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Following AT&T’s decision to introduce new “smartphone” plans that will impact iPhone and iPad 3G users, the company has been flooded with negative sentiments from angry customers. The company’s Facebook Wall is filled with comments ranging from well-mannered and sensible sentiments—“Just imagine the good PR you guys will get if you offer the tethering for free with the [DataPro] plan, it won’t change anything in your service since everybody will use the same data that [they are] already paying [for]”—to bolder and frequently brutal ones, such as “AT&T is showing their true colors… They really truly suck.” Many users, including iLounge readers, have focused about the abrupt change in iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G service terms after only a month on store shelves. “Bait and Switch,” says iLounge reader Liz. “They pumped the iPad 3G for months on the unlimited data plan with no contract and now they’re taking it away only what 2 months or less since the 3G launched? Screw AT&T I’d rather pay the big cash to another carrier and use MiFi instead.”
A quick search of Twitter for the hashtag “#attsucks” turns up numerous recent tweets, for obvious reasons all negative.
“I’m sure of two things: as of 6/7 I’m giving $15 less to AT&T each month,” writes user davehiggins1. “As of 11/20 I’m giving $0 to AT&T each month.” Twitter user HelloTasmin writes, “Does it actually make it better that I pay slightly less for a service that becomes sh!*!ier every day?” It remains to be seen whether the backlash will force AT&T’s hand to remedy some of the newly-created issues; however, as iLounge reader Devo points out in a comment on our editorial on the matter, there is some precedent for iPhone-related customer outcry leading a carrier to change its policies.
“When Apple finally announced that Canadians [were] going to get their chance to get their hands on a (legitimate) iPhone, Rogers communications (our AT&T equivalent provider north of the border) announced some pretty lousy data plans,” Devo writes. “In fact, some of them had (have) ridiculously low caps.
I think they started [at] 100MB! Canadian customers were so [put] off that Americans were being offered unlimited data that a petition was started to try and force Rogers to offer the same, an unlimited plan at a fair ($30) price. What we got was a limited time offer of 6GB for that $30, and yes I signed up for that. Then last summer, Rogers got wise and when Apple offered tethering on the iPhone, customers could use that service, free of any additional charge, and any data usage incurred would count towards that month’s allowed data. Now AT&T wants to make the same mistakes as Rogers, and hopes to get away with it? What are they thinking? Who in the world thinks it’s a good idea to offer worse service at a higher price, than was available to consumers in the past.


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Designers create a £6,830 version of Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro Max containing a fragment of a real 80 million-year-old T.REX Tooth
With a price tag of up to £1,549, Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro Max is one of the most expensive smartphones on the market.
But a new version of the flagship smartphone has gone on sale that makes Apple’s £1,549 pricing look like pocket change.
Luxury phone brand Caviar has unveiled a £6,830 version of the iPhone 13 Pro Max called the Tyrannophone, which features a fragment of a real 80 million-year-old T.Rex tooth.
aThe Tyrannophone is part of Caviar’s new Tera collection and features an image of a T.Rex.
‘Unique iPhone 13 Pro Tyrannophone is adorned with a 3D image of a dinosaur head that strikes fear into the hearts of your competitors with a gaze of its yellow eye, made of pure amber,’ Caviar explained.
See photos below:-
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New Video Showcases Best of Conroe
20 Apr 2020
CONROE, TEXAS (April 20, 2020) -The Conroe EDC is excited to release a new video that captures the many features that make Conroe such a unique place to call home. Conroe’s natural beauty and strong economic climate are on display, as drone footage takes you on an aerial tour of one of America’s fastest growing cities.
The video highlights the connectivity of Conroe, with direct access to vital economic hubs. It also explores Conroe’s thriving business parks; Conroe Park North and Deison Technology Park. Lake Conroe’s stunning beauty is featured throughout the production, as it remains a major catalyst of tourism in the region. Healthcare, education, and retail are explored, as each sector continues to grow and flourish in Conroe. The booming residential market is highlighted, with the drone hovering over exciting new neighborhoods drawing future residents to Conroe’s amenity-laden lifestyle.
When Texas and the United States safely open for business, the video will help demonstrate the vibrance and opportunity that make Conroe a dynamic city with unlimited potential. A creation of Neon Cloud Productions, the video shows that Conroe is prepared to serve you and your business.


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ST. LOUIS – The America’s Center and The Dome will be hosting some of the best shows the auto world has to offer over the next few days.
theSTL car showruns through Monday evening and features professional drifters, a kids’ zone and this year an electric vehicle ride along with Ameren.
“There are quite a lot of electric cars because everyone is driving electric now,” said Franklin Rolando.
The event also features the “Million Dollar Mile” where people can admire luxury and sports cars.
Emilio Hernandez, a first-time visitor, had his eye on one of the event’s most popular cars.
“Obviously everyone’s favorite is the Hellcat,” Hernandez said. “The Hellcat was nice.”
The event takes place on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rolando, 15, said he enjoys the up-close and personal experience he gets at this event with the cars he might not get anywhere else in St. Louis.
“Kids are on their phones these days,” Rolando said. “You can actually come here and interact with people instead of looking at computer screens all day. You can look at the car what it is not what it is online.
https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/st-louis-auto-show-returns-for-four-day-event/ The St. Louis Auto Show returns for a four-day event


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LinkedIn has shaken from its second data breach in 2021. In April, cybersecurity experts revealed that data from 500 million LinkedIn accounts had been put up for sale by hackers. And now, just a few months later, LinkedIn is hit by another data breach – this time with 700 million accounts.
The data leak has reportedly affected the vast majority of LinkedIn users (over 92 percent), affecting sensitive information such as email addresses, phone numbers and addresses.
Although the associated passwords are not included, the sensitive information could be used for identity theft and phishing scams.
The LinkedIn data leak was exposed by RestorePrivacy, who said that hackers apparently misused the official LinkedIn API to download the sensitive user data.
This is the same method that malicious actors allegedly used to get their hands on LinkedIn data back in April.
READ MORE: Infamous Android malware returns to the Google Play Store
Commenting on her findings, RestorePrivacy said, “A lot of people trust LinkedIn with all sorts of private information and hope and trust that the information will remain in safe hands. But is this trust justified? In 2021 we have already seen two separate incidents in which evil actors have exploited the professional network platform to collect huge amounts of user data.
“The implications are wide-ranging, from identity theft to phishing attacks, social engineering attacks and more.”
Analysis of the data that hackers received seems to show that it is authentic and associated with real users, with the information also up to date.
It looks like the LinkedIn user data is from 2020 to 2021.
Hackers are now trying to sell the huge cache of LinkedIn user information on a popular forum.
The complete dataset of 700 million LinkedIn users is being offered for sale for $ 5,000.
Here are the different types of LinkedIn user data hackers that are reported to have been taken: email addresses, full names, phone numbers, physical addresses, geolocation records, LinkedIn username and profile URL, personal and professional experience / background , Gender, other social media accounts and usernames.
In a statement, LinkedIn has denied claims that the site had suffered a data breach – saying that data was being scraped and taken from other sites.
LinkedIn also said that “some data” from the data dump hackers who tried to sell in April 2021 was included in the latest batch being offered on the dark web.
LinkedIn said, “Our teams investigated a number of alleged LinkedIn data that was posted for sale. We want to make it clear that this is not a data breach and that no private LinkedIn member data has been disclosed. Our initial research found that this data was scraped from LinkedIn and other various websites and contains the same data reported in our April 2021 scraping update earlier this year.


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Kenyan Citizen Television reported on May 28, local time that the Kenya Employers’ Federation released the latest survey results that day,...
Kenyan Citizen Television reported on May 28, local time that the Kenya Employers’ Federation released the latest survey results that day, showing that between March and August 2020, approximately 5.1 million informal workers were unemployed due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. According to the economic survey data of the National Bureau of Statistics of Kenya in 2020, there are about 15.1 million informal economy workers in Kenya, which means that more than one-third of informal economy workers are unemployed.
Jacqueline Mugo, executive director of the Kenya Employers’ Federation, said that the epidemic not only stopped micro-enterprises from starting their own businesses, but also reduced job opportunities, hit the internship opportunities for graduates and students, and caused heavy social and economic damage. .
In 2019, Kenyan informal economy workers accounted for 82.9% of all employed workers in the country. (Headquarters reporter Gu Xuejia)


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Warner Bros Entertainment and Eidos Interactive announced today that the demo for Mini Ninjas will be available on August 19. The demo will be available on the Playstation 3, XBOX 360, and PC. The PC demo will be available for download from the official website www.minininjas.com at 1 am PST. The Xbox 360 demo will be available on the same day via Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PLAYSTATION3 demo will be available through PlayStation®Network on Thursday, August 20th.
The full game is scheduled to release on September 8th across North America, September 9th in PAL Territories and October 9th in France and Germany.


