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By Jane Lee
"The Brickman" made his name building such larger-than-life vehicles as the Love Boat and the Qantas A380 out of Lego bricks. But it took a young child to make him think even bigger.
Australia's only certified Lego professional, Ryan McNaught, said he was inspired to revisit history by a child who had seen his Love Boat model at Melbourne's Town Hall last year.
Either unimpressed or exceedingly ambitious, the boy looked to the hall's high ceilings and asked him: "Why don't you make something that goes up to the roof?"
Mr McNaught will unveil his tallest creation yet at Melbourne's annual Brickvention Lego convention, which starts next week.
It is a 5.6-metre tall replica of the Saturn V rocket that in 1968 delivered humans to the moon for the first time and comes complete with a launch pad, LED lights and lift-off smoke created with some dry ice.
Mr McNaught boasted that the rocket, which contains about 120,000 Lego bricks, was Australia's "tallest Lego model".
Over the past three months he has spent about 250 hours painstakingly building the various sections of the rocket ship, which will later be assembled and put on display for the convention's die-hard Lego enthusiasts.
Planning the rocket's structure - which involved researching the dimensions and design of the original model and sketching it several times - took one month alone.
"When you go higher you've got to worry about bracing and shoring it up and making sure the thing's secure and solid so this is actually quite a difficult thing to build in some respects," the former IT manager said.
Mr McNaught is one of 13 Lego professionals in the world entrusted with building the popular toy company's international store displays. His big break came when Lego executives took notice of his multi-coloured model of a Qantas A380 at Brickworld - one of the world's largest Lego conventions - in Chicago in 2010.
"I'm really lucky because whilst I'm tucked away for 250 hours building this thing, my ultimate joy is watching the parents' and children's jaws hit the ground and go 'Oh my god, is that made out of Lego? That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!' That's the ultimate satisfaction," Mr McNaught said.
He aims his displays at children as well as adults, who he said were often more enthralled by them than their offspring.
Mr McNaught's devotees, like Lego's biggest fans, were a healthy mix of the sexes, contrary to the company's recent controversial campaign to help target "the other 50 per cent of the world's children" using its new "Friends" range for girls.
"Children don't look at a Lego set for what's on the box, they look at what it is for what they can make out of it so I think that transcends all that hyperbole," he said.
Mr McNaught advised aspiring Lego professionals to stay in school if they wanted a shot at the job that ensured he "never grew up."
"I don't want to get too nerdy but in my job I use a heck of a lot of maths so if kids want to do it they really have to be good at their mathematics."
Brickvention is at Melbourne Town Hall on January 21 and 22. Tickets must be pre-booked online at www.brickventures.com.


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A little while ago, Bandai announced it’s first S.H.Figuarts Ultraman Orb releases with Orb Origin and Origin The First coming out of the woodwork.
Since then, official images of the pair have been released online giving us a much cleaner look at the two!
S.H.Figuarts Ultraman Orb Origin will be a retail release with a price tag of 5500 yen.
While S.HFiguarts Ultraman Orb Origin The First will be sold exclusively on Amazon Japan(which does offer international shipping for toys and action figures now) for the same price as Orb Origin. Both will see release August 2017.

domain: news


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Man killed amid Britain's post-Christmas sales
A teenager was fatally stabbed and a second man wounded in attacks on London's most famous retail street as thousands of shoppers flocked to Britain's capital seeking post-Christmas bargains.
The killing of the 18-year-old man on Oxford Street on Monday — and a second wounding in the same road — did little to deter shoppers crowding into neighboring stores in the landmark shopping district. Bargain hunters were also largely untroubled by a subway strike which badly disrupted the city's public transport services.
Selfridges — close to the scene of Monday's stabbing and one of Britain's most popular department stores — reported its biggest ever first hour of trading Monday morning, while the New West End Company, which represents traders on central London's shopping streets, reported 15 million pounds (US$23.5 million) in sales in the first three hours of trading.
Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End Company, said hundreds of thousands of people had visited central London retailers, despite action by police to cordon off parts of Oxford Street and temporarily close some stores after the attacks.
"These incidents are extremely rare on Oxford Street and we understand arrests have been made," she said. "The emergency services were quick to respond and have cordoned off the street as they continue with their investigations. We are working to ensure the street is open to businesses and shoppers tomorrow."
Tyrrell said shopkeepers had requested a meeting with police to discuss the incidents. "We understand both incidents involved gangs of youth who were known to each other (and) the police, and did not involve individual shoppers," she said.
London's air ambulance helicopter had earlier rushed to the street following the fatal stabbing.
Authorities said the teenage victim died before medics could administer help, while amateur video footage showed police struggling to part large crowds of shopper to allow emergency vehicles to reach the man.
Police erected a tent outside a Foot Locker sports store as they carried out investigations and confirmed that about ten people had been arrested in connection with the death.
Officers said a second stabbing took place close by — on the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street — but insisted it wasn't immediately known if the two incidents were linked.
Det. Chief Insp. Mark Dunne, of London's Metropolitan police, said two groups of young people appeared to have become involved in a large-scale altercation before the teenager's death.
Dunne said that little more was known about the circumstances, but there were likely to be large numbers of witnesses. "This is probably the busiest place in the United Kingdom right now, on the busiest shopping day," he told reporters at the scene.
"A number of weapons have been recovered from that scene — whether I have got the murder weapon I don't know. There's an assortment of items, but no guns," he said.
In the second attack, a 21-year-old man was stabbed in the leg and is being treated at a hospital for his wound.
Police said in a statement that three men had been arrested, but it was "too early to say whether this incident is linked to a fatal stabbing on Oxford Street."
On London's subway network, the ASLEF train drivers' labor union staged a one-day strike to demand extra pay and additional time off for members working on the public holiday.
Despite the disruptions, huge crowds — some lining up outside stores from midnight — rushed into department stores in London and other British cities as soon as doors opened early Monday.
The London Underground, the organization that manages the subway system, condemned the move, saying it was pointless and demonstrated "a complete disregard for our customers." Authorities said extra buses were running in main shopping areas to cater to the increased flow of travelers on one of the year's busiest shopping days.
The ASLEF union has warned it plans to stage three more strikes in January and February if the dispute is not resolved.


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Cerner Corp. announced a deal to buy an Arizona company that it says will boost its services for behavioral health care, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.
North Kansas City-based Cerner said Thursday that it will buy Anasazi Software Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Anasazi, based in Tempe, Ariz., sells products for community behavioral health providers. Cerner plans to combine these products with its own Cerner Millennium product, which offers information for inpatient behavioral health providers.
Anasazi has 60 employees. It will remain in Tempe and be operated by current CEO Mike Morris.


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February 10, 2017
What is BPA?
BPA (Bisphenol A) is an industrial chemical found in epoxy resins, which act as a protective lining on the inside of most metal-based food and beverage cans, jar lids, and bottle tops. BPA is also used to make polycarbonate, which can be used to make water bottles. BPA can leach into food from the epoxy resin coatings of canned foods and from polycarbonate containers.
Product manufacturers have abandoned the use of BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, and infant formula packaging, and subsequently the FDA amended its food additive regulations to no longer provide for the use of BPA-based materials in those products.
The baby products industry was one of the first to end the use of BPA out of concern of its link to endocrine disruptors. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife.
How can I tell if a container has BPA?
Packaging that contains BPA is not required by law to be labeled. There is no federal law requiring packaging labels disclose whether they contain BPA or not .
Polycarbonate containers are labeled with the resin identification code (RIC) of 7. However, there are numerous types of plastic resins that use the #7 code, therefore RICs alone won’t tell you if the container is made of polycarbonate. The vast majority of #7 packaging don’t contain BPA.
California is the first state to pass a law requiring businesses to provide warnings about products with BPA.
What are the concerns about exposure to BPA?
The National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services found “clear evidence” that high doses of BPA caused developmental effects in laboratory animals. The agency says that it had “some concern” for effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and children at current levels of exposure to BPA.
A 2003-2004 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found detectable levels of BPA in 93% of Americans six years and older. BPA leached into food and beverages accounts for the majority of daily human exposure. Additional traces of BPA can leach into food when storage containers reach high temperatures.
What is the governmental stance on BPAs?
Based on FDA’s ongoing safety review of scientific evidence, the available information continues to support the safety of BPA for the currently approved uses in food containers and packaging. According to the FDA, “People are exposed to low levels of BPA because, like many packaging components, very small amounts of BPA may migrate from the food packaging into foods or beverages. Studies pursued by FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) have shown no effects of BPA from low-dose exposure.”
Research into the BPA alternatives is still in the early stages. In 2015, University of Calgary scientists released study findings suggesting that bisphenol-S, used in many products bearing “BPA-free” labels, causes abnormal growth surges of neurons in an animal embryo. At this point it’s unclear whether alternatives will be found that are preferable for use in food packaging and similar products.


