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Author: JT Smith
Open Source Business –
Among the emerging class of next-generation PDAs, none have more
promise than a little Korean device called Yopy — a handheld that mixes audio,
graphics and traditional PIM functions into a new breed personal computing device. Yopy was announced more than a year ago. Development has been slow, and because it is Open Source, many of the glitches that plague normal equipment development
have been open as well. For this reason, and because G.mate, its developer,
is relatively small, the company has kept a low profile.
Currently, the company is shipping a developers version of the device. It
is a pretty cool machine, and a lot could be riding on it. Yopy
could be one of the first break-through mass market systems
using Linux — or it could be an object lesson for would-be developers
to avoid an Open Source solution.
A year ago last March, the Korean firm G.mate announced that it was
partnering with the Korean electronics giant Samsung, to bring a new kind of PDA
to the market. It was not only going to do more than the average Palm
Pilot or Windows CE device, it was also going to be built from the start to take
advantage of Open Source. Better than a year later, there’s a prototype available
to developers and those willing to claim that they could be
In its current form, the Yopy PDA has a lot going for it. It is
solidly designed — even overbuilt. It features a color display, decent audio, a
sturdy if unremarkable Intel StrongARM processor, a whole pile of
RAM and both USB and wireless access to your local network. When it is ready for the mass market, developers say it will have all the classic PDA functions — an address book, a scheduler, etc. In addition, when
finished, the device will allow the user to take pictures, record oral notes,
and will support plus MP3, Web downloads and email. The Yopy
developer’s Web site even promised there’d be a
PDA version of GO, a far more absorbing time-waster than all of the
Microsoft Solitaire games put together. It’s cool.
More importantly, it has been designed from the outset to be a
Linux-based, mass-market device. Unlike Linux adaptations of products such as
Compaq’s iPaq PDA, using Yopy wasn’t going to require some sort of complex do-it-yourself port-over. The idea was to allow most users to simply turn it on and
use it, while still allowing geek customers to tweak their color scheme or
import homegrown software. It was backed by Samsung, a company that
knows how to merchandise in the high-volume consumer electronics marketplace.
If Linux-based devices are ever going to achieve the 9% market share
being predicted by groups such as ResearchPortal.com, Yopy has to be a
So far it has been slow going.
While the initial product was announced in March 2000,
development has dragged out. Release dates came and went. The first version of the
device is now available, in the form of a developers kit, but the
makers have admitted that the device will need some work before it is ready
for the mass market. In the meantime the device, as shipped is pretty bare
bones — some basic applications are still missing. In addition, it’s
far from cheap.
Although G.mate made it clear that Yopy was going to be relatively
high end, the initial price has been an unpleasant surprise to many would-be
developers. Purchase a PalmPilot or Windows CE-based device and part of
the $300 to $500 price is the license fee for the mobile operating
systems. Consumers and some trade magazines assumed that an equivalent Linux
device would sell for about 10% less. In addition, most third-party developers
have come to expect steep equipment and software discounts in exchange for
their help with new product. Instead, G.mate announced that the original
device and developers kit would sell for over $700, the price of a cheap
last-generation PC. The company explained that the initial, limited release meant that
relative costs were high. Whatever the reason, developers balked. Traffic at G.mate’s developer site was decidedly light. The company announced a new “sale” price of around $590, good until May 10.
The company has had it’s problems with the few developers it has. In
typical Open Source fashion, many would-be developers argued about
G.mate’s decision to use W Windows, despite the fact that it simplified memory
management issues. One fellow posted a request to get help porting over a whole
series of Amiga applications he was fond of. Some complained about the The LCD controller , a key feature, but one which makes port-overs from iPaq a little complicated in some cases. A user attempted to port over
PocketLinux as a substitute platform, asking for help because the
PocketLinux people hadn’t had time to start the port . Based on the email traffic, it didn’t look like much useful development work was being done. The scene wasn’t
likely to create enthusiasm for the Open Source development process at other
consumer electronics companies.
Some third-party corporate developers have come to the rescue.
Recently Conversay, the Redmond-based speech synthesizer announced support for
the Yopy. One proposed application is an audio and direction service that
users can access through spoken commands — a sort of audio OnStar. Conversay
and some at G.mate think audio, even more than Yopy’s flashy graphics,
could be the key to a successful roll out. Market research in Japan
suggests applications like audio e-mail, voice reminders, and eventually
wireless Internet radio would go a long way to converting handheld PDAs into a
truly mass-market device.
In the meantime, there are core applications to be finished by
someone, and G.mate has announced they plan to have an improved model ready to
roll out soon — hopefully in time to catch some Christmas holiday buyers.
Even then, Yopy may not be ready for the mass market. That’s because
the type of year-long marketing push normally required to drive mass
market electronic goods hasn’t started yet. Today, outside of Linux Web sites and a few vendors like Britain’s 21Store, Yopy is virtually invisible.
A search on Samsung, or its related company’s English Web sites turns up nothing about Yopy. Neither did a search of The
Korea Herald’s tech section. A search of my favorite source of
indiscriminate PR, BusinessWire, came up empty. So did PR Newswire . A similar search on “Palm” for the same period generated 328 hits. That’s how mass market electronics are promoted. Microsoft and its various partners have been issuing two Xbox-related press releases each week. Ericsson has been issuing two to three releases each month promoting its WAP telephones. If Samsung or G.mate plan on introducing Yopy to a mass audience, their approach is breaking new ground.
If Yopy doesn’t become a mass market phenomenon, that will be
unfortunate, for the device is an elegant machine. But if Yopy fails,
the reaction of mass market product developers could be even more
unfortunate. Many of those developers will use Yopy to judge the
viability of Open Source development and Linux-based consumer products.


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Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced an overhaul to the payments system to target regulations surrounding cryptocurrency, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), and digital wallets.
In an address to the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) on Dec. 8, Frydenberg said Australia had an opportunity to be among the leading countries in the world in leveraging the new technology.
“It represents the most significant reforms to our payments system in 25 years,” he said.
The Morrison government is planning to implement protections and regulations for Australians tapping into the global cryptocurrency market. This includes a licensing framework that will regulate the purchase and sale of digital currency assets.
“We are in the midst of a digital revolution,” he said. “COVID has accelerated and changed the way Australians and businesses engage with digital technologies and many new and innovative technologies are emerging throughout the economy, impacting every part of our lives.”
The use of cash and cheques in society is declining. Over the past decade, the use of cash has fallen from two thirds of consumer payments to less than a third now. Cheques are now only used in 0.2 percent of non-cash payments, down from 85 percent in 1980.
Meanwhile, almost half of Australians now use their mobile phone to make payments and there are 5 million active BNPL accounts.
The global cryptocurrency market has also growth to over US$2 trillion (A$2.8 trillion), with around 220 million global participants.
“Despite this disruption, the regulatory framework governing the payments system has remained largely unchanged over the last 25 years,” Frydenberg said. “Given the pace of change and those leading it, if we do not reform the current framework, it will be Silicon Valley that determines the future of our payments system.”
“Australia must retain its sovereignty over the payment system.”
The reforms will be fast-tracked so that by the end of 2022, consultation, frameworks, and strategic planning for payments and crypto regulations will be finalised.
“Our reforms are aimed at ensuring only legitimate providers participate in the system and that they are regulated appropriately along with ‘traditional’ providers who offer similar services to consumers,” he said.
BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler welcomed the “ambitious scope” of the changes and the speed that the government intends to implement it.
“It would be a crushing shame to not have our regulation keep pace with international peers such as Singapore, Canada, and Britain,” she said.
Westpac CEO Peter King welcomed the announcement and said the payment system needs to keep up with the digital age.
“Modernising our payments infrastructure and its regulation, including cryptocurrency regulation, will strengthen our financial system and improve protections for customers,” he said.

domain: news


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Polestar offers a $1,195 software upgrade to boost power output and acceleration on electric fastback.
The event honored those who made significant contributions to the industry in a challenging year.
S-class sedan features performance hybrid technology from Formula 1 with an AMG 4.0-liter V-8 Biturbo engine at the front and a 188 hp electric motor at the rear axle.
CEO Jim Rowan expects Volvo's forthcoming affordable EV to help it boost global sales to 1.2 million, with half of that volume being full electric and half being sold online.
In addtion to new EV tools, proper safety training for technicians and other service department staff who may come in contact with the vehicle — from parts runners to porters — is essential.


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“Over the past few years, we have successfully repositioned the Arrow brand in existing European markets and introduced it to new territories,” says Ken Wyse, president of licensing, PVH. “Partnering with Seidensticker, one of the leaders in the European dress shirt market, is a wonderful opportunity to reach new customers and to further evolve the Arrow business.”
Under the agreement, Seidensticker will design and manufacture a variety of Arrow men’s shirts including woven and knit sport shirts and dress shirts. The first shirt collection will be available in January 2013 throughout Europe.
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He raised his arms in victory, like a boxer who just landed a knockout punch.
"You blew everyone else out of the water," a Taste of McLean patron said as she returned for seconds. "It was just out of this world."
Rez Choudhury, restaurateur and caterer of Ledo Pizza at Tysons Station, emphasized his detachment from ratings earlier.
"You see my rating," he said, referring to the stranger's testimony. "I don't need that star anymore."
At the sixth annual Taste of McLean last Saturday, 20 businesses showcased booths to help establish community presence and win something maybe just as valuable as four stars: word of mouth promotion from McLean's affluent diners.
"[McLean residents] are well-traveled and know food," Mazen Iskandar of Listrani's Italian Gourmet & Pizzeria said. "[They're] willing to pay for quality."
He opened on Old Dominion Drive a year and a half ago, and the location has exceeded Iskandar's expectations, as customers drive as far as 15 minutes for "the best pizza," according to patrons.
Apparently Taste of McLean participants had similar thoughts about the food, as Iskandar kept reassuring ticket holders with empty plates that more food was on the way. He had just called his chef for the third time.
"We offer gourmet carry-out and delivery," Iskandar said. "Not Velveeta."
Around the corner and to the right of Listrani's, Mary C. Barkes of O'Malley's Pub in Tysons served Lobster Florentine soup and Guinness beef stew.
She hoped to promote two of the restaurant’s staples in preparation for St. Patrick's Day, which she advertised with fliers and billboards.
Opening in McLean a little over a year ago, StarNut Gourmet also intended to capitalize on the holidays, displaying Easter baskets filled with Belgian chocolate and a variety of nuts.
"[McLean] has been very receptive to our Belgian chocolate," employee Joe Shehadeh said. "We had a terrific Christmas season and are looking forward to Easter."
After filling up on the variety of appetizers and entrees, many participants looked to Amerigo's vanilla bean Bavarian cheesecake and Moorenko's Italian ice creams for dessert.
Participants also took part in free culinary workshops on napkin folding, presentation of meals, knife sharpening and healthy dieting.


