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Iphone 6S Price Drop After Iphone 7
The iPhone 6s was released in 2015 and was Apple’s then-flagship device. In September 2016, Apple released the iPhone 7, which superseded the 6s as the company’s newest flagship. This impacted the price of the iPhone 6s as a new phone was in the market.
If this years phones are not your thing, this is your best chance at getting the newest iPhone without paying a premium for the latest and greatest. As we have discussed previously, iPhone 7 prices are dropping all the time, which means that this is always a great time to buy. Keep in mind, older iPhones are going to get even cheaper, and this is the reason for holiday season, when there are cashback offers and so on.
We are seeing a bump up in suggested prices only on 64GB Pro models, ahead of a new iPhones 2022 release, meaning that the current prices are about what they will be for a brief period. The iPhone 6 Plus model has seen a 64 per cent jump in trade-in price from an average of PS13 to PS22 just this month, so if you are waiting for the best time to sell your 2014 iPhone, now is it – or never.
|iPhone 6||Apple 8|
|iPhone 7||Quad-Core Apple A10 Fusion Processor|
|iPhone 8||Apple A11 Bionic|
|iPhone X||A11 Bionic Processor|
Apples trade-in prices have fallen up to $90 on almost every one of its iPhone models, from iPhone 6s Plus to iPhone 12 Pro Max, meaning owners looking to upgrade are not getting the most bang for their old iPHONEs. Following the release of its three new iPhones, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, Apple has reduced prices of older iPhone models across the U.S., as well as in India. With the new iPhones announced, Apple has reduced prices for two older models, while discontinuing others, including the iPhone X which was released only one year ago.
When Apple launches a new iPhone, it typically keeps prices of the higher-end models while lower-end models from the previous generation are reduced in price and may get discontinued. This is common practice, and Apple generally implements price cuts on older iPhones, or completely discontinues previous-generation iPhones, when they introduce a new model. In typical Apple fashion, prices of older Apple iPhone variants were reduced worldwide, and also in the Indian market.
If you’re interested in Sprint Iphone Unlock, take a look at my other article
While Apple has introduced the three iPhone X successors from the previous years, its older-generation smartphones – the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 8 Plus iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 6S iPhone 6S Plus – all received a price reduction in classic Apple fashion. Of the new models announced yesterday, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are very similar to past generations of iPhones, but swapping out their aluminum exteriors for a glass back to accommodate the new wireless charging, upgrading their screens to True Tone displays to better color accuracy, and offering their usual improvements in the camera and processor (this time, a new A11 Bionic six-core chip). Yes, the iPhone 6s Plus really does offer a couple of cool new features–wireless charging, a glass-back design, a dual-rear-camera setup, and Apples own A11 Bionic chip–but they are definitely not the one we would want to recommend, even if you cut corners.
The iPhone 7 (along with iPhone 7 Plus) is no longer sold directly by Apple, but iPhone 7 remains one of the least expensive iPhones available, and packs in all of the cutting-edge features included with iOS 14. Since Apple has now discontinued both the iPhone SE and its predecessor, this makes the iPhone 7 the least expensive iPhone to buy direct from Apple. The iPhone 12 Pro is an unexpected launch, coming in at much lower cost than the iPhone 11 series. With a design resembling a lot of the iPhone 8 Classic, yet featuring significantly upgraded specs, it may well end up being the budget iPhone we all expected.
The price of the iPhone 7 is now as low as $449 (PS449, AU$749) for a 32GB model, having received yet another price drop thanks to the introduction of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple discontinued the 8GB iPhone 5c, and kept the 6/Plus, 6s/Plus and iPhone 5s all priced lower, eventually replacing the 5s in March with the new 4-inch iPhone SE. After reducing, we definitely recommend users to pick up an iPhone 7.
If you’re interested in Instagram On Apple Watch, take a look at my other article
For the price, you are not getting much that is significantly different than what is seen in the iPhone X, other than the larger screen and the improved camera. If you have always wanted to get an Apple phone, but the price has held you back, this is your chance to grab one. Keep in mind, you cannot get prices that high if you choose to trade your iPhone in at your cell phone provider or with Apple, or you wish to sell it at a buyback site such as GadgetGone.
Others think that the standard iPhone 14 might start at $799, which is the same price as the standard iPhone 13 (via Korean blog Naver (open in new tab)), meaning the increase in prices will affect only higher models. More recently, Dan Evans at Wedbush Securities has estimated that the standard model of iPhone may also see an increase of PS100/$100. If that is true, then the larger iPhone 14 Max might be $100 extra, coming in at $899 (about PS650, AU$1,200), and even pro models might see $100 increases, to $1099. While these are far removed from recent iPhones (such as the iPhone 12 Mini or iPhone 12), and they lack certain new features that you would find in iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, they are also fractions of the price.
We noticed an interesting dynamic with iPhone XR resale prices surrounding the 2022 release of the iPhone SE, that has caused a drop in XR values over the course of 3 months, with the 256GB model experiencing the steepest immediate dips and recoveries. The pre-iPhone 13 resale prices recovered during the October-December period in 2021, but the 4 months following iPhones dropped value, and it remains steady at this point through the iPhone 14 Series launch. As shown below, iPhone (2020) has been impacted with a minimum value decline from the arrival of the new flagships on the market, which has instead increased SE resale prices to their pre-2020 prices for a couple of months.
Does the price of iPhones go down when a new one comes out?
The reason you shouldn’t purchase right before an event is that Apple frequently lowers the price of the older models of the iPhone after the release of the newer models. Now that the most recent iPhone launch event has passed, you can purchase iPhones from the previous generation for less money.


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You’re going to want to know this name
The model, who hails from Africa, is most well-known for walking the Victoria’s Secret runway in Paris just last year (and being the first do to so with her natural short afro), but has also strutted down the runway for the likes of Chanel, Balmain and Givenchy prior to signing her first big beauty deal. Maria previously appeared in the L’Oréal Paris campaign for lip range Paint, and will feature in the upcoming Matte Obsession campaign.
Maria said of her new gig, “This means the world to me. I believe in the beauty of diversity and the empowering message that a girl who started from the bottom can become an international beauty symbol. And be living proof that our dreams are valid and the future ahead of us is bright. Thankyou L’Oréal Paris, we’re all worth it.”
The brand shared these images with the caption: “We are so proud to introduce you our new gorgeous Lorealistas @iammariaborges. Come & spend the day with us #worthit #lorealista #pfw17 #reveal #parisienne
Maria’s not the only one celebrating a new beauty deal. Find out which brand Taylor Hill and Hailey Baldwin recently signed together.
Image credit: Getty; @lorealmakeup
From Kylie Jenner's latest lip kit launch to cutting edge skincare technology, Jordyn has covered all things beauty for titles including BEAUTYcrew, marie claire and beautyheaven. Her words also appear in Harper's Bazaar and Collective Hub.

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The Samsung Galaxy S11 (opens in new tab) will ship with a humongous 108MP camera and a five-times optical zoom, according (opens in new tab) to Korean outlet The Elec. It's believed to be the exact same sensor found on the stunning Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha (opens in new tab) — which isn't all that surprising considering Samsung supplies the component to the Chinese manufacturer.
This is about the first sensible rumour we've heard about the Galaxy S11 to date. The rest have been based around design — some claim it will be Samsung's first buttonless smartphone (opens in new tab), while others believe it will come with a sliding screen (opens in new tab). In actuality, it will probably adopt a similar form to the Samsung Galaxy S10 (opens in new tab) and Galaxy S10 Plus (opens in new tab).
There's also been some chatter alleging that Samsung will skip the Galaxy S11 and Galaxy Note 11, instead unifying them with the Samsung Galaxy One (opens in new tab).
- Could this be our first look at the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2? (opens in new tab)
- Samsung Galaxy S11 could end the Apple iPhone 12 with a sliding screen (opens in new tab)
- Samsung Galaxy S11 may Samsung's first buttonless smartphone (opens in new tab)
All we know for certain is the Galaxy S11 will be a significant step up from the current Galaxy S10, with reliable tipster Ice Universe noting (opens in new tab) that Samsung is treating the device as a "new beginning." He then added that the handset will feature some refreshing design changes, dramatically improved internals and oodles of AI to boot.
A 108MP camera definitely fits the bill (and will be hard for rival Apple to beat with the upcoming iPhone 12).
Samsung is expected to announce the Samsung Galaxy S11 in February 2020.
- These are the best Android phones you can buy right now (opens in new tab)
- And these are the best folding phones coming to a store near you soon (opens in new tab)


