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Company acquired domain after publicly discussing a rebrand.
Online business marketplace MicroAcquire paid $240,000 to acquire the acquire.com domain name, including the commissions it paid.
MicroAcquire founder Andrew Gazdecki said the purchase price was $2,000,000 in response to a question on Twitter today:
We paid $2,000,000 for https://t.co/Bm9dObnlkY.
— Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki) November 15, 2022
He later said it was actually $200,000. I guess it was some sort of joke. The actual price was about $240,000 including brokerage fees.
The company acquired the domain name after publicly disclosing plans to rebrand as Acquire. The company started as a platform for buying and selling very small businesses but has now expanded to handle larger deals, so the “micro” is misleading.
I interviewed Gazdecki on Domain Name Wire Podcast #387.
This story has been updated to reflect that the original tweet about paying $2 million for the domain was not correct. It was $240,000.


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HTC’s got something big for Barcelona – they better had, considering their relatively shallow showing at CES. Mobile World Congress beckons, and as various news outlets (including this humble publication right here) receive their invitations for press events, rumors are spreading that HTC will reveal the quad-core Edge in is pre-MWC press conference on February 26th. Also on the docket is the HTC Ville, a slim 8mm slate phone that uses a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor.
If you put any stock in rumors, HTC will need to bring its A game. Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S III just days later in their own event, at the same venue that they showed off the GS II last year. The two giants have been on top of the smartphone world for the better part of the last two years, but HTC has definitely gotten the worst of it lately, with a fourth quarter that fell far below both its own adjusted expectations and analysts’ predictions. Since CES was mostly a retread for Samsung on the mobile side, they’re due for a big announcement as well.
HTC has said that in 2012 they intend to create a smaller but more flexible product line in 2012, and the rendered Edge and Ville models are expected to make up the bulk of their high-end offerings. The Edge, with its 4.7-inch 720p AMOLED screen and Tegra 3 processor, would make a good flagship. The Ville may be a more mainstream workhorse model, replacing the Sensation which filled said role for the European market in 2011. In any case, we can’t wait to see what HTC’s really does bring to the table in February.

domain: news


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Briefs (right)Increased Data Theft Spurs Hunt
For Security Measures
By Tom Zeller Jr.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
It has been a bad year for data security.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer advocacy group in San Diego, has counted 80 data breaches since February, involving the personal information of more than 50 million people. The sensitive data — names, Social Security and credit card numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, and the like — have either been lost by or stolen from companies and institutions that compile such data.
In February, ChoicePoint, the big data broker, raised public awareness of the problem when it announced that thieves had fraudulently obtained information on 145,000 consumers. In August, even the U.S. Air Force reported a data breach — a hacker may have gained access to a military management database and personal information on 33,000 officers.
In response, more than a dozen bills have been introduced in Congress this year.
Companies that compile, trade, and store consumer data, while largely resigned to the idea that new legislation will hold them to a higher standard for security, want to minimize the impact of any new law, maximize their discretion when it comes to notifying consumers of breaches and limit their liability when they do spring leaks.
A bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for instance, simply requires businesses to improve security on the data they carry and to notify consumers only if there is a “significant risk of identity theft.”
Gut Gain Found Not to Be
A Result of HIV Drugs
By David Tuller
THE NEW YORK TIMES
The new class of drugs called protease inhibitors revolutionized the care of HIV patients in 1996.
But many people who took the drugs began to lose fat tissue in their cheeks, arms, legs and buttocks. Many also developed a paunch — nicknamed “Crix belly” after Crixivan, one protease inhibitor — and they gained weight in their upper trunks.
The weight loss and weight gain, known respectively as peripheral lipoatrophy and central lipohypertrophy, were generally treated as a single phenomenon involving the redistribution of body fat.
Some patients refused the new drugs because they worried that this syndrome, called lipodystrophy, would mark them as having HIV or AIDS.
But growing a big belly is not part of any such syndrome, according to a new study of HIV-infected men. The study, published recently in The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, found that any weight gain in people who took the drugs was associated with age, not with HIV or protease inhibitors.


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We’re highlighting small businesses from around the country as nominated by you, our readers. If your favorite small business is using Twitter to communicate with customers, let us know about it @fbsmallbiz with the hashtag #mysbc, and it may be featured as an upcoming Small Business Spotlight.
Small Business Spotlight: Farm to Home Milk
Who: Jonathan Flaum, founder, @FarmToHomeMilk
What: Organic food and milk delivery to customers’ homes
Where: Ashville, N.C.
How: Flaum previously worked as a writer and consultant in the corporate world, but says in 2012 he decided it was time to strike out on his own and pursue a more family-oriented career. While visiting with friends in Denver, Flaum saw an opportunity when the milkman came to the door.
“The idea really resonated with my wife and kids,” he said. “I grew up in New York, and was really close to my grandfather in the Bronx. He always told stories about a time of no phones, no cars, and always had great things to say about the milkman and the ice man.”
FarmToHomeMilk comes from a fifth-generation family farm with organic meat, pork and eggs, Flaum said. The company made its first delivery just a week ago, and at press time had 175 customers.
Quote from the owner: “I did my time in the corporate world,” Flaum said. “Now I just want to make a decent living, and show my kids what real work is.”


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There are a few places, like hospitals and planes, where we expect to either silence or power down our smartphones. But, the times are changing.
A hospital in Canada recently lifted its cell phone ban and many airlines now provide passengers options for a Wi-Fi connection for smartphones and tablets when flying. Emirates airlines expanded its options a step further and now allows passengers to chat on their phones in-flight.
Smartphones are so integrated into everyday life that they are appearing in even the most unexpected places. At last summer’s Olympic opening ceremonies, athletes turned the tables on the spectators and media by capturing the spectacle on their devices. More recently, the smartphone was used by participants during two major sporting events to capture critical information.
While tennis matches are not historically known for wireless technology, a smartphone took center stage at the French Open, when Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky pulled out his smartphone to take a picture of a disputed line call. Even in the high-speed world of NASCAR, driver Kyle Busch used his phone to take pictures of damage to his car to send them immediately to his pit crew after a nylon rope cable from a television skycam fell on the track.
Smartphone accessories are helping consumers expand where they use their smartphone. Equipped with waterproof cases, users can dive into the deep end with their devices in hand. Armbands like Ampphibx and LIFEPROOF even allow swimmers to reap the many benefits of listening to music while exercising that runners and bikers have been experiencing for years.


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The country’s foreign exchange reserves have exceeded $33.03 billion mark at the end of April amid a drastic fall in imports due to the global coronavirus outbreak, which has caused a halt in trade around the world.
The existing reserve volume can cover the country’s import bills for more than eight months.
Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Kazi Saidur Rahman told the Daily Sun that the forex reserves maintain a satisfactory condition despite many difficulties.
“But there is nothing to be complacent about the current reserves. We need to increase our foreign reserves further. As soon as imports start increasing, there will be pressure on the reserves. Besides, exports and remittance have also nosedived due to coronavirus crisis.”
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the country’s foreign reserves exceeded 33.65 billion on June 22, 2017, the highest in the country’s history.
After paying the import bill, the reserves fell below $33 billion. Two and a half years later, on March 1, reserves again exceed the $33 billion mark. Over the next two and a half years, reserves have fluctuated between 31.5 billion and 32.5 billion.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the first nine months (July-March) of the current 2019-20 fiscal year, Bangladesh's income from export of goods has decreased by about 6.5 per cent. Garment exports, the country’s main export sector, declined by 8.5 per cent.
In FY 2018-19, exports grew by 10.55 per cent.
In the first nine months of the current financial year, remittances sent by expatriates increased by 16.15 per cent, but in March, remittances decreased by 13.34 per cent.
In April, the situation worsened further. In the first 27 days, the expatriates sent only $730 million in remittances.
According to Bangladesh Bank, import expenditure decreased by 5 per cent during the July-February period.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives - these nine countries are currently members of ACU. The bills of all the products that Bangladesh imports from these countries have to be paid through ACU every two months.
Bangladesh last paid the ACU bill for the January-February period in the first week of March. The ACU bill for the March-April period has to be paid in the first week of May.
Economist Dr Ahsan H. Mansur said Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves are in a somewhat 'comfortable' position due to low import expenditure, even though most of the indicators of the economy have taken a worrying turn during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, also the chairman of BRAC Bank and executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), said $33 billion reserves was not enough in the current crisis.
“Import is much lower now. Import will increase as soon as the situation returns to normal. Then you have to spend a lot of dollars to meet the import cost, there will be tension in the reserve,” he said.
"Covid-19 is wreaking havoc on the entire world economy. The crisis is growing day by day. In this difficult situation, food, medicine and other necessary products must be preferred for import. In that case, the 33 billion reserves are not enough,” Mansur said.


