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Vehicle manufacturers have an obligation to do the right thing when one of their products are found to be defective. This is especially true when the defects proves to be dangerous to consumers.
Denver, CO (PRWEB) June 26, 2014
On April 9, 2014, Toyota Motor Sales recently issued a Recall Notice for a defective seat rail spring for Model Year 2006-2010 Yaris Hatchbacks, Model Year 2007-2010 Yaris Sedans, and Model Year 2008-2010 Scion xD vehicles. This recall affects about 470,000 owners of these vehicles. According to Toyota, the spring that helps to lock the seat into place has a defect, which could result in the front seats failing to lock in place if there is a crash.
When Toyota issued their Notice, it claimed to be unaware of any injuries due to the seat spring defect. According to Denver lawyer Randal Kelly: "We have heard a different story. We have clients where a driver's seat allegedly came forward on its rails at collision velocity, and they were driven into the dash assembly of their Scion xD, suffering head trauma and a severely fractured femur and wrist. Others have alleged that their injuries were made worse due to this defect"
This is one of many recent recalls by Toyota for defective design or manufacture. In May 2014, Toyota recalled its Sienna Minivans because the spare tire can be separated from the vehicle in cold weather climates. The Yaris was also involved in another recall involving the spiral cable assembly, because of defective electrical connections that could cause the airbag not to deploy in a collision. This recall involved more than 1.3 million vehicles.
In March of 2014 The Washington Post reported Toyota had announced they reached an agreement with the State of New York involving its sticking accelerator defect, that Toyota failed to acknowledge long after they had become aware of the hazard. This agreement cost Toyota $1.2 billion in fines and penalties for its conduct related to the defect. As part of the agreement, Toyota was allowed to defer further prosecution.
The case is U.S. v. Toyota Motor Corp, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00186
In 2013, the prestigious national rating service, Consumer Reports, downgraded Toyota's best selling vehicles due to safety concerns. The models which were downgraded included the Camry, RAV-4, and Prius V.
According to Mr. Kelly: "Who would have imagined that Toyota would become a victim of its' own success? For decades, consumers were drawn to the Toyota brand due to its reputation for quality and reliability. We are concerned by these defects and the impact they potentially have on consumer safety."
How long has Toyota really known about this latest potentially lethal defect? The Kelly Law Firm, LLC of Denver, Colorado wants to speak to anyone who feels the defect in manufacturing caused them an injury they would not have otherwise sustained. Consumers can call (888) 396-7109 with details pertaining to their situation.
If you or anyone you know has been injured in a crash involving these Yaris Hatchback, Yaris Sedan, or Scion xD vehicles, please visit the firm's website. According to Mr. Kelly: "The best way to help ensure safety for all consumers is to hold accountable a manufacturer accountable for its defective products. More importantly, manufacturers should be held accountable to timely disclose the true facts relating to their dangerous product defects."


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Things don't look too good for Apple as it proceeds on its adventure through the courts. A German judge has ruled that Samsung'sdoesn't infringe any of Apple's patents, quashing Apple's claims. It's only a preliminary assessment, but doesn't bode too well for the Cupertino company.
"According to the court's assessment, the defendant has moved away sufficiently from the legally protected design," Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann told the court on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Apple accused Samsung of "iPad with its own tablets and smart phones. Samsung redesigned the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the German market, renaming it the Galaxy Tab 10.1N -- you can see the before and after tablets on the right." its and
And it looks like Samsung's redesign will be enough to assuage the court. No date has been given just yet for when the final ruling is due.
Samsung is returning fire as well. Earlier this week, it filed claims in a German court in a separate dispute, accusing Apple of allegedly infringing its patents relating to telecommunications technology. (Excuse the jargon, we don't want to risk getting wrong a key legal detail and ending up in court too.)
It really isn't Apple's week in court. Some HTC handsets wereafter a court ruled the Taiwanese company did infringe one of Apple's patents in the software on its handsets -- yet this was actually good news for HTC, as Apple initially claimed it had infringed 10 patents. Realistically the ruling won't have much impact, with HTC boss Peter Chou already claiming the company has an alternative to the feature that infringed Apple's patent.
So, if Apple did lose, do you think it would become a little less litigious? Or do you think it's good all these companies are so protective of their creations? Let us know below or over on Facebook.

domain: news


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Barack Obama's Cars Then and Now
President-elect Obama's new ride, the Cadillac Presidential Limousine was officially revealed just around the same time another Obama car his 2005 Chrysler 300C Hemi went back up on eBay. Obama leased the car in 2004 and traded it for a Ford Escape Hybrid in 2007. The car was bought by Tim O'Boyle who first tried to sell it on eBay in December. He took it off the site after his accountant told him it was wiser to own the car a year for tax purposes. Now it's back on eBay with a starting bid of $100,000 and a buy-it-now price of $1,000,000. The Kelley's Blue Book value for the car is $15,750. O'Boyle says he received a private offer of $150,000 the last time the car was up for auction and that he has a number in his head of what he wants. The 2005 330C has less than 21,000 miles on it and O'Boyle says it is in like-new condition.


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The Toronto MLS released their monthly market report today, suggesting that we will continue to experience some volatility in price growth for some market segments in 2013.
From the Toronto MLS report:
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 5,759 sales through the TorontoMLS system in February 2013 – a decline of 15 per cent in comparison to February 2012. It should be noted that 2012 was a leap year with one extra day in February. A 28 day year-over-year sales comparison resulted in a lesser decline of 10.5 per cent.
The average selling price for February 2013 was $510,580 – up two per cent in comparison to February 2012.
One of the largest impacts was seen in the sales of homes over $2 million which decreased by 32.5 per cent compared with February 2012.


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EU Finally Approves Law Seeing New Fossil-Fuel Car Sales Banned By 2035
Mike Sanders / 7 months ago
For more than a few years now, the EU (European Union) has been making more and more overtures towards the total ban of new fossil-fuel-powered car sales. When would this happen? Well, in this regard, while a lot of regions and countries seemingly want to make this (so-called) commitment to a cleaner future, some of them set both practical and reasonable dates while others seemingly want to just say anything that might please the environmentalists (not, incidentally, that I think that ever really possible – And to hell with the actual, you know, implementation of this).
Following a report via TechXplore, however, the EU has finally given the rubber stamp to its fossil-fuel motoring ban. – Put simply, after 2035, unless the law is rescinded or amended, no new gasoline or diesel-powered car will be legally allowed for sale in the region!
EU Commits to Fossil-Fuel Car Ban by 2035
Now, just to clarify the point, the EU has not mandated that all fossil-fuel-powered car sales will be banned after 2035. This new law only, and very specifically, applies to the sale of brand-spanking new cars. – With that being said, however, it’s still clearly very significant that by 2035 all car dealerships within the European Union will only be allowed to sell electric cars. And just in case you were wondering, this ban does seem to also include hybrids which, to me, always seemed like a more sensible transitional solution.
What Do We Think?
Will the EU stick to this though? Well, given that the ban is 12 years off, this could be possible. Then again, there is still clearly the question of infrastructure (charging stations), and, of course, not to mention where this power is supposed to magically come from. Particularly since we’re supposed to be committing to ‘green’ solutions.
I’m sorry folks, but you could fill the countryside up with wind turbines and I doubt it’d be able to handle a first-world nation full of electric cars. – What do you think though? – Let us know in the comments!


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A series of complications have hit sneaker resellers.
Nike; Adidas; Yeezy; Rachel Mendelson/Insider
Adidas’ messy breakup with Ye is the latest in a series of complications for sneaker resellers.
Sneaker resellers have felt the effects of the end of the stimulus check and the rise of inflation.
Consumers have also lost confidence in reselling and brands are cracking down on bots.
The last few years have seen the spectacular rise and the incredible fall of the sneaker reseller, a side hustle that flourished during the height of the pandemic.
Adidas’ messy breakup with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, was the latest in a series of complications to befall this enterprising group. Over the past year, sneaker resellers have felt the knock-on effects of the end of the stimulus check, the rise of inflation, an increase in sneaker production, a loss of confidence in the industry, and a crackdown on bots — software that makes it nearly effortless for resellers to nab a large volume of shoes.
When resellers lost the e-commerce site Yeezy Supply after Adidas ended its relationship with the brand, it was the last straw for many resellers. The site is known in the sneaker-reselling space as one of the last remaining “bottable” sites.
“After the Yeezy announcement, a handful of people have come to me and said, ‘I can’t do this anymore; it’s not worth it,” David “Kari” Daniels, a sneaker-content creator on YouTube, said.
Sneaker resellers saw a bot crackdown
While not as lucrative as Nike in the aftermarket, it was easier to buy Yeezys in bulk on Yeezy Supply using bots. These are the software applications that speed up the online-checkout process and help shoppers nab more product. Though the profit from each sale was slim, it was worthwhile for resellers who could buy large volumes.
The loss of Yeezy sales then combined with Nike’s crackdown on bots.
Adidas cut ties with Ye in 2022.
Taking direct aim at resellers, Nike updated its terms of sales in October, warning that it reserved the right to cancel sales “placed with automated ordering software” as well as purchases “for the purpose of resale.”
Nike later revealed that bot attacks can make up between about 10% and 50% of all entries on its SNKRS app. Every month, Nike stops as many as 12 billion bots trying to game SNKRS launches globally and actively identifies accounts showing bot activity during every launch.
Daniels said the decline in demand for sneakers has especially hurt resellers who depend on quick flips — reselling the shoes immediately after buying them — to sustain their businesses.
You live by the bot, you die by the bot. Mike Packer, owner of boutique sneaker store Packer Shoes in Teaneck, NJ
“They don’t have the financial resources to hold product for long enough to see the market rebound, so it’s not worth buying to flip right now,” Daniels said.
The May demise of Zadeh Kicks, a resale business the Department of Justice is currently investigating for wire and bank fraud, took an added toll …read more
Source:: Business Insider


