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Fashioning Futures: How Fashion Education Can Impact Social Mobility
Professor Frances Corner OBE delivers the Sir John Cass Foundation Lecture
Cass Business School was pleased to host the 12th Sir John Cass Foundation Lecture 2018 Fashioning Futures: How Fashion Education Can Impact Social Mobility on Wednesday 10th October. The Lecture was delivered by Professor Frances Corner OBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor University of the Arts London and Head of the London College of Fashion.
Speaking at the event, Professor Corner said her lecture said her lecture was intended to challenge any pre-conceptions of fashion and fashion education and explain why she believes that fashion education can, and does, affect social mobility.
“Our world needs diversity and creativity, and it is incumbent on us as educators to find ways to offer opportunities for all. London College of Fashion’s future is centred on our commitment to bringing about real change and seeing economic, industrial and social transformation. As an educational provider, we cannot do this alone, but we can highlight all of the dots, and we do intend to join them up.”
Richard Foley, Clerk and Chief Executive, Sir John Cass Foundation said:
“We are grateful to our friends here at the Cass Business School for hosting and supporting our lecture series. We are delighted the Professor Frances Corner agreed to speak this evening and deliver her reflections on how fashion education can impact social mobility.”
Professor Sir Paul Curran, President, City, University of London said:
“In her expert and extremely thought-provoking exploration of the impact of fashion education on social mobility, Professor Corner amply demonstrated how she has earned her high reputation for championing the use of fashion as an agent for innovation and change.”
Professor Marianne Lewis, Dean, Cass Business School said:
“Access to education has been a Cass priority since our foundation in 1966 and we applaud the pioneering access work undertaken by both Professor Corner, the London College of Fashion and the Foundation.
“This is a subject close to our hearts at Cass where we run an extensive scholarship programme, including our Coca-Cola Global Women’s Leadership Scholarships, which are designed to support and accelerate the progression of underrepresented groups in society, giving them the financial assistance and skills that they need to survive in today’s modern global workplace.”


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[POLL] Are you frustrated by the many bugs & issues ruining the early experience of playing Madden NFL 22?— PiunikaWeb (@PiunikaWeb) September 13, 2021
Vote below & read our story here: https://t.co/hbSBjCgoXb
[Poll results out] Madden NFL 22: Crashing, missing teammates, Desync, & other issues leave players frustrated with this year's launch
New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….
Original story (published on September 13, 2021) follows:
Developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports, Madden NFL 22 is the latest entrant in the decades-old Madden NFL series.
The game is stunning to look at since it runs on Frostbite 3, the same engine that empowers a number of EA titles.
Madden players have admired the developers for adding several new features to the Franchise mode such as an enhanced scenario engine, weekly strategy, and staff management.
But all that was overshadowed by the number of bugs and issues plaguing the game ever since it was available for pre-order.
And if it wasn’t enough, every update and patch fix seems to be make things worse, with the game sending players back to the main menu, players leaving matches mid-game and never coming back, game getting stuck on the Physique Selection screen and the infamous de-sync issue.
While you can resume from where the game crashed in most cases, it is really frustrating since they are frequent and random in nature.
There’s no knowing if and when the game will crash. Even though EA has acknowledged the majority of issues affecting Madden NFL 22, we wonder how the bugs got past the developers in the first place.
Judging by the number of bugs and issues haunting players in the last few weeks, it looks like EA is trying to compete with Raven Software, the developers of COD: Warzone.
It looks like EA released Madden NFL 22 despite being aware of these issues since they know NFL fanboys will buy the game anyway.
But this isn’t surprising at all, since the video game industry has been doing the same thing EA did with Madden NFL 22, which is, release a buggy game and fix the issues on the go.
However, if EA manages to fix the technical glitches affecting the overall gameplay, this could be the best Madden NFL title in years. This brings to the question, are you frustrated because of the issues affecting EA Madden NFL 22?
We would love to hear from you in the comment section. Also, you can vote on the Twitter poll below. We will share the results with you after a week, so make sure to keep an eye out.
Update 1 (September 21)
The poll results are now out. More than 85% of people who participated in the poll say that they are frustrated by the number of bugs and issues affecting EA NFL Madden 22.
Only 15% of players say they don’t care while 0% say the bugs don’t affect them at all.
In case you forgot to cast your vote, you can join the discussion in the comments section below.
Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Gaming Section so be sure to follow them as well.
Featured image source: Steam
PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

domain: news


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Steelseries, makers of headphones and electronics that are distributed worldwide, recently took the time to discuss their experience working with NewsWatch TV on two of their recent marketing campaigns. “The first time we worked together was like a seamless process,” remarks Tori Pugliese. “The collaboration was easy, (they) put together a really nice script that was timely and relevant, and the quality of the video was great. We saw awesome distribution and we were able to repurpose it and use it for other channels like our social media and press section.”
The company has now worked with NewsWatch TV to promote both headphones and their own brand of game controllers. Together, they were able to make their products seen in every market in the US, across 95 million households. Testimonial from Steelseries described the experience as both “really helpful,” and “an excellent experience, working with a team who really understands PR.”
Since 1990, NewsWatch TV has appeared on both the Ion and AMC network, and is now over 1,000 episodes into production. They’ve touched on everything from breakthroughs in medicine, finance, and new products to celebrities, charities, travel and more. They have also been a destination for more than 650 celebrities to discuss their latest causes, including such stars as Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Chris Pratt, Will Smith, and many others.
The series is watched nationwide, and reaches more than 96 million households across the country. Since the beginning, they’ve reached more than 700 million individuals, making it the most successful independently produced news magazine on television.
Currently you can see NewsWatch TV every week on the Ion network, and bi-monthly on AMC. For breaking news on technology, health, entertainment, travel, and more, be sure to check them out in the morning, or you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and across the internet.


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Final Fantasy 13 Versus
Final Fantasy 15 was revealed as the new name for Final Fantasy 13 Versus at E3 last week, and director Tetsuya Nomura has revealed to Famitsu exactly what prompted the change.
Final Fantasy 13 Versus headlines
Final Fantasy 13 Versus is no longer listed as being sold by Amazon directly, suggesting that the retailer has either stopped listing the product for sale, or that it no longer exists in its current form. The edits follow a rumour that the game will be re-revealed at E3 2013 as Final Fantasy 15.
Square Enix has launched the official websites for its so-anticipated-it-hurts RPGs Final Fantasy XIII and FFXIII Versus.The Versus site is a little threadbare at present but the main FFXIII site is full to the brim with high resolution images meaning that scans are just a thing of the past.Looking very good indeed, but then again, […]


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Your computer can be remotely hijacked, or infected with any malware by even through a website – Thanks to a critical vulnerability in Trend Micro Security Software.
The Popular antivirus maker and security firm Trend Micro has released an emergency patch to fix critical flaws in its anti-virus product that allow hackers to execute arbitrary commands remotely as well as steal your saved password from Password Manager built into its AntiVirus program.
The password management tool that comes bundled with its main antivirus is used to store passwords by users and works exactly like any other password manager application.
Even Websites Can Hack Into Your Computer
Google's Project Zero security researcher, Tavis Ormandy, discovered the remote code execution flaw in Trend Micro Antivirus Password Manager component, allowing hackers to steal users' passwords.
In short, once compromised, all your accounts passwords are gone.
Technically, The Password Manager component within the Antivirus suite works by starting a Node.js server on the local computer, by default, every time the main antivirus starts.
When analyzed the Password Manager component, Ormandy found that the Node.js server leaves a number of HTTP RPC ports used for handling API requests open to the world.
Available at "https://localhost:49155/api/," hackers could craft malicious links that, when clicked by a user with Trend Micro antivirus installed, would allow them to execute arbitrary code on the local computer with zero user interaction.
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In short, an attacker could easily remotely download malicious code and execute it on your machine, even without your knowledge.
Besides this, Ormandy also found that the Trend Micro Password Manager also exposes over 70 APIs through this same Node.js server.
More? Trend Micro Uses Self-Signed SSL Certificate
Just like Lenovo's Superfish and Dell's eDellRoot, Trend Micro also adds a self-signed security certificate to its user's certificate store, so that its users will not see any HTTPS errors.
Ormandy said, "this thing is ridiculous."
Trend Micro installs a self-signed HTTPS certificate that can intercept encrypted traffic for every website a user visits.
Ormandy reported the issue to Trend Micro's team and helped them create a patch for it, which is now available to address the remote-code execution flaw. SO, Trend Micro users are advised to update their software as soon as possible.


