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Last month, Solana announced the arrival of a new model for prioritizing gas charges on the network. The latter shall aim to mitigate the impact of hosted applications and services on network performance and stability. While many users fear rising gas tariffs in the future, Solana co – founder Anatoly Yakovenko has confirmed that the blockchain and Ethereum will not share the same fate. The details.
The switch analogy
To explain the Solana charging priority model and what differentiates it from the methods used on Ethereum, Yakovenko used a switch analogy. In particular, it compared the transactions launched on the network with individuals who want to activate a switch at the same time. A contest then ensues between the various parties asking the network to put their transaction at the top of the list. This is finally over won by the bidder paying the highest amount of gas costs. This auction system was responsible for the anarchic price increases on gas tariffs seen on Ethereum.
However, this experience was a lesson for Solana, who decided to innovate her priority model by creating several switches, as Mr. Yakovenko explained. He claimed that all decentralized applications operate as a single switch by analogy. Thus, the model is used to prioritize transactions within the application or protocol family and not over the entire network. Therefore, the auctions will take place within a category it will not affect users who transact elsewhere on the network as was the case with Ethereum.
What impact on Solana’s base charges?
Solana’s transaction fees are tiny, typically a fraction of a SOL penny. What users have to pay under this new model is considered to be an additional fee. To that end, Mr. Yakovenko said it will be a user-specified rate and what it is it shall be based on the units of calculation required to complete the transaction instructions. The amount of these additional costs cannot currently be estimated as the priority model is purely demand-led.
The level of demand on the network varies greatly between different categories of usage, these additional costs should not be as great as on Ethereum. The introduction of this model on Solana should be effective with the next update v1.10.25 which also includes two other key measures to guarantee the stability of the network.
Get a summary of news in the world of cryptocurrencies by subscribing to our new daily and weekly newsletter service so you don’t miss any of the essential Cointribune!
Luc Jose Adjinacou
Far from dampening my enthusiasm, an unsuccessful investment in cryptocurrency in 2017 only increased my enthusiasm. So I decided to study and understand the blockchain and its many uses and put forward my pen information related to this ecosystem.


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Small Organic Fertilizer company whose products are made from earthworm droppings is being sued by industry giant Scotts
COMPANY PACKAGES ITS PLANT FERTILIZER IN REUSED SODA BOTTLES
BY RIDER THOMPSON
TerraCycle® plant and lawn fertilizers are based on a formula made from earthworm droppings and are packaged and sold in recycled soda bottles collected from all over the country. The company boasts its entire product is made from waste.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (who we mentioned recently for taking enviro babysteps in its industry) claims TerraCycle’s packaging infringes on the “distinctive and famous trade dress” of Miracle-Gro®.
Scotts claims that TerraCycle’s use of yellow and green in its packaging too closely resembles its star Miracle-Gro® product line.
In addition, the 177 page complaint filed in the US District Court of New Jersey alleges false advertising for claims the company made saying its product is “superior and safer” to that of competitors.
The complaint filed by OMS Investments & The Scotts company also alleges violations of “Trade Dress Dilution, New Jersey Fair Trade Act and Unjust Enrichment”
TerraCycle denies Scotts claims and has created a website: www.suedbyscotts.com to showcase its side of the story. The website contains a PDF file with photos of over 80 similar fertilizer products that use yellow and green in their packaging.
It appears from looking at the complaint and the numerous other brands currently on the market which use a yellow and green color scheme that the real issue here is Scotts concern over protecting its new Organic Choice (TM) brand of Miracle-Gro products. The real issue here seems to be competition for market share in a rapidly growing industry – organic plant and lawn fertilizers.
According to a recent Business Week story Scotts sales of its Organic Choice line have increased 200% in the last year.
TerraCycle’s sales have also increased and the company’s products are now available at a growing number of large retailers including Home Depot stores. The TerraCycle plant food was featured this Sunday in circulars across the country as part of Home Depot’s new Eco Options label that was introduced this week in the US.
This is a fascinating story.
Check out Web X.0 for more coverage of TerraCycle and its branding.

domain: news


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The Microsoft Xbox video game console is not being blocked from entering the U.S. after a trade panel decided that it does not violate a patent belonging to Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility. Earlier this week, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided that the Xbox does not infringe upon a patent that relates to two-way communication between the gaming system and related accessories such as controllers. This ends the case that was filed in November 2010.
The Trade Commission upheld a March ruling that cleared the Xbox for continuing to be imported to the U.S. from China where it is manufactured.
Microsoft has been able to strong-arm many Android manufacturers into paying them royalties, otherwise face aggressive patent lawsuits. This is one of the reasons why Google likely had Motorola push the patent lawsuit against Microsoft. Google claims that Microsoft owes Motorola Mobility royalties on the Xbox and Windows operating system.
Microsoft countered that argument by saying that even if they are violating Motorola’s patent, banning the Xbox would be an extreme remedy that would reduce consumer choice and hurt many game developers.
?This is a win for Xbox customers and confirms our view that Google had no grounds to block our products,? stated Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard.
Google said that they were disappointed by the decision. They may be able to appeal to a court that specializes in patent law, according to BusinessWeek.
This victory was essential for Microsoft as they unveiled the Microsoft Xbox One three days ago.


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Claudia Kolinchak and Victoria Siano
Mobile device theft has become a big business. This is where phones or tablets are stolen for the personal information contained on the device.
In the past, phones had the option to clear information if they were stolen, but not enough people used this resource.
A new solution that has recently debuted is called a kill switch. Towards the beginning of this year, it was announced that it will be mandatory for all phones to come with this. It is an anti-theft feature that will be required on tablets and smartphones. Instead of having customers choose if they want the program, it will be automatically enabled when the phone is in service.
When a phone that has the kill switch is lost or stolen, the owner is able to manually lock the phone to prevent anyone from seeing his or her information. This will render the device useless until the identity of the owner is validated.
Some kill switches may permit wiping of all contacts and personal data. For example, all Apple devices can be remotely wiped by the registered user on iCloud. All one has to do is go to iCloud.com, sign in, locate the device and click “Erase iPhone.”
Kill switches minimize the chances of identity theft. iPhones have the option to have your phone automatically reset if the passcode is guessed incorrectly 10 times. The problem with this feature is that users might forget passwords and would lose access to their phones.
Many of the major companies, such as Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, HTC, Motorola, AT&T, Nokia, Verizon, T-mobile, and Sprint, have signed this pledge and now must have all phones manufactured for sale in the Unites States come with this technology.


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There’s still a lot of room for consumption in North America.
That’s the thinking from David Moen of California Endive Farms in
Rio Vista, California around both awareness and consumption of the vegetable endive, a popular item in Europe, but less so in North America. “We are seeing good demand across the board. We’ve grown business percentage-wise at retail and part of that is also foodservice opening back up,” says Moen. “And the other part of it is that it’s also a great product. But even though we’ve been around for 30 years, the penetration generally in the U.S. of endive is really still quite low.”
What consumers or retailers may not even know is endive’s unique growth cycle which requires continual planning every three to four weeks. Endive is in fact grown twice and the second growth is what consumers eat. The first is in the field where roots are developed and then harvested and put into cold storage to be pulled out for future use. The roots take two to three days of defrosting, then three to four days of planting and then another three weeks of growing them to develop the edible shoots.
Promoting awareness of endive
This is the kind of thing Moen will be talking about at California Endive’s booth at the upcoming Organic Produce Summit held July 13-14th in Monterey, California. “We’ll be there to get the word out about endive,” he says, noting in organic endive, it only has white endive. It's available in 2 and 3-count packages as well as 5 lb. and 10 lb. packages.
One thing California Endive will try this year is a new packaging presentation style. The presentation, similar to a bulk food display, has a box with a shield that consumers could lift up to get product out. “Our product reacts to light as photosynthesis causes endive to green up. However, some retailers don’t want the packaged product as they prefer to display them in bulk. The new box will help them display at retail while protecting endive from display lights and misting systems. We will also have our packages at the show that are also designed to help reduce the UV light you’d get at retail. It minimizes the process,” says Moen.
California Endive will exhibit at booth #518.


