text:
Global credit giant Visa has been researching smart contracts and programmable payments. The firm wants to let Ethereum holders set up automatic payments.
According to a proposal made public by Visa, Ethereum owners will be able to set up programmable payments using their own self-custodial wallets. The idea would also do away with banks and other centralized third parties from the transactions.
Automatic payments have been easy to set up on regular bank accounts. The technology and the money being moved are, however, ultimately in the jurisdiction of the bank. Visa is foraying into the world of self-custodied cryptocurrencies, and it is starting with Ethereum, which is the de facto standard.
In order to create a self-custodial wallet that can conduct automated recurring payments without requiring the user’s active participation, this method entails the construction of a smart contract that serves as an intermediary between a user account and a contract account.
Such a move would allow recurring payments to be conducted entirely over blockchain networks, which currently are devoid of such capability, Visa said. The company proposed deploying the solution on the Ethereum layer 2 network StarkNet.
What is Account Abstraction?
On the Ethereum network, there are currently two different kinds of accounts: Contract Accounts (CA), which are effectively smart contracts, and Externally Owned Accounts (EOA), which are managed by a private key.
Transactions can be started by EOAs, but not by CAs. According to Visa, it is feasible to establish a self-custodial wallet that can make recurring payments automatically by leveraging Account Abstraction to develop a smart contract that can perform transactions on behalf of an EOA.
On the Ethereum blockchain, Account Abstraction (AA) is a concept that tries to unify user accounts and smart contracts into a single type of account. This is made feasible by enabling the development of validity guidelines for specific transactions.
One use case of account abstraction is the development of “delegable accounts,” which enables the automation of payments through the use of smart contracts, is one use for AA.
According to Visa, a user can provide a pre-approved smart contract, known as an “auto payment contract,” the authority to start payments using a delegable account.
Here’s an example of how it may operate: The address of the auto payment contract is added to the user’s allow list if they visit a merchant’s website and consent to auto payments. As a result, the user’s account could begin a payment that would be legitimate since it was on the allow list by invoking the charge function of the auto payment contract, which the merchant could then use to activate a payment.


text:
Latest Rumor Talks About Future Amazon Smartphone To Compete With Apple, Android
Amazon has entered the Android-powered tablet market with a product which quickly became very popular because of its attractive price-point, design and offering. With Google’s own Nexus 7 tablet now out, the world is expecting the Kindle Fire refresh to compete with the pure-Android tablet. But how about an Amazon smartphone?
Latest rumors are talking about a phone being prepared by the giant to compete with Apple’s iPhone and other Android-powered smartphones. Of course, nothing is certain at the moment as the bits are coming from “two people with knowledge of the matter”, cited by Bloomberg. According to them, Foxconn in China is already working with Amazon on the product while the giant is working on acquiring patents to defend it against future possible litigation.
As usual, there is no official word on the plans and Amazon declined to comment on the rumors. Still, if Amazon manages to enter the smartphone market with a low-priced attractive offering — similar to the Kindle Fire — the might be able to steal a slice of the market. Would you buy?

domain: news


text:
The first next-gen customer experience platform in the world, SupportLogic has announced Joe Andrews as their next Chief Marketing Officer. He will help accelerate the market awareness of the organization and help them deliver the ambitious growth strategy in 2021. Organizations like Rubrik, Qlik, Databricks, and Nutanix have implemented SupportLogic in their systems.
Andrews has previously worked as the Vice President, Marketing at OODA Health, the healthcare payments technology provider. He has also held marketing, operations, and product roles at Intuit and VMware. SupportLogic enables businesses to grow and secure their revenue by interacting with the opinions of the customers with the help of NLP for extraction, analysis, and resolution of issues before escalation.


text:
Kids come in all different shapes, sizes and colors — and so should their play things, says one toy maker.
She hopes to shake up the industry by selling dolls that promote inclusiveness.
Artist Crystal Kaye, the brains and brush behind Kay Customz, creates dolls that spotlight the unique and diverse attributes of real people.
“My goal is to go beyond the average assembly line-looking doll, to make relatable and realistic works,” she told TODAY Style. “I find new and used dolls at different thrift stores and yard sales and use them as a canvas. I’ve created ones with red hair and freckles and others with albinism.”
Her latest endeavor is hand-painted dolls with vitiligo. “I want to convey the message that beauty should not be manufactured, it should be based on one's true mirror image,” Kaye said.
For kids with the skin condition, these are more than just toys. The porcelain treasures are helping break down beauty barriers, boost self-esteem and include a demographic that may feel left out.
The response online has been overwhelmingly positive (and deservedly so) — including a Facebook post from actress Tia Mowry, in which shared her admiration for the idea.
TODAY has affiliate relationships with some of the merchants linked to in this story, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by TODAY. All prices are subject to change and items could sell out based on the merchant’s inventory.


text:
EU authorities against Google, Facebook and Twitter
EU authorities accused Google, Facebook and Twitter in violation of the rights of consumers. The company received a month to the enforcement of the rules of their services into line with European legislation. Otherwise, they could face fines, writes Reuters.
In December 2016, EU regulators have notified the Internet company about the fact that some of the terms of their user agreements violate the law of consumer protection. In particular, was been criticized by a clause according to which if you wish to file a lawsuit against the company, EU citizens must apply to the court for the United States.
Google, Facebook and Twitter were also charged that they clearly do not mark sponsored content and not enough to effectively combat fraud on their sites.
In the case of Google claims the social network Google+.
Representatives of the companies have already proposed some solutions to solve these problems. For reformatting of the nuances they have a month.


text:
The Government's new Digital Economy Council (DEC) promises to bring together some of the most influential voices in the tech sector to stimulate growth and create new jobs.
The Council has been set up to provide a forum for collaboration and drive the Government's digital strategy forward. Its members include TechUK, Google, Facebook, Cisco, Dotforge, Coadec, TV Squared, BT and Apple.
The strategy includes plans to boost the nation's digital skills, infrastructure and innovation. It supports the Government's ambition to make the UK the best place to start and run a digital business.
The UK is already home to more than 200,000 digital businesses supporting more than 1.4 million jobs - with the fastest growing-digital hubs in Southampton, West Cornwall and Dundee.
Karen Bradley, the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: "I'm delighted to be bringing together this powerful group of tech experts, industry leaders and global innovators to spearhead new growth in our thriving digital economy."
The first meeting of the Forum took place this week. It set out the priorities for the council for year ahead including looking at new ways to improve digital transformation within SMEs, boost the digital skills pipeline and better commercialise the UK's world-leading research.
Jacqueline de Rojas, president of industry body TechUK, said: "Tech can be a powerful growth engine of the UK economy post-Brexit. For that to happen there is much that we need to get right … I'm happy [the] Government is working with tech businesses to ensure that we unlock the next wave of digital growth."
The Government now plans to convene the Digital Economy Advisory Group to focus on the specific challenges and opportunities of starting and growing a tech business.
The seven pillars of the Government's Digital Strategy are:
building a world-class digital infrastructure for the UK;
giving everyone access to the digital skills they need;
making the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business;
helping every British business become a digital business;
making the UK the safest place in the world to live and work online;
maintaining the UK Government as a world leader in serving its citizens online;
unlocking the power of data in the UK economy and improving public confidence in its use.
The help and assistance I received from all members of Marsden Rawthorns staff was excellent
Authorised and Regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. Authority number 591294.
For details of the professional rules governing the conduct of solicitors go to www.sra.org.uk/code-of-conduct.page


text:
KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2012
First publishedon www.WorldHighways.com
With China slated to be the world’s biggest market for auto sales and exports by 2025, and demand for electric vehicles expected to be the highest in emerging markets, global auto players should have a clearer vision of the way forward on issues critical to the industry. But it appears they don’t just yet, according to KPMG International’s 13th annual Global Automotive Executive Survey - managing growth while navigating uncharted routes.
“Compared to previous years’ results, the findings this year tell us that auto experts have no clear idea of the direction the industry is heading,” said Mathieu Meyer, KPMG’s head of automotive for Europe and a partner in the German firm. “One thing is certain, electromobility is the most critical trend for the industry — how and when fully-electric cars will be a reality is dependent on a variety of complex and interrelated factors.”
While the industry continues to weigh the relative advantages of various electrified fuel technologies, it is clear that ownership of the e-components space (battery management and chemistry, power electronics, e-motors, battery cells and packs, etc.) will draw intense competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers. Fifty-four per cent of respondents said that electric component suppliers will gain a bigger role by 2025 and 40 percent of respondents predict that OEMs will lead in that area in addition to traditional power train technologies.
“In light of the fact that respondents believe that OEMs will dominate this segment, the study also showed that the underlying technologies of e-components, offered no major differentiation,” Meyer said. “Currently OEMs are predicted to be the owner of almost all parts of the value chain, but sooner or later OEMs have to focus on their core competencies, which probably lie in brand management, especially with regard to the premium segment.”
Despite the fact that 76 per cent globally said that fuel efficiency is still the most important factor affecting consumer-buying decisions, followed this year by environmental friendliness (65 per cent), two-thirds don’t expect electric vehicles to exceed 15 per cent of annual global sales within the next 15 years. But that does not seem to be the case in China, Japan as well as other high-growth markets where electromobility is expected to take hold sooner, according to the survey findings.
Respondents in Asia, China and Japan in particular, predict a higher penetration of fully electric vehicles than the global average by 2025; well over 50 per cent of respondents from China expect that upwards of 11 to 25 per cent (or 4 to 9 million vehicles) will be new car registrations for e-cars, while 46 per cent of respondents from Japan predict that e-car registrations will exceed 25 per cent. That is in contrast to the US, where nearly 50 per cent believe new e-car registrations will account for only 6 to 10 per cent by 2025. Chief among the issues manufacturers and suppliers seem uncertain about is which fuel technology will emerge as the optimal and predominant method to power the electric car by 2025.
Globally, hybrid vehicles are expected to lead the market and attract the most investment in the interim with full hybrids and plug-in versions expected to be the favoured technologies, and fuel-cell vehicles coming in third. This year’s survey found that respondents see an improvement in battery and fuel cell technologies, and there are signs that fuel cells may be viewed as the preferred option; nevertheless, uncertainty still lingers.
This scenario is expected to play out differently in China and Japan where 33 per cent and 46 per cent of respondents, respectively, said that battery-electrified vehicles will be the most popular followed by fuel-cell vehicles.
“The industry faces a tough decision on whether to place more trust and resources in fuel-cell or battery vehicle concepts in the long-term,” commented Meyer. “Hybrids may be more popular in the interim than pure, battery-powered cars, but the hidden champion that could emerge will be fuel-cell vehicles.”
Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of respondents globally said that optimisation of the internal combustion engine (ICE) currently offers greater efficiency and the most potential for carbon emission reduction than the current electromobility technologies over the next five years.


