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Now a match-making service for gamers, online community, storefront, operating system, and platform, Valve Corporation's Steam humbly began life as a way to distribute patches for Counter-Strike. Times have changed, and Valve is taking Steam to the next level. Today the company is taking aim at the console market, and possibly your gaming rig as well. Stay tuned to this landing page for the latest on all things Steam.
We’re presenting a video of Alienware’s compact gaming PC that is supposed to bring Valve’s PC game selection to the living room TV with Steam’s Big Picture mode.
Steam will soon become a fierce competitor to iTunes and Google Play.
Steam Machine makers supposedly won't make a lot of money from the hardware sales.
This is an older tutorial that I wrote for the above purpose. Kind of outdated since steam now has in home streaming, but it is still nice for...
Steam's In-Home Streaming is finally out of beta.
You can now stream your games from one PC to the other.
Epic Games has released a new version of Unreal Engine 4.
Never dish out your SSFN file.
Sources say it may not be until November before we see the final product.
Family Library Sharing is now out of beta.
Not only can you play The Witcher and The Witcher 2 for free this weekend; they're also super cheap until Monday.
Valve has made a mistake with the development of the Steam Machine, and here's why it's a big deal.
Valve will start testing Steam Music soon, so sign up now for the limited beta.
It won't be easy, though.
Valve now has a version of SteamOS that not only allows dual boot, but supports BIOS.
Sorry, no upgrading possible on this gaming rig.
Attendees of Valve's Steam Dev Days received a little present.
The invitations are going out. Will you be invited to the game streaming party?
Get ready for some benchmarks.
EA's Origin installed on a Steam Machine will be just fine for Gabe Newell.
The touch screen was removed from the Steam controller.
Xi3 wants to support EA's Origin too.


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Nippon Ichi is developing a number of games to celebrate their 20th anniversary. One of these is a role playing game with artwork from Shining Force Feather artist Noizi Ito.
Dengeki PlayStation has news about another Nippon Ichi title. The magazine says a 2nd 20th Anniversary game is being made for PlayStation Vita. No other details, not even the game’s genre, were given aside form this tidbit.
Nippon Ichi is also working on The Witch and the Hundred Knights for PlayStation 3, which will come out later this year.

domain: news


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Is the economy good news for recovering stocks? Abby’s strategist Joseph Cohen says the answer is yes, although stocks that have benefited “only because the rates were so low” may have problems. The economic recovery raises rates, which could increase the negative pressure on this segment of the stock market. However, Cohen says the market is full of other opportunities, with stocks and companies “feeling better and continuing the economic recovery”.
According to the strategist, there may be value stocks or stocks of small companies in the specified titles and market sectors. Improvements can also be seen in companies, which are attested to by higher rates. Lastly, not least, those who benefit from opening an economy like restaurants. At the same time, economists now expect the US economy to grow 7% this year, and four key factors contributing to this:
First, the economy will be taken over by very strong financial stimulus from the new US government. Second, “the central bank is essentially friendly.” Third, the epidemic will subside and it will free the severely affected areas. Fourth, housing balances are on average very strong, savings are high and the opening up of the economy will bring waves of hitherto unsatisfied demand. But what about the pessimists who claim that inflation will rise sharply?
Cohen believes inflation will actually rise, but this is the result of last year’s low base, and it will also be growth that reflects the economic recovery. In particular, bank economists expect US inflation to rise to 2.5 percent this year from 1.1 percent last year and the US Federal Reserve’s inflation target to fall to 2 percent again by 2022. This is not a “problem of inflation”. According to the strategist, no matter how much experience anyone has in the market, the current situation is unique in the recession caused by the epidemic and what happens after that. That is, with the impact of a policy aimed at easing the economy and getting it out of the slump.
Emerging Markets and the Dollar Rule
The strategist was also asked about the developments in emerging markets and further developments in the dollar. He responded that economists predict exchange rate growth based on factors similar to others. But now, according to him, the fact that the US currency serves as a safe haven in the world economy, the world’s reserve currency plays an important role. This situation has recently intensified as the United States has moved more aggressively than others in some areas.
Further improvements in the dollar and currency markets will be felt not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world. Some developing countries have come up with “some disappointments” so far, but the improvement in the US economic situation will eventually draw US trade partners, which, according to the strategist, will be a positive scenario.
At the end of the interview, the strategist was asked about the number of women in the field of corporate management and finance. According to her, the number of women is growing at a low rate, but as we get, their share is declining. This is true in the United States, where the situation is even more serious in many countries around the world. Then they see America as a role model.
In addition, 2020 is the year when the first infectious women will face the biggest problems, for example those working in restaurants or schools. For men, the labor force share is now 70%, while for women it is only 57%.
Zdroj: Bloomberg Markets


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According to Cointelegraph Japan Station on April 9, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), the world's fifth-largest bank, Japanese bank holdings and financial services company, will put its digital currency MUFG Coin into actual use later this year.
Image source: visualhunt
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Cointelegraph Japan reported that MUFG's new president, Kanetsugu Mike, revealed the plan in an interview with local media Asahi Shimbun.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is Japan's largest financial company and is expected to be the first Japanese bank to issue virtual currency, a stable currency based on blockchain, linked to the yen 1:1.
The asset is designed with a currency function in which customers can download an app and the app will automatically convert their bank deposits into stable currency.
According to Cointelegraph Japan, about 1,500 company employees have participated in the trial of MUFG Coin since 2017. According to reports, Kanetsugu Mike told the Asahi Shimbun: "I want to provide new value like never before."
As Cointelegraph reported in May 2018, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group revealed that it plans to test MUFG Coin to as many as 100,000 account holders in 2019.
Although the president did not clearly state how long the test cycle of this scenario is actually implemented this year, the report said that the bank plans to “will be able to use the currency to pay in restaurants, convenience stores and other stores”. And use "this currency to transfer funds to other participants' accounts."
In late December 2018, Mizuho Financial Group, a Japanese banking giant, announced plans to introduce a digital currency specifically for payment and remittance services.
According to reports, the Mizuho "J-Coin" stable currency platform, originally scheduled to be launched on March 1, will directly connect its existing bank accounts with digital wallets. The program will work with 60 counterpart financial institutions, reporting that they have a total of 56 million user accounts.
It is worth mentioning that there are already a number of digital payment innovation companies in Japan offering cryptocurrency related services. For example, e-commerce giant Rakuten will soon launch its own cryptocurrency exchange, and chat application provider Line has also launched. I have my own cryptocurrency and internal blockchain.


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Live | CBSE Class 10, 12 Exam 2021-22 Live Updates: Hindi A, B, geography syllabus, answer key, analysis
Shivam Jadoun|Dec 9, 2021
NEW DELHI, MARCH 7: The 23rd edition of its annual Salary Increase Survey in India by Aon has revealed that companies in India gave an average pay increase of 9.5% during 2018, reflecting improved business sentiment compared to 2017.
The projections for 2019 are stable yet favourable at 9.7% as companies expect a positive economic outlook backed by high economic growth expectation, high domestic demand and low inflation. A decline in voluntary attrition and controlled incremental hiring continue to keep the sentiment mild.
Anandorup Ghose, Partner and Head Emerging Markets, Aon, commented, “Pay increases are marginally positive compared to earlier years – a big highlight is the reducing difference in pay increases across industries year on year. A lot of the pay increase decline is also reflected in the constant drop in voluntary attrition levels across industries.”
While there is an improvement in the overall increment projection, pay increase budgets across sectors are increasingly tending towards the overall average. Sectors projecting a double-digit increment have come down over the years with only five sectors projecting a double-digit increment for 2019. These include sectors such as Consumer Internet Companies, Professional Services, Life Sciences, Automotive and Consumer Products.
The increment projections in other sectors are also a reflection of the expected growth prospects during the year. With government focus on infrastructure investment, sectors such as cement, metal, engineering services saw a revival in demand and an improvement in increment projections for 2019.
While India Inc. saw a positive shift in increment percentages, attrition continues to maintain the downward trend. Attrition has declined from 18.5% in 2013 to 15.8% in 2018, indicating blunting the edge of the ‘push’ forces at work. At the same time, the ‘pull’ forces have abated as well with fewer industries attracting talent from the market.
To get in touch, write to us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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- Mobile World Congress will run in Shanghai from 26 to 29 June, in which Vivo will present its first 5G phone
- OPo’s VOOC Fast Charging Technology charges 3400 mAh battery in 35 minutes.
In the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai next week, Vivo is going to introduce its first 5G. Recently, Vivo announced that it will also introduce 120W super flashcharging technology with its latest smartphone in MWC. The company claims that it charges 4000 mAh of full charge in just 13 minutes. It is expected that Vivo will also present the production variant of its Esteem 2019 concept in the event.
- The company says that they will present their 120W super flashcharging technology in the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, which charges 50,000 mAh battery of 50% in just 5 minutes, whereas it is able to charge the battery of 4000 mAH, full in just 14 minutes. Whereas in just 13 seconds it charges 2.38% to the battery.
- The company says that this is a very stupendous technology and much better than Oppo’s Super VOOC Fast Charging Technology. OPPO says that its VOOC Fast Charging Technology charges 3400 mAh battery full in just 35 minutes.
- In the Mobile World Congress , Vivo can also take a look at the latest smartphone APK 2019 production. The company had introduced Concept of Estex 2019 in January.
- According to the media report, it can have all-display design, punch hole selfie camera, dual rear camera setup, snapdragon 855 processor, up to 256 GB storage and 12 GB of RAM.


