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This isn’t your father’s recession.
I have read the various economic forecasts for 2009, many of them by economists who completely missed the meltdown of 2008.
Since early 2005 I’ve been following those economists who saw this mess coming. And those are the ones I pay attention to heading into 2009.
Unfortunately, none are from around here. But it’s easy enough to extrapolate what they say to Florida.
So what can we look forward to in 2009?
The economy here is worse off than it even seems to be, if that’s possible. There can be no recovery until home prices stabilize, which puts off our day of recovery until 2011 or 2012. And even then it may be a lame recovery.
Central Florida is being dragged down by the rest of the state, particularly South Florida and Southwest Florida. The cost of living and housing in both areas is so far out of whack I could see both falling into their own personal depressions as the de-leveraging process unfolds and they lose population.
As for Central Florida predictions, here are a few:
Every downtown condo will be taken over by the lender, with units sold at auctions. If you’ve always wanted a discounted view of Lake Eola, your time is coming.
Two regional shopping malls will close their doors as retail space has to contract to a sustainable level.
Resort tax revenues backing the Magic arena bonds will fall short, forcing the city to turn to the bond insurer. If the insurer can’t make payments, the city and Magic will press for a county bailout.
Orlando will move to raise taxes again this year as it begins to crack from the massive debt it has taken on.
Rent on Park Avenue in Winter Park will have to come down sharply to avoid a plague of empty storefronts. The same goes for the Mall at Millenia, where pricey specialty stores will begin closing down.
Foreclosures on pricey homes will pick up as faux fortunes created by the real estate bubble continue dissolving.
Maitland’s downtown plans are in tatters, leaving the tacky area of strip centers in tact for another decade, and two massive dirt fields north of the city’s Publix barren for the foreseeable future.
The loss of business at the Orange convention center will increase the county’s upkeep costs. Combined with a demand from hoteliers to increase the marketing budget, this will create growing pressure to tap into the county’s $130 million convention center reserve fund.
The Citrus Bowl is a fantasy. Everybody knows it. Nobody will admit it.
The performing arts center will require more public funding as donor money dries up, including some current pledges. Unfortunately, the money won’t be there from the resort tax or the city’s downtown taxing district. The center will be put off at least two years, perhaps longer.
The conversion of West U.S. Highway 192 and north I-Drive into South OBT will accelerate. These tourism strips will not recover from this recession. Disney has done to them what it did to the old Church Street Station. It has put them permanently out of business by siphoning off the budget market to Disney property. I-Drive will become an increasing drain on Orlando as crime and decay worsen, creating concern from outlet stores that this will scare off customers.
Property crime across the region will increase, creating a demand for more cops.
I know this is doom and gloom stuff. But the good news is we are much better positioned than the rest of Florida to recover from this recession. The best-case scenario is that we use the great shake-out that is coming to re-adjust our economy away from its dependence on growth and cheap service jobs.
Unfortunately, this will require a level of vision I haven’t seen from anyone in the community other than UCF President John Hitt.


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Cox Automotive’s wholesale and retail brands saw a year-on-year increase in sold volume throughout June, with a proportional shift in the types of vehicles sold meaning vehicle values have remained steady.
This month, Manheim car auction centres recorded an average mileage of 60,077 for vehicles sold, a figure similar to last month, but down 5.3% from June 2016. Sold volumes were down 6% compared to May, despite showing a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.
There was a larger proportion of sold vehicles in the £10-15k price bracket compared to June 2016, which helped to bring the overall average selling price to £6,114, up 5.2% from last year.
In the ex-fleet market, Manheim sold volumes fell slightly from last month, despite maintaining a year-on-year growth of 19.9%. The average selling price of ex-fleet cars fell slightly following last month’s increase, showing a 5.4% overall decrease from June 2016 to £9,697.
Part-exchange volumes were down this month, showing an 8.78% drop from May, and a 4.5% year-on-year decrease. Despite this reduction, the average sold price rose by an average of 3.23% from May, making for a steady 7.3% increase against June 2016.
Despite a general decrease in sold volumes compared to last month, actual vehicle value remains steady, with little variance in wholesale prices in the 12-month period to June 2017.
Fluctuations in average sold price and volume this month imply a change in the type of vehicle sold, as opposed to an overall decrease in value.
In the retail market, Motors.co.uk saw a 7.9% year-on-year increase in average selling price, with the mean figure climbing to £13,452 this month, showing only a slight change from May.
Online trade auction platform specialist, Dealer Auction, experienced a 3.4% increase in the average selling price of vehicles from the previous month, with the figure rising to £4,219. June also saw 3,003 diesel vehicles sold at 96.6% of the CAP clean price, compared to the 3,125 sold in May at the slightly lower average of 96.2% of the CAP clean.
Units funded by wholesale stock funding business, NextGear Capital, remained fairly stable, with a slight drop of 0.5%. This came alongside a 2.1% increase in the average unit cost, which rose to £6,850 this month.

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Countless toys went untested by federal inspectors during the pandemic
Consumer Product Safety Commission says they’re closer to being back to full force.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that the decision to pull inspectors from ports all over the country for months during the pandemic was unanimous given the deadly threat of the virus.
“CPSC, like everyone, had to deal with the life-threatening threat of COVID-19. Protecting the American public from dangerous consumer products, as well as protecting the health and safety of agency staff, are of paramount importance to CPSC during this unprecedented pandemic,” a statement said.
Once scarce PPE equipment was secured, the agency moved to place inspectors back in to ports, and they are now closer to being back in full force.
University Heights mother of two, Karen Horn, wasn’t surprised to learn of the lapse.
“Everything is getting shuffled to the wayside these days,” she said.
Living in an older home, she is already concerned about lead contamination and worries about other hazardous toys that may’ve gone undetected.
“Anything that could cause a fire is very concerning to me. My kids got a lot of electrical toys this year,” Horn said.
Since you can’t track specific toys to see if they fell through the cracks, the consumer product safety commission offers the following guidance:
Find out: check information about the seller. Ensure that the toy has not been banned or recalled by checking websites like Saferproducts.gov, or cpsc.gov/recalls.
Understand: take note of safety warnings, and appropriate age labels.
Notify: report safety issues to saferproducts.gov and, when possible, register your toys.
Counterfeit toys are also a big risk when inspections lapse. And knock-offs are tempting.
“With everyone out of work and money is tight everywhere,” Horn said.
It’s something Horn worries about especially with blind bag dolls, like LOLs.
“Am I getting a knock off? Am I getting the real thing?” she asked.
To avoid counterfeits, carefully examine the product, the packaging and the label.
Look for a certification mark from an independent testing organization and the manufacturer’s label.
Check for misspellings and grammatical errors. These can be a sign that a product may be counterfeit.
If the price seems too good to be true, this could also be a sign that the product is a fake.
Be extra vigilant when buying from an unknown seller. It’s best to buy products like bicycle helmets directly from the manufacturer when shopping online, or buy from a big-box store or bicycle shop.
Look at reviews of the seller and the seller’s products.
You can also take matters in to your own hands with an at home test kit for lead made by companies like 3M and First Alert.
Horn applied the test swab a Barbie, a Hoverboard, LEGO figure and an American Girl Doll. They all tested negative.
“I am definitely relieved by it. Glad to know manufacturers aren’t skimping and putting lead in paint or any other type of their toy making,” Horn said.
Horn says she’d use the kit again, and will continue to only buy from brands and stores she trusts and she is familiar with.
The CPSC says they implemented workarounds to continue to provide consumer protection in spite of all the displacement of their port staff, including electronic surveillance and a risk assessment targeting system.
Selected samples would be sent to investigators’ homes for further evaluations.
The CPSC statement went on to say that they were as transparent as possible without jeopardizing consumer protection by exposing port strategy to would-be violators.
“There was a unanimous consensus among Commissioners with this plan, followed by frequent briefings and updates with no voiced disapproval. Agency pandemic response was discussed in informal conversations with various Congressional staff. In hindsight, we should have had a more comprehensive communication with Congress,” the statement concluded.
Copyright 2021 WOIO. All rights reserved.


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Two Gastonia individuals are behind bars, charged with multiple financial fraud crimes.
Belmont Police arrested Kent Junior Dixon II, 24, of Hudson Boulevard, and Surrayah Hanan Fillmore, 23, of Rich Lane, early Saturday morning.
According to warrants, the pair is accused of stealing the identities of at least 13 individuals for the purpose of making financial transactions in the other person’s name.
Police say the pair was allegedly found in possession of eight financial transaction cards containing the embossed names and other information of the victims, though the magnetic strip had not yet been encoded on the cards.
The cards were drawn on multiple banks.
Police say Fillmore attempted to open and use a credit account in the name of one the victims, and used the victim’s existing account to purchase almost $1,000 worth of clothing items at Belk.
Dixon is charged with felony counts of financial identity fraud, card theft with scanning device, financial card forgery, possessing more than five counterfeit instruments, along with misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession, failure to appear, and a traffic violation for possessing a fictitious driver’s license.
Fillmore is charged with felony counts of financial identity fraud, fraudulently obtaining a credit card, financial identity fraud, financial card forgery, possessing more than five counterfeit instruments, and a traffic violation for possessing a fictitious driver’s license.
Each individual was booked into Gaston County Jail shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, and each assigned a $500,000 bond.
You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.