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Area residents are welcome to a bargain hunter’s paradise 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 24 at Delaware County Community College, Route 252 and Media Line Road in Marple Township.
Town Talk Newspapers will host its semi-annual Flea Market and Tailgate Sale, featuring over 150 ‘flea marketeers’ offering great bargains. A huge variety of items — everything from hand crafts, antiques, collectibles and books, to small appliances, tools, clothes, toys and much more — will be on sale.
Refreshments will be sold by the Rose Tree Media Optimists Club, so visitors can enjoy lunch and snacks. Non-perishable donations will be collected at the Town Talk table to be donated to Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry which helps needy residents of Delaware County.
DCCC ‘s beautiful campus can accommodate hundreds of cars, so there’s plenty of free parking and no admission charge. Pets are not allowed due to campus policy. Rain date is Aug. 31. Limited space is still available. Call Rose at 610-915-2253 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.


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In an effort to better serve our readers and advertisers, BocaNewsNow.com has converted all classified advertising to “press release” advertising. Instead of being limited to a few words, advertisers may now write a press release — as long as you’d like — advertising your goods, services or property.
While subject to editorial review, press releases will appear on our front page for 24 hours and will remain in our archives indefinitely. Most importantly, our content is indexed by the major search engines — offering you international exposure.
Our price: $24.95.
Click here to submit a press release.


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Pirelli Announces Improved Figures and New Investments
Pirelli has released results for the first three quarters of 2004 showing a 262 million euro increase in group net income year-on-year. The results also show that its net financial position is -1.9 billion euros. At the same time Pirelli gave details of a Chinese joint venture, a Romanian steel cord plant and three new MIRS plants, together worth 400 million euros.
In announcing its results the company reported that first half consolidate revenues are up 7.7 per cent rising from 4.9 billion to 5.3 billion euros, compared with the same period last year. The company’s year-on-year operating income also rose at rate of knots, going up 42 per cent from 197 million euros to 279 million.
However, in spite of all these impressive figures, Pirelli still reports a net financial position that is negative by more than 1.9 billion euros. This is actually worse than compared with the company’s position at the end of 2003 (-1.745 billion euros). On the other hand, the company points out that this is an improvement compared with end of the last quarter (-2.047 billion euros). Pirelli says that this position is in line with its financial targets.
In the company’s tyres sector, sales amounted to 2.448 billion euros, compared to 2.25 billion in the first nine months, an 11 per cent increase. Pirelli attributes this to the combination of increased volumes (+8.4 per cent) and better prices and product mix (+2.6 per cent). The sector’s EBITDA stood at 351 million euros (14.3 per cent of sales), up 13 per cent compared with the 311 million euros (13.8 per cent of sales) generated in first nine months of 2003.
400 million euros of investments
Confirming its Chinese expansion plans, Pirelli announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the start of a joint venture in Henan province, China. The venture will produce all steel radial truck tyres, and could produce a large quantity of tyres. The company envisages that it will install production capacity equal to 33 per cent of its current worldwide truck production capacity. In addition the company said it plans to build a plant for the manufacture of car tyres and a steel cord production facility. The company expects to invest 150 million euros in the joint venture between 2005 and 2007.
Furthermore the company announced that it would build three new MIRS plants in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. According to Pirelli these will become operational during the first half of 2005.
In Romania, the said that it has decided to support the previously mentioned steel cord production plant in Slatina, with another manufacturing base for high performance tyres. Pirelli said this move is designed to serve the growing demand from East European markets, with an investment of 110 million euros in the next three years.
With regards to its South American operations, the company elaborated on its plans. According to Pirelli, following the recent expansion of its Bahia plant, it envisages that it will also construct a new all steel radial truck tyre facility on the Gravatai site. The company plans to invest over 80 million euros in this expansion.


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‘We have actually seen our company triple in size such has been the move to online education’
Makematic is a dedicated educational video producer working with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Amazon Studios, Adobe and Oxford University Press.
Launched in 2016 by Mark Nagurski and Catherine Davies, the company addresses the need for high quality educational video content in response to the growth of online teaching and learning.
Today it creates hundreds of videos annually. It has also launched a new licensing and distribution business with licensees in both the US and Australia which involves the licensing of co-produced content on a non-exclusive basis to third-party educational content providers as well as government partners.
Over 60% of its revenues are from the US while its growth over the past year has allowed it to triple the size of its team to over 60 full-time staff and contractors.
The Derry-based company is now a fully international operation, with offices in Belfast and team members working remotely in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Spain, South Africa and the United States.
Catherine Davies, co-founder, Makematic said: “It’s amazing to win this award. We’ve just been concentrating on business and getting the right products to the right people but have seen our company triple in size such has been the move to online education. It’s very rewarding to have our work recognised.”


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A new survey reports improved SME confidence, although many businesses remain uncertain about their road to recovery. The March 2021 ScotPac SME Growth Index reveals that more SME owners are planning to invest in their businesses in 2021 compared to last year, and there has been a significant rise in the average revenue growth forecast for the first half of the year.
The twice-yearly SME Growth Index surveyed 1253 SMEs nationally and found 685 of them plan to invest in their own growth over the next six months – in late 2020, only 650 were willing to invest. It also recorded an eight-point rise in average SME revenue growth forecast for the first half of 2021, reflecting a strong level of confidence for many businesses.
“After a year facing pandemic and recession, there’s now a sense of SMEs really wanting to get back to business as usual,” ScotPac’s CEO Jon Sutton said. “But, despite these positive signs, our research shows the recovery is uneven and varies significantly by state, region and industry. There are still many small businesses who are doing it tough.”
The study asked SMEs about their strategies for recovery and growth in 2021, with 65 per cent saying that they will make changes to the structure of their business in 2021, either to recover from the pandemic or to take advantage of opportunities.
“I believe business owners are on the right track with this intention because to be in a position for recovery and growth it’s essential to have adequate funding in place,” Sutton said.
On the other hand, there is a high level of uncertainty around recovery, with 34 per cent saying that without significant market improvement they’ll close or sell their business, an increase from the 31 per cent recorded in 2020. Only half of those polled had no plans to close or sell.
When asked how they feel about running their business now compared to before the pandemic, 44 per cent were confident while 55 per cent had more pessimistic feelings. On a positive note, 37 per cent are more optimistic about the prospects for their business now than they were at the start of 2020.
“Given how bad things could have been, you could say it’s astounding how well the SME sector came through such a challenging year,” Sutton said. “There are positives, but we have to be realistic about what lies ahead. We still have half of the businesses polled this round saying they are not yet ready to invest back into their business.
“It will be hard for the economy to really take off until more small businesses are comfortable and willing to do so.”
Sutton said that SME owners’ desire to “get back to business as usual”, along with their uncertainty about how to achieve this, shows a need for SMEs to seek expert advice.
“Regardless of whether their focus is growth or recovery, it is crucial that they [SMEs] secure appropriate funding and seek good advice to put themselves in the best position to achieve it,” Sutton concluded.


