2025, when it will be worth $571.04 billion, fintech is expected to have the largest market value. This represents an increase of $43 billion from 2022 and a 26% increase from the $468 billion value in 2021.
Black Banx undertook extensive market research to identify locations where there was a high demand for its fintech-driven banking services prior to starting its worldwide development adventure.
To create well-informed entry plans, Black Banx extensively examined the regulatory environment, consumer behaviour, and current competitors in possible target markets.
Currency fluctuations, geopolitical unpredictability, and increasing competition were just a few of the difficulties Black Banx faced as a result of its quick international expansion.
Each difficulty, however, also provided priceless learning opportunities, allowing Black Banx to hone its tactics and solidify its place in the world of finance.
How Black Banx confronted public scrutiny
Regulators in several jurisdictions became interested in Black Banx as it grew its business and became well-known.
Investigations into the company’s procedures were prompted by worries about its adherence to financial regulations. The company’s reputation came under scrutiny as a result of these regulatory issues, and its dedication to accountability and openness came into question.
By investing in a strong digital banking system and remaining vigilant about the most recent market demands, digital banks like Black Banx will need to strike the proper balance between encouraging innovation and safeguarding clients.
The media was drawn to the Black Banx controversies, which led to bad publicity and unfavourable news coverage. A crucial part of the company’s reputation management strategy became how it responded to these media reports and accusations.
Black Banx started making steps to improve its reputation after realising how important it was to regain credibility and confidence. The business communicated proactively, emphasising its dedication to learning from past errors and enhancing its offerings.
Addressing controversies and criticisms
Gastauer strengthened Black Banx’s compliance structure by implementing extensive steps in response to regulatory scrutiny and compliance difficulties.
In the financial services industry, customer experience is ranked among the top three priorities by more than 80% of customers. Black Banx made investments to strengthen its customer support capabilities because it understood how important providing exceptional customer service was.
To provide quick responses to consumer questions and concerns, Black Banx increased the size of its customer support team.
Black Banx made a concentrated effort to engage with stakeholders early in order to combat bad press and media attention. Transparent communication was embraced as a way to restore reputation and build up confidence.
The bank also created a code of conduct that highlighted its ideals and principles in order to show its dedication to moral business practises. This code functioned as a reference point for partners and workers.
With all these, Black Banx made an effort to come out stronger, more resilient, and committed to its aim of revolutionising the banking industry as it faced criticisms and controversies head-on.
Black Banx’s career and that of its inspirational CEO, Michael Gastauer, is a story of ambition, creativity, and fortitude in the face of criticism.
The company faced successes and setbacks that influenced its course as it quickly grew its operations and created a global presence.
Black Banx maintained a firm commitment to client satisfaction throughout the entire process. success stories of Black Banx consumers demonstrated how the company had a favourable effect on both individual customers and corporations.
Gastauer’s future vision and expansion plans pave the path for ongoing growth and innovation as the business moves forward. Black Banx is putting itself in a strong position to be a major role in the future of banking by staying at the forefront of fintech developments.


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The Government’s programme to encourage local agriculture products, has obtained successful results. The Director General of Agriculture says that the rice consumption has increased significantly.
Agriculture Authorities has observed about a 15 percent increase in per capita rice consumption. The Director General of Agriculture says that the per capita rice consumption of 100 kilograms per year has increased to 115 kilograms. He pointed out that people who consume wheat flour has now taken to rice consumption. The Government hopes to further induce rice consumption since it has observed a increased level of malnutrition in the areas where the wheat floor consumption is high.


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Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute, a non-profit research organization that promotes market-based health policy solutions.
Today, nearly 80 percent of all prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with generics, and the percentage will rise when more than 10 major drugs go off patent in 2012. Late last month, the most popular drug in history, Lipitor, went off patent, allowing a generic version of the cholesterol-lowering drug to enter the market and be sold at lower prices.
Pfizer has developed a novel program that lets people stay on Lipitor, even as more competitors prepare to enter the market. Patients can sign up to get a $4 co-pay card that will allow them to get their prescription filled at generic prices through the company’s new program, “Lipitor For You.” They can have their prescription filled at a local participating pharmacy, or they can get the medicine delivered by mail.