text:
By Neha Malhi
DUBLIN, CA – California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom last Friday unveiled “Real Public Safety Plan,” alongside CA Attorney General Rob Bonta, CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, CAL OES Director Mark Ghilarducci, and other state and local leaders.
“Real Public Safety Plan” emphasizes investing in local law enforcement response, ensuring that perpetrators will be held accountable, and getting guns and drugs off from the state streets, said Newsom.
A key target of the effort will be to better police so-called “smash and grabs” thefts at state retail centers.
“We’re doubling down on public safety investments and partnerships with law enforcement officials up and down the state to ensure Californians and small businesses feel safe in their communities- a fundamental news we all share,” added the governor.
As states across the U.S. see rise in some crimes related to organized retail theft, and other violent crimes involving a firearm, the lawmakers and other officials said the safety plan is implemented specifically with the purpose of reducing those crimes by funding a statewide organized theft team in order to prosecute cross-jurisdictional theft-related crimes.
“Every family in every neighborhood in California deserves to feel safe and be safe as they live, work, and play in their communities,” said AG Bonta.
Details of the plan previewed Friday include what is being called the “largest gun buyback program in the country,” and grants to local law enforcement, prosecutors, and small businesses which are victimized due to retail theft.
“The plan will bolster our prevention, deterrence and enforcement efforts to aggressively curb crime, hold bad actors to account and protect Californians from the devastating gun violence epidemic,” said Gov. Newsom.
The dubbed “Real Public Safety Plan” has three key main areas, the officials said: bolstering law enforcement response to stop and apprehend criminals, more prosecutors to hold perpetrators accountable and getting guns and drugs off the streets.
One of the key areas, bolstering local law enforcement response, will provide $255 million in grants for local law enforcement to combat retail theft. Over the next three years it will increase law enforcement presence at retail locations.
The presence will include a “Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit” staffed by the CHP in the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The plan will also deploy more highway patrols according to real-time data. It also include cooperation with Legislature to upgrade highway’s camera technology to help solve more crimes.
And the plan will create a new grant program to help small businesses which are victimized by smash-and grabs.
Another key area which include having more prosecutors to hold perpetrators accountable will build more dedicated retail theft prosecutors, fighting crime statewide, statewide organized theft team. It will provide an additional of $30 million to local prosecutors over the span of three years to fight crime related to retail, auto and rail theft.
The gun buyback program will hold the gun industry accountable, leading the nation’s gun violence research efforts and intercepting drugs. It will provide $20 million to support the National Guard’s drug interdiction efforts in order to target transnational criminal organizations.
President and CEO of the California Retailers Association Rachel Michelin, thanked Governor Newsom on behalf of Californians for implementing this plan and said “The Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit and other state- level theft teams will provide more regions of the state with the vital expertise necessary to bring resolution to these often challenging and complex crimes without further compromising local resources.”


text:
On June 9, the Ukrainian capital will play host to Cross-border export e-commerce Ukraine 2016, an international exhibition and conference which is expected to attract some 500 attendees.
The congress will bring together representatives of local online and offline e-commerce companies, local and international providers of warehousing, courier and parcel services, fulfillment and payment services.
Experts from 20 key e-commerce markets — including China, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the USA — will be there.
Also participating will be a number of renowned local market players. Among them are Ugears, a Ukrainian startup offering unique wooden 3D puzzles, which are gaining popularity worldwide, and Nova Poshta, the Ukrainian private postal delivery and logistics company operating in over 200 countries.
Featured in the agenda will be presentations of the key cross-border e-commerce export markets, success stories and business cases delivered by Ukrainian market pioneers, as well as discussions and networking sessions.
Innovative solutions for cross-border e-commerce will be showcased in a dedicated exhibition area.
The event is organized by Ukrainian E-commerce Expert in cooperation with a range of players, including the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, American Chamber of Commerce and e-Commerce Poland.
- For more information and registration, please click here. You may also contact Julia Pavlenko at [email protected].


text:
Small is beautiful for Vauxhall vans
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
“We're downsizing engines and improving turbocharging. Even on medium vans you should expect to see downsizing,” commented Jamal El Hout, GM's vice president of product planning and commercial vehicles.
Small engines are the future for Vauxhall vans, according to GM's European commercial vehicle boss in Europe. The muscle will instead come from clever technology to provide suffficient torque and improve fuel economy.
Downsizing has already proved successful in the Combo. “When we launched the 1.3-litre diesel two or three years ago we had concerns that customers wouldn't accept it,” said Phil Harwood, van product manager in the UK. “But there's no prejudice on size any more and it's now our best-selling small van engine.”
El Hout also revealed that the long-awaited decision to launch a new Vauxhall pick-up will be made “within the year”. GM is expected to rebadge a pick-up from either the States or, more likely, Thailand, where the common rail-engined Isuzu Rodeo is also sold with a Chevrolet badge.


text:
Lotus hasn’t launched a car back the Evora in 2009.
Lotus affairs for two new sports cars by 2020, the aboriginal models appear back the U.K. automaker was bought by China’s Zhejiang Geely aftermost year.
Lotus additionally has started assignment on its aboriginal SUV, CEO Jean-Marc Gales told Automotive News Europe. He said the SUV would access one to two years afterwards the sports cars.
Lotus hasn’t launched a car back the Evora went into assembly in 2009.
Gales beneath to accommodate abounding capacity about the models but said one of the sports cars would alter a accepted affiliate of Lotus’ range.
Lotus builds the entry-level Elise, the track-focused Exige and the Evora, a battling for the Porsche 911. It additionally makes the 3-11, a roofless clue car with supercar levels of performance.
Understand The Background Of Leading Sports Car Brand Now | leading sports car brand – leading sports car brand
| Welcome for you to my blog, in this particular time period I’ll explain to you with regards to keyword. And today, here is the initial graphic:
Best new cars 20: models worth waiting for | BuyaCar – leading sports car brand | leading sports car brand
Image Source: buyacar.co.uk
Other Collections of Understand The Background Of Leading Sports Car Brand Now | leading sports car brand


text:
Ocean Safety at Soton Boat Show 2016
Ocean Safety’s even bigger product range for Southampton Boat Show
Ocean Safety, specialists in the worldwide supply, distribution, service and hire of marine safety equipment, will be once again exhibiting at the Southampton Boat Show.
Ocean Safety will be showing a number of products for the first time as well as delivering a strong message on the importance of safety equipment servicing. A full team of servicing experts will be on hand to advise boat owners and answer any questions regarding their own equipment.
Ocean Safety’s leading Kru lifejacket range, which has enjoyed huge popularity, will again be on display and available throughout the show from leading retailers, along with the company’s most popular products, including liferafts and man overboard equipment.
|File Name:||PR 261 Ocean Safety at Soton Boat Show 2016.pdf|
|File Size:||391.44 KB|


text:
Microsoft is cutting Xbox 360 prices in Europe effective Sptember 19.
The cheapest Arcade unit will retail at €179, while the Premium and Elite packs will sell for €239 and €299, respectively. Microsoft claims it has sold more than 20 million Xbox 360 consoles around the world so far.
The new prices should help the Xbox hold its ground against the cheap Wii and could also force Nintendo to rethink its pricing in the near future.
Published in News
XboX 360 price drop confirmed
Arcade drops to €179


text:
HTC's new One may be the best Android smartphones on the market, but the Taiwanese smartphone maker is still struggling to step out of Samsung's shadow in the North American smartphone market.
HTC's smartphones only account for 8.4% of Web traffic coming from Android handsets in North America, online advertising network Chitika Insights reports.
This is only a sliver of Samsung's percentage in this area. The Korea-based smartphone maker commands 61.7% of Android smartphone Web traffic in the United States and Canada. Basically, this means there are way more people using Android phones made by Samsung than any other electronics vendor.
The report also found that adoption of HTC's new One is lower than its predecessor after its first week of availability. The company's new flagship only accounts for 0.1 percent of HTC's Web traffic, while the previous generation One was responsible for 1 percent of Web traffic coming from its devices one week following its launch. The company's One smartphones combined account for 40 percent of Web traffic coming from HTC's devices, Chitika also found.
This is bad for HTC. While its phone has been critically acclaimed, it has failed to connect with consumers. The new HTC One looks a lot like last year's HTC phone, so it's hard to believe much is going to change.
HTC's president of the Americas Jason Mackenzie disagrees with the Chitika report. Shortly after it was published, he tweeted that its too early to judge sales of the new HTC One since it won't be widely available in stores until April 11. Right now, you can only buy the HTC One online or in Verizon stores.
An HTC spokesperson also pointed out to Business Insider that Chitika started measuring usage of the new HTC One before the device even launched, so the data could be flawed.


