text:
New battle lines being drawn after legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado
Updated 4:20 pm, Sunday, January 5, 2014
DENVER (Loiters) — As Colorado kicks off the new year as the first state in the US to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, the battle between US federal drug laws and state laws have taken a back seat to a new battle between makers of snacks that cater to a booming market of hungry marijuana users.
In a statement released this morning by Hostess Brands, the makers of Twinkies, the management responsible for sending the once-profitable company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012 accused the mainstream media of creating the impression not only that Doritos is the junk food of choice by users of recreational marijuana, but also that it is the only tasty food consumed by stoners.
In the press release, Twinkies spokesperson Olivia Kraft-Quiznos stopped short of accusing the mainstream media of being in the back pocket of Frito-Lay, the makers of Doritos, the tasty snack beloved by Americans of all stripes independent of their position on the issue of legalization of recreational marijuana.
During an afternoon press conference later in the day, Ms. Kraft-Quiznos, a major player responsible for the loss of over $100 million of shareholders' money, asserted that "Deep-fried Twinkies were the food of choice among potheads fried on Master Yoda and Super Lemon Haze. Twinkes was also a major sponsor of both the Cannabis Cup and the Million Marijuana March in 2013, yet all the mainstream media could talk about was Doritos, Doritos, Doritos."
Alex Nutella, Chief Marketing Officer at Frito Lay, rebuffed this claim, asking rhetorically, "What stoner in his or her right mind would pay to eat the deep-fried leftover inventory of a company under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection?" Alex B. Toklas, manager of flavor engineering at Doritos and active participant in both events last year, added, "I don't actually remember either event, but as a discriminating connoisseur of Sour Amnesia I know I would have remembered if I ate any Twinkies during my Rocky Mountain high."
Other makers of snacks, such as Oreos, Pepperidge Farm, and Cosmic Brownies, disagreed with this assessment, some going so far as to accuse Frito Lay of lining the pockets of the mainstream media. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, suggested that the revolving door between the mainstream media and Doritos is "embedded deeper than the gobs of chocolate chip, cookie dough, and fudge brownies in Ben and Jerry's Half Baked, our flagship product."
In a widely anticipated follow-up to his controversial op-ed piece on marijuana legalization in the New York Times (http://goo.gl/...), the moderate conservative David Brooks wrote that "for a little while in my teenage years, my friends and I ate Twinkies. They were yummy." However, added Mr. Brooks, "we all sort of moved away from Twinkies. . . . I think we had a sense, which all people have, or should have, that Doritos not only are tastier, but bite-for-bite have far fewer calories."
Mr. Brooks cautioned that, "[m]any people these days shy away from talk about the moral status of Twinkies consumption because that would imply that one sort of food you might eat is better than another snack. In healthy, sophisticated societies, however, governments should subtly encourage the highest gustatory pleasures, such as smoked salmon caviar roulade or pâté de foie gras."
At the time of this publication, Mr. Brooks was unavailable for comment. On Twitter, Mr. Brooks, who goes by the handle of Occasional Spliffmeister, wrote, "Off for the weekend to Aspen with Bubba Kush (Ruth Marcus http://goo.gl/...)."


text:
3 of the Worst Kia Soul Model Years, According to CarComplaints
Between the chip shortage, the economy, and companies still recovering from the Pandemic, picking a used vehicle just makes more sense than buying new for many car shoppers. With that in mind, many consumers find the Kia Soul to be a viable option. It’s cheap, good on gas, and isn’t hard on the eyes. There are three models you need to stay away from, due to the high maintenance costs, however.
2014 Kia Soul
According to Car Complaints, the 2014 Kia Soul has the most complaints, with 81 owners reporting issues. Further details reveal the major issues revolve around the engine.
There were 43 owners who confided in Car Complaints about how there were multiple problems revolving around the 2014 Kia Soul’s engines. From knocking, loss of power while driving, and a blown engine, the list of problems seems to never end.
The top worst problem was the knocking, which costs around $5,300 to fix, and was most reported about 98,000 miles. Five people reported the engine had to be replaced, hence the expensive repair costs. Other owners didn’t have a solution for this problem.
The check engine light was the second most reported issue with a cost of $1,500, and the third was lost power while driving with a fee of $200.
2015 Kia Soul
Like the 2014 model, the 2015 Kia Soul is riddled with engine problems. In fact, 48 people reported to Car Complaints that their biggest issues revolved around the engine.
The biggest problem facing the 2015 Soul has to do with engine failure. Owners reported that it all started with a ‘ticking’ or ‘knocking’ noise, which then progressed to the vehicle stalling or the check engine light coming on. Many owners had issues getting this repaired, as they weren’t aware of a recall on the engine, and didn’t get the required repairs. Because of this, they had to pay $4,620 out of pocket.
The second most complained about problem for the 2015 Soul was the extreme humidity on windows. There was no reported data about the repair cost, but five people complained about this issue. Most people state it happens on very humid days, or when there are heavy rains.
The third top complaint was the check engine light. Out of the three people who reported complaints, only one could get it fixed. They spent $1,000 and had the engine replaced.
2016 Kia Soul
The 2016 Kia Soul earns the not-so-desired award of having the most expensive repair, according to Car Complaints. There were 10 complaints in total involving a blown engine. Eight out of the 10 reports stated that the only solution was replacing the engine, and this set them back $7,000.
Many owners reported it all began with excessive oil use. This ramped up until the engine wouldn’t accelerate, and then it blew, and had to be replaced.
One frustrated owner reported, “I got my 2016 Soul 2.0L, and it was fine for 6 years, when all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago my car would only go 35 miles an hour and smoke started to come out of the exhaust pipe and then my car stopped driving. It completely died, and I had to pay to get it towed for them to tell me my engine has blown, and then I got a second opinion, and they said the same thing.”
Other issues for the 2016 Soul included an engine that won’t turn over, and engine knocking. There was no reported cost to fix with these.
Many other Kia Souls don’t have these issues, and overall, it’s a vehicle with a high-reliability rating that you should consider if you need a used vehicle. Just read reviews carefully, and avoid these model years at all costs.

domain: news


text:
Is there a parking problem in Newark?
NEWARK – Downtown parking is one of the most discussed problems facing the city, but how much of that problem is self-inflicted and how much is perception?
The downtown renovation project has taken away some parking around the Courthouse Square, but that should be temporary as the final plan adds spaces along both sides of the road.
Many downtown business owners believe there is not enough on-street parking for their customers. The fact that downtown workers use the parking meant for customers doesn't help either.
"Almost every customer that drives to the store mentions how difficult it is to find a space," said Juston Wood at DownTown Cycles. "I sometimes have customers call ahead and I'll get their bike from their car so they can find a space to park."
Over a three-day period, the Advocate tracked cars parked on the square throughout the day.
On average, 17 cars remained in the same parking space from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Parking on the square is limited to three hours at a time, but there has not been any enforcement for years. There are spaces with 11 hours of parking allowed, but they are all at least one block from the Square.
Downtown business owners recently met to approve paying for an off-duty police officer to monitor parking on the Square. Between 8 a.m. and 12:30 a.m., there would be a two-hour parking limit. The first three offenses would receive warnings and a fourth offense a $50 fine.
People are supposed to use those spaces for a limited time. On both north and south Park Place and South Second Street, parking is allowed for three hours.
However, some employees parking downtown are ignoring that limit, including courthouse workers.
Erika Mullins, a court employee, said she tries not to park on the Square and only does so as a last resort.
"If you're running late and you get to the Square after 8 a.m., you're going to have a difficult finding a space there anyway," she said. "No one is parking there to be mean, in some instances it's just a matter of convenience. Some of the courthouse employees are elderly and have a hard time getting around."
Mullins said courthouse employees were asked to park in the parking garage on South Second Street, but nothing was official.
"Even then, the garage fills up really quickly. I can come in on some days and it's already full by 7:30," she said.
Downtown business owners on the Square have noticed the strains construction and limited parking has put on their customers.
Amanda Stickdorn, the manager of the Linnet's on the Square location in Newark, said there is a major parking problem downtown.
"I don't think the new parking policy will be enough to stop people parking for too long on the Square," she said. "They should start by targeting the people they know are repeat offenders, maybe write them a note to ask them to stop parking there."
Robin Pierce, owner of Cornell Clothing, said the Square has lost spaces due to construction, not to mention the county and city employees that park there.
"I've had some customers complain about the parking, but there isn't much I can do. It's just the way it is," he said. "I like to let them know if something is happening at the Midland and any road closures coming up."
Tina Morgan at Matilda Charlotte Antiques Etc. said North Park Place's closure for construction starting June 27 will just be a preview for when North Third Street will be closed.
"Having half of the street closed will take some getting used to, especially with traffic becoming two-ways," she said. "Most of my customers are used to not parking right in front of the store anyway."
Morgan said she's not recommending anyone coming to her store tries to park on the Square.
There has been talk of increasing the parking lot reserved for courthouse employees, but nothing concrete has been decided yet.
"The county commissioners are committed to enlarging the old lot near the gazebo, but it's city property, so we would need their approval," Licking County Commissioner Duane Flowers said. "We'd be looking to add another row, so we could fit between six and 12 cars there."
He added the commissioners want enough space for city and county employees to park without giving up too much green space.
Brian Morehead, Newark city engineer, said because construction has changed so much of the streetscape downtown, there isn't a solid number on how many spaces are available on the street.
"I did find some drawings from several years ago that show all of the on-street numbered spaces that were enforced for parking in the past," he said in an e-mail. "Over the years, several of these spaces got removed, and now a lot has changed with the new streetscaping."
According to a map from the engineer's office, there are 370 public parking spaces available among various downtown parking lots. There are also private lots available to rent, with prices ranging from $12.50 to $30 a month. While those could help downtown employees, they would not be as useful for downtown shoppers.
"Downtown parking has always been such a variable if there will be spots open. I was born and raised in Newark, and this parking issue isn't anything new," Morgan said.


