text:
Joseph Mills, the Group Product Manager of Google Play, has announced an initiative to foster innovation while ensuring user safety. As part of this endeavour, Google Play has recently updated its policies. This upgrade enables new modes of blockchain-based transactions within apps and games.
Google Play’s policy update highlights the significance of app transparency concerning tokenized digital assets. Developers must clearly state whether their app or game enables the sale or acquisition of these assets.
While tokenized assets offer enhanced user experiences, developers are strictly prohibited from promoting or exaggerating potential earnings associated with gameplay or trading.
Apps that do not meet the eligibility criteria for gambling will be disallowed from accepting payments. In line with Google Play’s existing policies, this would prohibit them from winning assets with uncertain real-world value, including NFTs. This rule encompasses purchases where the value of the received NFT is not apparent at the time of the transaction.
Reddit, the community that achieved considerable success through its Avatar NFTs, collaborated with Google to facilitate this policy change. According to Matt Williamson, Reddit‘s Senior Engineering Manager, the partnership aims to equalize opportunities and foster user confidence in the gaming ecosystem. He stated:
“We partnered with Google to help update their policy, aimed at creating a level playing field that promotes user trust and responsible usage of blockchain technology.”
Google Supports Innovation With Blockchain Technology
Google, in the past, imposed a ban on crypto mining apps. Nevertheless, the firm has changed its stance by introducing the decentralized data storage app ArDrive Mobile to the Play Store. Furthermore, it has highlighted the game ‘’Axie Infinity: Origins’’ in specific markets.
The giant plans to continuously converse with developers to understand their challenges and identify opportunities. In the next phase, Google Play will hold discussions with industry partners to improve the platform’s support for app experiences based on blockchain technology.
Google will implement its new regulations for blockchain games in a phased manner. Certain modifications will become visible during the upcoming summer months. By embracing NFTs and formulating guidelines that promote responsible utilization, the firm is exploring the potential of blockchain technology.
The new blockchain policy will create more interactive and enjoyable user experiences across various apps and games.


text:
The number of plastic bags customers use is down 42 percent just since the new ordinance was introduced in February. Only 49% of customers are using plastic bags, down from 82% before. And the number of customers who bring their own re-usable bags to stores has tripled. Big success. http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/chicagos-7-cents-a-bag-tax-driving-down-bag-use-study-shows/
Agree to the EveryBlock Community Ideals.
Comment on a neighbor's first post.

domain: news


text:
Phones of the modern era will soon support a mobile game that was a staple of Nokia’s devices for years. Next Thursday, Snake slithers to all major mobile platforms for millions of gamers to enjoy. The new edition of the game, titled Snake Rewind, allows players to actually rewind their snake after crashing. The game has new boosters and a full leaderboard to be more current. And, of course, the graphics have been overhauled for each level.
The original Snake was brought to Nokia devices by Taneli Armanto and this edition comes from a collaboration with Rumilus Design.
Hit the break for the trailer and screenshots.
Angry Birds Fight has just ventured into the Play Store for Asia Pacific countries. The game was initially limited to Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, so it’s good to know that Rovio is expanding availability to other regions as well. Read more
If you’ve enjoyed playing the Goat Simulator game, smashing your unsuspecting goat into vehicles and people for no apparent reason, then you are for a treat. Coffee Stain Studios has released a zombified version of the game called Goat Simulator GoatZ in to the Play Store. Read more
Sometimes when you want to relax after a long day, it’s difficult to choose between your daily workout or video games. The good news is that Google has a way for you to do both at the same time.
Today Google announced Games in Motion, an open source game sample that will give developers ideas how to add more functionality to Android Wear, which in turn should put a little more leap in your step with missions during those long jogs.
The latest Humble Bundle for Android is officially live, and there are several fantastic games supporting it. You’ll be able to pay whatever you’d like for access to The Last Express, Spaceteam, and Tilt to Live 2, with the option to adjust how much of your purchase price gets donated to the developers, Humble, and charity. Read more
Galaga and Tekken have teamed up to bring the unique Galaga:TEKKEN Edition game to the Google Play Store. This game brings characters of Tekken into the Galaga universe, mixing aspects of both games perfectly. Even better is the fact that this game is completely free, so you don’t have to shell out big to relive some memories from your childhood. Read more
It was only a couple of years ago that it was the darling of Kickstarter, blowing past its target goal of $950,000 with surprising ease and ending up with over eight and a half million dollars in funding. The start-up in question is Ouya, manufacturer of the Android micro gaming console, and thanks to a leaked memo from its CEO, Julie Uhrman, it would seem that the company has hit choppy waters as it now seeks a buyer.
The latest Humble Mobile Bundle, co-hosted by Tin Man Games, has grown to twelve games. With any donation, you receive four games. Matching or exceeding the average, which currently stands at $6.69, nets an additional six games. Then, donations of $9 or more adds another two games.
Kicking back and killing some time while gaming on your smartphone or tablet can be a most enjoyable experience, especially when the game you are playing is Does Not Commute. It’s a game that involves driving a variety of vehicles around a small town set in the 1970’s, and as the name implies, the gameplay involves commuting. Read more
Warner Bros International has just released Mortal Kombat X on the Google Play Store, after launching the game on iOS recently. It was soft launched on Android a week ago with only a handful of countries getting access to the game, but that seems to have changed now, at least to some extent. Read more


text:
Google is forging ahead with a plan to go public despite hitting a rough patch.
The company said yesterday it expects to close the bidder registration for its initial public offering at 5 p.m. New York time on Thursday.
The auction “will commence soon thereafter,” according to a statement posted on its IPO Web site.
Google has declined to be more specific about the timing, citing regulations that bar the company from talking about the IPO during a mandatory “quiet period.”
All investors must register online and obtain a bidder ID to participate in the “Dutch auction” IPO.
Google – the most popular search Internet engine – has said it expects to sell 25.7 million shares for between $108 and $135 each, valuing it at a whopping $36 billion.
But the company has stumbled as it heads into the final stretch of its unconventional and complicated IPO.
Investors are balking at the high initial offering price, and the weak IPO market has done little to whet their appetites.
Some of the underwriters are resisting the unconventional auction process, as well.
Also, state regulators are probing the company’s failure to register some shares issued to employees and consultants.


text:
Two of the Jordan Flight 45 models which we have previewed in the past have just been spotted for sale at FinishLine.
Available right now in sizes up to 13US is the Jordan Fight 45 White/Powder Blue and the Jordan Flight 45 Black/Varsity Red/Stealth models. We originally thought the Jordan Flight 45 colorways were suppose to start releasing in August but apparently thats not the case since the sneakers have been spotted at FinishLine for sale. This is the only major retailer i know of that is stocking the kicks at the moment. FootLocker and Eastbay currently dont have them listed online.
If your looking to grab yourself a pair of the Jordan Flight 45 head on over to FinishLine now where they are selling for $125 a pop.


text:
A hybrid London Fashion Week kicked off with a mix of digital presentations and the event’s first in-person shows in a year. #News …
Originally published at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7gczWjMiOc
The post Catwalk shows return at a hybrid London Fashion Week first appeared on Reality Syndicate Viewers.
originally published at Fashion - Reality Syndicate Viewers


text:
Portland has the rep for nurturing an environment that has yielded plenty of small businesses through the years.
Yet the city ranks merely very good, as opposed to top-notch, in a Business Journals study on small business vitality in 101 top U.S. markets.
Portland ranks 17th nationally, according to an index that takes such factors as the number of small businesses, small businesses per 1,000 residents, the five-year change in jobs and the two-year change in population.
Portland fared well in the per capita measure, landing seventh overall with a score of 26.9 small businesses per 1,000 residents. However, the city ranks 36th in terms of its five-year jobs growth, which came in at 2.7 percent, and 27th in terms of the two-year population change metric.
Austin topped the overall list, followed by Miami, Provo, Utah and San Jose.
Seattle ranked 20th overall on the list, which arrives courtesy of the Business Journals On Numbers team.
Andy is the Portland Business Journal’s digital managing editor, overseeing the daily digital news operation. Sign up here to receive the free news-packed emails he curates every day.


