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Google’s online translations have been powered by neural machine translation (NMT) since 2016, and today the company is rolling out its neural net-driven approach to more accurate, natural-sounding translations for Google Translate iOS and Android app users to carry out translations offline in 59 languages.
Offline NMT was made by the Translate team in conjunction with the Google Brain team using TensorFlow, Google product manager Julie Cattiau told VentureBeat in a phone interview. Unlike for other Google apps, 95 percent of Google Translate’s user base is outside the United States, in countries like India, Brazil, and Indonesia, Cattiau said.
“So we hear a lot from our users that it’s great to have high quality online, but a lot of them are either unable to access an internet connection or they would prefer to save on their data plan. So we made it a priority over the past year and a half to basically squeeze our NMT models onto people’s devices,” she said.
Rather than the previous machine learning approach that provided interpretation by scanning phrases of a sentence, offline translations with NMT analyze entire chunks of text at once, allowing for more natural-sounding, grammatically sound, context-aware translations.
An exclusive invite-only evening of insights and networking, designed for senior enterprise executives overseeing data stacks and strategies.
When connected to the internet, Conversations mode in the Google Translate app can provide on-the-spot voice translation. However, NMT offline translation launches today with text-only translation; it does not extend to features in the Translate app that allow you to interpret the menu you take a picture of or translate people’s voices. Conversation mode in Pixel Buds, Google’s first pair of earbuds, drew comparisons last fall to the Babel fish in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
In order to make real-time voice translation possible offline, Google will have to make other elements of AI that combine to enable Conversations mode available offline too, such as speech recognition and synthesis of words from text back into speech.
“Each of those parts needs to be built on-device for the full experience to work, and that’s definitely something we want to launch,” she said. “There’s no date announced at the moment, but text translation is definitely one of the building blocks that will lead towards having an end-to-end offline translation for speech.”
No app update is necessary to get offline neural machine translations. Google Translate users who previously downloaded offline translation packages will see a banner encouraging them to click there for better translation, while Translate users new to offline translations will have to go into the app and select the languages they want to use offline. Each language package will take up roughly 35-45 MB, roughly equivalent in size to previous offline packages but higher quality.
“We can’t run these very consuming models that requires a lot of computing power on $50 phones, so the trick with this launch was for engineers to squeeze the models and make them run on very low-end Android devices. That was the challenge of this launch,” Cattiau said.
User should notice a difference in quality from previous offline translations, but online translations will still be more accurate than offline translations, Cattiau said, as concessions were made to reduce language packages in size.
Like the previously used phrase-based machine learning approach, NMT leverages hundreds of millions of example translations of things like articles, books, documents, and search results.
Google’s language prowess doesn’t just improve its Translate app. The Alphabet subsidiary has committed to making Google Assistant available in more than 30 languages by the end of the year, a number that far surpasses Alexa’s four languages and Siri’s ability to speak 20 languages.
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This year we celebrated a significant milestone on our journey as we celebrated 40 years of Graham Beck.
A pioneer in the truest sense of the word, Graham Beck was among the first to see the premium winemaking potential in a lesser-known region called Robertson. Attracted by its limestone-rich soils and a diurnal climate echoing that of Champagne, he acquired the Madeba farm in 1983, founding a winery with the goal of producing a South African sparkling wine to rival the world’s best. By 1991, Cellar Master Pieter Ferreira began the first vintage of Graham Beck Cap Classique under the stars.
In our milestone 40th year, Graham Beck’s wines have achieved remarkable success in prestigious awards, including the 2018 Cuvée Clive named as ‘Sparkling Wine of the Year’ in the Tim Atkin South Africa Report – an honour it has held five times. More accolades include the Cuvée Clive 2017 named Grand Cru Champion & Cap Classique of the Year at the National Wine Challenge and culminated with both the 2018 Blanc de Blancs and 2009 Extra Brut 157 securing the esteemed 5-star rating in the 2024 Platter's by Diners Club Wine Guide.
Our 40th year has been a veritable testament to the excellence and dedication that define The House of Graham Beck.
READ A LETTER FROM CEO DAVID BURFORD EXPLORE 40TH JOURNEY INFOGRAPHIC READ THE PRESS RELEASE VIEW THE VIDEO

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The model was shared at the D23 Expo by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek. Bob also released a statement about the addition.
“To say we are excited for the Star Wars-themed lands to open in 2019 is an understatement. All along, we have said this will be game-changing, and through the model we can begin to see how truly epic these immersive new worlds will be.”
Some Star Wars attractions have already been opened at the parks but the completed lands will open in 2019.


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Xenoblade Chronicles, the hit 2010 RPG for the Nintendo Wii, is getting a new life on the Switch. Announced as part of today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is heading to the Switch later this year with an updated experience that should make the game more attractive for newcomers and give fans of the original something to come back for.
The sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, was released in the Nintendo Switch in 2017, and while it was considered a worthy follow-up, it likely didn’t get the audience it could have had if Switch players were more familiar with its predecessor. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition marks the first time that the original game will be available on the Nintendo Switch.
The biggest new addition to Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is an additional chapter called Future Connected. This new epilogue wraps up the game’s story after the events of the original release. There’s no word yet on how long Future Connected will be or how it might tie into Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but it gives players a chance to continue their adventures with Shulk after the world-altering events of the first game.
On top of the new epilogue, the original content of Xenoblade Chronicles is also getting reworked. The game’s visuals are getting another layer of polish, with significantly increased resolution, and Nintendo says that there are also tweaks coming to gameplay. It hasn’t been announced what exactly is changing about the gameplay, with Nintendo saying only that Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition will play “smoother” than the original. On the audio side, the game’s soundtrack is also being remastered.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is set to release on May 29. A Collector’s Set version will also be available, which includes an artbook, a poster, a steelbook case, and a copy of the game’s soundtrack on vinyl.


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14 Feb 2023
DOS Labs Launches Avalanche Subnet for Web3 Gaming Ecosystem
DOS Labs, a major gaming studio, has launched the Avalanche Subnet to create an ecosystem for players and game developers, reducing the barriers to Web3 game creation.
DOS Labs, a major gaming studio with over 400,000 daily active players and a vast network of Web3 game developers, has launched an Avalanche Subnet, which promises to provide a seamless gaming experience with no gas fees and high-speed transactions. The launch of DOS Labs Subnet marks the creation of an ecosystem for players and game developers, providing an exchange, asset management tools, and other features.
The company's Subnet intends to provide a simple way for developers to add Web3 features to their games, lowering the barrier to Web3 game creation. The Subnet has already attracted a team of gaming studios that have started developing the next generation of Web3 games. With the formation of the Vietnam Game Developer Association, 11 studios and publishers, including Heroes & Empires, Suga, and Imba Games, have joined forces to bring their games to the DOS Subnet.
DOS Labs has announced that MetaDOS, a free, innovative Battle Royale game, is set to launch on the Subnet this June. MetaDOS offers players an opportunity to compete against up to 200 other players per match, with a “Time-as-currency concept” introduced into the game. Each player starts with a certain amount of time that depletes with time, and players must loot and fight to gain more time, to become the last player standing to earn rewards.
Anh Le, a co-founder of DOS Labs, explained that the company's primary mission was to deliver the best experience for onboarding Web2 players to Web3 gaming. They aim to reduce the onboarding process from over 20 steps to just three steps. DOS Labs believes in the long-term potential of the Avalanche network and DOS Subnet, and they are confident that game developers and players alike can benefit by utilizing their ecosystem.
“Providing the best experience for onboarding Web2 players to Web3 gaming is our first mission. Currently, it takes over 20 steps for a player to be able to play an NFT game, and we aim to reduce them to 3 steps. We strongly believe in the long-term potential of the Avalanche network and DOS Subnet, where all game developers and players can benefit by utilizing our ecosystem. MetaDOS and Heroes & Empires will be the first movers on DOS Subnet”.
DOS Labs' collaboration with Ava Labs and LayerZero Labs has led to the creation of DOS Chain, providing a seamless user experience and encouraging Web2 gaming studios to embrace blockchain-based game design.
Ed Chang, head of gaming at Ava Labs, stated that the Subnet represents an opportunity for DOS Labs and the Vietnam Game Developer Association to build an entire gaming platform with new revenue streams and partnership opportunities that don’t exist elsewhere.
“This Subnet represents an opportunity for DOS Labs and the Vietnam Game Developer Association to build an entire gaming platform, with new revenue streams and partnership opportunities that don’t exist elsewhere.”
Overall, DOS Labs' new Subnet marks a significant milestone for the gaming industry, allowing developers to easily integrate Web3 features into their games while providing a seamless experience for players. Furthermore, with the forthcoming launch of MetaDOS, players can expect to experience an innovative gaming experience unlike any other, making the future of gaming even more exciting.
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Dubai has edged closer to its aim of launching a pioneering hover-taxi service, While using the authorities asserting A prosperous "notion" flight was manufactured on Monday with no passengers.
Builders can’t copyright a match’s mechanics, as being the crew powering the phenomenally profitable PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds have learned for their cost
People are frequently averse to change, but businesses cannot pay for to be if they want to stay competitive.
Normal Motors' Cadillac luxury manufacturer is embarking with a cross-place travel to show off its Model of a car or truck that almost drives by itself around the freeway.
Hedge fund Elliott Administration Corp's attempt to acquire U.S. networking program maker Gigamon Inc has floor to the halt over value disagreements, individuals accustomed to the subject claimed on Thursday.
Details, analytics and distinctive news on money marketplaces - delivered in an intuitive desktop and cellular interface Elektron
The "Autopilot" system Employed in Tesla vehicles was partly responsible for just a deadly Might 2016 crash in Florida where by the electrical automobile slammed into a truck, a US security report concluded Tuesday.
Electronic maps that dodge targeted visitors jams are saving time for countless motorists, Nevertheless they're also turning some community streets into headache-inducing escape routes from congested highways.
Apple’s chunky phablet stands out just like a sore thumb versus its ever-much get more info more smooth rivals, instead of even its first rate digicam and battery life can save it
Authorities to get started on capturing exceptional vaquita porpoises in Mexico An effort to capture the number of remaining vaquita porpoises in Mexico's Gulf of California will get started next week.
Snagging a few of HTC's cell phone-producing expertise is a large stage for Google, nevertheless it will not handle the true elephant during the area with the company's components efforts.
The cloud computer software service provider’s group messenger integrates with its suite of profits and office productivity apps.
KYLIE Minogue’s bootylicious determine has arrive under fireplace, as admirers accused the star of photoshopping her most current calendar - but she can prove she didn’t.
SCIENTISTS have uncovered why your smartphone may very well be creating you cranky — and it has nothing to perform with poor battery existence or terrible reception.


