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This Black Friday, go green
With the rise of online shopping, it has become easier than ever to find the best deals during the sales event of the year, leading people to consume, consume, consume. British shoppers are expected to spend £7 billion this year during Black Friday and Cyber Monday on 29th November and 1st December respectively. As people replace their old devices with new ones, what will happen to the electronic waste (e-waste) created from the sales?
Mountains of tech
In 2016, the world produced 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste – today, 1.4 million tonnes are thrown away in the UK alone. This year, it is expected that Black Friday and Cyber Monday will break previous sales records, many of which will be new phones and other electronic gadgets – resulting in a growing mountain of e-waste.
A staggering 40 million smartphones are now lying around unused in homes across the UK, while landfills are filled to bursting. In countries like Thailand, the effects are obvious, where mountains of e-waste are made up of scrap phones, computers and kitchen appliances. The current global system of electronic waste management is simply not keeping up with new production.
The problem with scrap
Electronics are made with materials that decay and leak toxins into the environment. Over time, the toxic chemicals of a landfill’s e-waste can seep into the ground, potentially entering water supplies or even escaping into the atmosphere – affecting the health of nearby communities.
Devices are also manufactured with precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum. These resources are lost to landfills, where they sit removed from the manufacturing process. Instead of recycling precious metals, we continuously mine and drill for new sources to replenish those lost – even though the Earth has a finite amount.
Just 20 per cent of global e-waste is recycled, representing a substantial waste of resources. Almost every component of an electronic device can be reused, yet phones and laptops are challenging for consumers to repair as the cost of replacing parts increases. Trying to maintain our tech before upgrading to a newer model is key to reducing e-waste and replacing impulse buy mentalities with reuse, reduce and recycling strategies.
Make Black Friday green again
At GSUK, we have launched a campaign to help consumers understand the challenges associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and what they can do to help.
Throughout the next week we will be working to promote reducing, reusing and recycling old devices. Join us on social media as we share tips on how to make Black Friday green again – find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram!
We have also set up a free post address for unwanted tech products – ensuring your old devices will benefit future consumers instead of sitting in landfills. If you are planning on purchasing new gadgets this Black Friday or Cyber Monday, please consider sending your old or damaged devices to Recyclewise – a mobile recycling and redistribution scheme. Our Freepost address is: Recyclewise, Genuine Solutions Ltd, Unit 1 223 Hook Rise South Industrial Park, Hook Rise South, Surbiton, KT6 7LD.


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Microsoft has announced that it has started rolling out the LinkedIn app for Windows 10 PCs to the Windows Store. The app provides an integrated experience accessible from the Start menu and taskbar as well as using the Action Centre and Live Tile to provide real-time notifications.
Microsoft has announced that it has started the Windows 10 Creators Update rollout as a free update for Windows 10 users. The update includes 3D in Windows 10, built-in game broadcasting, Microsoft Edge improvements and enhanced security features.
Microsoft has started its worldwide roll out of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. The release includes Windows Ink, improvements to security with Windows Defender and Windows Hello for apps and websites, extensions for Microsoft Edge, updates to Cortana as well as user interface refinements to the Start Menu and Action Centre.
Microsoft has announced the release of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update SDK, along with Visual Studio 2015 Update 3. The new SDK contains enhancements to the Universal Windows Platform and includes updated APIs for Windows Ink, Cortana and Windows Hello as well as improved Tools and Bridges for iOS and Android Developers.
Microsoft has announced the release of a new version of System Center Configuration Manager (1606). The update includes new features and enhancements in security and data protection, application management, content distribution, deployment and provisioning, end user experience as well as new functionality for customers using Configuration Manager in hybrid mode with Microsoft Intune. This version also provides support for the Windows 10 Anniversary update.
The most significant event this month has been Microsoft’s announcement of its planned acquisition of LinkedIn. This will be the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s corporate history. Microsoft’s CEO believes that LinkedIn information can be incorporated into Office 365 and Dynamics and envisages a LinkedIn newsfeed that serves up articles based on an individual’s current project with Office suggesting an expert to connect with via LinkedIn. There are also other potential synergies with Office 665, Dynamics CRM & ERP as well as advertising products and services.
Microsoft continues extending its services to non-Microsoft platforms with Translator for Amazon Fire available from the Amazon Underground app store and Outlook watch face for Android Wear.
Microsoft has announced that it will use Apache Spark to power its big data and analytics offerings, which includes Cortana Intelligence Suite, Power BI and Microsoft R Server.
The CRM 2016 spring wave includes Dynamics CRM Online 2016 Update 1, Dynamics CRM 2016 Service Pack 1, Dynamics Marketing 2016 Update 1 and Social Engagement 2016 Update 1.5.
Microsoft has featured in a number of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants. Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) for 2016 and Azure Active Directory was placed in the “leaders” quadrant with a favourable completeness of vision assignment. A visionary placement for Intune and the Enterprise Mobility Suite in the Enterprise Mobility Management Magic Quadrant as well as a Leader in the Mobile Application Development Platforms Magic Quadrant.
Of interest is the release of Microsoft’s first holographic email and calendaring apps, Outlook Mail and Calendar, to Microsoft HoloLens.
Microsoft has announced Azure Information Protection, which is a new service that builds on Azure Rights Management (Azure RMS) and its Secure Islands acquisition. There are no changes for current Azure RMS customers until the General Availability of Azure Information Protection later this calendar year.
A preview of Azure AD Conditional Access policies for Exchange and SharePoint Online has been made available. These policies can be used to require multi-factor authentication (MFA) or block access based on network location.
Microsoft will release its Windows 10 Anniversary Update on 2 August. There have been quite a few test builds of the Anniversary Update for Fast Ring PC and phone testers. The Start Menu and Action Centre include a range of refinements and changes as well as significant updates to Edge, which starts to support add-ins.
Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Enterprise State Roaming service for Windows 10. The service is part of Azure AD Premium and provides enhanced security and control of the OS and app state data that are roamed between enterprise owned devices. All synced data is encrypted before leaving the device and backed by an enterprise compliant storage service in the Microsoft Azure cloud.
In spite of selling off its entry level feature phones, along with more staff reductions planned, Microsoft has said that it will continue to support and develop the Lumia brand. Given the company’s ever shrinking mobile phone market share coupled with Satya Nadella’s focus, this is not a huge surprise. Will we see the launch of a Surface Phone at some time in the future?
Microsoft is partnering with the Jenkins community to offer both compute resources and technical expertise to build a development and delivery infrastructure on Linux and Java in the Azure cloud.
Cloud services continue to be the company’s focus as it unveils its vision and roadmap for SharePoint, which focuses on providing file sharing and collaboration on any device as well as becoming an open and extensible platform.
May’s updates to Office 365 include real-time chat integration into the web experiences, as well as new capabilities in Outlook and Visio. The Power BI Desktop May Update, features improvements to Report View, the ability to Publish to a Pyramid Server, analytics and data connectivity.
The company has announced the availability of the PowerShell module for Azure Machine Learning in public preview mode. This is a .NET based PowerShell DLL module that allows end users to manage Azure ML workspaces, experiments, datasets, web services and web service endpoints.
The latest volume of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) has been published and includes threat data from the second half of 2015 as well as longer term trend data on industry vulnerabilities, exploits, malware and malicious websites.
Microsoft has reported that Windows 10 is now running on 300 million active devices around the world. There have been a number of Insider Build releases that include the revised Start Menu as well as a range of other refinements.
Microsoft has continued to apply its focus on iOS and Android as significant targets for its applications and services. These include Calendar Apps for Outlook on iOS and Android, which connects Wunderlist, Facebook and Evernote; content viewing for Skype for Business on Android and updates to iOS as well as Microsoft Translator capabilities for Android users.
The company also announced the availability of the Linux Data Science Virtual Machine on the Azure marketplace. This is a custom VM image built on the OpenLogic CentOS-based Linux version 7.2 and contains several popular data science tools used by data scientists, developers, educators and researchers.
Office 365 has been enhanced with email safety tips providing an added layer of protection; a new look and feel to the Office 365 welcome page that includes a range of new features for administrators and users. Microsoft has also released updates to Excel 2016’s Power Query technology, which is accessed through the Get & Transform section on the Data ribbon.
Extended support for SQL Server 2005 ended on 12 April and marks the end of security updates or hotfixes. Microsoft released their fourth and final SQL Server 2016 release candidate and announced that SQL Server 2016 will be generally available on 1 June 2016.
Microsoft released a public preview of the Azure Media Face Detector, which contains Face and Emotion Detection services. This Media Processor can be used for people counting, movement tracking and gauging audience participation and reaction via facial expressions.
Microsoft has announced that they will be releasing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer. The update includes Windows Hello Biometric Security for Apps and Microsoft Edge, Window Ink enhancements, increased number of Cortana-enabled apps as well as revisions to the Start Menu.
Microsoft announced its Dynamics CRM 2016 spring wave that will be available to online customers in Q2 2016. The release focuses on the integration of two recent acquisitions (FieldOne and Adxstudio), which provides capabilities for field service and portal solutions for community engagement.
For Office 365 subscribers, there have been new feature updates to Power Pivot for Excel 2016, which include the ability to save a relationship diagram view as a picture and enhancements to the relationship dialogue experience.
Microsoft announced the availability of SQL Server 2016 Release Candidate 0 and just a few days later, the availability of Release Candidate 1, which included an updated preview portal, custom branding, KPIs and mobile reports as well as paginated reports.
Microsoft plans to release the first version of the Skype Universal Windows Platform Preview app to its Windows Insiders for testing. The version includes a simplified user interface as well as a range of usability features that have been requested.
The first set of extensions for Edge are available to preview via the Windows Insider Program and include the Microsoft Translator, Mouse Gestures and the Reddit Enhancement Suite.
Microsoft has been making a range of announcements at its Build conference for developers. These include the release of HoloLens Development Edition, the introduction of support for Bash with Ubuntu user mode in Windows 10, new Skype for Business App SDK, new Skype Web SDK and a preview of Power BI Embedded.
Support for SQL Server 2005 ends on 12 April 2016. Microsoft plans to end support of the RC4 cipher with April’s cumulative security updates, which will disable the RC4 cipher by default.