text:
Let’s Talk Hemp and We Are For Better Alternatives (“WAFBA”), both of which are leading organizations for the advancement and advocacy of hemp farming, processing, production, innovation, education and legalization in the U.S., are set to host the upcoming Southern Hemp Expo 2021. The three-day event is slated to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sept. 2-4, 2021. Taking place in the 160,000-plus square feet of dedicated space of the Raleigh Convention Center, the Southern Hemp Expo will feature a robust lineup of industry experts, leaders and exhibitors divided into three distinct sessions of live education programming and seminars. “From wellness supplements to superfoods and protein powders, paper and textiles, biofuels and building materials, the evolving U.S. hemp industry continues to grow,” said Southern Hemp Expo organizer Morris Beegle. “We are excited to bring a large supply chain trade show and conference to the East Coast, taking place at the Raleigh Convention Center. We are beginning the next chapter of the expansion of the global industrial hemp industry.”
To view the full press release, visit https://nnw.fm/LRkWR
About Let’s Talk Hemp
Let’s Talk Hemp is a leading media platform that focuses on “Changing the Cannabis Conversation.” The platform curates news, education and information about hemp and cannabis to its podcast listeners, newsletter subscribers and digital magazine readers so that they can learn more about the industry and get tips and tricks on the latest technologies. For more information, visit www.LetsTalkHemp.com.
NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) NetworkNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.
To receive SMS text alerts from NetworkNewsWire, text “STOCKS” to 77948 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information please visit https://www.networknewswire.com
NetworkNewsWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork


text:
Graphite Creek anode material produced
Samples sent to national labs, EV manufactures for evaluation North of 60 Mining News – April 28, 2023
Last updated 5/11/2023 at 2:37pm
Graphite One Inc. April 27 announced that it has received the first active anode material for lithium-ion batteries produced from material derived from its Graphite Creek deposit in western Alaska.
Active anode material, also known as coated spherical graphite, is the single largest ingredient in the lithium batteries powering electric vehicles.
Given the auto sector's rapid transition to EVs,...


text:
You can now get a local search, similar to trying to trawl through the phone books, for free via Google. It's based on the Google Maps technology and looks like it could become a very useful addition to hte possibilities of finding things locally.
Computer Web search leader Google Inc. on Friday stepped up an experiment to use speech recognition on telephones so consumers can ask for local information, in a challenge to directory assistance providers.
The company is inviting U.S. callers to dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone to test a voice-activated service free-of-charge that it calls Google Voice Local Search, which is available on its experimental Google Labs site.
"Using this service, you get fast access to the same local information you'd find on Google Maps," an explanation of the new experiment said on the Google Labs site. "You don't need a computer, you don't need an Internet connection, and you don't even need to use your cellphone keypad," it said.
You can all the details here.
Hey, if you're in the US try it out and let us know how it works.


text:
July 29, 2021
Yorktown Market Days joins 349 other markets across Virginia in celebrating National Farmers Market Week on Saturday, August 7 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. With six small family-owned and operated farms set up at Riverwalk Landing each week—shoppers are bound to find their go-to favorites and also get the opportunity to try new varieties of fruits and vegetables in addition to pasture-raised meats. Products from these farmers go through just a few hands—the farmers’ and customers’—before reaching the plate.
The first week in August is designated every summer to recognize the impact farmers markets across the country have on their communities—by preserving farmland through economic viability and encouraging engagement between neighbors.
Yorktown’s award-winning offerings and waterfront location make it one of the most unique farmers markets in Hampton Roads. It is a one-stop shop for seasonal produce, farm meats and seafood, fresh poultry and eggs, artisan breads and scratch-made desserts, honey, jams, and sauces, flowers, plants, and herbs, coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, and wine, high-quality art, and even gourmet dog treats!


text:
In these gloomy and financially uncertain times where news headlines are full of job losses and strikes, it was heart warming to see the BBC’s Technology News running with a really positive story regarding the rosy health of our UK based internet economy.
Google commissioned their “Connected Kingdom” report from independent consultants The Boston Consulting Group. The report makes great reading and shows the UK’s online economy to be worth a staggering £100 Billion which equates to 7.2% of the UK’s G.D.P, outstripping the performance of more established sectors such as utilities (2%), transport (5%) and construction (6%), what’s more the forecast is for further growth to 15% by 2015.
Internet based companies in the UK are now really coming of age with 73% of households connect by broadband and half of last year’s first time internet users being over the age of 50, bringing a whole new segment of the population into the market as a prospective customer. Connection preferences are analysed and show the latest technology is really starting to make itself felt with 30% of people accessing the internet through their mobile phones.
There are more interesting figures to be gleaned from the report that shows small business online sales growing by 43% every year (out performing larger organisations). Internet companies now employ a quarter of a million people at a time when every other sector seems to be shrinking. The report encouragingly shows e-commerce exports are currently three times the rate of imports, proving that a well designed website can really be an effective global platform for business.
The implications for all UK businesses are positive as they are lucky to be situated in what the report views as the number one country for e-commerce, however “you have got to be in it to win it” as they say. All businesses should take a close look at their online presence to ensure they are making the best of these opportunities, the time has gone when SEO and PPC can be seen as luxuries or fads. They are an essential commodity that every business needs to invest in to ensure they are reaching out to new and established customers alike.
At a time when most UK based companies are (quite rightly) tightening their purse strings this report seems to indicate that people need to re-evaluate their marketing spend and direct resources to where they can generate the best return on investment. Search engine optimisation and conversion rate optimisation combined with other high performing options such as paid search management are an excellent way for any company to increase performance in a (fully reportable) way that conventional marketing just can’t do.
This report makes compelling reading as it focuses on a hidden strength in the UK economy and should highlight the path ahead for any businesses that have yet to invest in unlocking the potential of their web presence.


text:
Money just keeps flowing into the automotive sector from the Department of Energy, which is giving the Progressive Automotive X Prize as much as $5.5 million to “inspire a new generation of energy-efficient vehicles.”
Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the money will provide the Automotive X Prize, a $10 million competition to build cars capable of 100 mpg or the equivalent, with technical assistance and help expand national education and outreach efforts. The cash comes out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus package.
“Our clean energy future depends on our ability to design and commercialize new highly efficient vehicles that are cost-effective for consumers and use significantly less energy,” the secretary said. “This funding will support cutting-edge, American innovation that can help us fundamentally transform personal transportation and address the global climate crisis.”
So just what does $5.5 million buy?
According to the X Prize folks, specific tasks included in the award include:
“The U.S. Department of Energy has a rich history of research and development in energy efficiency and vehicle technologies, and a commitment to educating consumers and the public,” Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, said. “Their strong and continued commitment to the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize will give us the ability to reach audiences across consumer and government sectors, and drive change in the future of the auto industry.”
Photo of Future Vehicle Technologies‘ entry in the Automotive X Prize, the eVaro: Progressive Automotive X Prize


