text:
At a time when you are so dependent on your internet for work, school or just entertainment, it would be a nightmare to have an outage of any kind. Well, it’s unfortunately happened for Airtel users around the country that have had a mobile data downtime.
It is not clear how long exactly the outage has lasted as it seems to vary with different subscribers. For some, it seems to have lasted the whole day yesterday. Others took to Twitter to complain that they have had issues with their mobile data even longer than that.
But if you have been having issues with your Airtel data, just know you aren’t alone. Luckily, Airtel Kenya did announce acknowledge the issue with the promise of working on the hitch.
“You might experience service intermittence while using Data. Kindly bear with us as we seek to resolve. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience.” the statement reads.
There is no word from the telco on what exactly caused it.
But it is clear that it has affected a number of subscribers as many Kenyans as internet usage has proven to spike over the last few months.
As of April this year, regular internet data traffic was reported to going as high as 57.8 Gbps. This is a huge spike in comparison to 7.5 Gbps that was reported in January 2020.
In the same month, Safaricom PLC was reporting 40% traffic surge that saw 2.34 Petabytes of data via mobile and fixed home internet carried daily. In English, this translates to five million hours of continuous viewing.
By now, we could only assume that the number has gone even higher across ISPs and telcos. Hopefully, this does not to ever be too heavy for the service providers.


text:
(Bloomberg) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will stop the production of its electric Fiat 500 and 500e backdoor models in North America, the manufacturer's latest measure to curb exposure to a declining car market in the United States.
As the production of both models ends at a plant in Toluca, Mexico, the remaining inventory will be sold next year, the company said in a statement. The Italian-American automaker did not specify which vehicles can replace them at its Toluca plant.
Fiat Chrysler will continue sales in the US of the 500X crossover, a slightly larger version, the 500L truck and the 124 Spider convertible. However, the decision to withdraw the main 500 model from the US brand. He ends an eight-year experiment and refocuses the company on its most profitable and largest vehicles, such as Jeep SUVs and Ram trucks.
Fiat returned to the US market in 2011, betting that the elegant Italian car could compete with the United Kingdom Mini Cooper while fulfilling a promise to the Obama administration to help sell small cars with lower fuel consumption to Americans. Despite a high-profile marketing campaign, the 500 model did not reach the initial forecast for sales of 50,000 vehicles per year in the US.
Former executive director Sergio Marchionne acknowledged the false steps of marketing in the initiative: "We thought we were going to appear and just because of the fact that people like ice cream and pasta, they would buy it," he told reporters at the Detroit Motor Show in 2012. "This makes no sense."
The fall in gasoline prices and the love story of American drivers with large sport utility vehicles frustrated Fiat's efforts to gain ground. Sales of all Fiat cars in the US They reached a maximum of 46,000 units in 2014, and have been in free fall since then: they decreased 41% last year to only 15,521 vehicles, the lowest level since the reintroduction of the brand in the US market after 30 years of absence in the country.
Fiat brand sales fell 38% in the first half of 2019 and deliveries of the 500 model dropped 25% to 1,692 units. Sales of 500 decreased to more than half last year to only 5,370.
Fiat Chrysler plans to build a new fully electric 500 at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, but has not said whether that car will be sold in the US.
Original Note: Fiat Pulls 500 Off U.S. Market as Americans Snub Italian Minicar
Reporter in the original note: Gabrielle Coppola in New York, [email protected]
Publishers responsible for the original note: Craig Trudell, [email protected], Chester Dawson
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com"data-reactid =" 29 "> For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
© 2019 Bloomberg L.P.

domain: news


text:
Brian White, a technology and supply chain analyst at Topeka Capital Markets, made the forecast in a research note claiming “iTV”will also come with a motion-sensitive “iRing” which will effectively act a a remote control.
The note also predicts the “iTV” will come with a 9.7-inch “mini iTV” – approximately the same size as the average iPad – that can be used for video conferencing and other utilities.
“Essentially, we believe the ‘mini iTV’ screens will be able to capture content from the 60-inch ‘iTV’ across a distance of up to 200meters, allowing a user to view ‘iTV’ content in the kitchen, washroom, garage, bedroom, backyard, etc,” says White.
The forecast is based on White’s briefings with Apple suppliers. The “iRing” details – plus additional reports of multiple “packages” for the number of different screens – add further details to earlier reports.
The note comes as Facebook is widely expected to unveil a branded smartphone running on the Android operating system at a press event to be held this evening (4 April).
Apple moving into the television sector has the potential to fundamentally alter the power dynamics of the TV market. For that reason alone, advertisers, TV stations and other manufacturers should all take heed and start preparing their response.
To draw a comparison, think of how Apple’s entry into the smartphone sector – which was dominated by the likes of mobile operators and Nokia until the iPhone – turned that market completely on its head.
Connected TVs are hardly new, Google, Samsung and Sony are already in this sector – we must assume that such a device would come with an internet connection – but not exactly setting the world alight.
However Apple’s ability to shine new light on a previously faultering device type is already proven, just think of the aforementioned iPhone and iPad. Apple could seize second-mover advantage here, no matter how many noses it has to put out of joint in the process.
There’s so many potential talking points around the potential reprecussions of such a launch, please feel free to leave your thoughts below.


text:
Rovio has announced it is cutting some of its workforce. While the number was said to be 130 jobs, as of this week that number is now 110, with some employees going through renegotiations. The publisher is cutting down a bran... read
The Angry Birds movie is not only a real thing, but it seems as though production is well underway, with a cavalcade of celebrity voice talent just announced today. The Columbia Pictures film will be directed by Clay Katis of... read
With the complete global saturation of the Michael Bay era Transformers, you rarely see the classic series get any love these days. Say what you will about the franchise, but this Angry Birds Transformers trailer is ado... read
'Like preaching to one choir while throwing bees on another' The world can be a difficult place. Even if it looks like you have everything going for you on paper, it can feel like everyone is against you in practice. As a young, attractive, Caucasian millionaire once said, "Have you ev... read feature
Years before the Angry Birds videogame franchise took the world by storm, pet accessory maker Hartz partnered with Seattle artist Juli Adams to release a line of cat toys going by the name of Angry Birds. A lawsuit filed by A... read
Rovio's temporarily trading warfare of the avian type for a more mechanized approach. Angry Birds Transformers was revealed today, much to the delight of eight-year olds that love wearing all of their favorite things on ... read
I've always maintained that the Angry Birds series isn't bad from a gameplay perspective, but hot damn there are a lot of iterations of them at this point. The latest announcement is Angry Birds Star Wars 2: Rise of the... read
Ever wonder what Flappy Bird or Angry Birds would have looked like in a different, much simpler time? A time like the early '80s and '90s? Dorkly has made it possible with these absolutely ridiculous vintage covers.
You've go... read
Helsinki-based studio Boomlagoon was founded a couple of years ago by ex-Rovio team members, coming off of their work on a little game called Angry Birds. They released a game called Noble Nutlings (great name!) last year.
Honk if you hate geese
Here's this week's Farts 'N' Crafts! I'm a little burnt-out following GDC, so today's topic involves children attacking a goose with a broom. If you'd like to hang this on your wall, you can buy a print here. If you'd like to make your own picture of kids fighting a geese, go right ahead and drop it in the comments here, or shoot me an email. read feature
In case you haven't heard, the developer behind Puzzle & Dragons has crafted an Angry Birds-like game with RPG elements called Princess Punt. You'll control the titular hero as she attempts to slide into enemies and push... read
Angry Birds Epic is coming, and it's going to be a turn-based RPG. Wait what?
It has crafting, turn-based battles, magic, and of course, microtransactions. It also stands to reason that given the mass appeal of Angry Birds, ... read
DTOID News salutes ursine iconoclasm
Everyone’s off playing Titan Souls or Darkfall or whathaveyou, so news this week is a lot of non-news. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt has been delayed, which sucks, but apparently won’t derail Cyberpunk 2077. Sony ... read feature
If Angry Birds Stella was Rovio playing it safe (make the same game but the bird is pink, that way girls will know it's for them even though girls and everyone else already play Angry Birds), the newly announced Angry Birds E... read
It's like stand up tragedy
Rumor has it that people are sick of Flappy Bert. Like your Kardash-a-Hilton, the game has become famous for being famous, and as such, has started to get on people's nerves. To many it entered the public eye as a pariah, bu... read feature
You didn't think Rovio was going to stop putting out Angry Birds games anytime soon, did you? Because the studio has just announced "a never before seen part of the Angry Birds Universe," titled Angry Birds Ste... read
Both the National Security Agency and the British Government Communications Headquarters has been spying on us through Angry Birds. They're able to get personal data from phone apps, and Angry Birds is one app that's bee... read
Speaking at the Pocket Gamer Connects conference in London, Rovio chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka announced Angry Birds has achieved two billion downloads, reports Mobile Entertainment.
"We started as a mobile games... read
As the guy who does the editing for our Huge News of the Week program, I'm not really in the best position to be making comments about how stupid gaming-related video content can be. Anybody who has seen my work th... read
Angry Birds Go! has soft launched over in New Zealand, and Pocket Gamer is giving a nice little break down of how the game plays. Their hands-on has discovered that the game is heavy on microtransactions, one of which include... read
The plague that is Angry Birds is infecting everything. Even the cocaine-coated fusion of Pokemon and Bejeweled that is Puzzle & Dragons cannot resist the avian epidemic. The feverishly popular role-playing... read
Hot off their Batman: Arkham Origins crossover, GungHo Online Entertainment has landed another collaboration that makes a little more sense for their addictive dungeon-crawling puzzler. Beginning November 18, till December 1,... read
If M&Ms are allowed to have a kart racer, surely Rovio can try its hand at the genre free of guilt. Those angry birds are certainly iconic, and I suppose that's what matters most here.
Angry Birds Go! is exactly what you... read
Join the Pork Side, Anakin I don't get the widespread outrage over so called "casual," simple-minded games. I can spend an afternoon plugging away at the most time-consuming and complex RPG imaginable, and if Angry Birds is thrown in every now and then, so be it.
Yes, I'm reviewing an Angry Birds game. Deal with it. read feature
Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films), wants you to "Join the Pork Side" in Angry Birds Star Wars 2. Set to drop on September 19 for iOS, Android, and Windows Phones, it'll be a $0.99 app -- on Android, th... read
Activision will be at gamescom and are planning to wave their giant wads of money around as they will have the biggest ever demo-theater ever built in gamescom history for Destiny. It comes in at 72ft in length, 43ft wide, a... read
Since I know everyone here asked for it, Angry Birds Star Wars is heading to pretty much every system under the sun on October 29, 2013. Specifically, it'll hit the Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Wii and 3DS. It'll come with... read
Rovio's tease from last week has been unveiled and it's pretty much what we expected: Angry Birds Star Wars II. Releasing September 19 for mobile devices, this sequel will span the three prequel movies and even incorporate p... read
Rovio has just teased a new picture today that hints at what's coming next for the Angry Birds franchise -- specifically, Angry Birds Star Wars. Pretty much everyone will recognize this as the iconic poster for Star Wars: A P... read
I'm pretty sure you've heard of Angry Birds by now. It's a game where you fling vengeful birds across a screen so you can murder other animals, who cooked up and ate the birds' young. It's a pretty sick game but people seem ... read
It's a monumental weekend for Apple, which is days (hours? minutes?) away from 50 billion downloads.
It's not hard to think back to a time when the App store seemed insignificant, but looking at Apple's published lists of the... read
Who says you have to make AAA console games to make money? While the big guys are shutting down left and right, Rovio flings off their financial results for 2012 showing that they're growing at an amazing rate. The Espoo, Fin... read