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Smart home products are getting more common and more accessible, but, as recent events prove, they are far from being the completely reliable and trustworthy parts of our lives that ads and videos would have us believe. Part of that relies on companies and agents on the remote side acting more responsibly in their ability to control these devices from afar. Another part of that formula, however, also depends on manufacturers ensuring the security and privacy of their products and customers, something that Google’s Nest is promising to do better.
As consumers become more aware of the role that software plays in their lives and devices, the demand for longer software support has likewise increased. The traditional one or two-year support periods that manufacturers offer are no longer enough. But for a certain class of devices, even the three years now offered by phone makers are still insufficient.
That is why Nest is proudly announcing that its products will be receiving bug fixes and security updates for at least five years after launch. This should give buyers some peace of mind in knowing that their smart thermostats or security cameras won’t be abandoned after just a year or two. It should be noted, though, that those five years start after a specific product or model becomes commercially available, not from the date of purchase.
Nest is also announcing other improvements to its security and privacy systems. Products launched in 2019 or later used a verified boot process that ensures the device is running official and safe firmware every time it starts up. These devices are also validated by security standards recognized and used by many IoT companies, including Google.
Google also advertises one security measure that has proven to be quite controversial among Nest owners. A few years back, Google started pushing Google Accounts as a requirement for anyone with a Nest product, and it is now positioning that as a security feature. While features like two-factor authentication and Security Checkup that come with every Google account definitely help improve security, some might also see it as a single point of failure in case Google itself gets compromised or, worse, if Google itself violates its own principles.


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In this Jan. 31, 2011 photo, trader Michael Urkonis, center, uses his handheld device as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising in early trading ahead of reports on manufacturing and the homebuilding industry.
The Institute of Supply Management will issue its January manufacturing index at 10 am EST. Separately, the Commerce Department will report on the construction of new homes in December.
Archer Daniels Midland said its profit jumped 28 percent last quarter because of growing demand for grains. The company beat analyst estimates and rose 7 percent Tuesday.
UPS also posted higher than expected earnings. The company gained 3.5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 61 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,953 in morning trading. The broader SP 500 index is up 10, or 0.8 percent, to 1,295. The Nasdaq composite is up 22, or 0.8 percent, to 2,722.


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In 2013 and 2014, the European Banking Authority and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a United States self-regulatory organization, warned that investing in bitcoins carries significant risks. Forbes named bitcoin the best investment of 2013. In 2014, Bloomberg named bitcoin one of its worst investments of the year. In 2015, bitcoin topped Bloomberg's currency tables.
In December, 2013, Techcrunch published an interview with researcher Skye Grey who claimed textual analysis of published writings shows a link between Satoshi and bit-gold creator Nick Szabo. And perhaps most famously, in March 2014, Newsweek ran a cover article claiming that Satoshi is actually an individual named Satoshi Nakamoto – a 64-year-old Japanese-American engineer living in California. The list of suspects is long, and all the individuals deny being Satoshi.
The overwhelming majority of bitcoin transactions take place on a cryptocurrency exchange, rather than being used in transactions with merchants. Delays processing payments through the blockchain of about ten minutes make bitcoin use very difficult in a retail setting. Prices are not usually quoted in units of bitcoin and many trades involve one, or sometimes two, conversions into conventional currencies. Merchants that do accept bitcoin payments may use payment service providers to perform the conversions.


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Thomas Cook (India) Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon said inbound travel from India’s G20 presidency, conferences, and exhibitions will boost domestic tourism growth.
According to Thomas Cook (India) Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon, India’s domestic tourism development will continue and be boosted by inbound travel from its G20 chairmanship and more conventions and exhibitions.
He told PTI that summer in Europe and the US will also boost long-haul outbound tourism from India.
“Domestic tourism is here to stay and the reality is that we’re going to see more and more activity in the domestic space without a doubt,” Menon said when asked if post-COVID domestic tourism development would continue.
He noted that post-pandemic consumer behaviour, including living for today and not thinking about tomorrow, and strong economic confidence drove domestic tourism.
“The pandemic changed human behaviour. Home-based workers are increasing. “The domestic market is driving frequent breaks because people are spending more time with their families,” Menon added.
“My expectation is that people earlier would have done one international and maybe another domestic trip,” he added. Today, everything is different. Multiple domestic excursions, even weekend ones, are being discussed.
“But that doesn’t take away from the fact that you will see Indians travelling both short-haul and long-haul,” Menon said. Another key development is the so-called saver becoming a spender.
“Everything stems from their confidence in the economy,” he remarked. Not from anywhere. Not merely pandemic-driven. “People are confident that the economy is growing, their jobs are secure, and things will improve from here.”
Menon noted that rapid infrastructure development and hotel and airport construction around the nation are also fuelling growth.
India’s economic rise and global events would also boost tourism.
G20 is just another government event, and as India becomes an economic power, you’ll see more travel to India. That’ll matter. “India will be in the spotlight and attract more tourists,” Menon added.
He noted that international travel to India for government conferences and exhibits is another busy category.
Most people attended exhibitions abroad in the past. “We have the infrastructure to hold these exhibitions in India,” Menon added, mentioning Pragati Maidan in Delhi and the Jio World Centre in Mumbai.
He added many Indians had taken three-and-a-half-hour flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Thailand.
“The longer-haul is only starting now because it was winter through January to March in Europe and the fact that visas were not easy to obtain,” Menon said, adding that long-haul travel would increase in the current quarter.
Travel to Japan and Korea was a first-quarter anomaly. We sent 200 passengers to Japan annually. Nearly 1,300 travellers travelled to Japan per month this year. “So different trends,” he said.
He said group travel is expanding and tailored travel is growing in all sectors.


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No wonder marketers are looking to up their investment in voice search: a survey of more than 500 consumers across the UK reveals the average UK consumer is happy to spend in excess of £195 in an order through voice technology, rising to £232 in the case of shoppers over the age of 30.
According to the study by marketing technology company Wiraya, the rise in the use of voice technology shows the growing use of new tech for consumers looking for outstanding service. The study was conducted alongside Wiraya’s annual CRM Barometer report, which surveyed 750 leading CRM and Customer Experience Managers in the UK and Europe understanding current trends in customer experience.
This report revealed that a genuine two-way conversation with the customer ranks second highest in terms of what businesses now deem ‘outstanding customer service’. Furthermore, over a third of consumers surveyed (36%) want customer service available across different channels including mobile, online and over the phone.
Voicing customer expectations
There’s no one rule of thumb for delivering on customer experience and as such delivering a tailored experience to different consumer groups is key. For instance, 14% of 18 to 29 year olds identify self-service as a contributor to outstanding customer service, but this drops to just 4% among over 60s, who are far more interested in receiving proactive offers from brands (24%).
Delving further in to customer expectations in this area, at least 47% of consumers over the age of 45 want the best deals and prices to be directed to existing customers as opposed to luring new shoppers.
Despite this, only a quarter (27%) of business respondents to the CRM Barometer identified offering the best deals to existing customers as an area of outstanding customer service. This comes at a time when over 50% of customers would be willing to share information to enable more personalised, relevant communication.
Sam Madden, UK Director at Wiraya explains: “It’s easy to lose track of the consumer when you’re focused on all the different communication channels. But failing to focus on customer preferences simply isn’t an option. Consumers want to help brands improve their service, but 85% of those we interviewed are prepared to leave a brand or service provider after a bad experience.”
Customer voice represented
According to marketers interviewed in the 2018 CRM Barometer, 18% of businesses attribute a lack of new or modern technology as a reason for missing goals related to customer experience.
Madden concludes: “The good news is 21% of UK businesses are prioritising existing customers more than prospects this year. The customer’s voice is represented in the top management team in nearly nine in ten companies and 69% of customer experience leads within a business have the authority to make the changes necessary to enhance the customer experience. For many, the answer is building in that crucial layer of automation combined with a personal approach that tailors the service to each customer segment. Thankfully the technology now exists to you enable businesses to do just that.”
But it isn’t for everyone
All that said, voice commerce isn’t for everyone. A separate study by digital agency Code Computerlove of 1000 UK consumers found that most people are buying these devices not for shopping but to help with getting information – the most popular being how to boil and egg (20%) and getting it to tell them jokes (25%).
The most popular use of the devices is to play music (65%), news and weather reports (50%), travel information (16%) and listening to audio books (8%). Only 7% said they currently use them to buy things.
However, this only shows that consumers aren’t using them for shopping as a matter of course yet. It is clear from all the other research – and from this last study’s indication that consumers are getting used to what they can do with these voice devices – offers an insight into how voice is likely to become a tool for shopping.


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Blake Anding of Classic Sofa was featured in the Fall 2023 issue of AVENUE.
“It is important to understand how the body is going to fit a piece ergonomically and have anthropometric designs to truly tailor to the body,” Anding says of the craft. “We take time to get to know the client. I always ask, ‘How is it going to be used? How are you going to be comfortable?’” He adds, “There is no problem we don’t have a solution for.”
You can read the full article here.