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News Briefs: Awards and Social Responsibility
As part of its commitment to advance regenerative agriculture practices on one million acres of farmland by 2030, General Mills is partnering with organic and conventional farmers, suppliers and farm advisors in key growing regions to drive the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. Key suppliers to drive adoption across key ingredients will include oats, wheat, corn, dairy feed and sugar beets.
“Our first on-farm training and education academies will focus on North American growers where we source high-quality oats for Cheerios, Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, Nature Valley and Blue Buffalo,” said Jon Nudi, president of North American retail for General Mills, in a release. General Mills is granting $650,000 to non-profit organization, Kiss the Ground, to support farmer training and coaching through Soil Health Academies where growers will learn how to increase farm profitability, build resiliency into the land and decrease input costs using soil health practices.
A new state-by-state analysis released on the eve of Equal Pay Day by the National Partnership for Women & Families finds that women employed full time, year-round in Minnesota are typically paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man in Minnesota—a yearly pay difference of $10,014. This annual wage gap represents money Minnesota women could be spending on housing, child care or health insurance costs, the organization says. If the wage gap closed, on average, a working woman in Minnesota would be able to afford nearly 11 additional months of rent, 10 additional months of child care or more than seven additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance. Working women in Minnesota lose a combined total of nearly $16 billion due to the wage gap each year, the study says.
The analysis finds that nationally, Latinas are typically paid 53 cents, Native American women 58 cents, Black women 61 cents, white, non-Hispanic women 77 cents, and Asian American women 85 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. The wage gap for mothers—who are breadwinners in half of families with children under 18—is 71 cents compared to every dollar paid to fathers.
Millennials with children increased their restaurant visits by 5 percent in 2018 compared to the prior year, reports The NPD Group. Their visit increase is in comparison to flat traffic growth for the total foodservice industry in 2018, according to NPD, which tracks on a daily basis U.S. consumers’ use of restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Millennials overall make the most restaurant visits per capita although their visits have been slowing. As teens and young adults they influenced the growth of the fast-casual category, the “fresh” movement and were early adopters of the hottest sauces and an assortment of ethnic flavors. Now as parents with hectic lives, they’re turning to restaurants for convenience. Their outlets of choice for a family meal are quick-service restaurants, which include fast-casual restaurants. Millennials with kids made 7.3 billion visits to quick-service restaurants in 2018. Dinner is the meal when they are most likely to turn to foodservice, but lunch and morning meal get their share of visits as well, NPD found.
The Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted the 23rd annual Diamond Service Awards in mid-March at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington-Minneapolis South. The gala event honored front-line service personnel from Bloomington’s hospitality industry, including employees from hotels, restaurants, retail, and attractions.
Diamond Service Awards were given to recipients in these foodservice categories:
Best Hospitality Administration (Other)
Conrad Simmons, Chick-fil-A, Mall of America
Teransc Phillip, Minneapolis Airport Marriott
Best Banquet/Catering Personnel
Brandon Olson, Radisson Blu Mall of America
Best Restaurant Personnel
Natasha Johnson, American Girl
Best Hotel Restaurant Personnel
Annette Cummings, Hilton Minneapolis/Bloomington
TIE: Best Bus/Dishwasher
Ahmed Amin, Hyatt Regency Bloomington
Michael Santore, Hard Rock Café
Best Food Production Personnel (Hotel)
Fabiola Olmedo Chavez, Sheraton Bloomington Hotel
Best Food Production Personnel (Other)
Hugo Sanchez, Hazelwood Food and Drink, Managing Director Amy Senn
More News Briefs
Del Taco Restaurants, the nation’s second leading Mexican quick-service restaurant (Taco Bell is first), started offering Beyond Meat’s 100 percent plant-based protein option at the company’s 580 restaurants across the country.
Michael Symons will be joining Baldamar, a new concept by local restaurateur Randy Stanley, as general manager. Symons has more than 15 years of restaurant experience working as a partner, operating manager, general manager and chef at a variety of establishments across the Twin Cities. Baldamar, located at Rosedale Center in Roseville, is a 8,000-square-foot freestanding restaurant, which Stanley describes as “a modern American steakhouse for the urban suburban,” and anticipates a fall 2019 opening date. Shea is the designer of the property.
Newmark Knight Frank has added a Capital Markets team comprised of tenured industry professionals: Senior Managing Directors Bob Pounds and Tim Prinsen; Managing Director Amy Senn and Senior Analyst Lori Pounds. The team joins the Minneapolis office to form an investment-focused group specializing in retail, office and industrial properties. The firm’s Minneapolis operation already includes specialists in office, industrial, retail, project management, property management, valuation and advisory—and now investment sales. The four join NKF from Colliers International, where the investment team completed 300 transactions valued at $2.3 billion in sales. Newmark is actively recruiting for its Minneapolis office.
Rational North America, the leading manufacturer of combi technology, has announced its full-year 2018 preliminary results after a year of record growth. The company continued its successful performance, generating a 26 percent increase in year-over-year revenue growth. In addition, the Rational North America Distribution Center shipped a record-breaking 10,000 units, bringing the North American total install base to more than 60,000 active Rational combi-steamers.


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Cheaper gas won't be enough to get many more Americans on the road this summer. They're still too worried about their jobs and the economy.
Economists and tourism experts are expecting only a small uptick in the number of summer travelers. Gas prices are lower, but still high enough to keep some Americans off the road. The job market is improving, but still shaky. And household debt remains high.
Those who do travel won't feel free to splurge. The bulk of road-trippers, experts say, will go shorter distances and reduce food and entertainment spending to conserve cash.
"Travel is about security," said John W. Larson, vice president for IHS Global Insight, the firm that analyzed the AAA study. "If you feel less secure about your future, you may be less willing to take this trip."
For Memorial Day weekend, AAA estimates that 34.8 million Americans will take trips of at least 50 miles. That's a half-million more than Memorial Day 2011 but equal to the number who traveled two years ago. Roughly 30.7 million -- or 88 percent of those traveling -- will drive, up 1.2 percent from last year, AAA says. Memorial Day tends to be a good indicator of summer travel overall.
Gas prices may keep some low-wage earners home. But for the most part, Americans will buck up for gas, assuming they can afford to take a trip in the first place.
Douglas C. Frechtling, chairman of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at George Washington University, says broader economic concerns far outweigh gas prices for most Americans when considering summer vacations. Slowing job growth is likely rattling some families, and rent, car payments and other bills take priority over vacation.
Gas was averaging about $3.85 per gallon when AAA spoke with 315 would-be travelers April 20-24. The survey showed that those making less than $50,000 a year will make up about a quarter of all Memorial Day travelers, down from nearly a third a year ago. Higher gas prices eat up a larger share of lower-income families' household budgets.
AAA says the 66-cent increase in the average gas price from January through early April made many people skittish about taking long road trips. The average trip is expected to be 642 miles this Memorial Day, compared with 792 miles a year ago. Half of those surveyed said they will travel less than 400 miles.
Some travelers will drive this summer because they can't afford to fly.
The average round-trip domestic airfare this summer is expected to be up by 9 to 10 percent from last year, according to Travelzoo. That's on top of a 5 to 7 percent increase between 2010 and 2011. AAA estimates that 5.5 percent fewer people will travel by plane this Memorial Day. The industry trade group Airlines for America is somewhat more optimistic about summer as a whole, predicting a 0.2 percent decrease in air travelers.
AAA and IHS Global Insight found that Americans with incomes over $100,000 a year will make up a greater percentage of travelers than a year ago -- 36 percent, compared with 30 percent. Middle-income Americans will account for 38 percent, down from 39 percent.


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First-Quarter G.N.P. Plunged by 2.8%
Published: June 27, 1991
WASHINGTON, June 26— The economy contracted at a sharp 2.8 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, while corporate profits posted their biggest decline since the spring of 1989, the Commerce Department said today.
The first-quarter decline in the gross national product followed a 1.6 percent drop in the fourth quarter of 1990, thus meeting the traditional definition of a recession as two consecutive quarters of declining G.N.P.
The decline in the gross national product for the first quarter represented a downward revision from an estimate last month that put the decline at 2.6 percent. The Government attributed the weaker G.N.P. showing to an even bigger drop in consumer spending than previously estimated and a larger rate of inventory liquidation by businesses. Squeezed by the Recession
The 6.3 percent decline in after-tax profits was the largest setback since the spring of 1989. It followed a 1 percent fall in the fourth quarter and emphasized that businesses were continuing to be squeezed by the recession, a situation that analysts said was likely to continue for some time.
In the first quarter, consumer spending fell at an annual rate of 1.5 percent. Business investment was down 16.5 percent and housing construction, the most depressed sector of the economy, fell 25.3 percent.
A crucial clue on the economy's second-quarter performance will come on Thursday when the Government releases its estimate of consumer spending for May. Based on a good retail sales report, analysts are looking for a sizable gain of around seven-tenths of 1 percent.
If they are right, it would provide a strong signal that a sector of the economy that accounts for two-thirds of total G.N.P. activity is rebounding.
The various changes left the gross national product in the first quarter at a level of $4.12 trillion, after adjusting for inflation.
Economists said the worse-than-expected figures, while surprising, did not shake their belief that the economy resumed growing in the current April-June quarter at a weak annual rate that many estimated at five-tenths of 1 percent.
The Bush Administration, meanwhile, indicated it was still concerned that the economy was being choked by a lack of available bank credit, and Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the Fed was devoting considerable time to wrestling with the credit crunch.
Mr. Greenspan, who appeared with Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp at a Congressional oversight hearing, said that so far he had seen little improvement in the slowdown in bank lending. He did not say whether the Fed was considering further moves to lower interest rates to combat the problem. Weakest Recovery in History?
Most economists are not looking for more interest rate cuts from the Fed in light of various statements by Fed officials expressing concerns about aggravating inflationary pressures at a time when the recession appears to be ending.
But many private economists are forecasting that the recovery will be the weakest in history, with G.N.P. growth in the July-December period averaging around 3 percent, less than half the normal rebound following a recession.
Other analysts said growth might not even reach that level, given the number of problems facing the economy, from failing banks to debt-burdened consumers. They said the rebound could falter after a quarter of growth and the recession could resume in full force in the second half of the year.
"With the ending of the negative shock from the Persian Gulf war, the economy did rebound in the spring," said Allen Sinai, the chief economist of the Boston Company. "But the question is whether that rebound can be sustained." More Bankruptcies Seen
The severity of the recession was also highlighted today when the American Bankruptcy Institute predicted that bankruptcy filings this year would exceed one million for the first time in history, representing a 30 percent increase over 1990.
From January through March, personal bankruptcies were up 26 percent and business bankruptcies were up 14 percent from a year earlier. Only farm bankruptcies showed any improvement, declining by 6 percent, the institute said.
Graph: "Real Economic Growth" shows annual rate of change in the gross national product, based on 1982 dollars, by quarter, seasonally adjusted. (Source: Commerce Department)