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Amazon Echo owners have been warned that voice assistant Alexa could allow hackers to access their personal information, install or remove Alexa Skills (what Amazon calls apps for its smart speaker), or listen to recordings of voice commands. Researchers found a vulnerability within the talkative assistant that can be exploited using a malicious link crafted by a cyber crook.
With more than 200 million Amazon Echo units sold globally, Alexa could become a popular target for cyber criminals.
Security researchers from Check Point discovered the flaw within Alexa. The attack cannot be initiated with the voice activated speaker itself, but instead requires cyber crooks to handcraft a malicious link – that looks as if it has been sent by Amazon. If the hackers can convince the target to click on the link, they will be able to:
- Access the target’s personal information, like banking data history, usernames for online accounts, phone numbers, and home address
- Extract and listen to voice recordings from previous requests to Alexa
- Silently install skills onto the target’s Alexa account to enable new features
- View the complete list of Alexa skills already associated with the target’s account
- Silently remove an installed skill to stop it working
Amazon Echo owners need to be careful when clicking on any links. After all, Echo owners can save a lot of information with their account details, including their home Wi-Fi name and password, home address, and more. Cyber criminals often use malicious links to exploit vulnerabilities in devices and accounts, so you should never enter your personal information into untrusted online forms.
Oded Vanunu, Head of Products Vulnerabilities Research at Check Point, said: “Smart speakers and virtual assistants are so commonplace that it’s easy to overlook just how much personal data they hold, and their role in controlling other smart devices in our homes. But hackers see them as entry points into peoples’ lives, giving them the opportunity to access data, eavesdrop on conversations or conduct other malicious actions without the owner being aware.
“We conducted this research to highlight how securing these devices is critical to maintaining users’ privacy. Thankfully, Amazon responded quickly to our disclosure to close off these vulnerabilities on certain Amazon/Alexa subdomains. We hope manufacturers of similar devices will follow Amazon’s example and check their products for vulnerabilities that could compromise users’ privacy. Previously, we conducted research on TikTok, WhatsApp and Fortnite.
Published at Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:00:00 +0000


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Kona Gold Solutions Inc., Melbourne, Fla., has entered into a distribution agreement with Kentucky Eagle Inc., Lexington, Ky., the largest distribution deal to date, the companies say. Kentucky Eagle will distribute the company’s Kona Gold Hemp Energy Drinks and HighDrate CBD Energy Waters within the great state of Kentucky.
Distributing products within Central Kentucky for 71 years, Kentucky Eagle operates out of a new 190,000-square-foot facility that is the first Anheuser-Busch LEED Certified distributor in the nation, it says. The team consists of 130 vehicles that service more than 1,500 accounts in 37 counties, with sales of 4.9 million cases a year on its way from distributing beer to being a total beverage distributor within the past few years, it adds. Its portfolio consists of more than 400 brands of domestic, craft and import beers, spirits, wines, ciders, specialty beverages, mixers, energy drinks, waters, teas and food.
“I am excited to announce that Kentucky Eagle has joined our network of distribution partners,” said Chris Selinger, vice president of sales for Kona Gold, in a statement. “Kentucky Eagle has an impeccable reputation in their market and are the premier distributor in Lexington, Ky. I look forward to working closely with the Kentucky Eagle team as we expand our Kona Gold line of products into the great state of Kentucky.”
A rollout for February or March is planned. BI


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Florida High Performance installs a twin-turbo kit into a C8 Corvette.
Phastek Performance upgrades a C8 Corvette with an AWE Tuning exhaust system.
Florida High Performance kicks off the first of their Camaro 1LE ZL1 build series.
The people at Summit Racing are experts at choosing headers, and they are now sharing their advice!
These next upgrades from Chevy Performance Parts are going to transform the way the engine handles air and dispels exhaust.
Justin at American Muscle shows us how the pulled over 500 horsepower at the wheels using a few bolt on parts--naturally aspirated!
An EcoBoost Mustang gets equipped with Borla technology!
Livernois Motorsports' S675 package for 2015-17 Mustangs packs a serious punch!


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E-Agriculture Apps Offer Farmers Tech that Optimize Farming and Promote the Green Movement
Oct 21, 2015 11:00 PM EDT | By Mikey Blanco
The power of mobile apps is finally making its presence known to a previously non-digital field: agriculture. The pioneers of this "e-agriculture" technology are farmers in Ireland and their app Herdwatch had also recently won the Net Visionary Award for Innovation. The app allows farmers to monitor their herds via smartphone, tablet, or computer, AgriLand reported.
Herdwatch is the product of a partnership between FRS Network, a farmer-owned Irish co-operative and their IT manager Fabien Peyaud, EurActiv noted. The initial concept and most of the research and development are Peyaud's. Herdwatch helps farmers reduce paperwork and time on farm compliance. This allows more time to be spent managing the farm itself which is responsible for the food security of millions, if not billions, of people.
Herdwatch helps dairy, suckler, and beef farmers by offering remedies compliance, calf registration, paperless movement certs, full breeding cycle management, quick weight recording, and much more. It is approved by the Department of Agriculture and ICBF. It also works even when offline!
Map Your Meal is another app designed for both farmers and consumers. It is currently in the development stage but aims to promote public awareness of where their food comes from every step of the way. It is an EU-funded initiative and includes Cyprus, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, and the UK.
The app will scan food products and will display how "fair" and "green" they are. Consumers will be able to track where food products come from at every stage from production to selling. The app will also include a product's socioeconomic and environmental impact to all parties, including farmers and local communities. Basically, the app offers a peek into a product's Fairness and Greenness Indicator.
The app will inform on a certain product's usage of GMOs, pesticides, distance of transportation, and more. Their database is being grown to accommodate as many products as possible. Kelly Garifalli, researchers at Map Your Meal, says that they plan to roll out the app by next April.
Support from the government has been crucial and Dr. Adam Ulrich, Secretary General of the European Agricultural Machinery (CEMA), said that "Digital technologies are set to transform the world of agriculture in the years ahead and will fundamentally reshape the agri-food value chain in Europe and beyond."
How else do you think apps are going to change the farming industry? Share this article and get more people to support modern agriculture's tech revolution!


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Given Microsoft Corp.'s storied reputation as an intimidating competitor, few companies dare risk its wrath.
Yet Apple Computer Inc., with the San Francisco Macworld announcements of two applications that directly challenge existing Microsoft offerings, appears to be picking an ill-conceived fight with the behemoth based in Redmond, Wash.
Apple's free Safari browser obviously is intended as a replacement to Internet Explorer, which has been the installed default browser on all Macs since 1997.
The second application, a $99 presentation program called Keynote, takes aim at the PowerPoint module of the Microsoft Office software suite.
From Apple CEO Steve Jobs' demonstration of Keynote during his speech at Macworld, its visual abilities far outclass those of PowerPoint. Where PowerPoint tends to present static slides of text and graphics, Keynote incorporates graphically fluid transitions, such as pieces of a chart sliding into place.
Another effect makes the transition between slides appear as though they're mounted on the faces of a three-dimensional cube.
But most audacious is Keynote's compatibility with PowerPoint: It can save in PowerPoint format, as well as open files created by PowerPoint.
As both Safari and Keynote are Mac-only, the threat to Microsoft is confined to Mac users. Such a threat, however, could diminish Microsoft's enthusiasm for its 145-employee Macintosh Business Unit, which develops the Mac versions of Office and Explorer.
This scenario long has been one of Apple's nightmares. The thinking goes that without a Mac version of Office -- which, by the way, is seamlessly compatible with the Windows version -- many Mac users who need the program would be forced to switch to a Windows PC.
For a company fighting to hang on to its sliver of the market -- figures from research company IDC released last week put Apple's U.S. market share at 3 percent -- the loss of a critical application like Office could be devastating, if not fatal.
Paradoxically, that's exactly why Apple needs its own alternatives to Microsoft's products. The company must detest looking over its shoulder at Microsoft, wondering every time a version of Office for the Mac is released if there ever will be another. (The Web site MacFixit reported last week that Microsoft told it that the company will release another version of Office for the Mac but declined to say when.)
Here is where a little history can be illuminating. Back in 1997, shortly after Jobs' return to the Apple, the company was struggling and needed to buy time to reorganize.
Microsoft made a five-year commitment to the Mac, as well as invested $150 million in Apple, but with one very long string attached: Apple had to change its default Web browser from Netscape Corp.'s Navigator to Internet Explorer.
Mac users were aghast when Jobs announced the deal during a Macworld Boston keynote with a huge, Big Brother-like image of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates projected on a screen behind him. Industry observers, however, applauded Microsoft's move as a vote of confidence in Apple, which it sorely needed.
The agreement served Microsoft's interests by hammering another nail in Netscape's coffin while propping up Windows' only viable competitor, the Mac, as a hedge against the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust investigation -- though Microsoft has never admitted to this motive.
Furthermore, Microsoft always has made a respectable profit from its Mac products, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
Interestingly, the agreement was used against Microsoft a year later in the government's antitrust trial in Washington. Top Apple executives testified that Microsoft threatened to drop the Mac version of Office unless Apple made the deal.
"Apple needed to ensure that Microsoft would continue to provide MS Office for Mac, or we were dead," Fred Anderson, Apple's chief financial officer, testified in U.S. District Court. "They were threatening to abandon the Mac."
When the five-year deal expired last summer, neither company expressed interest in renewing it. Pundits speculated then that Microsoft was planning to abandon the Mac.
Now, it appears the opposite is true.
Apple learned a harsh lesson in 1997: that Microsoft, thanks to Office, holds life-and-death power over the Mac. Now, in far better financial and organizational health than it was then, Apple has put itself on a daring Microsoft detoxification program.
Rob Enderle, a research fellow at the technology research company Giga Information Group Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., called Apple's current moves "unwise," as the withdrawal of Microsoft support for the Mac platform "removes a level of validation."
Enderle said Apple could be acting pre-emptively. If Apple suspects, for instance, that Microsoft is considering dropping support for the Mac anyway, it needs to be ready for when Microsoft drops the bomb.
Even so, he said Apple could have quietly prepared substitute programs like Safari without provoking Microsoft with a public release of the software.
The risk to Apple involves more than just whether Microsoft would stop producing Mac versions of Office and Explorer. Microsoft, for example, could try to sabotage Apple's QuickTime video technology by crafting subtle incompatibilities into its next version of Windows.
The recent case between Microsoft and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc. in federal court in Baltimore over Sun's Java technology illustrates how this might happen.
Instead of using a Sun-approved version of Java, a programming language that can run on any computer, Microsoft in 1997 implemented its own modified version that didn't meet Sun's specifications.
This week, the judge ordered Microsoft to use Sun's version of Java, but the confusion Microsoft sowed in the interim has hampered broader adoption of the language.
If Apple decides it can afford to take this risk, or finds some way to appease Microsoft, Keynote and Safari can be seen as two pieces of a grand design. But what about the rest of Office for the Mac?
Apple already has the Office mail and calendar program, Entourage, covered, though not by one piece of software. But the combination of Mail, the Address Book and iCal, particularly the way they integrate with one another, as well as with the Mac operating system, adds up to a capable replacement for Entourage.
Microsoft never developed a Mac version of Access, the database module in the Windows version of Office, ostensibly because Mac users prefer the FileMaker Pro products from Apple's subsidiary, FileMaker Inc.
That leaves Word and Excel.
Apple does have word-processor and spreadsheet programs in AppleWorks 6, but their basic feature sets are no match for Microsoft's offerings. Yet if Apple is serious about extricating itself from Microsoft's grasp, it already should be working on world-class substitutes to Word and Excel.
A first-rate office software package would do more for Apple than negate any future threats from Microsoft. Apple also could control how such software integrated with the Mac OS, as existing "iApps" like iTunes and iPhoto do.
Best of all, Apple would control the price and earn the profit. One of the persistently distressing aspects of Office for the Mac, even given that it is highly polished software, has been its steep $500 cost. (The current "Office Romance" promotion, valid until April 7, entitles buyers of new Macs to a $300 discount.)
AppleWorks 6, by comparison, costs $79 and is bundled free with new iMacs and iBooks.
Apple could release a "pro" version of AppleWorks that's on par with Office for the Mac, charging, say, $349 or $399. A "lite" version of the suite, with fewer features, could sell for $99 and still be bundled with new consumer Mac models.
Both versions would have one vital feature: total compatibility with Microsoft Office formats.
Apple also could sell the individual "pro" components separately, as Microsoft does, except at a lower cost, of course. This shouldn't be too difficult, considering that Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Mac OS X sell separately for $350 each. Keynote costs $99.
As for Microsoft, it could choose between updating Office and competing with "AppleWorks Pro" -- that's what I'm calling it -- or drop all software development for the Mac and transfer its Mac Business Unit employees to the Xbox division. It would be great if Microsoft stayed in the game, as the competition would drive both products to improve and innovate, but it wouldn't have nearly the impact it would have had in 1997.
As crazy as this made-in-Cupertino-office-suite theory may sound, Apple has made a habit in recent years of making unexpected strategic moves, such as launching a chain of retail stores and building a portable MP3 player.
Why not AppleWorks Pro?