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This week XLrator Media released the Nazi zombie-themed Outpost: Black Sun, the sequel to Steve Barker's 2008 indie flick Outpost, which found moderate success during its home release worldwide.
Alrighty, kids! We have on tap for you an exclusive clip from the long awaited Nazi zombie flick Outpost II: Black Sun, and as per usual you can dig on it right here. Lock, load, and check it out!
IGN scored itself the first look at the official domestic trailer for the long awaited Nazi zombie flick Outpost II: Black Sun, and as per usual you can dig on it right here. Lock, load, and check it out!
It's kind of appropriate that the first trailer out for the Nazi zombie epic Outpost II: Black Sun would be the German one. Fitting, no? Anyway, we have it for you right here so goose step on in for a bit of undead mayhem.
Having been a zombie for both Joe Lynch and George A. Romero, I can tell you first-hand that there's something ridiculously cool about donning the make-up and getting to feast. Think you have what it takes?
In 2008 a little movie called The Outpost was released direct-to-video and ended up being one of the best flicks to come out that year. Don't remember it? Haven't seen it? Do yourself a favor and start playing catch-up immediately.


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The Team of Mistakers affirms that A Better Mistake is not just a fashion brand, it's a space where art, music and hybrid and sustainable fashion merge into each other “chapter after chapter”. In addition, when it comes to designing, the first step is find the right colours, and the silhouette and next they source deadstock fabrics, which respect the environment. “Sustainability is a key point of our project, something we want to improve year after year”, assures Ferraro.
Working with very limited runs, the brand has already collaborated with musicians and artists such as VTSS, Nim Morrison or Fabio Weik. But soon, the founders will surprise us with collaborations and projects that must be followed closely. They have a lot to come. And it is that freedom of expression has no limits.


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It includes what appears to be a list of different Windows Vista editions, or SKUs:
• Windows Starter 2007
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows Vista Home Basic N
• Windows Vista Business N
Brandon LeBlanc at LonghornBlogs makes the point that Microsoft has not officially announced the names of the various Vista SKUs. But Neowin, which found the site, says it has confirmed these are the SKUs. It had a list up earlier which Microsoft asked them to remove. With the appearance of this page, Neowin’s restored the list.
There’s a good chance this page may not be visible for much longer.
Update: Brother-in-Hearst Todd Bishop at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has more, including lots of good links to other coverage.


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Shopee has launched its latest campaign, "Wang with Shopee" in conjunction with the Chinese New Year (CNY) festival, offering more than RM1 million worth of prizes up for grabs.
The six-week campaign which began on 15 January, runs until 25 February 2018. According to the statement, online users will stand a chance to win more than RM1 million in prizes including as coins and vouchers, and over 20,000 golden tickets daily. Each golden ticket entitles users to enter a sure-win lucky draw with prizes including gold bars worth more than RM500 each, weekly cash prizes of RM1,500 and a grand prize of RM8,888 in cash.
Users who check in to its Facebook event "Wang With Shopee this CNY 2018" also stand a chance to win exclusive Shopee Prosperity Boxes, 88,888 Shopee Coins and a trip for two to Hong Kong Disneyland, as well as, the top prize of a trip for two to a mystery destination worth RM10,000 for its 18,888th user of the event.
For this year's CNY festival, Shopee has also partnered with more than 60 leading brands from Shopee Mall, including PETRONAS, Reckitt Benckiser, L’Oreal, OPPO, Super, Watsons, Nestle, Unilever, Tommee Tippee, Deerma, Photobook, and Xixili to offer massive promotions and discounts of up to 90% off.
Ian Ho, Shopee’s regional managing director, said, “Chinese New Year is one of the biggest celebrations in a multicultural country like Malaysia. For this celebration, Shopee provides a wide selection of products ranging from Health & Beauty; Home & Living; Fashion; Groceries; Toys, Kids & Babies; Mobile & Gadgets and many more to suit the needs of every member in the household. With the great bargains we are offering, ‘Wang with Shopee’ campaign will definitely bring more excitement this festive season,”


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RadioShack 3Q profit rises 56 percent from tax reserve gain
DALLAS – Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. reported Friday its third-quarter profit rose 56 percent on a large one-time gain and increased sales.Net income for the Fort Worth company grew to $108.5 million, or 75 cents per share, from $69.7 million, or 43 cents per share, a year ago. The latest quarter included a gain of 39 cents per share from the reversal of a tax contingency reserve. Revenue rose 8 percent to $1.19 billion as sales at stores open at least a year grew 1 percent for the quarter.Excluding that item, the Fort Worth-based company posted earnings per share of 36 cents.On that basis, the results missed analysts’ expectations for earnings of 37 cents per share on $1.15 billion in sales, according to a Thomson Financial survey.Shares of RadioShack fell 84 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $22.80 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.Chief Operating Officer David Edmondson said the company will emphasize sales of satellite radio, digital imaging MP3 and wireless products.”These are hot categories and very productive for RadioShack,” Edmondson told analysts in a conference call. “They drive traffic into the stores, and they also provide opportunities for selling profitable accessories.”The year has been replete with new products, deals and advertising representation. Last month, RadioShack began carrying Apple Computer Inc.’s popular Ipod.Edmondson said customers now connect RadioShack with the hand-held electronic devices.”We are selling all that we can get” of the Ipods and their accessories, he said. “They are coming in the back door and going out the front door.”William Baldwin, Dallas-based analyst for Baldwin Anthony Securities, said the move to carry the devices was late.”It’s a plus, and it will bring traffic into the stores, but why wasn’t it there two years ago?” he said. “They don’t have too many female shoppers, and Ipods appeal to everybody. If they get more female shoppers who see other things they like, it will help overall sales.”In August, the company signed wireless deals with Sprint PCS and Cingular Wireless, while cutting ties with Verizon. The changes take place Jan. 1, 2006.Edmondson assured analysts the company will be ready for the change.”We’ve gone through this transition before, not just with Verizon but other carriers,” he said. “We believe we will hit the ground running. We are going to, as of Jan. 1, be in very good shape.”Baldwin said it will take several quarters to replace income from Verizon.”It’s not going to happen the first quarter, and it may not happen the second quarter,” he said. “It’s also a big transition because there is a lot of education needed for the sales forces.”The company adjusted its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $2.14 to $2.24 per share, including the one-time gain from the third quarter. It previously forecast a profit of $1.80 to $1.90 per share. Analysts estimate full-year earnings of $1.85 per share.


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Funny visual gags and jokes from The Simpsons. ...
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New Amazon Fund Invests in Boston Hardware Firm Dragon Innovation
Dragon Innovation has been helping startups build their hardware products and raise funding since the Boston-based consultancy was founded in 2009.
Now Dragon is adding a new focus when working with customers: voice. Dragon has received an undisclosed investment from a new fund created by Amazon, called the Alexa Fund, that invests in developer and manufacturing startups interested in building novel voice technologies, Seattle-based Amazon announced Thursday. Dragon was one of the first seven companies to receive an investment.
The new fund is named after Amazon’s cloud-based, Siri-like virtual assistant service, called Alexa, and will make up to $100 million in investments. (Alexa is used in the Amazon Echo device, which ships next month.) The fund is focused on pre-revenue, early stage companies that make hardware for use inside or outside the home that could be used with Alexa; for new services on devices that use Alexa; or for developing voice technology, Amazon says.
With the new funding, Dragon plans to build expertise in using Alexa Voice Services and the Alexa Skills Kit, two sets of APIs and tools that Amazon offers to developers and startups who might want to integrate the Alexa voice functions with their apps, hardware, or Web products, Amazon says. Dragon plans to work with its clients to add voice services to their devices, Amazon wrote in a statement.
Dragon and its founder Scott Miller are known for working with companies like Pebble, Romotive, and MakerBot. It has helped companies learn to get products built in China, and even started its own crowdfunding program to compete with Kickstarter.
The six other companies that received funding from Amazon’s Alexa Fund include San Francisco-based Orange Chef, a personalized cooking tool, and Brooklyn-based Toymail, which sells an Internet-connected toy.


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Confident that the worst of an economic slump is over, Calgary businesses are looking toward 2018 with improved, if tempered confidence, says a study done by two lobby groups.
But bitterness still abounds for the year gone past, with only 12 per cent of 989 businesses surveyed last month viewing the city’s economy as being excellent or good, while 42 per cent applied the same rating to their own company’s performance.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Even so, 62 per cent predicted their company would do better in 2018 compared to 44 per cent a year before, while 61 per cent think the economy will see an upswing next year, an improvement of 23 per cent.
“People have a bit of a renewed sense of optimism because the worst is behind us, but they’re not seeing things through rose-coloured glasses yet,” said Adam Legge, outgoing president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which teamed with Calgary Economic Development to conduct the poll.