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Looking technology in the eye
Researchers are designing robots with more human characteristics, like skin and moving eyes.
In a decade or so, people may not have to tidy their house, clean up after the dog, or even nag their spouse to do chores. A friendly, human-like robot will take care of routine tasks, and it won't whine or fight back.
If technologists' predictions bear out, this second coming of robots could be more pervasive than the first in the '60s, when industrial robots revolutionized manufacturing.
Designed to mimic the look and gestures of humans, the new breed of personal robots eventually may have artificial skin and muscles, as well as eye and facial expressions, and they might speak more naturally.
But for this rapidly evolving field to take off, scientists will have to improve the quality and reliability of electronics first, and companies will have to find the application that every household must have.
Perhaps it will be a robotic housekeeper, or a companion for the elderly. Right now, no one knows for sure. But the one discernible trend is that, in the future, machine assistants that interact with humans will look more like us.
"This will be bigger than the automobile market in 20 years," says Takayasu Sakurai, professor at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science, via e-mail. Dr. Sakurai's team has developed artificial skin for robots.
Honda Motor Co., Sony Corp., and other companies have created robots that could be precursors to tomorrow's more personal robots.
Sony's QRIO, which stands for Quest for Curiosity, can sing and dance. Recently, Sony added the ability to run 15 yards a minute, lifting both feet for an instant - an ability that Sony claims is the first for a robot. If QRIO falls, it can look from right to left and back to the front before bending its elbows and knees to push itself upright. The 23-inch-tall QRIO, which looks like a friendly astronaut, also has a video camera, sensors for balance and posture, and a CD player. Sony does not plan to sell it.
In the fall of 2000, Honda debuted its ASIMO robot, which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility. It was one of the most advanced walking robots at the time. Twenty-six motors help the 4-foot, 115-pound machine climb stairs and turn corners. Honda is currently working to make the robot more intelligent. It walks 1 mile per hour, but eventually could walk three times as fast.
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Display technology continues to develop rapidly, between the popularity of LED backlight technology, larger-screened monitors, and touchscreen monitors.
Monitor manufacturers have come up with their own innovative technologies to stay ahead of this wave, such as Apple's Retina display and Samsung's curved monitor displays. In the midst of this innovation, the average price of monitors has increased from $167 in 2014 to $171 in 2015.
Following are the top ten best-selling monitor brands in the third quarter, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm, which provides data from leading technology distributors. NPD Group's DistributorTrack sales database comprises primarily U.S. Global Technology Distribution Council members.


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Wisor AI, an Israeli startup that offers advanced freight booking software solutions, and Meala FoodTech, another Israeli startup that develops a functional protein platform, both made small raises. Meala FoodTech brought in $1.9 million pre-Seed investment led by The Kitchen FoodTech Hub and DSM Venturing – the corporate venture arm of the Dutch multinational Royal DSM. Wisor AI raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Team8.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Raz Ronen, and Eiran Bolless VP of Data & Analytics and CTO Ido Karavany, Wisor AI offers a SAAS platform that the company boasts “empowers” Freight Forwarders to be part of the digital era, “providing a great online experience to their customers, with the ability to increase sales and reduce operational costs.”
Wisor AI says they do this by “seamless integration” and “cutting-edge technologies,” delivering technological solutions for freight forwarders to quote and manage their shipments and, to attend to its clients effectively and profitably.
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Today there are roughly 300,000 freight forwarders globally, explains Wisor AI, including 100,000 in the US alone, handling $23.3 trillion in goods delivered to consumers. This huge market is ripe for disruption, as it lacks the tools and technology required to bring forwarding operations into the digital era. Wisor is focused on empowering freight forwarders to compete in a challenging environment suffering from high price volatility and reliance on outdated manual processes.
“As an entrepreneur, I am fascinated by traditional industries that still heavily rely on manual processes and legacy tools,” said Raz Ronen, CEO and Co-Founder of Wisor AI. “The complexity of supply chain management has become pronounced in recent years due to global disruptions caused by COVID-19. Wisor found a way to digitize this industry without requiring freight forwarders to fundamentally change the way they operate today, making the adoption seamless, while enjoying the benefits of digitization.”
Wisor Ali says that the company’s Wisor plug and play solution automates both the cumbersome, manual process of aggregating pricing data as well as the optimization of shipping routes across the global freight ecosystem, including airlines, ocean liners, trucking, and rail companies. This allows freight forwarders to do more with less, improving response rates, and freeing capacity to grow their business. In addition to pricing automation, Wisor’s advanced algorithms continuously optimize pricing in the background – even after the booking has been placed – presenting further opportunities for freight forwarders to cut costs and improve their margins.
Founded in 2022, Meala boasts that the company is “revolutionizing the plant-based protein industry” by developing “innovative” ingredients and processes that allow the creation of cleaner, healthier, and tastier products with a better ecological footprint. Meala has developed a proprietary technology that uses natural processes to create a meaty texture and juiciness mimicking the animal-based origin.
Backed by Strauss Group’s The Kitchen Hub, MEALA is a part of the Israel Innovation Authority’s Incubator Program. The company was also accepted to the European Commission’s prestigious EIT Food Program.
“This achievement reflects the investors’ trust in our technology and R&D team of experts,” said Hadar Razmovich, CEO and co-founder of Meala. “There is a significant need in the plant-based industry to reduce undesirable ingredients and clean up labels effectively. This investment will help us get closer and faster to the market, better address the companies’ specific needs and provide affordable, smarter solutions.”


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Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will join Pichai and other senior Google leaders during an event in the capital on January 4, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
"At Google, we are excited about partnering the businesses to help them unlock exponential growth through the power of digital," the statement read.
Seven Indian startups recently joined the third batch of Google "Launchpad Accelerator" -- a platform which brings together mentors and experts from Google and outside to help the startups see success -- along with startups from other countries.
Over the last one year, 13 Indian startups have participated in the programme and some of them have successfully raised funding.
Aiming to raise awareness about online safety, Google India in collaboration with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs last week announced a nationwide 'Digitally Safe Consumer' campaign as part of a larger effort to help better protect consumer interest online.
Google, in collaboration with Railtel, last week rolled out free WiFi service at Udhagamandalam (Ooty) station in Tamil Nadu, taking to 100 the railway stations where it offers high speed internet to an estimated 10 million people.


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Taking a page from Apple’s advertising playbook from 1984, Motorola used the opportunity during tonight’s Super Bowl to air the full commercial for their new iPad competitor, the Xoom. Motorola gave a sneak peak of the commercial earlier in the week and tonight aired the full 60 second spot.
The Xoom commercial is reminiscent of Apple’s vintage ‘1984’ ad and shows mindless crowds walking around with Apple’s classic white earbuds dangling from their ears. While the masses go about their business, the ad’s protagonist reads George Orwell’s ‘1984’ on his new Xoom tablet and creates a schlocky video to impress the cute girl. The girl, impressed with Mr.”Xoom’s” handy work, symbolically unplugs her white earbuds and moves away from all things Apple.
Motorola’s ad is clearly a jab at Apple and all the fans that ‘mindlessly’ buy and use their products. The commercial’s bleak Orewellian theme has received some criticism for its lack of originality and the company made some revisions to the full length version perhaps in a nod to those complaints. While Motorola touts the Xoom as “the tablet to create a better world,” it still has to prove their tablet can successfully compete against the current iPad and upcoming iPad 2.
The Xoom will be the first tablet to use Google’s latest Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and according to Engadget, is expected to go on sale February 24 for $799.99 at Verizon and Best Buy Stores.


