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BioWare and EA have officially announced Dragon Age III: Inquisition, the next full game in the best selling and critically acclaimed fantasy RPG series, with a launch planned for late 2013.
...of Windows 10, more Windows 10, and some other stuff
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The Redmond Report - Episode 4: Windows 10 gets hit by lightning
The Dragon Age fantasy RPG franchise will officially be getting a third installment, to no one's real surprise. The official word comes from Alistair McNelly, the senior director for creative development at the game's developer...


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Fraser Brown Solicitors have acted for Santander Corporate banking in connection with their £3m lending package and support for Castle Donington-based classic motorbike manufacturer Norton Motorcycles. The new funding line will support the development of Norton’s new Norton V4 SS and V4 RR bikes.
Norton presently manufactures around 500 units per year of its core 961 Commando range from its premises at Donington Hall in the East Midlands and exports across the world. The new funding will allow Norton Motorcycles to grow the number of bikes they manufacture each month.
Norton is a classic brand in motorcycling, with the business originally being formed in 1898. The brand was saved from the scrap heap by Stuart Garner in 2008, who rescued the brand and the company has seen year on year success ever since.
Garner has already been made an ‘Export Champion’ for his success in revising the great British brand and selling this around the world, and the new funding will allow Norton to increase bike production and create around 40 new jobs.
A Norton ‘Dominator’ SS famously featured in the most recent James Bond film ‘Spectre’ which starred Daniel Craig.
Garner commented: “Santander has been able to provide an incredible suite of banking facilities that fully suits our needs. Having developed and pre-sold a huge number of bikes, we needed the funding to be readily available to pay for tooling, stock and people to allow production to move from 40 bikes per month to in excess of 130 bikes with effect from summer 2017.”
Steve Young, relationship director at Santander commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to support the continued success of this iconic UK manufacturing brand. Norton is producing world-class bikes with a global customer base and stands as a great testament to the quality and renaissance of the UK manufacturing sector. Santander is focused on supporting UK manufacturers, particularly with regards to exporting, as we passionately believe that the UK can be a manufacturing powerhouse.”
Tom Gray, corporate partner at Fraser Brown, said: “Norton is a unique brand. It represents the very best of classic British style and Midlands manufacturing might. It was a pleasure to be involved with this transaction and support a great British business.”

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UPS is tightening its belt in 2024 to the tune of $1 billion in cost savings, laying off 12,000 employees, or 14 percent of managers, in the process.
Roughly 75 percent of the cuts will take place in the first half of the year, according to UPS chief financial officer Brian Newman. Most of the roles being axed will come from management, along with some contractors. UPS has about 85,000 full- and part-time managers as part of its global workforce of 495,000 employees.
More from Sourcing Journal
“It’s a change in the way we work,” said Newman. “As volume returns to the system, we don’t expect these jobs to come back. It’s changing the effective way that we operate.”
Since peak demand during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, staff at the company has been reduced by 45,000 employees.
The $1 billion in savings comes after a 2024 which CEO Carol Tomé bluntly called a “difficult and disappointing year.”
The layoffs represent yet another round of job cuts within the wider logistics industry, and illustrate the pressures that the company has been under since agreeing on a new five-year contract with the Teamsters. That deal tacked on $500 million more expenses in the back half of 2023 than UPS initially expected, further holding down margins at the company.
As part of the cost cuts, Tomé revealed America’s largest package delivery company is exploring strategic alternatives for Coyote Logistics, which has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs since the beginning of 2023.
UPS acquired Coyote in 2015 to expand its portfolio into freight brokering, but Tomé acquiesced during the call that the logistics giant did not understand at the time how cyclical the freight business was. “Boom” and “bust” freight cycles, such as the current freight recession that has been ongoing since late 2022, are a major contributor to declining revenues at freight brokerages industrywide.
While Coyote peaked to over $4 billion in revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic amid increased e-commerce demand, revenue has “come way down since then,” Tomé said. Noting that the company’s supply chain solutions unit saw a $3 billion revenue decline to $13.2 billion in 2023, she explained that Coyote made up 38 percent of that yearly decline, and 40 percent of the fourth-quarter revenue dip.
“If you’ve got that kind of volatility on the revenue line, you’re going to have even more volatility on the earnings line,” Tomé said.
UPS is also shuttering 30 UPS Stores as part of the consolidation—a small cutback on the company’s roughly 5,500 locations.
The changes to the business come as UPS saw drops in revenue, volume and net income across all business segments in the fourth quarter. The Atlanta-headquartered courier issued a disappointing revenue outlook for 2024, with the company expecting global revenue between $92 billion to $94.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had been expecting revenue of at least $95.6 billion. The current forecast would be a 1.1 percent to 3.8 percent jump from 2023 revenue numbers.
For the fourth quarter, revenue declined 7.8 percent to $24.9 billion from $27 billion last year, while average daily domestic volume dropped 7.4 percent and average international volume declined 8.3 percent.
In the same period, UPS reported net income of $1.61 billion, or $1.87 per share, compared with $3.45 billion, or $3.96 per share, a year earlier.
Tomé said the volume decline was “heavily weighted in Europe,” noting that the dip was 94 percent driven by the softness in the continent.
The firm is still pushing to bring back more packages that were diverted during the Teamsters labor negotiations, when concerns of a labor strike existed ahead of the negotiation deadline. Tomé revealed that the company got back nearly 60 percent of the volume by December—up from 40 percent in October.
For the coming year, UPS expects revenues of flat to down 2 percent in the first half, with sales up 4 percent to 8 percent in the second half, said Brian Newman, chief financial officer at UPS.
Newman called the expected profit a “tale of two cities,” with the second half anticipated to reel in 20 percent to 30 percent income growth.
“Q1 will be the biggest challenge because we’re lapping from a volume perspective and a full [Teamsters] contract, but on a full-year basis we’re looking at operating margin of 10 to 10.6 [percent],” said Newman. “I think you can expect the second half of the year to be in 11 to 12 [percent].”
UPS plans to give more details on its cost-savings strategies and multi-year performance targets during its investor day event on March 26.


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Canada Post has selected the Ford Transit Connect to begin replacing its aging national fleet of vehicles and modernize its business. The selection was made through an open and competitive RFP process. About 1,175 Ford Transit Connect vans will be purchased this year. The Ford Transit Connect is purposely built for business owner, which is a versatile compact van that offers a fuel-efficient alternative to full-size commercial vans.
You would think that the Ford Transit Connect van comes with a big engine, but instead it comes with a standard 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. Ford Transit Connect delivers fuel economy of 30 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. Not only the Ford Transit Connect van is environmental friendly but it is also friendly on the pockets. So if your business involves a lot in delivering service, the Ford Transit Connect van is a good choice. The bottom line here is how much you would save money on gas per year.
On a side note, Nissan is also introducing its own van version. It is the first time that Nissan steps into the commercial arena with its new designed vans, the 2011 Nissan NV.
“At Ford we are dedicated to delivering quality, safe and fuel efficient vehicles to Canadian businesses – and the Ford Transit Connect delivers on all fronts,” said David Mondragon, president and CEO, Ford of Canada. “The versatility of the vehicle will allow employees to work more efficiently, and the fuel economy delivered by the Transit Connect will help bring Canada Post one step closer to achieving important environmental goals.”
“We are pleased with the outcome and look forward to the delivery of our first vehicles as we begin to replace many of our aging light vehicles, with vehicles that are much more efficient and environmentally-friendly,” says Bill Michalopulos, General Manager, Sourcing, at Canada Post. “It will also help our efforts to modernize our operations as we introduce motorization to our delivery routes.”
The selection of the Ford Transit Connect was based on these factors: environmental impact, employee health and safety requirements, performance, capacity and total lifecycle costs (purchase, fuel consumption and maintenance) were among the key requirements for Canada Post.


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SEAT has unveiled two sporty new trim levels – FR and FR Sport – for the head of its SUV family, the Tarraco. Offering enhancements to the exterior, interior and technology package, these two options complete the full range line-up for Tarraco. The seven-seater Tarraco, the latest and largest of SEAT’s SUV range, is available to order from February 11, with prices starting from £33,960 for diesel models.
SEAT has unveiled the all-new Leon, adding connectivity, electrified powertrains, automated safety systems in a car designed, developed and built at its facilities in Martorell, Barcelona.
The all-new SEAT Leon is almost here. The brand’s latest vehicle arrives with “a strong design evolution that keeps the soul of previous generations of Leon. Its design philosophy connects perfectly with the values of the SEAT brand”.
The SEAT Mii electric has now opened for ordering across the manufacturer’s UK dealer network on 24th October. The fully-electric city car marks the first chapter in SEAT’s electrification programme. Priced from £19,300 (including Plug-in Car Grant), the Mii electric…
SEAT is expanding the efficiency and desirability of the Tarraco, introducing plug-in hybrid powertrain technology and the sporty FR trim. The Tarraco plug-in hybrid is a demonstration of SEAT’s strategy towards electrification, which will include six electric and plug-in hybrid SEAT and CUPRA models by the beginning of 2021.
Hello Doc, I bought my ex-Motability SEAT Altea XL 1.6 TDI DSG auto first registered in August 2011, in late July 2014, with under 13,000 miles on the clock. It came from car hypermarket Fords of Winsford, in Cheshire, complete…
SEAT has presented its electric strategy which, until the beginning of 2021, will include six electric and plug-in hybrid models. The electric version of the Mii and el-Born will be the brand’s first two fully electric models, while the new generation Leon and the Tarraco will feature a plug-in hybrid version. Furthermore, the CUPRA Leon and the CUPRA Formentor will also have a plug-in hybrid variant. SEAT President Luca de Meo also announced that the CUPRA Formentor, the new CUV that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, will be built at the Martorell factory.
SEAT will take the covers off its first all-electric vehicle at this year’s Geneva International Motor Show with the world premiere of its concept car. SEAT says its concept car, which is based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, “answers…
Despite the similarities under the skin, owners are unlikely to find themselves stuck between the Leon and Octavia, because while the Skoda is sensible and practical, the Leon sacrifices some space for Spanish flair.