text:
"Allo" is Greek for "other." Alloparents are helpful relatives and neighbors. In a study from Congo, babies had 8 alloparents on average. Perhaps the self-reliant nuclear family is a societal misstep.
On Monday, 28 newborns were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt, after being transported from Al-Shifa Hospital. Four mothers accompanied the babies. It's not known how many of the other parents are alive.
Parents are increasingly turning to weighted sleepwear to help lull their babies to sleep, but a growing number of doctors and safe sleep advocates warn it comes with risks that shouldn't be ignored.
The loungers were sold in stores such as Amazon, Pottery Barn Kids, Target and Walmart from January 2004 to September 2021. A total of 10 deaths have been linked to the product.
Can the warmth of a parent's chest be a boon to babies, especially premature births? In the 1970s, Colombian researchers found it did. The technique has gone global. Ivory Coast is the latest convert.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission advised parents advised to not let babies fall asleep in rockers after multiple deaths tied to Fisher-Price products.
For some Georgia families, the ongoing formula shortage is compounded by larger issues of food access or a variety of things that make shifting to breastfeeding difficult — if not impossible.
The Social Security Administration has released its annual list of top 10 baby names by state for 2021.
Monday on Political Rewind: The McMichaels have reached a plea deal to avoid federal charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, but a judge needs to sign off on it. Arbery's parents are calling the deal a betrayal. Meanwhile, David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, has been subpoenaed. He'll testify to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Plus, we look at how the Supreme Court could change after the retirement of Justice Breyer.
For infants, toddlers, and children, one sign of an especially close relationship is if two people do something that involves exchanging saliva, like taking bites from the same piece of food.
On this special year-end edition of the Georgia Today podcast, we look back at some of our most memorable episodes from 2021.
The loungers were sold in stores from January 2004 to September 2021. Retailers including Amazon, Pottery Barn Kids, Target and Walmart carried the product.
The rate of new cases of COVID-19 among babies and children under 4 years old in the U.S. recently surpassed the rate of new cases among adults older than 65. Here's how to protect newborns.
Sunday is Mother's Day, a tough time for some new mothers whose babies are in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. Babies in the NICU are either...


text:
ANA Launches Real-time Capacity on cargo.one to Meet the Accelerated Demand for E-booking Solutions
- E-booking on the rise: As freight forwarders turn to digital solutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ANA makes its services available on leading e-booking platform, cargo.one.
- Restoration of capacity: ANA to bring back cargo flight capacity to major Asian destinations for its summer schedule.
TOKYO/BERLIN, June 22, 2020 - As of now, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest airline, provides real-time quotes for all available air cargo capacity on leading e-booking platform cargo.one. Through ANA and cargo.one's partnership, announced earlier this year, the ever-growing number of freight forwarders using cargo.one, will have easy web-based access to ANA's large network with a focus on top destinations in Asia such as HND, NRT, HKG, SIN and more for booking with instant confirmation. Over the past week, ANA has restored a significant number of its European cargo flights, which are all bookable by freight forwarders on cargo.one.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digital booking capabilities within the air cargo industry over the past months. ANA along with other airlines, has prioritized making it easier for freight forwarders to access and book capacity in a remote work setting.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for the increased digital sourcing and booking behavior of freight forwarders and has encouraged our companies to join together with an even stronger bond," said Toshiaki Toyama, Executive Vice President of ANA. "Through this partnership, ANA can now guarantee a secure, first-class digital booking experience on cargo.one. We are extremely excited to join the cargo.one family and look forward in the coming months to offering more products and services to freight forwarders around the world via the platform."
Over the course of the last year, cargo.one continues to prove its competence in deploying technology to quickly support profound changes in an airline's digital capabilities.
"With cargo.one, it is possible for every airline to access incremental revenues and strengthen their top line," said Moritz Claussen, Founder & Managing Director at cargo.one. "We have further standardized our processes while always keeping a customer-centric approach that is tailored towards the individual needs of our airline partners. We are very happy to have ANA on board now and look forward to expanding our partnership."
Starting today, ANA capacity will be available in key European countries, such as Germany, the UK, and France. Other markets, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Sweden will be available soon.
ANA Corporate Communications, TEL +81-3-6735-1111, firstname.lastname@example.org
Laura Weritz, Senior Manager - Brand, Marketing & Communications, TEL +49 1756502729, email@example.com
Following the "Inspiration of Japan" high quality of service, ANA has been awarded the respected 5-Star rating every year since 2013 from SKYTRAX. ANA is the only Japanese airline to win this prestigious designation eight years in a row. Additionally, ANA has been recognized by Air Transport World as "Airline of the Year" three times in the past 10 years - 2007, 2013 and 2018, becoming one of the few airlines winning this prestigious award for multiple times.
ANA was founded in 1952 with two helicopters and has become the largest airline in Japan, as well as one of the most significant airlines in Asia, operating 58 international routes and 117 domestic routes. ANA offers a unique dual hub model which enables passengers to travel to Tokyo and connect through the two airports in the metropolitan Tokyo, NARITA and HANEDA, to various destinations throughout Japan, and also offers same day connections between various North American, Asian and Chinese cities.
ANA has been a member of Star Alliance since 1999 and has joint venture partnerships with United Airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines.
In addition to the full service and award-winning record of ANA, the ANA Group's subsidiary Peach Aviation Limited is the leading LCC in Japan, and has expanded following the integration of Vanilla Air Inc. in late 2019. The ANA Group carried 54.4 million passengers in FY2018, has approximately 43,000 employees and a fleet of 260 aircraft. ANA is a proud launch customer and the biggest operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
For more information, please refer to the following link.
Cargo One GmbH (cargo.one) develops a platform for booking and marketing air freight capacities. The company focuses on offering instantly bookable quotes for multiple airlines, making it the first booking platform of its kind. Accredited freight forwarders can search, compare and book these quotes on the cargo.one platform in real-time and receive an immediate booking confirmation. Partner airlines gain access to a cost-effective, data-driven and fully digital distribution channel. cargo.one's product changes long and asynchronous booking processes by telephone or e-mail, enabling substantial cost savings on both sides. The cargo.one team combines international experience in building digital business models with relevant expertise in the modernization of B2B processes. Situated in Berlin, Germany, cargo.one has partnered with global airlines such as Lufthansa, Finnair, AirBridgeCargo, Etihad and ANA while serving a fast-growing number of more than 1500 freight forwarding branches, including players such as Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Agility Global Integrated Logistics, DACHSER and Flexport.