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An article written by Junko Yoshida, EE Times – Consumers (and the media) expect to be wowed by Apple every year with the rollout of the latest iPhone and Apple Watch iterations. Apple occasionally disappoints, but not this year; Bloomberg just called iPhone 11 Pro “the world’s best phone camera,” declaring that “iPhone reclaims the title of mobile camera champion.”
It’s not that we here at EE Times are unimpressed by the latest iPhone features, but if you want to see us really geek out, crack the thing open.
We uncovered several curious but smart design choices made by Apple for its new iPhones, as well as for the new Apple Watch. Among the changes is Apple’s transition from two-sided PCB to stacked PCB in the iPhone 11. Also, there’s a camera upgrade and a new monolithic battery inside the iPhone 11 Pro. And Apple has removed the iPhone’s pressure touch display.
EE Times received expert help from System Plus (Nante, France), a partner company of Yole Développement (Lyon, France). System Plus beefed up its teardown capabilities by acquiring earlier this year an Austin, Texas-based teardown business previously owned by ABI Research. This Austin group even subjected the new iPhones and Apple Watches to CT scans. It examined chips and other new design elements inside the systems to conduct detailed technology and business analysis.
As soon as we learned that Apple is the first company to integrate UWB technology into smartphones, we got curious about Apple’s UWB chip. Apple’s ad claims that the UWB technology inside its new iPhones is enabled by a UWB chip the company describes as an “Apple-designed U1 chip.”
We asked System Plus about not just the U1 chip, but who is responsible for the whole UWB module inside the new iPhones… Full story
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Tim Cook throws subtle jab at Spotify
Spotify may have had a multi-year head start on Apple Music, but Apple's music streaming service has impressively managed to make up a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. Last we heard, Spotify a few weeks back said that their service boasts 180 million cumulative users and 83 million paid subscribers. Apple Music, meanwhile, enjoys a base of 50 million paid subscribers. That's a seemingly wide gap, but Apple Music by all accounts appears to be growing at a faster clip, prompting some to speculate that it's only a matter of time before Apple Music eclipses Spotify.
With Apple and Spotify currently battling it out for the music streaming crown, Fast Company's Robert Safian over the past few months managed to get some face time with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and delve into his thoughts regarding the state of the music streaming industry and much more. Further, Safian's profile on Ek provides us with an interesting look at how Spotify managed to become the influential behemoth it is today.
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Umbro is going to be the official supplier of Club Esportiu Europa, a third-division football club in Barcelona
Eleventeamsports , the German football specialist, will be FC Schalke ’s contractual partner for the next five years, starting with the 2022/23 season. The company will take care of the implementation and management of the German football club’s new sponsorship deal with Adidas , which will be taking the place ...
Macron takes over from Adidas as the new technical partner of Cádiz CF , the Andalusian football club that last year celebrated its 110th anniversary and returned to La Liga , after a 14-year absence from the top division of Spanish football. The agreement will run for six ...
Sport England has worked together with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity ( CIMSPA ) to produce a Digital Marketing Hub , a free training program in digital marketing made available to the sport and physical activity sector. The new hub is meant to “fill ...
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The clubhouse was jammed with people sipping wine and sampling snacks as a keyboard player sang oldies in the background.
It may have looked like a cocktail party, but these guests were more hungry for deals than they were for hors d'oeuvres. They included investors waiting to pounce on a bargain and Realtors evaluating potential opportunities.
Twenty town homes and two houses at the exclusive DeBary Golf & Country Club were going on the auction block. But the party was over soon after bidding began.
The bidding was sluggish. One unit originally priced at $355,000 sold for $165,000. And so with just a few town homes gone, auctioneer Eddie Haynes called off the sale. He said the builder, Lakeside Homes of DeBary, was losing too much money. "We're not going to sell any more at auction tonight," he said.
It appears that in a sinking real-estate market, even desperate measures aren't working so well.
Two years ago, eager buyers lined up to put their names in lotteries for an opportunity to buy a scarce town home.
Now, there's a glut of homes on the market. So some builders and Realtors, eager to unload them, are turning to auctions -- with mixed success.
Residential real estate is the fastest growing segment of the auction industry, said Chris Longly, a spokesman for the National Auctioneers Association. That's partly because as the housing market declines, sellers "are looking for other options," he said.
Gross sales figures from real-estate auctions were $16 billion in 2006, according to the National Auctioneers Association's figures -- a 39 percent increase since 2003.
"Before I knew what an auction was all about I always thought auctions were negative things," said Carmen Dominguez, president of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando. But she's been hearing about brokers using them as "a different way of marketing."
Stirling Sotheby's International Realty, based in Lake Mary, recently added an auction division headed by third-generation auctioneer Lori Chipps and her husband, Jon. The first auctions will start in October, including the sale of a 5,300-square-foot home at DeBary Golf & Country Club for which the suggested opening bid is $750,000. Lori Chipps said she thinks auctions can be a good option even in a better real-estate market because they move property quickly.
"We do see it as something that is really moving into this area," she said. "It is a way for people to turn around and sell their property and be out in about 65 days."
Bumby Development Group of Orlando used an auction this month to sell units at Village Townhomes in Altamonte and The Reserve at Wekiva Bend near Apopka. Representatives at those communities referred questions about sales numbers to the auction company, Accelerated Marketing Group of Newport Beach, Calif. President Todd Good could not be reached for comment.
Units at Village Townhomes and The Reserve at Wekiva Bend were apartments converted into condos by developers who expected the units to sell like hotcakes. Instead, Bumby ended up holding an auction to reduce inventory, said sales representative Ashley Penner.
On Saturday, the Orlando-based brokerage IDX Realty will auction an estimated $100 million worth of property in one of the largest auctions yet amid the slumping market. That auction will also be held online.
National Auction Group of Gadsden, Ala., conducted Thursday night's event in DeBary. The company said it focuses on upper-end properties. But as the market began to sour, it started hearing from more developers and builders looking to quickly move their product.
In February, National Auction Group also auctioned off about 25 OceanWalk condominiums in New Smyrna Beach for Silvestri Investments. Things went better there. Twenty-five units sold, National Auction Group president William Bone said.
Silvestri vice president Rob Camporese said the units had originally ranged from $359,000 to $450,000. At auction, they sold for anywhere from $240,000 to $325,000. Still, considering the market, he said, "we ended up getting some pretty good pricing for our units."
Camporese said he's been to a couple of auctions in the Daytona area that were also cut short because the bids weren't high enough.
"We were considering possibly auctioning off a few more units, but to be honest with you, after attending last night's auction I don't think we're going to do that," Camporese said Friday, referring to the event at DeBary Golf & Country Club.
Thursday night, Haynes spoke with an auctioneer's typical rapid-fire patter as half a dozen of his colleagues, in navy blazers and American flag neckties, roamed the aisles intently urging along hesitant buyers.
The high bid for the first unit was $280,000. The next sold to Gary Roach, a Tennessee man who describes himself as "a deal hunter." He came looking for a bargain on a second home. He got it Thursday night -- at $165,000.
Roach said he was "quite surprised" to get the home at that price. "They'd been asking $355 for that one," he said.
The bid prices did not include a 10 percent "buyer's premium," a commission typically tacked on by auction companies.
Representatives of the builder did not want to comment Thursday night.
The pricing also disappointed Cynthia DeLuca, a DeLand Realtor who came to observe. But she still plans to auction off several of her clients' properties later this year. "In this kind of market," she said, "you just have to be creative."


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An updated chart with comparisons of artist payments on streaming services has been prepared and released by Information is Beautiful. The Chart esitmates that 2.4 million plays on YouTube will pay-out $1,472 to an unsigned artist. The math on that works out to $0.0006 cents per play. With a margin like that, how are streaming services reporting losses? Youtube for example loses $174 million per year on music streams.
“Some artists say they’re not earning enough from music streaming. But streaming companies like Deezer, Spotify and Napster are still making a loss. So how much do the streaming apps pay the music industry? and how does the size/popularity of a service impact the likelihood of musicians earning a living from it? Updated June 2017 with new figures showing Spotify’s free tier is helping it grow faster than Apple Music.”
Can we go back to buying CDs at HMV? nope… but the new ‘business’ model still needs some work. Is it still a business even?
Spotify’s growing faster than Apple Music – thanks to free music. How does this affect musicians? Our viz updated: https://t.co/PGIp3ybYdV
— Info=Beautiful (@infobeautiful) June 23, 2017


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Hidetaka Suehiro, the director of critically polarizing horror outing Deadly Premonition, has teased that fans can expect some 'amazing news' on the series this year.
Speaking on his blog (via Siliconera), Suehiro, who is otherwise known as SWERY, said of 2013: “To all my fans, who keep giving me their never-ending support…I think I’ll have some surprising and amazing news for you next year.”
The comments come in wake of the announcement of a special Director’s Cut release of Deadly Premonition for the PlayStation 3, which will arrive in March of this year. The game originally turned up on Xbox 360 back in 2010.
In the game, players take control of agent Francis York Morgan, who is tasked with solving a murder in the town of Greenvale. However, things soon take a supernatural turn as Morgan finds himself transported to a terrifying realm full of demonic creatures.
Stay tuned for more information on Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut here at PSU.com.


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J.P. Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon made $20.8M in 2010, a hefty 1,541% increase from the dark paydays of 2009. See which other bank executives raked in big bucks last year.
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The music industry will tell you that piracy is the bane of its existence, and that it will end up killing the industry. There’s compelling evidence that suggests this is not the case, but the RIAA and its ilk conveniently ignore such research. Some new research came out today, however, that the music industry will have a hard time ignoring.
The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which is part of the European Commission, has released a study called “Digital Music Consumption on the Internet: Evidence from Clickstream Data.” The study followed over 16,000 European Internet users and found some interesting browsing habits for those who frequently visit pirate sites.
It was found that a large portion of users who are interested in music were found to visit both “pirate” sites and online music stores. In fact, they found that clicks on online music stores would be down two percent were it not for the existence of these “pirate” sites.
The study also found that free, legal streaming options are becoming far more important to the overall music industry. The finding helps support a previous finding that said streaming services were actually helping the industry earn more revenue. Going even further, the Commission found that visits to online music stores were up seven percent as a result of streaming services.
In short, the researchers found that music piracy, and legal streaming services, have no negative impact on digital music sales:
“Taken at face value, our findings indicate that digital music piracy does not displace legal music purchases in digital format. This means that although there is trespassing of private property rights, there is unlikely to be much harm done on digital music revenues.”
Of course, it should be noted that this study doesn’t outright confirm that piracy leads to greater sales. The study only found that people were more likely to visit online music stores and click. We could assume that sales happened, but we just don’t know.
The general ambiguity of the study may be why the Commission isn’t ready to make any recommendations for new laws or relaxing of current laws yet. It’s a shame really as the music industry has been rather successful in having sites censored by local ISPs claiming that the sites negatively impact its business. Research like this, however, may convince judges that there’s more to take into account when issuing Web stie bans in the future.
You can check out the study in its entirety below:


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Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is eyeing the lucrative residential market to expand his fan base here.
This summer, the chef plans to offer butler services to the residents of a luxury building at 165 Charles St. that is not yet completed.
Some of the offerings include stocking residents' refrigerators and pantries with goodies from his restaurant at 176 Perry St., which is expected to open in the next several months.
Butler service is "something we want to get involved in," says Daniel Del Vecchio, senior vice president of Jean-Georges Management.
The celebrity chef already provides some of these services to the residents in the Trump International Hotel & Tower from his eponymous restaurant at the building. "We pack lunch baskets to go and fill refrigerators there," says Mr. Del Vecchio.
Pen mightier than the sword?
Soldiers returning from the Iraq war are trading in the military life for new careers in writing. At least four personal accounts of the war are due out from major publishers later this year, and agents are circulating proposals for others.
Publishing execs say that the soldiers tend to be older and better educated than those in recent wars, and so are more likely to think about writing. In addition, interest in the titles has been sparked by the dissatisfaction that many Americans feel with the way the war has been conducted.
"People have strong feelings about this war, and the soldiers do, too," says literary agent Sydelle Kramer, who sold Kayla Williams' Love My Rifle More than You to Norton for publication in September.
Publishers also like to go with a perceived winner. Jarhead, Anthony Swofford's memoir of the first Gulf War, was a major best-seller in 2003.
"Jarhead proved to publishers that there was interest in this kind of story," says Eamon Dolan, editorial director of Houghton Mifflin, which will bring out One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick in October.
Wine drinkers under influence
The Academy Award-winning movie Sideways is turning sales of wine in New York restaurants and liquor stores upside down.
Demand for Merlot, for example, has hit the skids ever since actor Paul Giamatti's character in the movie disparaged the popular wine. "People think it's uncool to order Merlot now because the guy in Sideways didn't drink it," says Demetrius Fexy, general manager of Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe, which has experienced a dramatic falloff in Merlot sales.
Meanwhile, local restaurateurs and retailers can't seem to keep enough Pinot Noir on hand because the same film character waxed poetic about it. Several weeks ago, Astor Place Wines created a Pinot Noir display in response to a 30% spike in sales of the wine.
Similarly, CamaJe Bistro has been going through a case of Pinot Noir once a week, up from its usual once a month, according to chef and owner Abby Hitchcock. "It's amazing to me how many people have become aware of Pinot Noir," says Ms. Hitchcock.
Pill salesman doesn't sugarcoat
As if Pfizer didn't have enough problems, here comes Hard Sell, a tell-all book from first-time author and former No. 1 sales rep Jamie Reidy. Published by Andrews McMeel and due out next month, the book is a first-person account of Mr. Reidy's rise to a six-figure Viagra salesman.
Mr. Reidy traces his transition from the military to being Pfizer's ace pill-pusher, starting with the company's own boot camp, a North Jersey Marriott, where he learned the ropes. There, trainers joked that Pfizer's sales force was "3M," composed entirely of former military personnel, Mormons or minorities. "Pfizer loved its Mormons. ... If you can sell religion door to door in a foreign language, you can sell anything," Mr. Reidy writes.
Former members of the military were thought to be trustworthy, and hiring minorities enhanced its 21st century image, according to Mr. Reidy.
A Pfizer spokesman advises taking the book as "a tongue-in-cheek account," adding, "Pfizer's sales force is competent and dedicated."
Producer offers musical break
Music producer Randy Witherspoon has just opened a recording studio in Brooklyn's Dumbo section that will offer free sessions to teens who live in the projects.
Mr. Witherspoon says he hopes to discover talented hip-hop artists who might not otherwise be able to afford studio time. If they're good, he'll sign them to his startup label, Mopp Topp Records. "It's not only about making good music," says Mr. Witherspoon. "The motivation comes from helping good and sincere people realize their dreams."
To find the talent, the producer plans to go into public housing and hand out coupons for free studio time. The studio will subsidize the cost of these sessions by charging full studio rates to the professional musicians recording at the facility.
Mr. Witherspoon, a producer and writer for the Broadway show Wicked, is also in the process of creating an American Idol-type of contest for rappers.


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With the release of iOS 11.3 beta 1 and macOS 10.13.4 beta 1, Apple has also issued the first beta of Xcode 9.3 for developers. This version promises to fix lots of bugs and improve compilation times for Swift projects.
Apple is also warning developers that in a future release of macOS, 32-bit apps will no longer run without compromise, meaning that when 10.13.4 ships to users, they’ll be alerted when trying to run a 32-bit app. To help third-party software vendors with this new limitation, they’re introducing a 64-bit testing mode so developers can test their software for 64-bit compatibility.
But there’s a new feature in this release that may benefit iOS and macOS users. Apple is introducing a new version of their Energy Organizer tool, which helps developers with battery usage issues.
The new version of the tool will alert developers when their apps are exceeding a reasonable CPU threshold causing battery drain. These alerts apply to apps running in the foreground, background and app extensions.
This new system will also be able to alert developers about battery usage issues even after an app is available in the App Store, through crash reports that get automatically sent to Apple when a user chooses to share information with developers.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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The online retailer held a competition to have graduate students make its personal assistant into a more conversational bot. Nobody won.
Getting to know you: In a contest dubbed Alexa Prize, Amazon challenged 15 teams to build “a socialbot that can converse coherently and engagingly with humans on popular topics for 20 minutes.” Three made it to the final round. The prize? Besides bragging rights, there was a cool $1 million on offer.
But: Building a chatbot is difficult. Machine learning isn’t advanced enough to do the task on its own, which means a lot of the software needs to be hand-coded. Even then, no team quite managed the goal of 20 minutes that Amazon was looking for. So the contest will be held again.
Why it matters: Companies like Amazon and Google are betting big on voice interface becoming as mainstream as search. For Amazon, a friendly voice assistant might help it convince customers to make more purchases. But $1 million says that it’s still trying.
This new data poisoning tool lets artists fight back against generative AI
The tool, called Nightshade, messes up training data in ways that could cause serious damage to image-generating AI models.
Rogue superintelligence and merging with machines: Inside the mind of OpenAI’s chief scientist
An exclusive conversation with Ilya Sutskever on his fears for the future of AI and why they’ve made him change the focus of his life’s work.
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If OpenAI's new model can solve grade-school math, it could pave the way for more powerful systems.
Generative AI deployment: Strategies for smooth scaling
Our global poll examines key decision points for putting AI to use in the enterprise.
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OTTAWA – The global recovery is under way but expansion of the Canadian economy remains dependent on government support and historically low interest rates, the Bank of Canada said today.
As expected, the central bank again pledged to keep its trendsetting policy rate at the lowest practical level of 0.25 per cent until mid-2010, saying the economy at the moment is performing slightly worse than it projected three months ago.
To reinforce the commitment, the bank said it was extending its emergency lending instruments to April, with maturity dates beyond June, at the low policy rate.
The announcement contained few surprises for markets, but the tweaking of growth rates — although at the margins — was somewhat unexpected.
“Economic growth in Canada resumed in the third quarter of 2009 and is expected to have picked up further in the fourth quarter,” bank governor Mark Carney and his policy-making council said in an accompanying note.
“Nevertheless, considerable excess supply remains, and the bank judges that the economy was operating about 3.25 per cent below its production capacity in the fourth quarter of 2009.”
Carney had been among the most bullish of forecasters for the economy this year, although by historic standards, even Carney was not anticipating a robust recovery.
Now the bank says the economy likely contracted by 2.5 per cent last year, a little worse than the 2.4 per cent it had predicted in October.
As well, it says growth this year will be 2.9 per cent, one-tenth of a point less than it had previously forecast and more in line with the private sector consensus of 2.6 per cent.
The good news is that the economy will make the up ground in 2011, says the bank, with a growth rate of 3.5 per cent. It had earlier pegged next year’s growth at 3.3 per cent.
The bank’s message to Canadians is that although conditions are improving, strengthened by a global economy that is expanding faster than expected, the recovery still is dependent on “exceptional monetary and fiscal stimulus, as well as extraordinary measures taken to support financial systems.”
In Canada, the bank says the private sector won’t become the sole driver of domestic demand until 2011.
As has been the case throughout the recession, Canada’s recovery continues to be hampered by the slow pick-up in U.S. demand for Canadian products and the high Canadian dollar, which makes those exports less competitive.
That means Canada’s internal domestic economy, largely reflected in consumer spending and the hot housing market, will be the main engine of the recovery.
The bank noted that inflation has been rising faster than it anticipated, but appeared not to be overly concerned, especially with the large amount of slack in the economy.
Although economists forecast inflation likely hit 1.6 per cent in December, after being below zero through much of the summer and part of the fall, the bank said it still doesn’t believe inflation will return to the two-per-cent target until the third quarter of 2011, when it expects the economy to be firing on all cylinders.


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Poco is now trying to make things works as a brand independent of the Xiaomi hold, and they get to make that statement with the next device which they introduce to the market. Expected to be dubbed Pocophone F2 following what they named the first unit in the series, we now have official confirmation that the phone will be unveiled sometimes next month.
This is thanks to a tweet sent out by the official page of the company on Twitter – and that could be one more thing to look forward to besides MWC.
That said, though, it is worthy of note that Poco is still a bit reliant on Xiaomi. This is evident in how the link accompanying this tweet shows that the company will not only use the same manufacturing lines as its previous parent company, but the same distribution channels too.
Any which way, we are excited to be starting the new month soon – and for all the devices that would come with it too.