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Today the situation on the OTC market before the opening bell is characterized by numerous promotional campaigns and a streak of news on the Pink Sheets market that may provide for a busy trading session in the next couple of hours.
World Assurance Group Inc (WDAS) announced today that AdKash, an Android application designed to help smartphone users make money by receiving adverts on their mobile devices, had been downloaded in more than 10 countries around the world. WDAS is one of the actively traded companies on the Pink Sheets markets these days which is mainly due to the promotional campaign that started last Wednesday. On the day of the promotion more than 11 million shares of WDAS common stock changed hands, which is the highest trading volume in the company’s history. Within the first trading hours on that day the stock price jumped 44% to an intraday high of $0.0173 but eventually finished 49% lower due to the selling pressure, which is a typical aftermath of stock promotions. Yesterday, however, WDAS soared 125% without any obvious reason which looks like an insiders’ front-loading move before some PR event that may as well have been the news mentioned above.
PTA Holdings Inc. (PTAH) has also scrambled to the Pink Sheets headlines today. The company announced it had completed the acquisition of Eggpress Inc, an Iowa based motor carrier serving the egg and agricultural industry. According to the press release the deal would strengthen the company’s position on the Midwestern market and “should increase revenue by approximately $5,000,000 over the next twelve months.” There is, however, not a single financial report filed by the company to provide more insight about its ability to carry out its business plans which may repel the interest of low-risk investors. PTAH stock has been in a downtrend over the last couple of months and is now hovering around the critical .001 level which is the lower border of sub penny stocks.
Light Media Holdings Inc. (LGMH) announced its unofficial financial report for first quarter 2013 today. The report disclosed a decrease in both revenues and current assets as compared with the previous quarter. LGMH had also purchased 85 thousand shares of its common stock at an average price of $0.013 per share and another 46 thousand shares at $0.010 per share with regard to its stock repurchase plan announced in Dec. 2012. The last trade of LGMH stock happened on May, 02 when it rose 63% to $0.016 per share on a volume of 36,500 shares. On the whole LGMH stock cannot boast with a consistent trading interest from investors as its shows a history of inactive trading sessions.
GDT Tek Inc. (GDTK) – there are enough reasons to expect this company will be intensively traded today, as there is not only a press release that came from the company today, but there is also a fresh promotional campaign dedicated to GDTK. In short, GDTK announced today that it had engaged a new SEC auditor for the company. The latter will endeavor to help the company upgrade to current information status by auditing its financial reports. Meanwhile, our radars detected a promotion on GDTK that was initiated yesterday after the closing bell by several promoters among which Wall Street Scoop, OTCB Journal And Elite Traders Group. They were compensated $5,000 by 007 Stock Chat LLC. The last promotion of the company was carried out in Dec. 2012
Today’s biggest promotions:
Digital Shelf Space Corp. (DTSRF) – the highest paid promotion today is dedicated to DTSRF. The campaign involves many promoters among which Stock Hunter, Liquid Pennies, Hero Stocks and others. The promoting parties disclosed they expected to receive $500 thousand for the promotion by a third party called Cambridge Consultants. This is the first time the company has become an object of a stock promotion.
VizStar Inc. (VIZS) – another prominent promotion today is that of VIZS. The campaign was initiated by Premier Alerts last night after the closing bell. The newsletter’s fine print revealed the promoter had received $50,000 for the advertising effort but the name of the paying party was not disclosed. The last promotion of VIZS took place on April 15 this year.
Olie Inc. (OLIE) – the company is getting promoted today by a horde of promoting parties. Two groups of promoters can be discerned regarding this promotion. The first one is sponsored by RTF Inc. and the other one by Stock Mister. Each of the two groups have received $15,000 for their services which makes $30,000 for the whole campaign. OLIE was previously promoted on April 22nd when it had another massive promotion.
Other lesser promotions for today:
- Vista International technologies Inc. (VVIT) – compensation: $25,000
- WhereverTV Broadcasting Corp. (TVTV) – compensation: $18,500
- Cloud Star Corporation (CLDS) – compensation: $12,500
- SMA Alliance Inc. (SMAA) – compensation: $12,500
- Xumanii (XUII) – compensation: $10,000
- PM&E Inc. (PMEA) – compensation: $2,000
- Inscor Inc (IOGA) – compensation: $1,600
- DNA Dynamics Inc (DNAD) – compensation: $12,300


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LinkedIn’s earnings today beat analyst expectations in dramatic fashion, sending the stock up as much as 14 percent in extended trading after it released its second-quarter results.
The company reported earnings of 55 cents per share and revenue of $712 million. Analysts estimated that the company would bring in 30 cents per share on $680.3 million in revenue.
However, the company said it now expects $90 million from Lynda.com for the full year versus the original guidance of $40 million, impacted by “an earlier than expected close, a lower than anticipated deferred revenue write-down, and moderate over-performance in the early-going.”
LinkedIn’s expectations for 2015 were $2.94 billion in revenue and earnings of $2.19 per share, the company said. Analysts were expecting $2.91 billion in revenue for the company’s 2015 guidance.
During the earnings call, the stock fell more than 7 percent, during comments about the incremental impact of the company’s core profitability related to the guidance change for Lynda.com.
In the second quarter of 2015, the company said it had 380 million members generating 35 billion pageviews. Its revenue was up 33 percent year-over-year from $534 million in the second quarter last year. Of that, $443 million came from its talent solutions products, making up 62 percent of the company’s quarterly revenue.
Its premium subscriptions business generated $128 million in revenue this quarter, compared to $122 million in revenue in the last quarter, a rise of just 5 percent. Marketing solutions revenue rose about 32 percent from $106 million in the second quarter last year to $140 million in Q2 this year.
The company said it was expecting revenue between $745 million and $750 million in the third quarter, along with earnings of 42 cents per share. Analysts expected guidance of 42 cents per share on revenue of $744.4 million for the third quarter.
LinkedIn said engagement in its news feed grew 60 percent year-over-year and closed its acquisition of Lynda.com.
The company has been actively building new areas of its business to help it grow beyond its usual premium subscriptions and recruiting services. Most recently, it acquired Lynda.com, an online education site, for $1.5 billion.
Earlier this month, LinkedIn started adding paid tools for marketers focused on lead generation in SlideShare, the company’s first paid product within the service. It acquired SlideShare for $119 million in 2012.
We’re updating this story as we get more information.


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Covid19: AP to be shut till end of the month
DECCAN CHRONICLE | N VAMSI SRINIVAS
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to maintain a statewide lockdown till March 31 in a bid to prevent o contain the coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic.
Chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy appealed to people to remain indoors till March 31 as social distancing is the best available remedy.
This comes in welcome contrast with his earlier public pronouncement during his government’s confrontation with the State Election Commission, when the CM maintained that the Covid-19 was in an early stage in the state and would pose no risk to conducting local body polls.
Elaborating on the shutdown, the chief minister further announced that inter-state borders would be shut, all public and private transportation would be suspended and only essential establishments like hospitals, medical shops, grocery stores, and petrol pumps would operate.
Supply of all essential commodities, including LPG cylinders, would continue, Reddy assured.
The SSC examinations will however be held as per schedule and so was the case with the budget session of the Assembly.
The CM also announced a cash incentive of Rs 1,000 for each household below poverty line towards compensation for loss of wages during the lockdown.
The amount would be handed over to the families by volunteers on April 4. Each poor household would also be provided with one kilo of red gram, along with free ration, which would reach their doorstep on March 29, he said.
"I know this is not sufficient but we are trying to extend help as much as possible. These additional measures will cost the exchequer Rs 1,500 crore," CM Reddy said, adding that the lockdown was painful but inevitable.
"We are following remaining states to bring a synergy to country-wide efforts on this front," he said.
Reddy gave a stern warning to traders against exploiting the crisis by enhancing prices of commodities. District collectors and SPs would release item-wise price lists and it would be their responsibility to ensure traders sell at those prices.
A toll-free number would be advertised for people to lodge complaints of hoarding or excess pricing. "I will not hesitate to send such traders behind bars," he said.
Maintaining that the government has already issued orders to operate its office with 50 per cent workforce at a time, the CM appealed to all commercial establishments and factories to operate with skeletal staff.


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Porsche has recently announced the official price list for the new 911 Turbo and Turbo S generations in Australia.
According to the car manufacturer, the brand new Porsche 911 Turbo will set you back for 359, 800 AUD, before on-road costs, which is actually 3,900 AUD cheaper than the model it’s replacing. For the Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet, its future customers will have to pay 388,800 AUD before adding it to their garage. The new 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is the most expensive version and this has been priced from 463,100 AUD.
Power to the new Porsche 911 Turbo generation is provided by a 3.8 liter six-cylinder twin turbocharged engine, which is producing a total output of 383 kW at 6,000-6,500 rpm and it has a peak torque of 66 Nm available at 1,950-5,000 rpm. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint takes 3.2 seconds and the average fuel consumption stands at 9.7L / 100 km. The 911 Turbo S has an uprated version of the same engine and it’s producing 412 kW at 6,500-6,750 rpm, with a peak torque of 700 Nm available at 2,100-4,250 rpm.


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By Staff writer
National Real Estate Company is behind plans to build the upcoming Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi
National Real Estate Company (NREC), a Kuwait-based developer with projects exceeding $1 billion in both Egypt and the UAE, has recorded growth in top-line earnings of 52 percent and a net profit KD7.6 million.
The company behind the upcoming Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi, said revenue growth was driven by income generating assets in Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt, where NREC is developing a 3.8 million square metre residential community.
The company is also developing Reem Mall, a two million square foot major shopping destination in Abu Dhabi. Reem Mall will house more than 450 stores including 85 restaurants, a large hypermarket, and family entertainment zones that include the world’s largest indoor snow-play park.
Operating revenue for the first six months of 2016 totalled KD14.9 million, up 52 percent from H1 2015 while net profit fell one percent to KD7.6 million.
NREC CEO Samuel Sidiqi said: “We are pleased to report record revenues for the first half of 2016 with our income generating properties in Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt performing well despite regional macroeconomic challenges."
In Abu Dhabi, he said the company is in the final stages of tendering the remaining works for Reem Mall after selecting Al Futtaim Carillion as the project’s preferred tenderer for construction.
"Our leasing program is on track and continues to exceed expectations. We maintain our positive outlook for the rest of 2016 driven by continued healthy performance in our core markets,” he added.
In Kuwait, the company said rental income grew by 4 percent from the same period last year to KD5.3 million. NREC has six properties in Kuwait, with Souq Sharq being the company’s primary asset.


