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Dust off those Dancin' Shoes, or warm up those vocal chords, or bring whatever talent you have.
Dog stolen from car as owner was in the restaurant.
VIDEO: SUNY New Paltz School of Business Holds Student Competition for Entrepreneurial Business Models
Students compete for cash prize and possibility of launching a new business
Rising Stars honorees encompass what the Junior League stands for; they are social agents of change utilizing their talents to assist in the improvement of the Orange County community,
Cyber criminals often prey on consumers who don’t keep a close eye on their transactions.
Ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution and civil damages.
Physical shopping outweighs virtual shopping by almost 90%. during Thanksgiving.
Suspected shooter tracked down and arrested in half a day.
Wife remarried in 2017
Cuomo wins for third term with 61% of the votes.


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The Big Three? Why Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen, of course. We’re talking about 2013 sales among the largest carmakers in the world.
Toyota sold 9.9 million vehicles last year, ahead of the 9.7 million sold by GM and VW, respectively. Toyota looks to top 10 million units in sales worldwide in 2014.
Ford ran sixth in 2013 behind Renault-Nissan (fourth) and Hyundai-Kia (fifth) mainly because the world doesn’t buy F-150 trucks the way they do in the United States. The F-150 finished as the top-selling U.S. vehicle for yet another year.
Rounding out the top 10 on the world market were Fiat-Chrysler (seventh), Honda (eighth), Peugeot (ninth) and Suzuki (10th). Sales figures are courtesy of IHS Automotive.
On the electric car front, the Economist reported that Chinese firms are anxious to sell their electric vehicles in the United States. China’s BYD has announced it will start selling electric cars on the U.S. market in 2015 while Chinese interests look to revive production of the Fisker, an American electric hopeful that went belly-up despite a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

domain: news


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International Trade and Finance: Key Policy Issues for the 112th Congress [January 21, 2011] [open pdf - 261KB]
From the Summary: "The 112th Congress faces a full agenda of international trade and finance issues. Early in 2011, the Obama Administration is expected to ask Congress to approve a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea and possibly FTAs with Colombia and Panama. The Administration is seeking to conclude the much larger 10-year-old World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which, if completed, would also require congressional approval. The Administration is also negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, a regional FTA that currently includes nine countries on both sides of the Pacific. A U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was first negotiated by President George W. Bush's Administration and signed on June 30, 2007. The Obama Administration did not submit it for approval in the 111th Congress due to opposition from U.S. automakers and beef producers. In early December 2010, U.S. trade negotiators won further concessions on autos from the South Korean government, which may allow President Obama to decide to submit the agreement to Congress in 2011. Any vote on this proposed agreement would take place under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which allows implementing bills for trade agreements to be considered under expedited legislative procedures--limited debate, no amendments, and an up or down vote. While the proposed KORUS FTA is covered by TPA, which expired on July 1, 2007, many experts argue that TPA would have to be renewed if the United States is to be a credible negotiator at the WTO Doha Round and the TPP discussions. Any trade debate in the 112th Congress will likely revolve around the perceived effects of trade and FTAs on U.S. stakeholders. Proponents are likely to argue that the FTAs will improve access to foreign markets, increase trade, and create jobs. Critics are likely to assert that the agreements favor corporations over workers, and place downward pressure on wages and labor standards."
CRS Report for Congress, R41553


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Recalls for food happen more often than we think.
Recently, a farm in Alabama was forced to destroy thousand of containers of eggs following a salmonella outbreak that was detected in their supply. Speaking of experience, food poisoning is no joke.
However, they aren’t the only food production location in the United States that is facing dealing with a massive recall. Separately, the CDC and the USDA have released two different meat recalls for listeria and salmonella.
This particular recall isn’t something to bat an eye at and then walk away, the grocery stores carrying these products have been ordered to removed millions of pounds worth of meat from shelves.
This outbreaks has already resulted in one death and has sicked nearly sixty people with salmonella poisoning.
Officials have specifically instructed companies to recall 6.5 million pounds of beef from Arizona, and 89,000 pounds of the Carolina ham.
The ham infections all occurred more than two months ago, but officials say that their investigation is ongoing. They are urging consumers to be wary of all prepackaged deli products for the near future.
Listeria is no joke. It causes listeriosis, which causes the infected to suffer from diarrhea and intense fever. In the worst cases, it can eventually result in death.
The infected meat is sold under several different brand names, so you might want to write these down. They include Johnston County Hams Inc. Country Style Fully Cooked Boneless Deli Ham, Goodnight Brothers Country Ham Boneless Fully Cooked, and Padow’s Hams & Deli, Inc. Fully Cooked Country Ham Boneless Glazed with Brown Sugar.
The listeria-infected ham is just one side of this dangerous equation. The beef products from Arizona are infected with salmonella, which also leads to similar symptoms. People have become infected in 16 states so far, and officials hope that the recalls will prevent that number from growing even higher.
The beef is also sold under several brand names. These include Walmart, Cedar River Farms Natural Beef, Showcase, Showcase/Walmart, and JBS Generic. Keep an eye on your meat and make sure that none of these contaminated brands are in your fridge or freezer.
Each contaminated package lists the USDA inspection number as EST.267. Double check all of your products if you want to keep yourself and your family safe from infection.
The severe issues arise when diarrhea is uncontrolled for several days. The contaminated person can become dehydrated and at that point may need hospitalization to recover.


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Using a cheap lock to secure an expensive motorbike is a false economy, an Aberdeen police officer has said.
Sergeant Simon Lewis-Dalby, of West End Community Policing Team, spoke after a motorbike was stolen from the West End area of the city last month.
And motorcyclists have been urged to be vigilant in the wake of the theft.
No further details about the incident in February are available.
In a report summarising crime in the area in February, which has just been released, he said: “The one vehicle stolen from the area (which also covers Ferryhill and Mannofield) in February was a motorcycle whose security chain was cut.
“When considering anti-theft locks and chains for your cycles and motorcycles, we would hope you consider the cost of the item being secured and reflect that in the cost of the anti-theft measure.
“Securing a £3,000 cycle with a £15 lock is a false economy.”


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The police were called after a white woman at Walmart reportedly hurled racial slurs at Trina.
According to TMZ, the white shopper inside the Florida Walmart called the rapper an “N-word b*tch” after Trina bumped into her in an aisle. The woman allegedly used the racial slur after telling Trina to “watch out.”
Unsurprisingly, Trina lost her cool—and it was all caught on video.
“Say it again you dirty-ass bitch!” she can be heard yelling. “I am an [N-word] bitch. Say it again! Say it again. I dare you to say it. I dare you to motherfuckin’ say it.”
TMZ’s law enforcement sources said a police report wasn’t filed, as Trina decided against doing so. Citing “safety concerns,” Trina was reportedly escorted out of the store and to her vehicle. Police did not speak to the woman who allegedly hurled the racial slur.
Trina has yet to publicly address the incident.
Miami Rapper @TRINArockstarr was recently a victim of racism.— Big Boss (@escapedmatrix) November 11, 2019
Trina was shopping at a Walmart in Cooper City, Florida when she bumped into a white woman in the aisle. This prompted the lady to respond to Trina, saying, “Watch out, you ni**er bitch.” pic.twitter.com/JGbXqSSl9D
I Bet She Want Call “ Trina “ or Nobody a Nigga again in her life! pic.twitter.com/zDgVqNzKpj— Youtube : Kenz TV (@_KenzTV_) November 11, 2019


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Over on the GeForce Now Reddit a user called SammyFae has discovered that Phantasy Star Online 2 is showing hints of GeForce Now support. When you try and run the game it is displaying the error message that the game is not fully supported as yet.
Usually when this message is displayed this means that the game is likely to be on its way to the service. Last week Two Point Hospital was released on GeForce Now which is also a Sega game. Hopefully this is a sign that more Sega games will be added to the service shortly.


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Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh): Indrakeeladri temple has issued dress code for devotees in Andhra Pradesh.
The temple authorities have made wearing of traditional dress mandatory for women.
The temple administration has declared that devotees including women will now have to follow a new dress code which will be soon put in place for getting entry into the temple premises.
The authorities said the dress code will be effective from January 1 onwards.
It will be mandatory for devotees to don traditional attire before offering prayers.
Casuals like bermudas, shorts, mini-skirts, low-waist jeans and short-length T-shirts, middies and sleeveless tops have been banned inside the temple.