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Ford has announced a second performance package for the Mustang, this time exclusive to the Mustang GT equipped with a manual transmission. The package is said to bridge the gap between the Mustang GT and the track-focused Shelby GT350.
Porsche has unveiled yet another iteration of the 911. The latest is a modern successor to the 911 T of the 1960s.
The average price of a Tesla is 50 percent higher in China than in the United States. Tesla is looking to reduce the gap by building cars in China. Reports out claim the company has just received approval for a Chinese plant.
You'll find these stories and more in today's car news, right here at Motor Authority.
2018 Ford Mustang GT becomes a handling demon with Performance Pack Level 2
Porsche 911 T returns 40 years after original model’s debut
Tesla receives approval for Chinese plant
As NAFTA battle lines are drawn, repercussions loom on dealership lots
2019 Toyota Prius V spy shots
Nissan e-NV200 Fridge Concept: electric refrigerated van at Tokyo Motor Show
Hamilton passes Vettel to win 2017 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
Latest crash tests show big discrepancy in front-seat passenger safety
New bosses at Bentley, Bugatti as Wolfgang Dürheimer steps down
2018 Zero electric motorcycles: longer range, 6-kw charging, only a few price hikes


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Takata's Faulty Airbag Causes One More Death
Takata has declared 2.7 million vehicles to have potentially defective airbags. Takata Corp filed for bankruptcy last month after being forced to recall around 100 million air bags worldwide.
Takata logo. (Photo: Reuters)
An Australian man who died in a Sydney car crash may be the 18th death linked to faulty Takata air bags, after police said he was killed when hit in the neck by shrapnel from an air bag. Police did not say the air bag in the Honda CRV was from manufacturer Takata, whose faulty air bags have been linked to 17 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide.
However, Honda Australia director Stephen Collins confirmed on Saturday that the vehicle involved was linked to the worldwide recall.
"The vehicle involved, a 2007 Honda CR-V, was the subject of Takata airbag inflator recalls," Collins said in a statement, in which he offered the company’s condolences to the family of the dead driver.
"Honda Australia is working closely with authorities to provide whatever assistance is required."
Takata has declared 2.7 million vehicles to have potentially defective airbags. Takata Corp filed for bankruptcy last month after being forced to recall around 100 million air bags worldwide – but that figure could be set to double pending an ultimatum set by U.S. regulators.
Dozens of models of vehicles and nearly 20 automakers have been affected by the air bag recalls, with Takata's automaker customers having so far borne much of the estimated $10 billion cost of replacing the faulty products.
Some automakers still use Takata inflators for replacements in the recalls, although some including Honda Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co have said they will stop using Takata inflators for new contracts for future models.
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Soon after Khadi
& Village Industries Commission (KVIC) filed an application to register its brand Khadi and logo in Mexico, it discovered that a local entity had also sought a registration.
KVIC’s objections have meant that the Mexican entity has not been able to register so far. Faced with similar attempts, KVIC has decided to aggressively pursue registrations across the world with 41 applications already filed, and the UAE and Mexico being among the latest countries to recognise its logo and brand.
From Japan and Nepal to Myanmar and Brazil, KVIC is seeking to protect its brand.
“In view of Khadi’s evergrowing popularity in India
and globally, it has become very important for KVIC to protect the brand. For the first time in the last five years, KVIC has made aggressive bids to safeguard Khadi from any misuse. These efforts have yielded significant results and helped Khadi’s sales grow by a big margin in last few years. Khadi’s trademark registrations are essentially to prevent khadi from duplication and safeguard the interest of our artisans,” KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena told TOI.
A few years ago, KVIC found itself in a peculiar situation when it discovered that a German entity Natural Products
) has got rights on Khadi and related marks in the European Union
and other countries. A source said BNP has now expressed its willingness to settle the trademark disputes amicably.


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Alarm bells sounded for China's $18 trillion economy when trade data last week showed export growth well short of expectations and slowing for the first time in four months.
Those alarms are echoing in workshops across eastern and southern China's manufacturing hubs, in industries from machinery parts and textiles to high-tech home appliances, where businesses are scaling back while export orders dry up.
"It is very likely China's exports will slow further or even contract in the coming months, as leading economic indicators point to a global growth slowdown or even recession," said Nie Wen, a Shanghai-based economist at Hwabao Trust.
Exports are vital to China more than ever, with all other pillars of its economy on shaky ground. Nie estimates exports will account for 30-40% of China's GDP growth this year, up from 20% last year, even as outbound shipments slow.
"We had no export orders in the first eight months at all," said Yang Bingben, 35, whose company makes industrial-use valves in eastern China's export and manufacturing hub of Wenzhou.
He has let go all but 17 of his 150 workers and rented out most of his 7,500-square-meter (80,730 square foot) plant.
He sees little hope for the fourth quarter, typically his busiest season, and expects sales this year to drop 50-65% from last year, with the stalling domestic economy unable to take up any slack from the slump in exports.
To support the sector, export tax rebates have been expanded, and a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pledged support for exporters and importers to secure orders, expand markets and improve the efficiency of port operations and logistics.
RELIANCE ON EXPORTS
China over the years has moved to ease its economy's reliance on exports for growth, and reduce its exposure to global factors beyond its control, while some low-cost manufacturing has been shifting to other countries such as Vietnam as China grows richer and its costs rise.
In the five years before the pandemic, from 2014 to 2019, the share of exports in China's GDP shrank to 18.4% from 23.5%, according to World Bank figures.
But that share edged back up with the emergence of COVID-19, reaching 20% last year, in part as locked-down, home-bound consumers worldwide snapped up China's electronics and household goods. That also helped to buoy China's overall economic growth.
The pandemic has come back to bite China this year, however. Its strict efforts to contain domestic COVID outbreaks led to lockdowns that disrupted supply chains and shipping.
But much more ominous for exporters, they say, has been the slowdown in overseas demand, as the pandemic's fallout and the Ukraine conflict fuel inflation and tighter monetary policies that are depressing global growth.
"Sliding demand for robot vacuum cleaners in Europe is beyond our expectation this year, with customers placing fewer orders and unwilling to buy expensive products," said Qi Yong, a Shenzhen-based exporter of smart home electronics.
"Compared with 2020 and 2021, this year is the harder one, full of unprecedented hardship," he said. While shipments picked up this month in the run-up to Christmas, he said, sales may still drop 20% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
He has cut 30% of his staff, to around 200, and may lay off more workers if business conditions require it.
These retrenchments put further pressure on policymakers searching for new sources of growth in an economy burdened by a year-long property slump and disruptions from Beijing's zero-COVID policy.
Chinese companies involved in exporting and importing goods and services employ one-fifth of China's workforce, supplying 180 million jobs.
Some exporters are adjusting their operations in response to the slump by producing cheaper goods, but this too will eat into revenue.
Miao Yujie, who runs an export company in eastern China's Hangzhou, said he has started to use cheaper raw materials and to produce lower-value electronics goods and clothing that would appeal to inflation-wary, price-conscious consumers.
"There will be a big drop in exports in the second half of the year," Miao said. ($1 = 6.9645 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Friday, 08 Dec, 2023
- Economy Gaining from Manufacturing Boost: Sitharaman
India continues to be the fastest-growing major economy, with all sectors contributing significantly, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Thursday. She flagged India’s manufacturing growth, citing India’s mobile phone and passenger vehicle exports.Cos Load Upon Privately Placed Debt
India Inc is tapping the low-cost private placement route to raise funds like never before.Fund mobilization through corporate bonds that are privately placed has hit a record ₹8.97 lakh crore in 2023, with three weeks left in the year.Star-studded Panel to Debate India’s Action Plan for $5tn Economy
As the world grapples with turmoil — conflicts, surging interest rates, record debt and stubborn inflation — India, fuelled by its consumption, demographics, tech innovation and digitization, needs to keep its eye on the target of becoming a $5-trillion economy.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.