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Gurgaon, October 20, 2012: The largest online travel company in the world -- the Expedia Group plans to set up a global technology centre in India as part of its enhanced investment in India. The Expedia group’s Indian subsidiary companies have already moved to a brand new office premise, spread over 42,000 sq feet in Gurgaon. The facility will primarily house employees working on sales and marketing, research and development, and travel supply support services activities in support of Expedia Group’s Expedia.co.in, Hotels.com-brand, and Egencia (corporate travel) businesses.
The Gurgaon set-up represents one of the Expedia Group’s largest facilities outside of Expedia, Inc.’s Bellevue, Washington corporate headquarters. The new office is the largest facility for the group in Asia Pacific and the fifth largest globally. Expedia Online Travel Services India Private Limited (ExpediaIndia), the Indian subsidiary of Expedia Inc., also plans to hire 300 people locally by end of 2012 as it strengthens its workforce in the region.
As the R&D hub for the region, the new development centre in India will create travel applications for local as well as the global markets. India will be the only other location besides Bellevue, where the Expedia Group will work on solutions across all brands and platforms. The Gurgaon location will house a balanced mix of teams across operations, search and supply functions along with core common infrastructure teams and data centres.
At present, the Expedia Group has R&D presence globally in 11 centers in Bellevue, London, Springfield, San Francisco, Geneva, Paris, Prague, Montreal, and now Gurgaon.
Says Edmond Mesrobian, Chief Technology Officer, Expedia: “India is of strategic importance to us and offers us access to a vast pool of bright technology talent. As one of the fast growing travel markets and given our success in this region, we are delighted to be able to expand our presence by way of setting up an R&D centre that will significantly contribute innovations and new solutions across our full suite of brands both here and globally. We are bullish on the long-term potential of the market and are expecting to hire 300 resources before the end of the year ”.
Adds Rajesh Rai, Director, HR, Expedia India: “While the Expedia Group has gradually become synonymous to ‘Travel Experience’, we really wanted our teams to comprehend to the core, what they stand for. We are a very strong technology company with innovation at the centre of its being. And that’s what we look for when we hire – the hunger to make an impact!. Further, the idea was to extend a fun, comfortable, refreshing and open work environment- that seems less like an ‘office’ and more like a unique travel experience in itself. Full of comfort, we’re in pursuit to make Expediaa great place to work.”
And Vikram Malhi, Country Head, Expedia.co.in comments, “Expedia.co.in has seen tremendous success in the Indian market over the last 3 years. At Expedia, we are committed to facilitating a seamless and fulfilling travel experience. We continually strive towards improvising ourselves and remain in pursuit of innovation, bringing to the Indian consumers, a new travel purchase experience supported by a strong supply of travel products and services. The new technology centre being set up in Gurgaon will be the platform for taking our engagement in the Indian market to the next level.”
“Our Egencia business brings the global best in class technology & operating solutions to business travelers in India, a key emerging market for us” says Gaurav Sundaram, Country Director Egencia India Travel Private Limited. “Whilst our strategy is growth through innovation and investment in technology to better serve our Indian customers, developing and sustaining the next generation of technology experts locally in Gurgaon is an exciting byproduct.”
“The opening of the new office in India is an exciting step on way of Hotels.com’s strategic goal to establish as the leading hotel booking website in India ", says Abhiram Chowdhry, Sr. Director of Marketing, Hotels.com Asia Pacific. The Indian market has great potential and one where our singular positioning as the hotel booking expert has shown great results already. We intend to continue with investments in our product, technology and marketing and offer ever greater value to address the hotel booking needs of the Indian consumer. The new office will be a great conduit for us as a brand in India.”


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In recent days, Microsoft has been offering the Lumia 950 XL - its range-topping Windows 10 Mobile handset - for £289 in the UK, including a free Display Dock worth £79. The cost of the 950 XL, and that of its smaller Lumia 950 sibling, have been falling since before the two handsets officially went on sale; the XL was originally listed at £549, and its most recent price of £289 was its lowest to date on the Microsoft Store.
That offer was scheduled to end on November 28 - but while the small print on the store listing now indicates that it's been extended until December 16 (and while the page still refers to it as a "Limited Time Cyber Monday Offer, despite supposedly being extended for a further two weeks), Microsoft no longer has stock of the Lumia 950 XL available, in either the black or white models.
The 'add to cart' button has now been replaced by an 'email me when available' button - perhaps offering hope that more stock may be on the way. But it's worth noting that the Microsoft Store listing for the Lumia 950 displayed an identical 'email me when available' button for four weeks after stock of that device ran out, and it was only in the last few days that Microsoft finally updated the page with an 'out of stock' notice instead.
Microsoft may yet surprise us by replenishing stock of the Lumia 950 XL on its UK store - and some other retailers still have stock remaining - but a year after its Windows 10 Mobile flagships were unveiled, it seems clear that they're now approaching the end of their retail lives.
Meanwhile, over in the United States this past weekend, Microsoft offered a free Lumia 950 with purchases of the 950 XL for the third time this year. Both devices have now returned to their original prices, but the company has dropped its offer of a free Display Dock with either handset - which had been available since September - and the Dock is no longer listed on its US store.
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British bookmakers have hit out at the parliamentary review of fixed-odds betting terminals, claiming the group was “deeply flawed” and funded by a consortium of anti-bookmaking interests.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group of British MPs gave their recommendations to government on FOBTs early December, suggesting the maximum reduction in machine stakes, from £100 to £2 per spin.
The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) has long warned that such a move would be devastating for the industry, British horse racing and UK high streets, leading to hundreds of shop closures and threatening thousands of jobs.
The ABB is now demanding an “immediate inquiry” by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into the FOBT APPG, which it condemned as a “front for vested commercial interests”.
“This is a deeply flawed report funded by vested interests who would directly benefit if its recommendations are ever implemented,” said Malcolm George, CEO of the ABB.
“The report is the view of a tiny group of anti-betting shop MPs. This group has been financed by those with interests in the casino, arcade and pub industries.”
According the ABB’s own report, the APPG was funded by businesses and trade associations in sectors competing with British bookmaking. The entities contributing £3,000 each to the group’s report included, it said: Bacta (the arcade trade body); Hippodrome Casino in central London; Novomatic, the machine manufacturer; the JD Wetherspoon pub chain; LM Consulting, an arcades adviser; Praesepe, owner the Cashino chain of arcades; and the excitable Campaign for Fairer Gambling.
“We strongly believe that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards should urgently investigate this All-Party Parliamentary Group,” George added. “This group of MPs has operated in secrecy, provided no transcripts of the evidence given to their meetings and operated throughout behind closed doors away from public scrutiny.”
Observing analysts have been especially perturbed by the some of the language used by the parliamentary under-secretary for culture media and sports, Tracey Crouch. Crouch would be a key decision-maker in the position Theresa May’s government will eventually take, and is mentioned in the APPG report which reads: “She [Crouch] is determined that the government’s review would provide an opportunity to assess the impact of the machines and whether they should be located in a more appropriate environment. Ms Crouch also noted that crime associated with FOBTs would be a key part of the government’s considerations as part of the Review.”
Simon French, an analyst at Cenkos, commented on the wording: “We expect an update from the DCMS by the end of Q1 but remain concerned that a significant proportion of Retail revenues are under threat and thus expect stocks with exposure to this segment of the market to continue to underperform.”
William Hill, which having struggled to diversify online with a ‘clicks and mortar’ merger this year, is deemed especially exposed to a change to FOBT regulations.
Its stock tumbled again 24 January, when UBS announced that a cut to £10 per spin would reduce earnings at its betting shops by as much as 74 percent. Hills’ shares dropped 5.7 percent with the projections, to a six month low.


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Digital marketers are significantly repositioning themselves to focus on mobile users. Mobile advertising accounted for more than half of the $72.5 billion spent by advertisers on digital advertising in the US last year, according to a report made by accounting firm PwC for the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The total represents a 22 percent increase, up from $59.6 billion in 2015. Mobile experienced a 77 percent upswing from $20.7 billion the previous year, hitting $36.6 billion in 2016. Total Internet revenue jumps by a fifth Internet ad revenue in the United States totaled $21.6 billion in Q4 2016, which is almost 19% higher than 2015. A large amount of this growth was pushed by mobile spending. Many brands are going from "mobile-first" to "mobile-only", a sign of advertiser confidence in digital, IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg said. This came as search ad revenue from desktop devices went down from $5.6 billion in Q4 2015 to $4.7 billion in Q4 2016. Including Mobile Search revenue, total Search revenue was $10 billion (46% of total) in Q4 2016, up 18% from Q4 2015 ($8.5 billion). Mobile share increases as other categories decline The share of mobile advertising revenue rose sharply, but other categories, such as video, search, and banner ads, either plummeted or remained at around the same levels. This comes as digital marketers reorient themselves significantly towards mobile users. Mobile video is also progressing rapidly, and is set to match desktop video revenues as soon as next year. Below is a comparison of desktop and mobile video revenue…
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India's smartphone operating system BharOS has received much buzz in the media lately, but does it really merit this attention?
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The regulatory ambivalence around an instrument so essential to facilitate data exchange – the CM framework – is disconcerting for several reasons.
The provisions around grievance redressal in the Data Protection Bill "stands to be dangerously sparse and nugatory on various counts."
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Elon Musk’s Twitter antics have caught up to him yet again. This time he wiped $14 billion off Tesla's market value in one tweet.
Yesterday, the Tesla CEO tweeted “Tesla stock price [is] too high imo.” Tesla's market valuation was worth around $141 billion before the first tweet and it nosedived to nearly $127 billion.
Musk didn't stop there, he then tweeted: “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house” before sharing that his girlfriend, Grimes is "mad" at him.
Tesla has since dropped by over $14 billion in market value. The drop has also knocked off around $3 billion in Musk’s own stake in Tesla as well.
For those that forgot, in 2018 Elon’s tweets about Tesla’s future on the New York stock market led to regulators fining him $20 million and agreeing to having all future posts on the platform pre-screened by lawyers. This also resulted in the removal of Musk as chairman of the Tesla board.