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Continue reading Lily Drone Consumers Victims Again After Mota Group Failure And ‘Drones By US’ Rebrand
The original Lily campaign left thousands of customers out of pocket, Mota Group tried to pickup the pieces with a rebranded High Great drone, but they too have now vanished but the same team appear to have rebranded as ‘Drones By US’ (DbUS).
In 2015 the Lily drone was one of the most eagerly awaited tech-gadgets to be announced, but the project collapsed before delivering a single unit. Mota Group acquired the name only and have just launched their drone, and we have one for review. Continue reading Lily Next-Gen Drone Review, Unboxing, Inspection & Flight Test
The new owners of the Lily brand, Mota Group, has show-cased their new ‘Lily Next-Gen’ product at the Drone World Expo in San Jose, but pre-order customers of the original product are not impressed with this reveal. Continue reading Lily Next-Gen Revealed And Demonstrated As Drone World Expo
Whilst Mota Group were busy acquiring the Lily brand name and customer list, Viatek has just announced purchase of the Lily assets, patents and at least 70 ‘working’ Lily drone units. Continue reading Lily Drone Assets, Patents And 70+ ‘Working’ Units Purchased By ViaTek
Mota Group has just reignited flames of anger among ex-Lily customers by adding a new video to the original Lily YouTube channel, but there is another surprise on the original Lily website.
Continue reading Mota Group Relaunch Lily Drone, But It’s Not Lily, Nor Is It Waterproof


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LinkedIn has rolled out its ‘Open for Business’ feature which shall make Indian freelancers & small business owners more discoverable.
Professional networking platform LinkedIn has announced the roll out of its ‘Open for Business’ feature in India. This shall allow Indian freelancers and small business owners to add their services to their LinkedIn profiles, like their US counterparts have been since July this year.
The new feature shall improve discoverability of these service providers on its search engine, said Linkedin, as people will now be able to filter through for the exact services that they would need. This helps them determine which service providers are available and best-suited to fulfill their professional needs. Members can also browse the full list of services offered and send a direct message to the service provider.
To make the update, one needs to-
In a blog post, Linkedin’s Vidya Chandra also mentioned that at least for the time being users will also be prompted to share the new addition to their profiles, upon completing sign-up, to their professional network.


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By Timothy Lutts
Turning to specific stocks, I will admit that this is a challenging time for me. The reason: the best charts today belong to conservative stocks, and I know from experience that once this negative environment has passed, those stocks will lose their allure.
So instead of using charts, I’m turning to the Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter today to highlight a stock that’s attractive based on valuation.
It’s that well-known entertainment juggernaut Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which is currently selling for 30% off its recent high.
Here’s what Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter editor Roy Ward wrote in his latest issue.
The leading entertainment company operates a multitude of giant theme parks and resorts around the world, as well as many other operations including a cruise line, television networks and movie studios. Disney recently opened a new resort in Hawaii and is building a new resort in Shanghai, China. Expansion is also in the works at its ESPN network, Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in California.
During the past 12 months, sales increased 5% and EPS rose 15%. We expect Disney to pick up the pace and produce sales and earnings increases of 9% and 23% respectively during the next 12 months. Expansion and recent rate hikes at the company’s parks and resorts will spur growth.
DIS shares are a bargain at 11.0 times our 12-month forward EPS estimate of $2.94. Larger box office sales and price increases could cause our estimates to be conservative. We believe the company’s share price will reach our Minimum Sell Price of 56.21 within the next one to two years.
For the record, Roy advises buying anywhere under 36.41, which is his Maximum Buy Price. If you buy above that level, you lose your Margin of Safety. But if you buy below that level, and DIS climbs up to 56.21 within two years, that’s a tidy 54% profit.


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Whole Meals, Nordstrom, and Crate & Barrel can now accept bitcoin and varied forms of cryptocurrency at their retail stores.
Spend Bitcoin at Whole Meals
Whole Meals, Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel and quite a lot of replacement outlets are now ready to just accept Bitcoin and varied forms of cryptocurrency.
This new rate choice is enabled by a partnership between the funds startup Flexa and Gemini, the digital currency alternate flee by tireless bitcoin advocates Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Tyler Winklevoss notes:
Collectively, by providing Flexa with relied on custody and infrastructure, we hope to profoundly toughen the price experience; and merchants who’re at the moment discipline to overly complex, costly legacy programs of credit ranking and debit playing cards stand to serve vastly.
The resolution is basically based on a nexus between rate terminals to just accept cell funds through the Flexa app. Taking part stores contain:
Price noting, all cryptocurrency deposited in the SPEDN cell app is custodied with Gemini. And while this is able to perchance furthermore appear counter to the ethos of Bitcoin, amateur customers is on the total more fully elated with this third-celebration security association, on the very least in the foundation.
Merchants Obtained’t Know You Paid in BTC
The person makes use of the app to scan their rate. Since the model of rate is evident, the store cashier is unaware that the price is with crypto. In the kill the provider provider is able to capture their formulation of rate — fiat money or crypto.
That is largely being hailed as the first ease-of-narrate resolution for buyers searching for to store with cryptocurrency. Customers can at the moment exhaust four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Money, Ethereum, and the stablecoin is referred to as Gemini Dollar.
This announcement is considered as a critical step forward for Bitcoin’s world adoption whatever the scores of power naysayers. Moreover, it affords a more collect formulation for level-of-sale transactions amid bank card hacks that continue to garner astronomical media consideration.
Tyler also explains the advantages for merchants who collect onboard and launch accepting BTC. He explains that merchants will
(i) collect vastly less costly and fraud-resistant transactions, (ii) can narrate the the same rate hardware they at the moment narrate, and (iii) acquire rate in fiat currency, now now not crypto. We think that now now not most attention-grabbing will this discontinue in fee-financial savings to the provider provider, but to the person in the long-term as wisely.
Since Whole Meals is owned by Amazon, might perchance well the on-line retail big be subsequent in line to just accept bitcoin? Effectively, chances are you’ll perchance furthermore already keep conclude objects on Amazon using bitcoin and third-celebration solutions luxuriate in BitRefill and reward playing cards.
Nonetheless, it needs to be renowned that every person in every of the solutions in including Flexa are reliant on third-celebration services. This, in the end, technique that the outlets are now now not truly accepting bitcoin straight, even though it obtained’t truly subject as some distance as person-experience is concerned.
Nonetheless, if folk originate to ‘spedn’ more cryptocurrency, it’ll furthermore produce sense for these retail giants to accept bitcoin straight and set apart on processing expenses. Moreover, birth-provide, self-hosted software luxuriate in BTCPayserver produce it imaginable to process the transactions your self. This vastly reduces working charges and dependence on third events.
Will folk exhaust their cryptocurrencies at Whole Meals or retain hodling? Fragment your thoughts below!
Images through Shutterstock


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Honda reveals its Prologue EV, and we have lots of photos, details, and first impressions. The Toyota Corolla Cross goes Nightshade. The Kia EV9 gets a base price. And we look at what it takes to legally take your eyes off driving in the Mercedes EQS. This and more, here at Green Car Reports.
In a first look at the 2024 Honda Prologue, Green Car Reports sees it to be right on the money in terms of what it needs to be as both a step up from the CR-V Hybrid and a gateway model to Honda’s own upcoming dedicated EVs. The Prologue is set to be priced in the upper $40,000 range before any EV tax credit, so they’ll likely have no issue delivering as many as GM can build.
The 2024 Kia EV9 will start around $56,000, Kia confirmed on Wednesday. That’s for the EV9 Light, in the single-motor rear-wheel-drive configuration with the smaller 76.1-kwh battery pack. That should still be good for a 225-mile range, Kia estimates, and all EV9s come with three rows of seating.
The 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid gets a new Nightshade Edition this model year, and with no mechanical changes it’s likely to keep on with its enticing combination of all-wheel drive, an EPA combined 42 mpg, and a price tag starting under $30,000.
Mercedes-Benz will soon start delivering a select number of U.S. EQS electric hatchbacks with Drive Pilot, the company’s assistance system that lets drivers take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel, albeit in a very limited set of scenarios including mapped divided highways, in daylight, at a speed of under 40 mph. Only enabled in California and Nevada, it will cost $2,500 a year to use.
And a Honda electric sports car is due to bow at the Tokyo auto show, now called the Japan Mobility Show, later in October. It also plans to show a compact car made of acrylic resin that can be easily reused, as well as an electric motorcycle with swappable batteries.