text:
Bomgar Introduces First Collaborative Remote Support Console for the iPad and iPad 2
RIDGELAND, Miss.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The new Bomgar iPad Rep Console allows IT support technicians to access, view and fix a remote computer or mobile device directly from their iPad or iPad 2.
Read more on Business Wire
AirPlay-enabled audio systems trickle out
Audio systems that take advantage of Apple’s new AirPlay feature to wirelessly stream music throughout your house are slowly starting to see the light of day.
Read more on Macworld via Yahoo! News
Microsoft fixes critical Windows hole, others
In the latest Patch Tuesday, bulletins address flaws in Windows and Microsoft Office. The company is still working on a fix for a Mime HTML-related Windows vulnerability.
Read more on CNET


text:
Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £4.3 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), after up to 140,000 customers had to wait for longer than 28 days to receive their compensation for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).
The FSA found that Lloyds had failed to establish an adequate process for preparing redress payments to send to PPI complainants who banked with Lloyds TSB, Lloyds TSB Scotland and Bank of Scotland.
Lloyds PPI fine – customers left waiting
Between May 2011 and March 2012, Lloyds Banking Group sent 582,206 decision letters to PPI complainants agreeing to pay compensation to them. The average redress paid for consumers with a PPI complaint against Lloyds was £2,733.
FSA rules state that redress must be paid promptly, and Lloyds aimed to make payments within 28 days of these decision letters. However, a series of failures at Lloyds meant that not all customers received compensation within this time frame.
In nearly a quarter of cases (around 140,000), it took longer than 28 days for customers to receive compensation. Around 87,000 customers had to wait over 45 days, 56,000 over 60 days, and 29,000 over 90 days. Some 8,800 customers experienced a delay of over six months.
Over 24,000 cases inadvertently dropped out of Lloyds’ PPI redress payments process and required remedial action to ensure payments were made. The FSA also found that a ‘considerable number’ of people had been paid the wrong amount of redress.
Lloyds’ PPI fine – poor handling of problem
Following these errors, Lloyds was unable to deal with calls from customers querying the redress payment and a number of the calls were abandoned before being answered. Lloyds was unable to fast-track payments to customers, inform them when payment would be made, or explain why it had been delayed.
Lloyds Banking Group has since completed a comprehensive review of PPI redress payments to ensure that all customers expecting compensation have been paid the correct amount and have been compensated for any delay.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: ‘Banks must deal with complaints quickly and fairly and help consumers claim back the compensation they are rightly due without hassle. We want to see the FSA continue to take action against any firm dragging its feet settling complaints. Banks need to proactively contact PPI customers without delay.’


text:
Burger King’s short horror film, “The Call,” is chock-full of tiny details and hidden Easter eggs that only true horror buffs (and Burger King fanatics) will notice. Recognize the car featured in the short film? It appeared in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Do you remember that melody from somewhere? That’s Burger King’s “Whopper” jingle — spook-ified, of course. This movie expertly blends a love for the fast food favorite and a little pre-Halloween fun.
This kind of collaboration isn’t new for the brand. According to the vice president of marketing communications for Burger King North America, Zahra Nurani, “For years, Burger King has brought our guests exciting and delicious ways to celebrate Halloween. While our menu innovations are at the forefront of these efforts — like Ghost Pepper Whopper and Ghost Pepper Chicken Fries — we are always looking for new ways to make spooky season even more fun and memorable at BK.”
If you love being a bit scared almost as much as you love a good Chicken Fry, then you can get in on the action yourself. “We don’t want Burger King fans to just watch the story — we want them to experience it for themselves,” Andrew Pattee said. “So we’re spreading the scare by daring fans to answer the call IRL.” Starting on October 13, you can visit TheCall.BK.com to get your own personalized spooky phone call.


text:
As an electrified world becomes more inevitable by the day, Western governments are working around the clock to fund and scale-up domestic battery supply chains. “In 2020, the number of hybr... Read more
This is a massive move by Tesla. By accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, Tesla is unleashing the first major consumer experiment in not just bitcoin but cryptocurrency as whole. Tesla, be... Read more
Automated driving revolution: Mercedes-Benz announces U.S. availability of DRIVE PILOT – the world’s first certified SAE Level 3 system for the U.S. market
Maserati MSG Racing reveals Season 10 Formula E driver line up
Porsche pleased with first year after IPO
Less traffic accidents resulting in injury: Near-field projection increases road safety
BENTLEY UNVEILS THE ‘BELONGING BENTAYGA’ PAINTED BY STEPHEN WILTSHIRE CELEBRATING INCLUSION
© 2023 Tires and Parts News Resource. All Rights Reserved.


text:
NPR’s Sunday morning marketplace show featured a piece on back to school consumer spending. It’s down, in case you missed it. What captured my attention was the expressed hope that consumers will soon return to their former spending patterns. I certainly hope not.
The bubble burst for lots of reasons, and one of them was the profligate way we spent by racking up credit card debt for what marketing gurus told us were the essentials that one MUST HAVE for back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter or spring break, and summer, not to mention the odds and ends of Easter, Fourth of July, Presidents‘ Day, etc. Nothing from last year would do. Nothing that failed to meet the test of ‘cool’ or ‘in’ or was not endorsed by the right celebrity would do. Nothing that reeked of inexpensive or utilitarian would do.
Those who could (or pretended to be able to) afford it bought the real thing from the right store with the right logo at an ego boosting high price. Those who knew they couldn’t bought the glitzy knock off designed to fall apart about the time the next season started. Some of the real things may have been just as cheaply made with the manufacturers wondering if the suckers would ever notice.
The truly hopeful signs on this morning’s show included the observation that parents were buying things such as basic shoes, basic clothing and the necessary supplies for school based on perceived value for the dollar. They appear to paying a little more for better quality but not a lot more for marketing hype. If that trend continues into the many marketing seasons to follow for a few years, it will change our economy at a very fundamental level.
Some businesses built on little more than a name and some advertising will be gone. Some businesses will have to pare back their offerings to only a couple of products that are currently offered as many that differ only by packaging. More medium size regional agribusiness operations will replace enormous factory farms, and they will be obligated to demonstrate the quality of their products. Big box stores will continue to do well, but their expansion will be slowed, and they also will have to demonstrate greater value for the dollar rather than just cheap prices. That will lead to a resurgence of local operations that can successfully coexist. It will mean higher prices for goods that last longer and perform better but not inflation. It will mean more modest profits for the largest firms, but profits nonetheless. It will mean increased satisfactory economic survival for small businesses.
That America would be healthier, more stable place, with more modest expectations for what a consumer driven economy can generate, and higher expectations for how we can be competitive in a global marketplace. How likely is it? Not very, if the marketing experts have their way. They are not interested in health, modesty or stability. They are not concerned about a bubble built on credit and debt. Those who engineered the last bubble and made out like bandits figure they can do it again. Those who lost their shirts figure they can outsmart it the next time. Both are supremely confident in their ability to inspire foolish consumer spending through their marketing knowhow. They may well be right.


text:
Tata Groups retail venture Trent,nurtured by Noel Tata whose name has been doing the rounds as potential successor to Ratan Tata has been denied the use of Tata brand in line with the conglomerate’s branding philosophy,says a new book.
There was a whole series of new companies where we denied those companies the use of the Tata name, Ratan Tata has said in the book Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand. Not just Trent,
Tatas latest acquisition of British premium auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover too do not carry the Tata name. According to the book,a company which was perceived as a risky venture or fell outside the core business of the Tata Group was not allowed to use the Tata name. PTI


text:
If you’re driving around Baltimore City this weekend you may want to avoid Broening Highway.
A portion of Broening Highway will be closed for utility work.
From 7 p.m. Friday until at least 6 p.m. Sunday, October 23, traffic on Broening Highway between Holabird Avenue and Dunhill Road will be closed.
Officials with the Baltimore City Department of Transportation say detours will be in effect and local traffic will be maintained for area businesses. Drivers in the area are asked to keep an eye out for changing traffic patterns and alternate routes.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Buy Local Buy Maryland
Buy Local, Buy Maryland is a customer savings club that features locally owned businesses. Card holders can save money by shopping in the stores featured in this exclusive program!
Inside the Baltimore Police Department's watch center is the hub from which city police can view hundreds of crime cameras, pull up street corners and follow suspicious activity sometimes in progress; fancy hardware increasingly complimenting witty software.
ABC2 Investigators uncover Baltimore Police officers making huge amounts of overtime as the agency downplays the total amount spent on OT.
Scripps reviewed dozens of lawsuits and spoke with former insiders who all allege the companies that handle Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s asbestos and pollution claims, wrongfully delay or deny payment to cancer victims...