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Healthline: The search for pharma online gold
. . .drug makers seeking drug takers
By Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher
Googling for healthcare info can make you sick, says Healthline's CEO West Shell. What he means is that you get millions of pages and you don't know which ones to pick. That's where he hopes Healthline, a recently launched beta health care search engine, can help.
It uses doctors, rather than just servers, to help create a dictionary that translates medical terms into common words, and doctors rank the quality of the medical information the search engine links to.
Healthline also offers "health maps" that graphically represent information, such as treatment and symptoms, that's linked to a specific condition. And it has quite a few other ways to slide through--and understand--a lot of important medical information.
"These days, the patient has to educate themselves about treatment options because the doctor patient load has increased tremendously. And doctors love to have an educated patient that understands their condition," says Mr Shell.
(Healthline has a patent on the process of a doctor "prescribing" online information to a patient.)
Steve Case, the AOL founder now building Revolution, which is intended to be a formidable portfolio of healthcare companies, wanted to acquire Healthline, but Mr Shell says it's way too early to sell. "It feels like it is just 1997, there's still a long way to go."
He's been here before. From his bio:
Prior to joining Healthline [April 2005], West served as CEO and President of Sapias... From 1997 to 2001, as chairman and CEO of Netcentives, West created one of the most powerful e-commerce companies, managing over 50 million consumer relationships. . .West successfully led an IPO and, during his tenure, raised more than $150 million in private and public funds from leading investors and strategic partners. . .
Mr West points out that there is a lot of money coming into the health information sector, and much more in the future. "There is just $300m from pharma's $600m advertising spend going online, and that is projected to grow to more than $2bn within two years."
The drug companies are enthused because they can better target potential drug takers by attaching their marketing messages to the health search query. And adverts on search pages convert much better than a scattershot TV or print magazine ad campaign.
The problem is that there isn't enough inventory of online content to satisfy pharma and other advertisers. Which should be an opportunity for Healthline because it has a fair amount of its own easy-to-understand content created by hundreds of doctors.
Owning your content is a smart thing to do, because you never know when you might run smack dab into a robot.txt file that bars your spider from indexing a web site--and this will begin to happen more and more as content increases in value.
Content owners will start glueing their content to their sites, especially since there is going to be a lot of money to be made from all the pharma gold, plus many others pushing their way into this market.
Content is going to be where the value is, and less so in the index. Because indexes are created by servers and content is created by experts; one is cheap and plentiful and the other is expensive and limited.
About Healthline: http://www.healthline.com/aboutus.jsp


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PPG (NYSE:PPG) today announced that it has named ColorVision of Springfield, Mo., its Automotive Refinish 2021 Platinum Distributor of the Year. The annual award recognizes the distributor that demonstrates outstanding performance, extensive knowledge of PPG products and an unwavering commitment to serve and support its customers, key qualities that are fundamental to the PPG Platinum Distributor program.
Natalie Scott, PPG director, PPG Platinum Distributor program, Automotive Refinish, U.S. and Canada, presented the award to ColorVision’s leadership team during PPG’s annual Platinum Distributor Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony in February 2022. Gary and Kathy Allen, co-owners of ColorVision, accepted the honor on behalf of the company.
“Platinum Distributor of the Year is our most prestigious Automotive Refinish customer award, as it recognizes deep knowledge, mutually valued partnership and shared success,” said Scott. “ColorVision was selected due to its outstanding year-over-year growth spanning a five-year period. It was an honor to present the trophy to a company that fully embraces and uses all the resources available through the PPG Platinum Distributor program.”
“Without question, this award is a tribute to our team,” said Gary Allen. “The past two years have been quite a challenge, but the knowledge, experience and resiliency of our people combined with our trusted relationship with PPG positioned us to continue delivering for our customers in a challenging marketplace.”
Founded in 1987, ColorVision has been a member of the PPG Platinum Distributor program for more than 25 years. Specializing solely in collision and commercial paint, body and equipment, the company maintains 11 branch locations across five states. The key to the company’s success lies in its commitment to provide each customer with top-quality products backed by an unmatched level of service and support.


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Future Mother’s Day Trends: Sharing the ‘Motherload’
On the brink of burnout and with a motherhood recession on the horizon, supporting mothers at home by readdressing the balance, offering actionable solutions and designing with their unmet needs has never been more important.
Future Mother’s Day trends will see brands use this occasion as an opportunity to amplify the invisible labour of mothers and join in the advocacy for change.
Over the coming years, we’ll see societal shifts impacting how consumers choose to celebrate Mother’s Day. In particular, a growing sense that one single day fails to make up for the lack of support and pressure that mothers carry the rest of the year. With increases in the cost of childcare set to continue, impacting the US and UK in particular, the cost of living crisis is also disproportionally impacting women’s mental health.
According to research from the Centre for Progressive Policy, almost half working-age women in the UK do 45 hours of unpaid care a week. CPP found unpaid work “disproportionately impacts women and exacerbates workplace inequality.” This means a situation that has always felt impossible for many has intensified and the emotional and physical strains felt by mothers is reaching breaking point.
The Future of Mother’s Day Gifts and Greetings
As we look ahead to 2024, we’ll see more realism in sentiment, recognising the mental load that mothers tend to bear on behalf of the family. Gifting should centre around products and services that continue giving long after the occasion, pairing treats with practical support over the long term.
It takes a village
Gifts and greetings move beyond traditional categories as we look to celebrate ‘our people’; the ones who get us through life whether they are the families we are born into or not. This celebration of our ‘village’ both figuratively and literally inspires smiling faces, moments of connection in everyday life and hand-drawn lettering with inclusive, supportive messages encouraging mothers to ‘lean on us’.
Equality of household management
The Fair Play game, released this year, delivers a time and anxiety saving system that offers couples a completely new way to divvy up their domestic responsibilities. It started with Eve Rodsky’s “Sh*t I Do” spreadsheet – a list of all the invisible tasks it takes to run a home but developed into a gamified system with a figurative card game you can play with your partner.
How could you help normalise and support conversations around the challenges and triumphs that come with modern-day motherhood? If you’re working in the Gift & Greetings industry, our Future of Celebration 2024 report includes insight into the mindsets and behaviours impacting across multiple occasions, from Mother’s Day trends to Easter and Valentine’s day, and includes everyday celebrations.


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Potato prices continue to rise. At the Garak Market in Seoul on the 4th, a box of 20 kg of potatoes was sold at KRW 75,367 (about USD 58.48). Compared to the average value (48,105 won) from 2019 to 2021, it rose by 57%. As of the 4th, the average price for a box of 20 kg of potatoes per week was KRW 71,747 (about USD 55.67).
The price increase of 'Sumi' potato, a popular variety, was more pronounced. On the 4th, 'Sumi' sold a box of 20 kg product at KRW 75,820 (about USD 58.83), nearly double that of a year ago (KRW 38,330 (about USD 29.74)).
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for more than two months, is blamed for the surge in potato prices. In general, in late April to early May, when the shipment of stored potatoes is completed, imports increase and the domestic shortage is filled and prices are formed, but this year, imports are not easy. Import prices also soared.
According to Dongwha Office, the average price of 1 kg of imported potatoes in March this year was USD 1.22, up 20% from a year ago (USD 1.02). This is because the crops in North America, Korea's main importer of potatoes, are not good, and other importers are also restricting food exports in preparation for a 'food crisis' from Ukraine.
Import prices also soared.
This upward trend in potato prices is expected to continue for the time being. Shipments are expected to be lower than last year. According to the May potato observations recently released by the Korea Rural Economic Research Institute, shipments fell by 3.5% compared to last year.
Expensive freight rates are also a factor that raises the price of imported potatoes.
The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI), which is the standard for global freight rates, stood at 4177.3 as of April 29, and has not fallen below 4100 since July last year.
This is because the stock of stored highland potatoes is 19.4% lower than last year, so it is difficult to keep up with the quantity even if spring potatoes are shipped from facilities or outdoors.
In addition, the fact that the shipment of spring potatoes has been delayed due to bad weather supports the observation that the price will continue to rise for the time being. The Agricultural Association predicted that "the price will be somewhat stable from the end of May, when the wild spring potatoes are shipped in earnest."


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Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengance developer Platinum Games' upcoming Xbox One exclusive, Scalebound, is a "gift" for Microsoft, marketing executive Aaron Greenberg says in a new interview. When asked if Microsoft might be challenged to the market the game widely, considering it's from a Japanese developer that people may not be familiar with, Greenberg said it's actually an opportunity.
"It's another gift for us," he told DualShockers. "If you think about what [game director Hideki Kamiya] has created, and his history of just creating incredibly unique games, that are such high quality and that are loved by core gamers... To be able to have him making a new IP exclusive for us and a big title, I think it's something we're really excited about."
Scalebound was announced at E3 2014 and is due to come out next year -- but it remains something of a mystery. Greenberg described it as an action RPG. As such, it has the opportunity to appeal not only to fans of Platinum's past work, but also anyone who enjoys the genre.
"We think of it as an action RPG game, and we think it will both appeal to fans of the games that Platinum has made, but at the same time, I think it will be a game that will have a broader appeal to folks that maybe haven't played their games before," he explained. "So we're excited to be able to introduce that to a broader audience as well."
Scalebound will offer four-player co-op and aims to demonstrate "the power of what the Xbox One can do." One of Platinum's original ideas was to make Scalebound a motion-controlled Wii game starring a little girl and featuring dinosaurs instead of dragons.
What are your thoughts on Scalebound? Let us know in the comments below!


