text:
With 6,000 folks in attendance at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California, and many millions more watching online, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off WWDC 2018 by confirming this year’s big keynote presentation would be “all about software.”
Specifically, “exciting updates across all platforms”, including, you guessed it, iOS 12. Following in the footsteps of a widely criticized iOS 11 release that Apple still claims notched a 95 percent overall satisfaction score, the next big mobile OS upgrade is largely focused, as rumored, on substance.
Primarily aimed at “doubling down on performance”, iOS 12 will be officially available on all the same devices as its predecessor. That includes the ancient iPhone 5s, and in fact, Apple says it went the extra mile to optimize the speed and responsiveness of its oldest iOS 12-eligible devices.
As such, you should expect apps to launch up to 40 percent faster than before, the keyboard up to 50 percent, and the photo-taking experience to improve by a whopping 70 percent. At least, in ideal conditions, on paper, and we’re guessing, with the throttling “feature” switched off.
But performance enhancements and system optimizations are obviously just a small piece of the iOS 12 puzzle, which also includes a lot of AR improvements. USDZ is the name of a new file format developed in collaboration with none other than Pixar, which Adobe, Autodesk, Sketchfab and other companies are planning to support. Described as “something like AR Quick Look”, it’s coming to Adobe Creative Cloud.
Meanwhile, Measure is a neat new built-in app that uses augmented reality in a very practical way by, well, measuring real-world objects.
Unsurprisingly, AI is also a big part of Apple’s iOS 12 update, with the native Photos app now capable of suggesting searches based on “key moments and people”, places, categories and other stuff detected in your snapshots. A number of new features seem “inspired” by Google Photos, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a “For You” tab now that features effects suggestions, and also, Sharing hints for sharing pics with people photographed alongside you.


text:
Jamul Casino Launches Mobile Loyalty Solution by JOINGO
JOINGO®, the leading provider of mobile engagement solutions for the casino gaming industry today announced the launch of the Jamul Casino® mobile app.
LAS VEGAS (PRWEB) October 15, 2019 — JOINGO®, the leading provider of mobile engagement solutions for the casino gaming industry today announced the launch of the Jamul Casino® mobile app for iOS and Android.
With JOINGO, Jamul Casino receives leading-edge mobile technology that allows effective engagement with every patron via their mobile device. Additionally, Jamul will have access to the Joingo console, where they will be able to create geofences, segment patrons, send targeted location-based messages and use Joingo Insights®, our business intelligence and reporting platform.
The Jamul Casino app allows Sweetwater Rewards® members account access using their current credentials with insight into tier level, points balance, comps and offers. Patrons have visibility to current promotions and a direct connection to their Casino Hosts through the app. Users can also access an array of property information as well as book dining reservations through an integration to Open Table.
To complement the new app, Jamul Casino integrated JOINGO’s Player Portal with their website. Player Portal allows patrons all the convenience of the app with easy account access through any mobile or desktop device.
“For our mobile application, we wanted to provide our patrons with a comprehensive and integrated mobile experience,” said Josh Ford, CIO for Jamul Casino. “JOINGO clearly understood how mobile engagement fit into our overall marketing strategy. They developed and deployed a highly engaging app that we are proud to offer our patrons.”
“We are very excited to announce the release of the Jamul Casino mobile application with the enhanced Player Portal functionality.” said Michael McManus, CEO of JOINGO. “We welcome Jamul to our growing user community and look forward to a long-standing partnership.”
The Jamul Casinos mobile app is now available in the App Store and Google Play.
JOINGO is a leading-edge mobile technology company based in Las Vegas. JOINGO’s patented technology targets players’ mobile devices using the latest in mobile app technology, location-based marketing, gamification and more. JOINGO allows casino brands to reach mobile users with highly personalized and interactive mobile marketing campaigns that drive increased reach, loyalty, and revenue. For more, visit http://www.joingo.com.
About Jamul Casino®
Jamul Casino is the newest, closest, and most genuinely entertaining casino in San Diego. Opened in 2016, the recently rebranded Jamul Casino, located in Jamul, California, is owned and operated by Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), a wholly owned entity of Jamul Indian Village of California. The $430 million casino features over 1,600 slot machines, 39 live table games, and a dedicated poker room with weekly tournaments; free shuttle service from various locations in San Diego; live entertainment; and seven restaurants, bars and lounges. Jamul Casino supports more than 1,000 permanent jobs in the region. For more information about Jamul Casino, please visit http://www.jamulcasinosd.com.

domain: news


text:
Justin Bieber showed off some of his hottest looks ever in his spring/summer 2014 campaign for Adidas NEO Label, which the Canadian singer is poster boy for young line Adidas NEO Label . This Sunday Adidas has released new photos of the Canadian superstar, wearing clothes line spring / summer 2014 brand. Check out the new photos :
A new video of Justin Bieber backstage at the rehearsal for Adidas NEO was released, the scenes of clothing line which is the poster boy singer, Justin appears in several scenarios that met the record a summary of recent sessions. Drumming, dancing, writing and of course, tons of signing. NEO takes you behind the scenes of the latest Justin Bieber photo shoot. Here is your glimpse into life on set. Don’t forget to breathe. Watch The Video!


text:
Last week, Mary J. Blige and Burger King were subject to a rapid backlash from the black media, including popular website Madame Noire, after launching a commercial featuring Blige singing about Burger King’s new Crispy Chicken Wraps. The ad was almost immediately criticized for promoting racial stereotypes. During the confusion and criticism about the commercial, Burger King’s Buzz score declined significantly among the African American population.
In the commercial, Mary J. Blige is on stage in a small venue, a few Burger King-crowned children standing up at the front listening to the singer. As she sings about crispy fried chicken, the commercial fades back and forth between Blige’s tune and savory images of Burger King’s chicken snack wraps. The commercial was strongly criticized for perpetuating African American stereotypes and was pulled from Burger King’s YouTube page ostensibly because of a music licensing issue. Regardless of the pull back, it didn’t take long for the commercial to go viral, becoming modified into audio remixes and subject to much criticism about its racial undertones.
For the general population, Burger King’s Buzz score remained steady at around 15 throughout the commercial’s mishap. The fast food chain’s Buzz score in the African American community, on the other hand, began with a significantly higher score compared to the general population, at around 40. On April 2, its Buzz score for African Americans peaked at 44. But after the commercial’s release and the following debacle, Burger King’s Buzz score then dropped substantially to 13 by April 6. The 31 point drop shows the increase in negative attention toward Burger King among the African American community since the issue of the unfinished commercial began.
Burger King has since stated that the “unfinished” ad was prematurely released and the fully licensed song and completed commercial will be released soon. Given the results so far, however, it might be tricky, if not simply foolish, to put another version of this campaign back on the airwaves.
Burger King was measured using YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents: “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?”


text:
DJs to exit music and games as sales fall
- From: News Corp Australia Network
- February 14, 2013
- DJs to exit music, DVDs and games
- Sales fall 1.4 per cent to $590.1 million
- Peugeot plunges to record loss
SALES have fallen yet again at high-end department store David Jones, with the crucial Christmas period providing little cheer.
As a result, DJs plans to exit some of its worst performing categories such as DVDs, music and games.
Instead, CEO Paul Zahra said the department store would focus on higher margin categories such as womenswear, beauty, menswear, accessories and shoes.
Total sales for the three months to January 26 fell 1.4 per cent to $590.1 million, down from $598.5 million in same quarter last year. Key like-for-like sales were also 1.4 per cent, as no stores opened or closed during the period.
Total sales for the six months to January 26 were down 0.7 per cent to $1 billion.
November saw the department store group chalk up its first quarterly sales rise in two years, with sales from July 29 to October 27 up a slim 0.3 per cent. But the store wasn't able to maintain the momentum over the key Christmas period, with homewares being the worst performing category.
Despite sales falling overall, chief executive Paul Zahra said some areas had performed well.
"We are pleased with the performance of our high margin fashion and beauty categories, which delivered sales growth in second quarter of 2013 and and first half of 2013,'' he said. "Our sales performance during this period was however adversely impacted by our home categories, in particular electronics, which continued to be challenging and subject to ongoing deflationary pressure.''
Mr Zahra said the group was focused on improving the profitability of sales and was exiting the low performing categories.
"We also continue to reduce the depth and breadth of our promotional discounting events and continue to work on changing our category mix to increase focus on higher margin categories,'' Mr Zahra said.
David Jones share opened for trading this morning at $2.68.
finance top stories
WENLEI MA IT’S Easter long weekend, huzzah! But before you run off home, have you prepared yourself? Because you won’t be able to shop and drink with ease.
Joshua Dowling NATIONAL MOTORING EDITOR THIS small car - which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf - has won the 2014 World Car of the Year. Does it deserve the title?
VICTORIA CRAW SHE crashes websites and has designers bending over backwards to dress her. So what’s the ‘Kate effect’ really worth to brands?


