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ANDROID users have been warned to delete 17 "malicious" apps that blackmail people out of money.
So-called SpyLoan apps have been downloaded more than 12million times, according to experts.
Perpetrators have gone as far as sending death threats to pull off their wicked scheme, ESET claims.
These dangerous loan services market themselves across social media and prey on vulnerable victims.
They promise "quick and easy access to funds".
Users have to surrender access to various kinds of sensitive information on their phone to use them.
Read more about Android
Billions of Android users warned to delete spy apps that ‘read texts and passwords’
Warning to delete ‘hidden’ spy app on your Android phone with secret menu trick
This includes call logs, storage, media files, contact lists, location data and text messages.
Scammers then take this information to pressure people into making payments, even if they didn't apply for a loan in the end, some victims claim.
"These malicious applications exploit the trust that users place in legitimate loan providers, using sophisticated techniques to deceive people and steal a very wide range of personal information," explained ESET researcher Lukáš Štefanko, who uncovered the sinister scheme.
"It is crucial for individuals to exercise caution, validate the authenticity of any financial app or service, and rely on trusted sources.
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"By staying informed and vigilant, users can better protect themselves from falling victim to such deceptive schemes."
Most victims have been traced back to Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
There are currently no active campaigns targeting the UK or US.
ESET says Google quickly removed 17 such apps once notified.
But those who have already installed the apps will need to check phones and delete them manually.
According to PhoneArena, these are the 17 apps:
- AA Kredit
- Amor Cash
- Préstamos De Crédito-YumiCash
- Go Crédito
- Instantáneo Préstamo
- Cartera grande
- Rápido Crédito
- Finupp Lending
- 4S Cash
How to protect yourself from fraud
USE the following tips to protect yourself from fraudsters.
- Keep your social media accounts private – Think twice before you your share details – in particular your full date of birth, address and contacts details – all of this information can be useful to fraudsters.
- Deactivate and delete old social media profiles – Keep track of your digital footprint. If a profile was created 10 years ago, there may be personal information currently available for a fraudster to use that you’re are not aware of or you have forgotten about.
- Password protect your devices– Keep passwords complex by picking three random words, such as roverducklemon and add or split them with symbols, numbers and capitals.
- Install anti-virus software on your laptop and personal devices and keep it up to date – This will make it harder for fraudsters to access your data in the first place.
- Take care on public Wi-Fi– Fraudsters can hack or mimic them. If you’re using one, avoid accessing sensitive apps, such as mobile banking.
- Think about your offline information too – Always redirect your post when you move home and make sure your letter or mailbox is secure.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
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SEGA is promising new energy for a new era with their Game Awards announcement of upcoming Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi games.
Yes, this exciting announcement came as part of The Game Awards, which took place in Los Angeles last night. That event celebrated this year’s best in video games, as well as allowing major developers to preview upcoming projects.
Most of the games previewed would be current generation titles that do not fall under the retro banner. So imagine our excitement to see the familiar SEGA logo come on screen with the “NEW ERA NEW ENERGY” slogan.
Needless to say, this was a highlight of the event for all of us at Retro Dodo. So let’s dig into it!
Table of Contents
Jet Set Radio
The new game play teaser from Sega started with wild footage from the new Jet Set Radio game. And it looks as fun and stylish as you would hope for.
This was the only game from the new lineup that we had caught wind of earlier this year, which we broke down here. And in today’s leak culture, it is very surprising that so many of these games have been such well kept secrets.
But surely you’d agree that it is way more satisfying to be caught by surprise with a really cool new game rather than hearing every little detail about it from the nonstop rumour mill.
Finally seeing real footage of the next Jet Set Radio was very fulfilling, and we cannot wait to lace up our skates and tear through the city in this new game.
The modern graphics make Jet Set Radio absolutely pop, and everything about this game is looking pretty sweet. And this was just the start!
Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe
The Sega teaser continued with quick glimpses at some game franchises we haven’t heard from in a long time. And all of these were major surprises as the popped up on our screens.
In fact, it took us a few seconds to start making the connections in our brain to know exactly what franchise we were looking at!
Streets of Rage in particular looked so unique and such an interesting take on the original classic for the modern era.
We did have a recent entry in this franchise, with Streets of Rage 4 releasing in 2020, leveraging a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge style.
And that really shouldn’t be much of a surprise, since both games have similar roots in the beat ’em up genre and from the same era.
But this new entry for Streets of Rage has gone way more modern and has a brand new aesthetic that we are absolutely loving.
It does appear to take place in a full 3D environment rather than that familiar beat ’em up platforming style. And this new direction feels just perfect for the Streets of Rage IP.
Whatever the game ends up being, it certainly fits within contemporary gaming and we’re loving what we see so far.
Shinobi Tears Into The World Of Modern Gaming
Shinobi certainly looked interesting as well, with elements of Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Okami throw into the old formula to make it fresh.
The last we had seen from this franchise was Shinobi 3D back in 2011, and this new teaser shows a major evolution for the series.
The dynamic backgrounds with massive environments and ominous figures in the distance create an intriguing world. And it has us questioning whether or not we will have to actually fight those things at some point!
This new Shinobi title certainly has the makings of a future addition to a best platforming list here on Retro Dodo. Time will tell, of course.
Golden Axe Gets A Glow Up
Then we had Golden Axe, which was VERY different from what we know the original title to be.
This new imagining took the series into full 3d action with elements of Baldur’s Gate 3 or even current era Doom. The level of intensity in this short preview was high!
We’ve certainly never seen Golden Axe look anything remotely similar to what we are seeing today. And this teaser absolutely has me eager to experience it for myself as soon as possible.
And then, of course, the short teaser closes the show with a new entry in the Crazy Taxi franchise. It would seem that they saved the best for last, because this game is looking absolutely wild!
If you’re familiar with Crazy Taxi, you probably know what to expect. But it has been over twenty years since we have seen a true entry in the franchise (we don’t count those mobile adaptations).
And surely you would agree that there has been some incredible evolution and the Crazy Taxi IP works very well for a contemporary video game.
They took everything that we know and love about the original games, added a little Grand Theft Auto, perhaps took some inside inspiration from what they were doing with the new Jet Set Radio, and it all resulted in something that looks like a heck of a lot of fun.
This was a personal highlight of the entire Sega teaser, and it’s the game I’m most looking forward to seeing in the future.
Sega has absolutely crushed it with their new teaser video. Not a single weak link in the lineup. And we’re dying to see more from each and every one of the games included.
No word on when that will be exactly, but we expect to be hearing more in the coming year and possibly even a few of them to be released in 2024.
And we still don’t even know what the “AND MORE” portion of their bullet point list includes. So there is a lot to look forward to from SEGA in the future.
This article may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to purchase an item we may earn a commission.
Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion in retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.

domain: news


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The best PS4 Black Friday 2015 deals – mega-round-up of the cheapest prices
Black Friday 2015: The best Xbox One deals – retailers with cheapest prices
The Indie Fund has announced it will throw its support behind Kachina, a new game from the designer of The Unfinished Swan.
Little Flag Software headlines
Little Flag Software Latest
Kachina is the Indie Fund’s next project


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Vietnam-UK Business Forum explores energy, trade opportunities
|Director of the European-American Market Department Ta Hoang Linh speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s European - American Market Department Ta Hoang Linh said despite geopolitical tensions and global economic challenges since the beginning of this year, two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK still stood out as a bright spot, reaching 5.87 billion USD in the first 10 months of this year, showing a 1.6% increase year on year.
A number of Vietnam’s key export items from Vietnam showed positive growth, including rubber products 66%, electrical wires and cables 5.5%, phones and components 21%, machinery and equipment 15.5%. Agricultural products such as vegetables rose by 15.5%, cashew nuts 7.2%, and coffee 5.7%. Vietnam also increased its imports from the UK, particularly pharmaceuticals and machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts for production.
As a dynamic country with political stability and attractive business environment in Asia-Pacific, Vietnam has become a reliable and sustainable investment destination for the UK, he said.
As of October 20, the UK had invested in 550 projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of around 4.28 billion USD, ranking 15th among 143 countries and territories investing there.
In the first eight months of this year, the UK recorded 43 new projects in Vietnam with a combined registered capital of 58.6 million USD, mostly in manufacturing and processing, renewable energy, industry, environmental management, finance and banking, real estate, retail, education, healthcare, and more.
Meanwhile, Vietnam now has 14 projects valued at 17.3 million USD in the European nation, which remains modest compared to the potential and aspirations of both countries.
David Johnstone, Head of FTA Utilisation at the UK Department for Business and Trade, said both nations continue to demonstrate huge cooperation potential in energy transition in Vietnam. This is especially the case following the approval of the National Power Development Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 (Master Plan VIII) which allocates a large space for renewable energy. Both countries are also taking specific steps to realise the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
During the event, two discussion sessions on energy and trade gathered numerous speakers, including experts, policy planners, researchers, and outstanding businesses of both countries. They shared new perspectives and valuable experience to explore new opportunities based on ongoing projects.
Director Linh affirmed that the ministry will continue offering all possible support to businesses and investors, including those from the UK. The aim is to help them realise ideas and efficient operations in Vietnam, contributing to making bilateral economic ties more substantial and effective.