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Across the U.S., houses are selling at breakneck speed, with homes only surviving on the market for an average of 28 days before being snatched up by eager buyers. Many homes sold even faster than that in May, with approximately 35 percent going into contract within two weeks of hitting the market. But you think that’s fast? The national market has nothing on Seattle, where last month homes sold after a mere 8 days on the market, and almost half sold above list price. This no doubt is due to extremely low inventory, especially within the Seattle city limits, where there is less than a month’s supply of homes available, not nearly enough to satisfy the high demand for homes in the city.
Despite this increased buying activity, national home prices actually grew at a slower rate this May – up just 1.6 percent over April – compared to the 3 percent rise in prices we saw last May. On a yearly basis, prices across the country are up 6 percent from a year ago. List prices in the Seattle market increased just slightly from April to May (1.4 percent), and the median was $426,000. Year over year, Seattle prices were up 6.5 percent.
As these statistics illustrate, now is a great time to sell your home! If you’re on the fence, contact your local real estate agent to learn more about the selling process.


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EOS’ Blockchain Arbitrator Freezes 27 Investigated Accounts, “Hack” Reported
EOS, one of the most important blockchain projects in the market, has decided to take a very controversial decision. According to an ‘Emergency Measure of Protection Order,’ that is dated June 22, the EOS Core Arbitration Forum – also known as ECAF – has decided to block transactions from 27 different wallet addresses.
The text reads as follows:
“It is hereby ordered that the EOS Block procedures refuse to process transactions for the following accounts and keys indefinitely. (Until further official notice and instruction from the ECAF).”
But it is important to mark that there is no explanation about the situation. The note signed by Sam Sapoznick, in the capacity of ECAF Interim Emergency Arbitrator, does not specify which were the reasons that led to take these sanctions.
Critics And Support
The cryptocurrency community is already talking about this situation and giving their opinions about what happened here. There have been several critics coming from the community but also some defenders.
For example, critics say that EOS is not a decentralized network and that is subject to control by a centralized authority similar to a government. And this is not something that should be taken in an easy way. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is analysing each blockchain network to determine whether some virtual currencies are securities or not.
Supporters, instead, believe that the frozen addresses are involved in phishing scams that targeted investors during the migration from the Ethereum's blockchain. Furthermore, Kyle Samani, from Multicoin Capital, an important fund that has invested important sums of money in EOS, said that all the 27 accounts were doing spam attacks on the network.
At the moment, EOS’ approach to governance is a new experiment for the cryptocurrency community. Until now, it has never been tested and may provide great insights about how to manage other virtual currencies and blockchain networks. The company behind EOS is Block-One, which was in charge of conducting the year-long ICO to fund the EOS project.
EOS promotes decentralization in the crypto-ecosystem, but the EOS has an important level of centralization if it is compared to Bitcoin’s proof of work (PoW).
EOS User Posts Private Key
The EOS News do not end here. We all know that we shouldn’t publish private keys on internet or store them in devices that may be connected to the internet. But a EOS backer decided to challenge that.
A Steemit user known as ‘eosinsider’ published its private key: 5K5V1MY4iPBvT1vZ8rdX89JVDMJXosmRqKGoUxCfYaVck69qNU2. Apparently, it belongs to an account that is named ‘yostealmyeos,’ which holds 5 EOS.
The user believes that the on-chain governance model is designed to protect users and feels confident publishing his private keys online – which we do not recommend.
One of these mechanisms that protect victims from malicious attacks is the platform’s arbitration process. Users affected can appeal their cases to an arbiter like the EOSIO Core Arbitration Forum. The entities are able to freeze these malicious accounts and recover the user’s funds.
Supporters of this system say that this new governance is necessary for a platform that may be processing millions of dollars daily. Users that do not know anything about blockchain security can feel protected with by those in charge of taking care of the network. This is very related with what we mentioned before about the 27 frozen accounts. At the moment, the cryptocurrency community is waiting to hear an answer about why the ECAF decided to take such a decision.
According to the reddit user twelker1625, there is an explanation about why the accounts were frozen:
“The accounts were frozen at the request of the rightful owners AFTER they submitted proof. Though the system is still in its infancy and not finalized, it is working as it was designed to do.”


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Thomas Creek is gearing up to celebrate its sweet 16 with another big anniversary bash on June 28.
The first big celebration since completing its expansion and the opening of its official tap room, Thomas Creek will celebrate its 16th anniversary next month with another big blowout.
This year’s celebration runs from 2-8 PM at the brewery. Fittingly enough, 16 beers will be on tap as well as four of their most popular cask creations. Live music, food, a cornhole tournament and more are also on deck.
RSVP and find out more here.


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6 April 2018
New Rules Proposed on Digital Taxation
On 21 March 2018, the European Commission proposed two Directives concerning the taxation of the digital economy. The proposals’ goals are to ensure fair corporate taxation, to foster a competitive economy and to generate sustainable tax revenues in the EU’s Single Market.
Following criticism that digital giants such as Facebook and Google pay too little tax in Europe, the Commission aims to level the playing field for all businesses. According to its statistics, the average annual revenue growth of the top digital firms is 14%, compared to between 0.2% and 3% for multinationals which trade in physical goods and services. However, companies with digital business models pay less than half the effective tax rate on average, just 9.5% compared to the 23.3% paid by traditional business models.
Current corporate tax rules are believed to no longer be fit for the realities of the modern global economy where companies make profits from digital services in a particular country without being physically present. Designed during the pre-internet era, tax rules have hitherto not taken into account profits generated largely from consumer data, through the provision of online services.
Current tax rules also fail to recognise the new ways in which profits are created in the digital world, in particular the role that users play in generating value for digital companies. A remedy to this issue is to tax companies according to where their digital users are based. This provides the necessary link between where profits are made and where they are taxed.
The Commission proposes two approaches towards changes in taxation: a common EU solution for digital activities in the long term and an interim tax to remedy the issue in the meanwhile.
The proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules relating to the corporate taxation of a significant digital presence proposes to extend the concept of a permanent establishment so as to include a significant digital presence through which a business is carried on. According to the new rules for the taxation of digital activities, companies would have to pay tax in each Member State on profits from user data (e.g., the placement of advertising), services connecting users (e.g., the online marketplace, platforms for the “sharing economy”) and other digital services (e.g., subscriptions to streaming services), provided that they have a significant digital presence.
This shall be the case if the company reaches one of the following thresholds: revenues from the supply of digital services exceed EUR 7 million, the number of users exceeds 100,000, or the number of online business contracts exceeds 3,000.
In order to prevent Member States taking unilateral measures and thereby creating a legal patchwork which would fragment the Single Market, the proposal for Council Directive on the common system of a digital services tax on revenues resulting from the provision of certain digital services proposes an interim tax. This interim tax is only to apply until the comprehensive reform has been implemented.
The interim tax of a proposed 3% would apply to revenues made from three main types of services, where the main value is created through user participation:
- the sale of online advertising space,
- the sale of user generated data,
- and digital intermediary activities which facilitate user interaction, i.e., which allow users to interact with other users and which can facilitate the sale of goods and services between them.
Thus, the 3% tax will apply to revenues created from activities where users play a major role in value creation and which are felt by the Commission to be the hardest to capture with current tax rules.
The companies concerned would have to pay the 3% tax to the Member State where their users are located, but only if the company reaches the relevant total annual revenue thresholds of worldwide EUR 750 million and EU revenues of EUR 50 million.
In sum, the Commission proposes:
- a permanent solution for the taxation of the digital economy in the EU, enabling Member States to tax profits made in their territory, even if a company does not have a physical presence there. The proposed rules would ensure that online businesses contribute to public finances at the same level as traditional 'brick-and-mortar' companies. Hong Kong companies should note that this proposal is accompanied by a ‘Recommendation’ (EU Recommendations are non-binding instruments) to Member States to amend their Double Taxation Treaties with third countries so that the same rules apply to EU and non-EU companies.
- In addition, the proposed interim tax for digital services would apply to the most urgent gaps and loopholes in the taxation of digital activities. The measure would ensure that those activities which are not currently effectively taxed would begin to generate immediate revenues for Member States.
The proposals will have to be submitted to the EU Council of Member States’ ministers for adoption and to the European Parliament for consultation.