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I was recently featured in THE Lake Los Angeles News. The article discussed my winning bookmark for the LA County Library bookmark contest. It also discussed my business adventures and the launch of the new business Food For My Babies that I started with my brother Ali. We made over $1000 in one month selling 200 plus bottles of fresh juice.
I’ve included a copy of the article in this post. A physical newspaper can be picked up in the Lake Los Angeles area.
This sure was a great way to spend National Kidpreneur Day.
If you haven’t already it’s a great time to sign up for the A.V. Children’s Business Fair. It will be taking place on December 5, 2020. My mother is hosting the event. Of course, I will be there and can’t wait to meet young bosses my age.


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SC has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Investment Research raised Santander Consumer USA from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Santander Consumer USA from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Buckingham Research set a $25.00 price target on Santander Consumer USA and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Susquehanna Bancshares reissued a neutral rating on shares of Santander Consumer USA in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott reissued a neutral rating on shares of Santander Consumer USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Santander Consumer USA presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.43.
Shares of SC traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.65. The company had a trading volume of 66,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,923. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.01. Santander Consumer USA has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $27.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.14.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Santander Consumer USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Santander Consumer USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.50%.
In related news, insider Christopher Keith Pfirrman sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.41, for a total transaction of $822,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,270,755.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Canyon Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Santander Consumer USA by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Canyon Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,703,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,925,033 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Santander Consumer USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,136,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Santander Consumer USA by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,471,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,966,000 after purchasing an additional 645,255 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Santander Consumer USA by 403.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 623,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,176,000 after purchasing an additional 499,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Santander Consumer USA by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,579,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,730,000 after purchasing an additional 260,734 shares during the last quarter.
Santander Consumer USA Company Profile
Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc, a specialized consumer finance company, provides vehicle finance and third-party servicing in the United States. Its products and services include retail installment contracts and vehicle leases, as well as dealer loans for inventory, construction, real estate, working capital, and revolving lines of credit.
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Rubicon Consulting's survey of 460 iPhone users in the U.S. surfaced the obvious. iPhone users are are young (half under 30), tech savvy and, besides telephony, primarily use the device for e-mail, texting, and Web browsing.
In addition, about one-third of thesaid they carry a second phone, presumably for some business purpose or a second phone number. Ten percent of those surveyed have a RIM BlackBerry alongside their iPhone. iPhone users also are about 40 percent above the U.S. median in household income.
The iPhone, starting at $399, naturally appeals to an elite, hip, younger crowd with disposable income. In fact, iPhone goes together with BMW, an object of desire for those who can afford it.
Apple's brilliant "Think Different" ad campaign, which ran from around 1997 to 2002 around the Macintosh, was about changing the world, highlighting well-known artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists. The ads for the iPhone are just a model's hands and the object of desire, which is worthy of desire.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has established himself as the personification of "Think Different." He and his team are changing the world of mobile computing, but they haven't reached beyond the elite. This is typical for new consumer electronics products and Apple.
So far, the secretive Jobs hasn't shown how or whether Apple intends to change the world with the iPhone and follow-on products. The One Laptop Per Child initiative should provide some inspiration.


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A panel from the World Economic Forum in Davos just got under way in a chat about artificial intelligence.
The session includes:
· Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM
· Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
· Ron Gutman, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Interactive Health company HealthTap
· Joichi Ito, director of MIT’s Media Lab.
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Created in 1986 in the north of France, Réseau Entreprendre aims to create very small businesses, SMEs and mid-sized companies in the regions. Each year, the association designates entrepreneurs with job creation potential who will benefit from monitoring by volunteer business leaders. They provide them with advice and expertise throughout the stages of creation, takeover or growth of their company.
In Nouvelle-Aquitaine, more than 120 volunteers support these entrepreneurs. And Réseau Entreprendre Aquitaine has just unveiled the 12 winning projects led by 19 entrepreneurs from its 2020 class who will benefit from individual support, local, national and international networking, as well as financing by loan from honor. All for two years.
Among the awarded entrepreneurs, four are women against only one last year, which demonstrates an evolution of female entrepreneurship in the region. Four business leaders have also obtained the “Impact + positive impact company”, awarded to companies deemed to be environmentally or socially virtuous. The implementation of this label also includes “support tools for taking into account [ces] challenges for all companies “, explains Coralie Avsec, director of the Réseau Entreprendre Aquitaine. Last year, the association estimates that it participated in” the creation or maintenance of 55 jobs “in the region, and plans to raise this number to 136 within three to five years, according to its two co-presidents Julie Cenatiempo, co-manager of the Aquinov firm and president of the Valuatis design office, and Ludovic Partyka, CEO of the HR services company Primobox.
Here are the names of the twelve projects carried by the 19 entrepreneurs of this 2020 promotion:
- Benoit Pierre, for the takeover of the company Acmes (Eysines), specializing in locksmith and metal carpentry activities. Start winner.
- Olivier Gallet, for the creation of Syprès (Talence), a funeral cooperative supporting families in the organization of funerals in accordance with their wishes. Syprès has obtained the Impact + label rewarding initiatives of a social and / or environmental nature.
- Emmanuel Pinon and Guillaume Plouhinec of the society In Bio Véritas (Le Bassin), for the takeover of two stores from the Biocoop franchise and the creation of a third.
- Charlotte thienpont and Cyril Romanet for the creation of the brand Plum (based in Paris and Bordeaux), catering solution for hoteliers.
- Emilie Obre and Su Melser were also awarded for the creation ofElysia Bioscience in Martillac, a company specializing in research and development offering solutions in the field of energy metabolism (energy produced by cells). Innov label
- David benoot and Sebastien Cursolle, at the head of Mediamap (Bordeaux) recently created company specializing in the digitization of inspections for construction companies. Innov label
- Sandrine Poilpre and Edouard Vergé, who created Ecomégot (Bègles), an awareness raising, collection, recycling and support company for public and private structures to fight against waste. Ecomégot has also been awarded the Impact + label.
- Ronan Guivarc’h for the resumption ofAltec Industries in Léognan, specializing in industrial electricity.
- Franck Tarendeau for the creation ofOcean Dx based in Martillac and specialized in the production and marketing of diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. Innov label
- Sebastien lecocq for the creation of G-Eco (Lormont) specialized in 3D printing of spare parts and accessories for the medical sector. Adapted to accommodate employees with disabilities, G-Eco is one of the winners of the Impact + label.