text:
When grocery stores surveillance tolerable products, consumers might take their claims during face value. Yet few studies have analyzed either or not companies who explain to urge a sustainability of their products are indeed changing practices in their supply chains.
In a new investigate published online in a journal Global Environmental Change, Stanford researchers carried out one of a initial analyses of a company-led sustainability module in a food and cultivation space. Studying a rural supply sequence of Woolworths Holding Ltd. (Woolworths), one of a 5 largest supermarket bondage in South Africa, they found that a Farming for a Future module gathering increasing adoption of environmental practices during a plantation level. Agriculture is one of a largest tellurian environmental polluters, pushing deforestation and contributing an estimated 30 percent of sum hothouse gas emissions.
“If indeed these company-led policies are effective and means to renovate their whole supply chains, afterwards they can potentially renovate land-use practices worldwide and have a unequivocally certain impact on a environment,” pronounced investigate co-author Eric Lambin, a George and Setsuko Ishiyama Provostial Professor in the School of Earth, Energy Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). “Having this kind of research finished by eccentric researchers increases a certainty of a open in these private programs.”
Driving change or greenwashing?
The biggest plea in evaluating a effects of food store sustainability programs has been gaining entrance to stores’ private data. For this reason, researchers have focused on certifications led by nongovernmental organizations and multi-stakeholder standards that offer open entrance to their data, such as FairTrade and a Rainforest Alliance.
“The genuine doubt here is, ‘Will companies’ sustainability efforts delayed if they don’t have an NGO checking in on them? Will they be indeed pushing change or is it only greenwashing?’” pronounced lead author Tannis Thorlakson, a doctoral tyro in Stanford Earth’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER).
Several U.S.-based food retailers with company-led sustainability programs refused to extend Thorlakson entrance to their data. Eventually, a high-end South African grocery and wardrobe sequence Woolworths gave access.
“It’s unequivocally tough to weigh a company’s sustainability module given we need to know accurately who their suppliers are and how a module works,” Thorlakson said. “Woolworths supposing a singular event given they concluded to sum educational leisure to weigh their module and tell results.”
The researchers found that Woolworths’ large-scale fruit, unfeeling and flower growers use some-more environmental government practices when compared both over time and with a pointless representation of farms approved by a food industry’s tellurian environmental customary for plantation management, famous as GLOBALG.A.P. The world’s many widely implemented plantation acceptance program, GLOBALG.A.P. enforces decisive environmental manners for farmers and performs annual third-party audits of production.
Woolworths’ Farming for a Future module combines annual auditor feedback with a particular needs of farmers, rather than commanding decisive rules. Farms are evaluated on sustainability criteria any year, including dirt management, H2O use, biodiversity, rubbish disposal, harassment management, CO footprint and environmental laws. The association also employs auditors lerned as agronomists, dirt scientists or environmental scientists.
“According to one farmer, other auditors will expostulate into a plantation and say, ‘Nice trees you’ve got there,’” Thorlakson said. “‘But when a Farming for a Future auditor comes in, they expostulate adult and they say, ‘Tell me about those trees – those are an invasive class and they’re substantially inspiring your H2O table. Why aren’t we operative on a government devise to understanding with those?’”
In further to a stretchable indication and relations with a auditors – who are financed by Woolworths – researchers trust a program’s success can be attributed to a growers being partial of a proceed supply chain. Other vast grocery bondage mostly have middle suppliers between them and a tangible farmers.
“The auditors are building relations and assisting farmers urge their practices,” Thorlakson said. “For example, required farmers are now regulating cover crops, that is a unequivocally tough use to get farmers to take adult though that creates long-term environmental benefits. We’re saying large shifts in tillage practices, that is unequivocally exciting.”
The Stanford researchers conducted experimental analyses of a company’s tillage practices given a module was rigourously launched in 2009 to know changes over time, regulating some-more than 950 third-party audits of 228 large-scale farmers. The research also enclosed a comparison of Woolworths and a pointless representation of identical GlobalG.A.P. approved farms. Thorlakson began fieldwork in 2015, when she spent 3 months embedded in Woolworths’ sustainability group in Cape Town, South Africa.
Thorlakson finished some-more than 90 qualitative interviews with auditors and farmers in Oct 2016, that especially showed that farmers value long-term partnerships with their buyers, she said. Researchers wish this investigate will inspire other companies to rethink their supply sequence sustainability programs to incorporate a some-more partnership-based proceed to operative with their farmers.
“I wish that some-more companies will see a value of vouchsafing researchers weigh their module and tell a formula – if we find that a module is not that effective, we can also brand because and see what’s wrong, and how it can be softened and what can be corrected,” Lambin said. “The some-more of these studies we are means to do, a improved a systematic village will turn during identifying a reasons for success.”
Source: Stanford University
Comment this news or article


text:
Elite: Dangerous now in alpha with multiplayer
In the latest Dev Diary for Elite: Dangerous the developers revealed that multiplayer scenarios are now live for those in the Alpha release program. If you haven’t heard of Elite: Dangerous, it’s the latest installment in the legendary Elite space sim series that started back in 1984. This edition, which began as a successful Kickstarter campaign, is a beautifully rendered, massively multiplayer persistent universe of 100 billion star systems where you are free to make money any way you want: legally, illegally, trading, bounty-hunting, it’s all up to you!
Check out the diary below and keep an eye out for the Saitek X-52 Pro making a cameo in the developer’s studio!
For more info on Elite: Dangerous check out their official website here.


text:
Mannheim, Germany-based Fuchs reported 73 million (U.S. $84.6 million) in earnings after tax, a 7.4 percent increase from 68 million in the same quarter last year. Sales revenue grew 6.2 percent to 668 million.
The blenders revenue in Asia-Pacific and Africa jumped 15.4 percent to 210 million compared to 182 million in the same period last year.
In North and South America, the companys revenue grew 3 percent to 104 million after posting 101 million in second-quarter 2017.
Sales revenue in Europe increased 3.1 percent to 395 million compared to 383 million the year before.
The significantly negative currency effects in the first quarter slowed down in the second quarter and are expected to continue to decline in the subsequent quarters, the company stated in its earnings news release.
BPs lubricants business reported an underlying replacement cost profit before interest and tax of $326 million for the second quarter, down 8.2 percent from $355 million for the same period in 2017.
Replacement cost profit or loss reflects the replacement cost of supplies and is calculated by excluding inventory holding gains and losses from profit or loss, according to BPs supplementary information provided with its earnings statement.
The result for the quarter and half year reflects continued premium brand growth, more than offset by the adverse lag impact of increasing base oil prices, the London-based company said in its stock exchange announcement.


text:
Financial institutions are in the midst of becoming more mobile, with many of those legacy operations opting to work more closely with FinTech providers to upgrade services, retain customers and acquire new ones. The debut of 5G promises to add another tool that can aid such efforts. As that mobile technology gets closer to mainstream introduction, the potential 5G ecosystem for FinTech and mobile banking is gaining clarity.
Banks and credit unions are still wrestling with the best ways to deploy mobile technology, and to do so in ways that balance security, safe authentication and consumer convenience. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are among the emerging technologies capable of boosting banking operations, including customer service and preventing fraud, as recent PYMNTS research has demonstrated.
5G offers the possibility of new technology that can help FinTech and financial institutions — technology that can be thrown into the existing mix to fuel ongoing digital efforts. “For mobile banking to become ubiquitous, the development of 5G technology is paramount,” reads one recent analysis of the biggest FinTech and banking trends for 2019. “5G tech reduces latency and transaction times, which is key to ensuring the network can handle the amount of transactions at scale.
Few financial institutions now use true artificial intelligence — fresh PYMNTS data puts the percentage in the U.S. at 5.5 percent, with progress hampered in part by costs, misunderstanding what makes true AI different from machine learning and other factors. When it comes to 5G, however, financial institutions and FinTech providers might find their hands forced in a way that’s more forceful than decisions about whether and how to deploy AI systems, according to observers.
Arguing that banks, in general, have been “sluggish” in meeting the digital demands of consumers, Baskaran Subramaniam, global client partner of financial services at HCL Technologies, recently wrote that “this cannot continue for long.”
He added that “as customer demographics change, there will be an increasing pressure on banks to deliver superior customer services through the channels their users prefer. The dawn of 5G will further force banks to undertake massive reforms in the way they use technology, for internal operations and customer engagements alike.”
What does that mean, then?
“Many familiar banking operations, such as payment services, will attain new forms extending to newer channels, including 5G smartphones, wearables, IoT devices and virtual reality,” Subramaniam wrote. “The increased security and speed made possible by 5G will also revolutionize the capital markets, shortening settlement cycles considerably and removing latencies with real-time mobile trading capabilities.”
When it comes to FinTech specifically, instead of banks and credit unions, in fact, perhaps the main appeal of 5G at this point is not speed, but “ultra-low latency,” argued another recent analysis. “Defined as the time it takes for a device to send a command to a remote server and get a reply, latency looks set to reduce from 50 milliseconds on a 4G phone to under one millisecond in the 5G era
So at the very least, 5G will bring a lightning-fast, real-time user experience to mobile devices, so much so that consumers will experience banking and payment transactions instantly on their devices. 5G will mean zero waiting time.”
That essentially zero waiting time will also bring other benefits to the world of FinTech, according to the analysis. Low latency “will become more important in the short term as the use of third-party application programming interfaces (API) within banking grows, with third-party apps gaining access to banks’ databases to make transactions.”
That said, it seems unlikely at this point that blockchain and cryptocurrency will experience significant benefits from the low latency promised by 5G mobile network technology, according to experts and reports.
But latency and other features of 5G do seem set to promote further use in payments, digital banking and financial services via smartphones and other connected devices, including wearables. In 2019, an estimated 225 million wearable – and web-connected – devices will ship globally, according to a new report from Gartner, up 26 percent from 2018. (That means, of course, that 5G will fuel the growth of the Internet of Things.)
The looming deployments of 5G come as financial institutions are focusing more on the (relatively inexpensive) cloud computing, which also increases what banks and credit unions — and FinTech, either on their own or in partnerships — can do with digital technology and product offerings. “Still, we can’t assume that everyone has access to high-speed internet to take advantage of cloud computing,” reads a new reporton that topic. “For many businesses and customers, 5G is the missing link.”
So where is all this 5G?
As PYMNTS reported earlier in December, Verizon and Samsung plan to launch U.S. 5G phones in the first half of 2019. The move would essentially beat Apple to the market with smartphones featuring 5G technology, because reports say that Apple is going to wait until 2020 to release the first iPhones featuring the tech.
But even though Verizon is leading the charge for the new technology, which will greatly increase speeds on mobile networks – up to 50 or 100 times faster than the currently available 4G – some industry watchers say the new tech won’t be widely available until about 2025 or so.
Actual 5G deployments may still be in doubt — and the effort will vary — but it is all but certain that the mobile network technology will offer new ways for financial institutions and FinTech to win more customers and market share.


text:
OMG! It's real! Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem got its first real gameplay trailer!
Well, Nintendo Direct redeemed. Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, the game that was first announced back in January, 2013, during what was arguably the most legendary Nintendo Direct, finally got its first actual gameplay trailer today. Oh man, I'm not even sure what to think right now.
First off, the game looked nothing like Shin Megami Tensei, and resembled the Persona series a lot more. Oddly enough, it also didn't really look like Fire Emblem either. So what is going on in this game?!
While the details are still extremely scarce, I'm super pumped that the game still exists and didn't get canceled. We'll have to wait a bit longer to find out more. Check out the trailer below!