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But after puffing on her vape pen a few times over two nights, she had a fever and pounding headache. She was eventually hospitalized and placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma.
One-sixth of patients who developed lung injuries after vaping marijuana obtained the product from legal dispensaries, a new federal report says, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said reinforced its current recommendations to not use THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
The CDC report is based on 809 patients in Illinois, Wisconsin and Utah who provided data on the source of THC-containing products. The CDC said 131, or 16%, reported acquiring their products from only commercial sources. The majority, 627, cited “informal” sources such as family, friends and in-person or online dealers. Fifty-one, or 6%, cited both types of sources.
The CDC noted that even states with legal recreational marijuana, consumers may not know whether stores or dispensaries are actually licensed by the state. In California, the CDC said, the Bureau of Cannabis Control seized nearly 10,000 illegal vape pens from unlicensed retailers in two days last month.
Every Brain Matters
Copyright © 2024


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The drive to Decision – Planning to buy a car
96% of car buyers in India use Search during the purchase journey, according to the latest Google-Kantar TNS study. Offline touchpoints during consumers’ car-buying journey dropped by 50%.
68% of car buyers start their research without an idea of the car they want to buy.
There is an unprecedented number of people coming online, searching for cars due to the growing data access and smartphone usage in India. Research that was conducted about the pros and cons reveals that people have now shifted to smartphones, effectively flipping the traditional route to car buying on its head. The Auto Gearshift Study 2017 by Google-Kantar TNS surveyed that 89% of all car purchases in India were digitally influenced for consumers who were interested in buying a car in India, which has increased by 14% from last year. The study was conducted globally across 27 markets and had nearly 14K respondents.
Here are four key insights from the study:
- 96% of car buyers use Search during the purchase journey
Over 9 out of 10 car buyers in India use Search at some stage of the purchase journey, and two-thirds of car buyers searched online to find dealerships. Most of them use awareness or consideration related keywords. Eighty-five percent of searches in the auto vertical were for specific auto brands. The most searched keywords within brand searches were about price, as India is a cost-conscious market. Consumers also searched for information about vehicle size, fuel efficiency, interiors, brand reputation, driving experience, reviews, and financing options.
- 80% of car buyers use online video during the purchase journey
With watch time of auto-related video increasing by 225%, year over year on YouTube alone, online video is emerging as the biggest disrupter in India’s automobile industry. Brands should use it to connect with potential consumers, as the medium is quickly becoming essential to the car-buying journey.
There’s been an incredible 2X growth in the usage of online video in the car category research and buying phase, just over the course of just one year. The study also found that 79% of all car buyers who watched online video took some action (went for a test drive, downloaded a brochure, visited a showroom, etc.) afterward.
- Offline touchpoints during consumers’ car-buying journey dropped by 50%
The average number of dealership visits during the car buying process has dropped from four to two in the past two years, with almost two-thirds of car buyers making two or fewer dealership visits. Additionally, nearly 90% of car buyers take two or fewer test drives.
- 68% of car buyers start their research without an idea of the car they want to buy
As the average car buyer’s thought processes are gradually evolving. The number of people who research before buying a car has increased from 55% in 2016 to about 68% in 2017, signifying the immense potential for brands to influence the buying process. Along with this, the number of people buying cars online has doubled from 18% in 2016 to 39% in 2017. Consumers are now more open to research and are aware of the online resources available for an in-depth study.
After the release of JIO, the internet is now part of the entire purchase journey for automobile buyers, and brands must quickly realize this opportunity. They should also consider consumers’ various lifestyles when promoting cars to specific audiences and keep in mind that what motivates a consumer to buy a car differs tremendously across audiences. Brands can now leverage from digital platforms and reach potential car buyers with relevant and customized ads according to their preferences.
While more than half the population in this country enquires before buying a car, it is very much obvious that the search volume will keep on increasing for the automobile industry. If you are in this sector and planning to grow in the digital platform, look no further because we at Yashus Digital Marketing Pvt. Ltd. provide 360 degree digital marketing services and also provide brilliant and innovative digital marketing campaigns that help you generate leads and push sales accompanied by some stellar content that will have people around the world recognize your brand. Come get an unfair advantage with us and leverage your business today.
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Sheth joined Realme in 2018 as the CEO
He is going to serve as a strategic advisor to Realme’s global product observations, market insights, and operations
Over a period of two decades, Sheth has served across the electronics and smartphone industries in sales and marketing, business leadership roles
Realme India’s vice president and chief executive officer (CEO) Madhav Sheth has stepped down from his position at the smartphone company. On Wednesday (June 14), Sheth announced his resignation on his social media handle.
Realme founder Sky Li will take over as the head of the India business. Meanwhile, Sheth will now serve as a strategic advisor to Realme’s global product observations, market insights, and operations.
“The Government of India has taken many steps towards enhancing Indian exports for many years, and I am happy to be a part of this and support the government’s export plan. After a long conversation with Sky Li and also with his support, it’s time for me to contribute my share to the country’s export business,” Sheth added.
On Twitter, Sheth posted that after five years of association with the smartphone manufacturer, it was time for him to move on, terming Realme his ‘home, passion, and purpose.’
Further talking about Realme’s journey, he mentioned that the company has expanded across India and opened exclusive stores, with a focus on its ‘Make In India’ commitment. Besides, exporting Realme products has also popularised the use of 5G enabled phones in the country.
An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Sheth has worked across the electronics and smartphone industries in sales and marketing, business leadership roles. In his previous stint, Sheth worked with Oppo as its sales director.
Sheth’s departure comes at a time when Indian authorities have tightened their noose around Chinese companies, especially smartphone makers, in the country. Its peers from Xiaomi to Oppo and even Vivo have been mired in controversies and grappling with cases related to tax evasion and money laundering.
This is besides the ongoing crackdown on online loan operators, crypto entities and an edtech startup with links to China. While the reasons for Sheth’s exit are not clear, uncharted regulatory waters have played spoilsport for Chinese companies operating in India.
Curiously, high-level exits and rejigs have become a norm in the Indian tech ecosystem of late. Earlier this year in January, Manu Jain resigned as global vice president at smartphone major Xiaomi. Afterwards in March, head of Swiggy-owned grocery delivery platform Instamart, Karthik Gurumurthy, stepped down from his position to take a sabbatical.
During the same month, MXPlayer’s COO Nikhil Gandhi resigned while hospitality startup Treebo’s cofounder Kadam Jeet Jain also bid adieu to his company. In April, Swiggy’s CTO Dale Vaz quit the company while AWS India’s president of commercial business Puneet Chandok announced his resignation earlier this month.


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Anyone fancy a rear-drive R8 that takes its cue from Audi Sport's GT3 race car? Because fingers crossed that's exactly what the manufacturer's performance division boss, Oliver Hoffman, is cooking up. Buoyed by the success of the rear-drive RWS and acknowledging that Audi Sport lacks an equivalent to Porsche's GT models and AMG's soon-to-return Black Series, Hoffman said "pedestrian safety regulations" not a lack of internal support are the biggest challenges engineers face when it comes to building a GT3-inspired R8.
"We have some good ideas for a more extreme R8 as we know the powerful exterior design of our racing car is amazing - people want to drive this on the street," Hoffman told PH at the weekend's Nurburgring 24 Hours, the day before Audi Sport's R8 LMS GT3 won. "The racing car engine is almost identical to the road car's, so that's already proven, but we have the GT3 drivers doing chassis testing for us. For example, Frank Stippler, he's driving our GT3 car and is also our development guy doing the Nurburgring testing for road cars."
Hoffman said that Stippler, who was one of the four winning Audi drivers at N24, is "doing a lot of work with [Audi] road cars regarding suspension and brakes", suggesting the next rear-driven R8 will have a GT3-derived chassis as well. While he wouldn't elaborate any further, Hoffman did confirm that the naturally-aspirated V10 would remain hybrid-free - at least until this R8 generation finishes - so significant increases in power output are unlikely.
That being said, with the most potent version of the R8, the Performance, already producing 620hp at 8,000rpm, few would gripe at a new range-topping R8 restricted to weight loss and downforce. For now it seems like things remain at the drawing board stage - but with the R8's importance as a halo car long established, its motorsport kudos reaffirmed and the enthusiasm of Audi Sport's top man obvious, there's a decent chance we might be seeing something R8-LMS-like wearing road tyres on the Nordschleife in the not too distant future.
Elsewhere, Hoffman noted that Audi Sport "doesn't feel the need" to offer two-wheel drive versions of any other RS cars despite the RWS's success. He added that the division has no interest in recreating something like BMW's adjustable xDrive hardware - as used by the M5 and upcoming M3 - stating that "quattro is Audi Sport and we believe our customers value all-wheel drive in our main RS cars". That's that, then.
Hoffman also confirmed that in addition to the just-revealed mild-hybrid SQ8 TDI - powered by a twin-turbocharged 435hp 4.0-litre V8 - the flagship SUV lineup will soon grow to include an RS Q8; a car widely previewed during development and thought to output in the region of 650hp.
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By JAYSON DIMAANO
With COVID-19 cases surging, the trashing of millions of non-medical disposable blue face masks is taking a toll on the environment. Beach resident Kevin Mar decided to do something about it.
“For the longest time, I have been concerned about global climate change, plastic waste, microplastics. I said to myself ‘there has to be a way to develop a mask that doesn’t add to this burden,’” Mar told Beach Metro News.
This led him to create a recyclable and/or compostable face mask which he is now manufacturing in Canada and selling online as Avro Mask.
Mar said he found a sheet material called a cellulose filter which he uses for the masks.
“I got samples, started building prototypes, testing them, seeing how they feel, different geometries,” explained Mar who is an industrial designer.
Originally from Western Canada, he has been living in the Woodbine Avenue and Queen Street East area for the past 25 years.
He said he sees lots of people wearing the blue disposable non-medical masks, which he said are made from a non-woven fabric and are not recyclable.
“The non-woven plastic masks will never be recyclable. They are made of polyester and nylon,” said Mar. “Because of that you are unable to recycle it or reuse it. It is not compostable. Our masks are 100 per cent cellulose filter material and are compostable. Whether the municipalities are comfortable with you putting it in (the recycle bin), at the very least you can backyard compost it.”
The City of Toronto’s position is that all used disposable masks should be put in the garbage. They are not accepted in the city’s recycling or organic waste streams. Your only option in Toronto for a mask that is organic and compostable would be to put it in a home composter.
Along with the 100 per cent cellulose mask body, the Avro Mask uses a 100 per cent cotton lace for the straps and not elastics. The masks are packaged flat, with an origami facet fold that aids in fit and comfort, said an Avro Mask press release.
The printing on the masks is done using vegetable-based non-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) inks and glued using water-based adhesive on the fold-over tabs, said the release.
People ordering the masks have the option to customize them, said Mar.
“On our website, you will see represented samples. They are not our clients, but whether it’s the University of Toronto, Air Canada or the Toronto Raptors, the next time you go do any [group activities], it would be great if the impact [of pollution] to the world is so much less,” he said of the masks he has designed.
To order the masks created by Mar, go to https://avromask.com/.
Masks come in two sizes: youth and adult. For each size, they come in either a pack of 10, which is $20 or a pack of 50, which is $75. For custom masks, you will have to contact Avro Mask through the website for pricing.