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Print revised MRP on unsold stocks or face action: Paswan
Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday said that manufacturers and vendors will have to print revised Maximum Retail Price (MRP), next to the old MRP, post Good and Service Tax (GST) rollout on unsold stocks or they will have to face legal action.
"We have issued an order seeking immediate printing of revised MRP as prices have either come down or gone up after the GST. So there will be two MRPs -- old and revised. It will be in force till September 30. Later, there will be only revised MRP," Paswan told reporters here.
The order is applicable for unsold stocks up to July 1. New revised MRP declaration can be done through stamping, putting sticker or online printing.
Paswan said the ministry was planning a dedicated helpline to lodge complaint related to overpricing by manufacturers, wholesalers, vendors.
"If customers notice that revised MRP is not printed and products are overpriced, they can lodge complaints through the helpline. Strict action will be taken," Paswan said.
The minister appealed the manufacturing companies to inform people about the change in the MRP through newspaper advertisements.
- 22 Aug 2019 6:17 PM GMT
- 1 May 2017 6:52 PM GMT
- 8 Oct 2019 4:43 PM GMT
- 31 Aug 2019 1:38 PM GMT
- 25 Oct 2017 3:32 PM GMT
- 15 Dec 2019 5:43 AM GMT
- 15 Dec 2019 4:56 AM GMT
- 15 Dec 2019 4:51 AM GMT
- 15 Dec 2019 4:30 AM GMT
- 14 Dec 2019 6:08 PM GMT


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BMW says on track for 2012 sales record after Oct figures
FRANKFURT Nov 9 (Reuters) - German premium carmaker BMW said it increased vehicle sales by 13.2 percent in October to 157,618 cars, its highest ever figure for the month of October.
"We are well on course to achieve a new sales record in 2012, despite the headwind present in some European markets," sales and marketing board member Ian Robertson said in a statement on Friday.
Sales of BMW branded cars rose 15.4 percent in October to 132,823 vehicles.
Growth was driven by Asia and the Americas, Robertson added. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan)
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- U.S. prosecutor defends treatment of Indian diplomat |


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Inspiration meets innovation at Brandweek, the ultimate marketing experience. Join industry luminaries, rising talent and strategic experts in Phoenix, Arizona this September 23–26 to assess challenges, develop solutions and create new pathways for growth. Register early to save.
Apparel brand Stance is kicking off a year-long campaign to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a hero anthem eschewing celebrities in favor of its own niche “Punks & Poets” network of brand ambassadors.
The 90-second “Stitched Different” film follows artists and athletes as they sport Stance shorts, joggers and apparel while running up a mountain, surfing, taking pictures or just relaxing with their feet up to provide a closeup view of the brand’s signature socks.
The spot is packed with closeup action shots of fast turning bikes, cars and surfers riding waves, while cinematographer Ian Watts also zooms in on Stance’s label.


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A new report indicates Apple is planning to build and use its own chips in Mac computers by 2020, ditching Intel.
The social media giant said a technical bug was responsible for the site failing to delete unpublished videos recorded by users.
Gay dating app Grindr has been sharing the HIV status of its users with other companies.
Consumer DNA tests often produce false-positives regarding a person's genetic predisposition to diseases, a study found.
Democratic senators are warning a proposal by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai could strip internet from millions of low-income households.
ZTE launched the Tempo Go, a budget-friendly smartphone running Android that costs $80.
SpaceX received FCC approval to build Starlink, its satellite constellation designed to provide broadband internet service.
A California judge has ordered coffee sellers like Starbucks to include a cancer warning on their coffee.
Apple released iOS 11.3, which introduces a new feature that can turn off the company's controversial performance throttling feature.
Cambridge Analytica reportedly still hasn't deleted the entirety of the user data it collected from more than 50 million Facebook users.
Elizabeth Smart has asked that lawmakers in Rhode Island stop invoking her name on a controversial bill that would charge a fee to view porn online.
A new study claims that eating out can lead to increased levels of phthalates, a chemical linked to several diseases, in the body.
The Ecuadorian government has cut off Julian Assange's internet access following a number of political tweets made by the WikiLeaks founder.
Tim Cook took some shots at Facebook in a recent interview, stating Apple has chosen not to turn its customers into a product the way Facebook has.
Emails conversations between Uber and members of Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's staff purportedly show the parties trying to hide Uber's autonomous vehicle program from public.
Facebook is introducing new privacy features following questions about company's commitment to protecting user data.
Mozilla has launched a new extension for its Firefox browser that blocks Facebook from tracking users around the web.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly planning to testify before the U.S. Congress over the company's data privacy practices.
Apple unveiled a new iPad targeted to students and teachers that includes compatibility with the company's Apple Pencil.
A lawsuit filed by a prominent conservative radio host accusing YouTube of censoring conservatives has been thrown out by a judge.


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Dip in crypto mining drops Nvidia graphic card prices
- Reports suggest one-third of the consumer market might be wiped out
- Gamers will be able to buy graphic cards without paying a premium
- Nvidia has made their cards less crypto mining friendly
The current prices of crypto have become so unsteady and mining has become unsteady enough for miners for to start dropping a key component of their systems, Nvidia’s gaming graphic cards.
Ethereum has a role to play in why crypto miners seem to be leaving the “mines” in droves. The blockchain network has shifted to a new method called proof of stake, i.e., cryptocurrency owners must validate a transaction based on the number of coins a validator stakes. The method uses significantly less computing power and is widely considered to be less risky.
Earlier, when the crypto boom first started, miners found that graphic cards designed to play games at high fidelity could be used to create crypto tokens, setting off a mad rush to buy up available graphic cards. These cards became worth their weight in gold, being key in the generation of cryptocurrencies. Nvidia, to their credit, tried to limit the purchase of their extremely powerful and popular cards, to little effect. Miners set up bots to quickly snap up the components at market rate. Not long after, these cards became to pop up on secondary markets like eBay.
Also Read: Google’s first hardware fail, the Nexus Q
Now that crypto is struggling, miners are dropping their cards at an alarming rate, but that’s a good thing for gaming consumers. Miners are looking to get rid of their hardware as fast as possible, selling at bottom of the barrel prices. Nvidia’s suggested retail prices haven’t changed, but cards are appearing for as low as 50% of their original price. According to a Bloomberg report, one-third of the graphics card market could just vanish overnight.
Also Read: Sony’s latest foray into gaming, Inzone
Nvidia has had constant run-ins with crypto in the past. In 2018, the company blamed the digital currency for the trouble it was having meeting forecasts. Shares tanked by 20% in two days. In order to avoid this, the company has been making their gaming graphic cards less effective at mining. Though now, with the market for graphic cards the way they are at the moment, gamers can finally get their hands on premium hardware without paying exorbitant prices.


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Calgary-based Royop, a commercial development and property management company, has started construction of its first phase of the regional development Township which will include initially about 300,000 square feet of retail space.
And the developer has already lined up an impressive list of retailers for the project’s first phase, a $125-million mixed-use development in the deep south of Calgary, which spans 60 acres and will include 1.5 million square feet of retail, office, residential, hospitality, entertainment and food and beverage space.
“Township will be a complete community with a heavy focus on celebrating local businesses, providing everything a Calgarian would want in one place. It’s not just a spot to shop, but a hub where you’ll want to try the latest in boutique fitness or catch up with friends at your favourite craft brewery,” said Jeremy Thal, Royop’s president and CEO. “From pop-up farmers’ markets in the summer to outdoor public skating rinks in the winter, we’ll be bringing the community to life all year long.”
Thal revealed to Retail Insider the following retailers and businesses who have signed up for space at the new Township development: a traditional Sobeys grocery store, 45,000 square feet; Bed Bath & Beyond, 26,000 square feet; buybuy BABY, 17,000 square feet; Winners, 26,000 square feet; BrightPath Child Care & Daycare Centre, 20,000 square feet.
Thal said there will also be a Canadian Brewhouse, a Starbucks, and an A&W and more than 200,000 square feet of other space is committed to negotiated offers to lease or letters of intent.
“You start with the anchor tenants which we’ve done and then we start to bring in all the smaller concepts and local businesses, which we are working on now. Round two of leasing,” explained Thal.
Construction has started with Ledcor the general contractor. Businesses are expected to open in the Spring of 2021.
Township is located at Macleod Trail and 210th Avenue Southeast, near Highway 22X and the Ring Road which is under construction. It’s in an area that has seen tremendous population growth in recent years with more to come in the near future.
Trevor Thomas, Vice President of retail for JLL, which is leasing the Township retail project, said the location is ideal due to its accessibility off of Macleod Trail and the Ring Road when it is completed.
“When the Ring Road is completed, it’s just going to open up the market to that much more people,” he said. “The accessibility is important. But what we’re doing here with Township . . . is we’re really creating something never seen in Calgary before. It’s not just your typical power centre. This shopping centre really is going to be the definition of mixed-use.
“We’ve got the retail. We will have office. We will have residential. We will have the entertainment factor. But aside from that we’ll also have the public realm where there’s going to be a calendar of events which is going to be drawing people to Township on a regular basis . . . This is really going to be the epicentre for south Calgary and everything we’ve seen, and everything that Royop has provided us with drawings and plans, it’s really shaping up to be that destination.”
The project will also feature larger-than-life art installations and a unique combination of services and community spaces featuring immersive year-round programming with core and experiential shopping.
“We really want to create a community where people of all ages can come together and experience something new each and every time and redefine a modern community,” said Thal.
He said Royop is back to the drawing board currently to determine how the rest of the project will unfold. The company will be looking for residential partners towards the end of this year.
“We could see phase two commence construction probably the summer 2021,” he said, adding the project will likely include a 40,000-square-foot professional building.
“There’s demand for seniors (housing). There’s demand for condos. There’s demand for purpose-built rentals. There’s demand for towns (townhomes). Add to the whole idea of creating a township.”
Royop’s portfolio includes 75 Alberta properties in Calgary, Cochrane, Lethbridge, Strathmore, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Airdrie, and Fort McMurray.


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Below is our list for Thursday, 30 July, as follows:
CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ:CRSP): Chardan reiterated its Buy, and raised its target price to 100 from 72.50, and Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to 105 from 84.
NeoGenomics Inc. (NASDAQ:NEO) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to 39 from 33 at Needham.
T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) was started as Buy with a 140 target price at Deutsche Bank.
Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ:TSCO): This rural retailer just had its best Quarter in its history. Shares closed Wednesday at 145.46 and have a consensus price target at 154.18.
Have a healthy day, Keep the Faith!