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The call from Ontario’s privacy commissioner for organizations to always encrypt data on any mobile device staff use — whether they handle personal information or not — may not be welcome by executives.
But industry analysts say the recommendation – which comes after contract staff at Elections Ontario lost two USB memory sticks with millions of names and birth dates – is both practical and affordable.
“This can be done in relatively seamless fashion with little interference to the end user,” says Chris Sherman, a researcher at Forrester Research who specializes in data privacy.
“There’s really no reason not to do it,” agreed Philip Clarke, a research analyst who specializes in wireless mobility at Nemertes Research –unless, for example, it can’t be done on a device yet, such as a tablet.
“Regardless of what industry you’re in, you can’t be losing data. It’s a bad idea.”
In fact, Sherman said, a number of U.S. states have laws mandating that all personal information must be encrypted.
Massachusetts, for example, has a regulation (201 CMR 17.00) that flatly mandates “encryption of all personal information stored on laptops or other portable devices” used by any person that has or licences personal information about a state resident. It also mandates that personal data sent over the Internet has to be encrypted.
In April a developer paid a US$15,000 fine to settle a complaint that a staffer had unencrypted data on 600 tenants on a laptop. California, Illinois and Nevada also have privacy laws that mandate organizations to encrypt personal information on all portable devices, Sherman said.
“With the proper skills and staffing any organization can implement software controls to automatically determine where sensitive data lies and whether or not encryption is necessary and enforcing it where appropriate,” Sherman said.
“With the same software you can enforce that policy that all devices regardless of media are encrypted.
Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Kavoukian argued this week that to absolutely ensure no one ever slips up, organizations shouldn’t be allowed to decide if only some staffers need to use encryption. The technology should be used all the time on all mobile devices.
Her recommendation came following her investigation into the Elections Ontario fiasco.
Ironically, the agency did have rules mandating encryption on data sticks. However, the temporary staff handling the devices weren’t trained on how to use the encryption software.
Sherman said that in the public sector, particularly in regulated industries, corporate rules mandating personal data on all portable devices be encrypted is emerging as a best practice.
There’s no shortage of vendors offering end-point encryption solutions, from desktop security verterans like Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. to disk drive manufacturers with hardware-based encryption such as Seagate and Western Digital. There’s even open source software called TrueCrypt.
The easiest tool to use is on many corporate desktops: Microsoft’s BitLocker, which comes on advanced versions of Windows, said Nemertes’ Clarke.
Mobile device management solutions – either on-premise or hosted – can be used for policy enforcement on laptops, tablets and smart phones, he added – anything with an operating system.
Encryption of thumb drives can be enforced through Microsoft Active Directory to alert the operating system when a USB drive is plugged into a PC.
Most companies want to encrypt personal data, Clarke added. But certain devices may cause problems. For example, two months ago a global manufacturing company told him it is hesitating about allowing staff to use Apple Inc.’s iPad because it couldn’t figure out how to encrypt data sent over its Wi-Fi network.
Why isn’t always-on encryption the standard in all organizations? Some are willing to run the risk of losing data, Clarke said. The only solution, he thinks, is government regulation.
“There will be push-back from some companies,” he predicted, in part because they’ll feel “it will be a pain to do.”


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BRUSSELS – Today, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) concluded that Apple failed to comply with its December 24, 2021 order requiring it to adjust its conditions for payment systems for online dating apps. Apple is ordered to pay an initial penalty of 5 million euros, followed by a penalty of 5 million euros per week up to a maximum of 50 million euros.
“By failing to comply with the ACM’s order, Apple is once again showing its unwillingness to implement legal requirements that would constrain its gatekeeper power to the benefit of competition, innovation and app users,” said Meghan DiMuzio, executive director for the Coalition for App Fairness. “We applaud the ACM’s decision to take action in order to force Apple to comply with the law.”
About the Coalition for App Fairness
The Coalition for App Fairness is an independent nonprofit organization formed to protect consumer choice, foster competition, and create a level playing field for all app and game developers globally. Originally formed by Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer, Epic Games, the European Publishers Council, Match Group, News Media Europe, Prepear, Protonmail, Skydemon, Spotify, and Tile, CAF has rapidly grown from 13 to over 60 members since launching in September 2020. CAF offers membership to companies of any size — join today at appfairness.org.


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Coffee snobs’ obsession for sourcing the perfect cup could reach new heights as this futuristic company claims that shooting beans into space ensures perfectly even roasted beans.
Hatem Alkhafaji and his business partner, Anders Cavallini, are turning the art of coffee roasting into rocket science with Space Roasters. The duo who met while studying for a master’s in space science at the International Space University in Strasbourg and bonded over their mutual mission of finding a new way to entice others into becoming interested in the cosmos. They chose the universal staple of every-day life — the cup of coffee, and created the Space Roasting Capsule.
So, how does one roast coffee in outer space?
Well, to put it simply — a capsule containing coffee beans is shot into space and plummets back through the earth’s searing atmosphere, in a pressurized tank and zero-gravity conditions. According to Alkhafaji and Cavallini, the heat of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere will produce the perfect roast before making a parachute landing.
Earth dwelling roasters face the problem of uneven roasting which can leave some beans over or under roasted, affecting the aroma and taste of the coffee. A problem that zero-gravity could solve. According to the ambitious entrepreneurs, their capsule is the first of it’s kind with the capacity to roast coffee beans in zero gravity and they have patented the technology.
And, where can I get an intergalactic cup of joe?
You can’t just yet. The duo plan to open Space Station Cafe next year in the UAE, in line with the launch of their coffee and a year ahead of the UAE’s mission to reach Mars by 2021.
The kick is, one cup is going to set you back around $200 — as you can imagine, this method of roasting coffee doesn’t come cheap.
When speaking to The National back in February of this year, Alkhafaji seemed confident that there would be people out there willing to pay the price.
“You already have people paying Dh90 for a cup of coffee with a sprinkle of gold on top, right? I’ve tasted that coffee in the Burj Al Arab and I’ve tasted it in Emirates Palace, just to know what kind of competitors we have and … this tastes much better than that,” he said.
Alkhafaji’s, is hoping that their out of this world brew will appeal to coffee fanatics and lovers of innovation saying, “if you appreciate the complexity of it, the long process, the engineering points behind the whole thing, then really it’s very cheap … other retailers would definitely ask for much more than this.”
Will space roasted coffee take off? It’s too early to tell. I guess we’ll have to watch this space.
Stay Free With…


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Baton Rouge area businesses will have the chance to secure up to $1 million of committed investment capital at this year's annual Pitch Night happening during Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week 2014.
Organizers will select up to four businesses to pitch their ideas in an ABC Network Shark Tank-style competition to a panel of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and investors from across the country.
BREW Pitch Night will be held Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Manship Theater in downtown Baton Rouge, however the deadline for applications is Friday (Oct. 31) at 3 p.m. CST.
In recent years, winners were not guaranteed investment funds from the judges, though on-the-spot deals were voiced.
Last year's winners, owners of Pixel Dash Studio, did receive funding, however organizers did not detail the amount and business owners are under a confidentiality agreement.
In 2012, however, local business leaders pledged more than $300,000 in angel investment funds to companies at the event. A $200,00 deal was discussed with the winner, owner of Whipsy, a New Orleans-based company that makes alcohol-infused whipped cream, however, the deal was dead as of March, 2013.
But Baton Rouge entrepreneur Jared Loftus, who helped organize BREW Pitch Night 2013 said the fact that deals fell through and some business owners did not have a detailed business plan to keep investors interested is all part of the business.
"About 30 percent of deals that even happen on Shark Tank actually pan out. Nobody's putting money into a company because of a five-minute, or even an hour presentation. If you're interested, you follow up with the due diligence," Loftus said, so the BREW sharks were no different, he added.
But this year, while all judges still have the option invest in any of the companies, Ryan "Jume" Jumonville, founder and chairman of the board for United Networks of America (UNA), has committed to investing up to $1 million in the company selected by he and his CEO J. Brian Oliver, pending due diligence by UNA and its advisors.
Additionally, a $5,000 cash prize, sponsored by MESH | Integrated Marketing & Advertising and Ogwyn Bonaventure, LLC, will go to the crowd favorite business. In past BREW Pitch Night years, crowd favorite prizes were given from funds collected by night-of donators.
Companies that are among the four selected will be required to participate in at least two free coaching sessions to practice their pitch and presentation.
And if companies don't make it to the final four, they'll have the chance to attend a 90-second "Quick Pitch Lightening Round" where they can pitch their idea to the audience and judges for their chance at a $500 cash prize sponsored by Chase Bank.


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Roundhill Investments launched the Roundhill S&P Global Luxury ETF (NYSE Arca: LUXX), which begins trading on the NYSE Arca today. LUXX provides investors with access to the luxury goods sector in a cost-efficient and liquid ETF format.
LUXX tracks the S&P Global Luxury Index, providing access to 80 leading luxury companies across Europe, Asia, and North America. Its exposures span across various industries, including, among others, apparel, accessories & luxury, automobile manufacturers, distillers and vintners, and footwear.
“Luxury goods have shown resilience through challenging economic conditions, and we believe the sector has long-term growth potential,” said Dave Mazza, chief strategy officer at Roundhill Investments. “We are excited to offer investors efficient, low-cost access to gain access to the global luxury sector with the launch of LUXX.”
Huge Growth Expected
The global luxury market size is expected to grow roughly 50% between 2022 and 2030, according to Bain & Co. This will result in a total market size of more than $600 billion. And Generations Y, Z, and Alpha will be the biggest drivers of this growth. Their spending is set to grow three times faster than other generations.
Companies like LVMH and Hermes have benefited from strong pricing power and high margins driving significant free cash flow generation. Historically, luxury stock fundamentals have translated into long term price performance. The fund’s index has generated an annualized total return of 11.8% since its launch in 2011.
“Overall consumer spending remains resilient, but there are signs that consumers are starting to cut back on discretionary purchases,” said VettaFi’s associate director of research Roxanna Islam. “Luxury goods, however, are less sensitive to economic cycles and tend to hold demand even in times of lower consumer spending.”
Top holdings for LUXX at launch include:
- Hermes International (8.2% weight)
- LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (7.9%)
- Cie Financiere Richemont SA (7.6%)
- Mercedes-Benz Group AG (5.4%)
- Kering SA (5.0%)
- Ferrari NV (5.0%)
- Diageo PLC (4.1%)
- NIKE Inc. (4.1%)
- Pernod Ricard SA (4.0%)
- Tesla Inc. (3.8%)
LUXX carries an expense ratio of 0.45%.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit VettaFi | ETFDB.


