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FOOD & DRINK
Hilarious and Amazing Massachusetts Slang With Boston’s Mark Wahlberg
Every state has its own unique colloquial terms, slang, and phrases. How many times have you heard someone from Massachusetts use the term "wicked." It happens probably more times than we would like to admit. Another term you may hear or use is Cumby's which is short for Cumberland Farms. These are just a couple of terms you'll hear throughout Massachusetts, we have a whole list of them which you can check out by going here and below (let us know what we missed and we'll add them to the list).
One Of Boston's Biggest Grocery Stores Is About To Close Down
The 134,000-square-foot Wegmans at the Natick Mall is one of the largest grocery stores in Boston... One of Boston's largest grocery stores will close this summer. Despite opening in 2018, and being Wegmans first multi-level store within a major mall, the 134,000-square-foot grocery store at the Natick Mall is going to close down this summer.
Abandoned dog: Golden Retriever mix found left in crate in Mattapan, city officials say
City officials are trying to locate the owner of “Chelsea,” a Golden Retriever mix that was found abandoned in a crate in Mattapan.
Lynn native Charlie Gaeta Jr. named to Boston Common’s Power List
BOSTON — Lynn native and Boston-based sommelier Charlie Gaeta Jr. is on Boston Common’s Power List of “culinary trailblazers” in New England. It was a “surprise” to find out he The post Lynn native Charlie Gaeta Jr. named to Boston Common’s Power List appeared first on Itemlive.
Boston's New Open-Air Music Venue Lines Up Its First Performers
Boston's music scene is set to expand with the announcement of a new outdoor venue with room for up to 8,500 concertgoers.The product of a collaboration between the Bowery Presents and The HYM Investment Group LLC, a new open-air concert venue called The Stage at Suffolk Downs is set to open on Fri…
Mark Wahlberg Calls Out Boston News Station While Meeting Fans in the Seaport
If there's one thing that celebrities do, it's investing in brands. Alcohol brands, bars, clothing brands -- if there's a brand to be invested in, a celebrity will open their wallet. Last year, one of Boston's favorite sons, Mark Wahlberg, decided to tie his name to tequila and invested in...
ROAD TRIP: A Massive 26,000 Square Foot High-Tech Mini Golf Experience to Open in Boston
All throughout New England, mini-golf is almost guaranteed to be on your list of things to do during the warmer months. According to Boston.com, a new monstrous mini golf chain called Puttshack is set to open their first location in the Northeast this spring, and it will absolutely be road trip worthy when it does.
Shoebert the seal's adventure started in a New England pond. That's not where it ended.
Stream full episodes of “Wait, What Happened?” now by downloading the Very Local app. It's not common for a seal to surface in a freshwater pond. But for folks in Beverly, Massachusetts, that wasn't even the strangest place Shoebert the seal showed up -- and Shoebert's unexpected pond escape was caught on camera.
Buy the Block Party 3: Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop and Black Music History Month with Legendary DJ Premier and Special Guests!
📢 Hey, party people! Are you ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop and Black Music History Month? 🎉 Then you won't want to miss the BUY THE BLOCK PARTY 3, happening this weekend!
Enjoy Some New England Nostalgia by Peeking Inside a 1980s Dunkin Donuts
June 2 was National Donut Day. And to celebrate, Boston’s WGBH (and the GBH Archives) released a couple videos showing what it was like at Dunkin' Donuts in the 1980s. As a Dunkin' Diehard, I didn’t think I’d be too thrown. Yeah, yeah, they still had the Dunkin’ Donut; the original with a handle that some (me) would welcome back with open mouth.
Matt Rife's world tour includes six Boston shows
Comedian and actor Matt Rife is on a world tour and he will be coming to Boston. Rife, a standup comedian and actor, has gained fame on TikTok and he has more than 14 million followers. His ProbleMATTic world tour is coming to the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in...
Caught in Southie: 50 Cent at Grace by Nia
Rapper 50 Cent was spotted in South Boston on Saturday night. The rapper made a surprise appearance at the new restaurant and speakeasy, Grace by Nia, surprising the crowd with his performance of "In Da Club." You can check out the video on Instagram!. 50 Cent was not the only...