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With the impending release of Monster Hunter: World just days away, a new behind-the-scenes video has been released on YouTube, giving fans of the upcoming title a glimpse at how the development team approached the task of making a next-generation installment in the Monster Hunter series.
Entitled “The Making of Monster Hunter: World Episode I – Concept,” the newly released video appears to be the first episode of a behind-the-scenes series timed to coincide with the release of the game. This first episode offers fans a look at the development process of Monster Hunter: World, interspersed with a selection of interviews with the game’s developers and directors as they discuss how they approached making a Monster Hunter game for the current generation of consoles.
While perhaps not as exciting as other recent promotional releases for Monster Hunter: World, the video highlights how much the development team drew upon the original Monster Hunter, released in 2004, in how they set about designing Monster Hunter: World. It emphasizes the original title’s ecosystem and the sense that the monsters were more than mere enemies as being key factors that the development team sought to incorporate into the new game.
Longstanding fans of the series may well be reassured to see how the developers have sought to channel the spirit of the game’s predecessors in their approach. Certainly, the developers seem to be in tune with what gamers want to see the upcoming title. Just a few weeks ago, it was confirmed in an interview with the series’ producer, Ryozo Tsujimoto, that Monster Hunter: World will include neither loot boxes nor micro-transactions of any kind; welcome news to most of the gaming community after the disastrous mishandling of micro-transactions in other recent releases.
As the first Monster Hunter game to ever be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the game has certainly attracted plenty of attention. The title’s director, Yuya Tokuda, recently made comments suggesting that fans of Destiny will find the game easy to get into. With complaints about Destiny being frequent and numerous from the game’s fans, the developers of Monster Hunter: World may well be looking to attract those dissatisfied with Destiny 2 to their first foray into the current console market.
While it remains to be seen whether the game will be a success or not, this video detailing the developers’ approach, together with other recent news such as the promise of free DLC, makes it seem likely that the upcoming title could do very well on release.


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You’ve heard of cow tipping and house flipping. But how about cow flipping?
A big business in the factory farm “Big Organic” dairy industry is flipping cows—buying conventional cows, managing them according to organic regulations for a year, and selling them to “Big Organic” dairies at a profit.
The Cornucopia Institute explains it this way:
To meet the demand from these factory farms for replacement animals, wholesale suppliers of organic heifers (young cows who have not yet calved for the first time) have arisen. These organic heifer farms generally purchase one-year-old conventionally raised yearlings. These animals were typically raised on “medicated” milk replacer (infant formula for bovines) that includes antibiotics and other materials banned in organics. After weaning, the young animals’ diet generally consists of conventional feed, treated with toxic agrochemicals, and almost undoubtedly all genetically engineered (practices prohibited in organics). The heifer ranches, who purchase the young stock, then manage the cows as organic from this point on in their lives until their eventual sale to the large [“organic”] factory farms.
Cow flipping is profitable because the factory farm-style “Big Organic” dairies consider their cows disposable. So they’re in constant need of replacement heifers. According to the Cornucopia Institute, they push their cows to produce 25,000 pounds or more of milk per year. When this forced overproduction inevitably results in mastitis (udder infection) or other maladies, their management solution is to buy replacements for the sick and lower-producing animals. As Mark Kastel, who recently left Cornucopia Institute to co-found OrganicEye with partners from Beyond Pesticides, said:
“These dairies burn out their cattle and send them to the hamburger plant, sometimes just a year or two after they start milking them, and then replace them with conventional cows.”
Cow flipping should be illegal. That’s because in order to be certified organic, milk is supposed to come from cows that were raised from before birth under organic rules.
There’s one exception, though. In order to help conventional dairy farmers transition to organic, the Origin of Livestock Rule allows those farmers “to convert an existing herd of milk cows and their young offspring to organic status by providing them qualified organic feed, and shunning any of the prohibited pharmaceuticals, for one year before they officially sell their milk as certified organic.”
But here’s the issue. Some “Big Organic” dairies, and the business described above, are wrongly using the Origin of Livestock Rule to transition conventional cows to organic, over and over again.
That was never the intent of the rule. Yet the NOP has turned a blind eye to the abuse of what was supposed to be a one-time conversion.
The widespread practice of cow flipping means that most of the store brand “organic” milk available in grocery stores comes from cows that were born and raised on conventional factory farms for a year before being transitioned to organic.
During that important first year of life, these cows were raised on conventional milk or milk replacers which contain substances banned in organic. The banned substances include antibiotics and other prohibited pharmaceuticals, and also the blood plasma of other cows.
From a consumer perspective, there are lots of problems with this. One of these is the ever-growing antibiotic resistance crisis, caused by the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms.
Another? The increased risk of Varient Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), a form of Mad Cow disease that is transmissible to humans and is transmitted among cows through cannibalism. In the U.S., the practice of feeding cows to cows was never completely banned. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans only “the brains and spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age and older.” Everything else is allowed. So calves on conventional farms are regularly fed “spray-dried bovine plasma”—in other words, cow blood.
The continued cannibalisation of cows is probably why neither Mad Cow (bovine spongiform encephalopath or BSE) nor vCJD has been eradicated. A Tennessee man recently got vCJD (read his tragic story here). And BSE has been found this year in Brazil and Poland.
If the risk of increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant infections and cVJD isn’t enough to make you want to do something about the problem of conventional factory-farm-raised cows producing “organic” milk, consider how it impacts small-scale family farmers who are producing organic milk with only the animals born on their farms and raised organically from conception.
As Civil Eats reports, there are a number of ways factory-farm “organic” producers undercut their all-organic family farm competitors:
- Selling organic calves and buying conventional heifers: One cost-saving trick is to sell off all the organic calves born on the farm (they’d have to be raised organically for two years before they could produce milk) and buy cheaper conventional heifers to replace milking cows (it only takes one year to transition them to organic).
- Raising organic-born calves conventionally: The Idaho State Department of Agriculture lets organic farms rear their organic-born cows conventionally and then transition them back to organic status for organic milk production.
- Operating a “split operation” with both organic and conventional cows: Dairies can manage both conventional and organic herds, moving organic calves to the conventional herd until it’s time to transition them to organic a year before milk production.
- Using conventional versus organic feed: At one organic farm, the cost of raising a heifer for its first 60 weeks was $3,628 or nearly triple the $1,274 cost of a conventional heifer.
- Maximizing production and shortening cows’ lifespans: With cheap conventional replacement heifers available, there’s no incentive to maximize a cow’s life span by reducing its stress or treating it humanely. Factory-farm “organic” dairies can focus on maximizing production by feeding large amounts of grain, even though it shortens the cow’s life.
Cow flipping should be illegal. The rules say an organic cow is a cow that has been organic since the last third of gestation.
The problem lies in lax enforcement and certifiers’ “creative interpretations” of an exception to the rule that allows for the one-time transition of a dairy herd from conventional to organic.
The NOP has been talking about “clarifying” what’s known as “the origin of livestock” rule for more than a decade. It’s time to act.
The NOP has re-opened a public comment period on the subject through December 2, 2019. Please sign our petition today. Thank you!
Take Action by December 2 for Better Organic Dairy: Tell the National Organic Program to stop letting factory-farm “organic” dairies break the rule requiring livestock to be raised organically from before birth.