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Born as a as a spin-out of Credit Suisse, the US startup DynamicOps launched almost two years ago, introducing a very interesting multi-hypervisor management console, Virtual Resource Manager (VRM), which merges together VM lifecycle management and virtual lab automation capabilities.
After a great start in 2008, when it hired away a couple of key executives from PlateSpin (now part of Novell) and Dunes Technologies (now part of VMware), the company remained under the radar for a very long time, releasing just one minor update in June 2009.
In December 2009 the company announced integration with BMC BladeLogic Ops Manager, in February 2010 it announced integration with NetApp FlexClone technology, and last week they announced integration with HP Server Automation.
Besides that, it’s not clear how much the product evolved in these two years: the company marketing renamed version 1.0 in version 3.0 right after the launch in 2008, one year later VRM just reached version 3.2, and this month Redmond Magazine mentions a version 3.3, which should be the current one.
At the end of December 2008 the company even promised support for VMware View 3 to arrive in early 2009, but the announcement never came.
While the support for NetApp FlexClone and the marketing literature let us assume that it’s there, it’s not even clear if VRM supports new version 4.0 or not.


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LOS ANGELES, CA - Prince’s legendary Bass guitar player and Grammy award-winning producer, Andrew Gouché, is excited to announce a brand new venture alongside the emerging financial group, New Black Wall Street, LLC (NBWS) to revolutionize the con
cert-going experience on a global scale. This innovative new vision that will allow Gouché to become the first musician ever to broadcast a live, personal NFT concert to an individual user in the comfort of their own home, all begins with the first live concert being broadcast this spring!
Backed by the visionary leaders of Wakanomy, a subsidiary of NBWS, and hosted by Open Sea, access to “Wakanomy Presents: NFT Live feat. Andrew Gouché” will be auctioned on April 21, 2021 as an NFT (non-fungible token), which is a unique token that can be tied to intangible and tangible items. The winner of this auction will receive the very first personal NFT concert, which will include a magical lineup of guest musicians and artists, streamed directly to them and any guests they choose to share with. These participants will become the pioneers of this cutting- edge experience that, combined with the limitless potential of the NFT, will usher in the future of live music. They, along with Gouché and NBWS will also, simultaneously, encourage the mass adoption of cryptocurrency at a time when the music industry and so many others need innovative solutions to survive.
That need has revealed itself in countless ways over the last decade, but it was when it turned Gouché’s world upside down last year that he knew he had to play a bigger part in the shift. Over the course of his illustrious career, Gouché has recorded with artists across all genres including Prince, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Julio Iglesias, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Earth Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Donna Summer, and Kirk Franklin, to name a few. And before March 2020, he traveled the world performing legendary shows to tens of thousands night after night. Then, a global pandemic hit... and at 61 years old, he found himself unable to earn a living doing the one thing he loves the most: playing bass guitar for countless fans worldwide. With travel bans, restrictions on live concerts, the shutdown of music studios, and the fear of contracting COVID-19 reducing his students’ demand for in person lessons, he searched for alternative ways to supplement his lost income and support his family. Without any other available options, he was forced to take a job delivering packages for Amazon to sustain his household.
“Sometimes challenging circumstances can force us to put our pride aside, and I’ve always believed in doing what I had to do until I can do what I want to do,” says Gouché, “so, while delivering those packages, a new desire was birthed inside of me to use my talents in a different way. I knew that there had to be a way to use my gifts to give back to lower-income families and those most affected by COVID-19... so I turned to NBWS.”
NBWS was quick to jump on board and together, they formed a vision that they know will inspire a new chapter of entertainment that not only brings communities together in an entirely different way... but one that unifies industries to help make a difference in the wake of unexpected challenges.
NBWS has pledged to donate a portion of all proceeds from this venture to help children of low-income families set up and fill their digital wallets with $100 of bitcoin. The event will also commemorate the life and legacy of the ever-revolutionary singer-songwriter, and multi- instrumentalist, Prince, on the 5-year anniversary of his passing.
ABOUT NBWS, LLC
NBWS, LLC is a tech-based financial literacy advocacy company, providing platforms for wealth empowerment, with a heavy emphasis on cryptocurrency. NBWS recently launched a campaign, “100 For 100,” a movement which aims to bring mass adoption of cryptocur rency to minorities by challenging them to invest $100 of bitcoin in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Urging minorities to “build your wealth where it may never again be destroyed,” with the goal to educate and motivate every minority worldwide, NBWS seeks to increase the median wealth of households with the rise of bitcoin over the next decade.
Wakanomy, a subsidiary of NBWS, is an upcoming NFT marketplace where the best of extraordinary NFT Art can be found.


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Die-hard JRPG fans are likely aware that the classic Mana series games were recently released in Japan through the Seiken Densetsu Collection. However, Square Enix hasn't previous stated any intention to offer the new collection in other global territories. That has thankfully changed, as Nintendo has revealed in its E3 2019 live stream that the Seiken Densetsu series is coming to the West as Collection of Mana.
For fans of the JRPG genre, the Mana series is hard to beat. Tracing its roots back to Final Fantasy Adventure on the original Game Boy, the Seiken Densetsu series — better known to American audiences as the Mana series — has charmed players with action RPG styling for decades.
Many an SNES gamer found themselves lost in the world of Secret of Mana, and as it stands now — especially considering the unfortunate turnout of Square Enix's Secret of Mana remake — the SNES original is still the preferred way to play the game. However, players will soon be able to enjoy that exact release anywhere they like on the Nintendo Switch.
Collection of Mana offers the chance to catch up on the first three games in the Mana series: Adventures of Mana (the remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, which itself is credited as the original Seiken Densetsu), Secret of Mana, and Seiken Densetsu 3, which also debuted on the SNES but has never before been released outside of Japan. Best of all, it's available starting today.
Be sure to keep it tuned to Shacknews' E3 2019 home page for all the latest video game news and reveals. Players can also stay on top of all those various launch dates by heading over to our 2019 video game release date schedule.


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Tesco stores will go dark tonight as lights are dimmed for an hour to raise awareness of how using energy can effect our environment.
The supermarket, which has stores across Northamptonshire, will switch off non-essential lights in stores between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
It is making the move to raise awareness about how using energy can effect the environment.
The idea is part of Earth Hour, a worldwide movement organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Held every year, it encourages individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
The supermarket tweeted: "Tonight we’re taking part in #EarthHour to raise awareness of the impact energy use can have on the environment and climate. Will you join us, @WWFand many others across the world, in switching off your lights from 8:30pm - 9:30pm tonight?"
Some customers questioned the idea.
One said: "If you deem it safe to dim the lights for an hour it begs the question why do you have them blazing the rest of the time?"
Another added: "no. it'll be dark".
Another wrote: "While I agree we should all waste less energy, does turning lights off at 8:30 and back on at 9:30 not just create a spike in demand on the national grid?" But others thought it was a great idea.
Earth Hour was first launched in Sydney, Australia in 2007.