text:
July 21 2017 – ECONOMISTS have welcomed the decreased interest rates, saying that it would have a positive impact on many sectors of the economy, including agriculture, investment, and franchising, today.
This comes after the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) announced on Thursday, that the Monetary Policy Committee had decided to reduce the repurchase rate by 25 basis points, to 6.75 per annum, due to the improved inflation outlook and the deteriorated growth outlook.
The prime lending rate, the figure charged by banks to customers, will now decline to 10.25 percent.
Paul Makube, senior agricultural economist at FNB, said the decreased interest rate was a welcome breather as it would help ease pressure on farmers and agribusinesses, further improving profitability.
“The reduced costs of doing business will eventually benefit the consumer in terms of lower food prices,” says Makube.
“It will further improve the feasibility of delayed or stalled investment projects which have a potential to unlock employment opportunities in the sector.”
Chantal Marx, head of research at FNB Securities, said the cut and persistence of the governor’s dovish tone highlighted that now may be a good time to consider increasing exposure to interest rate sensitive stocks locally.
“Usually when the reserve bank cuts rates, consumers receive some relief in terms of debt repayments and may have a little more to spend on discretionary goods, this will be boosted by lower inflation as well. Interest rate sensitive stock include clothing, furniture, and car retail and travel and leisure stocks,” Marx said.
Riaan Fouché, head of FNB Franchising International Development, said the decreased interest rate would assist with lower debt service costs for franchisees and more cash flow.
“This enables expansion strategies of Franchisors which will have a positive impact in creating employment within the country. It will also allow franchisees the opportunity to settle existing debt a little quicker than before,”says Fouché.
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago warned though that a number of risks to the inflation outlook persisted and that the rand remained vulnerable to heightened political uncertainty, global monetary policy developments and possible further credit ratings downgrades. – ANA


text:
U.S. stocks finish mixed with equities mostly sticking to monthly gains, after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered rate-cut reassurances, but also cautioned about the economy and inflation. See full story.
The Fed: Bernanke signals Fed's going to stay on the rate-cut path
The Federal Reserve will remain on course toward implementing additional interest-rate cuts, at least in the near term, although the journey has become more treacherous as prices are rising, the U.S. central bank's chairman said Wednesday. Downside risks to economic growth remain the key focus of monetary policymakers, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke told Congress. Inflation remains a secondary concern. See full story.
Consumers start cutting back at bars and restaurants
While alcoholic-beverage makers tend to do fine in hard economic times, the current downturn may take a bite out of the premium “cocktail culture” that has been so much a part of the industry’s recent growth spurt. See full story.
Delta-Northwest deal idles, waiting for pilots
A merger deal between Delta Air Lines and Northwest appears stalled Wednesday after an internal Delta memo said the carrier is still looking for a transaction that will strengthen its business strategy. See full story.
Many Yahoo holders may be wary of a higher bid
Many of the large, institutional holders of Yahoo stock actually stand to lose money if Microsoft sweetens its unsolicited, $31 a share acquisition bid for the company, an analyst calculates. See full story.
Herb Greenberg: Lululemon CEO's sweet deal
SAN DIEGO (MarketWatch) -- From the "nice work if you can get it" department: With the options Robert Meers got as chief executive of lululemon athletica, a Canadian yoga-apparel maker, there was little doubt that he would hit the jackpot. See full story.
Real Estate: Weak dollar, lower prices attract overseas buyers to U.S. homes
Some second-home buyers coming to the United States to scoop up property in the shadow of Walt Disney World are finding that it is, indeed, a small world after all -- especially when it comes to getting a bargain. See full story.


text:
The 43rd GST Council met under the Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister recently.
As a COVID-19 relief measure, a number of specified covid 19 related goods such as medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators and other oxygen storage and transportation equipment, etc., have been recommended for full exemption from IGST.
In view of rising Black Fungus cases, the exemption from IGST has been extended to Amphotericin B.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 28 chaired the 43rd GST Council meeting via video conferencing. The GST Council meeting, attended by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and the finance ministers of states and Union Territories (UTs) along with senior officials of the Government of India, was convened for the first time in nearly eight months on May 28.
The GST Committee decided that the Centre will borrow Rs 1.58 lakh crore and pass it on to the states to make up for the shortfall in their revenues from the implementation of the GST. A special session of the Council will be held soon to consider extending the five-year GST shortfall compensation period to states beyond 2022.
The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged but exempted duty on import of a medicine used for treatment of black fungus. Sitharaman said the GST Council decided to continue a waiver of IGST on free COVID-19 related supplies imported from abroad.


text:
Eight-part series Indian Matchmaking landed on Netflix recently and has gripped viewers. The series follows on from other dating shows including Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle. But how do you watch the programme online for free?
Indian Matchmaking follows professional matchmaker Sima Taparia who has been enlisted to help singletons find a husband or wife.
Travelling between America and India, she will meet the families of single people from the South Asian community hoping to get hitched.
The programme follows a group of single men and women who are hoping to meet the one.
While the show is more of Netflix’s standard reality dating fodder with heroes and villains and dramatic storylines, Indian Matchmaking has been shining an uncomfortable spotlight on the more unsavoury aspects of customs within this culture.
Indian Matchmaking is making waves on Netflix now
Many detractors have hit out at Indian Matchmaking for perpetuating colourism, casteism and hierarchy.
The programme-makers behind Indian Matchmaking have leapt to the defence of the show.
Speaking to The Los Angeles Times, producer and Oscar-nominated director Smriti Mundhra, explained: “For me this show is an opportunity to show what it really is ... the diversity in the diaspora.
“That we’re not a monolith. That we have all sorts of different backgrounds, different ideals and ideologies.
“But also, we don’t have to be defined by the stereotypes of our culture.”
She went on to say how she didn’t want to make Indian Matchmaking for a “Western gaze” and the show “is what it is”.
The executive also said the programme allowed the opportunity for people to “start conversations” and allow “reflection” about the things which are valued within this community.
How to watch Indian Matchmaking online for free
Indian Matchmaking is only available to watch on Netflix, which means you must be a subscriber to watch the show.
Sadly, there’s no longer a free trial for Netflix UK, so there’s no way to watch Indian Matchmaking for free.
However, there are several different subscriptions to suit all budgets starting with the Basic Package at £5.99 per month.
The Basic tier will give you access to all content on Netflix, but you can only watch on one device at a time.
Netflix confirmed in 2019 it was raising the cost of its subscriptions but the Basic one would remain unchanged.
The intermediate tier known as the Standard package went up from £7.99 per month to £8.99.
This level allows you to watch content on two devices simultaneously and HD where possible.
Rupam Indian Matchmaking: Did Rupam get married? [INSIGHT]
Pradhyuman Indian Matchmaking: Did Pradhyuman and Rushali marry? [ANALYSIS]
Radhika Indian Matchmaking: Did Radhika get married? [EXPLAINER]
Coming in at the most costly is the Premium tariff at £11.99 per month but allows you to watch content on up to four devices at the same time.
Along with streaming content, Netflix has a download function which means you can watch episodes of Indian Matchmaking on the go.
Netflix can be watched on a variety of devices including laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
Indian Matchmaking is streaming on Netflix now


text:
Now Costco is making headlines for its latest giant-sized offering: very, very large cheese.
To be more specific, it’s a 72-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Costco says the cheese wheel is imported straight from Italy.
The Kirkland Signature-brand cheese has been aged for a minimum of 24 months, according to the product description.
This hunk of cheese will set you back $899.99.


text:
Designer News is where the design community meets.
Head of Growth Joined about 3 years ago
Dawid hasn't posted any stories yet.
If you are looking for the top Progressive Web Apps with business results, here's a complete top 30 Progressive Web Apps report: https://go.divante.co/top-30-progressive-web-apps
Dawid hasn't upvoted anything yet.
Where the design community meets.
Designer News is a large, global community of people working or interested in design and technology.
© 2021 Designer News Ltd.


text:
iDenfy will be helping Provema verify the identity of borrowers remotely who are using their Platform.
Kaunas, Lithuania – Provema, a renowned tech firm in Poland, and iDenfy, a Lithuania-based identity verification solution provider, are pleased to announce a partnership. The association aims at helping people go through frictionless verification and onboarding processes when using Provema platform to obtain loans.
Provema provides individuals and businesses with online loans without letting them undergo a complicated process that generally people see with conventional banks. The company allows people to gain a loan in just three steps. Simply a borrower needs to fill up an online form, mention the loan amount, and get verified. In a few minutes, the loan payment will go directly to the borrower’s account.
Provema doesn’t ask for an income certificate from the borrower, and people can pay back their loan amount in easy installments. To make the process easier for their customers, Provema is working on multifaceted aspects, and partnering with iDenfy is one of that. By partnering with iDenfy, Provema wants to conduct KYC of their customers to comply with all the legal directives.
iDenfy is a well-known identity verification solution provider offering its solutions to individuals and businesses across the globe. The company will help Provema conduct identity verification remotely and provide its customers with a security sense to manage their finances.
The partnership will also minimize the risk of fraud when opening a bank account. iDenfy’s identity verification solution is quite robust (powered by Artificial intelligence), which can check for tempered and fake ID documents in no minute.
According to iDenfy, they support more than 1300 documents from more than 200 countries. It means no matter which geographical location Provema’s customers reside in; the company will be able to verify their users’ identity.
Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy, says, “We are pleased to work with Provema, and we are sure that our verification solutions will help them make the onboarding journey smooth and offer their customer a secure environment.“
The partnership between these two firms will have a positive impact on the overall online finance industry as well. Since they help borrowers get online loans quickly and securely, more tech financial firms will implement identity verification solutions to ensure that their customers have a smooth yet secure onboarding journey.
iDenfy‘s goal is to turn a customer’s device into an ID scanning and face recognition system that makes it fast and easy to capture and verify their ID and other credentials to meet KYC and AML requirements. Real-time ID scanning and face verification are applied on websites and mobile applications, helping reduce risk and minimize fraud for online transactions. This enables customers to perform daily operations from their home instead of going to service centers, where a company needs many cost-ineffective employees. Also, it avoids the costly and time-consuming process of manual documentation required for submission and verification.
It was founded in 2016 at Kaunas University Technology Park by two childhood friends. Company in 2018 at Lithuania was awarded as Startup of the Year. iDenfy provides real-time identity verification service for financial, sharing-economy, gambling industries.
For more information and business inquiries, please visit www.idenfy.com.
For media inquiries, please contact Viktorija Bielskaite, email@example.com.