domain: news


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Travelling on a bicycle or motorcycle is easier especially when there is a lot of traffic than traveling via a car. Google Maps has also realized this finally and on this notion, has designed the service to specifically facilitate the two-wheelers. Google Maps now show routes particularly personalized for the motorcycle or bicycle riders when they search for locations around them.
The new feature seems to be launched in India first. It could be accessed by searching for a destination, followed by tapping the motorcycle icon present in the row of transport mode varieties.
The provided routes are quicker if not shorter, as they incorporate the use of shortcuts which could be easily accessed by the bike and cycle riders, or the service provides directions that are faster to navigate on a two-wheeler instead of a big automobile.
Trips within the city around the time frame of 11 AM were smaller by several minutes, while the journey taken outside to travel outside the town took noticeably less time. For example, Google Maps calculated an estimated 256KM trip would take roughly around forty minutes less time on a two-wheeler as compared to if taken via a big vehicle.
The latest version of the app—Google Maps on Android—v.188.8.131.52 to be accurate, is needed for trying the two-wheeler mode.
The feature would hopefully roll out in all other countries that face traffic jam issues and have a high database of people using motorbikes for transportation.
Google is scheduled to announce few updates to the “Google for India” version today, so after that, it could be said with clarity that whether the two-wheeler mode is only for India or the feature has the probability to roll out in other nations too.
I am a writer/editor at Research Snipers RS-NEWS and it’s been 3 years working with the company. My specialties are technology and business.


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NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, HID Global, NXP, Okey Co and STMicroelectronics will be at Trustech in Cannes, France from 28 to 30 November... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP is to unveil a new fingerprint-on-card solution at Money20/20 that combines a dual interface card with an integrated fingerprint sensor... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has announced a toolkit designed to make it easy for iOS 11 developers to take advantage of the NFC tag reading capabilities that are now supported by iPhones and unlock “the potential to now connect billions of consumer and industrial products to the Internet of Things (IoT)”... More
A 19-page white paper exploring the benefits and best practices for successfully developing and implementing a national program for electronic IDs (eIDs) is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, Gemalto, NXP and Rambus will be attending the Money20/20 Europe expo in Copenhagen from June 26-28... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP is “excited about the expanding number of users of NFC applications” following the announcement made by Apple earlier this week that it is to add support for NFC tag reading to its iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Apple Watch devices... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has joined Emcredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), and payments solutions provider Cardtek to launch Empay, a common mobile wallet platform that will enable citizens across the United Arab Emirates to make retail payments, initiate money transfers and pay for government utilities using their NFC smartphone or wearable device... More
The EU Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is calling on the European Commission to define a policy framework ensuring minimal requirements for the security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices along with the development of mandatory staged requirements for security and privacy to give stakeholders a “level playing field” in implementing trust into connected devices and IoT systems. More
NXP has announced that its Android Things platform now supports the new Google Cloud IoT Core, enabling enterprise and city developers to use NXP’s platform “to help create a smart, interconnected system of devices that are securely managed and provisioned through the Google Cloud”. More
NFC World’s Partner Program has been shortlisted in The Drum Online Media Awards’ Best Commercial Innovation category alongside The Financial Times and UK national newspaper group Johnston Press... More
PARTNER NEWS: Guala Closures Group, a world leader in security closures, has teamed up with NXP to introduce an NFC-based tamper evident closure solution for the wine and spirits industry that is designed to protect brands, enable advanced anti-counterfeiting and tamper-proofing and enable brand owners to make VIP offers, loyalty rewards and more available to customers through a tap of their NFC mobile device. More
PARTNER NEWS: Antelop Solutions and Rambus will be exhibiting at the Seamless Asia expo in Singapore from 19 to 20 April... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has unveiled two new NFC chips and a range of NFC offerings designed to “capitalise on the inherent security and interactive capabilities of NFC for advanced product authentication, integrity assurance and enhanced user engagement across consumer manufactured goods, healthcare, retail and other industries”. More
PARTNER NEWS: Five “leading car OEMs” are to integrate NFC technology from NXP into cars to enable a variety of secure interactions including vehicle access, Bluetooth and WiFi pairing, personalization and payments, the chip maker has announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona... More
Feed for stories featuring NXP.
• Find a list of all the companies and other organisations that have been featured in NFC World in our directory.


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Yes, finally, the Motorola Q has gone official. Basically meaning the plethora of rumors and speculation that we have posted in the past are no longer rumors because a fancy press release says so. Here it is—get ready—it is big and monumental.
The Motorola Q will be available from Verizon wireless online on May 31 and in stores in June! Wowee! Wasn't that spectacular? Additionally the Motorola Q will retail for $199 after a $100 instant rebate as long as you sign your soul over to Verizon for two years. That is a pretty good price compared to the other Windows Mobile-powered phones out there.
Press Release: Windows Mobile-powered Motorola Q available [Mobility Site]


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Capping off a busy week of releases that includes the 24-inch iMac and iPad Pro, the reviews for the last new product arriving in stores, the Apple TV 4K, have landed. And the reviewers are basically in agreement: the Siri Remote is the reason to buy one.
Over at Pocket Lint, Stuart Miles says the A12 processor is an improvement, but “the loading times could be improved.” He also found that features like HDMI 2.1, high frame rate support, and Thread compatability are more about “having some level of future-proofing” than anything people need to rush to buy. Similarly, Carrie-Ann Skinner at TechRadar said she was able to see “a clear difference” when watching high-frame rate HDR but “there’s currently a limited amount of compatible content available.” She also found the processor to deliver “very slick” performance with “no lag when loading or switching apps.”
Jason Cipriani at ZDNet had similar observations. He found that the new box delivered “small speed improvements” and the high-frame rate HDR was “clear, smooth and free of any motion blur” even on his 60fps TV. Patrick O’Rourke at Mobile Syrup said the A12 chip “is more than powerful enough and removes some of the lag I started to occasionally experience when streaming 4K Dolby Vision video with certain apps,” while Jacob Krol at CNN noted that high-frame rate HDR “won’t be evident to the untrained eye.” And Jonas Ekelund at Macworld Sweden said that “We have to keep waiting for the launch of the real game-changing model.”
But by far, the Siri Remote is what makes the Apple TV 4K a worthy upgrade. All of the reviewers praised the remote, using adjectives such as “stellar,” “handy,” “intuitive,” and “practically perfect.” Our colleagues at Macworld Sweden said the new remote “has returned to the original delightful aluminum finish, which makes it feel like a premium control again. It has also become larger and above all thicker, which makes it fit better in your hand.”
However, the experience with the remote wasn’t completely positive. Ekelund lamented the loss of the accelerometer for motion games, while Rene Ritchie at iMore griped about the new Back button, which he described as “more like a random action button.”


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Live Nation Japan and Promax Inc. launched on Monday that the “Ace Attorney 20th Anniversary Online Concert” will stream worldwide (excluding some areas) from May 7 to May 15 on Zaiko. The dwell efficiency will occur on the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo on May 7 and might attribute a talk-session with Takayuki Kondō, KENN, and Eiji Takemoto.
The tickets for the web dwell efficiency are priced at 3,500 yen (US$27.34).
The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra carried out the (*7*) in April 2021, and Live Nation Japan and Promax Inc. moreover streamed that dwell efficiency.
CAPCOM launched the first on-line sport inside the Ace Attorney franchise titled Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in October 2001.
CAPCOM launched the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Gyakuten Saiban 1 2 3 Naruhodō Selection) sport for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam) in English in April 2019. The trilogy compiles the first three video video games inside the Ace Attorney franchise. The agency launched the trilogy in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS in April 2014 after which launched it in December 2014 in North America and Europe.
The first Ace Attorney anime assortment premiered in April 2016 and lined the first two video video games inside the franchise. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as a result of it aired in Japan, and Funimation launched the anime on dwelling video. A second season premiered in October 2018 in Japan. Crunchyroll streamed the gathering with subtitles, and Funimation streamed a simuldub.
Source: Press launch