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The concept of a foldable phone is not new. We have seen the foldable phone this year too at Mobile World Congress this year too. The top smartphone selling companies like Huawei, Samsung has revealed the foldable phone’s concept. Huawei has showcased its foldable phone, Mate X. Similarly, Samsung has also introduced its Galaxy Fold. Also, We have not seen anything like this from Apple. But Now some reports are claiming that Apple is Reportedly Working on a Foldable iPad. Tim Cook has also hinted that the upcoming Apple devices will blow your mind. So, we may hope that we may have Apple foldable iPad very soon.
Apple Foldable iPad will Surely come with 5G technology.
According to some sources, Apple is working on an iPad with a flexible display. The reports also suggest that the screen would be between 11 and 15″ big. Apple is planning to launch the device as soon as next year. It seems Apple is quite enthusiastic in launching the device very soon. But still, the company is late as Huawei and Samsung are more likely to release the phone this month.
No other specs of the device are rumored yet. But Apple has not released any 5G-enabled device yet. So, we hope that this foldable iPad may come with 5G technology. It is worth mentioning here that Microsoft is also planning to develop a foldable Surface tablet for quite some time now.
So stay tuned for more updates.


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TV Asahi Co., Ltd.
TV Asahi becomes the first TV station to join the Japan Content Blockchain Initiative
Accelerating the development of new businesses in the
metaverse/blockchain area through co-creation with member companies
TV Asahi Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Hiroshi Shinozuka, hereinafter referred to as TV Asahi) is a jointly operated platform that utilizes blockchain technology. ) has joined the consortium “Japan Contents Blockchain Initiative” (JCBI).
The general incorporated association JCBI is a corporate alliance that accelerates the digital transformation of the Japanese media and content industry across industries, based on cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain. After being jointly launched by seven companies in February 2020, many industry companies have joined, and the number of member companies has expanded to 50 companies.
[Background to joining JCBI – Example of TV Asahi’s efforts -] Starting with the “Toei Robot Anime NFT” project released in December 2021, TV Asahi has implemented a wide variety of NFT projects. While accumulating projects, in order to expand various new business areas using blockchain technology, not limited to NFT, we will focus on content x blockchain in order to strengthen collaborative creation with other companies that operate in the same area. We have decided to join JCBI, which has become a member.
In the future, we will promote the development of new businesses more extensively by strengthening cooperation with JCBI participating companies.
Details about this release:


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The shortage of PPE production during the first COVID-19 wave became tragically apparent in Europe and North America but despite promises made by governments to never allow it to happen again dependence on China continues.
In a report by Sustainable Nonwovens titled ‘PPE shortages: Never again, until next time…’ published yesterday (9th September) experts warn that Europe and the U.S are sleepwalking into another catastrophe as their governments have not improved the production capacity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
According to the report, nearly two years after the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world and dragged western healthcare systems to their knees “its business as usual”.
The leading industry report warns that Europe and North America has been flooded with cheap Chinese PPE manufacturing equipment that is not reliable when producing high quantities of face masks, gowns and other vital equipment needed by health care staff during a pandemic.
Carlos Richer, of Diaper Testing International, said: “The cheap Chinese facemask machines which came on the market last year have no stable production rates, result in huge losses of raw material and constantly break down.”
He added: ” If you’re not a skilled mechanic yourself you will most likely be stuck with something that does not work very well, and considering this is a low-margin market, you need to run continuously, without the loss of raw material and without losing time.”
The report details that the key reason for the shortages experienced by Western countries during the height of the pandemic was the unavailability of specialised melt-blown nonwoven filter media.
This type of fabric is key in the production of N95 masks and respirators and its price increased twenty-fold at the height of the pandemic to USD 50,000 (GBP 36,340) per ton.
The Scottish Government responded to the crisis by providing PPE manufacturer Don & Low with a GBP 3.6 million repayable loan towards the GBP 4.5 million purchase of a new meltblown line.
Will Campbell, of Don & Low, said that despite the loan the issue has not been resolved.
He explained: “Sadly, as the UK’s only vertically integrated supplier, we will now stop production because no commitment can be made by the UK government.”
He added: “Most of the UK’s homegrown medical gown and mask manufacturers have now or will soon be stopping production too. China is cheap, stock levels are through the roof and competition laws and rules prohibit institutional buyers from favouring UK manufacturers.”
The situation is not unique to the UK, Norway’s Naukatek AS was founded in March 2020, in direct response to coronavirus with the goal of making the country self-sufficient in producing melt-blown filter material for facemasks.
Liudmila Ilyukhina, the founder of Naukatek AS, claims the company has received little support from the Norwegian government which has already returned to sourcing facemasks from Asia.
Ilyukhina said: “There was a lot of talk by European governments about becoming self-sufficient during the shortages but we have been frustrated by what’s subsequently happened.”
“This was a real opportunity to secure European jobs and knowledge, as well as self-sufficiency in essential PPE, but it hasn’t been taken – even in Germany, where new companies have been heavily subsidised.”
“Sourcing is taking place internationally and is based purely on price. Facemask machines are now being scrapped as a result.”
The European Commission website states: “Economic operators across the EU are working relentlessly to increase their respective manufacturing and distribution capacity.”
It adds: “To mitigate the effects of disruptive factors, they are redesigning their supply chains by launching new manufacturing lines and/or diversifying their supplier base.”
Johan Berlin, from the Swedish machinery consultancy Investkonsult, said: “As long as countries and institutions are restocked and people are vaccinated, then everyone quickly forgets last year’s harsh reality.”
Approximately 129 billion disposable facemasks have been used every month since the start of the pandemic, according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.


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Metro Outlet takes over Middlesbrough’s TJ Hughes site, but ex-TJ’s elsewhere remain empty
Middlesbrough had some retail good news on Saturday, as a new store opened its doors in the town’s former TJ Hughes premises – following on from the closure of the nearby Peacocks and Sony Centre stores earlier in the week.
The 42,000 sq ft unit in the Captain Cook Square shopping centre – which had been vacant since TJ Hughes’ departure in August – has now been let to NUT Outlet Ltd, which has reopened it under its Metro Outlet fascia. Fifty jobs have been created, half of which – including the store manager’s position – have gone to staff from the former TJ Hughes store.
NUT already runs a 148,000 sq ft store at Metro Park West in Gateshead, which opened in November 2010 and specialises in furniture and homewares. I understand that the Middlesbrough store will stock similar lines, but will also devote a quarter of its floorspace to fashions in an apparent move into TJ Hughes’ department store territory.
Fans of the popular TJ Hughes café in Middlesbrough will also be pleased to hear that Metro Outlet intends to reopen it, with an expected opening date of around 8 March.
Metro Outlet’s existing Gateshead store is noteworthy in that it appears to be the only business able to make a go of the ill-fated unit that has so far housed both the Marks & Spencer Lifestore and the Danish furniture chain Ilva. M&S announced the Lifestore’s closure less than five months after it had opened in February 2004, while Ilva barely managed two years in the UK before collapsing into administration in June 2008.
With Ilva having splashed out £8.4m revamping the premises on top of the £15m that M&S spent in the first place, Metro Outlet is probably the UK’s most luxuriously-housed discount store.
Against such a striking building exterior, it’s perhaps not surprising that Metro’s rather garish signage and banners do seem slightly discordant. However, on the one occasion that I’ve entered the store so far I was impressed by the range and quality of the products on offer, my expectations perhaps unfairly lowered by the outside’s overbearing value message.
Of course, the elegant interior that the store has inherited does no harm in upping the wow factor, and it will be interesting to see how the Metro Outlet offer works against the slightly less glamorous backdrop of a former TJ Hughes.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Middlesbrough has secured a new tenant for its ex-TJ Hughes relatively quickly, as Captain Cook Square is an attractive and well-connected scheme that has managed to maintain near 100% occupancy throughout the current economic downturn.
Elsewhere in the country, however, the situation for former TJ’s sites has been less positive. With a few exceptions, such as Debenhams moving into Dumfries and Poundstretcher to Ellesmere Port, most of the 51 sites left empty following TJ Hughes’ collapse are yet to find new long-term occupants. Indeed, just on my travels in the last few months it’s been hard to miss large and prominent empty TJ Hughes units in locations such as Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Coventry, Nuneaton, Derby, Doncaster and Sunderland.
However, given that the average TJ Hughes store occupied about 35,000 sq ft it’s not entirely surprising that the space is taking a while to be relet.
On the one hand, the size of these units – unless they’re subdivided – restricts their potential to a fairly small pool of expanding large-footprint retailers, such as Debenhams, Primark, Next and Wilkinson. Unfortunately, though, there are a dwindling number of towns and cities where these established chains aren’t already represented, or would want to be.
On the other hand, newer entrants to the UK market – such as Forever 21 or Clas Ohlson – who might potentially be interested in one or two TJ Hughes locations, are taking a cautious approach to growth in the light of the challenging economic conditions and the need to establish their brands. Even TK Maxx, which has been reliably growing for the last decade and a half, has temporarily put the brakes on UK expansion as it looks to reverse declining profitability, while the relaunched six-store-strong TJ Hughes chain has so far chosen to invest in its online store rather than acquire any more of the former shops.
Instead, with Metro Outlet reportedly hoping to open two more stores during 2012, it could be that the best hope for other ex-TJ Hughes sites is a business launched and grown here in the North East.