You're Invited to a Gala Event at The Franklin Park Zoo
(BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS) Zoo New England is a private, non-profit organization that manages both the Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo. Their mission is to "Inspire people to protect and sustain the natural world for future generations by creating fun and engaging experiences that integrate wildlife and conservation programs, research, and education." Towards this goal, they will be hosting their annual Zootopia event, this June 10th!
Taylor Swift fans accuse broker of taking their money, not delivering tickets
BOSTON - A mother and daughter have bad blood with a Massachusetts ticket broker who they are accusing of taking their money and not delivering them Taylor Swift tickets. Andra Charland paid Matthew Calandrello, the owner of Upclosetickets in Natick, $1200 for Taylor Swift tickets in February. According to text messages, he told her that the tickets would appear in her Ticketmaster account. As the date for Taylor Swift's May concert at Gillette Stadium grew closer, Charland says she repeatedly asked Calandrello for her tickets. "I reached back again at the end of April, and he said, oh,...
Tragic Loss Sparks Call for Help: Stoughton Dance Teacher's Battle with Postpartum Depression Ends in Heartbreak
Ariana Sutton (in black shirt), with husband Tyler Sutton, daughter Melody Ki, newborn twins Irene and Stephen with mother-in-law Christine.Photo bySutton Family Via GoFundMe. Ariana Sutton, a dancer and mother of three took her own life a few days after giving birth to twins. Her family is reaching out to the community to raise awareness about postpartum depression.
Boston Caterer Wins $2.5K In Gordon Ramsay's Contest For Culinary Businesses
A Southern soul food caterer is planning to use her contest winnings to help fund her dream of a brick-and-mortar restaurant and to give back to her community. Shonda Little, the creator of Roxbury-based catering company Southern Twist, said she screamed when she got the call telling her she won Go…
Thrice:The Artist In The Ambulance 20th Anniversary Tour in Boston, MA Oct 11th, 2023 – pre-sale code
The Thrice:The Artist In The Ambulance 20th Anniversary Tour presale code that people have been waiting for is available now. For a limited time you can get tickets in advance of the public 😀. What an wonderful experience is in store for you, your friends who will be glad to...
Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 589-590: June 6, 2023
This episode was recorded on June 6, 2023 at 6:00pm. Topics: Central Square updates – Starlight Square and a shoutout to Matt Boyes-Watson, Nina Berg, and especially Brian Wright; Cambridge Police doing the work; politicizing the moment and jumping on board the latest ideological train; looking back at the craziness of Covid, getting back to living; “saving capitalism one screw at a time”; retail spaces as amenities rather than as profit centers; Popportunists coming to Columbia Street. Hosts: Robert Winters, Patrick Barrett [On YouTube] [audio]
How Did This Get Made? – Live!s show in Medford, MA Aug 9th, 2023 – presale code
The How Did This Get Made? – Live! presale password fans have been looking for is available to our members to use!!! This is a great chance for you to buy tickets to witness How Did This Get Made? – Live! ahead of they go on sale 🙂
🌹 Stop and smell the roses, Boston
The Kelleher Rose Garden, located on Park Drive in the Back Bay Fens, is home to ~1,500 roses. Here's what to know about the hidden oasis and English-style garden.
© 2023 Particle Media.


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Detroit Three automakers need to invest in their Canadian operations or it’s no deal, the president of the union representing hourly workers said yesterday.
Contract talks kick off tomorrow between the automakers and Unifor, but a cloud already hangs over the negotiations in the form of recent threats of a strike and GM’s reluctance to talk about its Oshawa plant’s future. (Read More…)
Unlike his Republican counterparts down south, Kentucky governor Steve Beshear says his state is not like Tennessee as far as attracting transplants go.
Negotiations between Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers over the UAW’s possible representation of workers at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee assembly plant began last Friday, according to the German newspaper, the Handelsblatt and Automotive News. The newspaper also reported that UAW president Bob King and VW board member for human resources, Horst Neumann discussed the establishment of a German style “works council” to represent factory workers at the plant. VW and the UAW both declined comment. (Read More…)
Last week, members of the Korean Metal Workers Union approved an annual wage contract with GM Korea that follows more than two weeks of partial strikes that affected GM’s Asian manufacturing base. GM Korea assembles about 40% of Chevy branded cars sold worldwide.