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Half of those surveyed in a European wide study said that glass has a more positive impact on the environment than other packaging materials such as plastics, metal cans and cartons, according to the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE).
Environmental criticisms over the impact of bottling mineral water is expected to lead to stagnant growth in the segment over the coming year, potentially forcing manufacturers to rethink their packaging, suggests new research.
The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) has said there is no evidence to support the claim by researchers based at the Goethe University in Frankfurt that water bottles contaminate drinking water with estrogenic chemicals.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is generally succeeding in meeting German concerns regarding sustainable consumer packaging and should continue to increase in use until 2025, claim a group supplying the material.
As the aluminium beverage can reaches its fiftieth anniversary this year, brewer Molson Coors says it expects the packaging to remain central to its global operations in the future, despite growing competition in the market.
A new aseptic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) bottling plant is one of the few co-packing facilities to offer three methods of aseptic processing, says a US based manufacturer.
The food and beverage industry must move away from the notion of green and non-green packaging and accept that various materials, be they bio- or oil-based plastics, can have unique pack applications, says one research group.
Coca-Cola has provided $400,000 to one US-based university to encourage development of new sustainable forms of packaging through a scheme that could see other beverage and food manufacturers following suit.
The specific use of titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles in a material used to make polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic drinks bottles did not give rise to toxicological concern, claims a scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
With a seemingly endless number of halls pushing greener solutions at this year’s Emballage trade show, one possible future for packaging could be in looking to the past and getting back to design basics.
Nampak, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of rigid plastic containers to the food and drink industry, has announced that it is set to receive 12,000 tonnes of food grade recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE) from UK recycling company, AWS Eco...
Recent developments in ‘metallised’ compostable packaging, developed in cooperation with a US drinks group, may lead to further advances for global use in beverage products like coffees and tea, claims the material supplier.
As groups like Coca-Cola push ahead with new consumer-targeted recycling schemes in the US, their European counterparts claim to favour a different approach to help ensure environmental sustainability.
The fledgling market for environmentally friendly beer is becoming increasingly susceptible to allegations of false advertising, amidst further claims this week of corporate ‘greenwashing’ within the beverage industry.
Despite their dominance within the market, Bottled water
manufacturers are coming increasingly under pressure from
point-of-use (POU) water suppliers amidst recent environmental
criticism of the industry, according to a new report.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) will next week launch
a new online tool is says will allow the industry to better assess
how much of environmental impact transportation has on their
A study published by WRAP suggests that the bottling of Australian
wine in the UK using light glass bottles with a high recycled
content produces roughly the same CO2 emissions during production
and transportation as PET bottling.
Cott, a leading manufacturer of private label and branded soft
drinks, has agreed a deal with packager Sidel over the lease of
blow-moulding equipment for expansion into sustainable bottled
A best practice for recycling plastic milk bottles
- found to perform identically to those made from virgin resin
- could reduce packaging waste sent to landfill sites,
according to a government-funded recycling agency trial.


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List of Contents
Source- The post is based on the article “India’s DPIs, catching the next wave” published in “The Hindu” on 30th March 2023.
Syllabus: GS2- e-governance
Relevance– Digital India
News– The article explains India’s digital public infrastructure.
What are some facts about India’s digital public infrastructure?
India’s digital public infrastructure or India Stack is a partnership between governments, regulators, the private sector, selfless volunteers, startups, and academia/think tanks.
It has led to many Lego blocks to create a superstructure which delivers consistent, affordable, and across the board value to citizens, government and the corporate sector.
What are different initiatives under India digital public infrastructure that show its effectiveness?
Aadhar– The judgement of the Supreme Court of India on privacy led to slow opening of Aadhaar to the private sector
The rapid adoption and ease of doing business in daytoday transactions has now led to a gradual opening of Aadhaar for various private sector applications.
Aadhaar holders can voluntarily use their Aadhaar for private sector purposes. Private sector entities need not seek special permission for such usage.
Aadhaar data can be shared between government departments, but with the prior informed consent of the citizen.
Banks and other regulated entities can store Aadhaar numbers as long as they protect it using vault and other similar means.
UIDAI is making efforts to incentivise Aadhaar usage. Aadhaar authentications have shot up to 2.2 billion per month, and the cumulative number over the past 12 years has crossed 100 billion.
Digi Yatra and DigiLocker– Digi Yatra is a Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel experience based on a facial recognition system through a partnership between industry and government.
It ensures seamless identification of passengers at key checkpoints such as airport entry, security check and boarding gate clearance.
About two lakh passengers have utilised this successfully. Air passenger traffic in India was estimated to be over 188 million in the financial year 2022. When Digi Yatra reaches a third of them, it will lead to second order effects and more innovation.
DigiLocker is another example. It is one of the least known Digital Public Infrastructure. It today has 150 million users, six billion stored documents. Plans are to expand it to many countries around the world.
When one applies for a passport now, one need not even upload any PDF or submit some notarized papers. A simple consent on the passport application form allows it to fetch the relevant data from DigiLocker.
Zerodha, Upstox, RazorPay, Equal and many other insurances and fintechs use DigiLocker API for their Know Your Customer.
Today, there is a lack of a single portal at the Union or the State level where industry can see all the necessary compliances. An Enterprise DigiLocker can be created.
UPI- The unified payment interface or UPI which is breaking records. It has now crossed eight billion transactions per month and transacts a value of $180 billion a month.


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Apple CEO Tim Cook visits China
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- Staff San Francisco Business Times
Cook met with Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, to discuss IT development in the country.
The second visit comes as Apple has nearly doubled the number of retail outlets there, to 11.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) had six stores in China at the time of Cook's last visit, in March.
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You may lather it into your scalp, smear it on your lips, or rub it into your face every day, but that doesn’t mean your shampoo, lipstick, or moisturizing cream has ever been checked for safety—at least not if you live in the US. In fact, the US Food & Drug Administration, the federal agency responsible for regulating the cosmetic industry, is mostly toothless when it comes to making sure skincare and hair products are safe.
The FDA doesn’t have the power to require companies to disclose their full ingredient list, report complaints, or safety-test products before they go to market. It can’t even force a company to recall a product if problems are found. The US bans or restricts 11 ingredients from cosmetics, but for comparison, Canada bans 587. The European Union, which requires pre-market safety testing, bans 1,328.
In the US, “you can develop a cream tonight, and sell it tomorrow,” says Shuai Xu, a dermatologist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Overall, cosmetics are very safe. But over the last 10 years, we’ve had controversy after controversy—mercury in skin lightening creams, for example, or Brazilian blowouts,” Xu said, referring to the hair-straightening treatment that, when combined with the heat from a straightening iron, releases the toxin formaldehyde. “It’s a slippery slope.”
Just last year, the FDA began putting complaints it’s received from the public about cosmetics on a website anyone can access. In a letter published Monday (June 26) in JAMA Internal Medicine, Xu and his colleagues combed through the FDA’s new Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s Adverse Event Reporting System and found complaints more than doubled between 2015 and 2016, with most of the increase coming from issues reported about haircare products.
They also found that when it came to the severity of complaints, the products most associated with “serious” health effects (defined by the researchers as “serious injury, disability, congenital anomaly, or death”) were baby products like baby shampoos and lotions. Just over half of all baby product complaints were classified as “serious.”
The researchers note that their research is limited due to the fact that the health outcomes were self-reported, and toxicology data for most products simply doesn’t exist, because it isn’t required. “The FDA has minimal oversight, but also just minimal data. We don’t know exactly what is causing these complaints,” Xu said. “At the very least, we need broader participation in the database [from manufacturers].”
The big uptick in haircare complaints was caused primarily by the Los Angeles hairstylist Chaz Dean’s line of “Wen” cleansing conditioners. “The controversy is still ongoing—the product is still on the market,” Xu says. “It’s a great index case; it really underscores the problems we have in the US.” With varieties like sweet almond-mint and lavender, the conditioners are marketed as being free of harsh chemicals. But they made people’s hair fall out; in one case, a 9-year-old girl in Denver, Colorado lost all her hair after three washes with the conditioner in 2014. The FDA launched an investigation that year after receiving 127 complaints about the products, only to find that the company had received more than 21,000 complaints about itching scalps, rashes, and sudden balding dating back to 2011. Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics manufacturers are not required by the FDA toreport complaints about their products to the agency.
What’s more, the FDA can only take legal action against a company if it violates a law, by mislabeling a product, for example, or if a product is found to have been contaminated by some illegal ingredient. In an event where a product is causing harm to consumers but is technically legal, the FDA is hamstrung. Wen cleansing conditioners still remain on the market, and a spokesperson for Guthy-Renker, the distributor of Wen, said in an email that “there is no credible evidence to support the false and misleading claim that WEN products cause hair loss.”
Guthy-Renker belongs to the cosmetics trade association Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors, which has lobbied against legislation introduced by senator Dianne Feinstein in 2015 that would strengthen the FDA’s ability to regulate their industry. Current regulations are based on two pages of text in a 1938 law that hasn’t been meaningfully updated, and which left the industry virtually unregulated. In their letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers urge passage of that legislation. The bill would give the FDA the ability to force product recalls, and compel the agency to review five different ingredients a year for safety.
But, the researchers say, even that wouldn’t go far enough: The US should take a page from European standards and actually test products before they go on the market, they write.
This article has been updated with a comment from Guthy-Renker.


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LVMH first-half profits in double digit rise
Luxury brand conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said shoppers had snapped up its designer goods over the past six months, driving revenues up 13 per cent to €10.3bn (£9.1bn).
LVMH, the world’s biggest seller of designer items such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi bags, said it had seen strong demand in the first half of 2011 across the board, with European, Asian and US markets all growing fast.
Profit from continuing operations was up 22 per cent to €2.2bn while all its brands had gained markets share, it said in a release after the markets closed.
The 25 per cent gain in its net profit, to €1.3bn, beat analyst expectations for €1.25bn.
LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault said the results showed “the pertinence of our strategy”.
Jewellery and watches sold best in the six months, delivering 27 per cent organic revenue growth and 73 per cent jump in profit, to €85m from €49m in 2010.
Perfumes and cosmetics saw lowest revenue growth, up 11 per cent, while profits in the division were flat at €181m.
“We approach the second half of the year with confidence and are relying upon the creativity and quality of our products as well as the effectiveness of our teams to pursue further market share gains in our historical markets as well as in high potential emerging markets,” Arnault said.