text:
Cashed-up HT Aero promises street-legal flying supercar in 2024
XPeng affiliate HT Aero has unveiled an outrageous flying car design that it claims is "planned for roll-out in 2024." It looks like an electric Bugatti hypercar with a pair of huge, auto-folding props in the style of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.
Xpeng is a seven-year-old Chinese electric car company that's growing fast, pulling in somewhere around US$2 billion in revenue this year and shipping somewhere around 50,000 cars. It's investing heavily in autonomy and charging infrastructure, while rolling out cars like the P7 that offer more range than Tesla's Model 3, at a cheaper price.
It's also getting serious about urban air mobility. Last week, its "affiliate" eVTOL company HT Aero announced it had raised more than half a billion US dollars in a single funding round. According to the AAM Reality Index, this staggering figure would make HT the fifth best-funded eVTOL company in the world.
Large biscuits indeed – more than three times the cash eHang is allegedly working with. There must be some serious plans going on behind the scenes here, since HT's current fifth-gen X2 aircraft doesn't look all that impressive on paper. It's a very basic-looking eight-rotor coaxial quadcopter design that can carry two passengers at speeds up to 130 km/h (80 mph) for up to 35 minutes.
A decent start, but most companies on their fifth iteration would start looking at transitioning aircraft capable of flying further and faster with more people on board. Not HT Aero. "Our next-generation model," said Founder and President Deli Zhao as the funding was announced, "will be a fully integrated flying vehicle and automobile, designed for both low-altitude air travel and road driving. We are planning for an official roll-out in 2024."
An eVTOL flying car, then. And what a thing it looks like. This glass-domed electric beast will drop plenty of jaws even before it opens up its gull-winged tail compartment to fold out the two colossal rotors it purports to fly on. Remember those gorgeous future-sportscars Lexus designed for Minority Report back in the day? If one of those married a Bugatti Chiron, and a Dyson vacuum was the neighborhood milkman, the offspring might look something like this.
When it's time to take to the air, the props come out of the oversized tail at the touch of a button, then spin up and lift the car off the ground. Yes, this is a viable propulsion arrangement, as evidenced by the military Osprey aircraft, and with those two contra-rotating rotors able to tilt independently, you can achieve full control over pitch, roll and yaw.
Indeed, such large-diameter fans will deliver more efficient vertical lift than most small-rotor designs – which will be critical since there's no winged cruise mode to take a load off the props, and this thing will need to carry all the weight of an auto-folding eVTOL plus all the additional weight of a street-legal electric car.
And herein of course lies the problem. As our good buddy Dezso Molnar has vigorously argued, the fancier these kinds of machines get, the worse they work, the more expensive they become and the smaller the market becomes. This one looks very fancy indeed.
Let's not forget: electric street cars are already heavy. Tesla's Model 3 is around 300 kg (660 lb) heavier than, say, a Toyota Corolla sedan, because lithium batteries simply weigh a lot. That's OK, because cars don't need to lift themselves off the ground. The energy requirements for half-decent flight endurance in a vehicle like this will be pretty brutal; if HT's little manned multicopter will only fly for 35 minutes weighing in at just 560 kg (1,235 lb), then you're not going to be flying real far in something much larger and possibly four times the weight, with a road-going electric powertrain, braking, steering and suspension systems, airbags, crumple zones and everything else you need to certify a car for street use.
What's more, a two-rotor system gives you basically zero propulsion redundancy. Not that electric motors fail often, but the consequences here will be dire unless you're flying high enough for the built-in ballistic chute to do its thing. One shudders to think what the grueling dual car/eVTOL certification processes will cost, one wonders what kind of licensing will be required in order to fly it anywhere of practical use, one muses over whether there's more than 50 genuine buyers out there for this kind of thing, and one shudders again thinking how much it might cost.
Still, here we are. There's very little detail available at this stage, which perhaps bodes poorly for a 2024 rollout date. But HT Aero has half a billion dollars in the bank, and has announced that this is its next model. We sure can't argue that these renders don't look cool, although the pathway to production has brutalized many a concept drawing.
Indeed, don't get us wrong, we'd love to see these oversized monsters pulling off the highway, folding out like Swiss Army knives, wobbling their way off the ground and flying away into the sunset just as much as anyone else. It just seems like a completely bizarre business idea to throw 500 million bananas at. Time will tell.
Check out a video below.
Source: HT Aero


text:
European pressure on Apple to open up its iPod-iTunes ecosystem is growing, as EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection Meglena Kuneva has spoken out against the tie-in between the iPod and Apple's iTunes Store. Speaking on the topic of DRM, Commissioner Kuneva says in comments reported in German-language magazine Focus that she believes consumers shouldn't be locked into the iPod by music they purchase from Apple's iTunes Store.
"Do you find it reasonable that a CD will play in all CD players, but an iTunes song will only play on an iPod?" asked Kuneva. "It doesn't to me. Something must change."
Kuneva also said that the industry needs competitive pricing and uniform sales contracts, in addition to a "cooling-off" period during which consumers could "return" downloaded music. She plays to discuss these initiatives in Brussels later this week.
Europe and the closed ecosystem
Apple has come under increasing criticism in Europe over the past year or so over its music-hardware ecosystem. Pressure has been increasing from Norway and a few EU member countries for Apple to open up its DRM so that consumers would be able to play iTunes music on any device of their choosing.
Early in 2006, the Consumer Council of Norway filed a complaint with the country's Consumer Ombudsman, accusing Apple of violating Norway's Marketing Control Act. At issue was Apple's FairPlay DRM, which locks consumers into the iPod and iTunes, as well as the lack of a cooling-off period and the company's disavowal of any responsibility for damage that may be caused to users' computers by iTunes.
The Norwegian Ombudsman ordered Apple to change its terms and conditions for the Norwegian version of the iTunes Store, and other Scandinavian countries began investigations of their own. Apple has engaged in dialogue with the countries, but no changes have been made.
Just a couple of months ago, Germany and France joined the Scandinavian countries in asking Apple to open up FairPlay to allow other digital audio players to play iTunes tracks.
Harmonizing consumer protection laws
Lurking in the background is a wholesale EU effort to rewrite the Union's consumer-protection laws. The laws vary between member countries, and the EU would like to standardize them. One issue being discussed is whether the cooling-off period should apply to digital content, with the European Commission looking at the possibility of using the lack of interoperability between the iPod, Zune, and other digital audio players as a way to force online music sellers to accept "returns."
Kuneva appears intent on going a step further and forcing Apple to open up its ecosystem, a move that would make the consumer groups pressing for a change happy.
Apple Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs has said that his company would make everybody happy by selling DRM-free music if only the record labels would agree to it. Color some Europeans unimpressed: a spokesperson for the Norwegian Consumer Council said that while Jobs' comments were welcome, they don't address the underlying problem of interoperability. It's going to take concerted government action or a truly unlikely change of heart on the part of the music industry to accomplish that.


text:
I attended the Addleshaw Goddard Fraud Breakfast Briefing today, which focussed on cyber crime and information security. Each of the speakers, and particularly Bob Anderson of Navigant, was very convincing regarding the increasing threat of cyber crime to personal and corporate interests.
A number of damaging and costly examples of data breaches were mentioned, including Sony, Talk Talk, Target and Morrisons. The panel was entirely agreed that cyber fraudsters, criminal organisations, hactivists and insider threats will always be several steps ahead, with significant resources available to them, and without regard for the law or regulatory rules.
There are certainly steps that individuals and companies can take to pre-empt or mitigate the risks and the fall out. There is little they can do to actively fight against cyber criminals. It will be interesting to see what effect these extra resources pledged by the government will have.
Philip Hammond will use a speech on Tuesday to unveil a £1.9bn package designed to boost Britain’s defences against a growing online threat, which he will say is invading personal privacy and putting national security at risk.


text:
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif will meet this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Singh said on Wednesday, amid heightened tension between the neighbours over Kashmir.
Analysts expect the meeting will address a series of fatal clashes along the Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan, events that followed a pact by the two nations to resume stalled talks to strengthen ties.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Italian car maker Lamborghini will struggle to find another China as sales of its super sports cars in the world’s biggest auto market have hit the skids due to a government campaign against conspicuous spending.
Automobili Lamborghini SpA, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), however, sees long-term potential in the nascent Indian market and hopes better-than-expected sales in the United States, its biggest market, will offset the China sales slowdown, Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann said.
NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (Reuters) – India’s gold imports will
resume immediately after a two-month gap as the government and
banks sorted out how new rules on overseas purchases should work
at a high-level meeting on Friday, a trade ministry source told
Monthly shipments by the world’s top importer are however
unlikely to be even a quarter of May’s record volumes and annual
imports will be sharply down, helping India cut a bulging
current account deficit and support the weak rupee.


text:
How much an Aussie will spend on Easter
Buy some Haigh’s choccys for Easter this year?
You’re not alone, with consumer spending on chocolate this Easter expected to total close to $210 million.
This represents slightly more than $10 per person – so if you’ve already spent more than that, don’t worry – it just means you’re above average!
IBISWorld’s Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacturing in Australia Industry Report found growing premiumisation trends are expected to lead to a growing portion of Easter chocolate sales to be attributed to premium chocolate brands and varieties, such as Haigh’s and Lindt.
The majority of chocolate brought by Australian consumers this Easter is projected to be from the major supermarkets, which include Coles, Woolworths and Aldi.
However, consumer health consciousness has also increased over the past five years, which is anticipated to lower overall chocolate consumption and hamper sales during Easter.
Read the report here.