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David Beckham will host a digital book signing today that will be broadcast live on Facebook for his fans across the world.
The former England captain will give millions of his fans around the world an exclusive insight into his football career as he launches his new book.
The event will reinvent the traditional book signing as it uses cutting edge technology to give users in Hyderabad, New York, and Sao Paulo personalised autographs from Beckham.
Fans have been sending their questions to Beckham on Facebook during the ten days before the event, and he will then answered a selection of the questions during a live Q&A hosted by UK sport presenter, Jake Humphrey.
The event will be streamed live on Beckham's official Facebook page for fans to watch in real time, but will take place in a studio in London.
Facebook's entertainment partnership manager, Glenn Miller, is offering every fan who registers or attends the Beckham book signing in person on October 30, London time, a digital autograph from Beckham and participation in a live Q&A session.
"I always like innovative and original ideas," said Beckham.
"What has been created is ambitious but it should be a fantastic event. I love the interaction with my fans, but not only will I be able to do this in London, I will be able to sign for them in locations across the world."
"This heralds a completely new way to launch books," said Facebook's Glenn Miller. "Facebook is where people go to connect about the things that matter most to them and this global event is a great example of how we can engage with public figures in a meaningful and authentic way."
Beckham will launch his new photography book entitled David Beckham.


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Dozens of Pashley owners cycle through Stratford on annual ride
THOSE in Stratford town centre on Saturday (16th September) might have thought they were having a flashback to the 1940s…
But actually it was just the wonderful sight of The Traditional Cycle Shop annual Social Ride for owners of Pashley cycles, some of who like to make an effort with period outfits.
Established in 1926, Pashley cycles are still hand-built by a small team at the company’s factory in Stratford.
Around 40 cyclists gathered at the shop at Stratford Marina for a quick cuppa and then set off at 11am to enjoy a dozen or so sedate miles through Old Town and along the Greenway to Weston, with a pub stop, pizza and drinks midway at the Four Alls in Welford.
The ride ended back in Stratford – with a photo in front of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, and the socialising continued at the Boat House Riverside bar.
Fran Martin, Traditional Cycle Shop manager, said: “It was great to spend the day with regular riders and new faces riding our Pashleys through town and the countryside.”
Participant Adrian McCarthy, who rode a Pashley Guv’nor bicycle, added: “It was a fantastic day out with the Pashley people, thanks for leading from the front, looking forward to next year.”


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Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is penning a book ''about the power of strength''. The currently untitled work which offers advice and lifestyle tips will go on sale in November.
Khloe Kardashian is penning a book ''about the power of strength''.
The 30-year-old reality TV star will release the work through Regan Arts in November and will mark the launch with a signing at BookCon in New York City on May 31.
The brunette beauty hopes the currently untitled book will inspire its readers to be beautiful ''inside and out''.
She said in a statement yesterday (23.04.15): ''I am so excited about sharing my philosophy on how I live and the power of strength.
''I hope to be an inspiration to readers everywhere on how they can create their own true strength and beauty inside and out.''
According to the publisher, Khloe - who is known for her curvaceous figure - offers advice and lifestyle tips for both men and women.
They said in a statement to USA Today: ''In a culture that worships skinny, Khloe writes with passion about the power of strength.
''With inspired how-to advice and lifestyle tips, she teaches readers how to create strength and true beauty in every area of their lives by building a strong body, mind, heart, and spirit.
''[It will] surely inspire women and men everywhere. It's time for us to embrace the fact that strong, as opposed to skinny, is a healthier goal.''
The busy 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star is also the co-founder of clothing boutique DASH, which she launched with her sisters Kourtney and Kim.
The siblings recently released their new Kardashian Kids collection and a debut hair range for their Kardashian Beauty line.
We don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Daddy's Home by St. Vincent will be one of the more memorable albums of the year.
These are the greatest songs from Foo Fighters.
It was a very female-centered show at the 2021 Brit Awards.
With a great deal of excitement, a lot of relief and some anxiousness, the biggest night on the UK's musical calendar went ahead as the BRIT's 2021...
Biggy Pop the cockatoo bops along to "UK music".
St. Vincent drops yet another video ahead of the release of her highly anticipated sixth studio album 'Daddy's Home', this time for track number...
This news certainly puts a smile on our faces.


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- 2 min read
Kerala state electricity board to set up 26 electric vehicles charging centres in Kozhikode
The vehicle stations are being planned with the aim to promote the use of electric vehicles in the state.
According to the sources the plan is to start charging stations with the support of empanelled agencies and private parties. The charging stations are planned to set up in the city and the other areas in the district.
As a part of the plan the KSEB has already commenced the project by giving tenders for six electric vehicle charging stations.
The number of electric vehicles operational in the district is very low as per the current data, said Bose Jacob, deputy chief engineer KSEB. However, the KSEB is planning to introduce a number of vehicle charging stations as the state government aims to increase the number of electric vehicles to 1 million by 2022, he added.
The plan is to set up charging stations at every 4km to help the electric vehicle users. The KSEB is planning to start the charging stations at KSEB's own land or other government land in the initial phase. Discussions have started with private parties also for commencing charging stations with private partnership.
Of a total of 26 stations sanctioned in Kozhikode 14 will be operated by KSEB empanelled agencies. Six stations will be run directly by the KSEB and six other stations will be operated by private parties.
The vehicle stations are being planned to aim to promote the use of electric vehicles in the state. The stations will provide safe, reliable, accessible, and affordable charging infrastructure.
The station will have exclusive transformer, substation equipment and safety appliances. The station will have 14x7 metre area to accommodate the vehicles.
This development has come under the central government’s nod for setting up 131 charging stations across Kerala. For the same reason apart from Kozhikode, other cities in the district will also get vehicle charging stations.
Kochi is set to get the maximum number of stations- 150. While Kannur will get 27 charging stations Thrissur will get 28 stations.
We do not expect many to turn up to the charging stations in the beginning as the number of electric vehicles is minimal, said Bose Jacob. More number of people will come up to purchase electric vehicles only if there are sufficient number of charging stations, he said adding that the initiative is aimed at promoting eco-friendly e-vehicles.
The state government has also issued direction to give fresh permit only to green auto rickshaws in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, said the official. The charging stations would be helpful to the e-auto owners, he added.


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Capgemini and Google Inc. have joined to offer the search company's Web-based office suite, Google Apps Premier Edition, for large corporations.
Premier Edition, which is delivered as a software as a service (SaaS) over the Internet via a Web browser, includes Docs & Spreadsheets, Gmail and Google Calendar.
Google Apps "provides powerful collaboration and communication applications" for US$50 per user per year, consulting and outsourcing firm Capgemini said in a statement.
Capgemini will provide service and support for Google Apps and will be able to customize everything down to an individual user's desktop, said Steve Jones, head of SOA, Capgemini Global Outsourcing.
"This is not a one-size-fits-all," Jones said. "It's desktop couture."
While Google and Capgemini said they're not aiming to knock Microsoft off its perch as the dominant office software, they plan to make enough major inroads in the short term to have Microsoft looking over its shoulder.
By delivering and supporting Google Apps as a SaaS desktop tool for large-scale companies, Capgemini is addressing a significant gap in the marketplace, Jones said.
In addition, Jones said the Capgemini/Google partnership provides an affordable, reliable product for real-time collaboration without boundaries. That includes mobile workers, partners and other user groups not currently served by traditional, thick-client desktop applications. Capgemini is ideally positioned to extend the value of Google Apps into large-scale, global companies, Jones said.
"Large enterprises benefit from relationships we've established with systems integrators, consultants and vendors who can respond with advice, guidance and complementary products that meet industry-specific needs," said Kevin Smith, head of enterprise partnerships at Google, in an e-mail. "Capgemini, with its global presence and trusted adviser status within the enterprise, is a great fit to assist and guide our larger Google Apps Premier Edition customers as a Google Enterprise Professional partner."
The announcement comes two weeks after release of a Burton Group report that said Google Apps offers a lot of value for customers but lacks strong regulatory compliance features and has poor administrative tools for user accounts.
While Jones admitted the companies were blindsided by the report, he added that Capgemini knows how to introduce the applications to provide the best value for its customers.
Two industry analysts viewed the announcement positively.


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Guardians of the Galaxy
LAST UPDATED : May 16, 2019, 03:11 PM IST
- Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus latest update locking owners out of their phone
Some Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 users are facing a problem after updating their smartphone with the July update in US. After the update, several users have reported that they are unable to unlock their smartphones.