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Tuesday, October 13th, Adobe rolled out an astounding 29 patches to security vulnerabilities which apply to their Reader and other Adobe applications. These apply to all platforms, including Windows, Unix, and yes even Mac. Adobe released a security advisory last week warning of attacks exploiting critical flaws that could cause the apps to crash and enable remote attackers to take control of machines and install malware, change files, or even crash the entire operating system.
If you’re like me, and you use Adobe products to open PDF’s and other documents, then you need to be sure to download and install these released patches. A great thing about having Adobe products on your systems is that if you do, Adobe can identify any available updates, and will continue to prompt the end user to install the updates until they have been completed, or you can visit www.adobe.com/downloads to get the latest and greatest from Adobe.


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Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Electric Two-Wheeler Market
Electric two-wheelers include electric motorcycles and electric scooters, which are two or three-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles. These vehicles are light in weight and can move quickly through overcrowded streets. They can be easily changed and are powered by replaceable or removable batteries, which also offer the ability to charge indoors. China is one of the major producers of electric two-wheelers. Companies in the country are reducing the prices of electric two-wheelers to meet the rising demand. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the globe, resulting in lockdowns being imposed to contain the spread of the virus. These lockdowns have led to the temporary closing of manufacturing plants and other businesses, negatively impacting the sales of electric two-wheelers in various countries. Manufacturing companies have faced tremendous delays in production and, thus, in new product launches, which is also hindering the growth of the market.
Many manufacturing companies are facing revenue losses due to the lockdowns, which has forced the companies to reduce operational costs to survive in the market. According to the MRFR analysis, Europe holds the largest market share, followed by Asia-Pacific, which is due to the stringent regulations and efforts taken by the governments to reduce gas emissions, which is fueling the growth of the market. However, the pandemic has rapidly spread across the European region, resulting in the closure of manufacturing facilities, and thus, hampering the sales of electric two-wheelers. The gradual lifting of the lockdowns in various countries during the Q3 of 2020 is expected to aid in the resumption of manufacturing operations, which is likely to boost the production and sales of electric two-wheelers over the forecast period.
E2W Sales in India from 2016 to 2019


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DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis and U.S. safety regulators have confirmed that an exploding Takata air bag inflator has killed another driver.
The company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reiterated warnings to owners of 274,000 older Dodge and Chrysler vehicles to stop driving them until faulty inflators are replaced.
Stellantis announced two deaths in November caused by the air bags and said it suspected the inflators caused another. The company formerly known as Fiat Chrysler confirmed the third death early Monday.
Stellantis is urging people to stop driving Dodge Magnum wagons, Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars and Chrysler 300 sedans from the 2005 through 2010 model years.
Since 2009, the exploding air bags have killed at least 33 people worldwide, including 24 in the United States.
All three deaths this year were in warm-weather U.S. states and happened since April, the company said.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can become more volatile over time when exposed to moisture in the air and repeated high temperatures. The explosion can rupture a metal canister and hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
Most of the deaths and about 400 injuries have happened in U.S., but they also have occurred in Australia and Malaysia.
The Stellantis vehicles under the “Do Not Drive” warning were all recalled in 2015, and free repairs have been available since then. Dealers have the parts and the service is free, and Stellantis will provide transportation to get the vehicles to and from a dealership, the company said.
NHTSA said the latest person killed was driving a 2010 Chrysler 300.
“Time is a critical element here because the risk increases with each day these air bag inflators go unreplaced,” said Tom McCarthy, global head of safety and regulatory compliance at Stellantis.
The recalls affect vehicles in which the air bag inflators have not been replaced as part of the recall.
NHTSA urged all owners to check to see if their vehicles have an unrepaired Takata air bag recall. Drivers can go to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if they have any open recalls.
“This holiday season, don’t let yourself or someone you love be at risk of dying or being seriously injured because of a defective, recalled Takata air bag,” said NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson.
In a statement, Stellantis said the vehicle’s owner asked the company about the air bag recall in 2018, but then declined to schedule service. The company said it sent 114 urgent notices to the owner for the past seven years.
The owner loaned the vehicle to a family member who was killed in a July crash when the inflator blew apart, Stellantis said. The company wouldn’t say where the crash occurred, but said it extends its deepest sympathies to the family.
Earlier this month NHTSA said the driver of a 2002 Honda Accord was killed when the driver’s air bag inflator ruptured and hurled shrapnel. Honda said the crash occurred on Feb. 22 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Potential for the dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators recalled. The U.S. government says that millions have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding air bags sent Takata Corp. of Japan into bankruptcy.


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New life for old idea: a Capital Region aquarium
An aquarium would be great for the Albany, NY region, drawing thousands of tourists and giving parents something else to do with their kids on rainy weekends.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because the idea has been kicking around since at least the mid-1990s, when a group of local residents and public officials recommended an aquarium be built along the riverfront in downtown Albany.
Fast forward to the mid-2000s, when another group pushed the idea for a $40 million aquarium near Glens Falls, going so far as to create a non-profit committee and holding fund-raisers.
Now, Nancy Behrens, an educator at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology has picked up the baton. In April, Behrens created a Facebook page called “Albany Aquarium” to build support and raise money to pay for a feasibility study.
At last count, the Facebook page had 3,866 “likes” and raised $155 online (the goal is $50,000).
Whether the latest effort breaks the logjam remains to be seen. The biggest obstacles, of course, are the construction and operating costs. Anyone who has followed the decade-long saga to build a new convention center in downtown Albany knows the state isn’t forthcoming with buckets of money.
The area’s prestige is growing, thanks to projects like Albany NanoTech and GlobalFoundries, but we might have to accept the fact we’re not big enough to support an aquarium, in terms of population, annual visitors and private endowments.
Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland and other cities with aquariums are major metropolitan areas. Another aquarium, in Mystic, Connecticut, is a seaside resort town.
“How do you sustain these kinds of major attractions?” Vennard said. “I don’t think you could go anywhere with this without some good, solid feasibility work behind it.”
Albany Planning Director Doug Melnick was impressed when I told him how many “likes” the new Facebook page had received so far.
“An aquarium has come up occasionally but it never had substantial legs to it,” Melnick said. “It doesn’t mean if somebody came in with a proposal it wouldn’t be consisted, but it hasn’t been something that people rallied around.”
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Vladimir Slepak, Chairman of the Civic Chamber commission for social support and life quality put forward the initiative on cutting the share of imported products in Russian shops from the current 80 to 50%, amending the law on trade activity to this end.
He said that Russian producers were currently facing difficulties in getting their products to Russian shops. “This is particularly important in the conditions of economic sanctions against Russia. Today, the national producers must be supported,” Slepak said.
He suggested that the mandatory share of Russian products on the shelves should be at least 50% “Russian producers will be able to meet Russian citizens’ demand if they have favorable conditions for this,” Slepak said.
He also proposed to tighten quality control in shops. “The consumer discontent level has become critical, especially over the quality of children’s products and school meals. Total food safety control is needed, and inspections of Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor [consumer rights and veterinary watchdogs] must become regular,” Slepak told ITAR-TASS.
He called for abolishing the law norms, banning inspections of businesses more often than once in three years.
Maximum punishment, as well as turnover-based fines, should be imposed for the sale of dangerous for life and health products, as it is practiced in many countries, Slepak said. To this end, the Civic Chamber proposes to amend the corresponding articles of the Russian Criminal Code.


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Apple’s trio of devices in 2018; iPhone XS, XS Max and XR garnered plenty of hype at the back end of last year, but ultimately fell short of the mark with consumers, not to mention the company’s own expectations.
With such an uncharacteristic underwhelming performance, the pressure is now on Apple to ensure this year’s iPhone lineup is received much more favourably from the market.
Talk of the next iPhone 11 (or an iPhone XI, depending on how you want to phrase it) have been floating around since before the XS was even released and the rumours aren’t likely to slow down anytime soon.
With this in mind, here’s everything we know so far about the iPhone 11 so far.
Rumoured key features
- Three models/sizes
- OLED and LCD displays
- Triple-lens rear camera
- Apple Pencil support
iPhone 11 design
There have been a number of fan-made renders that have been floating around the web for the past few months, some that simply depict a list of traits users want to see, while others are based on tidbits of information that have surfaced and are widely expected to grace the final hardware.
Chinese site Gamersky picked up one of the more logical interpretations of what an iPhone 11 could look like, with a handset whose aesthetics have clearly been influenced by the most recent iPad Pro range that ditches a curved approach, reverting back to a more classical squared look.
That doesn’t sound like too much of a departure from prior models, but here’s where things get a little more interesting: it’s now being widely reported that the iPhone 11 will feature a triple-camera setup housed in a “notch” unit, transforming the look of the entire phone.
Check out what this might look like in Digit’s video below.
iPhone 11 Camera
It goes without saying that a triple-lens iPhone like the one shown above would bring significant advancements to the iPhone’s camera capabilities, so you can expect your instagram pictures to be crispier than ever #winning.
While nobody disputes the current iPhone’s excellent image capturing ability, Apple has changed how its phones handle image processing and such tweaks haven’t been to everyone’s tastes.
We don’t yet know whether Apple will revert back to a more natural approach with the camera on the iPhone 11 but there are plenty of rumours suggesting that, photographically speaking, it’s going to pack a pretty hefty punch.
While other smartphone makers are set to offer 5G phones this year, including Samsung, LG and Huawei, it appears Apple is sitting out the first wave and will not offer a 5G device until 2020.
According to the Korea Herald, Apple is considering adding Apple Pencil support to its 2019 iPhone lineup.
The report also details that Apple may consider opting opt for a supercapacitor stylus, which is cheaper to manufacture than the electromagnetic-resonance technology Samsung uses for the S Pen, however Apple's technology should make it feel more like an actual pencil.
We haven't heard too much about how Apple plans to improve battery life in this year's range of iPhones.
But one possible change which would be welcomed; states the new iPhones will offer bi-directional wireless charging that lets the phone charge other devices, a feature that Samsung recently introduced with it’s Galaxy S10 range.