text:
Businesses in Burnaby Heights are opposing a proposed bus route running through their neighbourhood.
The Heights Merchants Association, which represents about 360 businesses, said TransLink will “strip our parking” to make way for the Purple Line if it runs along Hastings Street.
“This will damage both our shopping environment as well as the ability of our businesses and our whole district to remain economically viable,” Isabel Kolic, the association’s president, told council Nov. 6.
Kolic said the parking on Hastings acts as a buffer between pedestrians and moving traffic.
“Nobody wants to stroll or shop with noisy moving vehicles speeding right next to you.”
Burnaby council recently endorsed the Purple Line, a Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, line running from Park Royal in West Vancouver to Metrotown. BRT runs like a SkyTrain service in a dedicated lane with large stations. The buses have signal priority over other traffic.
The original proposed Purple Line route ran east along Hastings Street for eight blocks (almost 1.5 kilometres), through Burnaby Heights, then south down Willingdon Avenue.
Last month, city staff proposed a modified route: south down Boundary Road, skipping the Burnaby stretch on Hastings.
Councillors received multiple letters opposing the modified route down Boundary, with writers suggesting council would be “unserious” about climate action if they “compromise the usefulness of the BRT route … to preserve a few free parking spaces for private vehicles.”
Councillors weren’t impressed with the modified route either, saying Boundary Road doesn’t have enough people or destinations to serve. Council asked TransLink to study both routes.
But Kolic said there are “plenty of jobs” along Boundary now, noting there are film studios, light industrial uses and the Vancouver Police. She said while Boundary isn’t high density now, it has the potential to grow in the future.
Kolic said the merchants want the route to go south on Boundary, even as far as Kingsway. (The modified route currently moves east on First Avenue and Halifax Street, then south down Willingdon.)
Heights shoppers often do multiple errands on the same trip, Kolic said, generally “conducted by vehicle.”
She said the original route wouldn’t bring more customers to the Heights but would instead inconvenience shoppers and business owners, many of whom live in the Heights.
“We would not only be damaging businesses but eroding the social cohesion of our city,” Kolic said.
She said the merchants have “been losing millions per year” since the HOV lane came in almost 30 years ago.
“How much more must Hastings Street merchants give up?” Kolic asked. “And why aren’t the big box stores like Costco and Metrotown being asked to have their parking stripped for transportation infrastructure?”
She said Hastings only needs a dependable and frequent bus service with bus bulges.
Mayor Mike Hurley said council is listening.
“Rest assured that the Heights will be heard,” he said, adding a decision has not been made.
“It would be unlikely that TransLink would move forward without getting (Burnaby) council’s blessing,” Hurley said.
Coun. Pietro Calendino said the city has told TransLink the preference is to have a dedicated BRT lane using bus bulges and not using the parking lane.
Calendino said that’s “what the mayor will probably propose.”


text:
In China, WeChat is not only beating SMS and social networks – it’s also a threat to Alipay, the country’s equivalent to PayPal.
The mobile chat app, which now claims 270 million users and 500 million registered accounts, has effectively become the central communications platform for anyone in China with a smartphone. Increasingly, it’s looking like it will be a major payments platform, too.
Overnight, smartphone maker Xiaomi sold 150,000 of its new Mi3 smartphones purely via WeChat, according to The Next Web. The batch sold out in 9 minutes and 55 seconds. This is not a case of people punching their credit card details into a page linked to from within WeChat. This is a case of WeChat being used as a mobile wallet and storefront.
This news comes soon after more than 80,000 people bought products solely via WeChat during China’s “Double 11″ online shopping festival, which is the country’s version of Cyber Monday. That number doesn’t seem huge in its own right, but the WeChat purchases were limited to a single promotion via the site 51buy, and only for residents in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Orders on the site that day totaled 600,000, meaning WeChat, in its first year as a payments tool, represented 13 percent of the site’s sales.
WeChat’s owner, Tencent, has been pretty cautious with its rollout of the app’s payment functionality. In September, however, it ran a promotion in which WeChat users could scan QR codes on vending machines in subway stations to purchase physical goods, such as sodas and snack foods, all at a discount.
A few days ago, I wrote about how WhatsApp, which is the world’s leading mobile chat app in terms of active users, has a problem. It’s not that it doesn’t provide a good messaging experience, or that not a lot of people are using it. It has been around since 2009 and has been the first port of call for many seeking an alternative to SMS, on feature phones as well as smartphones. Instead, its problem is that it is limited only to messaging, which is now a commodity.
By being singularly focused on messaging, WhatsApp is missing the opportunity to create new engagement channels and revenue lines. While WeChat, Japan’s Line, and South Korea’s KakaoTalk offer payments, games, and social network-like features, WhatsApp only has its instant messaging capability. WeChat’s emergence as a force in payments, one that could evolve into one of China’s primary players in ecommerce, throws WhatsApp’s weakness into stark relief.
But something else does, too. Games.
WhatsApp doesn’t look even close to being able to take advantage of its giant global userbase in order to drive people to or between games, let alone capture some of the upside from them. WeChat, like Line and KakaoTalk, clearly is. According to mobile analyst Benedict Evans, the first five games released on WeChat have collectively passed 570 million downloads in the space of three months. (Note: I’m waiting for Benedict to provide a source for that claim, but he’s usually reliable.) Meanwhile, one WeChat game, “Airplane War,” is proving so addictive that it’s putting people in hospital.
It’s probably time we stop referring to WeChat, Line, and KakaoTalk as “chat” apps. The name doesn’t do them justice.


text:
Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL) by 23.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods Corp. were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corp. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corp. by 109.3% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 228,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,864,000 after buying an additional 119,140 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corp. by 82.7% in the first quarter. Capstone Asset Management Co. now owns 57,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,491,000 after buying an additional 26,088 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Corp. during the first quarter worth about $264,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corp. by 95.9% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 93,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,029,000 after buying an additional 45,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 34.10% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL) traded up 0.32% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.87. The company had a trading volume of 2,226,116 shares. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 0.56. Hormel Foods Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.50 and a 52 week high of $45.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.37 and a 200 day moving average of $38.03.
Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 18th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Hormel Foods Corp. had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Hormel Foods Corp.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corp. will post $1.63 earnings per share for the current year.
HRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods Corp. in a research note on Tuesday, June 7th. Deutsche Bank AG reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods Corp. in a research note on Tuesday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Hormel Foods Corp. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 19th. Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded Hormel Foods Corp. from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Hormel Foods Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.10.
In related news, Director Dakota A. Pippins sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $183,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,542,323.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hormel Foods Corp. Company Profile
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HRL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL).
Receive News & Ratings for Hormel Foods Corp. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hormel Foods Corp. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.


text:
By Anash.org reporter
An Israeli company located in Kibbutz Tze’elim, is leading the way to replace oil-derived plastics with a sustainable and eco-friendly product – by using plain garbage.
UBQ Materials, founded in 2012, is a company that converts unsorted household waste into a bio-based material that has proved fit for commercial production of durable plastic products, spanning everything from municipal trash cans to shopping carts, shipping pallets and even bricks.
The patented process begins with food leftovers, fabrics, paper, cardboard which are reduced into their basic, natural components and then turned into a matrix. The waste’s mixed plastics are then melted and bond with the matrix, creating a unique thermoplastic.
The process of creating UBQ produces no waste or pollution and uses no water, resulting in a climate-positive, material which can be used as an excellent alternative to plastic. Significantly, UBQ is created from trash that is diverted from landfills, therefore avoiding the decomposition of waste into toxic methane emissions.
Quantis, a leading provider of environmental impact assessments, has named UBQ material to be “the most climate-positive thermoplastic material currently available on the market.”
UBQ’s southern Israel test plant, already supplying UBQ to the plastic industry, has a total production capacity of 5,000 tons per year, and the company plans to establish a full-scale industrial facility in the United States later this year.
The Israeli company has joined with brand-owners, manufacturers and municipalities since its inception, with more partnerships expected as the technology gathers awareness. By the first quarter of 2020, McDonald’s in Latin America will begin to use products made of UBQ in its restaurants and supply chains.
Its most recent deal is with the owner of Mercedez-Benz, Daimler AG. The automotive giant is the first company of its kind to partner with UBQ, and is currently testing the material for its suitability for a range of automobile parts, with initial results looking extremely positive.
With UBQ Materials now on the scene, we can set our hopes high for a marked change in the landfill landscape, helping to preserve the beautiful world Hashem created for us.