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New Mac & Cheese Joint on Brady Street
Plus: new Bubble Tea Cafe on Wells St. and Latin-style restaurant in Walker's Point.
Fast-casual restaurant Mac Shack will officially open on September 1st. The restaurant, which specializes in oven-fried mac and cheese, is located on the ground floor of the Keystone apartment building (1701 N. Humboldt Ave.). The apartment building and restaurant also border Brady Street.
While owner Ashraf Mustafa spoke about some of his plans last year, he seems to be keeping any other updates under wraps for the time being. The Business Journal’s Sari Lesk shares some of the details Mustafa disclosed in 2018:
He declined to comment on the details of his menu but said last year Mac Shack would cater to all tastes. At that time, he cited examples of a Brady Street Mac – featuring chili, hot dogs and fried onions – and a dish with a Greek theme to honor Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Mustafa previously said Mac Shack would have 10 oven-fried macaroni and cheese dishes, along with the option for customers to create their own meal.
New Piano Bar for Downtown
A Madison-based bar, the Ivory Room Piano Bar, will be opening a new location at 160 W. Wisconsin Ave. in the fall. Owner Jack Sosnowski opened the first Ivory Room Piano Bar with his wife, Julie Sosnowski, in Madison in 2006.
While Sosnowski could not be reached for comment, Urban Milwaukee reports on the license application:
While the business is described simply as a “tavern with live entertainment” on the application, piano serenades, sing-a-longs, solos and duels can be expected if the Milwaukee location mimics the Madison bar. According to The Ivory Room Piano Bar’s website, the Madison location also offers taps of local, craft beer along with craft cocktails and a variety of wines.
The proposed opening date for the Milwaukee location is September 29th. The Ivory Room expects to make 95 percent of its sales from alcohol and the other 5 percent from “secondhand merchandise,” so it does not appear that any food will be served.
According to the application, the Ivory Room Piano Bar plans to be open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday to Thursday and 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Marquette Student Plans Bubble Tea Cafe
A Marquette University undergrad student has plans to bring a new cafe to the campus area. The cafe will be called SereniTea, and will focus on bubble tea (also known as boba tea). SereniTea will open at 1414 W. Wells St. A Subway shop formerly operated inside the space, but closed following an eviction notice from the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office in February 2018.
SereniTea’s owner, Manpreet Singh, is a 24-year-old undergrad majoring in business administration who likes bubble tea and wondered why there weren’t more places offering it in town. Singh also told BizTimes he hopes the cafe will satisfy the need for more unique and less-crowded coffee shops on and around the Marquette campus. Singh spoke with Maredithe Meyer about the different types of tea that will be offered:
In addition to bubble tea, SereniTea will serve coffee and light snack items, all made in-house, Singh said. The full menu is still in the works, but it will offer a range of bubble tea flavors including, jasmine, green, black and milk tea that can be mixed with a variety of fruit-based syrups and tapioca pearls.
The building is currently under construction, but Singh hopes to be open by the end of August. While his father is offering some help, Singh is providing the majority of the resources needed for the cafe himself. SereniTea will be be open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Mad Chicken To Roost on East Side
Fast-food chain Mad Chicken is slated to open at 2045 E. North Ave., inside the former Burger King space. The restaurant is owned by Nabil Mutlaq, who also operates Mama Gyros inside Southridge Mall, and Ramez Aly and Mohamed Elkady. The three co-owners operate the Mad Chicken location inside Southridge Mall as well. Mutlaq says that Mad Chicken aims to be up and running within the next two months.
This will be Mad Chicken’s first stand-alone restaurant. Urban Milwaukee reported on the venture and the menu planned:
The menu includes different options for chicken tenders, fried chicken baskets and wings. Mad Chicken’s website lists six different sandwich recipes, including Chicken Madness (six chicken strips, lettuce, tomatoes, coleslaw, pickles, cheddar, mad sauce, sesame bun), Mad CK Hoagie (four chicken strips, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, provolone, mad sauce, french sub roll) and Mad Fish (fried tilapia, cheddar cheese, tartar sauce, sesame bun). Other menu items include seafood options such as a shrimp basket, calamari basket and Fish N Chips. Mad Chicken also serves wraps, salads and sides such as waffle fries, mozz sticks and “mac n cheese,” among others.
Mad Chicken will offer dine-in options, carryout and eventually delivery. Proposed hours are 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily.
Brunch Milwaukee Relocating
Brunch Milwaukee closed its flagship location at 800 N. Plankinton Ave. in June following extensive flooding to the building’s basement. Now, the business has announced it will be moving to 714 N. Milwaukee St. Construction will begin immediately, and Brunch hopes to reopen in September.
“We’re excited and optimistic about our new location. The staff is ready to get back to work, and we miss all of our downtown customers!” says manager Tay Brittain in a press release.
Owner Morgan Sampson and Executive Chef Mike Holz opened the downtown location in 2016, and later opened another location in Brookfield in 2018. “We’re really fortunate to have found such an incredible new location. With more space, we can’t wait to grow and serve more people!” says Sampson.
Brunch is expected to make a grand opening date and event announcement in the coming weeks. Brunch Brookfield is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Progress on Walker’s Lounge
In May, Urban Milwaukee reported on a license application for a restaurant and event space, dubbed Walker’s Lounge and Events, located at 626 S. 5th St. Owner Felipe Martinez, Jr. has since been making renovations on the space and is eyeing an opening date. Martinez hopes to open Walker’s Lounge in mid-August with a “casual open-house-style social,” and an official opening at a later date.
The restaurant will offer brunch, dinner and late-night eats with “Latin-inspired” small plates, appetizers, desserts, wine, cocktails and beer. Martinez spoke with OMC’s Lori Fredrich about the menu offerings:
Sandwiches will be the focus of the entree portion of the menu, which will feature a variety of slider-style options including the Walker Popper Sliders featuring beef patties stuffed with cream cheese, jalapenos and bacon and Los Jibaritos, a slider variation on the classic tostone sandwich.
Other options include Canoa, a sweet plantain boat filled with Caribbean seasoned ground beef, melted cheese and avocado crema…
Martinez says he plans to offer a Latin-inspired brunch on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, complete with live music and a menu featuring items like maduros (sweet plantain) French toast, a twist on eggs Benedict featuring carnitas and salsa verde and mini chicken and waffle sliders.
Happy Hour will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A “happy-hour-style menu” and live music will be featured during Latin Nights on Thursday evenings from 5 to 10 p.m. Walker’s Lounge also plans to offer live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
Walker’s Lounge is also available to rent for both small and large private events, with a maximum capacity of 150 to 200 guests. Walk throughs are currently available, as well as the option to book events for the rest of 2019 and 2020. More information about booking events can be acquired by emailing email@example.com.
Walker’s Lounge plans to be open from 3 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 3 p.m. to bar close Friday, 10 a.m. to bar close Saturday and 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday. Brunch will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Walker’s Lounge will only be open for brunch on Monday (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
Now Closing: Bacchus (Temporarily)
Bacchus (925 E. Wells St.) has temporarily closed for renovations to the restaurant and alterations to the menu, which is being curated by Executive Chef Nick Wirth. The closure began on July 22nd, and the restaurant plans to reopen on September 16th.
The updates are inspired by the late Joe Bartolotta, who passed away in April. “The design elements for the renovation, conceived in partnership with Amber MacCracken of Kahler Slater, were among his last projects,” states a press release from Bartolotta Restaurants.
Urban Milwaukee reported on the changes planned for the space:
A new lightning design will be implemented in the dining room and bar area, intended to complement “the natural light from the adjacent Conservatory.” The restaurant’s flooring, bar top and seating areas will be refurbished. A tasting room will also be added in the space that is currently known as the Lakeview Dining Room.
Chef Wirth, who has worked for the restaurant since 2009, will stay true to the restaurant’s mission of incorporating seasonal ingredients into modern cooking, but he will also “evolve the menu.” General Manager Patrick Erdman and Restaurant Wine Manager Joe Kane will curate a comprehensive wine list. Both Erdman and Kane are sommeliers.
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If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
3rd Street Market Hall Opening DelayedOct 18th, 2021 by Michael Holloway
Space Time Coffee Opening in Dubbel Dutch HotelOct 11th, 2021 by Michael Holloway
Taste of Lindsay Heights OpensOct 4th, 2021 by Michael Holloway