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With nearly every inch of professional sports emblazoned with some sort of sponsorship, it may seem like a stretch to say that this segment of the marketing world has yet to meet its full potential.
But sports marketing executives contend that the size of the sport sponsorship industry is in fact being held back by the absence of a standardized method of measuring and valuing the exposure that, say,
A new service called Sponsorship Scorecard from
That's exactly what happened on the Internet. In the early days of online advertising, marketers were hesitant to put money down without understanding how effective the medium was. The Internet advertising industry, worth about $8 billion this year, took off soon after Web sites began tracking precisely how many people saw and clicked on ads.
"Without a doubt, one thing that's holding back sports sponsorship spending relative to ad spending is our inability to demonstrate a concrete return on investment," says Simon Warde, the director of research at Octagon, the sports marketing unit of ad giant
The Nielsen service, which debuted in July, measures sponsorships as they're seen in any televised sporting event--baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR and more. Scorecard picks up any promotional element in a stadium or arena, including those that are superimposed electronically by the networks, as long as it is visible for at least one second and is legible. Nielsen then matches each sponsorship impression to the television ratings to the nearest quarter hour.
"It will be much easier for advertisers to place money against a medium that's measured. Until now, it's been a guestimate," says Nielsen Ventures General Manager Ron Schneier. "Is the value of home plate five times or three times greater than the value of the right field wall?" Scorecard lets clients compare sponsorships between stadiums and even sports.
"We're hopeful that Scorecard can expand and accelerate that value of sports television," says Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president of research and sales at
Smaller sports marketing companies, including Ann Arbor, Mich.-based
"What Nielsen brings to the table is its ability to seamlessly marry the sponsorship exposures to its ratings database," he says. "I think they'll deliver a higher degree of accuracy and rigor."
And Nielsen's ability to do that will only become more marketable as digital video recorders and video-on-demand continue to decrease the likelihood that viewers will see regular commercials. Says Bulgrin: "That makes being inside an event much more valuable to marketers."


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Our recent issue highlighted the growth story of India's Tier II and Tier III cities in the hospitality space
Our recent issue highlighted the growth story of India’s Tier II and Tier III cities in the hospitality space. My recent visits to Sikkim in the northeast, Aurangabad in the west and Raipur in central India further reiterated the fact that these pockets of development are totally ready to offer investors a work environment that is ROI friendly. Though Sikkim has its rules vis-a-vis investments, the state is ready to extend its support to those interested to partner with the government on a PPP format for further hospitality development. The CM Pawan Chamling personally shared his keen interest to invite serious players in the space to consider the state to further their brand footprint. Further, in Sikkim, there are small and medium properties in operation who are also actively looking at partnering with brands to manage their setup. Click to Raipur and the picture is that of a region that is raring to go. The Naya Raipur new state-of-the-art region, is declared as a future smart city and investors are already queuing up to grab the first mover advantage.
Apart from the place, the people in emerging towns and cities are also ready to join in the new age development bandwagon. They are ready to experiment with their palates, explore cuisines which till sometime ago were either alien or not accepted. Dining out is fashionable and this signal is smartly identified by investors in the restaurant space. Apart from leading metros, setting up thematic restaurants is not considered as risky any more. Our cover story this issue takes you on an insightful journey of what the gameplan is with respect to these thematic setups.
- Yuvraj Singh arrested for hurling casteist slur against Yuzvendra Chahal, later released on interim bail
- 'Profit Mania' fraud: Man held, juvenile apprehended for duping people by promising high returns in short time
- Rs 50,000 to be disbursed as financial relief to families of COVID-19 victims: UP CM Yogi Adityanath
Further, the restaurant space is also witnessing an interesting online interface. Standing in a queue outside a restaurant to enjoy its gourmet experience may not be required anymore. The recent trend of online table reservations is catching up steadily. Established restaurants across the country are signing up for this new system to give unique dining experiences to their clients and improve their business revenue. With users increasingly becoming tech-savvy and preferring to book ahead of time at their favourite restaurants, the online table reservation system is definitely here to stay and evolve. Finally it’s all about evolution and those who get it quick are the ones who are here to stay.


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Now, the United Kingdom is being hit by a potential shortage of the nation's favorite brew because of this. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said it had seen "temporary disruption" to some black tea lines, and an industry source said there had been some delays to flavored lines. The tea aisle in the markets can be seen half empty.
BRC spokesperson Tom Holder said that the Red Sea attacks had led to some delays, but that he did not expect them to last long. "It is a blip," he said, adding that he expected companies to adjust their orders to account for the lengthened shipping times. He said shortages had probably been exacerbated by people panic-buying tea, somewhat like the toilet paper shortages at the start of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020.
A Sainsbury's in Manchester had a notice that read: "We are experiencing supply issues affecting the nationwide supply of black tea. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to be back in full supply soon." More warnings are in place in stores across the United Kingdom. Sainsbury's executives reassured customers that any shortages were only temporary and that the impact on consumers was expected to be "minimal."
Top black tea brands have almost gone out of stock. Yorkshire Tea and Tetley Tea, two of the most popular tea companies in Britain, said in statements that they were monitoring the situation to ensure they could maintain supplies of black tea, but that orders were being fulfilled. "This is a critical period which requires our constant attention," Tetley said in a statement. It said that it had implemented measures in recent months to mitigate any disruption to supplies because of shipping issues. Non-black teas such as Twining's Lemon Green Tea and Peppermint are currently unaffected.
According to observers, in a nation where people are morning-and-night tea drinkers, the imminent shortage is already causing a stir. Britons drink about 100 million cups of tea each day, according to the U.K. Tea and Infusions Association. The largest share of tea imports to Britain from outside the European Union comes from sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Asia and Oceania, according to Statista, a market research provider. "If an actual shortage of tea hit? In my office, it would be outrage," Eirann Carney, 23 years old, a shopper in London, said. "Honestly I think people would not go in."
The impending tea shortage is not the first since conflicts all around the world have started. It came after widespread egg shortages across the country last year. This was blamed on a bird flu outbreak and rising costs for feed and energy. The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war also affected the supplies as the region is a major producer of wheat which is a main ingredient of chicken feed. All major British supermarkets imposed a limit of a maximum of two or three boxes of eggs per customer as many shoppers faced empty shelves.
According to reports, tea drinkers from Britain have so far largely avoided tea shortages in the past. But Twinings already reported suffering "challenges" with sourcing its lapsang souchong blend last April which led to it being replaced with an imitation that angered some fans.
Last summer, Tetley also narrowly avoided a tea shortage crisis after workers in the GMB Union accepted a new pay deal that called off planned strike action for 200 workers at Tata Consumer Products Limited in Teesside, the only producer of Tetley tea bags for the U.K. and Canada.
But as the Houthi rebels continue the attacks, it may not only be tea, which is largely produced in Asia and East Africa, that would go out of stock or come with high price tags. It would not be a surprise that other raw materials or by-products imported from the said regions are the same. This is unless the freight and shipping companies also become creative in how they sail in the Red Sea to dodge any danger of the rebel attacks. (Related: Commercial ships in Red Sea get creative to avoid being targeted by Houthi rebels, announcing things like, "All Crew Muslims.")


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©IDG Communications, Inc. Photo contributed by Matthew Mikaelian.
FORTUNE — Pre-orders for Apple’s (AAPL) new iPhone were supposed to begin Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific (3:01 a.m. Eastern), but things did not go quite as planned. The first problem was a traffic jam at Apple’s online store. At 12:01 the store’s servers were apparently so overwhelmed with would-be customers that many early risers (including this one) who tried to order online were greeted with the dreaded multilingual “We’ll be back” sign — a message that one frustrated user tweeted was like being told “screw you” in 10 different languages. Word quickly spread on Twitter that the iPhone’s Apple Store app was successfully taking iPhone 5 orders. That was true — to a degree. The app took my order, but it kept timing out at the sign-in stage. After entering and re-entering my password for nearly 10 minutes, I finally got through at 3:25 a.m. My iPhone 5 is scheduled to be delivered next Friday.