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MacPost is on a roll with all these spy shots of next month's Apple products.
Below is a shot of what it says is the front cover to the iPhone 5. (Or iPhone 4s, depending on who you ask.)
At the rate all these parts are leaking, it's getting more and more difficult to tell what Apple will announce in September.
For now, the consensus appears to be a redesigned iPhone 5, and a budget iPhone 4s.
But we have yet to see any spy shots of a fully redesigned iPhone 5, so it's still possible it will just be an iPhone 4 with speedier guts inside.
If that's not enough, we have plenty more iPhone 5 rumors here >
Here's the photo:


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Accusing Google of illegally using Android mobile devices to strengthen dominance of its search engine, the European Commission on Wednesday imposed a record fine of 4.34 billion euros ($5 billion) on the tech giant, which said it would appeal against the decision.
According to the Commission, Google has imposed since 2011 illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general Internet search. Google must now bring the conduct effectively to an end within 90 days or face additional penalty, the ruling said.
Reacting to the ruling, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will appeal against the Commission’s decision.
“Rapid innovation, wide choice, and falling prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition. Android has enabled this and created more choice for everyone, not less. This is why we intend to appeal today’s Android decision,” Pichai wrote in a blog post immediately after the verdict. The decision, according to the Google CEO, ignores the fact that Android phones compete with iOS phones.
According to Commissioner Margrethe Vestager who is in charge of competition policy, their case is about three types of restrictions that Google has imposed on Android device manufacturers and network operators to ensure that traffic on Android devices goes to the Google search engine.
In particular, Google has required manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and browser app (Chrome), as a condition for licensing Google’s app store (the Play Store). The company made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-installed the Google Search app on their devices.
The Commission also found that Google prevented manufacturers wishing to pre-install Google apps from selling even a single smart mobile device running on alternative versions of Android that were not approved by Google.
The Commission’s decision, according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, sends a troubling signal in favour of proprietary systems over open platforms. Pichai said the company has always agreed that with size comes responsibility.


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Yesterday saw the news breaking across the world that takeaway pizza chain Domino’s was being held to ransom by a hacker who had possession of 600,000 customer records.
In the story, the hacker “Rex Mundi” (who has since had his Twitter account suspended) wanted €30,000 (£23,000) or he would release the 600,000 customer details that included customers’ full names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passwords and delivery instructions, as well as each customer’s favourite pizza topping.
At the time of writing, it is unclear whether Dominos has paid the ransom, but it was determined not according to comments given to the Standaard by executive Andre ten Wolde. After the social media website Feedly refused to pay a ransom in face of a DDoS attack last week, I asked the industry if this is a new era of denied ransom payments and “victims” fighting back?
Andy Heather, VP EMEA at Voltage Security
“The value of personal data continues to be recognised by hackers who are now attempting to use the data to hold companies to ransom. Where previously financial data was the key target of the hackers, the theft of financial information (credit card or account information) has a limited lifespan, until the victim changes the account details etc. But the personal information that can be obtained has a much broader use and can be used to commit a much wider range of fraud and identity theft, and simply cannot be changed.
“The value of this personal data to the cyber criminal has a much greater value, for example where the selling price for a single stolen credit card is around $1, if that card information is sold with a full identify profile that can dramatically increase up to $500. If the cyber criminals know where the real value is then surely we should all expect responsible organisation to pay appropriate attention to keeping our personal information safe.”
TK Keanini, CTO at Lancope
“Ransomware of all types are on the rise because the inventions of crypto currency like Bitcoin and others let them operate with functional currency that does not compromise their anonymity.
“While retail has been in the news lately with a lot of data breaches, if you have a lot of personal data on people, the more people you have the more attractive you are to these criminals. If you have not been hit yet, now is the time to prepare with an incident response readiness that will ensure business continuity. It is just a part of doing business in this age of the Internet.
“Dominos in particular needs to treat this event as an ongoing business problem and not as a one-time event. They should provide leadership and expertise to all of their stores and deliver the operational visibility required to ensure early detection of this type of threat. While getting in again is likely, they must raise the cost to this adversary to hide and operate.”
Jon French, security analyst at AppRiver
“The hacker “RexMundi_Anon” has apparently done similar before with other Belgium companies. From a quick search, the Dominos one appears to be the largest though. It seems this particular hacker/group is fond of using a ransom method with the stolen data. I didn’t really find any info about how successful this has been for them, but it certainly is a worry for Dominos.
“My personal opinion would be that perhaps the ransom is just a PR ploy for RexMundi and that they plan to release the info anyways (and maybe a small hope of actually getting paid). Dominos has said they will not be paying the ransom though. Most likely they know that paying doesn’t mean the data won’t be released and it can just incentivise other hackers to perform the same kinds of attacks elsewhere.”
David Howorth, vice president at Alert Logic
“Hackers are increasingly turning to ransom as a money earner but in this instance it seems they aren’t quite as greedy as others have been – £24,000 seems very low!
“Dominos should remain vigilant and not agree to pay the ransom – the hackers have no ethical code of conduct, so Dominos should assume their customer data is already making its way to the criminal underground, where it will be sold. Consumers should heed the security industry advice to change their passwords as soon as Dominos have fixed the server vulnerabilities that enabled the hack to take place in the first place.”
George Anderson, director at Webroot
“It is reassuring to see that companies that find themselves targeted by hackers looking to make a quick buck are refusing to pay up. After all, when it comes to data theft, there is no guarantee the hackers wouldn’t release the data, even if ransom was paid, as they may equally accept the money and then try to sell the data on illegal forums, in hope of doubling their profits.
“This is slightly different to what we saw last week, when Feedly and Evernote were targeted by DDoS extortion attacks. Usually, organisations that give in and pay are spared being DDoS’ed – but only because following through with a DDoS attack requires slightly more effort on the hackers’ side, than publishing the data that has already been downloaded.
“However, companies that fall victim to money extortion attacks should under no circumstances agree to play by hackers’ terms. Instead, organisations that hold customer data should ensure they maintain a structured, multi-layered approach to security spanning data encryption through to security software that is updated and reviewed on a regular basis, to limit their chances of becoming an easy extortion target.”
Jason Hart, VP Cloud Solutions at SafeNet
“Cybercriminals are after the money and will follow the path of least resistance to get to it. Usually this means stealing personal data which is often unencrypted and selling it on the black market, or in this case using it for cyber blackmail.
“The latest breach continues to raise public awareness of the need for encryption – not just of financial data, but also wider customer information. It also reinforces something we at SafeNet have said for a while: breaches will happen and you can’t stop them. The issue is – are you able to protect your sensitive data when a breach happens?
“The fact that financial information was not compromised minimises the severity of the breach. But given the increasing number of data breaches we’re seeing, it’s clear that companies need to start thinking about encrypting more th
an just financial data. If not they run the risk of losing customers to those competitors that do.”
Dr. Mike Lloyd, CTO at RedSeal Networks
“Ransomware is an interesting trend in attacks. It’s also very significant that a world-wide company like Domino’s could lose sensitive data in just a few countries. It brings home the way modern business infrastructure is complex, sprawling, and hard to control. Bad guys only need to find one weakness to find a target of interest; defenders need to find them all.
“This makes for an asymmetric situation. Companies cannot simply stop storing all information, and nor can we expect complexity of networks to decrease. The only viable path forward is automation to gain visibility into all the weaknesses, everywhere, in order to improve defensive posture before this happens again.”


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A survey by McKinsey has revealed that Indian consumer optimism has improved and returned to April levels as they seem to cheer festivities or hope for an early Covid 19 vaccine. This straight away also points to increased expenditure across all categories by Indian consumers in the days to come.
"Net spending intent has improved across categories since March. The vast majority of Indian consumers have tried new shopping behaviors and digital .. habits during the crisis and report a high intent to continue. Though most Indians are still waiting for indicators beyond the lifting of restrictions to return to normal out-of-home activities, more are engaging in them," said the survey.
Further as per the survey in the wake of the pandemic, consumer behavior has changed on several parameters. And while most are trading down or refraining from buying expensive goods, brand loyalty has also taken a hit now. Say for instance a consumer who previously bought expensive coffee brand will continue to have coffee but of a relatively cheaper rate.
Now as per the survey the intent to spend money post the pandemic has increased by 30%. Besides, the survey said that 58% of Indians were having optimistic outlook on Indian economy and expects it to recover in next 2-3 months. Remaining 32% were unsure about the economy and expects it to rebound in some 6-12 months. And the balance 10% Indians surveyed had a very pessimistic view and see the pandemic to have a long lasting impact on the economy.


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Investment firm Rabobank reports that grocery retailers are increasing their delivery of beer and wine to consumers. Grocery retailers have been struggling to keep up with competitors, such as Amazon and Walmart, which are offering lower prices and home delivery for food items.
Costco has also started to offer delivery to members in large cities.
The investment firm claims that grocery channels account for just 5% of all online alcohol sales, but expects the trend not to last for long.
Rabobank claims that grocers will compete with the traditional online liquor store, mimicking reports from Nielsen. Nielsen claims that by 2025, online grocery will hit 14% of total sales. Online grocery sales account for just 2.5% of total sales. The increase in online sales will be spurred by the likes of Amazon and Instacart, which offer grocery delivery to consumers.
Grocery delivery sales are in high demand, with Google searches for the term “grocery delivery” increasing 250% since 2012. “Alcohol delivery” searches have increased 500% during the same time period.
The report claims that alcohol sales will catch up or surpass grocery sales overall.
Europe’s online alcohol sales were spurred by Amazon, where sales grew by 96% and 230% in the UK in 2017. The trend is expected to be followed in the United States. The UK is a prime example because 34% of beer drinkers claim that they buy their beer online regularly.
The report claims that 44% of wine sales and 25% beer sales occur at brick-and-mortar grocery stores in the United States. Consumer behavior changes, with a move towards purchasing online rather than going to brick-and-mortar stores.
Tighter restrictions in certain states on beer and wine sales may make it difficult for online retailers to fulfill consumer needs in several states.
Wine tasting rooms remain a main driver of online wine sales. The top 20% of wineries are responsible for 90% of online wine sales, with the average wine order being $363. Licensed wineries are starting to offer direct-to-consumer sales, with many receiving tens of millions in equity funding to expand their operations in the United States.
Online alcohol sales swelled to $1.7 billion in 2017, with small totals driving sales. Growth in the online channels is surpassing growth in brick-and-mortar sales. Food Dive reports that online liquor sales are forecasted to grow to $7 billion to $15 billion over the next few years.
Amazon has already started offering alcohol sales in the United States through its Prime Now service. Consumers in select cities can order these goods online, with sales coming from Portland and Columbus. Retailers are required to adhere to local restrictions and minimum age laws when selling liquor online.
Wine sales are expected to benefit the most from the trend, as consumers pair wine with food items at checkout.
Distilleries and breweries are already starting to shift their resources to e-commerce divisions and mobile development to offer additional channels for consumers to buy their products. Brick-and-mortar stores will need to enhance their consumer experience to be able to compete with the growing threat of online sales.