"They are setting up a Pfizer pharmacy, if you will," said Everett Neville, vice president of pharmaceutical strategy and contracting at Express Scripts., one of the nation's biggest pharmacy benefit managers. That is something that no pharmaceutical company "has done to date," he said.
In the U.S., the company is offering to sell Lipitor at generic prices to health plans and to pharmacies and pharmaceutical distributors who agree to fill prescriptions with its product instead of an unbranded version.
The effort is part of a broader push by Pfizer to keep patients on the brand-name drug. The blockbuster medicine generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue for Pfizer over its patent life, boosting resources available to invest in research into the next generation of new drugs.
Generic companies are allowed to sell copies of brand-name drugs once the patent expires. The Federal Hatch-Waxman Act, passed in 1984, allows a ramp-up to this generic competition in the first 180 days after a drug patent expires; during this time, competition is limited to the company that is “first to file” an application to sell the generic version of the drug.
This provides only a six-month reprieve. Pfizer will reassess the program once more competitors enter the market next year.
"Previously, Big Pharma has tended to walk away" from top-selling drugs once they lose patent protection, Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read said in an interview. "Now, we have a flat-out different culture."


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German software maker SAP reported a massive plunge in Q3 profits but an operational slip was not to blame, just a one-off gain from its lawsuit with Oracle a year ago. This still left the vendor with a bottom line of €618m, albeit 51 per cent lower than the €1.25bn ($1.62bn) it banked 12 months ago when earnings were boosted € …
What does that even mean? BusinessByDesign?
- One HUNDRED FAMOUS LADIES exposed NUDE online
- Twitter: La la la, we have not heard of any NUDE JLaw, Upton SELFIES
- China: You, Microsoft. Office-Windows 'compatibility'. You have 20 days to explain
- Apple to devs: NO slurping users' HEALTH for sale to Dark Powers
- Rubbish WPS config sees WiFi router keys popped in seconds


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Mitt Romney may know how to make a buck or two, but his wife, Ann, knows how to save a buck or two. The mother of five and grandmother of 18 turns to Costco when she needs to cook for the Romney clan and manages to feed 30 people for just $4.50 each.
“I always start at Costco,” Romney said, according to ABC News, as she took Ray's film crew on a Costco trip, picking up spinach, berries, frozen cream puffs and rotisserie chicken.
Costco is a favorite shopping destination for many larger families. The store offers items in bulk at lower prices. Romney gave some shopping tips, like buying the pre-cooked chicken last so as to not heat up the other food in the cart, the New York Daily News reported.
Romney also knows how to maneuver the Costco aisles. In a previous interview, she explained: "I know how to shop Costco. You go in the door -- I don't want everyone to learn this trick -- you take a sharp right and you go way down to the back of the store and just shop the outside of the aisles."
Ann even buys Costco shirts for Mitt.
Despite the Romney family's love for the wholesale retailer, former Costco CEO Jim Sinegal has more love for Barack Obama.
Sinegal endorsed Obama during the Democratic National Convention. "Some of my friends in corporate America say that all they need is a government that gets off the backs of businesses, and that's why many of them are supporting the opposition, with donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said in his DNC speech, according to Politico. "But I think they get it all wrong. Business needs a president who has covered businesses' backs."
"Costco's story is the American story," he added. "Because it's a story that President Obama is helping millions of dreamers and doers to write anew for themselves."


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Halo Infinite’s Forge mode is already in the possession of some fans, who have created Stranger Things’ Upside Down.
The launch of Halo Infinite has been like a roller coaster: from the sadness of its delay of more than a year, to the joy of launching multiplayer a few weeks early, the joy of its excellent campaign mode, the disappointment of its languishing multiplayer mode… and the excitement over the leaks of the Forge mode.
Yes, Halo Infinite’s Forge mode was leaked a few weeks ago and some users have already been able to access an unfinished version (it has no date for the rest of the players, but it will be released in the third season from September).
Since then, the web has been filled with community-created Halo levels that showcase the sheer level of gameplay options. this Halo Infinite level creator.