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Apple's transition to ARM-based processors, or Apple Silicon as the company is referring to its custom CPUs, is officially underway with the developer transition kits already in the hands of some devs.
Naturally, some of the developers couldn't resist testing its performance, despite specific agreements that accompanied the hardware. 9to5Mac was the first to notice some benchmarks showing up on Geekbench (via Gizmodo).
- Best MacBook in 2020: Apple laptop reviews and ratings
- Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 2020) review
- New Surface Pro X could feature new ARM-based CPU — Watch out, Apple!
The move is certainly a long term play for Apple, which gives the company a much greater degree of control over another piece of the supply chain for its laptops. Apple fans will hope that there is little to no fall-off in performance even as the chips should reportedly deliver superior battery life.
Keeping in mind that these Developer Transition Kits are basically a modified Mac mini using an A12Z chip originally used in this year's iPad Pros, the results so far are looking pretty good.
The single-core performance is coming in at right around 840 and the multi-core is averaging around 2,900. This is slightly below the average performance for the base MacBook Air (2020) on single-core (1,005), but well above its multi-core score of 2,014. It's also worth noting that the Developer Transition Kit is running the benchmark through Rosetta 2 emulation, which is known to have a performance hit.
Overall it's an incredibly promising initial result given Apple's aggressive goal of shipping its first Mac with Apple Silicon before the end of the year.
Of course, the hardware is just part of the story. While these benchmarks didn't take long to come out, the next leaks we will be looking for from developers is the difficulty or lack thereof in getting apps ready for the new hardware. This has been a stumbling block for Windows' ARM-based aspirations and will be crucial for Apple to hurdle in its own efforts.
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Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more. Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.


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General Grows Again
Last Thursday, General Cigars announced its latest acquisition —Toraño Family Cigars. In a way this is a logical extension for the company. Scandinavian Tobacco Group in 2007 first bought CAO from the Ozgener family. The cigars were made in the Toraño factories in Esteli. The next year, STG purchased Toraño’s factories in both Nicaragua and Honduras. But the Toraño brands were not part of that deal except that STG helped with the distribution of the cigars. In 2010, STG merged with Swedish Match in a joint venture that rolled everything into the General Cigar umbrella. At that time, Toraño took back distribution of the family brands. Toraño has a rich history, dating back to 1916.
“There is a long-standing and proud history of partnership between General Cigar and Toraño, dating back to my family’s exodus from Cuba. There is no other company that I would rather have continue my family’s legacy, and I look forward to seeing the Toraño brands prosper under General Cigar’s expertise,” said Toraño president Charlie Toraño.
When Charlie’s grandfather was in Cuba, he sold tobacco to the Cullman family when it owned General Cigar, then when he fled Cuba in 1960, it was Ramon Cifuentes and General Cigar who gave him his first U.S. job growing Connecticut tobacco which he had been doing in Cuba before his exodus.
Says Dan Carr, president of General Cigar,
“The acquisition of the Toraño brands represents an opportunity for us to strategically expand our portfolio. Our companies have been intertwined for over 50 years and I look forward to working with Charlie Toraño on plans to celebrate the upcoming centennial and to carry forward the vision, passion and innovation that is synonymous with the Toraño name while also leveraging our resources to bring even greater excitement and reach to our trade partners and consumers.”
Both General and Toraño say the blends of the current lines will remain the same. My guess is this is a win for both companies in that General gets another line that can be sold overseas (remember the trademarks for Cohiba, La Gloria Cubana, Punch and Partagas are for the U.S. market only, Cuba has them elsewhere) and Toraño gets wider distribution. The deal was kept fairly secret…even Jack Toraño, Charlie’s cousin who worked for the company, said on Facebook he had no clue. The fast changeover also begs the question of what happens to Sam Leccia’s lines. Toraño had been his distributor for his Luchadore, Leccia White and Leccia Black cigars. Sam says he is working to set up a new distributor.


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Upscale English winemaker Nyetimber has appointed Richard Carter as CEO.
Carter has joined Nyetimber this month from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, where he served on the board for nearly 14 years as director of global communications.
He has taken over from the business’ owner and sole shareholder Eric Heerema, who will assume the role of chairman of the board and continue to play an active role in guiding and directing Nyetimber.
Nyetimber MD Hans Sleeuwenhoek has also joined the board and handed over his responsibilities to Carter.
During his time at Rolls-Royce, Carter played a “central role in strategically redefining and repositioning it as a globally recognised pinnacle luxury brand”, said Nyetimber.
His depth of understanding of luxury brand management and considerable worldwide marketing, communication and management skills were “key assets” that he would bring to Nyetimber as the company built and expanded into the future, it added.
Heerema said he was “delighted to announce and welcome Richard as CEO”.
“Knowing him well, and given his extensive experience”, he was “confident that Richard will continue building on the success that Nyetimber has achieved and will contribute to the further growth of this unique brand.”
Carter said: “I have admired Nyetimber for many years as the leader and pioneer in the English sparkling wine movement.”
By harnessing his “extensive knowledge of the luxury market”, he looked forward to “driving the business forward through the next stage of its development”, he added.


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Already signed on for Max Mosley's lower-cost future, the Austrian billionaire was thought keen on bringing Volkswagen into the paddock.
The customer engine contracts with Ferrari (Red Bull) and Cosworth (Toro Rosso) run to the end of 2007.
''Cooperating with a manufacturer would be good,'' Mateschitz told Motorsport Aktuell, ''but in 2008, 2009 and 2010 it will be less important than in the past.''
He is no doubt also referring to the FIA's current plan to 'freeze' engine development.
'Didi' added: ''So it will not be so crucial (in the future) as to whether you can win that you get your engine through a partnership, rather than simply buying (one).''
He added that Volkswagen and Audi are unlikely to get involved in F1 any time soon.


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Daddy’s Chicken Shack, a hole-in-the-wall fried chicken sandwich shop from Pasadena, California, has just secured a multi-unit development deal with RE/MAX co-founder Dave Liniger. A newly inked regional developer agreement will see Daddy’s Chicken Shack open 20 units split evenly across the Phoenix and Denver markets.
The restaurant was founded in 2018 by entrepreneurial duo Pace Webb and Chris Georgalas. Webb originated the concept for Daddy’s Chicken Shack after her fried chicken sliders became a hit at a celebrity party she catered. Her hand-crafted menu items have garnered a cult-like following in the Los Angeles market, especially her signature chicken sandwich which is brined overnight in buttermilk and double-battered.
“Chris and I have been working tirelessly since founding the brand to maximize its potential, and Dave has been an incredible sounding board. I can’t think of better validation for the brand than to have Dave sign a regional developer deal, and open restaurants that he plans to own and operate in the markets,” Webb said in a press release. She serves as CEO and leads the business with Georgalas, her husband and the president of the company.
“I don’t take any investment lightly, and I’ve done endless due diligence on Daddy’s Chicken Shack. This is a rock-solid brand with a remarkable foundation for expansion,” Liniger adds. He has established Area 15 Franchising, LLC, now part of his private equity investment portfolio Area 15 Ventures, to help drive growth for the brand in these new markets.
Daddy’s Chicken Shack will focus on opening locations throughout the East Valley, including Scottsdale. Liniger, who is the pioneer franchise investor in the brand, is renowned for growing RE/MAX into one of America’s and the world’s preeminent real estate companies.
He is already seeking franchise candidates who have a passion for bringing people together while serving and unforgettable experience with fresh, quality ingredients. On March 18 and 19, Liniger will put Daddy’s Chicken Shack on display at West Coast Franchise Expo in Phoenix.
To learn more about franchising with Daddy’s Chicken Shack, visit https://daddysfranchising.com/.


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Aberdeen-based provider of remotely operated robotic crawlers Spectis Robotics has partnered with Canadian ROV manufacturer Deep Trekker.
The new partnership will provide Spectis with direct access to Deep Trekker’s experienced engineers to assist in the development of inspection solutions across multiple sectors.
Formerly Inuktun Europe, Spectis Robotics re-branded in June 2019 with managing director Brian Storie retaining full ownership.
Spectis said it is also currently working on several new products and improvements to its existing product range.
Brian Storie, managing director at Spectis Robotics, said:
“This partnership will strengthen our existing sales and rentals portfolio, whilst allowing us to expand into new industry sectors such as maritime, nuclear and aquaculture.
“We look forward to further developing this relationship to the advantage of our clients and help drive us towards our goal of becoming a go-to company for specialist inspection systems.”
Cody Warner, sales manager at Deep Trekker Inc., added:
“Spectis Robotics has been involved in the sales, rental and servicing of robotic systems for more than 10 years; developing an impressive track-record over that period.
“We are very excited for them to be joining our distribution network and I’m confident that this partnership will bring benefits for new and existing clients of both companies.”


