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Jeff Cannata is on the show. We’ll talk about Twitter’s new policy of removing photos of dead family members and how it ran right into free speech issues with the videos of reporter James Foley’s death.
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CNET reported on Barnes and Noble’s announcement of the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, essentially the same hardware as the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, but with Nook’s custom interface. There is only one model with 8 GB of storage though the Tab 4 does have an SD card slot. The other diffeerence is the price. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 lists for $199. Adding the Nook to the end reduces that to $179 after an in-store rebate. Barnes and Noble intends to separate the Nook business from its bookselling business.
Engadget reports Uber has launched a free API, allowing programmers to embed the ability to hail a ride from within any app. 11 partners are alongside for the launch, mostly travel services like TripAdvisor, United Airlines and Hyatt Hotels. Other apps like Starbucks Coffee shops or dating site Hinge are also on board. Most of the apps will start by just passing an address to the Uber app, but truly embedded ride hailing is on the horizon with a subset of partners.
On Tuesday Twitter implemented a new policy of removing images of deceased individuals at the request of family. That policy, created in the wake of Robin Williams death, was put to the test immediately when a video of the killing of journalist James Foley was put online. Various account have been suspended in relation to the Foley imagery. The video created by the Islamic State not only runs afoul of this new policy but also could bring Twitter into laws against providing aid and comfort to organizations identified by the US government as terrorist.
Engadget reports the effect of competition is being felt in Apple’s backyard. AT&T announced it would bring its Gigapower brand gigabit Internet to Cupertino, California in a few months. Google intends to bring gigabit Internet to the nearby larger metropolis of San Jose but has not announced a timeline.
Wired reports Vine announced new tools for the six-second video service. Users can now add video from their device rather than shoot all video in the app. Other features include a duplicating button, a mute button and “torch” mode which lets you use a phone’s flashlight while recording. Vine says more than 100 million people watch Vine videos every month.
The Wall Street Journal reports Amazon plans to set up operations in Shanghai’s free trade zone, allowing it to sell more merchandise for overseas in China. Amazon will also open a logistics warehouse in China to expand exports of goods from Chinese companies. Alibaba is the dominant eCommerce power in China.
News From You
KAPT_Kipper posted the Ars Technica article that Netflix and Time Warner Cable agreed to an interconnection agreement in June. GigaOm noticed evidence of a deal in traceroutes and a Time Warner Cable spokesperson confirmed it. Netflix has struck deals with Comcast, AT&T and Verizon for interconnection, similar to deals struck by many companies who deliver large amounts of data, like Google, Facebook and Apple.
funkaround posted the Engadget story that Brazilian judge Paulo Cesar de Carvalho of the 5th Civil Court of Victoria has issued an injunction against the app Secret. Brazil’s consitution bars anonymous attacks that do not allow you to defend yourself. Not only will Google and Apple need to remove Secret from the Brazilian app stores, but the judge ordered them to delete it from users phones as well. Microsoft was ordered to remove a similar app called Cryptic. The companies have 10 days to comply or face fines of 20,000 Reals per day.
sdc111 turned us on to the Verge reporting Verizon will launch its own app store, at least that’s what subscription-only outlet The Information claims. However Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis told Re/code about an app store: “We have no plans to do that. Been there. Done that.” Verizon closed its Verizon Wireless app store last year.
Inge_Aning submitted this one. Bloomberg got cozy with a person involved with the investigation of the Community Health Systems breach, the one that saw 4.5 million health records stolen, and got the person to admit that the attackers used the Heartbleed vulnerability. This would be the first known breach of a company using that well-branded vulnerability.
Pick of the Day: Push to Talk via Richard Gunther
As you know, I podcast as a hobby, and like many people in the business world, I’m on Skype and Hangouts daily for conference calls and meetings as part of my day job. I’d like to recommend a Mac utility called Push To Talk. Push to Talk adds a software-driven mute button to your Mac. You can define your own key combination to use, and it mutes your mic input system-wide so you don’t have to go fumbling for the mute button on Skype or Hangouts. You can also configure it so that it only transmits when you hold the keyboard combination you’ve defined, but I find the toggle setting most useful. It’s available in the Mac App Store, and it costs just $0.99. Pro tip: I’ve found that I needed to reboot for the utility to function properly after installing.
Thursday’s Guest: Peter Wells, of Reckoner, Australia


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Flooring retailer Topps Tiles has posted an 8 per cent fall in annual profits despite enjoying its first rise in sales for five years.
The group, which has 324 stores across the UK, reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £12.8 million in the 12 months to 29 September, down from £13.9m a year earlier.
A rebound in like-for-like sales in the second half – up 3.5 per cent against a 4.7 per cent fall in the first six months – helped lift overall year-on-year sales for the first time since 2007, with revenues rising from £175.5m to £177.7m. However, Topps revealed sales growth had slipped back to 1 per cent in the first seven weeks of the new financial year and warned that conditions are “likely to remain uncertain throughout 2013”.
The board proposed a final dividend of 0.75p per share, up from last year’s pay-out of 0.6p.

domain: news


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Back in early July, camera company RED announced that it would be releasing its first smartphone. This isn’t set to be a standard flagship device though, RED’s phone can cost as much as $1500, is built out of titanium or aluminium and features a holographic display alongside a powerful camera module. At the time of announcement, we only got to see one press shot of what the device will look like but today, hands-on footage with a prototype model hit the web.
The smartphone enthusiasts among you have likely heard of Marques Brownlee/MKBHD. He is perhaps the biggest mobile tech reviewer on YouTube, though he covers tech outside of smartphones from time to time. Recently, he managed to get some exclusive hands-on time with the RED Hydrogen prototype, showing off the design the company is going for, alongside a few other aspects of the device.
One of the highlights from this video is the placement of magnetic pins on the back of the phone. These will be used for snap-on add-ons and modifications. It won’t be a fully modular device like Google’s Project Ara was set to be, but this seems like a good compromise.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get a look at the 5.7 inch holographic/light field display in action, though it is unlikely we would be able to fully appreciate in video form anyway. Marques did briefly talk about his first impression though, noting that while the display wasn’t perfect, it was impressive technology.
With a $1200 price tag for the aluminium model and a $1500 price tag for the Titanium version, the RED Hydrogen One won’t be for everybody. However, with its rugged build and cutting edge technology on its side, it is set to be one of the most interesting smartphones in years.
KitGuru Says: The RED Hydrogen One is an exciting development for sure. However, I do still have my doubts about a Q1 2018 release date. What do you guys think of the RED Hydrogen One?


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Johnson Controls says it will present a concept at Frankfurt that addresses urban mobility trends towards lightweight, individual design solutions and autonomous driving.
Johnson Controls says that SD15 features a simulated vehicle environment with a focus on first- and second-row seating while addressing the three automotive megatrends from a seating perspective: autonomous driving, lightweight, and increasing customer demands towards individualisation and style for future urban mobility.
“The SD15 is based on extensive proprietary research conducted by Johnson Controls that explored what consumers expect as car seating in 2020 and beyond,” said Beda Bolzenius, president of Johnson Controls Automotive Experience. “The driver side demonstrates superior comfort and the passenger side showcases features that maximise cargo capacity and interior flexibility.”
Further, Johnson Controls says the jet printed seat covers of the SD15 show what Johnson Controls can do in terms of individualisation. The weight and space saving multi-material seats padded with highly ergonomic foam parts pave the way towards the demands of lightweight design. Many SD15 features support the megatrend of autonomous driving in the future “multi-talented” vehicle seat, the company says.


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Ratner confirms jewellery bid
JEWELLERY entrepreneur Gerald Ratner today confirmed that he still wants to buy the UK arm of Signet despite a potential challenge from Icelandic investment firm Baugur.
Ratner, Britain's self-styled king of bling, said he was in talks with a number of financial backers and said he intended to table a formal offer for the UK part of Signet, which owns High Street chains H. Samuel and Ernest Jones.
It is believed that an offer of around £200m could be made in the next few weeks. Shares in Signet fell sharply today as the market reacted to the decision of Apax and KKR to opt against a joint £2.3bn bid for the whole group, which has 591 shops in the UK as well as 1,221 in the United States.
Ratner had hoped that KKR and Apax would sell him Signet's UK operations, but he will now have to deal with the Signet board instead. If successful, it would mean a return to the High Street for the man who made one of the most notorious gaffe's in corporate history when he joked that one of his products was 'total crap' while at the helm of Ratners - the firm his father founded in 1947.
The error led to Gerald Ratner getting the chop after profits tumbled. Ratners was renamed Signet in 1993 and relaunched with a focus on the US market.
Ratner, 56, said today that he would not be interested in Signet's US businesses which are performing well but would instead be keen to bring H Samuel - one of the companies he bought while at Ratners - back into profit.
'H Samuel has lost its way completely,' he said. 'The first rule about the mass market is that it needs to be competitive.' It was a mistake to mix costume jewellery with real jewellery, he said. If he were in charge he would cut the costume products and focus on more fashionable ranges of real jewellery, he said.
'H Samuel was making £65m a year 15 years ago and should be making double that now but it is making very little,' he said.
Turning H Samuel around would be a 'tremendous challenge', he added.
He admitted that Baugur, which last week agreed to acquire department store chain House of Fraser for £351m and already owns jewellers Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb, posed a threat.
After private equity firms Apax Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) announced at the weekend that they were no longer in the running for the group, Ratner thought the way was clear, he said. But Baugur chief executive Jon Asgeir Johannesson told the Financial Times yesterday Signet's UK operations would be a good fit for his growing retail portfolio.
'This is something we cannot really do anything about,' Ratner said. 'We have to get on with what we are doing.'
Further information on the future strategy of Signet could emerge tomorrow when it reports half-year results. In an update earlier this month, it said second quarter like-for-like sales were up 0.6% in the UK. Trading has been stronger in the US, meaning profits for the half-year are likely to be between £57.5m and £59m.
Gerald Ratner took over his father's firm, which began as a single shop in Richmond, Surrey, in 1984 and within five years it became the owner of H Samuel, Ernest Jones, Watches of Switzerland and Salisburys.
By 1987, Ratner he was running the most profitable jewellery firm in the world but following his comments to the Institute of Directors almost £500m was wiped off the value of the firm. Ratner currently runs geraldonline.com, an online jewellery retailer.
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Many see this as a very small price to pay. The Terrain lineup was given a mid-life refresh for the 2021 model year but, unfortunately, that rollout has been delayed because of the pandemic. The base SL trim has been deleted. Some new features include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a head-up display. Styling-wise, the front and rear fascias have received some attention as has the interior.
Production for the 2022 Terrain is already underway but those hoping to snag an AT4 will have to wait until next month to buy one, assuming there are no delays. The newly AWD-only Denali trim won’t begin production until September.