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Digital TV News: MediaTek
ocilion launches 5th generation set-top box family
Dec 14, 2021 – ocilion has developed and launched its fifth generation set-top box. The P500 family builds on the P400 series with a new chipset and further optimisations for better performance. All five models are based on MediaTek's 5251 SoC.
News categories: ocilion, Hans Kühberger, Digital TV, IPTV, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
MediaTek 8K TV SoC first in 7-nanometer at TSMC
Nov 22, 2021 – MediaTek (TWSE:2454) and TSMC (TWSE:2330, NYSE:TSM) have unveiled the world’s first 7-nanometer 8K digital TV SoC, the MediaTek Pentonic 2000. The MediaTek Pentonic 2000 is built with TSMC’s N7 advanced process technology.
News categories: MediaTek, TSMC, Dr. Mike Chang, Dr. Kevin Zhang, Digital TV, Semiconductor, Taiwan, Worldwide
MediaTek launches Pentonic smart TV family with 8K 120Hz IC
Nov 19, 2021 – MediaTek has unveiled its Pentonic smart TV family with the introduction of the Pentonic 2000, which will power next generation 8K TVs. The Pentonic series is built on MediaTek's technologies in display, audio, AI, broadcasting and connectivity.
News categories: MediaTek, Dr. Mike Chang, Digital TV, ICs, Smart TV, Worldwide
Vewd and Mediatek bring entertainment to vehicle rear-seats
Oct 21, 2021 – MediaTek’s Autus I20 (MT2712) chipset has been selected to power Vewd for Automotive, a white-labeled, cloud-managed content aggregation and monetization solution for in-vehicle infotainment.
News categories: Vewd, MediaTek, Aneesh Rajaram, PC Tseng, Content Distribution, Digital TV, In-Car, Semiconductor, Streaming, Worldwide
Amazon-built TVs launched in the U.S.
Sep 9, 2021 – Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has announced a new lineup of Fire TV devices with its first-ever Amazon-built smart TVs, the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series and 4-Series smart TVs, and the all-new Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
News categories: Amazon, Daniel Rausch, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart TV, Streaming, USA
DTVKit releases Hybrid White Label RDK set-top box
Sep 8, 2021 – To enable OEMs and smaller satellite operators to test and evaluate RDK, DTVKit has collaborated with its members, including RDK, Mediatek, EKT and OBS, to develop a Hybrid White Label set-top box.
News categories: DTVKit, RDK Management, Phil Evans, Jason Briggs, Paul Martin, Winson Hsu, Digital TV, RDK, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
ucfunnel adopts Unified ID 2.0
Jul 15, 2021 – Programmatic solution provider, ucfunnel, has adopted Unified ID 2.0, an industry-wide approach to internet identity. ucfunnel partners with Smart TVs powered by MediaTek and with CTV portal company NetRange.
News categories: ucfunnel, The Trade Desk, Ryan Chou, Douglas Choy, Advertising, Asia, Big Data, Digital TV, Semiconductor, Smart TV
Dominant share for MediaTek in smart speaker market
May 4, 2021 – Apps processors from MediaTek were used in nearly 50% of the 151 million smart speakers and smart displays sold in 2020 according to Strategy Analytics. MediaTek increased its share by six percentage points in 2020.
News categories: Strategy Analytics, Chirag Upadhyay, David Watkins, Market Research, Semiconductor, Smart Home, Worldwide
Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 10.4% in 2020
Apr 12, 2021 – Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $466.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 10.4% from 2019, according to final results from Gartner. Intel retained its position as the No. 1 global semiconductor vendor by revenue in 2020.
News categories: Gartner, Andrew Norwood, COVID-19, Market Research, Semiconductor, Worldwide
- Comscore adds CTV measurement for Indonesia and Malaysia
- MediaTek adds Fraunhofer MPEG-H Audio to Smart TV SoCs
- Vault AI selects Whip Media global audience engagement data
- TVCoins launches white-label FAST platform with viewing incentives built-in
- NAGRA and AIHunters partner on automated ad insertion
- RemoteMeeting video conferencing now available on LG Smart TVs
- Nielsen to measure NFL Thursday Night Football on Prime Video
- Paramount+ subscription bundled into Walmart+
- SVOD subscriptions in Africa to triple by 2027
- UK's Ofcom releases Media Nations 2022 report
- Amagi to power VIDAA's global FAST service expansion
- SEI Robotics and 3SS power Tele2 Tv Hub Mini dongle
- Global installed base of smart home devices exceeds 2bn in 2022
- HBO Max to be available to KPN's broadband, TV and mobile customers
- Major U.S. pay TV providers lost ~1,925,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022
- Pay TV revenues in Australia to continue to decline
- Samba TV enters Spanish market via partnership with Smartclip
- Ad-supported Disney+ tier to launch in the U.S. on December 8th
- Foxxum launches RDK-based OS for Connected TVs
- Gracenote enables optimized program metadata distribution


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The Simility Blog
As Retail Goes Omnichannel, Here’s How to Stop Fraudsters Doing the Same
Rahul PangamNovember 20, 2018
Omnichannel retailer offering ‘Buy Online, Pick-up in Store’ option to customers this holiday season must collect and analyze a broad sweep of information to minimize risk
Omnichannel is taking the retail sector by storm. Promising greater profits and loyal customers by helping to create a more seamless shopping experience, it’s already transforming the fortunes of digitally innovative organizations around the world. Yet as retailers start to merge channels, new opportunities arise for fraudsters. With an estimated $1.1 trillion up for grabs in the US this coming holiday season, you can be sure they’ll be primed to cash in wherever there are gaps in visibility.1
Retailers must respond by choosing data-driven solutions that integrate information from a wide variety of sources to offer comprehensive fraud protection.
The Omnichannel Revolution
Omnichannel retail is not a new concept. In fact, leading-edge companies have been talking about it for over a decade. But it’s finally seeing mass take-up thanks to rising customer expectations, improved technology platforms and board-level buy-in for digital transformation projects. In Connectivity Benchmark Report 2018 conducted by Mulesoft, over three-quarters (77%) of global retailers claimed that improving the customer experience was a key priority for digital transformation, with omnichannel one of the top initiatives.2
Today, most shoppers are omnichannel. They move between multiple screens and online and offline channels — researching, reading reviews, and interacting on social media before they buy. And they expect this journey to be seamless. In fact, almost two-thirds (63%) of consumers claim a disconnected experience would force them to consider shopping with a competitor, as per the Mulesoft’s report.
Yet for those who get it right, omnichannel can drive happier customers, improved insight and greater profits. Consumers who shop across channels spend 37% more than their single channel counterparts, according to Accenture.3
Fraud goes Omni
Recently, among the most popular elements of omnichannel is the ability to buy online and pick-up in store (BOPUS/BOPIS) also popularly referred as ‘Click and Collect’. Over half (57%) of online shoppers polled in 2017 claimed to have done so over the previous year, because they can avoid shipping fees (73%), it’s more convenient (32%), and it’s quicker (30%) than waiting for a delivery.4 Half of US consumers said they planned to pick an online order up in store ahead of the 2017 holiday season, so we can expect more of the same in the coming month-and-a-half.5
But here’s the problem. Verifying the customer’s shipping address is an extra check which can help foil the fraudsters. After all, no scammer is going to want to order goods on a stolen card if they end up being delivered to the legitimate cardholder’s address. But this check is not possible if a shopper elects to pick up an order in-store. Thus, fraudsters can use stolen card details to buy online and then collect from the store. Especially at busy times such as the holiday period, store staff may be more focused on getting shoppers served as quickly as possible than checking IDs.
Visibility across Channels
So what’s the answer? The only way to be sure of stopping fraud at the point of purchase is via a data-driven solution like Simility’s that collects and analyzes a broad sweep of information including device, location, purchase history and behavior. Simility also partners with leading third-party identity check solutions to validate the credibility of the user provided information such as name, social security number, date of birth that was used to create an online account to place a BOPUS order.
Simility leverages all of this data and applies powerful analytics and dynamic machine learning models to it to empower fraud and risk teams to make the right decisions, even as scam tactics evolve. Activity which is not immediately categorized as fraudulent but still warrants extra attention can be flagged as suspicious and requiring manual review at the point of collection. That makes the whole process more efficient for a retailer’s BOPUS staff, who will only need to check IDs for specific flagged orders.
As we hit the holiday season, it’s not just retailers that will be looking to maximize their takings. Invest in smart, data-driven fraud solutions now to minimize your risk exposure.
Schedule a demo to know how Simility can help you address your fraud problems.


