text:
The Council of Ministers approves on Tuesday the draft law that will oblige restaurants to inform customers that they can take leftovers with them, according to EL PAÍS.
Spanish households throw away 1,364 million kilos of food every year, an average of 31 kg per person, according to 2020 data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Therefore, the Spanish government is seeking for alternatives to reduce and prevent food loss and wastage in the country. Since this is becoming a greater issue.
Among the measures introduced by this regulation is the obligation for all agents in the food chain to draw up a prevention plan to avoid waste. It also includes sanctions for bars, restaurants and supermarkets that do not comply with this legislation, according to EL PAÍS.
These prevention plans must prioritise the use of food before it reaches the landfill. The priority, the ministry explains, should be human consumption through donation to organisations such as food banks. Companies will be obliged to sign agreements with the receiving organisations specifying the conditions for collection, storage and transport. The ministry stresses the importance of traceability of donated food: it must be possible to know where each food comes from.
The SISTERS strategy aims to contribute to this cause by implementing five innovative strategies, one at each stage of the food chain, to systemically address the challenges regarding food loss and waste understanding their dynamics and maximizing the uptake of solutions:
For further information about the news, please visit this article.


text:
Analysts are predicting the Smart Home market to be worth more than $43 billion by 2022. While millions of consumers have already taken the plunge into the Smart Home world, others are waiting for something spectacular and unique. For those consumers, who have already invested in Smart devices, you may want to consider enhancing your home network with the Knocki Remote Control.
Knocki Remote Control
Most people rely on their smartphone to manage their Smart devices. While this works well for most, it may cause some confusion for those that utilize their phone for work. The Knocki offers a simplistic way to control a wide range of Smart gadgets. The device can be installed on a wall or utilized as a portable remote control.
The set up process is as simple as removing Knocki from the shipping box, syncing with the Wi-Fi home network, and downloading the accompanied app, which is available for both iOS and Android device.
Knocki is integrated with patent-pending technology that detects touch gestures. This technology utilizes non-acoustic sensors that are able to distinguish knock patterns from random vibrations in the environment. This will eliminate false triggers, which is a common problem for voiced-automated devices.
Once the set up process is complete, the user will need to access the app, select a surface to attach it to and the define Knocki’s functions. By tapping a unique pattern, users will be able to unlock their Smart Lock, locate their smartphone, switch on a lamp or brew a cup of coffee. The device utilizes Wi-Fi, so users can control their connected gadgets from anywhere.
Supported Smart Home Devices For Knocki
Knocki supports a wide range of third-party devices including:
- WeMo – WeMo Coffeemaker, WeMo Switch and WeMo Lighting
- Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Cam and Nest Protect
- Philips Hue
- D-Link Smart Plug
- Google Calendar and Google Mail
- Post HTTP (WAN/LAN)
- Facebook and Twitter
- SMS Messaging
More third-party integrations are expected in the near future. Knocki was featured on Indiegogo, where it raised $1,207,930 in pay for the design and production costs. The device was showcased at CES 2017 and drew a lot of attention from spectators. Consumers can preorder the Knocki Remote Control today, by visiting the company’s official website. The shipping date is scheduled for June 2017.
In the meantime, please feel free to check out other Smart Remote Control brands on Amazon.

domain: news


text:
Darya is a crypto enthusiast who strongly believes in the future of blockchain. Being a hospitality professional, she is interested in finding the ways blockchain can change different industries and bring our life to a different level.
Shanghai Disneyland has reopened after China declared reopening its economy after the pandemic. In the upcoming week, Disney will gradually get back to welcoming visitors to other resorts. DIS stock is in the red.
After three and a half months of coronavirus shutdown, Shanghai Disneyland reopened. Being the first of six major The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) resorts to get back to business, Shanghai Disneyland will keep strict safety measures to prevent the coronavirus spread.
Visitors of Shanghai Disneyland have to wear masks, use disinfectants, keep social distance, and have their temperatures checked on the entrance. At first, not all of the attractions will open. Besides, Disney has limited the number of visitors allowed. Normally, the park has a capacity of 80,000 people and 12,000 cast members. But for now, the government has allowed about 30%, or 24,000 a day. Each week, Disney will increase this capacity by 5,000 people.
Bob Chapek, CEO of Shanghai Disneyland, commented:
“We’re going to actually open up far below that just to have our training wheels on with our new procedures and processes to make sure we don’t have any lines backing up, either as guests enter into the park or as they wade through the park. So we’re going to approach that very, very slowly, but after a few weeks we’ll actually be up to what the government’s guideline is.”
Shanghai Disneyland has also reduced ticket sales. Visitors need to make advance reservations and download a smartphone app issued by the Shanghai city government that tracks their health. At the entrance, they have to show the government identification that confirms they are healthy.
For this week, all the tickets have been sold out in a few hours.
Joe Schott, the president of Shanghai Disney Resort, said:
“We hope that today’s reopening serves as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone.”
Shanghai Disneyland has reopened after China declared reopening its economy after the pandemic. In the upcoming week, Disney will gradually get back to welcoming visitors to other resorts.
Disney (DIS) Stock Down even after Shanghai Disneyland Reopened
The good news has not had a positive impact on Disney (DIS) stock. Yesterday, Disney shares dropped by 1.27% and closed at $107.77. After hours, Disney stock declined by another 0.19%, to $107.57. Currently, in the pre-market, it is 0.61% down, at $107.11 per share.
This year is not the best for Disney stock. After the coronavirus outbreak, it started plummeting, reaching the lowest point of $85.76 in March. Since then, Disney stock has slightly rebounded. However, it is still 25.49% down this year and its results for the fiscal second quarter of 2020 are also little to boast about. Largely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the company underperformed the Wal Street expectations.


text:
WaBetaInfo claims that this new feature would enable users to password-protect the desktop version of the app.
The screen lock option was previously only available to Android and iOS beta users, but WhatsApp is currently working on a fix to make it available to PC beta users as well.
As seen in the above screenshot, users will be required to provide a password each time they launch the application. For those whose computers are shared, this is helpful.
The WhatsApp news tracker stated: “Note that using this feature is optional and likely, the user will have more control over it by choosing when the app should demand the password.”
Additionally, because the password is always saved locally, WhatsApp won’t know it. If a user forgets or loses their password, they will need to log out of the app and re-log in to the desktop by scanning a QR code on their mobile device.
This feature is not available as of yet as it is still being developed. It will be released in a future update.
“As additional news, WhatsApp may also implement a feature that lets users lock the app by using Touch ID on a Mac when a fingerprint sensor is available,” it added.


text:
According to Keefe Bank, Bruyette & Woods analysts, digital payment platform Square Inc. (SQ) has been upgraded. The Square ecosystem is expanding rapidly, and experts praise the SQ stock’s efforts to broaden its connectivity.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’s latest investment report indicates that Square is presently valued “above the market” and its price target has risen to $250. Experts say its advantage is a growing ecosystem centered on the popular platforms known as Seller and Cash App. They now provide a wide range of tools for carrying out financial and other transactions. For instance, using the Seller app, stores can run the store’s administrative activities as well, such as processing payments, creating online storefronts, managing social networks, scheduling work, paying salaries, and handling other tasks required to run a business.
Additionally, Cash App is being used for obtaining financial services, from paying bills to investing in securities and digital currencies.
Despite its recent acquisitions, Square Inc.’s (SQ) position is expected to strengthen as a consequence of Credit Karma Tax and Tidal. Square will have many options for social commerce, such as Tidal’s music platform.
In an increasingly digital world, Square helps its consumers to adapt quickly, so the SQ stock continues growing rapidly. Meanwhile, payment services are being expanded by new customers as well as by the growth of the existing ones. This will result in greater value for each subscriber as customers become increasingly affected by services provided by the application ecosystem.
Moving on to the past performance of Square Inc. (SQ), we will explore various trends for SQ. SQ’s stock rose by 10.09% over the one week and retreated by -2.00% over the past one-month period. SQ stock price increased by 3.83% during the last quarter. Over the last six months, the stock has increased 41.19%, with a full-year gain of 390.30%. This stock’s year-to-date (YTD) price performance is positive at 5.45%.