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PBS, PBS Kids and Apple announced that the Peanuts holiday classics A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas will be appearing on television for the holidays. The news comes after some pushback against an Apple TV+ exclusive that found the Peanuts cartoons being pulled from TV broadcast.
PBS, PBS Kids and Apple announced Wednesday that Snoopy and the gang will be coming to television for the holidays. Though Apple has the rights to Peanuts content for its Apple TV service, a new deal will make the classics available on PBS and PBS Kids this year.
For the first time, the holiday content will appear on TV ad-free. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will air on 22 November and A Charlie Brown Christmas will air on 13 December.
This is in addition to plans for the specials to stream on Apple TV+. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be available starting 18 November and free to watch from 25 November to 27 November. Similarly, A Charlie Brown Christmas will be available from 4 December and will stream for free from 11 December to 13 December
Charles Schulz’ Peanuts empire originated as a daily comic strip about Charlie Brown, Snoopy and characters like Lucy, Linus and Peppermint Patty.


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Social media agency SOCiETY has hired five new social specialists from diverse backgrounds such as creative development and PR as the agency continues to broaden its services to clients.
SOCiETY Managing Director Nicola Swankie said the new people would be based in SOCiETY’s Sydney and Melbourne offices as the agency’s total staff climbs through the mid twenties.
Social media management specialist Zoe Condon has joined Society as Social Planning Manager. She was most recently part of the One Green Bean team that set up the Social Command Centre for Coca-Cola in Australia.
Also joining is Tim Collier as Strategist. He is a Cannes Young Lion finalist who previously worked at VML where he led social strategy on the NRL State of Origin series and assisted in winning the UNIQLO business.
Joining SOCiETY in Melbourne is Katija Vlatkovich, formerly a Social Planning Manager from OMD in Melbourne where she focused on Retail and FMCG, including leading social work on the 7-Eleven account.
Content creator Juliette Olah has joined SOCiETY in Sydney. She has developed and produced extensive social content for eBay fashion and Mum’s Business in Australia while working at We Are Social and at fashion retailer ASOS. Sabrina Chen has also joined SOCiETY in Sydney as a Social Executive. She was formerly with LBiDigitas.
SOCiETY is a key part of the IPG Mediabrands Australia Group.
Australia’s largest social enterprise is turning 25. On the anniversary of Australia’s first Big Issue magazine being sold on the steps of Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station in June 1996, Town Square has created a campaign to mark the occasion. 25 Years Big is a celebratory statement of pride, rendered in the iconic Big Issue logo […]
The Australian commercial radio industry has joined a global working group of broadcasters, carmakers and tech experts collaborating on the innovation of radio in Android Automotive. Android Automotive is Google’s infotainment operating system which is being built into new connected cars. Industry body Commercial Radio Australia is part of the working group, led by the […]
For the third consecutive year, Triple M’s No Talk Day will return on Thursday July 1 to raise awareness around men’s mental health and encourage courageous conversations on Triple M’s 45 stations across the country with support from partner Beyond Blue. From 6:00am – 6:00pm on July 1, Triple M is encouraging listeners to clear […]


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Microsoft is bringing its Xbox Live network to iOS and Android devices. The software giant is launching a new cross-platform mobile software development kit (SDK) for game developers to bring Xbox Live functionality to games that run on iOS and Android. Xbox Live features like achievements, Gamerscore, hero stats, friend lists, clubs, and even some family settings will all be available on iOS and Android.
It’s all part of a bigger push from Microsoft to make its Xbox games and services available across multiple platforms. Game developers will be able to pick and choose parts of Xbox Live to integrate into their games, and it will all be enabled through a single sign-in to a Microsoft Account. Microsoft is using its identity network to support login, privacy, online safety, and child accounts.
“We believe so strongly in community, and Xbox Live really being at the heart of our gaming community,” explains Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft’s gaming cloud chief in a media briefing this week. “If you watch what we’ve done, especially with Minecraft, over the past few years we’ve taken Xbox Live to as many platforms as Minecraft is on as possible. Really uniting all those communities together with a consistent singular experience for those gamers.”
More Via The Verge


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SµO PAULO, BRAZIL—Banca Mediocredito, an Italian bank that is teaming up with Cannon Group to buy injection press maker Sandretto Group, was involved in an earlier, failed attempt by a group of institutional investors to buy Sandretto, Sandretto executives said at Brasilplast 97.
But this new deal with Cannon is better because Cannon, like Sandretto, is a machinery manufacturer, according to Mario Manzo, Sandretto's sales and marketing director and a member of the firm's managing board.
Sandretto is Italy's largest manufacturer of injection molding machines. The Turin-based company had 1996 sales of about $150 million. Cannon announced March 19 that the Sandretto managing board has accepted an offer from Cannon and Banca Mediocredito.
Two Sandretto board members at Brasilplast, Manzo and Allessandro Perciavalle, said they opposed the earlier deal last summer, because it would not have included new owners well-versed in building machines. Perciavalle also is the company's director of administration and finance.
The Italian government has owned Sandretto since 1993.
``We were opposed to a purely financial solution,'' Manzo said March 17 at the SÃo Paulo trade show.
``We tried to convince [government officials] that the best solution was still with a bank, but with an industrial partner.''
Cannon is a much-stronger owner, Manzo said. Cannon, based in Trezzano, Italy, is a major manufacturer of machines for processing polyurethane foam. The company also makes thermoforming and compression molding machines, plus aluminum die-casting equipment, electronics and pumps.
The Sandretto officials were interviewed after a March 17 news conference with their Brazilian partner, IrmÃos Semeraro Ltda. of SÃo Paulo. Semeraro manufactures Sandretto injection molding machines in Brazil, under a licensing agreement.
Massimo Taverna, Cannon Group's communications manager, said the new ownership will be good for Sandretto.
``It was a going-concern offer,'' Taverna said. ``It was not a deal to take over bits and pieces. It's a deal to continue the production of the company.''


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mcdonald’s will open its first ‘green’ restaurant in cary, north carolina, USA.
constructed from eco-friendly materials and technologies, the restaurant will include
ChargePoint™ networked charging stations from coulomb technologies,
a benefit for those of you out there with electric cars. by partnering with novacharge the
new mcdonald’s will give electric vehicle drivers somewhere to recharge their vehicles
while having a meal. the ‘greener’ mcdonald’s is set to open july 14th.
a ChargePoint™ station


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Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) reported a 50% jump in earnings for the first quarter of 2019 as continued strong business growth in its Health Services and Integrated Medical segments drove revenues higher. The results exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Shareholders’ net income climbed 50% to $1.37 billion while shareholders’ earnings declined by 4% to $3.56 per share. Adjusted income from operations jumped 48% to $1.5 billion while adjusted earnings fell by 5% to $3.90 per share. The adjusted results reflected strong earnings contributions led by the Health Services and Integrated Medical segments.
Continued strong business growth in Cigna’s Health Services and Integrated Medical segments drove total revenues higher by 232% to $37.9 billion. Adjusted revenue soared 193% to $33.43 billion and reflect strong contributions from each of Cigna’s ongoing businesses.
Health Services revenues soared to $26.95 billion from $1.07 billion a year ago, driven by organic growth in pharmacy customers since the start of the year, and strong adjusted pharmacy script volumes and performance in specialty pharmacy care. Revenue from Integrated Medical grew by 13% led by organic growth and strong margins in its Commercial and Government businesses.
Revenue from International Markets rose by 6% reflecting continued business growth, partially offset by some impact from unfavorable foreign currency movements. Revenue from Group Disability and Other Operations inched up 2% year-over-year.
The total medical customer base at first quarter was 17 million, an organic increase of 224,000 over last year driven by growth in the Select and Middle Market segments, partially offset by a decline in National Accounts.
Looking ahead into the full year 2019, the company now expects adjusted revenues in the range of $132.5 billion to $134.5 billion and adjusted income from operations in the range of $16.25 to $16.65 per share. The per share outlook excludes the impact of additional prior year reserve development of medical costs and potential effects of any future share repurchase. Global Medical customer growth is predicted to be 300,000 to 400,000 customers.
Shares of Cigna ended Wednesday’s regular session up 1.99% at $162 on the NYSE. The stock has fallen over 5% in the past year and over 16% in the past three months.
Last month, the IPO market was in a full swing. IPOs of Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) and JFROG (NASDAQ: FROG) had an impressive opening day in September, the former creating a
PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) beat market expectations on both revenue and earnings for the third quarter of 2020. The company saw the momentum continue in its snacks business while the
With more and more people turning to virtual entertainment sources, amid the virus-related movement restrictions, video game publishers like Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) are witnessing unusually high demand. Not surprisingly,


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swindon rendezvous menu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|Look up swindon rendezvous menu in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- swindon rendezvous menuEuroglaze trade customers are seeing returns on the company’s ongoing marketing investment, with leads generated now being distributed directly to them. Friends and colleagues gathered to applaud worthy winners across seven categories – and recognise the creativity and dedication which underpin the whole sector’s contribution to the economy, to society and to customers, staff and stakeholders. “We’re obviously delighted to be featured in Love Your Home and Garden. It’s very pleasing to be recognised as a leading provider of aluminium windows and doors – but it’s just as satisfying to be supporting good people going through hard times. “Historically, reducing emissions has simply meant financial penalties for industry – which creates conflict between government and business. But British Glass firmly believed that sectors which took advantage of this opportunity to influence government strategy stood to reduce costs, develop resilience on energy pricing and gain a competitive edge over businesses that didn’t become green economy leaders. The Barnsley based REHAU fabricator has seen a surge in enquiries from installers and consumers in response to its ongoing advertising, PR and web campaign and these are being passed to its stockists and distributors nationwide. The popular programme, which has been running since 2011, and regularly draws audiences in excess of 4m, sees a team of home improvement experts led by Alan Titchmarsh transform properties for deserving families in difficult circumstances.
|This rendezvous studio perth page lists articles associated with the title Seo.
If an buick rendezvous led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.