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Research by O2 has found that only 15pc of small and medium-sized Irish businesses frequently use SMS for business purposes. Alarmingly, 25pc of Irish businesses employing between one and 50 workers don’t use email.
According to Gerry McQuaid, commerical director of O2 Ireland, many small and medium sized businesses are missing out on productivity benefits of the new mobile economy due to lack of awareness and, in some cases, fear of technology.
McQuaid was speaking at the launch of O2’s new Experience store on Grafton St, where the company has an upstairs section dedicated to wireless business applications and technologies.
McQuaid said that only 25pc of organisations that employ up to 50 people actually use email and only 15pc of SMEs frequently use SMS for business purposes.
“This has implications for the competitiveness of a sector which is the backbone of the Irish economy,” said Gerry McQuaid. “We want to show business people just how powerful their mobile phone or PDA can be in delivering cost savings, productivity and business results.”
By John Kennedy


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Insight: Orla Gogarty
NDRC's Helen Fullen spoke to Orla Gogarty, Director of Digital Health, Transformation and Partnerships at
St Patricks Mental Health Services and supporter of The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition 2019.
The NDRC Podcast hears from Julie O'Donnell, CEO of Medit, whose attempts to kickstart a new age in communication between medical professionals are starting to take shape.
Today, The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition, in partnership with NDRC and St Patrick's Mental Health Services (SPMHS), announced details of a special €5,000 prize fund for a technology idea that focuses on mental health.
The NDRC Podcast hears from Lucinda Kelly, CEO of Popertee, about the trials and tribulations behind forming a business, the the journey towards raising funding and scaling in the UK and Ireland.
The Ireland Funds, in partnership with NDRC, has launched the annual Business Plan Competition 2019, offering €24,000 to kick-start three new technology business ideas.
NDRC runs acceleration activities all over Ireland, with various programmes running in Dublin, Galway and Waterford throughout the year. Startups willing to relocate to secure the funding benefit most.
Finding your customer is an integral part of building a business. Developing a process where your customer finds, and funds, you? Perfect. Or is it…
NDRC at PorterShed is once again on the lookout for startups to join its Galway-based accelerator programme. Applications are open until the end of March, with NDRC at PorterShed’s third accelerator beginning in May this year.
Founding a business on your own is a brave move, but bravery isn’t always rewarded, or necessarily the right move. NDRC’s portfolio of companies sees those with multiple founders performing higher than those with sole founders. Alan Costello, venture leader at NDRC, discusses some elements you may want to consider when finding a person to set up shop with.
NDRC's portfolio of companies enjoyed another positive 12 months in 2018. In a year which saw NDRC recognise its first Decade of Investing, businesses in its portfolio raised more than €50 million through private investment and funding.


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Altruist garners an $8.5 million Series A from Venrock to revolutionize the way financial advisors serve clients
Venice Beach, CA — November 21, 2019
Altruist has raised an $8.5 million Series A funding round led by Venrock to build the first-ever fully-integrated digital brokerage platform for financial advisors. The platform will offer advisors commission-free trading, fractional shares, the ability to open accounts online in minutes, and seamless integration between brokerage services and native portfolio accounting software.
Over their 50-year history of venture investing, Venrock has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs develop products that change the way we live, including early investments in groundbreaking companies like Apple, Intel, Cloudflare, Personal Capital, and Dataminr.
As part of the capital raise, Nick Beim will be joining the Altruist Board of Directors. Nick brings nearly two decades of successful venture investing, helping startups like Dataminr scale to become hugely successful players in their markets.
“Today’s RIA technology products are not known for their efficiency, low cost or delightful user experience. Altruist combines these products in its seamlessly integrated digital investing platform, which results in extraordinary ROI for financial advisors and enables them to spend far more time with clients.”
Nick will join Altruist’s CEO and Founder, Jason Wenk, on the board. Jason made waves with his first two companies, Retirement Wealth Advisors and FormulaFolios. With Jason as CEO, FormulaFolios achieved a 13,927% 3-year growth rate and manages nearly $4 billion today. This rapid growth ranked the firm as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country by Inc. magazine 5 years in a row, reaching as high as #10.
Jason was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018 and is looking forward to tackling what he sees as one of the biggest problems in financial services today:
“Our mission is to make financial advice better, more affordable, and more accessible. To accomplish this we need to modernize the tools available to financial advisors. The investment and support, from Venrock will help us radically transform the way RIAs are able to serve their clients.”
While several custodians have recently introduced commission-free trading to stay competitive among robo advisors, Jason addresses this as the tip of the iceberg in his recent article, explaining that there are far more hidden costs in things like fund expenses, kickbacks, and numerous unnecessary fees.
Jason estimates that Altruist will save advisors upwards of 95% on software costs and enable them to grow their businesses much more rapidly. While he’s looking forward to giving advisors the much-needed support they need to manage their businesses, he’s most excited about what this does for the everyday investor:
“One of the most exciting things we’ll be doing is putting more of investors’ returns back into their own accounts. The hidden costs of investing will drop about 60%, and with the savings and efficiency gains financial advisors will experience, we think the cost for a qualified financial advisor will drop significantly too.”
Altruist kicked off at the beginning of 2019 and released a beta version of its Portfolio Accounting software in July. The full platform will be available to the public in early 2020.
Originally established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family in 1969, Venrock partners with entrepreneurs to build some of the world’s most disruptive, successful companies. With a primary focus on technology and healthcare, portfolio companies have included Apple, Intel, Gilead, Checkpoint, Doubleclick, Illumina, Millennium, Nest, CloudFlare, 10x and Dataminr. For more information, please visit Venrock’s website at venrock.com and follow the firm on Twitter at @venrock.
Altruist is an LA-based fintech company on a mission to make financial advisors better, more affordable, and accessible to more people. The team builds products to help advisors increase efficiency and offers an investment platform that substantially lowers costs. As the first completely digital brokerage, Altruist helps advisors provide their clients with a delightful experience with their money. Learn more at altruist.com and follow on Twitter @altruistcorp.


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Product liability lawyers news: Toy gun set recalled due to chocking hazard
Legal news for product liability attorneys. “Action Team” Toy Dart Gun Set recalled due to choking threat.
Consumer Product Safety Commission alerts product liability lawyers-A toy dart gun set imported by OKK Trading was recalled.
Los Angeles, CA—OKK Trading Inc., of Los Angeles, California, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) http://www.cpsc.gov/, announced a voluntary recall of the “Action Team” Toy Dart Gun Set due to a choking threat. The recall was announced on December 17, 2009, and advises all consumers to stop using the product unless otherwise instructed, as reported by the CPSC.
Nearly 22,000 “Action Team” Toy Gun Dart Sets, manufactured by Kong Hoi Industrial Co., of Hong Kong, China, were recalled because the toy would pose a hazard if a child were to put the soft, pliable plastic dart in their mouth. The dart is likely to choke/aspirate the child, which will impair the child’s breathing. If the dart is not immediately removed, the inability to breathe can cause brain damage or death. The recalled product has a toy gun with three soft rubber darts, a S.W.A.T. watch, a baton, walkie-talkie, a whistle, a badge, and an identification card. The darts are described as soft, pliable orange plastic darts with a 2 ½ inch long shaft and have a 3/4 inch diameter suction cup. The dart gun is black with an orange nose and trigger with a red spring release mechanism. On the side of the barrel “Made in China” is imprinted. The recalled product was sold at discount department stores nationwide from December 2006 through March 2008 for $1.
There has been one reported death of an 8-year-old Port Arthur, Texas boy in November 2007. The death occurred when the child was apparently chewing on the toy dart, when he accidentally swallowed it and it became stuck in his airway, leaving him without the ability to breathe. Consumers are urged to take the dart gun set from their children immediately and to contact OKK trading to return the toy set for a refund of $3. OKK trading is providing free postage paid envelope for consumers who returning the product. To contact OKK Trading, call their toll-free number at (877) 655-8697 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday; or visit their website at www.okktrading.com.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for product liability lawyers.


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Bakery sets profit targets at $28m
HCM CITY (VNS)— The HCM City Stock Exchange-listed commercial bakery Kinh Do Co has set itself a target of VND600 billion (US$28.7 million) in total pre-tax profits this year on a turnover of VND5.5 trillion ($263 million).
Last year its pre-tax profits were VND515 billion, a 47 per cent rise over 2011.
KDC has already achieved its target of selling 3,800 tonnes of products for the Lunar New Year.
By Tet, which falls on February 10, it expects to exceed the target by 10 per cent.-VNS


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Ford has announced that 2013 sales in Malaysia jumped 50% from the previous year to 10,660 units, the company’s best performance in 20 years. It makes Ford one of the fastest growing car brands in the country. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has released full vehicle production and sales data for 2013 – click here to see more figures.
This year will see Ford launch the Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost in the first quarter, before the EcoSport SUV debuts later in the year. Both were previewed at KLIMS13. The Blue Oval will also start local assembly of the Transit van in the first quarter of 2014 – full details on that one here.
On the after-sales front, Ford will expand its dealer network to 50 locations nationwide, plus the launch of eight Quick Lane service centres to support the growing number of Ford owners in Malaysia.