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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Dec. 5, 2003) -- Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom and Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Steve Rapp and Vince Haskovec completed a second day of Michelin tire testing on Friday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the...
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Dec. 5, 2003) -- Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom and Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Steve Rapp and Vince Haskovec completed a second day of Michelin tire testing on Friday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 63rd Daytona 200 By Arai on Saturday, March 6.
The Michelin tire test is the first time that Bostrom has ridden his new ride - the factory Ducati 999 motorcycle.
Bostrom had been competing for factory Kawasaki since 2000, but the motorcycle manufacturer pulled out of AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike competition for 2004 allowing the 27-year-old San Francisco rider to join Ducati.
After two days of testing, Bostrom says the comfortable level on the Ducati 999 continues to grow.
"The biggest difference (today) is that I'm getting more familiar with the bike," Bostrom said. "The tires are also coming in better. We have some tires that we're starting to get pretty happy with. That's huge for us. This track, you have to have everything good. Probably the most important is tires. You have to be able to go 200 miles."
If Bostrom, whose best finish in the Daytona 200 By Arai is a second in 2001, is able to deliver Ducati its first victory in the prestigious motorcycle race, it'll come on a Saturday. In place of its traditional Sunday start, the Daytona 200 By Arai moves to Saturday, March 6.
Other changes to the Daytona 200 Week schedule include moving the Daytona Supercross By Honda from Saturday afternoon to under the lights on Friday night, March 5.
"It's for the best," said Bostrom about the Daytona 200 By Arai schedule change. "In the past, a lot of people are leaving and driving home on Sunday. Hopefully, the attendance will be up. I think it's a good move."
Michelin tire testing continues on Saturday and is free and open to the public with access to the Oldfield Grandstand through the lobby of DAYTONA USA.
The three-day Dunlop tire test in preparation for the Daytona 200 By Arai is scheduled to kick off on Monday, Dec. 8 and is also free and open to the public.
Tickets for both the Daytona 200 By Arai and the Daytona Supercross By Honda are available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com


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SCOTLAND, UK - NFU Scotland Livestock Committee is calling for a fairer share of the retail price of beef to be fed down the chain, saying that less than half the retail value of beef is coming back to the farm.
Beef prices have tumbled in recent weeks and the average deadweight price for steers is now 32p per kilo lower than in the same week last year. However, retail prices for beef remain static.
For the week ending 20 February, the average deadweight price for steers in Scotland was 340p per kg. In the same week in 2015, the price was 372p per kg.
Last spring saw beef prices tumble to a low point of 338p in May and beef producers are calling on the wider supply chain to deliver a fairer share of the margins currently being made on sales of beef to avoid further worrying declines in spring 2016.
The average retail price of beef, according to AHDB, has been hovering around £7 per kilo for the last six months. That means beef farmers are getting less than half the money that consumers are spending when they buy beef.
Livestock chairman Charlie Adam said: “Many shoppers buying quality Scotch beef will be surprised to know that more than half the money they are paying is going to retailers and processors and the share going back to the farmer producing the beef is falling.
“This is a worrying start to the year and we do not want to see the price for beef drop any further. There is a justifiable concern amongst farmers that the amount of money being fed down from the consumer isn’t enough.
“The falling price comes at a time when industry is working hard to bolster sales. QMS is running its Scotch beef promotion during February and March. We hope this will not only stimulate demand for Scotch beef heading into the spring but, more importantly, also build the price going back to farmers.
“NFUS members have also been rolling up their sleeves and doing their bit for meat consumption at supermarket stores in recent weeks. From Inverness to Dumfries, we have been promoting Scottish produce at Aldi stores convincing the consumer to buy Scottish and there are more events planned in the coming weeks.
“The livestock committee is also organising a number of auction mart meetings to coincide with store cattle sales. We want to speak directly to beef finishers about the impact of poor prices on their business and what more the Union can do to help.
“Given the integrated structure of the Scottish beef industry – which involves both calf producers and finishers – it is crucial that all get a profitable return for their efforts during this difficult time.”
TheCattleSite News Desk


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Technically Incorrect offers a somewhat disfigured take on a tech that’s taken over a lives.
Disruption has reached a top levels of government.
And sitting there, prepared to suffer a fruits, is a entertainingly disruptive VC and Facebook house member, Peter Thiel.
A believer of Donald Trump, Thiel is increasingly rising into a light. In a new talk with The New York Times, he creates all kinds of fascinating observations about life, a star and everything.
I’ll come to those in a moment. Maureen Dowd, however, also subjected him to an engaging “Confirm Or Deny” QA, that will no doubt pierce many Apple fanpersons — some to collect adult cudgels or even spot their Facebook pages.
Dowd asked Thiel to endorse or repudiate that a age of Apple is over.
“Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It’s not a error of Tim Cook, yet it’s not an area where there will be any some-more innovation,” replied Thiel.
It’s joyless to suppose that a iPhone was as good as it got. Stare during an Apple Watch for a few seconds, however, or during someone trying to answer a call on one, and you’ll see his point.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a ask for comment.
There have been many grumblings that Apple seems unable to lift spirits a approach it once used to. Apple, though, wasn’t a usually association to suffer Thiel’s dim thoughts.
Asked either Google had too most energy in a Obama administration, Thiel offered: “Confirm. Google had some-more energy underneath Obama than Exxon had underneath Bush 43.”
Some competence select to chuckle, on a other hand, when this Facebook house member reliable that people should trust Facebook. You see, he added: “Although, guileless in what way? There are a laughable series of misled swindling theories about Facebook.” Some fit ones too, though, surely.
I’d rather suspicion swindling theories are in practice currently. As is a idea that California should secede, that Thiel pronounced he supported.
The categorical talk with Dowd trod informed ground, yet offering a possess highlights too. Some featured Thiel’s gusto for observant a conflicting of a perceived wisdom, only to see if it competence be correct too.
He pronounced that any pierce to reject him from Facebook’s house after his support for Trump was suggested was “kind of crazy.” After all, he said, he’s a second-longest portion house member. Well, of course. Kind of crazy.
Asked about either Trump was identical to Tesla CEO Elon Musk — with whom Thiel was once a member of a supposed PayPal Mafia, he replied: “I’m going to get in trouble, yet they are, actually. They’re both grandmaster-level salespeople and these really most larger-than-life figures.”
And so we contingency interpretation that Tim Cook might not be a grandmaster-level salesperson, yet Trump and Musk are.
In a few years’ time, will Thiel’s prevision be grandmaster-level? Or are we now witnessing another small Grandmaster Flash-In-The-Pan?
Life, disrupted: In Europe, millions of refugees are still acid for a protected place to settle. Tech should be partial of a solution. But is it? CNET investigates.
Technically Literate: Original works of brief novella with singular perspectives on tech, exclusively on CNET. You can find them here.


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“China is neither an ally nor a friend — they want to beat us and own our country,” tweeted US President Donald Trump early in September 2011 before running for presidency. This marked the inception of criticism of China’s trade practices.
Later in April 2017, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) began an investigation to identify whether the imports of steel/aluminium pose a threat to national security. Following a series of such investigation on acts, policies and practices by USTR, President Trump placed a 30 per cent tariff on all solar panel imports, except for those from Canada, (worth US$8.5 billion) and a 20 per cent tariff on washing machine imports (worth US$1.8 billion). However, on March 22, 2018 Trump signed a specific memorandum which directed to file a WTO case against China for their discriminatory licencing practices, and impose tariffs on Chinese products such as aerospace, information communication technology and machinery. Since March 23, 2018, the U.S and China imposed a series of tariffs on each country’s goods to protect their economy. Finally in December 2018, both the opponents reached a 90-day truce and refrained from increasing the tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, when they met at the G-20 Buenos Aires Leaders’ Summit.
After the deal, China’s ministry of finance announced to temporarily remove the additional 25 per cent tariff on US autos and five per cent tariff on certain US auto parts for three months beginning January 1, 2019. The 90-day truce gathered momentum when US President Trump met Chinese vice- premier Liu He on February 22. This was followed by a statement by Trump delaying the imposition of tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, following which demand growth from the top metal consumers lent support to the commodity prices.
The author is a research analyst at Karvy Comtrade Limited.