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BitPanda, the online cryptocurrency exchange, is launching what they call the first “real” cryptocurrency index.
BitPanda, the large online cryptocurrency exchange platform, is launching what they say is the first “real” crypto index, which will be available on the BitPanda platform. BitPanda’s cryptocurrency
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While AMD’s Zen4-based Ryzen 7000 Series is several months away from launch, rumours and gossips are still being churned out of its mill. The latest rumour being that the processor series’ AM5 platform will only be supporting DDR5 memory, and nothing else.
The rumour was first reported by tech site Tom’s Hardware, which goes on to write that AMD’s AM5 platform will be limited to DDR5 memory support, specifically to its X670 and B650 AM5 platforms. In addition, the site reportedly confirmed that X670 motherboards could feature a dual-chiplet design, but not the lower-grade 600 series AM5 motherboards.
Adding to that, a leaked ComputerBase document posted on Twitter seems to verify the possibility of DDR5 exclusivity with AM5, with DDR4 memory never one within the 254-page document, while the newer memory standard was mentioned a total of 76 times.
Editor from @ComputerBase posted this already few days ago in their forum.
Socket AM5 guide, in the 254-page document you can find the text "DDR5" 76 times, "DDR4" never.
— CapFrameX (@CapFrameX) April 25, 2022
While the news does come as a bit of a shock to some industry players – and provided that the rumours are true – AMD’s choice of not making its upcoming AM5 platform backwards compatible with DDR4 memory really isn’t that unusual. More to the point, the transition from an older memory standard to a later standard is the price one pays for innovation; when Intel launched its 6th generation Skylake lineup, that also marked the shift from DDR3 to DDR4.
That being said, we would be remiss if we did not point out that Intel is also the only chipmaker whose current 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU lineup and platform does have 600 series motherboards that are built to support either DDR4 or DDR5 memory kits, but never both.
On that note, another reason why industry players have are seeing this as a missed opportunity by AMD for its AM5 platform is due to the cost of DDR5 memory. In contrast, the new memory standard and its kits are considerably, if not significantly, more expensive than DDR4, with little to no gains in performance over several applications.
Yes, pricing for memory and graphics cards have improved over the past several months, but again, the cost for DDR5 kits still exceeds the pricing for DDR4 by a very long mile. For that matter, it is believed that DDR5’s pricing may not reach price parity until at least next year.
Again, this is still just a rumour with nothing have been officially verified or announced by AMD or its manufacturing partners. To that end, the usual sodium consumption levels are advised.


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|Bid||1.0000 x 100|
|Ask||3.6500 x 900|
|Day's Range||3.3000 - 3.4000|
|52 Week Range||2.2500 - 3.8100|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||16.34|
|Earnings Date||Oct 16, 2017 - Oct 20, 2017|
|Dividend & Yield||0.00 (0.00%)|
|1y Target Est||0.00|
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. , Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CCA Industries, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN: CAW) announced today the resignation of Linda Shein as a director of CCA Industries, Inc. effective September ...
Research Desk Line-up: CCA Industries Post Earnings Coverage LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily has just published a free post-earnings coverage on Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL ), which ...
Categories: Yahoo FinanceGet free summary analysis CCA Industries, Inc. reports financial results for the quarter ended May 31, 2017. Highlights Summary numbers: Revenues of USD 6.11 million, Net Earnings of USD 0.70 million. Gross margins narrowed from 62.61% to 61.62% compared to the same period last year, operating (EBITDA) margins now 21.82% from 15.68%. Change in operating ... Read more (Read more...)


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Put on a new face for Facebook
Everyone wants to be a Facebook babe. Too bad it's so difficult. The English-Dutch company Vaseline found this out the hard way when they launched "Transform your Face on Facebook" — an online application that allows male users to whiten the colour of their skin in onilne profile pictures.
Everyone wants to be a Facebook babe. Too bad it's so difficult. The English-Dutch company Vaseline found this out the hard way when they launched 'Transform your Face on Facebook' — an online application that allows male users to whiten the colour of their skin in onilne profile pictures.
The page also contains tips on hairstyles to flatter different face shapes and questions over the sex appeal of specs, but bloggers immediately took issue with the skin-whitening concept. Respected columnists called the application 'racist.' Anonymous online commenters, with a typical mix of charm and restraint, made short work of what was left.
The message of the application — and the hope it encapsulates — is both sad and universal. The problem with the application — if there is one — isn't just the race fantasy. Advertisers of lifestyle products earn their money by creating a world that is tinged with elitism — filled with the hot girls who will never go out with you, or elegant friends who always go places and forget to give you directions. The only way into their world is to buy.
Now that world has collided with Facebook, with major reverberations. Airbrushing has been put into the hands of the masses, and there's no going back. It's only a matter of milliseconds before 'Transform your Figure on Facebook' or 'Transform your Friends on Facebook' become commercial concepts.
So are there any other applications that shook the world this week? Here are two for sure:
Frog Dissection HD
Dissections may be a staple school-time lesson, but they take a much less messy, virtual form in Frog Dissection HD, an iPad application that simulates the experience of an actual frog dissection.
Frog Dissection HD has been downloaded 500 times since it launched a month ago, according to the designer. The application picked up press last week when it won an award from the animal rights group PETA on the grounds that virtual dissection lesson prevents cruelty to animals.
Right now the application is iPad-only, and goes for $5, but the designers, who are based in Chennai and Delhi, are working on a web version for the Indian market.
As to whether virtual dissection is more humane, Kartik S, marketing manager for maker Emantras, says, 'I'm not sure whether this can completely replace the dissection experience.'
Ask the Octopus Oracle
The World Cup final brought unexpected fame to Paul the Octopus, an ocean creature with the power to prophesy German performance in soccer tournaments.
Now, owners of iPhones can benefit from cephalopod wisdom, too, thanks to a Brazilian software company. They've invented the iPhone application 'Ask the Octopus Oracle,' in which a somewhat cock-eyed red octopus chooses between two user-inputted options.
Follow HT Tech for the latest tech news and reviews , also keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. For our latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.


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It is learned on February 20 from CNMO that recently, a screenshot posted by a blogger on the Internet has attracted people’s attention. In the screenshot, the blogger said that NIO is sure to release ET9, and informed sources revealed that it will be released at the end of this year, built on NT3.0 platform, and is going in the direction of Maybach in all aspects.
In the comment area, senior auto media person responded. He affirmed this rumor: “Indeed, It has been worked on for a while. NIO’s Maybach solved the defect of ET7’s rear row once and for all. It is the first car on the NT3.0 platform, and the screen starts to be horizontal.”
If the above news is true, Nio may be building a flagship sedan of the brand. It can also be known from the naming and benchmarking of Maybach that the car must be expensive. For reference, the current price of NIO ET7 is between 458,000 and 536,000 yuan, so the price of ET9 with a higher positioning may be even higher.


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VANCOUVER - Superstar New York chef Daniel Boulud has been recruited to become a business partner and executive chef at Lumiere restaurant in Vancouver.
The celebrated chef will also open a new DB Bistro Moderne restaurant next door in the space now occupied by Feenie's. It will be his first restaurant in Canada.
Boulud, who owns six restaurants in the U.S., will essentially replace Vancouver chef Rob Feenie, who opened Lumiere in 1995 and Feenie's in 2003. Feenie left the restaurants last fall, claiming owners David and Manjy Sidoo breached his employment contract.
Boulud, 52, was born in France and now owns and operates restaurants in New York, Palm Beach, Miami and Las Vegas. His signature Daniel restaurant on Park Ave. in New York was rated one of the 10 best restaurants in the world by the International Herald Tribune.
Feenie's restaurant will close for renovations on March 20 and reopen as DB Bistro Moderne in July. Lumiere will close for renovations at the end of April and reopen about two months later.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.


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Report: Fred’s could receive cash infusion to help purchase Rite Aid stores
Fred’s plan to purchase at least 865 divested Rite Aid stores may be getting a step closer to becoming a reality.
More than one prominent investor has recently approached Fred’s Pharmacy, a regional drug chain that operates 601 locations in 16 states. The investors' goal is to help Fred's pay for and successfully operate the 865 divested Rite Aid stores it pledged to purchase for $950 million, according to the New York Post.
The FTC could require more Rite Aid stores be divested to give its blessing to the merger.
Coinciding with reporting its 2016 fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday, April 6, the company said, “Fred’s Pharmacy remains committed to purchasing additional assets, including up to 1,200 Rite Aid stores, to the extent necessary to obtain the FTC’s approval of the transaction.”
Fred’s added the addition of Rite Aid stores would be highly beneficial to the company. “The proposed acquisition of the stores, which are based in highly attractive markets, is a transformative event that will add substantial scale to the company and transform Fred’s Pharmacy, the largest regional pharmacy player, into an even stronger competitor and the third-largest drugstore chain in the nation,” the company said. “The transaction will accelerate the Company’s healthcare growth strategy, generating considerable benefits for our customers, patients, payers, supplier partners, team members and shareholders.”
To read more, click here.
Mexican shoppers boost Laredo outlet opening
President Trump’s real estate compadres at CBL and Horizon Group are no doubt hoping he holds off on building that wall.
The companies opened The Outlet Shoppes in the Texas border town of Laredo this week and report experiencing high traffic and sales volumes, in large part due to Mexica shoppers flocking to the site.
“We always knew the center would be strong with its position close to the major bridges to Mexico and its proximity to Monterrey, but we never anticipated the volume of shoppers we experienced our first weekend,” said Gary Skoien, president and CEO of Horizon Group.
Added CBL chief executive Steven Lebovitz: “We have a strong presence in Laredo as the owner of Mall del Norte and we are excited to expand our footprint in this dynamic and growing market.”
Tenants at the 358,000-sq.-ft. center include Nike, A’gaci, Michael Kors, Very Bradley, Puma, Columbia, and Sunglass Hut. Looking toward summer openings are Banana Republic, GAP, H&M, and Old Navy.
Report: Eastern Outfitters LLC seeks speedy store closures
Eastern Outfitters could soon be adding to the surge of store closings among U.S. retailers.
The company won a court order on Thursday, April 6, for an expedited hearing on its plan to shutter 48 of the 86 stores its operates under the Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports brands, according to Reuters.
Eastern Outfitters will make its case on April 13 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, where it filed for Chapter 11 protection in February.
To read more, click here.