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Many Indonesians say good-quality oil is always out of stock or too expensive.
Palm oil is a useful thing. It’s used in so many food, cosmetic and toiletry products that you can find it listed as an ingredient in half the packaged stuff in UK supermarkets. It’s also used as biofuel, animal feed and regular cooking oil. This last use is its primary function in Indonesia, where most palm oil is made. The country produces over 40 million tonnes of the stuff every year - which is about 57 percent of the world’s total.
That makes it seem a bit weird that for weeks Indonesia has had a huge palm oil shortage. Indonesians have been queuing for hours to try and get hold of the stuff, only to frequently leave empty handed. What is available is often either poor quality or too expensive for many to afford.
When figuring out why this might be the case, one stat that jumps out is the export figures for Indonesian palm oil: three-quarters of the stuff is sold abroad. In general, producers often prefer to sell to foreign companies, because their deeper pockets means they’ll pay more for the goods. Selling stuff for a higher price can benefit societies as well as individual businesses - higher profits can translate into job creation, increased wages and more tax revenue. But it can also create a system where locals struggle to get hold of domestically-produced goods.
The Indonesian government seems to have had some concerns that this is indeed happening, because in January 2022 they decreed that palm oil producers had to sell 20 percent of their oil to Indonesians. In March they raised this proportion to 30 percent. But after a big backlash from palm oil producers, they scrapped all quotas.
Is the removal of the quotas causing the shortage? Palm oil producers say no. For one thing, the crisis started before they were scrapped. For another, according to producers, even when Indonesians can buy all the palm oil they want, they don’t use 20 percent of the oil total, making the quota wasteful.
Plus, the government is still trying to influence the palm oil market to keep more of the stuff at home: it replaced the quota with a larger tax on palm oil exports. The idea is that making it more expensive to sell oil abroad than at home will erode the producer's preference for richer foreigner buyers that we mentioned above, while still making it worthwhile for them to sell surplus oil abroad if there are no more takers at home. Since the tax came in, palm oil has apparently become much more readily available in Indonesian shop than it was. The main problem now is its (un)affordability.
That brings us onto another potential cause for the palm oil shortage. Some fingers have been pointed at another now-rescinded government policy: price caps. In February, right before the crisis started, the government introduced a maximum price for local palm oil. This made it so the highest-quality stuff cost about $1 a litre. In mid-March it got rid of the cap and palm oil prices were immediately bumped up more than three-fold. So one argument is that the price cap made palm oil too cheap to make it financially worthwhile for producers to sell it - hence, empty shelves. This seems particularly plausible to some people because palm oil producers have had their own costs go up a lot recently. Supply chain issues caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine has pushed up the prices of the things they need to make palm oil, such as the fuel that powers their machinery.
However, there is also some evidence that some big businesses saw the price cap as an economic opportunity to stockpile the stuff and then sell it on for a higher-than-legal price to customers desperate to get hold of it. The Indonesian courts think some of these businesses also colluded with each other on this scheme (as lots of competitors selling palm oil for $1 would ruin their plan). Such colluding behaviour - known as being a cartel - is illegal.
We’ve moved beyond a world where your country was all that matters. Our economies have become bigger than we realise. Things we use are less and less likely to come from our own country and more likely to have been imported from a country across the globe – this has become so normal that we’ve forgotten what a huge implication this has for how our economies work…


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Universal’s Adam Sandler and Kevin James laffer “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” won the Friday box office with an estimated $12.4 million in ticket sales. New Line’s musical “Hairspray” came in No. 2 at an estimated $10.9 million. Holdover Warner Bros.’
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” came in behind “Hairspray” with an estimated $10.3 million in Friday ticket sales, although the pic is expected to pick up its pace on Saturday, turning the weekend into an unexpectedly brisk race.
There’s been buzz about whether the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the final book in J.K. Rowling’s blockbuster book series, would have an impact on “Phoenix” at the box office. Tome was released 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
DreamWorks-Paramount’s “Transformers,” in its third frame, took in an estimated $6 million on Friday, while Disney-Pixar’s “Ratatouille” made an estimated $3.5 million.


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Just moments after Asus officially announce the Eee PC 901, the good folks at AnandTech posted the photos we’ve all been waiting for. No, not the official press shots. Those have been floating around for ages. Rather, AnandTech took the case apart and snapped a few image of the Eee PC 901’s insides.
There aren’t a lot of surprises, but if you’ve always wanted to know what an Intel Atom chip looks like up close and personal, now’s your chance.


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Huawei is getting ready for a colossal collapse in its gross sales of smartphones around the globe. Disadvantaged of an Android license and unable to fabricate Kirin chips with out TSMC, the Chinese language producer would solely produce 50 million smartphones in 2021.
In accordance with a report by The Elec, a South Korean media outlet, Huawei will promote solely 190 million smartphones in 2020. Regardless of the sanctions towards it, the Chinese language group had bought 240 million telephones worldwide in 2019. Thanks to those stable outcomes, the model took second place among the many largest smartphone producers, simply behind Samsung. Originally of 2020, Huawei had even managed to briefly overtake Samsung.
On the identical matter: Huawei is delaying the launch of its newest Kirin 1000 (5nm) chipset in order to not entice consideration
Huawei expects to promote 74% fewer smartphones in 2021
Because the sanctions towards him intensify, Huawei anticipates additional collapse in gross sales over the following 12 months. On this context, the agency ought to produce solely 50 million telephones in 2021, down 74% in comparison with 2020.
In latest weeks, Huawei has already began to downgrade the manufacturing of its telephones. Part orders for the Mate 40 would have fallen by 30%. If the Sino-U.S. Commerce conflict continues, some analysts imagine Huawei might give up the smartphone market altogether for some time.
Unsurprisingly, the competitors will shortly benefit from Huawei’s woes. In accordance with The Elec, Samsung would get well the market share of its rival in Europe. To a lesser extent, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi also needs to profit from the plunge of world quantity two. In China, the void left by Huawei would basically be crammed by Xiaomi.
Nevertheless, the producer has not but given up. Richard Yu, CEO of the cellular division, assures us that Huawei is at present learning its choices to bypass US sanctions. In the identical vein, the Chinese language model introduced the arrival of a primary smartphone underneath Concord OS, its cellular OS different to Android, in the midst of the 12 months 2021. “From subsequent 12 months, HarmonyOS will be capable to be utilized in smartphones, good TVs, smartwatches, PCs, vehicles and different merchandise” advance Richard Yu. Huawei has not mentioned its final phrase.
Supply: The Elec


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Just doing it: Athletes who got vocal about politics
Is it time to stop separating politics and sports?
© Getty Images
Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who sparked controversy by kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice, has just been announced as the face of Nike’s Just Do It campaign. There have been responses from both sides, some applauding Nike for their decision, while others are calling for a boycott and burning their apparel. Either way, it’s clear that some people would rather sports remain separate from social issues.
Check out this gallery of the athletes who have the courage to speak up about what they believe in.
CELEBRITY james blake
James Blake proclaims love for Jameela Jamil with heartfelt message
Smartphones that emit the most (and least) radiation
Everything you wanted to know about Netta Barzilai
Do you want to win an iPhone X worth £1149?
CELEBRITY Celebrity feuds
Everyone Nicki Minaj has ever called out in public
TRAVEL devil's sea
The mysterious story behind Japan's Devil's Sea
Mean girls: stars who can't stand each other
Katie Price banned from 'Loose Women' after crazy holiday antics
CELEBRITY Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham’s marketing stunt results in chaos