text:
Others also read
The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) will host a webinar entitled “The Florida Product Approval Program – How FGIA Can Help”.
This 8/13 session will focus on the appearance properties of glass and glazing to mitigate unanticipated outcomes of various treatments, presented by Steve Thomas, PE (CA) of Guardian Glass.
Largest Glass and Fenestration Show in the Americas Unites Buyers and Sellers Online for the Entire Month of September.
FGIA is pleased to announce it will participate as an association partner in GlassBuild Connect: The Glass & Fenestration Online Experience, taking place September 1-30 at GlassBuild.com.
Join the dialogue! Face Time 2020: Better Buildings through Better Skins
The annual Glazing Summit conference, due to take place in October, has been postponed until 2021 due to uncertainties around social distancing.
Plotnick named commercial account manager for Vitro Architectural Glass for Metro New York, New England and Europe
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) announced that Daniel Plotnick has been appointed as commercial account manager for the New England/Metro New York City region in the U.S. as well as all of Europe.
SentryGlas® ionoplast interlayer from Trosifol helps deliver strength, clarity, energy efficiency and protection to Miami’s Brickell Flatiron, the city’s tallest condominium.
Trex Commercial Products delivered stunning glass railing solutions for the newly constructed, 330,000-square-foot, 10-story building.
GlassBuild Connect - 1 month of industry focused programming | 22 days of content targeting all glass & glazing industry segments | 5 daily content themes | 330+ companies displaying products & solutions.
Diamon-Fusion®, by Flat Glass Distributors, chemically bonds to the glass through a chemical vapor deposition process.
In light of recent events related to COVID-19, the 81st Conference on Glass Problems will be held as a virtual event rather than a live event, October 26–30, 2020.
NGA understands urgent times require urgent action. NGA members across the glass and fenestration supply chain are doing everything they can to safeguard their workforce, customers, and their businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Mappi summer has never been a period of closure, of vacation, but the time to continue producing, to remain always available to our customers and to devote greater efforts to research and development.
Among the highlights of the open-concept building is a ceremonial curved staircase, created by Trex Commercial Products using HDS technology to 3-D scan the structure and deliver a custom fabricated design.
ACerS invites you to attend the Virtual Glass Summit, August 3 - 5, 2020.
The architectural trend to increase transparency in buildings has resulted in more use of glass in balustrade and overhead applications.
Laura Rygielski Preston takes the helm at Trex Commercial Products.
Glaston Corporation will publish its January–June 2020 Interim Report on Thursday, August 6, 2020 at around 13.00 p.m. Finnish time.
Walker Glass continues it series on Bird Safe Glass with an episode detailing the various levels of legislation that exist to protect birds from colliding with glass structures.
On July 30 at 11 a.m. EST, Vitro will be presenting an online, one-day-only CEU, “Understanding Low-E Coatings.”
Şişecam Group received approval from the Capital Markets Board for its plan to simplify in its legal entity and shareholding structure.
The surprise was a success. The company HORN Glass Industries AG donates a generous amount of money to the Förderverein der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Plössberg e. V.
Ron Vaupel, President and CEO of Guardian Industries, has assumed leadership of the company’s glass business following the departure of Kevin Baird, formerly President and CEO of Guardian Glass.
Nicola Lattuada (Adelio Lattuada Srl) and Nancy Mammaro (Mappi International Srl) confirmed as Vice Presidents; Cinzia Schiatti (Officina Meccanica Schiatti Angelo Srl) named Treasurer.


text:
Dish is planning to launch a standalone streaming service on Friday, October 4th, which it describes as a “deluxe package” that includes a bunch of movies that have been included in the Dish subscription service.
The movies will be available to stream on the Dish website for $4.99 a month, and are currently available to rent for $8.99.
The first three movies are already available to buy on the site for $1.99 each.
Dish is offering free movies to new subscribers, and it is also offering some of the movie’s trailers to people who have already signed up for the Dish service.
These trailers include a few new scenes from The Great Wall, and a couple of other clips from the film.
Dish has promised to add movies from other films that are still in theaters to the package, and some of those movies will likely be available on the service.
Dish also plans to offer a bundle of “subscription bundles” of movies, which are essentially bundles of movies from multiple movies that are being released in the same week.
These bundles are typically more expensive than the standalone movie package, but Dish is still offering a free movie to new Dish subscribers to get them to try out the service and sign up for its service.
We’ve contacted Dish for more information on when the package movies will start rolling out to subscribers.
Dish’s service will only be available in select cities, but it will also be available for those who live in areas that Dish doesn’t currently offer Dish’s cable TV service.


text: Coolpad, the world's sixth largest smartphone manufacturer, installed a back door that allows the company to install applications, send alerts, and monitor communications without user knowledge or approval.According to Palo Alto Networks, which discovered the security flaw, the "CoolReaper" backdoor has been found on 24 Coolpad phone models sold in China, adding up to over 10 million devices."The malware was deliberately pre-installed with the default operating system that comes with these phones," said Ryan Olson, intelligence director of Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42."This is the first time we've ever seen a manufacturer install a back door like this."Olson said that their security researchers were originally tipped off by user complaints on forums, and then discovered the backdoor built into the ROM in such a way that it would not show up for antivirus detection programs.To control access to this backdoor, Coolpad set up a Website that was actually accessible by the public."The functionality in that interface matched up exactly by CoolReaper, and it was on the open Internet, and it let anyone log into it," Olson said."The back door that they had created, maybe for what they thought was legitimate purposes, could have been in the hands of a bad guy."As of deadline, Coolpad's Asia-based spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment by CSO Online, and the company's US-based representatives could not be reached.However, the company told the Wall Street Journal that Google had notified it of the Palo Alto report, but denied that the download function amounted to a back door.According to Coolpad, the downloads were enabled by users and were designed to improve the user experience. Coolpad told Bloomberg it issued a software update, but the update was designed to address Android compatibility issues and were not related to illegal software or a "backdoor.""There are some capabilities that we expect manufacturers to have, like the ability to install over-the-air updates," said Olson."And Coolpad has a completely separate application for those updates. And we expect manufacturers to grab statistical data and diagnostic information about the phone -- not personal information, but how the phone is performing."But the CoolReaper application went far beyond, he said.For example, CoolReaper can be used to send notification to the smartphones. Normally, when users receive notifications, they can touch the notification an extra long time and see which application generated the notification, and turn off the notification if they wish. This "long press" function was disabled on CoolReaper notifications.Similarly the built-in API for installed applications was modified so that CoolReaper did not show up in the list of apps.CoolReaper can also see or delete SMS messages, send messages, delete user data, uninstall or disable applications, and even make phone calls to any number."This kind of complete control, hidden control, this is new," Olson said.So far, the CoolReaper application has only been found on Chinese versions of the Coolpad smartphones, he added."They're also selling in other parts of Asia and Europe," he said. "But they have different models in different regions."Olson added that it's never a good idea for a manufacturer to install a back door on a device."When you create a backdoor, you think it's only going to be used by you," he said. "But you've purposefully made the system less secure."


text:
New Delhi: Automotive component supplier Denso on Monday confirmed that its group company in Germany network was hit by a cyber attack.
The hackers illegally accessed the company’s Germany operations on March 10.
“After detecting the unauthorised access, Denso promptly cut off the network connection of devices that received unauthorised access and confirmed that there is no impact on other Denso,” the company said in a statement.
It appears that the Pandora ransomware group has claimed responsibility.
The group’s leak site, accessed by ZDNet via Kela’s Darkbeast engine, claims that 1.4TB of data has been stolen.
The company is a global supplier of automotive components, including those developed for autonomous vehicle features, connectivity and mobility services.
Denso technologies are being used in “almost all vehicles around the globe”.
The company said that the cyber-attack is under investigation and there is no interruption to production activities.
“The company keeps operating its all plants as usual. Denso has already reported this incident to the local investigative authorities. The company is working with them and specialised cyber security agencies to deal with this situation,” it added.
Its clients include Toyota, Honda, General Motors and Ford.
The company expressed “its sincerest apologies for any concern or inconvenience resulting from this incident”.


text:
London – Porn or romance? Is feminism a dirty word? These were just some of the questions posed at LS:N Global’s Womenomics Network Evening last night, as we explored what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.
Marking the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique and preparing the ground for LS:N Global’s autumn/winter 2013 Trend Briefing XX v XY, speakers and guests reflected on the transformation of women’s lives since its publication and discussed game-changing projects in the capital, capturing the attention of this increasingly powerful consumer group.
Collyn Ahart, brand consultant and strategist at Wieden + Kennedy, joined us to talk about new movements in sport and women. ‘The way to engage with the female market in sport is to create relationships between women. Brands that can forge friendships, girl crushes and teams will resonate,’ she explained.
Debbi Evans, publisher and founder of new thinking women’s glossy magazine Libertine, discussed the opportunity for media presented by interested women. For more about the launch of the magazine, read our Inform feature.
Niamh Corbett, vice-president of investment banking at Morgan Stanley and member of the 30% Club, which is dedicated to bringing more women on to corporate boards, spoke about the systemic and sociological issues that women face.
A Room of One’s Own
Amanda Carr and Jane Kellock, co-founders of The Women’s Room blog, offered their insight into what older women want and why brands need to communicate to Boomers better.
‘Boomer women are a hugely valuable market, and brands are not monetising them effectively,’ said Carr.
Our insight editor Hannah Stodell outlined how savvy luxury brands are adopting a feminist outlook with initiatives that promote a strong, powerful image of women to appeal to today’s affluent female consumers.
Keep an eye on the Seed section next week for video interviews of speakers from the evening.