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400. 1,127. 354.
Those three numbers made news this spring. They point to the frustrations – and failures – of those of us inside and outside of corporate America who would like business to become more sustainable.
400: Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 passed the symbolic threshold of 400 parts per million. Big companies talk a good game on climate change, but global emissions keep rising. Climate remains the defining issue of our time; if business can’t find a way to bring down its emissions, and ours, we’re all in trouble.
1,127: The death toll in the collapse of the garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, making it the deadliest disaster in the industry’s history. Years of extensive and expensive supply-chain monitoring by the biggest US clothing brands, including Nike, Gap and Walmart, however well-intentioned, have brought only modest improvements to labour standards in the world’s poorest countries.
354: Last year, chief executives of the companies that make up the S&P500 Index received, on average $12.3m in total compensation, according to the AFL-CIO. By contrast, rank-and-file workers averaged $34,645. That means CEOs made 354 times more than their employees. This exacerbates inequality, undermines trust in business, and leads ordinary people across the political spectrum to believe that the system is tilted in favour of the rich and powerful, and against them. You know what? They’re right.
The sustainable business agenda has never been more relevant. And the opportunities for companies that take an expansive view of their role in the world have never been greater.
Smart companies recognise that these big issues – climate change, global poverty and income inequality in the US – cannot be left to governments or NGOs to solve. The US government is not merely grid-locked; it has shown itself to be incapable of effectively tackling tough, long-term problems. That needs to change, and soon.
By themselves, NGOs don’t have the power or the resources to drive systemic change. Consumers are, alas, mostly indifferent. Only business has the creativity, the power and the scale to make really big things happen. It also has the incentive: climate change, global poverty and income inequality are business problems as well as social problems. They create risks that threaten the stability that capitalism needs to thrive. More important, they present enormous opportunities to those businesses that find ways to help solve them.
As a journalist, author, speaker and blogger, I’ve participated in the conversation about the social and environmental impact of business for more than a decade. I’m excited now to bring my work to Guardian Sustainable Business US as editor-at-large. Guardian Sustainable Business and I share a common agenda: to cheer the leading businesses, to jeer at laggards, to tell compelling stories (because there’s nothing quite so interesting as the challenges facing business today), to deliver insight and, ultimately, to challenge corporate America to profitably address issues ranging from climate change and resource scarcity to poverty and biodiversity loss.
There’s good reason to believe that progress can be made. Much already has. Thanks largely to globalisation, more people have emerged from poverty in the last two decades than during any comparable period in human history. (In Bangladesh, where the garment industry generates $18bn in annual exports, life expectancy has grown from 56 to 69 during the last 20 years.)
Some of the biggest and most influential US companies – GE, IBM, Walmart and Google, among others – have embraced the rhetoric of sustainability and made more-or-less serious commitments to drive change. Consumers are beginning to align their purchases with their values. NGOs collaborate with big companies when their interests coincide. Perhaps most importantly, more and more workers, especially young people, demand meaning as well as money from their jobs; they want to work for companies that are part of the solution, not part of the problem. Those companies that attract and engage them will rise to the top.
Put simply, the sustainable business movement has accomplished a great deal but not nearly enough.
As Aron Cramer, the chief executive of Business for Social Responsibility, put it when reviewing the two decades since the Rio Summit and the founding of BSR: “It seems that everything has changed… and nothing has changed.”
So what’s ahead? Here are some of the stories, broadly defined, that we hope to cover at Guardian Sustainable Business US:
Getting beyond incrementalism
Making office buildings, factories and supply chains more efficient is necessary, but not sufficient. Energy efficiency is also kind of boring, truth be told; not many people want to read about HVAC. What’s interesting and important are bold new ideas, the most innovative “green” products and sustainability breakthroughs. Some small-scale examples: the solar lanterns for the poor made by d.light, the packaging from ocean waste made by Method and Coca-Cola’s ekocycle work. None are big enough to matter, yet, but they point us in the direction we need to go.


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Pesticide & GMO Free Food is Rare and Precious
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis
PLEASE NOTE: GMO seeds are commonly used in field crops like corn and wheat but will KILL broad leaf vegetables like tomatoes and lettuces. There are many misconceptions about GMO seeds used in planting typical vegetable gardens and Portable Farms® uses NO GMO seeds in our aquaponics systems. GMO seeds are commonly used in the crops corn, wheat, soy, cotton, sugar, zucchini, squash, papaya, aspartame, and milk products. Here is a list of products containing GMO (scary list – we have always loved Thomas English Muffins, but no more).
Future of Federal GMO Food Disclosure Rules in Limbo
from National Law Review – Friday, January 27, 2017
Funding issues could delay the implementation of new federal GMO food disclosure rules
- As previously discussed on this blog, a new federal law requiring labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods and food ingredients was signed into law on July 29, 2016. This law directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop regulations and standards to create mandatory disclosure requirements for bio-engineered foods by July 2018. Under the new law, food companies would have three options to disclose GMO ingredients: the use of on-package text, a USDA-created symbol, or an internet link — i.e., a QR code printed on the package that directs customers to GMO information. To support the development of the regulations and standards required by the new law, USDA is slated to conduct a study to identify potential technological challenges that might impact whether consumers would be able to rely on electronic or digital links on food packages.
- A recent news report, however, indicates that USDA is struggling to secure the funds to move forward with the study which, under the law, should be completed by this July. Despite the current delays, a USDA official indicates that the Agency “fully expects to meet all deadlines set forth in the law.”
- Industry will continue to keep a close eye on developments as they unfold, particularly with a new administration at the helm.