text:
The Great Train Robbery of 1963 netted $69 million in today’s dollars. The largest bank heists have scored more than $80 million. But “stick-’em-up” bank robberies offer high risks and low rewards: According to the FBI, the average U.S. bank heist yields just $4,200 -- and between 50 and 75 percent of perpetrators get caught.
Robbing a brick-and-mortar bank seems like petty theft compared with a new breed of cybercrime that, according to a growing number of security experts, is siphoning untold millions of dollars from banks and their customers using SSL-evading Trojans and ever more refined phishing techniques.
Every anti-virus and anti-malware vendor can report thousands of bank and e-commerce-specific Trojans designed to steal money and identities, often collectively referred to as Bancos/Banker variants. Yet given the vast investment in quelling consumers’ fears about conducting business online, it’s no surprise that few sources are anxious to provide information that highlights the severity of the problem.
Although the banking officials and security officers contacted for this article refused to be quoted on the record, all of them agreed that online bank fraud is an increasing problem. One banking regulatory security auditor told InfoWorld that in some instances, online bank fraud drains as much as 2 to 5 percent from a bank’s overall revenue.
Mark Sunner, CTO of e-mail security provider MessageLabs, thinks it will take “a single, high-value tipping-point event” to wake up the general public, which would then pressure public officials. “I think the world’s largest bank heist will soon be committed using malware,” he says.
Phishing with a hook
Phishing remains the weapon of choice for online bank theft -- and the sleight of hand that tricks users into visiting a phishing Web site continues to get more sophisticated. Phishing e-mails now show up with the user’s address, ZIP code, or account information already filled in, indicating that professional criminals are using other, previously compromised resources to gain the trust of consumers.
Yet as phishing gets slicker, users are getting smarter. As the average Joe becomes less likely to type in authentication information in response to an e-mail, more and more cybercriminals are turning to SSL-evading Trojans.
These Trojans install themselves on unsuspecting users’ PCs and either capture user log-on credentials or manipulate transactions after a successful log-on. In both cases, the SSL connection between PC and bank remains intact. The user may think the confidential online transaction is protected against mischief -- but it is not.
That shift has enormous implications. Ever since Netscape released SSL in 1996, consumers have been told that a confirmed SSL-connection icon indicates that it’s safe to conduct online business.
“The problem is,” according to one bank regulatory security auditor, “SSL isn’t broken. SSL states that the connection between your PC’s network card and the bank’s network card isn’t compromised. This is still true. Nobody is sniffing the transaction off the wire. Instead, this is a ‘man-in-the-end-point’ attack.” In other words, the Trojan is sniffing or manipulating the transaction before it is ever sent across the Internet to the bank.
According to Mitchell Ashley, CTO of network security provider StillSecure, “Traditional phishing attacks have duped end-users into clicking on a link, but in the newest evolution, even the most security-savvy can fall victim to attack. Once you’re infected, the game is up.”
Although the theft of credentials remains the biggest threat to online e-commerce, SSL-evading Trojans are quickly becoming the criminal hacker’s favorite tool, mainly because SSL-evading Trojans can bypass any authentication scheme.
Fighting the last war
Most banks and e-commerce sites fall one step behind, responding to Trojans that steal log-on credentials by creating more complex authentication schemes and implementing two-factor authentication solutions. Today, banks frequently require that users click on-screen, randomized keyboards; type in the random letters of a “magic word”; or enter information from a hardware-based cryptographic key fob. None of these solutions works against the new breed of SSL-evading Trojans.
“It’s not a problem of authentication but one of transactional authorization,” says Bruce Schneier, leading security expert and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security. “No matter how hard you make the initial authentication for the end-user or hacker, the malware can just wait until the authentication is done and then manipulate the transaction.”
For example, you think you’re checking your bank balance or writing an online check to pay a bill, but the Trojan is transferring your bank balance to a bank account in the Cayman Islands.
“The real problem is that we are allowing computers to make transactional decisions for us on our behalf, and the computer really doesn’t know what is right or wrong,” Schneier explains. “The consumer may not be able to see the real transaction to put a stop to the automated authorization approval, and the bank really has no way of knowing that a Trojan is making the decision, and not the customer.”
Even more disturbing is that most banks and regulatory officials don’t understand the new threat, and when presented with it, hesitate to offer anything but the same old advice.
Every bank and regulatory official contacted for this article said they have already recommended banks implement a two-factor or multifactor log-on authentication screen. In general, they expressed frustration at the amount of effort it has taken to get banks to follow that advice. And all complained about the trouble these schemes are causing legitimate customers.
When told how SSL-evading Trojans can bypass any authentication mechanism, most offered up additional ineffective authentication as a solution. When convinced by additional discussion that the problem could be solved only by fixing transactional authorization, most shrugged their shoulders and said they would remain under pressure to continue implementing authentication-only solutions.
They were also hesitant to broach the subject with senior management. It had taken so long to get banks to agree to two-factor authentication, they said, it would be almost impossible to change recommendations midstream. That puts the banking industry on a collision course with escalating attacks.
Verifying real transactions
Workable answers to the SSL-evading Trojan problem aren’t necessarily more inconvenient than two-factor authentication solutions. They just have a different focus: transactional authorization. Solution providers need to realize that any authentication mechanism can be bypassed, and instead focus more on the right long-term answer.
Some banks now send consumers an “out-of-band” authorization code -- that is, not through the PC, but via voice message or text message through another device -- to type in and confirm a particular transaction. Unfortunately, the bank is confirming the transaction as the bank sees it, whereas an SSL-evading Trojan could be manipulating what the customer thinks the bank is getting ready to do. The customer may think he or she is making a small transaction, whereas the bank, because of the Trojan, is closing an account out and a transfer of funds to another bank.
In this case, sending an authorization code to the customer by itself doesn’t work because the consumer is confirming a transaction he or she can’t really see.
A better solution would be to send the consumer the relevant details -- such as the date, from, to, amount, and so on -- along with the authorization code, thus allowing the consumer to confirm the transaction. Some banks and e-commerce sites do this already using in-band e-mail confirmations.
Schneier has his doubts about the out-of-band approach. “These types of authorization schemes would work, but it sounds a little extreme as a solution. Unfortunately, we live in an economic reality where users will not accept extremes. They want convenience.”
Bank officials concur. One regulator said, “Most banks, because of their customers, would probably not accept such an extreme form of authentication. How often would the out-of-band device fail or not be available? Requiring users to confirm every banking transaction out-of-band would not be accepted by today’s consumers.”
The regulator speculated that a better solution might be for the bank to offer out-of-band confirmations as an option and allow the consumer to pick the dollar amount at which the transaction would require additional confirmation measures.
Other bank security officers thought implementing added intelligence on the back end would provide more value. “How about not allowing online transfers to banks and countries with strong ties to crime?” offered one officer. “We could deny any transaction that the bank deemed highly suspicious, like your credit card company does now, and require a second confirmation.”
Close observation of consumer behavior can also help. In one case, nearly 100 customers of one large bank were infected with an SSL-evading Trojan. As usual, the phishing e-mail used mostly legitimate links to the real bank’s Web site. After noticing outside requests to links, most of which were normally referenced from other internal links, the bank’s IT staff realized a Trojan was to blame.
The solution was to rename one of the requested links. If any user went to the real bank’s Web site, the renamed link was now referenced by the legitimate Web site. Only the phishing customers would request the link’s old name, enabling the bank to tell how many of its customers were compromised.
Yunus Emre Alpözen, a consultant for one of the world’s largest banks, says, “Every customer requesting the old Web page link was redirected to a new page that notified them that they were the victims of a phish attack, and how to proceed. We used the phisher’s e-mail against them.”
Self-defense for consumers
Sadly, infection can’t be stopped merely by convincing users not to execute untrusted software. No consumer knowingly installs malicious software, and SSL-evading Trojans can easily go unnoticed by the most careful user.
One of the best defenses is simply to convince consumers to check their online balances frequently. Beyond this, consumers need to lobby financial institutions and move their accounts from institutions that keep their head in the sand.
Banks that require stronger authentication and transactional authorization should be rewarded. Those institutions should also encourage customers to report phishing attacks to the site’s security reporting e-mail address so they can take down fake Web sites or otherwise minimize risk.
Currently, log-on-stealing Trojans are still the No. 1 threat to the banking industry, but SSL-evading Trojans that can bypass any authentication scheme are emerging as a particularly frightening challenge. They need to be dealt with now before consumer confidence in e-commerce goes into serious decline.


text:
Jeff Bezos is often in the news. Earlier this week, an online petition popped up for Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the famous painting.
The internet, which is an indispensable part of our lives, can sometimes be the subject of interesting news. Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people in the world, is often the subject of these news. Finally, the famous billionaire, who was preparing to go into space with his brother for travel purposes, came to the agenda with the campaign launched to prevent him from returning to Earth from space.
Now Bezos is on the agenda with a much more interesting event. For some odd reason, thousands of people want Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the Mona Lisa.
Campaign launched to get Jeff Bezos to eat the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a 16th-century oil painting portrait on a poplar panel by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence, Italy, during the Renaissance. The painting, exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris, is one of the most famous works in the world. However, the painting has been on the agenda lately, not for an artistic reason, but with a rather interesting campaign.
Earlier this week, an online petition popped up for Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the famous painting. The petition, which attracted attention in a short time, was signed by thousands of people. The funny thing is, the petition isn’t even new. It was started about a year ago by a musician named Kane Powell. But for some unknown reason, it became popular in a week.
Answering the questions posed to him, Powell said that the idea came to him while sitting in a place with his friends. When asked why, he replied “just because he has the money to do it”. When asked why he should eat, Powell gave a simple answer: “Frankly, I don’t know.” “No one has eaten the Mona Lisa, and we feel that Jeff Bezos needs to take a stand and make it happen,” the campaign statement said.
What if Bezos eats the painting?
So what happens if he eats the painting? The biggest problem in this scenario seems to be health issues, not money. While drawing the Mona Lisa, da Vinci first painted it on a fine-grained wood plank and then preferred materials made of lead. The artist also used pigments composed of silica, iron oxide, tin oxide and bone powders to achieve accurate colors. This means that someone who eats the painting will have serious health problems.
Actually, this isn’t the first time someone has come up with the idea of buying the famous painting. Last year, it was claimed that the famous billionaire Stéphane Distinguin would buy the painting for 60 billion dollars. This would have been more than 100 times the cost of the highest-selling artwork in history, but it didn’t happen. According to another claim, the net worth of the painting is $200 billion. The interesting thing is that Jeff Bezos is one of the few people who can afford that price.
So what do you think about this subject? Should Jeff Bezos buy and eat the Mona Lisa, or should this ridiculous campaign end? Do not forget to share your views with us in the comments section.