text:
Costco Gouda Cheese Recall Issued Due to E. Coli Food Poisoning Risk
A recall has been issued for Dutch-style Gouda cheese sold primarily by Costco in western states, after an outbreak of E. coli has sickened at least 37 people and sparked three food poisoning lawsuits.
The Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda cheese recall was announced last week by the FDA after the cheese was tied to the cases of E. coli O157:H7 after a Costco “Cheese Road Show.”
The food poisoning cases have been reported in five states and there has been at least one case of kidney failure reported. Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico have all reported illnesses linked to the cheese E. coli outbreak, but the majority of cases (19) have been in Arizona.
Did You Know?
Millions of Philips CPAP Machines Recalled
Philips DreamStation, CPAP and BiPAP machines sold in recent years may pose a risk of cancer, lung damage and other injuries.Learn More
Three E. coli lawsuits have been filed against Bravo Farms Cheeses, LLC. All of the victims, residents of Phoenix, Arizona, ate the cheese at the Costco “Cheese Road Show,” and health inspectors have found the corresponding strain of E. coli O157:H7 in both unopened packages at Costco and in opened packages in at least two victims’ homes.
E. coli O157:H7 is one of the more common causes of food poisoning in the United States. When left untreated, it can lead to dehydration and potentially life-threatening illness. While most healthy adults recover from food poisoning caused by E. coli within a few weeks, young children and the elderly could be at risk for more severe illness. If the toxin enters the blood stream, E. coli could also lead to kidney failure known as Hemolytic-Urenia Syndrome (HUS), which has been reported in at least one outbreak victim.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that there are about 76 million cases of food-related illnesses reported every year, with more than 300,000 people hospitalized and 5,000 deaths.
The cheese recall affects all Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda cheese. It was sold in Costco stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico in 1.5-pound pieces and sold by some California retailers in 8-ounce pieces.
In addition to the Gouda recall, a recall of Mauri Gorgonzola Cheese, sold exclusively at Colorado Costco stores, has also been announced by the FDA. Colorado health inspectors discovered that an unopened package of the gorgonzola cheese was contaminated with a strain of E. coli during a search for the cheese that caused the food poisoning outbreak.
Mauri Gorgonzola was also distributed at the “Cheese Road Show” but there have been no illnesses or injuries associated with that product. That recall affects all Mauri Gorgonzola cheese sold at Colorado Costco stores with sell by dates of January 13, 2011, and January 14, 2011. The cheese was sold in wedges weighing approximately one pound and wrapped in clear plastic. A white sticker on the package will have “DISTRIBUTED BY DPI Specialty Foods Tualatin, OR, ITALY” with the sell by dates and a Costco item number of 34449.
Any consumers who have purchased either cheese should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.
"*" indicates required fields
More Top Stories
Defendants want to divide the discovery process to focus on the causal links between hair relaxers and cancer.
The FDA has announced it has received 106,000 medical device reports linked to recalled Philips CPAP devices, including nearly 400 deaths.
The U.S. JPML has consolidated all Tepezza lawsuits over hearing loss before one Northern Illinois federal judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings.


text:
A press release is a short, compelling news story written by a public relations professional and sent to targeted members of the media. The goal of a press release is to pique the interest of a journalist or publication. The press release should contain all the essential information (who? what? where? when? how? and most importantly why?) for the journalist to easily produce his own story.
The Small Business Encyclopedia defines press releases — also known as news releases — as “brief, printed statements that outline the major facts of a news story in journalistic style” [source: Answers.com]. A press release should read like a news story, written in third-person, citing quotes and sources and containing standard press release information.
The standard press release begins with contact information, mostly likely the name, phone number and e-mail address of the person who wrote the release. Then comes the headline, arguably the most important four or five words in the whole press release. The headline will be what the journalist reads first. If it’s not intriguing, newsworthy and unique, he’ll read no further.
Below the headline often comes a brief, one-line summary of the press release [source: PR Leap Blog]. Like the headline, the summary should draw the reader in quickly and motivate them to learn more.
Since a press release is supposed to look and feel like a story in a newspaper, it’s important to include a location and date stamp at the beginning of the first paragraph. Something like, “Palo Alto, CA – February 5, 2007.” Like a standard news story, the first sentence, or lede, should summarize the main news of the press release in 25 words or less [source: Concept Marketing Group].
The rest of the body of the press release should answer all of the questions a journalist might have about the product, service or event that you’re announcing. Although a press release is a public relations tool, it should not read as overly promotional [source: Concept Marketing Group]. If it sounds too much like a sales pitch, it will lose credibility in the eyes of the journalist.


text:
by Ben Shepherd, Investing Daily
There’s little room for debate as to whether China’s economy is growing, since June’s trade report was released earlier this week. Exports fell by 3.1 percent from a year earlier and imports declined by 0.7 percent.
At the same time, the Japanese yen remains weak vis-à-vis the Chinese renminbi, so Japanese-made goods currently command a significant price advantage in the global market place, denting demand for Chinese-made goods.
Chinese goods have become more expensive in Japan, one of China’s three largest trading partners, knocking exports to Japan down by 5.1 percent. The yen has depreciated by more than 20 percent versus the renminbi over the past several months.
Exports to the European Union are still at stall speed, falling 3 percent in the first quarter of the year, then 8.3 percent in the second. Inexpensive consumer goods produced in Eastern Europe not only have a production cost advantage, transportation costs are also much lower giving them an extra edge. As the region remains mired in recession, production and transportation costs are a critical consideration for European businesses.
Exports to the US also declined by 5.4 percent, which we find a bit perplexing since Bernanke & Co. continue to proclaim that our recovery is on track.
The slipping export numbers bear some concern, since they signal the potential for a dip in employment, particularly for migrant factory workers who are a crucial source of funding for China’s more rural regions. However, we don’t find it particularly troubling.
Even Chinese manufacturers that have proven capable of blistering growth can’t create demand out of thin air. Moreover, after the recent disasters in Bangladesh that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of sweatshop workers, the European Union has been more aggressive enforcing standards aimed at ensuring the region’s companies only trade with partners that have due concern for worker safety and don’t use banned chemicals in manufacturing processes. That’s a tough certification process for many Chinese manufacturers to successfully navigate.
The slow down also lends credence to the Chinese government’s aim to rebalance the country’s economy and shift it away from a dependence on exports to more domestically focused, service-oriented activity.
Unfortunately, other emerging market nations only account for about 15 percent of Chinese exports. The Big Three — Japan, the US and the EU — remain China’s largest trading partners. Still, that’s a great indication that domestic demand in many other emerging market nations is holding up well, even as demand for natural resources is slackening. For China, that’s another tick mark in the column for economic maturity.
What we do find troubling, though, is the 0.7 percent decline in China’s June imports. That’s a solid indication that domestic demand and consumption are becoming increasingly sluggish, a bad sign for the country’s economy. Even crude oil imports fell in the first half of 2013, the first such contraction since 2009.
Nonetheless, bright spots emerged in the export data, as demand picked up from Brazil, South Africa and even India, a country suffering from growing tensions with China. Exports to other ASEAN countries also showed particular strength.
Another positive sign for the Chinese economy is that copper imports hit a nine-month high last month, signaling an acceleration in global economic activity. It’s likely that some of that growth was due to arbitrage trades — copper in Shanghai traded at a premium to that in London for much of the month, making it cheaper to import the metal than buy it domestically. However, copper supply has been tightening in recent months, as the industry works through its stockpiles.
The Chinese government also recently implemented restrictions on copper financing deals in a move to curb dubious trading and capital flows. Consequently, the increased buying should be directly related to legitimate business, another potential positive sign for the economy.
So while China’s economy is clearly slowing, it’s still not down for the count. The most recent data also underscored some bright spots in other parts of the world.


text:
Two weeks ago we commented on the anticipated introduction of age verification controls on porn sites which were due to come into force today. It is now understood that the implementation of these controls has been delayed, with some media outlets reporting that an official announcement is expected this week.
These “porn block” controls are contained in the Digital Economy Act 2017 and place age verification obligations on any organisation making porn commercially available online. Once the regulations come into force, organisations will have to satisfy themselves that their users are aged 18 or over. It is expected that in order to do this, users will be required to submit their passport, driving licence or credit card details online, or alternatively, they could purchase a “porn pass” from high street retailers who will verify the age of the individual in person.
At this stage it is expected that these controls will only apply to commercial porn sites, however governmental officials have previously commented that the regulations could apply more widely in future to include social media networks.
Whilst the aim of these regulations is to protect young people from online harm, the plans have come under criticism as, with the exception of the porn pass, they necessitate the collection of personal data which could be prone to hacks or leaks. What is more, for those young people minded to do so, the proposed controls are easy to circumvent.
For now, we await further comment from the government with anticipation. This is something that social media platforms should be keeping an eye on as it is likely to set a precedent for internet safeguarding in the UK.
Online safety is a hot topic for the government at the moment. Read our earlier article which sets out a summary of developments in this area.