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There is a quiet digital-simulcast revolution underway inside the cable industry. A little over a year since Charter Communications Inc. first launched a digital simulcast system in Long Beach, Calif., digital simulcast has moved from a curious possibility to a “must-do-now” conversion for most cable operators.
All the major MSOs have announced plans to launch digital simulcast — or are actively launching it — in their systems. Charter Communications Inc. has added a second site in Madison, Wis., and Comcast Corp. has already rolled the technology in several markets.
Digital simulcast entails taking the current analog lineup, encoding the signals in digital, for transmission throughout the plant. The new all-digital lineup is transported alongside the legacy analog channels, still needed for those homes with analog TVs.
Although digital simulcast requires more bandwidth in the short-term, operators see it as a first step towards all digital, where upwards of two-thirds of cable’s spectrum could be reclaimed.
Overnight, digital subscribers will see better picture quality with an all-digital lineup. Operators hope to boost digital penetration past 50% with the allure of video-on-demand and other digital-tier services. Digital simulcast also requires operators to begin digital ad insertion in traditionally analog fed networks, like Cable News Network and ESPN.
Read about the revolution in a special report in Broadband Week, on page 73.
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Spraying a probable carcinogen on food crops to kill them so they can be harvested faster – it sounds ridiculous – but it’s happening all across the UK on the wheat that makes our bread, flour and other things like biscuits.
It gets worse. The weed killer in question, glyphosate, was recently classified by the World Health Organisation’s IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) as a probable carcinogen for humans – and new data analysis shows it’s appearing more and more frequently in our bread. It’s the world’s most widely sold weed killer – you might know it as the active ingredient in Roundup – used in farming, in public places like parks, streets and schools and also by people in their back gardens.
Figures analysed by the Soil Association from government data show glyphosate-use in UK farming has increased by 400% in the last 20 years, and it’s one of the three pesticides regularly found in routine testing of British bread – appearing in up to around 30% of samples tested by the Defra committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF).
The food industry claims the level of glyphosate in food poses no danger to the British public. But the WHO findings and the chemical cocktail often found in bread sold in the UK call this into serious question.
Unlike other reviews, IARC panel looked at what farmers are actually using. Farmers never use glyphosate alone – they use a mixture like Roundup because other chemicals are needed to do things like make the weed killer stick to the crop. Products like Roundup are sprayed on UK wheat as a pre-harvest weed killer and to kill any parts of the crop that haven’t ripened evenly so combine harvesters can move more quickly and cover more ground during harvest.
Roundup may be 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate itself.The research the IARC looked at will have included data on the impact of commercially available glyphosate products herbicides, like Roundup, to determine that it is ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’. The pesticide regulators in Europe and elsewhere only look at scientific data about glyphosate on its own.
Unless people are eating organic food exclusively, it’s almost impossible for them to avoid ingesting this potentially dangerous chemical. However, farmers could easily and responsibly choose not to use glyphosate as a pre-harvest spray on wheat crops. This is why the Soil Association is calling for an immediate end to the use of these sprays on wheat destined for use in bread.
The amount of glyphosate in bread sits well below the level deemed unsafe by the EU but this level has not been revised since the WHO’s ‘probable carcinogen’ ruling – this conclusion may mean there is no safe level. In addition, the accepted levels for glyphosate residues have always been a matter of controversy – if glyphosate is an endocrine disrupter, as some scientists suggest, there is no safe lower level for human consumption.
Earlier this year, the Soil Association held a scientific briefing on this subject – the panel included Professor Christopher Portier, one of the co-authors of the IARC report, Dr Robin Mesnage of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Kings College in London, and Claire Robinson, editor of GMWatch.org.
The chemical industry has accused the WHO of classifying glyphosate as a probable carcinogen along with things like coffee and bacon. This is rubbish for two reasons – firstly, the IARC has a number of categories for classification – coffee appears in category 2B, “possible carcinogen”, meaning there is limited evidence in humans and less than sufficient evidence in animals.
Glyphosate is in category 2A – the same category as human papillomavirus type 68, inorganic lead compounds and dry cleaning fluid: there is limited evidence in humans and sufficient evidence in animals; there is strong enough evidence to conclude it is probably carcinogen to humans. Secondly, people can choose not to drink coffee or cook their bacon in a way that means it’s safe to eat – the choice has been taken away from them when it comes to glyphosate. One expert at our scientific briefing remarked that glyphosate is literally everywhere in our food chain – throughout our water and food – there’s no escape.
Outside the United Kingdom, the reaction to the WHO IARC report has been dramatic. Some retailers in Switzerland and Germany have removed glyphosate products and France has committed to do so by 2018. Meanwhile, German states are calling for an EU-wide ban, and the Danish Working Environment Authority has declared it as a carcinogen. El Salvador and Sri Lanka have banned it, and the Colombian government has banned aerial spraying on coca crops.
If you are as concerned as we are about glyphosate please do pass the message on to others. The Soil Association don’t just point out problems, we pioneer solutions too. By becoming a Soil Association member today for just £3.50 a month, you will help us to influence policy makers and extend our work with farmers to share effective ways of farming without using glyphosate. We know many farmers are very open to breaking with the status quo and embracing new ways of doing things, they just need the knowledge of how to do things differently.
Please do help us get the message out there. It’s time to stop the use of weedkiller on food crops and ensure we protect our environment and our own health. If you are unable to join us at this time please consider donating instead. You can do this online at www.soilassociation.org/bread/donate
This is a guest post by The


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The 4 biggest trends in luxury fashion for 2020
Christian Vierig/Getty Images
Oversized bags and space-inspired outfits are set to be some of 2020's biggest luxury fashion trends.
- Global fashion search platform Lyst forecasted the four biggest luxury fashion trends in 2020.
- Luxury fashion is set to be influenced by major events: advancements in space, the Olympics, and the US presidential election.
- Lyst also predicts a comeback in oversized purses.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Lyst's 2019 report predicts that luxury fashion will take inspiration from countries and galaxies far away. The report analyzed data from more than six million products, 12,000 stores, global media coverage, and social media mentions to look at the past year in fashion.
But it also forecasted the next year in fashion. Here are four trends set to dominate, all mostly influenced by upcoming events around the world.
1. Space fashion
2020 is about to get far out. In the next decade, NASA's plans include landing humans on the moon, detecting quakes on Mars, and defending Earth from deadly asteroids, Morgan McFall-Johnsen previously reported for Business Insider. Moon Express is also planning on sending a lunar lander to the moon and SpaceX is also developing the Dragon 2 capsule, both in 2020, wrote Dave Johnson for Business Insider.
Lyst is forecasting that these ventures will fuel a rise in space-inspired fashion, from holographic outfits to space-suit outerwear.
2. Japanese influences
With Tokyo set to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games during the summer, Lyst expects influences from "bold Harajuku street style" to contemporary Japanese labels. According to the report, searches for Japanese brands increased by 8% in 2019.
Japanese brands have long been reluctant to branch outside of Japan, reported Jason Dike for Hypebeast in October, but they're finally expanding into new markets, particularly the UK. It's likely because, Dike wrote, the world is catching on to Japanese culture and trends because of the upcoming Olympics.
3. Oversized handbags
Consumers spent more money on expensive footwear than on handbags in 2019, according to an NPD report. But that doesn't mean they're not buying into the handbag market.
While the average handbag surface area shrank by 40% in 2019, fueling a trend in mini-bags, Lyst predicts that the extra-large bags that dominated in the 2000s will make a comeback in 2020. Harper's Bazaar and Elle are also forecasting a big bag resurgence in spring 2020, as oversized totes and hobo bags both made an appearance on the runways.
4. Political fashion
From Brexit's presence in London fashion labels to headlines examining politicians' sartorial choices, the past few seasons have seen many political fashion statements, Zoe Whitfield wrote for Refinery29. As the US enters 2020 with the presidential election on the horizon, Lyst expects more politically inspired fashion to continue into the new decade that's "reflective of global and cultural tensions."
As Zoe Whitfield wrote for Refinery29, "As a gesture of empowerment, a signal to the communities we feel a close bond with - or a warning to those we don't - the use of fashion as a vehicle for political expression is nothing new, but in turbulent times, its immediacy can be potent."
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App developers now have more freedom than ever when pricing their apps for consumers. But it also means that you may see a change in the prices of some of your favorite apps in the near future.
If you want to do business on App Store then you have to follow the rules of Apple. And one of those rules is that developers can’t sell their apps for whatever price they want. Developers must choose from a list of preset prices approved by Apple.
However, Apple has now expanded the pricing options and changed the minimum and maximum prices for which developers can sell their apps.
Developers now have more options for setting prices on apps.
In a post on Apple Newsroom, Apple announced that it has started offering 900 different price points for developers to choose from on the App Store. For years, the minimum price for an app was 99 cents. However, developers now have the freedom to sell their apps for as little as 29 cents.
Apple is also giving app developers more tools to deal with inflation and exchange rates. The App Store has 174 storefronts and accepts 44 different currencies. Developers can now lock prices in one storefront and adjust prices in other currencies accordingly.
How will the new price points affect you?
Companies can now sell their apps at lower prices, which means some apps that previously cost 99 cents may get a price cut. This is good news for consumers, especially if your home country’s currency has a weak exchange rate against the US dollar.
However, this may also mean that some free apps will become paid apps. Since developers can now sell their apps for less than a dollar, some may decide to start charging for apps that were previously free.
And because developers can now lock prices into one storefront, you may start to see app prices fluctuate more often if you’re in a country that uses a different currency—another reason Note that your App Store subscription may increase without warning.
Developers can now charge up to $10,000 per app
Most of the best apps and games of 2022 are free, but there are some very expensive apps on the App Store. For example, CyberTuner, a tuning app for piano enthusiasts, costs about a grand. But Apple has now made it possible for developers to charge up to $10,000 per app. While it’s hard to imagine an app being worth that much money, there may be a market for it.
But even if you’re not planning on buying a $10,000 app, you should know they exist. If a child or someone else gets hold of your unlocked iPhone, it can be a very costly mistake. So, remember to keep your Apple ID and password safe, and don’t let anyone use your phone without supervision.
You can see the price change on the App Store
Although Apple has been making changes to pricing on the App Store, most apps are completely free, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
However, you may start to see more fluctuations in prices on the App Store. And some apps that have been free for years may be paid.
Apple has given developers one last chance to do something about iOS apps that haven’t been updated in a while. If some developers do not update their old apps, they may be removed from the App Store. But why is Apple doing this? let’s find out.
Apple is threatening to remove old apps
Apple has emailed some developers warning them that they need to update their apps. And if they don’t, those apps may be removed from the App Store. This has affected all categories of apps, regardless of how well they still work. The unifying feature in these apps is that none of them have received any updates in at least two years.
The news was first reported by The Verge, which shared screenshots of several app developers who received warnings from Apple, with others claiming that Apple has already removed some versions of their apps.
It is not clear when this notice was published, but developers started posting screenshots of the email sent by Apple on April 23, 2022. Earlier, Apple created a similar stir in 2016 by removing old apps.
Why is Apple threatening to remove old apps?
Apple wants to make sure that users are getting the best experience on the App Store by only hosting apps that are regularly updated and perform optimally. An outdated app can develop bugs, security flaws and ruin the unified aesthetic created by modern versions of iOS.