text:
vGIS Inc., the leading developer of augmented reality applications for spatial data, is pleased to announce the completion of a seed financing round. The funding comes from Aurum Holdings, which specializes in investments in high-growth, high-potential early-stage startups.
vGIS, founded by Alec Pestov in 2016 as a spin-off from a knowledge management project, has developed a platform for visualizing spatial data, such as GIS, BIM, and complex 3D models using augmented, mixed, and virtual reality technologies. The extended reality apps built on the vGIS platform help optimize decision making for office staff and improve operations for field services.
“We’ve developed a product that brings instant value to our clients right out of the box and with minimal initial investment. This is a rare feat in an industry known for long, expensive custom projects. Right from the beginning, our focus has been on developing the best technology possible, making it easy to use, and providing maximum value to our customers. This has paid off in the form of establishing customer loyalty, securing technological leadership, and accumulating unique know-how in an industry positioned for explosive growth,” says vGIS CEO Alec Pestov.
vGIS has managed to achieve profitability less than a year after the initial product release, while gaining customers at an accelerating rate. The business model, leading market position, and underlying intellectual property attracted attention from several investors, which resulted in a funding deal with Aurum Holdings.
“After two years of working closely with a broad and diverse group of clients, we’ve managed to establish a product-market fit, gain solid traction, and develop a sustainable business model,” continues Pestov. “We have tremendous insights into the target industries’ AR and MR needs and have an extensive roadmap to satisfy their requirements. We are excited about our partnership with Aurum Holdings, as it provides us with the resources to accelerate investment in technology development, expand our operations and protect our intellectual property.”
The company currently operates in North America, Europe, Australia, China, and Brazil and counts Tier 1 construction companies, oil supermajors, leading AEC firms, and municipalities among its clients.


text:
IRVINE, Calif – WEGCash has just released the first consignment of brand-new VOD4Free and DVD pay-site tours. These new sites promise to make an impression with a bonus promotion that rewards webmasters for sign-ups through the end of August, according to a press release.
Featuring a fresh format, the VOD4Free tours present surfers with lengthy tours that provide hardcore content, DVD box covers, and sexy descriptions. Incorporated under the Join4Free umbrella, the VOD4Free sign-ups offer 17 volume-based payout tiers and site conversions, the company stated. Until Aug. 31, webmasters will earn a $25 bonus for every 50 VOD4Free sign-ups they send to the program.
In addition to the VOD4Free tours, WEGCash also has introduced a new DVD-style format for its free trial pay-site tours. These DVD pay-site tours target specific niches, and each tour features box covers and Flash movie clips. WEGCash’s free trials pay $25 per sign-up, and through Aug. 31, every five DVD pay-site sign-ups webmasters send to the program will earn a $100 bonus.
“We’re proud of these great new sites, and we look forward to seeing our webmasters, both old and new, make great bank by including them in their portfolio,” said WEGCash Affiliate Manager Ruth Blair. “As usual, we’ve got hosted banners and ads for all the new sites, and both picture and movie [free-hosted galleries] for the new DVD pay sites. I encourage all webmasters to give these sites a try, especially during our ‘Summer WEGStravaganza’ promotion.”
Four VOD4Free tours and four DVD pay-site tours have been added to WEGCash this week, and additional brand-new, niche-specific tours — along with promotional tools — will be added every week for the next few weeks.


text:
This prototype webcam looks like a real human eye, complete with an eyebrow, and it blinks, squints, and winces too.
Oculus has revealed some big updates for the Quest 2, including the Oculus Air Link feature that will let you wirelessly play PC VR games and...
Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West's Aloy will officially join Fortnite on April 15, and she'll arrive alongside a limited-time mode with Tomb Raider's...
Rachel "Valkyrae" Hofstetter, a member of the 100 Thieves esports organization, has climbed to the rank of co-owner.
Move over T-Rex.
A new dinosaur species has been discovered in Argentina and its name, Llukalkan aliocranianus, translates to "the one who causes fear."
The first event of very likely many in a second annual Summer Game Fest has been announced. It's Day of the Devs.
The Analogue Pocket has been delayed into October. And the boat that got stuck in the Suez Canal might be partially responsible.
Sony has announced that Oddworld: Soulstorm, Days Gone, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War are the PlayStation Plus games for April 2021.
The scientists that revealed the very first photograph of a black hole have added polarized light to the image, offering a more detailed look at its...


text:
It has been quite common these days for Google to release apps from the stock Android and make them freely available. Just recently we saw the Google Calendar to compete with Samsung’s Calendar and now we have the stock Android Keyboard available on the Google Play Store.
In a move that will come as a shocker to mobile companies and app‘s like Swiftkey, Google today launched its own stock Android keyboard for any device running v4.0 and above. The Android Keyboard supports 26 languages with features like autocomplete, next-word suggestions, gesture typing, voice dictation and advanced keyboard layouts.
While gesture typing was available only for v4.2 and above, with this keyboard any device running v4.0 and above can use the gesture typing feature thus increasing the number of devices compatible and giving a stock Android experience even on heavily modified app. While this keyboard is not currently available in India, you can try downloading it from the Google Play Store.


text:
SEOUL, Nov 24- U.S. automotive parts maker Visteon Corp has signed a preliminary deal to sell its controlling stake in South Korea's Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp to a local private equity firm for $3.6 billion, Korean media reports said. The Korea Economic Daily said on Monday Visteon plans to sign a final deal to sell its 69.99 percent stake in Halla Visteon...» Read More
Jaguar Land Rover is to boost its spending on products by 50 per cent from about $1.6 billion as the UK’s largest premium carmaker prepares to launch the most important vehicle since Tata Motors bought the group from Ford Motor three years ago. The FT reports.
The “Mad Money” host explains why he thinks the time is right to get into auto parts stocks, and how you should play it.
A funny thing happened on the road to globalization. It became a two-way street, not a one-way trade superhighway for the developed economies.
How remodeling has helped boost these companies’ bottom line.
Jaguar Land Rover is investing £5 billion ($8.2 billion) over the next five years to catch up on quality with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – the three German companies that dominate the luxury end of the automotive business globally, reports the FT.
The 14th annual Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition features 2,000 carmakers and parts suppliers from 20 countries. Check out the highlights!
Surging prices for many REMs and the possibility of hoarding have companies on the offensive, spurring a new effort to reclaim valuable elements from mountains of e-waste.
Here's what you should be watching Thursday, March 30.
Mark your calendars. The "Mad Money" host deems these upcoming events noteworthy.
Cramer makes the call on viewers' favorite stocks.
Here's what you should be watching Thursday, March 24.
The "Mad Money" host recommends monitoring four upcoming analyst meetings and four earnings calls, among two other events.


text:
Union for 1.3 Million Essential Workers in Retail, Grocery, and Major Frontline Industries Announces 2021 #ShopSafe Campaign for Holiday Shopping Season as COVID Cases Rise Across the Country
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, which is America’s largest retail workers union, announced that as Thanksgiving and the 2021 holiday season approaches with the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting countless shoppers and retail workers all over the country, the union is launching a new #ShopSafe campaign with Five Essential Holiday Shopping Safety Tips to keep essential workers and shoppers safe.
The 5 Essential Holiday Shopping Safety Tips that every shopper should keep in mind to keep themselves and their families safe during the 2021 holiday season include:
- Shop Smart– Be prepared with a list of what you want to buy to help keep each shopping trip quick and easy, and to help avoid overcrowding in stores. Shop smart, not long.
- Wear a Mask – It’s important for you and everyone with you to wear a mask to help reduce the risk of COVID exposure, and to remember to wear a mask when close to those working in the store.
- Don’t Overcrowd – Holiday shopping means stores can get busy, and crowding can make it harder to safely social distance. Leave space between yourself and other customers or workers, and if the store is really busy, consider shopping in the early morning or later in evening when stores tend to be less crowded.
- Save Time/Ask for Help – Want to reduce shopping time when looking for what you need? Just ask the nearest worker – they know the stores better than anyone and will give you the shortcuts that will save time.
- Be Kind & Thankful – Please remember that every worker – whether in a grocery store or a retail store – is doing their best, and that it’s not their fault that certain items are out of stock or more expensive than past years. This year – maybe more than most – being kind and thankful will help make a difference in their lives and yours.
Marc, Perrone, the International President of UFCW, America’s largest retail union, released the following statement as part of announcing the union’s #ShopSafe holiday campaign and the five essential shopping tips for this season:
“These essential holiday tips are all about keeping American shoppers and essential workers safe. This holiday season, we can all help keep each other safe and make a difference in the lives of others, especially frontline workers who have already sacrificed so much. This holiday season we’re asking every American, no matter where they call home, to shop safe and give thanks.”
“As part of the holiday campaign, the UFCW will also be encouraging shoppers to take a selfie of themselves following the 5 Holiday Shopping Tips and to thank essential workers to help show their gratitude to all of the men and women helping to keep stores open and safe this holiday season.”
BACKGROUND: UFCW has been the leading national voice for essential workers in retail, grocery, and other frontline industries. As part of its new #ShopSafe campaign, UFCW has released a full range of shareable digital graphics to help spread the word on social media.
UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.