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Chefs like Italy's Massimo Bottura regularly hatch plans for new restaurants all over the world: They build in Dubai, launch in Vegas, test their culinary mettle in London. That’s how dining empires are built. And that’s the typical trajectory of a talent like Bottura, whose Osteria Francescana in Modena is No. 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. But Bottura has other ideas about what it means to broaden his reach.
The 53-year-old chef has decided to franchise compassion rather than high-concept cuisine. Last year, Bottura founded a Milan soup kitchen, Refettorio Ambrosiano, focused on zero-waste cooking. Through his and his wife Lara’s nonprofit, Food for Soul, he’s lending recipes and design ideas to a 60-year-old soup kitchen in Bologna called Antoniano. Most recently, he launched a project to feed the poor during the Rio Olympics in partnership with chef and activist David Hertz of Brazil’s Gastromotiva. “This is a cultural project,” Bottura affirms, “not a charity.”
- What Massimo Bottura Learned about Life from Tortellini
- Chefs Are Taking the Fight Against Food Waste to Congress
- Damien Hirst, Massimo Bottura, and the Best Named Dish Ever
Bottura’s global soup kitchens got their start at the 2015 Expo Milano, where he enlisted a team of designers and artists to turn an abandoned theater into Refettorio Ambrosiano. Using Expo ingredients that would otherwise have been thrown out, he cooked broths and ragùs, bringing 65 of the best chefs on earth on board to help. “Ninety-nine percent of the people we asked came,” Bottura says. Alain Ducasse prepared Moroccan-inflected meatballs. René Redzepi turned out burgers with eggplant. Daniel Humm prepared trays of lasagna. Each meal made a statement about food waste and equality, treating fresh, delicious and healthy cooking not as a luxury but as a human right.


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Those of us that love the idea of sustainability and recycling will be happy to hear that Mattel’s much loved card game series UNO, will get it’s own environmentally sustainable revamp. The cards are made out of “Nothin’ But Paper”.
Mattel has made the decision to remove cellophane from the manufacture of its products and will rely on paper, and paper alone for it’s 112, completely recyclable card decks.
This revamp of the popular game series is a part of an initiative made by toy and game companies in America to work towards the selling of products as well as their packaging, that are recyclable, recycled or made of bio-based plastics by 2035. Mattel had this to say:
“Small steps can make a big impact,” they said, “especially when these changes roll out through the most popular card game in the world.”
The UNO Nothin’ But Paper is currently being sold on Amazon for $6.
Stay in the know with the latest culture news


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SEATTLE, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC, a global leader in technology innovation and design, has signed a multi-year agreement with six-time MLB All-Star and Seattle Mariners 2nd baseman Robinson Cano. The partnership between HTC and Robinson Cano is born out of a shared dedication to the pursuit of personal excellence.
"HTC is a natural fit for me because they always want to be the best at what they do," Cano said. "Their products are great for me because I'm always on the road and I need my phone to work as hard as I do."
Cano's dedication to sportsmanship and mentorship were defining factors in HTC naming him a North American ambassador for the brand.
"Robbie's authentic enthusiasm for our products, brand and company values made the decision to work together easy," said Erin McGee, VP of Marketing for HTC Americas. "HTC is a company driven by passionate employees who believe in teamwork, co-creation and empowering others to pursue their brilliance. Robbie's leadership on and off the field aligns seamlessly with HTC's core values and we are excited about his contributions over the next few years."
In addition to establishing himself as a prominent member of the Seattle community in the past year, Cano continues to build his RC22 Foundation to serve underprivileged youth worldwide. HTC recognizes and supports Cano's dedication to RC22 Dream School, a planned Montessori school and community education center in Cano's home country of the Dominican Republic funded by the RC22 Foundation.
Founded in 1997, HTC Corp. (HTC) is the creator of many award-winning mobile devices and industry firsts. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC pushes the boundaries of design and technology to create innovative and personal experiences for consumers around the globe. HTC's portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by the HTC Sense® user experience. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). For more information, please visit www.htc.com.
SOURCE HTC Corporation


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NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- This November American voters will head to the polls to decide whether to give President Barack Obama a second term. The upcoming election will communicate whether the electorate believes his continued occupancy of The White House will fulfill his promise of sustained economic growth and shared prosperity. BLACK ENTERPRISE recently gained the opportunity to interview and photograph President Obama for the first time in the Oval Office. In the exclusive Q&A, which comprises the magazine's August cover feature and is available online now, the President sits down with SVP/Editor-in-Chief Derek T. Dingle to specifically address issues of concern to the black business community.
Excerpts from the interview are included below:
Editor-in-Chief Derek T. Dingle: "As you campaign for re-election, what do you communicate to black businesses that will make them enthusiastic supporters?"
President Barack Obama: "The first thing is to understand that we have just gone through the worst financial and economic crisis in our lifetimes. And my first job as president was to make sure that we didn't slip into a second Great Depression. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month. Banks were locked up. Credit was frozen. The auto industry was about to go under. And because of the steps that we took, we have now seen two straight years of job growth, 4 million jobs created, [the] strongest manufacturing growth since the 1990s, unemployment has started to come down, and the auto industry is back. All of those steps that we took had an impact on black businesses just like they did businesses generally."
"Let's take the auto industry. You know the number of black businesses that are involved in the supply chain and that are involved in various services, whether it's advertising or other aspects of the industry. They have all been impacted positively by the steps that we took. Now does that mean that we've done enough? Absolutely not."
"The African American community ends up being hurt during recessionary times more than the population at large. [The] African American unemployment rate is still way too high. You had a credit crunch for small- and medium-sized businesses that disproportionately impacted African American businesses. But part of what we have been able to do is to specifically focus on disadvantaged businesses, disadvantaged communities. The Small Business Administration, for example, which is a significant source of financing for minority- and women-owned businesses, has stepped into the breach by expanding their loan portfolios and cutting their fees at a time when a lot of banks and other financial institutions just pulled back. Some of the work that we did legislatively, like the New Markets Tax Credit, makes a huge difference specifically for African American businesses".
Dingle: "How do you respond to criticism that your administration hasn't done enough to support black businesses?"
Obama: "My general view has been consistent throughout, which is that I want all businesses to succeed. I want all Americans to have opportunity. I'm not the president of black America. I'm the president of the United States of America, but the programs that we have put in place have been directed at those folks who are least able to get financing through conventional means, who have been in the past locked out of opportunities that were available to everybody. So, I'll put my track record up against anybody in terms of us putting in place broad-based programs that ultimately had a huge benefit for African American businesses."
Dingle: Black unemployment still stands at nearly 14%. How do you communicate that the economy is headed in the right direction?
Obama: "Most economists will tell you that there is no doubt the economy has gotten stronger, but we are digging ourselves out a deep hole. There are a lot more things we could be doing. To get them done, we need cooperation of Congress. We got the payroll tax portion of [my American Jobs Act] done, but what we didn't get done is the assistance I was proposing to the states to help them hire back teachers, firefighters, and first responders, because one of the weakest parts of this recovery has been state and local government hiring.
Given the weaknesses of the construction industry, the American Jobs Act proposed that we rebuild schools, roads, bridges, airport, and ports. That would provide small businesses with opportunities as contractors and vendors in this rebuilding process. Again, Congress needs to act."
The complete BLACK ENTERPRISE interview with President Barack Obama is available online now at www.blackenterprise.com/news/president-obama-interview-small-business-unemployment-exclusive/. The August issue of Black Enterprise magazine including the exclusive Presidential Q&A, accompanying editorial "President Obama's Big Plans for Small Business" by Derek T. Dingle, along with original photographs by Director of Photography Lonnie C. Major, is on newsstands now.
BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source to build Wealth for Life, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 4 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company, BE also produces television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, and digital media. Visit www.blackenterprise.com for more information.
SOURCE BLACK ENTERPRISE


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Combining beef with vegetables and pulses can cut emissions and deliver on taste. What’s not to like, wonders David Burrows.
Earlier this month I wrote this short news item about a study by the Stockholm Resilience Centre that looked under the bonnet of some of the sustainability claims made aboutby different food technologies, including blockchain, home delivery, protein alternatives and vertical farms. Few of them were supported by decent data, and there was too much focus on carbon and too little on anything besides (those ‘unintended consequences’). “There is a distinct lack of studies assessing the social and economic implications of shifting towards plant-based alternatives,” they noted in their paper for Nature Food.
And yet cash keeps pouring into this and other food tech. Should we be worried? We shouldn't shoot these silver bullets down if they come up short on sustainability just yet, but where are the holes and which solutions provide most reason for hope in driving down scope 3 emissions are questions that need to be asked.
One innovation that I hold high hopes for is blending both meat and plants (like mushrooms, beetroot or lentils) into burgers. In theory these offer the best of both worlds: less (and better) meat and more plants. Those that are already reducing their meat consumption may pine after a 100% beef burger, which is fine, but despite the growing number of so-called reducers and flexitarians meat consumption is not falling fast enough.
According to Joseph Poore from the University of Oxford, blended products might be “essential” to achieve international sustainability targets at the scale and speed required. With the help of his colleague Hannah Ritchie, he recently crunched some data on two key foodservice brands to show how. The results are eye-catching.
If McDonald’s and Burger King (which together represent 2-3% of global beef purchases) swapped 50% of the beef in their burgers for plants by blending burgers it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34MtCO2e per year. Another 17MtCO2e would be removed as 8.5 million hectares of land “reverts to nature”, Poore explained.
So combined, that’s 51MtCO2e. And here’s the kicker: that’s more than 80% of the way to meeting both companies’ net-zero targets. But will either go for it?
Burger King UK has committed to a 41% reduction in scope 3 emissions by 2030, which will require a big shift to plants (its target is for 50% of the menu to be plant-based by the end of the decade). It’s also being rather bullish about how to do this, trialling meatless as the default option in Austria. McDonald’s UK&I, which tends to be more sheepish about its commitments, has the rather woollier promise to “have a market leading vegan plant-based food and drinks offering by 2025”.
I can’t see either of these brands going for blended options, though. Fear of a backlash, for one – their burgers like the Big Mac and Whopper have dedicated followers numbering in the millions and it would seem foolish to play around with a winning recipe. Contract caterers are likely to be more interested, with one telling me the blended burger is a potential “gem” of an innovation.
Schools may well be a good place to start. Rebel Meat, in Austria, has launched a chicken nugget with 40% meat and 60% veg. “We have learned that people understand the concept of blended meat much better in the context of ‘kids food’,” says CEO Philipp Stangl. With less meat to buy, the meat (and veg) content can be made organic and is marketed as ‘natural’ to help differentiate it from the faux-meat that can rely on highly-processed ingredients such as texturised pea protein powder.
A word to the wise for the fast food chains reliant on livestock though: there’s no guarantee that sales will shift enough from much-loved meat to pure plants. If their carbon reduction targets remain out of reach come the middle of the decade they might be forced to look at blended options.
It’ll have to be carefully marketed. A blend is certainly not as sexy as vegan. Still, the honeymoon period for plant-based meats appears to be nearing its end: a lack of differentiation, a few duds on the market and big questions marks over nutrition, over-processing and affordability are all casting a shadow (and allowing meat, via the regenerative movement, to fight back).
Research by Marija Banovic, associate professor at MAPP Centre, Aarhus University in Denmark, showed hybrid burgers are a good way of bridging the gap from meat to plants “on many levels”, especially for meat lovers. Recent research with a small number of UK consumers, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, also showed a blended burger beat the beef one in a blind taste test.
Maybe we do need to open our minds to the concept of the blended burger. I’d love to hear from those already working in this space.