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Santa Clara, Calif.—Sept. 17, 2013—Resilinc Corporation, a provider of supply chain resiliency solutions, announced the availability of EventWatch Professional, a new supply chain risk management service providing 24/7 monitoring and detection of global events that threaten to disrupt supply chains worldwide.
Resilinc monitors thousands of global news sources, identifies critical supply chain developments, and then filters, researches and notifies clients in regard to potential supply chain threats. Intelligent filtering capabilities eliminate redundant notifications and reduce time spent on non-supply chain impactful events.
“Prior to using EventWatch, our clients were spending a tremendous amount of time manually sifting through hundreds of news feeds per day in order to monitor global events that might impact the flow of goods and services to their customers,” said Jon Bovit, chief marketing officer at Resilinc. “Resilinc EventWatch streamlines this work effort, and clients now receive only those notifications which have already been researched and vetted.”
Constant manual monitoring by an individual person or company for the many types of supply chain disruption events can be daunting. To address this problem, Resilinc now offers EventWatch Professional as a way to enable all procurement, sourcing and supply chain professionals to simply and cost-effectively monitor for—and quickly respond to—potential supply chain disruptions.
Resilinc EventWatch Professional provides email notifications of researched threats, along with a quick summary of the event’s potential impact. Additionally, each event notification provides:
- Event details and known impacts
- Industries and geographic areas potentially impacted
- Informative links for further information and research
Resilinc EventWatch monitors more than 25 different types of disruption events, ranging from catastrophic global crises, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, to isolated incidents, such as factory fires, and port and labor strikes, as well as government regulatory actions. According to its historical data on notifications covering supply chain risk events during the last year, approximately 24 unique events on average were found to have occurred each month. The company’s findings further showed that these supply chain disruption events happen globally in often remote locations and, as a result, they are often difficult to detect and mitigate without a comprehensive effort, leveraging many different news sources across multiple languages.
A Chilean port strike in 2012 provides an excellent example of the potential ramifications of a prolonged disruption event. Resilinc alerted clients on March 20 that a long strike was taking place at a Chilean port. Resilinc then sent an update on March 28 warning that Codelco, Chile's largest copper mine, was no longer able to send shipments because of the continuing port strike coupled with—and compounded by—an internal strike. Then, on April 1, Resilinc reported that the mine had declared a critical force majeure—after having monitored the early events and signs of looming problems for nearly two weeks before the mine’s declaration. When force majeure events occur, costs typically rise due to unavailability of supply.
In another example, a factory fire, in October of last year at a large Japanese company manufacturing super absorbent polymers, had most media organizations reporting that diapers would be in short supply. However, Resilinc’s EventWatch research identified other industry applications of the super absorbent polymer which, in addition to diapers, is a key ingredient in vehicle fuel monitoring systems, and medical and surgical pads, as well as composites and laminates, and wire and cable blocking. Resilinc clients reported that the effects of the disruption took more than two months to trickle in through multiple tiers of their supply chains, and that the Resilinc EventWatch notification gave them two months advance notice—ample time to assess and respond to the potential impact of the Japanese event.
According to Bindiya Vakil, CEO of Resilinc, “Force majeure and other disruptive events can often create major supply chain bottlenecks, which can cause widespread profit leakages for customers as inventory dries up and capacity shortages result in higher raw material prices. In these highly disruptive allocation situations, no one in the supply chain can get adequate supply of the necessary raw materials or parts. The ability to be the first to know, and then to react quickly and decisively based on relevant research, can be a source of major competitive advantage to companies who depend on lean supply chains with low inventory levels and very little ability to absorb disruptions.”


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Las Vegas — Distributor Cellatel of Irvine, Calif., launched Alcatel-branded phones more than a year ago in the United States and is coming to CTIA with at least four new GSM models.
One model, the OneTouch Sport, is an outdoor-focused candybar-style model with rubbery body, flashlight and one-month standby.
The bar-style multimedia OT-V770A is 0.4 inches thick and features reflective face, landscape color display and choice of glossy white or soft-touch black colors.
The clamshell OT-VV270A features reflective case for a “dark-chrome mirror effect,” the company said. The 0.47-inch-thick bar-style OT-V209A features customizable front panel.
The company has been targeting tier-two carriers, mobile phone retail outlets and MVNOs. The phones are produced by a joint venture established in mid-2005 between Alcatel and China’s TCL Communication Technology Holdings.


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Bank of America Ponders Retreat
Bank of America has told U.S. regulators that it is willing to retreat from some parts of the country if its financial problems deepen, according to people familiar with the situation.
Executives at the Charlotte, N.C., financial giant put the potential move on a list of emergency scenarios submitted to the Federal Reserve last year, these people said. While people close to Bank of America insist that no retreat is imminent, even the possibility of selling branches and losing customers it spent huge sums to lure underscores the depth of its problems.
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Trump, Congress Renew Small Business Aid But Local Firms Still Face Challenges
Updated: 4/24/2020, 8:18 a.m.
President Trump today signed off on another $320 billion in loans approved by lawmakers to help businesses cover payroll and other expenses. Hawaii firms secured $2.46 billion from the first round of funding, but not without difficulty.
Many storefronts are now dark in the normally-bustling Kaimuki Business District along Waialae Avenue. One of them is Via Gelato, an ice cream shop owned by Melissa Bow.
Bow made the decision to close her store after business dropped 80% to 90% following Gov. David Ige’s stay at home order. She says the store was still doing a decent business under the initial city order in March mandating that restaurants transition to a takeout-only model.
But when the governor directed Hawaii residents to shelter at home and avoid all unnecessary trips out, staying open no longer became viable. Bow says many of her employees were also nervous about the possibility of contracting the virus at work.
Closing allows her to save on some expenses, although she is still incurring large costs like rent. She’s also continuing to pay the wages of employees staying home.
Because Bow is keeping her staff on the payroll, she turned to the federal government’s Payroll Protection Program for help. PPP, as it is known, offers potentially-forgivable loans, if employers maintain their workforce. Of those funds, 75% has to go toward paying wages, but the remainder can be used for other expenses.
Since Via Gelato is closed, Bow has no revenue coming in to cover expenses. She has been covering the cost of employee compensation out of her savings, which was rapidly nearing depletion before any federal money had reached her. When we spoke, she was preparing to withdraw funds to cover the upcoming payroll.
“At that point, we’ll be pretty close to zero,” Bow said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Bow applied and was approved for a PPP loan, but she had no idea for how much it would be for or even when the money would be available.
“There’s just nobody you can call to ask about the status or how much is it. They’re just so overwhelmed right now. There’s just no support, for them or for us,” she said, describing the uncertainty as par for the course.
The "them" Bow refers to is the U.S. Small Business Administration, the federal agency overseeing the Payroll Protection Program. Jane Sawyer, who oversees SBA’s Hawaii district, said the goal was to get money out to loan applicants within 10 days of approval.
But that has proven to be a challenge. The SBA is responsible for distributing funds, but relied on a network of nearly 5,000 lending institutions to accept and process applications. Ultimately, 1.6 million loans nationwide were granted, valued at more than $342 billion.
Locally, Hawaii firms were successful in securing funds. A total of 11,533 local companies were approved for PPP loans valued at $2.46 billion. Sawyer says this is by far the fastest any small business loan program has been rolled out, from creation to distribution of funds, but demand simply overwhelmed processing capacity.
“Just by the sheer numbers that we have been doing, it has been very difficult to do because there are security issues and there are banking issues.”
She emphasizes that money is on the way to business owners who were given an official SBA loan ID number by their bank. All applicants who were issued an SBA number had their request approved before the initial round of funding was exhausted and should be receiving loans.
Banks have been queuing up applications that were not processed in time, but Sawyer recommends that business owners check with their lender to make sure their application is ready when the second round of funds become available.
However, there are deeper, structural issues besides delays in distributing loan funds. As its name implies, the Payroll Protection Program is primarily meant to fund payroll. Businesses can only get the loan forgiven if they use the money to pay employee wages.
For some operations that doesn’t necessarily make financial sense. Garrett Morrero, founder of Valley Isle-based Maui Brewing Company, told HPR that the vast majority of the company’s approximately 700 employees have been laid off.
Maui Brewing is still producing beer at its main brewery in Kihei. Morrero says sales of canned beer remain strong, which has allowed him to keep 45 workers fully employed. But the company also generates a substantial portion of revenue from its four dine-in restaurants.
Morrero says the restaurants, two each on Maui and Oahu, represent roughly 50% of total revenue for Maui Brewing and most of the company’s employees. Three of the locations have been closed completely, with the Kihei location open only for take-away beer sales.
“The amount of food and beverage we would have to sell in order to offset even the minimum expenses just didn’t make sense,” Morrero said of the two Oahu locations. He added that once tourists largely disappeared from Hawaii, the math ceased to pencil out at the Maui locations as well.
Morrero applied and was approved for PPP but says even with funds to cover payroll, it’s unlikely there will be enough revenue coming to justify re-opening the restaurants.
“We’re still trying to figure out the best way to deploy those fund,” he said.
There is no rule that says employees have to be do their original job. Stan Glander, owner of the popular Oahu breakfast burrito purveyor Kono’s, has been paying some food service staff to paint or make other improvements in some locations.
Melissa Bow from Via Gelato was paying her employees to stay home. She did eventually get her PPP loan, which will cover two months of payroll, and now plans to reopen with limited hours, four days a week.