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BMW Group has taken 3D printing very seriously, incorporating it into its automotive concepts on a large scale. Indeed, it could be said that BMW has set the bar for automotive 3D printing, having used it for more than a quarter of a century. Far from slowing down at this point, BMW Group has made its intention clear to continue pursuing additive manufacturing intensely into the future, announcing today a €10 million investment into a new Additive Manufacturing Campus, to be located in Oberschleissheim, just north of Munich.
“Our new Additive Manufacturing Campus will concentrate the full spectrum of the BMW Group’s 3D printing expertise at a single location,” said Udo Hänle, Head of Production Integration and Pilot Plant. “This will allow us to test new technologies early on and continue developing our pioneering role.”
The Additive Manufacturing Campus will serve as a sort of pilot plant, developing the latest 3D printing technologies and making them available for use within the network. Work at the campus will include parts manufacturing for prototype construction, series production and customized solutions. The location will also serve as an interdisciplinary training and project area. It will be located in a building over 6,000 square meters in size, and will accommodate up to 80 employees and more than 30 metal and plastic industrial additive manufacturing systems.
“Our new facility will be a major milestone in additive manufacturing at the BMW Group,” said Jens Ertel, Head of the BMW Group’s Additive Manufacturing Center and future Director of the Additive Manufacturing Campus. “The team there will evaluate new and existing technologies in both plastics and metals printing and develop them to series maturity. Our goal is to provide the optimum technology and process chain, be it for individual components, small production runs or even large-scale manufacturing.”
Ertel also commented on the BMW i8 Roadster, the most recent car for which the company has produced 3D printed parts.
“With the BMW i8 Roadster, the BMW Group became the first carmaker to 3D-print a production run of several thousand metal parts,” he said. “The component concerned is a fixture in the tonneau cover for the soft-top.”
“The 3D printers that are currently operating across our production network represent a first step towards local part production,” said Ertel. “We are already using additive manufacturing to make prototype components on location in Spartanburg (US), Shenyang (China) and Rayong (Thailand). Going forward, we could well imagine integrating it more fully into local production structures to allow small production runs, country-specific editions and customisable components – provided it represents a profitable solution.”
This investment is only the latest for the BMW Group, whose venture capital arm, BMW i Ventures, has invested in some of the most groundbreaking 3D printing companies to appear over the last few years, including Carbon, Desktop Metal, and Xometry. These investments have made it even more clear that BMW intends to hasten the industrialization and advancement of additive manufacturing across the industry, not just within its own company.
The Additive Manufacturing Campus is scheduled to be open in early 2019.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.[Images: BMW Group]
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"The government has ensured that generic medicines are available across the country in over 5,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras," he told here on the sidelines of the 'India Pharma and Medical Device 2019' conference.
The rate of medicines there in Jan Aushadhi stores is 10 per cent to 90 per cent cheaper in these shops, he added.
Reiterating steps taken by the government to make health care affordable, he said prices of cardiac stents and knee implants have also been brought down.
While speaking at the conference, he said the government had taken initiatives to popularise the Make in India, such as plans to set up two API parks -- one in Assam and another in Andhra Pradesh -- to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the country.
Describing the Indian medical technology sector as a crucial cog in the wheel to address the country's commitment towards sustainable development goals of ensuring good health and well-being of all, he said the sector is currently "traversing a path mixed with opportunities and challenges".
The government is cognisant of the fact that medical devices must be identified as separate from pharmaceuticals for all purposes relating to business, policy and regulations, Gowda added.
To achieve this, a clear efficient and stable regulatory system is required, that would enable ease of doing business and help realise Make In India, he said.
"The sector now needs a formative resolve to prioritise, act and realise. The interventions needed to steer the sector towards a meaningful growth path need immediate formation of a long-term vision followed by diligent multi-stakeholder execution," the minister said.


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The section is about the diverse segments in retail sector. It encapsulates features on the developments, recent trends, active players and other pertinent details about the sectors. The coverage herein highlights the market response towards the different sectors and consumers’ shopping trends.
Post GST the tax rate on gold stood at 12.2% which comprised of 10% customs duty, 1% excise duty and 1.2% VAT. The effect of GST has reduced the cost gap between organized and unorganized players of the industry.
Womens apparel, which accounted for Rs 1 lakh crore of the Rs 2.6 lakh crore apparel market in 2015, is growing at 11 per cent CAGR, while the branded segment is clocking a 20 per cent growth, the report said.
The business of luxury resale is booming across geographies. Some analysts claim its the low price point that excites the young Luxury fashion consumers while fashion insiders say its the lust for a markdown that makes it exciting to shop.
It has become mandatory for fashion retailers to frame the marketing strategies as per the changing environment. They need to cut-short the purchase journey for digitally influenced shoppers who are looking beyond e-commerce.
Selling jewellery online is hard that too when you have at the least seven to 10 offline retailers within 10 km from where ever you live.In the current jewellery industry, most of the big brands are setting up their e-commerce division.
Incense is just very small example regional retailer doing something extraordinary,brands such as Fab India, W, Ritu Kumar, BIBA, AND, Allen Solly, Van Heusen etc., which have been quite successful here, and on their way make it big in international arena
Traditionally Infrastructure hassles and lack of clear guidelines along with high import duties & counterfeit market are few substantial reasons to prevent luxury retailers from directly investing in Indian markets.


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Jens-Peter Seick, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Server Business at Fujitsu Siemens
Computers says: "The new S5 generation of PRIMERGY servers make a real breakthrough in terms of lifetime ownership costs.
According to Koberling, Fujitsu Siemens
Computers developed the design language for all consumer and business products in a two-year interdisciplinary project.
Computers posted a net profit of around 68 million euros and a pretax profit of 105 million euros on sales of 6.6 billion euros in fiscal 2007.
Computers will continue to operate as a joint venture until the transaction is completed.
Computers became the first company to launch notebooks with integrated 3G modems in Russia," noted Mr.
"We worked very closely with Fujitsu Siemens
Computers, one of Europe's premier OEMs, to bring a solution to market that suits the specific needs of business users in enterprises," said Giuliano Meroni, corporate vice president, Microprocessor Solutions Sector, AMD.
WStore designed and built the new website and will manage the online store, which is linked from the main Fujitsu Siemens
Computers web site.
"LSI Logic's Embedded SATA Software RAID technology fuels our SATA-based servers with data striping for higher performance (RAID 0), data mirroring for data security (RAID 1) and fault tolerance," said Klaus Kratzer, vice president, PRIMERGY servers at Fujitsu Siemens
LIKE mobile phones, computers are getting smaller everyday and now Fujitsu Siemens
claim to have produced the world's lightest and smallest ever laptop.
Desktop systems management specialist Altiris Inc has teamed up with Fujitsu Siemens
Computers BV to co-develop a client lifecycle management solution for Fujitsu Siemens
' client machines.
(1) The SAP Standard Application ATO Benchmark, SAP R/3 4.6C, performed on February 18, 2003 by Fujitsu and Fujitsu Siemens
Computers in Tokyo, Japan was certified on March 11, 2003, with the following data:
The proposed introduction of a copyright levy on the sale of new computers in Germany has led to a bitter dispute between German rights society VG Wort and IT manufacturers--notably Germany's largest computer manufacturer Fujitsu Siemens
Computers (Holding) BV and the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications, and New Media (BITKOM).


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LG Electronics plans to unveil the Optimus 3D, a smartphone that will allow consumers to record and view 3D images and videos without glasses, at Mobile World Congress (MWC), the company said on Tuesday.
Apple has been hit with another lawsuit accusing it of privacy violations for the way it shares information collected from iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users with advertisers.
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The Android mobile operating system thoroughly dominates the U.S. consumer smartphone market, while Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 OS is off to a slow start, according to a new survey by market researcher The NPD Group. And while Apple's share of th...
Since Apple introduced the world to the iPad, the tablet rivalry has been heated between iOS and Android. The problem, though -- for Android at least -- is that the rivalry was filled with idle speculation and vaporware compared to the blockbuster re...
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Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks he knows why the white iPhone 4 still isn't for sale.
Android has surged past Symbian to become the world's best-selling smartphone operating system, according to Canalys.
Android Honeycomb won't be officially introduced until Google's big event on February 2nd, but it's already been hacked onto a tablet. And who else would be behind the hack other than a member of the XDA Developers Forum?
For the first time in its short history, Google Android is now the No.1 mobile operating system in the world, according to research firm Canalys.
Vodafone, with 28 million cellular customers in Egypt, and France Telecom restored mobile voice services there on Saturday, one day after service stopped because the government demanded the cut-off, Vodafone said on its Web site.
ARM is offering two new processors -- the Cortex-R5 and Cortex-R7 -- which will help next-generation smartphones and tablets take better advantage of increasing mobile broadband speeds, the company said on Monday.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.