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Facebook has been at the forefront of Virtual Reality development in recent years, from the Oculus Rift to the recently announced Oculus Go. Pushing what we know as virtual comes not only from the headsets and the hardware, but it comes from the advancements in the content that companies and individuals create.
Content creation has always been an exciting part of virtual and augmented reality. But what if you have a fantastic idea but not the tools to make your vision come to virtual life? Whether it be the financial obstacles or the technical obstacles, Oculus is launching a program that is here to help.
Announcing “Oculus Start” the Oculus team took a huge step forward in advancing where virtual reality is going. Oculus Start is now accepting applications from novice and seasoned content developers to give them the tools to create the content that they have always dreamed of.
Just as the internet gave people the ability to reach all corners of the earth with their ideas, to a smaller scale this will give developers the ability to get their content optimized to give consumers a look at things like they never thought was possible.
The virtual reality industry is fairly young, with a few failed attempts to take off in the mainstream of technology, but with commitments like the one the Oculus team is putting forward makes the champions of VR technology very happy and excited about what the future holds. The early adoption stage has past, and now its time for the world to realize the power and usefulness of virtual and augmented reality. The trend line is shooting straight up as we are seeing companies use this technology in their marketing campaigns, and it creates a great way for entrepreneurs to get into the game and make a difference.
Be sure to check in with VR Visage about the developments of content to bring your events to life!


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Tuesday, May 21
Nikko Ballroom, 3rd floor
The future of retail: Investor perspectives on industry trends and innovation
New technologies, changing consumer behaviors and innovative digital-first companies are driving massive disruption in the retail industry, and starting to take meaningful market share from stalwart retail incumbents. As these trends increasingly accelerate, it is essential to understand where the market is headed to determine where to invest money and time to remain responsive in meeting consumer and market needs. Hear from investors who keep their pulse on the current and future state of retail, the latest M&A strategies and the rising tide of start-ups poised to impact the industry in unimaginable ways.


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While the industry is busy debating when the cycle will hit its peak – or if it has already – the good times for the industry are reflected by increased hotel fees being tacked onto room rates.
Hotels love the fees because of the additional revenue they generate, with the small additional charges adding up as occupancy climbs higher. But Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is attacking the practice. The Democratic senator is fighting "non-optional" fees attached to the final bills received by guests.
"I don’t think it’s the government’s business what hotels charge," McCaskill told News-Press Now. "I do have a problem when someone goes online and is given a rate for their hotel, and they rely on that rate, and when they check out, they find fees tacked on that are not optional."
McCaskill is joined by Travelers United, a nonprofit consumer group that is attempting to convince the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys to curtail the "resort fee," or include it in the room rate. The FTC is no stranger to this subject, and declared last year that such fees are not required to be displayed as part of a hotel's room rate.
The biggest issue this raises is one of guest satisfaction. It has been shown in surveys that guests prize open disclosure of fees, and most all of them want resort fees to be included in room rates. Disclosure is important to consumer trust, and the industry has shown that new fees can be introduced without too much of a hiccup in business as long as guests are aware of them before their stay. Case in point, MGM Resorts' decision to begin charging for parking at all 12 of its Las Vegas resorts was paired with a public announcement on the decision.
Though occupancy remains high despite increased fees, guest satisfaction is clearly taking a hit. The American Hotel & Lodging Association recently defended the resort fee in a story by The Globe and Mail, explaining that the fee pays for "a range of hotel amenities, from pool use, gym access, towel services, to WiFi and newspapers."
Currently, 1,671 hotels in the U.S. charge resort fees, according to Travelers United, racking up $2.04-billion in mandatory charges during 2015, a 36-percent increase over 2014.


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One of the most affordable writing service providers ion the online based writing sector cheapwritingservices.net
Online PR News – 20-September-2014 – New York City NY, Sept 19th 2014 – One of the most affordable writing service providers ion the online based writing sector cheapwritingservices.net has unveiled a special discount offer in a move to mainstream cost effectiveness in service delivery. The company has not been very successful over the past few months but with the move to unveil a new discount offer, there is no doubt that many customers will indeed be attracted to the service provider. The high profile company is confident that the move will play a significant role in its success in the second quarter.
Cheapwritingservices.net has confirmed that the new discount offer will cut across all the writing services offered. The move to mainstream cost effectiveness has been hailed by many experts in the online based writing sector. The experts have termed the move as excellent entrepreneurial skills and they are confident that the move will turn the company into a hot spot for customers looking for a company that offers cheap writing services.
A large number of people looking for online writing services want a provider that can offer them professional services at an affordable price. There is no doubt that the move to offer the special discount will sure enough play a significant role in attracting more customers. The company offers a wide range of writing services, including cheap thesis writing services. The company has also noted that the special discount is offered on all services being provided.
The company has one of the best team of writers who are not only experienced but also ensure that customers get their assignments done on time. If you are looking for cheap resume writing services, then cheapwritingservices.net is the ideal place to start. For more information on how you can get the best cheap business plans writing service, please feel free to email the company at [email protected]


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Usage of 1link's Service Network continued to expand throughout last year, with the number of service bookings every day increasing by an average exceeding 7.5% on 2013.
There was also a similar increase in the number of work authorisations processed each day through the fleet service and maintenance e-commerce platform - rising to just over 5%.
Kyle Truman, head of marketing at Epyx, said: “In e-commerce terms, 1link Service Network is a mature product but it continues to grow on an ongoing basis with transactions increasing every month.
“This is a reflection of the fact that new fleets are signing up to the platform every month and that longstanding customers are creating greater volumes than ever.
“As a company, we invest heavily in ensuring that 1link Service Network continues to evolve and meet the changing needs of fleets and dealers, and these statistics underline our success in meeting this objective.”
1link Service Network is used by fleets totalling more than 2.5 million vehicles to process service and maintenance bought from around 18,000 franchise dealers, independent garages and fast fits.


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Lorenzo Cappannari - CEO & Co-Founder at AnotheReality - who participates in Bucharest Tech Week at the Metaverse Summit, answered some of our questions:
What is Metaverse in a nutshell?
The metaverse is the experiential and transactional layer of the spatial computing revolution, grouping three technologies: social virtual worlds, AR/VR, Blockchain. Today its most developed use case is gaming/entertainment - where the technology has been incubated for about 30 years - but it will soon take over all our digital interactions, thanks to a new generation of wearable hardware that will replace our smartphones.
When will Metaverse surpass the gaming industry and be widely adopted?
Today the gaming industry, of which the metaverse is still part, is worth 180bn dollars. In 2030 projections see the overall metaverse market spiking at 800bn, and some projections skyrocket at 13 trillions. When the surpass will happen is very hard to say.
What is missing right now for Metaverse to be widely adopted?
It’s surely the hardware, that will allow to “enter” the metaverse in first person, embodying this new internet and opening to a whole new way of interacting with digital content. Internet will become a lifelike artificial experience, that we will access either in a fully virtual way or in an augmented way. A new Reality!
What technologies will appear in the near future?
We will likely see advancement in content realism and in the number of people that can simultaneously participate in a virtual environment, reduction in size of wearable devices and evolution of AR glasses (that will open up to whole new opportunities), and evolution of Blockchain protocols that are now still in their infancy (slow in processing transactions and energy consuming)
How can the Metaverse be used in Marketing?
Marketing people are looking to advertise in social virtual worlds with engaging activations, to find effective ways to speak with a target otherwise difficult to reach: gen alpha and gen Z. Last year this marketing activation was called in game advertising, now it’s in metaverse activations, but it’s really still the same thing. Some companies are focused on making money by selling “in the metaverse”: think of fashion and luxury brands launching their NFT virtual collectible items to expand their revenue streams with new product lines…. It might soon turn into a real business, yet now these are pure marketing actions. Also, AR filters are very effective activations - they are not “metaverse” in strict sense, but AR is an enabling tech of the new paradigm, so they can be seen as baby steps in that direction by companies, just like virtual tours and showrooms.
What do you know about Bucharest Tech Week and Romania?
I am sure that Romania is a beautiful country, full of wonderful people with many future opportunities in the Metaverse. I am looking forward to visiting it.