— Infinite Forges (@Infiniteforges) August 7, 2022
A few days ago we showed you a Halo Infinite map in which they had recreated the terrifying PT Silent Hills demo. Today we show you a no less gloomy level, a facility infested with the corruption of the Upside Down World from Stranger Things.
The Upside Down is more fashionable than ever after the fourth season of the Netflix series. What do you think of this level of Halo Infinite with Stranger Things? If you like it, be sure to follow its creator, Infinite Forgesso you can play it when Forge mode comes out publicly… starting in September.
With a catalog of hundreds of titles, Game Pass is your best option to play these days if you want to spend little money.
The other mode that is missing from Halo Infinite and that fans have been waiting for the most, the cooperative multiplayer, will also be released very soon, as this summer it has been tested among insiders (here our impressions of Halo Infinite cooperative).
Regarding this, it was confirmed that the cooperative mode of Halo Infinite will not have online matchmaking, and we will have to agree with our friends.
Among other more exciting news, we also know that Microsoft will soon offer a family plan for Xbox Game Pass.


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15 Jan Oregon marijuana retailers busted in underage-sales sting
Posted at 13:29h in Briefs, Dispensary/Retail Store Business News, MMJ Business Daily, Oregon marijuana sting, Oregon Medical Cannabis Business & Marijuana Legal News 0 CommentsNearly 20% of state-licensed marijuana retailers in a recent undercover operation sold cannabis to underage buyers, according to Oregon authorities. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission told The Oregonian that 16 of 86 shops sold marijuana to people younger than 21 during decoy visits in December. The agency issued citations to the violating stores, which also […] Oregon marijuana retailers busted in underage-sales sting is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
The post Oregon marijuana retailers busted in underage-sales sting appeared first on InvestinCannabis.com.


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Breaking News: Fraud Discovery Institute Claims Six of Herbalife’s Supplements Contains Dangerous Levels of Lead
The letter, posted on the website is attributed to an attorney from Oakland, Christopher Grell, who specializes in product liability. The letter suggests that six of Herbalife’s products contain levels of lead that exceed what is allowed under the California Safe Drinking and Toxic Environment Act of 1994. The act requires that businesses must warn potential consumers if any products contain chemicals known to be toxic or that potentially cause cancer.
I’m sure founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute and self-admitted convicted felon, Barry Minkow, must be thrilled that this letter has surfaced. Minkow if you are not familiar with him, is a San Diego pastor who served prison time for stock fraud and now works to uncover fraudulent activity within the MLM world. Minkow has been a perpetual thorn in the side of the MLM industry and has dedicated his life bringing down MLM companies through any means necessary, even if it means straddling the line of legal and illegal. Minkow was of course not available for comment.
A spokesperson for Herbalife, George Fischer, released a statement via telephone, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which sets dietary guidelines, saying, “the FDA hasn’t established a general limit on lead in foods, but we are certainly well within their suggested guidelines”.
Yet Minkow lists 3 exhibits to back his claim. In Exhibit A - there is a lab report and “expert legal analysis”. The legal analysis was conducted by the law offices of Christopher E. Grell who specializes in ephedra litigation and dietary supplements amongst other things. A little background on Grell. Aside from some pretty interesting libel lawsuits he has crafted, he was also the loser of a case against Megabolife in which he represented a client suing because they allegedly suffered a stroke using the product. Grell’s website was not up and running at the time of us writing this.
In Exhibit B is a letter to Congressman Waxman with some pretty riveting data of Minkow’s discovery and work with FDA registered, independent accredited lab (Analytical Laboratories) in Anaheim, California.
Exhibit C showcases reports from the Journal of Hepatology which give some pretty strong statement to back Minkow;s claims of warnings of dangerous levels of lead.
The six products mentioned in the letter on the Fraud Discovery Institute website are the ShapeWorks Protein Drink Mix, Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, Tang Kuei Plus herbal tablets, Thermojetics Nature’s Raw Guarana instant tea mix, ShapeWorks Cell Activator and Multivitamin Complex.
The letter on the Fraud Discover Website urged the state of California to require Herbalife to post warning on these products stating that consumption of the products might be dangerous to ones health. Also on the website was a document that they claim came from Analytical Laboratories in Anaheim that showed receipts for testing on the six products and evidence that the supplements do indeed contain lead levels above what is allowed.