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Narayan Jewellers launches new e-commerce store
Narayan Jewellers has launched a new, e-commerce enabled website to cater to customers across both India and abroad. The diamond jewellery brand launched the new e-commerce store with celebrity Mira Rajpur Kapoor, wife of actor Shahid Kapoor, the brand announced on Facebook.
Along with the launch of its new e-commerce capabilities, Narayan Jewellers also launched a new product line named ‘Elegance’. The line features limited edition collections with a small number of pieces available per design. Recent launches in the category include a range of lightweight ‘Layering Necklaces’ with delicate detailing and a mix of pastel hued gemstones and pearls.
“Many congratulations to Narayan Jewellers, Ketan and Jatin Chokshi for the launch of their new e-commerce website,” said Rajput Kapoor in a statement, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council reported on its website. “It’s amazing to see how Narayan has blended their over 80-year-old legacy with newest technology with its designs and aesthetics.”
The Baroda-based business also recently launched its ‘One-in-a-Million’ jewellery category which requires a special membership and enables shoppers to browse exclusive designs. Products include diamond chokers and earrings, as modelled by Mira Rajput Kapoor.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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I have had 2 flats in the last five years. Neither would have been repairable with a kit. AAA replaced with my spare and I was on my way.
from the AAA website:
ORLANDO, Fla. (November 11, 2015) – Automakers’ decision to eliminate the spare tire may leave more than 30 million drivers vulnerable at the roadside, according to new research from AAA. Tire inflator kits, a high-cost alternative for consumers, have replaced the spare tire in millions of vehicles over the last 10 model years and, due to their limited functionality, cannot provide even a temporary fix for many common tire-related problems. AAA calls on automakers to put consumer interests first and halt the elimination of the spare tire.
“Flat tires are not a disappearing problem, but spare tires are,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. “AAA responds to more than four million calls for flat tire assistance annually and, despite advances in vehicle technology, we have not seen a decline in tire-related calls over the last five years.”
You can buy a spare tire for the I-Pace if it is an important piece of equipment for you.


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Her Majesty’s Treasury has published the names of 158 companies that have taken advantage of the government’s Future Fund initiative and they include Vaccitech, co-inventor of the AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine.
The Future Fund scheme was set up to enable the government to give a leg-up to small, innovative companies that might otherwise have found it hard to raise capital during the coronavirus pandemic.
Among those that received some money in exchange for giving up equity stakes in their business are a kombucha drinks maker, a ticketing platform, a shipbuilder, a banking app, a knitting and crochet supplier, a wind farm, a shopping app developer and a luxury handbag rental service.
The list, published by the British Business Bank (BBB), reveals that the government has spent about £1.1bn supporting 1,190 through the fund, of which 158 have had their loans converted into equity stakes after the companies found matching backing from the private sector.
The list only names those companies that have had their loans converted into equity stakes.
The idea of a government attempting to “back winners” fell out of favour during the Thatcher era as the prevailing ideology became one that believed this sort of thing was best left to the private sector. Just as the pandemic has seen a return to favour of Keynesian economics, so the government has changed tack and is now willing to take stakes in loss-making companies that are looking to grow, which makes a change from the usual government practice of bailing out systemically important loss-making companies that have spectacularly failed in the private sector.
“Investing in these companies has the potential to accelerate innovations that will transform UK industry, develop new medicines and strengthen our position as a science superpower,” said Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer.


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It’s around that time of the year when Samsung puts its finishing touches on its flagship S series smartphone, the Galaxy S9. So far, due to the company testing at various commissions before it can be used commercially, we can get a glimpse of what is to come from the Next Big Thing.
All of the following are rumors and should be treated with a grain of salt. All leaks are thanks to Android Authority, BGR.com and Evan Blass as well as Reddit user minhvn.
Since the launch of the S6, Samsung has released two models of the S series, one small and one large. For the S6 and S7, there were larger Edge variants and for the S8, there was a Plus variant since the Edges has become the norm. For the S9, the same is true but this time, there are some more features that will be exclusive to the Plus variant, unlike the S8 Plus. Some of these differences are discussed below. As is norm, the major carriers in the US will have its own variant, using different sensors for better compatibility with their respective network.
The S9 and S9 Plus will both have a significant camera upgrades from last year. Reports are, according to a Reddit user minhvn, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will have camera lenses that use variable aperture, adjusting to 1.5 aperture in ideal lighting and 2.4 aperture for dark lighting to non-ideal lighting. Additionally, it is expected that the S9 Plus will have dual rear cameras, with the regular sized S9 sticking to a single rear camera. Additionally, the camera is allegedly expected to capture 4K videos at 120fps.
The Galaxy S9 will receive a minor tweak in the design from the S8/S8 Plus. The front of the phone is expected to be identical except for the bottom bezel being thinner. The back receives a much needed improvement, with the dual camera on the Plus variant, as well as a more centered fingerprint scanner on the rear, just below the camera and heartrate sensor.
The S9/S9 Plus is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 845 in the US and China and the Exynos 9810 in all other countries. Both processors are based on a 2nd generation 10mm manufacturing process and expected to deliver between 20-30% more power than the previous generation. Interestingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is not capable of 4K resolution at 120fps while the Exynos 9810 is expected to be capable of such. Due to network compatibility, its not likely that the Exynos variants will be sold to the US/China market so it will be interesting what Samsung does to rectify this.
Other Notable leaks
The S9/S9 Plus will be packaged with EKG earphones, since Samsung acquired the company last year. Also, it will feature stereo speakers, a first in Galaxy phones. It will feature an improved iris scanner and facial recognition.


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Hyderabad: Canadian funding agency International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has awarded a generous grant to University of Hyderabad’s Professor Usha Raman and Erasmus University’s Professor Payal Arora. Usha Raman is a part of UoH’s Department of Communication at the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication.
This grant represents a larger consortium on ‘Women and the Future of Work in the Global South’, with partners from across the Asian countries. The two professors are researching on ‘Organising Digitally: Opportunities for Collectivisation among Female Workers in South Asia’.
This project explores how women working in manufacturing sectors can use digital platforms to share complaints and communicate directly with those at the top of the supply chain. Thus, allowing their voices to contribute to the governance of the future of their work.
The project’s main aim is to support initiatives that use digital platforms and social media to build collective agency for female workers at the bottom of supply chains. It also tries to include them in broader conversations on working conditions and supply chain transparency.
With appropriate design, platforms may be harnessed to enhance the representation of female workers, to share information, to connect and collectivise in a changing labour market. It presents opportunities for workers on platforms, as well as those in traditional workplaces to utilise technological advances to advocate for better conditions.
The project will help develop a scalable model for worker collectivisation through digital platforms. It is done by reforming communication practices between workers at the bottom of supply chains with management at the top. It will also document strategies for workers to use digital platforms to build their collective agency.
While working with garment workers in India and Bangladesh, the researchers would document how harnessing digital platforms for collectivisation will enhance the voice and representation of women workers in a digital era.


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The European Commission is proposing new legislation that it describes as “the most ambitious and comprehensive reform of the EU Customs Union since its establishment in 1968”.
The EU body says that the union is currently “too complex” for authorities and traders to navigate efficiently, adding that it was “struggling to deliver effectively on all of its tasks”.
It cites a surge in goods entering the EU because of e-commerce, a huge increase in the number of EU standards that must be enforced, and the need to react to geo-political crises.
“EU importers need to deal with 27 national customs administrations, and more than 111 separate interfaces and IT systems, all of which are expensive for authorities to run and are not necessarily interconnected,” the EU body says, adding that there is no central EU customs database or EU supply-chain supervision.
Under the proposals, a new EU Customs Authority will oversee an EU customs data hub, which the commission says will act as “the engine” of the new system.
Over time, the intention is that the data hub will replace the existing customs IT infrastructure in EU member states.
The commission estimates that this will save states up to €2 billion a year in operating costs.
Businesses that want to bring goods into the EU will be able to log all the information on their products and supply chains into the new data hub, which will provide “a 360-degree overview” of supply chains and the movement of goods across the EU.
“At the same time, businesses will only need to interact with one single portal when submitting their customs information and will only have to submit data once for multiple consignments,” the commission states.
According to the plans, some ‘trusted traders’ will be able to release goods into the EU without any active customs intervention.
Under the proposals, the data hub will open for e-commerce consignments in 2028, followed, on a voluntary basis, by other importers in 2032.
There will be a review in 2035, and the system will become mandatory from 2038.
Bid to reduce fraud
The commission also plans to shift responsibility for complying with EU customs rules from individual consumers and carriers to online platforms, who will be responsible for ensuring that customs duties and VAT are paid at purchase.
In a move aimed at reducing fraud, the new system will also scrap the current rule that exempts goods valued at less that €150 from customs duty.
“Up to 65% of such parcels entering the EU are currently undervalued, to avoid customs duties on import,” the commission says.
The reform also simplifies customs-duty calculation for the most common low-value goods bought from outside the EU, reducing the thousands of categories down to only four, making it easier to calculate duties for small parcels.
The EU body believes that its plans for e-commerce trading will bring in extra customer revenues of €1 billion a year.
“This far-reaching reform will reduce red tape and compliance costs for businesses, create more transparency and certainty for EU citizens when shopping online, and introduce simpler and innovative processes for the authorities,” said Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.