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Standing at center stage at Seattle’s McCaw Hall, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told stockholders and employees crowding the annual meeting Wednesday morning that they “hadn’t seen anything yet.”
And then, out came Oprah Winfrey, followed by clapping and screaming, and then a moment after that she and Schultz sat in two of her studiolike chairs, sipped cups of brand new Oprah Chai Tea and celebrated their new partnership. That was the highlight of Wednesday’s 2014 annual meeting of the Seattle-based global coffee retailer (NASDAQ: SBUX).
Prior to that, the crowd heard the traditional run-through of facts and figures and records, as the company’s chairman, president and CEO celebrated Starbucks Corp.'s accomplishments — particularly for a successful fiscal year 2013 — with the crowd. All of that took second stage to the appearance of the TV and philanthropic legend.
Winfrey came to Seattle to help announce the creation of Teavana Oprah Chai Tea, a blend she helped create, which will go on sale at participating Starbucks and Starbucks Teavana outlets late in April. Starbucks acquired Teavana, founded in 1997, in 2012 and is using that acquisition to make its mark in the estimated $90 billion tea industry around the world.
“Over the long term,” Schultz said, “we want to do for tea what we’ve done for coffee.”
Starbucks hopes that its purchase of Teavana and its partnership with Winfrey will accomplish that.
Ever the mistress of ceremonies, Winfrey was right at home on stage. She bantered with Schultz about who had said what at the time when the idea for an Oprah chai was first broached.
She told the audience she’s already had three cups of chai that morning — and Schultz offered her another cup.
“I don’t just like tea, I love tea,” Winfrey said. “I like things chaid up!”
And don’t think for a minute that the audience didn’t get what it expected — Oprah Chai all around. “Chai for you! Chai for you! Chai for you!” she chanted. It wasn't a car (the last time she used a refrain like that), but the audience loved it anyway.
Proceeds from the sale of Oprah Chai will go to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, which funds the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls-South Africa. In addition, the proceeds will aid four other organizations — Girls, Inc.; National CARES Mentoring Movement, Pathways to College and the U.S. Dream Academy.
It was a good day for Starbucks and its stakeholders, who seemed pleased with what they heard and saw.
Starbucks also went live Wednesday with its updated mobile app for the iPhone. Among its features, the app will allow Starbucks customers to tip staff directly from the phone. According to the company, mobile payment represents 14 percent of all in-store, U.S. transactions.
By the numbers, Starbucks continues its financial climb: From 2008 to 2013, the company’s stock price grew 948 percent, from roughly $7 a share to more than $75. Its market cap has expanded from $5 billion to $57 billion. The company serves more than 70 million customers per week in more than 20,000 stores in 64 countries.
Schultz and Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead pointed to the company’s accomplishments since the 2013 meeting. Among other things, he noted record revenues of $14.9 billion (12 percent growth) and record earnings of $2.26 per share per share (26 percent growth) in fiscal year 2013.
Schultz spoke at length about the company’s commitment to communities where its store are located, including rapidly expanding markets in China and India. He spoke about a jobs creation program that Starbucks helped start, a veterans’ employment program and the company’s effort last year to collect 2 million signatures from customers across the U.S. in two days during last year's government shutdown, encouraging Congress to reopen the government.
“We need to be as relevant outside of our stores as we are inside,” Schultz said.
“We are trying to build a different kind of company,” he said, “through the lens of humanity.”
He told stakeholders he wants Starbucks use its resources “for good,” to encourage “truth and transparency, no matter where you are in life.” He pressed for “citizenship over partisanship.”
“There is a great need for us to raise our voices,” Schultz told his audience.
This story has been updated with information about the new mobile app.


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Here's what we are reading this morning:
Investors See Higher Defaults Ahead as Interest Rates, Inflation Take a Toll - WSJ: Debt investors are betting that the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike is a prelude to a downturn for some U.S. companies as rising borrowing costs are likely to put a damper on consumer spending and raise expenses for business.
Retail sales in May slip 0.3% amid surging inflation | AP News: Americans trimmed their spending unexpectedly in May compared with a month before, underscoring how surging inflation on daily necessities like gas is causing them to be more cautious about buying discretionary items.
SEC Seeks a Receiver for GPB Capital - WSJ: The SEC and a court-appointed monitor overseeing GPB Capital are recommending a receivership to protect nearly $1 billion of investor assets and prevent its founder and owner from reasserting control over the firm.
Coinbase's Chaotic Day of Job Cuts Follows Rapid Hiring Spree - Bloomberg: The crypto exchange slashed 18% of its workforce Tuesday, cutting off access to laptops and email before some employees got the news.
Revlon Files Bankruptcy Facing High Debt, Supply Chain Pain: Revlon Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, unable to manage its heavy debt load amid the supply chain crunch and steep inflation.


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Consciously Growing Gelato - News & Review
By Shoka, Sacramento News & Review
On a wedding anniversary trip to Europe around a year ago, Andrea and Kevin Seppinni noticed that the lines snaked out the door at the vegan ice cream shops, but surely, not all those customers were vegan. Plant-based chef Andrea wanted to bring this kind of quality treat—and excitement—to Sacramento. Conscious Creamery was soon born and has been operating as a pop-up cart with vegan cashew-based gelato made with organically grown seasonal fruit, with flavors like blueberry cheesecake, mint and cherry stracciatellas, peach and plum—they’ve even perfected waffle cones. The Seppinnis finally received their commercial production facility building permit, so they’re hustling to have the space completed by mid-July. Hopefully, there’ll be mango chili limeagain at the next pop-up: sweet, tart, spicy and sweet. It’s a delicious ride. Sign up for Conscious’ email list to find out where the cart will be next at www.consciouscreamery.com.


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Google to face fine in European Union Android monopoly case
LONDON, July 15: Google will be hit with a record European Union (EU) fine for using its Android smartphone system to fortify its search empire.
The fine likely to be handed down on Tuesday or Wednesday is expected to eclipse the 2.1 bn pound monopoly abuse penalty Google paid last year over its internet shopping business, and escalates the war between Silicon Valley and Brussels, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.
The European Commission’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager has been investigating Google for three years over complaints the company illegally forces smartphone manufacturers to install its apps.
It gives its Android software to phone manufacturers for free, but binds them to “exclusivity agreements” that force them to install Google’s web browser and search engine if they use the Google Play app store, the report said.
Opponents claim that this constitutes abuse of Android’s 74 per cent share of the European smartphone market and harms rival search engines and browsers.
Meanwhile, Google insists the agreements allow Android to remain free to manufacturers and help them compete against Apple.The commission has the power to fine Google up to 10 per cent of its parent company Alphabet’s annual turnover, or 9.5 bn euro (8.4 bn pound).
As well as the fine, Google is set to be ordered to break its agreements with phone manufacturers. This could mean more Android phones being sold without Google software installed, potentially boosting rival search engines and web browsers such as Microsoft’s Bing or Firefox. (IANS)


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This summer an event called Hirohiko Araki Manuscript Exhibition, Jojo Exhibition in S-city, Morioh Town 2017 will take place in celebration of the approaching 30th anniversary of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. The production announcement event for the celebration took place on 24 April at Tokyo Midtown Conference.
From Saturday 12 August until Sunday 10 September, Hirohiko Araki Manuscript Exhibition, Jojo’s Exhibition in S-city, Morioh Town 2017 (hereafter, ‘Jojo’s Exhibition’) will take place in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Jojo’s Exhibition is scheduled to display famous scenes and lines from all 8 parts of the manga in color and in monochrome. This time they will place more importance on Part 4 (Diamond is Unbreakable), which is set in a town modeled after Sendai called Morioh, and Part 8 (Jojolion).
When the announcement event began, 3 members of the Jojo’s Exhibition Executive Committee and 2 members from the cooperating company, Shueisha, took to the stage. The shared more info on the time and date, venue, ticket sales, and goods sales. Then, the head of the executive committee and the deputy mayor of Sendai, Yukimoto Ito, gave his greetings. He commented, ‘Last time, Araki-sensei’s first manuscript exhibition took place in 2012, after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and 32,000 people from all over Japan attended. This exhibition this time is a remodeling of the last event; you can enjoy the Morioh town from Parts 4 and 8. Some of the place names appear in the manga so you can enjoy walking around the towns of the revived Sendai.’
Then, the Head of Treatment and Editorial Department, Jun Tanaka, spoke about his feelings towards the event saying, ‘Sendai is a special place. The last manga manuscript event was after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and I think that the event naturally bore the brunt of Sendai’s revival. That’s why I want those who attended the last event to also come this time and see for themselves what has and hasn’t changed.’
The also announced a collaboration between Jojo’s Exhibition and the Sendai Transportation Bureau. They will be selling Jojo versions of the IC chip-enabled train pass, icsca, for a limited period of time. Last time, 2500 limited edition magnetic skip cards (a type of prepaid card that is no longer used) sold out in just five minutes. This time 4 times the number of tickets will be sold, 10,000 in total.
In addition to the exhibition event, it has been decided that at the Bizarre Summer 2017 event (to take place on Sunday 13 August at Tokyo Electron Hall Miyagi) the voice of Josuke Higashikata in the TV anime, Yuuki Ono, will attend as a guest. More information is scheduled to be released on the official homepage.
Hirohiko Araki Original Picture Exhibition Jojo’s Exhibition in S-city, Morioh Town 2017
Date: Saturday 12 August – Sunday 10 September
Venue: Sendai Mediatheque 6th floor gallery
Admission Fee: Adults – ¥1800, High school and under – ¥1000
※Children younger than school-age enter free
※Tickets bought at the door cost ¥200 more
tickets with a merchandise exchange voucher – ¥3000 (On sale until 11 August)
(C)LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/集英社