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Intel has acquired artificial intelligence (AI) startup Nervana Systems in a bid to future-proof its data centre business and shift focus away from the flailing PC market.
Intel hasn’t revealed the financial details of the deal, but Recode reported that the company paid “more than $400m”, citing an anonymous source.
Nervana, a 48-person firm based in San Diego, California led by co-founder Naveen Rao, a former Qualcomm researcher, was founded in 2014 and offers a fully optimized software and hardware stack for deep learning.
The firm’s cloud-based service allows businesses to build and deploy applications that make use of deep learning, and Nervana has developed a custom processor, known as an ASIC, especially for deep learning.
Intel is looking to the firm to bolster its own deep learning credentials, betting big on the fact that AI represents the next big shift in corporate data centres. The purchase also sees the firm moving away from the PC market, which hasn’t been going too well for Intel lately.
Diane Bryant, executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Centre Group, said: “I’m excited to announce that Intel signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nervana Systems, a recognized leader in deep learning.
“Their IP and expertise in accelerating deep learning algorithms will expand Intel’s capabilities in the field of AI. We will apply Nervana’s software expertise to further optimise the Intel Math Kernel Library and its integration into industry-standard frameworks.
“Nervana’s engine and silicon expertise will advance Intel’s AI portfolio and enhance the deep learning performance and TCO of Intel Xeon and Xeon Phi processors.”
Rao added: “The semiconductor integrated circuit is one of humanity’s crowning achievements and Intel has the best semiconductor technology in the world.
“Nervana’s AI expertise combined with Intel’s capabilities and huge market reach will allow us to realize our vision and create something truly special.”
Intel’s acquisition of Nervana comes just days after Apple scooped up an AI startup called Turi. The firm handed over £150m for the Seattle-based firm, according to reports.
Dish said it lost 281,000 net pay-TV subscribers in the second quarter ended June 30, missing the average analyst estimate of a loss of 91,000 subscribers, according to market research firm FactSet StreetEstimate.
However, average revenue per user rose to $89.98 from $87.91, helped by price increases for its video service.
Dish raised its 2016 video service rates in January.
To offset losses in its core pay-TV business, the company last year launched a cheaper $20-per-month Sling TV online streaming service that offers a slim bundle of channels, including live programming from networks such as ESPN.
Net income attributable to Dish rose to $410 million, or 88 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, from $324 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.
Net revenue rose to $3.84 billion from $3.83 billion.
The Winograd Schema Challenge is a competition intended to reward technologists who can build a system that understands the kind of ambiguous sentences humans come out with all the time, but which are simple for other humans, even stupid ones, to understand.
Get it right 90 per cent of the time and $25,000 is up for grabs. And with things like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Assistant, the Winograd Schema Challenge must surely be as good as obsolete by now.
The best two entrants at the event this week achieved correct scores only 48 per cent of the time, little better than randomly guessing the meaning of the sentences they were supposed to crack.
This is despite a decade of advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), which has barely shifted since the late 1950s, according to some.
The Challenge posed a series of ambiguously worded sentences to the entrants such as:
The trophy would not fit in the brown suitcase because it was too big (small). What was too big (small)?
The town councillors refused to give the demonstrators a permit because they feared (advocated) violence. Who feared (advocated) violence?
There is an ambiguity in the above examples, read literally, about what is too big (or small) and exactly who is fearing violence, although a semi-intelligent human should be able to work it out with ease.
The problem, according to Gary Marcus, a research psychologist at New York University, who acted as an advisor for the Challenge, is that computers lack common sense, and programming it into them is incredibly difficult.
Indeed, the MIT Technology Review said that most of the entrants in the Challenge used a combination of hand-coded grammatical understanding and a ‘knowledge base’ of facts. It still didn’t help much, though.
However, one of the two best-placed systems, led by Quan Liu, a researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China, together with researchers from York University in Montreal and the National Research Council of Canada, used neural network-based machine learning in a bid to train their computer to recognise the many different contexts in which words can be used.
Liu claimed that after fixing a problem in the AI, he was able to achieve a success rate closer to 60 per cent, which is still a long way from being able to go home with a cheque for $25,000.
The Challenge is deliberately designed to be different from the Turing Test, which tests only whether a human can be fooled into thinking that an AI program is human.
The trouble with this is that there are more than enough idiots who could be fooled into helping an AI system to pass that test. The language test, in contrast, provides a more objective test of genuine AI, argued Marcus.
The failure of the AI programs in the Challenge highlights how far chatbots and other supposedly revolutionary AI-based machines still have to go before humans can clock-off for the last time and leave running the planet to computers.
Some experts have claimed that its development will spark the next industrial revolution, while others, such as Apple co-founder and pontificator Steve Wozniak, suggest that we’ll be adopted as pets by robots.
Google, Microsoft and Facebook didn’t bother entering, perhaps because they feared outright humiliation. Maybe next year.
Verizon Communications Inc, the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider, announced that it would increase plan rates but will also boost data buckets by 30 percent for its customers, who increasingly stream content through mobile devices.
As of July 7, the company rolled out a revamped version of its My Verizon mobile app to let customers control data overages and billing, as well as manage plans, it said. Moreover, emulating moves by some of its rivals such as AT&T Inc and T-Mobile US Inc, it will let customers carry unused data over to the next month and begin offering users on certain plans unlimited text and calling to and from Mexico and Canada.
The redesigned plans and app come as the company, known for its high-quality network, is locked in a battle for subscribers with competitors in the saturated U.S. wireless market.
Smaller rival Sprint Corp has been offering half-off discounts, and T-Mobile has launched free music, video-streaming plans and other customer-friendly offers and free gifts to attract customers away from competitors to their networks.
The new rate plans are meant to help customers tackle data overage costs and “reflect the significant growth in individual data use,” Rob Miller, vice president of consumer pricing at Verizon said in a webcast on Wednesday.
Verizon is hiking rates and increasing data across all its plans. For instance, the basic “S” plan will cost $35, a $5 rise, and offer double the data at 2 gigabytes and the high-end “XXL” plan will cost $10 more at $110 and offer 24 gigabytes as opposed to the previous 16 gigabyte limit.
The company also said it will introduce a “safety mode” that protects customers from data overages by slowing down their speeds. The feature is free for those on the “XL” and “XXL” plans and costs $5 for those on the “S”, “M”, “L” plans, it said.
Twitter confirmed the investment, but did not provide any financial details.
“Earlier this year we made an investment in SoundCloud through Twitter Ventures to help support some of our efforts with creators,” Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said.
Soundcloud, a platform that enables people to upload and share music and other audio files, also confirmed that Twitter had made the investment.
Twitter’s investment was part of a funding round expected to be in the range of $100 million, which would value SoundCloud at about $700 million, the Re/code report said.
The microblogging site has previously attempted to make a foray into music with the launch of Twitter Music in 2013, which was closed a year later. At the time, the company said that it would look for new ways to bring music based content to the service.
Amazon.com Inc is gearing up to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service, placing it squarely in competition with rival offerings from Apple Inc and Spotify, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The service will be offered at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, and it will offer a competitive catalog of songs, the sources said. Amazon is finalizing licenses with labels for the service, which likely will be launched in late summer or early fall, the sources said.
Amazon, which offers a free streaming music service with a limited catalog to subscribers of its Prime shipping and video service, did not respond to a request for comment about the new, full-fledged music plan.
Although it will be a late entrant to the crowded streaming space, Amazon believes a comprehensive music service is important to its bid to be a one-stop shop for content and goods, the sources said.
The new music offering also is intended to increase the appeal of the Amazon Echo, its home speaker, which searches the Internet and orders products from the retailer with voice commands.
“A music service will further increase the daily interactions between Amazon and its customer base,” said former music executive Jay Samit when told about the company’s plan.
The new Amazon effort will compete directly with Apple Music and Spotify, which boast more than 30 million songs. Apple launched its service last year in one of the highest profile signs that listeners wanted subscription services, rather than paying for individual songs or albums.
The service also will diversify Amazon’s subscription offerings and be another step away from a single, annual subscription. Amazon recently began allowing subscribers to Prime to pay monthly, for instance.
Silicon Valley titans such as Apple and Alphabet Inc’s Google have muscled into music streaming in recent years, aiming to weave themselves more tightly into their customers’ daily routines and drive device sales.
Amazon similarly hopes its new service’s tight integration with the Echo will help it stand out and reinforce the speaker’s appeal, the sources said.
Released broadly last year, the Echo has become a surprise hit that rival Google is now seeking to emulate with a speaker of its own.
The move suggests that Amazon will increasingly offer basic media options through Prime while selling additional subscriptions for consumers who want to go deeper. The company recently launched a standalone video service.
The new music service is unlikely to steal many customers from Spotify, but it could pose a threat to other players, said David Pakman, a partner at Venrock who headed early Apple music efforts, when informed of the move.
Apple Inc announced a series of long anticipated enhancements to its App Store, but the new features may not ease concerns of developers and analysts who say that the App Store model – and the very idea of the single-purpose app – has seen its best days.
The revamped App Store will let developers advertise their wares in search results and give developers a bigger cut of revenues on subscription apps, while Apple said it has already dramatically sped up its app-approval process.
The goal is to sustain the virtuous cycle at the heart of the hugely lucrative iPhone business. Software developers make apps for the iPhone because its customers are willing to pay, and those customers, in turn, pay a premium for the device because it has the best apps.
The store is now more strategically important than ever for Apple as sales of the iPhone begin to level off and the company looks to software and services to fill the gap. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a recent conference call that App Store revenues were up 35 percent over last year.
But the store is also a victim of its own success. Eight years after its launch, it is packed with more than 1.9 million apps, according to analytics firm App Annie, making it almost impossible for developers to find an audience – and increasingly difficult for customers to find what they need, as some 14,000 new apps arrive in the store each week.
“The app space has grown out of control,” said Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the internet and now a vice president at Alphabet Inc’s Google, who was speaking at a San Francisco conference on the future of the web on Wednesday. “We need to move away from having an individual app for every individual thing you want to do.”
While investors believe privately owned Spotify is probably heading for a public listing, some industry analysts see the loss-making company as a takeover target for a larger tech giant with deeper pockets.
“My selfish ambition with Spotify is just trying to show … that we can create one of those super companies here in Europe,” he told journalists at the symposium Brilliant Minds, which aims to bring artists and musicians together with the tech community.
Asked if that meant he was not up for selling the firm, Ek said: “I’m not going to sell, no.”
Spotify, founded in 2006, pays more than 80 percent of its revenue to record labels and artists and has not yet shown a profit as it spends to grow internationally. It competes in a business crowded with formidable rivals such as Apple Music, Google Music and YouTube.
Many other European tech start-ups have been swallowed up by bigger Silicon Valley competitors.
Ek said Silicon Valley got an earlier start in building up its tech giants but that Europe finally has the right conditions to support its own entrepreneurs.
“For the first time now there’s an ecosystem around it with capital and experience that can actually help guide entrepreneurs,” he said.
“The number one advice I tell everyone is ‘don’t sell’, because that’s the biggest problem we have. All these things could grow gigantic if you just kept the course and kept doing what you’re doing,” he added.
Last year Spotify made an operating loss of 184.5 million euros ($205 million), widening from 165.1 million in 2014.
Spotify, whose investors include Northzone, DST Global and Accel, does not disclose details about its ownership but the co-founders no longer own a majority, having sold off stakes.
Last month at Intel’s 2016 Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China, the chip giant proposed a broad market transition to remove all 3.5mm audio jacks from the phone and tablet industry and gradually replace them with USB-based audio solutions and Conexant has become the first partner company to embrace the standard with its announcement of two new audio chips, the CX20985 and the CX20899.
Conexant is the first company to announce chips designed after Intel’s USB-C Digital Audio standard, according to a recent post by AnandTech. Although the USB Type-C standard traditionally supports up to 10Gbps bidirectional bandwidth, Conexant’s CX20985 and CX20899 chips will start by supporting USB 2.0 bandwidth up to 480Gbps. This bandwidth rate should technically still give plenty of headroom for high-fidelity audio transmissions along the 24-bit range with any additional functionality such as equalizer customization and room correction adjustments.
Intel’s standard was made public in late April and is a result of the company’s ambitions to lead the industry toward a unified digital interconnect for at least three purposes – data transfer, charging (up to 100 watts), and now audio. Of course, USB Type-C is a universal all-in-one format that also supports video signals over DisplayPort Alternate Mode (up to 8.1Gbps per lane) but any video transfer capability over USB-C versus alternative formats such as MHL is ultimately left to the discretion of mobile device manufacturers.
The main premise behind USB-C Digital Audio is that Intel wants to use USB-C as the universal port that it was designed to become. This includes audio transmissions to headphones, docking stations, health-monitoring headsets, car stereos, soundboards, wearables, and many other digital playback devices in the long run of the format. The traditional 3.5mm headphone jack has been around since the 1960s, and while it’s a very reliable and trusted connector, it only serves the purpose of providing 2-channel analog stereo audio signals. There is also no possible conversion into 5.1 or 7.1 formats, with the most advanced option being “matrixed” Dolby Surround with decoding performed on the device side.
Although no one has currently succeeded in replacing the ubiquitous 3.5mm audio standard, Intel hopes that some of the “smart standard” features proposed in its USB-C Digital Audio specification will be enough to convince even the most diehard analog audio purists that there might be a digital alternative finally worth adopting. Of course, the concept is not new. In the early 2000s, Motorola and others used mini USB connectors for data transfers, charging and headset connectivity. In 2016, Intel wants to do the same thing with USB-C, only this time there will be enough bandwidth to drive premium lossless audio content along while allowing headsets to perform digital-to-analog conversions and offload all the amperage to make it possible.