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Prehistoric creatures invade State Fair Park this weekend with "Discover the Dinosaurs," a hands-on exhibit featuring more than 60 animatronic dinos. »Read Full Article
It can be hard to find a restaurant that’s open Christmas Day — or at night on Christmas Eve, for that matter.
It's not Dec. 25 just yet, so its not too late to hear a new take on a standard Christmas song. »Read Full Blog Post
The kids are so excited they're about to squirm out of their skin. When you're young, the clock doesn't move fast enough on Christmas Eve.


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Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company Chile announced last week that it had begun the process of putting Choprol’s property up for saleHe has been attached since 1986.
That year, Fondera’s forerunner, the New Zealand Dairy Board, entered into national ownership, so the news of its departure marked a turning point in the history of both companies.
According to the information provided The New Zealand company currently controls 99.89% of the company’s documents, A buyer’s study is a strategy to realize their vision for 2030, its axes are sustainability, nutrition science and innovation. They also pointed to the process of exploring interested parties for their assets in Chile It can take up to two years.
Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell explains Pulse The reasons behind this decision and Soprole illustrate the good footing that currently exists.
Why did you decide to leave Chile? What changed?
– Fonterra has the opportunity to further differentiate New Zealand milk globally by focusing on gaining greater value from its dairy cooperatives. For this Fonterra must focus on improving its capital and its population in New Zealand milk. For these reasons we have reviewed the ownership of two other milk groups in Australia and Chile. Soprole is a leading dairy brand. Their operations do not require any expertise or milk from New Zealand, in that environment, we started the process of taking our integrated investment in Chile. We are also considering the most appropriate ownership framework for our business in Australia. We see both movements as focusing on our New Zealand milk and, more importantly, allowing capital to be released to implement our long-term strategy.
In your view, have your years of goals been achieved at Soprole?
It is a high performance business with a strong market position, including being one of the most recognized food and beverage brands in Chile. You have a dedicated team with a clear plan to continue to move forward.
What other markets are they now targeting in Latin America and the rest of the world?
-Fondera’s strategy focuses on growing its food service business and enhancing consumer and raw material channels around the world using milk of its New Zealand origin.
When are you going to hire an investment bank to sell Soprole?
-The process has now started and is developing properly.
What is the price range you expect?
-Tell very soon.
Last week, Balzo asked what the estimated selling price was in the local market. They estimate that Fonterra could fetch US $ 800 million from one financial institution, and from another they claim that it would be 15 times more profitable., Max – evidence says that it is difficult to achieve – 20 times.
That is, if the benefits end at $ 22,507 million by the end of 2020, sales could end in value ranging from $ 330,605 million (US $ 421 million) to $ 450,140 million (US $ 573 million).
“Typical beer advocate. Future teen idol. Unapologetic tv practitioner. Music trailblazer.”


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Remote work has become a reality at many companies, and as such, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a key component of many organization’s cybersecurity tool kits. VPNs designed for enterprise use go well beyond those marketed at consumers in either the Google Play or App stores which can mask your location and identity while waiting for a latte. Enterprise VPNs are specifically designed to allow remote workers secure access between their company-issued device and the organization’s network. Imagine, however, a flaw in your VPN that threat actors could leverage to secretly access your network. A team of security researchers are claiming they have found such a vulnerability.
Orange Tsai and Meh Chang, researchers with Devcore, previewed their findings for Zak Whittaker of Tech Crunch ahead of their presentation at the upcoming Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. According to Tsai and Chang, three enterprise VPN providers (Palo Alto Networks, Pulse Secure, and Fortinet) have flaws in their products that “are ‘easy’ to remotely exploit.”
Tsai told Tech Crunch that the vulnerability they found allowed them to “compromise the VPN server and corporate intranet with no authentication required, compromise all the VPN clients, and steal all secrets from the victims.” Tsai also noted that since only a few SSL VPN vendors control most of the market share, a vulnerability of this scale could have a serious impact.
There are some major organizations among those that the Devcore researchers were able to access via the flaw in the Palo Alto VPN, including Uber and Twitter. When Devcore reached out to Palo Alto Networks, they were told that the bugs had already been discovered, and as such, the company did not issue an advisory, choosing instead to release a “silent fix.” Though it would require that security teams package and release timely updates for their own end points to be effective.
Fortinet and Pulse Secure have both notified their customers, and have issued patches and/or firmware updates to address the issues.
If you are heading to this year’s Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tsai and Chang will be presenting their findings on Wednesday, August 7 in an afternoon session.


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SHANGHAI: Apple has paid $60 million to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) to end a dispute over the iPad trademark in China that saw the world’s most valuable technology company engaged in a protracted legal tussle with a near-bankrupt Chinese firm. The announcement of the court-mediated settlement was made on the website of the Higher People’s Court of Guangdong province.
Apple and Proview Technology (Shenzhen), a unit of Hong Kong-listed Proview International Holdings, have been negotiating to reach a settlement since the Higher People’s Court of Guangdong in February conducted a crucial hearing on the case.
The case moved to the high court after the Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen rejected Apple’s complaint against Proview Technology over the infringement case.
The lawsuit had hampered some sales and delayed the launch of the new iPad in China. Prior to the launch, Proview requested Chinese authorities in scores of Chinese cities to order re-sellers to take all iPads off their shelves. The iPad dominates China’s tablet PC market with a more than 70 per cent market share, though Lenovo’s Lepads and Samsung Electronics’s Galaxy Tabs have been gaining traction.
Apple is experiencing heady growth in Greater China – China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – with second-quarter sales in the region increasing several fold to $7.9 billion.


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Twitter’s head of music Bob Moczydlowsky is leaving the company, 17 months after joining from Topspin. “I’m ending my time at Twitter in a few weeks. I’ve loved every day of it, and will miss our...
March 3rd, 2015 by Music Ally Blog
December 25th, 2014 by Music Ally Blog
When Spotify first gave artists the option of promoting merchandise within its service earlier in 2014, the company’s chosen partner was D2C firm Topspin with its ArtistLink feature. However, when Topspin...
October 29th, 2014 by Music Ally Blog
Topspin co-founder Shamal Ranasinghe has returned with a new service: Fluence, which we’ve already seen described as Topspin-meets-LinkedIn. The company puts it another way: “a simple utility to directly...
April 4th, 2014 by Music Ally
Wait! Didn’t Beats buy Topspin last month? Well, it did, but Transom Capital Group has acquired the remainder of Topspin’s e-commerce and marketing assets after Beats scooped up Topspin’s core technology.
March 12th, 2014 by Music Ally
Beats Music is reported to have raised between $60m and $100m in a new round of funding.
March 10th, 2014 by Music Ally
The streaming music arms race moves up a notch with the news that Beats Music is opening its API to external developers
March 7th, 2014 by Music Ally
There is clearly something in the investment water this week – Beats buying Topspin, Spotify buying The Echo Nest and now The Orchard has acquired Dublin
March 6th, 2014 by Music Ally
The Beats/Spotify tussle in the US is shaping up to make 2014 very interesting indeed. Earlier this week, Beats announced it had acquired Topspin
March 4th, 2014 by Stuart Dredge
Streaming music service Beats Music has acquired D2C firm Topspin. The company announced the deal in a blog post from its CEO Ian Rogers – formerly boss of Topspin – this afternoon. "The acquisition...