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Vernon westside artist Jerry Markham is helping local poultry farmers with their fight to allow area-raised chickens to be slaughtered and sold locally.
Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of Markham’s paintings of chickens will go towards the cause.
“Current rules and regulations are making it economically unviable for farmers to continue to provide this service,” said Markham. “Local farmers are petitioning for a change in regulations and a mobile processing unit to allow their poultry to be processed locally and fairly, providing consumers with the freedom of food choice and access to local products at a reasonable cost.”
Some of Markham’s artwork will be shown today at the grand opening/open house of the new location for Okanagan Natural Medicine, located at 2915-28th Ave., Vernon, across the street from Shaw Cable.
The open house takes place from 4 to 8 p.m. and visitors can also sign the farmers’ petition while there.
More details about Markham’s paintings, purchasing info, and the cause can be found at www.JerryMarkham.com.


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Retail operator Dufry has reached an agreement with Zurich Airport in Switzerland to extend its concession contract by an additional 10 years.
Dufry currently operates 35 stores across 75,000ft² of retail space at the airport, including multi-category duty free shops, specialized stores and brand boutiques, in both departures and arrivals. Dufry also operates The Circle, an area specializing in duty paid offerings.
The new 10-year contract will see Dufry operate the existing retail outlets until 2028, and includes the complete renovation of all existing stores as well as the addition of the company’s latest travel retail concept, the New Generation Store.
Julían Díaz, Dufry Group CEO, said, “I am most pleased with the agreement reached with Zurich Airport. The airport is not only the largest in our home country, Switzerland, but also one of the most important airports in Europe. I am also excited for Zurich to be one of the first locations to receive our New Generation Store, which will change the way we see travel retail going forward. I would like to thank Zurich Airport for the confidence in Dufry. Our commitment is to create the best shopping experience at the airport, bringing the most exciting shop concepts.”
Stephan Widrig, CEO of Zürich Airport, said, “We are glad to continue our long-term and successful partnership with Dufry. By renewing this contract we start a new phase of development for the commercial activities of Zurich Airport. We are proud to be one of the first airports to receive Dufry’s new store concept and happy to partner with Dufry in our journey in The Circle. We look forward to a long-standing and successful relationship with Dufry.”


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MINSK, 18 September (BelTA) – IKEA intends to increase the acquisition of Belarus-made goods up to €300 million in 2021, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Yeudachenka during a Belarusian-Swedish business meeting in Minsk.
The diplomat stressed that the figure was €130 million last year.
The first deputy minister of foreign affairs drew attention to the importance of advancing Belarus-Sweden economic cooperation.
In turn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Sweden Dmitry Mironchik said the number of IKEA suppliers in Belarus has increased to 12. He noted that the increase in the number of suppliers indicates high working standards of the Belarusian companies. Of the 12 suppliers four are state-run companies and eight are private ones (including with foreign investments).
The ambassador stressed that Belarus-Sweden cooperation develops very dynamically on the whole. “Thanks to IKEA Sweden has become one of the top ten countries to where Belarusian furniture is shipped,” Dmitry Mironchik said.
The business meeting gathered about 100 people, including those representing Belarusian furniture companies, woodworking and light industry companies. A similar meeting took place in Belarus in December 2018. According to the ambassador, it helped increase the interest in cooperation with IKEA.
Dmitry Mironchik pointed out that the Belarusian goods IKEA receives include not only furniture but other products as well. In particular, those are wall clocks made by a small company.
As for the possibility of opening an IKEA store in Belarus, Dmitry Mironchik said the matter is under consideration but the decision can be made only by the company itself.More about Economy


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On October 9, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued preliminary affirmative determinations in anti-dumping trade cases on aluminum sheet imports from 18 nations. This is the first major step in a trade remedy case filed by members of the Aluminum Association that could result in $1.96 billion of tariffs on aluminum sheet imports from those nations. “We look forward to receiving parties’ comments on the preliminary determination that aluminum sheet imports from 18 countries have been dumped…into the U.S. market,” noted Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the release.
For tariffs to be imposed, Commerce would have to issue an affirmative final determination on or about February 22, 2021 and the six member U.S. International Trade Commission would have to pass its own version of injury determination on April 5 by a 3-3 tie vote or by a majority.
The 18 countries facing potential tariffs on aluminum sheet exports are: Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey.
Read the Commerce release.


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Shoe Carnival began re-opening its stores in May, and a first read on sales has topped the footwear chain’s expectations.
On June 22, Shoe Carnival reported a year-over-year same-store sales increase of 28.1 percent, including a 4 percent boost in brick-and-mortar comparable sales for the fiscal quarter to date.
“As we have slowly re-emerged with heightened safety procedures, we have welcomed back our customers to stores, and as a result, fiscal second quarter-to-date sales have exceeded our expectations,” Shoe Carnival vice chairman and CEO Cliff Sifford said in a statement Monday. “While there are still many unknowns, we are encouraged by these more than positive sales trends and remain committed to meeting our customers’ footwear needs and positioning Shoe Carnival as a leader in the family footwear segment.”
After growing 160 percent in the first quarter, sales from Shoe Carnival’s digital channel are up nearly 470 percent over the comparable period last year, the company said.
All but one of the chain’s 390 stores are now open in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, which could curtail the skyrocketing e-commerce sales trajectory if consumers return to shopping in stores reduce their reliance on online shopping. A shift back to in-store shopping may end up helping the company’s ailing margins, however, which are expected to remain under pressure in the second quarter as a result of the higher shipping and fulfillment expenses incurred with digital orders.
Overall, brick-and-mortar sales have been higher than many have expected, supporting Wells Fargo economist Tim Quinlan’s position that retail may see a spike in sales as a result of pent-up demand and coronavirus stimulus payments. In either case, this growth could eventually be threatened by ongoing high unemployment rates, which reached 13.3 percent in early June.
Shoe Carnival closed its stores on April 2, in line with many other retailers as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the country and began reopening where local case counts and regulations permitted.
At the time, the retailer said it would provide each store with personal protective equipment (PPE), intensify daily cleaning procedures and reinforce social distancing with prominently displayed signage in order to protect both employees and consumers.
“The first half of fiscal 2020 ushered in an unprecedented operating landscape for our business,” Sifford said. “We pivoted quickly to protect the health and safety of our employees and customers, which has supported the successful, gradual re-opening of our stores since late-April.”


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Lady Reveals Plan To Have The Biggest 'Oranges' In The World
Early today , A German actress and model revealed on social media her mission to own the biggest bosom in the world. The lady would be achieving the feat through medical procedures and cosmetic surgery. She plans to inflate her "oranges" up to 20 litres.
In what could be described as a rather surprising mission, a German model identified as Martina Big, recently revealed her plans to become the female with the biggest mammary glands in the entire world. Martina Big recently had an interview with The Sun. She disclosed that she had undergone 26 procedures involving cosmetic surgery to achieve the current size of her "oranges". Her breasts are so so big, that she has to have her bras specifically custom made.
“You can’t buy them so I have to get them made by a tailor. It is hard work for him as my bras have to be so big and stable,” Big said.
So we would love to know what you think about cosmetic surgery and breast enlargement...Would you do it? Should the model achieve her goal of expanding the size of her oranges more than the current size? It means she will be taking the title from Florida’s Maxi Mounds, who currently holds the title of the world’s largest augmented bosoms.
We previously gathered the report of a Lagos-based cosmetic surgeon identified as Anu, who took to her heels after performing a failed procedure that resulted into the death of a client. Word went round that Anu was not in fact a certified surgeon but only got customers because she was well known by many in Lagos.
The Impact of Large Breasts On Your Health
The health challenges of having large breasts cannot be underestimated, with an increasing number of women suffering from problems including crippling back, neck and arm pain, headaches, friction rash, cysts in skin folds and even curvature of the spine.
In fact, a study published in the journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery claimed that a woman with very large breasts can lose five years off her life if she doesn’t get them reduced. A further Scandinavian study has found that breast reduction is as good for the health and activity levels of women as a hip replacement because the weight of large breasts can make the spine curve and trigger disc or nerve damage.
And the problem is set to get worse, as it turns out women are naturally developing bigger chests. In the Fifties, the average cup size was a B. Now retailers such as M&S and Debenhams say D is their most popular size, with underwear chain Bravissimo adding an L to its range.
Dr Marilyn Glenville, an expert in women’s hormones, says the fact that puberty starts earlier may play a part.
“Girls today begin menstruating sooner, so we have far more periods than our grandmothers,” she says. “This means we are exposed to more monthly surges of the hormone oestrogen, and that may trigger the growth of extra breast tissue.”
Experts say it’s vital to invest in good sports bras to minimize bounce – as research has found that the average 38D breast moves about five inches from top to bottom with each running stride.