text:
Net profit in the first three months of 2014 was €197 million, down 54.7 percent from the equivalent figure last year. Operating profit fell by 10.4 percent to €961 million, even though sales rose by 5.0 percent to €23.3 billion.
The news sents Fiat shares down 1.51 percent in Milan, while the broader index was largely flat. The group said it had reduced net debt by €300 million in the quarter to €9.7 billion.
But despite the profits plunge, Fiat held to its forecasts for the year. It is targeting net profit of €600-800 million and sales of €93 billion.
It expects operating profit to turn out at €3.6-4.0 billion, and debt to be €9.8-10.3 billion.
Fiat, which took full control of Chrysler in January, has called a shareholders' meeting for Friday to approve a full merger of the two groups. The new entity would be called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).


text:
What CES showed us about the future of TV and Home Cinema
The online presentations have wrapped up, the virtual booths are packed up, and the bombardment of ‘have you seen our amazing new product’ emails have just about dried up. Yes: The first and hopefully only lockdown CES is over. Now that we’ve had a couple of days to digest it all, what can we AV fans make of all the announcements over the past week? What were the key trends, the big surprises and the crushing disappointments?
Say hello to Mini-LED
The biggest new TV trend without a doubt was the sudden rise of Mini-LED technology. This major refinement of LCD TVs sees screens illuminated by much smaller and thus much more numerous locally controlled light sources than regular TVs, massively increasing the image’s potential contrast and lighting uniformity.
Mini-LED’s emergence at CES 2021 didn’t come completely out of nowhere; TCL has been selling mini-LED TVs since 2019. But the revelation that Samsung and LG would both be joining the mini-LED party this year in a big way instantly catapulted the technology from niche to mainstream.
Samsung revealed that it would be using mini-LED technology to deliver potentially thousands of separate dimming zones across all of its premium 8K and 4K TV ranges for 2021 - a startlingly whole-hearted endorsement of the technology by the world’s biggest-selling TV brand. The sheer extent of Samsung’s mini-LED adoption also joins the experience of TCL’s mini-LED TVs in raising hopes that this is one relatively new TV technology that doesn’t need to be horrendously expensive.
Certainly mini-LED is going to be creeping down to the upper mid-range part of Samsung’s 2021 range. As for LG’s mini-LED sets, they’re being positioned at the top of the brand’s LCD range (pushing LG’s previous flagship Nanocell technology down to mid-range level), but below its new OLED range. So with LG’s OLED range dipping close to $1800 at times in 2020, there isn’t any room, really, for the brand’s new mini-LED sets to push the pricing boat out.
TCL, for its part, announced a second innovation on the basic mini-LED theme. Called, rather clumsily, OD Zero Mini-LED, and found on a new XL tier of TVs, TCL’s new mini-LED variation completely removes the usual optical gap between the technology’s backlight layer and LCD diffuser. The result is a new ultra-thin, almost OLED-like design without, TCL claims, reducing picture performance.
TCL’s commercial director, Aaron Dew, wrote a public blog during CES in which he cheekily congratulated other brands for finally getting into mini-LED, and described rival OLED technology as something that “hasn’t notably changed since it was first used in TVs in the early 2010s, and still only accounts for less than three per cent of global TV sales.” It seems fair to say that TCL won’t be adding any OLED screens to its range any time soon, and is firmly locked onto mini-LED for its future.
Potentially impressive as mini-LED looks, though, it still can’t match OLED’s trick of having every single pixel in the picture produce its own light. The only LED-based solution that can do that is microLED - but CES brought us very mixed news on that front.
MicroLED - Not coming to a living room near you soon
MicroLED has been winning adoring looks from home cinema fans at technology show after technology show for at least four years now. In fact, Samsung has pretty much ‘launched’ microLED screens for four CESs in a row.
In reality though, while Samsung’s series of monster-sized ‘The Wall’ microLED screens have technically gone on sale, they’ve cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and have had to be constructed from smaller blocks. So it’s fair to say they haven’t exactly gone mainstream.
Hope springs eternal though, so despite microLED’s painfully slow march towards our living rooms, many had hoped that maybe microLED’s time would finally come at the 2021 CES.
The early signs were actually promising, as Samsung announced by far its most consumer-friendly microLED screen yet. A 110-inch screen (relatively small/living room-friendly by microLED standards) with a 4K-resolution that ships pre-assembled and even carries a built-in 5.1-channel audio system. Despite its consumer-friendly overtures though, this model is still claimed to deliver all the usual microLED benefits of pixel for pixel lighting, high peak brightness, a huge colour range, freedom from OLED’s potential screen burn issues, and hardly any performance deterioration over its estimated 100,000 hours of working life.
Samsung also talked at CES of two smaller microLED models, measuring 99 and 88 inches, both allegedly arriving later in the year, and both apparently still delivering a native 4K resolution. Since so many Samsung microLED promises have come and gone over recent years though, we’ll wait until we see these two smaller models in the flesh before we entirely believe in them.
But surely it’s at least time to get the credit card out for the 110-inch model right? Sure. So long as that credit card has a limit of US$156,000. Ouch.
Sony had some big microLED news to announce at CES, too. This sees two new series of its own Crystal LED variant of microLED screens launching in 2021: a B Series that focuses on brightness (it can hit 1,800cd/m2) and suppressing reflections, and a C Series that focuses on contrast and black level (800cd/m2 brightness, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio).
Both of these new series are designed to be significantly cheaper than their CLED predecessors - especially if you go for the 1.5micrometer pixel pitch models rather than the denser 1.2micrometer pixel pitch models. Also, while both of Sony’s new microLED series use modular screen designs that have to be constructed on-site, Sony has designed them to be built without specialist equipment or knowledge, and be maintained via front rather than rear access. The new screens even use a version of the X1 video processor Sony uses in its Bravia TVs.
Again though, momentary dreams of having a Sony microLED screen at home take a pretty massive hit when you look at who Sony is aiming its new CLED series at. Film production studios, corporate boardrooms/lobbies, high-end industrial design companies… In other words, even these ‘cheaper’ CLED screens are still going to be far beyond the pockets of all but the most super-rich of domestic users.
Sony is also seemingly struggling to scale its CLED screens down in size terms. Even with the smaller pitch screens, Sony can only manage a full HD resolution in a 110-inch screen. For 4K you’re looking at having to accommodate a massive 220-inch screen.
While I guess it’s good to see microLED edging even marginally closer to living room potential, in truth its painfully slow rate of progress, together with everything I’ve heard so far about how hard it is to manufacture microLED at scale, makes microLED feel more like a CES bust than a CES hero.
So how has the show been for the only other self-emissive technology game in town right now?…
The pop shot taken at OLED TVs by TCL’s Aaron Dew during CES arguably ended up looking a bit ill-timed given that this year’s virtual show actually saw potentially the biggest true hardware advance in OLED technology we’ve seen for years.
Both LG and Sony announced new ranges - the G1s in LG’s case, the A90Js in Sony’s case - that use new panel hardware to boost their brightness by around a quarter from anything either brand has mustered from OLED before. This is a big deal given the importance of brightness to high dynamic range video, and how big a deal the LCD-favouring brands like to make about brightness.
Panasonic has offered a similar proprietary technology on its flagship OLED models since 2019, and this will continue into 2021 with its flagship JZ2000 range.
We don’t have pricing information on any of these new high-brightness OLEDs yet. Experience from Panasonic’s history with this sort of technology though, suggests that the premium you’ll need to pay will be pretty considerable.
Some have raised concerns that these brighter OLEDs will be more susceptible to screen burn. However, since all of the panel hardware adjustments involved with the high-brightness models use heat dissipation technology, then in theory at least, they might actually be less susceptible to burn-in than regular OLEDs.
While ‘regular’ OLED screens enjoyed a nice bit of hardware innovation to go with their usual annual processing refreshes, one notable absentee from the CES 2021 OLED action was QD-OLED (Quantum Dot OLED).
This Samsung technology, which mixes OLED’s self-emissive qualities with the brightness and high colour volumes of Quantum Dots, has long been rumoured to be on the verge of breaking out of the business displays business and into your living room. Industry rumours suggest that Samsung continues to have concerns about QD-OLED’s brightness and susceptibility to screen burn - rumours which seem to be backed up by QD-OLED’s no-show in a year when a few optimistic pundits were hoping actual QD OLED TVs would be going on sale.
Talking of technology that was conspicuous by its absence…
4K Blu-ray players
There wasn’t so much as a hint of any new 4K Blu-ray technology announced by any brand at virtual CES 2021. Oppo and Samsung have long since departed from this part of the AV hardware business. Still, there was nothing new either from Panasonic, Sony, or Pioneer - or any new blood looking to make a name for itself in the increasingly tough world of physical movie media.
This is a potentially ominous sign for us fans of 4K Blu-ray discs. That said, it’s worth remembering that the Xbox Series X and PS5 have just put many millions more 4K Blu-ray players into people’s homes across the globe, so there’s plenty of potential life left in the format yet if even a fairly small per cent of those console buyers wake up to what their games machines can also do for their enjoyment of films. Especially in the PS5’s case, which performs at least as well as a decent standalone 4K BD deck.
The bigger question for 4K Blu-ray going forward is whether all of the AV brands on the market will keep selling their current players, or eventually start to wind their ranges down.
This was another relatively quiet area for CES 2021. The only big brands making announcements were Pioneer and Onkyo, which both revealed their 2021 AV receiver ranges.
We have been intending to bring you a story on these, but before we do we’ve been trying to find out if the new supposedly 4K/120Hz-capable models are susceptible to the same HDMI bug with the Xbox Series X console that affects the latest 2021 AVRs from Marantz, Denon and Yamaha. So far, the only thing we’ve heard back was a contradictory statement that made things more rather than less unclear. Keep an eye out for more on these receivers soon.
Unlike the 4K Blu-ray situation though, I don’t think the fairly limited number of AVR announcements coming out of CES bodes ill for the sector’s future. As I just noted, Denon, Yamaha and Marantz all announced substantial new ranges before CES - the main feature of which, as in the Pioneer and Onkyo AVRs’ case, was support for the latest gaming features detailed in the next section.
It was perhaps a little strange not to see Sony announcing anything new on the AVR front at CES, but Sony quite often holds a news nugget or two back a week or two for the weeks following CES, so let’s not give up on new Sony AVRs just yet.
The irresistible rise of gaming
Pretty much every TV brand except for LG and, at a stretch, Samsung failed pretty badly to cater for the new generation of games consoles and PCs with their 2020 TV ranges. They all, thankfully, seem to be joining the AVR manufactures in falling over themselves to put this right in 2021, though.
LG is set to continue to offer comprehensive support on its OLED TVs for all the important next-gen gaming features: namely 4K resolution at 120Hz; variable refresh rates; and automatic low latency mode switching (where the TV can automatically toggle between its fast response Game picture presets and a regular video preset depending on the type of content it detects your console is outputting).
The vast majority of Sony’s TV range for 2021 will support all these features rather than just one series as happened in 2020, and Samsung will expand the number of HDMIs that support these gaming features for various models in its new range.
Even Panasonic is finally getting in on the gaming act, with its new JZ2000 flagship OLEDs supporting variable refresh rates and refresh rates up to 120Hz.
It became clear at CES, too, that we’re now in an ongoing race among TV makers to keep making input lag (the time a screen takes to render images) faster, and to keep developing new gaming features, such as picture and sound setting tweaks designed to make gaming action more immersive.
A mixed bag for 8K
Having been the darling of a couple of previous CESs, 8K had more of a middling CES 2021.
Its biggest supporter to date, Samsung, continued to innovate around its 8K screens with new thinner designs and the use across the board of mini-LED technology. It didn’t go quite as far as some had expected though, in replacing relatively mid-range 4K sets with 8K.
LG revealed that there would be 8K models using its new QNED Mini LED TV technology, but didn’t provide any further details. And while LG will be introducing new Z1 8K OLED TVs, I do not hear anything to suggest that these are going to be substantially cheaper than the excessively expensive 8K models LG has released before.
Sony has a new 8K LCD range incoming, but as with Samsung, nothing it announced at CES suggested that it would be expanding its 8K offering for 2021 from the limited number of models we saw in 2020. It will be interesting, though, to see what Sony’s new Bravia XR processor might be able to do when it comes to upscaling 4K to 8K.
There were some more moves into 8K by relatively small (in the US and Europe) Chinese brands, but not in truth much more than we saw in 2020.
Probably the most significant single announcement from an 8K perspective was TCL’s revelation that it was going to be introducing a whole new range of 8K TVs as an additional wing to its hugely successful ‘6-series’ Roku TV range. This range is renowned for its combination of good picture quality and aggressive pricing, so the hope has to be that these TCL sets will be cheap enough to make 8K mainstream in a way it’s not been before.
As awareness of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound formats grows, so does the demand for straightforward, space-saving audio solutions capable of unlocking both formats’ ultra-immersive thrills. CES’s announcements confirmed that pretty much any soundbar worthy of the name - including budget models - is now pretty much expected to cover either Dolby Atmos or DTS:X - or, ideally, both.
Some CES 2021 soundbar announcements stood out. Denon’s new Sound Bar 550, for instance, promises both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support from a six-driver array, as well as sound that’s tuned for both music and movies. It also carries Denon’s HEOS platform for better streaming of network and streaming files and easy integration into a wider Denon Home wireless speaker range.
In fact, in another move that’s starting to grow in popularity, you can combine the Home 550 with other Denon wireless speakers to create a full 5.1 system of actual physical speakers, rather than relying on virtual sound processing to create an Atmos or DTS:X soundstage.
The Sound Bar 550 is anticipated to sell for 649 Euros/US$599 in mid-February 2021
Samsung unveiled probably the all-round most powerful and satisfying premium soundbar solution right now, at least where movie playback is concerned. The HW-Q950A will become the first soundbar system to support a genuine (rather than virtual) channel count of 11.1.4. Experience suggests this will set you back at least £1,499 in the UK - but that it may well sound surprisingly close to a ‘full sized’ separates system.
Chinese brand Cowin showed a surprising level of innovation at the budget end of the soundbar market, meanwhile, with a £60/US$80/ speaker that can be literally split in two if you wish, so that you can get a wider stereo effect out of it.
The constant drive to get bigger sound from ever smaller boxes probably reached its peak at CES 2021 in the shape of LG’s QP5 Eclair. This manages to squeeze five real speakers, including two actual up-firing drivers, into a box that’s just 11.7 by 2.3 inches in size, with support for both the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats.
Finally, Panasonic cunningly combined soundbars with gaming in the shape of its Soundslayer. This soundbar is small enough to fit under a gaming monitor or diminutive TV. It cleverly carries sound modes designed in conjunction with gamers to deliver either an enhanced RPG or a more focused and impactful first-person shooter experience.
Here’s hoping for an in-person CES 2022
While virtual CES has worked well enough as an onscreen shop window for all the lovely AV wares and trends we can look forward to in the coming 12 months, it has also rammed home that there’s just no replacement for a physical, in-person experience when it comes to confidently being able to pick the hype from the genuine hopes.
So however much I might find myself moaning about having to travel to Las Vegas for a week of chaos straight after Christmas every year, I seriously hope that COVID finally leaves us alone enough in 2021 to enable a ‘true’ CES to return in all its exhausting glory in 2022.
I’ve spent the past 25 years writing about the world of home entertainment technology. In that time I’m fairly confident that I’ve reviewed more TVs and projectors than any other individual on the planet, as well as experiencing first-hand the rise and fall of all manner of great and not so great home entertainment technologies.
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION
Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP


text:
FashionIndie and Fashion News Live are inviting aspiring fashion reporters to submit their reel showcasing their talent as a host and fashion personality for the chance to co-host a show at New York Fashion Week in September 2011. Two winners will be selected to work alongside Fashion News Live host Rocco Leo Gaglioti backstage at one show to report on the latest trends. The winners will also be interviewed and featured on FashionIndie.com and FashionNewsLive.com and will receive a pass to one show at Fashion Week.
For more details and how to participate please go to tlnt.at/fnlfi
Loading more stuff…
Hmm…it looks like things are taking a while to load. Try again?


text:
The India Game Developer Conference (IGDC), India’s premier event for game developers, announces an impressive line-up of speakers for its 13th edition set to take place virtually between 16th – 18th November. Meet with Torfi, creative director of Minecraft or hear from Brenda Remero, BAFTA Awards winner. If you are an aspiring game developer, then come and interact with Ben, VP at Digipen, a premier college in game and media education or Joseph to know about job opportunities and competitive market salaries. It is all there!
This year we bring you over 120+ speakers to share their insights and knowledge. From Indian trendsetters like Moonfrog, Playsimple, Nazaara; who showed India its true potential with over half a Billion USD exits in 2021 to world best game makers of Borderland, Doom, Fortnite.
For more information on the speakers and discussion panels, please visit the event website: https://indiagdc.com/2021/
This year’s event is being supported by companies like Unreal Engine as presenting sponsor, MPL, AWS, Junglee, and Glance as gold sponsors, and YesGnome, Lakshya Digital and Gametion as silver sponsors. Kwalee and Gameon are also onboard as bronze sponsors while Sunday is onboard as a sponsor for the Hyper-casual track.
“The enthusiasm and interest we have received from the speakers, sponsors and participants for this conference has been great so far,” said Rajesh Rao, Convener, IGDC. “We are excited to bring all these passionate, knowledgeable individuals together and inspire innovative discussions around the advancements in the online gaming ecosystem. Their clear understanding of gaming and game development will give the audience deep insights into an emerging industry and further aid the overall growth of the industry.
The speakers will cover topics related to these tracks:
- Applied Games
- Business and Product Management
Speaking about the event, Rajesh said: “The thirteenth edition of our virtual summit will bring together industry experts from India and abroad to discuss ground-breaking industry innovations, success stories, development strategies as well as unique challenges posed to the entire ecosystem. Participants can look forward to the insights from known figures in the industry and amass a wealth of knowledge through this year’s presentations and thought-provoking conversations. “
IGDC is the anchor event for IndiaJoy and is in partnership with the Government of Telangana. Its goal is to support game developers in the presence of industry leaders and investors, providing insights, training, and networking opportunities. The event will be attended by around 10,000 people, more than 100 industry professionals, 30 publishers and investors.