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The Government is seeking applications for a new scheme to help boost the online presence of retail businesses affected by Covid-19.
Launched on the 30th April by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, TD, the Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme is now seeking applications from small retail companies looking to boost their digital presence.
The €2m fund will be open to retailers in Ireland with a physical store and employing more than 10 people. Successful applicants will receive financial support of up to 80pc of eligible project costs, with funding ranging from €10,000 to €40,000.
Operated by Enterprise Ireland, the fund is targeted at national retailers with a pre-existing online presence to accelerate their online offerings to respond to both domestic and international consumer demand. The funding can be used for service provider fees, developing a digital strategy or enhancing the retailer’s website.
The Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme is complementary to the €2,500 Trading Online Vouchers provided through the Local Enterprise Offices for companies with less than 10 employees.
‘Exceptional pressure on the sector’
The Government said that applications for the scheme will remain open until 3pm on Wednesday 27 May 2020.
“By introducing the Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme, I want to support indigenous Irish retailers to sustain their business through the crisis and into the future,” Humphreys said.
“It is one of two online trading schemes that has received additional funding to support firms in this difficult period. Online trading will stand to your company for years to come. It will boost your revenue and make your business more resilient, and I would strongly encourage all retailers not already trading online to get online.”
Stephen Hughes, head of consumer retail at Enterprise Ireland, said the Covid-19 emergency has “put exceptional pressure on the sector in Ireland”.
He added that the funding will “help support retailers who have found they will have to rapidly adapt their approach to meet an increase in consumer demand and enable online ordering and delivery to meet the new reality of home working and physical distancing restrictions”.
The scheme was first announced by Humphreys earlier this month, as part of the €1bn worth of supports planned for Irish SMEs affected by Covid-19. Other schemes include the €180m Sustaining Enterprise Fund to assist companies in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors.


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Bill Paul, one of the most recommended Logistics Recruiter on LinkedIn, discussed the future of jobs in the Freight Forwarding industry.
The need for trade finance digitization has never been clearer. In today’s pandemic-ravaged landscape, banks face multiple challenges, including the legislative shift to digital trade documents and growing regulatory scrutiny, changing customer behaviour and increasing competition in the form of trade finance investment funds.
The global macro economic impact of the pandemic and how its prolonged impact on certain sectors and trade was discussed at length in a panel moderated by Jake Jacobson at the BAFT’s 2021 virtual Global Annual Meeting.
Trade Finance Global (TFG) is excited to announce that we have partnered with Trade and Export Finance (TXF) for two of their upcoming 2021 flagship conferences
Data will be at the centre of a brave new world in trade finance – Natasha Condon, JP Morgan
Collaboration with the scientific community stands to fast track technology in insurance and surety. We should be doing more to build these bridges.
Ian Sayers, ITCs Senior Adviser for Access to Financing takes a closer look and explains how they may support ITCs work to improve conditions for the continent’s MSMEs.
Global growth looks set to rebound sharply following the record contractions in the second quarter of 2020, said S&P Global Ratings.
Hin Leong Trading’s, founded by Singaporean oil tycoon Oon Kuin, collapse sends shockwaves through industry leading businesses to significantly embrace digital transformation.
We heard from Steven Beck, Head of Trade Finance at the Asian Development Bank, giving his musings on 2019, a year of uncertainty in trade, and what 2020 might bring for trade and supply chain in Asia.
Michael Bickers, MD, BCR Publishing walked us through the trends in supply chain and receivables finance in 2019, arguably one of the most uncertain in the last decade. In an interview with TFG, Bickers gave his view on what’s in stock for SCF and receivables in the year ahead, commenting on APIs, blockchain and competitive growth in supply chain finance, in preparation for the BCR Supply Chain Finance Summit in Amsterdam this month.
We spoke to Anabel Gonzalez during the World Trade Symposium in New York. We discussed whether the current US-China trade war had a positive impact on Latin American trade flows. Geopolitical uncertainty continues to threaten foreign investment and economic growth, particularly in emerging markets. Policymakers around the world are fretting about trade uncertainty and its impact on access to business finance, meanwhile, innovation and competition remain critical for economic growth.
Alfa-Bank and Novolipetsk Steel Company (NLMK), in cooperation with Commerzbank, Germany, and Vesuvius GmbH, Germany, have launched a pilot project of cross-border payments via the Marco Polo international trade finance network. For Marco Polo, it is the first Russian-German import-export operations financing project.
TFG spoke to Mishal Ruparel, General Manager at Banking Circle, about the new applications of technology in banking to help better serve the underbanked SMEs. Using AI-driven credit scoring and new approaches to analyse credit card transaction data, Banking Circle’s proposition is game-changing the world of SME finance.
The volume of space dedicated to ‘trade wars’ in the past few months is vast. But this does not guarantee the subject has been properly examined and analysed. I would like to suggest another perspective, questioning some common assumptions.


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U.S. Wheat Organizations Join Coalition to Re-Establish Trade Relations with Cuba
January 09, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are pleased to be founding members of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba (USACC). The organizations are encouraged by President Obama’s efforts to renew diplomatic relations with Cuba. However, it is unclear if these actions alone will be enough to restore the Cuban wheat market for U.S. farmers. That is why they share USACC’s mission to re-establish Cuba as a market for U.S. food and agricultural exports.
Cuba, which does not grow wheat commercially, is the largest wheat market in the Caribbean, purchasing almost all of its wheat from the European Union and Canada. In the recent past, Cuba has imported more than 16.3 million bushels (445,000 metric tons) of wheat in a single year from the United States, sales that today would represent a value of nearly $123 million. However, under current rules set by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United States can only export agricultural products to Cuba through the use of third-party, foreign banks, which makes facilitating trade burdensome and often more expensive for Cuba. Partly as a result, Cuba has not purchased U.S. wheat since 2011.
“U.S. wheat farmers are excited about the prospect of exporting more wheat to Cuba,” says NAWG President Paul Penner, a wheat farmer from Hillsboro, KS. “NAWG has long supported strengthened trade relations with Cuba and see this as a historic step in that direction.”
“The U.S. wheat industry applauds these efforts to normalize trade relations, which take concrete steps away from a policy approach towards Cuba that has accomplished little,” said USW President Alan Tracy. “If U.S. trade with Cuba can increasingly respond to economics rather than politics, we believe our wheat market share there will eventually grow from its current level of zero to around 80 to 90 percent, as it is in other Caribbean nations. We have a natural competitive advantage over other suppliers.”
USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat farmers.” The activities of USW are made possible by producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and through cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. For more information, visit www.uswheat.org or contact your state wheat commission.
The National Association of Wheat Growers was founded more than 60 years ago by producers who wanted to work together for the common good of the industry. Today, NAWG works with its 22 affiliated state associations and many coalition partners on issues as diverse as federal farm policy, environmental regulation, the future commercialization of biotechnology in wheat and uniting the wheat industry around common goals.
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Fact Sheet: Wheat Trade with Cuba
The current situation:
The United States has imposed an economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba since 1962. The Trade Sanctions Reform Act (TSRA) of 2001 opened exports of U.S. agricultural products, including wheat, but travel and financing restrictions compound the regulatory difficulties of trading with Cuba. Unilateral sanctions negatively impact the export potential for U.S. wheat producers in the Cuban market, the largest in the Caribbean, while competitors in the European Union and Canada freely sell wheat to Cuba.
Source: USDA PSD Online
1 metric ton = 36.74 bushels
U.S. policies restrict the U.S. wheat industry by:
· Implementing financing restrictions that require payment from third-party banks and cash in advance of shipment;
· Imposing travel restrictions and licensing requirements on U.S. exporters;
· Restricting travel by Cuban officials to the United States;
· Creating a negative relationship between the United States and Cuba that is not conducive to business;
· Denying access to critical credit tools that facilitate exports;
· Imposing a six-month waiting period on vessels leaving Cuba before allowing reentry to U.S. ports.
Potential for U.S. wheat exports:
Cuba represents substantial potential for U.S. wheat farmers. Cuba’s 11 million people consumed an average of nearly 30 million bushels of wheat per year over the past 10 years. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service lists Cuba as the largest importer of wheat and wheat products in the Caribbean.
Cuba’s proximity, as well as historical and cultural ties should make it a natural trading partner for the United States. Instead, Europe and Canada currently control a substantial portion of the Cuban market. In neighboring Caribbean markets, U.S. wheat has maintained an 80 percent market share over the last decade, while peaking near 50 percent of the Cuban market seven years ago before collapsing to nothing since 2011. This gives the United States a market share of zero percent while the Europeans account for approximately two-thirds of Cuba’s imports and Canada exports most of the remaining share.
In 2005, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency charged with enforcing sanctions, amended U.S. regulations, forcing Cuba to obtain and present letters of credit from a third-party, foreign bank. The amendment forced U.S. exporters to receive payment only from a third-party bank, rather than through direct payment from Alimport, the Cuban food importer. As a result, the cost of buying U.S. wheat increased due to this excessive and unnecessary administrative burden. In the same amendment, OFAC modified the definition of payment of “cash in advance,” to require payment before a shipment leaves the port in the U.S. rather than before the title changes hands at the shipment’s destination. This rule is unique to our exports to Cuba, removes the ability of Alimport officials to inspect cargo before payment and is not the practice with any of Cuba’s other trading partners.
Additionally, the United States cannot provide credit backing since Cuba is a designated state sponsor of terrorism. While this is not relevant under the 2005 regulations, revisions to the regulations proposed by the President could make this an impediment to further exports. The inability to offer credit and financing is a major constraint to increasing U.S. exports to Cuba.
December 2014 announcement:
The U.S. wheat industry supports the President’s decision to ease financing restrictions on agricultural trade with Cuba, among other steps that will hopefully lead to a more conducive business environment. While regulations implementing the executive announcement have not been written, the wheat industry believes that the proposed changes to requirements for export transactions will create better export opportunities. Specifically, allowing U.S. financial institutions to open correspondent accounts in Cuba and changing the regulatory definition of “cash in advance” to mean “cash before transfer of title” could allow much more efficient execution of these transactions. The President also proposed reviewing Cuba’s status as a designated state sponsor of terrorism, which could help facilitate access to export credit programs.
However, while the wheat industry is hopeful, it is unclear if these actions alone will be enough to restore the Cuban wheat market for U.S. producers.
U.S. wheat industry position:
The U.S. wheat industry supports easing travel restrictions, permanently overturning the 2005 regulatory changes and increasing access to credit and USDA commercial loan programs. A level playing field with Canada and Europe is critical for U.S. wheat farmers to fully realize their export potential to Cuba. However, the larger political implications of the embargo and its negative impact on the business environment between the U.S. and Cuba will likely preclude effective competition by U.S. wheat exporters even if these other changes are implemented. Thus, U.S. wheat farmers support ending the embargo entirely.