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Kim Kardashian is fitter than ever after losing 56 pounds in six months on a low-carb ketogenic-style Atkins diet that limited her daily carb intake to less than 60 grams.
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low carb, moderate-protein diet with a macronutrient ratio of roughly 65 percent fat, five percent carbs and 30 percent protein.
Linda O'Byrne, chief nutritionist for Atkins Nutritionals, told me exclusively Kim's daily menu combined proteins like fish, chicken and meat; healthy fats like olive oil, avocados and nuts; low-starch vegetables, and some low-glycemic fruits like berries.
O'Byrne said low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) eating plans such as the Atkins and ketogenic diets promote rapid weight loss and fight belly fat better than traditional low-fat diets. "For a flat belly, avoid foods that are high in processed carbs, starchy carbs and sugar, as these tend to cause bloating," said Linda.
Kardashian isn't the only celebrity who has slimmed down on a LCHF ketogenic-style diet. TV star Sharon Osbourne has maintained her 30-pound weight loss for more than two years by following a low-carb Atkins diet that limited her carb intake to 25 grams, said O'Byrne.
While Kardashian's dramatic weight loss has helped raise the mainstream profile of the Atkins and ketogenic diets, the eating plans have recently enjoyed renewed popularity after recent scientific reports confirmed that unprocessed saturated fat is not unhealthy.
In a stunning reversal, Time magazine recently trumpeted that scientists were wrong for blaming saturated fat as the cause of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
In a provocative cover story, Time said the 40-year demonization of saturated fat was based on flawed data, citing a March 2014 Cambridge University study. Time, which slammed fat as unhealthy in a damning 1977 cover story, said the true cause of obesity, diabetes and heart disease is a high-carb diet.
“It’s not saturated fat we should worry about," said cardiologist Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury. "It’s the high-carb or sugary diet that should be the focus of dietary guidelines.”
6-Year-Old Epileptic Boy No Longer Has Seizures on Keto Diet
While the keto diet has made headlines for its capacity to produce fast weight loss, it has long been used to treat epilepsy patients. The ketogenic diet has already proven more effective than drugs for preventing seizures, said Dr. John Freeman, author of Ketogenic Diets, widely considered the definitive guide for the dietary management of children's epilepsy.
Charlie Smith, a six-year-old British boy (pictured above), recently made headlines after revealing the ketogenic diet has changed his life. Smith used to suffer up to 300 epileptic seizures a day, but has not had a single seizure for the past two years since switching to the keto diet.
"The ketogenic diet has changed our lives for the better," Smith's mom told MetroUK. "As soon as Charlie switched to it, it was as if a cloud had been lifted. Charlie has his life back, and has not had an attack since he started the diet two years ago. It’s a miracle."
In other surprising health news, the ketogenic diet has been touted for its capacity to prevent and manage cancer. Research scientist Dr. Dominic D'Agostino told me the ketogenic diet can combat cancer because cancer is a metabolic disease, and cancer cells thrive on sugar.
"Most cancer scientists have historically thought cancer was a genetic disease, but only 5-10% of cancer is hereditary," said D'Agostino. "When we restrict carbs in our diet, we can prevent pro-inflammatory spikes in blood glucose and blood insulin."
Studies also suggest the ketogenic diet can curb depression and bipolar disorder. This isn't surprising to Dr. Jeff Volek, a professor at the University of Connecticut.
Volek has followed a ketogenic diet for the past two decades, and credits it for his excellent physical and emotional health. "It was nothing short of an epiphany when I changed to a ketogenic diet," Dr. Volek told me. "I felt better, more satiated, and had more consistent energy."
Volek, author of The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, said the ketogenic diet can produce optimal health, for both elite endurance athletes and the average sedentary individual.
"There are very few people that a ketogenic diet could not help," he said. "Carbohydrate restriction is the proverbial ‘silver bullet’ for managing insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes."
With new reports confirming that unprocessed saturated fat is good for you, Volek is confident more people will embrace the LCHF lifestyle and take control of their health through diet.
"It's an exciting time," said Dr. Volek, who also wrote New Atkins For a New You. "There's a lot of momentum. I think the pendulum is swinging in the right direction."


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Chat Service Kik to Launch $125 Million Cryptocurrency Sale
Kik Interactive, the creator of the global chat platform Kik, valued at $1 billion, said on Tuesday it will launch in two weeks the sale of its own cryptocurrency which is expected to raise $125 million.
Kik is a free chat and messaging application built for teenagers, with about 300 million registered users. It was founded in 2009 by a group of University of Waterloo students.
The cryptocurrency, Kin, will be launched off the Ethereum blockchain, another online public ledger much like that of bitcoin, the original digital currency.
Sale proceeds will be used to build a new platform: the Kin ecosystem, which will offer a host of decentralized products and services, according to Kik‘s white paper.
“We believe there is an opportunity to fundamentally change how digital services are built, used and monetized,” Kik founder and CEO Ted Livingston said in a blog post on Tuesday.
The new Kin platform should give consumers a slew of digital services while compensating them for the value they contribute to those services, he added.
With the token sale, Kik would be the first non-blockchain social media application to create its own digital currency. The token sale is a capital-raising scheme employed by blockchain companies that entails creating a digital asset and selling it to the public.
Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions underpinning bitcoin, gaining global traction with its ability to record and track the movement of assets.
Kin’s public sale will be held on Sept. 12.
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Kik has allocated 1 trillion in tokens for the sale. Of that amount, $50 million or 488 million tokens have already been sold in a presale round to select investors, including venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, hedge fund Pantera Capital, and Polychain Capital, another digital currency hedge fund.
The investors in the presale round received a 30% discount, Livingston said.
The remaining 512 million tokens will be sold for $75 million on Sept. 12.
The plan is to integrate Kin into the Kik chat platform as the primary transaction currency. With millions of users, Kik said it hopes to drive mainstream consumer adoption of Kin, potentially making it the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world.
Since inception, Kik has raised $120.5 million from institutional investors and venture capitalists including Union Square Ventures, Pitchbook data showed. Two years ago, it raised $50 million in financing led by Tencent Holdings Ltd, the internet company that developed the social media app WeChat.


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Android is notorious in the developer community for its rampant fragmentation. Developing an app for Google’s platform means wrestling to make the app work optimally on the ecosystem of thousands of devices in different shapes and sizes. And according to a new report out today giving us a look at the state of Android fragmentation as of this month, August 2015, there’s both some bad and good news: There are more devices than ever before, but fewer users that are spread out across different operating system versions.
Mobile operating system Stories August 5, 2015
Mobile operating system Stories February 1, 2013
The recommendations follow the FTC updating its online child privacy law to require parental consent before collecting data from children under the age of 13. It also came as Path agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement to the FTC over last year’s privacy controversy.
Other recommendations the FTC asked Apple and others to implement include new icons that “depict the transmission of user data” and a “Do Not Track” option for users to easily opt out of their data being sent to third parties.
“FTC staff strongly encourages companies in the mobile ecosystem to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in this report. Doing so likely will result in enhancing the consumer trust that is so vital to companies operating in the mobile environment. Moving forward, as the mobile landscape evolves, the FTC will continue to closely monitor developments in this space and consider additional ways it can help businesses effectively provide privacy information to consumers,” the report states.
A full list of the recommendations made by the FTC for mobile platform owners, advertising agencies, and app developers is below: expand full story
Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50!
Mobile operating system Stories November 26, 2012
Mobile operating system Stories June 21, 2012
DroidLife just posted the above screenshot that confirms “Jelly Bean,” otherwise known as Android 4.1, as the next candy-flavored version of Google’s mobile operating system.
The website first spotted the news in the XDA Developers forum, where a user posted a similar image for the unlocked Galaxy Nexus available on Google Play. One cannot help but wonder if Jelly Bean will unveil at the Google I/O conference that is just around the corner.


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It’s Friday night, and thousands of busy, anxious, and sometimes drunk people are waiting for their Uber. Pinned as one of the most innovative transportation services of this decade, the app streamlines the transportation sector by letting ordinary people drive you to where you need to go, for an often cheaper price.
Now, however, our transport preferences may shift. Corporate deception, spearheaded by CEO Travis Kalanick, and rumors of phone data-tracking have shed light on the fact that Uber’s rapid rise to fortune has not come without controversy and grey areas.
It all started in 2014 when Uber was searching for more ways to expand their business into other states and overseas. Numerous police organizations and the FBI, however, blocked them from advancing into certain cities, citing safety hazards and increased risks of bank defaults on normal taxi loans.
Uber, however, bypassed these measures by creating a tool called Greyball. Greyball is a service denier software developed by the company years ago. It can be used to conduct automated social media searches, public identity records, and credit card mining to flag certain users.
Uber utilizes this technology in order to block certain blacklisted users from the service. Recently, however, it was found that Uber also used this service to create fake driver ID’s on the app, scrambling the locations of real ones to certain law enforcement officers where the service is illegal.
By evading the authorities, Uber expanded to previously unserviced territories and hence generated greater profits. This was marked by net growth of 40% each quarter and nearly a billion dollars added in gross bookings from 2015 to 2016. However, recent crackdowns on operations, such as shutdowns in San Antonio, TX and Denmark, puts the company’s future at risk. The company reported net income losses of $2.8 billion last year.
The cancellation of Uber in key spots and controversy surrounding its business practices is a huge blow to students at Leesville Road High School. “I took an Uber once to get to the fairgrounds,” said Samantha Muma, a sophomore at Leesville. “It was really fast and inexpensive. It’d be kind of sad to see it go because my older sister can’t always pick me up from swim practice, and unlike taxis you can see who’s driving you.”
Thinking about hitching a ride to school when your car breaks down? If Uber gets wiped away, you’ll need to take the bus or taxi service instead. Even if it does remain, the potential to collect data from your mobile device opens you up to the other security vulnerabilities. Remember, Uber can potentially track your location, identity, and phone data even when the app is closed or deleted.
While the peer to peer support system that Uber pioneered is a big weakness, it’s also their greatest strength. An entirely mobile network of transportation between drivers who select their routes and customers who can receive prompt pick up from just about anywhere is ingenious. Uber has cleared the social acceptance hurdle by delivering hundreds of millions of people to their destinations worldwide. Now, they just have to clear the legal hurdles that follow.