text:
LOVEFiLM and Microsoft aim to conquer living rooms with Xbox TV update
Microsoft’s latest update to its Xbox console, Metro, is being heralded as a shift in emphasis from the software firm from straightforward gaming toward a home media centre, with LOVEFiLM is teaming up with Xbox from tomorrow to stream movies and TV over the internet.
Xbox LIVE members will be able to download and watch thousands of films through the streaming service.
The new update allows users to locate video and music files far more simply than before and enables Windows Phone owners to control their systems remotely from their mobile.
Utilising the tile format familiar to Windows 8 users the interface is fully Kinect enabled, allowing navigation via swiping your hands or call up specific apps simply by speaking their name.
New Bing functionality also allows more streamlined searching for specific titles by focussing exclusively on media content.
A partnership with Verizon in the US will grant owners access to 25 HD channels with a further batch available from Comcast.
Metro puts Microsoft on a collision course with Google TV and Apple TV which are both touting similar fare.
Simon Calver, CEO of Amazon's LOVEFiLM, said: "It is an exciting day for LOVEFiLM customers and an auspicious day for the TV entertainment industry as a whole. Launching LOVEFiLM Instant on Xbox 360 and Kinect means bringing the service to a million more living rooms - a huge achievement.
LOVEFiLM members in the UK can access our content in another exciting, innovative way and all for one straightforward price. The simplicity of our pricing and the ease with which customers can use LOVEFiLM Instant should make us the first choice for those customers who want fantastic entertainment at great value for money, anytime, anywhere."
Stephen McGill, director of Xbox & Entertainment for Microsoft UK, added: "It's very exciting to see the launch of Amazon's LOVEFiLM on Xbox LIVE. Xbox owners will be eager to get started, using their Kinect-enabled consoles to interact with LOVEFiLM's extensive catalogue of movies in ways that will only be available on Xbox 360."


text:
6 significant changes in consumer psychology during and after the disease Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic will have a long-lasting effect on consumers in which many of whom have lost loved ones, jobs and businesses. Life can thus change into a new normal state, which is very different from before. This will also reshape the way brands reach customers in terms of psychology after the epidemic is over. Below are some psychological effects on buyer during and after the disaster named coronavirus.
#1. Anxiously obsessed with disease
During the outbreak, 18% of the world’s population had family or friends affected by Covid-19, with 5% of those having relatives dying from the epidemic, according to Agility PR. This contagious disease puts millions of people in unemployment, billions of people are quarantined and it mostly causes everyone in the world feeling themselves and their loved ones at risk.
Consequently, consumers become more insecure and negative. 22% of those who say they are experiencing feelings of insecurity when “stuck” in the house. While 19% worry about running out of money, the majority of these are young people aged 18-24.
#2. Enterprises become more trustworthy
Edelman’s information states that in some countries where governments are not active in fighting the epidemic, consumers trust businesses more than the state. 62% of survey participants said their country would not be able to survive the crisis without businesses. In the US, 55% of respondents said brands are eventually responding faster and more effectively than the government.
Since then, consumers want companies to pay more attention to employee health and products to create sympathy for the community. 71% say they will lose their trust in the brand forever if they recognize a brand is putting profit on people.
#3. More carefulness in expenditures
Consumers plan to carefully plan their spending whether or not there is an epidemic in the future. 37% of respondents will prioritize satisfying basic needs at home – including working, online communication, media exposure and shopping for practical retail items.
Currently, 65% of consumers are delaying purchases and travel plans, 27% are saving more than usual and 26% are expected to save more in the future.
#4. Change points of view about home working
36% of Proper Insights survey respondents said they would like to continue working at home after the disease is over. 40.7% of them are male, 32.5% are female.
Therefore, investing in a model that works anywhere, anytime, on any device and applying working practices that give the company an advantage in the middle of the epidemic season should become a top priority for the business.
#5. More dependence on technology
This mentality has indirectly supported businesses that provide digital transformation services, such as teleworking tools and online conferencing platforms, grow actively. The evidence for this is a series of companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google or Apple are hunting for more technology personnel.
Amazon currently opens more than 20,000 technology professional vacancies in addition to 175,000 logistics and delivery positions. The company said that it has recently witnessed a rapid increase in demand during the middle of the season. The social networking giant Facebook will also recruit 10,000 new workers for the engineering and product development team by the end of this year.
13% of consumers have been increasingly using robots since January 2020 at retail locations. This has led businesses to boost their leverage of business technology, such as Walmart equipped with floor cleaning robots. South Korea also uses robots to measure the temperature and distribution of hand sanitizer. Fast food firm McDonald’s is also experimenting with using robots in cooking and serving customers at the store.
#6. Treasure daily life more
One-third of today’s users agree that they will appreciate what is often overlooked activities such as eating out, going to coffee or travelling. They will also reflect on what they value most, according to a survey by Ernst & Young.
Remarkably, 1/4 also said they would pay attention to what they consume more along with the impact of shopping. Thus, in the post-Covid-19 world, people will increasingly pay notice to the consequences that appear based on their choices.


text:
Fashion and Beauty 17th February 2016 by Victoria Stokes
So, This Is The Bikini Wax Style That Irish Guys Love Most
But who are they to tell us what way we should style our pubes?
The modern world has a weird relationship with female body hair. Unless it’s a full set of brows or long, luscious locks growing out of your head, society says you should shave it off and be thread-bare from the neck down.
Now a new study by Therapie Clinic has discovered the bikini wax style that Irish guys find most attractive, and not surprisingly, they prefer a Hollywood wax, AKA all off. In fact, 61% said they’d much prefer a woman who was completely bare ‘down there.’
This comes after a another survey, also conducted by Therapie Clinic, found that 52% of Irish guys find body hair unattractive and would encourage a woman to have it removed.
But this begs the question, who are they to tell us what way we should style our body hair? Bottom line, whether you choose to take it all off, keep a landing strip or let your lady garden grow wild and free, it’s entirely up to you.
Have your say


text:
Nokia 8 also known as Nokia P1 will be the company’s first flagship phone powered by Android operating system. The handset was rumored for launch last month during the CES event, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Nokia decided to launch the Nokia 6, a fast Android One phone with 5.5-inch FHD display and Snapdragon 430. Nokia 8 remained to be in the shade, that’s also because the device will be running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset on its premium version and the chip wasn’t ready for the CES. Even, there are not enough chipsets to power up all handsets that were planned to be housing it, LG’s G6 will have to choose for another alternative because all of the available chipsets are currently reserved for the Samsung Galaxy S8 (harsh times for LG).
Staying unannounced didn’t necessarily meant for the Nokia 8 to be forgotten, it was part of numerous of leaks and rumors, and based on what rumors suggested, Yesterday, there was a YouTube video of a 360-degree concept Nokia 8. But today we might have the first real photo of the Nokia 8; in fact, is a prototype of the device that bears the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 sign on the back. This, somehow confirms that the Snapdragon 835 edition of the Nokia 8 was not an illusion.
Nokia 8’s primary camera design appeared on a previous leak, and it seems to have been legit. As the latest leaked image reveals, Nokia’s 2017 flagship will be a quite of a thin device with narrow framing and a tiny curve on all of its four edges. Unfortunately, there’s no front-viewing image of the phone yet. But we know that the featured camera on the Nokia 8 will be a 24MP unit with 4K video recording and the selfie camera a 12MP shooter. An amazing phone for photography.
The Nokia 8 is expected to be company’s first Android-powered powerhouse phone. It will be sporting a 5.7-inch display with QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and run the Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. All this topped by Android 7.0 Nougat.


text:
Finally: Rolex dares to use a new material for “normal” watches. While titanium was previously reserved for the almost unwearable giant watch “Deepsea Challenge”, this year Rolex is launching a “Yacht-Master” with a diameter of 42 millimeters made of the light metal. But that’s not all: Rolex is known for presenting a whole range of new watches at the “Watches & Wonders” trade fair (it used to be Baselworld) – and then largely withdrawing for the rest of the year.
Rolex presents new “Daytona” and “1908”
For many, this year’s highlight is likely to be the complete overhaul of the “Daytona”. For the 60th anniversary of the watch, it gets a new dial, a fresh case and a new movement. The biggest surprise, however, is reserved for the most expensive platinum model: Completely unexpected, Rolex opted for a case back with a glass insert that allows a view of the movement. This is absolutely unusual for the Swiss brand and therefore an exciting development.
However, the news does not come without bad news: The “Daytona” has been one of Rolex’s most sought-after models for years and it is not to be expected that new customers will be able to enjoy being able to buy a copy. And even if: If you can order the platinum model with a transparent bottom, you need deep pockets. Rolex writes “Price on request” on its website; in last year’s price list, these references started at 70,000 euros.
Rolex presents a completely new watch with the classic “1908”. This is an elegant precious metal dress watch inspired by the 1931 “Oyster Perpetual”. 1908 marks the year that founder Hans Wilsdorf registered the Rolex name as an official trademark with the London Patent and Trademark Office under number 24,001.
Also read: Rolex is pounding new factories out of the ground – and wants to put an end to inflated prices
In addition to new and completely revised watches, there are also new versions and designs for some models. For example, Rolex has given the “GMT-Master II” a case made of yellow gold, there are countless new dials for the “Oyster Perpetual” and the “Day-Date” also has a fresh look. The same applies to the “Sky-Dweller”. The “Explorer” is also available for the first time in 40 millimeters, for many customers the simple model was previously too small.
Many popular watches are no longer available
Every year, the date for the new presentations also means the end of production for a handful of watches – and this time as well. However, Rolex does not announce this, but leaves it to resourceful interested parties to locate the information pages that have been taken offline.
2023 marks the end of the “Milgauss” series, the models of which have completely disappeared from the catalogue. The same applies to the classic “Cellini” series, which will be replaced by the “1908”. Even popular variants of the “Daytona” will no longer exist. Rolex, for example, removed all meteorite dial watches from the catalogue, removing one blue and one green dial – both popular color combinations. If you still want a watch with a real meteorite dial, you have to go for the “GMT-Master II” – and .
Long waiting lists at Rolex: Why you can’t just buy a luxury watch
Original or Fake: How to recognize a real Rolex – and where to buy it
Money plays no role Rolex: These are the most expensive watches from the Swiss cult brand
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.