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In an increasingly connected world, Josielle Soares is going against the grain: She has lived without a mobile phone for almost two years. “It’s important to be connected, but not in such a way that you get lost keeping track of everything,” he explains. The decision came after his previous decision smart phone smash. With no money to buy another one, she chooses a new lifestyle.
Ever since she left her parents’ home and started paying bills with her own salary, Josele, 28, knew it would be crucial to get her expenses under control. “I really wanted to be without a mobile phone, and when it broke, the financial issue was an important point for me,” says, who works in university radio at the Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU). pressure and Stress Working remotely was also crucial. “Schedules really messed up. I had orders at 8pm and couldn’t take advantage of a moment to rest because I was thinking about work,” he says. The way out was to abandon the smartphone.
Even if she already wants to live a less attached life, Josele understands the difficulties of the first moments without her cell phone. “You don’t know exactly what it is, but you feel like you’re missing something,” he says. I continued to catch up on the news on TV and on the computer, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of a smartphone. “Is there something wrong with someone?” he thought.
“This happens because your brain misses what it was before. It misses what led to its addiction,” warns neuroscientist Claudia Vitosa Santana. According to her, there are a series of mechanisms and neurotransmitters involved in the process of cell phone addiction. “That’s why not many can,” he says. Many people have a normal life if they don’t have access to their smartphones, even if they wanted to.”
Filling the mind with activities outside of the digital environment was the answer in Josielle’s case. “I got back into activities that I really loved that I had put aside, like playing the guitar. It was my therapy,” he recalls. “I discovered there is another way we don’t need to have a cell phone for things to work.”
It continues after the announcement
Since then, Guzel believes she has gained more health. “I think I’ve greatly reduced my anxiety and even the potential for depression by not using my cell phone all the time.” In addition, today she is coping better with the possibility of missing something and feels less likely to feel lonely. “Physical affection is more valuable to me today.”
Although she doesn’t rule out the possibility of owning a smartphone again in the future, Josielle lives off it. “When I say I don’t have a cell phone, people think it’s weird, but because they live with me, they realize I live well like that.”
study he did Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) revealed that there are more smartphones in use in Brazil than people. There are 242 million cell phones Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)Brazil has a population of 215.1 million. “This is a reflection of the phenomenon of digitization of currency, work and education,” explains Fernando Meirelles, Professor at FGV and Research Coordinator.
This digitization is also seen in the latest data from the National Continuous Sample Household Survey – Information and Communication Technology (Continuous PNAD TIC), which was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2021. The survey shows that the Internet is present in 90% of households in the country and that mobile phones are the main device The main one for accessing the Internet at home, as it is used in 99.5% of households that have access to the Internet.
Josel, who has been living since December 2020 without her smartphone, mentioned that the biggest difficulty occurs when paying bills. This is because, with the increasing adoption of financial transaction apps, going to a bank branch is becoming increasingly rare – in addition to being extremely tedious.
It continues after the announcement
“Ten years ago it would have been unreasonable to imagine that I would no longer need a wallet and that everything would be on my cell phone,” assesses the FGV professor, who warns of the tendency of the Brazilian consumer to prefer smartphones over other digital devices. Josielle has help from a friend who has a mobile phone and has no intention of giving it away. “If it weren’t for her, I don’t know how I would have done it. We almost have to be in this,” he says.
The role of social networks
Giving up your smartphone doesn’t mean giving up social media. At least that was not the path taken by Bruno Candondo, a student of international relations at the University of Ribeirao Preto (UNAERP). Although he has lived without a smartphone for nine months, he continues to use Instagram and Twitter. But now on the computer. “I once went six days without looking at Instagram and some friends called my house to see if everything was okay or if something had happened to me,” he recalls.
He knows that the task of separating from the smartphone is not an easy task. Andrea Guetta, a psychologist and researcher at the Laboratory of Psychology of Technology, Information and Communication at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), attributes this difficulty to the work of algorithms. “Anything the algorithms understand is attractive to you, and they’ll throw baits so you won’t put your smartphone away,” Andréa explains.
But Bruno only realized this after spending more than 16 hours using WhatsApp in just one day. “I thought staying online and having fun in groups was my job, so I was worried about getting involved. But it required a huge emotional charge from me,” he says. When his cell phone broke, he saw the situation as an opportunity to review the way the smartphone and social networking were a part of his life. “I realized I don’t have a healthy relationship with the cell phone.”
Neuroscientist Claudia explains, “The trait of addiction is that you will always want more of what you’re addicted to.” She claims this is related to the reward system: When your brain understands a behavior that generates pleasure and well-being, it will work in search of it. However, she cautioned, this research can cause frustration. “If you feel happy with likes, you will need more and more likes to feel satisfied. If you don’t have the necessary number of likes for that, you will get frustrated.”
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Bruno, 24, has already seen improvements in his life since he decided to give up his smartphone. “After my cell phone broke, I managed to fix my LinkedIn and change my job,” he recalls, and he now works as a library assistant at his university. In addition to the new job, the student also notes improvements in his personal relationships. “I enjoy myself most when I’m with my friends and family.”
Sociologist Camilla Cromo sees social media as an important space for social connection. “It’s like a shopping mall,” he epitomizes. “There is a lot of compelling content out there that encourages you to consume.” But she finds that when most social relationships happen in digital environments, this can lead to people getting used to a different rhythm. “In a digital environment, things are faster than in physical environments,” he defends.
Your smartphone doesn’t have to be your enemy.
As classes return, Bruno considers buying a new mobile phone to make it easier to communicate with his teachers and classmates. “As easy as not having to carry my laptop around all the time, I’m going to have to buy a cell phone. But I don’t want someone to take a picture. I want one with a memory stick for college stuff.”
“If these people got to the point of needing to let go of technology, it was because they were struggling and understood that it was better for them to live without it,” explains psychologist Andrea. However, she argues that more important than staying away from smartphones entirely is understanding that they can be detrimental to mental health and, therefore, it is necessary to use them more consciously. “Many activities have moved to smartphones, which is why we advocate for people to be able to control themselves. Humans can do that.”
How to use your smartphone in a healthy and balanced way:
- Know your behaviourThe first step is to know the behaviors that indicate unbalanced smartphone use. Whether it is spending hours on social media or not being able to stay away from it, it is important to identify the problem to look for the solution.
- Turn off notifications: This is one way to reduce the stimuli to use the smartphone all the time and can help control the habit of looking at the mobile phone thinking that you are missing something.
- Try using other devicesUsing a computer, for example, instead of a cell phone can be a very healthy practice. This is because with a computer it is easier to define the time and moments of use.
- Disconnect the device from the device: Start by leaving your cell phone in another room and see how you react to being away from the device. Understanding that your cell phone does not always need to be near you is essential to healthy use.
- Understand that not everything is urgent: the cell phone, because it is so easily accessible, gives the idea that everything is urgent, but it is not always so. Know that not everything needs to be answered right away.
- Limit your use: Determine when to use and not use the smartphone. Avoid, for example, using it during meals. It is also important to set a daily time limit for using the device.
- Look for other alternativesWe often turn to smartphones when we are bored. However, finding other activities for these moments, such as sports and reading, can help.
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New in the world of smart phones
Unlike Josel and Bruno, history teacher Bartolomeo Targeno did the opposite: he bought his first smartphone at the age of 53. “What prompted me to buy it was the separation from my wife and the need to communicate with my 10-year-old son,” he explains. He guarantees that had it not been for the distance between him and his son, he would have been without a mobile phone.
The lack of interest in the device came from not seeing the sense in a lot of connectivity. “I never felt the need for a mobile phone, even during a pandemic. Because at that time I was home with my son and wife,” he says. He claims that, even with the device for six months, he can’t wait until he can return to his separate life. “I’m dying to give up my smartphone.”
The desire to give up the smartphone does not prevent him from enjoying the benefits of technology until he returns to his old way of life. “The best part is you don’t have to go to the bank line and you can do PIX on your cell phone,” he comments.
“I love face-to-face relationships,” he says, who fears the possibilities offered by technology. “Sometimes I ask for help for my nephew, but I don’t care to know where I can go with technology, there’s so much I don’t know.”
“Hardcore beer fanatic. Falls down a lot. Professional coffee fan. Music ninja.”
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The British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) adds Senior Analyst Jonathan Broughton, IHS Markit, to the line-up of remarkable speakers for the annual BASE Insight Forum taking place on 16th March in central London.
Senior Analyst in the Home Entertainment team, Jonathan Broughton provides insight and analysis in both the digital and physical media spaces and is an expert in competitive analysis, pricing, viewing behaviour, cord cutting, VoD/SVoD consumer strategy and piracy.
In his session ‘The Evolution of Home Entertainment’, Jonathan Broughton will outline the evolution of the home entertainment space, highlighting how content monetisation opportunities now exist across a wider spectrum than ever before. Presenting key findings from IHS Markit, research covers trends in consumer behaviour, evolving business models, new technologies and the opportunities they create. This broad spectrum presentation explores the path of content through the windowing system; from cinema, physical disc, EST, VoD and pay TV.
Speaking on the event, Jonathan Broughton, Senior Analyst, IHS Markit said: “Pay TV continues to expand into more homes and the vast range of services and flexibility of connected devices means that consumers have it easier than ever to buy and rent film and TV content. I am really looking forward to sharing the IHS Markit view on the future of this dynamic market.”
Once again the BASE Insight Forum is geared up to bring delegates a packed agenda which will see a host of high profile industry experts brining to the fore opportunities and innovations to drive audience engagement and category growth. The BASE Insight Forum 2017 is a morning event from 08.30am – 1:30pm bringing together over 300 category executives from across distribution, retail and digital platforms, plus a host of delegates from the broader supply chain. Further leading speakers appearing at the BASE Insight Forum will be announced over the coming weeks.
The BASE Insight Forum, supported by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) will take place on Thursday, 16th March 2017 at Picturehouse Central in London. This event is free for BASE and ERA members but there will be a charge of £250 for non-members.
Tickets are selling out fast; we strongly recommend registering as soon as possible. To register, click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/base-insight-forum-16th-march-2017-tickets-30025858150