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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Publix customers may have noticed a new sign reminding them to keep their fur babies at home if they want to shop.
In recent days, Publix stores have had signs at the entrance saying that pets are not allowed to enter, including emotional support animals.
Service animals are allowed, but the store asked that people keep them away from carts or baskets for sanitation reasons. The animals must also be under the control of their handlers.
“A service animal is a dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks to assist an individual with a disability,” the sign says. “Dogs, miniature horses, or other animals that provide only emotional support, comfort, or companionship are not considered service animals.”
The policy isn’t new, but the signs were enacted to further reinforce it.
According to FDA regulations, grocery stores must take “reasonable precautions to prevent contamination” including: “excluding domesticated animals from fully-enclosed buildings where covered produce, food contact surfaces, or food-packing material is exposed.”
The code of regulations does add that “guard or guide dogs may be allowed in some areas of a fully enclosed building if the presence of the dogs is unlikely to result in contamination of produce, food contact surfaces, or food-packing materials.”
The signs drew some mixed reactions. One West Palm Beach woman said she would refuse to shop at her local Publix because she can no longer stop there after walking her dog, according to a report by WPTV.
However, another woman said she was in favor of it so that any allergens or germs from the dogs don’t end up on any open food.


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If you are not familiar with Alipay the chances are you will be over the next few years as the Chinese payment platform, a rival to Pay Pal and Stripe, has signed an eight-year partnership with UEFA to include all UEFA national team football competitions from 2018 to 2026.
That will include al payment transactions relating to the four games we will host in Dublin as part of the Euro 2020 Finals in a little over 18 months time.
“We are proud to announce this unique and groundbreaking partnership with Ant Financial and Alipay for UEFA’s national team competitions,” said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, who attended the unveiling of the partnership in Shanghai.
“Alipay is at the forefront of digital payments and in association with its global partners, Alipay has unique connections with over 900 million users. We believe the partnership will further innovate the way in which UEFA engages with football fans around the world.”
Mr Čeferin added that UEFA will look to work closely with Alipay to provide a unique digital experience for the hundreds of thousands of football fans who will follow their teams during UEFA EURO 2020 across 12 countries as well as in Germany for UEFA EURO 2024.
Alipay’s first four-year cycle as a UEFA national team competitions sponsor will involve a total of eight competitions, spanning 420 matches and having an estimated total live audience of 7.4 billion people.
With over 700 million active users in China, Alipay will also become UEFA’s official global digital wallet provider and the organisation’s official global FinTech partner. As global leaders in the field of digital finance technology and mobile payment, Alipay and Ant Financial aim to bring digital innovation to football fans, enhance their onsite experience and deliver seamless payment and other services to fans in Europe and throughout the world.
“We are thrilled to work with UEFA to bridge the world through the common language of football,” said Eric Jing, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Ant Financial.
“We will empower UEFA to engage with football fans around the world through digital platforms and help UEFA reach and interact with billions of potential audience in Asia,” “By partnering with UEFA, we hope to share the passion and happiness of football with more people across the world and bring them the benefits of digital life.”
Alipay becomes UEFA’s third national team sponsor, which will feature at UEFA EURO 2020, after Volkswagen and Booking.com signed deals until 2022.
Image Credit: Dan Sheridan, Inpho.ie


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Smartphone maker Smartisan has attracted more attention for its eccentric leader and feverish fans than the actual products they make. Now, the company is catching attention for its apparent slide.
Last week, local media reported that Smartisan has a cash crunch, and is planning to lay off as many as 40% of its workers. Rumors have also been swirling that the company’s charismatic founder Luo Yonghao -- likely the only tech leader that’s managed to charge users to attend product launches -- is suffering from depression.
Luo swiftly responded with threats to sue the “hoodlums” and even offered to go to the hospital to check his mental health. But Luo is not denying that Smartisan is in trouble.
“The company really is in a crunch, but please give Smartisan time,” Luo told local press.
And this week, more bad news hit after a subsidiary of tablet maker Coolpad says it will sue Smartisan. Yulong Communications Technology says it’s owed US$650,000 by the smartphone maker for components.
The chain of events has been tough for Smartisan, with analysts saying that while it’s been ahead of the curve in terms of products, it’s also out of touch with the fast-moving smartphone market.
Some are even blaming Smartisan’s slow growth on Luo’s perfectionism. Luo Yonghao, a former English teacher, became famous in 2011 after smashing refrigerators with a hammer in front of the headquarters of German appliance maker Siemens. Apparently, Luo was unsatisfied with their quality.
The hammer has become Smartisan’s symbol -- signaling their refusal to make subpar products. Luo continued with his antics by bashing Xiaomi and Apple, which he accused of losing its soul. After Smartisan launched its new R1 smartphone model featuring 1 terabyte of storage, Luo said Apple “will copy us like crazy”. (Apple has yet to release a smartphone with 1 terabyte of storage.)
But Smartisan fans love Luo’s sharp rhetoric. More than 37,000 people paid to see the R1’s product launch this May helping the company rake up $751,000 in ticket sales.
Based on the 1 million smartphones the company sold in 2017, Luo said that Smartisan expects to sell 3.3 million in 2018. But things didn’t quite go as planned, amid a wider slowdown of Chinese smartphones.
Smartisan's other venture, Bullet Messaging, has also fallen in popularity as fast as it has risen. The so-called alternative to WeChat topped China’s iOS App Store chart for nine days after it launched only to have its daily downloads drop significantly.
Luo has been trying to assure fans and investors through Smartisan’s Weibo channel that everything is fine at the company, and that salaries to staff are being paid on time despite reports otherwise.
We asked the company about its plight, but they declined to comment -- pointing us to Luo’s Weibo account for more information.
Talking about the Coolpad lawsuit, Luo said that they are “negotiating with Yulong and will handle it properly." He added that the two sides initially agreed that some of the costs will be paid off in the form of promotion and publicity, but the arrangement got complicated after staff reshuffles both in Yulong and in Smartisan.


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Target's Favorite Day range will feature innovative and indulgent foods designed to satisfy even the pickiest foodie.
Target is launching a new grocery brand that is chock full of the innovative food products of tomorrow.
On April 5, the retailer plans to debut Favorite Day, a new owned food and beverage brand, the company shared exclusively with Progressive Grocer. The Favorite Day assortment will include more than 700 sweet and savory products spanning categories such as bakery, trail mix, ice cream, snacks and more, all priced below $15.
“We’re thrilled to build on Good & Gather’s success and the strength of Target’s Food and Beverage business by debuting our new owned brand, Favorite Day,” said Rick Gomez, executive vice president and chief food and beverage officer at Target. “Rooted in guest insights and developed by our talented Target team, Favorite Day is a sweet and savory addition that tastes amazing, makes life’s little moments of indulgence even sweeter and continues to differentiate Target’s owned brand portfolio.”
Favorite Day will expand on Target’s portfolio of private brands and build on the success of Good & Gather, Target’s flagship food and beverage brand, launched in 2019, that is now generating $2 billion in annual sales. Target today has a stunning 10 private brands in its portfolio (food and non-food) that generate a billion dollars or more (and four brands that generate at least $2 billion). The Good & Gather assortment includes more than 2,000 products across food and beverage from dairy to produce, ready-made pastas and meats to granola bars and sparkling water. All of the products under the Good & Gather brand are made without artificial flavors and sweeteners, synthetic colors and high fructose corn syrup, and are also backed by a money-back guarantee. With the new launch, Target will now offer Good & Gather, Favorite Day and Market Pantry as its grocery private labels.
"Good and Gather is off to a tremendous start, a multi-billion dollar brand in a short period of time," Target CEO Brian Cornell said during the company's fourth quarter earnings call this month. "It's been well received by our guests, great quality at a great value, and I think it typifies the things we do with our own brands. We're very excited about the momentum we have in food and beverage. We took significant market share throughout the year and the guest has certainly recognized and appreciates the Good and Gather brand, so we think that's a way for us to continue to differentiate our offerings."
The retailer told Progressive Grocer that the new Favorite Day range has been in the works for more than two years and serves a different purpose from Good & Gather, which is focused on appealing to time-strapped consumers looking for high quality products at a great value. The Favorite Day line is designed for shoppers who want to treat themselves to address everyday stressors. At least 150 of the Favorite Day products were formulated to prioritize aroma, flavor and texture, the company said.
The Favorite Day assortment will include everything from premium ice creams, macarons and lava cakes to French brioche bread and non-dairy frozen desserts. The products have passed taste and quality tests and are backed by a money-back guarantee. The retailer said it anticipates guest favorites may include Caramel Macchiato Trail Mix, Gourmet Brookie Dough Ice Cream and Mini Everything Bagel Croissants. The company said Favorite Day is differentiated because no other food brand – owned or national brand – is positioned around indulgence and spans all of the categories Favorite Day will offer at value prices.
On March 2, Target reported a blockbuster holiday quarter of impressive sales and traffic growth. For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, same store sales increased 20.5%, consisting of 6.9% growth at physical stores and 118% digital growth. Average ticket grew 13.1%. The company said that 12 million more guests became multi-channel shoppers during Q4.
Target said it will invest $4 billion annually over the next several years to open new stores and cut delivery times for online orders. During Q4, same-day services (Order Pick Up, Drive Up and Shipt) grew 212%, led by more than 500 percent growth in Drive Up. More than 95% of Target's fourth quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores. Target also said it will add two distribution centers and test micro-fulfillment centers to speed up order processing the rest of the year through Christmas.
The retailer opened 30 new stores in 2020, with a "record year of 29 new small-format stores." Target plans to open 30 to 40 new stores each year. Some of these stores will be near college campuses and in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Portland.
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 7 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with more than 1,900 locations.