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Imagine a skin cream that heals the damage that occurs throughout the day when your skin is exposed to the sun or environmental toxins. This is the potential of a biomimetic synthetic melanin developed by scientists at Northwestern University.
In a new study, scientists show that their synthetic melanin, mimicking natural melanin in human skin, can be applied topically to injured skin, where it accelerates wound healing. These effects occur both on the skin itself and systemically throughout the body.
When applied in a cream, synthetic melanin can protect skin from sun exposure and heal skin injured by sun damage or chemical burns, scientists said. The technology works by eliminating free radicals produced by injured skin, such as a sunburn. If left unchecked, free radical activity damages cells and can ultimately lead to skin aging and skin cancer.
You protect the skin and repair it simultaneously.
Melanin in humans and animals provides pigmentation to the skin, eyes and hair. The substance protects your cells from sun damage by increasing pigmentation in response to sunlight – a process commonly known as tanning. This same pigment in your skin also naturally eliminates free radicals in response to harmful environmental pollution from industrial sources and automobile exhaust.
Daily injury to your skin
“People don’t view their daily lives as injuring their skin,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Kurt Lu, the Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor of Dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine. “If you walk barefaced in the sun every day, you experience a constant, low-intensity bombardment of ultraviolet light. This situation worsens during midday rush hours and during the summer season. We know that skin exposed to the sun ages compared to skin protected by clothing, which doesn’t show as much age.
Skin also ages due to chronological aging and external environmental factors, including environmental pollution.
“All of these skin insults lead to the formation of free radicals that cause inflammation and degrade collagen,” Lu said. “This is one of the reasons why older skin looks very different from younger skin. .”
When scientists created the synthetic melanin nanoparticles, they modified the structure of melanin to have a higher ability to scavenge free radicals.
“Synthetic melanin is able to scavenge more radicals per gram than human melanin,” said co-corresponding author Nathan Gianneschi, the Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology at Northwestern. . “It’s like super melanin. It is biocompatible, degradable, non-toxic and transparent when rubbed into the skin. In our studies, it acts as an effective sponge, removing harmful factors and protecting the skin.
Once applied to the skin, melanin remains on the surface and is not absorbed by the layers below.
“Synthetic melanin stabilizes and places the skin on a healing path, which we see both in the upper layers and throughout the body,” Gianneschi said.
Both Lu and Gianneschi are members of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University.
Topical cream calms the immune system
The scientists, who have been studying melanin for nearly 10 years, first tested their synthetic melanin as a sunscreen.
“This protected the skin and skin cells from damage,” Gianneschi said. “Next, we wondered whether synthetic melanin, which mainly serves to absorb radicals, could be applied topically after skin injury and have a healing effect on the skin? It turns out it works exactly that way.
Lu envisions the synthetic melanin cream being used as a sunscreen booster for extra protection and as a moisturizer enhancer to promote skin repair.
“You can put it on before going out in the sun and after being exposed to the sun,” Lu said. “In both cases, we showed a reduction in skin damage and inflammation. You protect the skin and repair it simultaneously. It’s a continuous repair.
The cream could also potentially be used for blisters and open wounds, Lu said.
Gianneschi and Lu found that synthetic melanin cream, by absorbing free radicals after an injury, calmed the immune system. The stratum corneum, the outer layer of mature skin cells, communicates with the epidermis below. It is the surface layer that receives signals from the body and the outside world. By calming the destructive inflammation on this surface, the body can begin to heal instead of becoming even more inflamed.
“The epidermis and upper layers are in communication with the whole body,” Lu said. “This means that stabilizing these upper layers can lead to an active healing process.”


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The crypto news industry has evolved significantly over the last two years – coverage of the industry has evolved right along with it.
Two years ago, the Crypto News space was almost completely driven by raw hype: Bitcoin was up, up, up, and anyone who came within ten feet of the industry was told that if they invested, their pockets would become heavy. And it was true–for a while.
Since the boom of 2017, however, the cryptocurrency crypto news industry has endured a major market crash, months of doldrums, and a slow resurrection; as a result, the companies and individuals that were surviving on hype alone have largely been purged from the space–and so too have the news media outlets that allowed industry participants to shamelessly shill their products (for a fee, of course.)
Indeed, the crypto news media sites that have survived to this point are the ones that have managed to roll with the punches: building and improving methods of maintaining journalistic integrity for a new industry, hiring journalists with a good understanding of the technology in the industry, and maintaining traditions of transparency (in most cases.)
While this may seem like honorable principles, these crypto news outlets have not had a choice–with less and less capital flowing into
How has the Crypto news media industry changed over the last several years?
Marie Tatibouet, Chief Marketing Officer at Gate.io, explained the evolution of journalism in the crypto space this way: “during the ICO craze, a lot of crypto news media started charging companies looking for media coverage, often without even indicating it was a sponsored post, and because funds were flowing, they got away with it.”
However, the end of the crypto boom that took place at the end of 2017 translated to a serious decline in the amount of capital being thrown around the cryptocurrency space: “since the crypto winter, companies have had a lot [fewer] funds to spend on media and crypto news media readership has also been down, meaning that there has generally been a lot less money to go around.”
As such, “a lot of crypto news media companies died during the crypto winter because they were unprofitable,’ Tatibouet said. “Those who survived were the ones who got creative. Crypto media started turning to more digital ways to increase revenue: banner ads & digital services.”
”The standard for newsworthiness has increased substantially.”
David Wachsman, CEO of Wachsman, one of the world’s largest communications firms focusing on the blockchain industry, has also noted a marked improvement in the quality of journalism within the blockchain space since the crypto winter: “the reporters who remained after the most recent crypto bear market have a much deeper well of knowledge and therefore tend to write even better stories,” he told.
“Also, the standard for newsworthiness has increased substantially — you have to pass an awfully challenging test to earn coverage. We see this as a signal of a maturing market.”
Additionally, “because blockchain technology can at times be complicated and industry fast-moving, reporters in the space usually have to achieve a certain level of prerequisite knowledge of the landscape before being able to dive into a story”; therefore, journalists who have managed to survive within the blockchain industry so far tend to be more informed about the things that they cover.
But Wachsman also noted that the slimming-down of the crypto media during the crypto winter has not been a totally positive thing for the industry: “some terrific news sites devoted to the industry have had to shut down consequently, and that has been a terrible loss for the blockchain space.”
Events, data have become a popular way for crypto media sites to profit
As readership and capital are becoming more and more difficult for crypto media sites to obtain, organizing corporate events has become an increasingly popular way of bringing in
“Events have also constituted a large part of [crypto news media sites’] income during the boom of 2017, due to many companies using conferences as a platform to raise awareness for ICOs and funding rounds,” explained William McCormick, Founder of Pure Knot, a strategic communications and PR agency for blockchain companies.
However, the industry is only so big: “events became extremely saturated, and newer events are noticing a significant decrease in attendance. The larger established events like Consensys NYC and San Francisco Blockchain Week are still going strong.’
“This is due to their reputation, and also to their approach in spreading these events over a week-long community gathering in each city’s financial and tech hubs. We are seeing this trend globally, with Japan blockchain week coming up soon, and many other countries holding their own Consensys style ‘week of crypto events.’”
McCormick also mentioned the importance of good data. “There is an increasing trend for publications to paywall their more detailed research or specific topics, based on the analytics and data they gather through their publication,” he said.
“Also as part of a growing trend, Binance, a leading crypto exchange, for example, made a strategic investment into the Chinese crypto-data website Mars Finance, joining the funding round that valued them $200M. It’s blockchain data could potentially be an effective resource for Binance to expand its reach in Asia.”
Solid SEO strategy is key in the crypto news
Because there is less money flying around in the media side of the cryptosphere than in 2017, the sites that have managed to survive have had to rely more heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) strategy in order to stay ahead of the competition.
“SEO still remains a cornerstone for successful crypto businesses who invest their time to do it properly. While Google’s algorithms have changed in favor of sites with SSL, mobile first and other changes, companies who do it well have been able to position themselves against their competitors,” McCormick explained.
“For those who’ve invested in localization as well, this can help them get discovered in all of the non-English versions of Google, as well as other search engines such as Yandex, Bing, and DuckDuckGo,” he added. Of all of the most popular crypto media sites, CoinTelegraph seems to be the one that has put the most effort into developing localized content: in addition to its English news site, the publication also has sites in Spanish, Japanese, and German.
In any case, SEO is key: “depending on what sector of crypto business operates in, strong SEO can make the difference between acquiring users at a modest cost, versus having to pay large amounts through advertising to compensate for weaknesses.”
One important aspect of this is domain names: “if we are looking at just the domain name alone, it is undeniable that you want people to recognize your brand, your business or what your website is all about,” reads a post from the aptly-named Website.com. “An SEO-optimized domain name is one that tells people what the website is about, the products and services it offers, etc.”
Crypto-related domain names are a hot commodity
As such, the battle over cryptocurrency domain names has ensued–cryptocurrency-related domain names have begun to fetch particularly high premiums in the online world. In 2018, Crypto.com sold for a whopping $12 million; at one point, Ethereum.com (which has no relation to the creators of Ethereum or any aspect of the technology itself) was on sale for $10 million. Now, a visit to the website bears a brief statement and an invitation for potential buyers to “Inquire.”
Even “lesser” domain names will fetch a pretty penny–for example, a quick search on GoDaddy’s domain value calculator revealed that “Bitcoin.cloud” was worth nearly €60,000; “Bitcoin.global” was worth nearly €5000. “Bitcoin.love” was a bargain for just €135.43.
The increased demand for cryptocurrency-related domain names has attracted a growing number of so-called “domain squatters” to the space: companies and individuals who buy up large amounts of cryptocurrency-related domain names in the hope that a crypto company will be interested in paying a premium for it at some point down the road.
But having crypto-related domain names is not the be-all and end-all for SEO in the cryptosphere–for example, CoinTelegraph acquired CT.com in October of last year, and paid heavily for it: although the exact price of the purchase is unknown, NamePros reported that “it looks as though MediaOptions was brokering the sale of this name in 2017 after it appeared on several newsletters, with the price on February 16th, 2017 quoted at $1.3 million.”
Because two-letter .com domain names are such a rarity (there are no more than 676 of them in existence), they can fetch a particularly high premium; in 2013, IG Group purchased IG.com for roughly $4.7 million. Other notable two-letter domain sales include $8 million for “WE.com,” $5 million for “JD.com,” and $3.2 million for “MI.com.”
CT.com is also over twenty years old. While the exact impact of domain age on search engine optimization (SEO) is unknown, the consensus among experts seems to be that the older a domain is, the more likely it is to rank highly in Google searches.
Crypto News Traffic doesn’t lie
CoinTelegraph is certainly doing something right; the site is largely regarded as one of the most reliable news sources in the sphere. Additionally, India-based crypto journalist and digital marketing consultant Akshay Makadiya told that “in terms of traffic, Cointelegraph leads the board followed by CoinDesk and Bitcoin.com,” he said.
“According to the data from Similarweb, the multilingual sub-domains by CoinTelegraph helps them to gain approx 6 million unique visitors a month. while CoinDesk [receives] 5 million unique visitors and Bitcoin.com receive approx 3.5 million visitors a month.”
Investing Basics – Every investor has to start somewhere. Discover basic investments such as stocks and bonds, read about speculative practices such as trading on margin and shorting, and learn how to open a brokerage account to begin investing today.