text:
About two months ago, McKeever Conwell arrived at the NewME Accelerator in San Francisco, ready to make the social gift-giving company he co-founded, NoBadGift.com, stronger.
But when Conwell arrived, NewME founder Angela Benton had just one question for him: When’s NoBadGift changing its name?
“We’ve been struggling with that for awhile,” Conwell says. “We were comfortable with the name being NoBadGift.”
Apparently not too comfortable, as NoBadGift has rebranded itself as Given.to, and plans to unveil its new website and new brand sometime mid-October. A new site launch then gives Conwell and co-founders Sam Henry and Michael Washington barely two weeks to prepare for NewME Demo Day on Nov. 1.
“[Benton] liked the name Given. Everybody we asked loved Given,” says Conwell. “Universally, everybody said, ‘Yeah, it’s a lot better than NoBadGift.’ ”
When Given formally launches, Conwell and crew will unveil in tandem several new features to their social-gifting platform that weren’t available through NoBadGift:
- As with NoBadGift, users are still able to crowdfund for any product they find on the Internet, and create wish lists of items they’d like to raise money for in order to buy.
- People will now be able to donate money directly to nonprofits, as well as raise money for their own volunteer trips.
- Digital goods, like iPhone apps, will be items people can try to crowdfund for, and users can also use Given to post E-cards on friends’ Facebook walls on their birthdays.
- Experiences, like hot-air balloon rides, scuba diving and skydiving, are now things users can raise money for.
Conwell says that current NoBadGift users will have all their account information transferred over to the new site.
Successfully armed with a new name, Conwell says Given is right now taking “exploratory meetings with investors.” And while he says his “plan is to help build the tech community in Baltimore,” he notes that many of the investors he has met during his time in San Francisco prefer companies they invest in to be located in Silicon Valley.
“They want you close,” he says. “That’s something we’ll have to struggle with. We’ll see.”
On the whole, however, Conwell is excited about the progress he and his co-founders have made during their time at NewME.
“I think people are going to be a little surprised and shocked to see just how much we’ve done in the short period of time we’ve been out here.”
Knowledge is power!
Subscribe for free today and stay up to date with news and tips you need to grow your career and connect with our vibrant tech community.


text:
Amazon (NASDAQ:) stock is offering an interesting risk-reward proposition right now. Shares are going through a bearish spell triggered by the e-tail giant’s Q2 on July 29, which included guidance from Amazon indicating that the Seattle-based company is entering a slow patch.
Amazon Weekly Chart.
Management noted AMZN could find it hard to beat expectations after a year-long boom in online purchases, fuelled by the pandemic-driven buying frenzy. Indeed, so far this year, Amazon has underperformed its peers in the trillion-plus-market-cap club.
Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:) have surged 36%, while Apple (NASDAQ:) stock rose about 15% this year. Meanwhile, Amazon closed Tuesday at $3,470.79, down 9% from its record high in July.
Still, a majority of Wall Street analysts are bullish on the company’s future growth prospects, recommending it to clients and tagging it as a buy.
Of 49 analysts polled by Investing.com, 48 had a buy rating on AMZN, labelling it a stock that will ‘outperform.’ Their consensus 12-month price target shows a 21% surge from where the stock is trading today.
It’s hard to predict how accurate analysts’ bullish estimates will prove in the year ahead, but Amazon’s latest guidance shows that the company could find it hard to beat expectations after a year-long boom in online purchases, fueled by the pandemic-driven buying frenzy.
Indeed, during its second-quarter earnings call in July, Amazon provided a rosy outlook, something that would have satisfied growth-hungry investors. Shareholder focus was on the company’s core e-commerce business, which is indeed slowing, especially at the same time that founder Jeff Bezos has handed over the chief executive role to long-time lieutenant, Brian Olsavsky. In a conference call, the new CEO didn’t mince words regarding the situation, telling analysts the slowdown in sales will continue through the remainder of the year.
Long-Term Growth Story
The e-commerce company’s disappointing outlook came along with revenue that missed estimates for the first time since 2018. Analysts have pared back their expectations in the wake of the report. For Amazon’s current quarter, the average earnings estimate has dropped about 16.5% over the past month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The revenue consensus has fallen by nearly $6.5 billion, or 5.5%, over the same period.
But overwhelmingly positive sentiment among analysts shows that this weakness in one of the best mega-cap stocks is a buying opportunity. Even as growth decelerates from pandemic-era levels, analysts see long-term growth for its online retail and cloud-computing divisions, along with its advertising business, which is currently thriving.
According to Susquehanna analyst Shyam Patil, the stock has a 50% upside from here, and he thinks now is a “great time to buy” shares.
His recent note to clients stated:
“Looking at the two-year compounded annual growth rates, trends are still very strong and we see no reason to be concerned. Ultimately, we continue to see Amazon as a long-term secular grower underpinned by its strong e-commerce, cloud and advertising businesses.”
Susquehanna’s forecast is among the most bullish on Wall Street, but many analysts agree that Amazon continues to remain their preferred e-commerce play despite the recent slackness in growth.
Evercore ISI, which has an “outperform” rating with a $4,200 price target, said in a recent note:
“Our long-term thesis is intact for Amazon….Tactically, AMZN shares may well be range bound near term as investors debate whether AMZN can recover to 20% reported Y/Y revenue growth in 2022. We believe it can, given the size of its TAMs (total addressable market), its new growth initiatives and its execution track record.”
After remaining an underperformer this year, Amazon shares present as a more attractive option among the mega-cap tech behemoths. There is a good likelihood the stock will catch up to its peers, especially as the pandemic continues to rage in many parts of the world, accelerating the ongoing shift to e-commerce and cloud-computing.


text:
The upcoming Olympic Games in London, it should come as no surprise, will see a travel boom the likes of which has never before been seen. London, already the world’s top destination on many accounts, is looking like the toughest ticket in the world soon.
According to Hotels.com, via London Loves Business, just the Russian interest in the Brit capital skyrocketed by over 400% by the latest figures. A press release from the Internet booking giant late last year also suggested not only a possible shortage of supply of rooms, but the corresponding price increases. Alison Couper of Hotels.com, added this in reference to London and sporting event variables in general:
“It is expected that several thousand additional hotel rooms will be available in the city in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. However, despite the extra capacity, we would urge people thinking of coming to the capital next summer to book their accommodation as soon as they can as the demand and prices are likely to soar the closer we get to the event.”
Russians are not the only contingent intend on invading the UK for the 2012 Olympics, according to the Hotels.com data, visitors from South America, particularly Columbia, have shot up by over 200% in recent months. It’s only logical too expect prices for rooms, particularly in central London, to hit the roof by this Summer. That is, if one can find any bed and pillow at all.
For more information about visiting London and accommodations there during the Olympics, we recommend the reader visit the appropriate sections of London 2012. Also, many alternative accommodations can be discovered via the Visit Britain site as well.
London Games image courtesy © MacX – Fotolia.com


text:
Cryptocurrency experts believe that if a large and trusted retailer such as Amazon were to start accepting crypto coins, that would be a substantial and positive step toward legitimizing cryptocurrency among mainstream consumers.
But what if instead of accepting crypto, Amazon decided to create their own virtual coins instead?
Since the retail juggernaut has expanded their brand to include groceries and healthcare, it stands to reason that they may add cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to their ever-expanding brand in the future.
Now, a new LendEDU survey shows that 50% of the participants would be open to using an Amazon-created cryptocurrency.
Among Amazon Prime customers, 60% of those surveyed would use Amazon-issued coins. Many other customers were unsure, while just 22% said that they wouldn’t use an Amazon-based crypto.
The survey found that 45% of Amazon customers also would trust Amazon to handle their banking.
Only 17% of those surveyed said they would not entrust Amazon with their savings and nearly 40% said they would have the same level of trust in Amazon handling their finances as they do with a traditional banking system.
Amazon, the bank
While many customers would also trust Amazon to handle personal loans, they were less responsive to the idea of Amazon handling mortgages.
A new Bain study found that an Amazon bank could easily become the size of Wells Fargo, serving 70 million Americans and avoiding $250 million in credit card fees in the process — if the retailer chose to become a bank.
In fact, retailers do open banks, as well as offering store credit. Walmart began offering checking accounts in 2014, for instance.
To be clear, Amazon has not made any formal announcement that it wants to create its own cryptocurrency or establish a bank at this time.
However, there would be many benefits for Amazon and their customers if the e-commerce giant decided to create its own virtual currency, such as streamlining checkout and lower processing fees.
Additionally, while most cryptocurrencies have to worry about not being accepted by retailers, Amazon would face no such issue. It is the retailer.
Meanwhile, the search phrase “Amazon Bitcoin” is currently entered into Google more than 18,000 times a month. One can only imagine it won’t be long before an Amazon cryptocurrency is real.