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A recent report was made regarding a limousine company, stranding a lot of students on the night of their prom. The company is known to be as the “National Limousine Hire” and has announced to close down just recently.
The closure of the business, as stated in their website, was due to the recession. Though it is partly true that recession has made a big impact on most businesses, many customers have questioned this with as many paid customers have never yet received any refunds or at least a call from the said company.
Over 35 customers already paid the business but none of those will get their services on their prom nights.
Speculations may lead to the conclusion that this site may be a scam or this business is badly run. Either way, something must be done to end their bad service!


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It’s not an overstatement to say that semiconductors power the modern world. They’re not only a key component of nearly every electronic device we buy and use — they also power the factories that make the electronic devices we buy and use.
And now, there aren’t enough of them getting made.
Here’s how the global semiconductor chip shortage got so bad, and what’s being done to fix it.
A chip shortage that started as consumers stocked up on personal computers and other electronics during the COVID-19 pandemic now threatens to snarl car production around the world.
GM said that it would extend production cuts in the US, Canada, and Mexico until the middle of March.
They join a long list of major automakers, including Ford, Honda and Fiat Chrysler, which have warned investors or slowed vehicle production because of the chip shortage.
But it’s not just the automotive industry that’s struggling to get enough semiconductors to build their products.
AMD and Qualcomm, which sell chips to most of the top electronics firms, have noted the shortage in recent weeks.
Sony blamed the chip shortage for why it’s so hard to get a PlayStation 5 game console. Chips are likely to remain in short supply in coming months as demand remains higher than ever.
The Semiconductor Industry Association said in December that global chip sales would grow 8.4% in 2021 from 2020′s total of $433 bil.
That’s up from 5.1% growth between 2019 and 2020 – a notable jump, given how large the absolute numbers are.
Semiconductors are in short supply because of strong demand for electronics, shifting business models in the semiconductor world that created a bottleneck among outsourced chip factories, and effects from the US trade war with China that started under former President Trump. – Mar 1, 2021


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The tourist model regions in Schleswig-Holstein are seeing a real rush of booking inquiries.
The phones were running hot in the tourism centers of the Inner Bay of Lübeck, the Schleiregion, the district of North Friesland and the municipality of Büsum, said the spokeswoman for the Schleswig-Holstein Tourism Agency (TASH), Manuela Schütze, on Thursday.
In the Inner Bay of Lübeck with the towns of Timmendorfer Strand, Scharbeutz, Sierksdorf and Neustadt, holidays are possible again under strict conditions from Saturday.
Sylt and the district of North Friesland have been welcoming guests from all over Germany since May 1st.
Hotels and campsites in the Schleiregion and in Eckernförde have been open again since mid-April.
The North Sea resort of Büsum is scheduled to follow on May 10th.
Many are already booking their summer vacation
The strict requirements for guests include the obligation to test and the obligation to leave their contact details in the hotel and when visiting a restaurant or café.
"If you don't want that, you are unfortunately not allowed to come," said Timmendorfer Strand's tourism director, Joachim Nitz, on Thursday.
“But we don't have to worry about not getting our beds full,” said Nitz.
“The guests are queuing up, people are longing for vacations,” he said.
Schütze drew a similar picture for all four model regions of the country. "Many guests are already booking for the summer in the hope that the corona situation will relax further thanks to the vaccinations," she said. However, she urgently warns against simply driving off without a reservation. "If you want to go on holiday in one of the model regions, you need a reservation," she said.Keywords:


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Visa’s mVisa QR-based mobile payment service is now live in India, Kenya and Rwanda and will soon be available in Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam, the company has announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Mastercard’s Masterpass QR service, meanwhile, is now available in seven countries in Africa and Asia — Kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.
- Contactless to account for more than one in two POS transactions globally by 2022
- Face ID described as iPhone 8’s ‘crown jewel’, unlocking device in ‘a few hundred milliseconds’
- From the high street to the handset: How banks can stay connected to consumers in the smartphone era
- British Airways owner IAG launches mobile pay on new airline Level
- Heat become first NBA team with mobile-only entry


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Fares were up more than 8 percent in the second quarter, and checked-bag fees continued to climb as well.
Stocks fall across the globe amid growth fears. Commodities and emerging markets lag.
A new survey offers the latest sign that the ultra-wealthy are nervous about putting more money into today's markets.
A top regulator believes it's only a matter of time before terrorists strike a major cyber blow against the financial system.
The victim compensation expert raises the death toll from crashes involving GM cars with faulty ignition switches from 13.
Once a major driver for rising home prices, investors have stopped gobbling up houses with new concerns of rising interest rates.
Sir Richard Branson estimates the North America trucking industry could save up to $40 billion a year.
Lufthansa thinks customers will want to eat its meals even when they aren't flying, NBC News reports.
Few small businesses think now is the time to expand, and hiring is essentially flat. But there may be a silver lining.
Anchorage TV reporter Charlo Green commits career suicide, live on the air, for a higher calling—pot.
Naming the wrong people on the beneficiary form or failing to update financial documents can create a real mess for your heirs.
Workers at four of Amazon's distribution centers in Germany have walked out on a two-day strike over a pay dispute with the e-commerce giant.
"The Lion King" earns $6.2 billion and is now the most successful work in any media of all time.
Smartphone users snapped up Apple's latest iteration of the iPhone in record numbers, with sales exceeding 10 million.
The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events could cost the world $421 billion by 2030, the Red Cross warned.
Click ahead to learn which cities are the most dangerous in the world, in terms of murder rate per population.
For investors, the necessary takeaway of recent actions is that conditions are about to change.
Are corporations paying their fair share of taxes? That depends on where you live—and whom you talk to.
Control and certainty about asset transfers make trusts an attractive option for family businesses.
Younger Americans are less likely to spend extra to buy "Made in USA" products. Some groups are trying to change that.
Former NFL wide receiver Phil McConkey, discusses the great responsibility on the NFL right now to handle its image appropriately.
Barron's ran a story over the weekend proclaiming Bank of America could rise 50 percent more. The FMHR traders discuss which bank stock has the most upside.
CNBC's Bob Pisani and Art Cashin, of UBS, discuss Mario Draghi's hint the recovery may be at risk as global markets retreat.


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First Data Corp., Atlanta, looking to shed its Donnelley Marketing operation to better focus on the payment processing and e-commerce sides of its business, has found a buyer in InfoUSA, Omaha, NE, which will pay $200 million in cash for the consumer database and marketing services provider.
Yesterday’s action resembles a strategic alliance more than a purchase as InfoUSA will now license its business and consumer databases to FDC, said chairman/CEO Vin Gupta. In essence, FDC will buy back data from InfoUSA that it currently owns. The move enables FDC to still offer information-based solutions without supporting the database infrastructure itself.
“First Data is focused on the future. That future includes maximizing success in key areas that present the best strategic and financial opportunities,” said FDC president/COO Charles Fote. FDC is divesting Donnelley just weeks after announcing its purchase of processing rival Paymentech, Dallas, for $408 million.
InfoUSA gains consumer data and database marketing services that it can cross-sell with its business database offerings. The company estimates that Donnelley, with annual revenues over $90 million, will generate 30 percent of total annual revenues.
“It’s really hard to sell a database without an existing relationship, now by being one family we are the one contact for data,” Gupta said.
Donnelley brings demographic consumer data more robust than InfoUSA’s existing database of 180 million consumers and adds psychographic data, Gupta said. Donnelley’s DQI database compiles demographic records on 170 million consumers, including 50 million homeowners while its ShareForce database maintains psychograhic data on 23 million consumers compiled from lifestyle surveys. The firm has also brings new database management services developed in anticipation of its spinoff last month from First Data Solutions.
Industry sources say InfoUSA paid a premium for a piece of business FDC had long wanted to jettison. The reaction on Wall Street seemed to confirm that feeling as FDC gained 2 11/16 to close at 47 5/8 June 1 while InfoUSA rose 5/16 to 6 7/16. Donnelley was acquired by FDC in 1996 and combined with First Data Infosource to form First Data Solutions.
The Donnelley purchase is not a substitute for Metromail, which InfoUSA bid for unsuccessfully last year. However, Donnelley does bear ties to Metromail as both were once subsidiaries of commercial printer R.R. Donnelley & Sons.
“Donnelley Marketing is a much cleaner company,” Gupta said. “Metromail had a lettershop and all of that. Donnelley is purely a database marketing company.”
Like the Metromail bid, which he lost to Great Universal Stores’ Experian, Gupta will finance the Donnelley purchase with a recently issued $195 million credit facility.