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Bitcoin advocates worldwide compared the cryptocurrency to CBDCs in the LaBitConf Meeting.
- Max Keiser asserted that bitcoin can “decapitalize” rather than “decapitate.”
- For Gabriel Kurman, “it’s good that governments feel a part” through CBDCs.
CBDCs could be Bitcoin’s Trojan Horse. In a hypothetical “war” between fiat money, digital currencies, and cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC) would be the winner. So concluded Max Keiser, Gabriel Kurman, and Carlos Maslatón during a panel at LaBitConf. While they agreed on most debate topics, they showed different views about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
The Crypto War
Journalist Aaron Von Wirdum (editor of Bitcoin Magazine) moderated the talk, titled “The War Between Central Bank Digital Currencies, the Dollar and the Role of Bitcoin.” The panel featured two metaphors that almost perfectly summarized the speakers’ views.
The first metaphor, by Gabriel Kurman, co-founder of Smart Contract developer RSK Labs, is “CBDCs could be Bitcoin’s Trojan horse.” He explained that he sees it that way “because it’s good that governments feel they can be part of this.”
In this sense, Kurman stated, “I wonder if CBDCs will be functional to the revolution we are trying to bring forward, but I have many unanswered questions.” Beyond these uncertainties, he made it clear that “if people don’t trust a government, they won’t trust their CBDC either.”
On the other hand, the other outstanding evening quote came from Max Keiser. In the framework of a fictitious economic war context between central bank money and the cryptocurrency designed by Satoshi Nakamoto, Keiser assured that bitcoin “would be the guillotine.” However, he clarified that instead of “decapitating” 40,000 people, this guillotine “will decapitalize them.”
Referring to the traditional financial system, he said:
They love to print their fiat money, and the only way they are going to fight us is to print more and more. They’re going to bankrupt themselves.
Beyond the imaginary scenario posed, Keiser considered that “in the United States, this war is already happening” and that the bitcoiner ecosystem has “people inside the government,” such as Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ted Cruz. Both lawmakers have defended bitcoin against government onslaughts.
If there were two sides, CBDC and Bitcoin, Keiser stated that “the CBDC side won’t have a majority because the people in the bureaucracy will leave and join the bitcoiners.“
CBDCs, an extension of fiat money
Although with different interpretations on some minor issues, all three exponents agreed that CBDCs are not similar to bitcoin in nature. CBDCs have no potential for Keiser and “are just a recreation of fiat money, but worse.” He asserted that “they are centralized and give the state the full power of perverse and global surveillance” to substantiate this theory.
Argentine analyst Carlos Maslatón expressed himself along the same lines, saying that “if we analyze their essence, CBDCs are an extension of the current system. There is no difference, and I don’t know why there are many talks about this idea“. He pointed out that the essential value of Bitcoin is its limited issuance of 21 million coins.
Like the American, Maslatón said that central bank digital currencies represent a “risk to freedom. What they want is to monitor 100% of our movements,” he said. However, he did not doubt that “Bitcoin will win the battle and guarantee us to be free citizens of the world.”
Kurman was more optimistic, stating, “If the government is trustworthy, CBDC could work.” The example he cited was, precisely, that of El Salvador. In his view, the Chivo dollar (the one that Salvadorans store in their Chivo wallet and exchange for Bitcoin) is somewhat similar since “the Central Bank does create Chivo dollars, but the government controls it.”
The Chivo Wallet
Despite what was expressed by the developer, the state bought the dollars that back the bills inside Chivo wallets. These funds have even passed audits when explaining the implementation of the Bitcoin Law in El Salvador.
By allowing other self-custody wallets beyond the State one (Chivo), the entrepreneur said the Salvadoran government helped people from the very design of the law. If we replicate this, “having a programmable digital currency, cheaper and easier to use” could be positive. Of course, he clarified that it is necessary to monitor the issuance, which is unknown so far concerning the Chivo dollar.
In response to this view, Max Keiser was blunt: “If governments cared about the people, they would stop devaluing the currency.” Therefore, he ratified that “there is no reason to give the State the benefit of the doubt.”


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For all of you waiting for the forthcoming Apple iPhone 8 launch, Cupertino announced a rather disappointing news earlier this week. The company stated that the new iPhone will most probably arrive in September, adding that there could be a “severe” shortage of the OLED display it had promised earlier.
Earlier, Japanese website Macotakara had claimed that OLED iPhone 8 launch could happen much after the launch of the variant with regular LCD display.
Apparently, a couple of major issues are currently bothering Apple. These include the already delayed release of the company’s next flagship, along with the very limited supply of OLED panels for the anniversary build.
Cupertino has so far been tight-lipped with regard to how it plans to get around the “severe” shortage problem. Meanwhile, the rumor mills are leaking one alleged design and dummy model of the much-awaited handset after another.
Worth mentioning, global financial firm Morgan Stanley recently stated that nearly half the volume of total iPhone 8 production could come with OLED displays, Forbes reports. The estimated number of net iPhone 8 units stands at somewhere in the 100-110M bracket for the second half of 2017. Meanwhile, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is deemed the most reliable source of leaks concerning iPhones, seems to be of the opinion that the delay in iPhone 8 launch would have little effect on the “actual demand”.[Also read: How to Fix ‘Cannot Connect to App Store’ on iPhone]


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Is Estcoin the next Bitcoin?
If you missed it, we’re in the midst of a boom in new digital money.
First people launched them as a new type of currency, like Bitcoin, then companies started them as a way to raise money, known as ‘initial coin offerings’ or ICOs, now even countries are looking at smart new ways to make money.
Estonia is one of the most digitally-savvy countries in the world, having already launched a digital citizenship scheme which lets anyone in the world gain access to government services and set up an EU-based company without ever even visiting.
Now the director of ‘e-Residency’ is mulling whether a digital currency called ‘Estcoin’ could be a natural next step.
The idea of Estcoin would “enable anyone to invest in a country for the first time” writes Kaspar Korjus, whose idea is that investor’s cash would be placed in a fund to develop Estonia’s digital nation project.
“This would enable Estonia to invest in new technologies and innovations for the public sector, from smart contracts to Artificial Intelligence, as well as make it technically scalable to benefit more people around the world,” he writes.
“Estonia would then serve a model for how societies of the future can be served in the digital era.”
Estcoins value could be based on the success of the fund, which might also invest in Estonian startups, and its investors could trade Estcoins as the value of that fund grows – although Korjus stresses that right now this is all hypothetical.
It sounds nuts, but followers of the industry say this is the future.
“A country launching its own ICO may sound absurd, but it’s just the logical progression of a future with a spectrum of different kinds of money,” Wong Joon Ian, who covers technology, cryptocurrencies and blockchains at Quartz and previously at Coindesk, told The Memo.
“Indeed, Estcoin could be seen as less absurd than many company ICOs we have already seen that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars without even a product or users yet.”
“The idea of a bond offering from external investors to support internal growth is nothing new. [Estcoin just] looks like a variation of this.”
With over 21,000 e-Residents of Estonia, who’ve already paid €100 for the privilege, Estcoin certainly wouldn’t be short of interest.
And, given Estonia’s huge startup success with the likes of Skype and Transferwise (founded in Estonia), a public fund that invests in these businesses and supports the country’s digital projects could be a very appealing investment.
Would you invest?


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Google, Yahoo, Microsoft reprimanded by EU
The usual suspects got a letter from the EU Regulator.
Data traffic with United States remains one-way.
European privacy regulators (called Article 29 Working Party) have issued a press release accusing Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! of being in breach of the European Privacy Directive. The letters call on them to take a better approach to anonymisation and to stick to promised deadlines for retaining personal data.
Press release on the site of awake Singewalds Consultants Group
Letter to Google
Letter to Yahoo!
Letter to MicrosoftLetter to the Federal Trade Commission, USALetter to EU Commissioner for Law, Fundamental Rights and Civil Affairs.


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NATIONWIDE – Canadian heroes Vaccine Hunters Canada have changed their twitter mission, this time in search of PlayStation 5s.
“Vaccine Hunters Canada was born out of an urgent need to provide Canadians with necessary, life-saving products,” says spokesperson Stuart Aarons. “This is the exact same thing.”
The move came as a surprise to Vax Hunters’ legions of followers, who assumed the group had pivoted to assist Canadians in locating a booster shot.
“Look, we already tried getting everyone vaccinated, and we took that ball as far as we could,” says Aarons, vaguely gesturing at the chaotic world around him. “So we shifted to an equally vital task: getting Canadians prepared to spend the inevitable next lockdown at home with new game consoles.”
“Especially in time for Elden Ring,” Aarons added.
When asked if Vaccine Hunters would consider rebranding to reflect the organization’s new direction, Aarons responded, “We tried that, but as soon as we mentioned video games in our title, all our female staff members received death threats.”
PS5s have been in short supply due to a combination of the ongoing chip shortage, supply chain issues, and the fact that we can’t have nice things. Whenever a random store, website, or pharmacy is able to get some consoles in stock, Vaccine Hunters tweets the details out so anyone lucky enough to be doom-scrolling at that exact moment can hopefully snag one.
“I’ve run down to Best Buy five times this week alone,” says follower PfizerBabe355. “No PS5 yet, but at least I’m getting my steps in.”
Those hoping to snag a PS5 can follow Vaccine Hunters on Twitter, as well as Instagram, Discord, TikTok, and every gamer’s favourite communication outlet, live chat with random strangers. Vaccine Hunters aims to replace all previous means of finding a PS5, which include manifesting its presence, summoning a demon, or performing a ritual sacrifice beneath the waning moon.
At press time, everyone had given up on getting a PS5 because the PS6 came out.