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These aren’t just customer insights. These are M&S customer insights. And according to the retailer, the “close relationship” it has with its customers on social media played a key role in the decisioning around its latest campaign.
In March last year, at the start of the first national coronavirus lockdown, M&S set up a Facebook account for every one of its stores. The original intention was to use the platform to communicate with local communities during the stockpiling rush, letting them know which stores had pasta and which had toilet roll.
Now, those Facebook accounts have evolved into a two-way communication channel for the retailer, reaching 2 million customers a week. According to Sharry Cramond, marketing director of food and hospitality at M&S, it became clear through these social media interactions that its customers have become increasingly interested in where their food comes from and how it is produced. This was only confirmed by the marketing team’s traditional insights work.
“They’re telling us they want to know the story behind what they’re eating,” says Cramond, talking to Marketing Week. “They want to make sure they’re feeding their family the best quality, best sourced, most delicious food.”
TikTok has been massive for us through the whole lockdown.
Sharry Cramond, M&S
For Cramond, this knowledge makes her feel like she has the “best marketing job in the country”. “We’ve got so many stories to tell and customers actually want us to tell these stories.”
As a result, M&S has relaunched its ‘Fresh Market Update’ campaign for another year, to show consumers how far it goes to ensure food is sourced ethically and responsibly.
The multichannel campaign will run for the next four months, with a TV campaign to run across ITV and Channel 4, both on linear programming and on-demand. The ads will also run on YouTube. M&S has produced a total of 19 ads to introduce viewers to its farmers, producers and growers.
Each ad will be presented by ITV weather presenter Lucy Verasamy and will also include recipe ideas from M&S chef Chris Baber. The TV campaign will be supported by a monthly in-store magazine called What’s Fresh and a bespoke 40-page Fresh publication featuring Select Farms suppliers and their food.
An estimated 50% of the population will see the TV campaign 18 times each, achieving “massive reach”, Cramond says. “But it’s very much a multichannel campaign.”
Additional activity will take place via direct mail, social, in-store and through email. Highlighting how email will be integrated into the campaign, Cramond says registered Sparks loyalty members who buy certain products from M&S’s Select Farms range will receive an immediate email with further information about the farmer behind the product, alongside recipes and inspiration.
It’s the retailer’s “biggest ever quality” campaign, aiming to improve the supermarket’s quality perception among consumers. M&S will also be analysing how its value perception is impacted by the campaign and will be tracking the number of family customers it attracts – the brand’s main target.
M&S also engages in “very detailed” econometric modelling and measurement to ensure a good return on the invested marketing budget, but Cramond expects a strong result based on the history of Fresh Market Update, which has run in different guises over previous years.
“This is our most successful campaign by a country mile. So we already know this is going to be a success based on running it before, and that’s why we’re making it even bigger this year,” she adds.
Bee-coming more than a slogan
Alongside the new campaign, M&S is reaffirming its commitment to British farming with its ‘Farming with Nature’ initiative, supporting its farmers against the environmental challenge of the declining bee population. This summer, M&S will introduce 30 million bees to 28 Select Farm sites located across the country.
“About a third of our food needs bees, because they’re such important pollinators. They’re really important in the food chain,” Cramond notes. The journey of the programme can be tracked through the interactive ‘Bee Blog’, and at the end of the summer, the supermarket will sell the honey made.
M&S will also be expanding its RSPCA Assured range to offer more products than any other retailer. RSPCA Assured is the only farm assurance scheme in the UK dedicated purely to farm animal welfare, with trained professionals carry out annual assessments and spot checks.
“At M&S we have our line: ‘This is not just food. This is M&S food’. But that’s not just an advertising line. When we say that we really do mean it,” Cramond adds.
“We’ve got the widest range of RSPCA assured products, a wider range than any other retailer. We’re the only retailer that knows where all of our beef comes from, right back to every farm and animal.”
Attracting Gen Z through TikTok
It’s not just Facebook M&S is using to engage with customers. The brand has also found a perhaps surprising level of interest on TikTok, with 100,000 followers to date. A store manager went viral on the platform towards the end of last year for his enthusiastic demonstration of the supermarket’s ‘scan and shop’ service.
“It’s gone off like a rocket,” Cramond says, adding that she sees TikTok as “such an important channel for us” in breaking its older customer pigeon hole and engaging with younger generations, like Gen Z.
She continues: “We’re increasingly seeing so much traction with younger customers and family customers, and that’s due to a lot of the social media that we’re running. TikTok has been massive for us through the whole lockdown.”
Commenting on what makes a good retail marketer, Cramond says one of the most important things is to listen to customers, whatever platform they’re on, alongside maintaining good communication with individual stores.
“I think it’s listening to customers, staying in touch with your stores, and making sure you have a very agile plan so that you can make changes and react as quickly as possible,” she advises.


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A report from Thursday indicates Apple will soon offer a new trade-in program to allow iPhones with damaged screens, cameras, or buttons to be traded in for credit on a new iPhone. Plus, they’ll now officially allow retail store employees to install screen protectors on iPhones for customers.
The Apple Store Reuse and Recycle iPhone trade-in program currently allows a customer to bring in an older iPhone model and trade it in for credit toward the purchase of a new iPhone model. The main exception since the launch of the program is that this does not apply toward older iPhones with cracked displays, or broken cameras and buttons. That’s about to change …
Due to start this week, the new program will allow Apple Stores to give customers credit for iPhone 5s and iPhone 6/6 Plus units with damaged displays, cameras, and buttons “within reason.” Apple hopes this will encourage customers to upgrade to a new iPhone instead of repairing their old one.
9to5Mac notes that in some cases, with the combination of subsidies, financing plans, and a credit for a broken device, buying a new iPhone could make more economic sense than having the old iPhone repaired. The reports says the current trade-in values for this program are: $50 for a 5s, $200 for a 6, and $250 for a 6 Plus.
If a customer does purchase a new iPhone, they can also take advantage of Apple’s new official screen protector installation on iPhones. The new program is said to be rolling out to select stores this week.
Apple has partnered with Belkin to bring a dedicated screen protector installation machine to the back of the stores. Store employees were previously told not to install screen protectors due to the possibility of a less than satisfactory installation experience for the customer. Under the new program, if an installation via the new machine doesn’t work, Apple will offer a free screen protector replacement and re-attempt the installation.


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Toyota and other corporations are accelerating renewable energy development
Toyota says it will offset 40% of its global warming emissions from its North American operations within three years.
It will do that by buying contracts for new wind and solar projects.
The Toyota commitment is part of an encouraging trend, according to Greg Wetstone, CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy.
He says the volume of renewable power sold to corporations tripled between 2017 and 2018, with corporations adding 8,600 megawatts of new wind and solar to the grid in 2018 alone, either through their own solar projects, or, like Toyota, purchasing contracts from companies that build new wind farms or solar arrays.
"A few years ago, if you wanted to sell wind or solar power at scale, you had to go to an electric utility," says Wetstone. "Now, there's a vibrant marketplace that includes a bunch of other electric customers at a big scale that you can look to."
Wetstone says very large corporations, such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google, have committed to powering their power-hungry data centers with renewable power.
"I believe Google is already there (at 100%)," says Wetstone, "and they're continuing to look for ways to improve. And Walmart has been a pioneer in solar, with solar arrays on the top of their stores."
In Michigan, renewable energy got a boost from contracts purchased by Ford Motor Company and General Motors for new wind energy from DTE Energy.
Wetstone says the pace is still not fast enough to address climate change. He says customers can urge businesses they patronize to follow the lead of others, and purchase contracts for renewable energy, or install solar panels themselves.


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Cass County Nebraska Economic Development Council announced that the Plattsmouth Plaza development has been approved by the Plattsmouth City Council, and will be anchored by a new Hy-Vee store. The $12 million commercial development is anticipated to bring more than 100 full and part-time jobs to the Plattsmouth area.
Plattsmouth Plaza is the first development to come to fruition since the announcement of the long-awaited U.S. Highway 75 widening. The development includes a total of 12 acres on the west side of Plattsmouth and will accommodate sites for multiple retail users, with commercial space for both retail and restaurants.
The Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership, a program of the Greater Omaha Chamber, offers a full range of economic development services with the goal of increasing jobs and investments in the Greater Omaha area. The partnership brings together the economic development organizations of Douglas, Sarpy, Cass and Washington counties in Nebraska. The combined organizations are co-located within the Greater Omaha Chamber.
For more information about the Plattsmouth Plaza, please visit the Greater Omaha Chamber at www.omahachamber.org.


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Apple just released the new iOS 13.5 to the public which includes a load of COVID-19 features. One of these being the faster Face ID unlock while wearing a face mask. However, within days of release, an iOS 13.5 Jailbreak was released. It has been a long time since a Jailbreak exploit released on a new version of iOS and Unc0ver has done just that. Right now, every iOS device that can be updated to 13.5 can make use of the Jailbreak. This includes every iPhone since the 6S, and basically every iPad since the new Air. In addition, this release marks one of the biggest and most up-to-date Jailbreak tools released to date.
The new iOS 13.5 Jailbreak was released by Unc0ver who did not say which vulnerability in the latest software was used to build the tool. In addition, the tool is built on a zero-day vulnerability, does not drain battery life and does not affect the use of Apple services.
For those who don’t know, Jailbreaking an iOS device allows users to customize their experience with themes. In addition, a load of enhancements are included too such as ad-free YouTube apps, cleaning your cache, moving Siri to the top of your device, showing the battery percentage on the top bar and much more. It allows for unlimited access to your device.
Jailbreaking in the past was often quickly shut down by Apple. However, we are sure they will patch this exploit soon in a newer version of iOS. With that being said, should you use the tool, just don’t update to a newer version until you know it too can be Jailbroken by Unc0ver.


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National Christmas Jumper Day 2022 will be celebrated on Thursday December 8. The annual event, which was created by children’s charity Save The Children, is an opportunity to raise money for children across the world, in a fun and festive way.
The charity have encouraged people participating to donate £2, however you can donate as much as you can afford.
The annual event has been going since 2012, with many people donning a Christmas jumper every December 8 and donating to Save The Children. This year, however, it is set to be the most successful year yet as the government will be donating £2 every time a member of the public does.
Many celebrities have signed up to represent and support National Christmas Jumper Day 2022. Celebrities involved include, Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice, Love Island star Dani Dyer, TV doctor Ranj Singh and more.
To celebrate National Christmas Jumper Day 2022 in the North East, you can check if your school or workplace is taking part in the charity event. Alternatively, some people are choosing to socialise with friends and family that day, wearing Christmas jumpers and donating to Save The Children.
Save The Children charity shops across the UK, will be stocking second-hand Christmas jumpers in the run up to the event. Local Save The Children stores can be found in South Shields and Hexham.


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Pop up food truck businesses have been come very trendy, but now one entrepreneur has created a truck full of local crafts.
Stabiles was parked along Cabrillo Blvd. in Santa Barbara today and the owner Samuel Guzman, was displaying many items made locally including some of his own work.
Blown glass, wire creations, small sculptures, pillows and one-of-a-kind lights were among the items for sale. Guzman knows the artisans and has worked with many of them over the years, including when he was a manager at higher end resorts locally.
“They are my colleagues and friends because they are focusing on one product and they are really executing it well. I think that is the way to be successful versus doing too many things,” said Guzman.
He also says the items spark conversations. Many have been sent out as gifts that have gone around the world.
Plants were part of the selection, and they were mainly “air plants” requiring very little water.
He could not say exactly where the truck would be parked in the future or for how long. That creates some of the uniqueness about this business.