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Around the same time in the 1830s that part of the Allan’s Mill building in Guelph was being used as a distillery, John H. Sleeman was operating a brewery and a distillery near St. Catharines, Ont.
After an extensive renovation of Allen’s Mill, the current-day John Sleeman is opening the Spring Mill Distillery in the historic building, which will eventually offer whisky but for now is selling vodka and gin.
The stills were activated in February, said Cooper Sleeman, John’s son and manager of sales and marketing for Spring Mill.
“We fully intend on being a whisky distillery, that is what the stills we brought it are for,” said Cooper. “We won’t be buying any bulk whisky from anywhere, everything that will go through this facility will be grain to barrel all from scratch.”
The challenge is turnaround time. Vodka and gin can be distilled and bottled in a process that takes a few days, whereas whisky can take much longer, depending on how long you age it.
The vodka and gin currently being produced by the distillery is available for sale at 25 LCBO locations, as part of a craft distillers program and will soon be shipping to Quebec, New Brunswick and Alberta.
Currently, all of the bottling is done by hand.
“It takes four guys to get everything done, a little slower than at the brewery, that’s for sure,” said Cooper.
The distillery has a bar, which will be open daily and offer the company’s gin and vodka. Until its own whisky is ready, a selection of other whiskeys will be served, as well as wine.
“We have named it the Ward Bar after the neighbourhood,” said Cooper.
The bar also serves as the main entrance to the building, where most of the public interaction will be — from selling of spirits to selling Spring Mill Distillery merchandise and offering tours of the facility.
Cooper said there is a lot of potential for tourism, from people seeking to tour the distillery to being interested in the restoration of the building.
“We have restored it to its original look and we have done very little in term of additions to the building, both by design and as requested by the Historical Society. We like the way it has turned out,” said Cooper.
In the lobby is a restored 1923 Ford Model T truck painted with the distillery’s branding.
“It runs,” said Cooper. “We will be using it during special occasions.”
Another point of interest will be the coopering facility, where the wooden barrels used in whisky making will be maintained. Cooper said the company employs the only master cooper in Canada.
Cooper said the distillery is the result of nine years of planning between his father John and former Sleeman Breweries master brewer Doan Bellman. He said the pair received the blessing of the brewery’s current owners, Sapporo Brewery of Japan.
The 45-foot-tall copper columns that are viewable through windows in the bar were hand-made in Scotland by Forsyths.
“It took them a month and a half to make them, all by hand, and shipped over by boat. It took nine days to cross the ocean from Liverpool to Montreal,” said Cooper.
Because they didn’t want to tear down any walls, the 45-foot copper stills and 14-foot-tall wooden washback barrels had to enter the historic building through a single 11-foot-by-seven-foot entrance.
The Spring Mill Distillery is one of a number of local buildings that can be toured on Saturday, April 27 as part of Doors Open Guelph.


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Rove, the popular automated life-logging app for iPhone, has just received a major update that, most importantly, makes it work with the recently released Rove for iPad.
Now, you can pair Rove for iPhone with Rove for iPad, which was released earlier this month, to be able to browse and edit your journal on a much bigger screen. To pair the two apps, in Rove for iPad, just enter the email address associated with your data from Rove for iPhone.
Of course, like the original iPhone app, Rove for iPad offers an automated private journal with the ability to add notes, organize photos, and save or share segments thereof.
The latest update to Rove also includes various UI and performance improvements, a new saver mode for reduced battery consumption, and a new feature that privately creates more memories using all of the photos on the device.
Compatible with devices running iOS 7.0 or later, Rove for iPhone and Rove for iPad are available on the App Store for free.
The last major update to Rove arrived last March, bringing the app to version 2.0 with a revamped profile design, a new memory feed, and enhanced sharing.


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Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman on Wednesday held her first analyst meeting, a year after taking the CEO job at HP.
Whitman was expected to lay down her vision for the company's future, at a time when HP (NYSE: HPQ) is facing concerns over its position in the consumer and corporate markets.
HP's shares are down 30 percent since the beginning of the year.
Analysts were watching to see if Whitman's strategy can help turn things around at the company.
Some are also saying Whitman's own future at the company could be determined at the meeting, since she previously predicted it could take up to four years to turn the company around.


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Dole Food Co. has introduced another flavor to its line of premium salad kits, the company’s 30th salad kit overall: Spinach Miso Crunch.
The Japanese-inspired kit is now shipping nationwide to the U.S. and Canada and is the first spinach salad kit to feature the taste of miso, according to a news release.
The Japanese Miso dressing accompanies baby spinach, baby red chard, sliced carrots, sliced almonds, cashews and wonton strips, according to the release.
“The new Dole Spinach Miso Crunch combines an innovative flavor profile and nutritious ingredient mix in a compelling new (stock-keeping unit) that is unique to packaged salads,” Lisa Overman, Dole director of marketing, said in the release. “It allows retail produce managers to add to their Dole spinach and salad kit sets with an instant classic that scored very high in consumer purchase intent and overall likability testing.”
The suggested retail price for the Spinach Miso Crunch kit is the same as for other premium kits at $3.99.


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A Kamloops guitar manufacturer is hoping for a post-Christmas miracle after a burglar bagged his marketing laptop weeks before a make-or-break trade show.
Mike Miltimore said he was awoken early Friday morning (Dec. 27) by a call from his alarm company reporting a break-in at his Riversong Guitars factory on Lorne Street.
“They said there was a glass break and a door trip,” he said. “I got right into my car and drove there.”
Miltimore said he arrived to find police clearing the building. The burglar was gone, he said, as was the laptop belonging to Riversong’s marketing manager.
Miltimore said the laptop is quite old and wouldn’t be worth much, but its contents — marketing materials, digital copies of catalogues and other business data — could have a big impact on his bottom line.
The North American Music Merchants trade show begins in California on Jan. 16. Miltimore said he had been planning to be there a few days ahead of the event.
“It’s the make or break kind of show for the year,” he said. “It’s such an important show for us.”
Miltimore said he is hoping to appeal to the kindness of the person who stole the laptop.
“I’d like them to return it, no questions asked,” he said. “It’s not because it’s worth anything. It’s a pretty old laptop. It’s for the data that’s on it.”
Miltimore said he will pay a finder’s fee, which he said may be more than what the thief would get on the black market.
“That would be amazing,” he said. “Imagine one last Christmas miracle.”
Miltimore is asking anyone with information to call him at 250-319-5050 or the RCMP at 250-828-3000.


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Washington Residents Can Get Joint with COVID Vaccine
Cannabis stores in Washington can now offer in store vaccines, with a complimentary joint.
According to a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board news release, the “Joint for Jab” program goes from Monday until July 12. People getting a first or second vaccine dose at a vaccine clinic in a pot shop will be eligible for one pre-rolled joint.
The program is only for people 21 or older, and does not include any other cannabis products.
Last month the Liquor and Cannabis Board also allowed bars and restaurants to give vaccinated people a drink on the house to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.