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NieR:Automata Still Has One Unsolved Secret
NieR:Automata turned a year old recently, with its Japanese release anniversary on February 23 and its North American anniversary today (March 7). Despite the fact that fans have been playing the game for a full year, it appears that there’s still one secret left that no one has found.
In a recent issue of the magazine Famitsu, a number of staff members who worked on NieR:Automata, including director Yoko Taro and producer Yosuke Saito, were interviewed to celebrate the game’s anniversary. After stating that the game sold better than they could have expected and thanking NieR fans, it was revealed that NieR:Automata still has one more secret that no one has found yet. Apparently, this secret might be “unpleasant,” so no other information regarding this secret, or how to find it, was given. The developers also stated that, despite the problematic nature of this secret, it was kept in the game for unspecified reasons.
So that’s curious. It was also revealed in this interview that holding down R3 and pressing a button on the D-pad can cause the camera to bug out and clip through textures, so you can bet that a ton of players will be trying this out everywhere in the game to see if this is the key to finding this unpleasant secret. Aside from this, it was also revealed that a new NieR game is being proposed and that Yoko Taro would like to be able to officially announce something by 2020, which will be the tenth anniversary of the original NieR.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider Officially Announced
After tons of leaks and speculations, it was finally officially revealed that the next Tomb Raider game will be called Shadow of the Tomb Raider and be available this fall.
New Tomb Raider Info Coming Tomorrow, May Have Already Leaked
The official Tomb Raider website promises new information tomorrow, but it looks like the site's source code gives us the new information already.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Coming to Mac and Linux
Life is Strange: Before the Storm, the 3-part episodic prequel to the original game, will be coming to Mac and Linux sometime this spring.
Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT Adds Vayne from FFXII
Vayne Solidor from Final Fantasy XII is the latest addition to the roster of fighters of Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT, acting as a Vanguard warrior who throws strong short-range attacks.
NieR:Automata’s Contentment in Purposelessness
It seems to me that the real antagonist of NieR:Automata is the sense of purpose each character has, which gets in the way of all their actual happinesses.


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There's still time to buy tickets to Warwick's winter beer festival
There's still time to buy tickets for Warwick's winter beer festival.
The Warwick Court Leet is once again organising a beer festival that will be held at the Lord Leycester Hospital.
This will be the third year for the festival which will take place on Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15
The event will feature a variety of festival favourite beers and ciders together with some new tastings for 2020. Hot food will also be available from the award -inning Brethren’s Kitchen.
Alan Lettis, from Warwick Court Leet, said: "It's a great pleasure to be able to hold another Beer Festival in the Great Hall raising money for the renovation works at the Lord Leycester.
"Where else can you drink beer, while helping to raise money in a building where Warwick townspeople have been drinking beer since the 1500s."
Heidi Meyer, Master of the Hospital,said, “This is a win-win event - a great festival for the local community in our wonderful Great Hall raising much needed funds to support our restoration projects.”
Entrance to the festival is by advance ticket only.
Tickets cost £10, which includes entrance, festival glass and £5 worth of drinks tokens.
They are on sale now from the Lord Leycester Hospital and Warwick Visitor Centre on Jury Street.
Alternatively tickets can also be bought online at: www.warwickbeerfestival.com


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Amazon is ramping up investment into robotics as part of its ambitions to speed up its packaging and delivery processes.
The tech giant’s $1bn (£880m) industrial innovation fund, its venture capital arm established in 2022, aims to accelerate investment into startups combining artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
Head of the fund, Franziska Bossart, said this will boost Amazon’s goal of becoming “more efficient, safer for our associates, and increase the speed of delivery to our customers”.
While details of the fund’s first investment in a generative AI company remain largely secret, it told the Financial Times it plans to broaden its scope by targeting “last mile” companies involved in the final leg of deliveries and later-stage companies.
The Amazon industrial innovation fund has made 12 investments so far but Bossart declined to comment on the fund’s total deployment. One report by the Wall Street Journal suggested the investments totalled $110m (£85m) as of June.
One of the 12 investments was into Mantis Robotics, which is developing a sensor-equipped robotic arm to assist employees.
Bossart said the automation of its logistics would mean a transition in job roles rather than job cuts, insisting Amazon is “a long way off from replacing all humans”.
It comes amid a scramble by big tech companies and investors to back firms involved in artificial intelligence in recent months.
Amazon is also investing up to $4bn into Anthropic, an AI startup that will become part of Amazon Web Services (AWS), enabling customers to build generative AI applications in the cloud.


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November 3, 2016
As financial technology startups become an immense part of the global financial system, an appropriate environment is required to understand and leverage opportunities presented by new entrants. Regulatory Sandboxes became a universal framework, in which regulators, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and industry professionals can interact and better understand each other.
Among the most important benefits of Regulatory Sandboxes are reduced time to market, opportunity to contain consequences of failure, enhanced access to capital, curated quality of products reaching national markets, regulatory relief and assurance of the best solution for the end-user.
Over the past couple years, a few international financial authorities in collaboration with financial institutions have launched regulatory sandboxes, creating safe environments to take risks. Let's look at some of the most important initiatives starting with the most recent ones.
On the second day of November, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi, launched its Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab) with the implementation of its FinTech legislative framework with effect from November 2, 2016. This follows ADGM’s announcement in March 2016 to develop Abu Dhabi as the FinTech hub in the MENA region, and after an extensive consultation and engagement with local and global FinTech industry stakeholders.
ADGM’s RegLab is a tailored regulatory regime for FinTech participants. It is designed to foster innovation within the UAE financial services market for both new market entrants and existing financial institutions.
By taking into account the unique business model and risks of the FinTech participant and customizing the test boundaries and regulatory requirements accordingly, the RegLab allows the participant to develop and test its FinTech proposition in a safe environment while not putting an undue regulatory burden on the participant. As the first of such initiatives in the region, ADGM’s RegLab authorizes FinTech participants for a period of up to two years to develop and test their FinTech proposition.
Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer, FSRA of ADGM commented in the official press release, saying, We are very excited to launch the ADGM RegLab and it is encouraging that interests have been pouring in since we announced ou ...


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Tech's Best Young Entrepreneurs
Joe Green, 24
Funding: More than $7.3 million from The Founders Fund
While his former Harvard roommate, Mark Zuckerberg, was off running Facebook, Joe Green was busy studying and drumming up online support for the causes he found most compelling. As an organizer, Green's main hurdle was getting do-gooders to raise consciousness about a cause among friends and their social network. So when Facebook made it easier for outside developers to build applications for its site, Green saw the opportunity. "One of the most challenging points of organizing is literally trying to get people to open their address book," Green says. "And here was an open address book." Since Causes launched on May 25, 2007, more than 11 million people have downloaded the application on Facebook, raising more than $2 million dollars.
Advice: "All entrepreneurs should try—from Day One—to build an "economy proof" business," says Green. "Ideally you want to build a business that has diversified revenue models."


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GrubHub, the largest online delivery service aggregator in the US, filed for an IPO on Friday morning with a valuation of US$1 billion. The company currently partners with 29,000 restaurants – mostly independents - in 600 cities, allowing consumers to place orders for food delivery directly through the online platform. The company’s US figures are impressive, at US$1.3 billion in reported sales in 2013 from a total of 3.4 million diners and an average of 135,000 orders per day.
GrubHub’s business is confined to the US, but this move speaks to growing interest and investment in delivery service from all restaurant types around the world. Growing sophistication and increasingly hectic lifestyles among global diners have bolstered the appeal of delivery, and it has grown particularly popular among busy office-workers who have a universal appreciation for quick lunches or dinners at home after a long day. Many fast food leaders such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut are thus taking steps to increase their delivery presence in key growth markets like China, India, Russia and parts of Southeast Asia, and independents are following suit as interest in the channel grows. This has made platforms like GrubHub all the more necessary, as they allow small independents to compete on a more level playing field and give consumers a one-stop-shop online delivery experience. It’s also notable that this boom is not confined to emerging growth markets: Japan, in particular, is seeing a boom in delivery demand driven by its ageing population. 7-Eleven’s home delivery service has been very successful for the brand, and McDonald’s added delivery service to Japanese outlets in 2013.
So far GrubHub stands relatively uncontested in the US after its merger with Seamless in 2013, and its prospects are excellent. Domestic interest in delivery is still growing, and the company has a very long way to go before nearing saturation, even in key cities. Even fast food is finally recognizing the potential for delivery demand in the US, with Burger King testing the service in 2013 and McDonald’s reportedly considering adding it in the future. That said, there are also some formidable opponents looming in the broader global competitive landscape that might make any eventual international moves a challenge. Turkey-based Yemek Sepeti has been growing locally for years, reaching 7,000 restaurants and a reported 155,000 meals delivered per day, and it recently established a presence in the lucrative Middle East market by way of Dubai. Similarly in Russia, local online delivery hub Delivery Club is growing with the help of a 2012 venture capital investment, and is chasing what it believes to be a US$1 billion market across the country. As these local aggregators continue to grow more popular, consumers will continue to see delivery service as an integral part of the global foodservice experience, suggesting that there could be a very long runway for delivery growth in the global market. While such competitors and leading restaurant chains will all undoubtedly do their best to lure customers away from GrubHub as the service grows, the company has clearly only just scratched the surface of global demand.