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Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Glass will be re-launching next year with new components, but it’s not quite clear if this version of the device will be available for retail sale.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Google will be launching a refreshed version of the Google Glass next year with an Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) chip, better battery life and more memory. It’s not entirely clear what chip will be powering the next-generation Google Glass but in all likelihood it will be the Intel Quark.
While many have speculated about when Google will release Glass to the public, after this report it still isn’t entirely clear when the wearable headset will make its public debut. The report notes that Google is targeting “hospital networks and manufacturers, while developing new workplace uses for the device.”
Google Glass, introduced in 2012, has been met with sharp criticism from privacy advocates. Many commercial establishments have banned the use of Google Glass on the premises and the term “Glasshole” has entered the lexicon of many.
However, re-launching the device as something to enhance workplace productivity rather than a consumer electronics device might be the ticket Google needs to reboot the device.


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Peddler Brewing Company in Ballard is about to open its new beer garden. It’s huge and it looks beautiful. It opens softly this weekend and then there’s an official grand opening next weekend. Here’s the word straight from Peddler Brewwing.
Memorial Day weekend marks the start of Summer and we at Peddler are celebrating in a big way by opening our Beer Garden! Sunshine + beer + food trucks + lawn games + bikes, yes we agree it’s a perfect combination. Our beer garden is located right behind the brewery, can hold up to 400 people, and will have a back bar with our 4 most popular beers on tap.
This weekend we are soft opening the beer garden starting Saturday 5/23.
Next weekend 5/29-5/31 we’re celebrating our Beer Garden Grand Opening in true Peddler style – by throwing a bike party!
May is Bike Month and we’re hosting the Bike Month After-Party join us:
Friday 5/29 from 5-8pm for a Commute Champions Happy Hour – vendors, demo bikes, food truck
Saturday 5/30 from 2-6pm for a Pedal Party – all-ages vendors, demo cargo bikes, food trucks
Pictures of the build-out and finished beer garden on our Facebook page.
The post Peddler Brewing opening a new beer garden in Ballard appeared first on Beer News.


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AUSTIN, Texas—The state's persistent drought has claimed its latest victims: rice farmers.
Because of low water levels in several lakes that serve as reservoirs here, officials said Friday that they wouldn't release irrigation water to farmers in three counties downstream that produce much of the rice in the state.
The rice industry contributes about $394 million annually to the economy of the state, which produces about 5% of the nation's rice. The three counties—Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda—lie west of humid Houston and usually get enough rain to make rice farming practicable.
This is the first time in its 78-year history that the Lower Colorado River Authority, which is based here, has cut off water to farmers. The agency waited until the last possible moment—a minute before midnight on Thursday—to make its decision, hoping that water levels would rise enough to avert a cutoff.
The irrigation ban is not expected to affect the shelf price of rice, but it has forced some farmers to lay off employees and consider diversifying into other crops.
"This is my livelihood at stake," said Ronald Gertson, a Texas rice farmer who projected he would produce only about 40% of his typical rice crop this year.
"It sticks in the craw" of farmers, Mr. Gertson said, that the authority will continue to release water to golf courses and other recreational customers that pay higher rates for a guaranteed water supply.
In a statement, the agency said that farmers "pay considerably less for water than cities and industry. And therefore, their water is considered 'interruptible' during a severe drought."
Texans in the rice business said they could probably stay afloat this year, thanks in part to crop insurance, but they worried about another year of interrupted irrigation water.
"If this happens again, we'll be in much more trouble," said Dick Ottis, the president of the Rice Belt Warehouse in El Campo, Texas, which stores and dries rice. The warehouse plans to store more corn, wheat and other commodities this year, he said, but those crops do not produce the profit margins rice does.
"I have already let go about 20% of our employees, because I knew this day was coming about," Mr. Ottis said, adding that his family had been involved in rice farming for almost 100 years and had lived through droughts, but none this bad.
It always seemed like the good Lord would bless us with more rain," he said.
But there appears to be little relief in sight from the drought that still afflicts 85% of Texas. Temperatures are expected to be above normal this summer, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the state climatologist.
Rainfall levels are harder to predict, he said, but "we are in a dry stretch now, which will be worrisome if it continues. It reminds me of last year."
The water agency said it plans to find new supplies of water to avoid a repeat of this year's problems.
Farmers agree. "The development of new reservoirs is imperative," said Daniel Berglund, a 49-year-old rice farmer in Markham, Texas, who said he woke up at 1:15 a.m. Friday and checked to see whether the lakes, against all odds, had risen high enough to allow irrigation water to be released.
"Consumers only see grocery shelves stacked with food, floor to ceiling," he said. "This is an example of the risks we take as farmers. When you lose irrigation water, it stops everything," he said.
Write to Nathan Koppel at email@example.com


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Many central banks are beginning to reduce the emergency stimulus that they implemented to avert last year’s pandemic recession.
With inflation on the rise, the Federal Reserve is planning to scale back its asset-purchase programme, while peers in Norway, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and New Zealand have already raised interest rates.
Behind the move are indications that the recent inflation concern will not go away anytime soon, owing to supply chain difficulties, increasing commodity prices, post-lockdown demand, ongoing stimulus, and labour shortages.
The fact that growth may be slowing complicates policymakers’ role, prompting others to warn of a stagflationary-lite scenario.
This puts central bankers in a predicament as they consider which risks to emphasise. Targeting inflation with tighter monetary policy adds to the pressure on economies, while attempting to promote demand may cause prices to rise even faster.
For the time being, many people believe that inflation has persisted longer than most projected. According to Huw Pill, the Bank of England’s new chief economist, the “balance of risks is currently turning towards substantial concerns about the inflation outlook, given the current strength of inflation appears to be more long-lasting than originally anticipated.”
Not everyone is as anxious or eager to change course. Officials at the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are among those who intend to continue aggressively supporting their economies. And the International Monetary Fund anticipates that inflation will shortly fall to around 2% in industrialised economies.
Published by Zack Baharum


text: When reading this post on MocoNews recently I felt yet again reassured of the benefits of open mobile platforms where the user is in charge of what he wants to do with a device and which apps he either loads from one of several app stores or can install even directly onto the device if he wants to. According to the report, US lobbyists and lawmakers have pushed Apple to revise once again their app store rules, banning certain apps. Not that I don't like not seeing apps of this nature in an app store but once more, freedom and openness is further curtailed and I really have to wonder who will come next with what kind of demands. But fortunately there's choice and alternatives are available. Happy side-loading and app store choosing!


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Rosen Hotels & Resorts has jumped on the paper-straw trend.
The hospitality company announced Tuesday that it would phase out plastic straws in its more than 26 restaurants and in-room dining at its nine hotels by January.
It comes on the heels of Seattle and San Francisco banning the use of plastic straws earlier this year. These citywide bans were then followed by pledges by companies like Starbucks and American Airlines to phase them out.
For now, guests at Rosen properties can request plastic straws to diners at the restaurants.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimates that 500 million plastic straws are used daily.
“We will continue to look at all areas where we can potentially improve upon or remove all plastics from our environment to do our part to combat this rising global crisis,” Rosen founder and owner Harris Rosen said in a news release. “At times, this may cost more than the alternative. However, we do this because it’s the right thing to do.”
Rosen’s properties have been caught up in the regional hotel expansion craze, with the company planning to add more than 1,000 rooms in the near future.
Got a news tip? email@example.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter, @marcosantana


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When was the last time you saw folks on unicycles battling each other in a game of dart guns? For me, it was last week when I was able to attend a Henry Ford community celebration for Maker Faire Detroit. It seems like everyday more and more people are on board to make the Detroit stop amazing. Not only did our very own Dale Dougherty share his thoughts on what being a maker is all about, but the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the New Economy Initiative were in attendence to announce their sponsorships.
There’s still time to sign up as a maker at Detroit Maker Faire – don’t miss out!