text:
HomeSteam Whistle Holiday Food Drive
This year, our Good Beer Folks are partnering with the Daily Bread Food Bank in December to tackle food insecurity.
November 30, 2021Help spread cheer this holiday season!As the holiday season is approaching there are many people living in a state of crisis in the city. “Last year there were 1.45 million food bank visits in Toronto, the highest number ever recorded in the city’s history.”
This year, our Good Beer Folks are partnering with the Daily Bread Food Bank in December to tackle food insecurity. As we are still facing the Covid-19 Pandemic, “new clients accessing Toronto food banks have now outnumbered existing clients.” With food bank visits reaching unprecedented levels, it’s more important than ever to ensure everyone’s right to food is recognized.
Here’s how you can help:
On-Site DonationsWe are accepting food donations at the Steam Whistle Biergarten located at 255 Bremner Blvd.
As all donated food is appreciated, the following food items are most needed at this time:
- Baby food and formula
- Peanut butter
- Canned fish and meat
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Rice, grains, lentils, beans
- Dried pasta
- Pasta sauce and canned tomatoes (whole or crushed)
- Cans of soup and stew
- Powdered, canned and tetra pak milk
Monetary DonationsClick the “DONATE NOW” button to make a gift to Daily Bread and help ensure our neighbours can continue to access food in 2022.
Thank you in advance for your generous support!
Original Source Here


text:
Dogecoin, the popular meme currency turned sixth largest crypto by market cap now has an NFT connection as the iconic face of the meme, the Shiba Inu dog is all set to be auctioned off as an NFT. The meme could fetch in hundreds of thousands of dollars, given its popularity and the ongoing meme NFT trend.
The popular meme would be auctioned off at the NFT auction marketplace Zora and the bidding would start from Tuesday. The meme would be certified by Know Your Meme, the internet meme database.
Don Caldwell, the meme database’s chief editor said,
Having interviewed Atsuko in the past, we were thrilled to be involved in this auction. Doge is indisputably one of the most beloved and iconic memes in internet history, and Atsuko herself is such a lovely person,”
Buy Uniswap (UNI) with up to 50% discount! ->
The proceeds from the auction of the meme photo would be donated to a charity.
NFTs has turned into a rage of the sort this bull market with artists, celebrities, and sports stars all turning towards NFT to auction their popular memorabilia rather than a traditional auction house.
The NFT Meme Era Has Arrived
At the start of the NFT frenzy digital artists, musicians, NFL stars made the most of the NFT’s rising popularity where digital artist Beeple sold his piece for $69 million, while NFL stars fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars. A similar frenzy can be observed around memes now as several popular memes including “Disaster Girl,” “Bad Luck Brian,” “Overly Attached Girlfriend,” and “Success Kid,” have fetched several thousand dollars this NFT season.
Mike Novogratz who recently co-founded candy digital a sports-centered NFT marketplace claimed that NFTs are not even in the first innings of their popularity, and iconic pieces such as the National Anthem would continue to garner value in the NFT market.


text:
The hiring of a new graduate system in Japan is unique in the world. University students often get a job offer one year ahead of graduation. They tend to prefer traditional big companies to venture corporations.
Japanese students make a great effort to get a job offer from popular companies which are trading companies, big financial institutions, the mass media companies, advertising agencies, large manufacturers, foreign investment consulting firms, etc. Most of the students tend to demand stability, and they avoid taking risks.
It is said that the stability orientation of young people causes economic stagnation in Japan for many years. So the Japanese government has been working on coping with this problem. For example, the government offers supporting start-ups and young entrepreneurs. But these supporting measures don’t seem to be going well. I think the government had better change the fundamental recruiting system. Lots of entrepreneurial successes by young people are needed to stimulate the Japanese economy,


text:
As a graphite company, Semco pays a lot of attention to trends in graphite manufacturing. Of great interest to any company in the graphite field is the expected ramp up of electric vehicle production both domestically and internationally. The fastest growing car company in the world exclusively makes electric cars (do we need to say who it is?), and most major auto manufacturers have plans to transform their petrol-burning fleets to electric vehicles. When they begin putting those plans into action (as many already have--see the new electric Ford F-150s, for example), the need for battery components will ramp up, too. All those batteries require important graphite components - graphite anodes. To meet the needs of this massive transition away from fossil-fuel and carbon-emitting vehicles to all-electric ones, battery production is expected to grow each year by 25% over the next decade. Demand for graphite components will follow. The expectation is that graphite will be a highly prized commodity for years to come. The US, while increasing its graphite production during the last few years, still produces just a tiny fraction of the graphite that China produces. In fact, there are virtually no graphite manufacturing facilities of size outside China. As the battery production sector is mostly controlled by China, with a market share of over 80%, it is expected that the Chinese government will restrict exports of graphite, favoring its domestic needs.
The US government has allocated large amounts of funds to be applied in aiding green technologies, especially electric vehicles. The paradox is that some of the raw materials and technologies needed to propel the green revolution are quite polluting. The US thus abandoned the production of these materials and technologies in the late 70’s and 80’s in favor of importing them from China. Now the right balance will have to be achieved for the US to regain some of the domestic manufacturing in critical materials without affecting the effort to green the economy.
Regardless of what happens in the US, it will be years until some of the supply chain issues we are currently experiencing will be alleviated by new capacity being created here domestically. In the meantime, graphite companies and any company doing graphite manufacturing will be trying to buy as much graphite as is available.
If the pandemic had a positive effect on domestic graphite manufacturing, it has been to highlight big issues plaguing a supply chain that is overly dependent on China. The domestic graphite manufacturing sector recognized this problem, and capital is being allocated to mitigate it. Investments in US graphite companies are on the rise, and there is hope in the graphite manufacturing sector that a day will come when we are not reliant on purchasing all raw material from China. As mentioned above, though, the results of these investments will not be felt for years. In the meantime, makers of graphite components, like Semco, are left to navigate a challenging supply landscape.


text:
A database of over 350 million customer records exposed from unsecured Elasticsearch cluster belonging to voice over-internet-protocol company Broadvoice.
The database was uncovered by security researcher Bob Diachenko, on October 1. He observed that the unprotected Elasticsearch cluster contained several information found unprotected.
What are the Data Exposed
An amount of 350 million customer records exposed through that includes caller names, phone numbers, locations.
One of the databases found to contain hundreds of thousands of voicemails, other sensitive information such as medical prescriptions and financial loans.
The database was discovered by Diachenko on October 1, 2020, and the same it was disclosed to Broadvoice and it has been secured by October 4th.
Following are the full list of data exposed
- Full caller name
- Caller identification number
- Phone number
- date of birth
- Caller name (full name, business name, or a generic name such as “wireless caller”)
- Caller phone number
- A name or identifier for the voice mailbox (for example, a first name or general label, such as “clinical staff” or “appointments”)
- Internal identifiers
When the data exposed to the public, there be a choice for unauthorized parties access, if attackers access the data they use them to launch targeted attacks.
Broadvoice said that ” we take data privacy and security seriously. We learned that on October 1st, a security researcher was able to access a subset of b-hive data. The data had been stored in an inadvertently unsecured storage service Sept. 28th and was secured Oct. 2nd”.
Broadvoice is a privately owned company that provides services like telephone services, UCaaS, SIP Trunking, Network, and Security, along with Virtual Call Center solutions to enable business customers to transmit/ receive voice and video communications via a broadband Internet connection or cellular phone.
Regardless of the size of the organization, anyone who uses cloud technology is subject to the risk of unintentional exposure.
Amazon published an article on how to secure the files in my Amazon S3 bucket details the access restrictions.


text:
Galaxy Digital seems to be bullish on Bitcoin and Ethereum, as revealed by the latest data. The blockchain company recently invested heavily in Bitcoin and Ethereum positions amidst the ongoing….
In a recent statement on X, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he believes that Bitcoin might hold the key to support Western civilization’s long-term success. The Coinbase CEO also explained….
Nach einer Pause von fast neun Monaten hat Tesla die Bestellungen für sein Langstreckenmodell 3 wieder aufgenommen. Das Auto tauchte Anfang dieser Woche mit einem starken Preisverfall wieder auf der….
The concept of long and short positions The long and short positions represent opposite strategies that investors and traders use to speculate on the price movements of assets under consideration…..
Mário Centeno slammed cryptocurrencies’ ability to sustain operations and appreciated the EU’s MiCA as a better crypto regulatory framework but demanded international collaboration with that regulation on this sector. Portugal….
A new luxury goods e-commerce startup dubbed Long Story Short has a provocative concept: it’s $1,000 per month to join for the privilege of shopping its curated collection. Shocking as….
XRP is one of the few cryptos that has been in the spotlight for the past few months as many traders wait patiently for XRP to finally go on a….
Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. The catch? You can’t sue him if you get a….
From Salesforce drama to the year of generative AI Apologies to the Grateful Dead, but what a long, strange year it’s been in 2023 enterprise tech news. It began with….


text:
The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that American manufacturing is off to a good start in 2016. The number of new orders for manufactured durable goods in January increased by just over $11 billion to $237.5 billion. This is an increase of nearly 5%, which is the largest increase in the industry since March of last year.
The number of shipments for manufactured durable goods also increased for the second consecutive month. Shipments were up by $4.6 billion.
Transportation equipment was big in both new orders and shipments, and made up a significant part of the growth. Transportation equipment saw an increase of $8.2 billion – or 11.5% – in new orders, and an increase of $4.3 billion – or 5.7% – in shipments.
Needless to say, there are a number of other factors that determine the current state of U.S. manufacturing, but the increased growth in new orders and shipments does indicate that the manufacturing industry is in a strong position.
This is great news considering how integral the success of the manufacturing industry is to the success of the economy. The manufacturing industry’s multiplier effect is typically stronger than that of any other industry.
There is an average of $1.33 in economic activity generated for every dollar that is invested in the manufacturing sector. While a measly $1.33 might not seem like much, the change adds up when you’re dealing with a multi-billion dollar industry. The next closest industries in terms of economic activity are agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting which generates $1.11 for every dollar, followed by transportation and warehousing which generates $1 for every dollar that is spent.
In other words, if manufacturing is doing well, there’s a better chance that our economy is doing well. Of course, manufacturing would be in a pretty sorry state if everyone had busted servos.
Make sure that your machinery is running as well as it should. Give us a call for any of your Indramat repair, service, or maintenance needs.