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LOTUS LAUNCHES TYPE 136 – A TRACK-INSPIRED PERFORMANCE ROAD BIKE
- Featuring the lightest e-bike motor from High Performance System (HPS)*, delivering true dual-use functionality to ride further, faster and higher
- Harnessing design and engineering excellence from more than 30 years’ experience of road and track cycling
- Quintessential Lotus lightness, with a motor at just 300 grams and full e-bike at only 9.8kg
- Exclusive limited first edition launch production run of 136 individually numbered bikes with unique Lotus motorsport-inspired livery
London, UK – 1 November 2023 Lotus unveils Type 136, a new performance model featuring the lightest e-bike motor from HPS* to deliver dual-use functionality that will allow riders to go further, faster and higher.
The all-new bike harnesses design and engineering excellence from more than 30 years of road and track cycling success, while incorporating cutting-edge technology from the present day. The striking aero design has been inspired by Lotus’ gold medal-winning success in Olympic velodromes around the world, from the iconic Type 108 bike at the 1992 Barcelona Games to the most recent competition at Tokyo 2020. There the Hope/Lotus track bike helped the Great Britain track cycling team top the event medal table.
Handmade in Italy, the lightweight carbon fibre frame and state-of-the-art components mean Type 136 weighs just 9.8 kilograms. It features V-shaped handlebars, wing-shaped forks, and vaulted chain stays, helping it carve through the air with speed and efficiency.
The innovation continues with the battery, disguised as a water bottle and detached from the frame at the push of a button.
The bike’s Watt Assist Pro Motor system is derived from the Mars Lander Project – where limited weight and zero maintenance were critical factors to the mission’s success. It is the lightest e-bike motor system on the market from HPS* and weighs just 1.2kg in total. An elegant and compact bottom bracket shell that seamlessly integrates into the bike’s frame, the motor itself weighs just 300 grams.
In tribute to Lotus’ tradition of Type numbers for its new models, Type 136 is available as an exclusive limited first edition launch production run of just 136 bikes. These will be individually numbered and available in an iconic motorsport livery. The standard model will go on sale in Spring 2024.
Founded in 1948 and 75 years old this year, Lotus is best known as a global luxury performance brand, world-renowned for the design, engineering and manufacture of thrilling two-seater sports cars such as Esprit, Elise and Elite. Its latest range of all-electric models includes Emeya hyper-GT and Eletre hyper-SUV. The brand’s halo product is Evija, the world’s most powerful series production road car.
Lotus is unique in the automotive industry for its success in the world of track cycling, where its pioneering spirit and passion for pushing the boundaries is legendary. Type 108 rewrote the rule book on bike design and is recognised as one of the most iconic machines of all time, inspiring a generation of professional cyclists such as Sir Chris Hoy.
The six-time Olympic Champion is now a Lotus brand ambassador. Speaking at the world premiere of Type 136, he said: “This is an incredible bike, which says so much about the pioneering endeavours of Lotus and the iconic status of its bikes over the years. As a teenager I vividly remember watching Chris Boardman powering Type 108 to a gold medal in Barcelona in 1992 and smashing records on Type 110 to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France two years later.”
Feng Qingfeng, CEO, Lotus Group, commented: “I am proud to launch the Lotus Type 136 as the next chapter in our high-performance journey. For the past 75 years, Lotus has been relentlessly pushing the boundaries of innovation on the road and track. Type 136 shows that we continue to do so. Launching alongside Eletre, Emeya and Evija, it will further expand global perceptions of what to expect from Lotus.”
The Lotus Type 136 was unveiled at an exclusive VIP event at the Lotus London brand store and will be showcased at Rouleur LIVE in London from 2-4 November 2023.
Courtesy of Lotus
Photo Credit: All photos herein are the property of Lotus and were published by MyclassicNEWS with their permission and consent. All content herein, other than property published by permission, is the property of myclassicnews.com and any reproduction, other than normal social media sharing, is strictly prohibited. Copyright ©, myclassicnews.com. For reprint permission contact us a firstname.lastname@example.org


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Maddening mixed messages from customer service
Reader dismayed at shop's reaction to problem with bill-pay mobile phone's scree
When Mart’s new Motorola Razr started acting up, the customer service from eMobile was far from satisfactory
At the beginning of last month a reader by the name of Mart started having problems with his Motorola razi bill-pay phone's screen. He was in Galway at the time so he brought it to the e-mobile shop were he had taken out his contract just a few weeks earlier.
An hour later he was told the problem could not be fixed in the shop and it would have to go to a repair centre in Dublin "He gave me a loan phone that he said would work the same as my motorola razi and that I would have email and the gps system. He also said he had transferred all my data to the loan phone and told me it would take up to 10 days for ,u phone to get repaired."
Mart left the shop content but when he got home he discovered that there was nothing on the loan phone and all his contact details were missing so back he went back to the e-mobile shop. He was then told that the company's loan phones don't allow people to access the internet . "I went home in dismay with a phone I am paying for that is of no use. All I got was company policy."
So, 10 days later "and over 100 calls to the shop" all of which went unanswered he went back to the shop to be told the phone had to go back to the manufacturer in England as the repair shop in Dublin couldn't fix it. Another week passed and he was told the phone was fixed and it would be back in the store 24 hours later. So he went to collect it and an assistant manager made a call and found out the phone was still in England. "I told him this wasn't good enough. I need a phone that will do what I need it to do. He told me to buy a new phone. I told him I was going to cancel the contract. He didn't care. When I asked to speak to the manager I was told it was his day off."
Mart says he is "sick of mobile phone companies treating their customers like dirt. Do they not see that if we all stop using their phones that they will go out of business." He asked about an official complaints procedure and was told there was no complaints department.
Last week he rang the repair shop and was told they have a turnaround of 28 days not between seven and 10 and they said that as the phone had gone back to the manufacturers it could take 12 weeks before he could get an answer back. They also asked how he got their number as it was not supposed to be given to customers."
We contacted the company to find out what was going on and, more importantly, to find out what it was going to do to resolve the problem.
We got a statement in which the company said its policy was to replace all customer phones that become faulty within the first 28 days from the date of purchase once the phone has not been water damaged or physically damaged. "When a phone becomes faulty after the initial 28 day period our policy is to return the phone to the repair company and they will either repair the fault or contact the manufacturer. We attempt to provide our customers with a replacement phone that matches their phone but in some cases this is not possible if the store does not have a similar phone in stock."
A spokeswoman said that in the case of our reader, the repair company sent the phone back to the manufacturer in the UK . We were told that the manufacturer has now examined the fault "and have replaced the phone. The phone is currently being couriered back to the eMobile store in Galway".
Emobile also that that because of the inconvenience caused to Mr McCracken and as he was misadvised about the capability of the loan phone he was given "we credited his account to cover his March invoice. Our Galway store will contact Mr McCracken once his replacement phone is in the store."


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Performance has emerged as a mainstream trend across the auto industry and is no longer restricted to sports cars. The New York International Auto Show will be held from April 14th- 23rd at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. On Wednesday, April 12th, before the show opens to the public, Timothy Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands, will provide viewers with an insider’s look at the highlights of this year’s show: from unprecedented technology to the unveiling of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon a new ultimate performance vehicle designed for high-performance driving marking new chapter in the automaker’s performance legacy. Dodge has been building excitement for the worldwide NY debut of the Demon with high-octane video teases that reveal clues about the new car. The push for bigger and faster automobiles has been a long time coming and this year, we’ll get to see the best yet. Tim will also give the lowdown on the cutting-edge trends of today as well as a glimpse into the future of the auto industry.
For over 100 years, the New York International Auto Show has been showcasing innovative trends and ideas in the automotive world. This April, nearly 1,000 cars and trucks from automakers worldwide will be on exhibit in New York City highlighting the new and cutting edge features and models and concept cars in the industry.
For more information, please visit


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In the latest Q4 release of PV-Tech’s ModuleTech bankability report, LONGi is once again the only manufacturer to achieve a ‘AAA’ rating, based on industry-leading metrics across almost all manufacturing and financial indicators.
LONGi is arguably the most important player in the PV industry today, being the largest technology company with the highest market value in China’s A-share market. According to its own H1 2021 financial report, the company shipped 17.01GW of its monocrystalline modules, including 16.60GW in export sales, an increase of 152.40% year on year. The PV-Tech report indicates that there appears to be nothing currently to prevent the company from moving to a position of greater market share and achieving value-chain top-status in the c-Si world.
LONGi has consistently reported operating margins and R&D investment well above those seen from any other A-Grade competitor in the past. Coupled with investor confidence, the company’s financial and manufacturing scores are also much higher than other module suppliers. Using its existing methodology and analysis, PV-Tech has once again measured the relative strengths and weaknesses of shortlisted companies. LONGi’s strong metrics are clear to see in the above graphic (Figure 2), within the delta relative to all other companies in the sector today.
LONGi has continued to report steady revenue growth and control of its asset-liability structure. According to the company’s H1 2021 financial report, in the first half of the year it achieved revenue of 35.098 billion yuan ($5.433 billion), a year-on-year increase of 74.26%, with total assets of 97.130 billion yuan ($15.035 billion), a year-on-year increase of 10.84%. The company’s asset-liability ratio was 55.18%, down 4.20% from the end of 2020.


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Sports and esports fans will soon see more crypto ads during games as Terra has partnered up with the Washington Nationals MLB team and crypto exchange Bitstamp is now partnered with esports organization Immortals.
Terra (LUNA) is the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the blockchain that produces the UST stablecoin. The project is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which is now an official partner of the Washington Nationals.
The Terra community committed $38.2 million in UST over the next five years to secure the deal. The partnership was proposed by Terra founder Do Kwon on Feb. 1 through the community’s governance platform.
As part of the partnership, there are plans to allow fans at games to make purchases with UST at the team’s home stadium, Nationals Park, as early as next season.
The team will also display Terra signage around Nationals Park during games and produce a five-part video series promoting Terra.
Nearly 1.5 million fans attended Nationals games throughout the 2021 season. That number is expected to climb above 2 million as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, giving Terra greater exposure in the ballpark.
Terra is one of the largest DAOs in the cryptocurrency industry.
Terra has experienced a meteoric rise as a market leader.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 9, 2022
The Terra community joins FTX as a major crypto outfit sponsoring professional American sports teams.
From real to virtual pro sports
U.K.-based crypto exchange Bitstamp announced on Feb. 9 that it has partnered with the U.S.-based Immortals competitive esports organization.
Immortals will launch a team of content creators who will serve as Bitstamp brand ambassadors and offer “interactive streams, custom content, and exclusive giveaways that fuse crypto and gaming.”
— Immortals (@Immortals) February 9, 2022
Bitstamp will sponsor the Immortals during the League of Legends World Championship. At the championship, every time Immortals draws first blood (that is, gets the first kill in a match) fans will have a chance to win crypto.
The Immortals stated the partnership is “specifically designed as both an educational opportunity, through which fans can learn more about crypto, and to enable fans to explore and interact with the Web3 space.”
Bitstamp now has its second official partner after Guild Esports PLC for its Bitstamp Gaming platform.