text:
Showing 12 out of 98 in All | Search: - RESET FILTERS
China's Xie Zhenye ran a personal best of 9.97 seconds in the 100m sprint at an event in France, making him the fastest man in China and Asia.
Chinese tourists made a total of 89.1 million domestic trips during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, an increase of nearly eight percent compared with the same period last year....
Boat racing, rice dumplings and a long weekend travel rush marked China’s annual Dragon Boat Festival on Monday.
A 20.2-metre-long 'Dragon Zongzi' has been made by villagers in east China's Zhejiang Province to celebrate the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival.
Physical evidence has been found to support the declaration that Chinese civilization was born some 5,000 years ago.
Seniors who live in the Tibet Autonomous Region are the happiest in China, says a report issued by the China Research Centre on Aging on Tuesday.
Chinese commercial space company Landspace is developing a rocket powered by methane-liquid oxygen engines, as well as expanding its capacity to produce space launch vehicles.
China has announced plans to build a new giant panda research and breeding centre in the eastern city Hangzhou, which is expected to become a home for 20 pandas by 2022.
The Attractive Zhejiang Education Forum was held at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s premises in central Rome on March 19.


text:
Countering the rival’s high-end chips, MediaTek announced a plus version of its latest flagship as Dimensity 9000 Plus.
The all-new Dimensity 9000 Plus comes with very few changes to its regular counterpart, slightly improving only at clock speeds of the primary core and the GPU. MediaTek said the new Plus version caters to 5% and 10% increased performance in CPU and GPU than the regular Dimensity 9000 chip, and phone housing it will come later this year.
Dimensity 9000 Plus Specifications
Watching the community is excited to see a plus version of almost every product, MediaTek announced Dimensity 9000 Plus – a slightly upgraded variant of the current Dimensity 9000 chip.
This plus version has made only thin improvements to the standard variant, bumping up in primary core clock speeds and GPU performances – all this to compete with Qualcomm’s flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and its plus version.
Through MediaTek’s chips aren’t as great as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon in terms of benchmarks, they do give a tough competition in the budget segment though. MediaTek said a phone bearing the Dimensity 9000 Plus chip will come in Q3 this year, without mentioning from which brand it could be.
Well, even that phone too may not be coming to the US, just like its regular counterpart. No company has launched a phone housing a Dimensity 9000 chip in the US, probably because it’s missing the mmWave standard of 5G. But T-Mobile, Apple, and others have shown interest in launching phones without this standard, so it should be an issue in 2022 or later.
Talking about the specifications of Dimensity 9000 Plus, the chip has clocking speeds of 3.2Ghz for its Cortex X2 (up from 3.05Ghz of Dimensity 9000), three cores of A710 clocking at 2.85GHz, and four A510 cores.
It supports LPDDR5X RAM, has 8MB L3 cache plus 6MB “system-level cache”, and a Mali G-710 MC10 GPU. MediaTek said the plus version of Dimensity 9000 offers a 5% and 10% increase in CPU and GPU performances when compared to the standard 9000 chip.


text:
China is setting up a centralized monitoring system for e-commerce activities as it looks to rein in an industry flourishing from a free business environment, and punish law breakers and businesses with unfair trade practices.
Citing ministry official Gan Ling, a report by Sina Tech Wednesday said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is building the regulatory system and implementing a data management framework to collate and monitor all online transactions. It is aiming to be operational by the first half of 2013, it added.
An official from the Beijing office said only the Chinese capital currently has the technical capability to access the computers of e-commerce vendors and look through their electronic documents. It can copy, but not alter, the contents for further examination, it added.
News of the centralized monitoring system foris further evidence China intends to pay more attention to this sector, even as the government had set its sights on growing the
On Wednesday, China Daily reported that regulators shut down 168 illegal Web sites in 2012 and inspected 29,000 e-commerce Web sites and 28,000 offline stores in 2012. It also busted 167 illegal cases and deleted 7.14 million items of illegal online shopping information.
These figures compared favorably to 2011, when 1,400 illegal Web sites were shuttered and 34 million pieces of online information were deleted, the report noted.


text:
As more consumers turn to their mobile device before desktop, Google continues to improve on reporting features in AdMob.
The company most recently updated the AdMob software development kit (SDK) to provide insights into how app users interact with the application, the content and the rewarded ads in the report.
The improvements made to in-app reporting also break out and compares metrics such as estimated earnings by dimensions such as app, ad unit, format and country.
Enabling the features requires developers to update the SDK to the latest version, then log in to AdMob and enable user metrics.
Among the data, basic user engagement metrics will appear on the App Overview dashboard. This report helps marketers and developers keep an eye on the app’s most important top-line user numbers to monitor performance.
The reporting encompasses revenue for in-app purchases and subscriptions. Google said it aims to minimize time spent going back and forth between interfaces. IAP reporting is currently only offered on iOS, but will be coming to Android soon.
The rewarded ads report helps marketers understand how users interact with the rewards ads within the app. It captures activity from the entire AdMob platform including AdMob, Open Bidding, and third-party inventory.
A new AdMob API, currently in beta, also should help marketers retrieve publisher reports on programmatic. Metrics in the AdMob API will be consistent with those in the AdMob front-end interface and report more accurately than those in the AdSense API.


text:
General Motors CEO Mary Barra put in an appearance today at the maker’s Fairfax, Kansas, assembly plant, as part of a celebration meant to mark the roll-off of the 500 millionth vehicle the company has produced during the last 106 years.
While scholars might quibble a bit – this is, after all, the “new,” post-bankruptcy GM – few would deny the significance of this milestone. Industry observers say no other manufacturer has so far come close to the half-billion mark, and likely won’t for a number of years.
But while this might allude to the days when General Motors dominated the global auto industry like no other manufacturer, it is today far from the towering monolith of decades past. In fact, it very well could slip to fourth place among global automakers this year, at least when measured by global unit sales. (more…)


text:
Calavo Growers, a leading global avocado producer, has acquired Hiperbaric’s 300th high pressure processing (HPP) machine, for its plant in Mexico. The Hiperbaric 300 is one of the most economically competitive HPP machines, with a capacity of 3,100 lbs. per hour. With this capacity, Calavo Growers will continue scaling its avocado operations, according to the company.
Hiperbaric, the global leader in HPP technology, holds the largest portfolio of HPP machines installed worldwide, with more than 250 customers and 60% market share. Equipment reliability, personalized technical support and after-sales service, as well as extensive product research and engineering development, has positioned Hiperbaric as a global leader in HPP technology.
“We are proud of this accomplishment and that Calavo, one of the pioneers in the avocado industry, trusts Hiperbaric as their HPP partner. As a former professional in the avocado industry, I am proud to see the growth and solidification of this industry, as well as advances in avocado preservation. Hiperbaric's HPP technology allows producers to create safe, great-tasting, nutritious products, without preservatives, while extending shelf life," says Roberto Peregrina, director, Hiperbaric USA.
For more information visit www.hiperbaric.com.


text:
A lot of automakers claim that they manufacture the best family cars, but Honda is the only one with the stats and the accolades to back it up.
KBB.com recently announced its winners of their ‘Best Family Cars of 2016’ Awards, and Honda took home the gold in four out of four of KBB’s evaluated categories: Sedan, Two-Row Crossover/SUV, Three-Row Crossover/SUV, and Minivan. The big winners were the 2016 Honda Civic, Accord, HR-V, CR-V, Pilot and Odyssey. The winners were selected based on a variety of factors, including the vehicle’s overall safety, performance, and value.
These huge honors make Honda the most awarded automaker in KBB’s 2016 awards. At Floyd Traylor Honda, we’re particularly pleased by these amazing victories. We take pride in providing our customers with only the highest-quality vehicles and we take nothing more seriously than selling safe and dependable family vehicles.
If you’re in the market for your next ever-ready family-hauler, now you know which brand is best!
By 2030, Honda projects that partially or fully electric cars will make up a full two-thirds of its total global sales – which is a pretty big claim considering that partially- and fully-electric car sales currently only account for 5% of Honda’s worldwide total.
So, what does Honda’s electric future mean for you? Besides a cleaner, less polluted planet and less money spent at the pump, not much. Around the globe, automakers and governments alike are looking to find ways to reduce emissions and pollutants. The best solution to this problem is electric transportation.
Honda’s electric future might sound a little bit (or a lotta bit) like science fiction, but they’re not the only ones with the heads out of the dirt (because that’s where oil comes from—get it?). Toyota has recently predicted that by the year 2050, gas and diesel vehicles of any kind will be kaput; if anything, Honda’s “two-thirds by 2030” estimation is playing it safe.
Electric is the way the world is turning, and there’s no denying that anymore. Luckily, Honda is already ahead of the curve when it comes to all-electric, hybrid, and plug-in technology.


text:
Google just released a new way to keep your email organized so you can spend more time being productive. Read on to learn how to use all the new features of Inbox by Gmail.
Apple said its new tablets would launch later this week, but stores across the country already have the Wi-Fi models of the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3.
The carrier still managed to post strong customer growth, again driven largely by an increase in tablet sales.
The update to Canon's aged midrange dSLR has some really nice enhancements, as well as some disappointing omissions.
A 10-minute gameplay trailer for Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth has hit, and it looks like the space-age take on the classic series makes some interesting changes to the formula.
The Sony Cyber-shot RX100 III is an overall great camera that delivers significant improvements over the RX100 II, but not everyone will think it's worth the extra cost.
Given that the 7D is 5 years old, the body has surprisingly few changes for the Mark II.
With a continuous shooting speed of 10 frames per second, the 7D Mark II is the long-awaited successor to Canon's dSLR for sports and action photographers.
The Facebook founder and CEO speaks for 30 minutes in Mandarin at a question and answer session and talks about his company's plans to engage its largest untapped market.
With Photokina starting next week, a midrange camera important to the fate of Canon and its SLR customers appears imminent.