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Nordstrom Inc. appointed two new senior executive leaders.
Deniz Anders was promoted to senior vice president and chief marketing officer, and Nina Barjesteh, a senior executive at Dick’s Sporting Goods, will join the company as president, Nordstrom Product Group.
In her new role, Anders will lead all marketing efforts, including brand programs, digital marketing, creative strategy and corporate affairs. Anders has been with the company for 22 years, most recently serving as vice president of marketing. She steps into the role previously held by Scott Meden, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Barjesteh was senior vice president of product development and design for Dick’s.
Luxury e-commerce platform Saks appointed Dr. Alicia Williams as vice president (VP) of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Williams previously served as executive director, head of diversity and inclusion for U.S. Banks at Morgan Stanley, where she led the DEI strategy, talent management and impact for the business. Prior to this, she was VP and diversity lead and the head of the North American Analyst and Associate campus recruiting program for JP Morgan’s Investment Banking, Wholesale Payments and Global Corporate Banking businesses.
In her new role, Williams is part of Saks’ ESG team, led by Cara Chacon, who joined Saks as senior VP, ESG, in April. She will also work closely with Saks’ DEI Council, Inclusion Advocates and ERGs.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Sarah Gilmore joined the association as its new director of supply chain.
At RILA, Gilmore’s focus will be on policy improvements needed to modernize U.S. supply chains.
Gilmore comes to RILA after working at Airlines for America, where she advocated for the airline industry as it navigated extraordinary challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
John Bason, who will be retiring as finance director and will be stepping down from the board of Associated British Foods, will become chairman of a newly constituted Strategic Advisory Board and senior advisor at the company’s retail business, Primark.
The Primark Strategic Advisory Board will provide external expertise to Paul Marchant, Primark CEO, and to the Primark leadership team as the business continues its expansion and development. The board will have members chosen for specific and relevant areas of expertise and will not have a governance role. Primark’s financial and operational reporting relationship with ABF will remain unchanged.
Bason was appointed as finance director of ABF in May 1999.
Dollar Tree Inc. announced that Bobby Aflatooni joined the organization as chief information officer (CIO).
Aflatooni most recently served as executive vice president and CIO for The Howard Hughes Corporation, responsible for leading all information technology strategies and operations across the company’s portfolio.
Dollar Tree operated 16,162 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of April 30. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Canada.
Getzler Henrich & Associates
Michael Appel, former CEO of Rue 21, was named managing director of the retail turnaround and restructuring practice of Getzler Henrich & Associates, a middle-market corporate restructurings and operations improvement company.
In this role, Appel will help Getzler Henrich build a best-in-class national retail turnaround and restructuring practice. Based in the Getzler Henrich New York City office, he will be the senior leader developing the business strategy, recruiting key executives and managing the practice.
Academy Sports and Outdoors
Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. appointed Theresa E. Palermo to its board of directors and Nominating and Governance Committee.
Palermo has served as senior vice president for connected commerce and marketing at Signet Jewelers Limited since October 2019.
Academy Sports + Outdoors is a full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States, with 260 stores across 16 states.
PVH Corp. appointed David Savman as executive vice president and chief supply chain officer.
Sayman will join PVH later this year from H&M Group, where he spent 19 years, most recently as head of global supply chain. He succeeds Sarah Clarke, who is leaving PVH as of Oct. 31, to pursue other interests.
Savman will be responsible for the global supply chain and sourcing strategy for PVH’s brands, including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, and will report to CEO Stefan Larsson.
Dovetail Workwear promoted Molly Smithson Callahan to marketing manager.
Callahan joined Dovetail in 2018 as a digital marketing consultant with emphasis on social and email campaigns and content creation. Over the past eight months, she’s parlayed her knowledge and experience into her newly appointed role overseeing all marketing efforts for the women-specific workwear brand.
Based in Portland, Ore., Dovetail Workwear can be found in 300 stores across 47 states.
Stand Out For Good Inc., parent company of women’s fashion brand Altar’d State, announced Tana Ward as brand president of a new contemporary home brand, leading the San Francisco-based team.
Tana served as chief merchandising officer at American Eagle Outfitters and Restoration Hardware, and was most recently co-president at Ben Soleimani.
Most recently, the company announced the addition of Leila Heydari as head of design for Altar’d State. She will be leading the new Altar’d State design office in Los Angeles.
Xcel Brands Inc. a media and consumer products company, appointed Ken Downing as creative director of the Halston brand, effective Aug. 1.
Downing will oversee the evolution of Halston in his new role and serve as the public face and voice of the brand, including through hosting Halston livestream sessions over all screens. Downing previously served as senior vice president and fashion director for Neiman Marcus.
Xcel Brands produces and distributes apparel and accessories under the Halston label, available at premium retailers including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s Macy’s and HSN.
Following the Better Cotton 2022 Council Election, four new members joined the Better Cotton Council, an elected and appointed board that works together to drive cotton toward a sustainable future.
The new council members are Arvind Rewal, cotton development manager of Ikea;, Olam Agri, Gerson Fajardo, director of sustainability, raw materials and benchmarking for Walmart; Ashok Hegde, CEO of fiber, industrial and AG services at Olam Agri, and Bob Dall’Alba, former CEO for Queensland cotton at Auscott.
The four new council members will commence their duties in September.
Content and commerce innovator StackCommerce named Don LeBlanc CEO.
LeBlanc will direct the business’s continued push to integrate digital technologies, decrease commerce friction, support additional partners and curate innovative products from a wider variety of sources.
Prior to StackCommerce he was chief commercial officer at Simplisafe, a home security provider owned by Hellman & Friedman. Previous to that, he was president of Vistaprint Corporate Solutions.
TPG’s Integrated Media acquired a majority stake in StackCommerce in December 2020, and StackCommerce acquired BrandCycle in December 2021 and The Fascination in April 2022.
MakerSights, a management workspace for retail brands, announced Ashish Agrawal has joined its executive leadership team as senior vice president of product.
Agrawal will continue to advance the MakerSights Workspace toward better supporting and connecting every team that participates in the product creation and go-to-market strategies at retail brands through integrations, advanced analytics and automation.
Agrawal spent the last three years at NuORDER, a wholesale e-commerce platform helping brands and retailers drive sales.
The MakerSights Workspace unites cross-functional teams, from design and product to merchandising and consumer insights, to test ideas and in-development products with target consumers at scale.
Mark Forrest has joined Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring and investment firm, as director, business development.
Forrest will expand Gordon Brothers’ integrated service offerings and presence in the Midwest. Prior to joining Gordon Brothers, Forrest was a managing director at a leading corporate and investment bank responsible for originating, structuring and syndicating asset-based loans for clients and financial sponsors across a range of industries, including transportation and logistics, metals, mining and manufacturing.


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Project Will Be Airbnb’s First Program to Connect Hosts with Local Businesses Almost One Third of Airbnb’s NYC Visitors Stay in Brooklyn, Generate $100 Million in Economic Activity for Area The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Airbnb announced on Wednesday a first-of-its kind partnership program geared towards promoting tourism across the borough. The Neighborhood Tourism Fellowship will be Airbnb’s first attempt at systematically connecting its hosts with local businesses in an effort to improve its user experience. If successful, the company plans to replicate the program globally.
The announcement was made during the launch event of the newly redesigned ExploreBK.com website, Brooklyn’s dedicated tourism website. The new ExploreBK.com assists visitors in finding Brooklyn’s best dining, events, shopping, attractions, and more, while providing local businesses and attractions with an easy-to-use tool to promote themselves. It will also serve as the home of a series of borough-wide alcohol trail maps, helping visitors sample the best wines, beers, and spirits in Brooklyn. The new site will allow people to book hotel rooms for their next trip through a partnership with Booking.com, as well.
“Brooklyn has long been a major tourism destination — due in large part to the amazing people that live here and the great businesses that surround them — and the new ExploreBK.com will make visiting the world’s greatest borough easier and more enjoyable than ever,” said Carlo A. Scissura, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “This partnership with Airbnb is an exciting opportunity for us to continue promoting the best that Brooklyn has to offer, while also greatly improving the experiences of visitors. We’re eager to begin working with Airbnb on this terrific program, which we hope will serve as a model for how the company can improve community engagement globally.”
“Both residents and travelers from across the globe will have an even greater experience exploring Brooklyn with the upgraded ExploreBK.com,” said Brooklyn Chamber Board Chair Denise Arbesu. “From hidden gems to the borough’s most popular attractions, the new ExploreBK.com has it all. The Brooklyn Chamber is proud to have Brooklyn’s greatest travel tool and proud to begin this incredible partnership with Airbnb — both are sure to take Brooklyn tourism to the next level.”
“We’re proud to be working together with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to launch this program and further the tremendous economic impact of tourism throughout the diverse neighborhoods of this borough,” said Airbnb Global Head of Civic Partnerships, Molly Turner. “In addition to becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, Brooklyn is home to a vibrant middle-class community facing rising costs of living. Airbnb is committed to fostering the growth of tourism in a way that benefits both small business owners and the middle class families who depend on homesharing to make it affordable for them to live in Brooklyn.”
“The Statue of Liberty welcomes newcomers to our city with the line: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ That is the energy with which Brooklyn welcomes new visitors to our beautiful borough,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “I am excited to work with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Airbnb to further my mission of connecting tourists with all of the one-of-a-kind opportunities to enjoy everything Brooklyn has to offer, ensuring the popularity of our brand translates into prosperity for all Brooklynites.” In addition to organizing events to introduce hosts to local business owners, Airbnb will fund a Chamber community outreach organizer to meet with Brooklyn businesses one-on-one and educate them on opportunities to get in front of Airbnb’s users. The company will also be a primary sponsor of the Chamber’s new ExploreBK website. Almost one third of all Airbnb visitors to NYC stay in Brooklyn, and 45 percent spend at least some time in the borough. In 2014, Airbnb generated $100 million in economic activity in Brooklyn. In Bed-Stuy alone, travelers generated $30 million in direct spending in the neighborhood — $10.2 million to local hosts and $19.8 million to local businesses in the neighborhood. About The Brooklyn Chamber of CommerceThe Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce promotes economic development across the borough and serves as an advocate for its member businesses. Its mission is to promote a healthy and robust business environment throughout Brooklyn. The Chamber is one of New York’s largest business advocacy and economic development organizations.
About ExploreBK.comExploreBK.com is Brooklyn’s dedicated tourism website, a complete source for Brooklyn dining, events, shopping, attractions, and more. The site is designed to help both New Yorkers and visitors find the best of Brooklyn all in one place, while giving local businesses and attractions an easy-to-use tool to promote themselves.
About AirbnbFounded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online, or from a mobile phone or tablet. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions. -30-


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OAN Geraldyn Berry
UPDATED 12:22 PM PT – Wednesday, January 4, 2023
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will allow retail pharmacies in the United States to sell abortion pills. This announcement comes as more states are seeking to ban medication abortion.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision last year, more than a dozen states now have abortion laws in place, some of which specifically target the drug Mifepristone.
“Today’s news is a step in the right direction for health equity,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said.
The regulatory change under Biden’s administration will allow pharmacies to dispense the prescription directly to its patients, as long as it is from a certified prescriber.
The modifications included the permanent removal of limitations on the delivery of the medications by mail order and their prescription by telehealth.
After reviewing supplemental applications from Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, the two companies that manufacture the drug in the United States, the FDA finalized the changes on Tuesday.
“Under the Mifepristone REMS Program, as modified, Mifeprex and its approved generic can be dispensed by certified pharmacies or by or under the supervision of a certified prescriber,” the agency said on its website.
The brand-name form of Mifepristone, known as Mifeprex, induces an abortion up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy when combined with a second drug, Misoprostol, which has a number of purposes, including the management of miscarriages.
The modifications had been first introduced in December 2021.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life organization SBA Pro-Life America, claimed that the most recent FDA action puts both women’s safety and the lives of unborn children in peril.
“State lawmakers and Congress must stand as a bulwark against the Biden administration’s pro-abortion extremism,” she said.