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The arrival of the Wuhan Virus has minted a low of new disease experts. I’m not one of them. I leave it to wiser people to excitedly post charts of curves on Twitter while claiming that they’re clear evidence that the virus is a big deal or will kill all of us by next week.
I do occasionally like to ask questions. This is one of those times.
In the Netherlands growth in transmissions of the virus have slowed significantly.
Giving evidence in front of the Dutch Parliament, Jaap van Dissel, head of the Netherlands National Institute of Health, said: “The exponential growth of the outbreak has in all probability been brought to a halt,” with the infection only being passed on at a rate of one infected person to one other person.
If proven, this would be a significant achievement. In some countries, the average spread from one infected person has been to as many as five or more people. In the U.S., the state of New York had 5,146 new cases confirmed on Wednesday, and more than 30,000 have tested positive.
The Netherlands was controversial because of its approach.
The Big Bazar in Winterswijk is, as usual, full of “Big Deals!” despite the coronavirus. Plastic footballs, clothespins for hanging laundry, flower pots and various other things are for sale at the store in the Dutch border town. There’s a stand with jackets in front of the clothing shop next door and the drug store Kruidvat across the street has a special offer on creme. People seem relaxed as they stroll through the pedestrian zone and there’s not a face mask to be seen. If you visited Winterswijk last Saturday, you could have been forgiven for thinking that the pandemic doesn’t even exist here. But just 10 kilometers away, in the town of Vreden on the German side of the border, almost all the stores have been closed for several days….
The Hesselink family, a couple with two of their grown up children, are standing in the pedestrian zone eating chicken nuggets. The father says he’s annoyed that they drove for an hour to Winterswijk just to go to the market, only to find it closed. “But now we’re making the best of it.” The four went for a stroll and they have a number of shopping bags to prove it. When asked if they’re afraid of contracting the virus, the mother says: “No. Sooner or later, everybody’s going to get it anyway.”
It’s an attitude that is widespread in the Netherlands. The country has thus far been much less strict in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic than many other countries. There are no curfews in place like the ones in France and Spain and no contact bans as comprehensive as those in Germany. Schools and restaurants have had to close, but most shops are still permitted to open.
A week ago Monday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte made headlines around Europe when the economically liberal politician said: “The reality is that in the near future, a large part of the Dutch population will be infected with the virus.” He then said: “We can slow down the spread of the virus while at the same time building herd immunity in a controlled way.”
Rutte’s government has since been tightening the reins. On Monday evening, the government expanded its restrictions on public gatherings. Among other steps, it now gives municipalities the possibility to prohibit the formation of groups of more than three persons from different households in places like playgrounds, beaches or parks and to impose fines if those rules are violated. Hair salons and cosmetics and nails studios have also been forced to close for the next two weeks. But most retail operations are allowed to remain open as long as they can ensure that customers are keeping enough distance from each other. Children from different households may also continue to play with each other. And NRC Handelsblad has reported that weekly farmer’s markets are also exempted from the bans on gatherings. Rutte has announced that if these measures don’t work that the government will extend the lockdown to other aspects of public life.
And it may ultimately have no choice. On Thursday, the number of cases topped 7,000 for the country. Fully 1,019 of them were new ones.
So it’s a bit of an open question. Different countries are trying different things. As are different states. I don’t claim to know the right answer, but if the Dutch experiment does succeed, it will be quite important.


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Announcing its 2013 winter/ 2014 sprint line-up of mobile devices, the Japanese Telecom operator NTT Docomo has finally announced the launch of rumoured Sony Xperia Z1 (also known as Honami Mini) on its network in Japan. According to the operator, the smartphone will be available by the end of December this year.
The specifications of the smartphone are already known to us as they popped up several times on the net in recent past, but to remind Sony Xperia Z1 f features 4.3-inch 720p HD Triluminos display, Android 4.2, 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory and 2300 mAh battery.
It also includes LTE support, NFC, Wi-Fi, 20.7MP rear camera with BSI and 2.2MP front camera with BSI sensor. It’s a water and dust resistant smartphone that will be available in Lime, Black, White and Pink colour options.
Pricing for the smartphone is unclear now but expected to be revealed closer to the actual availability. The company has also not indicated about its globally availability outside Japan.
In addition to Sony Xperia Z1 f, the telecom operator has also introduced a new high-end smartphone, called Samsung Galaxy J as a part of the same line-up. The Galaxy J comes with 5-inch Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) Super AMOLED display, 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor, Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean), 3GB RAM, 13.2MP ca,era with LED flash, 2.1MP camera and 2600 mAh battery.
- Sony Xperia Z1 f Honami Mini images and specifications leak online
- Samsung Galaxy J revealed, packs 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 processor and 3GB RAM


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From hot rods to muscle cars, more than 70 classic vehicles will line up once more at what used to be Porky's drive-in on Aug. 17.
Episcopal Homes will hosts its second annual classic car rally in memory of drive-ins, burgers and vintage cars from the 1930s through the '70s. The senior-housing provider bought the Porky's lot to expand their campus along St. Paul's University Avenue.
"Every weekend Porky's parking lot filled with classic cars and we just want to bring that back to University Avenue," said Deb Veit, director of community relations for Episcopal Homes.
The red-and-white checkered drive-in opened in 1953 and closed in 2011 after the land was sold to Episcopal Homes. Porky's was eventually moved to the Little Log House Pioneer Village --six miles south of Hastings -- and is now part of a collection of 50 vintage buildings.
The rally, which runs 4 to 8 p.m., will also include live music, food and even inflatable slides for youngsters. While admission is free, organizers are asking for one nonperishable food donation per person.
Last year's debut attracted $300 in donations, 500 pounds of food and more than 1,800 people. The location is located on University Avenue just west of Fairview Avenue.
Visitors will find free parking and shuttles from the Goodwill/Easter Seals lot on the north side of University Avenue.
"Everybody loved it," Veit said, who's organized this year's rally. "People can vote for their favorite cars and even sit inside them."
Marcella Corona can be reached at 651-228-5556. Follow her at twitter.com/Marcella_Anahi.


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President Barack Obama spoke about energy efficiency at Mountain View's Walmart Friday morning, saying that if solar panels are good enough for cost-conscious Walmart, they are good enough for wide-spread use in the United States.
"Hello, Mountain View!" Obama said to the crowd of Walmart employees, media and government officials as he took the podium at inside the store, where aisles had been cleared for the event. He made some humorous remarks about being careful to not forget Mother's Day.
Obama said he decided to visit Mountain View's store because it is unique. "A few years ago, you decided to put solar panels on the roof of the store, you replaced some traditional light bulbs with LEDs, you made refrigerant cases more more efficient, and you even put in charging stations for electric vehicles. And all told those upgrades created dozens of construction jobs and helped this store save money on its energy," the president said. "That's why I'm here today. Because more and more companies like Walmart are realizing that wasting less energy isn't just good for the planet, it's good for business. It's good for the bottom line. And it means jobs."
With protesters gathered outside to call attention to complaints about Walmart's anti-union policies and low wages, Obama noted, "Walmart is pretty good at counting its pennies" while making the case that Walmart's adoption of solar is a sign of the times. Walmart's CEO had announced earlier in the morning the company will save $1 billion a year on energy costs by 2020 by adding 7 billion kWh of solar to its 850 million square feet of buildings in the U.S., a space equal to half the city of San Francisco, Obama noted.
Obama said Walmart isn't the only company taking such steps.
"Last month I called up leaders from a whole range of industries and today more than 300 organizations, home builders, affordable housing builders, companies like Home Depot and Apple, announced that they are going to expand in the use of solar energy, thereby creating more jobs and cutting carbon pollution," Obama said.
Banks like Connecticut's Green Bank and Goldman Sachs are "ready to invest billions of dollars in renewable energy," he said.
Obama also announced that he is making sure the federal government does its part though energy upgrades to federal facilities. "Today I'm ordering an additional $2 billion dollars in upgrades over the next three years -- these upgrades will create tens of thousands of construction jobs and save taxpayers billions of dollars," Obama said.
Obama made the case that green jobs are now key to the American economy. He noted how Americans wanted a chance to create "an economy that works, not just for a few at the top, but for everybody. The idea that no matter who you are, what you look like, what your last name is, if you work hard, if you take responsibility, you can make it here in America. And that starts with helping businesses create more jobs," he said.
"The biggest factor in bringing jobs back to America has been our commitment to American energy over the last five years," Obama said, later adding that the energy sector "is probably going to have more to do with how our economy succeeds than just about any other."
The president said jobs in the solar panel industry went up 20 percent last year while solar panel prices have dropped 60 percent over the past few years.
"Every four minutes another American home or business goes solar," Obama said. "And every panel is pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be shipped overseas."
"Climate change is real and we have to act now," said the president. "In Washington, we've got some climate deniers who shout loud, but they are wasting time (arguing) a settled debate."
"Earlier this week we issued a report," Obama said. "It was years in the making, called the 'National Climate Assessment.' Hundreds of scientists, experts, businesses, not-for-profits, local communities all contributed over the course of four years. What they all found, unequivocally, is that climate change is not some far off problem in the future, it's happening now, it's causing hardship now, it's affecting every sector of our economy and our society. More severe floods, more violent wildfires. It's already costing cities and states and families and businesses money. Here in California, you know what's happening, and increasingly more Americans do."
Following his remarks at the store, the president was scheduled to depart from Moffett Field and return to Washington, D.C. He attended two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee on Thursday evening and spent the night in San Jose.


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Dating dangerous men updating aperture
Testament to this fact, when Pew Research Centre first questioned Americans about online dating in 2005, just 44% said the activity is a good way to meet people, and the majority thought it was a poor replacement for striking up relationships in the ‘real’ world.But the way we communicate, meet and express our love has changed dramatically since then, and when Pew Research Centre repeated the study ten years later, the number that considered online dating to be a good way of meeting people had grown to 59%.These findings suggest that there is still a degree of cynicism around the success of online dating, with people being twice as likely to look for ‘fun’ online, than love (a partner).However, with so many people turning to online dating for such a variety of reasons, it’s clear that the activity is literally allowing people to carry their relationships around with them wherever they go. For example, men are much more likely than women to use online dating for sex (18% vs 5%), whereas men and women are equally as likely to be looking for new friends.Giving out this information can mean that a relationship struck up online can enter the real world very quickly – with people going from being strangers, to being able to access an online dater’s home address or phoneline within a matter of minutes.That, of course, is not always a safe or a good thing.
People are now not only turning to their devices to work, shop, and play, but to manage their personal lives and relationships too. But with concerns rife following incidents such as the infamous Ashley Madison breach, and with the process inherently requiring users to share personal information, it’s important to consider the potential dangers involved.
Online dating provides users with the ideal place to meet people that have similar likes, dislikes and character traits to them.
It improves the chances of a user actually liking the person they’re going to meet on a date (because they can search for people that meet certain criteria), and, if you believe the online dating services themselves, an increasing number of people are also now finding lasting and meaningful relationships online.
Interestingly, we also found that 31% of people that are married or living with a partner are using online dating.
Online daters are most likely to visit dating apps and services from Windows PCs and Android smartphones than any other type of device.