text:
In an effort to raise its new profile as a product company, Protagen last week announced it has tagged Tokyo-based Tomy Digital Biology to exclusively distribute in Japan its software for the detection of post-translational modifications.
No details of the deal covering Protagen’s Modiro — the PTM Explorer were released. Prior to the deal, the company had had no presence in the Japanese market and limited distribution of its products worldwide. But as it moves away from being exclusively a service-based business to a product firm, the collaboration with Tomy represents a major step in its transformation.
Established in 1997 in Dortmund, Germany, Protagen originally offered fee-for-service protein analysis to pharmaceutical clients. But as demand for such services began to stagnate, Protagen had to rehaul its business, company President and CEO Christoph Hüls told ProteoMonitor this week.
“The fee-for-service business is not scaleable at all,” Hüls said.
Indeed, during the past few years, numerous shops that sprang up hoping to ride the proteomics tide by offering protein-analysis services have been forced to either redo their business plans or shut down completely.
Protagen was no different. The shift, Hüls said, was also made in the face of the realities of the private equity funding environment.
“The only chance … to raise venture capital, to develop quicker, was in using … business models [with a focus on commercializing products],” he said. “As you can imagine, no venture capitalist would ever invest in a solely fee-for-service type business.”
Still, Protagen has not completely abandoned its services business, and earlier this year began offering protein analysis designed specifically to fulfill the requirements of regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration.
Since rejiggering its business model about three years ago, the company has completed two rounds of financing — one in 2004 and one in 2006 — worth a combined €4.3 million [$6.3 million]. It is currently working on another financing round.
Protagen’s first commercial product, introduced in 2005, was its Unichip biochip for antibody development. The company has been collaborating with Bruker BioSciences on development of the Proteinscape database since 1999, but Bruker is the sole seller of the database.
The chip allows researchers to look at off-target activities of an antibody and the binding curve to decide more efficiently which antibodies to develop as a therapeutic, Hüls said. Unlike other general all-purpose chips on the market with which the user has to work out the application, the Unichip is designed specifically for one application, “and we’re guaranteeing that it’s working and it’s performing” as it should, he said.
Hüls declined to identify users of the chip but said they included “big biotechs” and top-10 pharmaceutical firms.
In March, Protagen launched Modiro, designed specifically to capture post-translational modifications in proteins. According to Hüls, the software captures more than 200 post-translational modifications, including common ones such as glycosylation and phosphorylation, as well as uncommon ones such as methylation.
A user can also search for unknown ones, Hüls said.
“If you have an idea that there might be a strange modification because of chemical treatment, or whatever, in your preparation of a protein, you can train the software to detect that also,” he said.
Other protein-detection software, such as Matrix Science’s Mascot product, can detect post-translation modifications, he said. But no other offering contains such comprehensive ability to study such modifications, which has become an important area of study in protein analysis.
“If you are going into the analysis of proteins, about 70 to 80 percent of the mass spectra that you are acquiring from your machine cannot be explained. And that is due to the [fact] that the peptides are modified in some way,” Hüls said. “By using this tool, a huge amount of the unexplained spectra can now be explained.”
According to Protagen’s website, Modiro performs a second pass search, restricting the search to proteins that have been identified already, and enables users to automatically screen large tandem mass spec datasets in a single step for unknown mass shifts, isoform detection, unspecific enzymatic cleavage, and enzymatic transpeptidation products, in addition to post-translational modifications.
“The fee-for-service business is not scaleable at all.”
Hüls declined to provide any sales numbers for Modiro, but acknowledged that it has had difficulty penetrating the market, hence the deal with Tomy. In a statement, the company said that the deal gives Protagen “an established distributor for the commercialization of its product in the Japanese market,” a move necessary to do business in that country because the Japanese market has long been impenetrable to outsiders, Hüls said.
Protagen distributes the product itself in the US and Europe, but is also planning to use other distributors with “strong experience in the market of software and algorithms” for proteomics research.
Heike Schäfer, a postdoctoral fellow at the Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP in Switzerland doing research in proteomics and metabolomics, began using Modiro four years ago when the software was in development. Her work has looked at how lenticular alphaA-Crystallin, one of the main structure proteins in the eye lens, changes with aging.
In work published last year, she and fellow researchers using proteomic techniques and Modiro software identified and localized eight phosphorylation sites, including four that had not been published before. They also observed quantitative N-terminal acetylation of alphaA-Crystallin and variable C-terminal truncation, which also had not been published in such detail before.
“With the software, I can search for many [post-translational] modifications at one time,” she said, adding no other product on the market that she knows has the same capabilities as Modiro.
Shortly after Modiro was launched, the company in the spring introduced its Uniarray program for the detection of patterns that may be indicative of disease. The company is developing protein-based diagnostic tests for a number of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and prostate cancer.
Its multiple sclerosis test is the furthest along in the pipeline. Protagen has a prototype test, which to date has higher than 80-percent specificity and sensitivity. The company is conducting further clinical tests with larger patient cohorts, and may market it in 2009 if no complications or problems develop.
Despite the more recent emphasis on products, Protagen’s services business still breathes. Last year, the company received Good Manufacturing Practice certification and began offering GMP protein analysis services that meet requirements of the FDA and the European Medicines Agency to a limited number of customers. The company began offering those services to the entire market in April this year.
With many larger pharmaceutical companies still continuing to outsource their proteomics and protein-analysis needs, Hüls said that that has provided a tailwind to its GMP protein-analysis business.
“In the other part [of the services business], there is steady business, but it is not growing very much,” he said. “But in this GMP protein analysis, it’s really ramping up, it’s really a nice growth for the company and that’s exactly why we introduced it, because we saw the need of the market. You need special expertise, you need special instrumentation, and you need a lot of experience to perform these types of analyses.”


text:
Balabala Introduces Virtual Child Ambassador Gu Yu | Jing Daily
What Happened: Chinese childrenswear brand Balabala has made its first foray into the metaverse by appointing a virtual child ambassador named Gu Yu. First introduced on Xiaohongshu, Gu Yu doubles as an independent influencer — sharing regular short-form content and product releases from the brand alongside real-life models and in the form of NFT pieces. For Balabala, this strategic repositioning aims to target digitally-native young parents who have outgrown the princess and Chinese hanfu clothing styles traditionally associated with the childrenswear category.
The Jing Take: Virtual influencers are not a new phenomenon in the Chinese market. In fact, with top virtual idols Ayayi and CELIX 赛 recently collaborating with Tiffany and Calvin Klein, respectively, to promote new product launches, brands are unquestionably taking notice of the opportunities that virtual influencers provide. From full image control to maximum flexibility, brand-focused meta-ambassadors allow for nuanced and customized cultural relevance — ultimately paving the way for richer consumer-brand experiences.
Balabala’s introduction of Gu Yu confirms that virtual KOLs as more than a passing trend. Alongside the increasing use of the metaverse for social interaction comes the certainty that digitally developed young Chinese will have identities there. By showcasing the virtual star in a variety of outfit styles ranging from preppy to sporty to girly, Balabala hopes to connect Gu Yu with real-life children as their meta-companion, inspiring them to freely express themselves and their unique lifestyles through their fashion choices. Soon, the brand hopes to introduce Gu Yu to offline events including fashion shows, which means the lines between physical and digital will continue to blur.
As younger cohorts increasingly demand greater immersion and interaction with influencers, it comes as no surprise that the metaverse provides an ideal feeding ground for consumer connection. By bringing Gu Yu to life, leading childrenswear brand Balabala bets on tech activation as the future of consumer-brand relationships — one where the metaverse is synonymous with identity and self-expression.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.
Source Credit: This article originally appeared on Jing Daily by Jing Daily. Read the original article - http://jingdaily.com/balabala-virtual-child-idol-gu-yu/


text:
Liebherr has now opened its fully expanded US facility, located at Newport News in Virginia. This US$60 million site development project comes as the firm also celebrates its 50th year in the US market.
Development of the Newport News site has seen an area of 23,320m2 being added to the existing facilities. The firm’s US headquarters features a new 5,574m2 administrative building, a 7,454m2 workshop and training facility, a 8,363m2 parts distribution warehouse with retail operations, a guardhouse, and a 682m2 wash bay building.
The five new buildings cover a site of 21.14ha and increase Liebherr’s capabilities for training, product support, production, equipment preparation, and parts distribution for the nine different divisions within Liebherr USA’s operations.