text:
U Mobile aims to add 2mil new customers with new campaign
By Digital News Asia September 18, 2014
- Comes after company announced network expansion rollout plan
- Promotions that reward customers when they switch to its services
U MOBILE Sdn Bhd has launched its ‘Vision 2 Million’ campaign, with which it aims to add two million new subscribers by Dec 31 2014.
The campaign comes in the wake of the company’s announcement of a network expansion rollout plan aimed at delivering better network quality and coverage with the addition of 1,000 3G (Third Generation) and 1,000 4G LTE (Fourth Generation/ Long-Term Evolution) sites.
Its new Vision 2 Million marketing campaign aims to encourage more consumers to jump onto the U Mobile bandwagon, the company said in a statement.
It has also committed to offer customers free ‘on-net’ calls and free Internet service for one day on Jan 1 2015 if it achieves its target by the end of 2014.
“We are optimistic about achieving our vision, and are ready to take on the challenge with a series of exciting activities, as well as attractive product offerings,” said its chief marketing officer Jasmine Lee.
“In light of the campaign, we are introducing brand new promotions that reward customers when they switch to our services, as well as our refreshed Friend Referral Programme,” she said.
To encourage mobile users to switch to U Mobile, the telco said it is refreshing its Mobile Number Portability (MNP) promotion by offering new prepaid customers free Internet services for one year.
Customers who switch to U Mobile prepaid services from Sept 16 onwards can enjoy one-year free 250MB high-speed mobile Internet for every RM30 top-up and above, along with free calls and other special benefits.
U Mobile unveils RM1.5bil expansion plan, promises 2,000 more sites
U Mobile’s ‘share one, share all’ Internet plan
POS on-the-go with U Mobile QuickPay
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Like us on Facebook.


text:
NVIDIA streams games to TV sets
The US-based maker of GPUs NVIDIA has announced a brand new way of working with its Shield gaming console. Starting now the brand new GameStream tech streams games from a GeForce GTX-based PC to a big screen TV set equipped with an NVIDIA Shield game console. The technology will become a part of NVIDIA’s new gaming ecosystem that will be fully developed in a few years time.
A peculiarity of the GameStream technology is that it combines a GeForce GTX graphics card with a Shield gaming console through Wi-Fi, delivering a low latency connection in anyone’s home. In addition to this hardware the new technology makes use of a HDMI port, required for the HDTV set the games will be played on and a compatible Bluetooth adapter. This is all the hardware that you need to get in order to play games using this technology. In addition gamers using this tech will be able to play Android-based games, browse the web and watch movies at 1080p resolution. A bit later GameStream will support NVIDIA Grid cloud gaming services too.
NVIDIA also has another treat for die-hard gamers – starting on October 28, the company will offer USD 100 off the Shield gaming console plus free copies of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Splinter Cell Blacklist and Batman: Arkham Origins with the purchase of select GeForce GTX video cards. This event is to celebrate the release of GameStream.


text:
Kylie Jenner keeps her head down as she leaves Barneys New York after doing some retail therapy on Thursday afternoon (September 19) Beverly Hills, Calif.
The 16-year-old reality star was joined by a gal pal.
“When paparazzi yell ‘you’re ugly’ and laugh while getting into my car…Nothing better…” she recently tweeted.
Earlier in the week, Kylie was spotted stopping by the Topanga Mall to pick up a few items.
20+ pics inside of Kylie Jenner shopping with a friend…


text:
The tourism sector in Ho Chi Minh City has showed initial signs of recovery as local travel agents have started offering safe tours to several popular destinations in the city’s low-risk districts.
Some companies in the southern city have recently advertising tours to outlying Can Gio and Cu Chi Districts, which are considered as ‘green zones,’ or areas at low risk of COVID-19 transmissions.
Each tour starts and ends within the same day, offering visitors an opportunity to enjoy the nature, fresh air, and local specialties.
The tours are not packed with many activities as they are designed to offer travelers a quick getaway following a prolonged lockdown.
According to Nguyen Huu Y Yen, general director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, people have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the disease within six months in order to take part in the tours.
They must also undergo rapid COVID-19 testing before the journey starts.
“I believe that the new requirements and procedures are not too complicated and will not discourage our customers,” Yen stated.
The municipal authorities have only allowed the resumptions of safe and well-organized tours to ‘green zones,’ he added.
Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, deputy head of Vietravel's marketing department, said that a recent survey by the firm showed that travel demand has surged following the fourth coronavirus outbreak, which began on April 27 and has just showed signs of subsiding.
About 80 percent respondents said they want to travel and agreed that safety is the top priority, Khanh continued.
Many of them preferred beaches or places with a low population density, and would like their trips to be short and simple.
The majority of respondents wished to travel with their family members or friends and were not ready to share a trip with strangers.
They also added it would be okay if the service quality is not top-notch, or if the tours do not include many destinations.
“The result of the survey will drastically change the way we operate and design our tours,” Khanh elaborated.
In some northern and central localities, the recovery of the local tourism seems to be more promising.
In such localities as Da Nang, Quang Binh, and Thua Thien-Hue, travel agents have reopened tours for local visitors.
|Frontline workers enjoy a tour to a forest in Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City, October 2, 2021. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre|
According to Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions Company, it is impossible for travel firms to run a massive demand stimulation campaign because the safety standards vary in different provinces and cities.
Travelers’ preferences are also different from those in the past, forcing companies to make changes to their products, Anh added.
“The tourism industry needs to establish a special map so that travelers can review and select safe restaurants, hotels, or shopping places for their trips. This will require the cooperation from local businesses and service providers,” he suggested.
Many travel agents in Ho Chi Minh City have proposed the operation of tours from the city to some nearby destinations.
For example, the tourism management agencies in Ho Chi Minh City and southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province have coordinated to develop a self-contained tourism program under which nearly 10 service establishments in Ba Ria - Vung Tau are willing to welcome guests from the city.
Local firms also believed that tours to Phan Thiet, Da Lat, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc could restart in November.
However, authorities in these localities must first lift their restrictions on visitors from Ho Chi Minh City.
"We have agreed to live safely with the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is unnecessary to maintain too many restrictions,” said Pham Ha, chairman of Lux Group.
The tourism industry will suffer if current restrictions among localities remain intact, Ha stated, adding that requiring visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is enough.


text:
The World Cracks Down on Pirate Websites
Conrad Hazi, 13 February 2019, 22:53
Websites with games, films, music and other illegal materials are increasingly often being blocked by internet providers. The scale of their activities is growing and their efficiency is being praised by MPA.
Far Cry: New Dawn - New Gameplay and Launch Trailer
Jacob Blazewicz, 13 February 2019, 21:48
Another Far Cry: New Dawn gameplay footage appeared on the web. Ubisoft presented the beginning of the upcoming title and shown a new trailer.
PS4 Cross-Play Not for Everyone?
Bart Swiatek, 13 February 2019, 17:07
Some developer teams have criticized Sony's handling of cross-play on Twitter. The devs complaining that although their games are ready to implement the feature, the Japanese side has yet to make the required decisions.
BioWare is "Definitely Not Done with Mass Effect"
Bart Swiatek, 13 February 2019, 16:12
In a recent interview for Polygon, BioWare's Mike Darrah and Casey Hudson have assured that we haven't seen the last of the Mass Effect franchise. The brand might yet return if the developer finds some time.
Blizzard Plans No Major Releases in 2019
Frozen, 13 February 2019, 15:34
During a recent investor meeting, the representatives of Activision Blizzard have informed that there will be no major frontline releases from Blizzard Entertainment in 2019.
Rainbow Six Siege Free Weekend; Starter Edition Unavailable
Milosz Szubert, 13 February 2019, 15:23
The next free weekend with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege begins tomorrow. The popular tactical shooter can be tested free of charge on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In addition, there have been significant changes in the editions available for sale.
Update to Red Dead Online Targets Antisocial Behavior
Milosz Szubert, 13 February 2019, 15:00
Rockstar will introduce changes to Red Dead Online that will curb aggressive behavior. The release of a major update to the beta version of the Red Dead Redemption II online module is scheduled for February 26th.
This Year's Call of Duty Will Include Solo Campaign
Adrian Werner, 13 February 2019, 14:59
One of Activision's executives confirmed that the upcoming Call of Duty installment will feature a story campaign. What's interesting, the publisher is expecting worse sale results that in the case of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Sells 10 Million Copies
Adrian Werner, 13 February 2019, 14:21
Activision bragged that more than 10 million copies of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the revamped version of the classic platformer trilogy, have already gone to the stores.
Nintendo Switch Has More than 1800 Games
Bart Swiatek, 13 February 2019, 11:32
Perfectly Nintendo website, known for gathering various "N-related" stats, reports that currently there are more than 1800 titles that we can play on Nintendo Switch.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance Devs Bought by THQ Nordic
Bart Swiatek, 13 February 2019, 10:20
The Czech developer team at Warhorse Studios has been bought by the publisher THQ Nordic. The deal also included the developer's IP rights i.e. the Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise.
Friends Update for Rocket League Removes Cross-Play Limitations
Adrian Werner, 13 February 2019, 10:00
From now on, Rocket League will offer full cross-play between all available hardware platforms.
Sony's Shawn Layden Prophesizes a "Post-Console World"
Bart Swiatek, 13 February 2019, 00:02
In a recent interview, Shawn Layden, the chairman of Sony Interactive Worldwide Studios, has presented his vision of the future for the industry and video gaming as such.