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Tulsa International Airport is getting a facelift but with a local twist. Travelers began seeing changes in the kinds of businesses and restaurants at TIA on May 1.
The airport transformation is designed to give travelers a little taste of Tulsa.
It's out with the old and in with some Green Country favorites at Tulsa International Airport.
TIA employees are happy to have a little piece of home with them while they are working.
In the next few months, the airport is getting rid of franchises like Starbucks and replacing them with local favorites, like Cherry Street Beer Garden, Fat Guys Burger Bar and Topeca Coffee.
"It's important that we recognize that that's important to our local community," said TIA Marketing Director Alexis Higgins.
But, they are keeping a few nationally known vendors and even adding a few like Chili's.
"The majority of our customers this time of year are not from Tulsa," Higgins said. "They are coming in for meetings, conferences, events and that's why those national brands are important to us as well."
Higgins projects the finished project will raise the airport's food, beverage, and retail revenue by nearly 70 percent and those economic benefits could affect everyone from airport employees to travelers.
"The more money we make from non-airline revenue sources then the lower the costs are to the airlines," Higgins said.
The airport hopes to have the majority of work finished by the end of the year.


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The 15 per cent rise by Virgin CrossCountry on rides from England to Scotland using Super Saver tickets, which can be used on any day except Fridays and summer Saturdays, will, according to pressure group Save Our Railways, mean the end of affordable, turn-up-and-go train travel.
Scheduled to be introduced in June, the new prices will mean that some tickets which do not allow passengers to travel on a Friday will be more expensive than tickets which do. A spokesman for CrossCountry said: "Some fares are rising by 15 per cent. But many other ticket prices are coming down."
Mr Branson, who took over the running of pounds 100m CrossCountry services last year, has to increase ticket sales by 10 per cent in order to make the line profitable. His business plan is based around airline-style marketing. This means that a number of low-cost tickets have been heavily promoted by the company - but all require passengers to book their journey at least a day early and to specify outbound and return trains.
"The price of tickets which you have to book in advance are falling by 10 per cent. There will always be people who want an open-type ticket and they will have to pay a premium," said a spokesman.
Barry Doe, the transport consultant who uncovered the new pricing regime, claimed that the "days of just taking the first train that turned up are numbered."
The increases are being brought in on all "anglo-Scottish" fares controlled by CrossCountry. This will affect cheap returns to Scotland from Wales, the South West and most of the Midlands and the North West.


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New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services Tuesday became the second Indian company to attain a market valuation of over Rs 8 lakh crore mark following surge in its share price.
During the afternoon trade, the IT major's market capitalisation (m-cap) stood at Rs 8,01,550.50 crore on BSE.
Shares of TCS rose by 2 per cent to Rs 2,097 -- its 52-week high -- on BSE. Earlier on August 23, Reliance Industries (RIL) became the first Indian company to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore market capitalisation mark.
TCS is also the country's most-valued firm in terms of m-cap. TCS on June 15 became the first company to close the trading session with a market valuation of over Rs 7 lakh crore.
The market valuation of TCS had earlier this year gone past the Rs 6 lakh crore level, making it the second company to achieve the milestone after Reliance Industries.
Mumbai-headquartered TCS had in April became the first Indian company to close the trading session with over $100 billion market valuation.


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Citi's latest report on how the corporate finance world plans to navigate volatility in 2019 suggests chief financial officers (CFOs) have a role model toward which to look: the so-called "tech titans."
In its Corporate Finance Priorities report, published this month, Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (GPS) dove into an array of macro- and microeconomic factors forcing changes in corporate finance practices, including ongoing trade disputes and economic uncertainty. Analysts at the financial institution (FI) said they expect mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity to heat up, and corporate finance teams must be prepared — both to strategically deploy capital for acquisitions, and to anticipate being a takeover target themselves.
Citi analysts pointed to some unsurprising factors that have raised anxieties among corporate finance executives for the year ahead.
"Fears of slowing economic growth, tighter monetary policy and trade-related tensions all contributed to heightened equity and credit market volatility during 2018," reflected Ajay Khorana, managing director and global head of Citi Financial Strategy and Solutions Group, in a statement announcing the report. "In this uncertain environment, companies will need to reassess their capital deployment programs and growth initiatives."
Analysts predicted continued, but slower, earnings-per-share (EPS) growth for corporate America this year, but Citi has urged corporate finance executives to take a careful look at how they are driving that growth, with M&A activity a significant contributor to EPS increases. Yet, Citi warned, "failure to appropriately execute on transformational M&A led to substantial underperformance."
The report stated that Citi estimates $10.6 trillion is currently available for corporate acquisitions and capital distributions, with half of that held by the world's top-100 corporations. Organizations that deploy capital via M&A investments must be able to adequately manage the complexity of deals, especially the largest ones, with Citi pointing to last year's "mixed response" to large acquisitions of more than $5 billion linked to an increase in failed deals.
"For [$10 billion-plus] transactions, the volume of cancelled deals was almost as large as that of completed deals in 2018," the report pointed out.
A spike in divestitures this year, resulting from strong 2018 M&A activity, is also likely to continue to force adjustments and reallocations of corporate resources. Furthermore, activist investors are urging large companies to consider buyouts to boost shareholder value, adding another item to CFOs' lists of focuses for the year.
Amid this M&A environment, however, financial executives are likely to see adverse impacts from the ongoing trade disputes related to trade tariffs, long-term impacts on supply chains and price volatility. With companies increasingly forced to adjust their supply chains to mitigate against these risks brought on by trade disputes, Citi's report also pointed to the importance of evaluating risks — particularly currency risks — associated with investments in emerging markets.
"Mounting trade-related tensions will remain a key risk in 2019," the report stated. "Earnings estimates have already been significantly lowered for both U.S. companies with exposure to China and Chinese firms with exposure to the U.S. These trade tensions should prompt a reevaluation of global supply chains and production locations."
News coverage of Apple's iPhone sales miss may be dominating current headlines, but Citi's report noted that corporate finance executives must "think like the tech titans" to focus on growth and stability ahead.
"The tech titans are among the largest firms today, and are disrupting a multitude of industries by crossing sector boundaries in ways rarely seen before," the report noted, adding that technology conglomerates are often front runners of innovation adoption, including artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data and the cloud. Representing 8 percent of global equity market capitalization, these technology giants have disrupted the traditional business model for multinational conglomerates, and have increased their investments in research and development, M&A and capital expenditure significantly more than so-called "legacy conglomerates."
Managing these disruptions means thinking like the disruptors, Citi noted, urging businesses and their finance executives to promote adoption of innovative technologies, and follow-the-leader on growth strategy.


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CMU bookstore should update hours to better match student schedules
The bookstore’s normal closing times for the Spring 2012 semester are 6 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturdays. These times seem reasonable for most of the semester.
However, the times are unreasonable for the first week of classes. Many students start the semester without knowing which textbooks they will buy or even which courses they will take.
Students often do not get out of class until 4:30 p.m. or later. By the time they get a chance to buy textbooks, the bookstore has already closed.
Campus bookstores are in danger. They face threats from online markets like Amazon and half.com, as well as digital textbooks and online rental services.
Bookstores are caught between providing an important service to students and competing in a market in which they no longer have a monopoly.
In this environment, one would expect the Carnegie Mellon bookstore to take advantage of its inherent strengths: convenience, availability, and personal service. In some ways it has done this — the bookstore now offers rental services and direct price comparisons to Amazon and other websites. However, the bookstore’s restrictive hours are inconvenient to students trying to purchase textbooks in the evening.
Instead of its current practices, the bookstore should follow the model of the university libraries and adjust its operating hours based on the current stage of the semester. During the first few weeks of classes the bookstore should be open until at least 8 p.m.
After the rush dies down, it can change its hours to reflect the lower demand. This alteration is only necessary for the lower level of the store — the upstairs merchandise section has a different customer base and should continue to set its special hours based on alumni, parents, and prospective students.
Traditional campus bookstores serve an important purpose. A bookstore with student-centered policies is more convenient, and sometimes cheaper, than buying books online. Carnegie Mellon’s bookstore should continue to improve its policies to better serve students.