This is another tough break for the company which just last month saw stock tumble as news of resume fraud was uncovered by none other than Barry Minkow. Hopefully Herbalife will test their products, provide honest answers to the public and their consumers and take quick action to rectify the problem. There is too much competition out there to sacrifice the safety of the consumer just to save face or make a quick sale. We will keep you posted on any new developments.
NEW YORK |
(Reuters) - Six dietary supplements sold by Herbalife Ltd contain
dangerous amounts of lead if taken according to package directions,
according to information posted on a private group's website on Monday.
Herbalife disputed the claim, saying its products met with regulatory requirements in all of its markets.
FDA hasn't established a general limit on lead in foods, but we are
certainly well within their suggested guidelines," Herbalife spokesman
George Fischer said in a telephone interview, referring to the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, which sets dietary guidelines.
Fraud Discovery Institute posted a letter on its website on Monday
attributed to Christopher Grell, an attorney in Oakland, California,
specializing in product liability.
letter said that recommended daily doses of six Herbalife products
contained levels of lead that are dangerous and in excess of what
California law allows under its Safe Drinking and Toxic Environment Act
The law requires
businesses to warn consumers if their products contain chemicals known
to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. An explanation of the law can
be found on the website of California's Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment here
Barry Minkow, founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute, was not immediately available to comment.
San Diego pastor who served more than seven years in jail for stock
fraud, Minkow now works to uncover frauds. He has a history of
criticizing Los Angeles-based Herbalife, which sells weight-loss and
nutritional products through direct sales.
six products mentioned in the letter on the Fraud Discovery Institute
website are the ShapeWorks Protein Drink Mix, Healthy Meal Nutritional
Shake Mix, Tang Kuei Plus herbal tablets, Thermojetics Nature's Raw
Guarana instant tea mix, ShapeWorks Cell Activator and Multivitamin
Herbalife shares closed down 4.2 percent at $40.17 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
April, Herbalife said its president and chief operating officer,
Gregory Probert, had not finished his MBA degree as stated in his
biography. The company said Probert had been enrolled at California
State University during the 1980's but never obtained a degree.
the time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Minkow had uncovered
the discrepancy about the degree, but on Monday Herbalife declined to
comment on that. The newspaper also reported that Minkow had "put"
options in a bet that Herbalife's stock price would fall.
letter posted on Monday on the Fraud Discovery Institute website urged
California to order Herbalife to place "clear and reasonable warnings on
these products so that the consumer is informed that these products
contain chemicals known to cause developmental harm."
said in an interview on Monday that individual tablets may not exceed
California's 0.5 microgram limit on lead in dietary supplements, but he
said the daily recommended dosage would result in lead exposure large
enough to warrant a warning label.
document purported to be an invoice from Analytical Laboratories in
Anaheim Inc, based in Brea, California, for $5,820 for testing the six
products was posted on Fraud Discovery's website. Analytical
Laboratories did not reply to calls and an e-mail to discuss any tests.
market capitalization, after Monday's stock decline, was $2.61 billion,
based on the number of shares outstanding as of April 28. It had sales
of $2.15 billion in 2007, according to its earnings statement.
The company's latest regulatory filing said its products are sold in 65 countries by a network of over 1.8 million distributors.
month, Herbalife said that Spain's Ministry of Health had issued an
alert cautioning consumption of Herbalife products due to suspicious
cases of hepatic toxicity, or liver damage, presumably associated with
Herbalife products. Herbalife said it was in discussions with the
"For more than 28 years,
tens of millions of Herbalife consumers worldwide have been safely using
Herbalife products with an extremely low incidence of serious adverse
event reports citing liver function abnormalities," the company said at
(Editing by Toni Reinhold)
Published May 20, 2008 FoxNews.com
One group claims that six dietary supplements sold by Herbalife Ltd. contain high levels of lead if taken as directed, Reuters is reporting.
The Fraud Discovery Institute posted a letter on its Web site claiming that the supplements in question contain levels of lead that are dangerous and in excess of what California law allows under its Safe Drinking and Toxic Environment Act of 1994, also known as Prop. 65.