text:
It’s lit now! British American Tobacco heads to court over cigarette sale ban
Government has come under fire from smokers around the country for refusing to allow the sale of cigarettes from Monday – when the country moves to level 3 lockdown - but giving alcohol the green light.
JOHANNESBURG - British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) has announced that it has started legal proceedings to challenge government's decision to extend the ban on tobacco sales under level 3 of the lockdown.
It made the announcement in a statement on Friday morning.
“BATSA has made every effort to constructively engage with the government since the ban came into force, including making detailed submissions, along with other interested parties, to various ministers, as well as directly to the Presidency,” BATSA said.
“To date, no formal response has been received from the government, and BATSA has also not been included in any of the government’s consultation processes so far,” the company added.
Government has come under fire from smokers around the country for refusing to allow the sale of cigarettes from Monday – when the country moves to level 3 lockdown - but giving alcohol the green light
BATSA’s head of external affairs Johnny Moloto said: “As it currently stands, under level 3, consumers will once again be able to buy all the products that have been restricted under levels 5 and 4 of the lockdown except for tobacco products. We have always stated our support for the government’s measures to put the country under lockdown in order.
“Government has instead decided to maintain the ban on tobacco products under the guise of limiting the spread of Covid-19 while allowing all other previously banned consumer products to go back on sale.”


text:
Ashok Leyland, flagship of the
Hinduja Group, announced the beginning of construction of its bus plant in
Andhra Pradesh. The ground breaking ceremony marked the beginning of work on a greenfield
factory which will be the first Ashok Leyland plant in Andhra Pradesh. Situated
in Model Industrial Park, Mallavalli Village in Krishna District, the
auspicious ceremony was performed in the presence of the Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and Managing Director & CEO of Ashok
Leyland, Vinod K. Dasari.
Part of the fast upcoming
manufacturing hub in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh and located 40 kms from
Vijayawada, this Ashok Leyland plant will be spread over 75 acres and will
include latest technologies to deliver the high quality standards of the Ashok
Leyland brand. The plant once fully completed would be able to produce 4800
buses per annum, and would also have a state-of-the-art learning centre and an
advanced service training centre.
The setting up of this plant
will help increase the skill level of the employable workforce in the state of
Andhra Pradesh and will have the potential to employ over 5,000 employees.
While it will have the capability to make the entire range of buses of Ashok
Leyland brand, the facility will also include an electric vehicle development
centre comprising of a futuristic conveyor line, pilot assembly line and
prototype development. It will be a complete green facility, with rooftop solar
panels, LED lighting, battery operated vehicles for in-plant movement, positive
water balance and zero discharge.
Designed with a unique abrasive film for higher performance, TVS Apache, a friction brand of Brakes India, launched platinum brake pads for the luxury car range which have been designed for comfort an...
Uno Minda, a leading Tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has announced the launch of its BS VI -compliant automotive engine oils for two-whe...
Vida, powered by Hero, the emerging mobility brand of Hero MotoCorp, has initiated operations of its public charging infrastructure in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur. The brand has set up nearly 300 cha...


text:
Intelligence for better health care decisions
CSM profiles the architect behind CVS Health’s CSR and philanthropy initiatives
WOONSOCKET, R.I. – The Christian Science Monitor on Thursday profiled one of the architects behind both CVS Health's bold move in walking away from selling tobacco in stores, and the company's philanthropic endeavors.
According to the profile, CVS Health in 2004 recruited Eileen Howard Boone, SVP corporate social responsibility and philanthropy for CVS Health and president of CVS Health Foundation. "In the 12 years since, she’s become the embodiment of the alignment between the company’s profitmaking and philanthropic goals," CSM wrote.
Since, Howard Boone has been responsible for formulating the strategic positioning of the company’s corporate social responsibility platform across three focus areas: building healthier communities, creating economic opportunities and protecting the planet.
In addition to leading CVS Health's philanthropic charge, Howard Boone played a key role in the implementation of CVS Health's #BeTheFirst campaign, a five-year commitment toward creating the first tobacco-free generation underwritten by CVS Health to the tune of $50 million, CSM reported.
That program is an extension of CVS Health's commitment toward not selling tobacco products in its stores. “It’s a business function,” Howard Boone told CSM. “We’re trying to support our long-term growth, and when we’re doing it in a socially responsible way, it really benefits the company and stakeholders.”
Howard Boone also was instrumental in leading stakeholder engagement around the company’s decision to stop the sale of tobacco in 2014 and garnered support from key anti-tobacco non-governmental organizations and health care organizations surrounding the announcement and tobacco exit, CVS Health noted. That focus on smoking cessation initiatives was reflected in CVS Health's annual corporate social responsiblity report titled, "Prescription for a Better World," released in May.
Among the new targets announced in this year's Report, four are aimed at creating a tobacco-free generation by 2020.
As the head of corporate philanthropy, Howard Boone leads a team that directs nearly $80 million in charitable funding for philanthropic programs that support the company’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health by increasing access to health care for underserved populations, improving the quality of care and ultimately reducing costs on the health care system. This includes charitable donations, gifts in-kind, customer and colleague fundraising and volunteerism.
Active in the community, Howard Boone serves on several nonprofit boards of directors, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Crossroads, Easter Seals and the NACDS Foundation. Through her work and expertise, she has earned many professional service accolades, including the CECP’s Charles H. Moore Award, which recognizes perseverance in pursuing societal advancement, and the National Child Labor Committee’s Lewis Hine Award for service to children and youth.
Howard Boone is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, and earned her MBA from Fordham University in New York.
New Edelman Brand Relationship Index measures consumer engagement – where would your brand rank?
CHICAGO – Most brands are missing the mark when it comes to capitalizing on a more in-depth relationship with their consumers, according to the inaugural Edelman Brand Relationship Index released Wednesday. The index, part of the Edelman Earned Brand 2016 study of 13,000 consumers in 13 countries, found the global average consumer-brand relationship score reaches just 38 out of a possible 100.
Consumers who fall between 27 and 43 on the Index are labeled "Involved." Consumers who index between 44 and 69 are "Invested" and between 70 and 100 are "Committed."
The biggest opportunity for brands to earn deeper relationships with consumers lies in addressing the three brand behaviors that scored the lowest on the Edelman Brand Relationship Index: Acts with purpose (33), Tells a memorable story (34) and Listens openly/responds selectively (35).
While a majority of respondents (62%) said they will not buy a brand if it fails to meet its societal obligations, consumer belief in brands as their partners in social change is strong, with 55% agreeing brands can do more to solve societal ills than government. Brands must live up to these expectations by focusing on related strategies that entail collaboration, participation, shared values, and shared actions.
“Consumers are looking to brands to address their growing expectations, to step up and consistently take action with them on topics and issues they care about,” said Amanda Glasgow, U.S. Consumer Practice chair of Edelman. “It’s no longer about what brands do for you, it’s about what they do with you. It’s the difference between presenting consumers with a campaign and empowering them to join a movement. This is the way today’s brands become a meaningful presence in consumers’ lives and in the world.”
“The index confirms that marketers have done a good job getting consumers to preference and purchase, but consumers indicated they are willing to go deeper, to be committed in their brand relationships,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “The study shows when a consumer moves from a relationship rooted in ‘me’ to one powered by ‘we,’ a new world of buying and advocacy potential opens up for a brand.”
To realize the full potential of the consumer-brand relationship, brands must move consumers from being “Involved” with the brand to being fully “Committed,” the strongest relationship stage. The findings reveal that consumers who are “Committed” to a favorite brand will drive and protect its bottom line by buying first, staying loyal to, advocating for and defending the brand. These stronger relationships provide significant benefits: 86% will adopt innovation more quickly; 87% will pay a premium price; 87% will recommend the brand through liking and sharing; and 88% will defend it against critics.
In order to create more “Committed” consumers, the marketing mix, with its long-standing reliance on paid media, must fundamentally change to include a greater proportion of peer and owned media. The study finds that “Interested” and “Involved” consumers (the early stages of the relationship) need paid strategies to spark awareness and consideration, but consumers in the deeper “Invested” and “Committed” stages consistently engage peer and owned media over paid.
In fact, from the middle stage, “Involved,” to the most deeply “Committed” stage, a consumer’s use of both a brand’s owned media and peer conversations grows twice as fast as advertising: use of peer media grows 18 percentage points and use of owned grows 21 points, while paid grows by just 8 points. Committed relationships require greater brand interactivity, and committed consumers thirst for that interactivity.
“Commitment cannot be bought, it must be earned,” said Edelman. “We can quantify that a media mix favoring social and owned media is essential for cementing a committed relationship with a consumer. Conversations help create a community of interest — a virtuous circle of buying, advocating for, and defending a brand — that will protect and promote the brand.”