text:
Bill Gates Spreads his Battery Bets on Aquion
When it comes to disruptive battery startups, one of the best endorsements you can get comes from software tycoon Bill Gates.
Aquion Energy has raised $35 million in a series D round, which brings Gates as a new investor. It’s at least the third energy storage startup that he has invested in. Others include Ambri, which is making a liquid metal battery, and LightSail Energy, which is using compressed air to store energy. If there’s a common thread to them, it’s that each company has taken a truly novel approach and are targeting grid-level storage, a technology considered crucial to using wind and solar at large scale.
Well-established lithium ion battery technology is being used for specialized purposes in grid storage, but their costs are high—the main reason electric vehicles are expensive. Many people believe that creating a wider market for grid energy storage will require a breakthrough in costs to be commerciall viable, slashing prices for long-lasting and durable batteries to under $300 per kilowatt-hour.
Aquion Energy’s strategy is to use cheap materials and manufacturing process. The electrodes on its batteries are activated carbon and manganese oxide and individual battery modules are packaged in plastic containers. It uses a water-based electrolyte, which is environmentally benign if there is a spill. (See, Building Cheap Batteries to Circumvent the Grid.)
Its first product, due by the end of this year, will be a battery built as a stack, which is about four feet high, made of individual modules. It’s also packing the modules onto larger square pallets and, by next year, a 20-foot shipping container able to store 200 kilowatt-hours and deliver 50 kilowatts of power, Ted Wiley, the company’s vice president of business and market development told me last month.
Initially, Aquion Energy is targeting renewable energy project developers who can use batteries to store energy and deliver it at peak times, when power is more expensive, he says. The batteries should work for up to 10,000 cycles, about a 10 year usable life, which Aquion expects to extend in future versions. In terms of cost, Wiley says the price will be between lead-acid batteries—the cheapest available now—and lithium-ion batteries.
The money the company raised will allow it to move into the production of its batteries from its site near Pittsburgh and ramp up volume next year, it says. Aquion is also funded by venture capital companies, including Bright Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Advanced Technology Ventures.
As for Gates, he may have uncovered and invested in other promising battery startups. In 2010, he noted that battery technology doesn’t improve at the same rapid pace as Moore’s Law, making it one of the toughest scientific problems. “They haven’t improved hardly at all,” Gates said at the Techonomy conference. “There are deep physical limits. I am funding five battery start-ups and there are probably 50 out there.”
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.


text:
Facebook recently announced an Audience Insights API and has now added a Creative Hub as well as a series of enhancements to its Canvas and Slideshow ads.
As the use of mobile devices increase, people consume more content on their devices. As such creativity has become a vital part of driving a successful marketing campaign. However, staying up to date with the latest creative technologies and tool updates can be difficult. That’s where Facebook’s new Creative Hub comes in.
It’s essentially an online interface in a sandbox format where agencies can test various ad formats for online and mobile and test what works best. Since ad creation often happens on desktop, the Hub allows for ads to be tested in a dynamic mobile feed. Mock-ups can be shared through URLs.
Facebook announces Creative Hub
At a formal announcement at Cannes, Facebook has announced updates to Canvas that make it easier to share them with parties reviewing the process. In addition, it has plans to roll out a new feed unit to help entice people to engage and has added new metrics such as dwell time per component and clicks per component to track Canvas performance.
Facebook adds new Canvas features
In addition, Facebook has made Slideshow ads simpler for video creation and photos by allowing advertisers to edit and promote them within just a few seconds. Slideshows are a lot lighter in terms of data usage and hence are a great way to advertise to those with slower connection speeds.
Additions to Slideshow ads include audio and text overlays, a “video-to-slideshow” creation tool, the ability to create slideshows from mobile devices as well as integration with Pages Photo Library and Shutterstock stock imaging libraries. Ultimately, this makes it easier for those without production resources to customise their Slideshow ads.
Mark D’Arcy, Chief creative officer, Facebook, told Bloomberg:
“No one has been able to crack mobile advertising. We’re still just in the beginning of the creative stages of mobile ads.”


text:
There’s a popular saying among members of the Ski and Board Club at the University of British Columbia, one such member reports: “If you can’t find a better solution, there’s always the lodge.”
In the future, there might not be. Whistler Lodge, in the famous resort town two hours up the coast from Vancouver, may be sold to help improve the financial situation of the Alma Mater Society, the undergraduate student group that owns it.
One might expect an uproar about losing the 42-bed chalet built in 1965 but even Ski and Board Club members are divided on whether it’s worth keeping.
It may be out of their hands. In a vote of 21 to 12 in September, the AMS council rejected a motion to operate it as a “student service” instead of a business as it’s currently designated. As a result, it will be reviewed by the AMS Business Administration and Governance Board later this year. That board will be presented with a business that has had decades of expensive repairs but is not financially sustainable. Between 2006 and 2011, it brought in $200,000 and paid out $500,000 in repairs. A 2011 assessment valued the 1.7-acre property at $977,000—money the AMS could use.
While the lodge is designed to entice UBC students with cheaper fees, they do not get priority, and the AMS reported in 2011 that only a quarter of revenue came from UBC students. Peter Wentz, a Ski and Board Club member, says that students who try to book it often find it full. The third-year business student went to Whistler about 50 times in first year and gave up on trying to book it.
There’s also increased competition. After the 2010 Winter Olympics, Hostelling International (HI) purchased Whistler’s athletes’ village and converted it to a hostel. Peter Wojnar, president of the Ski and Board club, prefers the HI hostel. “It’s brand new, much nicer, and the cost is the same,” he says, “and they provide shuttles to and from the mountains.” This from a man who says he came to UBC thinking, “Wow, there’s this lodge that I’m going to stay at all the time.”
On top of that, says Wojnar, Whistler Lodge is in a largely residential location, making it a less fun place to have a party. “There are bylaws in the neighbourhood,” he says. “Quiet time after 10 o’clock and all that, and the management has been against any alcohol, any loud noises.”
Nevertheless, he expressed regret at a possible sale. “Maybe right now it’s not profitable but property value in Whistler is constantly going up and space is getting more and more hard to find.”
For those who want it saved, there is hope. Joaquin Acevedo, the AMS vice-president of finance and a proponent of keeping the lodge, says a sale would have to be approved in a referendum.


text:
Microsoft Rep on What Windows 8 Can Do for Your Small Business
Another year, another operating system. So why should small business owners care about Windows 8? According to Microsoft’s Russ Madlener, ease of use, increased mobility and tighter security are just some of the reasons why.
In October Microsoft launched its latest operating system, which comes with a completely new look and touch screen user interface. Now users can choose between using their keyboard or finger to manipulate things on the screen, similar to what people have come to know and love about a smartphone.
For small business owners, wanting to upgrade to Windows 8 simply because it has touch technology may not make sense, but according to Madlener what touch technology brings is a new and easy way to interact with their computers.
Take the start screen on Windows 8. Aiming to make it easier for users to find what is most important to them, Microsoft has made it possible for business owners to customize it with live tiles of the most commonly used apps and business software. “Small business users will find what they use most on that start screen,” says Madlener. “The things they want they can get to more quickly.”
Touch also comes into play when configuring the PC. Whether it’s adding a printer, scanner or other device, that can all be done by the touch of a finger, which Madlener says makes it much easier to accomplish.
Since touch is a very mobile type attribute, it’s not surprising that Windows 8 comes with its own app store, which can be found in a tile on the start screen. There users can access business and entertainment apps either by clicking or touching the screen. “We’ve taken a lot of the learning we’ve done with the Windows phone operating system and brought it into the PC,” says Madlener.
Continuing what appears to be a push to make the PC more mobile phone like, Windows 8 also has more technology found in smartphones built in -- like GPS and support for 3G and 4G mobile broadband. With Windows 8 the PC has “connectivity freedom ala the phone,” says Madlener. Small business owners may find the metering feature particularly useful because with it they can track how much data they use so they aren’t hit with a large data bill.
Anyone who owns a PC knows that security can be a problem. It could be a death sentence for a small business if their computer is hacked and their data is compromised. With PCs becoming more mobile, the chance that one is lost or stolen increases. Microsoft went to great lengths with Windows 8 to prevent data from being accessed when a business owner loses it.
For instance, Windows 8 has built in picture password security. Utilizing the touch technology, the user would lock the screen with a photo and a three touch sequence password. The photo may be a picture of the family cat and the first sequence could be drawing a circle around the cat’s tail, while the second sequence could be a square around the entire cat and the third touch may be a circle around its head. According to Madlener doing it this way gives small business users a “very secure” way to protect vital data.
Windows 8 also has technology embedded in it called Trusted Boot that will interact with the hardware to ensure there are no viruses or malware before the computer is booted up. Madlener says this is important to small business owners because recent research commissioned by Microsoft shows that close to two out of three small businesses have experienced damaging virus and malware infiltration. Not to mention small businesses are coveted targets for hackers and scammers.