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Not only does Canada continue to have a problem with fish mislabelling, but that problem persists throughout the supply chain, according to a first-ever study by University of Guelph researchers.
In a new study, U of G researchers found 32 per cent of fish were mislabelled and the number of incorrectly identified samples became compounded as the samples moved through the food system.
“We’ve been doing seafood fraud studies for a decade,” said Prof. Robert Hanner, study’s lead author. “We know there are problems. But this is the first study to move beyond that and look at where the problems are happening throughout the food supply chain.”
The findings reveal that mislabelling happens before fish are imported into Canada, as well as throughout the supply chain, Hanner added.
“It seems it’s not isolated to foreign markets, but it’s also happening at home. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has partnered with us to actively find solutions to this persistent problem,” said the integrative biology professor.
Published recently in the journal Food Research International, the study was conducted with the CFIA.
“As a science-based regulator, the CFIA works with an array of partners to address mislabelling and promote compliance within industry,” said Aline Dimitri, the agency’s deputy chief food safety officer. “It is only through our collective efforts that we will be able to tackle this global issue.”
U of G researchers examined 203 samples from 12 key targeted species collected from various importers, processing plants and retailers in Ontario. Of the samples, 141 (69.5 per cent) were from retailers, 51 (25 per cent) from importers and 11 (5.5 per cent) from processing plants.
Researchers identified the samples using DNA barcoding. Developed at U of G, DNA barcoding allows scientists to determine species of organisms using a short, standardized region of genetic material.
The findings revealed 32 per cent of the samples overall were mislabelled. The mislabelling rate was 17.6 per cent at the import stage, 27.3 per cent at processing plants and 38.1 per cent at retailers.
“The higher mislabelling rate in samples collected from retailers, compared to that for samples collected from importers, indicates the role of distribution and repackaging in seafood mislabelling,” said Hanner.
He points to a few reasons for the problem.
“It’s either economically motivated, meaning cheaper fish are being purposely mislabelled as more expensive fish. Or it’s inconsistent labelling regulations between countries and the use of broader common names being used to label fish instead of scientific species names that are leading to mislabelling.”
In both Canada and the U.S., fish are labelled using a common name rather than a specific scientific name. For example, a variety of species may be sold as tuna, although different species can significantly vary in price.
“It creates ambiguity and opens the door for fraud or honest mistakes,” he said. “It also makes it more difficult to track species at risk or indicate if a fish is a species that has higher mercury content. At the end of the day, Canadian consumers don’t really know what type of fish they are eating.”
European countries that recently included species names along with common names have seen less fraud, he added.
That might help curb the problem with fish imports, Hanner said, but this new study shows a need for verification testing at multiple points along the supply chain.
“The next step would be to follow one package from import to wholesale to retail and see what happens.”
Prof. Robert Hanner


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Ausfit began in 1992, providing software services to the health and fitness sector including ClubWise, a fully hosted web-based product which combines state of the art club management software,…read more
Far North Queensland tourism operators back Great Barrier Reef plastic straws ban
More than 30 tourism operators in Cairns and Port Douglas have signed-up to ban plastic straws at businesses within the Great Barrier Reef.
Founder of The Last Straw on the GBR, Nicole Nash, who is also a marine biologist, said plastic straws are ending up in the bellies of turtles and other marine life.
Nash explained "straws are something that people don't think twice about using.
"They just get one in their drink and don't think about the environmental impacts and the fact that the straw will outlive them."
Brian Hennessy from Sunlover Cruises in Cairns said his company has now banned plastic straws onboard their fleet of reef tour boats.
He advised "it's extremely important to us that we maintain the health of the reef.
"We thought that banning straws was a good practical step that we could do quite quickly, something that wouldn't be difficult to do but meant a lot to the health of the reef."
Australians use of single-use plastic items has grown massively in recent years and around 10 million straws are used each day.
Globally, at least 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year, where, when broken down, it enters the food chain and is responsible for the deaths of sea creatures.
In addition, according to a recent report, it is also killing coral.
Commenting on this, Dr Joleah Lamb from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said a study of 159 coral reefs across the Asia-Pacific has found plastic is massively increasing the risk of disease in corals.
Dr Lamb told the ABC “corals that are in contact with plastic have an 89% likelihood of having disease, compared to just four per cent in the corals that didn't have plastic waste touching them.
"There's an estimated 11.1 billion pieces of plastic rubbish on the reefs in the (Asia-Pacific) area."
Nash sees these findings as further proof of the need for change, and plans for her campaign to extend beyond far north Queensland.
She concludes “this is just the first step. We're hoping to cover the entire Great Barrier Reef area and will be focussing on the Whitsundays next.”
Click here to read Billions of pieces of plastic on coral reefs send disease soaring, research reveals, as published in The Guardian Australia.
Image: Plastic straws are among 11 billion pieces of plastic in Asia-Pacific oceans. Image showing straws being collected off Palm Cove, Cairns. Courtesy of Harriet Spark.
27th January 2018 - REPORT SHOWS LITTERING INCREASE AT PARKS AND BEACHES
26th June 2017 - GREAT BARRIER REEF DELIVERS $56 BILLION VALUE FOR AUSTRALIA
4th June 2017 - UN REPORT SHOWS CHALLENGES IN PROTECTING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
8th October 2016 - VISITS TO THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AN EXAMPLE OF ‘LAST CHANCE TOURISM’
14th August 2016 - UNESCO REPORT URGES PROTECTION OF OCEANS WITH WORLD HERITAGE STATUS
14th July 2016 - SEA LIFE MELBOURNE AQUARIUM CELEBRATES SHARK AWARENESS DAY
3rd November 2015 - RESEARCH PROJECT FINDS WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS LITTERED WITH RUBBISH
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March 9, 2021 – New York, NY – SIGMA COMICS, LLC, a comic book publisher dedicated to fighting animal abuse, today announced the availability of the second issue of their flagship title, Here Comes CALICO. Issue #2 is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter for the next two weeks. Campaign backers will get early access to Issue #2, along with a multitude of exclusive perks, including signed comic books, posters, caps and shirts.
The highly controversial series, featuring CALICO, New York City’s newest anti-hero, has garnered worldwide support for its bold stance against animal abuse. Scenes in Issue #1 were so extreme that one Youtube channel went as far as calling it, “the most disturbing comic book of 2020.” The scene in question depicts the titular character, CALICO, exacting gruesome revenge on a family of exotic trophy hunters. “The reality of animal abuse is that it’s violent and graphic, yet until now it’s always been combated through protesting and rallies,” said series creator H.H. German. “The CALICO doesn’t do protests.”
The new comic book series, which received early guidance from legendary comic book artist, Klaus Jansen, has received rave reviews from comic book experts and pros alike. “This is not Batman. It’s groundbreaking for comic books,” said industry-veteran Wild Bill of Youtube channel Comic Book Geezers. “The whole scenario is something that’s never been addressed before, that I’m aware of. I’ve never seen anything like this in comics, so I think this is pretty cool.”
Set in the rough outer boroughs of New York City, Here Comes CALICO follows Hector Gil, a former boxer from The Bronx with a huge chip on his shoulder, created by life regrets. He decides to enter a prestigious boxing tournament, and as he trains, his new Brooklyn neighbors are unaware of the double-life he leads. On choice evenings, Hector Gil becomes the CALICO, to pay unfriendly visits to people who abuse and kill animals. He is supported by a varied network of technically savvy and resourceful data professionals, all bent on making sure CALICO completes his missions without a hitch.
Pre-order Issue #2 from March 9-23 at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sigmacomics/here-comes-calico-2-0. Comic book fans can learn more about CALICO and Sigma Comics at https://www.sigmacomics.com.