text:
Huawei’s new Top-end Smartphone without pre-installed Google Apps on 19. September in Munich to introduce. Google confirmed that the Internet giant will provide the new device with the name Mate 30 in the face of the US sanctions against Huawei with Apps and services.
In Europe, would be the Lack of Google services such as maps, Youtube or the App-platform Play Store at a competitive disadvantage for Huawei. At home in China, all Smartphone vendors can sell their devices without non-authorised Google Apps.
Huawei confirmed for some time alleged date for the presentation of the Mate 30 with a few seconds-long Video on Twitter, without further Details. The Motto of the event is “Rethink Possibilities” – for example: “Consider the possibilities”.
The US government had Huawei set in mid-may, having regard to safety concerns on a black list. So American companies are allowed to do – also around Google and Chip-supplier – only with special permission business with Huawei. The Blockade was suspended, however, currently until mid-November. Google may, but only already in the market models introduced to provide further Updates – the Mate 30 on the other hand is a new device, for the postponement of the Blockade does not apply.
Huawei has built for some time to a Parallel infrastructure, which can replace Google’s services. The Chinese group has already a platform for App sales, but in Europe most of the users rely on Google services. As the operating system likely according to the media, the free Version of the Google-developed Android Software, reports are used. The Open-Source Android is for all manufacturers accessible on the Google self-licensed versions of Android, Huawei for new devices, however, has no access. The Chinese group recently presented as an Alternative to the own operating system of Harmony OS. But it would be a great challenge to win many of the App developers for this.
Its customers, Huawei promises that “Smartphones and Tablets have been sold, are currently sold or are in stock” continue to be security and software updates can be obtained. And everyone who wanted to buy a device that “can access in the future, to the world of Apps”.
The U.S. sanctions are likely to Huawei with the time also problems with the Hardware. The group has, with its “Kirin”series on your own main processors. But a part of the Chips comes from US companies or companies, subject to due stores in the United States also restrictions. So it was already clear that Huawei is likely to lose the access to the future development of the British Chip designer ARM, whose architecture is in virtually all Smartphones.
Reuters topics in this article, Huawei, Google Apps, Smartphone Europe Munich Berlin YouTube China Twitter New in Digital Hacker attack Giant iPhone-spying: Is the Chinese government behind it? By Malte Mans display star travel worlds, American Football live – journey to the NFL in the USA Software gets problems New Update for Windows 10 eliminates errors and creates a new “Fake or No Fake” Humanoid suddenly runs through the entrance: Why is this Video so irritated By Florian Saul photos, Chats, and passwords stolen-security Disaster: Two years hacked hack iPhones – per site-visit By Malte Mansholt iPhone rumors, It’s official: this is the day the new iPhone By Malte mansholt came pirated “More on offer than Netflix”: FBI takes illegal Streaming service Jetflicks high By Malte Mansholt consequences of the trade war shock for Huawei New Smartphones coming may without the Google Apps A Test of five winners From sports companion to a Noise-Canceling: This five-Bluetooth-headset-test Of painted Mans were recommended to get The end of the Binging? Why is the Streaming services from Disney and Apple, our Netflix change habits, want Of painted Mans Reportage exhibition get in Cologne My day at Gamescom is: Why is the game fair will feature 40 new Levels of Mahjong is to play a crazy getaway from the everyday – for free Now! The arms trade play in the network With these absurd Tricks mufflers are traded online, even at Amazon’s New mobile wireless standard 5G Large investigation of the Stiftung Warentest: Is mobile phone radiation dangerous? Streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime in September: two new series Of painted Mans Apple Smartphone booking of the new iPhone brings is now possible to Test Bigger, faster, sophisticated Galaxy Note 10+: The best Samsung Smartphone for years By Malte Mansholt Test Galaxy Note 10+ in camera comparison: it’s the Turn of Samsung’s new Top model From the Malte Mansholt network-Trend Instagram, you are not on our photos! Pink and other parts of the chain letter is bringing what? By Malte Mans excavation brings dead heads and love spells – magic tool of a sorceress from Pompeii, discovered gems Of Gernot Kramper excavation and the skull of a servant of Pompeii DISQ Partner – and Single-stock markets pulled in the Test: Only two, can convince By Malte Mansholt


text:
Lara Croft has returned yet again, and this time Eidos Montreal has taken the character in a darker direction. The youthful student of yore is gone, and we’re left with a highly competent – if self-absorbed – tomb raiding hard ass.
With the miss-to-hit ratio being what it is for superhero games, Insomniac had its work cut out for it when it agreed to take on the latest open-world interpretation of Spider-Man. Thankfully, the gamble paid off, and Sony has racked up another exclusive hit.
While this remake of the second installment on the PS2 hits all the same beats, it truly feels like a proper modern release. Even for those of us who were already on the Yakuza train in the late aughts, it’s well worth exploring this lovingly-crafted remake.
A surprisingly wide selection of titles received excellent PS4 Pro-enhanced patches. From relatively small indies to beloved Sony exclusives and third-party bestsellers, there’s plenty of high-res enjoyment to be had for little cash.
If nothing else, Quantic Dream knows how to grab attention. Even though this studio is best-known for turning mundane tasks like twisting doorknobs into game mechanics, there’s a level of fidelity in its recent works that is undeniably eye-catching. And despite Detroit: Beyond Human stemming from a 2012 PS3 tech demo, this new release is still capable of surprising us.
The PlayStation 5 isn’t arriving for three years according to Sony, despite earlier rumors of a 2018 release.
Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our


text:
||Central Bank Of Barbados
The Central Bank of Barbados is aware of complaints made by customers of domestic banks and credit unions of increased fees for debit card transactions as these institutions transition from the Caribbean Integrated Financial Services Ltd. (CarIFS) automated debit switch that links ATM machines and POS terminals across Barbados to the Visa/Mastercard platforms.
The Bank recognises that these fees do raise the cost of banking services and considers that high fees for the use of digital banking services may serve to undermine national efforts to reduce the use of physical cash and increase reliance on digital transactions.
The Bank has reviewed the fees that banks charge each other as proposed by Visa and Mastercard. Following discussions with the banks and credit unions, the Bank has therefore decided to intervene in the pricing of debit card transactions. This initial intervention is intended to:
- Standardise the interchange rate for Visa/Mastercard debit card transactions; and
- Cushion the impact of the increased fees on depositors and the business sector.
The Bank will continue to monitor the impact of these fees and reserves the right for further intervention.
Further, the payments system is being modernised, including through the implementation of a real time Automated Clearing House. This should create the potential for adoption by financial institutions of other more cost-effective solutions and the Bank will seek to incentivise their early adoption. At the same time, we encourage financial institutions to provide education to their clientele so that prudent choices about low cost services can be made.
The effective date for implementation will be November 1, 2021 but some banks may continue to operate on CarIFS beyond that date.


text:
A new study shows that your kids are being lured to fast food with toys, commercials and sugar.
Tv ads for fast food have a deep impact on a child’s psychology. The rapidly moving images, the bright and shiny colors that attract their eyes and dominate their attention, the very good looking food, which, normally, has nothing to do with what you really get when you go to the restaurant, the songs and jingles that get stuck in their heads, the promise of a toy if you go and eat there, all of them attract your child in an unspeakable manner and make him effectively crave fast food.
This new study is based on a compilation of all the fast food TV commercials that aired with national coverage in 2009. One hundred children between the ages of three and seven were invited to participate in the study. Also, one of their parents was asked to join and answer a series of questions such as: how often did the child see those commercials, did he then ask to be taken to those restaurants, did he eat while there, did he collect a toy with his meal, and if all these were answered yes, whether he was asked to be taken again.
37 per cent of the parents reported more frequent stops at those particular joints with ads directed towards children, 44 percent reported their children requested visits to those restaurants, 29 per cent of the children got toys upon going there, and out of those 29 percent, almost all requested to be taken there.
The link between all these factors and children wanting to eat as much junk food as they possibly can, is evident. The companies bank on their naiveté, desire for a free toy, normally based on the latest cartoon movie that came out, a fan of which your child probably is and on their impossibility to restrain themselves and to understand the risks that accompany eating that kind of food.
Other studies have shown as well that the high amount of sugar fast food items have in them causes addiction in a way comparable to drugs. Many adults participating in different studies have reported finding themselves effectively craving a certain type of fast food, or even waking up in the middle of the night with the desire to eat that dish.
The sugar in them is said to create a hype and an addiction almost impossible to resist. It is easy to understand that, if adults have a hard time resisting, children stand no chance.
Image Source: www.pixabay.com