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'It did my head in' - Dog breeders on demand for lockdown puppies
- Credit: Archant
Demand for puppies has calmed since the height of the pandemic, but is still higher than previous years, according to dog breeders across the region.
Michaela Betts, who runs Shelpet Cavalier King Charles Breeders in Trunch, near North Walsham, has not bred any puppies for two years due to coronavirus.
She said: "In lockdown people wanted to get a puppy, but a lot of unscrupulous breeders were cashing in, and they pushed prices up, charging silly money."
She said it now costs around £2,000 for a cavalier, while before the pandemic it was £950.
"Reasonable people are charging around £2,000, but puppy farms are charing from £3,000 to £5,000. And puppies are not coming with any health testing at all.
You may also want to watch:
"I keep warning people, please don’t buy a puppy in lockdown, it’s not fair on the puppy and your neighbours."
Ms Betts said she thinks the prices "will never going go down again".
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"It’s a lack of quality puppies available, because accredited breeders have not been breeding puppies during the pandemic."
Antonio Skaboullous, of Covehithe Coonhounds near Lowestoft, said: "During lockdown, emails were coming in left, right and centre, with people wanting puppies, but we made a point of not breeding.
"We didn't want people coming in and out during lockdown looking at puppies.
"We were getting so many emails from people who had no idea what the breed was, whose kids wanted a puppy. We didn't want to be adding to the puppy craze."
Demand is not as high as this time last year but it is still "pretty high", according to Mr Skaboullous.
Another dog breeder, who did not want to be named, said: “Demand is slightly less now but last year was terrible.
"I don’t sell to lockdown people. You can tell, they’re very needy.
“I had over 900 enquiries last year, people in London living in flats. I said you’ve got to be kidding.
“When you rear a litter and you love them, they mean the world to me, so of course I’m going to question people in every aspect," she said.
Last year, she was getting ten emails a day. “It did my head in. I’m glad it’s sort of calmed down.”


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Over the last 6 months, the Indian Rupee has depreciated at an alarming rate, breaching the 77, 78 and 79 mark against the US dollar in quick succession. The rupee has depreciated more than 6% since the beginning of the year, nearly 2% of which took place in June, the month that saw India’s currency sink to new lows of 78 and 79 against the US dollar. But why exactly has the Indian currency continued to spiral downwards since the beginning of 2022 ?
A brief History of the Rupee
Firstly, let’s understand the Rupee’s timeline and trajectory over the past few years. The Rupee began the year positively at around 74 against the dollar, recovering still from the March of 2020, when the dollar skyrocketed to 76 and a half rupees per dollar and more recently from India’s second Covid-19 wave where the rupee again depreciated to 74 and a half from 72 against the dollar.
Evidently, a 6% slump from 74.5 to 79 is not the slow, gradual inflation the rupee has typically seen. Numerous intertwined factors have coincided, putting an end to India’s gradual pandemic recovery (in terms of strength of currency) and impelling it into unanticipated depths.
The military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has triggered a global geopolitical crisis leading to weakening EM (Emerging Markets) currencies. Additionally, a disrupted supply chain, strong dollar and substantial dollar outflows from India, together are the major factors leading to the rupee’s drastic decline.
Factor 1 : The Russia-Ukraine Conflict
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is at the center of the geographical, political & economic framework of our current world. With numerous sanctions being placed upon Russia, the global supply chain for essential commodities has been severely disrupted. Russia, at the center of the conflict, is the 3rd largest producer of Oil and India, the country in question, is the 3rd largest consumer of oil, 80% of which is imported.
As the military conflict escalated, the fear of sanctions and oil supply uncertainty worldwide led to many nations eithher panic buying, halting imports / exports, or finding alternative sources of oil to meet demand. Due to this frenzy, the epicenter of which is in Europe (Europe heavily relied on Russia for Oil and with European Union sanctions has had to find alternative sources) , oil prices have soared (Prices soared to a peak of $140 per barrel in March) leading to supply chain disruption.
India, despite only importing a minor part of its oil from Russia has had to spend significant sums of money to match the global rise in oil prices amidst the supply chain frenzy. 13% of India’s exports are petroleum products, which have taken a hit with the rising oil prices. Not only does this mean India will be unable to export these products, it also negatively impacts more than 100 countries who import these products to meet local demand. Evidently, this disruption in the supply chain has drastically affected most nations around the world.
India continues to have to increase its expenditure on oil, meaning an increasing trade deficit. This has led to the weakening of the Rupee. The dollar on the other hand, has remained strong and demand for the dollar has drastically increased amidst the increasing oil prices which in turn has further pressurized the Rupee against the dollar. This has also led to inflation within the country as prices of essential goods increase significantly with the increasing cost of raw materials.
Factor 2 : Outflow of Foreign Investments
Foreign Institutional Investors or FIIs have pulled out more than 2.15 Lakh crore rupees worth of shares. But why exactly has this happened ? A combination of rising interest rates around the globe paired with a strong dollar have meant that the FIIs have remained net sellers since late 2021. 'Net sellers' essentially means that more funds are being removed from the Indian stock/bond markets as are being put in. Due to rising interest rates around the world, investors have pulled out of developing countries or Emerging Market economies like India which are risky, volatile and could thus lead to loss. They have instead diverted their funds to the United States where the ever-strong dollar has appreciated to reach new peaks. In this way, they can maximize profits with an appreciating currency and do not have to carry the risk of losing money in markets like India.
In 2022, with the Russia-Ukraine war and the supply chain disruption, investors / FIIs increased selling of their Emerging Market (EM) shares and pulling out funds from stock and bond markets in India in a state of panic amidst the uncertainty. This has led to the Rupee further depreciating as when FIIs pull out significant sums of money in a country, the demand for its currency decreases causing it to depreciate. On the other hand, these sums of money have been put into the dollar causing it to appreciate causing other currencies to in turn depreciate against the dollar.
As the Rupee further goes down, foreign investors will continue to remove funds from the Indian market leading to further devaluation.
India is not the only currency undergoing depreciation against the US Dollar due to the factors listed above. Most EM (Emerging Market) currencies are undergoing similar trends. Infact, India is faring well against its EM counterparts and global currencies against the US dollar.
What steps has India taken to limit inflation ?
The Reserve Bank of India has slowed down the Rupee’s downfall. They initially defended the Rupee at an exchange rate of 77.5 against the dollar and are now slowing the freefall. However they have had to sell more than $40 Billion in foreign exchange reserves from historical forex peaks of $640 Billion. Many economists estimate a further drain of $40-50 billion from forex reserves before the currency reaches stability.
The government, in an effort to reduce the trade deficit (A trade deficit is when the country is importing goods worth more value than they are exporting ) and thus limit inflation has hiked Gold import tax to 12.5% from 7.5%. India’s trade deficit in May rose to more than $24 Billion from $6.53 billion and Gold imports alone rose to $6 billion from $678 million. An increased import tax on Gold will allow the trade deficit to reduce.
Aside from the Gold Tax, the government also announced a series of measures to reverse the pullout of FIIs, a major factor in the weakening of the Indian Rupee. Firstly, it liberalised forex flows, making it easier and consequently more attractive for investors to once again put their money into Indian markets. Additionally, the government doubled the limit for borrowers, making India a popular option to raise capital.
Despite aggressive RBI intervention, the Rupee continues in its downfall. Analysts expect the Rupee to further deflate till 82 in Q3 before recovering to some form of stability by the end of the year at 81. The RBI recently announced a new series of measures like doubling the borrowing limit, no interest rate ceiling and liberalizing rules for foreign traders to invest into Indian bonds. However, as India’s trade deficit (>25 Billion in June) continues to increase due to rising prices around the world, many analysts say there is no respite soon.
~ Nehal Singhal