Herbalife told Reuters its products met with regulatory requirements in all of its markets.
"The FDA hasn't established a general limit on lead in foods, but we are certainly well within their suggested guidelines," Herbalife spokesman George Fischer said in a telephone interview, in which he was referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which sets dietary guidelines.
The six products mentioned in the letter on the Fraud Discovery Institute Web site all contain between two to 12 times the maximum amount of lead allowed in California's Prop. 65 law when taken as directed. They are the ShapeWorks Protein Drink Mix, Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, Tang Kuei Plus herbal tablets, Thermojetics Nature's Raw Guarana instant tea mix, ShapeWorks Cell Activator and Multivitamin Complex.
Dr. Mike Rosen, a board certified internist on Long Island, N.Y., said even if the products contain two to 12 times the maximum amount of lead allowed in a product, the law was designed with a large cushion.
"It's probably not a significant amount of lead; California made the cushion 1/1,000 of what a safe dose would be," Rosen said. "But, there is so much of this stuff on the market that is notoriously mislabeled. And, anyone can make their own product. You need to be cautious, and you need to discuss what you are taking with your health care provider."
Among the products tested, quality was inconsistent according to an article on HealthNewsDigest.com.
- 1 supplement provided 30% of the isoflavones on the label.
- Another supplement provided 65% of the claimed amount of glycitein — an isoflavone in soy.
- Lead contamination was detected in 1 supplement.
- 2 products violated FDA labeling requirements by not specifying the plant parts used as ingredients.
- 6 supplements met quality standards.
- 3 creams provide their listed amount of progesterone.
You’ll have to buy the report to learn more. 9/17/08 19:30 JR


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Leading crowdfunding platform Seedrs has announced ten companies which are participating in its first accelerator program. The seven-week FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) accelerator program is designed to provide access to investors, buyers, branding experts and more.
The FMCG sector has experienced solid success on the crowdfunding platform. So far during 2019, Seedrs has successfully funded 12 food and beverage businesses. Seedrs states that it is “fast becoming the go-to place for FMCG businesses.”
Kirsty Grant, Chief Investment Officer at Seedrs, said they were excited to be launching their first accelerator program with such an impressive cohort of F&B startups.
“It’s also fantastic to see that six out of ten founders in the cohort are women,” said Grant. “We’ve been working hard to democratise access to capital since our launch in 2012, and this is a very promising step in the right direction.”
Grant said the process of selection was highly competitive with over 100 applications.
The accelerator program starts today with the “Access to Capital” session where founders hear from Institutional investors including Omakase Investment Club, Edenred Capital Partners and The Craftory, as well as a session with Innocent’s head of New Markets.
The accelerator Demo Day will take place on Thursday 12th September, where the startups will pitch to a room full of investors and launch their funding round on the Seedrs platform.
Seedrs has funded 840 deals to date and has had over £650 million invested on the platform.
The participating startups in the Seedrs Accelerator include:
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The 3D printing market is doing well. The sector is growing rapidly, and the market is expected to grow by 25% per year until 2020(1 ): a development driven by lower prices and improved technologies. 3D printing is increasingly used, especially in the industrial sector, but does this concern all regions of the world? What about France?
(1 ) Source: Xerfi study " 3D printing in France and around the world - Applications, challenges and market outlook by 2020, competitive landscape and player strategy ".
The overall state of the market
According to AFPR and the 2013 Wohlers Report, the United States leads the way with more than 40% of industrial 3D printing systems sold worldwide, followed distantly by Japan (9.7%), Germany (9.4%), China (8.7%). Italy and the United Kingdom follow (4%), and France (3%).
The largest market is therefore the United States, mainly because the historical leaders in the 3D printer sector are located there, such as 3D Systems, Stratasys, etc. The country has focused on equipment for working with thermoplastics, unlike Europe, which has focused more on metal 3D printing.
In Europe, the leading country is Germany, which has positioned itself in metal fabrication equipment thanks to the presence of five of the largest metal printer manufacturers (EOS, SLM, Concept Laser, Realizer and Trumpf) in the country. Germany has strong capabilities in manufacturing advanced 3D printing machine tools for important industries such as automotive. The country has never hidden its ambitions as a manufacturer in additive manufacturing and is already exporting its technologies abroad.