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Q2 profit for National Bank of Abu Dhabi plunges 9.3 pct
Tuesday saw National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) - the biggest United Arab Emirates bank by market value - reporting a 9.3 percent decline in quarterly profits because of an increase in provisions.
According to an NBAD statement, the bank had a net profit of 907 million dirhams ($246.9 million) in the second quarter, compared to 1 billion dirhams in the same period last year.
Earlier, analysts had predicted the Q2 net profits to reach 726.4 million dirhams.
A hit against bad loans was taken by the bank, while the profits topped forecasts. NBAD was compelled to enhance its provisions, along with other banks in the region, against the backdrop of an economic downturn.
NBAD confirmed that a sum of 500 million dirhams was taken by it in provisions in the first half of 2009 - though it did not offer a quarterly breakdown - from 145 million dirhams in the same period in 2008.
Raj Madha, a Dubai-based analyst at EFG Hermes said: "Results are strongly ahead of expectations at the operating profit line, and with provisioning more or less as expected; this has driven a very strong bottom line number."
Via a statement, NBAD said a sum of $7.5 million is held by it in exposure to Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros and a $3.4-million exposure to a Saad Group sukuk, or Islamic bond.
It further added that a 10 percent share buyback, which is still subject to regulatory approval, has been approved by the bank's board.
New Zealand News
- Tesla Model Y Performance becomes little bit more expensive to order in China
- Porsche’s recently unveiled Mission R Concept previews electric race cars of future
- Chinese manufacturer GAC’s Aion V e-SUV can charge 0-80% in just 8 minutes
- Oshidori International exits Japanese casino race, citing serious ethical irregularities
- CATL and LG Energy account for nearly 54% of global xEV battery market: SNE Research
- Micro Mobility shows off production version of Microlino 2.0 and 3-wheeled e-scooter
- Chinese electric motorcycle maker Evoke Motorcycles to set up shops in Spain
- TenneT adds more electric BMWs to study use of EVs to support power grids
- Italy’s ASPI announces plans to install cross-country ultra-fast EV charging network
- EV ownership costs significantly lower than conventional models: French Study


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Back in 2021 during The Game Awards, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War developer Monolith Productions revealed that its next project is a Wonder Woman game. They’ve been silent as they continue to work on the game so not much is known but a recent new job ad suggests that the game will have live service elements. This revelation comes after Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest earnings call where CEO David Zaslav talked about doubling down on live service games going forward.
The ad is for a Lead Software Engineer, Gameplay who “will lead the team responsible for core gameplay systems inherent to Monolith’s proprietary engine, including combat, movement, the Nemesis system, and more!” Another aspect that Monolith is looking for is someone with “experience helping maintain a live software product or game.”
During the earnings call, Zaslav talked about his plans for the gaming side of the company. “Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels. We have specific capabilities. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post-purchase revenue.”
While Games as a service took the industry by storm, it would appear that the genre has started to hit its ceiling with gamers. Bungie says that Destiny 2 revenue hasn’t hit the marks they were hoping for, Sony announced that they are delaying half of its live service titles currently in development, and Epic Games admits that they have been unprofitable, even with the juggernaut that is Fortnite which recently reached a new peak count of 6 million concurrent players with the release of Fortnite OG.
There have been issues gamers have had with other WB games as well. There was backlash from the community for Mortal Kombat 1’s prices for items in the in-game store and there was heavy criticism against Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League when it was revealed that the game will have live service elements.
We’ll have to wait and see how the GaaS elements will affect Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Wonder Woman and whether or not it affects Warner Bros. Discovery’s plans for the future.


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The ACCC has released a preliminary report into the market power being exerted by major digital platforms such as Google and Facebook. And while the commission’s inquiry continues, it’s clear it is looking at ways to curb the influence digital platforms have given they are privately run and have operated outside the traditional regulatory regimes.
Its focus has been on search engines, social media platforms and digital content aggregators with the spotlight brightly directed at Facebook and Google given their powerful influence.
The 341 page Digital Platforms Inquiry Preliminary Report covers a lot of ground. But one early statement stood out to me.
The ACCC points to a couple of major issues. Firstly, most people aren’t aware of the extent of data that is collected and how it is used and shared by digital platforms because the length, complexity and ambiguity of online terms of service and privacy policies makes that information opaque.
Adding to that is a power imbalance. Many digital platforms’ agreements have “take-it-or-leave-it” terms that limit consumers trying to make well-informed decisions about consent to digital platforms’ use of data.
Digital platforms have been able to get away with this because there simply haven’t been any laws in place to deal with the practices they have built and depend on.
The commission says it’s time for the government to get on the front foot and confront this issue, look at creating International agreements and provide funding to support regulation. To support that, the ACCC has tabled 11 recommendations. These are:
- Merger law: This would look at the impact of a proposed merger or acquisition between major digital network players.
- Prior notice of acquisitions: Large digital platforms like Facebook and Google will have to provide advance notice of the acquisition of any business with activities in Australia so there could be a review of the likely competitive effects of the proposed acquisition.
- Browsers and search engines: Users will get to choose their browser and search engine rather than the decision made for us through defaults that are pre-configured.
- Advertising and related business oversight: A regulatory authority should be tasked to monitor, investigate and report on whether digital platforms are engaging in discriminatory conduct.
- Review of media regulatory frameworks: Current media regulation effectively misses social platforms when it comes to regulating media behaviour. A new framework needs to be created so online media distribution is regulated.
- Take-down standard: Protection against the unlawful distribution of copyrighted material.
- Use and collection of personal information: The ACCC proposes a number of amendments to the Privacy Act to help consumers make better decisions about how their data is collected and managed.
- OAIC Code of Practice for digital platforms: The ACCC wants the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) to engage with key digital platforms operating in Australia to develop an enforceable code of practice under the Privacy Act so Australians have greater transparency and control over how their personal information is collected, used and disclosed by digital platforms.
- Serious invasions of privacy: The ACCC wants the Government adopt the Australian Law Reform Commission’s recommendation to introduce a statutory cause of action for serious invasions of privacy.
- Unfair contract terms: The commission wants unfair contract terms to be deemed be illegal (not just voidable) under Australian Consumer Law and for civil penalties to apply to their use as a deterrent.
The ACCC’s report also summarises many of the changes that have accompanied the rise of these platforms such as the reduction in the number of journalists, the slashing of advertising revenues and increased use of news aggregators.
I haven’t spoken to anyone over the past year who thinks the power and influence of digital platforms isn’t a cause of concern. But, until now, I haven’t seen a coherent plan for how to deal with that power. In most cases, the global reach, corporate structures and inertia of legislative and legal systems have created a vacuum which Google, Facebook and others have filled. It is undeniable that social media, search engine algorithms and other online tools strongly impact us.
There’s little doubt that fake accounts and bots influenced the outcomes of the Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential election.
We’ve seen Twitter shut down millions of accounts and the Cambridge Analytica scandal opened the floodgates on a number of breaches of trust between Facebook and its two billion or so subscribers.
The power of a Google search result in telling people what is true or not is undeniable. And when any of those services, or many others, change how they work the impact on what we see or the operation of a business can be significant.
One of the big challenges facing the ACCC – this report was commissioned by Prime Minister Scott Morrison back when he was the Treasurer – is that the global and ubiquitous nature of the companies it wants to regulate will require global cooperation. And that cooperation will require those companies to play nicely as well. I wonder if they’ll be inclined to work with the same government that ignored them when it came to the recent encryption law changes.


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Facebook today announced that Instagram, its popular photo sharing platform, is getting support for video chats, among a couple of other new features.
As Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted in his F8 keynote today, quite a few Instagram users already use the platform’s live video feature to chat with friends. “People use live video to just hang out,” he said. “It’s amazing how many of these tools are about brining us together.”
We haven’t seen the new video chat in action, but chances are it’s a pretty straightforward feature that will expand on the existing messaging tools in Instagram.
In addition to these video chats, Instagram is also getting an improved Explore tab that, according to Zuckerberg, is “more focused on the things you are interested in.”
Instagram is also getting a new filter to protect users from bullying comments. “This new filter hides comments containing attacks on a person’s appearance or character, as well as threats to a person’s well-being or health,” the Instagram team writes today. In addition to the automatic filtering, Instagram will now also get alerts when there are repeated issues with an account.
But that’s not all, Instagram is also getting support for Facebook’s AR features with AR features from third parties.
The company made the announcement at its F8 developer conference in San Jose today, where the company also announced a somewhat related new feature: group video chats in WhatsApp.
These new features will roll out over the course of the next few weeks.


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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If you're heading out to Minute Maid Park to watch the Houston Astros take on the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, there are some new must-have food options available to you.
The 'Stros unveiled their new Texas Totchos, which are tater tots topped with brisket, jalapeno bacon, cheese and more.
Also, there's the Loaded Texas BBQ Stack, which consists of jalapeno cheese cornbread, mac and cheese, meat, baked beans, coleslaw and BBQ sauce.
If drinks are more your style, try the new Sip & Soar airline-style cocktail carts, which will move around the concourse serving mixed drinks.
Did someone say food?! Houston food lovers, unite!
'STROS SNACKS: New food options available at Minute Maid Park for the ALCS
More TOP STORIES News


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The updates are intended to keep up with a world that has become more digitally focused over the past year due to the pandemic, the report stated.
The announcements were made during a Google I/O developer conference, which took place virtually. The updates are meant to boost the company’s smartwatch efforts, currently in competition with other companies like Apple and Microsoft, according to Reuters.
In addition, the updates show that Google is looking to demonstrate its advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), Reuters reported. Those advancements will help users stay connected to the tech giant’s ad-supported or paid services for shopping, communication or entertainment.
Google’s smartwatch operating system will be operated by the company’s recently acquired Fitbit unit along with Samsung, according to Reuters. Both of those companies had used their own systems for years, but together, they might be able to draw in a wider base of developers.
Google also shared a new capability to edit and view in Google Docs and other such work software. Among thee new tools will be one that suggests using inclusive terms in one’s writing as opposed to gendered words, Reuters reported.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has made it a priority to use inclusive language across the company. He said new smartphones would also be working to better identify darker skin tones and curly and wavy hair, according to Reuters.
The new updates will also help customers by navigating them toward “safer” routes, Reuters reported. And, Google Photos will offer more ways to search Google Images for specific options in screenshots.
In related news, Google partnered with Lightspeed earlier this month in order to help merchants boost revenues by making it easier for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to simplify and scale their businesses, PYMNTS reported.