text:
A new Fruit Israel system will encourage lady to participate the newest high-technology community because of the exposing women and people into the Israeli females engineers who were responsible for probably the most crucial elements in the new iphone 4, MacBook, and Fruit Check out
The fresh new Israeli higher-technology ‘manpower crisis’ features showcased the need to help the icon of specific populations on the highest-technology globe – eg people– particularly for scientific professions, as it’s estimated one to just about a-quarter of all the technical tasks are held by the females.
One of the people seeking to changes this particular fact are Apple, whoever Israeli creativity center has grown to become initiating a new system, for the purpose regarding guaranteeing far more female to join the Israeli high-tech scene ldssingles network. One of almost every other effort, the application is going to do this from the exposing the participants regarding the program so you can Israeli women designers, who happen to be accountable for a few of the organizations essential improvements such while the new iphone as well as the this new M1 processors (being already undergoing getting designed in Israel).
Apple’s the system exists to help you women years 10-18. On step one,100000 ladies throughout the world will meet which have ladies designers who work during the Apple for the Israel, to possess several during the-person an internet-based lectures. On top of other things, the players regarding the program can meet designers on the sphere off Bodily Construction, Design Integration and Verification, Program Technologies, Breadth Feeling, Application Technology and a lot more – each of whom worked tirelessly on breadth webcams, which are made use of because Deal with ID system in the latest iPhones and you will iPads.
Most other engineers who can participate in the application form been employed by with the the Apple’s most significant improvements recently, instance their M1 processors. Think about, this type of processors provides been able to shake-up the notebook and you may desktop sector, because these they have busted a good paradigm by indicating you to definitely impressive show can be achieved which have Arm-created processors, and not simply x86-centered ones.
Additionally, engineers accountable for making correspondence section including the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi embedded on Apple Check out and LiDAR devices to own iPhones and you can iPads will participate in the application. The aforementioned advancements every originated Apple’s look and you will innovation cardiovascular system inside Israel, and that works off 2 sites – Herzliya and you can Haifa – and you may currently utilizes on the step one,800 group.
As part of the system, the fresh new engineers will state its individual stories, about what added these to buy the technological road and you can a great job inside the higher-tech; they are going to express guidelines on how to go a position in the technical and you may show just what it’s want to be an apple personnel in the Israel. In addition, the players may also check out Apple’s stores inside Herzliya and you may Haifa and also be in a position to view a number of the performs techniques and you can be involved in boards and discussions toward engineers. The newest meetings are held in collaboration with colleges, connectivity, and you will groups like ‘Cracking the new Glass Ceiling’, ‘Siraj’ and more.
Ideology plus the plight of highest-top quality group
It is well known one Israel became Apple’s very first lookup and you will invention cardiovascular system beyond your United states inside the 2015, pursuing the their acquisition of Israeli startups Anobit and you will Primesense. Subsequently, the newest Israeli heart has expanded, and also at the same time has taken an even more central place regarding business’s path chart. After last year, it absolutely was stated that Fruit Israel intentions to expand the center when you look at the Herzliya and build a thirty-facts tower, thereby growing ??their R&D center to help you ninety,one hundred thousand rectangular meters (double regarding Microsoft’s the fresh new advancement cardio inside the Herzliya).
Apple will have to generate numerous regional talent, that isn’t always easy, even for a beneficial “sexy” providers such as for instance Fruit since there are a lot of almost every other preferred businesses competing to your ability Microsoft (along with its extension of five brand new centers), Intel (that’s building a mega-university inside Haifa) and Yahoo (that has mainly based another processor invention cardiovascular system). All these technical creatures go for about to battle having an incredibly limited supply of Israeli engineers throughout the fields of methods and you may application and therefore are trying to getting most popular with potential workers– should it be insurance firms all over the world independence and you may holiday accommodation, otherwise by the pampering specialists with luxurious standards. Also, while the history 2 yrs have experienced dozens of the latest unicorns emerging regarding Israeli business environment, for the first time actually there are other enterprises contending having these types of international corporations, which is not likely to improve strive into regional ability any convenient.
Results for ” “
An earlier survey by Feamales in Highest-Technology Relationship discovered that sixty% out of higher-technical females say that the primary reason towards minority away from women in scientific procedures would be the fact out-of a young age, people is conditioned to not ever choose high-technology specialities. Furthermore, nearly three-quarters of females responded that the foremost action that will performed to improve how many women in highest-technology would be to introduce them during the young many years, particularly in high-school, so you’re able to large-technology performs therefore the environment. Here is the absolute goal Apple expectations to achieve in this the fresh program.


text:
“Our car. Your car. WeCar,” reads the inviting slogan of Rider’s new rental car service on campus. Starting this fall, Rider, with the help of the company, WeCar, is offering students a new way to get around town. Living on campus and not having a car of your own may create difficulties for getting places you need to go. The service that WeCar is providing will be quite unique to the Rider community. Having this service as a resource for students on campus can be very beneficial to those without a means of transportation. This new concept of car-sharing takes pride in being a more convenient and affordable way of transportation and it seems that WeCar will follow through on those promises.
The WeCar service is offered to anyone on campus who is 18 years or older and has a valid drivers license. It is providing us with four cars — two that will be parked outside of the Bart Luedeke Center and two parked outside of the Scheide Student Center on Westminster’s campus — that are available for use at any time. Though the amount of cars given are split evenly on both campuses, there are more students on the Lawrenceville campus and in turn the amount of cars available to us here should be increased.
The process, as explained in a Rider e-mail that was sent to the student body and on the company’s website, seems simple. Students start by registering online at WeCar.com for a membership card at the Rider University location. There is a one-time application fee with a cost of $20 for the year. Once registered, students are then able to check if there is a car available for use at the time it would be needed. Then, they scan the membership card over the front windshield of the car, and a scanner attached on the inside allows the car to be unlocked. Inside the glove box will be the keys, and it’s as easy as that. According to the email, students will get all that service for an affordable price,whether it be for the hour, the day or overnight. What makes the price so reasonable is that it covers fuel, maintenance and basic protection of the car and driver.
The cars used for this new campus resource are hybrid Toyota Priuses. Not only could these rental cars be accommodating, they are good for the environment and are fuel-efficient. In Rider’s ever-present effort to be more green and eco-friendly, I’d say that’s a big plus for using WeCar already.
There are other possible benefits to this program as well. Having this available on campus can allow students without cars to have one when they need it and for an affordable price. It can provoke more carpooling off-campus and has possibilities of decreasing the amount of students who keep their cars at Rider, which is good since more and more students attend Rider every year. Car sharing can also give Rider a greater sense of community.
WeCar is simply a helpful transportation alternative available by the hour, for the day and even over night. According to its website, it is a service not only used by college universities but also by businesses and government agencies all over the country. It seems like it could be a valid resource for students who need to get around from time to time and don’t have a car of their own at school.
Junior journalism major


text:
The crypto labor force skews heavily male, which could impede the industry’s future growth, writes Lottie Wells of Wirex. Here are some ways to increase women’s participation.
The largest coffeehouse chain in the world recently announced a new non-fungible token platform, while other coffee chains have eyed the technology long before.
In facing a government hostile to cryptocurrency trading, Indian exchanges are trying to attract new business with suites of different investment products.
Amid uncertainty over Ethereum ‘Merge,’ some seek ways to potentially profit
Interoperability among blockchains will be central to the next phase of the technology’s evolution, says Cosmos cofounder Ethan Buchman.
Top blockchain and crypto news: Eqonex shutters exchange operation. Huobi denies sale report. Taiwan beefs up cyber defenses.
India’s Enforcement Directorate is investigating at least 10 cryptocurrency exchanges for alleged money laundering, according to The Economic Times
WazirX users head for exits amid a dispute between Binance. Meanwhile, Circle and Tether announce support for the new ETH P-O-S.
New US bill to give CFTC oversight of cryptocurrencies may speed up crypto legislation in other markets
The U.S. bill to bring cryptocurrencies under the oversight of the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission is likely to hasten legislation of such digital assets around the world.
Is the flippening coming soon? And NFT sales drop 25% in July as the crypto winter continues.
Crypto prices fall ahead of the Fed meeting. Meanwhile, the Philippines pushes for a crypto tax.
Residential rehabilitation centers around the world are starting to see a new kind of patient with an old problem: gambling addiction focused on crypto trading.
Celsius says users can settle for cash or go long on crypto. Meanwhile in the markets, Bitcoin breaks US$22,000.
Digital assets are powering new industries, and DeFi will be the financial system of the future internet economy, writes Alex Tapscott in his new book, ‘Digital Asset Revolution.’
Top blockchain and crypto news: Payback time for Mt. Gox investors. USDC issuer strikes back as critics circle. Chinese bank fiasco hits a nerve.
Singapore wants to attract institutional capital while shielding its people from crypto — but it can’t have it both ways, writes Donovan Choy.
Notwithstanding this bear market, Web3’s more pressing issue is its inability to handle large volumes, writes Greg Gopman. Can sidechains offer a solution?
Crypto industry sales are slumping, but it’s not just hedge funds and lenders that have been hit hard by the crypto winter. The NFT industry has also begun to feel the chill.
India’s government can’t seem to decide on following China with an outright ban on crypto trading. So is it bent instead on suffocating traders and exchanges with taxes?
USDD loses its dollar parity. Meanwhile, Binance resumes Bitcoin withdrawals.
Still recovering from the Terra-LUNA debacle that wiped off billions of dollars in investor wealth, people sold off cryptocurrencies amid a market slump over expectations that the Fed will act faster to tame inflation.
A proposed US crypto bill may place crypto under the CFTC’s primary oversight, but that won’t exclude the SEC from the industry, Sidley Austin’s Lilya Tessler says.
Singapore investment behemoth Temasek has been in the digital asset space for several years, and it’s doubling down on its commitment, says its blockchain chief.
Cryptocurrencies can offer citizens in emerging economies a potential buffer against runaway inflation and financial mismanagement by governments. But buying them increasingly means navigating onerous regulations and punishing taxes.