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Posted by Dave
Rap News Network
6/23/2005 10:22:53 AM
Tags and topics realted to this article include Various Artists.
U.S. Supreme Court is set to make a decision regarding the legality of file sharing later this week.
A decision in the case of MGM vs. Gokster is expected to be announced in the next few days. The case focuses on the problems of illegal peer-to-peer file sharing of songs and video clips on the Internet. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released a report suggesting that policymakers need to consider the benefits of file sharing. According to the OECD report, file sharing is on the verge of enjoying economic benefits.
Microsoft is presently working on its own file-sharing application dubbed Avalanche. Recently previewed by UK researchers in Cambridge at Microsoft's open day, the project is the company's take on peer-to-peer file sharing technology.
"Online technologies could evolve in a manner in which unauthorized use of copyrighted works are transformed into legitimate businesses," said OECD economist Sacha Vincent and a co-author of the new report on the digital music industry.
According to the report, online music sales are poised for a massive boost during the next couple of years –prompting the computer and entertainment industries to rethink the business models.
"The rise of online music sales has implications for a wide range of players, including artists, consumers, the record industry, and new digital intermediaries," stated the OECD report.
The report also said that there is "positive potential" for the new technologies. It also advised that governments should develop new policies that takes into account the interests of suppliers, consumers, provides protection for intellectual property rights, and makes it easier to distribute music and other content online. The report also said a third of all Internet users in OECD countries (including France, the U.S., the U.K., Germany and others) have downloaded files from peer-to-peer networks. The total reached 10 million users in November of last year.
The report contends that it's difficult to prove that illegal file sharing is mainly responsible for the 20% decline in music industry revenues from 1999 to 2003. "But digital piracy may be an important impediment to the success of legitimate online content markets," the OECD report reads.
Last year reportedly marked a "turning point" when a series of legitimate online music services launched and totaled up to 230 by that end of the year.
"It is mainly the record labels that generate direct revenues for the sale of online music over third party services," said the OECD report. "Online music providers currently face low or zero margins, calling into question wholesale and retail pricing."
Online music sales presently hold 2% of all sales. It is expected to climb to 8% by 2008.However, the report says that the growth of online file purchasing may result in the loss of access to lesser known artists.
"The ramifications of this issue are, at the polar extremes, technologies like TiVo and iPod disappearing," said attorney Daniel Fisher. "If liability were there for the makers of technology that could be used for file sharing, no manufacturer would make an iPod."
Find out more about Various Artists. Other items you may find on Various Artists include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...


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Welcome to Deja News, the every Monday article where I talk about the news you already know about, and if you don’t know about it, you’re welcome.
Is The Developer of Playerunknown’s Battleground a Bully?
Last week developers Epic and People Can Fly announced that their game Fortnite would be receiving a new, free to play mode called Battle Royale. This mode is incredibly similar to the highly popular PC game, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground. Now, a studio making a “clone” of another popular game isn’t anything new, and to the developers at Epic’s credit, they’ve already come out and said how much they love PUBG and that they would be crazy to not admit that their love of the game has obviously inspired their newest addition to their game. Bluehole Studio, the developer of PUBG doesn’t really care about Epic’s admiration for their game, however. The developer of Steam’s most popular game released a statement saying,
“We’ve had an ongoing relationship with Epic Games throughout PUBG’s development as they are the creators of UE4, the engine we licensed for the game. After listening to the growing feedback from our community and reviewing the gameplay for ourselves, we are concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.”
The release continued on by later stating, “We have also noticed that Epic Games references PUBG in the promotion of Fortnite to their community and in communications with the press,” Chang Han Kim continues. “This was never discussed with us and we don’t feel that it’s right.” And after all of this was said, the release also stated, “The PUBG community has and continues to provide evidence of the many similarities as we contemplate further action.”
PUBG has been bulletproof since it’s release but if there’s one thing that can take down this juggernaut of a game, it’s bad press. Fortnite, while made by a large studio like Epic, really is just an underdog game trying to find it’s footing in the video game landscape, and if Bluehole suddenly starts looking like a bully in the industry, gamers will eventually walk away. What’s working in PUBG’s favor though is the fact that the game has sold over 10 million copies on PC alone. When you have that large of a fan base, it’s going to take more than one misstep to affect the company and its success.
Red Dead 2 is Coming and Excitement is Coming With It
Rockstar surprised everyone by announcing that on September 28 they would be giving everyone an update on Red Dead Redemption 2. So, what could it be?
Well, if history has anything to say about what we can expect, we should finally be seeing a trailer revealing just what the story is for the highly anticipated game. Finally, all of our questions will be answered. Is it a prequel? A sequel? Are we playing as multiple protagonists like in GTA V or will it follow the more classic formula of gaming storytelling offering just one main character?
With the game scheduled to come out sometime in Spring of 2018, I don’t expect this to be the last time we hear from Rockstar before it puts Red Dead 2 out to pasture. With the announcement of the partnership between Rockstar and Playstation, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Rockstar appear on stage Sony’s PSX event later this year on December 9 to reveal the game’s multiplayer mode. But that’s just a guess and there’s no reason to put the wagon before the horse. The exciting news is what’s to come this Thursday. The original Red Dead Redemption is one of my favorite games of all time and I can not wait for the next installment in the series to finally be released.
So, what do you think? Are the developers of PUBG right in having issues with other developers copying their winning formula or is this just how business works? What about Red Dead 2? Are you excited about the announcement or are you the person in the world not looking forward to what could end up being the best game of the generation? Let me know your thoughts either down below or over on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ThinksofaThoughter/
To be honest, I feel like it has been so long since the last Red Dead that I have completely disregarded the existence of the original game that this trailer needs to be something extraordinary to bring me back to the series. That being said, I am highly excited to see what they show for that reason. I WANT to come back to the game. We will see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, it’s been a REALLY long time since Red Dead came out, so I can understand how you feel. I would be really shocked if the trailer didn’t deliver. With the game coming out early next year, there isn’t much time left for them to show off the actual game. I wouldn’t be surprised if what they show Thursday is a lengthy look at the game and not just a 4 minute trailer.


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The Internets are abuzz with the news that there won’t be any Half-Life games coming out this year – specifically Half-Life 2: Episode Three, which has still not been revealed to us. Game Informer’s Loose Talk column says that “won’t be any game from the [Half-Life] franchise in 2010, and what will finally come out is still unknown,” which basically means that it’s best you took it off your “Top Games for 2010” list.
Nobody knows what’s up with Valve regarding Half-Life, but since the last episode of Half-Life, Episode Two, Valve has been concentrating on Left 4 Dead, its sequel and their DLCs. Have Half-Life players been given the shaft? Who knows, but something we do know is that Valve claims the next Half-Life game to be an “ambitious product”.


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“Modest gains in the index point to continued slow growth,” says LEI author and MLI Munk Senior Fellow Philip Cross. “Canadians can expect 2020 to start with a fairly middling economy.”
The LEI, a tool designed to predict changes in the Canadian business cycle, rose by 0.3 percent in November. This marks the seventh consecutive month of growth for the Canadian economy, though the rate of growth has declined from a rate of 0.5 percent observed in October.
Overall, this deceleration in the LEI is a result of slight downturns in housing and consumer sentiment. While the economy is still set to grow slowly, only four of the ten components measured by the LEI have increased, whereas five decreased, and one remained unchanged.
According to Cross, “this slow growth is not just restricted to Canada. Large parts of Europe and Japan have essentially stalled.” However, despite fears that 2020 could be the year that heralds in a new recession, Cross has cautioned that such fears are premature.
“While the economy is not now in recession, inevitably we will experience another slump, more likely sooner than later,” explains Cross. “Clearly there are worrying signs, but Canada seems set for sluggish but consistent economic growth for now.”
To learn more about the leading economic indicator, click here.
For more information, media are invited to contact:
Communications and Digital Media Manager


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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's an airline for pets.
Starting this summer, PetAirways will be the first airline to specifically cater to dogs and cats. Unlike other airlines that place pets under passenger seats or in the cargo area, PetAirways upgrades its “pawsengers” to the main cabin of a pet-only plane.
Founded by husband and wife Dan and Alysa Binder, PetAirways offers first-class service to dogs and cats. With a limo escort from the Pet Lounge-which lets owners board their pets up to 72 hours before their flights and is located in selected airports-to the tarmac, pets will travel in style. And plenty of potty breaks prevent accidents along the way.
On the plane, pet attendants guarantee 15-minute checks to ensure each animal is comfortable and secure in its carrier. Off the plane, attendants watch over the pets-regardless of delays-until claimed. All the while, the attendants record every leg of each pet's journey on the Web site, petairways.com, to keep owners informed and assured.
What's most surprising about this service, though, may be the price tag. For as low as $149, pets can jet set between five major cities: New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
PetAirway's first flight is scheduled from New York to Los Angeles on July 14, 2009. According to the Web site, the founders plan to expand to additional cities and include exotic animals as passengers in upcoming years.