text:
Exciting news for fans of Japanese action-RPGs, as Reynatis, the upcoming game from a team of Final Fantasy veterans, has been confirmed for a worldwide launch later this year. Initially revealed during a Nintendo Partner Direct, there was some confusion surrounding the exclusivity of the game. However, it has since been confirmed that Reynatis will be available on Switch, PS5, PS4, and PC when it releases in fall 2024. This global launch announcement opens up the game to a wider audience and has generated buzz among gamers eagerly awaiting its arrival.
One of the key reasons for the excitement surrounding Reynatis is its development team. Led by Kazushige Nojima, known for his work on iconic titles like Final Fantasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts, and Yoko Shimomura, a veteran composer with a stellar track record, the talent behind the game is undeniably impressive. With such experienced and renowned creators at the helm, expectations are high for Reynatis to deliver a captivating story and memorable gameplay experience.
While the reveal trailer showcased Reynatis’s vibrant portrayal of modern-day Shibuya, some aspects of the game raised concerns for potential players. The character models appeared low-poly, and there were visible frame rate issues in the trailer, even on the PlayStation version. Additionally, the story seemed convoluted, focusing on wizard cops combating a city-wide addiction issue and mysterious portals in Shibuya. The lack of substantial combat footage in the trailer left questions about the depth and innovation of the gameplay mechanics.
Potential for Improvement
Despite the initial rough edges observed in the trailer, there is potential for Reynatis to evolve and refine its gameplay experience before launch. The fast-paced action-RPG combat showcased familiar mechanics like sword fighting, dodging, special abilities, and gunplay. While these elements may not be groundbreaking on their own, there is a curiosity about how they will be integrated into the game’s overall structure. The unique setting of Japan and the promise of mysterious phenomena add an intriguing layer to Reynatis, drawing players in with the allure of discovery and exploration.
As the release date for Reynatis approaches, there is a growing anticipation among fans to learn more about the game’s development progress and additional details. The involvement of industry veterans like Nojima and Shimomura instills confidence in the project’s potential, but the full picture of Reynatis remains to be seen. With the developer’s track record of varied releases in recent years, there is a mix of excitement and caution surrounding the upcoming action-RPG. Only time will tell how Reynatis will ultimately come together and resonate with players when it finally launches worldwide.


text:
Success! Starbucks Will Stop Using Plastic Straws by 2020
When Stephanie Muttillo, a Starbucks employee, realized the environmental dangers of plastic pollution, she started a Care2 petition demanding that her company stop using plastic straws.
“I got the idea for the petition just from the love I have always had for the environment. I have been using reusable straws and cups and decided it was time to make a difference,” says Muttillo.
When she created the petition, her goal was to get about 5,000 signatures in a year. “I would then send it in to corporate and hopefully they would give me some feedback,” Muttillo explains. “But one night I fell asleep it had 300 signatures, the next morning I woke up and it had 11,000. It just kept getting bigger and bigger!”
Her petition eventually garnered over 147,000 signatures, and now Starbucks has announced that they will stop using plastic straws in all 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020.
Muttillo is thrilled! She wrote on her Care2 petition:
As a Starbucks employee, it’s welcomed news to hear the company will phase out the use of plastic straws in their stores by 2020. This is an important first step to cleaning up our seas and protecting wildlife, and I am proud to see Starbucks take this step toward sustainability and promoting a healthier planet for all.
To replace those plastic straws, Starbucks will use a plastic strawless lid known as an “adult sippy cup.”
The Starbucks ban begins in Vancouver and Seattle, where as of July 1, cafés, restaurants and bars are no longer allowed to give out plastic straws. Starbucks estimates that by using biodegradable straws they will eliminate more than one billion plastic straws each year.
According to some estimates, Americans use 500 million straws a day. That’s a problem, as Muttillo explains in her petition: “Plastic straws are too lightweight to be recycled, and oftentimes are made out of the same plastic as Styrofoam which CANNOT be recycled.”
A Growing Plastic Pollution Problem
When these straws don’t make it through recycling sorters, they mostly end up in the ocean — adding to pre-existing plastic pollution.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world, covering 1.6 million square kilometers between Hawaii and California. This area contains 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, or 250 pieces of plastic for every human being in the world.
It’s estimated that if we continue our plastic addiction, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. We must work toward reducing plastic production.
Remembering the disability community
But there’s another important perspective on this issue: Consider the fact that some people are unable to drink at all without the use of a straw, perhaps due to poor muscle control or paralysis from a stroke. These disabled people literally need a straw in order to drink and stay alive, but paper straws aren’t strong enough and metal straws can cut their mouths.
To solve this problem, Care2’s s.e.smith suggests an opt-in program, where cafés and restaurants could keep straws behind the counter and display a “straws available by request” sign.
Still, we can all agree there’s too much plastic in the world — and convincing Starbucks to phase out the use of plastic straws is a great way to start cutting back on plastic pollution.
Congratulations to Stephanie Muttillo and all the Care2 members who signed her petition!
Thanks to Muttillo, Starbucks will join a growing list of companies including McDonalds, Alaska Airlines, the White Sox and the BBC to introduce bans on plastic. But let’s hope that these companies will also implement some kind of opt-in program, so that everyone can enjoy a beverage.
Are you inspired by Muttillo’s success and want to make a difference too? Why not create your own petition using these guidelines? Pretty soon you’ll find the Care2 community signing up to support you.


text:
You will begin to realise why this exercise Pattern is called the Dickens with reference to the ghost
Does Your Life Lack Meaning
with drop down archive
New titleNew title
Category with dropdown
Financing Calculator Description
- OnePlus 8 Lite Leak-Based Renders Show Dual Rear Cameras, Centre-Aligned Hole Punch 7 grudnia 2019OnePlus 8 Lite’s alleged leak-based CAD renders and a 360-degree video have surfaced online revealing dual rear cameras and a hole-punch design.The OnePlus 8 Lite is said to feature a flat display that will measure between 6.4-inch and 6.5-inch. The phone will feature a USB Type-C port, but a 3.5mm headphone jack is absent.
- Vodafone Idea Follows Airtel, Removes FUP Limit on Voice Calls for All Unlimited Prepaid Plans 7 grudnia 2019Following Airtel’s lead, Vodafone Idea has also removed the FUP limit on voice calls made to other networks for all unlimited prepaid plans.
- Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite, Galaxy Note 10 Lite Renders Leak Yet Again, Showing Their Central Hole-Punch Design 7 grudnia 2019Alleged leak-based renders of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and the Galaxy Note 10 Lite have surfaced online yet again.
- Airtel Lifts FUP Limit on Voice Calls for All Unlimited Prepaid Plans, Announces 3 New Bundled Plans 7 grudnia 2019Airtel has removed the FUP limit on voice calls for all unlimited plans and has rolled out a trio of new bundled plans.
- Garmin Venu, Vivoactive 4 Smartwatches Launched in India, Starting Rs. 32,590 7 grudnia 2019Garmin Venu has been launched at Rs. 37,490, while the Vivoactive 4 GPS smartwatch has been launched Rs. 32,590. The Garmin Venu smartwatch will be an Amazon exclusive until December 15. Vívoactive 4 is already available via all online channels.
- WhatsApp Gets Call Waiting Feature on Android, but Without Call Holding: Here Are the Details 7 grudnia 2019WhatsApp has started receiving a call waiting feature with the latest beta and stable updates, alongside the new group privacy feature and fingerprint lock support.
- Samsung Galaxy A51 Launch Tipped for December 12; Key Specifications, Official Images Leaked 7 grudnia 2019As per a new report, Samsung Galaxy A51 will reportedly be launched on December 12 packing quad rear cameras and flaunting a hole-punch design.
- Netflix Is Spending Rs. 3,000 Crores on Indian Content, CEO Reed Hastings Says 7 grudnia 2019Hastings has said Netflix’s goal is to attract 100 million customers in India -- almost 25 times its estimated subscriber base there as of this year. The world’s second-most populous country is a priority for company, which is effectively blocked in China.
- Adobe Acquires Medium, the Oculus-Made VR 3D Sculpting Tool 7 grudnia 2019According to Facebook-owned Oculus, the new announcement marks an important milestone for the VR community, as it demonstrates VR's maturation and value in the realms of productivity and non-gaming use cases.
- Redmi K30 Retail Package Leaked in Live Images; 3.5mm Headphone Jack, Dual-Frequency GPS Support Confirmed 7 grudnia 2019Live images of the Redmi K30's retail package have surfaced online. Also, the company has confirmed 3.5mm headphone jack and dual-frequency GPS support for the phone.


text:
To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here.
Tsum Kyiv, the luxury department store in the Ukrainian capital’s downtown, was under armed guard on Tuesday, its two-level underground parking garage destined to be converted into a hospital.
The store’s buying team, led by buying director Olga Chaika, would normally be heading to Paris Fashion Week to buy the Autumn 2022 collections for their wealthy clientele. Instead, they are pleading for the fashion industry they have supported until now to support Ukraine.
“We are trying to appeal now to wake the fashion industry up. Paris Fashion Week is going on, but in Europe there is a real war going on,” said Marusya Koval, Tsum Kyiv’s marketing director, in a phone call on Tuesday morning. “The fashion industry needs to stand up. Stop trading — stop supplying Russia. Stop your relationships with Russia.”
In addition to US and European government sanctions that are squeezing Russia’s financial and technology sectors, BP, Shell and other companies are independently exiting their operations and ties with Russia. Cultural and sports institutions including Formula One and the Metropolitan Opera in New York have taken moral stands to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by banning sales or events involving its national teams and performers such as conductor Valery Gergiev, who will no longer conduct the Met. Elon Musk sent Starlink satellite equipment to support Ukraine’s internet infrastructure. Fifa locked Russia’s football team out of sporting events including World Cup competitions, while Apple Pay and Google Pay no longer work in Moscow’s metro system.
However, the fashion industry has been slow to take sides in the war, though there have been some gestures such as the silent runway show by Giorgio Armani in Milan on Sunday and Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, calling for solemnity during Paris Fashion Week. After an apparent diplomatic kerfuffle in Brussels, luxury goods exports to Russia were not included in European Union sanctions, despite Russian oligarchs’ love of luxury.
Representatives for luxury’s two biggest luxury conglomerates Kering and LVMH aren’t commenting on their plans. “For the time being we do not comment on the situation,” said Kering spokesman Paul Michon in an email on Tuesday. LVMH didn’t respond to two requests for comment over several days.