text:
$4.4 Trillion, Model Collapse, The Beatles, AI Prompts, and EU Regulation
This week’s update:
Here’s this week’s news, product applications, and broader philosophical implications. So here we go:
💰 $4.4 trillion
🧮 Model Collapse
🛒 Online Shopping
🎵 The Beatles
🇪🇺 AI Act
Latest News and Updates
A new report released by McKinsey this week suggests that AI could add $4.4 trillion dollars of value to the global economy each year going forward. It could automate 70% of some jobs, mostly among knowledge workers.
Generative AI’s impact on productivity could add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy. Our latest research estimates that generative AI could add the equivalent of $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually across the 63 use cases we analyzed—by comparison, the United Kingdom’s entire GDP in 2021 was $3.1 trillion. This would increase the impact of all artificial intelligence by 15 to 40 percent. This estimate would roughly double if we include the impact of embedding generative AI into software that is currently used for other tasks beyond those use cases.
We’re only 6 months into our new age of generative AI, but already we’re seeing what could be a huge problem: model collapse. Most of what AI models have been trained on until now has been human-produced content. But with so much AI content being generated, we’re seeing more and more of that being included in AI model training. And the models don’t do well when trained on generative AI content.
Now, as more people use AI to produce and publish content, an obvious question arises: What happens as AI-generated content proliferates around the internet, and AI models begin to train on it, instead of on primarily human-generated content?
A group of researchers from the UK and Canada have looked into this very problem and recently published a paper on their work in the open access journal arXiv. What they found is worrisome for current generative AI technology and its future: “We find that use of model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects in the resulting models.”
Imagine having an avatar of yourself that could try on clothes from all sorts of brands and help you decide what will look good and what you want to buy? That’s what Google is creating. Shopping for clothes online has always been more difficult than other goods, so this will be an interesting improvement.
Now, customers in the United States can virtually “try on” women’s tops. The company uses images of real models ranging from XXS to 3XL to wear AI-generated versions of clothes from hundreds of brands sold across Google, like Anthropologie, Everlane, and H&M. You can scroll through and select different body types or skin tones and see how clothes might drape on your own body. When you find the model that most closely resembles you, you can save them to be your default model.
It’s not just living artists who will have AI create new music, but any musician.
According to McCartney, technology developed for the recent Beatles documentary Get Back was able to extract former bandmate John Lennon’s vocals from a low-quality cassette recording in order to create the foundation for the track.
Useful Tools & Resources
This week I explored tools to help with AI Prompting. This is a broad topic, so we’ll have more to come. I’ll be creating a library of these tools soon, so remember to check back for everything soon.
PromptPal let’s you search through all different types of prompts, for GPT, Dall-E, Midjourney, etc. It also has specific categories like Product Management prompts, which I’ll have to try more.
But if you are looking for specific ideas on prompts, this will get you a good start.
PromptBase is a site where you can create prompts yourself, buy prompts that others have created, and sell one that have worked well. If you don’t want to take the time to learn prompting, this seems like a good place to get what you need quickly. And if you are good at prompts, a place to see them.
This one has some interesting potential. It didn’t do what I had envisioned after I used one of the prompts, but this is why we test lots of things, right?
I really liked Noonshot for Midjourney prompting. It gives you lots of guidance for what to add. Again, not at all what I anticipated, but that probably speaks to my need for more time in Midjourney.
Deep Dive - EU Regulation
The European Union has been leading the way (generally) when it comes to regulation and protecting users on the internet and with new technology. And this week has moved forward with significant steps in regulating AI with the AI Act.
According to the NY Times:
The European Parliament, a main legislative branch of the European Union, passed a draft law known as the A.I. Act, which would put new restrictions on what are seen as the technology’s riskiest uses. It would severely curtail uses of facial recognition software, while requiring makers of A.I. systems like the ChatGPT chatbot to disclose more about the data used to create their programs.
The EU has traditionally been at the forefront of thinking about these issues.
The European Union is further along than the United States and other large Western governments in regulating A.I. The 27-nation bloc has debated the topic for more than two years, and the issue took on new urgency after last year’s release of ChatGPT, which intensified concerns about the technology’s potential effects on employment and society.
Being very thoughtful about how to protect people while fostering innovation is a difficult balance. According to the European Parliament:
Parliament’s priority is to make sure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.
Wisely, the EU is segmenting AI into different categories:
But regulation isn’t easy. First, governments don’t move quickly while technology, and especially AI, has been moving faster than anything we’ve ever seen.
According to the Brookings Institute:
To keep the corporate AI race from becoming reckless requires the establishment and development of rules and the enforcement of legal guardrails. Dealing with the velocity of AI-driven change, however, can outstrip the federal government’s existing expertise and authority. The regulatory statutes and structures available to the government today were built on industrial era assumptions that have already been outpaced by the first decades of the digital platform era. Existing rules are insufficiently agile to deal with the velocity of AI development.
And like the EU has been thinking about, we have to consider what to regulate vs. what not to (or what to regulate differently).
Because AI is a multi-faceted capability, “one-size-fits all” regulation will over-regulate in some instances and under-regulate in others. The use of AI in a video game, for instance, has a different effect—and should be treated differently—from AI that could threaten the security of critical infrastructure or endanger human beings. AI regulation, thus, must be risk-based and targeted.
Additionally, should applications be regulated, or the actual development of AI? According to WSJ:
Tech companies and their lobbyists argue that any government-enforced rules should focus on specific AI applications—and not put too many restrictions on how AI is developed, as is being proposed in Europe. They say such an approach would impede innovation.
And who gets to regulate? Too often, companies get to regulate themselves. Sometimes that works, other times it doesn’t. And while the US is traditionally in the lead when it comes to creating technology, the EU has typically created the frameworks for regulation, especially since it moves earlier and more comprehensively.
Once again it appears as though the EU, which has been in the lead in establishing digital platform policy with its Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, is also in the lead on establishing AI policy. On June 14 the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the AI Act. Following its adoption, the regulatory machinery of the European Commission will begin developing enforceable policies.
We certainly need to think carefully about the use of AI and its regulation. How do we continue to benefit from advances in AI while managing the risks and impacts to humans. This is just the beginning.


text:
On September 9, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Vietnam Trade Office in Japan and Japan Trade Promotion Organization JETRO held a seminar – online trade to connect Vietnamese investment. South – Japan with the participation of hundreds of enterprises from the two countries.
At this event, Director General of Trade Promotion Department Vu Ba Phu affirmed that Japan is always one of the major investment countries in Vietnam in terms of both the number of projects and the total investment capital.
According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, the wave of Japanese investment in Vietnam is constantly increasing in both the number of enterprises and investment capital.
Specifically, in 2018, Japan led the country investing in Vietnam with 8.59 billion USD, accounting for 24.2% of the total investment capital among 112 countries and territories with investment projects in Vietnam. Male.
By the end of 2019, there were more than 2,000 Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam and the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan continued to increase strongly. Accumulating FDI attraction by the end of 2019, Japan ranked second with a total registered capital of 59.3 billion USD, accounting for 16.7%.
According to experts, the Vietnamese market has great potential to attract Japanese enterprises to invest in production expansion. Not only large enterprises and corporations, but now Japanese small and medium enterprises also increase investment promotion in Vietnam.
Japanese businesses are also tending to invest in other localities in Vietnam, instead of focusing only in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
According to JETRO’s survey of Japanese enterprises investing in Asia and Oceania in February 2020, 63.9% of Japanese enterprises doing business in Vietnam will continue to expand their business, the highest rate in ASEAN and third in Asia and Oceania region.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade affirmed that in the coming time, Vietnam will continue to improve institutions and policies to improve the quality and efficiency of foreign investment cooperation with the aim of focusing on attracting and cooperating with foreign investment, quality, efficiency, technology and environmental protection are the main evaluation criteria; Prioritize projects with advanced technology, new technology, high technology, clean technology, modern governance, high added value, spillover effects, connecting production and supply chains. This is also the strength of Japanese businesses. This investment cooperation will be complementary and complementary to each other and develop together.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Trade Promotion Agency are ready to support and create favorable conditions for Japanese businesses to expand their investment and business relations with Vietnam in the coming time.
Source: sggp.org.vn – Translated by fintel.vn
- Many Japanese investors “rush” into Vietnam
- Over 1,000 Japanese enterprises attend investment promotion conference
- FDI inflows in Vietnam will recover after the pandemic, says JETRO chief representative
- Conference boosts Vietnam-Germany trade, investment promotion
- Vietnam-Japan trade promo event in support industries to take place in July 7
- Over 1,000 Japanese companies study investment in Vietnam
- Hanoi conference seeks to promote Japanese investment inflows
- Vietnam regarded as top investment destination for Japan businesses
- Online trade exchange to promote exports of consumer goods to Japan


text:
- A Grateful Dead shirt set a new vintage clothing record after being auctioned off for an insane price
- The t-shirt belonged to one of the group’s engineers and was made in 1967
- Read more about the jam band here
Earlier this year, I got in a bit too deep on eBay after stumbling down a vintage t-shirt rabbit hole I eventually emerged from after having a wake-up call when I placed a $50 bid on a promotional tee that was originally made to coincide with the release of The Mask—one that eventually sold for over $800.
That might seem like an absolutely absurd price to shell out for a piece of clothing that was probably given out for free when the movie came out, but triple-digit bidding wars aren’t unheard of in a marketplace where particularly sought-after pieces of vintage clothing can sell for a sum that makes that number look like a downright bargain.
That’s especially true when it comes to concert tees and other apparel associated with musical acts that were all the rage when your parents first started dating, as shirts from the ’60s and ’70s can fetch a pretty penny thanks to fans of bands who won’t let a steep price tag stop them from getting their nostalgia fix.
In 2011, a shirt that doubled as a backstage pass to a series of concerts Led Zeppelin performed at Knebworth House in the United Kingdom set the record for the most expensive vintage tee ever sold when someone purchased it for $10,000 on eBay.
However, according to Stereogum, it’s now been unseated courtesy of one of the most notable collectives of the damn dirty hippies who took San Franciso’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood by storm in the 1960s: the Grateful Dead.
Earlier this week, Sotheby’s auctioned off a vintage Grateful Dead t-shirt that previously belonged to one of the band’s engineers. The yellow tee—which is emblazoned with a logo featuring the group’s name and a couple of swirly mushroom caps—is believed to be one of the earliest shirts officially commissioned by the band.
It’s unclear how much it cost to make when it was produced in 1967, but I have a feeling it’s a tad less than the $17,640 it fetched.
Someone paid $17,640 for this!!! pic.twitter.com/fQ007DVeLf
— Chris Black (@donetodeath) October 15, 2021
What a world.