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Going beyond request-response speech recognition to conversational AI requires solving some challenging performance problems. Today Nvidia released code that improves on the current state of the art for three of those.
Asus’s ProArt PA34VC Professional Curved display was designed as a solution for professional image editors and designers that also comes equipped with several gaming-oriented features that make it a true jack-of-all-trades.
Asrock has a new mini-ITX X570 motherboard: AMD CPU, Intel CPU cooler, and Thunderbolt 3. Yup. You read that right.
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Five Things Emergency Rooms Won't Tell You
Emergency rooms have seen more visits than ever in recent years, even as the actual number of facilities has fallen by 11%. MarkeWatch's Tom Bemis discusses five things you may not know about emergency rooms. (Photo: AP)
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the ... emergency rooms have seen more that it's never in recent years it is the actual number facilities has fallen by eleven percent ... I'm Tom Bemis for MarketWatch with a look at ... five things the emergency room won't tell you ... number five ... patience is not a virtue ... it takes nearly half an hour on average for patients with even the most serious conditions to be seen ... but her condition can get worse while you're waiting ... so be willing to speak up ... if you can number for electronic medical records are ... mass ... sure they can make prescription faster but mistakes like prescribing the wrong pills still happen ... and doctors have to do all of their own data entry now taking away from ancient times ... number three ... emergency rooms will turn you away but they won't tell you about cheaper alternatives either ... dear's can charge two hundred dollars to six hundred dollars more than urgent care centers for the same issue ... or something ... number two ... you probably don't need these expensive tests but it's better than getting soo ... more than half of doctors polled in a recent survey said the main reason they conduct as many tests as they go ... it's fear of lawsuits ... number one ... looks I forgot to wash my hands ... studies have shown that many health care workers wash their hands less than half as often as they are supposed to ... some hospitals have resorted to video surveillance ... make sure that hands actually do get watch ...


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Diageo goes green with carbon neutral distillery in Kentucky
New distillery moves the company closer to sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Bourbon barrel recovery underway at storm damaged warehouse
19,400 barrels were aging in the Kentucky warehouse.
Steel producer Nucor to build US$1.3B mill in rural Kentucky
Nucor CEO and president said the project will create about 400 jobs.
Ford shifting 550 jobs to boost SUV production in Kentucky
Growing sales for Expeditions and Navigators are driving a 20% production boost at the Louisville plant.
Distillery warehouse fell last year, now 120K gallons spill
A 55,000-gallon tank gave way and flipped a container holding the mash.
New Flyer to invest $28M in bus parts plant in Kentucky
The 300,000 square-foot facility will serve three business units of the NFI Group in the US.
Apple invests $200 million in scratch resistant glass
Money is the first of $1 billion the company plans to spend on US-based companies from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
FACT CHECK: Trump out of his lane on auto jobs again
Had nothing to do with the $1.3 billion investment in Kentucky that Toyota announced.
Oh, the irony! Solar panels power Kentucky Coal Museum
It’s a symbol of the state’s efforts to move away from coal as its primary energy source.
GM plans $290M investment in Kentucky Corvette plant
Includes technology upgrade to improve processes, with $3 million in tax incentives.
Kentucky bourbon production hits 50-year high
Distilleries filled nearly 1.9 million barrels last year, the highest level since 1967.
Kentucky’s AG sues VW for emissions rigging scheme
State claims automaker violated consumer protection laws.
Kentucky bourbon is booming
Inventories hit 40-year high, nearly 5.7 barrels aging in warehouses.
Fire breaks out at GE’s Appliance Park in Kentucky
Cause of the blaze remains unknown and there are no injuries reported.
UPDATE: Three Corvettes pulled from sinkhole at Kentucky museum
Chevrolet will oversee restoration of the cars at a Michigan plant.


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February 11 - 12, 2020Dubai Internet City
February 2021DUBAI INTERNET CITY
Manal Rostom, Egypt’s most prominent female mountaineer, has achieved many firsts for Arab and Egyptian women, from being the first Hijabi woman to be featured in an international Nike campaign, to being the first Egyptian woman to run the Great Wall Marathon.
Year to date, Manal has reached 5 mountain tops, 2 of which are Kilimanjaro & Elbrus , considered as two of the 7 highest mountains on each continent, and ran 8 full marathons around the world including NYC & China Wall Marathon.
Manal made a shift in her career at the age of 30, she quit her corporate job in a pharmaceutical company to pursue her athletic career. “Growing up as an athlete I thought where do I wanna see the change the most? Then, I saw the NIKE Ads where there were no Muslim or Arab women representations back in 2015, so I felt like we were manipulated into thinking that we have to look a certain way in order to be accepted in the society, and that is wrong!”
In 2015, Manal became the first Hijabi woman to represent NIKE on global platforms. She also created a social media platform to empower Hijabi women with almost half-a-million on her Facebook group “Surviving Hijab.” – “I started the Facebook Group, Surviving Hijab, inviting just friends. But the group exploded after two weeks there are 40,000 members on the group”, Manal mentioned.
In addition to sports, Rostom’s passion is the empowerment of young Arab women. Manal inspires to overcome many challenges in the upcoming years. Her journey is unique and worthy of admiration and attention.
Hear more about the likes of such inspiring stories at Step 2019. Get your tickets here!
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The Leading Tech Festival for Emerging Markets. Sign up for #STEP2021 2for1 tickets now➡ https://t.co/1tUOLYCWD2
Thierry Nammour, Husni Khuffash, David AbiDaoud & Nagham Akileh on the “How A.I. can help brands transform the customer experience” hosted by @DMS_cg panel at #STEP2020
“I mean the amount of online video viewing that happens right here in MENA and GCC is higher per capita than anywhere else in the world” explained @jlouderb, @VidCon’s CEO, to @StepFeed at #STEP2020 🙌 https://twitter.com/stepfeed/status/1232757223513739265
STEP Conference 2020 ends with Multimillion Dirham Deals💰
Microsoft at STEP 2020
Everything You Need to Know for STEP 2020!
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Where to Eat
Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 5 hot new restaurants for October
For most restaurants, expansion is a long-term goal that only a few manage to achieve. Lately, though, there have been several local expansion success stories, whether it’s a second location or an upgrade from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar.
For this month’s Where to Eat, we tip our hats to these newly expanded spots.
Hoang's Noodle House
The latest local food truck to graduate to a brick-and-mortar is Hoang’s Noodle House, which recently opened a storefront inside a Shell gas station at 8405 N. Harwood Road in North Richland Hills. Owner Johnnie Hoang serves food you wouldn’t normally see in a gas station restaurant, including fried lobster tail atop garlic noodles; meatball or chicken dry pho; shrimp and beef ribs over jasmine rice; and a salmon salad ladled with raspberry vinaigrette. He also serves specialty tea, coffee, and boba drinks.
Hot Box Biscuit Club
Hot Box started out as a pop-up — not just any pop-up but THE pop-up. Events sold out minutes after they went on sale, a good sign owners Sarah Hooton and Matt Mobley would do well with a permanent restaurant. That restaurant opened October 1 in the happening South Main area at 313 S. Main St., where they're open for breakfast and lunch every day but Monday. Of course, the buttermilk biscuits and biscuit sandwiches are the primary draw. But don't ignore the fried green tomatoes or the deviled eggs, topped with green onions and a dusting of Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Second location of this long-running Vietnamese staple opened recently in Colleyville, where good Vietnamese food is hard to find. Regulars of the charmingly scruffy Haltom City original will hardly recognize the new location, at 5307 Colleyville Blvd. All-white décor is sleek and upscale; each side of the wall boasts a big-screen TV. The abbreviated menu offers many of the original's signature dishes, such as the crispy chow mein and a grilled pork and rice plate served with a side of crunchy egg rolls; along with several new drinks, including frosted limeade and various milk and boba drinks.
Ohana Hawaiian BBQ & Poke Bar
Poke comes to the west side of Fort Worth, to a strip mall space at 6328 Camp Bowie Blvd., thanks to this spinoff of a family-run spot in Garland. Poke bowl ingredients include classic ingredients such as ahi tuna, ginger, wasabi, avocado, and crabmeat, along with a few interesting items like scallops, purple cabbage, and corn. The menu is rounded out with Hawaiian-inspired fare, tough to find items that include musubi, blocks of sticky rice topped with spam and wrapped in dried seaweed; kalua pork, slow-roasted shredded pork served over a bed of rice; and loco moco, a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg and brown gravy and served over rice.
Panther City BBQ
One of the city’s best barbecue spots has made the jump from trailer to brick-and-mortar. Owners Ernest Morales and Chris Magallanes will officially unveil their new open-air digs, nearly a year in the works, on Saturday, October 12 at 201 E. Hattie St. Designed by Near Southside architecture firm Studio 97W, the new building features an outdoor seating area that'll hold up to 100 people. Magallanes says eventually they’ll add vinyl curtains to heat and cool the dining area. With the new building comes a new smoker — their third — and new menu items, including cheesy grits, cornbread pudding, and collard greens.