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More Articles for the North American Society of Trenchless Technology
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IKEA Australia, has selected Mindshare Australia as its agency of record following a local media agency review and competitive tender process. Mindshare Australia will work with the IKEA team as its media agency partner to purchase media, develop strategic partnerships and deliver high impact consumer campaigns.
The appointment is made following a global media review that preceded a thorough, local media agency review process including three other agencies. The result of the process will see Mindshare Australia take on the remit of Match Media who has been a valued partner of IKEA Australia for 13 years.
The work will focus on delivering media activity to amplify the objectives of the IKEA business in Australia and further build brand connection and engagement. Mindshare Australia will also work very closely with the agency partners for IKEA to deliver integrated communications plans for the organisation.
Kristin Bengtsson, national marketing manager for IKEA Australia, said, “We would like to extend a huge thank you to Match Media for their outstanding collaboration and high performance over the last 13 years. At IKEA our culture and values are paramount and ‘togetherness’ is one which has encapsulated the tone of our relationship. We would like to wish our friends at Match Media every success as they become Blue 449 in January 2017.
“After careful deliberation we have concluded that Mindshare will be the agency we will progress to the contract stage. Mindshare won us over with their people and their passion for our brand. Their response demonstrated great insight and understanding of our business and the remit required moving forward.”
John Preston, CEO of Match Media said, “Saying goodbye to a foundation client is always hard. It has been a fantastic partnership between IKEA and Match as we have grown together over 13 years. While we are incredibly sad that the relationship is unable to continue, in the last six months working on notice, our relationship has been as strong as ever and we wish the IKEA team all the best with their new partner – they are very lucky.”
Katie Rigg-Smith, CEO of Mindshare Australia said, “We are absolutely thrilled Mindshare Australia has the opportunity to work with IKEA going forward. We have been so inspired by the desire of IKEA to innovate and challenge category norms both in their own business and in how they communicate this through media. We are really excited to get started.”
Mindshare Australia will commence work in February 2017.
Australian business and finance expert Ross Greenwood has signed exclusively with Sky News Australia as business editor and anchor of Business Weekend. With more than 40 years’ experience covering business news in Australia and around the world, Greenwood brings expertise to the role of Sky News business editor where he will lead the network’s business […]


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Luckin Coffee Inc. (NASDAQ: LK) shares sank 94% after the company received a delisting notice from the NASDAQ. Now, several other Chinese companies could be delisted as well. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is among them.
Will Alibaba be delisted? Here's what we know...
Luckin was China's answer to Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX). The stock soared 177% on hype from November to January, less than a year after IPO. But the company fraudulently reported $130 million in sales on a recent quarterly report.
That led to a delisting from the NASDAQ and plummeting of the stock.
U.S. executive and legislative branches have been railing against shoddy financial practices by China through the last year's trade war. A combination of the coronavirus pandemic and China's Hong Kong policy have added fuel to the fire in the last couple of weeks.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill that would delist companies unable to verify that they are not under the control of a foreign government. This has prompted many investors to think about what would happen if other Chinese stocks were delisted.
We'll get into how you can respond in just a minute. First, here's how an Alibaba delisting could affect you...
Alibaba Delisting: How It Affects Investors
A giant sell-off is very likely in each case, whether it's Alibaba, Baidu Inc. (NYSE: BIDU), or another Chinese stock. And the effects of that could be devastating to Alibaba investors who bought into the e-commerce giant's success.
The company connects manufacturers and sellers worldwide. And it's been growing its revenue significantly every year. This year, it reported $509 billion in annual revenue, up 35% from $376 billion last year. In 2021, the company expects revenue of $650 billion, another 27%.
Buy Alert: This company is in the sweet spot of an industry projected to be worth $11 trillion by 2026, and its stock is gearing up for a big jump. Get the pick for free here...
The growth prospects for Alibaba are so great that CFO Maggie Wu called it a "challenging quarter" when the company's revenue rose 22% year over year for the January-March quarter. Wu assured investors that the company's accounting practices were stolid, "in accordance with U.S. GAAP."
Shares of BABA have appreciated about 126% over the last five years. So many investors will hurt if Alibaba stock leaves the NYSE.
But the question is still whether it's likely to happen. Can U.S. investors trust Alibaba's CFO?
Alibaba Delisting: Will It Happen?
The bipartisan Senate bill is the biggest, latest indicator of a potential delisting of Alibaba.
The bill was introduced by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and it passed the Senate unanimously. Now, it just needs to go through the House of Representatives, then to the White House for signing.
The White House has been arguably the most anti-China of all the branches of government through the pandemic so far. U.S. President Donald Trump recently tweeted that it was the "incompetence of China" that resulted in the "mass worldwide killing."
Alibaba stock has fallen 8% since last Wednesday, when the Senate passed the bill. But the stock is still up 4% on the year.
The e-commerce giant has been one of the most reliable growers trading on the market. It's even outlasted the pandemic. So investors need a contingency plan for if these foreign stocks end up losing their positions.
If Alibaba is delisted, shares don't evaporate into thin air. In fact, shareholders still hold their shares. But without the NYSE making it easy to trade, monetizing shares of BABA will be difficult. It will be harder to find a buyer without that secondary market.
Traders could rush to sell their Alibaba stock and other Chinese companies. This would send their price plummeting. What happened to Luckin Coffee after it received its delisting notice is a likely outcome if BABA faces delisting. Remember, Luckin lost 94% of its price, falling from $38 to just $2 for the year.
A more likely scenario, however, is that BABA won't be delisted. This is a massive, global company with plenty of American interest tied up. That could be enough to keep the stock on the NYSE. It means Alibaba is more likely to comply with any new requirements and remain on the exchange.
Action to Take: Several Chinese stocks are likely going to be delisted from American stock exchanges. But Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is likely not one of them. It's a huge company, more likely to comply with any new disclosure requirements popping up. But keep watching the press on U.S.-China and BABA over the next few weeks to stay on top of these developments.
The Complete List of Best (and Worst) Stocks for 2021
Wall Street insider Shah Gilani says 2021 could be a gold mine for Americans.
He's showing his subscribers exactly which stocks to buy and which to sell.
But you're getting it all for free – no sign-up or credit card required.
Prices, tickers, and company names will be coming your way fast.


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Wise, a fintech company revealed crucial insights into ATM withdrawal fees for Indian travellers visiting popular APAC destinations.
The latest research by the company taps into its database to shed light on the potential costs associated with cash withdrawals abroad, helping travellers to get the most out of their vacation budgets. As the new year commences and with an increasing number of Indians looking ahead to international travel, these insights provide valuable guidance for smarter financial planning throughout 2024.
The data, focusing on destinations in APAC, reveals that Turkey topped the list as the most expensive place in the region to withdraw cash at ATMs, with travellers charged 4.44 per cent per transaction on average.
Among popular travel destinations for Indians, Thailand ranked 5th at 2.62 per cent, followed by South Korea (2.55 per cent), and Vietnam (1.85 per cent). In contrast, mainland China and Malaysia have some of the lowest fees at 0.01 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively.
To help Indian travellers make informed financial decisions and stretch their holiday budget during international trips, Wise has put together these tips for holidaymakers to keep in mind:
- Research where to withdraw money. It may be cheapest to do this before leaving, but avoid money exchangers at the airport. If you really need to withdraw cash abroad, consider comparing ATM rates at multiple locations, as fees can vary from bank to bank.
- Check the fees your card provider charges for overseas withdrawals, which can be expensive.
Some providers offer free ATM withdrawals abroad up to a certain threshold.
- When swiping your card in stores, choose to pay in the local currency instead of in Rupees to avoid dynamic currency conversion charges
- If you’re travelling to visit friends and family, consider using an app like Wise to send money to them which can help to withdraw at a local ATM. This way, you avoid expensive ATM fees, foreign transaction fees, and poor exchange rates all at once as Wise uses the same exchange rate you see on Google and charges 0.6 per cent on average for transactions. Plus, it’s super quick.


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Edible cameras. Focus that changes after you shoot. What's really in store for photo technology?
Small Is Big
Olympus’ EndoCapsule camera is so tiny you could swallow it whole. In fact, you’re supposed to. Says John Knaur, senior digital products manager at Olympus, “As you swallow it, it takes pictures all the way through your gastrointestinal tract and relays that data to a sensor outside the body that the doctor can download to see what you look like on the inside—without running scopes through you.”
This is a cool invention for gastroenterologists, but what does it mean to photographers? Just that our ability to get decent—though not necessarily print-worthy—pictures from a ridiculously tiny camera may be around the corner.
At least, that’s the claim. And resolution is less important, since the images such micro-cameras capture are meant to be seen only on screens, not in print.
Take the Altera FPGA processing chips used by sensor makers AltaSens and Aptina, whose products are used in video security cameras. These increase the image’s dynamic range by using tone-mapping on two simultaneous exposures. The result is HD video with better detail in both highlights and shadows.
“The AltaSens sensor can take two exposures in one frame time. Half the pixels are set for one exposure time while the other half are set for a different exposure time,” says Altera senior strategic marketing manager Judd Heap. “The Aptina sensor is similar, except it captures video at 720p resolution instead of 1080p.”
As the cost of such processors comes down, over the next few years they could begin to be used in consumer cameras.
At the same time, camera makers are banking on smaller ILCs that offer greater flexibility and performance than true compacts or electronic-viewfinder (EVF) superzooms without the bulk of DSLRs.
The Micro Four Thirds system from Olympus and Panasonic, along with APS-C-sensor ILCs from Samsung and Sony, are gaining in popularity, and chances are good that the other camera makers will enter this market before long.
Market analytics firm IDC forecasts that ILCs could reach 7% of cameras sold in 2013, up from 1% today, while DSLRs will drop to 6% from 8%. IDC analyst Chris Chute believes, though, that DSLRs will continue to dominate the high end of the camera market.
Sony recently announced a new kind of hybrid camera that seems to fall somewhere between an ILC and DSLR. It uses what Sony calls “Translucent Mirror Technology,” a fixed mirror that reflects light to the AF sensor and transmits light through to the APS-C-sized CMOS image sensor, simultaneously.
Among the beneficiaries of miniaturization are the makers—and users—of camera phones. For instance, Sony Ericsson’s latest smartphones emphasize their credentials as cameras. The Xperia X10 is an Android device with a 4-inch screen and 8.1MP camera that shoots stills and widescreen video. It has touch-focus and AF, flash and movie lights, macro mode, and a microSD card slot for up to 16GB of storage. The Satio boasts a 12.1MP camera with similar features, but it runs on the Symbian OS and has a front-facing camera for two-way video calls.
And last spring, Nokia exec Anssi Vanjoki created a stir by saying that “in the very near future” cellphone cameras would make DSLRs obsolete. That served as background for Nokia’s launch of its 12MP camera phone, the N8, which has a Carl Zeiss lens, high-res 3.5-inch touchscreen, and shoots 720p HD video.
That’s a lot of pixels to cram onto a tiny cellphone sensor, so you can expect noisy images. And that kind of tiny lens doesn’t approach the edge-to-edge sharpness, distortion control, and speed of today’s lenses for interchangeable-lens cameras, whether DSLRs or ILCs.
That’s the front on which convergence has gotten truly interesting. Adding HD video shooting to DSLRs has enabled filmmakers to get a much higher level of image quality at a significantly lower cost than shooting with traditional motion-picture cameras. And it has allowed still photographers—notably photojournalists and event shooters—to move into video more easily.
What’s next? Interchangeable lenses on consumer-level camcorders are coming very soon from Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony.
And at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai this summer, Canon revealed a concept product, the Wonder Camera. It would capture extremely high–res video—every frame a usable photo. But it’s more concept than product, and not a mere two or three years away.