text:
Investors were unloading shares of Facebook on Thursday after management warned that advertising revenue could "meaningfully" slow and it was readying to make "aggressive" investments.
These choice words sent shares of Facebook down 5% and knocked about $2.5 billion off CEO Mark Zuckerberg's fortune. This was despite the fact that the social media giant is coming off another record-breaking, blockbuster quarter that easily beat Wall Street expectations.
Are investors being too hard on Facebook? So say some Wall Street analysts, who note that it's understandable that investors would cling to this language, but not necessarily wise.
"We think aftermarket reaction to '17 outlook commentary [is] overdone," said RBC analyst Mark Mahaney in a note to clients.
Facebook is still making gobs of money on mobile advertising and has averaged a 50% increase in ad revenue over the last several years. During the quarter, total ad revenue surged 59% to $6.8 billion, with mobile ads bringing in nearly 85% of this haul.
However, the company expects ad load (the number of ads shown to users) to play a diminishing role in driving revenue growth. It didn't offer specifics, other than saying revenue growth should "meaningfully" slow, and that it would "continue to work hard to innovate" its ad offerings.
That one word is the source of grief among investors. "Many will hang on 'meaningfully' lower ad revenue growth in '17," noted J.P.Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth, "but we think management's top-line comments were largely consistent with what they said at 2Q." He points out that analysts had already expected advertising revenue growth to slow from 50% to 35% in 2017.
Investors were also zeroing in on Facebook's promise to spend "aggressively" next year. The company said it plans to continue shelling out the big bucks for new engineering and technology hires, as well as on ongoing efforts to expand its data centers.
"While this will likely put a damper on investors' short-term outlook, FB is making the right investments, which should pay off in spades during 2018+," noted PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster.
All in all, Wall Street is taking the outlook in stride and is still breathlessly bullish. Only two of 50 analysts who cover the stock suggest selling it. The company "remains in rarefied air across the combination of scale, growth and profitability," said Anmuth.
In the last two quarters alone, the advertising business has grown by about $1.6 billion, points out Jefferies analyst Brian Fitzgerald. That's like growing almost two Yelp's or roughly half a Twitter, he says. Investors could do worse.


text:
Initial quantities of the iPhone 7 plus have been sold out globally as Apple Inc. prepares to roll its new gadget in stores, as stated by the Company on Wednesday.
Supplies of the Apple’s new phone have exhausted in all shades, and iPhone 7 has also been sold out in the new jet black colour.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller stated “We sincerely appreciate the patience of our customers as we work hard to get our new iPhone into the hands of everyone as quickly as possible.”
Apple launched its new phones at a San Francisco event earlier this month. The gadgets have improved cameras and also eliminated the traditional headphone jack favoring new technology.
Breaking with tradition, the company will not release first-weekend sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 plus, saying the figure reflects supply than demand.
The decision sparked concerns among some on Wall Street, where many fear sales of the iPhone, a critical product for Apple, may be leveling off. But U.S. wireless carriers Sprint Corp (S.N) and T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS.O) said on Tuesday they received strong pre-orders for the iPhone 7, sending Apple shares up.
“Based on everything I’ve seen it looks like demand is very strong,” analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research wrote in an email.
The 5.5-inch iPhone model, known as the Plus, has sold out soon after launch since Apple introduced the size with the iPhone 6 in 2014. Phones in newly released finishes are also typically snapped up quickly by customers eager to showcase the latest iPhone design.
Checkout latest news at itvoir.com
From ITvoir News Desk


text:
This week’s “Lenz On Business” airs at 5 p.m. Jan. 30.
After a successful career in the music business, With an eco-conscious spirit and a desire to take customer service to the next level, Frederiksen has helped Happy Mango garner a strong reputation and following. It even attracted the attention of American Express, who offered Happy Mango the opportunity to become an Amex Small Business partner. Happy Mango carries popular brands as well as its own line of original products. You can find onesies and strollers, and all points in between. Frederiksen talks with Jon Waterhouse about how she started the business, the importance of minority-owned businesses, and the store’s upcoming move to The Works in Atlanta’s Upper Westside.


text:
Group to play a pivotal role at Gulfood 2013 with the latest food & beverage supply chain solutions
The biggest food and hospitality fair in the Arabian Gulf: that, in short, is Gulfood 2013, which will, for the first time, see Sacmi take part with an impressive display of food & beverage technological solutions.
Over 5,000 specialised operators are expected to attend the event, being held in Dubai (UAE) from 25th to 28tj February 2013. Future-oriented industrial strategies – such as the 2009 decision to bring the Group’s outstanding skills and know-how together in a single Division, Sacmi Beverage – have strengthened Sacmi’s position in this sector considerably; Sacmi heads to Dubai with the aim of intercepting a growing demand for technology, especially as regards the non-alcoholic drinks segment.
The three days in Dubai will, among other things, see various specialised sessions dedicated to different drink types (carbonate and functional drinks, tea, coffee, juices, water, energy drinks, dairy etc.) where major machine producers will illustrate their latest drink processing solutions. One of the event’s key goals will be to provide a response on the distribution and logistics front, with Sacmi – able to count on a worldwide sales-production organisation – perfectly positioned to offer itself as a “global” technological partner, from raw materials to bottle, from quality control to after-sales service.