Conventional wisdom would have it that the CAW is looking to ensure the future of Ford’s Oakville plant. The Flex and Edge are built at the facility, and there has been a heated debate over whether the government of Ontario should invest money into the plant to help secure new product. But according to the CAW, the number one priority for them is a few hundred miles down the road.

domain: news


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WICHITA — In September, Have You Heard? reported that Firehouse Subs is going to be opening in Eastgate Plaza at Kellogg and Rock. Now, franchisee Megan Reece confirms it.
Reece says she and her husband, Andrew, frequently visit her parents in Arkansas where they discovered Firehouse.
“We liked the experience, and we love the atmosphere,” she says.
She says the restaurant serves “high quality subs” in what she calls “a firefighter atmosphere.”
Reece says the company founders are former firefighters, and the restaurant’s decor is related to firefighting. Colors are red, white and black.
Though technically Firehouse is a fast-casual concept, Reece says its meat and cheese are steamed, so the sandwiches take a little longer to make. The bread is toasted, and vegetables are served cold on the sandwiches.
Reece says Firehouse is known for its Public Safety Foundation, which she says has given almost $8 million to first responders nationally and in Puerto Rico for, among other things, needed equipment and educational training.
“I just think it’s a very great program,” she says.
There are 700 Firehouse restaurants in 37 states and Puerto Rico.
“We’re working on getting this first location first, and then we’ll continue on if everything works just fine.”


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Clothing Line Geared To Muslim Women
Major Retailers Tap In To Growing Market
Macy’s is launching a “modest” fashion line this month geared toward Muslim women that will feature maxi dresses, ankle-length cardigans and hand-dyed hijabs.
The collection will be available on Macy’s website beginning Feb. 15 at a time when mall traffic has plummeted and the beleaguered retail chain has been aggressively closing stores.
Macy’s is the latest U.S. brand to tap into the growing Islamic clothing market, after Nike last year debuted a hijab designed for female Muslim athletes and DKNY launched its Ramadan collection of long, flowing dresses in 2014.
International retailers, from mass casual chains such as Uniqlo and H&M to luxury brands such as Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta, have begun courting fashion-conscious Muslim women in recent years as they’ve become viewed as a lucrative consumer market with a youthful and fast-growing demographic.
Macy’s executives were not immediately available to discuss how Muslim women fit in the company’s retail strategy, but Muslim consumers are projected to spend more than $368 billion on fashion by 2021, according to the latest State of the Global Islamic Economy Report by Thomson Reuters.
The new line, branded the Verona Collection, was founded by Lisa Vogl, a fashion photographer and convert to Islam who graduated from Macy’s development program for minority and women-owned businesses. The program was started in 2011 to diversify the company’s merchandise suppliers. Vogl, who started her company online, opened Verona Collection’s first brick and mortar store in Orlando in 2016, one of the first Islamic-wear stores in a mainstream U.S. mall.
Vogl’s pieces for Macy’s range in price from $13 to $85 and include ruffled high-neck tunics, flowy jumpsuits and bell-sleeve ankle-length cardigans.


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Dayton Hudson Corp., parent of Chicago-based Marshall Field & Co., reported that its third-quarter net earnings declined 40 percent from a year earlier.
Kenneth A. Macke, chairman, said Tuesday that ''gross margins at all of our divisions'' were under pressure as consumers continued to be price-conscious.
Besides Field`s, the firm operates Dayton department stores, principally in Minnesota; Hudson`s Department stores, primarily in Michigan; Target discount stores in 32 states; and Mervyn`s Department Stores on the West Coast and in the South.
''We increased the emphasis on value and were pleased with our mature-store sales growth during the quarter,'' Macke said in a statement.
''However, the increased sales did not offset the deteriorating margin rate in this promotional environment.''
Despite efforts to improve performance in the holiday season, Macke said: ''We expect margins to remain under competitive pressure.''
Net earnings for the quarter ended Nov. 2 declined to $35 million, or 40 cents a share, from $58 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $3.96 billion from $3.62 billion.