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Sony PS5 product page goes live, price and pre-orders may be imminent
The product page for the Sony PS5 console has appeared on Amazon, amid rumours Sony may be about to open up the pre-order process ahead of the release date later this year.
At around 8:30pm UK time on Monday (around 3:30pm ET), the Amazon page for the new PlayStation 5 appeared online, but as yet there’s no option to pre-order the console.
That may not be the case for long, as speculation suggests Sony could finally be about to reveal the price for the next-generation games machine before an expected release date around the holiday season.
It comes amid rumblings Sony was is planning to give expectant gamers the chance to reserve their consoles around four months in advance. The noted Twitter leaker @IronManPS5 suggested pre-orders would commence on Monday, but so far they have not.
Related: Best PS5 games
Industry watcher Roberto Serrano is also tipping major developments today as product pages go live around the world. He’d predicted the the pre-order pages would launch at 3:30pm ET today. That’s yet to happen, but we’re refreshing the Amazon page as we speak. He’s since said clarified that plans could always change, as they have for Sony throughout this process.
It is thought that the asking price for the PS5 will spark some serious backlash from gamers, so this will be the key piece on information we could see today. In some quarters we’re hearing Sony may charge upon $599 for the PS5 with the 4K Blu-ray optical drive, while the all-digital edition will be a little more affordable.
The launch price is often a good indicator for a successful launch. Sony was never reeled in after undercutting the Xbox One price point. However, the PS4’s dominance of the era was also largely due to a much better line-up of exclusive games throughout the generation.
What would you be willing to pay extra for the PS5? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.


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Results For "MMA"
234 News Found
DDB Mudra West ropes in Kapil Tammal as Executive Creative Director
In OOH News By Nabamita Chatterjee - June 13, 2016
He comes with more than 15 years of experience, specializes in brands across categories ranging from FMCG, E-Commerce businesses, Apparels, Financial Sectors, Retail, Real Estate and Media companies.
A ready reference point by OOH industry will justify spends of the brands
In OOH News By Nabamita Chatterjee - March 23, 2016
A panel discussion at East Talks OOH conference held in in Kolkata recently discussed'What will be the key to increase brand spends in eastern market\'.
OOH must offer better visibility, greater coverage: Brand leaders
In OOH News By Soneeta Sethi - May 12, 2015
Shashi Sinha, VP, Laqshya Media, Emmanuel Joseph, Deputy Media Manager, FBD Division, ITC, T Keerthi Vardhan Reddy, Head Brand - Mobile/DTH/Money - TN Circle, Bharti Airtel, and C Sarath Mohan, Manager- Branding, Jaypee Cement discuss'What will it take to draw more brands to Tamil Nadu' at the Tamil Nadu Talks OOH! Conference organised in Chennai on May 8
BMRC invites bids for ad rights on Reachâ€“2 & Reach 4-A lines
In OOH News By VJ Media Bureau - March 25, 2015
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has invited bids for selection of a licensee for advertisement on piers and portals from Magadi Road Metro Station to Mysore Road Metro Station along the Reach-2 of Namma Metro Stations and Banashankari Metro Station to Yelachanahalli Metro Station along the Reach 4A of Namma Metro Stations
Real Estate, Educational Institutions, Jewellery Brands & Outlets - Key OOH Spenders
In OOH News By VJ Media Bureau - February 13, 2015
Time Outdoor Monitoring report on OOH spend in the Year 2014 covering 40 cities suggest that the Real Estate Category commanded the highest Share of Voice & Share of Space
DDB Mudra West appoints Ferzad Variyava as Group Creative Director
In OOH News By VJ Media Bureau - August 26, 2014
Variyava commands over 13 years of experience, having worked on household blue chip brands in the banking, media, FMCG, beauty, personal care, travel and telecom domains
We provide total communication solutions: Nabendu
In Viewpoints By M4G Bureau - July 26, 2014
Milestone Brandcom has made a habit of surpassing milestones with consummate ease. The firm's Founder & Managing Director Nabendu Bhattacharyya believes that OOH business is a pure conviction play. Bhattacharyya took the entrepreneurial plunge some five years ago with the firm belief that right ideas, right people, right practices will induce more brands to test the OOH waters. Milestone Brandcom is a testament to his firm belief. Bhattaryya talks about his riveting entrepreneurial journey in conversation with Outdoor Asia. Edited excerpts of the interview:


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With GDC kicking off, the news cycle is starting to kick off. Sorta.
The big news this week is of course Google Stadia - the new game streaming service from Google that runs right in your browser. Hey, we never said it was a good idea either... And all this talk of game streaming prompts more details for XCloud to come out, and so far, its looking like Microsoft and Google are gearing up for the long fight.
You can now, sort of, stream games from your PC to you Xbox. Halo MCC will share progress between PC and Xbox, but is still not a Play-Anywhere title, strangely enough. Xbox Game Pass is losing 4 games, while teasing newer, updated titles to come.
In the Nu part this week, prepare to die many times in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and learn how to properly pronounce Tyd Wag Vir Niemand.
All this and more on this week's episode of #NuNews!
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
Your hosts are:
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox


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Saturday, November 24, 2012
Start your holiday shopping at locally owned stores during Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday is today, Nov. 24. It is a day for everyone to support the small businesses that their community thrives on. American Express founded the day in 2010 to help small businesses get exposure during the holiday season, when they might be otherwise overlooked. With retailers buzzing around the holidays, it is important to support local small businesses that rely on their neighbors in order to continue prospering and building the local economy in Plum, Oakmont and Verona. Last year, 100 million people nationwide participated in Small Business Saturday by shopping at locally owned stores to help boost the economy and their communities. There are several small businesses in Plum, Oakmont and Verona—a list can be found on …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Several Oakmont businesses will be offering special deals this weekend!
As you think about holiday shopping this year, why not take a stroll down Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont? The Oakmont Chamber of Commerce and several Oakmont businesses are participating in Small Business Weekend—running Friday, Nov. 23, to Sunday, Nov. 25—in an effort to encourage the community to shop locally. Participating stores will be offering special promotions and services for many of your gift-giving needs. Store hours in Oakmont are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Participating stores are: Visit www.oakmont-pa.com for more information. _______________________ Plum-Oakmont Patch is on Facebook and on Twitter. Don't forget to sign up for our daily email newsletter by clicking …
Cast members and Steelers were among those who attended a fundraiser and film event—co-produced by a Plum resident—at Dormont's Hollywood Theater on Friday.
With Emma Watson signing autographs on Potomac Avenue last year, and a Tom Cruise movie filming in town last December, Dormont is no stranger to celebrity visits. But Friday's special showing of "Christmas in Compton" brought celebrities to Dormont's Hollywood Theater with a purpose. The event served, in part, as a fundraiser for the Red Cross, to support survivors of Hurricane Sandy. "We didn't expect it to get this big," said Hollywood Theater manager Chad Hunter. "We're certainly not complaining that it did. It's definitely great for the theater, but it's supporting a good cause, too. We couldn't have asked for this. It's wonderful." The movie was co-produced by Paula Gregg and Susan Burig, both Pittsburgh natives, who chose Hollywood …
Saturday, November 17, 2012
The Plum Chamber of Commerce welcomed the newest Plum business.
Several members of the Plum business community took time to smell the roses—literally—on Thursday as they welcomed the town's newest business owner. The Plum Chamber of Commerce held a special after-hours event at Bella One Florist on Unity Center Road. Mayor Rich Hrivnak and many business owners were in attendance for the store's grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony—the chamber's second-ever. Owner Judy Lagrotteria is a former Plum native—she went to school at St. John the Baptist School and through the Plum School District. Lagrotteria moved to eastern Pennsylvania and moved back to Plum in July to be with family. Lagrotteria owned her own business in eastern Pennsylvania, and began working on opening Bella One just one month after …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Chef Gordon Ramsay takes on Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine in a new show that airs Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. on the Fox Network.
As a young child, Jean Gould would stand on a chair and watch her mother cook. That love of cooking extended into adulthood—first for her church, then in her own restaurant. On Friday, Gould will be cooking for America when her Wilkinsburg restaurant, Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine, is featured on Chef Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares," which airs on WPGH Fox 53. The teaser on the "Kitchen Nightmares" website says: "Chef Ramsay travels to the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA, to help a desperate retired special education teacher, Jean, who put her entire life's savings into her failing restaurant. Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine has a gained a negative reputation in the community for the bad food and even worse service. Customers even say that Ms. …
Monday, November 12, 2012
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held this week.
A new flower shop has opened in Plum Borough. The Plum Chamber of Commerce will welcome the new business, Bella One Florist, 321 Unity Center Road, on Thursday, Nov. 15, with a ribbon cutting ceremony from 5 to 7 p.m. Owner Judy Lagrotteria is a former Plum native who moved to eastern Pennsylvania and most recently moved back to be with family, bringing her florist business with her. The chamber is encouraging members of the community and businesses to attend the ceremony. Check back for photos after the event! ____________________ Plum-Oakmont Patch is on Facebook and on Twitter. Don't forget to sign up for our daily email newsletter by clicking here.


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CANNES, France – Amazon’s Roy Price, one of the execs who seemingly holds the keys to entertainment’s future, strode onstage at MipTV on Monday dressed in a smart black biker’s jacket, black jeans and short cowboy boots.
His distinctive sartorial taste, closer to that of a creative than an executive, is already known. So was much of what Price said in his MipTV keynote address, a half-hour Q&A where the freshest element proved to be extracts from the upcoming hour-long action series “Jack Ryan,” showing author Tom Clancy’s character as a kick-ass young operative.
Still to be answered is exactly how Amazon’s global strategy will play out, especially against its biggest competitor in the streaming world.
“The key question is how Amazon Prime Video positions itself against Netflix: Will it pursue the platform strategy globally, bringing on more third-party content like Starz, HBO, as it does in the U.S., or the network strategy, becoming a premium channel, which is clearly the way Netflix is headed?” Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson said.
The platform strategy would benefit Amazon Web Services as the content fulfillment of platform partners is handled in the cloud by AWS, Bisson added.
Price, the head of Amazon Studios, passed on a question as to how much Amazon would be raising its content budget, in originals or acquisitions, from the estimated $3 billion in 2016. He was clear, however, about the metrics by which Amazon judged a show’s success: “We certainly pay attention to whether subscribers are engaging with the show and is it influencing people to stay subscribed, influencing people on the free trial to convert and become subscribers, or getting people into the trial.”
Price added: “If people are engaged with Amazon Prime Video, they tend to see the broad value and range of services and engage. If we get them there, that’s a win.”
The top two shows in most of Amazon’s 240 countries are usually automotive program “Grand Tour” and counterfactual drama “The Man in the High Castle.” “Those shows are bringing in and keeping customers and that’s a big area of focus,” Price said, defending “Grand Tour’s” unspecified but controversially large budget, saying the show is “actually efficient and good economics.”
Price also confirmed that Amazon will dive into local production, though he didn’t reveal any timetable or production volume targets.
Shows like “Grand Tour” have an international fan base, “but all customers are local. So you have to pursue a multi-local strategy where you seek out the great artists in each territory,” Price said, citing Amazon’s first German TV series, “You Are Wanted,” which posted Amazon’s biggest opening ever in Germany.
Driving engagement, Amazon’s prime focus is “the crème de la crème, the top five-to-ten shows in the world people are talking about in real life at lunch.” To get them, “you’ve got to go big-time and get people who do things differently and bring something fresh and different,” he said.
“Bigger doesn’t have to be dragons and spaceships,” Price added. “Maybe it’s being more real and contemporary and fresh, or maybe it’s bigger and more cinematic in 4k and HDR.”
“Jack Ryan,” produced by Paramount TV and Skydance Television, is currently in production and has shot in Tokyo, India, Canary Islands, Europe, and the U.S. “It’s got to the point where you can’t possibly visit all the sets, so hopefully everyone is working today,” Price joked.
In the show, Ryan (John Krasinski) is a young, strapping, desk-bound CIA analyst who is already adept at combat. In one scene screened at MipTV, Ryan does serious damage to a wall with an assailant’s head. He studies the communication patterns of a terrorism suspect, who Ryan realizes is on track to raise $9 million in eight days. “The whole 9/11 operation cost just $500,000. What do you think he can do with 2o times that money?” he tells a colleague.
Desperate to shut down the terrorist before he wreaks global damage, the CIA takes Ryan off his desk job and puts him in the line of fire. Kick-ass and kinetic, with a thundering soundtrack, “Jack Ryan” will be released on Amazon Prime Video probably in the first quarter of next year, Price said.


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SAN FRANCISCO, May 26, 2006 (Podtech News) — Nike and Apple have teamed up to give other athletic shoe companies a tuneful run for their money. The companies earlier this week jointly announced the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a running shoe ...
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May 26th, 2006 | Connected Social Media Syndication


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Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue admitted this week that American farmers have been hit hard by President Donald Trump’s trade policies. But, he said, he would make no promises about continued aid to those paying the price.
Perdue traveled to Iowa this week to tell the state’s farmers that the administration appreciates their sacrifices, even as Trump continues to unilaterally increase tariffs in hopes of convincing other countries to give him trade deals.
According to the USDA’s 2017 statistics, Iowa is home to 86,104 farms.
“President Trump has a lot of respect for farmers and ranchers across this country,” Perdue said, in an interview with CNN, which aired Tuesday. “He appreciates your patience. He understands that it is tough out there.”
The former Georgia governor was then asked directly if American farmers were “the casualty” in Trump’s trade war with China.
“I think they are one of the casualties there of the trade disruption, yes,” Perdue responded.
Perdue noted that Trump had made some $16 billion in bailout money — part of a flawed policy to help aid growers affected by the trade war — available to farmers this year to help make up for the damages Trump had caused, proof he suggested that farmers can “count on him.”
Asked whether this aid would continue, however, Perdue was emphatic that the bailout was for this year only. “Again, this is a 2019 program, I’m not going to promise anything for 2020,” he said.
Iowa has been hit hard by Trump’s policies. The state’s senior senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, said last month that he would write a letter to the president to explain in detail how much the administration’s imposed tariffs harm his constituents. He noted that he was putting the concerns in writing because he does not believe Trump is capable of understanding the issue when explained out loud. “I’m not sure if you talk to him face-to-face he hears everything you say,” Grassley said at the time.
According to the conservative Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa farm bankruptcies have soared to an 18-year high under Trump.
Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week to restart negotiations on a trade deal, though Perdue said he does not expect a deal to be achieved before the end of this year.
The United States and China have been in a trade war for the past year. Trump imposed a 25% tariff on the import of Chinese goods last summer — making products like steel and aluminum more expensive for American consumers — and China retaliated with similar policies to reduce sales of American goods exported there.
In May, Trump also raised tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, hiking them from 10% to 25%. China, as it did previously, immediately responded by announcing its own tariffs on $60 billion worth of American exports.