France seems to be lagging behind in the 3D printing sector, particularly because of the lower level of investment in this technology. But the way of thinking has been different and horizontal: the trend in France has been to develop service bureaus (producers and machine owners), with workshops buying 3D printers to complement their traditional manufacturing machines, rather than entire factories dedicated to 3D printing as in the US or Singapore.
France has no reason to be ashamed of its situation, with the presence of strong players such as Prodways, but also manufacturers specializing in metal such as BeAM or ceramics such as 3D Ceram. The same is true for materials, where thanks to a well-developed chemical industry, there is interest in the development of materials for additive manufacturing.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that this is only one part of the 3D printing sector, namely the construction of machines and the production of consumables. In terms of the actual use of the technology, France is representative of what is happening around the world. Indeed, there are regions that, depending on their industrial activity, have larger installed bases than others, such as the United States, but the 3D technologies used are the same everywhere (stereolithography, laser powder sintering, etc.). 3D printing is also developing in accordance with the needs of the industries present in each country. This is the case, for example, for Turkey, which has a highly developed jewelry industry and has integrated the technology to work with wax.
" The development of 3D printing in a country is not so much related to its size, nor to the number of machines that can be found, but rather to the industries present in the country in question. The countries that use 3D printing the most are those that have a strong industrial culture and that find in additive manufacturing a new means of production that is faster and less expensive," explains Quentin Kiener, President and Founder of 3D PROD.


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American demand for cause is stronger than ever, according to 20 years of benchmarking data released recently by Cone Communications. Despite a marketplace saturated with cause-related programs and messages, the U.S. consumer appetite for corporate support of social and environmental issues appears insatiable.
Over half (54%) of American bought a product associated with a cause over the last 12 months, a 170% increase since 1993. And 89% of Americans are likely to switch brands to one associated with a cause, given comparable price and quality, up nearly 35% since 1993.
"In the midst of the ribbonization of America – where it's near-impossible to walk down a store aisle without spotting a cause – consumers want to see even more brands engage in social and environmental issues," said Alison DaSilva, executive VP, Research & Insights, Cone Communications. "Through 20 years of research, Americans' inclinations to shop for good has ebbed and flowed, alongside economic upheaval, political unrest and acts of terrorism. But one thing remains clear: consumer demand for cause is stronger than ever, solidifying it as a savvy business strategy."
The study reveals the majority of Americans are uncertain of the extent to which corporate and individual efforts result in meaningful change. Despite a plethora of cause initiatives, fewer than one-in-five consumers (16%) believes companies have made significant positive impact on social or environmental issues, and just 25% believes their own purchases substantially influence those issues.
"The onus is on companies to go beyond mission statements to provide personally relevant and tangible evidence that collectively, businesses and consumers are moving the needle,” said Craig Bida, executive VP, social impact, Cone Communications.
The study showed the U.S. Hispanic population to be one of the most actively engaged consumer segments to-date. Hispanics are more apt than the general U.S. population to purchase products and services associated with causes (94% vs. 89% general population). And they more frequently go beyond the register to donate (70% vs. 65%), volunteer (47% vs. 42%) and advocate on behalf of companies (43% vs. 38%).
To learn more about cause shoppers, check out the AudienceSCAN report available on the Research Store at ad-ology.com.[Source: "2013 Cone Communications Social Impact Study." Cone Communications. 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013.]


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The metaverse hype that began in 2021 dissolved almost entirely by the end of 2022 as the top projects in the space, Decentraland, and The Sandbox, lost 95% of their market capitalization. The most prominent reason for the fall was lack of usage growth.
Still, the metaverse narrative is far from dead and will grow in the future. Reportedly, Apple will launch its VR gear sometime in spring 2023. The announcement was a positive catalyst for MANA and SAND, causing a double-digit price surge.
While there’s evidence of positive buying volume supporting the pump, the weak fundamentals of metaverse platforms and overheated market indicators suggest that the price pump risks reversing quickly.