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STAFF at soon-to-close Lewis’s department store face losing part of their redundancy pay after the company which owns it collapsed into administration yesterday.
Vergo Retail, whose head office is currently based at Lewis’s Renshaw Street shop, blamed the collapse of the 18-strong chain on its failure to agree a new funding package with its backers.
About 900 staff around the country now face the prospect of losing their jobs unless a buyer can be found.
Around 100 shopworkers in Liverpool have already been issued with redundancy notices following an earlier decision to close the city centre store next month. The group’s collapse into administration means those Liverpool staff could now lose part of their redundancy pay.
Vergo, whose other stores are clustered around Devon, East Anglia and Essex, has been trading at a loss during 2010.
It is the second time in recent years that the owner of Lewis’s has gone into administration. The store was part of the Owen Owen group when it was placed into administration in March 2007.
Vergo owner and managing director David Thompson said yesterday that he was “shell shocked” at the latest turn of events.
Mr Thompson added: “The administrators are trying to sell it as an ongoing business.
“We have been trying to find a new funding structure for the business, but that was made more complicated by the closure of the Liverpool store.
“It has been very difficult because our overheads are too high.”
Mr Thompson said he feared that staff in Liverpool may now receive only statutory redundancy pay-outs from the government. Lewis’s staff had originally been told that they would receive an enhanced severance package.
Sarah Bell, a director of insolvency practice MCR, was appointed administrator yesterday morning. MCR, which specialises in retail insolvencies, acted as adminstrator the last time Lewis’s collapsed. On that occasion, Mr Thompson, who owned Owen Owen, bought the business back from the administrators.
Asked whether he would bid to buy the group back again, he said: “At this stage, I have not even considered that because my energies have been put into trying to keep the business going.”
The Lewis’s store in Liverpool city centre was due to close next month anyway. The building that houses it is owned by developer Merepark, who want to turn it into a hotel, apartments and office accommodation. While the redevelopment project also includes retail space, Vergo decided that the anticipated 18 months of building work would disrupt trade too much, so the group took the decision to close the store. The last time Lewis’s collapsed into administration, it blamed Liverpool’s infamous Big Dig in the run up to European Capital of Culture year in 2008.


text: As we reported earlier this month, 14 different Zoom Soldier II team colorways are expected to drop before the start of the upcoming basketball season. Some of them are already available online (check eastbay) while the others are starting to pop up on ebay and in local stores as well. The Team Bank ZS2 due to its Camo sole pattern, which is heavily exposed in this design, is definitely a love-me-or-hate-me kind of shoe. However, the most important thing about team kicks are the colors, which should match as many configurations as possible, and with that being said the ZSII TB gets the job done. So far we published some catalog pics, but it’s time to do what we do best… post some real pics.


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Cryptocurrency users in Australia can be happy with the way things are turning out for them. Why? It has been arguably a honoured promise, for the Australian government, to do away with the duo taxation of the virtual currencies such as bitcoin.
In Australia, there has been a trend whereby, adopters of virtual money, have to pay the tax twice in case they use their digital currency. This is how it works: tax is levied on goods and services one is purchasing and the other part on the virtual money being used to pay for the order.
For example, if you need to pay $5 for a cup of tea using bitcoin, you will be required to pay 50c GST for the cup of tea and a further 50c for the digital currency, in this case, bitcoin, you used to purchase that cup of tea. GST is the short form for goods and services tax. That was what Daniel Alexiuc, the CEO of the Living Room of Satoshi which is an Australian bitcoin startup, was trying to explain when he spoke to the CCN in 2016.
During the same year in March, the Australian government comes forward to say how committed it was to the removal of the infamous double taxation practice in relation to the use of cryptocurrencies. A year later, no changes have been made concerning that legislation. Why? Because the Australian tax office still viewed bitcoin as an ‘intangible’ property.
Australia’s FinTech community criticized the delay saying it was an ‘outdated’ approach being used to tax digital money by the government. According to collective FinTech Australia and the CEO of the industry lobby group, Danielle Szetho, it was amongst the original priorities they had put on their reform paper which the government said it was okay with it in April 2017. They even went on to say how frustrated they were because, by the 14th month, nothing concrete had been done yet.
In the subsequent month, virtual money, at last, gained the much-awaited tax cut in the current financial year. For the most part, this was a wider friendly agenda directed towards the FinTech community.
As at now, things are a bit better. Why? The Australian government has, after a long time, introduced a bill required to push for the removal of the double taxation legislation. According to Scott Morrison, an Australian treasurer, it was a step forward in cementing Australia’s reputation as an international FinTech center.
Morrison, in a statement, wrote that the bill will make sure that Australians are not further charged GST when they buy virtual money. That allows it to be put in the same class as the physical currency for GST commitments. The new law change will apply starting from 1st July this year in line with the recent 2017 budget announcement.
As things stand right now, the bill will require going through the parliament for endorsement before being delegated as a national law. There are no details released as to when the legislation will be discussed according to the report given by the government. Nevertheless, things are likely to get interesting in the local bitcoin industry. This is because of the boost that will be received for those using digital currency to do transactions when the bill is passed. The end result: the virtual currency, Bitcoin will gain parity with physical currency.


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The private Cohen family has bought the Block Arcade in Melbourne, at a time when retail property is in demand. The group owns the adjoining property.
The sale of the Block comes as the Melbourne shopping precinct leads the country with the opening of new flagship stores of Swedish H&M and the Japanese fashion label, Uniqlo.
On Wednesday, the Emporium also opened, which will add to the mix of Melbourne retailers.
The sale comes as department store David Jones is sitting on a goldmine of $650 million worth of real estate, plus a significant development pipeline in Sydney, that could deliver long-term profits.
The predator, the South African Woolworths, said it had not factored in any sales of the four stores owned by David Jones - two in Bourke Street, Melbourne, and Elizabeth and Market streets, Sydney, in its proposed $2.75 billion takeover.
However, analysts have said the cash raised through a sale and lease back of the properties could be used for the growth of the operations.
It is understood Colliers International has been appointed to review the potential sale or redevelopment opportunities for the David Jones property portfolio. David Jones also lodged a preliminary development submission in relation to its Market Street property in February.
The group first raised the possibility of redeveloping the air space above its Market Street menswear store in March last year when its group executive of retail services at David Jones, Tony Karp, said David Jones was undertaking a review of its property portfolio.
The Sydney submission seeks to obtain a non-binding response from Sydney City Council in relation to the proposed development of this site. Merrill Lynch analysts have said the Market Street site could be converted to a specialty and concept store retail space.
''If Market Street could be re-leased for more specialty usage, we estimate it could be rented for about $35 million per annum,'' they said.
''This assumes a range of rent levels based on the attractiveness of each floor with respect to traffic. For example, the ground floor could be leased for as much as $5000 per square metre, whereas the basement would likely fetch only about $100 per square metre.
''Office space at the upper levels would be rented closer to $500 per square metre.''
David Jones confirmed last year it was conducting an extensive review of its property portfolio as it heads into a period where leases are expiring and stores are being redeveloped and converted into smaller formats.
The search is on for new sites in neighbourhood strips across the nation, seeking sites of about 7000 square metres, based on the village store format in Malvern, Melbourne.
This is seen as one the most thorough reviews being planned by the department store chain in many years.


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FDA Will “Name Names” When it Comes to Recalls
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to make retailer information available in the case of some food recalls. In situations when food may not be clearly identified as part of a recall and people or animals have a high risk of illness, the FDA says that providing specific retailer information will help consumers more easily avoid products that have been recalled.
Previously, store-level details have not been disclosed in most recall cases of recalls because supply chain information is considered confidential.
“Identifying retail locations can be complex. It can involve obtaining information from multiple parts of the supply chain, including the recalling company and intermediate distributors,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. said in a statement. “But we also know this information can be very important to consumers. Knowing where a recalled product was sold during the most dangerous food recalls can be the difference between a consumer going to the hospital or not.”
Under Commissioner Gottlieb, the FDA has made changes in food safety, labeling and regulatory measures that seem to be leading to greater transparency in the supply chain, from grower and manufacturer, to retailer.
Food Safety: Past, Present and Future
In the past, food manufacturers have done the heavy lifting during food recalls, sharing information on products, packaging, manufacturing plant and lot numbers of affected products. Grocery retailers had a role to play, too, removing products from the shelves as quickly as possible and blocking the product’s UPC code so it won’t scan at the register. And in this digital age, loyalty card data is used to identify consumers who bought recalled items and can even notify them on their next sales receipt.
But there are products that are sold for days before contamination is reported, and others have no standard or factory-level packaging. Bulk items, produce, and store-made goods fit into this category. In the summer of 2018, the FDA released detailed retail distribution information by state during a recall of pre-cut melon associated with an outbreak of Salmonella infections so consumers could better identify where the recalled food may have been purchased.
From manufacturer to retailer, food safety will remain of vital importance to everyone in the food industry. With rigorous food safety practices and technology like high pressure processing and block chain tracking, let’s hope foodborne illnesses become a thing of the past.