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The Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities are a wake up call for the tech industry, affecting most of the processors made over the past twenty years. "Our current testing indicates that the Safari mitigations have no measurable impact on the Speedometer and ARES-6 tests and an impact of less than 2.5% on the JetStream benchmark", the announcement indicated regarding the Spectre protections.
Apple also suggested that customers be careful to only download software and apps from trusted sources (like the App Store). The security flaws were recently discovered after security vulnerabilities were found on computer chips used in several of the world's most prominent smartphones, tablets, and PCs.
Samsung Galaxy S9 will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor in the U.S., while in India and other worldwide markets, it will come with the company's own Exynos 9810 processor. In the camera department, the Galaxy S9 is expected to come with a single rear camera, whereas the S9 Plus is expected to come with a dual-camera setup with Live Focus for DSLR-like bokeh effects.
And it's an IPS LCD display, not an AMOLED display like other Samsung smartphones available in the same price range. The Android-based smartphone features a 5.5-inch full HD (1080x1920 pixels) display with the same old 16:9 aspect ratio.
Just a few years ago, Facebook was bullish on the prospect that it would be the most important arena in which to fight out US elections, and the evidence suggests the plan came to fruition in 2016. Pacific Center for Financial Services boosted its position in Facebook by 10.7% in the first quarter. Meanwhile, it is not inconceivable that Facebook may choose to sidestep the flak for distributing fake news by simply choosing to downgrade news - all news - in its algorithm or remove news from the ...
The researchers revealed in a blog post that the campaign has targeted organisations involved with the Pyeongchang Olympics scheduled to take place between February 9 and February 25. "Organised by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics". The latest malicious attachment is a Word document written in Korean that asks users to enable content.
The letter refers to the mental health issues that are believed to stem from the excessive use of smartphones amongst children and teenagers. Two major Apple investors have called on the iPhone maker to help counter the growing smartphone addiction among children, highlighting growing concern about the effects of gadgets and social media on youngsters.
Trump's plan, presented by the Department of the Interior in a draft proposal on Thursday, would offer offshore blocks to oil and gas drillers in practically the entire US outer continental shelf , opening the door to drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
This year's fridge gets the full capabilities of Samsung's rival to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. The new TVs will also feature SmartThings , Samsung's IoT platform hub, which promises "a simpler way to control the television and sync with other devices".
He said the company's Oculus Go headset, targeted at $200, will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chip set. Oculus is partnering with Xiaomi for Oculus Go while helping the Chinese company launch a cousin to the low cost standalone headset that doesn't have the Oculus Store or Oculus Home.
As the Christmas trimmings are put back in the loft for another year and all the festive cards are taken down, South Holland residents may be pondering what to do with their real Christmas tree. Trees must be undecorated. Residents are asked to remove all tree stands, nails and ornaments from the trees. Come now, people! We aren't mulching plastic trees here.
Amazon has announced a new Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit, for bringing Alexa to portable devices such as hearables, headphones, smartwatches or fitness devices. This is expected to happen sometime in 2019. Amazon's digital assistant is branching out. But what if you could not only hear that forecast from Alexa, but also see the weather prediction being depicted in a very realistic way across the inside of your new smart glasses? But as Slate noted , the wearables and headphones push is ...
Revenue likely rose 14.8 percent to 17 trillion won, compared to the 16.3 trillion won SmartEstimate. "The first-quarter operating profit is expected to stand at around 15 trillion won", Lee said in a report before Samsung's announcement.
Companies have been expanding their reach through the wearable tech as well, adding features that you can directly control through your wrist. And, like nearly every other company at CES, Whirlpool is announcing integration with Google Assistant to be able to control connected appliances through voice command.
However, it should be here that Monster Hunter: World gets its context in terms of why your characters are hunting monsters and what the overall point of it all is. Considering how vast the game is, and just how gorgeous it looks, this is a considerably small size. Capcom has confirmed that it will be releasing Monster Hunter: World in the fall of 2018.
Speaking with TV Guide , Nevins confirmed that he's already had a gander at the show's scripts, despite the fact Joe Public has seen next to nothing on the much-anticipated project since its initial reveal. It's interesting that Nevins states that they've " seen " anything at all in regards to this project, so hopefully further details are coming soon (a writer/director/concept art/anything really).
Unlike the original Nokia 6 model that was launched back in January past year with a front-facing fingerprint scanner, the Nokia 6 (2018 ) features a fingerprint scanner on the back. The new model still has a 16-megapixel (with f/2.0) sensor living on the back and an 8-megapixel (with f/2.0) front camera (with added 84-degree wide-angle capture for the new model).
The chips in the second-generation Ryzen , Ryzen Pro, and Threadripper lines to be released later this year will probably be priced comparably to the models they're replacing, but we don't have numbers yet. Will the prices of any other desktop Ryzen chips be affected? However, we may see a few new custom-cooled variants of Vega throughout the year. AMD's second-generation 12-nanometer Ryzen desktop CPU will debut in April.
The company is confirming USA releases for a couple of phones that look to be pretty impressive for the price . From what GizmoChina has reported , it is anticipated that Honor View 10 in the U.S. Huawei's EMUI Android skin could prove a major drawback for the View 10, as is seen with the Honor 7X . The new Honor View 10 will compete against the likes of One Plus 5T and Nokia 8, among others.
Apple has released today security updates to mitigate the effects of the Spectre vulnerability that affects processors deployed with Apple devices such as smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. "We recommend downloading software only from trusted sources such as the App Store", the company said . Users with eligible devices should find the update in their phone's settings under General, then Software Update.


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Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The Juneau Economic Development Council and the Juneau Chamber of Commerce are working on a plan to get $800,000 of the two million dollar donation from Norwegian Cruise Lines for the benefit of local businesses.
Council Executive Director Brian Holst talked said on Action Line that the boards of both organizations have had discussions. "The spirit of the donation as we understand it from NCL towards the chamber and JEDC is to assist businesses most adversely impacted by COVID-19. So that's what we're coming up with is a design for a program that focuses on those businesses most hurt here in 2021 because there have been relief programs last year for businesses that were really impacted in 2020."
Holst added the program is still being designed. "It's only $800,000. It doesn't go super far when you start spreading it among businesses, but the idea is to assist those businesses that were especially hard hurt by the lack of cruise ship passengers."
The Juneau Community Foundation will administer $1 Million dollars of the cruise line donation.
The balance includes $100,000 to the Sealaska Heritage Institute's arts park downtown; $50,000 for the Centennial Hall renovation, and $50,000 for renovation of the Catholic church downtown.


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Guitar Hero Live developer reportedly greatly impacted.
Black Ops 3 was huge, Skylanders and Guitar Hero underperformed.
Beyond Mad SuperCharged Metal LEGO Viking's Destiny.
Skylanders, LEGOs and Disney. Oh my!
Everything you need to know about the next four weeks.
Check out a gallery of Skylanders SuperChargers screenshots.
All previous Skylanders figures are compatible.
Twenty new SuperChargers characters toys and twenty new vehicle toys will be available.
Team Ninja released Rise of the Ronin update 1.04 last night, the patch notes for which have now been revealed.…
Mobile gaming has come a long way in the last few years, and that includes being able to play games…
PS Plus Extra and Premium April 2024 games recently went live, and brought with them technical issues that have resulted…
Sony Pictures Entertainment is reportedly teaming up with investment firm Apollo Global Management to acquire media giant, Paramount. According to…


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Caterpillar Inc. today reported record-breaking 2011 sales and revenues of $60.14 billion, an increase of 41 percent from $42.59 billion in 2010.
Profit in 2011 was $4.93 billion, an increase of 83 percent from $2.7 billion in 2010. Profit per share of $7.40 was up 78 percent from $4.15 in 2010.
Fourth-quarter sales and revenues in 2011 were an all-time quarterly record of $17.24 billion, an increase of 35 percent from $12.81 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. Fourth-quarter profit was $1.55 billion, compared with $968 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Profit of $2.32 a share was 58 percent higher than the $1.47 a share in the fourth quarter of 2010.
“Our strategy is squarely focused on customers, and in 2011 our employees, suppliers and dealers delivered. We improved product quality, invested significantly in manufacturing capacity and product development and improved our market position. We completed two large acquisitions –– Bucyrus and Motoren-Werke Mannheim Holding GmbH –– in important growth industries that are a great strategic fit and provide our customers an even broader range of products,” Caterpillar chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said in a statement.
The 2011 increase in sales and revenues was the largest percentage increase in any year since 1947, with much of it driven by international sales, Oberhelman said, adding that 2011 was a record-breaking year for U.S. exports, at nearly $20 billion.
The outlook for 2012 sales and revenues has increased and is expected to be in a range of $68 billion to $72 billion, the company said. Profit per share is expected to be about $9.25 at the middle of the sales and revenues range.


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Aerosol overcap molder Cobra Plastics Inc. has made an investment of roughly $5 million in a new headquarters, warehouse and factory in Twinsburg, Ohio, its home of 35 years.
The firm moved from older, leased buildings one mile away, capping a construction and renovation project that began in January, said Cobra President Kent Houser during an Oct. 15 open house. The project allowed Cobra to more than triple the size of a 30,000-square-foot building and place molding, metalizing, printing, labeling, packaging, and research and development under the same roof as operations and warehousing.
Founded in 1973 as Le-Air Molded Plastics Inc., Cobra had new ownership and a name change in 1995, and since has grown from nine to about 100 employees. The company does not disclose sales figures, but its clients are the big names in the spray-paint and hair-care products markets and therefore, somewhat immune to the U.S. economic downturn, Houser said.
``It's not entirely recession-proof, but we've been through a couple of recessions since we've owned the business and we've always been able to grow and to hire good people,'' he said.
The new facility includes 14 injection molding machines Cobra bought over several years, from suppliers that include Arburg, KraussMaffei and Milacron models. The latest additions are three Demag Plastics Group El-Exis S 330-ton presses, all installed since 2006.
``Kent's a tough guy to please,'' said Victor Strapko, joking.
The regional sales manager for Sumitomo-Demag Plastics Machinery of North America, Strapko attended the open house. ``He didn't want to buy the last two machines until he was convinced the first one worked.''
Strapko said Demag was able to reduce cycle times significantly on the new presses to meet Cobra's specifications.
Inside the new facility, which was completed Sept. 1, steps have been taken to conserve energy and maximize production efficiencies, said Lee Hendershot, Cobra's vice president of operations. Office lights are controlled by motion sensors, and high-efficiency fluorescent lighting was installed on the shop and warehouse floors.
Variable-speed compressors and pumps help machinery operate efficiently, and for cooling water, Cobra executives chose an air-cooled system to replace the traditional water tower.
``That investment saved us $20,000 per year,'' Hendershot said. ``We've also changed the way we chemically treat water coming out of the presses and that will save us $10,000 a year.''
Press operators collect faulty overcaps, which are reground and repelletized to save on raw materials, Hendershot said. The company is considering what it needs to do to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, he added.
The new facility has a whimsical side: In addition to having a mural of the seventh hole at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links painted on his office wall above a miniature putting green that requires a bit of a draw Houser ordered a full-scale pitching green, complete with sand trap, installed on the northwest side of the Cobra complex.
``One of these days, we'll grow some more and then I'll have to knock down a wall and expand the plant. Then it's bye-bye pitching green and I'll shed a tear,'' he said, laughing.
Houser said Cobra will mold products other than overcaps in the future, but would not give specifics.
Dutch specialty materials manufacturer Royal Ten Cate NV in 2001 sold its Ten Cate Plasticum USA overcap molding plant in McHenry, Ill., to a consortium comprising Cobra and Engineered Molding Solutions Inc. of Spring Grove, Ill. Cobra acquired the tooling assets and aerosol-overcap product line from Plasticum and continues to use EMS as a subcontractor for some specialty molding.