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Chef launches online deli and taco takeaway with plans for Norwich shop
- Credit: Contributed
A chef who dreamt of opening a deli decided to take the plunge due to coronavirus and has launched an online shop while he looks for a permanent home for the business.
John Magee, 32, has travelled the world as a private chef and when the first lockdown hit last March he was living in London with fiancée Helen Brett, who works as a speech and language therapist.
With the hospitality industry facing months of closures, Mr Magee had to adapt and spent the majority of last year working in a community café in the capital, feeding refugees, homeless people and also those that were shielding.
The pair had wanted to move to Norfolk for a while, as Miss Brett grew up in Rockland St Mary, and finally decided the time was right in December when they came to Norwich.
Since moving, the pair have kept busy and launched online deli NRFLK Store in March, with Miss Brett helping around her full-time job.
At the moment, they are delivering cookie boxes, which can be posted nationwide, and tomato and chilli jam, with plans to add more locally-sourced produce in the coming weeks such as British charcuterie.
The pair are also running a "taco drop" every Thursday to Saturday with finish at home kits, with a choice of braised short rib, using local beef, or braised aubergine and cauliflower.
- 1 'I can't lose!' City fan places 150/1 bet on Canaries dismal scoring record
- 2 Could ANOTHER McDonald's be coming to Norwich?
- 3 WATCH: Inside abandoned static caravan left to rot in city suburb
- 4 Seven Sprowston neighbours scoop £30,000 lottery win
- 5 Should cars be banned from Norwich's steepest hill?
- 6 Revealed: All the places you can fly to from Norwich Airport this year
- 7 Busy road to partially close for line repainting at end of new bus lane
- 8 Clinic shuts after more than 40 years with £60k losses due to Covid
- 9 Asteroid bigger than any building on Earth to be visible in Norfolk skies
- 10 Restaurant owner 'excited' as Norwich street is permanently pedestrianised
Mr Magee said: "We wanted to do a deli for a while and coronavirus pushed it forward.
"NRFLK Store comes from our love of food and we are lucky enough that we have travelled the world and tasted a lot of good food.
"We like to highlight great producers and there are so many in Norfolk.
"We are doing taco kits to keep things going while we look for a store."
Mr Magee is hoping for somewhere with room for a small seating area so he can do supper clubs.
He added: "Norwich is such a lovely place and a great supporter of independents."
Delivery is currently from NR1 to NR14 and you can order at nrflkstore.com


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- Pan oasis buyers dismayed over project delay
NOIDA: They were promised completion and possession of entire project by August 15, 2015. It is exactly a year since that date of commitment and even today, Pan Oasis, a project in Noida’s Sector 70 is not even 30% there. With 15 out of 18 towers still under construction, the buyers doubt the future of the project. Floated in 2009 and having stared construction in 2010, the Pan Oasis apartments which were supposed to be handed over by 2014, are still far from meeting its deadlines. Of its 2100 units, 1200 are made and 400 now occupied by residents. The 400 families living here have now started protesting against various violations by the builders to the original plan of construction. “The super area of the apartments have been increased, we have not been given details of the same. We demand the builders give us an explanation of how and why we are now being charged more for an increased super-area,” Kumar Rahul, member, treasurer, Pan Oasis residents welfare Association said. “In the original plan, a small retail area was shown, but now, the plan has been modified to include a big retail area by displacing the original plan for a children’s park. We have put up our concern with the Noida Authority and we hope this retail space is not constructed,” Rahul added. "Another play area in front of towers ABCD are on the verge of being compromised for the construction of transformer room and AC cooling towers. We have demanded the demolition of the construction. For the people who have shifted the added amenities like parking, swimming pools, clubs seems to be a far cry. We don’t know how long the buyers would have to wait until the facilities are made available to residents,” Jitendra K Pandey, general secretary of the Pan Oasis residents welfare association, said. “We are facing problems with construction. Be it the roads, the fittings or drainage, all are of inferior quality. The drain pipes leading out of the house are not connected to a main drainage, so during rains there is a mess. There is water logging in the basement and other parts of the society which is leading to breeding of mosquitoes. The builders have not paid us delay penalty. We are paying a high value charge for electricity and maintenance,” Rahul added Responding to the complaints by the residents, Pan Oasis, Rajeev Gupta, General Manager Marketing, Pan Oasis said, “We are speedily completing the project. The buyers concern was discussed by us with Noida Authority officers. We have committed to making the play grounds. If some buyers still have issues that need to be addressed, we can take them up at individual levels.” “We have made it clear to the Noida Authority officers that we do not want to take the occupancy certificates until the entire project is complete with all its facilities ready and serviceable. We have had a few meetings and we want to push for total completion of the project before OCs are handed out,” Pandey said.
- Birdwatchers pan out to map avian habitats
Kochi: The Bird Atlas project for the district began on Saturday with three teams going out for bird sightings. The project coordinated by the Cochin Natural History Society (CNHS) has volunteers, veteran and amateur birdwatchers. According to the organizers, Bird Atlas project is one of the most ambitious citizen-science initiatives undertaken anywhere in India. The survey will be done in two seasons in a district. The wet season count began on Saturday and will be done for nine weekends till Sep 13. The second season will be from Jan 16 to March 15 which is the dry season count. "In this wet season, there will not be any migratory birds. We will report every bird that is sighted. The entire geographical area is divided into grids for the mapping purposes. They have been divided into different habitats such as homesteads, towns, villages, wetlands, dry lands, rivers, farms, forests, plantations etc. This will be surveyed by volunteer bird watchers and naturalists with the help of modern navigational tools such as Google Maps and Locus Free etc," said Vishnu Priyan Kartha, secretary, CNHS. A team of 2-5 birdwatchers with an expert will travel and identify birds by sight as well as bird calls. They use binoculars and cameras as well as mobile phone apps such as eBird to collect and record the data of birds. According to the protocol, each team will spend one hour in each area. The checklists of birds thus generated will be uploaded to the ornithological data base eBird.org. This data will then be reviewed by experts and analysed using various scientific software tools to generate the maps and atlas of birds. This will then be published as book after the survey is completed. This will be a serious document for the conservation planning initiatives of policy makers and activists and scientists. Vishnu said that they would be collecting additional information such as the presence or absence of weeds and invasive plants such as lantana, water hyacinths, micania sp, which will help in determining the health of a habitat. "We will be collecting details of fruiting trees as well as data on stone quarries," he said. Apart from Ernakulam, Bird Atlas projects are currently going on in Palakkad, Wayanad, Kannur and Pathanamthitta. About 259 species of birds were reported from Thrissur during the atlas surveys that lasted four months in 2015-16. This is roughly 67% of the bird species reported from Thrissur in eBird till date.In Alappuzha district, 170 species of birds were reported, which is roughly 63 per cent of bird species reported in district in eBird till date.
- New PAN rule hurts sale of luxury goods
NEW DELHI: Mails are flying thick and fast at most luxury stores across the country as harried sales staff face a tough time trying to coax people to part with their permanent account number (PAN) details. By the looks of it, they are not accomplishing much, resulting in poor sales of luxury goods. Furnishing of PAN details has been made mandatory by the government for any transaction above Rs 2 lakh in a bid to weed out black money . However, the move has deterred many wealthy shoppers from spending lakhs of rupees on luxury products such as handbags, watches and writing instruments. “Our bags start at Rs 2 lakh. Sales at our store have been hit badly because our regular customers have stopped coming,“ said a senior executive of a French luxury brand. Earlier, most of them would pay in cash. But now, instead of giving their PAN details, they are opting to shop abroad.“ Most people in the luxury industry TOI spoke to complained about similar issues. For instance, at a store selling high fashion French leather goods in the capital, executives are tearing their well-groomed hair out to convince customers to reveal their PAN card number. “We have taken a hit of several lakhs of rupees over the last few days but have not been able to figure out a way around the problem,“ said an executive at the store. The other day, a lady who had come to buy a bag said she wouldn't risk getting her husband into trouble by furnishing his PAN card details. Eventually, she walked out without buying anything.“ Nikhil Mehra, CEO of Genesis Group that has marketing and distribution arrangements for several luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo, Giorgio Armani, Em porio Armani and Tumi among others and is the JV partner for Canali, Burberry and Villeroy and Boch in India, said consumer sentiment here has been affected by this ruling. “However, for most of our brands it is not a challenge because prices are within the Rs 2 lakh limit,“ he said. The Indian luxury market has been pegged at Rs 16,300 crore in 2015 by market research firm Euromonitor and is expected to touch Rs 39,000 crore by 2020, with an annual growth rate of 19 per cent.
- US consul general releases report on Pan-Asian connectivity
KOLKATA: As a follow up to the Building Pan-Asian Connectivity Conference of March 2015, the US Consulate General-Kolkata, the Center on American and Global Security at Indiana University (CAGS), and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched a report titled Heading East: Security, Trade, and Environment between India and Southeast Asia. Published by Oxford University Press, the report was launched at the American Center by US Consul General Craig Hall along with Sumit Ganguly, Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations and director of the Center on American and Global Security, Indiana University, Bloomington. Karen Stoll Farrell, librarian for South Asian and Southeast Asian Studies, and the head of the Area Studies Department at Indiana University Libraries was present. The Building Pan-Asian Connectivity Conference was held last year to bring together business, academic, government, and civilian experts from the United States, India, and Southeast Asia to examine the opportunities and challenges as India and its neighbors take on greater roles in the region. The conference examined India’s “Act East” policy, the United States’ rebalance to Asia, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC). It also emphasized the need to accelerate Regional Connectivity and Regional Economic Development Corridors in order to better develop India’s ties with South and Southeast Asia and assess United States’ role. Launching the book, Hall said, “As India's global role grows, its connections with regional neighbors and with Southeast Asia will expand. The United States fully supports the increased connectivity. The report assesses the challenges and opportunities for building bridges between India and Southeast Asia and points the way towards more robust relationships that will define the future of the Asia-Pacific region.”
- HC sets aside ban on gutka, pan masala in state
The Patna high court on Tuesday set aside Bihar government’s notification banning manufacture, storage, distribution, transportation and sale of any type of gutka and pan masala which contain tobacco or nicotine. The food and safety commissioner has been imposing ban on year to year basis for the last two years.
- Arrested Nigerians part of pan India syndicate
Matrimonial site fraudDone: AnoopPune: The three Nigerians who had duped a city-based techie of Rs 38 lakh through a matrimonial site had been running a racket for the last three years from a house taken on rent from a senior police officer in the police colony in New Delhi.