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Latest Google Reader Stories
Google Reader, the RSS feed service that was introduced in 2005 has been officially shut down by Google.
In a new blog post, strategic marketing innovation consultant Barbara Ling discusses the paid traffic impact regarding Google Reader's demise. Holmdel, NJ
The Wall Street Journal wrote this weekend that Facebook is planning to release a mobile news reader in the vein of Flipboard or Zite.
AOL announced a beta-version of an app that is being touted as the next Google Reader, as the latter has said it will shut down its RSS aggregator this week.
According to several rumors, Facebook could be announcing a new RSS reader during a press event on Thursday.
Devin Dixon at Unbiasly.com discusses how the loss of Google Reader has lead to exciting innovations such as Ping Me to be created that offers new ways of consuming the news.
Kaeria EURL has just released Erudito, an RSS news reader iPad App developed specifically for the consumer of massive amounts of news.
Last night Google quietly announced that they would be “sunsetting” one of their more popular free services. “Sunsetting,” of course, is corporate-speak for kill, and on July 1, 2013 Mountain View multinational will mercilessly kill its Google Reader.
- The abrogation of a law by a higher authority; annulment.


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The UK’s largest supermarkets have warned the federal government of “important disruption to meals provides” to Northern Eire due to “unworkable” post-Brexit border preparations.
Many supermarkets within the area have already been hit by rows of empty cabinets due to the brand new border regime.
However in a letter to Cupboard Workplace secretary Michael Gove, chief executives of firms together with Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer and Tesco UK warned that shortages would worsen when a Brexit grace interval, which has exempted retailers from some arduous pink tape, ends on March 31.
The supermarkets urged the federal government to take “various steps to work with us to make sure the long-term sustainability of the Northern Irish grocery market”.
The retailers additionally referred to as on the federal government to start an “open dialogue” with the EU to clarify why implementing the Irish protocol was “unworkable” within the present timeframe, elevating the prospect of adverse negotiations with Brussels simply weeks after the deal was agreed.
The protocol, agreed by the UK and EU to keep away from a tough border on the island of Eire, signifies that the area stays underneath the EU’s inside market controls. New paperwork is now wanted to ship from Nice Britain, particularly for merchandise of animal origin.
The border preparations, alongside new forms and the necessity for certification “in such a brief timescale are unworkable”, the grocery store chains wrote within the letter, which has been seen by the Monetary Occasions. The six firms account for many retail meals gross sales in Northern Eire.
Retailers mentioned the tip of the grace interval would create extra issues for transport produce to the area. This was as a result of export well being certificates signed by a vet would then be wanted for all merchandise derived from animals equivalent to meat, poultry, milk and eggs.
The letter mentioned it was “important we discover a long-term answer, agreed with the EU”, earlier than the tip of the grace interval. “We can’t stress sufficient that we’d like time to seek out and implement that answer.”
The letter was signed by Simon Roberts, chief govt of Sainsbury, and Steve Rowe, chief govt of M&S. Tesco UK head Jason Tarry; Roger Burnley, chief govt of Asda; Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland Meals; Jo Whitfield, head of meals on the Co-operative Group; and Helen Dickinson, chief govt of the British Retail Consortium additionally signed.
The retailers mentioned the federal government wanted to inform EU counterparts that modifications to the border after April wouldn’t be potential — and devise new plans to assist make sure the movement of produce and items.
Within the letter, retailers referred to as for a devoted Cupboard Workplace group to co-ordinate the federal government response and create a system integrating customs and meals controls. They provided their groups to assist develop options to handle the challenges of working a just-in-time provide chain.
A authorities spokesman mentioned: “A new devoted crew in authorities has already been arrange and might be working with supermarkets, the meals trade and the Northern Eire govt to develop methods to streamline the motion of products.
The spokesman mentioned this was being performed in accordance with the Irish protocol, including: “The grace interval for supermarkets and their suppliers is working effectively, items proceed to movement successfully between Nice Britain and Northern Eire and we’re working intensively with trade as new necessities are available.”
Foyer teams within the area have identified that discretionary incomes in Northern Eire are already effectively beneath these of elsewhere within the UK, and that any lasting improve in meals costs may have a critical societal affect.
Grocery store heads have resorted to unconventional measures to alleviate the difficulties. M&S has dropped a number of hundred product traces from shops within the area, whereas Sainsbury is promoting some Spar merchandise sourced from Eire to keep away from gaps on cabinets.
The difficulty of extra forms is separate to the issue of tariffs on merchandise dispatched from the UK to shops in Eire. Mr Rowe final week cited the instance of M&S’s Percy Pig sweets, that are made in Germany however exported to Eire by way of a UK distribution centre. As a result of they fall foul of the rules of origin set out in the EU-UK trade deal, they’re topic to extra tariffs.
The preparations underneath the protocol don’t cowl firms transport meals merchandise to wholesalers or the restaurant and repair commerce, resulting in haulage teams warning that purchasers exterior the retail scheme are discovering the preparations doubly unworkable.
Peter Summerton, managing director of McCulla Eire, a serious Irish haulier, mentioned these transport merchandise exterior the retail schemes have been combating provides.
“If Northern Eire was not presently in lockdown resulting from Covid, the restaurant and hospitality trade could be dealing with extreme issues in acquiring provides from GB,” he mentioned. “There are clear deficiencies within the mannequin and the Highway Haulage Affiliation has been warning [the UK environment and food ministry] Defra of those issues since final autumn.”


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MORE than two million BT customers are one step closer to getting a £500 compensation pay out.
A £600 million class action claim against BT is alleging that elderly and low-income customers were overcharged by the firm.
The class action was given the go-ahead in September 2021, but BT lodged an appeal against it.
The telecoms giant wanted the legal action to be an opt-in process.
That means the 2.3million customers who are thought to have been affected would have to manually sign up to be involved.
It was feared that an opt-in process would mean many eligible customers would not sign up and would miss out on hundreds of pounds in compensation as a result.
More more in money
Today that appeal was dismissed, and it is now hoped the claim will go ahead on an opt-out basis instead.
That means all customers who are eligible for compensation will be automatically signed up to the claim, but will have the choice to opt-out if they don’t wish to be involved.
The issue relates to historic prices that BT charged for its landline-only tariff between 2015 e 2018.
The company cut the cost of its line rental from £18.99 to £11.99 a month in 2018 after a review by the regulator found “serious concerns about soaring bill”.
BT made the £84-a-year price cut to reduce future bills for customers, but did not compensate them for what they had paid to that point.
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Justin Le Patourel, founder of Collective Action of Land Lines (CHIAMATA), who is leading the claim, disse: “I am grateful the Court of Appeal has found in our favour and we can now proceed to a full trial.
“Asking people to sign up to a legal process, which they don’t understand and which has an uncertain outcome, would almost certainly have led to low levels of engagement.
“This would have made it impossible to secure redress for those affected.”
It is estimated a total of £600million is owed to customers.
Who could get compensation?
A class action is when a group of people come together to make the same legal claim.
Le Patourel will be able to claim on behalf of BT’s “Voice Only Customers” who had a landline service between October 2015 e aprile 2018, who did not also receive a broadband service from BT or any other provider.
He can also claim for “Split Purchase Customers” who had BT landline service and broadband in a separate deal from either BT or another provider any time since October 2015.
The next step is for the case to go to trial. If it’s successful, some 2.3million BT customers could be set to receive compensation of up to £500 each.
All eligible customers should now be automatically represented and you do not nee to do anything. But you can opt-out if you don’t want to be involved.
You can find out more or register for updates on the CALL website. You can also contact CALL by calling 0333 212 1617.
A BT spokesperson said: “We strongly disagree with the speculative claim being brought against us. We take our responsibilities to customers very seriously and will defend ourselves against any claim that suggests otherwise.
“We take pride in our work on the Customer Fairness agenda. For many years we’ve offered a discounted social tariff in what is a competitive market with competing options available, e, last year we extended that to help a potential four million households on low incomes save on bills and stay connected to vital services now available to access online, on the phone or via our nationwide retail stores.
“We assure our customers that we will not let this claim disrupt the relationship BT has with them.”
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EMI tycoon Guy Hands faces investor scrutiny as he asks for £2.7bn following his disastrous takeover
- Guy Hands faces tough demands on how he spends EMI investors’ cash
- Terra Firma lost around £2 billion when it bought the record company
- Hands, the private equity group’s founder, then attempted to sue his banker
Private equity tycoon Guy Hands faces tough demands on how he spends investors’ cash after his disastrous takeover of EMI
Private equity tycoon Guy Hands faces tough demands on how he spends investors’ cash after his disastrous takeover of EMI.
Terra Firma lost around £2 billion when it bought the record company at the start of the financial crisis.
Hands, the private equity group’s founder, then attempted to sue his banker Citigroup for £1.5 billion over claims he was misled, but dropped the lawsuit last year because he could no longer remember some technical details of what happened.
The 57-year-old Oxford-educated art and wine buff is now asking investors for £2.7 billion for a new flagship fund.
He is said to have secured support from several institutions – but only on condition that no more than 15 per cent is invested in one business, and the cash is not put into multiple funds.
Described by one investor as ‘an acquired taste, like marmite,’ Hands moved from Kent to Guernsey in 2009 to avoid tax.
The following year, he claimed not to have set foot in the UK since leaving.
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Samsung Foundry announced the launch of the manufacturing of new generation chips using an analog-based process technology built on the new GAA (Gate-All-Around) transistor architecture. That’s the next step, after FinFET.
In comparison to Samsung’s 5nm chips, switching to 3nm can achieve a performance improvement of 23 %, a 45% reduction in power consumption and a reduction of 16 % of the surface area.
Samsungs new 3nm chips are expected to be far more impressive than 5nm — at the same rate as the other, and with the increase of power consumption by 50 percent by 30%, and a reduced footprint of 35 percent.
Samsung is now the major in the market with the TSMC expected to begin production of 3nm chips in the second half of 2022.
You can buy a new iPad, a new iPhone, or an iPad. You can buy it at the lowest price.