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Foreign bad actors are conducting a covert cyber war. The pace, frequency, and intensity of cyberattacks are now greater than ever. As the physical realm inevitably merges with the cyber one, forming a new kind of infrastructure, cyberattacks on this infrastructure can have a catastrophic impact on our energy, waste, water, transportation, and telecommunications facilities. Examples include potential attack on infrastructures like distributed control system (DCS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) that monitor and control processes and plant with many control loops. Additionally, exploitation of supply chain vulnerabilities can substantially disrupt the way we live, work, and play.
This piece dives deep into these topics and sheds light into optimal approaches while leaning on the lessons of Sun Tzu.
Credential theft targeting gaming platforms has been increasing rapidly over the past two years, according to a new report. Illicit markets sell account credentials on the dark web at an alarming rate, with buyers looking to find special weapons, unique tools, and other in-game benefits. According to researchers, the uptick
In one of the biggest global dark web takedowns to date, 179 criminals were arrested across six different countries. Authorities seized 500 kilograms of drugs and $6.5 million in cash and cryptocurrency. The operation was announced this morning, however, it’s likely that the cybercrime group was operating since May 3
Call of Duty parent company Activision has denied all reports that its systems were compromised in a hack that stole personal information belonging to 500,000 users. The first alleged breach was flagged by a Twitter user, quickly gaining traction among the community, with consumers claiming that account credentials were being
According to a new analysis, highly sensitive information is publicly available in a large percentage of cloud databases due to misconfiguration errors. A new survey of 2,064 Google Cloud buckets found that 6% were left open to the public internet, allowing anybody to access their contents. Among the exposed data
Cybersecurity researchers at Group-IB have reportedly identified a new cybercrime group targeting Russian entities with a new strain of ransomware named TinyCryptor. The group has been named OldGremlin and has been only targeting Russian businesses so far. Group-IB researchers stated that this case is unusual in that Russian-speaking gangs often
According to a recent statement, six individuals have been indicted for their involvement in a bribery scheme against Amazon employees. The six men and women attempted to bribe Amazon workers to gain an unfair competitive advantage on Amazon Marketplace estimated to be worth $100m. The six criminals live across the
Nathan Wyatt, a member of the notorious Dark Overlord cyber extortion gang, will now face five years in prison as a result of his guilty plea in court earlier this week. Wyatt will also owe his victims $1 million in reparations and will remain under law enforcement supervision after the
According to researchers with Sophos Managed Threat Response, the operators behind Maze ransomware have been adopting tactics from rival cybercrime organizations, adding a dangerous new feature. Maze ransomware can now distribute ransomware payloads through virtual machines. According to researchers, this is a “radical” approach that aims to avoid endpoint defense.
This week, Apple patched roughly a dozen vulnerabilities and introduced new privacy features to accompany the rollout of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The addressed security flaws impact different operating system components such as Assets, Icons, AppleAVD, Sandbox, Siri, and WebKit. The flaws could result in several different occurrences, such


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Facebook Faces More Opposition on Proposed User Privacy Changes
The massive social network wants to make changes to user policies but is facing opposition from critics who argue that user privacy would be weakened.Facebook, which is no stranger to criticism from its users over its privacy policies, is facing a new round of discord from many of its customers over some freshly proposed changes. In a Nov. 21 post on the site, Facebook said it wants to halt the current process of asking users to vote on proposed user policy changes and instead implement a new system of receiving feedback and comments on proposed changes. The company said it also wants to allow the sharing of user information with its affiliate services and that it wants to change the tools that allow users to restrict incoming messages from users that they don't know or want to blacklist. The proposals inspired a quick negative response from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a nonprofit privacy group, which sent a four-page letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to detail its concerns. "Because these proposed changes raise privacy risks for users, may be contrary to law, and violate your previous commitments to users about site governance, we urge you to withdraw the proposed changes," stated the letter, which was signed by Marc Rotenberg, EPIC's president, and by Jeffrey Chester, president of the Center for Digital Democracy.
"In 2010, you unveiled a set of simplified privacy controls in response to public criticism," the letter continued. "And in 2009, you agreed to back off proposed changes to the Terms of Service and establish the procedures for user input. Now, we ask that Facebook be similarly responsive to the rights of Facebook users to control their personal information and to participate in the governance of Facebook."


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11th November 2020
UK government still hasn’t produced a lorry drivers’ guide
The partial destruction by rioters last week of the Saygin Dima mill in Ethiopia perfectly illustrates the short-term superficiality of too many ‘visionary’ sourcing strategies.
Since concern started to mount six years ago about rising wages in China, many businesses have been casting round for a country that might be a cheaper place to buy clothes from over the next decade.
Consultants consistently suggest looking at Africa, and the Ethiopian government has a well-written development plan for apparel and textile production – so naturally Ethiopia keeps featuring on ‘Where’s the next Shangri La?’ lists.
Our industry is in complete denial about it. The plan is not just running years behind schedule – which is almost inevitable in any government’s plans for encouraging textile and apparel production. Far worse: it is constructed on assumptions that are commercially and morally nonsensical.
Rioters attacked Saygin Dima, in Sabeta around 35 km from Addis Ababa, on 5 October. Its general manager said they wrecked about a third of the mill, reported to employ about 1,000 people in spinning and weaving cotton.
The riot was just one incident in a week-long wave of violence throughout the surrounding Oromia province, in which at least 55 people (though some reports claim 700) had been killed three days earlier during a police attack on a generally peaceful anti-government protest. Other businesses so far destroyed include Dutch flower farms.
Protest in Oromia is nothing new. It has been going on for the past ten years, and the past few weeks’ violence isn’t new either, though it has recently escalated.
Protesters claim the government’s plan is based on massive State expropriation of land without compensation – and that the benefits are going to a tiny number of government cronies. Those protests have complex ethnic, human rights and sustainability sub-plots – but they’re protests that are the almost inevitable result of the plan, and which I’ve been pointing out for some time.
Those regional protests have been spiralling. After the deaths and destruction of the first week in October, the Ethiopian government declared a national State of Emergency on Saturday (8 October), and its first steps were to block all mobile internet and social media in the country’s capital. New measures are emerging as I write.
At first sight, Ethiopia sounds perfect. Low wages, low energy costs from a large hydroelectric system, plans for ample local cotton supplies, State-funded factory complexes and even Africa’s first electrified railway to get finished goods to the port at Djibouti, 750 km away, in less than half a day. No wonder PVH recently announced its Ethiopian factory would contribute to taking Africa up to 25% of its production over the next five years.
But the apparent benefits of Ethiopia make the country a serious risk – both politically and commercially – for apparel and textile investors.
Ethiopia’s current carnage is closely tied up with the development plan that’s being touted as the answer to our industry’s perceived sourcing problems. It’s not just expropriating land. It’s imposing vast cotton producing areas into a country that struggles to grow enough food – at a time the world’s got all the cotton it needs. And grand plans like fast railways and huge hydro-electric programmes risk creating vast environmental damage.
Now Ethiopia needs more productive jobs, and you don’t get those jobs without proper manufacturing facilities, power and transport links.
But introducing all that infrastructure requires great political sensitivity – and the events of the past few weeks demonstrate Ethiopia simply isn’t able to manage huge change without creating intense suffering for its most vulnerable citizens.
The problems in Oromia province can’t be tackled by the apparel industry alone, in the way that safety problems in Bangladesh factories are being eliminated. They’re deep-rooted in how Ethiopia governs itself. And the problem isn’t only about political risks.
The ransacking of the Saygin Dima mill is unlikely to have any knock-on effects on its customers – because it really hasn’t got any. Though owned by Turkish investors, in June this year local media reported it was about to be sold by the Ethiopian State to pay off debts to the government.
The mill has a chequered history, with exports of just $100,000 in the latest full year, and doesn’t seem to have ever used anything like its full spinning or weaving capacity. That’s common throughout Ethiopia’s textile industry, and is partly the result of a depressingly ill-conceived government strategy.
In spite of lots of ambitious sales objectives, Ethiopia’s government wants apparel made in Ethiopia to start life as cotton grown in Ethiopia. It produces less than half of one per cent of the world’s cotton now, and plans for expanded production are part of the programme that upsets protesters.
Whatever the protesters’ case, there simply isn’t enough cotton right now to feed the country’s mills – but the government has not relaxed its restrictions on importing the basic raw materials the industry needs to survive.
Developing a commercially viable integrated textile and apparel making industry in one country sounds fine – but scarcely anyone has ever managed it.
Even trying to develop one requires delicacy and nimbleness from government in knowing when and how to encourage imports or exports. It’s a nimbleness that big, experienced governments like those in China and India constantly fumble: and Ethiopia’s hasn’t even tried to understand how to do it.
So far, it’s the plan’s commercial problems that have undermined our industry’s development in Ethiopia. The plan was for a billion dollars of apparel and textile exports: the country’s struggled to sell even a tenth of that.
Now, faced with a serious stability problem, Ethiopia’s government is likely to re-establish control through substantial restrictions on human rights. Those restrictions may be of little concern to shoppers, but there’s a real risk they’ll faze shareholders in companies like H&M, PVH and VF that have boasted of Ethiopian plans as evidence of visionary management.
And nowhere in their boasts is there a word about the political instability of the area round Oromia. Which is where much of the new manufacturing development is concentrated.