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Despite the renewed popularity enjoyed by the iPads and especially the iPad Pros, the Android tablet market seems pretty dead as always. Google halting work on its own Pixel tablets doesn’t bode well either. Of the major device makers, Samsung seems to be the only one still making such slates and now there are signs that it has another one in the works that isn’t the Galaxy Tab S5. Instead, it’s a rugged tablet that might be a bit “Pro” when it comes to size.
It seems that Samsung will be tacking on “Pro” to designate larger models. For example, there will be a Galaxy Note 10 Pro and now it has started to trademark the name “Galaxy Tab Active Pro”. And since its current Galaxy Tab Active line sits at the 8-inch mark, rumors are now circulating that this Pro model would come in a 10.1-inch screen size instead.
Not much is known about this slate, though, but various tidbits have popped up here and there, like 4 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 710 processor. Of course, it’ll be rugged and if it’s anything like the Galaxy Tab Active2, it would have S Pen support as well. In other words, it’s more of the same, just bigger.
The Galaxy Tab series if one of the few Android tablets still left in the market, which include Huawei’s MediaPads, Amazon’s Fire tablets, and Walmart’s new Onn tablets. All of these have one thing in common: they are low-power or mid-range devices that seem to be made just for the sake of having yet another product in that line. Barely any innovation or new features that would actually make people want to buy one.
Apple, in contrast, has found renewed direction for its iPads, going as far as rebranding iOS as iPadOS for its slates. The iPads now have a clearer purpose and place in Apple’s ecosystem while Android tablets keep on wandering around until they eventually fade away.


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Tahoe Talk: Home prices skyrocket; Fall leaves for sale in Bay Area
From around the globe to out your backdoor, here are the topics to keep you relevant and up-to-date. Listen to today’s discussion here.
- Earth just experienced the hottest September since records began
- Rave: Zoom will start letting people host paid-entry online events with a new service called OnZoom. Beta version available now, worldwide 2021
- Two Bi-Rite locations in the SF are selling brown-paper-wrapped bundles of fall leaves, and for $14.95, you can have around two handfuls’ worth of seasonally appropriate plant refuse
- Americans spent $3.4 billion in a single year on cracked screen repairs.
- Nearly half of all Americans say they’d find it difficult to pay for an unexpected $250 expense right now. 35% of respondents are losing sleep over personal economic concerns.
- The median price of a California home skyrocketed to $712,430 in September — shattering the state record for the fourth month in a row — as sales hit their highest level in more than a decade. It took 11 days on average to sell a single-family home in September — the shortest period ever recorded.
- Friday, Oct. 23 = National Croc Day
- City of SLT Council agenda items overview
- Multiple bank robberies in the area lately
- 4 arrested in major drug bust in SLT
- Tahoe Land podcast wins highest award for any TV/Radio/Digital entity
- New Truckee restaurant offering ‘Mountain Italian’ cuisine
- TahoeMemes causing more fake waves saying that ski resorts will not open until Jan. 15 – False!
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In our Drink of the Week segment, we’ll showcase one unique type of beer, wine, cocktail — you name it — to try at one of the countless breweries, bars and restaurants from around the…


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Didnt have time to check out the tech headlines over the weekend? Here's what you missed.
Saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the death of Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. Current Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter with a message about life in the post-Jobs era. "Going on a long hike today and reflecting on his friendship and all the dents he made in the universe," Cook wrote.
In other news, there are a small subset of Tor users who aren't as anonymous as they think thanks to the efforts of the National Security Agency and the occasional vulnerabilities found within the Firefox browser commonly attached to the Tor Project. An NSA presentation leaked by Edward Snowden showed off the results of the NSA's efforts to de-anonymize the popular service.
Meanwhile, the first entertainment and gaming consoles running Valve's SteamOS will be powered by Intel central processors and sport Nvidia graphics chips, the video game developer and distributor announced on Friday. Valve will be shipping 300 prototype units to Steam beta testers who sign up for the special program before Oct. 25.
For more, check out PCMag Live from Friday in the video, as well as other news you might have missed in the links below.
- FIDO-Based Fingerprint Authentication on Android? Early 2014: Those rocking Google's mobile operating system might not have that much longer to wait before they start getting fingerprint sensors of their own on their mobile devices.
- Apple Appeals E-Book Price-Fixing Ruling: Cupertino is not going down without a fight.
- The Tweets That Changed Twitter: Since its birth Twitter has changed the world, and these are some of the tweets that changed Twitter.
- AT&T Rolling Out Camera-Enhancing Update for Moto X: Those with an AT&T Moto X can now download a much-anticipated camera-boosting software update that first arrived for T-Mobile customers last month.
- Microsoft: Surface 2, Pro 2 'Close To Selling Out': Less than two weeks after Microsoft launched the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, the follow-up tablets are flying off the digital shelves - at least according to Redmond.
- Security Experts Weigh In On Adobe Hack: The massive theft of Adobe customer data and product source code has security experts concerned that the compromised data could be used to launch more criminal attacks.
- Samsung in Trouble for Perusing Secret Apple, Nokia Patent Docs: A California judge has ordered Samsung to turn over what it knows about the mishap and the documents in question, and to make a key Samsung executive available for questioning.
- Astronaut Cady Coleman Dishes on the Story Behind 'Gravity': The unusual story of how Sandra Bullock befriended astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman to learn how to be an astronaut.
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Smackdown Over Storage Share
With the release of a new IDC report on storage marketshare, vendors are scrambling to claim victory. IBM Corp., EMC Corp., andCompaq Computer Corp. all have claims to the storage crown.
EMC remains the titan in high-end external storage unitswith 21.6% of the market. However, IBM, and others have eroded this marketshare. It dropped from 25.6% last year. IBM was the only vendor to gain marketshare this year, gaining 4.4 percentage points to 12.2% of the market.
Chris Saul, Shark OEM marketing programs manager atIBM, says IBM’s growing share is due to its broader support for customers. “IBMjust offers a better value than EMC,” he says, “EMC offers a storage box whileIBM offers a complete solution.” IBM ensures its storage products complementits entire server line and offers a range of services to aid customers deployits products.
Services, which is one of the few growing segments ofthe IT industry, might be one factor leading to IBMs gain on EMC. Saul saysthat global services may help IBM sell Shark and other external storage unitsbecause of support at installation.
Finally, Saul believes the attention given to Shark,IBM’s flagship storage array helps create mindshare for IBM’s other products.Saul says IBM’s market share began to improve with the introduction of Shark in1999. “People pay more attention to IBM and what we have to say about storage,”he says.
IBM and EMC see large, external storage units as themeat of the storage market, but Compaq sees it slightly differently. Wheninternal and external storage is included, Compaq can claim the leadershiprole. According to the IDC statistics, Compaq leads all vendors in the most inclusivedefinitions of storage. “You have to go back to ‘what are customers buying?”says Mark Stouce, director of global communications for Compaq enterprisestorage group. Stouce believes that shipping disk drives – regardless of thepackage – is the thrust of the storage market.
IBM’s Saul is a little more skeptical about the totalstorage numbers. “Usually when people think of the storage market, they’rereally thinking of the external storage market,” he says. When enterprises buya server with a disk drive, they’re choosing a server, not a disk drive.
Stouce believes EMC’s reputation as a storagejuggernaut is unfounded. Rather than representing the storage segment, it gainsrecognition for its specialized proprietary devices. “We are the leader now,”he says.
EMC may see its market share erode further as customerslook to broader solutions, rather than products. The IDC report says EMC willlose more than three percentage points of market share. Compaq is more thanhappy to pick up the slack. “The other area we’re kicking their butt issoftware sales,” Stouce says.
Stouce attributes Compaq’s purported dominance of thestorage market to a difference in philosophy. “EMC is fundamentally geared tobe a proprietary company,” he says. Like IBM, EMC is focused on sellingmonolithic products, while Compaq takes technologies from a variety of vendorsto create a solution. “For 20 years, our DNA has been about openness andinteroperability,” Stouce says. The open approach, he believes, helps Compaqserve the storage market. -Chris McConnell


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Dubbed IDrive Photos, the service costs $9.95/year and offers unlimited storage space. Furthermore, first time users get a 90% discount on their first year, which will only cost them 99 cents.
The new cloud backup (opens in new tab) service hopes to attract users looking for alternatives now that Google Photos (opens in new tab) has changed its terms (opens in new tab) to restrict High Quality images to only the 15GB that comes for free with every Google account. In fact, IDrive Photos launched on the same day as the new Google Photos restrictions kicked in.
- Check our roundup of the best cloud storage services (opens in new tab)
- Here are the best cloud backup services (opens in new tab)
- These are the best free cloud backup services (opens in new tab)
IDrive goes on to claim that its new Photos service offers a price advantage even over the paid plans of Google Photos that offers 100GB of storage for $1.99/month, as well as iCloud that charges $2.99/month for 50GB of storage.
Full feature service
IDrive claims its pricing advantage doesn’t come at the expense of useful features.
The new service will offer several options to share the photos/video online as well as with family and friends. Available for both Android (opens in new tab) and iOS (opens in new tab) devices, IDrive Photos ships with the auto upload option to automatically backup (opens in new tab) any photos and videos from the device to the cloud.
The user interface of the service offers a timeline view, which IDrive claims will help users view media from a specific time period with relative ease.
Furthermore, users will be able to download the backed up photos to any device, either by selecting specific media or the entire gallery.
- These are the best photo cloud storage services (opens in new tab)


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A robotic kitchen stocked with a database of 2,000 recipes becomes a high-tech personal chef.
Magic Leap CEO says Microsoft's HoloLens headset may be unsafe, but he ultimately raises more questions about the potential risks of immersing ourselves in 3D worlds.
Names, birthdates and Social Security numbers were exposed in the latest security breach at a health industry organization.
With a key, spying-related section of the Patriot Act up for reauthorization, tech heavyweights team up with other groups in outlining "essential" changes to US surveillance policies.
The personal information of current and former members and employees were accessed in what may be the largest ever data breach involving a US health insurer.
After allegedly being raped by her Uber driver in Delhi, an Indian woman sues the US-based ride-hailing service on its home turf. She's asking Uber to "overhaul" its safety measures around the world.
The App Store for Apple Watch features curated collections such as family, travel, health and fitness, creativity, work and communication.
The social network is rolling out feature to let you send money to friends, Premera reveals 11 million health care customer records may have been hacked, and Sony's PlayStation Vue streaming launches at a price that might not save cord-cutters.
Company touts records all around: a 50 percent sales increase in 2014, half a billion dollars spent by consumers the first week of 2015, and its single-best day, on New Year's.
Two Irish brothers show a novel way to get the sheep on their family farm to go where they want. Maybe drones will be putting collies out of work.