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Rana joins Cyara to accelerate global growth and drive market expansion
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – August 8, 2023 – Cyara, the leading AI-led Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Platform provider, today announced the appointment of Rishi Rana as President.
Rana will lead Cyara’s go-to-market (GTM) and product strategies, further accelerating the company’s market position and driving long-term success. Rana will be responsible for Cyara’s product strategy as well as all customer-facing operations which include global sales, marketing, customer support, customer success, and professional services, and will be advancing the company’s global revenue growth.
Rana brings over 25 years of experience in scaling businesses towards success, driving innovation, and achieving operational excellence. He has a proven track record of successfully integrating acquisitions by crafting and executing visionary strategies that harness capabilities and maximize efficiencies that drive bookings, revenue, and margin growth as well as operational excellence.
“I’m excited to be joining Cyara, the market leader in the AI-led CX Transformation segment. Cyara is revolutionizing how the world’s most prestigious brands are delivering great customer experiences, with a platform that has generative AI at its core, and enables brands to deliver continuous innovation to their CX,” said Rana. “My focus will be on building strong teams that will drive operational efficiencies, and deliver cutting-edge products that will further elevate Cyara’s ability to power the ability of organizations across the globe to transform their CX.”
Rana joins Cyara from PowerSchool [NYSE: PWSC], where he led the strategy and growth of three separate PowerSchool business units. As EVP, he played a pivotal role in expanding the overall business, growing revenue both organically and through multiple acquisitions, ultimately achieving a market valuation of over $4 billion. His extensive experience also includes leading the global transformation of disparate product and service lines at AGDATA, as well as several leadership and executive positions at renowned software powerhouses such as SumTotal, Skillsoft and Microsoft.
“We welcome Rishi to Cyara as the newest member to our executive leadership team,” said Alok Kulkarni, CEO and Co-founder of Cyara. “His wealth of experience and successful record in driving growth and transformation make him an invaluable addition to our team. With his leadership, we are confident in achieving continued growth and success, delivering innovative solutions to our customers and seizing new opportunities in the market.”
To learn more about Cyara’s industry-leading CX transformation solutions, please visit: https://cyara.com/.
Cyara revolutionizes the way businesses transform and optimize their customer experiences. Cyara’s AI-based CX Transformation Platform empowers enterprises to deliver flawless interactions across voice, video, digital, and chatbot experiences. With Cyara, businesses improve customer journeys through continuous innovation while reducing cost and minimizing risk. With a 96% customer retention rate and world-class Net Promoter Score (NPS), today’s leading global brands trust Cyara every day to deliver customer smiles at scale.
To learn more, visit cyara.com or call 1-888-GO-CYARA.
10Fold Communications for Cyara


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The world’s largest retailer said its greater than three million prospects with diabetes might save between 58% and 75% off the money price of branded analog insulin products, or as much as $a hundred and one per branded vial or $251 per package of branded FlexPen. Walmart, which is working with pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk, said its merchandise have been intended for use by patients with both type 1 and sort 2 diabetes. Patients can have victual conferences with doctors. I’ve seen many patients in my clinics who expertise the same torment as him. I tried to relate it in a small solution to my expertise after i first went to Wimbledon, also at 18, and managed to qualify, like Emma did, get via to the semis. Following her victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, Miss Raducanu, 18, posed with her old pal for a photograph beneath a Manhattan billboard celebrating the city’s new Grand Slam star. Jonathan Shalit, who landed profitable offers for Olympic boxer Nicola Adams and singer and Tv host Myleene Klass, says Emma may develop into the first billion dollar feminine sports star.
Emma, who has been heralded as a ‘sponsor’s dream’, is heading in the right direction to change into the very best earning feminine sports star of all time. Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee have both made Time journal’s 2021 record of the a hundred most influential individuals in the world, with the former earning a coveted spot on one in all the issue’s seven covers. His negotiations for former world No1 Sharapova, who gained Wimbledon as a 17-year-previous in 2004, helped her earn £234million on and off courtroom by the time she retired last year. The annual checklist was unveiled on Wednesday, the identical day Biles gave a heartbreaking testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about how the FBI failed her and others who had been abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Then the doctor finally got to the bottom of the problem. Those who’re likewise unable to amass the most effective hair supplements, then it is best to attempt one of the best hair development supplements 2021, for example, Valotin, Folexin, Procerin, Revifol, Divine Locks, Restolin, Nutrafol Men, Profollica, Viviscal, Har Voske, Hims, plus far more. CHICAGO, June 29 (Reuters) – Walmart stated on Tuesday that it’ll start promoting personal-label analog insulin this week at a deep low cost to branded insulin vials and pens, as it seeks to drive development at its healthcare business.
With this huge a possible, the growth prospects for gamers in the global marketplace for urodyanmics gear and disposables look vibrant. Rising occurrences of cardiovascular diseases and issues among the inhabitants all around the globe has boosted the cardiovascular gadgets market since last few years. That by no means materialized; as an alternative Amazon entered the pharmacy market with an internet presence. The company already entered the ring towards the massive three pharmacy corporations when it launched Amazon Pharmacy in November. The corporate stated it will not ship medications that may be abused, together with many opioids. Shoppers can toggle at checkout between their co-pay and a non-insurance option, heavily discounted for members of its loyalty club Prime. Under the new providing, customers can search for his or her treatment by name and discover out if it’s eligible for a six-month provide and what the price it is going to be when utilizing the Prime prescription savings benefit, the company mentioned. UK and could be an important lifeline (offered the pharmacy location is close to the supply handle). Sound advice for over 170 years. Pharmacists can provide professional recommendation and an unlimited range of health services – many of which may prevent a go to to your GP or provide help to on the street to making wholesome way of life adjustments.
As a result of most insurance coverage companies don’t cowl six-month prescriptions, this system is concentrating on uninsured and folks who’ve insurance coverage but can afford to pay out-of-pocket. Emma comes along at a singular time in our historical past during the pandemic when people wish to feel positivity and happiness. Kits come with a swab kit and a pay as you go shipping label to be returned to an Amazon lab for analysis with some kits accessible through one-day shipping by Prime, reported STAT News. Cameron stated in a information release. Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court in Kentucky’s capital city. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky’s lawyer basic on Wednesday sued CVS Health, accusing its pharmacy chain of flooding the state with prescription opioids that contributed to the state’s addiction woes. Many of these fits had been filed by Cameron’s predecessor, Democrat Andy Beshear, who is now Kentucky’s governor. She was now consuming around six packets a day. The nanny had managed to put a spoon in Hero’s mouth just in time to stop him from swallowing his tongue but Hero’s mouth was now trapped tight around it.


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As the government extends the enhanced community quarantine in high-risk areas, Globe is extending the free data boost given to the HomeSurf199 promo for Globe at Home Prepaid users. This will allow its users to get more data allocation for their money until May 15, 2020.
Globe initially announced the free data boost for HomeSURF199 users back in March. This increased the data cap to 30GB divided to 23GB base data plus 1GB of YouTube per day valid for 7 days. With the recent extension, Globe at Home Prepaid subscribers can now enjoy the added allotment for their promo until May 15, 2020.
Globe says that this extension will allow their customers to stay updated on health and news information as well as stay within the safety of their homes while performing their daily tasks.
Globe at Home Prepaid WiFi customers can register to HomeSURF and HomeWATCH promos via the Globe at Home app available via the Google Play Store or the App Store without additional data charges.
In addition to the prolonged data boost, Globe is offering the Globe at Home Prepaid WiFi via the Globe Online Shop, Facebook Messenger, official Lazada and Shopee Globe stores, as well as accredited resellers for PhP 999. Each device purchased will net you free 10GB of data for 7 days upon activation. Devices purchased can be delivered straight to your home for free to avoid any hassle.