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Illusive Comics and Games in Santa Clara’s Franklin Mall is a colorful, magical world where everybody is welcome and anybody can be a comic book superhero — or villain. And on July 14, Bastille — or Independence — Day in France (like the U.S. 4th of July), comic fans can be real heroes.
As it turns out, Count Dracula isn’t the only one who needs blood to live. Illusive Comics is sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to save the lives of local people. The mobile blood unit will be parked at Jackson and Benton Streets, at one end of the Saturday Farmers’ Market.
“Don’t give your blood to zombies or vampires — give it to humans,” said Illusive Comics and Games founder, co-owner and CEO Anna Warren Cebrian. “Be a real hero.”
The comic book store sponsors one charity event each month. It sponsors blood drives several times a year, and 15 units were donated at Illusive Comic’s January blood drive. The store also accepts dollar donations to the Red Cross.
Reserve a blood donation time online at www.RedCrossBlood.org and enter the sponsor code: IllusiveComics. Then, to expedite giving, on July 14 visit www.RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass to complete pre-donation reading and health history questions.
“When you give or receive blood, it doesn’t matter what skin color you are,” said Cebrian, a Bay Area native and graduate of Whittier College, Whittier, with an MBA from the University of Phoenix. “It’s important for us to be a community spot known as a safe place for everyone — from special needs or LGBTQ to just scared. Everybody can come here and know that they are welcome.”
In 2017, Illusive Comics and Games was one of the top five finalists — out of 3,000 comic book stores worldwide — for the Will Eisner “Spirit of Comics” Retailer Award at Comic-Con International in San Diego. It was named the best comic book store in the Bay Area for 2015, 2016 and 2017 by www.sf.cityvoter.com.
The comic book retail store, where regular customers are known by name, was judged for the Spirit of Comics Award on its community outreach, marketing skills, diversity of comics in stock, sales volume, the uniqueness and cleanliness of the store, and its spirit of welcome to all.
Illusive Comics and Games (www.illusivecomics.com) moved from a previous Santa Clara location in 2016, doubling its size at 1270 Franklin Mall. A tribute to the store’s popularity, $17,171 was raised by the store’s customer base to assist with the more than $50,000 cost of converting the new space from a beauty school to a cool comic book venue.
Isle of Gamers, a second store, focuses entirely on board games and is just two miles away at 2770 El Camino Real, in the Moonlite Shopping Center. Tabletop games can be purchased, played at the store or rented to go.
At the Franklin Mall store, “Anyone who donates to the blood drive will be part of a special sale on July 14,” said Cebrian. “Cookies and juice will be available, too.”
Vampires are welcome.


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That was the disparity that led three payments engineers to found Payrails, a startup has developed a framework to build and operate more stable enterprise payment services. Enterprises and marketplaces that need to take and make payments across multiple geographies and products have typically relied on mix-and-match bags of third party services patched together by teams of engineers with some of their own code.
Billtrust, a company developing a platform to automate the invoice-to-cash process, today announced that it agreed to be acquired by EQT, the Sweden-based private equity firm, for $1.7 billion in an all-cash deal. It quickly grew to offer software-as-a-service (SaaS) products to manage billing for companies, including electronic billing and payments for consumer and business billing services. Approved by Billtrust board of directors, the transaction is expected to close in Q1 2023 subject to the green light from Billtrust’s shareholders and regulators. Prior to going public through a SPAC merger in 2020, Billtrust made nine acquisitions — most recently of Order2Cash, a cash processes management platform — and raised over $100 million in venture capital.
The fourth fund will continue to focus on early-stage investments in enterprise software and deep tech, such as open source software, machine learning, quantum computing startups, finance, education and healthcare. Founded by the teams behind the Acronis and Parallels software companies, Runa Capital has so far more than 100 early-stage investments in Europe and North America. The first investments of the new fund include Barcelona-based embedded finance provider Hubuc and Paris-based open source enterprise software developer OpenReplay. Technology entrepreneur Serguei Beloussov (who has since taken the name Serg Bell and Singaporean citizenship) co-founded Runa after starting Acronis, and has since gone on to also establish the Acronis Cyber Foundation, which has partnered with UNICEF, built schools and educated migrants to Switzerland.


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UK adults are suffering from severe anxiety because of their financial circumstances. Here, John Ellmore, Director, NerdWallet, explores how consumers can keep their finances under control through this stressful time
Even the savviest of consumers can feel anxious about their finances on occasion; especially that final week before payday. However, the coronavirus pandemic has thrust financial worries to the forefront of many people’s minds, triggering a large surge in financial anxiety.
This spike hardly comes as a surprise. Since the beginning of lockdown, job security has been shaken to its core; indeed, 649,000 people lost their jobs between March and June, with the number of people claiming work-related benefits currently sitting at 2.6 million. And the statistics do not suggest the future will get brighter any time soon; the UK’s economy shrunk by 19% between March and May, making a recession seems unavoidable. With so many livelihoods on the line, many consumers are worrying about the strength of their bank balances.
Unfortunately, the UK’s predicament is doing nothing to soothe consumer confidence. Indeed, almost a third (31%) of UK adults have seen their personal finances decrease as a result of the coronavirus, research from KnowYourMoney.co.uk reveals. What’s more, a quarter (28%) of UK consumers are worried about their financial situation.
The question, therefore, is how can consumers look to improve their financial predicament in the wake of such an economic downturn?
Whilst this may seem like an obvious point, the noting of all financial incomings and outgoings is a great place to start. Noting down expenditures is an excellent way to grasp for financial help and, most importantly, identify problematic spending behaviour. Once troublesome spending has been identified, it must be eliminated.
Many people don’t even realise they are spending so much. This could even be on smaller items such as clothes – according to KnowYourMoney.co.uk’s aforementioned research, 23% of UK adults were guilty of spending too much on online shopping. Simply cutting out the smallest online expenditure is positive step towards consumers living within their means.
Conducting a financial audit could also encourage consumers to be savvier with their spending. Many consumers fail to shop around for a better deal – for example, 12.9 million households auto-renew their home insurance – and this could be costing them dearly. For those unsure where to begin, comparison websites are a great first step. They search the market for a variety of products – from groceries to care insurance – and clearly lay out the cheapest options so consumers can make the most cost-effective choice to suit their needs.
Build a rainy-day fund
With job security under threat, consumers must do what they can to cushion the financial blow should the worst happen, and they are made redundant. So, building an emergency fund is a vital step. It may seem daunting; however, it needn’t be so complicated.
To start, set a savings goal; a sensible starting goal should be between three to six months’ salary. Next, consumers should choose a savings account to suit their circumstances. Easy access savings accounts are usually the best option, as they allow consumers to access their money immediately, without penalties of loss of interest. Whilst these accounts don’t offer competitive interest rates, some can over 1%, so consumers should conduct thorough research before choosing an account.
To ensure savings are kept on track, it is sensible to set up a direct debit from consumers’ current account to their savings account; this will ensure they don’t stray from their savings goals. Some banks even offer additional assistance in this area by giving customers the option to round up the price of transactions and place the difference in their savings account. For example, if a customer paid £4.50 for their lunch, they would have the option to round the overall cost up to £5 and place the extra 50p into their savings account.
In tough economic climates, such as a recession, credit markets can tighten. This means that people with a lower credit score might find it harder to take on a credit card, overdraft, mortgage or loan. However, consumers are still able to improve their credit score. Simply making sure bills and credit cards are paid on time is an easy way to start.
That said, there may be times where money is tight and payments are difficult. In this case, large repayments, such as mortgages, might prove difficult. If this occurs, consider speaking to your lender about the possibility of a mortgage holiday, or temporarily switching to interest-only payments for a short period of time. This could reduce monthly bills without causing too much damage to your credit score – although consumers should check with their provider if this is definitely the case, as sometimes these options can negatively impact credit ratings. It’s also worth noting that these choices could mean you pay more in the long-term.
Help is at hand
Consumers must remember that they don’t need to muddle through the financial maze alone; help is always available. Whether they need financial support from a mortgage help scheme, or emotional support from a debt charity like StepChange, consumers should never be afraid to ask for help.
This is an uncertain and challenging time for many – and finances appear to be more strained than ever before. However, consumers can ease their doubts by taking small steps to strengthen their financial situation in the face of a recession. Even the smallest actions greatly contribute overcoming financial anxiety and strengthening bank balances.