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CHANGSHA • China has begun a trial run of its first magnetic levitation train, completely designed and built by local firms, marking a major leap in the technological capability of the country's rail transport sector.
The so-called maglev, with a maximum speed of 100kmh, began ferrying passengers on the 18.5km-long line in the city of Changsha in Hunan province yesterday, Xinhua news agency said, adding that the project cost 4.29 billion yuan (S$897 million).
The train works by floating on a magnetic field along a guideway, which allows for higher speeds and reduces friction.
China is pushing its high-tech equipment firms to create home-grown brands as part of its "Made in China 2025" national plan, to move the economy away from the low-value manufacturing model that fuelled its economy's meteoric rise, reported Reuters.
The country already has the only commercial maglev in operation in the world. It was developed and built by the government and a German consortium, including industrial giant Siemens, in Shanghai in 2003. The Changsha maglev was designed by a group of Chinese universities with CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive, a unit of CRRC Corp, which was created by a government-driven merger last year to export China's rail technology.
Separately, China announced this week that more than half of new vehicles bought by central government departments will be new-energy cars within five years.
China is promoting new-energy vehicles as one of its key industries in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan which starts this year. Under the plan, the aggregate production and sales volume will hit five million in five years.
Already the world's largest car market since 2009, China topped electric car sales last year, with about 220,000 to 250,000 units sold, eclipsing sales of about 180,000 in the United States, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.


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We are extremely proud to be recognised for the growth of our international sales in the Sunday Times SME Track 100 for 2018!
Compiled by Fast Track, the Sunday Times Lloyds SME Track 100 ranks Britain’s 100 SME (Companies with turnover up to £25M) with the fastest-growing international sales over the last two years. The full list of the Top 100 Companies will be published in the Sunday Times on 25 February 2018.
“We have always performed well within the export markets and the last five years have seen exceptional growth of over 90% year on year,” commented Managing Director, Matthew Palmer. “We now export to over 25 countries, with new markets opening in Asia, Australia and South America. Our manufacturing plants in China, coupled with strategic operations across the globe, enable us to offer high quality, excellent value Roll Pallets to the world’s major retailers. Being ranked amongst the Top 100 British companies is testament to our investment in improved systems, infrastructure and strength of our management team. Our international export sales have grown to in excess of £5.7m per year and we will continue to invest in our range of storage and logistic equipment we both manufacture and supply to ensure we offer the quality and service our customers are accustomed to. Long term investment into our Roll Pallet range means we now exceed 40 designs from our stock range, and the largest in Europe. It also means we can fulfil orders immediately, providing a vital resource for some of the largest retail, warehousing and logistic organisations across the globe.”


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Apple CEO Steve Jobs was allegedly in a rage about Microsoft’s purchase of Mac game developer Bungie back in 2000, according to former Microsoft executive Ed Fries. In an interview with Develop magazine, Mr. Fries said that he was tasked by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to mollify Mr. Jobs, and a deal was reached to bring Microsoft-published games to the Mac.
“As soon as we announced we bought Bungie, Steve Jobs called,” Mr. Fries told the magazine. “He was mad at [Microsoft CEO Steve] Ballmer and phoned him up and was angry because we’d just bought the premier Mac game developer and made them an Xbox developer.”
Mr. Fries was then the vice president of game publishing for Microsoft, and a central player in both the Bungie buyout and the purchase of another game development house called Rare.
Bungie was the premier game developer on the Mac platform, with titles such as Marathon, Myth, and Oni being developed for the Mac platform at a time when many developers either fled or ignored the Mac. Halo was to be the company’s next big franchise, and it was shown to the world for the first time running on a Mac during a Stevenote at Macworld New York 1999.
In July of 2000, Microsoft announced that it had bought Bungie, and that Halo — which had been scheduled for release on both Mac and Windows — would become a premier Xbox title. That was, according to Mr. Fries, when Mr. Jobs started phoning Redmond.
“So, during the day, I got an e-mail from Steve Ballmer asking me to phone Steve Jobs and calm him down about the whole thing,” Mr. Fries said. “Anyway, we did this deal with Apple where we’d port some PC games to the Macintosh and help Peter Tamte create this company to do it, and I had to go to a Mac developer conference and get on stage and talk about this whole new partnership. It was a pretty strange time.”
This is all clearly water under the bridge, of course, but many Mac Bungie fans will likely be interested in knowing that the Microsoft move that many saw as a big blow to Mac gaming was important to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.


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Evolution Gaming Purchases Ezugi in Landmark Deal
Live dealer casino software king Evolution Gaming has now taken its first steps into the world of consolidation. The developer has revealed that it is getting ready to acquire one of its biggest rivals, Ezugi, in a takeover deal.
Late last week, the Stockholm-listed company announced to the world that it had inked an all-cash deal to acquire Curacao-licensed Ezugi for a consideration of $12 million upfront. The agreement also reportedly contained a possible maximum top-up payment clause of $6 million in addition to the aforementioned sum.
Agreement to be Finalized by 2019
The acquisition deal is expected to be complete and finalized by early in 2019, as long as it passes the standard closing conditions applicable to these kinds of agreements. Evolution Gaming has noted that the purchase is set to boost its revenues by 2-4% next year, and would also reportedly be ‘slightly accretive’ to its 2019 earnings.
The global supplier of live dealer casino gaming solutions has hailed the deal as a prime way to expand its international footprint, especially since Ezugi operates no less than nine live gaming studios in regulated jurisdictions across the globe. Its current countries of operation include South Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the US state of New Jersey as well.
Ezugi first launched its NJ gambling studio two years ago through an exclusive partnership with Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget Casino – the local market’s leading iGaming operator. Evolution then established its own studio in New Jersey early this year, and now, the two firms are the only licensed live casino game suppliers in the entirety of America.
Authentic Deals with German Casino
CEO of Evolution Martin Carlesund has hailed the purchase as a ‘logical next step’ for his firm. The deal, he says, will have the benefit of boosting his company’s market share in existing markets, and will also add licenses in new jurisdictions such as South Africa. In October this year, the company revealed that its Q3 revenues had risen by 41% year on year to reach €64.3 million, while profits grew 27% to hit €21.2 million.
Kfir Kugler, the CEO of Ezugi, also added that the deal has brought him great satisfaction as he knows that Evolution’s superior offerings in sectors like streaming speed and quality, game selection, user experience and ‘all-round excellence’ would take his firm’s licensees ‘to the next level’. Kugler’s firm, which was founded back in 2012, currently boasts 20 mobile and online games to more than 100 B2B land-based and digital operators.
In related live gambling news, Authentic Gaming of Malta also recently announced that it has teamed up with François Blanc Spielbank, the operator of Bad Homburg Casino in Germany, to live-stream Roulette from its physical floors to online customers. CEO Jonas Delin has commented that the deal will give his company bragging rights as the first – and only – operator to stream live table games from the West European nation.


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With the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, marking Apple’s first major product release since the Apple Watch nine years ago, a new era of Mixed Reality technology takes center stage. On February 2, 2024, in the vibrant streets of New York City, Apple’s flagship store witnessed a remarkable moment as 200 people patiently waited for the 8 a.m. opening to get their hands on one of the most innovative consumer electronics devices, priced at $3,499, which is not affordable for everyone. CEO Tim Cook, who personally greeted the crowd, envisions the Vision Pro as the future of computing—a world where virtual and augmented reality seamlessly merge.
In this innovative ecosystem, Adobe plays a crucial role by tailoring its generative AI app Firefly specifically for VisionOS, significantly enhancing the creative potential of the Vision Pro. Firefly, known for its text-to-image capabilities, allows users to realize artistic visions by generating and arranging artwork on the headset’s expansive displays—a promise of a future where features like wrap-around panoramas and 360-degree environments will be possible.
To further enrich the exclusive platform for Vision Pro users, Adobe offers free access to Firefly until March, a gesture that expands the boundaries of Mixed Reality. This offer includes 25 generative credits monthly, with a premium plan available for those needing more, offering 100 credits for $4.99 per month. To ensure transparency and trust in the generated content, Adobe implements “Content Credentials” for all creations, acting as “nutrition labels” for digital content that reveal how and with what tools an artwork was created.
The announcement that Adobe Lightroom is also making its way to the Vision Pro underscores Adobe’s ambition to provide a comprehensive creative suite for the headset’s users. Lightroom on VisionOS mirrors the iPad version’s experience, featuring an interface optimized for hand gesture navigation, which may not surpass the desktop or iPad versions in functionality but promises a more immersive editing experience.
The introduction of the Vision Pro and the integration of Adobe Firefly and Lightroom mark a turning point in how we experience and interact with technology. Despite the high price and additional costs for accessories, which can raise the total price to up to $4,600, the sales figures and enthusiasm from core fans suggest that Apple and Adobe’s vision of a seamlessly integrated digital world where creativity and technology go hand in hand is already becoming a reality.