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It’s been five years since Dell Computer Corp. turned the channel world upside down. Back then the direct only vendor entered the channel with a lot of trepidation.
There was a lot of absolute dread from channel partners in Canada. Solution providers at the time told CDN that they would not have any interest in doing business with Dell. One of the best quotes from that time came from Harry Zarek, CEO of Compugen: “They have missionary work to do.”
Related Stories: Dell’s channel focus is not so much on PCs
To a certain degree Dell Channel Chief and former Dell Canada GM Greg Davis agreed.
“We are certainly still trying to win partner business everyday. That hasn’t changed from five years ago. It has gotten extremely easier; actually exponentially easier today than five years ago,” Davis said.
In PartnerDirect’s first month in existence, Dell had a measly 12 deals booked in its brand new deal registration program, which was going to be the key cog its any channel success. To give you a comparison of how far Dell has gone in the channel, last month that same deal registration program had 1,600 transactions booked.
Kathleen Schneider, executive director, global channel marketing for Dell describe the mood five years ago as having a cynical undertones. “There were many technical questions coming from partners and a lot of what if scenarios five years ago. The tone has shifted today and the discussions we now have are about the business opportunity,” she said.The business opportunity has changed and so has Dell Computer Corp.
According to Bob Skelly, the company’s executive director of global channels, Dell is no longer just a hardware vendor. It has transitioned into an end-to-end technology provider.
Today, 35 per cent of Dell’s commercial business goes through the channel. And, it’s not just about PCs. The company this year in a 90 day span acquired SonicWall, Wyse Technology and Quest Software Inc. All three companies had significant channel networks. In one fell-swoop Dell gained more than 23,000 channel partners with these three acquisitions (SonicWall 15,000 partners, Wyse 3,000 partners and Quest 5,000 partners). The company followed up these major acquisitions with small buys such as Clerity Solutions and Make Technologies of Vancouver.
Skelly said that these acquisitions are part of Dell’s overall business transformational strategy to become an end-to-end provider. “Channel partners have always been the key to this strategy. Completing the acquisition of Quest Software adds another dimension and when you combine that with SonicWall and Wyse we have just started to build out our software portfolio. We now have management, security, cloud and virtualization to round out our end-to-end story.”
Davis admitted that Dell is still short in a few areas in the data centre space in its end-to-end provider journey. “We will continue to look at that but we have a fair amount on our plate right now,” he said. Davis does have a juggling act on his hands because of all these acquisitions. Since all three companies had significant channel networks Davis and his team have been working on a lot of individual pieces and trying to bring them together for a complete solution for the partner community.
For example, there are certain solution providers who sell Dell servers but are not authorized to sell storage or networking. “We need to convince them to see the opportunity in multiple product lines especially in the data centre.”
The strategy that Davis is employing with the acquisitions is to allow each company to maintain autonomy in its first year. So the same service, support and go-to-market strategy for SonicWall, Wyse and Quest will not change. But over time Dell will begin to integrate those products and resources into a single united Dell. “From a partner community and customer standpoint, this process takes time to do it right and we are in an awkward phase with so many acquisitions that we did in a 90 day span. But we have been lucky because (the channel executives from those acquisitions) understand channel business and they will enhance our ability to be successful in the channel,” Davis added.
Another part of Dell’s channel story is in training and certifications. Last year, for example, Dell produced 130,000 courses. Skelly said that Dell has a goal to reach 200,000 courses and as of last month it hit 144,000. Acquisitions such as SonicWall, Wyse and Quest have contributed to this growth, but Skelly added that these courses introduce new solutions for the channel in storage, blades, mini data centres and networking.
“It’s been a terrific five years. It’s not been without its challenges but these five years have been exciting and as I look back on it we are still trying to accomplish the same things from 2007. I am pleased with our progress, but there is still plenty of work to be done. We are still working with partners to build the program together and add value to them and grow the business. We have the same goals today as we had back then; to grow faster than the market and be simply and easy to work with and its paid off for those partners who jumped in with us back in 2007,” Davis said.


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The demand for open source smartphone operating systems will see the shipment of Symbian-based handsets double over the next five years. This bullish forecast, prepared by Juniper Research, found that Symbian handset shipments were likely to reach 180 million by 2014, up from 87 million this year. Meanwhile, Android and LiMo shipments will also steadily increase, pushing the total open source handset market beyond 220 million by that time.
This study, which acknowledges the relative success of proprietary handset operating systems (OS) from Apple, RIM, Palm and Microsoft, claims that developments by the LiMo Foundation, OHA (Open Handset Alliance) and the Symbian foundation point towards the entire market migrating towards open-source OS. Juniper believes that, with over 60 per cent of the smartphone market now using an open-source OS, this move away from proprietary to open-source is already underway.
However, while the Symbian OS would seem destined to succeed, Nokia has been providing details about how Qt will take over the application layer on Symbian devices, among others, reducing Symbian development to core programming at best.
Having been criticised at the recent Over the Air developers meeting, where Nokia admitted its handset R&D plans were not completely on-track, the company presented Qt as the solution to enabling cross-platform development, as well as integrating with web widgets and, critically, avoiding Symbian's somewhat esoteric implementation of C++.
Symbian exec: We'll keep 50% of smartphone OS market
Symbian's Dominance Fading, according to Strategy Analytics
Symbian's App Store promises developers an easy life
Rumour mill: Nokia to drop Symbian? Not very likely


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HONG KONG — Hong Kong anti-government protesters are increasingly focusing their anger on mainland Chinese businesses and those with pro-Beijing links, daubing graffiti on store fronts and vandalizing outlets in the heart of the financial center.
Protesters took aim at some of China’s largest banks at the weekend, spray-painting anti-China slogans on shuttered branches and trashing ATM machines of outlets such as Bank of China’s Hong unit, while nearby international counterparts such as Standard Chartered escaped untouched.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Another target was shops operated by Maxim’s Caterers, including American coffee chain Starbucks Corp, after the daughter of the Hong Kong company’s founder condemned the protesters at the United Nations human rights council in Geneva.
Demonstrators scrawled anti-China graffiti on several Starbucks outlets, including in the bustling tourist and business districts of Causeway Bay and Admiralty.


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A selection of key influencers in the city of Toronto, Canada, will be served UK pork next week during the second in a series of virtual red meat tasting events, organised by AHDB, targeting the North American market.
The two-day event, which starts on Tuesday, will showcase the taste of pork fillet and the mini leg joint to influencers in Toronto the surrounding region, with the first online session targeting members of the press, butchers and chefs, and the second session on Wednesday focusing on importers, wholesalers and distributors.
AHDB Senior Export Manager Susana Morris called the Canadian market a ‘hugely valuable region’ for UK pork exports, and said of the event: “The aim is to showcase the exceptional taste and quality of our pork but also to speak directly with potential buyers and influencers about the high welfare standards and production processes here in the UK, which makes our pork even more appealing to the Canadian consumer.”
The event will feature a presentation by Ms Morris, who will discuss the high welfare, sustainability and ‘world-leading’ food standards operating in the UK. There will also be a butchery presentation by AHDB’s Martin Eccles, before a run through of recipes by AHDB’s Food Communications Manager Denise Spencer-Walker.
Ms Morris added: “With restrictions on travel due to Covid-19, it is vital that we find ways to communicate and showcase our red meat in key target markets. These virtual events in North America are hugely important and we hope to replicate the success of our beef launch in the US with our Canada event.”


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Bitcoin has traded to a two month low of $7,910, according to data available from the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. Bitcoin has declined by more than 14 percent in the past 24 hours, while Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and other major cryptocurrencies fell by more than 20 percent. Ethereum was up slightly on the day. Regulators say cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and unsafe investments.
Social media giant Facebook announced this week that it will ban ads promoting "financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency". Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment. The market value of cryptocurrencies is calculated by multiplying the number of digital coins in existence by their price, although many question whether that is the right way to value them.
Retail investors have poured money into digital coins, enticed by the huge run-up in prices.
Critics of virtual currencies have called the run-up in prices a speculative bubble, but supporters of cryptocurrencies say short-term price volatility is to be expected, and the blockchain technology underpinning these assets maintains its power and value. "The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy".
Global regulators are set to debate how to address the risks posed by the market at the next G20 meeting in March.
Bitcoin rallied more than 1,000 percent a year ago as speculators piled in. After prices peak, the owners and early investors quickly sell as many shares as possible, while the others lose.


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Sunday newspaper share tips
EACH week, we round up the main share tips from the Sunday newspapers. You'll find this week's renowned Midas column from the Mail On Sunday here. And here are the tips from the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph:
In spite of tough competition from the supermarkets and the unchanging price of milk, Andy Brough fund manager at Schroders says Dairy Crest shares are a buy if the price falls below 440p, where the yield just over 5%. He cites a strong management team, the strength of its cheese division under the brand name of Cathedral City, which has attracted consumers of organic produce, and the fact that the company could be a bid target. Tim Steer, fund manager at New Star agrees that the company is very cash generative, but tips the shares as a buy now - before they reach their sell-by date in 18 months time.
News from pan-European electrical retailer Dixons this week is not expected to be good amid subdued consumer spending that has already produced profits warnings from the High Street. While analysts admire the company's strategy, sales at the core UK division are likely to remain under pressure for some time. Sell.
Shares in ICI fell 7% on Thursday after the chemicals group warned it would have to raise prices to meet its forecasts. Further rises are likely to be needed to offset continued rises in the cost of raw materials. Avoid.
Also one to avoid is Irish pharmaceutical group Elan. Despite shares almost doubling in price after it was announced its controversial multiple schlersosis drug Tysabri could return to the market, the rise was largely underpinned by a big purchase of shares by the company chairman.
Keep buying Wyvedale Garden Centres. The shares have responded to aggressive buying by Jack Petchey, the veteran investor who tends to build big stakes in a company before selling to a predator or back to the company for a profit. He likes asset-backed companies with an interest in property and his interest suggests the price of Wyvedale does not reflect the full value of its garden centre sites.
Shares in Adastra Minerals have come off their all-time high of 97p in March and are looking good. The company is looking into raising money to build the world's largest cobalt mine. With demand growing for cobalt, which is used in batteries for mobile gadgets, the shares are tipped as a buy.
Labour's victory in the General Election suggests that now would be a good time to buy into WS Atkins. The company is a leading player in public support services and the Labour manifesto envisaged 'liberating over £21bn' from the bill for delivering public services by cutting waste and improving efficiency. In the past this has meant outsourcing.
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WATERORD, Conn. –Defender Industries has appointed Elizabeth G. Wilson as its Sales, Marketing, and Promotions manager, the company said in a release yesterday.
Wilson is a veteran of L.L.Bean, where her positions included senior business analyst, manager of Strategic Planning, and Inventory manager. She worked on competitive analysis and was heavily involved in evaluating the performance of the company’s 26 catalogs, resulting in strategic recommendations for needed changes and improvements, according to Defender.
“Elizabeth is a welcome addition to the new Defender Management Team,” said Al Knupp, Defender’s executive director. “Her level of experience and expertise in sales and marketing will help Defender continue to increase customer satisfaction.”