text:
Bitcoin continued its growth despite a week of generally negative news for the crypto space, adding another 8.71% growth this week to its 10.35% growth of last week. Other winners on the week include Ethereum (up 2%), Chainlink (39%), ABBC Coin (46.75%), and Arcblock (116%).
However, this week’s markets were not all clear skies of green. The majority of coins in the top 100 were down around 8% to 15%. Binance Coin is down 17.61% in lieu of the ~7000 BTC hack on the exchange this week, and Cosmos down 24.88%.
Binance Hacked for $40M, but User Fund are SAFU: On Tuesday, hackers jacked over 7,000 bitcoin (about $40M) from Binance, using a variety of attack strategies to conduct a large scale security breach. Binance released a statement that it will cover the $40M loss using corporate funds in its Secure Asset Fund For Users (SAFU), an internal insurance fund the firm made in 2018. Oh, and Justin Sun “offered” to personally cover the loss if CZ approves.
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) May 8, 2019
Facebook Rolls Back Crypto Ad Ban: This week, Facebook announced it will be lifting its restrictions on ads relating to blockchain technology, industry news, education, or events related to crypto targeting a June 5th update. Facebook’s January 2018 ban on ads promoting almost anything to do with cryptocurrency or blockchain has been a thorn in the side for many crypto companies in the past year. Some are also speculating that Facebook’s reason for lifting the ad ban is more strategic and has to do with the company building a stable coin to be used for WhatsApp and Facebook. ICO ads will still be banned.
What’s New at CoinCentral?
Amazon Go Stores Are Ripe for Bitcoin Adoption: Amazon should be one of the biggest proponents of bitcoin adoption. Bitcoin enables Amazon Go stores to provide goods to people who don’t have debit or credit cards without having to waste money on store employees who currently need to handle the cash transactions. With the number of stores potentially reaching 3,000 by 2021, Amazon should want to cut costs wherever possible.
Facebook Loosens Ban on Crypto Advertisers, Including Itself: The updated policy “no longer require[s] pre-approval for ads related to blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency.” If you’re looking to advertise your hot, new crypto, though, you’re out of luck. The ‘book still requires an application and approval process for advertisers promoting cryptocurrency. And it continues to place a full ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Dark Web Enterprise Similar to Silk Road Shut down by FBI, Europol: Authorities in Germany have arrested the principal operators of one of the largest dark web marketplaces in the world dubbed the Wall Street Market.
Why Chinese Miners are in a Frenzy over Used Bitcoin Mining Rigs: The prices of used mining rigs have more than doubled since April. Bidding wars over the equipment are largely to blame for the trend. AntMiner S9 units, for example, retailed at $140 before the crypto market uptick but now cost upwards of $250. Some buyers are currently making $320 orders and this is pushing up benchmark prices.
Congressman Calls for Crypto Ban: On Thursday, Congressman Bradley Sherman called for the banning of cryptocurrency purchases by Americans, claiming cryptocurrencies will reduce the power of the U.S. dollar and undermine America’s sanctions over other countries, citing Iran as an example. It’s worth noting that the logic for this ban isn’t rooted in anonymity or corruption, but rather international policy. Bradley Sherman is a Democrat representing California’s 30th congressional district within the San Fernando Valley. Sherman said:
Today in Congress Rep. Sherman called for a bill to ban all cryptocurrencies.
This is why Coin Center is needed in DC now more than ever. pic.twitter.com/jgikm7z8bI
— Coin Center (@coincenter) May 9, 2019
“I look for colleagues to join with me in introducing a bill to outlaw cryptocurrency purchases by Americans, so that we nip this in the bud, in part because an awful lot of our international power comes from the fact that the dollar is the standard unit of international finance and transactions.
“It is the announced purpose of the supporters of cryptocurrency to take that power away from us, to put us in a position where the most significant sanctions we have on Iran, for example, would become irrelevant.
“Whether it is to dis-empower our foreign policy, our tax collection enforcement, or our traditional law enforcement, the purposes of cryptocurrency – the advantage it has over sovereign currency – is solely to aid in the dis-empowerment of the United States and of the rule of law.”
Indian Crypto Exchange Coinome Might Shut Down: On May 9th, the popular Indian cryptocurrency exchange Coinome tweeted that it will be suspending all crypto trading on the platform on May 15th, 2019, and urged its customers to withdraw their assets as soon as possible. Cryptocurrency businesses have been in the crosshairs of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which executed a ban on cryptocurrency related businesses in 2018.
Never Miss Another Opportunity! Get hand selected news & info from our Crypto Experts so you can make educated, informed decisions that directly affect your crypto profits. Subscribe to CoinCentral free newsletter now.


text:
Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) makes the 2009 CIO 100 list
I just found out that Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has made the 2009 CIO 100 list with an award-winning project. The CIO 100 Awards honor 100 companies that are creating new business value by innovating with technology. This is apparently the first time a Kenyan company has made the list. Congratulations to KTDA and Mwende Gatabaki, the ICT Manager who steered the project!
The award winning project involved linking 57 of KTDA’s tea processing factories in Kenya to its head office in Nairobi, thereby enabling farmers to electronically access information about payments they are owed each month. It now takes a maximum of three days, instead of three to six months for a new grower to be registered, thanks to a more-efficient recording of the number of growers.
The system has also helped to eliminate “ghost growers” who were paid without providing tea. KTDA has also realized savings of Kes. 40,000,000.00 in communication costs and Kes. 64,000,000.00 in labor and energy costs. More details can be found on the CIO web site here >


text:
Just a few days ago the Austin-based company celebrated the 10,000th installation of its Supercharger network in Europe. A network known by practically all users and electric car fans all over the world, also in part due to its recent opening to brands other than Tesla. Now Elon Musk's firm celebrates a new milestone: the tenth anniversary of its first public charging point. To celebrate this Tesla has published a tweet in which the progressive advance of these elements in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia is presented.
Tesla has 10,000 electric car charging points spread over 30 countries in Europe as of today. The region with the largest number of Superchargers is Germany, with 143 locations. Germany is closely followed by France (123), the United Kingdom (100) and Norway (95); Spain is in the middle of the table with a total of 50 Supercharger stations. There are other countries such as the Netherlands, with 39 Supercharging locations, Austria with 27, and Switzerland also with 27.
If all the Supercharger locations that Tesla has worldwide are counted, the figure actually rises to more than 35 thousand locations spread over 46 countries. In addition to the aforementioned European countries, Tesla has a presence in many other countries such as Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan or Australia, among others (obviously, apart from the US). In its historical 10 year-journey this network has basically charged enough energy to travel more than 32,000 million kilometers driving an electric car.
The Supercharger network was born in 2012 as a support and incentive for the launch of the most popular first EV model, the Tesla Model S. This was the first company to launch a network of private and specific charging stations for its marketed models; in its early years charging was completely free for these cars. It was not until the appearance of the Tesla Model 3 and its particular democratization that the process of paying for recharging actually began. This was an important marketing tool for Tesla, since electric mobility was presented as "free" and the diversification of stations promised comfortable travel without any major inconveniences.
In 2012, when the Tesla network appeared, almost all legacy automakers basically ignored electric mobility, beyond some specific models preferably used for urban trips, such as the Renault ZOE, the Smart ForTwo or the Renault Twizy. That is why the appearance of the Tesla Model S was so outstanding, since it opened the possibility for long and comfortable family trips while enjoying electric mobility; something almost unthinkable at the time. This was perfectly combined with a charging network that started its way at a power of 90 kW and later rose to 120 kW.
In the years to come, Tesla hopes to repeat the Supercharger recipe with the so-called Megachargers, which are specially designed for electric trucks - such as the Tesla Semi - which will have even faster charging times, reaching almost 1 MW battery capacities.
All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.
Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.