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Supermarkets across the UK say they are running dangerously low on all food supplies although nearly all stocks of porridge remain unaffected. They say all fresh, frozen and tinned produce are now gone and there are just a handful of dried pulses still remaining. But stocks of porridge, a chopped starchy grain, boiled in water – considered a delicacy north of the border – are still in plentiful supply.
Although tipping flaky oats into a pan and boiling it in salty water is way beyond the culinary skills of most ordinary Scots people, the drab grey gruel has become synonymous with people north of the border. ‘Even the pet food has gone’ confirmed store manager Greg Meredith. ‘We noticed some people pick up a bag of porridge, read the ingredients and cooking instructions, put it back on the shelf and then head for the pet food supplies. Although to be honest, that usually happens when the shelves are full anyway.’
Villagers on Exmoor who have been cut off for days say all they have left between them is a bag of porridge left over from the big freeze of 1963. ‘All we have is this bag of porridge and a dead crow’ said one of the villagers on Facebook….’so we’ve plucked the feathers off the crow and we’re having that tonight. We’re saving the feathers until tomorrow.’
‘Somebody mentioned the plane crash in the Andes back in ’72 and then we realised it was either that….or the porridge. We’ve been drawing straws this morning. I hate to think what the last one standing will do. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…..for their sake’.


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JAPAN/US: Burrito buy to meet demand for wider range - House Foods
Japan's House Foods has said its acquisition of US soy food firm El Burrito Mexican Food Products will help it meet demand from its customers for it to provide a wider range of items.
Shinichi Hinotsu, vice president of sales and marketing at House Foods' US subsidiary, told just-food the company's retail customers had wanted the company to broaden its product range.
"There has been a high demand for us [to expand the range] as consumers want to have a one-stop shopping experience, and we are excited to provide more variety through this recent acquisition," Hinotsu said.
House Foods announced last week it had snapped up El Burrito for an undisclosed sum. It said El Burrito had "pioneered" the sale of soy products with "traditional Mexican flavour". The deal will see House Foods expand its portfolio to include soy lines like El Burrito's Soyrizo range.
Hinotsu said Soyrizo's recent sales had been "stable" but insisted it would remain a "core product" in the El Burrito portfolio. He said House Foods expected the deal to improve its profits in the US.
- Focus: The impact of Heinz's stevia ketchup
- M&A Watch: Why Danone/Lifeway deal could be next
- Focus: Gen Mills turns to M&A to bolster US ops
- Viewpoint: US health food in play - at a price
- Shopper trends: Some confidence but promos popular
- Burton's "eyeing" United Biscuits merger
- Premier Foods revamp creates three divisions
- Unilever to boost presence in Nigeria
- General Mills Q1 profits tumble
- Timeline: Latest on battle over Chiquita


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Dunkin' Donuts has been in the spotlight lately.
Broward resident Taylor Chapman threw a shit-fit, because she claimed she was entitled to receive free food when, in accordance with store policy, she was not given a receipt at the time of purchase. Rather than freeload as a normal person would, the crazy-lady went off on an eight minute iPhone-recorded racist tirade directed at the store's teenage employees.
She is currently the most hated person on the internet.
Well, there is a new Dunkin' Donuts opening its doors soon. And it will be giving out free coffees -- no raging outbursts necessary.
On Thursday, June 27, Hollywood is getting its newest Dunkin' Donuts.
Located in a Mobil gas station, the store is hosting a Grand Opening event. From 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., all customers can receive a free small iced coffee with no purchase -- or iPhone video surveillance -- necessary.
The new store is located at 2780 Stirling Road in Hollywood.
Follow Sara Ventiera on Twitter, @saraventiera.
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As Alibaba snaps up businesses left and right before China effectively shuts down for Chinese New Year, which begins Friday, the open question is whether the e-commerce behemoth has finished its New Year’s buying spree or may still be considering a bid for the Kroger supermarket chain.
Talk has swirled about a possible deal between the two, with Reuters reporting last month that Alibaba and Kroger have held preliminary talks about working together. Speculation increased after online retailer Boxed.com rejected an acquisition offer from Kroger.
Alibaba has been extending its expansive reach both online and in traditional brick and mortar, investing more than $9.3 billion in brick-and-mortar stores since 2015.
And just this week, Alibaba said it would buy a 15% stake in Beijing Easyhome Furnishing Chain Store Group, a home improvement and furniture store chain, and reached a deal to stream Disney movies and television shows in China. Earlier this month, the e-tailer said it would buy 33% of Chinese payments giant Ant Financial.
Could Kroger be next on Alibaba’s shopping list? And how would that affect Amazon?
Going head-to-head with Amazon
A deal with Kroger wouldn’t be Alibaba’s first foray into food retailing. Alibaba already has a traditional retail presence in China through its Hema supermarket chain, and in November it announced plans to buy a major stake in Sun Art Retail Group, China’s top hypermart operator. This month, it invested in India’s online grocer BigBasket and, through Ant Financial, in the Indian food-ordering app Zomato.
It makes sense, then, that Alibaba’s next supermarket purchase could be in the U.S. with a Kroger deal.


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Volkswagen executives charged over emissions scandal
Criminal charges have been brought against three current and former executives of Volkswagen over the emissions scandal.
According to multiple reports, prosecutors in the city of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony - where Volkswagen is based - have charged chief executive Herbert Diess, chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and former chief executive Martin Winterkorn with stock market manipulation, claiming they intentionally delayed telling investors about how much the scandal would cost the company.
It first emerged in 2015 that Volkswagen had been deliberately cheating European Union emissions tests. The scandal has wiped billions off the German company’s market value, with the stock tumbling 40% in the immediate aftermath, and so far has cost it more than $30bn in fines, provisions and vehicle recalls.
According to Reuters, lawyers for all three men said they would contest the charges, while Volkswagen said its supervisory board would meet to discuss the indictments.
Shares in Volkswagen were down nearly 3% by 1430 BST.


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Nuclear challenge: How Japan has boosted food exports from disaster hit Fukushima – exclusive government interview
Japanese authorities have been engaging both tourists and foreign governments in a double-pronged strategy to promote food products produced in areas that were hardest hit by the nuclear disaster in 2011, according to a senior government official.
FoodNavigator-Asia recently spoke to Naohiko Yokoshima, the Director of Export Promotion Division, Food Industry Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to find out more about the ministry's strategies to promote food produced in Fukushima.
He said that one of the key strategies included regular and sustained engagement with foreign governments to prove the safety of exports from the region.
Safety, speed and sincerity: Three tips for overseas food firms seeking to do business in Japan
Japan is a notoriously difficult market for overseas food and beverage firms to crack, but here are three top tips from one of the country’s leading trading partners.
Ocean Trading, from Shiga Prefecture, has a 45-year pedigree and turnover of JPY23bn (US$207m) and specialises in importing seafood, fruit and vegetables.
The company has a 30% share of the raw Norwegian salmon market in Japan and is on the lookout for new overseas partners.
But in order to succeed in Japan, the firm stressed three key qualities it was looking for:
Third category beer: Malt alternatives a focus for Japanese giant Sapporo
Japanese beer maker Sapporo Breweries is to devote more attention to so-called ‘third category beers’ – those which use malt alternatives such as soy and pea protein - in its home market this year.
The firm says such products are becoming more popular among consumers and manufacturers due to its low tax rate.
“Because of forthcoming consumption tax increase, consumers tend to buy cheaper products such as the third category beers,” Mika Harada, Senior Manager of the Public Relations section said in response to queries from FoodNavigator-Asia.
Japan had previously announced that the consumption tax would increase from the current 8% to 10% on Oct 1 this year.
Organic products in Japan: Strict standards, small market, but huge opportunities - Retailer
Adhering to Japan’s strict organic standards and requirements is the biggest hurdle for overseas firms trying to get a foothold in the nation’s fledgling sector, which is now being tipped for a growth spurt.
That’s the view of Bio c’ Bon Merchandising Department General Manager Akiteru Imai, who shared his views at FoodEx Japan.
The firm was formed as a joint venture between Japanese organic pioneers Aeon and Marne & Finance Europe, which operates Bio c’ Bon in France. It currently runs four “casual organic” stores in Tokyo and aims to have 50 branches by 2020.
And although demand for organic is relatively small in Japan – with annual growth relatively stagnant compared to an average of 13% across APAC as a whole - consumer interest is slowly growing and there could be vast opportunities future for suppliers – providing they can meet the stringent local standards.
Sweet treats: Four top trends from Japan’s dessert and confectionery sectors
From ice cream on a roll, to high-cocoa content chocolate, here are four trends currently shaping Japan’s confectionery and dessert categories as seen at the recent FoodEx Japan show.
These are: Ice cream as a top consumer dessert choice, Healthy chocolate, Functional candies for seniors and Rolled ice cream