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Mutant Malware Threatens US Android Phones
Strangely, and maybe by necessity being a budget phone, both variants will have only 1GB of RAM. The performance boost of added RAM say maybe 2GB of it in an octa-core phone is substantial, and we were wondering if Archos could have squeezed the cost enough to at least put 2GB of RAM in the octa-core 50c Oxygen. Also, both variants will have the same 2,000maAh batteries. Again we wonder if a little more battery power could have been given to the octa-core variant, which is sure to need more juice turning 8 cores. On the upside though, both variants are sure to be able to handle HD multimedia with ease. Archos is touting even the 50b Oxygen to be able to handle full HD 1080p recording with its 8MP rear camera.
Original version, visit http://androidcommunity.com/archos-50b-50c-oxygen-are-budget-quad-octa-core-smartphones-20140613/
For example, Svpeng gained the ability to remain hidden on infected phones until users access certain mobile banking apps. Svpeng blocked those legitimate banking apps from opening, and instead launched a fake interface designed to look like the real app. Disguised as a banking app, Svpeng prompted users to enter their banking credentials, which were sent on to the criminals behind the malware. Svpeng also did something similar with the Google Play store. When a user with a Svpeng-infected phone tapped the Google Play app, Svpeng launched an overlay designed to look like an authentic part of the app, which asked users to "re-enter" credit-card numbers or other financial information. But that's wasn't all.
Original version, visit http://www.tomsguide.com/us/svpeng-android-ransomware,news-18977.html


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Sony to appeal £250,000 fine for hack into PlayStation Network
Sony Computer Entertainment has been fined £250,000 for a hack on its PlayStation Network that compromised the personal details of millions of its users.
The decision is being disputed by Sony, which is planning an appeal after "strongly disagreeing" with the ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Sony is objecting to the fine, citing that the ICO admitted the hack in 2011 was a determined criminal attack, that there was "no evidence that encrypted payment card details were accessed" and "personal data is unlikely to have been used for fraudulent purposes".
A Sony spokesman said: "Criminal attacks on electronic networks are a real and growing aspect of 21st century life and Sony continually works to strengthen our systems, building in multiple layers of defence and working to make our networks safe, secure and resilient."
The ICO imposed the fine after ruling that Sony breached the Data Protection Act by not putting sufficient safeguards in place to protect users of the Sony PlayStation Network.
Sony was victim to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in April of 2011 that also compromised information including the passwords, names, addresses, email addresses, and dates of birth of PlayStation Network users.
Although there was no evidence encrypted payment card details were accessed, Sony was reprimanded because details including passwords will have been used by people to control other online accounts and services.
The investigation found the attack could have been prevented if Sony had updated its software, while the electronics firm was also guilty of not anticipating an attack on systems, despite being subject to server DDoS attacks before the April 2011 incident.
David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of data protection at ICO, said: "If you are responsible for so many payment card details and log-in details, then keeping that personal data secure has to be your priority.
"In this case, that just didn't happen, and when the database was targeted – albeit in a determined criminal attack – the security measures in place were simply not good enough.
"There's no disguising that this is a business that should have known better. It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there's no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe."
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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Smart Speakers Set To Become Radio’s (Next) Big Disrupter
Amazon and Google see your car as the next step in their quest for world domination in streaming entertainment and information across the universe.
By David Farrell
Big tech has been slowly but resolutely impinging on radio listenership with smart speakers that can call up instant newscasts, weather reports, driving conditions, stream music and provide suggestions for local hotspots and events across North America.
Now Amazon’s Alexa is making a big jump into car dashboards.
It could be a significant upset for broadcasters who have successfully managed to share space with in-dash players, streaming services and even video consoles.
The dominant online retailer is moving into the in-car entertainment space after releasing a new developer kit to help manufacturers install Alexa within car dashboards.
No specific numbers are available for the number of Alexa owners in Canada, but recent research by Voicebot.ai suggests 20-percent of the US population now have “access” to a smart speaker. At present, Alexa is the dominant smart speaker in North America, but Google’s Home assistant is fast catching up, with Apple and a small but growing number of other brands starting to join the fray. Google Assistant made its first significant play in the car as an Android app.
The move by Amazon means that, if adopted by vehicle makers, drivers of Alexa-enabled cars will be able to use voice to listen to music in-car without the need for extra hardware.
Other voice-controlled functions enabled by the Alexa Auto SDK include making calls, navigation and searching for local restaurants, landmarks and even local radio stations.
The Alexa Auto SDK includes core Alexa functionality, such as speech recognition and synthesis, and other capabilities such as streaming media, controlling smart home devices, notifications, weather reports, and tens of thousands of custom skills. Additionally, the SDK provides the hooks required to connect to a wake word engine, local media player, local phone, and local navigation system.
Enable customers to specify a contact name or phone number and Alexa will instruct the native calling service in the vehicle to place the call.
Enable customers to stream audio from popular media services, such as Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeartRadio, and display album art and other info to the head unit.
Enable customers to set the destination of the native turn-by-turn navigation system by specifying an address or point-of-interest and cancel navigation when the user does not need it anymore.
Enable customers to search for restaurants, movie theatres, grocery stores, hotels, and other business, and navigate to the location.
The next stop on Amazon’s journey toward world domination is your car – Simone Stolzoff, Quartz


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Will the carnage caused by coronavirus never end? Not only has Covid-19 affected supply of iPhone handsets – the horror – it's now also threatening to reduce the number of suspiciously cheap bikinis available in Primark this summer.
Obviously, this is a much bigger deal than the thousands of dead, dying and sick people the virus has infected so far.
Associated British Foods, which despite the name owns Primark, gets more than 40 per cent of its stock for the budget clothing retailer from China. It's apparently OK for the moment, having got most of its inventory in before Chinese New Year, but the delays will likely start to cause problems later this year.
According to Reuters, Primark is "working closely with its suppliers in China to assess the impact of the virus on their factories and supply chains and their ability to fulfill its current orders."
The company is looking at strategies including increasing production from other countries to mitigate the shortfall, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Turkey and Eastern Europe. However, apparently that won't entirely fix the issue, because China makes stuff other places can't, according to Primark Finance Director John Bason:
"There are accessories or whatever, areas like that, that China is very good at that are harder to source from elsewhere... So I’m not guaranteeing that we can replace all of the shortfall from China."
However will we manage? [Reuters]
Main image: DennisM2 via Flickr Creative Commons