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DRAPER — Police have located a man who they believe stole a couple's diaper bag and went on a spending spree with their credit and ATM cards.
Police arrested Wilson Anderson Monday afternoon for investigation of three counts of forgery and a count of fraud, said Draper Police Sgt. Chad Carpenter.
Carpenter said Anderson admitted he was the man photographed withdrawing the victims' money from an ATM but denies taking the diaper bag from their car. Anderson told investigators he found the couple's bag outside the church, Carpenter said.
"They're very ecstatic that we're able to catch this person and bring them to justice," Carpenter said.
Analise Jenson's diaper bag was taken April 13. Inside the bag was Jenson's wallet, which contained credit cards, cash ATM cards and a list of passwords, including her pin number.
"We both feel extra violated because you feel that a church is generally a pretty safe place," her husband, Daniel Jenson, said.
With the passwords and credit cards the thief went on a $2,000 shopping spree, hitting gas stations, grocery stores and several fast-food restaurants the first day.
The next day, the thief walked into a Salt Lake City storage unit belonging to her father and walked out with golf clubs and power tools.
"He had all the info. he needed, plus the key to get into that storage unit," Analise Jenson said.
The Jensons now realize that Analise shouldn't have been carrying that kind of personal information with her.
"We've learned a lot from it, which is good for the future, but we don't want to have anybody else learn this way," Daniel Jenson said.
Contributing: Britney Nelson


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Hotels and campsites in Croatia have seen better bookings for May this year than last year and also an increase in prices, according to a survey by the consultants HD Consulting. Prices per accommodation object have increased between 4 and 5 percent all down the Adriatic coast.
A study of hotel and camping prices in Croatian regions was conducted in early May by interviews with sales managers in a large number of hotel and tourist companies with a portfolio of hotels and camps in the regions of Istria, Kvarner, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik.
Commenting on the rise in prices for 4 to 5 percent compared to last year in better hotels and camps, Senior Partner from HD Consulting Sanja Cizmar said that this is a consequence of last year's increased demand. She added that the leading tourist companies in hotels and camps had a 10 to 15 percent higher revenue in early May this year than in the same period last year.
Whilst bookings for May were extremely promising the early indicators for June and July look less impressive, however hotel managers are still optimistic that these two summer months will be just as busy as last year.


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The Portuguese factory of Sioux, the German group best known for its comfortable moccasins, closed its doors a few weeks ago, filing for insolvency at the beginning of May. About 150 people at the factory, located in the area of Lousada, are affected by the decision, and some of them have been working at the site for more than 30 years. In the last days, some of the workers have been staging demonstrations in front of its premises to ensure that they will be adequately compensated for the loss of their jobs.
Three years ago, the Sioux group said that all the shoes that it was selling under a secondary brand, Grashopper, were made in Portugal to facilitate quick re-orders by retailers. Recently the facility was making about 50,000 pairs of shoes per year, representing around 8 percent of the group's total annual shoe production.
To justify its decision to stop making shoes in Portugal, Sioux pointed out that the share of shoes made at the plant had been decreasing over the past years, concentrating on their final assembly. The site became an independent operation a few years ago, producing shoes not only for Sioux but also for other brands and companies.
Lewin Berner, chief executive of Sioux, stated that structural changes and the digitalization of the industry made it necessary for the company to revamp its cost structure. He said that the retail sector is experiencing difficulties, which are then also passed on to suppliers.
The Sioux shoes that were made in Portugal will now be sourced from other production partners of the German group, primarily in India. Sioux has been sourcing shoes from India since 1972, and it has been working lately with two shoe manufacturers in the southern part of the country. With input from the Germany company, their quality standards have improved.
Sioux reported recently that its first quarter of this year was very positive, and that the sale of the coming autumn/winter 2019 collection has been in accordance with the company's expectations. The company does not want to publish detailed sales figures. However, it seems that they have gone down lately. The annual volume is said to have declined to around 600,000 pairs from one million pairs ten years ago, when Square Four Investments acquired Sioux.


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Apple's next-generation in-ear AirPods product will move to a more complex system-in-package chip solution, replacing surface mount technology used in current versions of the device, according to TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Compared to SMT technology, SiP systems typically enable manufacturers to pack more components into a smaller space. Apple's AirPods Pro, for example, employs an SiP design with an Apple-designed H1 chip that handles audio, Siri commands, noise-cancelling capabilities and more.
The Cupertino tech giant will introduce the chip packaging technology in its entry-level AirPods product for the first time in 2021, Kuo said in a research note Monday. What, exactly, that means for end users remains unclear, though it could herald a trickle down effect for more advanced features enjoyed by owners of the Pro designated variant.
Kuo in Monday's note reiterates Apple's intent to transition the so-called "AirPods 3" to a design akin to AirPods Pro, a move that sunsets a long-in-the-tooth design first seen in 2016. SiP technology is likely a necessity in adopting the miniaturized form factor.
With "AirPods 3" expected in the first half of 2021, current-generation AirPods Pro part suppliers should see component shipments grow an estimated 50% to 100% year over year, Kuo notes. Amkor, JCET and potential newcomer Huanxu Electronics stand to benefit with the transition to SiP technology, as will AirPods case hinge producer Shin Zu Shing. Varta and Sunwoda Electronic are anticipated to make strides as button cell battery and case battery suppliers, respectively, while assemblers Goertek and Luxshare will see similar gains.
Despite the new "AirPods 3" design, overall AirPods shipments are anticipated to slow in 2021, growing 28% year over year. That compares to a booming 65.1% growth rate Kuo expects to see through 2020, a massive uptick in part be fueled by the discontinuation of free EarPods with "iPhone 12."


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The craziness that is the 11.11 online shopping festival is finally over. Is your bank account still alive? Apparently, many of you have taken advantage of yesterday’s sale. Shopee Philippines has announced that it sold 1,205,310 items. Even better, rival ecommerce platform Lazada Philippines has released the bestsellers in every category.
According to Lazada, Xiaomi was the runaway winner in the mobile-phone group by 12 p.m. on November 11. In fact, its Redmi S2 and Pocophone F1 handsets landed second and third in the overall category. Pampers Baby Dry XL Diaper Pants snagged the top spot.
We weren’t able to monitor the discounted price of the P7,990 (around $150) Xiaomi Redmi S2 from 12:01 a.m. to 2 a.m., when the really great deals were on offer. But we know that the Pocophone model with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, priced at P17,990 ($339), was only P15,990 ($301) at the time. At the start of the sale, the counter showed that there were almost 600 units sold. Unfortunately, we were not able to check it again at 2 a.m.
Lazada has also disclosed the top five phone brands within the first two hours of the 11.11 sale. The image below shows that Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, Apple, and Honor were the hottest-selling of them all. Admittedly, we were surprised by Apple’s performance in the country given the prices of its devices. Then again, do take note that the list is representative of the one for the world’s top five biggest smartphone companies.
We asked our contact at the ecommerce site if they are working on a list for the whole 24 hours of their biggest one-day sale. We likewise inquired how the sales this year were compared with last year’s, though in an earlier statement to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Lazada had said they were expecting sales to double. We’ll update this article as soon as we get a reply.
Inside Lazada’s biggest warehouse in Southeast Asia (in Cabuyao, Laguna) on its busiest day of the year, the 11.11 Singles’ Day sale. The e-commerce firm expects to double its sales today from last year’s 11.11. One of the fastest moving items? Baby diapers. ???? @InquirerBiz pic.twitter.com/31wm5r7Dly
— Daxim L. Lucas (@daxINQ) November 11, 2018
Tweet of the Philippine Daily Inquirer‘s Daxim Lucas
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Cost hikes will be a double whammy for firms hit by falling workloads according to the latest grim Construction Trade Survey.
Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association said: “The Construction Trade Survey for 2010 Q4 highlights sharp rises in costs such as the 46% price increase in copper and 80% in iron ore.
“With 70% of light side manufacturers and 56% of heavy side manufacturers experiencing a fall in sales in Q4 compared to a year ago along with 22% of building contractors also reporting a fall, there is great uncertainty regarding economic activity during the coming year.”
Julia Evans, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders added: “The combination of less work, rising material prices, lower margins, continued lending restrictions and a rise in VAT could not have come at a worse time.
“Companies can only battle these conditions for so long. With the rate of construction insolvencies exceeding that of other industries, the impact on our skills base will be devastating.”
Key survey findings are:
- Fewer than 10% of building contractors reported problems recruiting on-site labour in 2010 Q4
- 90% of light side firms and 53% of heavy side firms stated that employment fell in the fourth quarter of 2010
- Only 46% of building contractors reported that they were operating at between 90% and full capacity in 2010 Q4
- 47% of light side manufacturers and 61% of heavy side manufacturers reported that rising raw materials costs had led to a rise in manufacturing costs in the fourth quarter of 2010
- Only 4% of specialist contractors reported being paid within 30 days but 3% of specialists paid in over 90 days during 2010 Q4
- 81% of light side manufacturers reported a rise in investment in product improvement and 64% reported a rise in investment in plant and equipment in the fourth quarter of 2010


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There are growing calls for stricter international controls to stop ISIL militants selling looted antiques on the black market
There are growing calls for stricter international controls to stop ISIL militants making money by selling looted antiques on the black market.
France is one of those warning that precious objects from historic sites such as Palmyra in Syria are ending up in the hands of western dealers.
Deborah Lehr, the Chair & Co-founder of the Antiquities Coalition, said: “Your average customs official will know if he sees a kilo of cocaine, that it’s automatically illegal.
“But if they’re seeing an ancient pot, they don’t know in some cases whether it’s just a tourist trinket or if it’s a 3000-year-old urn.”
What they don’t destroy, ISIL is selling with forged documents, and experts insist there has to be more vigilance to spot looted items.
Richard Kurin from the Smithsonian Institution, a major museum and research organisation, said: “There are some collectors on the market who’ve actually said right out that a way to protect this material is to buy it.
“Of course, that’s a fallacy, it just means the price provides more incentive for ISIS (ISIL) to loot more and sell more and make more money.”
Some countries are circulating lists of items likely to be looted from Syria and Iraq, and many museums are signed up to a database of suspicious objects.