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Babies and bottles normally get along just fine, unless a picture of that baby happens to be plastered to the front of a bottle of beer being sold in New Hampshire.
Currently, a bottle of Breakfast Stout crafted by Founders Brewery Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is illegal in New Hampshire. Under the law, the Founders baby is being equated to Joe Camel, the controversial cartoon Camel cigarettes pitchman that was ultimately outlawed.
But legislation proposed this year would permit brewers to peddle their drinks in the Granite State even if the label shows images of minors.
State Rep. Keith Murphy of Bedford, who also is a local bar owner, is sponsoring the new measure that would allow images of kids on alcoholic beverage packaging as long as the state's Liquor Commission determines the picture isn't meant to entice minors to drink.
Murphy calls Breakfast Stout — with a label depicting a rosy-cheeked infant — his favorite beer. He says the brew is a big seller at his bar and it breaks his heart that he cannot buy it in stores.


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Goodyear showcases concept tire with advanced sensor technology for early generation autonomous vehicles
IntelliGrip could enhance safety of autonomous vehicles for drivers and pedestrians
Geneva, Switzerland, March 1, 2016 – Today, Goodyear presented its vision for tires to support early generation autonomous vehicles at the 2016 Geneva International Motor Show. The Goodyear IntelliGrip concept tire, with its advanced sensor technology, is designed to support autonomous vehicle control systems. As autonomous vehicles rely on data from other vehicles, drivers, pedestrians and smart cities, tires such as the Goodyear IntelliGrip concept could play a critical role in the exchange of information.
According to a study from the World Economic Forum, cities expect autonomous vehicles to become a reality in the next 10 years. In addition, the J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Tech Choice Study concludes that consumers deem collision protection technology most important in the wake of the changing automotive industry.
“By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in self-driving vehicles, tires will play an even more important role as the primary link to the road,” said Joseph Zekoski, Goodyear’s senior vice president and chief technical officer. “Goodyear’s concept tires play a dual role in the future both as creative platforms to push the boundaries of conventional thinking and as testbeds for next-generation technologies.”
Thanks to its advanced sensor technology and specially designed tread, the Goodyear IntelliGrip concept tire can sense many road conditions, including both surface and weather conditions. The IntelliGrip also uses advanced active wear technology, based on Goodyear’s active wear and tire-pressure monitoring system sensor technology, to assess the state of the tire and the vehicle. Goodyear developed special algorithms to account for such variables as inflation pressure and tire temperature to give a better estimation of the state of the tire and as a result, optimize the autonomous control system of the vehicle.
In addition to sensing the road and tire conditions, the tire also communicates with the vehicle’s central computer system, which should contribute to delivering improved driving performance and safety. When the tire senses a rainy or slippery road surface, the autonomous vehicle will adapt its speed. Additionally, it should shorten the stopping distance, provide a better cornering response, optimize stability and even support collision prevention systems.
Goodyear is working with a number of car manufacturers to further adapt this technology to their needs, enhancing connectivity with features such as Electronic Stability Control Systems, Brake Control Systems and Suspension Control Systems.
The IntelliGrip’s microchip was developed with Huf, a leading manufacturer of mechanical and electrical locking systems, tire pressure monitoring systems and telematic systems for the automotive industry worldwide.
For more information on Goodyear at the Geneva International Motor Show, visit us at stand 2056 in Hall 2. Follow us on Twitter @Goodyearpress and join our ThinkGoodMobility group on LinkedIn. All press materials are available for download at www.goodyear.eu
Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs approximately 66,000 people and manufactures its products in 49 facilities in 22 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to: www.goodyear.eu.
 Source: World Economic Forum; BCG analysis, city policy maker interviews 2015
 The 2015 U.S. Tech Choice Study was fielded in January through March 2015 and is based on an online survey of more than 5,300 consumers who purchased/leased a new vehicle in the past five years. - See more at: http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2015-us-tech-choice-study#sthash.rZ6ysrNh.dpuf


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To present the new season M&S Autumn Winter 15 collection of clothing, footwear and accessories to Irish fashion media, bloggers, stylists and key opinion formers.
A photocall was held on the morning of the event within the grounds of the Royal Hospital to showcase hero items from the collection.
Fashion media were invited to a preview of the collection ahead of the show, with Marks & Spencer Style Director Belinda Earl taking them through the season’s key looks.
A catwalk show was hosted in the luxurious surroundings of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham that evening showcasing the key seasonal trends with over 200 influential guests in attendance.
In a first for M&S Ireland, stylist and social media expert, Corina Gaffey, was recruited to live stream the AW15 show on Periscope. Corina took charge of broadcasting the entire show, along with backstage previews to her followers bringing the show to life through real time video.
The event resulted in extensive coverage across print, broadcast and online media including the Irish Independent Weekend, Irish Examiner, Irish Daily Mail, Sunday Business Post Magazine, Evening Echo, Irish Daily Star, and fashion segments on TV3’s Xposé and RTE’s Today Show.
Strong visual presence of the hashtag on the night of the show encouraged all guests to tag their posts across social media channels. There was strong social engagement with #AW15mandsie trending on the night.


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Dramatic downsizing is gaining interest among Americans, gauging by increased sales of plans and ready-made homes and growing audiences for websites related to the niche.
Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group has announced plans to transform the old Detroit Fire Department headquarters into a 100-room upscale hotel.
Donald Trump is coming to Chicago to see his name in lights.
(Bloomberg) — The housing recovery in the U.S. is running out of steam as buyers balk at record prices and higher mortgage rates that are making properties less affordable.
(Bloomberg) — Virginia Valencia earns $12 an hour in the cafeteria at Tesla Motors Inc. headquarters in Palo Alto, California, where she serves breakfast to the staff and billionaire co-founder Elon Musk. He prefers juice to coffee, she said.
Joe Trohman, the guitarist for Fall Out Boy, and his wife, Marie, have sold their Lincoln Park townhouse for less than what they had asked asking when they put the property on the market in August.
The Loop retail market has strengthened, as tenants opened new stores downtown in response to the area's growing residential population, new offices and increased tourist traffic.
The owner of the Wrigley View Rooftop at 1050 W. Waveland hired a broker to sell the three-story building beyond Wrigley Field's left-field pole, which includes three apartments topped by a rooftop bar, mezzanine, bleachers and rooftop deck with room for 220 customers.
McCormick Place's leaders are not making a good-faith effort to buy a key parcel it needs for a new DePaul basketball arena and 500-room hotel, a lawyer for Lakeside Bank, which owns the site, charged today.


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(Prototype of LG UX10 tablet…)
NEW DELHI: The launch of Apple tablet iPad seems to have triggered a wave of tablet launches. With PC and hardware manufacturers of all hues making a beeline to launch a tablet device. Latest to jump on the tablet bandwagon is electronic giant LG.
The company is all set to launch an Android-based PC tablet. In a press release, the South Korea-based company said that it would use Google's opensource operating system Android but provided no other pricing or technical details.
According to the company, its first tablet would run on Google Android operating system. So it remains to be seen if the Android-based new tablet will replace or compete with UX10, the Windows 7-based tablet LG previewed at Computex 2010.
The tablet is part of an upcoming line of about 10 smart devices and smartphones LG plans to release by the end of the year.
The company's Windows 7-based tablet UX10's specs include Intel Atom Z530 processor, 10.1" capacitive LED touchscreen display, 1GB RAM, 1.3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, HDMI support and an SD memory card slot.
Recently, world's second-largest PC maker Dell also unveiled its tablet PC called Streak. HP too unveiled its tablet device called Slate.
In June, Cisco Systems too announced plans to launch an Android-based tablet called Cisco Cius, targeting business users.


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Commidea, the UK's leading card payment processing solution provider have today announced that a further two end-to-end dual-encryption payment solutions, the Ocius Vx510 and Ocius Vx810 Duet, have been awarded the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) certificate of compliance.
Ocius Sentinel was the first end-to-end encryption payment solution to have achieved PA-DSS certification in the UK on 10th August 2010. With the Ocius Vx510 and Ocius Vx810 Duet being the next to achieve this status, Commidea continue to be the only provider of true end-to-end encryption payment solutions that have gained PA-DSS compliance in the UK.
Commidea's end-to-end encryption payment solutions ensure that all cardholder data is dual encrypted within the secure environment of a PCI-PTS certified pin entry device before being transmitted across the merchant's network and into Commidea's Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1 certified processing infrastructure. For merchants this means that there is no unencrypted cardholder data on their network and with no access to decryption keys, these payment solutions can significantly reduce the merchant's scope and cost of achieving and maintaining PCI DSS compliance.
The PA-DSS accreditation certifies that the Ocius Vx510 and Ocius Vx810 Duet do not store prohibited data, such as full magnetic stripe, CVV2 or PIN data, and further supports compliance with the PCI DSS.
"We are delighted to continue the trend of providing the only PA-DSS certified end-to-end encryption payment solutions to UK merchants," said Marc White, Commidea's head of security and compliance. "These additional payment solutions achieving PA-DSS compliance highlight Commidea's long term commitment to providing secure and compliant end-to-end encryption solutions to merchants which can reduce the scope and cost of achieving and maintaining PCI DSS compliance."
The PCI Security Standards Council granted Commidea's Ocius Vx510 and Ocius Vx810 Duet payment solutions PA-DSS certification on 7th December 2010.