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Auto loans are now coming through as a growing concerns area in terms of U.S. household credit. Auto loans originations have risen, in total volume from $123.9 billion in 1Q 2016 to $132.4 billion in 1Q 2017, an all-time high for 1Q period on record. Total volume of auto loans debt outstanding is at $1,167 billion, up on $1,071 billion in 1Q 2016 and at an all-time record. Year on year growth in auto loans is at 9%.
However, origination has been more subdued in 1Q 2017 for subprime loans, with issuance for credit score below 620 falling to $25.9 billion in 1Q 2017 compared to $26.9 billion a year ago. Likewise, near-sub-prime originations (credit scores 620-659) also declined, from $16.1 billion in 1Q 2016 to $15.6 billion in 1Q 2017.
However, owing to rapid growth in recent years in sub-prime originations, auto loans currently exhibit third highest rate of delinquencies across all forms of household debt, with 3.82 percent of all auto loans currently 90+ days delinquent, the highest since 1Q 2013 and up on 1Q 2016 reading of 3.52 percent.
As noted in a recent Bloomberg article (see https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-22/subprime-auto-giant-checked-income-on-just-8-of-loans-in-abs), much of the problem arises from sloppy, or outright careless, origination by some key lenders.


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Samsung, among other things, is currently working on two mid-range smartphones - Galaxy M31s and Galaxy M51.
The official release of the Galaxy M31s is scheduled for July 30 this year in India. It is announced that the smartphone will feature a Super AMOLED FHD+ Infinity-O display, a 6,000mAh battery along with 25W fast charging and reverse charging. It is expected that the Galaxy M31s will also have the Exynos 9611 processor, 6GB RAM, and 128GB internal storage.
But what's most interesting is that the smartphone will get a quad camera with a main 64MP sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor. New to the lineup will also be the Single Take mode, which was previously only available on high-end Samsung phones.
As for the Galaxy M51, the exact launch date is not yet known. According to rumors, the smartphone, like the Galaxy M31s, will get a quad camera and the Single Take mode. The main camera will be 64MP and will come with a 12MP ultra-wide sensor. Speaking about the other two cameras - macro and depth sensors, there is no information about them yet. The Galaxy M51 is also rumored to have a 7,000mAh battery, 15W fast charging, as well as a Snapdragon 730 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage and a microSD card slot. It is expected that the smartphone will be launched in September this year.
As Samsung promises, the upcoming Galaxy M smartphones will be better and cheaper.


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Permanent TSB has launched a new sustainability strategy that includes commitments to introduce a range of sustainable finance products, reduce the bank's carbon emissions and maintain a nationwide branch presence in communities throughout Ireland.
The bank has also joined the global Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) network to increase transparency and hold the bank accountable for meeting its sustainability and climate action targets.
The network is made up of more than 2,700 major companies worldwide and over 30 in Ireland.
Eamonn Crowley, Chief Executive of Permanent TSB said the global climate crisis has elevated the sustainability agenda not only in Ireland, but around the world.
"We see it in the continued shift in consumer trends and the growing demand for sustainable products and services - not just in the financial services industry, but more broadly across other sectors," he said.
"Now more than ever businesses, such as Permanent TSB, have a significant role to play in supporting our stakeholders to navigate the green transition and to embrace the opportunities that sustainability brings," he added.
PTSB said the new sustainability strategy comprises of four main pillars: addressing climate change, elevating the bank's social and community impact, enhancing Permanent TSB’s culture and creating an organisation that is fit for the future.


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Rashays’ mega goal: more than 100 new restaurants
Hospitality chain Rashays has revealed a mega goal with plans to open more than 100 new stores in Australia.
The casual-dining business right now has spread its network along the east coast, starting with Sydney and moving into the ACT and Queensland.
Right now there are 30 outlets operating and plenty of room for growth.
In fact Victoria is a new target, with founder Rami Ykmour focused on adding three outlets in the southern state this year.
Locations vary across the network, there isn’t one ideal site, he says.
“We are so confident in our brand: it can be a shopping centre, standalone, a food strip or precinct. It’s family focused, holiday destination focused.”
Rami hasn’t excluded regional sites from the expansion and with all stores at capacity the business is ready to ramp up the growth, he says. There are 100 locations already picked out.
What’s distinctive about Rashays is its business model built around a centralised kitchen. At the western Sydney head office a series of units prep and cook meals so there is minimal cooking at store level. Portion sizes are prepped and packed for daily delivery to franchisees.
Rami says there is about 80 per cent capacity to utilise at the warehousing and food preparation space which will allow the business to grow.
“We’ve been building this foundation for 23 years, we could have scaled a lot faster earlier. This is about legacy,” he says.
And as the brand’s footprint grows interstate it will establish mini kitchens in the Melbourne and Brisbane areas to replicate the food prep processes.
The Rashays story started back in 1998 in Liverpool, when Rami and his wife Shannon set-up their first restaurant. And gradually one outlet turned into several.
“People knocked on my door or found a site. It’s always about the foundation. It’s not about the bottom line today, it’s how do we build business long term?
“People appreciate the slow growth, it’s real. We are reinvesting into a great platform.”
He says the model is designed to promote a work life balance.
“That’s why we give you all the systems, so you can go home at the end of the day and your staff can operate the business. ”
In addition to the food prep, franchisees benefit from admin support including an accounting firm that can take on the bookkeeping. Back office demands focus on rostering, and keeping supplies up to date using one central online hub to place orders.
“We’re a family brand right through,” says Rami. “We look for franchisees who love serving people, who want to make a change in their community.”
Franchisees must live within 20km of their store to be a part of the community, and commit to spend five hours a week on community-focused projects.
“That’s how we grew our brand, working within the community.”


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Q-Games announced PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 alongside the PC versions later this year. A new trailer was released to reveal the upcoming console versions.
“The PixelJunk series is known for blending genres to create innovative new experiences, and that’s exactly what we’re continuing to do with PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe,” said Dylan Cuthbert, Founder of Q-Games and Executive Producer. “By fusing traditional arcade brawler gameplay with modern party-game madness, we’ve developed something that’s fun to pick up and play and keeps you coming back for more.”
Cuthbert continues, “PixelJunk recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and I’m thrilled to be announcing a brand new experience for players on PC, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. We’ve got big plans for 2023 and intend to celebrate the 15 year anniversary in style. There’s more PixelJunk news to come and we can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on.”
Here’s an overview of PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe via Steam:
In PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe, clean up the streets of Junktown and trash anyone who gets in your way!
Take on the role of the Scrappers, a squad of robot garbage collectors working to clean up a grimy city in the not-so-distant future. Sweep the streets alone or form the ultimate team with up to 4 players. Time is money in Junktown, so stack that trash high and toss to your squad to boost efficiency for bigger rewards.
Garbage collection is only part of the job! Robotic rivals will attack and interfere so it’s up to you to dispose of them while staying on schedule. Teamwork is key to maximizing efficiency and achieving high scores, unlocking new characters, and customization options.
- Battle rival garbage collectors in chaotic street brawls
- Explore 5 vibrant, uniquely themed areas with over 25 stages
- Master the art of fast and frantic garbage collecting, either solo or with up to 4 players
- Supports both Online and Local Cooperative Play
- Master multiple fighting styles and unlock a variety of melee and ranged weapons
- Customize your garbage truck with over 100 unique custom parts
- Unlock and recruit a variety of Scrappers for your roster
- Challenge your friends in fun and competitive mini-games
- Immerse yourself in a pop-art cyberpunk-world that draws inspiration from real-world Japan


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Tool and Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan has shared an exciting post about the new album of Puscifer via Puscifer’s official Instagram account.
As you might already know, Puscifer had been hinting about their latest album for a year, and they finally released their fourth studio album, Existential Reckoning, in October 2020.
Furthermore, the iconic band promoted the release of this album by making a live recording at Arcosanti, and everyone in the music community loved the way how they released it.
Today, Maynard revealed that there might be a new announcement about the ‘Existential Reckoning: Live at Arcosanti’ and said that they will share an update as soon as the details are solidified.
Here is what Maynard James Keenan said:
“Big announcements coming soon that has absolutely nothing to do with this glorious Strawberry Rhubarb Pie I just baked.
It’s regarding the Puscifer Existential Reckoning Live at Arcosanti. As soon as details are solidified, we will share them.”
You can check out the post below.