text:
India’s fast-rising global hotel brand OYO has announced the launch of OYO Near You, featuring house parties, wine tastings, comedy shows, workshops and more.
Launching in the coming months, OYO Near You aims to provide curated experiences for guests in cities such as Bengaluru, Goa, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune. It’s a new initiative in which according to OYO, will allow guests “to break away from the monotony of routines and clichés”.
Catering to travellers looking to experience the local neighbourhood, the experiences range from wine tastings, house parties, comedy shows, live performances, movie screenings, workshops to art jamborees with food and beverages at different OYO properties.
Artists performing at these events include Anubhuv Bassi, Indie Trigg, Muzikophilers, DJ AJ, Rotten Guitars, Inder Sahani, Gourav Mahna, Tafri Band, and DJ LILT.
“We take immense pride in introducing new categories”
Commenting on the launch, Ankit Tandon, chief operating officer, operated business, OYO Hotels & Homes, said: “We are really excited to launch OYO Near You. As a brand with a mission to create quality living spaces and make it accessible and affordable for millions of our customers, we take immense pride in introducing new categories to suit our customers in and around their own neighbourhoods.
“Over the last couple of years, there has been a rapid shift in the way we travel and experience things – today one doesn’t want to just see monuments but get a flavour of the local culture by getting down to actually experience local cuisine, music, etc.”
With the launch in Delhi and NCR – OYO Near You events will be held in GK1, GK2, New Friends Colony, Sector 15 Gurgaon, South City 1 Gurgaon and Sector 47 Gurgaon. The events are priced around INR 299 with complimentary beverages and access to food stalls included.
Comments are closed.


text:
A new report from Juniper Research has found that annual revenues from mobile augmented reality (AR) services and applications will reach $1.2 billion by 2015, up from just over $180 million last year.
The report, Mobile Augmented Reality: Smartphones, Tablets and Smart Glasses 2013-2018, found that games (which accounted for more than 40% of AR downloads in 2013) will continue to deliver the largest revenue stream for the foreseeable future.
However, it observed that with AR increasingly deployed within mainstream lifestyle, enterprise and general entertainment applications, each of these sectors should achieve annual mobile AR revenues in excess of $1 billion within five-to-six years.
According to the report, consumer adoption of AR applications was being increasingly fuelled by the wider engagement of brands and retailers with mobile channels over the past 12-to-18 months. With mobile now recognised as a primary engagement channel, brands such as Unilever, Nestle and Heinz have identified AR as a key means of enhancing and increasing engagement within campaigns.
It also highlighted the fact that, while revenues would primarily be driven via smartphones, there was considerable potential for AR app monetisation through smart wearables: Google Glass will be launched later this year, while Samsung is rumoured to be showcasing its own smart glasses before the end of 2014.
However, the report cautioned that AR stakeholders needed to continue to increase consumer awareness of the technology, while the prospect remained for the introduction of legislation constraining or even prohibiting certain applications of AR on safety, privacy and libel grounds.


text:
April 13, 2016
An International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) report points out that 20 million Americans, and 20 percent of the world’s population, still pirate music. Now, the IFPI will soon join the record labels’ trade group the RIAA in complaining that YouTube doesn’t pay a fair price for the music it gives away for free. At the same time, Universal Music Group, Sony and Warner Music Group are about to renegotiate their contracts with YouTube, and they say the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hurts their bargaining power.
Re/code interviewed RIAA head Cary Sherman to “explain his industry’s beef with both the DMCA and with YouTube.” He revealed that a Copyright Office study is now underway to see if the DMCA “is actually effective and fulfilling its intended purpose.”
“It has given us an opportunity for the community to collect our thoughts about just how dysfunctional the DMCA actually is,” said Sherman. “And to actually tell the government about it.”
Sherman, noting that the DMCA was written in 1998, says the Internet of 2016 is “dramatically different” and that “it’s time to take a fresh look at whether the balance that was struck in 1998 is effective in 2016.” The answer, says Sherman and his colleagues, is “clearly no,” because while Silicon Valley companies have a market cap “worth gazillions of dollars,” the creative industries are now half the size they were and not growing.
“For the music industry, 70 percent of revenues now come from digital,” he said. “We’ve licensed every different kind of model, but the revenues just aren’t coming in.”
In addition to piracy, under-monetization, by which “some companies get the benefit of being able to distribute our content, without taking fair market value kind of licenses,” is another ongoing problem. Sherman argues that “safe harbor” is too “expansively interpreted” to “get the value across platforms that you should.” The burden is on the labels to find every copyright infringement, says Sherman, and when they’re taken down, they’re “immediately put right back up.”
“You can never get all the songs off the system,” he explained. “If you had a filtering system that prevented it from going back up, we wouldn’t have to be sending hundreds of millions of notices on the same content over and over again.”
The Verge notes that, despite how successful streaming music services such as Spotify and Apple Music have become, piracy could make a comeback because “streaming service exclusives and complete artist opt-outs make it impossible to get all music in one place.”
Two new singles from Drake are only available on Apple Music, and Kanye West’s new album is only on Tidal. The latter finally arrived at Spotify, but only “after an estimated 500,000 people had already torrented it.” Although exclusives do help to introduce potential subscribers to a service, “it’s assumed that most won’t stick around.” The costs of subscribing to Apple Music, Tidal and Spotify costs $360 a year, notes The Verge, and “the dream of streaming all the music in the world won’t last long if it becomes just another expensive patchwork of barriers.”
Music Industry Frets Over YouTube Despite Streaming Revenue Boost, The Wall Street Journal, 4/12/16


text:
Next Volkswagen e-up to get battery boost
Volkswagen has announced the next VW e-up electric city car will get a more advanced battery that’ll allow up to 260km of range and an 80% recharge in just 60 minutes (via a 40kW charger).
With the claim that it is “making electric mobility affordable for everyone”, it’ll unveil the new e-Up alongside its all-new ID.3 at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show.
Battery capacity has risen from 18.7 kWh to 32.3 kWh, resulting in up to 160 miles of travel between charges – a significant rise over the current car’s 99-mile range.
Aiming its updated e-up at city dwellers and commuters, exact UK price and specs are to be confirmed, but in Germany the e-up will be available to lease from only €159 per month (excluding extra charges).


text:
To many — Donald Trump and a few other politicians notwithstanding — it may look like Apple is taking the moral high ground and doing the right thing — standing up for the privacy of its customers over the desires of the government.
That may be true. But make no mistake — this stance is also good for Apple's bottom line.
It distances Apple from Google, its biggest competitor:
Back in 2014, a few days after Apple announced the iPhone 6, Apple CEO Tim Cook went on Charlie Rose's show for an uncharacteristically long interview.
Rose asked Cook about Apple's biggest competitor, and Cook said it was Google. Google makes Android, the software that most smartphones around the world use.
"...when I think of competitor, I would think of Google much above everyone else," Cook told Rose.
Cook went on to explain that Apple is in a different business than companies that collect data about their customers, which is, of course, what Google's business is built on.
"Our business is not based on having information about you," Cook told Rose. "You’re not our product. Our product are these [the iPhone], and this watch, and Macs and so forth. And so we run a very different company."
Google is in the advertising business — the company, which is now part of the holding company Alphabet, makes the vast majority of its revenue from advertising. And the more it knows about you — what you watch on YouTube, what music you stream, where you go in Google Maps, what subjects you email about, what's in your photos, and more, the better it can target advertising to you.
Cook kept not-so-subtly digging at Google (emphasis is ours):
I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they’re making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried. And you should really understand what’s happening to that data.
And companies I think should be very transparent about it. From our point of view, you can see what we’re doing on the credit card thing. We don’t want it. We’re not in that business. I’m offended by lots of it. And so, I think people have a right to privacy.Cook's interview on Charlie Rose took place only a few weeks after the embarrassing iCloud hack, when nude photos of celebrities were stolen and leaked online, so Cook was still doing damage control, ensuring customers that their data and photos would be safe on Apple devices.
But Apple, and especially Cook, has continued with this narrative. In June, when he was honored at an event for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a nonprofit focused on privacy and civil liberties issues, Cook again outlined the philosophical differences between Apple and Google:
“We believe the customer should be in control of their own information," he said, according to TechCrunch. "You might like these so-called free services, but we don’t think they’re worth having your email, your search history and now even your family photos data mined and sold off for god knows what advertising purpose. And we think some day, customers will see this for what it is.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, Edward Snowden, who we can credit with bringing the issue of government surveillance to the consciousness of the American people and the world, highlighted the difference in approaches between Google and Apple:
—Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 17, 2016
Cook's stance makes Apple products more appealing to businesses:
Apple is making a huge push into the business, or enterprise, market. It launched a high profile partnership with IBM about a year and a half ago.
Ensuring that valuable information is safe from corporate espionage and snooping is essential in its sales pitch to corporations.
It also makes Apple's products more appealing to people who live outside of the US:
Apple has a duty to protect its customers from cybercriminals and hackers. But it also needs to protect its customers from the prying eyes of their own governments, and that's a bigger issue in some places than in others.
Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, is Apple's second biggest market behind North and South America. In the last quarter, Apple brought in more than $18 billion in revenue from the region. Tim Cook said in October that the region will become "Apple’s top market in the world," Apple sold more iPhones in China than it did in the US during the first quarter of the year in 2015.
The Chinese government censors the internet and is known to monitor communication, so it's in Apple's best interest to communicate to potential customers that it safeguards what they do on their phones.
It's unclear what, if anything, Apple has shared with the Chinese government. As Quartz's Joon Ian Wong wrote on Wednesday, there were reports last year that Apple agreed to a security audit with the Chinese official in charge of internet policy. Apple did not return an immediate request for comment on what it has shared with officials in China.
But the bottom line is this: Apple's stance against the FBI may make sense from a moral standpoint, and Cook and his colleagues may believe in it, but it's also a calculated business move to keep customers coming back to the iPhone.