The Apple pump and dump
Facebook’s (Meta) foray into the metaverse was one of the most prominent catalysts for metaverse tokens. The idea for Decentraland and The Sandbox’s growth is that a decentralized metaverse would flourish more than Meta’s centralized version.
However, technology has yet to become popular among the masses. In 2022, the percentage of VR users among Steam gamers was less than 2%, and the usage has yet to grow over the past two years. This is discouraging for the technology’s adoption because the gaming sector was the first to embrace it.
The technology suffers from a fundamental issue where VR headsets are unsuitable for long hours. Studies have found that prolonged usage of headsets can cause mental health problems.
Apple’s recent VR news caused an uptick in their metaverse tokens, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to the success of these projects. Samsung and Oculus, owned by Meta, already have devices in the market, raising the question about the potential impact of Apple’s new devices on VR adoption.
Poor usage data hinders the reality of a sustained metaverse token rally
Arguably, metaverse euphoria peaked in the last quarter of the same year when Facebook rebranded to Meta. However, the usage statistics of the two most popular metaverse platforms, Sandbox and Decentraland, remained unimpressive throughout the price surge. Less than 5,000 unique active wallets (UAW) were interacting with the smart contracts at the peak on both platforms.
Since then, the usage has decreased even further, with less than 1,000 UAWs per day, reflecting terrible fundamentals.
Moreover, while the token prices have jumped, the NFT sales for Sandbox lands haven’t improved with similar prices and volume since the last quarter of 2022. It once again confirms that activity across the platform is uneventful.
Token dilution risks remain
Decentraland is also on the creditor list of Genesis, which filed for bankruptcy last week. According to the court filings, the defunct lending firm owes Decentraland $55 million.
However, according to Decentraland’s Discord, Genesis owes only $7.8 million. The community spokesperson added, “The Treasury remains healthy and the credit amount does not represent a substantial part of the Foundation’s treasury.”
The Genesis issue has been long known; thus, it’s possible that the organization might have dissolved the issue by now. However, it will likely affect the pace of its ecosystem growth, which is small, to begin with.
On the other hand, the SAND token suffers from the risk of dilution due to monthly unlocks until the end of Q3 2024. If market conditions do not improve, some investors may be inclined to sell their portion of the tokens.
Despite its shortcomings, as long as there’s a possibility that the technology will become a part of the future. The market is continually going to appreciate the first movers in the space. The problem is long-term visions may not sustain short to medium-term rallies.
The sudden spike after days of low volatility has caused the Relative Strength Index (RSI) metric to show overheated readings. The situation becomes more challenging as the price is trading at resistance from the breakdown region of the FTX collapse.
Nansen data shows exchange inflows for MANA and SAND were $8.4 million and $12.6 million, respectively. It suggests that more investors moved to sell than buy into a positive breakout.
Nevertheless, the recent uptick in Decentraland was supported by healthy volume, as reported by data from analytics firm, Santiment, which is encouraging for buyers. But MANA/USD must take out the $0.735 resistance and support area for continued upside.
A similar trading set-up for SAND sees resistance for the token around $0.93. If buyers are above the conquer these levels for the metaverse tokens, we can expect the rally to continue. However, based on fundamentals and short-term risks, it remains unlikely if the price can break above the resistance.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.


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Fans of Aldorlea Games ( http://www.aldorlea.org/) and 2D indie RPGs in general can rejoice, as the first two games in the popular “Laxius Force” series are on sale until October 15 th to celebrate the 10 years anniversary of the saga.
Players just have to type “LAX10” as a “coupon code” to benefit from a $7 discount on both games.
Laxius Force – Heroes Never Die (almost 50% off!):
Laxius Force II – The Queen of Adretana (almost 30% off!):
Laxius Force I and II are both huge, epic and original games full of characters, quests, items. 7 games have been released in the saga since 2001, with a game's length in average well over 50 hours. Since the release of the first episode in 2008, the Laxius Force games have been included in the catalogs of famous gaming portals such as GamersGate and GameStop.
Aldorlea Games, also known for the “Millennium” saga and “3 Stars of Destiny”, has completed the trilogy of Laxius Force in 2010 and is looking to release the final trilogy in the future.