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Sandial looks for its day in the sun
PORTSMOUTH — Michael Welts and Timothy Lieto knew of each other for over 10 years before they ever came face to face. In fact, they were bitter rivals through the 1990s, going head to head with clients when both worked in the computer networking business - Welts in marketing for Cabletron Systems, Lieto in sales for Chipcom.
They knew each other's names and, most of all, knew what the other was capable of doing when competing for the same customers.
It took until this decade for Welts, Sandial's executive vice president of marketing, and Lieto to meet. And when they did, it wasn't for a showdown. It was to bring Lieto into the startup 14 months ago to lead the company. Lieto, now Sandial's president and chief executive officer, is committed so much to Sandial that he commutes more than 60 miles one way daily from his home in Acton, Mass.
"We're one of the few companies that has relocated to New Hampshire from Massachusetts," Lieto said, referring to the recent moves south of the border by other Seacoast tech companies Bowstreet and Enterasys Networks.
Originally, Sandial had offices in Massachusetts as well as at Pease International Tradeport, but decided 18 months ago to consolidate here.
"I can't see any other place for this company to exist than right in Portsmouth," Lieto said. "We're going to build a great company here."
The company has bucked the trend with its very existence. At a time when many high-tech companies were going bust or downsizing, Sandial was working in stealth mode, developing its cutting-edge storage networking technology, even raising more than $50 million in venture capital from premier investors like Bessemer Venture Partners, DB Capital Partners, Oak Hill Venture Partners and Prism Venture Partners.
So what is this company doing that others in technology aren't? Building a product to meet what Sandial executives - and industry analysts like Gartner Group - believe is a critical need in networking.
"It's networking, but applied to storage," explained Welts, adding that most networks aren't able to handle the rapidly growing demand for storage, from documents and digital images, to e-mails, to multimedia presentations and applications.
"All of these things are lending themselves to this explosive storage growth."
Gartner Group predicts the storage network switching market to go from $1.2 billion now to $4.3 billion in 2006.
"The bad news doesn't exist in our economy," Welts said, explaining that storage and wireless are the two bright spots in an otherwise lackluster technology industry.
The demand for better storage capacity was increased dramatically, Lieto said, by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which made real for companies the need for serious disaster recovery plans, including off-site storage of all critical information.
"(Sept. 11) has made disaster recovery a household word," Lieto said, adding that off-site storage could be even hundreds of miles away from a Fortune 500 company's base of operations. "All that is doubling, tripling, quadrupling" the need for storage networks.
While Sandial's technology has been in the works for two years, networking giants like Cisco are now developing their own storage products.
For Sandial, that might be scary, but Lieto said what it's really done is validate the concept of storage networking, saving the startup the trouble of mounting a massive education campaign in the arena of Global 2000 enterprise-level users it is targeting with its product.
To meet the need for storage solutions, Sandial will introduce its first product, Storage Backbone Switch, later this year. Already, companies like New Balance Athletic Shoes have been using Sandial technology, and Lieto and Welts say that having technology in place and working properly with customers was a critical precursor to making the company's existence public.
"You have to have customer traction," Welts said.
Lieto said, "We're going to execute first and tell you second." It's another way Sandial is charting a path that's different from earlier tech startups.
Sandial will announce its launch Tuesday, but it comes after two years of working long hours behind the scenes, sometimes raising questions among the men's family and friends about what they were doing but couldn't talk about publicly.
Welts and Lieto said they believe the timing couldn't be better.
"Remember Y2K?" Welts asked, pointing out that most companies do a "technology refresh" every three years and recalling all of the new technology implemented at the turn of the century to address the Y2K issue.


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On Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th April, Hopeline Institute hosted a digital marketing workshop for SMEs aimed at equipping small business owners with the skills necessary to succeed in today’s digital landscape. Mobile Web Ghana attended the workshop as a participant, to gain valuable insights and share expertise in digital marketing.
The workshop ran from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and featured a mix of in-person and online attendees, making it a hybrid session. The workshop covered a range of topics, from basic marketing concepts to advanced digital strategies. The facilitator, an experienced digital marketer, shared valuable insights on how to reach and engage with customers online, build a strong brand, and drive sales.
As a participant, Mobile Web Ghana gained valuable insights into the importance of having a well-defined digital marketing strategy. Small businesses must be intentional about their online presence and take the time to understand their target audience, competition, and market trends. By leveraging social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO), small businesses can effectively connect with customers and build brand awareness.


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Streetsboro, OH – Venture Lighting International, a leading manufacturer of Metal Halide lighting systems, is proud to announce their support of the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) at the University of California, Davis. As Venture Lighting is now an affiliate partner of the CLTC, they look forward to working together with such an innovative organization.
“We are very excited to develop this partnership with CLTC,” says Ken Hawley, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Venture Lighting. “Their reputation for being a center of excellence in energy-efficient lighting and developing innovative technology is directly in line with Venture’s mission to increase the demand for energy-efficient lighting and provide the best all-white light options with the highest overall value to the customer.”
An esteemed nonprofit facility that focuses on research, development and demonstration, CLTC is a vital asset to both the lighting industry and the University of California, Davis. Not only does the CLTC support educational programs for students and professionals, but the organization also collaborates with legislative leaders and regulatory agencies on energy policy, lighting codes and building standards.Tagged with lighting, tED


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Caffeine Controversy Continues . . . But new study on the health benefits from tea says decaf tea lags behind in flavonoid benefits
While the media pendulum continues to swing back and forth on the issue of caffeine, you might to wait before completely eliminating caffeinated beverages.
A new study indicates that the health benefits from tea, especially drinking caffeinated tea may be significantly greater than with decaffeinated varieties.
Researchers at Harvard University studied the health-giving flavonoid content of caffeinated and decaffeinated black and green tea blends, and what they found was surprising.
Caffeinated green tea contains 139 mg of flavonoid per 100 grams, compared to 70 for the decaf tea. For black tea, the results from were 118 to a measly 58.
Flavonoids are the active compounds in your cup of tea, they are very beneficial for your health. Flavonoids are known to be:
Apparently, the processes used to remove caffeine from tea also deplete flavonoid content. However, if you really want to avoid caffeine, you might consider drinking a cup or two more of your favorite decaf tea to make up for the reduced percentage of flavonoids.


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The year 2003 was a time of revival for the Chinese Internet industry since the burst of the dotcom bubble in 2000. During this period, the netizen population grew steadily, revenues from online advertising, mobile message and online games maintained strong growth, and stock prices for the four Chinese Internet companies listed on the NASDAQ stock market in New York -- Ctrip.com, Netease.com Inc, Sina Corp and Sohu.com Inc -- continued to rise.
William Ding, who owns more than half the stocks of Netease, became the richest man in China, as the company's stock price almost tripled in the past year.
Analysts and investors are hoping this trend will continue and are looking for the next industry stars. Although it is still too early to say who will be the next Internet hero and what Internet applications will catch the eyes of investors and users, experts believe some companies and certain individuals will likely cause a stir in the industry.
Timothy Chen and his Shanda Networking Co Ltd are already a legend in China.
Chen founded Shanda in November 1999, but in three years' time, his company has become the biggest online game operator in China and Shanda's revenues last year were expected to exceed 1 billion yuan (US$120 million). Chen was also ranked the sixth richest man in China by Forbes magazine with a personal wealth of US$490 million.
Now that it has made a name for itself with online games, it is time for Shanda to further its development.
For 2004, initial public offering (IPO) and research and development (R&D) will be two key words for the Shanghai-based company.
Chen, who is chairman and chief executive officer of Shanda, said in January in Beijing that the IPO of his company on the NASDAQ has entered the silence period -- when any company vying to be listed is not allowed to reveal any information about the listing until it goes public.
Chen announced he will resign as CEO shortly, which is believed to be a move that will enable him to focus more on the company's strategies.
He declined to give more details, but according to earlier reports, Shanda has hired Goldman Sachs as its underwriter and is expected to raise as much as US$1 billion from the IPO.
"Shanda's move is natural for the company, as online gaming is a very attractive concept to investors and the reception for Internet companies on the NASDAQ is very good," said Michael Yin, a Shanghai-based Internet industry analyst.
For example, Chinese online travel service firm Ctrip.com issued American depository receipts (ADR) on the high-tech-laden NASDAQ on December 10 with an IPO price of US$18 and raised US$75.60 million from the listing.
Its stocks rose by 88 percent on the first day of trading.
R&D is another area that tops Chen's agenda.
Chen said his company will spend more than US$10 million this year on the R&D of new games.
"There is only one key word in the competition of the online game market in China this year and that is R&D," said Chen.
The Shanda boss revealed his company recently bought a US-based massive multiplayer online game engine firm -- Zona Inc, one of the top two in the world, according to Chen -- but he declined to disclose the amount of the deal.
With the acquisition, Shanda will incorporate game engine technology, a core component in the design and development of games.
Since US and European game developers are stronger in game designs and technologies compared to their competitors in South Korean and Japanese companies, and since there are few online games from the US operating in China now, Shanda has a big chance to lead its Chinese competitors in technology, Chen believes.
The company has 250 people engaged in research and development, or about 30 percent of its total workforce.
The number of online game operators in China already rose from about 50 in 2002 to more than 100 last year, but most of them rely on imported games from South Korea or primitive designs created by themselves.
The company will launch six to seven new games this year.
"The desire for in-house design and development is even stronger from Shanda than most of the other players in the market, after [Shanda] broke up with its former South Korean game providers," said Yin.
Shanda reaped significant profits with the import of a game named Mir from South Korean game developer ACTOZ and its partner Wemade in July 2001.
However, a dispute between Shanda and the two South Korean companies on distribution of income from 2002, which finally led to the termination of their cooperation, forced Shanda to develop its own games.
Although the user base of the biggest instant messaging service company continued to grow in the past year, it faces a lot of challenges in the new year.
According to Pony Ma, Tencent president and chief executive officer, more than 240 million people chatted with friends through its personal instant messaging tool QQ either via the Internet, mobile phones or pagers by the end of 2003 and more than five million people used QQ simultaneously in December, up from three million in September.
"When a company grows bigger and bigger, I believe there are still new gold mines ahead, but the problem is how to find it and promote it," said Ma in an interview in Beijing in January.
The Tencent CEO pointed out that, in spite of the huge user base of his company, many people may spend hours playing games but only a little time on chatting with others.
He decided to integrate more entertainment content with Tencent's instant messaging tool. The result was Sephiroth, an online role-playing game imported from South Korea, which ranked fifth most popular online game in the country.
The game is undergoing focus group testing and the final date for commercial launch has yet to be decided, the Tencent founder said.
Tencent's advantage of having a large QQ user base may easily win many game players, explained analyst Yin.
In less than three months, Tencent has already recruited more than 10,000 players to participate in testing. Tencent's strength in mobile payment, which allows users to pay online game fees along with their mobile phone bills, has helped increased its competitiveness, he added.
Tencent is the biggest service provider for China Mobile, the dominant mobile operator in the country. Its users send millions of mobile messages every month.
Tencent shared income from the messages with China Mobile and received an average monthly income of 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million) last year.
However, it is still a big challenge for Tencent to take a lead in the competition with over 100 online game operators, Yin pointed out.
Besides online games, another new business line for Tencent is its enterprise communications tool, RTX, which was launched last September.
Since most of its QQ users are individuals, especially young people or professionals in the information technology industry, Tencent has been trying to enter the high-end enterprise market, where Microsoft's MSN Messenger is strong.
According to a survey conducted by a third party consulting firm, RTX helps a business save 13 percent of its telephone bills and improves the efficiency of employees by 17 per cent.
An investment of 100 million yuan (US$12 million) over three years beginning in 2003 to promote RTX was undertaken by his company, said Ma.
As online games and RTX are two of Tencent's three important business strategies (the other being individual-targeted QQ), their success is crucial for China's biggest instant messaging service firm.
They do not only decide its future development, but also the attractiveness of its IPO.
The company is planning a listing on the NASDAQ this year and is expected to raise US$100-200 million from it.
(China Daily February 4, 2004)