The CX20985 features a 24-bit DAC with sampling rates up to 48kHz and a stereo ADC for music and voice applications, including Skype for Business and Google’s basic Android Wired Audio Headset 1.1 specification. The chip features a five-band parametric equalizer for playback, two-band equalizer for recording, and an integrated capless headphone driver that eliminates the need for AC coupling capacitors. The CX20985 also features very low idle power consumption of just 22.6mA with voltage between 4.35 and 5.25V. Conexant expects its headphone-optimized USB-C digital audio chip to hit mass production in July using a 6 x 6mm 50-pin QFN package.
Conexant CX20899 – designed for high-end headsets and docking stations
The CX20899 features a full-fledged DSP with sampling rates up to 96kHz and a stereo ADC with the same 96KHz sampling rate for playback over differential “line-out” or a capless headphone driver. The DSP supports a variety of more advanced functions including digital room correction, microphone automatic gain control (AGC), acoustic echo cancelling and a programmable equalizer, among others. The CX20899 also supports PCM/I2S and S/PDIF outputs for docking stations and higher-end mobile equipment over USB-C connections. While more power-hungry, this chip also features reasonable idle power consumption of just 1.8mA with voltage between 4.35 and 5.25V. Conexant says this chip is already in mass production and uses a 76-pin QFN package.
Conexant has traditionally been an early adopter of USB audio formats and has released at least eight current USB-based solutions over the past two years, typically costing around $1 per unit. In June 2014 the company announced the CX20562, a USB DSP codec with Class-D amplifier (48-pin QFN package), capable of driving 1.2 watts on a 4-ohm signal through USB host power. In August 2014, it announced the CX2077x, a 24-bit USB DSP codec system-on-chip with integrated PWM LED drivers. Two other interesting products released the same year were the CX2087x and CX20833, featuring USB-based Dolby and DTS headphone decoders with Class-D amplifiers. We expect the company’s new CX20985 and CX20899 USB-C chips to become available for device manufacturers to use sometime towards the end of the year, with initial products being unveiled next January at CES.
Intel’s USB-C Digital Audio specification contains two side-band pins, SBU1 and SBU2, that can transfer analog audio signals when a host device is put into “audio adapter accessory” mode. One journalist from AndroidAuthority.com notes that this solution may not be favored by audio purists as it puts potentially-cleaner analog audio signals next to noisier digital audio pathways. While this can be a concern for some on paper, the results in real-world testing could be drastically different with the migration of multi-function processing units (MPUs) from mobile devices onto headphones and headsets themselves.
Currently, many smartphones and other mobile devices contain MPUs that support features like non-linear processing, acoustic echo cancellation, noise suppression and beamforming, among other things. If Intel is offloading these features onto headphone and headsets, we can definitely expect digital audio accessory prices to rise significantly, with the presumption that they will integrate “smart features” that were previously reserved for on-board smartphone and tablet codecs and DACs.
The other concern is industry-wide adoption. Currently, there is a rather partisan split between Apple and Google (all Android-enabled devices) on mobile industry standards and connection peripherals. In 2012, Apple made a practical yet shameless move of launching its own Lightning standard as an alternative to USB, knowing full well that the market would quickly splinter rather than unify around a single data and charging protocol going forward over the next decade. Three years later, USB-C was announced, albeit three years too late to recover from the observable standards fracture that Apple had willingly placed on the mobile industry.
If Apple and Android smartphone manufacturers choose to replace the 3.5mm headphone jack with a USB-C solution, then they would be obligated to include USB-C to 3.5mm adapters with every new device in order to avoid backlash from users with traditional audio equipment.
It is unlikely that Apple will do this, as the company is known for charging every last penny on adapters that should often be included with new device purchases – $29 for its Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter, $19 for its USB-C to USB adapter and $25 for its USB-C to Lightning Cable. If Apple continues to market Lightning headphones as a viable alternative to USB-C, there is guaranteed to be another format war and one in which Apple’s prospects are considerably outnumbered by Android users.
On the other hand, if Android manufacturers completely remove 3.5mm headphone jacks, replace them with USB-C only solutions and do not provide adapters, then this would only incite users of traditional audio equipment to become angry at purchasers of newer USB-C audio solutions. Traditional 3.5mm users would then be required to purchase adapters at the expense of users purchasing newer USB-C equipment.
The solution, of course, is to gradually phase out the existence of 3.5mm audio jacks rather than immediately replacing them or requiring millions of users to purchase adapters. Intel, AMD, Samsung, Dell, Lenovo and others announced plans to phase out VGA and LVDS connectors as early as Q4 2010, and they eventually were removed from the most device manufacturing processes between 2013 and 2015, respectively.
The only issue with an industry-wide adoption proposal is that Apple would need to plan an exit strategy for its Lightning connector and embrace USB-C in its next-generation mobile products due in a year and a half from now. Whether not the company wants to accept humility for its actions with Lightning in 2012 is a concern that will be left to company executives and investors, among all other private circles involved in the matter.
Intel’s new mobile USB-C digital audio standard is due to be finalized before the end of June and is ultimately designed to support more recent audio formats and features, improve internal power management, and add new discovery and configuration models to enable “simpler” devices. New devices adopting the standard are expected to gain additional features including a thermal sensor for earpieces. This may prove useful for measuring temperature during workouts and providing some in-ear biometric data back to a connected mobile device.
Alphabet’s Google Inc introduced us to its answer to Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant along with new messaging and virtual reality products at its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday, doubling down on artificial intelligence and machine learning as the keys to its future.
Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai introduced Google Assistant, a virtual personal assistant, along with the tabletop speaker appliance Google Home.
He also unveiled Allo, a new messaging service that will compete with Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger products and feature a chatbot powered by the Google Assistant. Allo, like WhatsApp, will also have end-to-end encryption when it is rolled out this summer.
Amazon’s Echo, a surprise hit that has other tech giants racing to match it, uses a virtual assistant called Alexa, a cloud-based system that controls the Echo speaker and responds to voice-controlled commands by users.
Like Alexa, Google Assistant can search the internet and adjust your schedule. However, Pichai said Google Assistant can use images and other information to provide more intuitive results.
“You can be in front of this structure in Chicago and ask Google who designed this and it will understand in this context that the name of that designer is Anish Kapoor,” said Pichai, pointing toward a photo of Chicago’s Cloud Gate sculpture.
For Google Home, the Google Assistant merges with Chromecast and smart home devices to control televisions, thermostats and other products. Google did not offer a specific release date or pricing for Google Home, saying only that it will be available later this year.
Corvex Management LP disclosed that it owns 9.9 percent of Pandora Media Inc and urged the internet music streaming company to consider being sold instead of pursuing a “costly and uncertain business plan.”
Corvex, a hedge fund run by Keith Meister, a protégé of billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, said it had met with the company’s management and had withdrawn a plan to replace some of its board members. However, it now believes Pandora should hire an investment bank to help the company explore its strategic options including a sale.
“We believe there is likely to be significant strategic interest in the company at a substantial premium to the company’s recent stock price,” Corvex said, adding that large internet companies, handset makers and media companies could be potential buyers.
Pandora’s shares are down more than 25 percent in 2016 and more than 45 percent year-over-year. Corvex owns about 22.7 million shares in the company, making the hedge fund Pandora’s largest shareholder.
Pandora said in response that it is in constant dialogue with shareholders and committed to achieving long-term value for them.
“Pandora has a profitable core business, combined with a strong balance sheet. We are confidently investing to fully capture the massive opportunity ahead of us,” the company said in a statement.
Oakland, California-based Pandora has faced tough competition from music-streaming rivals such as Spotify, Apple Inc , Alphabet Inc’s Google and Amazon.com and has failed to turn an annual profit as a public company.
Analysts have said Pandora, which had a market capitalization of $2.29 billion on Monday, could be an acquisition target for larger media or internet companies looking to beef up their online music offerings.
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren, a former musician who spearheaded Pandora’s music algorithm technology, returned to the company March 28 to become CEO, squashing some investors’ hopes the company could be sold.
Westergren told Reuters on April 15, “If you want to sell a company, you don’t do that by spending half a billion on acquisitions and hiring a new CEO.”
Vevo might be the new MTV for millennials, who might not know MTV that played music a few decades ago. Vevo CEO Erik Huggers had an interview at a Hunter Walk blog talking about YouTube, subscription base and the future.
Vevo CEO, ex Intel and ex BBC executive Erik Huggers mentioned that the Vevo will get a subscription based service but for the time being the company will stay with add supported content. Huggers first worked first on the iBBC player and later at Intel OnCue, then Verizon before getting the Vevo CEO.
The company has announced a new Apple TV, iOS and Android applications for people who like to watch the content on the TV console or their tablets and phones. Huggers mentioned that Vevo was getting 17 billion unique views per month. He said that if you are musician you will prefer Spotify for audio streaming and Vevo to YouTube, and here is why.
Peter Mensch, the manager of bands including Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Muse told a BBC Radio 4 documentary on the music business:
“YouTube, they’re the devil. We don’t get paid at all.”
The BBC quoted him saying that YouTube was killing the record industry.
There is now way you can say it better than this, Mensch obviously knows what he is talking about. When we dug a bit deeper into the issue, bands have issues with complete albums being uploaded to YouTube. The big bands don’t get paid at all, at least according to Peter Mensch.
Vevo might turn its back to YouTube, despite its current business model where the company uses YouTube to distribute its videos. We see a big change coming. Artists are obviously not happy as people are ripping their stuff and not paying.
Online publishing was an area where big mistakes were made 20 + years ago. Online magazines usually rely on marketing, same as YouTube, but it seems that YouTube, Facebook and other big social based website make a lot of money and giving YouTubers and artists pennies.
Huggers believes Vevo can offer a tailored experience which is personalised for individuals who love music videos via various channels including Apple TV or mobile applications. Imagine if Vevo starts offering exclusive concert footage of your favourite bands, this would probably be worth of a few bucks a month, wouldn’t it?
Intel this week unveiled plans to make an upgraded USB Type-C connector that would enable audio input and output, potentially replacing the long-standard 3.5 millimeter headphone jack used in today’s electronic devices.
Intel, which revealed its plans during a lecture at its Intel Developers Forum (IDF) in Shenzhen, China, also believes USB Type-C would simplify connections of multi-channel audio equipment to various devices.
Unlike the traditional 3.5mm analogue audio jack, a USB Type-C interface could charge a device in addition to transmitting sound and data. For example, it could transfer health and fitness data from a mobile device.
The USB Type-C connectors are reversible, so orientation isn’t an issue when plugging something into a device. The USB 3.1 Gen1 specification offers up to 5Gbps of data throughput; the Gen2 specification offers up to 10Gbps.
USB Type-C cables and connectors would replace the last analog receptacles on computers and mobile devices. Intel’s strategy was first reported by AnandTech.
In Intel’s presentation, it described USB C-Type connectors as being able to support both analog and digital musical content. But the upgraded connector would “promote” a changeover from analog to digital as users would see “improved digital headset features.”
A USB Type-C connector that supports audio feeds would also enable new form-factors, improve user experience and “provide a future path for USB technologies,” Intel said in the presentation.
The European Union’s digital chief wants search engines such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Microsoft’s Bing to be more transparent about paid ads in web search results but ruled out a separate law for web platforms.
European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, who is overseeing a wide-ranging inquiry into how web platforms conduct their business, said on Friday the EU executive would not take a horizontal approach to regulating online services.
“We will take a problem-driven approach,” Ansip said. “It’s practically impossible to regulate all the platforms with one really good single solution.”
That will come as a relief to the web industry, dominated mainly by big U.S. tech firms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, who lobbied hard against new rules for online platforms and what they saw as an anti-American protectionist backlash.
“We praise the Commission for understanding that a horizontal measure for all platforms is practically impossible,” said Jakob Kucharczyk, director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association which represents the likes of Facebook, Google and Amazon.
“While a lot of online platforms enable economic growth, their business models differ widely.”
However Ansip said he was worried about how transparent some search engines are when displaying ads in search results.
The Commission is also looking into the transparency of paid-for reviews as well as the conditions of use of services such as Google Maps, Apple Inc’s IoS mobile operating system and Google’s Android.
“Maybe it’s not too much to ask for more transparency talking about search engines,” Ansip said.
The EU executive is looking into making rules on taking down illegal content clearer and more effective without making hosting websites such as YouTube directly liable.
“Now musicians ask, please, take it down and keep it down,” Ansip said. “We want to make those rules more clear.”
But the Commission will not change a provision where websites such as Amazon, eBay and Google’s YouTube are not held liable for illegal content that is uploaded on to their systems. They do, however, have a responsibility to take it down once they are notified of it.
The Commission will publish a communication detailing its plans on web platforms in June.
Windows 10 will work with a wider range of devices and appliances by integrating new Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) protocols, scheduled to be released in 2017. Additionally, Cortana will allow users to easily automate tasks using a Windows PC, mobile device, Xbox console or Raspberry Pi 3.
Users will be able to program “actions” so Cortana can be used to switch on lights, air conditioning or even unlock cars. For example, users will be able to speak, “lights” to their smartphones, and the bulbs will turn on.
Or even better, users can tell Cortana to “unlock home door,” which will open the door and trigger a series of additional actions like switching on the lights and the air conditioning. A command like “party” could switch on the music and the disco lights.
Actions can also be based on the time of day or on information from connected sensors. The actions can be attached to specific profiles in Cortana like “activate smart home.” The connected devices will need to be discovered by Windows 10 and be on a list of approved devices, much like how the OS discovers and lists wireless printers and other hardware.
But Windows doesn’t support all devices right now, and the OS works with only those based on the AllJoyn protocol. Support for a wider range of devices will come with the integration of protocols established by the OCF, which will unite the disparate IoT standards under one umbrella.
Until the integration is complete, Microsoft released an “open-source” bridge to connect OIC tools, called IoTivity, with the AllJoyn APIs. It will help AllJoyn devices talk to OIC-compatible IoT devices.