text:
Google is planning unify all three of its real time messaging services, Google+ Hangout, Google Talk and Google Messenger in the near future. This was revealed during a question and answer session with the Google+ Hangout team, at the on-going Google I/O developer conference.
When asked, why Google continues to provide the services, Google + Hangout, Google+ Messenger and Google Talk, all of which basically provide the same kind of service, this is what Google Product Manager Nikhyl Singhal had to say about the matter. ““We have done an incredibly poor job servicing our users here.” He added that, presently, the company does not have anything solid to announce but they are indeed working on unifying all three products into a single universal service.
Speaking about the usage of Google+ Hangouts in the company’s internal functioning, Nikhyl Singhal said, “We do over 10,000 hangouts every day at Google.” All of the meetings are held through video conferencing and Google+ Hangouts are used to do every one of them. Google+ Hangouts is now the company’s default video conferencing solution.
Google+, the social networking site by Google, which first made its appearance exactly one year earlier on June 28, 2011. Since then it has garnered 250 million plus registered users and continues to grow. Hangout, which started out as a part of Google+, has since then developed into a popular free video chatting and video conferencing service used by both casual users and professionals users worldwide.
By starting a unified service by clubbing all the existing services, Google can stem the confusion and also gain to make a universal cross platform app that could perhaps even counter the current leader in video communication service, Skype, owned by Microsoft. It could perhaps even offer Apple customers an alternative to Apple’s FaceTime app. However and whatever this may be, we would be really happy to try it out, don’t you think so?


text:
CDI noted that the deal, which is subject to necessary regulatory approvals, is consistent with the company’s strategy to exit the online sports and casino business, monetise the group’s online sports and iGaming market access rights, and remain focused on expanding its TwinSpires online horseracing wagering business.
“We are pleased to partner with a global leader in the online gaming industry,” said CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen. “Our relationship with bet365 enables us to maximise the value of our company’s sports betting and iGaming market access in Pennsylvania.”
In November 2022, ahead of Ohio’s sports betting launch, operator bet365 was offering customers $100 in free bets if they registered before 1 December 2023.
Speaking about the agreement with CDI, a bet365 Spokesperson commented: “Off the heels of our launch in Ohio, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Churchill Downs Incorporated.
“Once live, the world’s favourite online sports betting brand will be available to sports fans in Pennsylvania, offering fantastic site features, including Bet Boosts, Same Game Parlay, Cash Out and Edit Bet, on top of our market-leading sign-up offer.”
Last week, bet365 posted revenue of £2.85bn ($3.38bn) for the financial year ended 27 March 2022. The figure, which was mainly due to the success of the operator’s gaming operations, was a 3% increase from the prior-year period.
Sports gaming revenue declined by 2% year-on-year, with gaming revenue climbing by 25% year-on-year. As noted by bet365, the latter was margin-based, with the total amount wagered increasing and the number of active customers rising by 48%.


text:
وي چت on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Friday, April 18, 2014
Sony’s new hero class ‘affordable’ has arrived in Indonesia. Products named Xperia E is available in a single version of the SIM and dual-SIM.
One feature that is favored is HD Voice, where its function is to clear up the sound when [...]
Polaroid has agreed to put his name behind a Socialmatic concept, which will embody the spirit of Instagram into real form with an instant camera.
With the help of ADR Studios, Polaroid instant camera will perform retro and is expected to be present [...]
Angry Birds Seasons seems to immediately have a theme and a new level in the near future.
The new version is expected to take the theme of spring.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Monday (15/4), Angry Birds Seasons this will be the 16th series.
Rovio is often [...]
Ranked first App Store in just 2.5 hours After released.
Rovio as Manufacturer game Angry Birds released an announcement about the success of Angry Birds Star Wars is the latest game that they controlled the first rank App Store.
Amazingly, this position [...]
Google Drive Users get 5GB for free rations from Google.
Google announced on Tuesday (11/27), will integrate Google Drive into Gmail. The move will create a Google e-mail service users can send files of up to 10 GB.
Requirement Gmail users also must [...]
The good news for you smartphone users had Windows Phone OS. Angry Birds can now be downloaded for free.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Thursday (2/5), Angry Birds has changed the status of being free is the original version, that is Angry Birds first.
About 60 percent of those planning to buy a tablet chose Nexus 7.
Christmas Day will soon be arriving. In many parts of the world, it is time to hunt items to be used as Christmas gifts. According to a survey in the U.S. revealed that many public want [...]
Ever occur to you to try out Android applications on Windows-based computers? If so, maybe this one could be a solution.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Monday (01/28), a program called WindowsAndroid allow it.
Although not a new series running Android, the Jelly [...]
Basically, do not use the lights too bright at night.
Using iPad or watching TV late at night can make you depressed, according to a study showing that exposure to bright light during the hours of sleep can affect levels of stress and behavioral disorders.
Samsung Indonesia introduced the world’s first audio dock that combines digital and analog technology, and made specifically for the Samsung Galaxy.
South Korean manufacturer combines the sharpness and clarity of the sound of the Digital [...]
Rumors that Samsung will release the Galaxy S4 Dual-SIM version became a reality.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Sunday (28/4), the South Korean manufacturer officially introduced the Galaxy S4 Duos.
Besides being able to be pinned two SIM Card at once, no more [...]


text:
Is Costco worth it? 9 items that could pay for your membership Clark.com – Clark Howard
“make money online” – Google News
New Membership Director Named for U of A’s NPR Affiliate KUAF 91.3 FM University of Arkansas Newswire
“affiliate programs” – Google News
Boxed is a good online bulk shopping option for those who don’t want to pay for a discount club membership. It’s my go-to for wholesale shopping online.
The GRAMMY Museum® announced today the promotion of Michael Sticka to President of the GRAMMY Museum, with a contract that extends through 2022.
There are currently thousands of membership sites on the internet with people making anything from a few hundred dollars per year to a few million.
HFMA making membership dues all-inclusive under new model ModernHealthcare.com
The Healthcare Financial Management Association is moving to an all-inclusive membership model in an effort to revive its slumping dues revenue. It used to be …
BIG NEWS! The Encompass Community at Friends Academy is excited to announce our new “Community Membership” program for 2019-2020! You already …
Press release *content* from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Affiliation expands Intero’s global reach and enriches company’s existing luxury program. Intero, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and wholly owned subsidiary of …


text:
Costa Coffee issue warning to customers amid supply delays
Costa Coffee is the next big name to be suffering the effects of supply chain issues. This follows in the footsteps of Nando’s, McDonalds, KFC and Greggs who have all issued statements regarding stock issues.
In reply to a customers Tweet querying the lack of decaffeinated coffee beans in various stores, Costa replied: “We are facing some supply chain issues just now. We're working hard to resolve this ASAP”.
Earlier today Greggs also announced they were facing supply chain issues, with supplies of chicken hard to come by.
Nando’s were similarly afflicted last week. With supply of chicken in high demand, Nando’s were forced to close stores up and down the country.
Nando’s have since reopened.
A lack of HGV drivers across the UK is contributing to supply chain issues, with McDonald’s supply of bottles drinks and milkshakes affected by this also.
Supermarkets such as Co-op are also facing shortages, with bosses claiming food shortages are at its "worst level".
Logistics UK has said there is currently a shortfall of 90,000 HGV drivers, a number that has only been increased by Brexit trade rules and COVID-19 restrictions.


text:
If you want a new car, unless you are buying a Tesla, you are probably going to be forced to buy from a car dealer. That’s because car dealers in all 50 states have paid legislators handsomely to enact special franchise laws that give them monopolies over new car sales. This leaves new car buyers with little choice, but to buy from a dealer.
But used cars are another story. Each year, millions of American consumers buy and sell used cars directly to each other — without having to pay a middleman. Why is this kind of transaction so popular?
- You can save thousands of dollars
- You can avoid major headaches and hassles
- You can get a newer, cleaner-running, safer, better vehicle — for the same amount of money you would have paid for an older, dirtier, less safe vehicle from a dealer.
According to the Better Business Bureau, year after year, auto dealers are the #1 source of consumer complaints to the BBB. So why go there?
The average dealership sales transaction takes approximately 4 hours, and is designed to wear you down and get you to the point where you will sign anything, just to get it over with and leave. Some consumers have been literally held hostage at dealerships that took the keys to their cars– supposedly to evaluate them as a trade-in — then refused to give them back — until they bought a car.
Common scams you can avoid when you buy from a private person —
- Sales of unsafe, recalled vehicles — it seems incredible, but — the National Automobile Dealers Association has taken the official position that its dealer members should be able to sell you an unsafe, recalled used car that hasn’t been fixed. Even though the fix is FREE. In some cases, innocent, unsuspecting used car buyers have been maimed or killed in recalled vehicles sold to them by licensed dealers — who claim it’s not their responsibility if the car was under a recall.
- “Yo-yo” financing — basically, bait and switch on the terms of the loan. You sign a contract with the dealer, that says you’re going to pay 4% or 5% interest. You leave a down payment and trade in your old car. You drive off the lot and everything seems fine. Then you get a call from the dealer telling you that you have to come back because the financing “fell through” — which is a lie. But if you refuse to return and sign a new contract to buy the car at, say, 16% interest, or give the dealer a bigger down payment, or both, the dealer threatens to repossess your car, or report it as stolen. The dealer refuses to give you back your down payment and traded-in vehicle, to trap you and keep you from being able to go elsewhere to buy.
- Dealer “markups” — hidden kickbacks that increase the price of auto loans from car dealers, and cost consumers over $25.8 billion in a single year. Dealers get kickbacks from lenders, in exchange for raising the interest rate on your car loan beyond the rate you actually qualify to get. This extra charge is not based on risk, but on the dealer’s assessment of how much they can get away with charging you, after sizing you up, including checking out your profile in databases that have your personal information sliced and diced by literally hundreds of criteria.
- Falsified loan applications — after you fill out and sign an application for a loan, indicating that your income is $2400 a month, the dealer changes it to $12,400 a month, to get you into a loan that you can’t possibly afford. But the dealer gets credit for the sale anyway, and collects a bonus from the manufacturer, even if you eventually default and lose your car, and your credit is trashed.
- Forgery — The dealer signs your name on documents that allow the dealer to access your personal checking account and set up an automatic payment to the dealer, every month. Or the dealer signs your name on documents saying that you purchased a $3000 extended warranty, when you turned it down. While this is a crime, it’s extremely rare for any law enforcement officials to do anything about it.
- Identity theft — Some dealers have been arrested and convicted of committing identity theft. Hundreds of others have gone out of business, leaving loan applications, purchase contracts, and other documents with personal information in dumpsters, or abandoned dealership buildings, leaving customers vulnerable to identity theft.
- Odometer tampering — this crime is burgeoning, thanks to crooked dealers who purchase gadgets on the internet that allow them to simply re-set odometers. This can cost you thousands by tricking you into buying a car that is worth far less than what you paid. It will also need major, expensive repairs that will not be covered by a warranty or extended service contract, since warranties and service contracts exclude cars with odometer discrepancies.
- Salvage fraud — Dealers sell wrecked or flooded vehicles they obtain at auction for a fraction of what they would cost, if they hadn’t been severely damaged. Then they give them a quick, cheap once-over, to make them look appealing, without doing any of the expensive repairs necessary to make them safe and reliable. For example, the dealer fails to replace the air bags, which deployed in a crash. Or fails to replace the electronic systems on a flood car, which have been contaminated and will corrode and malfunction.
- Binding mandatory arbitration — If you have a major problem with a car dealer, you may think you can sue. The law may even be on our side. But you may never get to court, since the contract you signed had a clause — hidden in the fine print — that says you are giving up your Constitutional right to a trial before a court of law. Instead, you must submit your complaint to a private “arbitrator” who works for a company that is funded by the dealer. Studies show that “arbitrators” almost always rule in favor of the company, and against the consumer. Plus the “arbitrators” are totally free to ignore the law. Consumer groups tried to change the federal law that allows car dealers to get away with this — but the dealers killed it. Now all of them have clauses in their contracts to keep you from being able to haul them before a judge.
Why subject yourself to being scammed by a shady auto dealer, when you can take control of the sales process and get a much better deal from another consumer? If you follow about a dozen simple steps, you can get a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient car and save yourself a lot of time and money.