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SapientNitro opens new Toronto office
SapientNitro, part of Publicis.Sapient, has announced the official opening of its new Toronto office located in Allied REIT’s flagship QRC West building at 134 Peter St. The occasion was marked by a showcase of some of the global digital marketing agency’s most innovative work in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT).
SapientNitro has been operating in Canada since 2000, helping to transform the businesses of iconic global brands by identifying where powerful storytelling and innovative technology meet. High-profile regional clients include Canadian companies such as Cadillac Fairview, Holt Renfrew and Loblaw.
“For the past 16 years, we have been committed to serving our existing clients in Canada and expanding our presence in the region,” said Alyssa Altman, vice-president and managing director, SapientNitro Canada. “With this new space, we are in a better position to meet demand for our services both locally and globally.”
The facility centralizes the agency’s hundreds of creative, technology and business services professionals based in Toronto. It was specifically designed to include features and functionality that encourage constructive collisions of people and ideas. For example, the office is home to a three-floor interactive digital display lining one side of the internal stairwell, encouraging the team to ideate and create open-source experiences.
“We designed this space to inspire new thinking and promote collaboration. We want it to be ‘The Kinetic Office: Where ideas collide,’ said Howie Howatson, executive creative director of SapientNitro Canada, and the project lead for the new office. “We believe that with the right elements, and the right energy, in the right conditions, successful collisions can occur. It’s a workspace free of barriers, free of silos, where the flow of movement encourages talent from all disciplines, experience levels and backgrounds to collide and collaborate to develop the ideas that shape our industry.”
The LEED Gold certified building floats above the old garment district factory buildings. The building features a juxtaposition of historic Toronto, and a modern office tower that was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health.


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Global inventory markets wrapped up their worst performances in years on Friday earlier than heading into 2023 below recession fears following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, excessive inflation and rising rates of interest. Wall Street noticed its worst annual drop since 2008, with the S&P 500 index down round 20% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shedding about 30% for the yr.
02 Jan 2023, 07:59:08 AM IST
Cryptocurrency costs right this moment: Bitcoin, ether achieve marginally; dogecoin, Shiba Inu fall
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin worth right this moment rose with the world’s largest and hottest digital token buying and selling nearly flat with a constructive bias at $16,566. The international cryptocurrency market cap right this moment remained under the $1 trillion mark, because it was flat within the final 24 hours to $828 billion, as per the info by CoinGecko.
On the opposite hand, Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain and the second-largest cryptocurrency, was additionally buying and selling marginally larger at $1,195. Meanwhile, dogecoin worth right this moment was buying and selling a few per cent decrease at $0.06 whereas Shiba Inu gained was down at $0.000008. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:57:22 AM IST
Budget 2023: PHDCCI pitches for growing well being funds by 30-40%
Industry physique PHDCCI on December 29 stated the well being funds must be elevated by 30-40 % as there’s a rising want for well being services and infrastructure throughout the nation. Making the suggestion for the forthcoming Union Budget, Saket Dalmia, President of PHDCCI, stated the funds for well being has seen an increase of about 16 per cent in absolute phrases between funds estimates of 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The main focus may very well be on a widespread marketing campaign for wholesome residing, which is the necessity of the hour to construct up a wholesome human useful resource for the nation. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:48:07 AM IST
Buy or promote: Vaishali Parekh recommends 2 shares to purchase right this moment
Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher has really useful two shares to purchase right this moment. Here we record out full particulars in regard to these two shares:
1] Canara Bank: Buy at ₹333, goal ₹345, cease loss ₹328; and
2] Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals: Buy at ₹767, goal ₹788, cease loss ₹757. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:47:20 AM IST
Domestic passenger automobiles gross sales rise 23 computer to document of 37.93 lakh items in 2022
Domestic passenger automobiles gross sales rose by 23 per cent to a document of 37.93 lakh items in 2022 led by the likes of Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors as the businesses rode on easing of pandemic-related challenges and semiconductor shortages to money in on pent up demand, specifically for SUVs. Other producers like Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Skoda India additionally reported document gross sales in 2022.
“The industry wholesales in January to December 2022 were just short of 38 lakh units. It was 37.93 lakh units against 30.82 lakh in 2021, which is a growth of 23 per cent,” Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales Shashank Srivastava advised reporters in a digital convention. He additional stated the 2022 wholesales are “the highest ever in the industry for a calendar year” and the final highest was in 2018 which was 33.3 lakh items. “So, this is about 14 per cent higher than the highest ever,” he added.
On the explanations for the expansion, Srivastava stated, “I believe this resurgence to the highest ever level is partly because of the better availability of semiconductors because last year was badly affected by the semiconductor issue.” (PTI)
02 Jan 2023, 07:32:22 AM IST
JSW Group mulls foray into EVs, to fabricate 4-wheelers
Sajjan Jindal-led conglomerate JSW Group is contemplating a foray into the manufacturing of electrical automobiles, in line with a high official of the group. “The group had examined EV manufacturing plans earlier also but now it is becoming attractive,” JSW Group Chief Financing Officer Seshagiri Rao advised information company PTI.
The manufacturing of EVs is being mentioned actively on the group stage, he stated whereas divulging JSW Group’s plan to increase its presence into extra sectors.
The group is seeking to manufacture four-wheelers, Rao stated. He stated that the manufacturing location is but to be determined. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:31:06 AM IST
Rupee falls over 11 computer in 2022 — worst since 2013
The Indian rupee depreciated over 11 per cent in 2022 towards the greenback — its poorest efficiency since 2013 and the worst drubbing amongst Asian currencies — because the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive financial coverage propelled the dollar.
The rupee closed 2022 at 82.61 to the US greenback, down from 74.29 at finish of 2021 because the US forex headed for its greatest yearly achieve since 2015.
The Indian unit, nonetheless, fared higher than another international currencies just like the Turkish Lira and British Pound.
The volatility within the foreign exchange market, prompted by a rally in international oil costs following Russia’s battle in Ukraine, meant the Reserve Bank needed to ceaselessly dip into its reserves as imported inflation grew to become a problem for policymakers.
Since mid-October, the rupee recovered from the bouts of volatility skilled within the earlier a part of the yr and has been buying and selling near its long run development, as per the RBI’s Financial Stability Report. (PTI)
02 Jan 2023, 07:30:35 AM IST
Govt could increase rate of interest subsidy for MSME exporters
The authorities is contemplating elevating curiosity equalization or subsidy advantages prolonged to small and medium exporters within the annual funds for 2023-24 to alleviate among the rate of interest burden on them attributable to a tightening financial coverage.
The proposal to increase the low-interest fee profit is being examined at a time Indian exporters are going through headwinds on account of slowing demand in key markets amid document inflation and the specter of a worldwide recession. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:29:23 AM IST
Torrent Power in talks with ReNew to purchase 1.1GW clear vitality capability
Torrent Power Ltd is in talks to purchase clear energy tasks totalling 1.1 gigawatts (GW) from ReNew Energy Global Plc at an enterprise worth of round $1.2 billion, two individuals conscious of the event stated.
Ahmedabad-based Torrent Power has submitted a non-binding provide (NBO) for ReNew’s photo voltaic and wind energy property of 350 megawatts (MW) and 750MW, respectively, at an fairness worth of round $450 million, the individuals cited above stated on the situation of anonymity, including discussions on valuation are persevering with. (Read More)
02 Jan 2023, 07:27:54 AM IST
US shares sink on Friday in worst yearly efficiency since 2008
Wall Street shares marked a dark finish to 2022 on Friday, slumping to shut decrease of their worst annual displaying in years.
Surging inflation and steep rate of interest hikes to chill demand have battered markets and investor sentiment this yr, on high of world shocks like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The last trading day of the year just confirmed what we had all year, a horrible stock market,” stated Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.
Key US indices noticed their poorest performances since 2008, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each seeing double-digit drops over the previous yr.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2% to 33,147.25, whereas the broad-based S&P 500 misplaced 0.3% to three,839.50.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 10,466.48 after greater losses earlier within the day.
A year-end rally “looks to have eluded us this year” given the shocks of 2022 and huge uncertainty forward, stated Craig Erlam of the OANDA buying and selling platform.
While analysts anticipate the worst of Federal Reserve fee hikes to be over, some warning that the approaching months will stay robust. (AFP)
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Fintech on Fire:
Saudi Arabia embraces the trend
The MENA region is still in its infancy when it comes to fintech. Estimates of current fintech market value and projections vary wildly depending on which research reports you read, but we can be certain of two things: fintech is experiencing explosive growth and there is huge upside potential for fintech in MENA.
One of the reasons for this is that collaboration with fintech is a deliberate strategic decision for governments and traditional financial institutions in markets across the region. While remaining prudent and exercising strict oversight, regulators are working proactively alongside others in the financial services industry to enable fintech participation.
Among regional markets, Saudi Arabia was singled out in a 2021 report by The Fintech Times as one of the key emerging fintech hubs alongside Bahrain and Turkey.
These markets are closing the gap fast on the leading fintech centres, using a scoring methodology that took into consideration various factors including overall economic development, development of a digital ecosystem, the market for start-ups, ease of doing business, levels of entrepreneurship and existence of a regulatory sandbox to support fintech innovation. The Fintech Times is confident that more fintech unicorns will emerge, following the announcement in 2020 that STCPay had become the Kingdom’s first such success story, reportedly reaching a $1.3 billion valuation.
KPMG calculated that the number of fintechs in Saudi Arabia increased from only 10 in 2018 to 60 in 2020, a CAGR of 147%. By the end of 2021, there were 82 fintechs. These companies cover a number of industry verticals, including payments and currency exchange insurance, lending and capital markets. These entrepreneurial start-ups are steadily becoming operational and starting to attract funding. In its Saudi Economy 2021 Retrospective, Arab News reported that 16 investment deals were closed in the first eight months of 2021, totalling $157.2 million. Payments start-ups have been most successful in securing investment, including mobile payments, POS services and Buy Now Pay Later.
In January 2022, Rabet became the first company to secure SAMA permission for its Open Banking solution.
With new companies admitted to the sandbox twice a year, there is ongoing activity to expand the range of services available to Saudi consumers and businesses through fintech initiatives, and to ensure the Kingdom realizes all the potential benefits of its digital financial services ecosystem. At eMcREY, we support the fintech community to build mutually beneficial relationships with existing banks, shortening development times and increasing speed to market while promoting innovation at the forefront of regional financial services.