text:
BMW and Chinese company Brilliance are expected to launch a new model this year built at the Shenyang plant in China where BMW is already producing the X1 and 3 Series Sedan. In an interview with Autonews, Ian Robertson, BMW global sales boss, said that BMW hadn’t decided which markets outside China the new brand would be sold in, but mature markets such as Europe hadn’t been ruled out.
The name of the joint venture will be unveiled this month at Shanghai Auto Show but Chinese media is already speculating on the Zhi Nuo brand name, which translate into “The Promise”.
Robertson declined to confirm this, but said one challenge BMW and Brilliance faced was choosing the name. “Today that is more difficult than it was even two years ago,” he said “There are some very smart people who copyright trade names, patents, any name you can possible think of, even names you think you own.”
According to China Car Times, the first car to come out of this venture is a new MPV model that could compete with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. Under the hood, the compact car will use BMW’s four-cylinder 2.0 liter N20 turbocharged engine.
Incoming search terms:
- Powered by Article Dashboard german family coat of arms
Cars.com selected the 2013 BMW 328i M Sport Package as the winner of their $ 46,000 Sports Sedan Challenge. Along with the F30 3 Series, the folks at Cars.com also tested the 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Premier, 2013 Acura TL 3.7 SH-AWD Tech, 2013 Cadillac ATS 2.0T Performance, 2013 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro Tiptronic and 2013 Mercedes-Benz C250 Sport.
Their experts for this Challenge were:
- Kelsey Mays, Cars.com’s industry editor
- David Thomas, Cars.com’s managing editor
- Joe Wiesenfelder, Cars.com’s executive editor
- James R. Healey, auto writer for USA Today
- Brian Robinson, producer for PBS’ “MotorWeek”
Here is what they had to say about the new 3 Series Sedan:
2013 New York: 2014 Audi A3 gets its web exposure to gear up for its battle against the Mercedes-Benz CLA
Audi out of the blue has just revealed their all-new compact 2014 A3 sedan for the world to see, ahead of the 2013 New York International Auto Show. In essence, this is Audi’s answer to the recent introduction of the Mercedes-Benz CLA and the Acura ILX.
Sporting a curb weight of just 2,756 lbs, with an 8.66-foot long wheelbase and an overall length of 14.63 feet, the A3 certainly reeks of sportiness. The sedan even benefits from a lower ride height and a wider track than the original A3 compact.
Audi says that the new 2014 A3 sedan will first being selling in Europe with a choice of gasoline and diesel four-cylinders. The diesel motor is a 2.0L TDI turbocharged four-banger good for 150hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, which allows the 2014 A3 2.0 TDI to accelerate to 60 in just 8.7 seconds. The gasoline motors come in 1.4L and 1.8L form with the smaller version featuring cylinder deactivation: the 1.4L TFSI produces 140hp and 184 lb-ft of torque, while the 1.8L unit produces 180hp and 184 lb-ft of torque. The 2014 Audi A3 1.4L TFSI takes 8.4 seconds to reach 60 while the 1.8L model takes only 7.3.
North American powertrains have yet to be announced, though I’m sure we can expect similar engines to come with our 2014 A3 sedan, just with less choices. Let’s just hope they bring the diesel version here too.
For full details, check out the press release below.
UPDATE 3/25: Full images of the car have now slipped into the open; we’ve reposted a few of them here, but the entire batch can be seen at the upcomingvehiclesx Flickr account that hosted the original leaked shots. Enjoy the look at Cadillac’s sultry new sedan, and check back tomorrow evening for full details on the 2014 Cadillac CTS.
We’re mere days away from a major auto show, which means an inevitable slow and steady leak of photos and information covering highly anticipated reveals. We’ve already seen the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG courtesy of Russian website AutoWP.ru, for example. An original batch of leaked images (now embedded at the bottom of the post) posted by Flickr user upcomingvehiclesx (you can see a couple of additional frames at the link) and found first by GMInsideNews have ripped the sheet from the 2014 Cadillac CTS—and the Alpha-platform car is a stunner.
none of the photos posted thus far show the full car we now have full photos of the whole car, and it’s clear that the new CTS takes cues from its smaller platform- and stablemate, the ATS. But the larger CTS, which will grow larger to better take on the BMW 5-series and others, features sharper detailing, which makes its little brother look weaker and slightly flabby in comparison. The design features fewer straight lines than the outgoing CTS, and is a clear evolution of the Art and Science styling language Cadillac initiated a little more than a decade ago.
We don’t know how many owners of Mercedes-Benz’s Viano people carrier are interested in injecting some sportiness into their minivans, but those who do, can ask KTW Tuning for help.
The German tuner has released a performance package for the Viano 3.0 CDI model, which in factory trim, hides a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 diesel with 221hp (224PS) and 440Nm (325 lb-ft) under its hood.
An engine upgrade comprising a software optimization kit boosts output to 262hp (265PS), while KTW Tuning continues with a suspension kit that lowers the ride height and new 22-inch alloy wheels in a staggered set up with tires size 255/30ZR22 at front axle and 285/25ZR22 at the rear.
The new red brake calipers complete the package that costs €5,999 (about US$ 7,750) excluding VAT (tax).
Incoming search terms:
- Powered by Article Dashboard gigi model
It may not have the firepower to worry the latest crop of German über-sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG or the BMW M5 but, nevertheless, the 2014 Chevrolet SS that was unveiled today at the Daytona International Speedway, where its racing version also debuted at the Daytona 500 NASCAR event, is a welcome addition to the Bow Tie’s range.
That’s because the new SS, which is the American version of the new Holden SS V and is built around GM’s global platform that also underpins the Camaro and Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle, marks Chevrolet’s return to rear-wheel drive performance sedans after a long absence.
It’s a fact readily acknowledged by GM North America president Mark Reuss: “The Chevrolet brand was largely built on the strength of rear-drive performance sedans, yet it’s been 17 years since we offered one”, he said. “The all-new SS fills that void and fills it better than any other vehicle in the brand’s rich history.”
Predictably, the new Pontiac G8 SS is visually identical to the new Holden Commorode SS V that was revealed earlier three days ago; the only obvious changes, apart from the badges, are the paint scheme of the 19-inch alloys and the SS’s single, instead of twin, exhaust pipes placed at each end of the rear fender.
The suspension includes MacPherson struts up front and a trapezoidal multilink arrangement at the rear, the steering gets electronic power assistance (EPAS) and the forged 19-inch alloy wheels, which are wrapped in 245/40 and 275/35 front and rear tires respectively, house 335-mm Brembo discs with two-piece, four-piston calipers at the front.
Incoming search terms:
- 2014 ss house power
- mercedes benz mp3 in germany and italie sales
- mercedes benz mp3 in italie sales
- mercedes benz mp3 sales in germany and in italie
- mercedes benz mp3 sales in germany and italie
A striking 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing will be auctioned at the America’s Fort Lauderdale Collector Car Auction set to happen from March 22nd to the 24th. The event has always been regarded as South Florida’s premier collector car auction and will include a multi-day sale expected to feature more than 550 quality collector cars.
The 300SL Gullwing is one of only 1,400 sold in the US, the car is richly finished in the rare color combination of DB320 Blue with a factory red leather interior. It was the recipient of a recent professional concours-quality restoration. It is offered for sale with chrome Rudge knock-off wheels, custom fitted luggage, radio and belly-pans.
The powerhouse featured a 3.0 litre straight-6 single overhead cam engine fitted with a Bosch mechanical Gasoline direct injection system. It produces 222hp and a top speed of 260 km/h.
Other than the 300SL Gullwing, several other cars will also be auctioned including a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 Factory Lightweight, a 1932 Lincoln Dual-Cowl Phaeton, a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Fuel-Injected Roadster, a 1954 Kaiser-Darrin Roadster, a 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible and a 2012 Lexus LFA
Auctions America was formed in July 2010 and it specializes in the sale of American classics, European sports cars, Detroit muscle, hot rods, customs and collectible motorcycles. Headquarters are at the historic Auburn Auction Park in Indiana.


text:
3D printing industry is developing at a very high speed and so does competition between 3D printing related startups striving to find their place under the sun. Domestic 3D printers are becoming more and more popular and their prices are decreasing. Maybe you’ll buy a 3D printer and DIY kit for your child next Christmas? We created this article to point out some of the current trends in the industry.
We believe that 3D printing’s future is in the mainstream. A lot of 3D printed items are used in everyday life substituting traditionally produced one since 3D printed products can be more easily customized and in some cases printing is much faster.
Your unborn baby model can be printed out so as you can get used to it in advance, you can make a candy of your design, and a Star Wars® figurine with your one face thanks to 3D technology. As soon as these become run-of-the-mill, 3D devices will be a regular part of home appliances and home manufacturing.
Three dimensional printing can help in solving issues like poverty. Replicas of very expensive scientific equipment could be produced at a much lower price with the use of inexpensive 3D printers so as to save Third World countries millions of dollars.
A lot of new manufacturers have been developing and producing new models of 3D printers. Respected companies have been investing in various products and services related to 3D printing.
We are in the age of customized products. Thanks to 3D printing customization of a huge variety of items is now available for a wider audience.
Visit www.shapeways.com for quality 3D printing.


text:
While Microsoft has already said that Xbox 720 would not be hitting markets this year, treatment the speculations about the new generation gaming console refuse to die. According to Xbox World Magazine, therapy Xbox 720 is likely to come with touch screen. The magazine claimed that the console will “use controllers that have “an HD screen surrounded by the traditional 360 buttons and sticks.” The console would also be more like an integrated entertainment hub than a gaming console.
The magazine also said that the new console “will be a matte-black media hub with a mission to bring games to life in your living room with augmented reality, treatment directional sound, and a four-player, finger-tracking Kinect.” In a bid to make Xbox more than just a game console, Microsoft is likely to double it up as a remote control which may be used for watching TV or for browsing internet.
Rumors are also abound that Xbox 720 would be six times as powerful as the current version. However, it is also expected to have equally outrageous price tag. XWM states, “Microsoft are playing it safe with the CPU and GPU but running wild with the functions that will change how you play, but it won’t be cheap.” It claims that the console may be priced upward of $600.


text:
Posts Tagged ‘backup’
Cloud backup specialist Axcient released its first virtual appliance for VMware environments, enabling partners to use customers’ existing hardware to support data protection and recovery tasks. It’s also flirting with a new label for its core value – “recovery as a service.”
Symantec announced its withdrawal from the cloud backup market, but isn’t leaving the segment behind. Rather than providing a hosted service, Symantec is evolving its NetBackup to become a platform for service providers.
Cloud backup specialist Intronis and hosted managed services provider Continuum have formed a technology alliance in which their mutual MSPs can more easily monitor and manage data protection and recovery services. The alliance is the latest in a series of convergence between backup and managed service vendors.
A bracing revelations in the new Intronis ebook: how much solution providers depend on reactionary forces to engage and sell backup and recovery services.
Symantec quietly discontinued its Managed Firewall and Managed Endpoint Protection in June, but partners and customers are now taking notice in light of the security and storage vendor’s withdrawal from the cloud backup market.
Carbonite is evolving its backup subscription plans, simplifying the cost for businesses and individuals to back up files in the cloud and introducing its first backup appliance. Bottom line: Carbonite isn’t just a consumer company anymore.
Cloud backup vendors are racing to capture the accounts being abandoned by Symantec, as it plans to shutter its lackluster Backup Exec.cloud. Even Symantec is providing guidance on how customers can migrate away, providing a more orderly transition than other recent backup shutdowns.
Symantec will discontinue Backup Exec.cloud, the cloud-based version of its popular Backup Exec product. The end of service is another retreat in Symantec’s reorganization to become more profitable. It’s also a sign of the stiff competition in the cloud backup segment.
Mozy, the EMC-owned cloud-based backup company, is looking to build momentum for its service by merging backup and file sharing functionality, as well as making it easier for solution providers to manage the service.
File sharing service Dropbox is reportedly looking to raise $250 million to fund further expansion, including deeper inroads into the channel and capturing enterprise accounts. Dropbox is fast becoming a problem for backup and cloud storage companies far and wide.