text:
Get our introductory offer at only
*$0.99/month for first 3 months
$29.90/month for the next 9 months
SINGAPORE Post posted a 15.8 per cent rise in net profit to S$46.6 million for the first quarter ended June 30, from S$40.2 million a year ago.
Revenue grew 20.7 per cent, from S$210.9 million to S$254.6 million boosted by continuing growth in eCommerce and logistics and...


text:
When one browses the list of the Fortune 1000 companies, more and more innovative tech companies are joining the ranks, including big names like Amazon.com, Apple and Google. These companies are associated with the Internet, connectivity and “big data.” As a result, many consumers have high expectations for how these companies manage their personal data, and the companies themselves generally have large internal privacy departments. This is a good thing.
When I read the names on the list, though, I can’t help but think that every company is now a tech company and that they should be held to the same standards of privacy and security. Whether it’s Walmart with millions of credit card numbers on file from in-store and online sales or General Electric with information about how individual homes use their appliances, almost every company is now in the data business and has a significant online component to its operations.
I’m heartened to see as part of the IAPP’s new Benchmarking Privacy Management and Investments of the Fortune 1000 report that spending is going up among companies on their privacy operations and equally pleased to see that privacy professionals are being well-compensated for their work. Having served as the chief privacy officer at a couple of the Fortune 1000 companies and having started the Privacy Office at the Department of Homeland Security, I know the challenges of integrating data privacy into the corporate value set, especially when leadership is understandably focused on the bottom line. I also know how difficult it can be to get business leaders throughout the organization to consider privacy when assessing risk.
In the wake of the Snowden revelations, though, and numerous high-profile data breaches, privacy and security are becoming increasingly valued by consumers. They are starting to become areas of differentiation for companies as well. Those that respect privacy and have strong security practices in place are the ones that consumers are increasingly turning to for a variety of services. We’ve witnessed new businesses jump into the fray with disruptive technologies that promise greater privacy and anonymity but sometimes overstating or misrepresenting that capability. Still, these start-ups, along with customer demand, are pushing big companies across industries to take note and adapt.
$2.4 million on average may sound significant, but for most of the companies on the list, that is a very, very small percentage of operating costs.
In my current role with the Center for Democracy & Technology, we are strongly advocating for greater user empowerment when it comes to privacy, along with an increased focus from companies on what they collect, whether data needs to be personally identifiable, how data is protected and how it is shared with third parties. With no major legislation action expected on the privacy front in the U.S. in the near future, companies are truly the ones that can make a difference in protecting our privacy. And yes, this is all companies, not just traditional tech companies.
Over the past few years, I’ve seen progress on corporate practices that really reflect thought about the obligation to be responsible for information that is collected and used. There is still more that could be done, and I am certain that the Fortune 1000 companies could commit greater funding to their privacy operations. $2.4 million on average may sound significant, but for most of the companies on the list, that is a very, very small percentage of operating costs. Hopefully, as the value proposition of privacy and security becomes clearer, budgets will rise.
Beyond increased budgets, privacy professionals need to be engaged with teams across the organization, not just IT, legal and compliance departments. They should participate in early stage product design processes, meet with the engineers and customer services representatives and take part in marketing and sales efforts. This is even more important as privacy professionals increasingly become data guardians. They combine ethics, strategy and a vision of the company’s relationship with the customer well into the future.
It’s a big role and getting bigger.
The privacy professionals of the IAPP are working to show that privacy and security matter. It is fantastic to see the field be recognized more and more each day, and my hope is that it will become an ingrained part of the leadership in companies across all industry sectors.
The IAPP has just released its first benchmarking report, detailing the privacy budgets and priorities of the Fortune 1000. Find it here.
If you want to comment on this post, you need to login.


text:
Copenhagen to put an end to free-floating e-scooters
Bike-friendly Copenhagen appears to have found a foe in rental kick scooters.
The Danish capital Copenhagen wants to ban rental electric scooters from 1 January 2021 in the city centre. They say the measure is primarily out of consideration for senior citizens because riders would scatter the light EVs in public spaces.
“It will no longer be possible to rent or park an electric scooter in the majority of Copenhagen’s most built-up areas from January 1st,” the city’s environmental and technical services department said in an email to AFP.
The ban will also affect the bridge districts in Copenhagen, the Mayor of Technology and the Environment, Ninna Hedeager Olsen (EL), announced. She reasoned that the city could use these public areas much better.
“It is a ban on them being able to be rented out from public areas, where we have to prioritize space. There can be benches, there can be outdoor seating and everything else,” quotes Politiken the local MP.
While it is unclear, whether these cannot co-exist, the ban would affect free-floating and/or on-street rental services. The Mayor pointed to the possibility of e-scooters being rented from stores and shops, where clients would need to return the kick scooters after use.
The measure needs to be approved by the municipal council but appears to enjoy support.
If approved, it will affect the business model of the electric scooter companies that have been running services in Copenhagen for some time, namely Lime, Tier and Voi.
The article in Politiken suggested that the companies had already decided to deliberately pull back from central public areas, after acknowledging problems with pedestrians and cyclists.
Voi has also closed its electric scooters at night to stop drunk driving on the electric vehicles.
Still, Ninna Hedeager Olsen believes, that the ban by law is required instead of letting the industry itself be responsible for that part.
“We have asked them at least a year and a half ago to show that they could steer these scooters that have been floating on the street for so long. So just about a week before we adopted these restrictions, they have found some solutions,” she told Politiken.
We have reached out to Voi, that runs the largest e-scooter fleet in Copenhagen with a request for comment that awaits reply.
The Swedish company has recently been seen to introduce extra safety measures as well as controls, also because their operation remains shut down in the English town of Coventry. Residents had similar complaints to those brought forward in Copenhagen, prompting the city to back away as reported.
Voi has recently laid out measures including “no-ride and slow-ride zones” based on revised geofencing which apply in Liverpool for example. Voi uses so-called ambassadors on the ground to provide support to prospective riders, at least in the UK.
They also consider introducing license plates on all scooters. “We think it is key to helping ambassadors spot rogue riders. It will also help the public to report people who ride dangerously or remove scooters from the trial zone,” says Voi.
Licence plates are not a requirement in the UK legislation, but they are in Germany. The country also underwent regulation on the go after allowing the small scooters to take to the streets earlier this year for the first time. The UK is in a similar process and will revise the new rules following the trials now taking place in many towns.
In Denmark, rental electric scooters as free-floating fleets took to the streets in 2019. They have since seen their share of debate as is the case in other countries following complaints about cluttering and other incidents.
thelocal.dk, politiken.dk (in Danish)
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Can I buy my own e-scooter and ride in city?