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When it comes to kitchen equipment, any chef worth their smoked sea salt will know that Gaggenau is one of the best brands to explore. It's no wonder that some of Hong Kong's top chefs have joined forces with the German home appliances brand to launch its third culinary artisans series: A Dialogue with Gaggenau. The series includes 10 exclusive masterclasses or cooking demonstrations, some inclusive of a private dining experience, that will educate enthusiasts on how to cook in a state-of-the-art Gaggenau kitchen.
Participating chefs include the likes of Manav Tuli of Chaat, Franckelie Laloum of Louise, and Agustin Balbi of Ando, among others, who will host an interactive class or demonstration for guests in attendance. Special classes such as a Christmas cooking class led by Maxime Gilbert of Écriture and a Chinese New Year cooking class with Yip Kar-on from Duddell's are also on the schedule. Masterclasses and demonstrations will be held across three showroom locations at KI Cubus, KI Sunning and KI Island South Galleria. More information will be available at kih.com.hk from October 7 onwards


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The most bullish crypto pundits believe the tax deadline that passed on 17th April has been the main reason for the downward movement of cryptocurrencies this year. Bitcoin had the best week ever since February or March as its price increased from $6,786 to over $8,000. Traders attributed this to investors trying to cover their shorts or merely getting back to the market.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) views all cryptocurrencies as property, which means the profits from transactions go through the capital gains tax system. According to Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Bitcoin increased in value by over 1,300% last year leaving US households owing about $25 billion tax for digital currency holdings.
Co-founder of Blockchain Capital, Spencer Bogart, commented to CNBC in an interview:
“Tax-selling has been a significant factor in downward crypto prices over the past few weeks. I would expect this downward pressure to abate after tax day.”
On Sunday, April 15th Lee said that Bitcoin might hit a similar bottom to where it was a month prior to hitting $20,000 in 2017.
CRYPTO: Where was #BTC 1M prior to ~$20,000 top? $5,900. In other words, BTC this year rollbacked prices similar to what happened in 2014/15. Could be same bottom as the 2014/15 bottom. Also, selling related to capital gains taxes in US should be lifting as tax day is 4/17. pic.twitter.com/AyOgKPoR2x
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not the drummer) FSInsight (@fundstrat) April 15, 2018
However, Lee predicts that Bitcoin will reach $20,000 once more by the middle of this year and by year end it would be at $25,000. The cryptocurrency is as well expected to achieve $91,000 by early 2020.
CEO and founder of Pantera Capital Founder, Dan Morehead, said via an investor letter that the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, in particular, is “highly likely to have exceeded $20,000 within a year.”
Tim Draper, venture capitalist and early backer of SpaceX, Skype and Tesla, predicts Bitcoin price to hit $250,000 by 2022, further forecasting that by that time, anybody using fiat as a payment option will only be laughed at.
Murray Stahl of Horizon Kinetics put forward an argument that BTC will be king, and worth all the value of the world currency as fiat money may be debased, sending prices to $361,000 per Bitcoin as per Barron’s estimate.


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Fallout: New Vegas graphic novel hits iTunes bookstore
Bethseda has announced that the Fallout: New Vegas graphic novel is now available to buy in the bookstore in iTunes.
The graphic novel is written by Chris Avellone and published in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, senior designer on the game. It employs the artistic talents of Jean Diaz and Wellinton Alves as well as cover artist Geof Darrow.
The story of the graphic novel, entitled All Roads, is closely intertwined with the game's story and even includes clues that will help players to complete some of the missions withing the game.
Fallout: New Vegas is out on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 from October 19th in North America and October 22nd in Europe and Australia.
- Valve's Chet Faliszek has been confirmed as the first developer session for EGX Rezzed 2015
- One area from Zelda Wii U is as big as the entirety of Skyward Sword
- Telltale's new collaboration is with Mojang, on a Minecraft story game
- Franklin voice actor indicates GTA V story DLC is on the way
- Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire and Bully sequels will come when the time is right says Rockstar
- Telltale teases another collaboration with another game developer
- New Company Of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault trailer recognizes the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
- New Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer focuses on character customization
- Splash Damage's free-to-play shooter Dirty Bomb coming to Steam in the new year


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Malbon Golf to mint second ‘Buckets Club’ NFT collection this week
Earlier this year, we introduced you to the world’s first “digital country club” in the form of Malbon Golf’s Buckets Club NFT collection. Limited to just 1,000 pieces, the initial run sold out in less than a month, leaving prospective “members” wondering when the clubhouse doors would open again. Now we have our answer.
On Wednesday, July 27th, Malbon Golf will mint their second Buckets Club collection, Front Nine, which fittingly eclipses their original offering three fold. The 3,000 digitally rendered 3D characters go on sale to whitelisted Buckets Club Genesis holders first, with the general whitelist sales beginning at 5 p.m. EST and the public sale at 8 p.m. All Buckets Club NFTs are hosted with full transparency on Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.
In addition to ownership of unique NFTs expected to appreciate over time, Buckets Club purchases grant holders exclusive member perks, including invites to events and tournaments, hangs in the Front Nine Discord Lounge, boons as part of the Buckets Club’s Topgolf partnership, discounts on future drops, and access to a forthcoming, token-gated Bucket Club webshop.
To learn more about Buckets Club and prep for Wednesday’s drop, visit BucketsClub.com for more information.


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Specsavers puts online channels into focus with iProspect
iProspect has been appointed by Specsavers to optimise its stores and online channels.
The agency has been briefed to improve the customer journey across all parts of the firm, to “align all of its touchpoints” and handle analytics across the UK, Northern Europe and Australasia.
“iProspect has an unparalleled understanding of consumers in a digital world, and we were impressed by the team’s appreciation for our brand and strategy. We’re looking forward to working together to create rich contextual and actionable insight to continuously improve the customer journey across all our existing and new digital services in-store and online,” said Paul Morris, group ecommerce director, Specsavers.
The firm will work across analytics, conversation rate optimisation, attribution, data and insights and analyse the data to uncover “unique insights about people, and their relationships with their brand and services.”


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We all knew the pace of U.S. growth would slow in the second quarter. With the impact of higher income taxes for the wealthy and higher payroll taxes for everybody gradually sinking in, and Washington cutting off random parts of the federal budget like a drunk guy with a saw chain, it couldn’t be otherwise. But are things getting a little too slow now?
A streak of disappointing data
The latest numbers around the two great hopes of the recovery, the housing market and consumer spending, were underwhelming. Housing starts declined 9.9% in June from the previous month, well below most forecasts, which predicted small gains. Building permits, an important indicator of construction intentions, fell as well by 7.5%. Sales of existing homes, likewise, slipped by 1.2% last month, coming in at 5.08 million units rather than the expected 5.26 million.
American shoppers, for their part, stopped cooperating too. Retail sales inched up a meagre 0.4% in June, half the consensus forecast. And that dismal growth turns to a 0.1% dip if you exclude auto and gasoline sales.
Trade was another disappointment. Net imports rose 12% to $45 billion in May, higher than the $40.3 billion economists were hoping for, a sign of continued weakness in global demand.
Still, there are some important caveats
A look at the fine print, though, suggests the economy is probably in slightly better shape than the data indicates. On housing starts, as economist Brian Wesbury pointed out, much of the decline was driven by the condo sector, which is notorious for wild swings and widely believed to be overheating anyway. Single-family starts, which have been tagging along at a slower pace but are the backbone of the U.S. residential housing market, slipped only a tiny 0.8%. Besides, the weather in June was remarkably unpleasant throughout the country—and no one likes to build a house in the rain.
Home sales are a bit more puzzling because the obvious suspect for the slowdown—rising mortgage rates—doesn’t fit the bill perfectly. As Nick Timiraos, at the Wall Street Journal, points out, “mortgage rates began to rise during the last week of May, and many homes that sold in June went under contract in May—before rates really began to rise.” Still, it’s important to keep in mind that house prices are still soaring (up 13.5% year-over-year last month) and until inventory is low—and it is still very low—they have nowhere to go but up.
The dip in retail sales looks like a temporary hiccup too, and one that had to be expected. Americans seem to have taken a mighty long time to notice that, starting on Jan. 1, the government has been taking a slightly bigger slice out of their monthly paycheques. Four months into the year, as I noted, everyone was still spending and paying down debt like nothing had happened—with the extra cash coming from savings. Maybe the light bulb finally went on in June: “Gee, honey, what happened to our rainy day fund?” Anyhow, the retail dip isn’t expected to last. If the labour market holds up, people should be back in the stores soon.
Trade is the most worrying statistic of the lot. Unfortunately, there are no signs of letup here any time soon. Europe is a long way from climbing out the eurozone crisis and emerging markets—which were supposed to drag the Western world out of the doldrums—are in a funk too, for numerous reasons that economist Nouriel Roubini just listed here yesterday.
Still, here’s a (tiny) bit of good news we can look forward to in the next weeks: Automakers are expected to skip their usual summer shutdowns this year, meaning fewer Americans will be out of a job. Soaring demand for trucks and cars will likely keep factories open in July and August, when they usually close for upgrades and such. The temporarily laid-off workers are eligible for unemployment benefits and usually inflate initial claim numbers for a few weeks in July and August. Instead “we could see a much lower-than-expected reading on claims,” BNP Paribas’ Colin Bermingham and Laura Rosner predicted in a recent client note. Of course, that would only be a cosmetic touch-up to the labour statistics—but, hey, some of the recent bad news looks just as transitory and superficial.
In sum, there’s no reason to get seriously worried (yet). The shabby quarter is turning out to be a bit shabbier than expected, but analysts still trust in a pickup toward the end of the year.
The main short-term consequence from all this, really, is that the beginning of the end of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program will likely come a bit later in the fall than Chairman Ben Bernanke might have anticipated in his rather bullish remarks after the June Federal Reserve Open Market Committee’s meeting. The economy is clearly tracking well below the Fed’s latest projection for 2013, which sees growth at between 2.3 and 2.6% of GDP. Unsurprisingly, Bernanke struck a more dovish tone in his latest tete-a-tete with American lawmakers.
In sum, take a deep breath, enjoy the rest of the summer—and hope for some momentum in the fall.
Erica Alini is a California-based reporter and a regular contributor to CanadianBusiness.com, where she covers the U.S. economy.