text:
Today is Friday, March 31, 2023.
New to this newsletter? Sign up here.
Virgin Orbit Cuts Staff by 85%
Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) is ceasing operations and shutting down, which caused the stock to plunge by 44.49% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
Details: The company said is cutting 85% of its workforce, which is about 675 employees. Virgin Orbit expects these layoffs to occur by Monday. These reductions will cost the company about $15 million.
Background: Virgin Orbit had been struggling for weeks to remain in business but had failed to raise additional funds. Two weeks ago, the company paused operations and furloughed most of its employees. Virgin Orbit has lost millions of dollars through its operations. The company also had a failed mission back in January. Without additional funding, Virgin Orbit can’t stay in business.
Final Thoughts: Virgin Orbit’s stock is down 96% since going public. It’s been an awful investment.
Notable Earnings Today: Advent Technologies Holdings (Nasdaq: ADN), Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK), Consolidated Water (Nasdaq Global Select Market: CWCO).
Notable IPOs Today: Chanson International Holding Class A Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: CHSN), Distoken Acquisition Corporation Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: DIST), Apollomics Inc. Class A Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: APLM), SGI Dynamic Tactical ETF (Nasdaq: DYTA), iShares Breakthrough Environmental Solutions ETF (Nasdaq: ETEC).
Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: MicroMGx (Netcapital), Kazoo (Netcapital), Ouragins (Rialto Markets), Digital Direct IR (Netcapital), KMX Technologies (Netcapital), Wine Shop (Mainvest), Curtiss Motorcycle (Republic).
Notable Economic Events Today: Core PCE Price Index (8:30 a.m. ET), Personal Spending / Personal Income (8:30 a.m. ET), Chicago PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), Michigan Consumer Expectations / Sentiment (10:00 a.m. ET).
Arbitrum: The Biggest New Crypto of 2023
Photo by Shubham Dhage / Unsplash
The price of the cryptocurrency Arbitrum continues its hot streak with a 5% bounce on Thursday, even as other crypto prices dropped on the same day.
Background: Arbitrum is a scaling platform on the Ethereum network. Its governance token was officially released on March 23.
So: Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchains, but it can be slow to use. Arbitrum is trying to speed it up a bit, and investors are noticing.
Numbers: Since launching on March 23, Arbitrum is up over 7%.
Final Thoughts: It is too early to say that Arbitrum will be a long-term bet for investors. For the past week, it has performed well in price.
Nikokla’s Stock Offering Scares Investors
Nikola (Nasdaq: NKLA) dropped by 7.14% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the electric vehicle company announced a new public stock offering.
Details: Nikola’s public offering is for $100 million in common stock. Concurrently, Nikola announced that a mystery investor has agreed to buy up to $100 million in common stock. Net proceeds from both will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Stock Price: Nikola is down 86% in the last 12 months, including a 35% drop in the last 30 days.
Final Thoughts: Nikola really needs the cash. Sales are not growing and the company just made a CFO change. Nikola is trying to turn things around in 2023, but demand in the electric vehicle market is not good right now.
Connect to clean energy in two mins (Sponsored)
Whether you rent or own your home, Arcadia can help you power it with 100% clean energy for just $5/month — no installations, long-term commitments, or changes to your current electricity provider.
When you enter your zip code and utility company, Arcadia can check if there is a community solar farm near you. Connect to it for no extra cost and receive guaranteed monthly savings on your power bill.
Sign up to become an Arcadia member today, and get a welcome gift of $10 toward your power bill.
Trends to Watch
BlackBurried: BlackBerry stock dips after earnings show issues in cybersecurity business (MarketWatch)
Last but Job Least: Jobless claims edge up to 198,000, higher than expected (CNBC)
Not Sure How to React: Bevy of Economic Data Barely Stirs Bitcoin, Ether (CoinDesk)
Thank you for reading!
Forward to a friend and tell them to sign up here.
Want more investing tips? Listen to the podcast.
Show Your Support: Buy Me a Coffee.
Questions or comments? Hit reply to reach out.


text:
Redbird launched a lifestyle brand for nurses called Scrubs.
Strategic Partners, Inc., the largest manufacturer of medical scrubs and the owner of the Cherokee and Dickies brands, wanted to reach their core customer – nurses – more effectively. They had business goals of gathering data to improve product development, driving foot traffic to brick and mortar retailers, and bubbling up recognition for the client as sponsors of multiple philanthropic programs.
In order to establish authenticity and authority with the nurse audience, Redbird launched a lifestyle brand for nurses called Scrubs. Scrubs is a print magazine, website, and series of social platforms that together provide nurses a place to learn, laugh, connect, engage and share. Scrubs has become the world’s number one online destination for nurses, and across platforms reaches more than 3 million nurses every month.
From 2014 to 2015, total social media audience jumped from one million to two million, completely organically (an average of 40K new likes per month). Scrubsmag.com also doubled in unique visitors during that period, from 1.2 to 2.5 million uniques per month. We launched an influencer engagement program — “Nurseonalities” — with content that consistently ranked in the top 10 on our dotcom month over month. And Pinterest, a key sales tool to display new scrubs fashion, became our #2 referral site and was handily the #1 Pinterest account among nurse brands.
February 25, 2016


text:
Nugget Stolen In Jamestown
Tuolumne County deputies are investigating the theft of a gold nugget from Jamestown´s “Gold Prospecting Adventures”. The owner of the business reports it´s worth about $900.00.
Deputies are also looking for vandals who caused about $200.00 damage to a motor home parked at an Industrial Drive business. Vandals also smashed a car window in Big Oak Flat, and windows at the Tuolumne City Fire station and a Creekside Drive home in Sonora.


text:
[KH Explains] Will LG Energy Solution be Tesla's 4680 battery crisis savior?
Gender Ministry on course for disbandment
US fighter jet drops fuel tanks into Yellow Sea in 'in-flight emergency'
Thailand asks S. Korea to toughen K-ETA screening after denied entries of its people
[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ Jungkook adds streaming record with ‘Standing Next to You’
How Koreans try to stay fit with gyms shutBy Lim Jang-won
Published : Jan. 9, 2021 - 16:01
For the gym rats and the casual gymgoers alike, last year was a frustrating one with fitness centers going back and forth between closing, reopening and operating for limited hours depending on the social distancing level in place. And this year might see more of the same.
The latest gym closures, which went into effect Dec. 8 and is scheduled to continue until Jan. 17, has been the longest shutdown so far. In the meantime, people are finding alternative ways to exercise without hitting the gym.
One alternative people discovered was to head to public, outdoor “gyms” located in parks and mountains alongside hiking trails. Most of these workout stations, run by the government, have gym equipment that are outdated, although some spots do offer newer and better maintained equipment.
Before the pandemic, these locations were mostly used by elderly citizens in the neighborhood, but as gyms shuttered, younger people have been willing to compromise and make use of these outdoor facilities.
“I used to work out in indoor gyms during the weekdays and came to the mountain to exercise on the weekends. But as social distancing levels were raised to 2.5 and gyms closed, I now come to the mountain every day and exercise with these simple equipment,” said Hong Sang-young, 39, from Seoul.
“I try to work out when there is the least number of people, like in the early mornings or late afternoon,“ said Hong, who noted a surge of people in their 20s and 30s joining him since the Level 2.5 distancing, the second highest in the country‘s five-tier COVID-19 alert system was implemented. ”It isn’t as crowded as the indoor gym where I sometimes had to wait to use an equipment, but there are about five to 10 people on average,” Hong said.
Hong, however, was worried about some people who do not wear masks while exercising because the facilities are outdoors.
Scenes of packed, popular outdoor workout stations in parks have prompted the government to cordon them off as a precautionary measure.
Another alternative that people have found, one that is especially attractive in the cold winter months, is working out at home. Working out while watching YouTube videos has become more widespread during the pandemic, but some people have taken it to a whole new level, by setting up their own mini home gyms.
Sales of exercise equipment have thrived in the COVID-19 pandemic. Purchases of stationary bikes surged by 86 percent, while sales of push-up bars shot up 82 percent in December compared to same period last year, according to e-commerce website Gmarket. Sales of treadmills also jumped 72 percent and sales of dumbbells climbed 70 percent.
Some who set up their own home gyms have even put up daily passes for sale on a used-goods website, hoping to lure customers. The practice is illegal because commercial gyms require premises to be registered as an official sports facility. However, the demand for home gyms is there – people have posted online hoping to search for home gyms they could use for a fee.
Another service that is attracting more attention than ever is hiring personal trainers to come to homes instead to conduct workout sessions, also known as a “visit PT”.
While the visit PT market has been around for at least seven years, it has largely been an exclusive service for those who were willing to shell out anywhere between 200,000 won to 300,000 won per session, according to a trainer who has given such lessons. With COVID-19 forcing gyms to close, the visit PT market has grown exponentially.
“Before the daily number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus went over 1,000, the number of people who signed up for visit PT increased by 20 percent each month last year,” said Pyun Mu-song, CEO of Fit Delivery, a company that specializes in visit PT. “The membership renewal rate was at around 70 percent.”
“Over 80 percent of our customers are women, with most of them housewives above the age of 30. The most popular times for training are in the afternoon before their husbands return from work and after-work hours when many train with their husbands,” Pyun said.
One reason why visit PT is more popular amongst female customers is because it mostly involves exercises that can be done without equipment or with resistance bands for weight loss, he said.
Despite the limitations visit PT has with the lack of proper equipment, as workouts can go on unaffected by the back-and-forth changes to social distancing levels has led many to turn to visit PT. For more conscious or shy beginners, the convenience of exercising at home with a personal trainer without worrying about the gazes of other gymgoers has also been another bonus.
“Nowadays, people who give visit PT a try because they can’t go to gyms are increasing,” Pyun said.
For those looking for more varied workouts, there are visit PT services that rent out simple equipment to those who sign up for personal training at home.
Other ways of working out at home include using virtual reality goggles and game consoles to make breaking a sweat more fun and dynamic.
While home workouts may be here to stay in the near future, over 214,000 people having signed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, demanding gyms to reopen.
By Lim Jang-won (email@example.com)
Articles by Lim Jang-won
Health care crisis hits highest level amid doctor walkout
Medical services disruption escalates
S. Korea, US, Japan concur on 'stern' response to NK-Russia arms deal