text:
Premier Inn has revealed it achieved record incremental sales towards the end of last year, following a focused search strategy being implemented with digital performance marketing specialists Found (previously known as Artemis8).Read More
Cheapest-in-stock.co.uk goes live this week in time for the Christmas shopping frenzy and is aimed at consumers who have already identified their chosen product and simply want to obtain the best price across the entire web.Read More
Consumers spent a record £102 million online on Christmas Day 2008, a figure that is set to rocket this year as shoppers turn to the web in search of bargains. As Santa Claus prepares to load up his sleigh, Revolution takes a wholly pragmatic look at what brands and retailers will be doing to part consumers with their hand-earned cash over the festive season.Read More
New Media Age – Letter to the Editor
Digital relationship marketing is vital when purse strings need to be tightened. Winning online is about relationships between clients and their key digital agencies.


text:
Local business owners look forward to hiring and growing, proving more confident in the future than their national peers, according to a first-of-its-kind survey by UC's Carl H. Linder College of Business and the
Goering Center for Family and Private Business
, launched the Greater Cincinnati Family Business Survey (GCFB).
The study was sent to more than 900 local businesses to gage their opinions on the economy and the future. It mirrors the National Federation of Independent Businesses, but adds a local focus. After comparing the local findings to the broader study done by the NFIB, Cincinnati businesses owners expected higher sales and earnings and favored the prospect of expansion.
“For a long time, I thought it would be interesting to do a study on the family businesses in the area.” says Sid Barton, executive founder of the Goering Center. “You can get national surveys and indications of large companies, but there wasn’t anything focused on local businesses.”
Barton knows the results aren’t the most reliable because of the sample size of 200, but he plans on conducting the survey each quarter to grow the sample size until it is large enough to break apart into specific business types. Barton would also like to measure the accuracy of business owners' projections.
“Our intention is to get as much promotion as we can,” Barton says. “We think this can really tell us about the economic landscape. We also want to see how good business owners are at predicting future growth.”
Barton says a main focus was employment expansion in the area.
“Most of the employment over the past decade has come from private business,” Barton says. “It hasn’t come from the large firms, because those are slowly becoming smaller.”
By Evan Wallis


text:
Twitter is believed to make a move from being just an update sharing platform to a more conversational one while it tests two new features - Twitter online status indicator and reply threading.
Everybody wants to know if their acquaintances are online while they are - and that’s why the move. Also, threaded replies are the most sorted and noted ones on any social media platform. Sara Haider, Head of Product, Twitter tweeted about the development which was retweeted by the company’s founder Jack Dorsey.
hey Twitter. we've been playing with some rough features to make it feel more conversational here. presence and reply threading. still early and iterating on these ideas. thoughts? pic.twitter.com/3U3NvpHWPy— Sara Haider (@pandemona) August 31, 2018
The threaded replies show messages as color-coded tweets. To prevent someone with bad intentions misusing the online status indicator feature, Haider stated that it will be built in such a way wherein the user will have full control over it, he/she can opt-in and also can switch it off if they change their mind.
One could say that Twitter is taking notes from Facebook's UI strategy. It will be interesting to see how this works out for the micro-blogging platform, which has been focusing on making changes on various fronts this year.


text:
Women's March Kern County wants those who pre-ordered merchandise to know that it'll be ready for pick up this Saturday.
Women's March Kern County tweeted on Thursday that shirts and hoodies will be available for pick up at The Hens Roost at 1916 G Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Women’s March shirts & hoodies are ready! If you pre-ordered your merch, you can pick it up this Saturday at The Hens Roost from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. pic.twitter.com/RmUvlfIoPD
— Women’s March Kern (@WomensMarchKern) February 8, 2018


text:
| Nov 11, 2013
| 5:20 AM
Anybody can pull out plastic if they're trying to load up the holiday sleigh. But what are some really creative ways to maybe raise extra holiday cash and save a little extra money to avoid going into debt?
Kristi Kelly, 55, is hoping to earn maybe...
| Nov 1, 2013
| 12:52 PM
The next time you open your Instagram app, there's a good chance you'll see the social network's first ad.
An ad for a watch from fashion brand Michael Kors is slated to display on U.S. Instagram users' feeds on Friday, regardless of whether they follow...
| Nov 7, 2013
| 8:30 PM
With some 175 comedians lined up to perform across more than 50 shows, the New York Comedy Festival is all about funny business. But its impact is no laughing matter.
That Kevin Hart standup pic -- "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain," the one that grossed...
| Nov 7, 2013
| 1:04 PM
Who’s the man… of 2013?
More than 100,000 online voters answered that very question on AskMen.com, a leading men’s lifestyle website, which ranks the 49 most influential men in the world each year based on the votes of their viewers....
| Nov 14, 2013
| 8:31 PM
This article originally ran in print on March 7, 2012.
The international group of computer hackers known as Anonymous lost some of its mystery Tuesday with the arrest of five men, including a 27-year-old Chicagoan, said to be connected to a clique of...
| Nov 5, 2013
| 12:55 PM
Join Wine Lovers of Connecticut, host of many overseas wine tours, as they bring the wines to you this Thursday night. Carmine's Tuscan Grill on Whalley Avenue in New Haven hosts a wine dinner where participants will learn about what they're drinking...
| Sep 12, 2013
| 12:01 PM
Bill Gates has made it his mission to tackle malaria, sanitation in developing countries, better education programs, and now he's turned his attention to food. The Microsoft billionaire is tackling world hunger, and he's doing it with a faux egg powder --...
| Sep 17, 2013
| 6:00 AM
Despite the growth of Netflix, Amazon.com and other legal channels for watching entertainment online, the volume of pirated movies, TV shows, music, books and video games online continues to grow at a rapid pace.
The amount of bandwidth used for...
| Oct 18, 2013
| 11:19 AM
Los Angeles billionaire Elon Musk secretly purchased the amphibious sports car that appeared as a movie prop in a 1970s James Bond film with the intention of converting it into the real thing.
Musk, chief executive of electric car company Tesla Motors...
| Oct 18, 2013
| 1:40 PM
Apple's next media event is just a few days away, and the tech giant is expected to announce new iPads. That means now is the time to sell your old iPad before it loses a lot of its value.
The Cupertino company will make its announcement Tuesday in...
| Oct 20, 2013
Within a few months in 2001, Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky's net worth had soared from zero to $70 million and then plummeted back to zero again.
"People were knocking on my door late at night with subpoenas and lawsuits," Lefkofsky said. "I found myself...
| Oct 12, 2013
| 9:31 PM
John Foley is beyond exasperated about the meltdowns plaguing HealthCare.gov, the federal Obamacare enrollment website that Floridians must use.
"I'm stunned — I just don't know what to say," Foley, a supervising attorney for the Legal Aid Society...


text:
Messi Partners with EA Sports for Kids
Last week, soccer star Lionel Messi become the first player to net five goals in a Champions League game, a pretty impressive accomplishment on its own, earning him ‘best player ever’ chit-chat from the soccer world.
Even more impressive is the fact that the Barcelona player-via his Foundation- has joined forces with EA Sports to rebuild a popular street soccer pitch located in the Bon Pastor neighborhood of Barcelona.
“Football has brought me so much joy, and this new street football pitch will hopefully bring that same joy to children across Barcelona,” said Messi. “EA SPORTS shares my passion for helping the dreams of children come true, and I thank them for bringing this new project to life.”
The spot has been in disrepair for years and will be given a new state-of-the-art surface, side boards, goals, etc thereby ‘creating a high-quality and safe environment for the youth’ of Barcelona to enjoy.
“Our partnership with the Leo Messi Foundation is fundamental to our relationship with the world’s undisputed greatest footballer, and this pitch refurbishment is a great first project in that partnership,” said Jon Rosenblatt, Senior Director of Marketing, EA SPORTS. “We can’t wait to see the kids of Barcelona enjoying the new pitch and expressing their love of football in a safe and quality environment.”
The pitch refurbishment project is funded by EA SPORTS and the Leo Messi Foundation. In November of last year, EA SPORTS announced a multi-faceted partnership that will see Messi become an EA SPORTS Football Ambassador. EA SPORTS is teaming up with the Leo Messi Foundation to support social, educational and health care related initiatives for children around the world. Messi will also be the cornerstone of marketing and advertising campaigns, featured on packaging, and utilized in social media activities around the world for the critically acclaimed FIFA franchise.
As always, thanks for reading~
*Note: Athlebrities™ is NOT associated with E! Entertainment Television’s on-line ‘sports’ section. Their use of my legally protected company name is without my consent and constitutes an on-going, well-documented theft of my intellectual property.