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By Jason Cipriani
By Jason Cipriani
FORTUNE -- Imagine walking into a store, gathering some items you want to purchase and waving your smartphone across a the credit card terminal to pay. This scenario is not a reality that's fast approaching -- it's possible today. In recent years, a number of technology companies have started to subtly say: Forgo the need to carry around a stack of plastic cards in your pocket! Don't worry about having enough cash! Sure, there's nothing wrong with carrying these items around, they say. But wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to?
Mobile payments, as this area of technology is called, aren't a new idea. The idea dates to the late 1990s as mobile phones took off in the marketplace. If we can exchange calls and text messages, the thinking went, why not dollars? Since then, companies large and small have taken on the challenge, with mixed results: Google's three-year old Google Wallet app is still around, and the likes of Square, PayPal, and ISIS continue to offer some form of mobile payment solution today. But a visit to any brick-and-mortar store reveals sluggish adoption: No one seems to have disrupted humans' psychological attachment to storing bits of plastic, cotton, and metal in a scrap of cowhide.
The companies trying to solve this problem come from both the technology and financial services industries, and approaches vary widely. But the hurdle remains the same: adoption on both the consumer and retail side of the transaction. Retailers balk because they often need to purchase compatible equipment for their point-of-sale system and train staff on the new payment procedure -- a challenging proposition in a sometimes low-margin business.
In October, a Boston-based company called LoopPay entered the fray with a product that seeks to knock down some of those hurdles. Called Loop, the system promises to work with most existing credit card processing equipment (90%, the company says) and makes it possible for you to leave the leather and plastic at home.
Here's how it works: First, you're asked to download the free LoopWallet app and order a compatible device (a $39 fob that plugs into a smartphone's headphone jack or a $99 payments-ready iPhone case; Android support is due later this year) from the company. Once in hand, you use your phone to load your credit, debit, gift, membership, and loyalty card information onto the device. When you're at a store and ready to pay for a product, hold the device against the credit card swipe slot and press the transmit button.
The wizardry comes courtesy of "magnetic secure transmission" technology, which involves the brief generation of changing magnetic fields. (In the company's own words: "This is accomplished by putting alternating current through an inductive loop, which can then be received by the magnetic read head of the credit card reader. The signal received from Loop emulates the same magnetic field change as a mag stripe card when swiped across the same read head.")
The information you store is encrypted and saved in a PCI-compliant datacenter, and the transmission technology works only when it's activated and within a three-inch distance from the read head. For retailers, there is no extra equipment or training necessary. It is, on paper, a clever way to trick today's technology into working with tomorrow's supposed use case.
But does it really work? To find out, I took a blue fob out on the town.
MORE: Review: HTC One (M8)
After I downloaded the LoopWallet app, I entered my personal information to verify my identity and selected a password and a PIN. I added my cards by swiping each card across the fob with it plugged into my phone, an iPhone 5S. It took some practice to get the fob to stay still the first few times I swiped a card; if the fob moves too much, the card isn't properly read and you're asked to swipe again. I was able to add a Visa, MasterCard, and American Express card in a matter of minutes. (In addition to credit cards, you can also add loyalty cards, a driver's license, and insurance cards by snapping a photo of each with your phone.)
After swiping your cards' information into the app, you can set a default card and store its information on the fob. You can also set a time limit, ranging from 10 minutes to always, for the fob to store a single card's data; once the time limit has passed, the fob loses the stored card's information. Think of it as a sort of self-destruct mechanism.
There are two different ways to use the fob for payment. The first and easiest method is to hold the fob near a vendor's credit card terminal and press the transmit button. The other method involves leaving the fob attached to your device, with the LoopWallet app open, and tapping on your screen when it's time to pay. Why use the clunkier latter option? If you want to use any card stored in your LoopWallet, rather than just your default card.
I was able to successfully use Loop to pay at several different merchants. It worked equally well at a Panera Bread, a local family-owned hardware store, and a regional grocery chain. In each instance, when I used the fob, I only had to press the button once for the credit card terminal to successfully receive my card's information and the clerk to be able to transact payment.
I won't lie, I experienced some hesitation before each transaction. I felt reluctant to ask the clerk to touch a device to the store's credit card reader. Will Graylin, LoopPay's chief executive, told me that clerks often react with "surprise and delight" and learn to trust the system. In my experience testing the device, I saw similar results. Clerk reaction ranged from not noticing to uttering "Holy crap," as one did, following a long list of questions. Not a single clerk hesitated or refused to let me pay with Loop during my testing at 10 different locations in Colorado.
So is Loop the future of payments? Not quite. In exchange for giving up your plastic cards, you must -- counterintuitively -- carry around a plastic fob. The biggest selling point behind mobile payments is reducing how much we have to carry and making the payment process easier. Having yet another device to manage doesn't accomplish either one of those goals.
The company's proprietary iPhone case changes that proposition slightly, allowing you to do away with the fob. But Loop's real potential lies in incorporating its technology into future devices, so that you need no additional hardware to conduct a transaction.
MORE: Review: Pebble Steel
LoopPay says it is engaged in discussions with hardware partners and phone manufacturers about this. When I pressed Graylin on what it would take to put Loop's technology in a smartphone or smartwatch, he estimated the component cost would be around $1. The technology used by Loop is similar to that found in wireless charging, and can be incorporated in batteries, back covers, cases, and other accessories, he says.
Loop is a brilliant idea, and most importantly, it works. But the fob is better as a proof of concept than a daily companion, and for that reason, only enthusiasts will find today's system worth the expense.
Safaricom's latest venture M-Shwari hits a speed bump, threatening Kenya's leadership in the global race for mobile money and banking adoption.
By Erik Heinrich
FORTUNE -- Bob Collymore, CEO of Kenya's biggest wireless provider Safaricom, likes to say his company's mission is to transform lives.
In 2013 Safaricom did a lot of transforming, with Kenya -- the global leader in the advancement of mobile money -- reporting a record $22 billion in MOREFeb 14, 2014 5:00 AM ET
Zimbabwe's biggest wireless provider wants to bring mobile-based money services to the currency-challenged African country.
By Erik Heinrich
FORTUNE -- Zimbabwean telecom tycoon (and the country's only billionaire) Strive Masiyiwa has been called a "global business influential," a "face of New Africa," and the "Bill Gates of Africa." He continues to live up to the reputation with a new venture that's as bold as they come.
The founder and chairman of Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe's MOREJan 22, 2014 10:41 AM ET
Exclusive: The founder and CEO makes an uncommon move to expand the company's pool of shares for compensation and acquisitions.
FORTUNE -- Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Square, has voluntarily given 10% of his shares in the company back to Square. The highly unusual move will expand significantly the pool of shares available for employee compensation and acquisitions while minimizing dilution for shareholders.
Dorsey owns approximately 30% of Square and MOREMiguel Helft, senior writer - Dec 20, 2013 4:59 AM ET
You need both, he says.
FORTUNE -- Patrick Collison, 25-year-old co-founder of global online payment company Stripe, grew up in Ireland. After briefly attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he started several companies, including Auctomatic, which he co-founded with his brother John Collison and was later acquired by Live Current Media for $5 million in March 2008.
Patrick and John now reside in San Francisco, where they founded Stripe, a company that has MOREChanelle Bessette - Dec 17, 2013 11:38 AM ET
Coin, Square and other next-generation payment technologies have credit card companies excited -- and scrambling.
FORTUNE -- This week, I have bounced between decked-out department stores, cozy cafes, and speeding taxis, swiping my credit cards all along the way, more than 20 times in total. Despite the iPhone in my pocket -- an Internet-connected device that can communicate, geolocate, and yes, pay for goods across the globe with one tap of MOREColleen Leahey, Reporter - Dec 10, 2013 5:00 AM ET
Zaad mobile wallet powers economic development and job creation in Somaliland.
By Erik Heinrich
FORTUNE -- Somaliland is an African region balancing on a knife's edge. Separated from Somalia, it's a stronghold for terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab and for high-seas pirates. With so much crime and political instability to contend with, Somaliland is perhaps the last place on earth you would expect to find the bleeding edge of the world's mobile money MORENov 1, 2013 12:51 PM ET
Digital wallet is helping lift the island nation out of poverty while generating impressive profits for wireless carrier Digicel Group.
By Erik Heinrich
FORTUNE -- David Sharpe doesn't mind doing business in Haiti despite its reputation for being one of the world's most dangerous countries. Back in the early 1990s, the ex-U.S. Marine was in Somalia during Black Hawk Down and the former Yugoslavia during some of the bloodiest fighting in Bosnia.
But MOREAug 15, 2013 5:00 AM ET
Japan's e-wallet infrastructure is eight years old, but the technology has yet to really take off.
By Michael Fitzpatrick
FORTUNE -- How do you persuade a nation that is deeply in love with cash -- and even looks askance at credit cards -- to pay for goods and services with the swipe of a phone? Unfortunately for Japan's dawdling economy and the credit card firms who hope to thrust such mobile MOREFeb 20, 2013 8:44 AM ET
Supercharged by PayPal, the e-commerce company and its stock are red-hot. Watch out, Amazon!
FORTUNE -- "I'd like to take you on a journey." A group of 2,500 eBay employees is assembled at the San Jose Civic, a concert venue a few miles from company headquarters. Their boss, CEO John Donahoe, is onstage, asking them to reflect on their work. "Close your eyes," he urges in a deep baritone. "What is MOREJP Mangalindan, Writer - Feb 7, 2013 5:00 AM ET
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A surge in people buying air conditioning and replacing their old fridges during the spell of hot weather has driven up sales for electrical retailer Marks Electrical Group.
The Leicester-headquartered company reported its revenue grew 13.7% to £27.7 million in the four months to July 31, up from £24.3 million a year earlier.
Consumers were snapping up air conditioning units, vacuum cleaners, washers and dryers, and televisions, the retailer said.
The UK has experienced a heatwave in recent weeks with temperatures soaring to more than 40C (104F) in some parts of the country.
Marks Electrical, which offers a free, next day delivery service, said that sales rose despite challenging conditions, as rising inflation chips away at households’ disposable income.
Mark Smithson, the group’s chief executive, said: “We’ve seen strong competitive activity both in pricing and marketing, with heavy discounting of headline prices and higher cost per click marketing expenses.
“Despite this, we have maintained our tight control on inventory, cost management and disciplined capital allocation, ensuring we are in a healthy cash position and remaining focused on profitable market share gains.”
Mr Smithson added that the outlook for the remainder of the year is difficult to predict, however.
Shares in the company lifted by more than 6% following the trading update on Thursday.
However, shares have slid by more than 35% since the retailer first listed on the London Stock Exchange, back in November last year.