text:
A crazy theory about a new Girl Scouts badge shaping the future of mankind.
The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles have introduced a badge for game design that goes one further than the Cub Scouts’ version from two years ago. To achieve the award, girls will need to not only design their games but also program them. Initially I dismissed this as a dead-end story but on second thought I may have been discourteously premature.
I don’t think you can ever come to the issue of feminism too late or from a position of too much relative privilege. The fact that gaming is a young medium and one which will undoubtedly continue to influence this generation and many more to come, is important. With that in mind, it’s equally important to remain mindful of our attitudes towards those who will usher in the next wave of digital experience-generators.
Recent reports show that female game developers earn, on average, significantly less than their male counterparts. Patriarchy and capitalism remain proud bedfellows. You only get so far when talking about the gender wage gap before the argument that ‘men don’t get pregnant’ rears its ugly head. The discussion about wages is universal, however, and not specific to gaming. More problematic is how creativity is hampered as a result.
It’s hard to argue that the games industry as a whole doesn’t cater principally to the male demographic. Like it or not, men have always been more active in the area. Even if some little girls do enjoy playing with toy soldiers or, to give a modern example, garrotting their virtual enemies and performing whatever the equivalent of tea-bagging might be (clunge-plunging?), the presumption is that they should concern themselves with softer affairs. While the reasons for this gender division may be so socially engrained that parity may never occur, a movement seeking to address the balance between the sexes within the sector is gaining momentum.
Women in Gaming International (WIGI) is an organisation that promotes women’s advancement in the industry “based on a fundamental belief that increased equality and camaraderie among genders can make global impacts for superior products, more consumer enjoyment and a stronger gaming industry.”
I know it’s just one genre, but consider the first person shooter for a second. There’s a feeling that traditional FPSs are becoming stale and that gamers are growing weary of their once-novel charms. At the risk of sounding sexist myself, the blinkered run-and-gun mechanic appears to be inherently ‘macho’ and is in dire need of a fresh perspective. Some games have thankfully sought to subvert the genre by offering alternative means of dealing with problems which don’t rely on indiscriminate violence. While it would be an offensive generalisation to suggest that avoiding confrontation is prescriptively ‘female’, I have to believe that had the industry not been a masculine domain from the outset, the status quo would now be less polarised. For this reason I have no doubt that increasing the involvement of women in gaming development, as WIGI hopes to do, will ultimately make games “superior”, and the industry inherently “stronger” going forward.
We need a more realistic representation of all genders in gaming and to move away from the listless stereotypes which crop up like zombies.
You might argue that Tomb Raider came out 17 years ago and that strong female protagonists have had their place for the duration of modern gaming. You may posit the famous 1986 Samus Aran reveal as an even older example of strong women prevailing. It’s always about boobs though. No matter how late we come to the table, there’s always someone promoting the puerile origins of the industry. It’s sad that girls are the go-to gimmicks of gaming.
Maybe I’m over-thinking things and Lara Croft was never sexualised so crudely, but any notion that the character is some kind of bastion for the empowerment of women is untenable bullshit. We need a more realistic representation of all genders in gaming and to move away from the listless stereotypes which crop up like zombies. I’m talking about the macho grunts who put cigars out with their tongues, the curvaceous, doe-eyed temptresses who never seem to scar and the unambiguous, token LGBT cast.
Most sad of all is the perpetuation of these stereotypes at the hands of risk-averse investors. Capcom’s ballsy Remember Me is due for release this summer and is just one of many titles that has fallen foul of an audience which is perceived to be potentially repulsed by its artistic direction. According to Penny Arcade the project went along without any concern that the sex of the main character would be an issue. This was a big mistake because the female protagonist kisses men and as we all know, seeing your avatar kiss a man is the same as you kissing a man. Peep Show screwed me right up. Remember Me’s developers “never looked at [it] from a pure, cold marketing perspective because that would have endangered the consistency of the whole game” and in so doing lost potential backers who helpfully explained that “you can’t make a dude like the player kiss another dude in the game, that’s going to feel awkward.”
I admit I’ve come a long way from badge-earning Girl Scouts in Los Angeles, but my hopes do in some way rest with them. A nonpartisan approach to creativity is surely the best way to encapsulate human issues (even fantastical ones) in the medium so many of us have come to love. Who doesn’t want to see the crazy stuff they come up with?


text:
Their fans are already aware of their yacht vacation, and now Kendall Jenner and Harry Styles are once again making the media rounds with snapshots from their Christmas holiday in St Barts. While Kendall Jenner and rapper Chris Brown are now making the news, Harry Styles and the model appeared to be happy and close at the time of their holiday in St. Barts.
As per a leading media house, more than thirty vacation snapshots of Kendall Jenner and Harry Styles have been leaked out. These purportedly private snapshots of Kendall Jenner and Harry Styles were initially distributed in social media. On the very same yacht as Harry Styles and Kendall Jenner is the One Direction star’s mom Anne Styles. Also present in the yacht were Portia De Rossi and well known talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. (more…)


text:
Australia’s Economic Growth is Still Weak and forecast to continue in 2020
The Australian economy grew by just 0.4 per cent in the September quarter, a total yearly growth of 1.7 per cent.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the gross domestic product figures this week, revealing that during the September quarter consumer spending was not boosted by falling interest rates or $25 billion worth of tax cuts.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the figures showed the Australian economy was “remarkably resilient” in the face of global headwinds such as trade tensions, and local conditions including drought, insisting the economy had reached a “gentle turning point”.
“The numbers today underline the economic resilience of the Australian economy and the need to stay the course and stick to the plan as outlined in this year’s Budget,” Frydenberg said.
Household expenditure slowed from 0.4 per cent to 0.1 per cent—the weakest since the final quarter of 2008.
The household savings rate rose from 2.7 per cent to 4.8 per cent—the highest since the first quarter of 2017.
Frydenberg conceded he would “like consumption to be higher” but put a positive spin on the savings rate, suggesting that households paying down debt would eventually be able to spend.
Despite falling interest rates and the fact that somewhere around 60 per cent of the $7.2 billion in tax cuts have been paid out, consumer spending rose just 0.1 per cent, the worst result since the global financial crisis.
Unsurprisingly, household disposable income grew by 2.5 per cent, the fastest quarterly rise in a decade, driven by a decline in income tax payable and interest paid on dwellings.
The bureau said government final consumption expenditure rose 0.9 per cent in the quarter and remained strong throughout the year at 6.0 per cent.
Although the Morrison government has attempted to stimulate the economy by accelerating infrastructure spending, the Coalition government have persisted with a contractionary fiscal policy in the hope of banking a surplus.
“Public final demand is being supported by the continued rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, more money being spent on aged care, as well as the Government’s ten year $100 billion infrastructure pipeline,” Frydenberg said.
Last month, the prime minister announced that the government would bring forward $3.8 billion of infrastructure spending to ensure that infrastructure continues to support the economy and create jobs.
According to University of NSW professor of economics Richard Holden the outlook for the next decade is bleak.
“I think it’s going to be a tough 2020 for the Australian economy. We’re going to see a continued slow wage growth, continued slow economic growth, and I think there will be more downward pressure on interest rates,” he said.


text:
Trader Joe’s brings new grocery variety to South Loop
By Sandra Guy Business Reporter firstname.lastname@example.org September 6, 2011 6:16PM
Trader's Joe's opens Friday, September 9 at 1224 S. Wabash in the South Loop . | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times
Updated: November 9, 2011 11:48AM
Amid restaurant closings and several blocks lined with retail vacancies, the South Loop will host a new grocery store Friday when Trader Joe’s opens on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Wabash.
The store opens at 8 a.m.
More than 1,600 people came to the store — site of a shuttered Sam’s Wine & Spirits — to apply for jobs, said store captain Missy Brown.
Company spokespeople declined to say Tuesday how many workers each store employs, but insiders say it can range from 60 to 70.
The privately held Trader Joe’s, owned by the same German company that operates Aldi grocery stores, pays above-union wages to full-time workers, contributes to employees’ 401(k)s, and provides medical, dental and vision coverage to employees who work an average of 20 hours a week and their dependents, according to articles in trade and national magazines. Employees receive 10 percent discounts on store goods, according to the reports.
Forty percent of those hired at the South Loop store at 1224 S. Wabash live within a 3-mile radius, Brown said. The store has 47 free parking spaces.
Trader Joe’s is known for its “Two Buck Chuck” wine at $1.99, a nautical theme featuring hibiscus flowers and new products introduced each day that lend a treasure-hunt atmosphere. The South Loop store, ringed by murals that employees painted of humorous portrayals of local landmarks, emphasizes prepared meals, ethnic foods, large, separate wine and cheese displays, and $1.99 bargains on products ranging from a 15-ounce box of Joe’s O’s whole-gain oats cereal to a box of six vanilla almond granola bars, to a microwaveable 10.6-ounce meal of Farfalle with four cheese and spinach.
Trader Joe’s is able to keep prices low because it deals directly with its suppliers and sells 80 percent of its goods under its private label, Brown said. The company’s products have no artificial sweeteners, additives or preservatives, and are labeled as to whether they are vegan, vegetarian, Kosher, gluten-free, fat-free and/or low sodium. Shoppers may obtain lists of those labeled foods on-line or in the store.
Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson, president of the Near South Planning Board civic group, acknowledged Tuesday that the South Loop suffers from “a tremendous amount of vacant retail spaces” and future growth remains “iffy” due to the struggling economy.