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A Linux kernel bug in network socket initialization could allow an attacker to acquire root privileges to inflict damages. The security hole applies to all kernels of the 2.4 and 2.6 series and has been around possibly since 2001.more »
The Parted Magic LiveCD provides numerous tools for partitioning and data backup and recovery. The newest version 4.4 runs on systems with just 256-MByte RAM and now supports dial-up networking.more »
With Apache 2.2.13, developers have closed security holes in the popular webserver.more »
The 2.8.3 release of the free blog software Wordpress fixes some privilege escalation problems left over from a previous version.more »
The biggest botnet to date is being virtualized using a network of one million Linux kernels. The virtual machines form an experiment in studying the origins of the malware.more »
Adobe has come out with a patch for Flash Player to fix a recent security problem.more »
A specially crafted dynamic update message to a DNS zone for which the server is a master can raise havoc in BIND 9. An active remote exploit is already "in wide circulation."more »
Tin Hat, a Linux distribution based on hardened Gentoo, has been released in version 20090727.more »
According to a report, many potential victims of the Heartbleed attack have patched their systems, but few have cleaned up the crime scene to protect themselves from the effects of a previous intrusion.
DARPA and NICTA release the code for the ultra-secure microkernel system used in aerial drones.
Should you trust an online service to store your online passwords?
New B+ board lets you build cool things without the complication of a powered USB hub.
Redmond rushes in to root out alleged malware haven.
New initiative will bring futuristic virtual reality effects to the web surfing experience.
Dyreza malware launches a man-in-the-middle attack that compromises SSL.
New cloud combines worldwide access with local attention to data security.
A first cousin of the recent Heartbleed attack affects EAP-based wireless and peer-to-peer authentication.
FOSS community acts to protect freedom of choice for laptop devices.


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The Canadian economy added 35,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate held steady at five per cent.
Statistics Canada said Thursday the job gains were made primarily in the private sector. Employment was up in transportation and warehousing, business, building and other support services, as well as finance, real estate, rental and leasing.
Meanwhile, jobs were lost in construction, other services and natural resources.
As employers kept their hiring appetite, wages continued to grow in March. Average hourly wages rose 5.3 per cent on an annual basis.
The Canadian labour market has been tight for months, despite high interest rates raising the cost of borrowing for people and businesses.
March marked the fourth consecutive month the unemployment rate has held at five per cent, hovering near record lows.
The Statistics Canada report showed those who are unemployed were less likely to stay out of work for a long time. The percentage of those who were unemployed in March that had been out of work for 27 weeks or more was 16 per cent, down from 20.3 per cent a year earlier.
However, the labour market tightness isn’t expected to last forever. The Bank of Canada’s aggressive rate hikes since March 2022 are expected to weigh on the economy, with economists forecasting a significant slowdown this year.
Recent surveys released by the central bank earlier this week showed consumers and businesses are preparing for that slowdown. Consumers said they’re planning to pull back on spending, while businesses are anticipating sales to slow.
That pullback is expected to filter through to the labour market and lead to a rise in unemployment.
And while businesses continued to report labour shortages as a top concern, the surveys showed there are signs that the labour market is easing.
Banner image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alberto Pezzali
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2023.


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Displaying product isn’t enough for today’s fashion retailers, with compelling editorial content both online and in print becoming a vital element of their marketing. Lisa Berwin reports
Arcadia’s overhaul of its fashion websites last week showed how serious it is about trying to improve its online offer and keep up with its rivals as fashion etail becomes increasingly competitive.
The key element of the newly designed sites is the greater scope for media content such as videos. Media content on websites is increasingly becoming a feature across online retail - a trend started by the pure-play etailers and now being taken on board by more traditional rivals.
Meanwhile in print, established fashion magazines are being overtaken in circulation by new media counterparts such as Asos’s in-house magazine. Publishing houses in turn are increasingly interested in etail. News International, for instance, brought private sales site Brand Alley to the UK and is using it to help build up its own revenue streams and understand readers’ lifestyle habits.
Read all about it
As the lines between media and fashion etail blur, retailers are being forced to become more creative and to figure out how to make these technologies work for them commercially.
Arcadia group ecommerce director Simon Pritchard says the fashion giant relaunched its sites to make “the
canvas bigger for more video and features”. He said: “We want to make these sites real destinations for content and fashion.”
Arcadia will use more video and editorial-type content - its Dorothy Perkins site, for example, has a looks and features page where it suggests outfits for different events, similar to the sort of advice found in fashion magazines.
ECommera director Michael Ross, one of Figleaves’ founders, says retailers need to put the same effort into their sites as they do in their shops. “Topshop thinks hard and creates great store experiences with things like design and music; the experience of an Anthropologie store helps grow the appeal and encourage people to go there,” he says.
Ross says Net-a-Porter was the first to adopt a media-style approach. “There is a strategic vision that content will drive greater customer loyalty,” he points out. “If customers don’t come on to the site to buy every week they may want to come on to read articles every week.”
The vision of Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet when she started the luxury etailer more than a decade ago was that fashion magazines encourage the sales of clothes, so why not have an ecommerce offer that does the same. Her background was not in retail - she began her career as a fashion journalist.
Today, Net-a-Porter sticks to that ethos with a weekly digital magazine and a bi-annual print magazine. Vice-president of sales and marketing Alison Loehnis says: “For us it is all about contextual shopping; what is out there, what we love, what is going on at the shows and how shoppers can get the looks now - not in six months. It is a key service offer for our customer.”
The advent of new technology makes it even easier to engage with customers and offer them advice and entertainment. “Our iPad application for the magazine is a dream come true and means customers can really interact with it,” Loehnis says.
Launched last week, the app allows readers to watch videos and runway shows, share product suggestions with family and friends, and give feedback on their shopping experience.
Loehnis believes that content can be used on any site as long as it is done correctly, but cautions: “You need to create bespoke content for your site, not just jump on the bandwagon.” Retailers must think carefully about what their customer wants and what sort of conversations they want to have.
Another increasingly popular form of content is video. As ecommerce platforms improve, it is becoming easier to add video and it need not be limited to product. It can be instructional, for instance, or show shoppers that celebrities are wearing.
Marks & Spencer launched M&S TV on its site in February last year as a way to showcase products and services as well as give advice to customers. It has a click-to-buy function and the retailer says click-through rates to the products featured have been as high as 30%.
The question of return
Such statistics sound encouraging, but how content and social media affect sales figures can be hard to quantify and that in turn can mean it is harder to convince retail boards to test such innovations.
French Connection is launching a video series on its sites and YouTube at the end of August and has been implementing more interactive aspects to its site including ratings and reviews.
The retailer’s director of ecommerce and digital marketing Jennifer Roebuck says she pitches such ideas by explaining what other websites are doing and what people now expect when they go online. “If you don’t try anything new you won’t ever innovate,” she says, admitting that enhancements do not necessarily translate straight into higher sales.
She observes it is easier to convince others of the commercial rationale for innovations such as ratings and reviews because they can be shown to help reduce returns.
Ross notes: “Some high street retailers have a much harder-nosed approach to investment, with every investment needing to prove it can pay back. If a high street retailer refurbished a store it often knows what the pay back will be.
“It is too early in the evolution of online to see how it pays back. High street retailers still struggle with the complexity and uncertainty of online - it is hard to get your head around.”
But retailers are increasingly making the effort and trying new things. They are exploring the potential of social media through obvious channels
such as Twitter and Facebook, through their own social media sites and through bloggers.
Pritchard says: “Social media is vitally important. It is a great way of engaging customers.” He says that Arcadia sites such as Topshop and Evans have successfully engaged shoppers in this way and hopes that the changes to all its sites will enable the other brands to do the same.
New Look has identified that online is key to growth and has its own social media hub, My Look. The retailer’s head of brand marketing Amy Thom says that customers signed up to the site spend more with the retailer over a year than the average. “These things can be a leap of faith,” she says. “It is hard to say when the building of brand awareness leads to sales.”
Different social media platforms bring different kinds of customers and they are treated accordingly. Thom says, for example, that Facebook brings the mass customer and Twitter a more savvy customer, such as those involved in the industry like fashion journalists.
She says New Look is able to track who is coming to its sites from Facebook and, despite some reports of people growing weary of the social networking site, engagement with those on its page has been “growing massively” in recent months.
She adds: “You have to move with the times. We had to look at where our customer was and how we would reach them.”
Names in print
What has also worked well in engaging New Look’s customer is its magazine, launched three years ago.
The quarterly publication now goes out to more than 1 million people in the UK.
Multichannel retailers’ magazines have taken the place of catalogues in many cases and are keenly read in their own right. Asos’s magazine, for instance, goes out each month to more than 450,000 regular customers, making it the country’s second-biggest women’s monthly magazine according to ABC data.
Lifestyle fashion brand Joules, which last week reported a 43% growth in sales, said it had experienced an uplift from what it called its “catazine” - a cross between a catalogue and a magazine with products featured alongside articles.
The publication, according to Joules, also helps customers understand its brand values. It is not the cheapest option available but the retailer believes people spend longer going through it than the traditional catalogue it replaced because of the editorial content.
Ilana Fox, a partner at social media and community engagement consultancy Spoke Digital, says: “Newspapers are struggling with circulation. Asos is not struggling for revenue streams so it can launch magazines online and offline.
“If a retailer can engage with customers other than just on the shopfloor, they can change how a customer sees them and it helps with loyalty.”
Customer loyalty typically comes when people know and trust a brand. Fox says that, particularly in the current market, magazines and social media can help retailers build that with their customers. “It is taking that John Lewis ethos and putting that online in a really creative way,” she says.
Such ventures not only engage existing customers but can help draw in and hold on to new customers. As the digital-savvy generation grows up, retailers must make sure they are positioned to capture their attention. Increased content is vital for search engine optimisation and can push retailers up the page on Google if done correctly.
As retailers move into media content, media firms are responding. Finlay Clark, senior strategist for direct marketing consultancy Bigmouthmedia, points to the example of Condé Nast, publisher of magazines such as Vogue and Glamour, which frequently provides links to retailers’ websites on featured products, thereby earning a commission.
The lines between etail and media look likely to continue to blur, making business ever more complex. Engaging with customers is now a minefield extending far beyond service or customer engagement in store and in future it looks likely that retailers will need to add skills traditionally found at the BBC or News International to those typical of Burberry or Next.