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After losing a legal case in the USA, Domino’s Pizza now need to rethink app development accessibility for their website and app to ensure that all people can use them.
In a major landmark case which may have ripples across tech companies developing apps around the world, with the three-judge panel stating that ‘full and equal enjoyment’ of a product or service must be possible for people of all abilities.
With the World Bank Group estimating that one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experiencing a form of disability of some form, it’s critical that app developers recognise the need to diversify their thinking around app development accessibility.
After all, if your competitors do so, they are going to immediately access 15% of the market that you cannot.
If you are developing an app and want to ensure it is as accessible as possible, Scale 90 may be the perfect thing for you: a structured launch campaign that includes data analysis, Beta users, marketing comms, press and media, and more.


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Brigg Farmers’ Market celebrates a glorious 15 year anniversary with a spectacular food extravaganza this August.
The event will take place on Saturday 22 August in the Market Place, Brigg. Amongst the stalls will be the favourite Farmers’ Market stalls including local lamb, cheese, cakes and much more. This year, we will be joined by Earthbound Misfits in the shape of scarecrows and Flo the Clown who will be performing street entertainment between 10am and 2pm.
Join in the fun and enter our BIG 15 Birthday Candle Trail. For your chance of winning; pick up a trail entry form from Brigg TIC or from the North Lincolnshire Council stall and hunt for all 15 birthday candles, naming the stall or location you find them at! It’s free to take part and you could win a delicious Farmers’ Market hamper.