text:
Apple will betray a new 10.5 in. iPad Pro during a Worldwide Developer Conference subsequent month and now there are rumors that Apple will kill off a iPad Mini.
According to a new news from a BGR Apple is formulation to pause their iPad Mini inscription and a device will apparently be phased out.
The iPad Mini comes with a 7.9 in. arrangement and a largest iPhone during a impulse has a 5.5 in. display, a iPhone 7 Plus, a new 5.8 in. iPhone 8 is approaching to launch after this year.
Apparently there is now reduction direct for a smaller iPad Mini since of a incomparable screened iPhones and a direct could also dump some-more when a new incomparable iPhone 8 is launched.
Apple is approaching to launch 3 new iPad Pro models this year, a 9.7, 10.5 and 12.9 in. chronicle and we might see all of these during Apple’s WWDC 2017 subsequent month.
Apple could confirm to pause a iPad Mini altogether, or it could confirm to keep offered a device for a while but updating a hardware.
Source BGRFiled Under: Apple, Apple iPad


text:
15th > December > 2006 Archive
Virgin Mobile lingers over Xmas 'knick-pics'
Virgin mobile, in what is either utter desperation or a brilliant PR coup, has identified a new trend in Christmas shopping that manages to combine boobs and mobile phones.
HP ships 'super 3G' laptop in UK
Vodafone has added HP's Compaq nc6400 notebook to the list of laptops it offers with integrated HSDPA - 3G Broadband, as Vodafone calls it. HP's machine joins portable PCs from Acer, Dell and Lenovo.
Microsoft begins 'Cardspace' publicity push
A major card issuer is preparing to announce its support for Microsoft's new identity security system, Cardspace, in the new year, along with "a major consumer retail site", Microsoft said this week.
HP ends not so special ties to lawyer
HP has decided that it can do without the special advice of Silicon Valley powerbroker and lawyer extraordinaire Larry Sonsini, according to a New York Times report.
Cisco bids to control IPTV
AnalysisCisco has virtually re-invented IPTV services by dropping key elements of the IPTV experience – VoD, network PVR, fast channel change and packet re-transmission – down a layer into the network layer, sitting on Cisco routers and servers in the network.
Borland throws down Gauntlet to software defects
Software is unstable, full of bugs and bloated. Developers spend so much time adding new features that software testing is a last minute thing. Even the mantra of "designed secure" has failed to really improve the quality of software - just witness the number of day zero attacks against Microsoft.
Dell delays results
Dell has delayed posting its results for the three months ended November 3 while it continues an investigation into: "certain accounting and financial reporting matters".
Vista plugs piracy hole
Microsoft is taking action to thwart a possible hole in its Vista anti-piracy measures.
Apple iPhone to be announced on Monday?
Apple will announce the iPhone on Monday, website Gizmodo has claimed. It cites no sources and provides no details, but a senior staffer guarantees the announcement - which he says was unexpected - will happen, for what that's worth...
AMD maps out path to HT 3, DDR 3, DirectX 10
Desktop RoadmapAMD yesterday spilled the beans on its processor plans for the next two years, at a stroke confirming much of the info that has leaked out of the company and onto the web this year. On the desktop, the future is HyperTransport 3 and DDR 3. Chipsets will not shift to DirectX 10 until late 2007.
Patent applications to be peer reviewed?
The UK Patent Office is considering how it might implement some of the recommendations of the Gowers Review of intellectual property law in the UK. One of the suggestions Gowers made in the report was that the patent authorities should evaluate how peer review might improve the patent checking process.
Intel gears up to deliver movie download service
Intel is teaming up with a new digital download portal firm, Coolroom.com, to release downloads of Hollywood films at the same time as their UK DVD release.
AMD flies in Hawk, Griffin notebook CPUs
Mobile RoadmapAMD's roadmap for its notebook-oriented has taken a decidedly avian turn as the chip maker gears up to battle Intel's Centrino, a plan that will see it support Flash-fitted hybrid hard drives, 802.11n Wi-Fi, HyperTransport 3 and DirectX 10.
Irish consumers wising up to phishing scams
New research indicates that online banking users are getting more savvy when it comes to responding to e-mails purporting to come from banks and building societies.
Hercules Tunes Explorer remote control for iTunes
ReviewNot every living-room computer is a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC or a Mac capable of running Apple's Front Row software. Both systems can connect to a TV and provide a remote control to help you select content to play, but there are plenty of older machines out there that have been put to use as song storage systems. What can they use?
Blogging to slide - PC TCOs too?
Blogging is set to peak next year according to a new forecast which also predicts two-thirds of firms are likely to be infected by financially motivated malware.
AMD readies second-generation quad-core Opteron
AMD will release 'Shanghai', an "enhanced" version of its recently demo'd 'Barcelona' quad-core Opteron processor family, early on in 2008, the chip maker revealed yesterday when it published a server roadmap that was also notable for the absence of FB-DIMM technology and, indeed, DDR 3.
Vodafone fined €76m over Greek wiretap scandal
Greece's privacy watchdog has fined Vodafone €76m ($100m) over a wiretapping scandal that saw the illegal monitoring of the mobile calls of top government officials including Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
NAO criticises Whitehall on consultants
A National Audit Office report says central government is not using consultants efficiently
MIT launches buddy-stalker messenger service
MIT students are tracking each other as they wander from lecture to lecture using iFind, a new piece of beta software from the university's Senseable City Lab.
Intel vs AMD - integrated graphics shoot-out
Head-to-HeadMake no mistake about it, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor struggles to compete with Intel's Core 2 Duo, and the upcoming four-core Core 2 Quad will move the goalposts even further away. Which gives AMD a major problem until it starts to roll out Athlon 64 X4 mid-2007. Meanwhile, it can’t rely on sales of mobile processors as that sector is owned by Centrino and it must surely be worried about Opteron’s position as Intel spreads its Core technology into servers.
Nintendo offers weak-of-grip fresh Wii wrist-straps
Nintendo has begun offering Wii owners free replacement wrist-straps for folk who become way too aggressive in their gameplay and end up snapping the straps or simply - and literally - losing their grip.
Queen commands Samsung to supply 100 TVs
The Queen has ordered one hundred Samsung flat-panel TVs to be installed in Buckingham Palace, the South Korean giant announced yesterday. But it's not able to claim its products come 'by appointment' to the monarch of all she surveys - for that, its screens have to be under the royal gaze for the next five years.
Murdoch bets on 365 - report
News International broadcaster BSkyB is in talks to acquire 365 Media Group according to a report in The Times - also owned by News International.
Third unpatched vuln menaces Word
Hackers have released an exploit targeting a third unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Word. The flaw is different from the two previous Word vulnerabilities reported earlier this month, US CERT helpfully explains.
German court rules SanDisk MP3 player seizure lawful
A German court has ruled that local Public Prosecution officers were right to seize SanDisk digital music players at the IFA consumer electronics show held in Berlin last September. SanDisk's players are accused of incorporating without permission technology owned by a number of European firms.
Reg readers save the planet from offshored asteroids
LettersIs this the end for IT peeps in the UK? Analyst Bob McDowell certainly seems to think so. Not a cheerful subject for readers of El Reg, and understandably once you'd read his article, you had a few things you wanted to get off your chests:
PayPal repels Reg reader over piracy refunds
A disgruntled Reg reader got in touch with us because he'd unwittingly bought some counterfeit X-box games.
Operator greed kills online services
Ninety-five percent of mobile services fail in the market - and it's thanks to greedy network operators who have treated their customers as a lumpen mass.
Transport for London shreds LogicaCMG contract
ExclusiveTransport for London (TfL) and LogicaCMG have binned a troubled multimillion pound IT outsourcing contract..
Woolworths.co.uk collapses under mispriced TV rush
The UK website of the high street retailer Woolworths, fell over today as British punters rushed in to place orders for ultra cheapo LCD TVs.
SAN-in-a-box scores with Fibre Channel fans
As iSCSI gains traction in the market, cheaper Fibre Channel is back on the agenda this week, with both EMC and Fujitsu-Siemens picking up 4Gig SAN-in-a-box packages assembled by Emulex and Brocade. Could this be the long-awaited low-end breakthrough for Fibre Channel?
Mark Anders on Flash development
InterviewAlong with Scott Guthrie, Mark Anders was one of the fathers of ASP.NET. Then he led the Flex Builder team at Macromedia. Now at Adobe, he’s in charge of making Flash a development platform for rich Internet applications.
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories
The New York Times continues to perplex with its analyst-quoting policy. Rather than having analysts declare their ties to clients, the paper would prefer to quote analysts that have no experience with a client - a protocol which seems to undermine the very point of citing analysts.