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Clean Food Group has raised an additional £2.3 million in funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its sustainable oils and fats technology.
The fermentation-derived palm oil company saw international investment from industrial food specialists Döhler Group and Alianza Team, as the global food industry looks to invest in healthier and more sustainable food choices for future generations.
Capital raised from the round will enable Clean Food Group to accelerate the scale-up of its technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways. The additional £2.3 million makes up part of a total of £10 million in funding raised so far.
The company expects to complete a Series A funding round in 2024, which will support the build-out of a commercial-scale manufacturing facility in the UK.
Cellular agriculture specialist Agronomics, the leading listed investment company focused on Cellular Agriculture, invested around £700,000 in the company, subscribing for 4,249,700 ordinary shares. It previously invested £900,500 in Clean Food Group in June 2022. Its latest investment was made using cash from the company’s own resources.
Jim Mellon, executive director of Agronomics and co-chairman of Clean Food Group also participated in the funding round with a £50,000 investment on the same terms. In total, Agronomics will now hold 30.31% of the equity capital on a fully diluted basis.
AIM-traded company Seed Innovations, of which Mellon has a 6.95% holding, also invested in the round.
Jim Mellon said: “Agronomics’ portfolio speaks to the breadth of disruption emerging from biomanufacturing on conventional agriculture and beyond. This fundraise marks an important milestone for Clean Food Group in the mission to drive transformative changes across the food industry by providing an alternative to palm oil in food and cosmetic production.”
Clean Food Group has signed a services agreement with Döhler, designed to rapidly scale its fermentation process to a commercial level and enable the manufacture of product batches required for regulatory approval for cosmetics and food applications. A successful fermentation run at 1,000 litres was recently completed, with the manufacture of product batches for regulatory approvals to be completed later this year.
Clean Food Group’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Neves, commented: “We are delighted with the rapid progress the business has made in the past year. The successful conclusion of this current funding round validates the important strides our business is taking in solving critical sustainability and supply chain challenges facing our food and cosmetic manufacturer customers.”


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The smaller-than-expected fall in inflation in April to 8.7% - the Bank of England (BoE) expected 8.4% - will pile more pressure on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike interest rates again in June. Even more concerning was the acceleration in core inflation, which excludes volatile components such as energy and food, to 6.8% from 6.2%. Admittedly, there is still another set of data to come before the next MPC meeting. But given there are only the most tentative signs that the labour market is easing and that inflation is clearly stickier than the Bank was hoping for, we are sticking with our call that rates will have to rise again in June. A 5% peak now looks even more likely.
Food prices have probably peaked, but are proving sticky
The biggest single reason for the fall in the headline rates was a base effect associated with the large rise in household energy bills in April 2022. Prices rose by 47.5% between March and April last year. This year, bills posted a 1.2% fall reflecting the influence of the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, which has capped the unit cost of gas and electricity since October such that the average household pays £2,500 annually. This caused electricity and gas inflation to fall from 85.6% in March to 24.3% in April.
Food inflation also fell to 19.3% from 19.6%, although this was a much smaller fall than expected.
More concerning for the MPC will be the rises in core inflation (6.2% to 6.8%) and services inflation (6.6% to 6.9%). The upside surprise appears to have come from a wide range of services prices, especially insurance premiums, which are continuing to rise very quickly.
CPI inflation will continue to fall quickly over the coming months. Tomorrow, Ofgem likely will announce that the typical household’s annualised energy bill will drop to about £2,050 in July, down 18% from the current £2,500 level. This will ensure that energy’s contribution to the headline rate falls by a further 0.8 percentage points or so in July.
Indeed, the cooling of producer price inflation, lower shipping costs and the easing of supply constraints have all pointed to a slowing of core goods inflation. That hasn’t materialised yet, but should over the rest of this year. We expect goods price inflation to fall to around 3% by the end of the year.
The policy takeaway
The guidance the BoE issued alongside its May forecast suggests it will tighten more if the data – in particular services CPI and private sector pay – surprise to the upside. Clearly that is happening, which points to another rise in interest rates in June – taking interest rates to 4.75%.
Evidence of a more sustained easing in price pressure over the summer is likely to be enough to convince the BoE that June should be its last hike of the cycle. But the stickiness of both core inflation and pay growth means that the risks to our forecast are tilted to the upside — a 5% handle on the BoE’s policy rate is becoming increasingly likely.


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Welcome to CTSI's News Room. Here, you can browse through our latest consumer protection and trading standards news reports (below), or check out our archive of news articles from previous years.
Media Enquiries: If you are a journalist, or representative of a media organisation, CTSI can provide expert opinion, comments and spokespeople on a wide range of Trading Standards, consumer protection and regulatory issues - or point you in the right direction. Please contact our press office on 01268 582240/07811244602 or email@example.com who would be happy to assist.
Leeds-based, Sigrid Hambly, 79, a scam mail target for eight years, receives the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Hero Award, after becoming a National Trading Standards (NTS) Mail Marshall this year.
Customer Protection Manager, Simon Skinner, 45, of Northern Ireland-based RBS/Ulster Bank has been awarded the prestigious Hero Award from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), having saved consumers an incredible £1.2m in safeguarding them from potential scams.
Martin Lewis, who has become one of the nations’ most trusted and prolific consumer champions after setting up the MoneySavingExpert.com website for just £100, has been awarded the prestigious Hero Award from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI).
National Trading Standards (NTS), one of the leading investigators into trading standards offences, have been presented with the prestigious Hero Award from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI).
One-way ticket to prison for crooked travel agent who stole almost £70k from unsuspecting holidaymakers
Massive fraudulent operation sees rogue travel agent guilty of 6 counts including fraud. He conned dozens of families with his plane ticket scam and demanded bank transfers to cover his tracks.


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It turns out that a Japanese company called Funai Electric is still making the videocassette recorder (VCR). The company recently claims that it will stop making the retro video recorder’s by the end of this month, after 30 years of production. The decision comes after selling only 750,000 VCRs last year, down from a peak of 15 million VCRs… Continue reading World’s Last VCR Company Will End Production This Month
Minnesota-based company ColorWare has recently launched a vintage redesign of Apple’s latest iPhones. The limited edition retro-themed iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus was inspired by the Apple IIe computer. On the back of the phone, the company used a matte vanilla-colored exterior with fake vents along with the 80’s version of Apple’s rainbow logo.… Continue reading Limited Edition Retro-Themed iPhone 6s/Plus
VHS Camcorder App shoots videos that look and sound like an old videotape that have been shot by an old school video camera from the 80’s or mid 90’s. With a real-time effect preview, you can degrade the picture at precisely the right moment by dragging your finger around the screen or by shaking your device. The VHS… Continue reading VHS Camcorder App
Artist Christoph Brown creates striking portraits on his Etch A Sketch, then sell it for about $500. He hopes to turn his art into a big business. Watch the video below.
Bill Hammack the Engineer guy explains to us the historic videotape battle between JVC VHS and Sony Betamax in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and why Betamax failed to compete with VHS. Check out the video below.


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Partnering with established fashion brands, car manufacturer Hyundai released a capsule collection featuring unique pieces made from recycled automotive waste, such as a handbag by Rosie Assoulin and a floral patterned corset by Richard Quinn, as seen above.
Transforming car manufacturing waste into new fashion items is a sustainable way of reducing the disastrous environmental impacts of both the automotive and fashion industry.
"Working with cars, automobiles, heavy machinery, automation is so outside of our usual realm. At the same time [it’s] very much in our vocabulary to use nontraditional materials."
- Rosie Assoulin, fashion designer
This initiative is Hyundai’s second sustainable fashion collection. The company wants to help consumers and designers imagine a more circular future for each industry.
It aims to demonstrate that companies don’t necessarily need to extract more natural resources to manufacture new beautiful, useful, and stylish products.
They can use upcycled or recycled materials made from post-consumer or post-industrial waste and help preserve the planet, the people, and the animals living on it.
Hyundai’s new project features unique fashion items made from discarded cars, including seat belt webbing, carpet fabric, foam, leather scraps, glass, and airbags.
Experienced fashion designers were invited to showcase how these materials can be used to design and bring to life brand new items that aren’t just as fashionable as they are practical.
The plan is to sell these limited-edition pieces in the London department store Selfridges with prices ranging from USD 250 to 1,450.
Upcycling is gaining traction in fashion, as more brands, designers, and consumers see its many social and environmental benefits.
The process of upcycling means transforming used items into something new and more valuable. It offers old products a new life, extends the time they are being used, instead of letting them go to waste.
Especially after the coronavirus pandemic, fashion companies need to make more sustainability efforts to thrive in the market, taking massive action to reduce pollution, waste, and carbon emissions.
Otherwise, they risk losing market shares, the trust of their employees, suppliers, partners, and customers. As conscious consumerism is rising, buyers are asking for more transparency, accountability, and sustainability.
"Post the pandemic, we have a massive opportunity to reset the fashion industry rather than returning to business as usual. Upcycling, in particular, has to be part of the future."
- Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council
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