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The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme will be extended until next year.
They are probably the two best-known supports that have been put in place on foot of the crisis and are one of the stickiest sticking points for the government in terms of how to re-ignite the economy and when to phase them out.
The PUP will now be extended to the beginning of April 2021 at an additional cost for that seven-month period of €2.2 billion, roughly €380 million more than the standard Jobseekers’ support would cost over the same timeframe.
The scheme will, however, close to new applicants from mid-September, and from that date will be paid in three bands: €300 weekly for those who earned more than €300 prior to the pandemic, €250 for those who brought in €200-€300, and the standard weekly payment of €203 for those who earned less than that.
2 Helping People Especially young people, get back to work— MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) July 23, 2020
- Extension of Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) to 1st April 2021
- €200m investment in training, skills development, work placement schemes, recruitment subsidies, and job search and assistance#JobsStimulus pic.twitter.com/ho9pvxQbJA
Those rates are set to fall incrementally, however.
From February, those who earned between €200 and €300 will see their payment drop to the standard weekly figure of €203, with those who earned more than €300 receiving €250. Then, from 1 April, the scheme will end and all payments will be at the €203 level.
The unemployment payment scheme had initially been due to close on August 10. However significant concerns as to the cliff-edge nature of such a termination have led to its extension.
At the height of lockdown, some 580,000 people were accessing the support payment - that figure has now dropped to 314,000, with 100,000 people returning to work over the past fortnight.


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SAN FRANCISCO — Looklive has announced an investment from Y Combinator and has launched the Looklive app. On the Looklive app, men browse images of their favorite celebrities and the clothing they are wearing, then buy those items directly from the app. You can see what Kanye wore to lunch today or what Frank Underwood wore on last night’s episode of House Of Cards. The men’s fashion market is over $400 billion in annual sales and surprisingly is growing at a faster rate than the women’s fashion market.
“After 15 years of building fashion e-commerce companies, I saw it was time for a new approach,” said Greg Selkoe, Co-founder, Looklive. “Looklive makes it easy to look great without being a fashion expert. It’s like having the same fashion stylist that celebrities have.”
How it works: You open the Looklive app and choose what celebrities & influencers you consider stylish. Looklive will follow them for you. Our image analysis engine and editorial team crawl the Internet to show you different looks those celebrities wore, and then you have the option to buy exactly what they are wearing or a bargain version of it. Looklive already has over 60,000 products and 10,000 images of celebrity fashion looks visited by over 1 million users monthly. Looklive also has exclusive products and behind-the-scenes content from influencers like A$AP Ferg, designer Jeff Staple, and Grammy Award winner Ryan Leslie.
“I’m excited to introduce a new shopping experience for men,” said Cedric Rogers, CEO, Looklive. “Our technology uses data mining and image analysis to put all the latest styles and trends in your hand taking the hassle out of knowing what to wear.”
The Looklive platform also allows content providers to make their content shoppable. Looklive has formed a partnership with Complex Media Group, the global youth media brand recently acquired by Verizon and Hearst. The Complex channel within the Looklive app will feature compelling images from the Complex image library made shoppable by Looklive.


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Nintendo has pushed out a big update to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp today, bringing three major features to the smartphone app.
Mark your calendars as the next Pokemon Go Community Day has been set. According to Pokemon Go’s Japanese site, the date to take note is 19 May 2018.
Today, Nintendo introduced a new feature called Fortune Cookies which will be arriving in the next big Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.
NetEase, a Chinese Internet Technology company that dabbles in PC video games, email services, e-commerce, may have plans of working with Nintendo in the future.
On April 15, Niantic and The Pokemon Company will be hosting this month’s Pokemon GO Community Day.
Gulliver the sailor has finally landed in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp with a special event.
The official Japanese Pokemon GO website has released details for Kanto Week, a week long event celebrating the Kanto region.
Dataminers have sniffed out a new batch of Shiny Pokemon that are on the way to Pokemon GO through the game’s network traffic.
In the latest Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp update, it was revealed that Gulliver’s cargo ship is closing in onto Sunburst Island.


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With TNW Europe drawing nearer, ticket prices will increase significantly very soon. Get your ticket now.
One look at our list of speakers and you’ll see why coming to the conference is a must, especially now that, just this week, we’ve added six more amazing names to the line-up.
If there’s one person that can teach you how to retain users, it’s Harper Reed: the CTO behind Obama’s successful 2012 re-election campaign. He’ll be joining our lineup alongside the Co-founder of Optimizely – the technology that transformed Obama’s 2012 campaign – as well as five other new speakers added this week.
Here are three more names we’ve added this week:
- Bryan Kreuzberger Founder & CEO, Breakthrough Email: Bryan’s cold emailing technique has such formidably high success rates it’s permeated everything our sales team do at TNW, as well as major international brands all over the world. He’ll break his process down into six simple steps at TNW Europe.
- Jessica Walsh Partner & Art Director, Sagmeister & Walsh: After Jessica had spent just two years at Stefan Sagmeister’s design firm, the multiple Grammy Award- and National Design Award-winner made her a Partner. She was just 25. If you need more testament to her creativity, Warner Bros are even adapting part of her life story into a screenplay.
- Bill Buxton Principal Researcher, Microsoft: For his groundbreaking research into the field of human-computer interaction, Bill has received no less than four honorary PhDs, an honorary fellowship and three lasting impact or lifetime achievement awards. He continues to be a leader in the fields of UX and interaction.


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Samsung has launched its new flagship smartphone around the world, with over 125 countries receiving the Galaxy S5. ZDNet Korea has reported that the launch day sales of the Galaxy S5 have been quite strong.
Samsung has reportedly moved around 1.3 times as many Galaxy S5's on April 11 than it did with its Galaxy S4 last year. Some European countries are seeing over 100% more demand for the Galaxy S5 versus the S4 from last year. In the UK, there were some massive lines outside of the new Samsung Experience Stories, where launch day sales were double that of the S4.
There has been talk of the premium handset market being saturated, but it looks like Samsung has proven them wrong yet again with the launch of the Galaxy S5.
- > NEXT STORY: Kinect-powered Xbox One game will see gamers chugging real life soda
- < PREVIOUS STORY: It looks like Watch Dogs will be launching on the Wii U, in the Fall


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He made the comments in a letter responding to questions from the US Senate’s antitrust subcommittee, as Google is in the middle of being investigated for illegally abusing its power and dominance in online search.
In a previous statement to the committee in September 2010, Schmidt denied that Apple or Facebook were a serious competitive threat.
However, in a move which has been seen by technology pundits as an attempt to downplay Google’s online prominence, the former chief backtracked on this statement, writing: “My statement was clearly wrong," he said. "Apple’s Siri is a significant development—a voice-activated means of accessing answers through iPhones that demonstrates the innovations in search.
"Google has many strong competitors and we sometimes fail to anticipate the competitive threat posed by new methods of accessing information.”
Schmidt also cited two technology articles which called Siri a “Google killer” and Apple’s “entry point” into the search engine business.
At the heart of the antitrust investigation is the allegation that Google manipulates its search results to direct disproportionate amounts of traffic to its own sites, such as YouTube. Google has always prided itself on the purity of the algorithm that powers search results. It claims that it makes manual adjustments solely to improve the service for consumers.
The case has clear echoes of antitrust probes into Microsoft in the nineties, which saw the company pay millions of pounds in fines and prevented from apparent plans to dominate huge swathes of the IT sector.
However, Google will benefit from changed laws, and from the difficulty of proving that Google has abused its powerful position, rather than simply providing a service that millions of businesses and consumers choose to use every day. The company said that users can easily switch to other services. It handles more than two-thirds of US searches online and four out of every five web searches across Europe.
Apple launched Siri, ‘the humble personal assistant technology’ last month when it unveiled the new iPhone 4S.


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Britain's phone hacking scandal has made headlines around the world. A Congressman from New York is urging action to keep it from becoming a problem for consumers in the U.S..
Congressman Steve Israel demonstrated how easy it is for anyone to hack a voice-mailbox. Hackers only have to go to a spoofing website and plug in your cell phone number. They will have access to your voicemails within seconds.
The only way to stop potential voicemail hackers is to ensure that your voicemail is password protected, police said. Israel said some carriers require voicemail passwords, but others like Sprint and T-Mobile do not. He is not calling on the FCC to make voicemail passwords mandatory on all carriers.
A spokesperson for a spoofing website said the site does not condone or allow illegal uses and is for entertainment only.


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According to Amazon US, a new batch of long awaited Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lenses now coming to US stores. Amazon US now has this lens shipping within 4-6 weeks (Was out of stock for weeks before).
The Nikon D850 DSLR camera is still out of stock everywhere. But this week a large shipment delivered to most Nikon USA authorized dealers like Amazon, Adorama and B&H Photo Video. Amazon US now already shipping D850 cameras that pre-ordered on November 10th, 2017. You can take a look at D850 in stock tracker here for more detail.
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Update: Nikon D850 Free Accessories Bundle Shows In Stock at BeachCamera via Amazon.
Due to high demand of Nikon D850 DSLR cameras (B&H/Amazon/Adorama), Nikon issued a press release for unable to shipping all currently D850 pre-orders on September 7th, so usually you need wait several months before D850 back in stock and shipping again.
The new announced three Nikon wide-angle lenses are now in stock or shipping in most US stores. The price for AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.4E ED Lens is $1,996.95, shipping in late June, the price for AF-P DX NIKKOR 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR lens is $306.95, shipping in late June, the price for AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED Lens is $1,246.95. You can check the links below to get yours today:


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A NEW campaign has been launched to celebrate natural hair.
FrOtober is a 31-day campaign encouraging women to celebrate their natural hair for the month of October.
Tammy Facey, the CEO behind plant-based organic super brand Jim + Henry, wants women to glorify what they were born with and stop trying to tame their beautiful curls – just for a month.
“It is really sinister how defined, looser curls are put on a platform compared to thicker, Afro hair which may not necessarily be as defined. It’s bizarre, outdated, and high time for change,” says Facey.
“Afro hair in its tightly textured magnificence is More Than Enough and worthy of high praise, yet natural styles are not even seen as socially acceptable in many contexts.”
The entrepreneur also appeared on Channel 5 on Tuesday (Oct 2), where she discussed afro hair discrimination and ways to combat it.
Speaking on the show, she said: “Often when I go into a shop and my hair is big and dry and it doesn’t have any product in it, I’m often treated differently to when its defined and curly. But it’s not just me – there are children who are discriminated against, adults – it happens all the time.”
Facey also discussed how black women are always being politicised for their hairstyles. “If you want to straighten your hair that’s your choice and that’s ok.”
If your interested in taking part in #FrOtober, post a photograph of yourself with natural hair using the hashtag #FrOtober.
For more information on FrOtober visit www.jimandhenry.com or follow on Instagram @_jimandhenry_ and Facebook @jimandhenry


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The Blue Skies CEO in charge of West Africa, Madam Ruth Adjei, says the novel coronavirus pandemic is having a serious impact on their business operations in the sub-region.
She explains that the company since the outbreak of the pandemic, has moved from a bottom-line of “break-even to heavy losses” due to the nature of their business which is largely dependent on perishable goods for it’s productions.
Despite the difficulties, the Blue Skies CEO says the company is still soldiering on with the hope that things will improved after the pandemic is defeated.
“This is a business that is highly perishable because we fly out and we cannot say we are stopping over just because we have a pandemic. We have to work through it”, he said.
Madam Ruth Adjei made this known while speaking at a programme, christened ‘Joy Business Industrialisation Forum’ held last Tuesday, May 5, 2020, by the Joy News channel, a subsidiary of the Multimedia Group.
Stimulus package for businesses
President Akuffo-Addo, on Sunday, April 5, 2020, announced a GH₵600 million stimulus package to support micro, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) as “soft loans scheme”.
This, according to the President, will be done in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Business and Trade Associations as well as Rural and Commercial Banks.
The loan, he said, will however have a one-year moratorium and two-year repayment period.
Even though Parliament, last week, approved the stimulus package, the disbursement is however yet to begin.
Prior to this, government has earlier announced a reduction in the electricity tariffs and a provision of free water for Ghanaians a period of three months, ending June this year.
Go beyond the tariff cuts
Madam Ruth Adjei, while commending the Government of Ghana for these interventions also called for more of such supports from African government for businesses operating within the continent.
The Blue Skies CEO further stated that all industries in the continent are facing the same problem in the wake of the pandemic. Hence, governments within the region must provide more support for manufacturing and export firms to help them stem the tide of the impact of the pandemic and save jobs.
‘We don’t want to say that we want to lay 50 percent of the staff off because I’m struggling. We have to still move with the labour”, she said.
The Blue Skies CEO, again, added that “you need to also make sure that you encourage the businesses to ensure that they are there to be able to give them the taxes they need”.
She added that although Ghana has lifted its lockdown their business is still suffering. This is due to the unwillingness of the other countries to ease restrictions, which is affecting businesses in those areas.
“So the challenges is not just Ghana, it’s a global thing and it is very difficult to plan in Ghana, and think that we are okay because Ghana is out of the lockdown.
“It is the ramifications from other countries that makes the impact more severe, so the government should go beyond just the cuts. If you are looking at only the two factors, that is paying salaries and financing debts then we have a problem”, she lamented.
The Deputy Managing Director of Kasapreko, Michael Effah also added his voice to the call for more relief pacakages for industry
He said “we need support in so many forms including, tax reliefs, interest rates reduction but I also think that there must be a deliberate plan or strategy to ensure that businesses stay afloat”.
“We need to create big and large companies in this country to push the economic agenda and provide employment for the people,” he added.
By Salifu B.B. Moro


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Uber and Yandex will Cooperate in Russia
Uber's US Shared Travel Service and Russian Internet Company Yandex intend to step up cooperation in Russia, the DPA reported.
Yandex is the market leader in internet search in Russia and Yandex Taxi offers its own online taxi service.
According to media reports, the joint venture with Uber and Yandex will have a majority share of 59.3% and the service will be active in about 127 Russian cities. Customers will be able to use their Uber or Jandex application to perform transactions. Yandex.Taxi Director Tigran Kudadewadan will become Chief Executive Officer of the joint venture.
Collaboration with the former Russian competitor can be classified as a partial success. The agreement also shows that Uber will now rely on a less aggressive expansion policy abroad. The rapidly expanding US company came across various crises this year, the most recent of which was the concealment of mass data theft to 50 million customers. Hackers stole data of passengers and drivers in 2016.
Meanwhile, this hack scandal may lead to a lower rating and a lower investment by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported. The Japanese are expected to submit their offer for the start of the week.
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Rumor has it Amazon will open an office on the Eastside at the new Schnitzer West building in downtown Bellevue, according to an article published yesterday by GeekWire stating that the Seattle-based electronic commerce and cloud-computing company has signed a lease for a 354,000-square-foot office space at Centre 425.
Amazon has not commented on its potential Bellevue office lease, but the report coincides with other rumors that surfaced this summer. In August, for example, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported that Amazon would be the tenant in a new downtown Bellevue office.
News of the lease follows a new commuter shuttle pilot program Amazon launched earlier this week aiming to make commuting from the Eastside to Amazon’s Seattle campus easier for employees living in Bellevue, Redmond, and Issaquah.
The new office and shuttle program both link Amazon back to Bellevue, where the company was founded by CEO Jeff Bezos in 1994.


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Our TERF haters love to flap their gums and claim cisgender not only isn’t a word, but weakly try to claim the word is a slur.
As we say in the Lone Star State, that dog won’t hunt any more thank to recent news.
Because the English language is one that is constantly evolving, the Oxford English Dictionary adds words to it every year, This year, one of the nearly 500 words added to the volume that is considered the definitive and authoritative volume when it comes to English in addition to twerk was cisgender.
That sound you just heard was TERF heads exploding,
Yep, cisgender is now officially an English language word, so you can stop telling that lie that it isn’t.
It will be not only included in the 2015 edition of the Oxford dictionary, but will soon be included in other online and offline dictionaries that look to the Oxford one as their standard for deciding what words do and don’t get included.


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The world's waterways has been suffering from the devastation that ocean pollution has on the marine ecosystem for over a century. Plastics are the most common form of ocean pollution and has the most long-term effects because it doesn't breakdown. Marine life often gets tangled in them and these type of pollutants are even more deadly when sea creatures often mistake them as food sources.
The major players in the beer industry need to pay close attention to what a small Florida brewery is doing. Saltwater Brewery has the chance to put a big dent in ocean pollution one six-pack at a time. The brewery has created biodegradable beer rings that are environmentally friendly. These new beer rings will be the first of their kind in the industry. Made of wheat barley, the byproduct of the brewing process, these edible six-pack rings will actually feed marine wildlife instead of killing them like traditional plastic rings.
Being that these rings are made from brewing byproducts there is no cost for raw materials. That makes them more efficient for business purposes. Over 150 different breweries have asked for the 100 percent biodegradable technology.
While plastic ocean pollution is a long way away from being eliminated, implementing this type of product into the beer industry will greatly reduce the number of new plastic six-pack rings harming the environment. Saltwater Brewery is on to something that's great for the industry, its customers, and the environment.


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James Brown's contribution to music is priceless. But his personal possessions have a price tag.
Christie's, the New York auction house, today will try to sell more than 300 items owned by Brown, including capes, awards and hair-care products.
The sale is expected to bring in $2 million.
Marc Eliot, who co-wrote Brown's 2005 autobiography, called the sale sad, “but it happens to everybody.”
“If it makes somebody happy, then what's the harm? He's not going to be using it anymore.”
Even sadder is the turmoil over Brown's estate, “with all the lawsuits and anger,” Eliot said.
Two of Brown's former business managers asked a judge to stop the sale, which is supported by trustees of the singer's estate. An S.C. appeals court judge denied the request.
A perusal of the auction's online catalog reveals Brown, who died on Christmas Day 2006, was a master self-historian.
There are handwritten notes, signed contracts and the inmate inventory sheet listing the clothing and accessories that were taken when Brown went to prison in 1989 for aggravated assault and failure to stop for police.
Most items are expected to bring less than $1,000. But others, like the jumpsuit he wore in 1974 when he performed before the Mohammed Ali-George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match in Zaire, are expected to go for $5,000 or more.
A black cape embroidered with his name, the 1986 Grammy for “Living in America” and a Hammond B-3 electric organ each have an estimated value of $15,000 to $20,000.
Howard Kramer, director of curatorial affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said the museum is interested in several pieces.
“We would love to have some of the things there,” he said. “But some of this stuff is out of our financial reach.”
He would not say what the museum would bid on.
A hand-tinted photograph of Brown at 9 years old, listed at $500, piqued Kramer's interest during a phone conversation Tuesday. The photo would have been expensive for Brown, who grew up poor.
“That's a beautiful piece,” Kramer said. “He made a point of keeping that.”
Interest in Brown's collection is high, said Sara Fox of Christie's. “We've had inquiries from all over the world,” she said.
Others, like Eliot, aren't so sure there is a strong market for Brown's possessions.
“The stuff probably means the most to him,” Eliot continued. “It goes from art to him to artifacts for someone else.”
The casual and serious bidders will be separated quickly because, as Kramer put it, the sale “is not eBay. This is the big leagues.”
On Tuesday, eBay listed more than 700 Brown items. One of the most expensive, at $200, was a program from Brown's funeral, something that can't be bought at Christie's.
About 8,000 people got to take that piece of Brown home for free.