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Video ad tech company honored to be named one of the best SPROCKIT start-ups at this year’s event in Las Vegas
The Unruly team took Las Vegas by storm this week at the 2015 NAB Show, claiming the Best of Show award for the most popular presentation.
Unruly CEO Scott Button picked up the coveted trophy after his talk about the best ways to use online video promos to attract millennials to watch TV shows won the popular vote at the largest electronic media show covering filmed entertainment.
The NAB Show is the ultimate marketplace for digital media and entertainment, with more than 90,000 attendees from 151 countries, including 1,600+ exhibitors and 1,700+ press, all representing over $20 Billion in purchasing power.
Each company presented on-stage in front of NAB Show attendees, followed by a Q&A with attendees. The awards were given to the five companies with the most online votes based on who is “fostering innovation”.
Congrats to all the winners!


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The Shippers Group (TSG), a national third-party logistics company that provides efficient warehousing, transportation, co-packaging and e-commerce fulfillment, is featured in the January 2018 Logistics Planner issue of Inbound Logistics Magazine.
The Logistics Planner features an exclusive group of companies from all disciplines in the supply chain. This supplement issue highlights company’s expertise to help manufacturers to locate the right partners to address their logistical needs.
“We are very honored to be featured among the top companies in supply chain today,” says Rob Doyle, president of The Shippers Group, based in Dallas, Texas. “It speaks volumes about our commitment to advancing our people, processes and technology.”
According to the article, “TSG systems provide agile support to meet the unique needs of our multi-customer distribution operations. From pick-to-voice, layer pickers, robust WMS and LMS systems, we’re employing and developing innovative methods within our operations, improving accuracy and efficiency.”
In addition to the feature article, the company also ran an advertisement in the same issue, which explains the significance of the recent brand transformation to The Shippers Group. View the ad on page 37 of the digital edition.


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San Diego Could Revive Ban On Plastic Bags
The San Diego City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on banning the distribution of single-use plastic bags, as the future of similar statewide legislation is in doubt.
The ordinance would also require certain retail stores to charge 10 cents each for paper bags. Larger stores would have six months to comply, while smaller stores would have a year.
City staffers first presented a council committee with a draft plastic bag ordinance in October 2013. Council members were enthusiastic and passed the ordinance on to the full City Council.
But the council never voted on the ordinance because at the time nearly identical state legislation was gaining momentum in Sacramento. Despite urging from some environmental groups in mid-2014 to move forward with the local ordinance, the city put its plastic bag ban on hold.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state plastic bag ban into law in September 2014. But a signature-gathering drive funded by the plastic bag industry forced the law to a referendum, which will appear on the November ballot as Proposition 67.
Mario Sierra, director of the city's Environmental Services Department, said even in hindsight, delaying the local ordinance was a wise decision because duplicating state law would have been a waste of taxpayer dollars.
"However, given the fact that we don't have control over the November election, the city made another wise decision to say, 'Well let's go ahead and make sure we have a local ordinance in place in the event that the referendum (fails),'" Sierra said.
'A huge problem'
Natalie Roberts, senior director of programming for the environmental nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego, said her group regularly finds plastic bags on its volunteer trash cleanups.
"Plastic bags have always been a huge problem," she said. "Last year we totaled about 5,300 plastic bags that were found all throughout San Diego County outdoor areas."
Roberts added that after Encinitas passed its plastic bag ban, her group saw the number of plastic bags picked up in that city drop by about half.
Sierra said San Diego's ordinance is consistent with the reuse policies in the city's zero-waste initiative, which is also tied to the Climate Action Plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"We want to see less plastic bags in the landfill," he said. "We want the city landscape to be cleaner. We want our waterways, our creeks, our storm drains not to be polluted with plastic bags. And we want people to continue to think about reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible."
In November, California voters also will decide on another measure funded by plastic bag manufacturers, Proposition 65, that would force the money stores earn from paper bags to be donated to environmental causes. Critics say that measure is a ploy to pit the retail industry, which could otherwise keep the money from paper bag sales, against environmentalists.


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Shares of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) have been extra volatile lately following the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's, or NHTSA, decision to launch a formal investigation into two of the recent Model S fires. On Tuesday, the NHTSA said it was evaluating potential risks associated with "undercarriage strikes" on Tesla cars. If the investigation leads to a recall, it could affect more than 13,000 Model S vehicles on U.S. roads today.
What's more, Tesla has lost nearly a third of its market value over the past month because of these fires. Still, a possible recall matters much less than you might think. Here are three key things to consider before selling into the panic.
Will this matter a year from now?
In a word: no. The EV maker and its outspoken CEO are already notably ahead of the situation. In a blog post on Monday, Elon Musk outlined the various actions Tesla is taking to quell fire safety concerns involving its Model S car. The first of these is a software update that changes the suspension of the car at highway speeds. While this "over-the-air update" has already taken place, the company says a second software overhaul is coming in January that will give drivers even more control over their cars' air suspension ride height.
Separately, Musk said the company amended its warranty policy to cover fire-related damages. "Our goal here is to eliminate any concern about the cost of such an event and ensure that over time the Model S has the lowest insurance cost of any car at our price point," he said in a public note.
This could lead to higher costs for Tesla and, ultimately, its shareholders, but in the end investors are betting on Musk's competence -- and if history is a reliable judge, that's a smart bet to take. Musk finished by saying, "Either our belief in the safety of our car is correct and this is a minor cost or we are wrong, in which case the right thing is for Tesla to bear the cost rather than the car buyer."
A recall at this point isn't likely, particularly because Tesla has already taken measures to increase the six-inch clearance between the ground and the undercarriage of its Model S cars. Yet even at the six inches, the Model S is higher off the ground than many other cars on the road today, including the "Mercedes CLA Class at 3.9 inches and a Dodge Charger at 5 inches," according to auto writer Tom Krisher.
The bigger issue hiding in the flames
Tesla doesn't have a safety problem; it has a perception problem. With news of Tesla's three fires being blown out of proportion, a potential recall is the last of Tesla's worries. The issue of more concern is what this negative press might do to Tesla's reputation for being the world's safest car. Earlier this year, the Model S achieved the best safety rating of any car ever tested.
It's not surprising, then, that Musk is fighting to protect Tesla's brand image. His reasoning is sound. In order to accelerate the switch to electric cars, the public needs to be confident in the safety of the technology. Tesla has gone to great lengths to make its cars the safest on the roads, even when that meant issuing a partial recall earlier this year for a small mounting bracket in the back seat of its Model S.
The level of detail this company has shown in regard to driver safety is awe-inspiring. Tesla isn't trying to cut corners; it's trying to build an excellent car company that paves the way for the future of transportation. Automakers issue recalls all the time, and as Tesla continues to ramp up production in the years to come, it too may face such setbacks.
But by focusing on the bigger picture, long-term investors can take advantage of these dips. Tesla's demonstrated its strength at turning obstacles into opportunities in the past, and I suspect Musk's company will continue to do so well into the future.