text:
New design and reverse charging, is it true?
Mark Gurman, one of Apple’s highest hit rate analysts, last week pointed to several key characteristics that other gurus have also weighed in on. The first one is related to screen technology and is that the 11-inch model would bring miniLED. This is a feature that already debuted in the range of this 2021, but which remained exclusively the 12.9-inch model.
There is also bet on a design change That, although it is not expected as radical as that of 2018 when frames were reduced by eliminating the Home button, it could be significant. Precisely the cameras are the ones that could lead that change, being able to have larger lenses and located diagonally in the purest iPhone 13 style and without ceasing to integrate the LiDAR sensor. Probably the company would continue to focus this change on professionals looking for an all-in-one with the iPad Pro, being more than valid for video interviews and the like.
Another very striking feature that Gurman surprised with is the reverse charging that would allow charging AirPods by placing them on the back of the tablet. He did not comment on whether it would also allow charging an iPhone or another device, something that would be appreciated, but that would nevertheless imply a greater heating of the device.
MacOS apps finally for these iPad Pro?
The fact that the 2021 iPad Pro incorporated an M1 chip identical to that of the Mac made one dream of the possibility of seeing compatibility of macOS apps on iPadOS, as is already the case in reverse. But none of that came. It is foreseeable that the iPad Pro 2022 will incorporate an M1X or M2 chip that would again be shared with Macs, but there is no trace of information regarding this compatibility.
It is true that in the end it is the developers who must implement this multi-compatibility, but it would not be bad if Apple was the one that led the movement with apps like Final cut or Logic Pro. In fact, they would not have to wait a priori for the WWDC and the announcement of iPadOS 15. Although in the end, realistically, we must be pessimistic In this sense, because with current models this possibility could have been given and yet there are no indications that they have even considered it.
When will its launch be official?
Considering this is October and these new iPads are expected in 2022, it seems too rushed to give exact dates. A priori they would be designed to March or April, which are also the months reserved by Apple in recent times for its ‘Pro’ range of tablets. However, there could be changes due to supply problems that are hitting the entire tech sector. It still seems early to know, but it will be a factor to take into account, so we will continue to monitor it.


text:
Clothing is among the items that make up rubbish piles in homes across the UK every year. Most people throw their worn out, old and dirty garments in bins, rather than recycle, reuse or give them away. A 2017 study by Sainsbury found that people would discard 680 million garments during spring cleaning with 235 million ending up in landfills. These numbers arise from the fact that some consumers don’t know what to do with clothing once they are done using it. For this reason, clothes have become some of the biggest generators of waste in the UK. Some professional waste removal companies like Clearabee divert almost 90% of collected rubbish away from landfills. But still, it helps if you can find ways to reduce the number of clothing pieces that end up in the bin.
The Hazards of Clothing on the Environment
WRAP, the waste advisory agency for the UK government, released a technical report on the impact of clothing across Europe. In 2015, the carbon footprint from the clothes consumed in the EU was 165 tonnes of CO2. The UK is among the countries with the highest numbers of residual clothing waste in Europe. A different study by WRAP showed that the UK had the shortest active life for clothing at 3.3 years. It means that every three years, a household in the UK will discard most of its clothing and a percentage of that goes into the rubbish pile. WRAP estimates that the carbon emissions from clothing are equal to driving a modern car for 6,000 miles. The slow decomposition of clothing is the biggest danger to the environment because it renders land unusable for a long time. Some synthetic fabrics leak toxins into the soil, which can also cause water pollution. Finding ways to give fewer garments to a rubbish removal company goes a long way in decreasing this impact. Here are several tips.
Don’t discard clothes into the rubbish removal pile until you are sure that they cannot serve another purpose. An old T-shirt can work as pyjamas before it becomes too worn out to wear. You can use torn towels to clean various surfaces around the house. Worn out T-shirts are also useful for DIY cleaning mops. A rubbish removal company can advise you on recycling.
When sorting out your old wardrobe, separate the clothes that are not too old. Maybe you have garments that are out of fashion or don’t fit you anymore. You can get extra money by reselling these and reducing your waste.
Extend the Life of Clothes
A big reason many clothes end up in the landfill is due to poor care that shortens their lifespan. Decreasing the number of times that you wash clothes will not only allow them to last longer but also reduce your water and energy footprint during the lifetime of the clothing. Follow recommended instructions on the care of delicate fabrics to prevent premature wear.
Return to Manufacturers or Donate
In efforts to reduce the effect of clothing manufacture on the environment, various companies in the UK have schemes where consumers can donate old, worn out and unwanted garments. Some retailers even offer vouchers to encourage this practice. Manufacturers then find ways to reuse or recycle the clothes, so you are assured that they don’t go to another landfill. Alternatively, find charities that need donations and drop them off.
A rubbish removal service like Clearabee is a good investment when it’s time to get rid of your unwanted clothes. You are sure that most of your clothing waste will not be disposed of in a landfill. With creative tactics, you can decrease the clothes that have to go into the waste bin when clearing your wardrobe, thereby reducing your contribution to landfills.


text:
TORONTO, ON (October 20, 2020) - Cadillac Fairview (CF) today announced the launch of its first ever public service announcement campaign, reaffirming its commitment to safety ahead of the upcoming holiday season. The campaign features five unique videos showcasing testimonials from CF employees across the country. Today’s release of the first two videos highlights the work of Jaideo Kardeo, Security Supervisor at CF Fairview Mall and Patrick Murray, Property Manager at CF Sherway Gardens. The campaign is a reflection of the commitment that all CF employees and partners have in keeping guests, clients and their communities safe throughout these unique times. The video series can be viewed at https://www.cadillacfairview.com/en_CA/careers/life-at-cf.html
“Since the onset of the pandemic our first priority has been protecting the health and safety of our guests, clients, and our own employees across our portfolio of properties,” said John Sullivan, President & CEO, Cadillac Fairview. “With the COVID-19 environment continually evolving, we felt compelled to share important safety messages from the teams who are on the frontlines every day. I continue to be extremely proud of our people who make it their top priority to ensure our properties are safe and comfortable for our community of guests.”
Adapting wayfinding and increased cleaning measures make visits efficient and safe
CF has made considerable improvements to support safe traffic flow and physical distancing with increased property signage, directional floor decals and digital wayfinding tools on its mobile app, LiVE by CF, to help guests better navigate their shopping trips. To ensure physical distancing, increased signage has been placed in all property areas with limits on the number of elevator occupants and ensuring safe distancing on escalators. Increased cleaning routines and easy to locate sanitation stations throughout each property helps to alleviate any uncertainties that guests, retailers and employees may have while visiting one of CFs 19 retail properties.
In-house innovation delivers best in class tools and retail support
CF continues to ensure retail-specific needs are met by providing CF’s community of customers with industry leading offerings via digital and physical tools. CF’s new line management offering, CF Guest List, is now in pilot, along with curbside pickup locations and mobile based retail promotions via LiVE by CF. Together, these specific offerings support the company’s ongoing focus on reconnecting retail clients and shoppers, and safeguarding them while in-property.
“During this pandemic, we have moved quickly and decisively to adapt our shopping centres and offices to new and unprecedented safety needs,” said Sal Iacono, EVP of Operations, Cadillac Fairview. “We have received praise from public health officials for our response to COVID-19 in our centres and this PSA campaign reminds of all of our shared duty to continue to keep one another safe.”
Guests can look to CF’s digital channels (website, social media), LiVE by CF or Guest Services through the CF SHOP! Text service for any property updates.
Given the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, Cadillac Fairview will continue to monitor and pay close attention to the local COVID-19 environment and prepare for various scenarios, including potentially re-implementing restrictions at the guidance of public health. Since the beginning of the pandemic CF has put in place a number of additional safety measures, including physical distancing, traffic flow management, use of personal protective equipment and increased cleaning of high touch point surfaces, all in an effort to help fight the spread of COVID-19.
For more information on CF’s safety measures, please visit cadillacfairview.com.
About Cadillac Fairview
Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators and developers of best-in-class office, retail and mixed-use properties in North America. The Cadillac Fairview portfolio is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a diversified global investor which administers the pensions of more than 327,000 active and retired school teachers. The real estate portfolio also includes investments in retail, mixed-use and industrial real estate in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Valued at over $31 billion, the Canadian portfolio includes 35 million square feet of leasable space at 68 properties in Canada, including landmark developments, such as Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific Centre, CF Chinook Centre, Tour Deloitte and CF Carrefour Laval.


text:
Fenton Home Furnishings is now open at 360 S. Main in Frankenmuth, the former location of Oscar Rau's which had been open for 66 years. Fenton Home Furnishings has three other stores in Fenton, Lapeer and Waterford.
According to the store's website, Fenton specializes in rustic furnishings and offers free design services to customers.
The Frankenmuth location will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The store carries Old Hickory Furniture, which is found in many national park lodges including Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park, antiques, and hunting and fishing-themed decor.