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Recently, the BBC reported that the Vessel “V” was refused entry at the ports of Christchurch and Dunedin in New Zealand, as well as Hobart and Adelaide in Australia. Over 800 passengers were stranded on board for more than a week.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority determined that the cruise ship’s hull had a small amount of biofouling, which could lead to invasive species entering non-native habitats. The ship had to first clean the biofouling before it could dock. On December, vessel “C” was also forced to interrupt its voyage due to the same issue, having to “complete hull cleaning outside the originally planned schedule before docking at New Zealand port.”
01-The strictest hull cleaning regulations in the world
Biofouling is in all seagoing vessels, and most countries around the world tolerate it. However, in order to protect their local marine ecosystems, New Zealand and Australia are especially careful and have introduced the strictest hull cleaning regulations in the world:
Not only do they require international ships to report biofouling management information before arrival, but they also carry out underwater inspections based on the review results and decide whether the ship can dock.
Paul Hallett, the environmental Health Manager of New Zealand’s Biosecurity Agency, said: “Even the smallest impact can pose a threat to marine life.” Therefore, before arrival, all microbial contamination species on the underwater hull of international ships need to be cleaned, including nich areas that are usually overlooked in ordinary ship cleaning.
As a result, these cruise ships, which are normally cleaned to a higher standard, received reminders about biofouling regulations before heading to Australia and New Zealand but still failed to pass the such high-standard information review and underwater inspections of both countries.
02-Losses of up to 1 million US dollars!
According to data from New Zealand’s MPI, between January 2020 and September 2022, 377 arriving ships in New Zealand received instructions to address biofouling issues.
The shipping companies of these ships have to pay a high price for this. In addition to paying for diver inspections and hull cleaning, cruise ship companies have to compensate passengers for delayed trips, while cargo ship companies must bear the indirect economic losses caused by delayed docking and unloading of goods on schedule.
“Especially for large ships, cleaning in high sea involves considerable costs and usually takes one to two weeks,” Australian media SBS reported. For example, a cargo ship of the British shipping company was found to be non-compliant and had to unload its cargo onto another ship and return, resulting in a 6-week delay in delivery. Another tanker bound for New Zealand had to spend $500,000 on cleaning at high sea for two weeks, while the company had to spend another $500,000 to charter another ship to transport the cargo. Moreover, underwater cleaning at high sea is not easy, considering factors such as weather conditions and having to hire diving companies designated by Australian and New Zealand authorities. A cruise ship attempted to organize hull cleaning outside several ports in New Zealand, but due to the unavailability of diving companies approved by the New Zealand MPI authorities, it had to change course to Australian offshore operations.
03-Be well-prepared before departure
To avoid the hassle of information interrogation, underwater inspections, and the time and financial losses caused by being denied entry to ports or cleaning at sea, shipping companies urgently need a solution tailored to Australian and New Zealand requirements to help them be well-prepared before departure. At present, hundreds of ships have smoothly entered New Zealand and Australian ports through the “Neptune Annual Assurance Program (ANZAC Specialized)”, including large vessels that have been the focus of New Zealand’s MPI due to multiple non-compliance issues.
Neptune is well-versed in Australia and New Zealand’s biofouling management regulations, providing tailor-made annual protection services for ships, offering high-standard, paint-friendly robotic hull cleaning, as well as visualized and data-based pre- and post-cleaning inspection reports and compliant documentation information to help ships smoothly enter New Zealand and Australian ports.
Cleaning biofouling from hulls can also reduce drag during navigation, enabling ships to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 40%. This helps shipping companies comply with biofouling and carbon emission regulations while significantly reducing operating costs, ensuring greater stability in the industry during periods of excess capacity and plummeting freight rates.


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A surplus of rumors have been circulating recently that Apple is in talks with several major communications companies to work out an arrangement for distributing rich content, iPad-optimized versions of publications, on a subscription model basis, through an app native to the iOS platform. The service would function similarly to iBooks, Apple’s book reader app that allows you to purchase and read e-books on the iOS platform. In addition to these rumors, there have been multiple reports-from The Wallstreet Journal, PC World, and B-Net (a subsidiary of CBS news)-that the future of such an offering is complicated by conflicts between the publishers and Apple over the terms of such an arrangement. One particularly contentious matter is the level of control Apple wants to retain over content distributed through the app, subscriptions to editorials available through the app, and the valuable subscriber data that could help publishers generate revenue through advertisements.
According to a report from the San Jose Mercury News, Apple’s proposed arrangement would allow them to pocket 30 percent of all earnings from subscriptions, and a significant 40 percent cut of all advertising revenue. Now, admittedly, the publishing industry has been floundering for some time now, but that doesn’t mean they’ll settle for a raw deal, like the one Apple seems to be extending them. Furthermore, as the case of Sports Illustrated proved, the framework for developing iOS editorials is in need of some critical improvements before publishers will be able to justify the cost of production and distribution through the App store.
But, regarding the current negotiations in the greater context of mobile development, you have to wonder at what point Apple’s control freak policies will take a toll on the progress of their walled iOS garden. Sure, we understand that they’re obsessed with quality control and preserving a consistent user experience throughout the family of iOS devices, but could their regulation neurosis and iOS micro-management, actually hamper innovation and development on the platform?
Indeed, one need look no farther than to Apple’s iAd platform for insight into how their fastidious overhead management has hindered the progress of innovative advancements. When iAds were first announced, Apple announced that they were working with several major brands-including Best Buy, Target, and GEICO (and several others)-to develop rich media in-app banner ads. But as Noah Elkins of eMarketer Daily recently pointed out, evidence of these collaborations remains to be seen-how many banner ads like those Apple announced have we actually encountered? Not too many. Meanwhile, speculations are circulating that the iAd rollouts have been stalled by the death-grip Apple seems to have on the terms and regulations of any advertisements on their platform.
While iAds might have slipped into limbo, at this point in time anyway, could the iNewspaper app for publications suffer the same fate if Apple doesn’t loosen the reins and cede some control to publishers? Maybe this feud will, instead, serve as a reality check for Apple-or at least prompt them to reconsider what they’re sacrificing by running such a tight ship. Of course, only time will tell and frankly, Apple is not known for making concessions. But, for the sake of innovation on the iOS platform, we certainly hope Apple will come down from their pedestal and allow their platform to advance mobile technology, not hamper its progress.


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TRAVELLING to the Dordogne this summer is sure to feel a little different to other times as we are all being tasked with reducing the infection potential of Covid-19.
The lifting of the 14-day quarantine restrictions on the 10 July from travellers from France arriving in England will make it easier for people to travel between the two countries.
But with both countries requiring people to wear a face mask when using public transport, the ferry companies and airlines have put in place strict requirements for passengers.
Here is a look over the steps being taken by travel companies that you may use when travelling to the Dordogne by car or plane.
Shuttles are being operated by Eurotunnel with two departures an hour and as you are required to stay in your vehicle during the crossing you can safely keep your social distance.
Eurotunnel has stressed that it is important that you check in between 45min and 2hrs before your allocated shuttle time - not earlier.
If you are more than two hours early you will be obliged to pay a supplement of up to £120 and take an earlier shuttle if there are spaces available.
The company says its sites are not large enough to allow people to wait for a significant amount of time given the new Covid-19 measures in place.
Booking online is proving difficult due to the number of website visitors.
A service between Dover and Calais is being operated by P&O with boarding commencing 30 minutes before departure.
You will have to wear a face mask and be aware of social distancing rules onboard, and notices will be present reminding you to regularly wash your hands.
A key change made by the ferry firm is that boarding and disembarkation is now staggered to avoid queues on stairs and on car decks.
When travelling a cabin or reserved seat is compulsory on all sailings and in an attempt to minimise contact with others you are asked to remain in this personal space as much as possible.
Again masks must be worn at all times when in public areas of the ports and ships, something that ferry staff will be doing as well.
All passengers have to have face masks prior to arriving at check-in, with some onboard shops open but with social distancing measures in place.
Flight from the UK to Bergerac Airport have re-started with links to London Stansted, Liverpool, Bristol and East Midlands available this summer.
It is mandatory to wear a face mask/covering at all times in the airport and on board your flight.
With flights between Bergerac and Leeds - Bradford, Manchester and Birmingham, Jet2.com will be serving the Dordogne with heightened measures against Covid-19.
Be prepared to put your face mask on before you enter the airport and keep it on while you’re there, onboard the plane and at your destination airport.
A service is being offered by BA this summer between Bergerac Airport and London City and like all travel providers you are required to wear a face mask.
All travel firms are saying that if you feel unwell and show Covid-19 symptoms before travelling then you should seek medical advice and not travel.
Face masks are a key tool in the fight against the virus so you will be required to wear one and also remember to regularly clean your hands and keep your distance to others.
Most companies are asking you to check-in via their mobile phone app or online to reduce interactions at departure points.
It is important to keep up-to-date with the different rules and measures being introduced by ferry firms and airlines so make sure you read all the ticket details and regularly check their websites for the latest information.
This summer season is likely to be different to past ones in the Dordogne, but hopefully everyone can enjoy their time in France and relax a little after the recent stressful times.
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