text:
Amid the highest levels of inflation we’ve seen in Australia since 1990, consumer motivations and spending habits are likely to change. Consumer confidence is down, with the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan poll reporting that only 6% of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months.
Younger generations of consumers are more likely to be concerned by rising inflation and cost of living pressures. Research from Getty Images and iStock’s creative insights platform, VisualGPS, found that 77% of Gen Z and millennial consumers in Australia and New Zealand believe that the cost of living will exceed their means. Further, 49% of ANZ Gen Z and millennials admit that they’re prone to financial anxiety.
For retail marketers, a recession or cost of living crisis can be a tricky thing to navigate. While we can’t solve a problem like rising inflation with advertising, we can be more empathetic and helpful. This means being more responsive to consumers’ needs and more clear about the value that products and services can bring to their customers’ lives. Rethinking your visual strategy is an important step to achieve this.
Consumers want brands to “lighten up” this holiday season
While this holiday season is overshadowed by inflation and cost of living increases, brands aren’t looking to pare back their holiday messaging. In fact, searches on Getty Images and iStock’s VisualGPS Insights Platform for “Christmas” are up 20% compared to this time last year, making it the most popular search globally.
However, brands are taking a slightly different visual strategy for the holiday season. Instead of using visuals that depict consumers actively shopping or saving, brands are using visuals that depict the good things in life that money can’t buy like connecting with their family and friends. This will allow brands to resonate and engage with a wider range of consumers with diverse financial realities and needs.
Employing visuals of “togetherness” and “connectedness” in sales campaign visuals and video echoes what consumers want to see as well. According to VisualGPS consumer survey data, 77% of ANZ consumers say that with so many aspects of life feeling serious right now, they want to “lighten the mood” now more than ever. In addition, 79% of consumers want brands to show empathy in their visual marketing.
As the saying goes, “The head is bigger, but the heart is infinitely more powerful”. For retail marketers, choosing visuals which remind people why they shop for gifts, like the joy of spending time with family
and friends over Christmas, is more likely to inspire a shopping trip during a difficult economic period.
Four ways to improve your visual marketing strategies
To appeal to more price-sensitive consumers, there are several ways that retail marketers can place empathy and financial wellness at the heart of their visual marketing campaigns:
1. Be real
With more consumers wanting brands to show empathy and understand what they’re going through, realness in campaigns is a necessity. Consumers want to see high-quality imagery representing them and the way they see and interact with the world. For retailers, this means showing how the product fits into their world, and being honest, transparent and real about what the brand is and what it stands for.
2. Stand out
Three in five consumers base their purchasing decisions on images, videos and illustrations they see. When choosing visuals for social media posts or ads, it’s important to keep in mind that 86% of consumers are now turning to social media to smile or laugh, so selecting visuals that showcase your product, service and overall shopping experiences in a playful way are likely to catch the consumer’s eye.
3. Show diverse shoppers
Historically, popular shopping visuals show women at the grocery store, in clothing boutiques, or with
shopping bags on the go. This has been slowly changing and patterns seen in our visuals used by Australians brands this year are showing more men shopping. This reflects the growing number of Aussie men spending nearly double than women on non-essential goods, according to data from Savvy. When selecting visuals, it’s important to reflect your consumers, from all walks of life, backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, and communities, to create more inclusive visual storytelling.
4. Utilise video
Video is now the most effective way to engage customers and drive ROI – more than 70% of businesses
believe video produces more conversions than any other content. Paired with the fact that video has 1200% more shares on social media than images and text and 64% of customers say they are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video, investing in high-quality videos is a no-brainer for brands.
Overall, the most effective thing retail marketers can do during times of uncertainty is to demonstrate the value their brand or products brings to people’s lives and execute visual marketing campaigns that speak to their customers’ evolving needs or desires – whether that be joy and unity, or value and ease.
Kate Rourke is head of creative insights for APAC at iStock.


text:
U.S. consumer spending, underlying inflation slow in May
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in May as motor vehicles remained scarce while higher prices forced cutbacks on purchases of other goods, another sign that the rebound in economic growth early in the second quarter was losing steam.
Though the report from the Commerce Department on Thursday suggested inflation had probably peaked, price pressures remained strong enough to keep the Federal Reserve on its aggressive monetary policy tightening path. Nevertheless, Fed officials should welcome cooling demand.
Rising interest rates and tight financial conditions are stoking fears of a recession, but economic data so far point to moderate growth. New claims for unemployment benefits kept grinding lower last week, despite layoffs in technology and housing sectors, other data showed on Thursday.
"The Fed hasn't won the war on inflation just yet, but there are somewhat encouraging signs that the economy is slowing down," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York. "Despite recession fears, job layoffs have not quite reached high enough levels to make the call that the economy is headed over the cliff into the depths of recession."
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, gained 0.2% in May, the smallest rise in five months. Data for April was revised down to show outlays increasing 0.6% instead of 0.9% as previously reported.
There were also downward revisions to data going back to January, showing a softer growth profile for spending this year.
Spending on goods meant to last three years or more declined 3.2%, pulled down by motor vehicles. Purchases of furnishings and durable household equipment also decreased as did recreational goods and vehicles. That partially offset a 0.7% increase in services, which was driven by housing and utilities as well as healthcare and international travel.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending would climb 0.4%. The report joined data on housing starts, building permits and manufacturing production in suggesting that the economy was struggling to gain altitude after gross domestic product dropped at an annualized 1.6% rate in the first quarter.
Stocks on Wall Street were lower. The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices rose.
The U.S. central bank this month raised its policy rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, its biggest hike since 1994. The Fed has increased its benchmark overnight interest rate by 150 basis points since March.
Inflation maintained its upward trend in May. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.6% last month after gaining 0.2% in April. In the 12 months through May, the PCE price index climbed 6.3% after a similar gain in April. It was driven by higher prices for goods and services.
But underlying price pressures are starting to abate. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index rose 0.3% for the fourth straight month.
The so-called core PCE price index advanced 4.7% on a year-on-year basis in May, the smallest increase since last November, after rising 4.9% in April. The PCE price indexes are the Fed's favored measures for its 2% inflation target.
The PCE price indexes are running lower than the consumer price index, which increased 8.6% year-on-year in May, because they have a smaller weight for the fast rising residential rents. While healthcare has a bigger weighting in the PCE measures, legislated cuts to Medicare payments have pushed down medical services prices. They have also benefited from declining financial services costs amid falling asset prices.
"Data for June and July could also show similarly soft PCE compared to CPI, but we expect the Fed would need to see evidence of slowing inflationary pressure across a range of data before slowing the pace of rate hikes," said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup in New York.
Consumer spending adjusted for inflation fell 0.4% in May, the first drop since December. That together with strong inventory accumulation in the first quarter, especially at general merchandise stores, poses a downside risk to economic growth in the second quarter. Growth estimates for this quarter range from as low as a 0.3% rate to as high as a 2.9% pace.
But with a tight labor market generating solid wage increases and household savings still ample, moderate nominal spending is expected to prevail, supported by services. That should help to limit job losses.
Wages increased 0.5% in May, contributing to the 0.5% rise in personal income. The saving rate rose to 5.4%, the first increase this year, from 5.2% in April.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ended June 25.
"Since providing services accounts for disproportionately more jobs than producing goods, the labor market is holding pretty tight," said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas. "This dampens the self-reinforcing passthrough of lower spending to job cuts to lower incomes and even lower spending."
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)