text:
Mumbai, India (October 25, 2023) – Crunchyroll, the ultimate anime destination for global fans, is excited to announce an extensive partnership with Comic Con India for their next five highly anticipated events across India. Crunchyroll will be the ‘Powered By’ partner of the iconic pop culture events by Comic Con for the next six months.
As the ultimate anime destination in India, Crunchyroll boasts the most extensive and diverse library of anime titles. In parallel, Comic Con India celebrates the diverse realms of comics, anime, gaming, and pop culture through its exciting fan events. This partnership promises to create a synergy that will enhance the event experience for all attendees.
Partnership with Crunchyroll will kick off from their Bengaluru Comic Con event starting on November 17th at KTPO Whitefield. The partnership will extend to upcoming events in Delhi (December 8th at NSIC Grounds, Okhla), Hyderabad (January 27th at Hitex), Chennai (February 17th at Chennai Trade Centre), and finally conclude in Mumbai (April 20th at Jio World Centre, BKC).
“We are thrilled to announce a dynamic partnership with Crunchyroll, the premier destination for anime enthusiasts, for our upcoming 5 events as our ‘Powered by’ Partner,” said JatinVarma, Founder, Comic Con India. “We’ve witnessed a remarkable rise in cosplayers donning anime characters year after year at Comic Con, highlighting the growing love for anime in India. Having Crunchyroll on board is the perfect synergy, allowing us to further enrich fan experiences, create interactive engagements, and fostering connections among like-minded individuals. It’s a testament to our commitment to bringing fans closer to the heart of their favorite anime content and creating unforgettable moments at our events.”
Markus Gerdemann, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Crunchyroll said, “Partnering with Comic Con India, which is at the forefront of fandom and pop culture, will allow us to immerse Indian fans into the mesmerizing world of anime. We are looking forward to celebrating anime together and delivering even more experiences to connect fans with their favorite series.”


text:
Hardware manufacturer Nvidia is facing a class action lawsuit in which the plaintiffs accuse the company of making misleading statements in regards to the cryptocurrency market. The case is led by Schall Law Firm, specialized in securities-related class action lawsuits. According to them Nvidia made promises earlier which have mislead investors.
In 2017 and early 2018 graphics cards were in high-demand. Nvidia increased production and the prices of its graphics card. The company made incredible profits. When asked how it would deal with the volatility of the crypto market, the tech company answered it was more than capable.
According to the lawsuit Nvidia claimed to be “masters at managing their production channel”, and the company would also properly monitor the activities in the crypto market.
However, the crypto market collapsed and moved into a bear market. As a result mining is no longer financially profitable, and the sales of graphics card also went down considerably. Now Nvidia is trying to sell its inventory at a reduced price, and the stock value of Nvidia has plummeted with 54%.
The news about the decline in sales is at least good news for gamers. For months it was hard to find the latest graphics card on store shelves. Miners would be the card in batches, multiple at the time. Some companies wouldn’t allow retailers to sell more than two graphics cards to one person, in order to make sure that gamers would still be able to find cards in stores. However, these would still be sold at the highest possible price.
Also published on Medium.


text:
Biofuel supply chain company Eco-Energy has launched its Ethanol Logistics Service, extending the company’s current logistics management capabilities to a wider range of ethanol buyers and shippers.
The new platform will provide customers with improved visibility and control over their ethanol supply chain performance, according to Eco-Energy.
Eco-Energy’s technology is based on real-time data capture, monitoring and reporting, providing participants with essential information and resources to maximise their supply chain value.
Additionally, the company announced that it has partnered with Eagle Transport as preferred truck carrier for the business, with Eagle set to assume a number of truck operations currently within Eco-Energy Transportation.
“Eco is excited to use our expertise and market position to bring an industry leading solution that will enable greater visibility and control across the ethanol supply chain,” commented David Maggied, vice-president of transportation at Eco-Energy. “We recognise a real need to resolve current gaps in ethanol logistics management, as well as proactively address the future constraints we anticipate in this space. We believe our strategic partnership with Eagle ensures our logistics service has a strong asset backing by a leader in the motor fuels transport space.”
Lance Collette, president of Eagle Transport, added: “We are excited to establish a strategic partnership with Eco-Energy. We believe Eco’s Ethanol Logistic Service platform launch is compelling and unique; we are proud to be their leading tank truck carrier for this service. With this venture, Eagle expands our terminal footprint and leverages our southeastern presence to attain an increased level of value-based services to the ethanol and petroleum markets.”


text:
Protectionist sentiments are an outgrowth of the nationalistic political trends sweeping through North America and Europe. This trend is causing fears of a trade war throughout much of the world, but particularly in emerging markets that depend on providing labor and goods to the West. What effect could the proposed tariffs against China have on global emerging markets in general?
The countries with the most potential to be directly affected by tariffs imposed by the US are Mexico and China. These are the two countries with which the United States has the largest trade deficits. Mexico has been granted a reprieve so far through its membership with NAFTA and the negotiations relating to that agreement.
The consequences of protectionism depend on its extent--whether it accelerates beyond these tariffs into a long-term trend or whether it runs out of steam. If it does continue to expand, the consequences would ripple throughout the world, as the complex interdependencies of the global market are exposed to the stress of the shifts in demand that will come with the higher effective prices of the tariff. The immediate measures themselves, while definitely troublesome from a global trade perspective, are not as serious as a long-term trend would be. If a worldwide protectionist trend develops to the extent needed to support sustained tariffs, it could offer an excuse for international investors to reduce risk in emerging markets and reduce exposure to Thai stocks and ETFs. The Global Value Chain Participation Index measures the participation in global value chains both forward and backwards. According to this measure, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are a few of the countries that would be most affected by such a change in global risk sentiment.
Another possibility is that the tariffs against China lead US companies to send their orders to other countries—creating a vast array of new trading opportunities for many countries in emerging markets. US companies are engaging in contingency planning, looking to re-source their imports from China to India, Vietnam and other countries not affected by the proposed tariffs. This could open up new channels of trade to countries not currently heavily involved in providing labor and services to the West. The response US companies will have to tariffs against China will be to trade elsewhere. Their goal will remain to get by with as little cost as possible. Whether this will spark additional tariff action is hard to say, but it seems reasonable that it would take some time for the government to recognise those countries to which the trade has moved. With so much outsourcing now being located in China, the diversity of a large portion of it moving to other countries may actually serve to strengthen emerging markets as a whole by providing less exposure to risk. It may be easy to single out China as an enemy of those who oppose outsourcing, but many other countries that are already deeply involved with the West such as Vietnam and India have managed to fly under the radar so far. With the labor market spread out across more countries, it would be harder to impose tariffs against all of them.


text:
‘Demon’ Texture Glitch Comes to Warzone Vanguard Multiplayer PC Players
By Jack O'Dwyer
A “demonic” artifact fracturing glitch has made it to Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer—much to the ire of players.
Vanguard isn’t the first multiplayer game to suffer from a similar graphical glitch. Typically, a visual fracturing like this denotes a corruption issue with something in the game software or the device’s graphical drivers. In this case, regardless of the issue, it’s causing a headache for Call of Duty players.
‘Demon’ Texture Glitch Comes to Warzone Vanguard Multiplayer
The latest documentation of the glitch was posted on the official CODVanguard subreddit by user Fatal_Overflow on Sunday, Jan. 16. According to the short clip attached to the post, the fracturing appears to affect various parts of the game including weapons, platforms, debris such as crates and clutter, and wall decor.
The issue causes certain textures and items on the maps to “explode” and/or “fracture” outward at rapidly evolving degrees as the player moves. Unsurprisingly, this strongly obscures players’ vision.
It’s important to note that not everyone is experiencing this issue. In fact, much to some players’ surprise, the issue actually appears to be with device drivers rather than with the game software.
PC players appear to be the most affected. Of those players, the ones who have NVIDIA graphics cards allegedly experience fractures at a higher rate. Even more specifically: the crux of the glitch appears to be with the card’s January update, NVIDIA 511.23.
As such, players are encouraged to revert to the previous version if possible.
Fortunately, the problem has already made an appearance on Raven Software’s official Trello board at the time of writing.


text:
[CES 2014] The Neptune Pine smartwatch was a Kickstarter project that garnered attention in February last year, and it did pass the $100,000 Kickstarter funding goal in a jiffy, carrying the promise to be the first full standalone Android smartwatch. We are talking about having a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor embedded within, in addition to carrying a camera, as well as texting and calling from your wrist. CES 2014 is the platform where an early prototype of the Neptune Pine has been made available to the masses, so do not be surprised to see how large it would actually look when you have it nestled nicely on your wrist.
When you take it into consideration with other smartwatches at the moment, such as the Pebble and Samsung Galaxy Gear will only be able to live up to their full potential whenever it remains tethered to a smartphone. Hardware specifications of the Neptune Pine include a 2.4” display with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution, a 5MP main shooter at the back, and a microSIM slot to let you use it like a regular smartphone, all of it running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. One thing’s for sure, the disproportionate size of the Neptune Pine on one’s wrist, especially smaller ones, might be a turn off. What do you think of the Neptune Pine? [Company Page]
Filed in Smartwatch.. Read more about


text:
Starting today, consumers will be able to nominate the restaurant that serves their favorite Ribeye steak by visiting the contest's website. Nominations will be accepted through August 1.
Following the nomination process, the Sizzling 16 restaurants, based on online votes, will begin the bracket challenge to find the top four steak restaurants in Alabama. Once the "Fiery 4" restaurants have been determined, a team of anonymous judges will visit each restaurant to select the best Ribeye steak. Steaks will be judged based on overall taste, tenderness and juiciness.
Announcements and updates will be made during the competition and a winner will be announced at the beginning of October to kick off "Beef Month" in Alabama.
The Alabama Cattlemen's Association is a service based non-profit organization founded in 1944. Producer and member driven, the ACA's mission is to enhance the business climate of the state's beef cattle industry, promoting a positive image while educating consumers that beef is a safe, wholesome, nutritious and convenient food product.