text:
Google Pixel 4 isn’t due for a release for a while now but it looks like we already have some key information regarding it. Google recently announced that it has been working on its next-gen of Google Assitant at Google I/O 2019.
From whatever we have gathered from the presentation the next iteration of the Google AI holds a promising future.
The Google Assistant of future
The Google Assistant is already a remarkable piece of technology as it is running on more than 1 billion devices. The current version of the Assitant can understand 30 languages across 80 countries.
Interestingly the new version will provide Google the edge in the competition of AI’s.
Google told the developers at Google I/O that the current iteration of Google Assitant uses more than 100 gigs of data to understand and process the requests made by the users. They have worked and reduced the data required to just 512 MB.
This will allow Google to move all the processing capabilities of the Assitant to the phone itself which will reduce the latency to near zero.
Google explained that the next-gen Assistant will translate and understand the voice in real-time with zero latency. They have also baked in the improved support for third-party apps.
Next-Gen Google Assistant and Pixel 4
Even though Google did not mention the release date of the next iteration of Google Assistant but it clear that it will ship with the Google Pixel 4.
It has been Google’s strategy for years that they release all major enhancement as an exclusive for their Pixel lineup. However, these features slowly make their way to other Android devices.
Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are the upcoming flagship devices of Google.
Specs of Pixel 4 Lineup
Pixel 4 is expected to pack a 5.5 inch full HD display and Pixel 4 XL will use a 6.2 inch at 1440p resolution. Both variants will use the latest Snapdragon 855 chipset with 8 gigs RAM.
So we expect to see the next-gen Google Assistant on Google Pixel 4.


text:
Not even coronavirus can stop Sant Jordi's Day
Book and flower sectors to move celebration of love and reading from April 23 to July 23, with activities to do "at home" on patron saint's day
Every April 23, streets and squares all over Catalonia are filled with stalls selling books and roses as people come out in honor of the country's patron saint, Sant Jordi (Saint George).
However, this year, what is one of Catalonia's most popular annual celebrations is among the many events canceled or postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis.
Yet, fans of Sant Jordi's Day should not despair, as the associations representing Catalonia's book and flower sectors announced on Tuesday that this year's festivities will now be held on July 23 instead.
Although the new date for Sant Jordi is still three months away, the two associations assume that "social distancing measures will still have to be heeded to protect everyone's health" in July.
And nor have the book and flower sectors completely given up on the patron saint's actual day on April 23, and they are encouraging people to celebrate Sant Jordi's Day "at home."
Books and roses available online
Sant Jordi's Day revolves around the tradition of loved ones exchanging a book for a rose, and the book sector points out that while bookstores may be closed, books can still be purchased from their websites.
A few weeks ago, the Som cooperative and the Mortensen agency launched the #LlibreriesObertes campaign calling on readers to pre-order books during the coronavirus confinement.
The aim of the initiative is to sell 30,000 books, with the money being advanced to bookstores to help them survive the current lockdown, with the readers collecting their purchases once the restrictions are lifted.
Meanwhile, the florists want people to have roses sent to the homes of their loved ones. The #rosadesantjordiacasa campaign includes some 110 florists, who are aiming to sell 300,000 roses, 5% of the usual number sold.
In fact, the flower sector has also called on people to decorate their balconies and streets on April 23 and to celebrate Sant Jordi's Day with their families by doing activities from their balconies.
As for the book sector, it is promoting a campaign under the hashtags, #Senseparadesperosenseparar and #llibresalaire, calling on people to go on to their balconies or patios at midday and 6 pm to read out loud.


text:
We took record of lots of them ahead of 2020. Yet, since the pandemic outbreak, we have been (almost) losing count. In fact, the acquisition chess game does not only look endless, but also keeps reviving frenziedly therefore leading to buyout, merger and incorporation deals which are rather unpredictable at times. After all, as pointed out by financial analysts, a large amount of current assets is ready to be invested. An extremely large amount
There is a trend which has never stopped. In fact, it has been going on like that for ages: there is nothing new about it at present. More specifically, we are talking about an endless acquisition chess game. Yet, despite their traditional enduring over times, in the last pandemic months, more than ever, such M&A deals, also known as Mergers & Acquisitions, have been running after each other and increasing, and keep redefining the organization of the supply industry.
Please note that we are talking about the whole fashion & luxury industry supply chain, from upstream supplying up to downstream sales and distribution networks, either physical or digital. That is for sure: this acquisition chess game is going to continue further on. Yes, indeed, it will go on and on.
The acquisition chess game
Over the last few months, the financial shopping turnover turned out to be frenzied. It reached extremely high points as some deals have been closed successfully: among others, the one that has led Tiffany under the control of LVMH (for the time being, this is the richest M&A deal in the luxury segment).
Acquisitions and mergers have been consistently and repeatedly going on throughout 2020. And as emphasized by a lot of financial analysts, have been speeding up in 2021, which is bound to be the umpteenth “year of acquisitions”.
In other words, lots of deals have been already signed, and many more are potentially going to take place. The reasons why such trend is running this way are quite clear. They have been put forth and explained by PWC, which consider acquisitions as a valuable tool to create and safeguard the value of the buying business.
On top of that, such transfer deals help companies that are bought out to change their own business model. That is why, commented analysts while speaking to Italian newspaper MFFashion, “a strategic choice, in the luxury segment, will also affect vertical and horizontal integrations across the value chain”. Looking into the whole scenario, pointed out PWC while focusing exclusively on the made in Italy market, investments funds are playing an increasingly relevant role.
In fact, in 2020 they exceeded 60% of estimated transaction deals. Consequently, made in Italy production and its supply chain look particularly appealing to the world of finance.
The “865” factor
865 is not a number randomly assigned. In fact, it is the number of billions of dollars which are supposedly ready to be invested by private equity funds while playing such acquisition chess game.
EY have estimated these figures to prove that 2020, which was appalling to the whole humankind, has turned (it comes as no surprise) into a golden season to the benefit of investments companies.
After the amazing performance achieved by VF Corp, which bought out Supreme, and L Catterton, which acquired Birkenstock, all players are eager now. “Talks and deals are as hectic as ever – commented David Bassuk, co-leader of Alix Partners, while speaking to WWD –. All players were waiting and see how the world would be after the pandemic. It is the right time, now, to buy, reshape, and capitalize. There are lots of opportunities.” Considering the current merger-mania underway, we will find out more about them shortly.


text:
The Federal Court has ordered Australian company Pental to pay $700k for misleading consumers about their ‘flushable’ White King bathroom wipes.
Marketing by the company suggested that the wipes were similar to toilet paper and “made from a specially designed material, which will disintegrate in the sewage system when flushed”.
Proceedings in the Federal Court were commenced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in December 2016, after a complaint by consumer advocate group Choice.
Choice spokesperson, Tom Godfrey, told the SMH in 2016 that "The 'flushable' claims were one of the greatest consumer cons going around. It was very clear these products shouldn't be flushed," he said.
"Consumers in Australia and around the world have been hoodwinked for years and it was all just a cynical ploy to get us to pay more."
Pental cooperated with the ACCC by admitting their claims were wrong.
In an interview with the ABC, ACCC commissioner Sarah Court welcomed the outcome and said businesses would face "serious consequences" for misleading consumers about their products.
"These White King wipes can't be flushed down the toilet, and Australian wastewater authorities face significant problems if they are [flushed] because they can cause blockages in household and municipal sewerage systems," she said.
According to SMH, Sydney Water is now calling on the rest of the wet-wipes manufacturing industry to include 'do not flush’ warnings on the packaging of bathroom products.
“The international water industry has collectively committed to a position statement that all wipes and personal hygiene products should be clearly marked 'do not flush' and be disposed of in the bin.
"This position statement is supported by over 300 utilities and non-government organisations from 23 countries,” Mr Vernon said.
"Sydney Water hopes this judgment reinforces our message to the community that wipes should not go down toilets and drains and we support any moves by manufacturers that help in this area.”
The case is an important reminder to only flush the “three Ps — pee, poo and paper.” Everything else should be disposed of properly in the bin.
Do you need assistance with a blocked drain?
If you've been lured in by these claims and suspect a blockage caused by wet-wipes, JAB Plumbing Solutions can help. We specialise in sewer cleaning and our trucks are equipped with high-tech drain cameras and jet blasters to clear out wet-wipes fast. Call 1800 225 552 to speak with our blocked drain experts today.