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Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange, will invest $500 million in Twitter alongside Elon Musk. The amended 13-D, filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealed a $500 million commitment from Binance. Along with Binance, other companies, such as venture capital firm Sequoia has pledged $800 million, while Fidelity and a16z have offered $316 million and $400 million, respectively, thus putting their trust in Musk. After this announcement, the CEO of Binance, CZ, tweeted “Crypto Twitter”.
Furthermore, fashion brand Gucci will begin accepting cryptocurrency in some of its locations across United States from this month. They also have plans to roll out the program to other North American stores this summer, according to various media reports.
According to a report by Vogue Business, in-store payments will be made using a QR code that customers can scan with their crypto wallet, sent by Gucci via email. The stores will accept various digital currencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu.
The price of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market rose by 1.24 per cent in the last 24 hours, and it was trading at $39,485.63 at 5:30 pm IST. According to Coinmarketcap.com, its dominance in the crypto market is currently at 42.03 per cent, down by 0.10 per cent in the last 24 hours.
In the last 24 hours, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $2,923.85, and it was up by 1.86 per cent, while Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.41 per cent in the same period, and was trading at $404.43. Solana (SOL) was up by 4.46 per cent to $92.36, while Cardano (ADA) was up by 4.63 per cent to $0.8608.
Dogecoin was trading at $0.1346 on Coinmarketcap.com at 5:30 p.m., up 1.50 per cent. Its rival, Shiba Inu, was up by 1.93 per cent, and was trading at $0.00002131. Samoyedcoin was down by 2.86 per cent, and it was trading at $0.01421, while Dogelon Mars was up by 2.23 per cent, and it was trading at $0.0000009324.
According to Coinmarketcap.com, the global crypto market cap was at $1.79 trillion, an increase of 1.76 per cent in the last 24 hours, while the total crypto market volume was at $92.31 billion, a decrease of 11.16 per cent.
PETAWARS(PWARS) was the biggest gainer, gaining 3,149.44 per cent. It was trading at $0.00008524 at 5:30 pm, according to Coinmarketcap. In contrast, Pentagon Finance (PENT) witnessed the maximum loss and fell by 99.36 per cent. It was trading at $0.0493.
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here.


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The record labels that successfully sued The Pirate Bay for millions on the grounds that the network had infringed upon artists' copyrights have announced that it will not share any of the money it receives from the suit with those artists. Instead, the money will be used to bankroll more "enforcement" -- that is, salaries and fees for people who work for the industry association. From TorrentFreak:
According to former Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde, one of the people convicted in the case, this shows who the real “thieves” are.
“Regarding the issue that they’ve already divvied up the loot, it’s always fun to see that they call it ‘recovered money’ (i.e. money they’ve lost) but that they’re not going to give the artists in question any of it,” Sunde told TorrentFreak.
“They say that people who download give money to thieves – but if someone actually ends up paying (in this case: three individuals) then it’s been paid for. So who’s the thief when they don’t give the money to the artists?”
According to Sunde the news doesn’t come as a surprise.
“As far as I know, no money ever won in a lawsuit by IFPI or the RIAA has even gone to any actual artist,” Sunde says. “It’s more likely the money will be spent on cocaine than the artists that they’re ‘defending’.”
Music Labels Won’t Share Pirate Bay Loot With Artists
Here’s the 32 minute video of my presentation at last month’s O’Reilly Security Conference in New York, “Security and feudalism: Own or be pwned.”
Michael Geist writes, “The global music industry has spent two decades lobbying for restrictive DMCA-style restrictions on digital locks. These so-called “anti-circumvention rules” have been actively opposed by many groups, but the copyright lobby claims that they are needed to comply with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Internet treaties. Now the head of the RIAA […]
The Auralnauts’ wildly successful Star Wars remixes have gone from strength to strength, combining bad lip reading, South Park-ish raunchy humor, and massive dance-parties accompanied by some seriously rockin’ tunes.
Loot Crate is a totally different kind of subscription service that mails subscribers monthly boxes filled with curated geek, pop culture, and gamer paraphernalia. Its cult following awaits a box every month filled with everything from bobble heads to T-shirts to special edition collectibles. But nothing gets Loot Crate fans as excited as the limited […]
The ARMOR-X Mini Flexible Phone Tripod is a smartphone tripod that is designed with flexible legs to rest on virtually any type of surface. Other tripods have proved useless unless I conveniently have a flat surface in front of me, which is why this particular tripod was appealing enough to try out. The ARMOR-X is compact and easy […]
You don’t need to get an advanced degree and take out massive loans to become a coder. This bundle of 10 courses was designed to teach anyone to code at home for less than it costs to go out for dinner. I was particularly impressed with this new 2017 bundle because it includes courses on […]


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The Mercury News is reporting that on January 3rd, Lycos filed a patent lawsuit against TiVo, Netflix and Blockbuster over their use of recommendation technology. The article doesn’t give the exact patents that are alleged to be violated, but a quick scan of Lycos’ patent filings shows patents 6775664 and 6308175 as the most likely canidates.
Patent 6775664 was originally filed on Oct. 22, 2001 and describes a search method that uses a user feedback system to provide “collaborative feedback data for integration with content profile data in the operation of the collaborative/content-based filter.”
Patent 6308175 was filed on Nov. 19th, 1998 and according to the patent, it covers technology whose “filter system compares received informons to the individual user’s query profile data, combined with collaborative data, and ranks, in order of value, informons found to be relevant. The system maintains the ranked informons in a stored list from which the individual user can select any listed informon for consideration.”
Whether Lycos is trolling for patent royalties or whether they feel that they have a legitmate claim on their hands is really irrelevant. The last thing that Blockbuster, Netflix or TiVo needed was another patent lawsuit. TiVo is currently embroiled in a high profile lawsuit against Echostar and faces a countersuit that has yet to go to trial. Meanwhile, Netflix has sued Blockbuster over violations to their patent on online renting and in turn Blockbuster has countersued claiming anti-trust violations on Netflix’s part. Interestingly enough, Blockbuster recently filed two patent applications themselves, that seem to cover their business model for the total access program.
Why Lycos waited this long before trying to enforce their patent remains unclear, but they are seeking an injunction to force all three companies from being able to offer suggestions to their customers.
Suggestive search is a key technology for all three companies. In the case of TiVo, it’s a unique feature that other DVR providers can’t offer, but in the case of Blockbuster and Netflix, their use of suggestions can save them millions of dollars by recommending movies that utilize low cost archive content over the top new releases. If Lycos is able to convince a jury that they own the rights to this technology, it will have a chilling effect on the technology industry. Many web 2.0 companies use suggestive search to improve their user’s experience and if Lycos establishes patent protection for this popular consumer feature, it will make it even more difficult for consumers to be able to find personalized content that is of interest to them. Whether Blockbuster, Netflix and TiVo chooses to fight this battle on behalf of the rest of the tech industry, or whether they roll over and settle the lawsuit remains to be seen, but at such a crucial stage in their history, dealing with another patent lawsuit will be a costly distraction and should cost them plenty of time and money.


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An Australian Meatworks Is at the Center of a Virus Outbreak
(Bloomberg) -- A coronavirus outbreak has shuttered a sheepmeat processing plant in southern Australia, in an echo of much broader closures in North America, but a top industry representative said it was an isolated incident.
Cedar Meats, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the center of Melbourne, can slaughter, process and transport up to 10,000 units a day, supplying brands including Southern Pride Premium Lamb and Jimba Premium Lamb and shipping to places like the U.S., the European Union and China, according to its website.
All workers at the Cedar Meats facility are self-quarantining and the company is working closely with state health authorities, general manager Tony Kairouz said in a statement to radio station 3AW. All meat processed from the facility is safe to eat, he said. Kairouz was not available for comment when Bloomberg tried to reach him by phone.
A total of 19 cases detected Sunday originated at the factory, bringing the plant’s total to 34, Brett Sutton, chief medical officer for Victoria state, told reporters Monday. The facility employs about 350 people, The Age reported.
“Meatworks are particularly vulnerable -- we’ve seen from the U.S. extremely large outbreaks in meatworks, in some ways because they are forced to work closer than in some other workplaces,” Victoria state’s Sutton said. After the Australian cluster was identified, the meat processing plant moved to allow only essential workers who could address animal-welfare issues, he said.
A top industry representative said this was an isolated event. “This is a single incident at a single site, and we are not seeing any broader implications for the industry as a whole,” said Patrick Hutchinson, chief executive of the Australian Meat Industry Council. “It won’t have a major impact with regards to supply.” The council says the industry employs over 100,000 people directly.
There’s some risk to the supply chain when any facility shuts down, said Commonwealth Bank of Australia commodities strategist Tobin Gorey. “This is the first case I’m aware of in Australia, so alone it’s unlikely to have a big impact on consumers,” he said. “And hopefully Cedar Meats can be back up soon – that’s been the U.S. experience so far with similar issues.”
Australia has about 6,800 cases of the virus with 95 fatalities, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to detail plans to lift social-distancing curbs Friday. The daily growth of new infections has slowed to less than 1%, but there are concerns clusters -- such as in meat plants or aged-care facilities -- could jeopardize a quick end to the lockdown that’s closed large sections of society and pushed the country toward its first recession in nearly three decades.
In the U.S., meat plants have been forced to slow output as producers grapple with a loss of labor. Social-distancing measures will also likely keep output trailing normal levels even as facilities reopen under an executive order from President Donald Trump. Outbreaks have meant slaughterhouses are being retrofitted with physical barriers to keep workers safely away from each other.
U.S. cattle slaughter dropped 37% last week from a year earlier, Department of Agriculture data show. That far outstrips the 10% to 15% of capacity that’s been halted with meat plants closed after coronavirus outbreaks among employees. Hog slaughter was down 35%, also topping the shutdown figure of 25% to 30%.
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