text:
Reorganization has begun on the Russian music market. VK (MOEX: VKCO) closes the label, which was focused on working with rap artists, the artists’ music catalogs and employees will move to VK Music Records. Since 2022, about six new music companies have appeared in the Russian Federation: in February alone, two new labels launched structures of Gazprom Media Holding. Market participants expect that due to industry competition and talent shortages, some labels may close.
The VK Beats Records label (works with rap artists) will be reorganized and will become part of the VK Music Records label (develops pop musicians), Kommersant discovered in SPARK-Interfax. The headquarters of VK Beats Records has already been reduced, according to Kommersant sources in the media market. VK confirmed that all music catalogs of VK Beats Records artists have been transferred to VK Records, noting that the department’s employees have joined the main label’s team.
According to Kartoteka.ru, the revenue of VK Beats Records LLC at the end of 2022 amounted to 81.4 million rubles. with a net loss of 3.4 million rubles, VK Music Records LLC had revenue of 256.6 million rubles, a loss of 10.5 million rubles.
The active launch of new music labels began after Warner Music, Universal Music and Sony Music stopped working in the Russian Federation in 2022 due to hostilities in Ukraine. VK launched VK Records in the fall of 2022, its structure included two directions – VK Beats Records and VK Music Records. The label’s business model involved promoting artists on a 360 basis (distribution, production, content promotion, organizing concerts and advertising activities). Then MTS, Group of Companies “Riki” and former top manager of Warner Music Bakhtiyar Aliev, video service Yappy (part of Gazprom Media Holding) launched their labels (see “Kommersant” on February 9).
On February 27, Gazprom-Media Entertainment Television (GPM RTV) announced the creation of its own label: the Druzhba Music company will be headed by music producer Denis Dubovikov. The company clarified that the library of the Druzhba Music label contains about 2.7 thousand units of content: this is music commissioned by the subholding for shows and series, as well as new original music generated by neural networks.
TNT (part of GPM RTV) clarified to Kommersant that the label’s priority will be systematization of the library, its monetization and the production of original content. “Supporting 360 artists is a logical step for which we have all the necessary resources,” TNT said, while clarifying that “the delivery of music to streaming will be carried out later.” This is not the first attempt by GPMH to enter the music market: the company launched the TNT music label in 2019.
The reorganization of VK Beats Records is due to the fact that the label has not shown results, believes A&R director (searches for new artists) of the S&P Digital label Denis Glazin: “To differentiate, you first need to fill the catalogs and sign many artists, and then highlight narrow genres.” “A label that is focused on only one genre greatly limits its competitiveness in the industry,” notes A&R director of the Koala Music label (manages the catalog of Sony Music Group, which has left the Russian Federation) Grigory Yulkin.
The Russian market is already oversaturated with labels, so the closure of one of them was expected, say interlocutors in the music market interviewed by Kommersant. At the same time, questions are raised rather by the opening of new labels, sources say: “There is a shortage of qualified specialists in the industry who can build an artist’s strategy from scratch to a full-fledged product.” Therefore, suggests Kommersant’s interlocutor in one of the music publishing houses, in a year or two we can expect a massive wave of layoffs of new structures: “We have already seen something similar with the TNT Music label.”


text:
Shopping has become less of a chore nowadays. With the Internet being readily available, it’s now possible to do shopping research and check for availability without having to pick up a phone or even get out of your chair. It’s so easy to find anything you want, and even find a few things you didn’t want originally, that its no wonder that sales are up. In fact, this last year was the highest e-commerce sales year to date, with spending reaching over 102.1 billion dollars for 2006. With that news, and the ever-growing popularity of video gaming, it comes as no surprise that GameStop broke its previous sales records and sold over 1.7 billion dollars with of merchandise in the 9 weeks leading up to Christmas.
According to Yahoo, GameStop (NYSE: GME and GME-B), the world’s largest stand-alone game retailer, has reported that company sales for this holiday season have surpassed last years sales by 23.9%. Sales for the company were no doubt boosted by the release of two new consoles plus a few major software titles (Gears of War, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). R. Richard Fontaine, Chairman and CEO of GameStop Corp., had this to say:
“Without question this holiday season was one of the most successful ever for GameStop. I am particularly pleased with the robust sales of hardware systems, even in the face of ongoing shortages of PlayStation 3 and Wii. The diversity of desired products made this a real ‘game specialist’s holiday’.”
The release of the Sony PlayStation 3 and the extremely popular Nintendo Wii have made 2006 a year to remember for hardware enthusiasts, and almost guarantee that 2007 will be the same for software fans as more complex games reach the market after companies have had extra time to learn the new platforms. With the Nintendo Wii and DS Lite, which has suffered epic shortages, being so popular gaming has had a boost from the casual market. “We have never had a holiday season with more hardware choices or more accessory options, and perhaps what is most encouraging is that, we are seeing a broader base of customers enjoying the gaming experience than ever before,” said Fontaine.
2006 was a great year for the games business. Though the NPD sales numbers won’t be released til next week, it’s looking like December 2006 was a record setting month.


text:
FORTUNE -- We got a peek at the witness list in U.S.A. v. Apple, the e-book antitrust trial scheduled to begin its second of three weeks Monday in a Manhattan federal courthouse.
On deck for today, according to our notes:
NOTE: The order that witnesses appear is subject to change.
UPDATE: Sure enough, the witness list has changed. The government slipped HarperCollins' Murray in ahead of Apple's Moerer, and during the mid-morning break, John Sargent was waiting outside the courtroom with his attorney waiting to go next.
Sargent, you may recall, is the CEO of Macmillan who was escorted out of Amazon's offices when he demanded that Amazon either move to Apple's new agency model or wait 7 months to get Macmillan's new releases. He discovered when he landed in New York the next day that the "buy" buttons had been removed from Amazon's website for all his top-selling books, both digital and physical. See Day 3 of the Apple e-book trial: Enter Amazon.
Also, it looks like the government won't be calling Random House's Dohle, although Apple may later choose to do so.
Decoding the Department of Justice's antitrust whodunnit
FORTUNE -- At a hearing in a Manhattan federal court Wednesday, attorneys for Apple (AAPL) and two major book publishers said that rather than settling -- as three of their co-defendants had -- they wanted to go to trial to defend themselves against U.S. government charges that they had colluded illegally to raise e-book prices. (See The Apple e-book conspiracy: Three days in January.)
Which means MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Apr 19, 2012 3:16 PM ET
Eddy Cue did the legwork, but the deal had Steve Jobs written all over it
After the 56 phone calls in the space of two months, the clandestine meetings in swank Manhattan eateries, the secret e-mails "double erased" to ensure they couldn't be traced, it all boiled down to three days in January 2010, when Eddy Cue, Apple's (AAPL) vice president of Internet services, pushed five of the six leading book MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Apr 11, 2012 5:07 PM ET
|Delinquent IRS employees paid bonuses by the agency|
|Court quizzes Aereo: Do TV streams break the law?|
|Gun silencer sales are booming|
|How women can narrow the 'confidence gap'|
|Premarkets: Waiting for big tech earnings|


text:
Published: December 15, 2016
Thousands of greenhouses cluster along the valleys of Lam Dong province in the central highlands of Vietnam. At night, the strong glow from their lights illuminates a flow of trucks carrying fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs to Ho Chi Minh City or to nearby ports for export. Competition among traders here is intense. The climate is ideal for the production of a number of high-value cash crops, and companies fight to secure their supply of farmers’ products or for a share of the lucrative market in chemical inputs, seeds and farm equipment such as plastic greenhouse covers or drip irrigation piping.
Farming in the highlands is a high-stakes business. Each season, farmers gamble on which crop will pay the highest price or which new seed variety will reach the yields promised by dealers. Sometimes the payoffs are big. But losses resulting from crop failures, a sudden drop in prices or scams by traders are just as frequent. Debt weighs heavily on the area’s farmers.
Money is not the only problem. There’s a looming water crisis from the depletion of water tables and the pollution caused by pesticides and fertiliser run-off, which is generating a public health crisis. Land conflicts are escalating too, especially in the hills where indigenous communities live. Finally, there is a potential threat to food security from producing so many crops that local people don’t eat. Most farmers seem to agree that the government is doing little to address these challenges.
It is in this context that some of the world’s largest transnational food companies are rolling out a program promising “market-based” solutions. Vietnam’s central highlands are the showcase for Grow Asia, an agricultural program led by Nestlé, PepsiCo, Monsanto and other food and agribusiness giants. Grow Asia is the Southeast Asian leg of a global initiative under the World Economic Forum’s “New Vision for Agriculture”, which promises to increase food production, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity globally by 20 per cent each decade. Also under the Grow umbrella are Grow Africa, Grow Latin America and several national programs.


text:
Details emerge on 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider
The 4C Spider will be nearly identical to the 4C Spider Concept.
Fiat's Alfa Romeo division is preparing to launch a convertible version of the mid-engined 4C, and a new report gives us a good idea of what to expect from it.
Scheduled to land in showrooms in 2015, the 4C Spider will be essentially identical to the 4C Spider Concept that bowed earlier this month at the Geneva Motor Show. It will be equipped with an integrated roll bar and a removable roof panel made out of a lightweight material such as carbon fiber.
While the 4C coupe features oft-criticized headlights that give it a bug-like look, the Spider will come standard with regular units expected to be similar to the ones found on the concept. Interestingly, coupe buyers will be able to order their car with the more conventional units at no extra cost.
Power will come from a turbocharged and direct-injected 1.7-liter four-cylinder engine mounted behind the seats. The four-banger will send 240 horsepower and 258 lb-ft. of torque to the rear wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The 4C Spider will reach 62 mph from a stop in approximately 4.5 seconds and go on to a top speed of over 155 mph. Brembo brakes on all four corners will keep the power in check.
The 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider could greet the public for the first time next October at the Paris Motor Show and go on sale in the U.S. shortly after.