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In recent years, many fintech companies in Southeast Asia have been utilizing telecom data and other channels to determine users’ credit scores, clearing access to financial services and encouraging broader adoption.
According to a report on digital financial services published by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, digital financial services will generate about USD 38 billion in annual revenue by 2025, half of which will come from lending.
But for many people, taking out a loan is impossible, because they don’t have a recorded credit history. In particular, the report notes that more than 7 out of 10 adults in Southeast Asia are “underbanked,” meaning they have limited or no access to financial services.
Founded in 2013, TrustingSocial is on a mission to fill that gap by providing credit scoring and improving access to financial services for consumers in emerging Asian markets, such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
KrASIA spoke with Geoffrey See, who is the head of identity at TrustingSocial, to talk about how technological advancements in the fintech sector can change the lives of millions of “financially invisible” customers across emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia.
KrASIA (Kr): How does your work in “identity” fit into the broader vision of TrustingSocial, which is to serve the unbanked population in various emerging markets?
Geoffrey See (GS): Our mission is to serve more than 1 billion customers in emerging markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. TrustingSocial started out with an AI-driven credit scoring model built on telco data that allows lenders to connect with 80% of the population, which is invisible to most lending institutions in these markets. These customers are invisible because they lack well-documented regular income that helps them build a credit history with a traditional credit bureau. But they are economically active and form a critical part of the emerging middle class in these places.
With the credit score, we enable instant decision-making on creditworthiness. However, customers still need to undergo various identity checks and KYC [know your customer] processes to be brought on board. This is critical. Hence, the mission of the identity division is to enable customer access to financial services in a quick, cheap and safe manner—through eKYC. We are working to enable “5 minutes, anytime, anywhere” access to financial services, which describes going from the point a customer decides to sign up for with a financial service to the point of cash disbursement.
Kr: TrustingSocial primarily uses telco data to determine a person’s creditworthiness. Can you talk about how that process works and why telco data is important in these emerging markets?
GS: Using alternative data for credit scoring and for evaluating a customer’s identity is nothing new. Some companies use in-app scoring, while others use utility bills or other behavioral characteristics to determine creditworthiness. Because our mission is financial inclusion, we need a source of data that covers a significant portion of the population, not just wealthier customers. Many of these customers might still be using feature phones, not smartphones. Hence, we focused our AI research efforts on telco data as it provides the largest coverage of our target population.
A lot of customers in markets such as Vietnam, who are new to credit, are good customers to have, but they have no credit history and this is an entry point to the financial system for them. Financial institutions, with their users’ consent, send us a phone number and we provide a previously generated credit score for that customer.
Telco data is rich and there are a lot of things you can extract to infer users’ behaviors and economic activity in an anonymized fashion. We use over 50,000 features in our artificial intelligence/machine learning models. We can’t discuss in detail the features that go into the model, but backtesting with bank’s historical data indicate a high correlation between credit scores and loan repayment performance.
Kr: What are the obstacles in the implementation of identity confirmation and eKYC solutions in these emerging markets? How has TrustingSocial localized these features?
GS: For a laborer who is paid an hourly wage, or someone living in the countryside far from their nearest bank, reaching a branch can carry a significant cost. Today, financial institutions utilize a face-to-face onboarding process, which is often branch-based and not scalable from a cost perspective. Utilizing digital channels allows banks to scale without using branches. This is an opportunity in emerging markets where the banking infrastructure is limited, but where smartphones are increasingly plentiful.
Enabling eKYC through mobile channels is critical. In India, we are ramping up to onboard over 8 million customers a month. In Vietnam, regulatory change at the end of 2019 allowed us to introduce eKYC for banks, and several companies have signed up to use our services in the first two weeks of January, with several more in the pipeline, to onboard close to 1 million customers a month.
We have to be conscious that AI models often have to be localized for different populations. For example, we train our AI models on Vietnamese faces to deploy it for the Vietnam market, and similarly do so for Indian faces in the India market. Many AI models trained on specific groups perform poorly on different populations. This invokes questions of fairness and equity, especially for neural network models, as we need to ensure that there is some transparency around why certain customers are rejected in an eKYC process, and that there are manual review processes for edge cases.
Kr: What preventive methods does TrustingSocial implement to prevent fraud?
GS: Onboarding has to be done safely, as fraudulent identities cost banks significant amounts of money. For example, in one proof of concept for a Vietnamese bank with a small data set of their customers, we found 1.6% of the customers in their test pool used fraudulent identities. Detection is critical not just for banks, but also for emerging digital money and fintech sectors.
While running our product in three markets, we have seen many innovative spoofing attacks. This mostly involves a customer using some form of mask or digital image to fake their identity and pretend to be someone else. The variations on different kinds of masks are simply amazing.
The use of facial recognition with various forms of liveness detection to see if a customer is present and checks for mask-based attacks help us tackle spoofing. However, attacks are constantly evolving, and it is essential and fortunate that we have a highly responsive and innovative AI research team that continually updates their models.
We also run a “face retrieval” product to scan over a million faces to identify cases where the same customer applies for a financial product with a different identity. This is meant to reduce one particular fraud vector. Tampered or fake identification cards are also a common problem.
Kr: Which regulations impact or define your operation?
GS: Because we work with telcos, which is a heavily regulated sector, we have to be very conscious of privacy, trust, and safety. This influences our entire product development cycle—how we build our APIs, test our models, deploy our models and servers, and run our operations.
Ensuring that data is anonymized, that we obtain customer consent, and running strict procedures for how data is accessed is mission-critical and challenging. In a new area like this, we also have to engage regulators in dialogue, as they also need to see the societal benefits from our innovations, to be willing to open up the space for experimentation with new technologies.
The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.


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The always on Internet debate in regards to PC gaming and DRM is a hot topic right now, which is mainly due to Sim City’s horrendous launch week issues that gamers experienced. A new report from ESET suggests that there’s another major issue involved in always on games that goes beyond the inability to play them due to server issues. This group claims that many gamers have been infected with viruses when they try to play these games online, because they disable their antivirus protection to avoid any lag in gameplay.
When you think about it ESET’s claim makes perfect sense. PC gaming is all about performance and squeezing ever bit of juice out of your rig, so if you can save some processing power by disabling A/V services, then why not do so? Unfortunately, this practice leaves the PC vulnerable to viruses, and considering that the machine has to be plugged into the Internet just to play a game, there’s a great chance for infection.
The always on issue will continue to be a hot topic in the gaming industry, so it’ll be interesting to see if publishers and developers begin to rethink the practice in the future. Launch week server issues are bad enough, but the notion of having your rig compromised by a virus is even worse. I don’t have the answer, but something needs to be done to protect PC gamers from crappy gameplay experiences, as well as virus attacks. You can read the full press release on the topic after the break. You’ve been glad that consoles haven’t fully adopted this practice yet…
“Always on” games such as SimCity, Diablo III and World of Warcraft blamed for increase in gamer viruses
A quarter of gamers have been infected with viruses after turning their security off to play games online, study shows
London, UK, Tuesday 19th March: Many gamers are putting themselves at risk of viruses and identity theft when playing online, a new study has revealed.
Despite just under half of the gamers polled claiming to be internet security-savvy, over 40 per cent claim that they wouldn’t be able to identify any of the viruses typically created to target them and a quarter never make the effort to find out.
With more and more PC Gamers connected to the online gaming world out of sheer necessity, protection against viruses and malware is more vital than ever. Yet the irritation from lag and mid-game pop-ups caused by most antivirus suites is so prolific that 31 per cent of gamers admit they disable security on their PC before playing games online.
This comes at a cost however; the average gamer loses two days of gaming time fixing a computer that has been inflicted with a virus caught while unprotected online, with one in twenty losing a week or more.
“It’s evident that gamers are not protecting themselves sufficiently and are unaware of the risk of playing online without protection – and as more and more titles require a constant Internet connection, that’s a real worry,” said Quinton Watts, VP of Marketing and Sales, ESET. “We’re in an age where cyber attacks can be detrimental to a person’s identity security and gamers, savvy as they may be, put themselves at risk far more than they need to.”
The research clearly points to a positive solution that will benefit all gamers; an antivirus package that will take care of problems quietly and efficiently, without pop-ups and the use of so much processing power that gaming is impeded by lag. Consequently, ESET will be installing all PCs that are taking part in the ESET UK Masters grand finals at Insomnia48 this weekend with the newly released NOD32 Antivirus 6 – the latest update of the critically acclaimed security software designed to operate at maximum capacity without causing any interruptions to gaming sessions and general usability.
The StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm tournament has attracted some of the most talented competitive gamers from around the world, who will be taking part in the £10,000 grand finals at the Telford International Centre from 22nd – 24th March.
The survey of 1,000 PC Gamers in the UK was commissioned by ESET and conducted by 72Point, for the Grand Finals of the ESET UK Masters StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm tournament.
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A downtown frozen yogurt shop has closed amid a number of challenges.
Froyo Earth shut down its store at the corner of Division Street and Second Avenue because of obstacles posed by parking, traffic and people who congregated in and around its retail strip, according to the company’s owner.
“There are challenges to doing business anywhere, and not to be too surface level, downtown is no different,” owner Josh Emrey said. “We really spent this season looking at what creates the best experience for our customers.”
For Froyo Earth, a better experience was available at its nearby location on East Boone Avenue, not far from the Gonzaga University campus. It offers an additional selection of products, smoothies and an espresso bar serving Wake Up Call coffee.
The small chain also has locations in Cheney, Spokane Valley, Wandermere, Wenatchee and Chelan.
“We found that our Gonzaga location was so close by and was much better set to serve our customers,” Emrey said. “With it being so close by, it was a much more inviting and better experience.”
Froyo Earth is searching for a new location but not necessarily downtown, said Emrey, who took ownership of Froyo Earth in April.
The shopping plaza at 172 S. Division St. is near several permanent housing projects and the House of Charity homeless shelter. People often congregate at the shelter.
“I don’t think there’s any surprise at that location that the homeless population around that property certainly makes it a different challenge than some of our other locations have, but it is something that we knew going into it and we were actually amped up to see what kind of an impact we could make,” Emrey said.
Froyo Earth worked with the adjacent Starbucks to “make it more inviting, comfortable and safe,” but “ultimately we learned a lot of that is just not within our control,” Emrey said.
In Facebook and Instagram posts announcing the store’s closure on Wednesday, the store did not directly address the issue of homelessness and people congregating near the store.
“Our aim at Froyo Earth is always to provide the best customer experience possible, and while our downtown location has served us well for years, we have decided to relocate,” the post states.
Steve Kraft, who formerly owned the yogurt store and is still part-owner of the building at Division and Second, expressed concern about finding a new tenant for the space.
“People feel uncomfortable,” he said.
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LeBron James gets Taco Tuesday jersey edit in epic Kevin Love Cinco de Mayo post
Though they’re no longer teammates, Cavs forward Kevin Love and Lakers superstar LeBron James still share a close relationship. And just like most friends, they sometimes poke fun at one another.
In honor of Cinco de Mayo, which just so happened to fall on a Tuesday this year, Love posted an edited image of LeBron wearing a green “Taco Tuesday” uniform:
LeBron’s “Taco Tuesday” gatherings have become an internet sensation. With each passing week, the former No. 1 overall pick shares a clip or two of his family preparing for a taco dinner. Most of the time, his daughter, Zhuri, steals the show. For Lakers fans, it’s been a staple for content.
James took Taco Tuesday to a new level in March. The Akron, Ohio native connected with a local restaurant in the city through his LeBron James Family Foundation to feed 340 students and their families at his I Promise School. According to reports, there was enough food to feed roughly 1,300 people.
James’ Taco Tuesday has grown so much in popularity that Migos decided to create a track to honor the event. And at a Lakers home game earlier this season, the crowd actually began chanting “Taco Tuuuueessdayyy.”
Kevin Love and LeBron James were a part of the Cavs’ championship run in 2016, defeating the Golden State Warriors in come-from-behind fashion. Clearly, their friendship is still strong even if the King is now with the Lakers.