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APIA, 18 JANUARY 2021 (PACNEWS) — Samoa’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour has issued a public warning against several pyramid selling schemes currently operating in the country.
These include re-gifting of money and recruitment of participants to produce financial rewards.
“Pyramid selling and similar schemes are illegal ‘get rich quick’ scams that can end up costing your friends and family their hard-earned tala, said the government statement.
“Pyramid selling and similar schemes promise financial returns to participants should they add more membership to the scheme. New participants must register with high upfront membership fees. Participants are promised to earn from the operation of these schemes high financial returns very quickly.
Pyramid selling and similar schemes are prohibited in Samoa under section 65 of the Competition and Consumer Act (“CCA”) 2016 administered by the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour.
Section 65 of the CCA 2016 makes it illegal to promote and participate in Pyramid selling and similar schemes where it says that:
- A person must not promote or operate a scheme for the supply of goods or services for reward if:
(a) to many participants in the scheme, the scheme constitutes primarily an opportunity to buy or sell an investment opportunity, whether personally or through an agent, rather than an opportunity to buy or supply goods or services; and
(b) The scheme is or is likely to be unfair to many of the participants in the scheme in that –
(i) The financial rewards for many of those participants are dependent on the recruitment of additional participants (whether or not at successively lower levels); and
(ii) The number of additional participants in the scheme that must be recruited to produce reasonable financial rewards to participants in the scheme is not attainable or is not likely to be attainable by many of the participants.
“It is important to be very careful with these types of offers, because often they are too good to be true and will just end up costing you money. Don’t let family lose big in pyramid scheme scams, said the government statement…. PACNEWS


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Trinnov Audio unveils its revolutionary WaveForming™ technology, poised to redefine the audio landscape. In a recent interview with Tom Garrett, a Sales Manager of…
Here are some of the worst dangers that come with the metaverse.
The introduction of a virtual reality space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users sounds like an ideal possibility.
That’s exactly what the metaverse is.
A space where developers can grow their skills, creatives can sharpen their creative juices and users can find pretty much anything.
From shopping, fitness to productivity, the metaverse sounds like an ideal possibility which Meta, holding company for Facebook seems to largely support.
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg who this week introduced Meta’s Quest Pro, a new virtual reality headset which comes at a hefty price of $1 499,99, is desperately trying to get the metaverse to work.
The CEO is constantly making the metaverse something people want to use.
While the platform may look interesting on the outside, small hiccups tend to show some of the negative impacts the fun use of the platform comes with.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) October 12, 2022
A report on November 26 details how a user was sexually assaulted on the platform. Meta’s review found that the user, a beta tester should have used a tool called “Safe Zone.”
This incident although remedied in it’s own way highlights how the platform may be exposed to new forms of crime.
Sexual offences and explicit content
Any online platform creates policies that may in the best instances remedy any potential incident.
The use of virtual moderators to ensure virtual reality spaces remain safe could prove insufficient should numbers of users increase in augmented reality spaces.
It remains a challenge to police minor’s who have successfully made their way into the metaverse.
Harmful content and explicit content currently plague the net with many websites occupying a huge portion of online subscriptions.
As the metaverse develops so do most sex dominated sites.
While Meta plans to open up it’s social media platform Horizon Worlds to mobile and desktop users, so people without a headset will have access to the virtual world, this may open up an array of other challenges.
Privacy and data collection
While privacy and data collection remain as a constant discussion in social media platform policies, the collection of data remains a double edged sword discussion.
If systems are collecting data, where is this data going and to which end.
Platform providers could be in a position to pull very important strings – with the right data on their hands.
Collecting user preferences means platform providers could track and socially understand your personality, heartrate, including fitness level.
This would allow providers insight into user personality in order to better market content, products and services based on the lifestyle information.
Meta’s Quest Pro already comes with inward facing sensors which record facial expressions including eye tracking.
This if done right provides some of the most valuable and intricate studies about the users interests and reactions to those interests.
Increased aggression and disassociation from reality
Video games and online gaming services have constantly faced challenges of sighted aggression.
An indication of traits, which some users deem acceptable due the fact that no one was really experiencing any physical harm.
In a constant metaverse reality, users may suffer from aggression including a massive disassociation from reality complex.
This can be followed by addictive behaviors, and or withdrawal symptoms when disconnected.
Some other issues could be harassment and cyberbullying, theft of identities, increased mental health issues, collections of unauthorized data, polarizing of different groups and circulation of misinformation.
Featured image: ZoeKleinman/Twitter


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There’s a new Honda Accord on the way, and we got our first glimpse of it late last month. Honda covered it in a camouflage wrap, but unofficial renderings from Kolesa.ru attempt to preview the new design.
The spy shots don’t provide a lot of detail, but it looks like the new Accord will be the same size as the outgoing model. However, Honda will drastically redesign it, and the renderings show a sedan with styling cues taken from the new Civic. The new Accord will receive slim headlights, a sizable grille, and a sleek lower bumper. The spy shots showed the car with camouflage on the grille, but these renderings ignore it.
Gallery: 2024 Honda Accord Renderings
At the rear, the Honda retains a swooping roofline, something the camouflage can’t hide. However, we expect the Accord’s rear end to follow the front with a more mature design, adopting the Civic’s taillight styling. The renderings show the Accord with a light bar connecting the taillights, which is a possible styling feature. The spy shots show the trunk with something between the lighting elements.
There is the possibility that Honda will keep the current platform for the next-generation model, which would likely mean the current selection of engines carrying over to the new sedan. Honda offers the current Accord with either a 192-horsepower (143-kilowatt) 1.5-liter four-cylinder or a 252-hp (187-kW) four-cylinder. Honda also offers the Accord Hybrid, which delivers 212 hp (158 kW), and the automaker could make some tweaks for the new model.
The spy shots only captured the car’s exterior, so we have not seen the Accord’s interior. However, we expect Honda to make some significant changes. It could follow the Civic and receive a cleaner design with updated infotainment tech.
Honda hasn’t announced when it will reveal the new Accord, but the company did say that the next-generation Accord Hybrid would debut in 2023 after the CR-V Hybrid. The electrified crossover debuts later this year for the 2023 model year, likely setting up the Accord to arrive sometime next year for 2024.


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KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic) has instructed Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) to continue with the Mara Digital project to open up more opportunities for bumiputra youth to become information technology (IT) entrepreneurs.
He said several Mara Digital centres had been established so far, namely in Shah Alam, Selangor; Kuantan, Pahang; and Ipoh, Perak; while other places that had been identified were Larkin, Johor; Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu; Kota Baru, Kelantan; Kuching, Sarawak; and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Ismail Sabri said, however, that when Pakatan Harapan took over the government following the 14th General Election in 2018, the Mara Digital initiative was shut down and new projects were discontinued.
“Mara Digital is very close to my heart. I came up with it to develop bumiputra entrepreneurs in the field of IT and gadgets, whether in terms of selling products, repairing (equipment) and others,” he said in a post on Facebook Monday (Aug 15) night.
Earlier, the Prime Minister made a surprise visit to Mara Digital Kuala Lumpur, accompanied by Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
“Alhamdulillah, during the visit, the traders informed me that they were still able to continue business because sales were increasing, but (that they) needed support from Mara in terms of promotion, loan assistance and reduction of rental rates, among others,” he said.
The opening of Mara Digital as a telecommunications and IT equipment sales centre in 2015 was spearheaded by Ismail Sabri, who was then rural and regional development minister.-BERNAMA