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While explaining the inspiration behind the firm’s handwriting robot on their website, Sonny Caberwal, the CEO of Bond Gifts, said that he has terrible handwriting, and he usually doesn’t have stationery readily available, and doesn’t even know how to create a wax seal.
According to the site, their new invention manually writes a 255-character message in cursive unlike the printer, ABC News reported.
Rob Leuschke, a freelance font designer, told the publication that connective script fonts need to be carefully planned and thought out as there are always going to be inconsistencies in spacing them.
Photos: Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aamir Khan at Mumbai airport
Photos: SRK, wife Gauri, Aishwarya Rai, Shweta Bachchan at Vogue Awards
Photos: Harbhajan Singh-Geeta Basra's TV outing with daughter Hinaya
Photos: Malaika Arora flaunts ripped jeans like a boss!
Photos: Vaani Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Dia Mirza sizzle on the ramp


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Comet receives seven-figure bid to keep brand alive online
John Roberts, the founder of Appliances Online, has revealed that Comet could survive online and has put in a seven-figure bid for the brand's website.
Comet: attracts interest from Appliances Online founder
Roberts claims the deal is dependent on whether Appliances Online can "rescue the brand before too much damage is done through the administration process".
Comet appointed Deloitte as administrator earlier this month, less than a year after Kesa sold Comet for £2 to Hailey Holdings and Hailey Acquisitions, a firm backed by private equity group OpCapita.
More than a thousand jobs have already been axed and 41 stores are being closed by administrators.
Roberts said Comet’s brand resonance and recall means Comet could still make a "powerful force online" if backed by Appliances Online's "outstanding customer service and value".
Appliances Online has reported annual sales of over £300m and claims online sales have risen by around 10% since Comet’s administration.
The Appliances Online website is currently running a banner ad stating, "worried about your order with Comet? We’re here to offer you impartial advice".
Roberts said: "We believe it is unlikely that Comet will survive in any form on the retail parks which leaves Currys in a very strong position.
"Our job is now to make sure we deliver a choice for the customers to keep Currys honest and ensure a competitive retail market that retains an alternative for customers on who they trust for value and service with their hard earned cash."Follow @mattchapmanuk
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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The official launch for SoundMoovz took place last night with an exclusive party atop London’s OXO Tower.
Press and celebrities gathered to witness the launch of the new wearable tech gadget that lets users make music by moving.
A crew of SoundMoovz dancers – assembled by Character Options for the launch night – took to the stage to demonstrate the SoundMoovz bands in action to put on a body-popping performance for guests that included 5 After Midnight, Sinitta and Joanne Clifton from Strictly Come Dancing.
The venue also saw the reuniting of Big Brother housemates Imogen Thomas and Nikki Grahame.
Speaking at the event, Jerry Healy, group marketing director, Character Group, said: “SoundMoovz is a totally unique product which is going to make a big impact in the UK market.
“It’s such an innovative product to add to our portfolio, we see this as the must-have wearable tech of 2017. The SoundMoovz dance Crew has unleashed its unlimited potential to the UK audience while showing how super cool and easy these bands are to use; anyone can now produce their own beats through simple movement and dance.”
SoundMoovz already made is consumer debut at Westfield Stratford on July 1st and 2nd to thousands of shoppers who flocked to watch the SoundMoovz Dance Crew and brand ambassador, Hakeem Onibudo, put on a show of streetdance, play acting and audience participation.


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KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): As of mid-June, more than 21,000 workers in the U.S. tech sector have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2022, according to a Crunchbase News tally.
In a report last Friday (June 17), Crunchbase — which tracks trends, investments and news of global companies from start-ups to the Fortune 1000 — said tech companies as big as Netflix have slashed jobs this year, with some citing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and others pointing to overhiring during periods of rapid growth. Robinhood, Glossier and Better are just a few of the tech companies that have notably trimmed their headcount in 2022.
Crunchbase said the public markets have been hit hard in 2022, and that’s trickled down to the private markets.
Inflation concerns, rising interest rates and geopolitical issues have all contributed to a roller coaster stock market, it said.
According to the tally, startups—especially the ones who benefited from a pandemic boom that’s starting to cool—are starting to feel the pressure too.
Valuations, particularly at the late stage, have started to dip, and startups say it’s much more difficult to raise new funding in this environment.
Both startups and publicly traded companies that are based in the U.S. were included in the tally, as well as companies based elsewhere that have a sizable team in the United States, such as Klarna, even when it’s unclear how much of the U.S. workforce has been affected by layoffs.
The layoffs from were sourced from media reports, social media posts and layoffs.fyi, a crowdsourced database of tech layoffs.


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OAKLAND — The Port of Oakland revealed Thursday that it is in advanced negotiations with container cargo operator TraPac for a terminal, and has found new berths to handle nearly all the cargo that will be displaced by the departure of one of its terminal companies.
The disclosures came during a luncheon presentation by the executive director of the Port of Oakland as part of a “State of the Port” address.
“We do have a new challenge,” J. Christopher Lytle, executive director of the Port of Oakland, said during his speech Thursday on the Oakland waterfront to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and Women in Logistics.
That challenge was this week’s announcement that Outer Harbor Terminal, a joint venture of Ports America and Terminal Investment, had decided it would cease operations at the Port of Oakland. The operator occupied one of five terminals at the port.
“We at the port will do everything in our power to make sure there are no disruptions to cargo,” Lytle said. “This is a chance to reset.”
TraPac, which currently operates a terminal at the Port of Oakland, could be a big part of that reset and solution for the East Bay cargo hub.
In an interview with this newspaper after his speech and a question-and-answer session, Lytle said the negotiations are for the 44-acre terminal complex that is being vacated by the Ports America and Terminal Investment venture.
“That’s awesome,” Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney said in an interview Thursday about the negotiations.
In addition, the joint venture will also relinquish its use of another 166 acres at the port. That acreage will be used for some unspecified operation or enterprise.
“We haven’t decided yet how the 166 acres will be used,” Lytle said. “We are going to find a very productive use for that acreage.”
In addition, the port said it has successfully found new terminals at the port for 90 percent of the cargo that is affected by the departure of the Outer Harbor Terminal joint venture.
“We don’t expect to lose any cargo,” Lytle said. “We don’t expect any ships to be diverted. This is not the end of the world” because the joint venture will exit the port.
The Oakland port also is attempting to rebound from the aftermath of a labor dispute that disrupted cargo handling for both exports and imports in late 2014 and early 2015.
After starting out the early part of 2015 with imports down by about 35 percent, the port staged a big rally in the subsequent months. The port ended the year with its import cargo volume roughly even with the 2014 totals.
The port also intends to enable Saturday hours for handling cargo in a quest to ease any bottlenecks during the week. The port also has been experimenting with night gate operations.
Oakland’s port is deemed to be a crucial part of the Bay Area economy, since about 73,000 jobs in the region are linked to the port’s operations.
Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167. Follow him at Twitter.com/georgeavalos.


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“By equipping people with unique insights into their possible risk factors, we can empower them on their journey to better health.”
CARY, N.C. (PRWEB) April 26, 2017
In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month this past November, Paramount Rx partnered with food and drug retailer ShopRite to host free blood glucose screenings in 238 ShopRite stores spanning five states across the Northeast. After taking a simple blood glucose test, more than 6,000 people gained valuable insight on their risk-factors for developing diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions.
Screenings are a critical first step in preventing or managing diabetes. Of the 29 million Americans with diabetes, one in four are undiagnosed and don’t seek out medical treatment. Another 86 million people over age 20 are ‘prediabetic.’
“We’re thrilled that so many ShopRite customers took part in the blood glucose screenings,” said Michael Sallusto, executive vice president, Paramount Rx. “By equipping people with unique insights into their possible risk factors, we can empower them on their journey to better health.”
In addition to supporting preventative health initiatives such as blood glucose screenings, Paramount Rx is helping customers save money on their medications. By participating in Paramount Rx’s Community Cares Rx program, customers could receive up to 20 percent off on brands and 70 percent off on generic medication with the Community Cares Rx prescription discount card. Online tools allow program participants to locate a pharmacy and research drug pricing and availability, providing an extra layer of support and convenience in the pharmacy shopping experience.
To learn more about consumer prescription savings programs that deliver real results for pharmacies and the community at large, please visit http://www.paramountrx.com.
About Paramount Rx Inc.
Paramount Rx is a full-service prescription benefits manager (PBM) focused on consumer-driven health care to help clients provide services for consumers to save money on prescription drugs. The company has tailored programs to help their customers and consumers achieve significant savings with discount prescriptions through a national network of over 57,000 participating pharmacies. For more information, visit http://www.paramountrx.com.
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative based in Keasbey, NJ, and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 270 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than six million customers each week. A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite has donated more than $43 million to 1,700 worthy charities and food banks since the program began in 1999. For more information, please visit http://www.ShopRite.com.


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WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Marion "Suge" Knight, the former music mogul who created one of hip-hop's leading labels and became the impresario of gangster rap, was arrested early Friday on suspicion of hitting and killing a man with his truck and fleeing the scene of the crash near Los Angeles.
Shake Shack, a hamburger chain that prides itself on fresh ingredients and good service, soared Friday in its first day of trade on Wall Street. Near 1740 GMT, shares of the restaurant chain were at $48.24 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 129.7 percent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $21. It has been compared to the fast-growing burrito chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, whose motto is "Food with Integrity." Chipotle also emphasizes food customization, high-quality ingredients and the use of meats not raised on antibiotics and hormones. People are trading up," Shake Shack chief executive Randy Garutti told CNBC.