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How convenient that Apple released the iPhone 11 the same day as PundiX blockchain based smartphone, which has been in production for the past year.
In a highly publicized reveal on Sept 10. PundiX revealed its new fully backed blockchain smartphone, Blok on Blok (BOB), during the IFA event held in Berlin. The phone is the first ever fully blockchain based cellphone in a bid to promote decentralization, privacy and data security on the platform.
The Blok on Blok (BOB) Smartphone
Following a year’s wait on the launch of the BOB smartphone, introduced as the XPhone, the company is expected to release 5000 units as a test run of the device. The smartphone will trade at a retail price of $599 USD across various stores in the world as the POS blockchain company aims to increase mass adoption of crypto payments.
The BOB smartphone is built to execute all data on the blockchain with users offered an option to switch to Android mode by a click of a button. The decentralization aspect of the blockchain ensures no central parties collect your data while using the apps installed which enhances privacy. Each unit of BOB will come with the MOD Assembly Kit, which consists of detachable parts that make up the XPhone’s external look.
Security from the inside out: BOB allows self-customization of your smartphone
Zac Cheah, CEO of PundiX, showed his excitement with the release of its flagship blockchain phone claiming this is a
“big step forward in our mission of creating a Blockchain Internet.”
The company is working on a global, decentralized network to share data through peers while maintaining privacy and access to the owner’s data.
On the capabilities of the flagship blockchain BOB phone, Zac said,
“More importantly, BOB gives a sneak peek of a world powered entirely by blockchain technology, where everyone has control over their own data and everything is executed with the expectations of immutability and transparency.”
In August, PundiX extended its POS services across hyperinflation-hit Venezuela adding its crypto payments services across 50 stores in the country.


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The recommendation that fresh fruit is bad for diabetics or helps cause diabetes is simply wrong. The proof is in the research evidence.
Multiple studies have confirmed that a lack of dietary magnesium is linked to diabetes, insulin resistance and obesity among adults.
The medicinal Ulam raja herb is known for its abilities to treat metabolic diseases. Now we find the clinical evidence that this leafy green treats diabetes and at least seven other conditions.
Research has confirmed that brown seaweed safely slows glucose release from the gut, while other research has shown that brown seaweeds increase insulin sensitivity and helps balance and normalize insulin levels and blood glucose levels.


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A new parade that transforms at night is being introduced by Disneyland Paris in time for Christmas.
Parades will restart on November 13, along with The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands returning this month and the return of festive cuisine events.
The Christmas season takes over the theme park from November 13 until 9 January 9.
Mickey Mouse & Friends
Disneyland Paris has secretly been developing “Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade” over a number of years, featuring five giant floats representing festive scenes.
Mickey’s Dazzling Christmas Parade is composed of five floats and will feature Mickey Mouse, Disney princesses, Santa Claus, Tinkerbell and more.
Shows Are Back With A Bang
The night-time Disney Illuminations show returns on December 21, with breathtaking pyrotechnics, projections and light shows set against the backdrop of the iconic Cinderella’s Castle.
The popular Lion King show will make its comeback on October 23 at the park’s Frontierland Theatre.
All Of The Lights
The park will be bedecked in spectacular Christmas decorations too. The park’s Main Street will be lined with a huge 24-metre-high Christmas tree shining with a thousand twinkling lights, plus garlands and ornaments galore, and no less than 78 Nordic spruces scattered around the parks.
For a little extra Xmas magic, visitors will be able to watch the snow falling more than 12 times a day.
Festive Cuisine in Full Swing
Guests will be able to feast on a variety of seasonal dishes such as stuffed turkey or Christmas Yule Log. There will also be themed treats such as Minnie’s Christmas tartlet and gingerbread trees on offer.
Colourful festive drinks and cocktails will be available at Disney Resorts bars.


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Cell Phone Plans
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Posts Tagged ‘Oppo’
OPPO Advent Calendar Game offers discounts, giveaways and more
December 6, 2015
Everyone is getting in the holiday spirit, so OPPO couldn't just stay behind in the celebrations. The Chinese manufacturer is adding a fun touch to its Christmas event.
OPPO R7s heading to Europe on December 1st
November 30, 2015
The latest OPPO R7s smartphone will go on sale in Europe on December 1st through OppoStyle and Amazon.
OPPO joins Black Friday craze with $100 discounts on phones, 30-50% off accessories and more
November 25, 2015
OPPO may not be from the land where Black Friday deals make the crowd go nuts, but they are not letting this unofficial holiday go by without joining the fun.
OPPO launches a near-stock Android experience to appeal to Western markets
November 18, 2015
OPPO is releasing a version of their ColorOS that brings users a stripped down version of Android much closer to stock.
Entry-level OPPO Neo 7 officially announced
October 26, 2015
OPPO has just unveiled its new Neo 7 smartphone, a 5-inch entry level device powered by a Snapdragon 410 processor and 1GB of RAM.
OPPO R7s announced: mid-end, good-looking and coming in November
October 18, 2015
Those looking to get a mid-end phone that actually manages to look great should take a look at the newly announced OPPO R7s. It is sleek, beautiful, plenty powerful and should have a nice price.
OPPO R7 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy A8
October 15, 2015
Today we're comparing the OPPO R7 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy A8. Which device comes out on top? Read on to learn more.
OPPO R7s to be unveiled on October 18th: bigger battery, larger screen and more
October 13, 2015
The OPPO R7 is a great phone, but we won't be complaining about a larger screen, bigger battery and more internal storage, right? That is what the OPPO R7s is promising!
OPPOStyle pre-orders begin for the R7 Plus
September 7, 2015
OPPO has begun accepting pre-orders for its 6-inch R7 Plus smartphone through its official OPPOStyle website.
OPPO Find 9 tipped for September 19th launch
September 2, 2015
An invite posted to Weibo hints that the OPPO Find 9 smartphone may be launched in Beijing on September 19th.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G5 – public reacts!
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A Day in the Life of the Unbanked Consumer — And How Mobile Can Help
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
For most Americans, conducting simple, routine bank transactions throughout the day can easily go unnoticed. Depositing a check or withdrawing cash from an ATM is as central to daily life as going to the grocery store. However, you don’t have to travel too far outside of your day-to-day activity to encounter individuals who are “unbanked,” whether they chose to manage their own finances without a bank, or they are too limited by poverty or distance for banking to be realistic.
In the U.S., there are 68 million Americans without access to a bank account or debit card — roughly 22 percent. But when it comes to mobile phones, there is no shortage in the U.S., with nearly 90 percent of American adults in possession of a mobile device. Worldwide, there are 2.5 billion unbanked individuals. However, nearly 85 percent of the global population, about 6.8 billion people, has access to a mobile phone.
Pause to think about those numbers and let it sink in: More than one third of the human race are considered unbanked, by choice or out of necessity; yet, at the same time, there are just about as many cellphones on the planet as there are people.
Source: ReCode (link opens in a new window)


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StormX has finally launched its Storm Play iOS app. The company is celebrating this by giving users the opportunity to win up to $10,000 in BTC, STORM, BNB, or ETH via the company’s Twitter competition.
According to the company, the Storm Play platform is “revolutionizing the global economy by leveraging Blockchain to empower the global workforce.”
What The New StormX Play Platform Does
The app allows users to earn STORM tokens, Bitcoin, and Ether by performing microtasks via games, products or services. STORM is similar to Amazon’s crowdsourcing marketplace, Mechanical Turk, through which individuals and companies can outsource virtual tasks.
Within the platform, the sellers, advertisers, and companies who assign the microtasks are called Storm Makers. The consumers, viewers, and freelancers who complete these tasks are called Storm Players. The app brings these users together, thus creating value for the network.
The platform’s reward system is managed by an in-app ledger. When Storm Players complete tasks within the app, they are rewarded with Bolts, which can be redeemed for STORM Tokens or traded for other cryptocurrencies.
Prior to the recent launch of the iOS app, Storm Play had only been available on the Android operating system.
StormX CEO Simon Yu Speaks On Storm Play iOS App
Storm CEO, Simon Yu, comment on the fact that iOS users had been waiting nearly a year for the launch, saying:
“It took longer than we estimated but we’re excited to launch our iOS platform. We started back in 2014 and the environment was very similar. Right after Mt. Gox and Silk Road incidents people were afraid to buy Bitcoin but the technology was still really interesting. Our platform (Storm Play) allows people all over the world to be able to get their hands on cryptocurrency without having to risk their money. That includes the 1.7B people currently without a bank account and it’s exciting to have the ability to tap into a new group of people.”
Storm has announced a Twitter competition to encourage potential users to try Storm Play. The winner will receive $10,000 in BTC, STORM, or ETH.The company raised over $30 million in its December 2017 ICO and has since made significant progress by launching its app and expanding its user base. The app has been downloaded 2.4 million time and has 250,000 active users.