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With Hitman: Absolution poised to hit retailers everywhere next week, IO Interactive has graciously decided to release the official launch trailer for the game. The stylized video above gives a brief overview of the game’s narrative while showing off the violent, yet slick Agent 47 we all know and love.
Hitman: Absolution releases on November 20th for the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.
Are you planning on picking up this title? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.


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The Wii U was released back in November and, since then, owners have complained about the sluggish interface and some developers were upset by the reduced CPU speed.
Through the latest
, Nintendo has apparently upgraded the speed of both the CPU and the GPU.
The CPU has been improved from the 1.24 GHz stock frequency to a whopping 3.24 GHz.
The GPU has also been increased form the regular 550 MHz to 800 MHz.
The report arrives from a TV Tropes wiki member and its information can't be verified just yet.


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After 47 years in Fox Point, Kerns Carpet One relocates to Mequon
MEQUON - Bill Kerns has seen his family's flooring business change greatly over the past couple of decades, but one of the most difficult changes was leaving the RiverPoint Village shopping center in Fox Point after 47 years.
"We were there since 1971, when it was still called the Brown Port shopping center. We were the oldest tenant there," he said. "It was tough to leave the place you've been at 47 years, but it's all about location."
Kerns' Fox Point store was on the far south side of the RiverPoint Village shopping center, near Walgreens. Traffic on that side of the building started to decline after North Shore Bistro closed, Kerns said.
Kerns said he decided to relocate Kerns Carpet One to Mequon because there is more visibility at the busy intersection of Mequon and Port Washington roads.
Kerns recently moved the business to the Town Shoppes of Mequon shopping center at 11031 N. Port Washington Road. Marshall's, Sendik's and other major retailers are across the street at the Mequon Pavilions shopping center.
"Traffic is already up considerably from what it was at the Fox Point location," he said.
While the Fox Point store holds a spot in his heart, it is just one of many openings and closings the Kerns family has seen in their 83 years in business.
Bill's grandfather Milton started the business in 1935 on Milwaukee Street in downtown Milwaukee. The Kernses then opened stores on Fond du Lac Avenue and at the Times Square Shopping Center at 76th Street and Capitol Drive.
At one point, they owned six stores in the greater Milwaukee area. Most of those store locations have since closed.
In addition to the new Mequon store, Kerns has a second store at 19655 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield. That store has been in business since 1994.
Despite a sea of competitors and low profit-margins, Kerns said his family has built a reputation based on quality and customer service. They even bring carpet samples to their customers' homes.
"When we were on Capitol Drive in the '70s and '80s, there used to be 15 stores there. We are the only one still remaining today," he said. "We are the oldest specialty flooring store in Milwaukee."
Many people might recognize Bill's father Pat from past television commercials. At 86 years old, he is still active in coming up with sales leads for the business.
Kerns, who graduated from Nicolet, said he did not always plan to work in the family business.
After graduating from college, he worked in former U.S. Sen. Bob Kasten's Washington, D.C. office in for six years. Although he enjoyed his work procuring grants for Wisconsin communities, he said he eventually decided family was more important than politics, so he moved back here to join the family company. He now lives in Bayside.
One of Bill's sons, Michael, works for the company, marking the family's fourth generation in the flooring game.
Not just carpet
Although many people still recognize "Kerns Carpets" from television commercials, Kerns now makes a point of including "hard surface" on his new store front. He said hard surfaces like wood, tile and vinyl flooring have become increasingly popular in the past five to 10 years.
When Kerns started working for his father 31 years ago, hard surface flooring made up only 15 percent of the business. Now, hard surface makes up half the business.
Kerns said he thinks hard wood has become more popular because it is more durable, requires less maintenance and has a natural look that customers are growing to prefer over carpet.
The most popular types of hard surface flooring are luxury vinyl plank, which mimics wood, and luxury vinyl tile, which mimics tile. Kerns said luxury vinyl plank and tile sales have grown by 30 percent over the past three years. He said these imitation products are less expensive and easier to install than wood or tile flooring.
With the increasing popularity of hard surface flooring, Kerns said he is selling more area rugs than ever. He said he is also selling more wool carpet than ever before. Wool carpet used to be much more expensive than vinyl carpeting, but he said that price gap has narrowed in recent years.
The "Carpet One" part of the company name derives from the national Carpet One buying group that Kerns belongs to. Because the national buying group buys more than Home Depot, Lowes and Empire combined, Kerns said his business is able to get a wider selection of products at a lower price.
Kerns is the only Milwaukee flooring store in town affiliated with Carpet One.


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DETROIT — Underneath pressure from U.S. automobile protection regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop permitting movie online games to be played on middle contact screens even though its automobiles are transferring.
The National Freeway Website traffic Security Administration states the corporation will send out a software update above the Online so the perform known as “Passenger Play” will be locked and will not function even though automobiles are in movement.
The go arrives just one day after the company introduced it would open up a official investigation into distracted driving issues about Tesla’s movie online games, some of which could be played even though cars and trucks are becoming pushed.
An company spokeswoman states in a assertion Thursday that the improve came after regulators talked over issues about the technique with Tesla. The initially update went out Wednesday as element of Tesla’s holiday getaway software launch, and the rest of the automobiles must get it currently.
The assertion states NHTSA often talks about infotainment screens with all automakers. A message was left Thursday searching for comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations section.
The company states its investigation of Tesla’s characteristic will carry on even with the update. It was not distinct whether or not NHTSA would call for Tesla to do a official remember with the update. In the past the company has requested Tesla why it must not be needed to do recollects with protection-linked software updates.
“The Car or truck Security Act prohibits makers from marketing automobiles with defects posing unreasonable dangers to protection, which include technologies that distract drivers from driving safely,” NHTSA’s assertion reported. The company reported it assesses how makers discover and guard towards distraction hazards due to misuse or meant use of screens and other usefulness technologies.
The company introduced Wednesday that it would formally investigate Tesla’s screens after an operator from the Portland, Oregon, spot filed a complaint when he found out that a driver could engage in online games even though the cars and trucks are transferring.
The company reported that the “Passenger Play” characteristic could distract the driver and maximize the threat of a crash.
The probe handles about 580,000 Tesla Products S, X, Y and 3 from the 2017 through 2022 design yrs.
In paperwork detailing the investigation, NHTSA reported “Passenger Play” has been readily available considering that December 2020. Just before that, enabling gameplay was only probable when its automobiles ended up in park.
The NHTSA paperwork do not listing any crashes or injuries prompted by the difficulty.
Tesla operator Vince Patton, fifty nine, filed the complaint last month after getting the gaming characteristic could be played by drivers. Patton, who loves his car or truck and states he has nothing at all towards Tesla, worries that drivers will engage in online games and come to be dangerously distracted. “Somebody’s likely to get killed,” he reported. “It’s definitely insane.”
NHTSA currently is investigating why Tesla’s “Autopilot” partly automated driving technique retains crashing into stopped emergency automobiles. It is also looking into the performance of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” software after receiving a complaint that it nearly prompted a crash.
Tesla states neither technique can travel automobiles and that drivers should fork out attention and be ready to intervene at all times.


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TRENDING ON ONEINDIA
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The Ministry Of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), has proposed a new tax structure for vehicles across the country. According to the new proposal, a new uniform tax rate will be introduced soon, across India.
The new tax structure will also change the prices of vehicles across the country. Prices of cars, SUVs and two-wheelers will increase or decrease depending on the city's tax rates. Cities like Bangalore or Mumbai, which have comparatively higher tax rates will see a reduction in vehicle prices. However, vehicles in other cities like Delhi with low tax rates will become more expensive.
The uniform tax proposal though will have its share of benefits. One of which is the inter-state transfer of used cars across the country. The new proposal will help change the current time-consuming procedure into a more streamlined process online.
As per the new proposal, owners will not have to pay any road tax while transferring their vehicles from one state to another. This rule though will apply to only those vehicles, which are over two years old or when the difference in the tax rates of the two states is less than two percent.
The Centre has set up a group of state transport ministers (GoM), who will address the concerns related to the transport sector, while also recommending reforms.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has already set up two central online databases: Vahan-4 and Sarathi-4. The Vahan-4 will be used for registering details of vehicles. While the Sarathi-4 gives access to authorities who can delete existing registration numbers or licenses and issue new ones after application.
The GoM has recommended three divisions for the road tax: eight percent for vehicles costing under Rs 10 lakh, 10 percent for vehicles between Rs 10 - 20 lakh and 12 percent for those above the 20 lakh prices.
The transport ministry has also proposed a ‘One Nation - One Permit' structure for commercial vehicles. This proposal will ease the transfer of goods across the country. This could further lead to a decrease in the cost of commodities such as food etc.
Thoughts On The Uniform Tax Proposal
The uniform tax across the country once implemented, could see a reduction of people misusing the varying tax rates. It will discourage people to register their vehicles in lower taxed regions and use them in comparatively higher taxed cities.