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A head shop owner has been convicted of selling CBD flower, deemed class B drugsRead More
Category: News & Articles
There has been a lot in the press about the health benefits of marijuana recently. And the truth is, that it seems like we are just at the tip of the iceberg, with new benefits being discovered all of the time. Those with glaucoma, epilepsy, cachexia, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), PTSD, chronic pain and seizures – amongst others are probably already aware of how medical marijuana can be beneficial to their quality of life.Read More
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Sarah Stellini, a long-standing leader in the local iGaming industry, has joined St Julian’s-based Hero Gaming as Commercial Director.
Earlier this week, Ms Stellini took to social media to commemorate a “great first day” at the company. “Cannot wait to really get started,” she wrote.
The Commercial Director joins Hero Gaming after a two-year stint at Betsson Group. During this period, she served as Head of Marketing for Zecure Gaming and Head of New Business.
Ms Stellini had first joined Betsson Group in 2014, as E-Commerce Manager for NordicBet. Over the next four years, she was promoted to Global Conversion Optimisation Manager and Head of Growth Optimisation.
In 2018, she joined Catena Media to serve as Commercial Product Owner, before re-joining Betsson Group in March 2020.
Before entering the iGaming industry, Ms Stellini served a five-year tenure at Uniblue Systems Ltd, during which she served as Affiliate Manager, CRO Team Manager, and Head of Conversion Rate Optimisation.
Hero Gaming was founded in 2013 by Georg Westin, who was at the forefront of offering gamified casinos. ‘Casino Heroes’, one of the company’s first brands, was launched in 2014 with an initial focus on Scandinavian countries.
Nowadays, Hero Gaming’s portfolio also includes the ‘Boom Casino’ and ‘Simple Casino’ brands.
Hero Gaming / Facebook
He served as Deputy CEO and Chief Marketing Officer for the past four years.
‘Looking forward to adding value to the gig economy in Malta and beyond in my new role.‘
He first joined the agency in 1994.
IZI Group are the newest concessionaires behind Malta’s national lottery


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The international B2B E-commerce portal Bizbilla unveiled the Newsbilla iOS app where you can get latest business, education and ecommerce news updates across 250 countries 24x7.
The global B2B E-commerce marketplace Bizbilla launched Newsbilla Android app which enables business persons to get latest global business news updates on various industries worldwide 24X7.
Select the news your prefer and read the news in detail. After reading you can comment on it and share in social medias such as Facebook, Twitter, G+ & LinkedIn.


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Vendit is the first cryptocurrency firm to successfully link Uber to a wallet credited by any virtual currency, although this has been an effort many companies had been working on. The Vendit payment system makes use of a special merchant processor system that can be adopted into a Point of Sale merchant system, allowing itself to be seamlessly integrated with apps such as Uber. Currently, Vendit also supports other popular apps and services such as IHOP and Domino’s Pizza, the popular pizza chain.
Announcing the development on its website, Vendit stated,
“It is with great pleasure for Vendit to announce that Uber has been added to Vendit’s payment system allowing people to be able to add credits to their Uber App by purchasing with cryptocurrencies. We believe this will set the benchmark in the use case scenario for cryptocurrencies and hope others believe it as well. We look forward to continuing the goal of mass adoption and adding more merchants in the near future.”
This isn’t the first time Uber has been associated with the world of cryptocurrency. In 2016, Uber had announced that it would be accepting Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, as payment for cab services in light of the Argentinian government’s restrictions on credit card transactions. However, after a lot of protests by local cab services in the Argentinian capital, Uber’s services in the country itself were restricted.
According to Founder and CEO of Vendit Mike Hu however, Uber isn’t going to be the endgame. Hu has reiterated that Vendit has planned out future milestones that would help hasten the wider adoption of virtual currency as well as ensured that in time, more and more popular apps would be supported by the online cryptocurrency payments system.


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MassDEP Proposes Waste Disposal Ban on Textiles and Mattresses
In October 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) released a public hearing notice announcing proposed regulatory amendments to the Commonwealth’s solid waste management regulations (310 CMR 19.000). The amendments would expand the scope of the regulation’s waste restrictions, adding textiles, as well as mattresses, to the list of materials banned from disposal, effective October 21, 2021.
MassDEP has scheduled hearings on the amendments, and their accompanying Revised Guidance for Solid Waste Handling and Disposal Facilities on Compliance with MassDEP’s Waste Bans, for Monday, November 9, at 6:00 p.m. ET, and Thursday, November 12, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. ET, via ZOOM. Those interested may present testimony orally at the hearing, or share written comments via email until 5:00 p.m. ET on December 4, 2020.
This regulatory update is consistent with global trends identifying the high-footprint textile industry as a key target for waste diversion mandates. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that 12.7 million tons of textile waste is disposed of in landfills in the United States each year (EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2017 Fact Sheet (2019)). The textile waste disposal stream is likely to increase as countries that historically received the bulk of the planet’s used clothing—such as Kenya and Rwanda—begin to implement restrictions on such imports to avoid further accumulation of textile waste and minimize risks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Background on Massachusetts Waste Disposal Ban
Last amended in 2014, Massachusetts’s solid waste regulations include a waste ban (310 CMR 19.000) that restricts the disposal, transfer for disposal, and contracting for disposal of certain hazardous items and recyclable materials at solid waste facilities in Massachusetts. The regulation specifically dictates that:
- “No person shall dispose, transfer for disposal, or contract for disposal or transport of the restricted material;” and
- “No landfill, transfer facility or combustion facility shall accept the restricted material except to handle, recycle or compost the material in accordance with a plan submitted pursuant to 310 CMR 19.017(6) and approved by the Department.”
Accordingly, every solid waste management facility must remove or divert from disposal waste ban materials in accordance with a waste ban compliance plan approved by MassDEP, and modify such plans to address newly banned materials.
The law aims to encourage job growth, capture resources, save energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Restricted materials, to which textiles and mattresses will be added, include:
- Asphalt pavement, brick and concrete
- Cathode ray tubes
- Clean gypsum wallboard
- Commercial food material
- Ferrous and non-ferrous metals
- Glass and metal containers
- Lead acid batteries
- Leaves and yard waste
- Recyclable paper, cardboard, and paperboard
- Single-resin narrow-necked plastic containers
- Treated and untreated wood and wood waste
- White goods
- Whole tires
The regulation allows for limited exceptions to these restrictions, as well as de minimis quantities for disposal, “as determined by the Department.” However, failure to otherwise comply with approved waste ban plans or permit conditions constitutes a violation of 310 CMR 19.000 and may result in enforcement action pursuant to 310 CMR 19.081.
The proposed amendments to the waste ban would add mattresses and textiles as materials for which disposal is restricted, as well as reduce the threshold for prohibited commercial food waste from 1 ton per week to 0.5 tons per week. “Textiles” would include “clothing, clean footwear, bedding, towels, curtains, fabric, and similar products.” The amendments would specifically prohibit the disposal, incineration, or transfer for disposal of textiles, with an effective date of October 21, 2021 for landfills, combustion facilities, and transfer facilities. Per updates to guidance, textiles should be estimated as a percentage of waste load, with an action level of 10% by volume.
Implications and Future Considerations
The waste restrictions are one part of a larger Massachusetts effort to prioritize textiles for diversion, reducing residential textile waste, increasing reuse and donation, and developing local markets for textile recycling, reuse, and management. This broader effort is captured in the Draft 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan, which MassDEP is currently finalizing following the end of its comment period in September 2020. Read more on the Master Plan in B&D’s coverage during the comment period.
Massachusetts is not alone in its focus on the textile industry to address growing waste issues—both in the United States and internationally. In February 2020, France passed an anti-waste law explicitly banning the disposal of unsold clothing, requiring that it instead be recycled or donated. The French law and Massachusetts proposal could serve as models for other jurisdictions seeking to embrace circularity—an expansion that would have material implications for apparel, footwear, and other manufacturers and retailers with limited options for managing waste. These waste restrictions may also present heightened challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, where a significant amount of retail goods remain unsold.
Ultimately, these new laws will require stakeholders in the linear apparel and footwear industry —from direct-to-consumer brands to textile manufacturers—to seek new end-of-life solutions or alternative waste streams. Many retailers and manufacturers are responding to mounting pressures by proactively embracing circular models, offering customers take-back programs and options for textile reuse and recycling. Such strategic approaches to end-of-life product management anticipate the likely changes to come and mitigate risk should similar bans on textile waste arise with greater frequency.
With an office in Boston, Beveridge & Diamond's Air, Climate Change; Consumer Products; Product Stewardship, Global Supply Chains; and Waste, Recycling practices work with U.S. and multinational companies that make, distribute, transport, or sell consumer products in a hyper-competitive and evolving consumer goods market. We help identify, understand, and comply with complex regulatory requirements throughout the product lifecycle. Our Massachusetts waste practice helps clients comply with constantly-changing requirements, minimize exposures to environmental liabilities, develop business opportunities, and enhance profitability. For more information, please contact the authors.


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L’Oreal, Weleda UK, Inolex, Givaudan, P&G, Unilever, Clariant, Mibelle Group, Liz Earle, STANPA, Natura and more to gather at Sustainability & Naturals in Cosmetics this May in Barcelona!
With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of sustainability issues, a significant number are making the switch to natural and sustainable beauty products, so companies are adapting their practices to stay ahead of the market. Smithers Rapra, part of the Smithers Group, have announced the launch of Sustainability & Naturals in Cosmetics conference, which will tackle these challenges by providing the industry with a much-needed platform to discuss innovations, insights and new trends in sustainability and naturals in cosmetics.
Taking place on 31 May – 1 June in Barcelona, Spain, the conference will bring together key professionals, from raw material suppliers and distributors, cosmetic manufacturers, brands and retailers through to associations and labelling regulators all working towards sustainability in cosmetics and bio-based ingredient developments. The conference will deliver unrivalled content from ...