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The New “Google Phone” Confirmed
For God knows, how many years this rumour has been going on of Google working on its own phone. Even when the rumours were high at peak last year, Google announced G1.
Today they confirmed, that Google is indeed working on a new Google Phone and well, according to the specifications known so far, is a very cool phone!
The phone hasn’t been labeled as Google Phone, but it is for us since the phone runs on Android and have far more higher capabilities and features than G1. Other details gathered by various sources online are as follows.
Google Phone Specifications
Some specifications revealed so far are:
- Snapdragon Processor
- Capacitive multi-touch OLED screen
- GSM network
- On-screen keyboard only
- Runs on Android 2.1
This phone is manufactured by HTC and resembles a lot like the HTC Hero. It even has a scroll ball like the Hero. And similar to the T-mobile G1, it will be Google branded.
Some people who have got their hands on the phone have to say that it literally looks like an iPhone on a double dose of steroids.
Google Phone Photos
[Photos via The Unlockr]
This new Google Phone is expected to launch in February 2010 with the other powered-by-Snapdragon phones will be coming out i.e Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10, HTC Dragon etc.


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Manufacturing has been hit hard by the recession. But some Minnesota manufacturing companies are thriving and creating new jobs. They're part of a small sector in the emerging "green economy."
State officials say more than half of those new green jobs are popping up in areas of Minnesota outside the Twin Cities metro.
Workers on a Brainerd assembly line, for example, are making a cutting-edge device that stores excess solar energy.
Silent Power manufactures specially designed batteries, housed in a box, that make the energy available later in the day, when utility companies typically struggle with peak power demand. The devices are being tested in pilot projects around the country.
"Every utility in the country is looking at adding battery storage to their system," said Todd Headlee, the company's CEO.
Headlee said the recession has had little impact on his seven-year-old company, because renewable energy is in high demand.
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He said green technology is a growth industry, no matter what the economy does. While other manufacturing companies were laying off workers the past few years, Silent Power was expanding.
"Throughout these tough two years, we've definitely been growing and adding staff."
"We plan to double our size, employee footprint, by this time next year," Headlee said. "We're about 14 full-time equivalents now. We'll be at least 28 to 35 by this time next year."
This year, Silent Power will pilot another product, an electric car-charging station that will be placed in a few retail parking lots around the country. Silent Power's revenues are expected to double in 2011.
In some ways, Silent Power actually benefited from the recession, Headlee said. The weak job market meant the company was able to hire talented engineers and other highly skilled workers that had been laid off from other industries. The recession also has driven down the cost of manufacturing.
Jobs related to solar power have exploded the past few years. In 2009, at the height of the recession, the solar energy industry in the United States grew by 17,000 jobs.
In Pine River, 30 miles north of Brainerd, a company called the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance has expanded its manufacturing capacity. The company, which makes solar-powered furnaces, uses the profits to support its primary mission -- installing the devices in the homes of low-income families.
Founding director Jay Edens started the nonprofit company in his basement. Last year, it installed 50 of the furnaces, which are powered by the energy collected by solar panels. Edens expects that number will grow to nearly 350 over the next year and a half. He said the recession hasn't had a big impact on the company.
"The industry hasn't been immune. But throughout these tough two years, we've definitely been growing and adding staff and adding programs," Edens said. "We've been very fortunate that we've been able to create jobs for families in the region."
It appears greater Minnesota is seeing the most benefit from the emerging green economy. Seventy percent of the green jobs the state has identified are found outside the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.
Right now it's unclear just how many green jobs there are. The state Department of Employment and Economic Development is conducting a study to find out.
Kyle Uphoff, an analyst with the agency, said employer surveys have so far identified fewer than 1,000 green job openings. Many of those aren't new jobs, but rather traditional jobs that have taken on some additional role related to green practices.
Uphoff said the data suggests green jobs may make up only 1-2 percent of total employment in Minnesota. He said until there's significant improvement to the national economy, the green economic boom that some predicted will be slow in coming.
"What I expect to see are a number of boomlets," Uphoff said. "I think there are going to be small areas where you see very, very fast growth, and other areas where maybe you don't see a huge amount of growth. But it's a very, very slow transition from one economy to another."
Results from the state's green economy survey will be released this spring.


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Here's our admittedly tongue in cheek list of reasons your small businesses still might not be using Pinterest. Join in the fun.
Recent reports suggest Pinterest is well on its way to being one of the biggest social networks ever.
A study last month indicates that while Facebook still maintains its domination with 67 percent of American Internet users, Twitter, the second runner up with 16 percent of the same audience, may soon be overtaken by Pinterest, which now has about 15 percent.
Social Media doesn't work for the vast majority of small businesses.
That was the main message in the USA Today article titled, Study: Social media a bust for small businesses, published on April 17th, 2013. From the news item:"About 61% of small businesses don't see any return on investment on their social-media activities, according to a survey released Tuesday from Manta, a social network for small businesses. Yet, almost 50% say they've increased their time spent on social media, and only 7% have decreased their time. What businesses are trying to get out of social media: 36% said their goal was to acquire and engage new customers, 19% said to gain leads and referrals, and 17% said to boost awareness. Facebook was most cited as the hardest to maintain social-media platform, according to the survey." There is a big lesson in this data...
What you want from social media may be very different from what it is.
Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.
How to integrate my topics' content to my website?
Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.
Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.


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Honda has Patented an 11-Speed Transmission
Malin and Keno drivers understand that Honda has always led the way when it comes to new automotive technologies. For proof, just look to the front-line driver-assistance technologies of the Honda Sensing Suite, or the current Accord Hybrid, with exceptional performance and efficiency figures thanks to an innovative new Hybrid Drive system. That reputation for innovation is about to be extended further: Honda has just patented an 11-speed transmission system.
Why Make an 11-Speed Transmission?
Any Malin and Keno drivers with more than a few years of driving under their belts could be a little flummoxed by the idea of an 11-speed transmission. After all, transmissions have remained fairly static in their designs for decades — you’d either choose a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual.
But nothing stands still forever, and automakers found themselves needing to improve efficiency ratings without dropping power. The more gears, or “speeds,” a transmission has, the more efficiently it can run since each gear can be more specialized. A vehicle cruising in 11th gear will be more efficient than one in 5th with 5th as its highest gear.
The problem has always been that adding more gears used to mean adding more weight, but manufacturers such as Honda have advanced automotive technologies to mitigate that problem, which is why an 11-speed transmission isn’t quite as crazy as it might sound.
The Honda 11-Speed Transmission
The patents for Honda’s 11-speed transmission were actually filed in December of 2014, but the filing only recently became public. Luckily enough, it has also given us an idea of what to expect.
According to insider sources, the 11-speed transmission will use three clutches instead of the normal two, with the third reducing any drop in torque that occurs when shifting with a traditional dual-clutch model. That’s some exciting news — it would be mean making shifts feel virtually seamless while improving fuel economy.
Of course, we still don’t know where the 11-speed transmission might first appear. As an efficiency-improving measure, it could fit into an economical model like the Fit or be placed into something larger like the Pilot — we’ll have to wait and see, though!
Learn More About Honda Innovations at Klamath Falls Honda
The introduction of an 11-speed transmission would be just one more example of the way in which Honda is able to set new standards across the automotive industry. To find out more, just contact Klamath Falls Honda today.


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We were all wrapped up in the fact that Marc Jacobs is leaving Louis Vuitton, that we sort of forgot about the fashion show itself, and all the products that went along with it. But after all the hype quieted down, we finally saw that Marc gave us another surprise. During the show, he debuted a limited edition nail polish color, inspired by the blue tones of his collection for Louis Vuitton. And to make sure everyone got a good look at the Midnight In Paris color, Marc had the manicurist apply 30 coats to the models. Because apparently 10, or even 20 just wasn’t enough. After realizing that the polish won’t be available until Spring 2014, all we want to know right now is how in the world is that polish coming off?
Check out Marc Jacobs full beauty collection that launched in August here
[Photo Credit: IMAXTree]


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PlayStation 5 Enhances DualSense Audio, Fine-Tunes Power Indicator Brightness, and Introduces Other Improvements
Sony has detailed a range of new features and enhancements for the PlayStation 5, currently available in beta form and slated for a wider release in the coming months.
Hideaki Nishino, senior vice president of platform experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment, outlined the updates in a PlayStation Blog post. The beta for these updates is limited to invited participants in select regions, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France, with chosen participants notified via email.
Among the updates, the DualSense controller receives improvements to speaker audio, allowing for higher volume sound and clearer in-game sounds and voice chat audio. Additionally, the built-in microphone benefits from enhancements in input quality, thanks to a new AI machine learning model, which suppresses background noise from button presses and game audio for a better voice chat experience.
Share screen interactions have also been enhanced, enabling viewers in full-screen mode to use pointers and emoji reactions to interact with the host’s gameplay. Nishino noted that viewers can now move a pointer, send pings, or draw lines on the shared screen, facilitating more accurate guidance for the host player.
Finally, users now have the ability to adjust the brightness of the PS5’s power indicator by navigating to Settings, System, Beep and Light, and then Brightness.