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Threat to Supply Chains Real
Pitney Bowes fell victim to a ransomware attack, reports PYMNTS. Which highlights that companies are still not taking the threat to their supply chains seriously.
When Pitney Bowes, a major logistics service provider, revealed that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack, it was only the latest case revealing the threat that cyberattacks not only pose to companies, but also to their business partner networks, suppliers and supply chains.


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Agency: JWT, New York
The ad agency will work initially on a new campaign for Fuller’s flagship ale brand, London Pride, after winning a competitive pitch against Isobel and Now.
UM London, which also won after a pitch, replaces MEC on the media account.
The Corner’s appointment ends a 15-year relationship between Fuller’s, which also owns a chain of pubs and beer brands including ESB and Discovery, and Doner.
Along with MEC, Doner took the decision not to repitch for the account.
Ian Bray, the managing director of Fuller’s, said: "We look forward to working with The Corner. We have been impressed by their energy and creativity throughout the pitch process and look forward to developing memorable work with them."
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
In the week that it was shown that users only visited the planet Google+ for less than 7 minutes a month it’s interesting to look at how a contemporary rock artist brand goes about using social media in their marketing and the different levels of interest on different platforms.


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Cryptocurrency Market is getting crazy day by day, usually some big fishes come to this platform and it gets a huge impact on it’s price table, another big impact has come in recent time, LUNA is the native of Terra Blockchain which gained 37%, and the price is $2.27 Today, Not only that but also trading volume is very high.
It’s just a coincidence when Tesla’s founder Elon Musk did the same thing for DogeCoin, now Galaxy Digital has taken the decision investing in LUNA coin and they did it for $25 Million, that’s why the price of LUNA coin has gone to sky almost double. LUNA coin is basically a part of Terraform Labs which is a Seoul-Based company. It’s mainly a stable coin project from Korea which is working to combine the stability of fiat currency with the non-censorable nature of cryptocurrency.
So it can be said that, it’s one of the most dramatic moments for cryptocurrency, everything is possible here, so crypto-curious people are getting more excited than ever.


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2021 Eventually, a variety of stats emerge. “sensor towerIt released its annual mobile app spending report, which shows a clear trend, with Android and iOS users spending more money on apps than in 2020.
The total amount spent on programs in 2021 was $133 billion, which is about 20% more than in 2020, when $111.1 billion was spent. American dollar. The new tool’s spending data has been compiled based on projected spending from 2021 onwards. January 1 to December 31
Apple’s App Store still accounts for a larger share of the total, with consumers spending $85.1 billion. USD or 17.7% more than last year. The Google Play Store has received $47.9 billion in the past 12 months. US dollar, up 23.5% from 2020. Under the current situation, the Apple App Store earns 1.8 times more revenue than Google Play Store.
Total number of software installs on both app stores in 2021. Google Play grew 0.5% to a total of $111.3 billion and the App Store to $32.3 billion. TikTok is the most downloaded in 2021. The app is on iOS and Android platforms. Meta Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger follow suit, while Telegram, Snapchat, Zoom, CapCut and Spotify complete the top ten.
TikTok also took the crown as the highest earning of 2021. The program, with SensorTower predicting users will spend $2.3 billion on the platform by the end of the year. American dollar.
Subtly charming zombie buff. Amateur analyst. Proud tvaholic. Beer fanatic. Web expert. Evil troublemaker. Passionate internet maven. Gamer. Food evangelist.


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Worldline has this morning announced it agreed a deal to buy local rival Ingenico in a €7.8 billion deal that will create a global player in the rapidly consolidating payments industry.
The two companies said the combination would create a regional champion and the world’s fourth largest payment services provider, which would provide services to nearly 1 million merchants and would have had combined revenues of €5.3 billion in 2019. Ingenico shareholders can expect to receive €123.10 per share, a 17% premium on Friday’s closing price, or a mix of cash and shares.
The deal gives Ingenico an equity value of €7.8 billion, and will leave Worldline shareholders owning 65% of the combined group, the companies said.
The payments sector is amidst a golden era of dealmaking activity, as companies seek scale to better exploit rapid changes in consumer behaviour.
“There is global competition in payments systems, and size is really important in this business,” comments Cédric O, French digital economy minister, in the Anglo-American Press Association on Monday. “You have to invest in innovation.” Bernard Bourigeaud, Ingenico’s chairman, said the deal offers the chance “to create the undisputed European champion in payments on par with the largest international players.”
The companies said they expect the deal to close in June or July this year, subject to regulatory clearance. Ingenico has previously been the subject of intense merger speculation, with French bank Natixis exploring a possible combination at the end of 2018. French technology company Atos, meanwhile, last month said it would offload part of its stake in Worldline, suggesting the move would offer the payments group more flexibility to pursue consolidation opportunities.
The financial technology sector is consolidating fast, with global payments set to reach $3 trillion a year in revenue by 2023 as more people switch from cash to digital payments for online and high street sales, according to research by consulting firm McKinsey.
The post Worldline agree to pay €7.8 billion for Ingenico in another mega merger appeared first on Payments Cards & Mobile.


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Gaming: Vader Immortal drops surprise new episode; FFVII box art; more
The second episode of Vader Immortal got a nice tease for Oculus VR owners at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, but developer ILMxLAB left fans hanging with no firm word on a release date. So when Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episode II was announced this week as a ready-to-play download, it came as an uncharacteristically pleasant surprise — considering we’re talking about the galaxy’s most fearsome Sith Lord.
The second installment in the VR series for Oculus Rift and Quest owners introduces new Force powers into your fighting arsenal, alongside an upgraded version of the lightsaber dojo that hones your Jedi skills for even more immersive swoosh-swoosh combat. Episode II continues the storyline from the first episode that landed back in June, delving farther into Vader’s Mustafar fortress and, as director Ben Snow says, uncovering the dark lair’s own “powerful crystals” and even gifting players with “a powerful and ancient weapon” — the protosaber.“In Episode II we discover that Mustafar has its own powerful crystals that powered their technology,” Snow explains at StarWars.com. “The Bright Star is one of those, but [it was] so exceptionally powerful that it was revered as a holy relic by the Mustafarian tribe we meet in Vader Immortal. Its power had attracted the attention of Lady Corvax, with disastrous results, and legend has it that she locked it away deep in the fortress.”
While the first episode was all too brief (as VR experiences generally tend to be), it arguably wasn’t all too easy — and it gratifyingly puts you at the virtual center of a believable Star Wars experience, in the good graces of one of the movie world’s greatest and most powerful villains. Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episode II is available now for $9.99 for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift.
Hoo boy. Square Enix has just taken the wraps off the box art for Final Fantasy VII Remake, and it’s set to seriously trigger the nostalgic feels for anyone who still gets goosebumps at the sight of the cover of the original PS1 game.
Essentially a straight modernization of the white-background cover art that graced the 1997 classic, the box features Cloud Strife and his trusty Buster Sword, staring toward the distant looming headquarters of his target: the Shinra Electric Power Company. Check it out below, along with a new trailer that features five minutes of new gameplay footage:
Yep, if the new footage is anything to go by, previous indications that character switching will be a thing in the FFVII remake seem to be right on point. Aerith and Tifa both get their turns with Cloud at taking down the massive sewer beast named Abzu (who, by the way, looks far and away more ferocious than any blocky PS1-era polygons ever could have managed).
The battle is epic, the graphics and art style bring Midgar to life in a dystopian cyberpunk way that the first game did a better job of telling than showing, and a freshly updated FFVII battle theme is along for the ride the whole way through. Shut up and take our Materia! — Final Fantasy VII Remake is set to arrive on the PlayStation 4 on March 3 of next year.
Sony and Naughty Dog dropped a new trailer for the hugely-anticipated sequel to The Last of Us during this week’s State of Play event, along with news that the game now has a definite release date. But they’re wasting no time following that up with even more cool previews, sharing a trove of new screen shots and even a look at the blinged-out “Ellie Edition,” which comes with an insane amount of extras goodies (check out the backpack) and is already up for pre-order on the game’s official web page.In addition to offering close-up looks at Joel (yes, he’s alive and kicking), as well as tense fights, new enemies, environments and more, game director Neil Druckmann also offered up a handful of additional thoughts about the game via the official PlayStation Blog.
“It’s a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us,” Druckmann wrote. “What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35-year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive,” he added, pledging that the brief glimpse we got from the trailer “just scratches the surface of what the game has in store.”
In other words, it sounds like Naughty Dog is pulling no emotional punches, which likely comes as welcome news to anyone who made it through the first game with an unashamed tear or two in their eye along the way. The Last of Us Part II arrives for PlayStation 4 on Feb. 21 of next year.