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California commercial manufacturing has become more complex as society and technology has grown, with ripple effects from one end of a supply chain reaching all the way to the other end, this is where sustainability comes into play. This has become especially true as powerhouse companies such as Boeing, Walmart, Frito Lay, Costco and many more are pushing for more sustainable practices from their suppliers. For California manufacturers, these changing dynamics in the supply chain landscape are providing both new challenges and unique opportunities.
New legislation will pressure businesses even more, as California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB-253) and Greenhouse gases – climate-related financial risk legislation (SB-261), will require large companies to disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through their supply chain and detail climate change-related financial risks.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks are transforming from a ‘nice-to-have’ into a ‘must-have’ for businesses worldwide. While the promise of sustainable value is a significant draw, the driving force behind the rapid adoption of ESGs is twofold: the tightening grip of laws and regulations, and the consumer’s growing awareness and demand for sustainable products and services.
For California manufacturers, this means adapting to sustainability frameworks isn’t just about ticking a box; it’s about staying competitive in an increasingly discerning marketplace and supply chain. California, as one of the world’s largest economies, has always been a trendsetter in environmental regulations and sustainable initiatives. The state’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy places its manufacturers in a unique position.
While the immediate challenges might seem formidable, the long-term benefits of being ahead of the curve, especially when it comes to sustainable practices, cannot be overstated.
When giants like Walmart or Costco prioritize sustainability, it’s not just their immediate suppliers that feel the impact. This ethos trickles down the supply chain, affecting every player, big or small. For manufacturers, this means that even if they don’t directly supply to these behemoths, the changing landscape necessitates a shift towards sustainable practices. The silver lining? A sustainable supply chain is often synonymous with resilience and long-term profitability.
Through programs like Walmart’s Project Gigaton, more than 4,500 suppliers have already committed to more sustainable operations.
Growing ESG values are set to transition from a differentiator to the norm in global business practices. As public awareness of environmental challenges, social disparities, and the need for ethical governance continues to grow, so will the demand for businesses to incorporate these principles at their core.
Investors, consumers, and regulatory bodies are increasingly prioritizing companies that demonstrate a genuine commitment to ESG values, understanding that long-term profitability is closely intertwined with responsible stewardship of resources, fair societal practices, and transparent governance. As data accessibility improves, enabling stakeholders to easily assess a company’s adherence to ESG criteria, businesses that fail to integrate these values risk obsolescence, while those that champion them stand to thrive in a more conscious, interconnected global economy.
It’s clear that the days of viewing sustainability as a secondary concern are over. For California supply chain manufacturers, the future lies in embracing the new sustainability challenges, leveraging the state’s unique position, and adopting clean energy solutions that promise not just short-term savings but long-term value for these facilities.
Revel Energy has had the privilege of collaborating with numerous California businesses, helping them transition to more sustainable energy solutions. Two game changers have been commercial solar and energy storage systems.
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'Free' clicks given to LookSmart customers as part of a legal settlement come to an end.
"Free" clicks given to LookSmart customers as part of a legal settlement ran out this week, the search firm said.
The clicks were distributed to LookListings customers over a 20-month period as part of the settlement of a class action suit filed on behalf of LookSmart's customers after the company switched to a pay-per-click model.
In 2000, 2001 and 2002, an unspecified number of customers paid from $99 to $299 to be included in the company's LookListings directory for what was described at the time as a one-time fee. In 2002, LookSmart switched to a pay-per-click model, leaving those customers high and dry.
A class action suit was filed on behalf of the customers and LookSmart settled out of court. "Since the most anybody paid was $299, the plaintiffs were all given 20 months at 100 free clicks a month, a value of 15 cents per click, the going rate for paid inclusion," said Dakota Sullivan, VP of marketing for the company.
"The clicks are just now expiring. Clicks for those who purchased the product in 2000 or 2001 actually ran out in December. There are two separate expiration periods for free clicks," Sullivan said.
The lawsuit is not the only obstacle LookSmart has had to contend with. In October 2003, Microsoft's MSN opted not to renew its contract with LookSmart, leaving the company reeling. LookSmart had depended on MSN for about 70 percent of its revenue. It's been fighting back ever since.
As part of its recovery strategy, at the end of April, the company acquired filtering software product Net Nanny. Prior to that, in December 2003, the company announced plans for drastic layoffs. The head count has been reduced to 152 people, according to Bill Lonergan, the company's CFO. Staff numbered 368 when LookSmart last made that information public.
The strategies appear to be helping. The company beat Wall Street estimates and revised its guidance for 2004 upward in its most recent earnings report.
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To help brands control how they appear online, Google has developed a new offering: Google My Business Locations. This whitepaper helps marketers understand how to use this powerful new tool.
82 percent of shoppers say they would buy more items from a brand if the emails they sent were more personalized. This white paper offer five tactics that will personalize your email beyond the subject line and drive real business growth.


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For the past seven years, the start-up Blend has been moving toward an ambitious goal: simplify the mortgage-application process to the point that prospective buyers can find out whether they qualify for a home loan, and how much they can borrow, nearly instantaneously.
The San Francisco-based start-up, founded in 2012 by a cadre of Palantir alums, provides software to help banks, credit unions, and other lenders offer a smoother, simpler home-loan process to their customers. Using Blend tools fortified by data, automation, and the cloud, lenders can digitize the mortgage-origination process, saving time, cutting costs, reducing human error, and creating a more transparent mobile experience for applicants.
“Because our system is intelligent and we help eliminate a lot of the types of documents that were historically needed by using data instead, the process is lower friction, lower cost as well for the lender,” founder and CEO Nima Ghamsari told Business Insider.
“Eventually, if we’re able to get this to be a truly data-driven process, the process of getting approved for a mortgage should be and will be one tap for a consumer,” Ghamsari, who is featured on Business Insider’s list of 100 people transforming the world of business, added.
How might this work? With the help of machine learning, Blend automatically imports consumer data into the platform at the outset — such as credit reports and bank records that verify assets, employment, and income. Once a customer hits apply, the data is instantly connected with the lender’s systems and an answer is nearly immediately available as to what and how much the borrower is approved for.
They’re getting closer to making the single-tap experience a reality. The company told Business Insider that it’s actively developing a one-tap solution with a couple clients, and a rollout could be deployed in the next year or two.
Blend has built a business that they say now comprises more than 130 lenders that account for 25% of the more than $1 trillion US mortgage market, including giants like Wells Fargo and US Bank.
But they’re also expanding their product offerings, as mortgages aren’t the only consumer-credit product mired in slow, paper-heavy red tape, and a one-tap solution for home loans could be used across financial products, given the similarity in required data.
The company announced last year it was rolling out a mortgage-insurance offering with MetLife, and in February it said it was getting into home-equity loans as well. The firm this month announced it was offering deposit-account opening technology that works in conjunction with its home-lending products.
Blend is in the process of building products for auto loans and unsecured personal loans, as well, the company confirmed.
Part of the larger vision at Blend is that by deploying products that facilitate lending via smartphone, it will expand credit access to borrowers who may not have had the time, knowledge, confidence, or resources to participate previously.
“There are parts of the population banking hasn’t been able to serve as well because it has been so centered on in-person interaction,” Ghamsari said. “Giving people at least the transparency and ability to understand what they can afford in very short order on their mobile device, it creates the ability for us to expand who’s even trying to get credit.”


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Are you in good physical shape, and looking for a job that will last a year or two? Consider the benefits of working at Wal-Mart.
Like a whirling dervish that has to keep spinning faster and faster to maintain its balance, Wal-Mart is trying to keep up its growth image
The business media this week swallowed whole a story cooked up by Wal-Mart’s “kindler, gentler” PR team that the giant retailer will be offering its
Texas has more Wal-Marts and more dead Wal-Marts than any state in the union — and some residents have had enough. The latest dust up
Residents in Beaverton, Oregon are as determined as ever that Wal-Mart will not gnaw its way into Beaverton — and hope to beat them just
Yet another example of mindless development comes to us via Polson, Montana, where local residents are nonplussed that Wal-Mart would propose closing down its existing


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Update On :08 July 2015
Fans of Bubble Wrap are up in arms after its American manufacturer unveiled a new variety of inflatable packaging that doesn't pop under pressure.
North Carolina-based manufacturer Sealed Air, which has been producing Bubble Wrap for more than half a century, developed the new packaging material called iBubble Wrap to help save space.
While traditional Bubble Wrap features rows of individually filled plastic air pockets â€“ resulting in a satisfying popping sensation when squeezed â€“ its new counterpart will be less easy to deflate. It instead features columns of interlinked bubbles that allow air to be transferred to neighbouring pods when squashed, making it harder to burst.
The therapeutic sensation of popping the original Bubble Wrap has lead to its unorthodox use as a stress-relief tool, spawning a range of unofficial novelty products including calendars, clothing and iPhone cases.
News of the pop-less iBubble Wrap material prompted uproar among Bubble Wrap fans who took to social media to bemoan the discontinuation of their favourite packaging material. But Sealed Air has tweeted reassuring messages that it will continue to produce traditional Bubble Wrap alongside the new material.
Bubble Wrap was invented by accident in 1957 by Sealed Air founders and engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes who were attempting to create textured wallpaper by fusing together a pair of shower curtains. The product, which featured a waffled pattern of trapped air, didn't catch on and in 1960 was redeveloped as a packaging material.
The company's official facebook page it states, E-commerce has changed the way packages are shipped, and the new addition to our Bubble Wrap family is one of our many solutions for e-commerce packaging. The company set up the annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, held on 26 January, to acknowledge the material's popularity and growing array of alternative uses.
News Source From : http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/06/bubble-wrap-redesigned-pop-less-packaging-material-ibubble-sealed-air/
Image Courtesy : http://www.vikatan.com/news/article.php?aid=48997


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BRUSSELS--The European Union’s antitrust regulator on Wednesday opened three separate formal investigations into licensing and distribution practices by Nike Inc., Sanrio Co. and Universal Studios in Europe, the latest salvo by the watchdog in its bid to tear down barriers for consumers shopping online in the bloc.
The European Commission said it would investigate whether the three companies restrict traders from selling licensed merchandise online and across borders in Europe.
The companies license the rights for well-known brands to manufacturers of shoes, clothing, phone accessories, toys and other products. Nike
The probe comes after the commission’s competition directorate in May published the findings of its two-year long probe into the e-commerce sector. The EU then reiterated previous warnings that consumer-product makers and digital-content owners could face antitrust probes for restricting the way retailers sell the companies’ goods online.
Sanrio and Universal Studios didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Popular on WSJ.com:


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Attractive form factor, lower prices, and general better performance of LCD-TVs is generating demand in India, said an iSuppli Corp. report.
While LCD-TVs accounted for less than 5% of the total televisions sold in India in 2008, they are expected to rapidly rise in the next five years to contribute 66% of the total shipments by 2013, the report said. By 2012, LCD-TV shipments will have overtaken CRT-TV in India, the report said, equating to 13.8 million units shipped by 2013, rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 109.8% from just 731,000 in 2008.
iSuppli forecasts 9.5 million LCD-TV units will be shipped in India in 2012, compared to 9.4 million CRT-TVs.
The report said that Indian consumers are discovering the benefits to moving to flat panel technology for their televisions. Indian consumers are intrigued by LCDs’:
* Greater space savings
* Improved picture quality
* Low maintenance
* Attractive form factor
* Rapidly-declining prices
LCD-TV purchasing also is being boosted by the transition from analog to digital networks in the country, the adoption of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Direct To Home (DTH) technologies and increased desire for High Definition (HD)programming, said the report.
to Daily News


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Make like a real-life Harry Potter with this gaming wand, now trying to work some magic on Kickstarter.
The actor, rapper and entrepreneur isn't addicted to his gadgets -- just don't take away his Internet access.
It won't happen for years, but today's highest-tech smartphones eventually will look like primitive slabs of electronics, says Palmer Luckey of Facebook's virtual reality division.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory catches sight of an extremely long filament of solar material in the form of a long, dark tendril across the sun's surface.
Harvard's bee-inspired RoboBee is now the first insect-sized robot that can both fly and swim.
Both carriers are working on features that will let you use the number associated with your smartphone to get calls and texts on devices like smartwatches and tablets.
The Oculus Connect Conference offered our first glimpse at new hardware, but there were quite a few games to try, too.
Commentary: The one thing many people wanted in the next iPhone was better battery life. They didn't get it.
If you want to build a smart home capable of testing anything, you're going to need a strong, reliable Wi-Fi signal. Here's how we got ours up and running at CNET's brand new Smart Home.
The company's upcoming press event is expected to be jam-packed with new products, including the iPhone 6S, new Apple TV and iPad Pro.


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The existence of a Samsung Electronics-made device bearing the model number SM-J250F/DS that’s believed to be the Galaxy J2 Pro (2018) was inadvertently confirmed by the South African division of the company earlier today, with its local unit launching a support page for the Android device that has yet to be officially announced. While the website that can be accessed by referring to the source link below doesn’t reveal any technical specifications of the upcoming handset, it does confirm that the SM-J250F will have a dual-SIM variant set to be sold in select territories.
The international version of the device was also spotted in the database of mobile benchmarking tool Geekbench earlier today, as seen in the image below. According to that particular listing, the likely Galaxy J2 Pro (2018) will be powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 430 SoC and feature between 1.5GB and 2GB of RAM, presumably coupled with 32GB of native storage space and a microSD card slot. The device was benchmarked as running Android 7.1.1 Nougat, likely enhanced with the Samsung Experience software suite. Being an entry-level model, there are no guarantees that the Galaxy J2 Pro (2018) will ever receive an upgrade to Android 8.0 Oreo as Samsung’s software support for this product category has been relatively inconsistent in recent years. The octa-core SoC powering the device was identified as having a maximum operating frequency of 1.4GHz which is the standard peak clock speed of Qualcomm’s chip and should be suitable for everyday use.
The accidental confirmation of the possible Galaxy J2 Pro (2018) comes shortly after another unit of Samsung verified the existence of the Galaxy A7 (2018) in the same manner just yesterday. While some divisions of the company have a history of prematurely launching support pages for Android devices that are yet to be announced, the influx of such sightings in recent times is not an everyday occurrence. The device itself is likely to be announced by early 2018, potentially even before the end of the year, and should at the very least make its way to Europe and select Asian markets. A stateside release isn’t out of the realm of possibility, though Samsung’s entry-level models released in the U.S. often differ to their international counterparts in terms of specs.


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And funeral directors and funeral. The ozark food pantry's volunteers received a boost through a partnership between least of these and alps pharmacy.
The frontline workers were added to new york’s phase 1b after the lawmakers sent a letter to.
Food pantry volunteers vaccine. Uber/lyft/ride share services/pharmacy delivery drivers, workers in the passenger ground transportation industry (e.g. Groups now able to make an appointment include food pantry employees and volunteers, grocery store workers, restaurant employees, and a number of other workers. Grocery and convenience store workers;
Grocery store employees across the bay state become eligible for vaccination on monday, along with retail or food service workers, convenience store workers, those working in the transit system, public works or sanitation, utility workers and public health…. That’s welcome news to the operators of such facilities, as well as those who have continued to deliver hot meals to people confined to their homes even before the pandemic began. Laguna food pantry volunteers load groceries into a vehicle on dec.
Food, meatpacking, beverage, agriculture, consumer goods, retail or food service workers; Food pantry workers and volunteers are now included among the people currently eligible to receive the covid vaccine in new york. Managers can provide safe and flexible options to help people with food insecurity while prioritizing the health and safety of clients, staff, and volunteers.
The food pantries for the capital district is asking for that to change. With a staff of four employees, least of these relies upon volunteers to help distribute food to families facing food insecurity. Under 65 years of age with no underlying medical conditions, able to lift, stand outside for several hours, wear personal protection equipment and ready to show the love of christ to those in need.
Public works, water, wastewater, or utility workers; Residents 60+ and certain workers, including restaurant or cafe workers; Food pantry workers want vaccines
Ny charity wants vaccines for pantry workers david greenfield, head of largest kosher pantry network, says volunteers deserve access to vaccine equal to that of supermarket staff. Looking for volunteers for food pantry drive thru every 2nd thursday’s from 10am through 2:30pm. But while grocery workers are eligible for the vaccine, those at food pantries are not.
Food pantry workers need vaccine eligibility sooner than later to avoid any unnecessary closures of emergency food services and to protect the health of our staff and volunteers. During this difficult time, food pantry and food distribution sites are critical. Food pantry staff just as critical as grocery workers.
Food pantry workers and volunteers; Must meet the following criteria: Riley calls the work he and his volunteers do essential.
A lot of these people struggle and they need saint john's, he said. We're the only one open at seven in the morning. Food pantry 'couldn't do it without the volunteers' updated september 10, 2020, 1:42 pm one a month, a huge delivery of food arrives from the greater boston food bank.
That’s welcome news to the operators of such facilities, as well. The push to include these workers to receive the vaccine comes amid skyrocketing hunger amid the economic recession brought on by the pandemic. Food pantry workers or volunteers;
Pantry workers and volunteers have been deemed essential throughout the pandemic, similar to grocery store employees. In new york, food pantry workers and certified volunteers are now eligible for the vaccine, qualifying as essential workers.


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Microsoft announced a major milestone for its HoloLens today at Build, the device is now shipping to those who signed up for the development edition. The headset mixes holograms into our world, is a fully self-contained unit and with the hardware now headed to developers, we will start to see new scenarios for the device being explored.
The HoloLens, unlike other devices like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, is an augmented reality device, instead of a virtual reality. The big difference here is that AR devices like the HoloLens place the objects into the real world around you whereas VR devices put a screen close to your face and make you feel like you are in a virtual environment.
The company previously announced the specs of the device, which you can view here.
The release of these devices to developers will finally let outsiders use the hardware without the constraints of a being in a Microsoft controlled environment. Up until now, the company would only show the devices under controlled circumstances but with developers getting their hands on the hardware, we will likely learn a lot more about the product’s true capabilities very soon.
If you are interested in purchasing a HoloLens dev kit, they cost $3000 and can buy them here.


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Despite a cooling economy and slump in new-car sales, used-car sales should rise this year, the two largest auto auction groups predicted Saturday.
Leasing will be a major force driving those sales, said ADESA's Tom Kontos, author of "Global Vehicle Remarketing," a study of trends in the U.S. and Canadian auction markets. "It's the drug the American consumer wants to use," he said.
High new-vehicle sales since 1994 plus record sales in 1999 and 2000 have the remarketing pipeline filled with plenty of late-model vehicles, many of which will come off 24-month and 36-month leases in the next few years, he said.
Though dealers will continue to acquire many of their used vehicles from consumers, Kontos' study projects auction sales in the United States will grow from 8.9 million units in 2000 to 10 million in 2005.
"We see significant growth regardless of what happens to new-car sales or what happens in terms of our economy," Kontos said. "These vehicles are going to have to find another home. (But) they may be sold at a price that's lower because of an economic downturn."
Tom Webb, chief economist at Manheim Auctions of Atlanta, the nation's largest auction company, and author of its "2001 Used Car Market Report," expects used-car sales to show a modest increase this year.
In 2000, the number of vehicles coming off lease declined 2 percent but the number of off-lease vehicles remarketed through auctions rose 3 percent, Webb said.
That was because residual values were above market value, and dealers and consumers declined to buy the end-of-term vehicles, he said.
In the United States, wholesale auction sales hit $90 billion in 2000, 15 percent more than in 1999, Webb said.
He also said that he expects modest increases — about 1 percent — in the number of off-lease vehicles and the number of vehicles sold at auction.