text:
NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
NOVEMBER 22, 2013
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
2013 - ONE STOP DISCOUNT & 99 CENTS INC
AROUND THE WEB
- Neighborhood Joint: Staubitz Market in Brooklyn: 100 Years of Sawdust, Steaks and Chops
By ANDREW COTTO - Wednesday Jun 14, 2017
- 19th-Century Diary Suggests Slaves Are Buried in Brooklyn Lot
By MICHAEL WILSON - Friday Aug 4, 2017
A Gowanus farmer’s writings from 1828 to 1830 describe burying them on property that includes the proposed site of a prekindergarten.
- Promise of discounted Krispy Kreme’s cripples traffic for hours
By Fox News - Saturday Jul 15, 2017
How long would you wait for a discounted doughnut? To celebrate its 80th anniversary, Krispy Kreme is selling a dozen doughnuts for 80 cents once a customer buys the first dozen at regular price. It’s a deal so huge that it crippled traffic in Charleston, S.C., for hours on Friday. One commuter told WCSC-TV the...
- AT&T tops Wall Street's profit, revenue forecasts
Tuesday Jul 25, 2017
DALLAS (AP) — Shares of AT&T Inc. rose Tuesday after the company's second-quarter profit and revenue beat industry analysts' projections.AT&T bought DirecTV in 2015 and wants the owner of the CNN, TBS and HBO networks and a movie studio so that it can expand beyond its traditional business lines as the wireless phone industry becomes more competitive.AT&T said Tuesday that it added 127,000 wireless customers — users of cellphones and tablets — who pay a bill at the end of the month, the more lucrative kind of customer.Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 79 cents per share, beating the 74-cent estimate of the 20 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
- In Detroit, Artists Explore the Riches of the 99-Cent Store
By CHRIS HAMPTON - Wednesday Jun 28, 2017
For a summer exhibition titled “99 Cents or Less,” the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit has begun to resemble a dollar shop.
- July 29 Is National Chicken Wing Day: Here Are Some Deals And Stunt Foods
By Laura Northrup - Saturday Jul 29, 2017
There’s only one good thing about nonsense holidays like National Ice Cream Day or National Donut Day: If you like the food being celebrated, restaurants have events where you can get discounts or free items. National Chicken Wing Day, July 29, is no exception.DiscountsBuffalo Wild Wings: Small plates of boneless wings for $9.99, and traditional wings for …


text:
To help you keep on top of a busy news cycle and the latest hot topics in mobile gaming, each week we round up the five most-read stories on PocketGamer.biz.
Read on and digest…
TikTok parent company ByteDance has launched a new games store and indie publishing arm.
Finnish mobile games giant Supercell has backed new studio 2UP Games with a $2.8 million investment
The developer looks to bring mobile players together through the power of co-operative play.
Norwegian app security firm Promon has discovered more than 60 fake apps pretending to be InnerSloth's Among Us.
Research shows that 75 per cent of the discovered apps have distributed malware onto devices. More specifically, the application code turns the actual game into adware, which blocks the user interface with advertisements.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is set to become the majority stakeholder of Japanese games firm SNK.
According to a report, an agreement between EGDC and SNK has been made to sell 33 per cent of the games firm's outstanding stock.
We spoke to Ubisoft director of international events Leon Winkler regarding his unexpected route into the games industry and how to balance your passion when you turn a hobby into a career.


text:
Priyanka Chopra, Paloma Elsesser and Adut Akech are also among those joining the VS Collective, a “group of accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change.”
There will be no more angels at Victoria Secret. Once the standard-bearers for the American lingerie behemoth’s very specific, male-gaze-informed (and not particularly inclusive) idea of female beauty, the winged stars of their famous runway shows have been retired for good — and in their place, there will be a group of “change makers” — called the VS Collective — instead.
On June 16 Victoria’s Secret announced the launch of the VS Collective, which a press release describes as “an ever-growing group of accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change.” Names like actor Priyanka Chopra, soccer play and gender equality advocate Megan Rapinoe and models Adut Akech and Paloma Elsesser have been tapped by the brand (and, presumably, amply rewarded for their time) to “create new associate programs, revolutionary product collections, compelling and inspiring content, and rally support for causes vital to women.” Some of that work will involve appearing in ad campaigns and on the brand’s Instagram., and in the immediate future, share their stories on a brand-sponsored podcast hosted by photographer Amanda de Cadenet, also a member of the collective.
The change is part of the brand’s efforts to emerge from the shadow of its past self, when their aesthetic came to be synonymous with impossible beauty standards that excluded the vast majority of women, and objectified them for men’s enjoyment. It didn’t help that the company’s founder, Les Wexner, was found to have close ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and that a 2020 New York Times investigation alleged a culture of harassment, misogyny and bullying at the company he founded in 1977. The brand has lost significant market share in recent years, and has struggled to find its footing with a younger generation more interested in gender neutral underwear than crystal-bejewelled Fantasy Bras.
“When the world was changing, we were too slow to respond,” the brand’s recently appointed CEO told the Times earlier this year. “We needed to stop being about what men want and to be about what women want.”
In addition to the VS Collective, the brand also announced the VS Global Fund For Women’s Cancers, which will fund research into the disease, and help promote the work of younger female scientists. This will include an annual award of $5 million USD to “examine and address racial and gender inequities and unlock new innovations that improve cancer outcomes for all women.” As part of this, they’re “joining forces” with designer Stella McCartney, whose mother Linda died from breast cancer. “I’m hopeful this initiative will provide easier access to information, support and services to a huge community of women around the world,” McCartney said in a statement. “I’m excited to play a small part during this pivotal moment on this vital issue.”


text:
I wrote two months back that Apple seems to be putting much more effort into the 10th anniversary 2017 iPhone (likely named iPhone 8, foregoing the S branding) than the upcoming iPhone 7 that’s set to hit this year. I made that assumption based on early leaks from Apple insiders. While those sources are highly reliable, they are still of the “niche” variety. Well, now even the very mainstream Wall Street Journal (who also has a good track record with Apple leaks) has confirmed that the iPhone 7 will likely disappoint the general public.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/296vOwg
Tesla may bear some responsibility for the accident, even if the driver was supposed to be watching the road at all times.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/29fFJ6d
Asian “copycats” of American companies get a lot of negative press. But calling Asian startups “copies” isn’t really fair. Adapting existing business models to suit the local environment takes more innovation than most of us realize.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/294Cg6s
Neurologists have found a new ‘texting rhythm’ in brain activity when people use smartphones.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/2973F9J
Those who motivate themselves to have successful careers are also driven to succeed at hobbies.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/299KPkU
The story is the thing, according to Flipagram CEO Farhad Mohit. We’re all storytellers, and photo-video platform Flipagram is the technological tool that everyone should have in their back pocket to make those stories come to life.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/29ax82R
The “United” Kingdom just punched the European startup scene in the face, and things will get very tricky for startups in Europe in the next 6-24 months. However, there are some positives to be gleaned from the situation.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/296FKKA
Radioactive particles escaped the damaged reactor in an unexpected form and it’s raising new questions about what happens in a nuclear disaster.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/29hIdm4
In high humidity everything gets soggy – until now. Scientists have discovered a material that can ‘spit’ water out in high humidity conditions, which could be useful for harvesting water in very dry environments.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/29cEEMj
When Cate and I first put together the idea for The Limit Does Not Exist — a podcast at the intersection of STEM and creativity — I knew one of our first guests would have to be Danielle Feinberg. A director of photography for lighting at Pixar, she brilliantly weaves computer code, animation, the physics of light, and the mechanics of storytelling into her work on films like Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Brave.
from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/299nGR8


text:
Xplore Technologies Corp. has received $2.3 million in orders for its impact-resistant tablets from a natural gas provider in the Southeast.
Austin-based Xplore said Tuesday that the deal increases to $4.3 million the total amount tablets bought by the unnamed customer, according to a company statement.
Xplore Technologies (Nasdaq: XPLR), founded in 1996, develops ruggedized tablet computers. It employs 49 workers, 36 of whom are based in Austin.
Last week, the company posted a fiscal 2014 loss of $1.7 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenue of $35.5 million compared with a profit of $306,000, or 8 cents per share, on revenue of $30.4 million last year. The company attributed the 17 percent rise in revenue to sales of its new RangerX Pro Android tablet. The company’s fiscal year ended March 31.
Xplore Technologies also launched a new tablet called Bobcat — a rugged Windows tablet designed for several industries such as manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, utilities and telecommunications, according to a statement from Xplore Technologies.
Last year, New York research firm ABI Research Inc. ranked Xplore Technologies as the No. 3 tablet maker behind Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) in a listing of 19 vendors.