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Enterprise technology startups continue to innovate in a tough economic environment, driven by demand from companies that fear a lack of technology could cost them market share, venture partners said.
“Markets are made or lost based on how you fail,” said Shane Wall, partner and president of the CXO Network at Fusion Fund, The Wall Street Journal’s CIO Network on Tuesday. Technology leaders now have a critical role to play in ensuring their businesses continue to prioritize technology or risk falling behind in the market.
A particularly important area to continue spending is in cloud investments, Mr. Wall said, adding that we are only at the beginning of the cloud era.
“It’s still 22% of spending in the cloud,” said Alex Kayal, senior vice president and managing partner of Salesforce Ventures on the WSJ’s CIO Network. “So to me, what’s all the hype, there’s still a big opportunity.”
Cyber security and automation are two more areas where companies are now actively investing, Mr. Kayal said.
As CIOs and companies continue to pour dollars into those areas, enterprise technology startups are being leveraged to meet their needs, the venture partners said.
If anything, tighter economic conditions are making entrepreneurs hungrier, Mr. Kayal said. Painkiller companies see that they want to solve the problem, he added.
“We are certainly in an uncertain economy, but we see the innovation,” Mr. Kayal said.
One example of this is UK-based Snyk Ltd., which raised $8.6 billion last year from Salesforce Ventures and others. The company aims to bring security mindset to the developer level, so the code is written with cyber security in mind from the start, said Mr Kayal.
“I think we’ll see the economy soften next year. “We’re going to see a rebound, and we’re going to see winners and losers in that rebound,” Mr. Wall said. At the same time, he said, “the opportunities for growth remain large.”
Write Isabelle Bousquette at firstname.lastname@example.org
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8


text: The Four Oaks Chamber of Commerce is celebrating Stanfield’s General Store as August Business of the Month. Stanfield’s General Store was nominated for Business of the Month in recognition of recent business growth. Stanfield’s General Store has recently opened an adjoining addition which features antiques and collectables. They have also begun opening up the store the Third Thursday of each month for an evening of live music, wine tastings, and food sampling. Stanfield’s General Store will feature its next Third Thursday event on August 16th from 6-8pm featuring The Classics, playing classic country and popular hits. This event will also offer food sampling from many of the store’s local favorites.


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By Euro Weekly News Media • 15 February 2016 • 18:03
Hamleys is one of the stores considering opening.
PLANS for a new theme park in Torremolinos are likely to be passed by town planners in principle on February 16.
British company, Intu Properties, has presented a bid of to produce a commercial and leisure facility which would be the largest in Andalucia and will feature restaurants, shops, a dry ski-slope, and wave-creating swimming pool among other attractions at a cost of €650 million.
An initial payment of €20 million is due to be paid to the local council and thereafter an estimated annual income of €3 million would be generated. The theme park would bring 4,000 jobs to the town. Other indirect opportunities would bring an estimated 3000 jobs in the building and opening of the park.
The only drawback will be that the proposal must also be approved by the Junta de Andalucia which has previously rejected five earlier proposals but on this occasion, with an undertaking to introduce new sanitation measures, all parties are much more optimistic.
The British company owns 18 shopping malls across the UK, including the famous Trafford centre in Manchester, and is now looking to expand its portfolio overseas.
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UPS and FedEx are apologizing after getting swamped and failing to make many deliveries in time for Christmas.
The companies said they were delayed by bad weather and an unanticipated online rush, NBC News reported.
"The volume of air packages in our system exceeded the capacity in our network," UPS spokeswoman Natalie Godwin said in a statement.
If you still don't have a package from FedEx, you may be able to go pick it up yourself.
"We're sorry that there could be delays and we're contacting affected customers who have shipments available for pickup," Scott Fiedler, a spokesman for FedEx, told the Associated Press Wednesday.
Amazon.com contacted some customers over the "failure in the UPS transportation network" and offered to refund shipping charges and provide gift cards, CNN reported.
Less than satisfied customers of both companies ripped them apart on Twitter and Facebook.
"Merry Christmas FedEx," wrote Teri Martin on the company's Facebook page. "Thanks for taking my money, ruining my son's Christmas and taking days off to avoid dealing with desperate customers trying to find out how to get their packages! NEVER AGAIN!!!"
“My kids and the rest of my extended family have no presents," UPS customer Jill Amaya told NBC News.
Amaya says she waited 10 days and experienced two delays of a package before she just gave up.
Customers complained that the shipping giants were making delivery promises in the 11th hour, when they already knew they were too backed up to make good.
"A lot of these employees keep saying 'It's the weather' or 'It's some kind of a backlog,'" Barry Tesh, 52, of Jacksonville, Fla., told USA Today. "Well then why, all the way up until the 23rd, were they offering next-day delivery? That guaranteed delivery was 80% of my decision to buy the gift."
"Everyone was gushing with guarantees on Sunday when we asked FedEx if they could handle the order," said Samantha Edussuriya, the director of online content at Fuse.tv. "Now my mother is alone in San Diego and in tears."
"They said 'a small percentage,' and that was insulting as a customer," said UPS customer Mike Reynolds, 43, of Martinez, Calif. "It made me feel marginalized. My mother stayed home last night waiting for packages to come in. She just waited and waited and waited, and it never happened. She missed out on the festivities."
"I bet the customer service line at FedEx sounds a lot like a suicide prevention hotline right now," one woman tweeted on Christmas Eve.
"UPS says Christmas should arrive by tonight," one man said. "It looks like a late night of wrapping. Good thing I'm drinking."
On Christmas, he followed up, tweeting: "Looks like UPS gave up. I don't blame them. I'd have felt terrible if they were working this late tonight."
"This has been the worst Christmas ever," said Larry Ledet, 55, who has been a UPS driver for 27 years. Ledet says he made 337 stops and delivered 505 packages on Monday.


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Microsoft is preparing a cut-down version of Windows XP to sell cheaply in the Far East in an effort to prevent Linux stealing the OS market.
In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Microsoft Thailand MD Andrew McBean, revealed that the software giant is working on a “light” version of its latest operating system at its US headquarters, to be sold at a lower-than-usual cost.
It will, of course, be easily upgradeable to the full-fat Windows XP Home, or Professional edition, for a bit more cash.
McBean would not say when XP-Lite will be made available, or what its pricing would be, but he did say it would come after the May release of XP Service Pack 2, which will contain mostly security additions.
The fact that Microsoft is going to the trouble of producing a cut-down OS is extremely significant. It demonstrates, more than ever before, how Linux and the rise of open-source software has caused the market to drive Microsoft, rather than the other way around.
The software giant has been caught in a bind where it refuses to step back from its policy of one worldwide price for its products, but remains hopelessly expensive in important emerging markets. When, last year, IBM started selling cheap Linux notebooks to Thailand, and then in September, the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean governments announced a joint open-source project, the writing was on the wall.
Some pundits predicted that Microsoft would drastically reduce the cost of its licenses to prevent the market being stolen from underneath it. Instead, it has stumbled upon the idea of a Fisher Price version, allowing it to continue to charge the same everywhere else.
Whether it will work only time will tell. But the decision - which will require a huge amount of coding since Windows is not exactly modular and easy to reduce down - is yet another indication that it is taking Linux and open source seriously enough to override its traditional arrogance and inflexibility.


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Producing a VR 360 degree video presents problems by itself.
It’s number one issue is how any average person can make that video and not present themselves in the video without looking a bit stupid as you pay attention to what is being captured.
Number two would be the enormous size of a 360 3D spherical video being harder to edit and harder to stream.
So, as this VR video gets started, it benefits the entire industry that they have created a standard for a hemi-spherical or 180 video format.
Outside of the benefits just mentioned, the extra benefit is the lower cost of the hardware for such a cam. For it really eliminates the need for a larger faster processor and additional firmware to stitch multiple images together since we are really talking about a wide-angle 3D camera.
Now that the standard has been created for YouTube, more hardware manufacture’s will come on board. Below is one that has been out there that started from a KickStarter campaign,
The LucidCam… www.lucidcam.com
Others have either announced they are going to enter the market or have had products ready for the release including ‘YI’


text: At the end of last year, Bitmain successfully launched a new cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx. At that time, the marketplace was the first exchange to use the BiCash token (BCH) as the basic asset. The marketplace is constantly evolving, while the range of supported trading pairs is steadily expanding through developers. At a time the CoinEx team stated that it decided to use Bitcoin Cash instead of Bitcoin since the BCH token has a higher transaction rate, low commission, and high performance. The trading platform also has its own cryptocurrency CoinEx Token (CET), which costs around $0.028.


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Cyanogen is gonna need some serious firepower if it wants to deliver on its promise to take Android away from Google, and the company’s decision to hire two key executives from Amazon and Qualcomm is definite a step in the right direction. Both of them are industry veterans, and both will certainly assist Cyanogen as it attempts to expand its footprint and secure more partnerships.
Cyanogen Inc., a global leader in mobile computing, today announced it has brought on Amazon engineering leader Stephen Lawler as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Qualcomm Android engineering lead Karthick Iyer as Vice President of Global Systems. Lawler will oversee worldwide engineering for the company, and Iyer will lead systems engineering. A twenty-year industry veteran, Lawler joins Cyanogen from Amazon where he was most recently a Vice President. Before that, he spent 15 years at Microsoft in key senior roles including CTO of Bing Maps, GM of Software Development for Bing Maps, Bing Mobile, Local Search, MSN and Virtual Earth. Iyer has held ever increasing engineering responsibilities at Qualcomm Inc. for the past 18 years. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Engineering where he led a global team that designed, developed and commercialized Android solutions at the chipset level. There, he built and led a top-notch global Android organization that successfully enabled the shipments of over 1 billion Android smartphones.