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Tragedy as fire destroys popular market in Ebonyi
Written by on July 13, 2022
Tragedy struck in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, following the destruction of a section of the popular Eke Market, in Afikpo Town by a strange fire, on Tuesday evening.
While goods worth millions of naira including shops were destroyed by the fire, no life was reportedly lost.
The cause of the fire was not yet known as at the time of this report but the traders who were taken unawares made frantic efforts to save their goods without success as the fire burnt their goods with so much intensity.
The fire Service Unit in Afikpo could not mobilise to quench the raging inferno because its equipment were reportedly not functional.
This development prompted the youths of the Area to mobilize and stop the fire from further escalation.
Meanwhile, Hon Lilian Ngozi Eziuloh, member representing Afikpo North East Constituency, Ebonyi State
House of Assembly has consoled the victims of the fire outbreak.


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Sony goes exclusive with Starz
Pay TV services are looking for exclusivity. Starz has reupped their exclusive agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment through 2021. The multi-year agreement extends their exclusive first-run output premium pay TV deal. Starz will have the exclusive pay television rights to Sony Pictures’ theatrical releases.
Financial details of the Starz-Sony deal, negotiated by Sony Pictures Television, weren't disclosed but Starz's stock rose around 4 percent in early morning trading, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Starz recently lost out on a bid for Walt Disney content when the House of Mouse struck a deal with Netflix instead. That deal will start in 2017.
Analysts predicted that Starz might look to renew the Sony agreement to secure its only remaining film output deal and become more attractive to potential buyers. Starz, recently split from Liberty Media, is looking to court a sale to a media giant and will need access to exclusive content.
“Starz has been a terrific partner and we are excited to be extending our relationship with them through the 2021 slate,” John Weiser, President, U.S. distribution for Sony Pictures Television said in a statement.
Starz remains the exclusive home of Disney theatrical releases, including its Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar releases, and their accompanying digital streaming rights, into 2017.
Sony had a strong 2012, so titles coming to Starz will include hits like “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “21 Jump Street,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Vow,” “Men In Black 3,” and “Resident Evil: Retribution.” Future titles will include content from Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, TriStar, and Screen Gems.
Gina Hall is a Los Angeles-based writer and producer with more than 10 years experience in television, documentary and feature film production. She is a graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and blogs for the Huffington Post at huffingtonpost.com/gina-hall
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IBM and MediaTek Inc. are launching a joint initiative to develop ultra fast chipsets that they claim can wirelessly transmit a full-length high definition movie to and from a home PC, hand-held device, retail kiosk or television set nearly as fast as a viewer can push their remote control.
Both companies will combine their expertise in millimetre wave (mmWave) radio technology – the highest frequency portion of the radio spectrum where massive amounts of information can be sent quickly - and digital chipsets to create multimedia wireless products.
The large bandwidth for data transmission available at the mmWave frequency band enables at least 100 times higher data rates than current Wi-Fi standards.
The companies says users could upload a 10 gigabyte file in five seconds with the new technology versus 10 minutes using current Wi-Fi technology.
mmWave wireless technology can be widely used at home and office for applications such as multimedia content downloads or uncompressed HDTV streaming from a DVD player. I would be possible to wirelessly download and synchronise iPod-like devices with music and videos in seconds.
“This collaborative effort will enable consumers to wirelessly transfer large multimedia data files around their home and/or offices in seconds,” said Dr. T.C. Chen, vice president, Science & Technology, IBM Research. “This will enable a world where you can have your entertainment when you want and where you want it.”
The parties will collaborate to integrate IBM’s new mmWave radio chips, antenna, and package technology with MediaTek’s expertise in digital baseband and video processing chips.
IBM Research has been engaged in mmWave technology research and development for the last four years. In collaboration with IBM’s TJ Watson Research Centre and IBM’s Tokyo Research Lab, IBM demonstrated a prototype packaged chipset as small as a dime to wirelessly transmit uncompressed HD Video in February 2006. IBM used their 0.13-micron silicon germanium BiCMOS process to manufacture the chips.


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Dragami Games' remake of Lollipop Chainsaw officially has a name. Unfortunately for fans of the series, it also has a delay.
Dragami Games revealed today that the remake will be titled Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP while also announcing that its release is being pushed back in summer 2023. It had previously been slated for summer 2024.
"Although development of RePOP was carried out with the intention of a 2023 release, our commitment to providing the best possible quality experience to our players led us to making the hard decision to extend the development period in order to ensure this," Dragami Games wrote in a statement.
"We sincerely apologize to all who had been waiting for the latest installment in the Lollipop Chainsaw series, and kindly ask for your understanding in this matter."
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP was first announced back in 2022. It's a remake of the original 2012 hack-and-slash action game from Grasshopper Manufacture, though neither Goichi "Suda51" Suda or writer James Gunn (yes, that James Gunn) are involved.
We weren't the biggest fans of Lollipop Chainse, writing in our original 5/10 review, "Lollipop Chainsaw doesn’t even attempt to differentiate itself from the genre, and most of what it does try new in the realm of its characters and writing ultimately ends up taking away from an incredible-on-paper action game."
Nevertheless, it became something of a cult hit, and fans have pined for a re-release as it has become harder to play on modern consoles. With Lollipop Chainse RePOP, they're finally getting one... eventually.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP will be out in summer 2024. It has not yet announced which consoles it will be supporting.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.


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In a vote of confidence for Windows 7's suitability for use on netbook PCs, Hewlett-Packard says it likely will offer at least three different editions of the upcoming operating system on future models of its Mini netbooks.
That includes the Professional and Home Premium editions, which Microsoft last week said will be the two primary versions of Windows 7, and the low-end Starter edition, which will limit users to running three applications at a time.
[ Get the analysis and insights that only Randall C. Kennedy can provide on PC tech in InfoWorld's Enterprise Desktop blog | Download our free Windows performance-monitoring tool | Check out InfoWorld's special report: Early looks at Windows 7. ]
Kyle Thornton, category manager for business notebook PCs at HP, said in an interview late last week that the vendor also has been testing the beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate -- an edition aimed at gamers and PC enthusiasts -- on the Mini netbook line.
Windows 7 is being built on the same code base as Windows Vista, prompting some fears that the new operating system may prove to be too bulky to run well on modestly powered netbooks. But despite such concerns, "we see it running very well on the [Minis], even with Aero turned on," Thornton said, referring to the compute-intensive graphical user interface offered in both Vista and Windows 7.
While Microsoft will focus its marketing of Windows 7 on the Professional edition for corporate users and Home Premium for consumers, it will continue to offer a total of six flavors -- the same as with Vista. That, the company said, is necessary to meet the needs of PC makers as well as users.
As part of last week's announcement, Microsoft confirmed that there will be no special "netbook SKU" of Windows 7. Instead, PC makers will be allowed to install the Starter edition, formerly consigned to developing countries only, on netbooks and other low-end PCs for sale in markets worldwide. Microsoft officials expect, though, that the majority of netbooks will actually ship with Windows 7 Home Premium.


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CHINA/USA: ADM to increase food processing capacity in China
US agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland has said it plans to increase its food processing capacity in China to meet the rise in demand for protein-based foods and vegetable oils. ADM first entered the food processing business in China five years ago and now the country accounts for a quarter of the company's global food processing capacity, reported the Financial Times. ADM now operates ten food plants in China, located near ports.
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Path of Exile: 10 Years of Gears
Grinding Gear Games celebrates its 10th anniversary with this special community video celebrating Path of Exile.
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...yep, they caught us expanding to Vancouver! We're so excited to be bringing our delicious vegan food to you West Coasters.
"Vancouver is about to get even healthier.
Toronto’s favourite vegetable butcher, YamChops, has its sights set on the West Coast for expansion. With plans to open its first Vancouver location in Spring 2017, owner Toni Abramson says this is just the beginning for the ultra-healthy food chain.
“People can go to a good vegan or vegetarian restaurant, but there isn’t really anywhere you can buy centre-of-the-plate protein that’s ready and delicious and take it home to serve. YamChops fills that void,” says Abramson."