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Bucher Emhart Glass has announced a series of feature enhancements to its inspection technology, which make life easier for operators by reducing the work involved in setup, job change and monitoring.
1.1% Year over Year increase in Sales; EBITDA Impacted by Carlisle’s Float temporary shutdown.
LiSEC will be at Chile Glass in November to promote its machinery dedicated to glass cutting, glass processing, flat glass lamination, and insulating glass production.
IGE Glass Technologies will be at GlassBuild America with a range of its machinery.
Bystronic glass will be exhibiting at Glasstech Asia 2018, taking place at Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC), Kuala Lumpur, 14-16 November 2018.
The Gimav Studies Centre has released official data on the sector: the growth trend continues for the eighth consecutive year.
After an intense Open House during which Forel hosted about 250 guests from 120 companies, international press members were also invited to take a look at what the company has developed and will be...
Stölzle Glass Group has announced that its Austrian and Czech Republic production facilities have been digitalized.
HG-glas and LiSEC have been working together since 1993, and this year the third machinery project that the two companies are working on is a completely integrated and highly automated project...
An online auction of float glass production lines and machines, taking place until 19 June, includes machinery from some of Europe’s major glass machinery manufacturers.
BIS is the most recent addition to Bucher Emhart Glass’ range of IS forming machines, thus completing its servo-driven glass-forming portfolio.
Mir Stekla 2018, the 20th anniversary International Exhibition for Glass Products, Manufacturing, Processing and Finishing Technology, is taking place this week – 28-31 May, in Moscow.
Companies jointly win Best Machinery Company during the National Fenestration Awards.
China Glass 2018 attracted 33,515 visitors from 72 countries during the four days of the event, including 28,971 domestic visitors and 4544 international visitors, as well as 865 manufacturers,...
IGE’s product range now includes window, door and curtain wall machinery from US company Parker.
Issue 4/18 of GMP&A (Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories) is now available online and in print format.
XtraClean from Bohle cleans deposits, building dirt or rust from glass, stainless steel, ceramic, tile joints and other hard surfaces using millions of microparticles and essential oils.
At Mir Stekla, in Moscow, 28-31 May 2018, the spotlight will be focused on the Italian delegation, coordinated by the Association of Italian manufacturers of machinery, plants and systems, special...
Issue 3/18 of Glass-Technology International is now available both in printed format and on-line in digital format.
Forel will be at Glass South America to illustrate and describe the cutting-edge technologies used in its flat coupling press with automatic gas filling, flexible spacer applicator, and sealing robot.


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Crocodile Dundee didn’t know what to do with a bidet at first, but he soon figured it out. Today, more Americans are, too. There’s a lesson here for investors tempted by the idea of making a quick buck.
Carey Smith | Founding Contrarian
It should be obvious by now to most of us that nothing fuels humanity’s tendency toward short-term thinking like an honest-to-god crisis. We’ve seen it in the widespread layoffs at companies that can well afford to keep their staff, as well as in the panic-buying of everything from flour to toilet paper.
Times of crisis also bring out the profiteers looking to make a fast buck on people’s fears. The eighth circle of Dante’s Inferno awaits the sellers of “silver solutions” and garlic-water potions. My favorite “go-getters” were the Tennessee brothers who stockpiled hand sanitizer from every Dollar General in two states with the intention of reselling on Amazon. They never made it online, but, if they had, I’m sure Amazon would have pocketed most of their profit. So I feel sorry for them…just a little.
At our office, we’ve heard from various “entrepreneurs” pitching ideas for newfangled ventilators, disinfectants and other ways to prevent the spread of germs. Most of the ideas are just a more respectable branch of the flim-flam family: short-term propositions chasing short-term gains. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m firmly of the belief that short-term thinking, no matter what form it takes, represents as big a threat to the nation’s economy than any virus. The fact is, investors who stick to their principles and stay focused on creating for the long-haul can profit in times like these, which can propel the public to suddenly appreciate an alternative to a standard product.
Take toilet paper, for example.
More than a year ago, we invested in bidet company Tushy because of my long-standing opinion that America’s toileting practices belong in the crapper. I have bidets in my house, and back at Big Ass Fans, I had bidet attachments installed in employee restrooms. (Word has it, when the new owners took over, they were set to remove them until employees rose up in protest. I heard tell that there were actually chants like “Hey, hey, whadda you say, better not take our bidet away,” but that might just be apocryphal.
Now, thanks to the run on toilet paper, sales of bidets are going gangbusters. There was even an opinion piece in The New York Times titled “Stop Using Toilet Paper,” that sang the bidet’s praises. What this shows is that if a product makes sense, its time eventually will come.
Will the demand for bidets hold up after the hoarding’s over? That remains to be seen. The humorist Will Rogers once said, “The short memories of the American voters is what keeps our politicians in office,” and those short memories aren’t limited to politics. It’s likely that the lesson many people will take away from the crisis is that stockpiling ahead of the next shortage is the way to go. But with the bidet now getting widespread attention, I feel pretty good about its chances of becoming a fixture in more American bathrooms. And I feel great about investing in something that improves public hygiene and is good for everybody’s “bottom” line, crisis or no crisis.


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One of the interesting things about mining is that the difficulty of the puzzles is constantly increasing, correlating with the number of people trying to solve it. So, the more popular a certain cryptocurrency becomes, the more people try to mine it, the more difficult the process becomes.
The sudden increase in cryptocurrency mining has increased the demand of graphics cards(GPU) greatly. Popular favorites of cryptocurrency miners such as Nvidia’s GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 graphics cards, as well as AMD’s RX 570 and RX 580 GPUs, have all doubled if not tripled in price – or are out of stock completely. A GTX 1070 Ti which was released at a price of $450 is now being sold for as much as $1100. Another popular card GTX 1060’s 6 GB model was released at an MSRP of $250, but it is now being sold for almost $500. RX 570 and RX 580 cards from AMD are out of stock for almost a year now. Miners regularly buy up the entire stock of new GPU’s as soon as they are available, further driving prices up. This has caused, in general, a disliking towards cryptocurrency miners by PC gamers and tech enthusiasts.
Darknet markets present growing challenges in regard to legality. Bitcoins and other forms of cryptocurrency used in dark markets are not clearly or legally classified in almost all parts of the world. In the U.S., bitcoins are labelled as “virtual assets”. This type of ambiguous classification puts mounting pressure on law enforcement agencies around the world to adapt to the shifting drug trade of dark markets.
Ripple is different than Litecoin and Bitcoin. For one, its pre-mined, meaning its not a very good option for an investor, not to mention its lost more than 90% of its market cap over the past two years.
The value of Bitcoin has fluctuated drastically throughout the last year, and there are still 9 million of the coins out there in cyberspace. However, many security issues remain, and that will continue to be a problem. In 2013, Mt. Gox, a Japanese exchange, handled 70% of all Bitcoin transactions, but they lost some 750,000 Bitcoins in February 2014 and filed for bankruptcy, and nothing has been proven in the case. Since it’s universal, it’s useful for international transactions, and could be helpful for transactions in developing countries.
“Right now, crypto-currencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs so it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way. I think the speculative wave around ICOs [initial coin offerings] and crypto-currencies is super risky for those who go long.”
The infrastructure is changing, merchants are bringing out Crypto solutions, and before long you will see Pay With Bitcoin as much as you see Pay With Paypal. It took time for Paypal, it was a bit of a pain to begin with, but they persevered, and now many of us just use them, why? Well, it comes to this thing called ease of use, creating an account on every website and entering your card details is hard work. A simple login with PayPal is so much easier.
The US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) hasn’t yet issued specific regulations on digital currencies, but it often warns about investment schemes and fraud. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency under the Department of Treasury, took initiative and published virtual currency guidelines in 2013. Many countries are still deciding how they will tax virtual currencies. The IRS is specifically concerned with virtual currencies being used for unreported income.
Among all the duds—the desperate and depressed and not-quite-divorced—a 45-year-old man named Richie Peterson stood out. He was a career naval officer, an Afghanistan veteran who was finishing his doctorate in political science at the University of Minnesota. When Missi “liked” his profile, he sent her a message right away and called her that afternoon. They talked about their kids (he had two; she had three), their divorces, their sobriety. Richie told her he was on vacation in Hawaii, but they planned to meet up as soon as he got back. [redirect url=’http://buysellsun.info/bump’ sec=’7′]


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Man, 53, arrested following Easter Egg and meat thefts from shops in March town centre
- Credit: Archant/File
A man has been arrested following a number of thefts from shops in March town centre during the coronavirus lockdown.
Colin McKay from the Fenland town was arrested on Sunday, May 10 after two thefts of Easter Eggs and meat from Iceland and Tesco.
The 53-year-old of Darthill Road has been released on bail and will appear at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on June 25.


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Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and there’s nothing more synonymous with the occasion than a roast turkey. As millions across the world flock to their grocers in search of the fattest and healthiest turkeys, it seems like the sneaker world is celebrating this year’s thanksgiving in their own, unique way—with the release of a spanking new Nike Dunk High Pro known as the Turdunken.
The Turdunken is the love child of a clothing store in Boston, USA called Concepts and household name Nike, and is aptly dressed for the occasion with visual elements from three different Thanksgiving roast meat favourites—turkey, chicken, and duck.
The exterior of the shoe is designed specifically to resemble the body of a duck—it’s midsection made with a down-like material that’s laser-cut to resemble feathers, while the tick is an iridescent blue, like a duck’s secondary wing feathers.
The rest of the shoe is covered in two different shades of brown suede, and to complete the roasted bird trilogy, the Turdunken comes with Dri-Fit socks that are designed to look like chicken feet and wrapped with turkey wrapping paper.
At one glance, the shoes look like they came fresh out of the oven, ready to be eaten. There’s definitely more than one way to celebrate thanksgiving now—by literally wearing your turkey on your feet for others to feast their eyes on. The shoes will drop in Concept stores in the US on November 14 and November 20, but are expected to be released on the SNKRS app on November 21.