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Is UAE’s New Visa-on-Arrival Policy for 87 Countries the Ultimate Travel Game Changer?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently implemented a new visa-on-arrival policy for 87 countries, allowing travelers to enter the country without needing to obtain a visa in advance. This exciting development has the potential to revolutionize the way people travel to the UAE and opens up a world of possibilities for both tourists and businesses.
The Benefits of Visa-on-Arrival
The new visa-on-arrival policy eliminates the need for travelers to go through the lengthy and often complicated process of obtaining a visa before their trip. Instead, they can simply arrive at any UAE port of entry and have their visa issued upon arrival. This not only saves time and effort but also provides a more convenient and seamless travel experience.
For tourists, this means the opportunity to plan spontaneous trips and explore the wonders of the UAE without the constraints of visa application deadlines. It also opens up the possibility for shorter trips or layovers in the UAE for travelers flying to other destinations, allowing them to experience a taste of the country’s rich culture and attractions.
From a business perspective, the new visa-on-arrival policy attracts potential investors and entrepreneurs who may be interested in exploring business opportunities in the UAE. With easier access to the country, it becomes more enticing for international businesses to set up branches or attend conferences and exhibitions, stimulating economic growth and fostering global partnerships.
A Game Changer for Tourism
The UAE, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is already a popular tourist destination known for its luxurious hotels, world-class shopping malls, and iconic landmarks like the Burj Khalifa. However, the previous visa requirements may have deterred some potential visitors, especially those from countries with stricter visa regulations.
The new visa-on-arrival policy is expected to significantly boost tourism numbers in the UAE, attracting a wider range of tourists from different parts of the world. This influx of tourists can have a positive impact on the local economy, supporting industries such as hospitality, retail, and transportation.
Preparing for the Influx
With the implementation of the visa-on-arrival policy, the UAE needs to ensure that it has the necessary infrastructure and resources in place to handle the influx of tourists. This includes expanding airport facilities, improving immigration processes, and increasing the availability of tourist services and attractions.
Tourism boards and local businesses should also seize the opportunity to promote the UAE’s unique offerings to the new influx of visitors. This could involve marketing campaigns, collaborations with travel agencies, and the development of new tourist experiences tailored to different traveler profiles.
The Future of Travel to the UAE
The new visa-on-arrival policy for 87 countries is a significant step towards the UAE positioning itself as a leading global tourist destination. By simplifying the visa process, the UAE is removing a major barrier for travelers and making it more accessible to a wider audience.
As the UAE continues to invest in its tourism industry and enhance its visitor experience, we can expect to see a continued rise in tourist numbers, increased revenue for local businesses, and a more diverse and vibrant travel landscape in the UAE.
In conclusion, the UAE’s new visa-on-arrival policy for 87 countries has the potential to be a game changer for the country’s tourism industry. By simplifying the visa process, the UAE is making it easier for travelers to visit the country and explore its many attractions. As a result, we can expect to see a significant increase in tourism numbers and a boost to the local economy. The UAE’s future as a global tourist destination is looking brighter than ever.


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Over the past week, The Refinishing Touch has been tipping its hats to several businesses in the hospitality industry that have been demonstrating a commitment to environmental preservation. Not only have we extended praise through our blog series, but we’ve also recently rewarded 29 hospitality companies with the latest installment of our quarterly Sustainability Awards.
The latest chain to set a great example for the industry is none other than the Marriott International, a hospitality giant with $12 billion in revenue across hospitality locations in 74 countries. The Marriot has announced that 75 percent of its furniture, fixtures and equipment budget for fiscal year 2013 will be dedicated to employing the services of suppliers who are part of the MindClick Hospitality Sustainability Performance Index.
The MindClick Index analyzes suppliers in terms of corporate social responsibility, product sustainability efforts and environmentally-friendly operations. Marriott has announced that the index will be an important factor in choosing its future suppliers, in an increased effort to go green.
Recent studies conducted by MindClick have revealed that sustainable initiatives are not only important, but are becoming crucial in retaining customers. For example, two out of three Expedia consumers believe hotels need to be environmentally-conscious and proactive about sustainability efforts in an order to protect communities and the earth.
As a supplier of on-site, environmentally-safe and sustainable furniture asset management services such as refinishing and reupholstering, we’ve worked in various Marriott hotels all over the nation, and our services have even trickled into Marriott’s subdivisions – the Residence Inn and the Renaissance Hotels and Resorts.
For more information on our production team’s latest renovations projects in the hospitality, government and higher education industries, be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter, InTouch.
Are you unfamiliar with our newsletter? Then browse our updated archives here, and read some of the previous issues. As always, we encourage you to stay ‘in touch’ – tweet us your thoughts on sustainability in the hospitality industry today!


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With that trend unfolding, the social marketing software startup Sprinklr Inc. has acquired ad-buyer TBG Digital for undisclosed price, and will roll TBG into its suite of social management software, CEO Ragy Thomas said in a blog post.
London-based TBG was one of Twitter's earliest ad-buying partners and is one of Facebook's largest ad buyers.
Thursday's deal is the latest in a string of big transactions for Sprinklr, which acquired the Dachis Group in February and raised an additional $40 million in venture capital in April. The company counts blue chips such as General Motors, Samsung and Intel among its customers, and is reportedly headed toward an IPO later this year, a topic Sprinklr officials have refused to discuss.
Founded in 2009, Sprinklr aspires to be a soup-to-nuts software platform for major corporate clients, providing a way to centrally manage Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and many more) feeds for brands, and also to develop a customer-relationship database from those channels.
But until recently, it had directed its clients to other companies to actually buy ads on social media, namely TBG. Sprinklr had piloted a preliminary paid media module earlier this year, but now will expand it to all of its customers with TBG fully integrated.
"With the obvious and inevitable decline of organic reach, paid is increasingly the only lever that can predictably control brands’ reach across channels," Thomas wrote in his blog post. "It’s absolutely critical that brands learn to coordinate messaging across paid and owned."
The companies go way back. TBG founder Simon Mansell and Thomas have known each other for years, and the companies share office space in New York and San Francisco. Combined, the new company will serve 650 enterprise brands and employee nearly 500 people in the United States, Europe and Asia. London-based TBG processes more than $100 million in annual ad buying.
Today, most corporate clients still keep paid advertisement buying and social media marketing in distinct silos. But for an effective digital marketing play, those units need to be more fully integrated
"TBG has a bunch of people who know how to have this conversation, and can explain it, and bring the media buyer into the conversation and help them understand how to partner more effectively with the social people," Sprinklr marketing VP Jeremy Epstein told me.
Sprinklr has raised nearly $78 million in venture backing from Intel Capital, Battery Ventures and others.


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With Halloween officially over and the holidays approaching, thrift stores are starting to ask their customers to bring in old sweaters and festive apparel that could be worn to the annual office Christmas party. The National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops (NARTS) predicts a large increase in sales for the resale industry this holiday season. Seventy eight percent of thrift stores that are NARTS members say that their sales increased, at an average of 35 percent, within the past year. Since resale has evolved from the image of dark, musty junk stores, to well displayed stores that offer value and selection without the new-price markup, consumers are heading out to thrift stores to not only do their wardrobe shopping but to pick up unique gifts during the holiday season.
Second Act consignment and resale store located in Iowa City is getting ready to accommodate to the needs that the holiday season brings. They’ve recently cleared their store of Halloween costumes and are bringing out sweaters dressed with sequins and tinsel, gifts that mom will love, and an outstanding supply of quality winter coats to prepare themselves for this years holiday shoppers. While the resale and thrift shop industry continues to grow annually by 7%, the holiday season is helping bring a surge of new business in.
Melissa Williams, owner Second Act, first saw the rise in sales during the holiday season 10 years ago. She noticed that the stigma of dirty “used” second hand clothes was slowly leaving the industry and the trend of wearing vintage was on the rise. Williams works hard to stay on top the of the industry trends by asking her customers for donations that will help the store thrive. Each year she sets aside a stash of festive apparel that will suit her shoppers during the holiday season. Second Act is also the only place in Iowa City that offers costumes year around. The store is one of the largest second hand stores in Iowa City and has rooms to separate the costumes they have to offer. Whether you’re looking for a fantasy, 80’s, or western themed costume; Second Act has a room designated for each look that you want to disguise yourself in. Williams and her bookkeeper Ruth, both have seen growth in the store within the past few years. Ruth recalls a time where vintage was overlooked and now she points out different girls in the street wearing vintage clothes and sees high end retails shops designating a section of their merchandise for vintage apparel.
If you’re trying to catch the trend of thrift store shopping, this holiday season is a great time to start. It’s much easier to find something of higher quality and a lower price at a thrift store and the satisfaction of finding the “it” piece is priceless. Whether you’re saving some money this holiday season or surprising your friends and family with a unique one-of-a-kind gift, thrift stores can help you accomplish it all. For more information and tips on holiday shopping at thrift stores, follow this link for a list I’ve put together using pictures, tips contributed from different people, and videos to help you get into the spirit of Holiday saving.
Below is a list of thrift stores in Iowa City where you can get your holiday shopping started:
538 Olympic Court Iowa City, IA
Hours: Monday – Friday 10am – 5:30pm, Saturday 1pm- 5pm, Sunday 1pm – 5pm
1213 South Gilbert Ct. Iowa City, IA
Phone: 319-337- 5924
Hours: Monday – Friday 10am – 5:00pm, Saturday 10am- 4:30pm, Sunday closed
1027 Highway 6 Iowa City, IA
Hours: Monday – Thursday 9am – 8:00pm, Friday – Saturday 9am- 5:00pm, Sunday 12pm- 5:00pm
985 Highway 6 East Iowa City, IA
Hours: Monday – Friday 9am – 9pm, Saturday 9am – 6pm and Sunday 12pm – 5pm
331 East Market Street, Iowa City, IA 52245
Phone: (319) 358-9617
Hours: Monday – Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday 10am- 5pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm
323 East Market Street, Iowa City, IA 52245
Phone: (319) 354-2183
Hours: Open on Saturdays (hours are not listed)