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Anti-piracy protection software Denuvo is getting cracked faster and faster on more games, with certain games made free by hackers in as short as a week. Denuvo says that the protection is meant to protect games during “the initial sales window” but is that even the case anymore?
A week after release, much of the discussion surrounding Rime isn’t about the ruins or the mystery, but rather piracy. Players claim anti-piracy software slows the game down. Pirates say the newly cracked version of the game fixes that problem. Rime’s producers seem unsure if DRM caused performance hits, but Denuvo…
Rime, the indie game caught halfway between Ico and Journey was released last week. With Denuvo DRM. Like a lot of games. But that made some players angry, and prompted the developer, Tequila Works, to state that once the Denuvo DRM is broken, which it eventually always is, the company will release a DRM-free version…
Look at a screenshot of Rime. Any screenshot. Take in the swirling colors, the vast oceanside vistas, the stark, mysterious ruins. It’s all distinctive, and yet somehow familiar. Rime wears its gaming influences on its sleeve, but it lacks their heart.
The Nintendo Switch version of Rime is getting a price drop, of sorts: While publisher Greybox says it can’t lower the $40 price of the Switch cart without “selling at a loss,” it’s lowering the digital version to $30 to match other versions, and including a digital code for the game’s soundtrack inside the physical…
Yesterday, the developers of the colorful adventure game Rime announced that it will be out on May 26 for PC, PS4, Xbox One. Later, it’ll also come to Nintendo Switch, although you’ll have to pay an extra $10 for the privilege.
Action-puzzle game Rime was today re-revealed for the PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch after over a year of silence from developer Tequila Works. Rime, slated for May, was previously a PS4 exclusive.
Here is yet another look at Rime, the Wind Waker-esque action/adventure game that was announced for PS4 last year.
Forget Killzone and Watch Dogs—the best-looking game I've seen on PlayStation 4 so far is this contemplative adventure by a Spanish development studio named Tequila Works.
Part Ico, part Wind Waker, part Journey, and 100% pretty damn awesome-looking, this is Rime, announced today at Sony's presser in Germany. It's being developed by the Spanish studio Tequila Works, previously responsible for the horror game Deadlight.


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Investment firms and analytics companies predict that metaverse real estate sales could double this year, topping $500 million last year. In 2021, MetaMetric Solutions reports real estate sales reached $501 million on the four major metaverse platforms. According to the provider of metaverse data, sales reached $85 million in January. If sales progress at this rate in 2022, they will reach nearly $1 billion.
Sales spiked shortly after Facebook announced Oct. 28 that it was rebranding as Meta to emphasize the metaverse. MetaMetric reports that real estate sales in November increased ninefold to $133 million. Despite sluggish sales growth since then, January’s sales total will still be more than 10 times that of January 2021. From 2022 to 2028, BrandEssence Market Research predicts that the metaverse real estate market will grow at a compound annual rate of 31%. A metaverse investor and advisory firm, Republic Realm, explains the risks and potential rewards of a metaverse property.
Markets dominated by ‘Big Four’
Sandbox, the largest metaverse real estate platform, was acquired by Republic Realm for a record-breaking $4.3 million. The company is developing 100 islands with private villas and a boating and jet-ski market. The company will own 100 islands called Fantasy Islands. Almost all of the islands sold on the first day for $15,000. Several of the islands are now on the market for more than $100,000 each.
In terms of value and risk, it is a challenge for investors to assess an asset that is artificially scarce and whose future is unknown. With new platforms popping up almost every week in the metaverse, more than a dozen are now selling real estate. The “Big Four” – Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium – have dominated the real estate market thus far. On each of the four platforms, there are 268 645 parcels of varying sizes.
According to Republic Realm, Sandbox controls 62% of all land on the four platforms and three-quarters of all land sales by 2022. In December, Sandbox sold the equivalent of $12,700 worth of ether to 166,464 parcels. There are two parcels of land, each measuring 96 meters by 96 meters (106 yards by 106 yards). In Decentraland, 90,600 parcels are available. Each of these 16×16 meter parcels costs $14,440 in ether.
Location of real estate is still important
New land is becoming a hot topic among investors, companies, and brands, hoping to make the next Manhattan or Monaco. According to Yoro, land value in the metaverse will depend on what owners do with a property, such as designing a popular attraction, museum, or feature instead of where it is located. She said that since teleportation is possible, location is not as crucial as it might seem.
Other investors believe that location is everything in the metaverse, just like in the real world. In addition to parcels near Atari’s new development, parcels near Snoop Dogg’s virtual world and partnership in Sandbox are fetching a premium.
Decentraland’s fashion district
Tokens.com CEO Andrew Kiguel recently raised a $16 million fund to invest in metaverse real estate, almost entirely for buying land and hiring staff. In Decentraland’s fashion district, the company has recently spent $2.4 million on land on which to host fashion events and open retail shops.
The company will lease space on its property to two North American apparel brands to develop storefronts or experiences. It is a real opportunity for commercial companies to rent space. And host events in metaverse land in order to advertise to a younger digital audience, said Kiguel. According to him, he has been in contact with accounting firms, investment banks, podcasts and mutual funds to establish a presence in the metaverse.
He said that the company is even considering putting up digital billboards inside virtual conference rooms so people can meet virtually. Kiguel said that tokens.com has acquired 12 waterfront properties in Somnium that it believes will increase in value due to their scarcity and aesthetics. Others, however, believe metaverse land is simply the latest ponzi scheme that lures investors into projects that may end up being worthless. Real land is limited by nature – hence the old saying “they aren’t making any more” – but virtual land can easily be created using code. Metaverse platforms can launch in an unlimited number. As Sandbox did when it increased its parcel size, even the largest platforms can create more land. Virtual land grabs, such as those in “Second Life,” have often failed to live up to their promises.
Metaverse land sales
According to Edward Castronova, professor of media at Indiana University, metaverse land sales tend to be pyramid schemes and have been for over 20 years. “The Metaverse is El Dorado for internet startups. They chase it into the jungle and die.” Kiguel said that while older investors may look down on metaverse land, younger investors and consumers see its appeal immediately.
“The issue a lot of people have is that there are generations that have a hard time appreciating things that are digital, that can’t be held, and that do not have any weight,” Kiguel said. “The younger generation does not have any issues with it. In a similar way to NFTs, blockchain technology allows something to be digital, irreplaceable, and scarce. It can be held, stored, displayed, and sold.”


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Right now, despite having a very general blueprint for reopening its theme parks, the only Disney park with a firm reopening date is Shanghai Disneyland, which will be welcoming guests once again on May 11. And while that is great news for the company (which has lost over a billion dollars so far due to the COVID-19 Pandemic), it looks like it might be a long time before we're able to visit any other parks, as official "best case" opening targets have been pushed back at almost every other Disney park and resort, including the following:
Walt Disney World - June 1
Earlier this week during Disney's official earnings call, executives declined to say how Walt Disney World could open in the near future, and insinuated that they would not be opening the park at rock bottom guest levels because it would not be profitable for them to do so. However, despite this, Walt Disney World has the soonest "best case" opening date, and has only officially cancelled Walt Disney World vacations booked through the end of this month, May 31, 2020.
And while there is some time between now and that June 1 potential reopening date, we'd guess that talks are going on right now as to whether that date is feasible with current social distancing guidelines and the need to maximize profits for the resort.
Disneyland Resort - July 1
This week Disneyland resort stopped accepting hotel or dining reservations for any guests before July 1, 2020. This isn't exactly surprising, as California Governor Gavin Newsom has set out some very strict social distancing guidelines for the state, which effectively bans large gatherings (like those you would see at a theme park) until there is a reliable treatment or vaccine for COVID-19. And while we're sure Disney could lobby the local government to grant them a special exception down the road, it looks like the resort won't be even trying to reopen until at least eight weeks from now.


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As previously mentioned, the Lower East Side BID is gearing up for Sunday’s latest edition of DayLife, the organization’s Orchard Street festival. But before this week gets away from us we wanted to share some images from this past Sunday’s BID-sponsored extravaganza, “Opening Night.” For the second year in a row, art galleries and LES boutiques came together to kick off the fall season.
A runway was set up on Orchard just above Grand Street for a fashion show featuring a diverse selection of clothing and accessories from Lower East Side retailers. Among the boutiques taking part (pictured below): By Robert James, Synchronicity, Pull-in, Any Old Iron, Ja-Mil Uniforms and Delicate Raymond Jewelry. All of these photos were shot by Ethan Ries for the BID.