Net income for the nine months fell to $109 million, or $1.26 a share, from $177 million, or $2.23 a share, last year. Revenue rose to $10.9 billion from $9.9 billion.


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Posted: January 23rd,2009 | By: doug.herman
As part of its Call For New Media Applications and Services Projects (“The Call”), Singapore’s Media Development Authority (“MDA”) awarded SG$7.6 M (US$5.08 M) to five business projects. The MDA, which is dedicated to promoting traditional and digital media initiatives in Singapore, expects its investments to create 300 new jobs and inject SG$70 M (US$46.28 M) to the local media economy.
The five projects were selected from 26 proposals submitted in response to The Call which was announced in June 2008 and closed in September 2008. The Call aims to help local companies that have developed innovative applications and services in niche areas that have the potential to go global. The Call is also intended to attract digital media resources to Singapore and drive innovation among companies and encourage them to go digital.
“The selected projects strengthen Singapore’s goal to be a leader in the New Media sector. Our support will help the companies scale up their international exposure significantly. These projects will in turn support some 200 companies to help build the New Media ecosystem. This funding initiative complements MDA’s ongoing effort to support innovative content development and research and development in Interactive Digital Media (IDM).”
– Michael Yap, Deputy CEO, MDA.
Areas identified by the MDA for investment opportunities include:
– Immersive Learning Media, the provision of engaging on-demand learning and simulation technology,
– Pervasive Media, which allows information processing to be fully integrated into everyday objects and activities,
– Virtual and 3D Media such as building online social networking sites and communities, and
– Digital Interactive Advertisements and Digital Hubs.
Follow the jump for more info on the five winning projects funded by MDA…
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Singapore
, digital textbooks
, Media Development Authority
, Personal e-Motion
, Popular e-Learning
, social community
, Virtual Worlds
Posted: January 21st,2009 | By: Jeff
UltiZen Games Ltd., (www.ultizen.com) a leading game development and outsourcing company in China, today announced that it has been awarded as one of the Red Herring Top 100 Global Companies (www.redherring.com).
In 2008, Ultizen expanded from 27 people to 350 and is building a new studio in Suzhou and expanding current locations in Beijing and Shanghai. In October 2008, Ultizen launched Crazy Mouse, the first Xbox LIVE Arcade game developed by a China-based gaming company.
Crazy Mouse is one of the first projects incubated in the Chengdu Incubation Center (CDIC). The CDIC was established in September 2006 as a strategic initiative between Microsoft (MSFT) and the Sichuan Culture Bureau, the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and Sichuan Huachuang Tianfu company to incubate game development projects for the Xbox platform.
Posted: January 20th,2009 | By: jeremy
Friendster, one of the original social nets in the U.S. now predominantly based in Asia, issued a statement today highlighting some organizational growth and new partnerships. The tone also firmly underscored the company’s Asian focus, repeatedly reinforcing the company’s commitment to and status in the region. Over half of Friendster’s employees and 80% of planned new hires are located in Asia, with the company’s global/US headquarters in Mountain View, California accounting for most of the rest.
The company opened new offices in Singapore for sales, and Sydney, where Richard Kimber, the new CEO, will work.
Friendster also announced 4 new partners and resellers inthe region:
Pixel Media, a leading advertising sales network in Asia, has been appointed the exclusive sales partner for Friendster in Singapore, where Friendster has 1 million monthly unique visitors.* Additionally, Pixel Media has been and will continue to be the exclusive sales partner for Friendster in Malaysia where Friendster has over 3.6 million monthly unique visitors.* Pixel Media will work closely with advertisers and agencies to deploy effective interactive marketing campaigns on Friendster in both countries.
In Indonesia, Admax, a leading website representation and digital advertising network of premier local and international sites in Southeast Asia, has been named the exclusive reseller for Friendster. Admax will work with local advertisers in Indonesia to launch their campaigns on Friendster, giving them access to Friendster’s over 5 million monthly unique visitors in Indonesia,** a top-3 website and the #1 mobile site in the country.***
In the Philippines, Friendster has two reseller partners — Havoc Digital and Yehey!. Friendster recently added Yehey!, a top Philippine portal and search engine, as a reseller. Havoc Digital has been a reseller partner of Friendster since August 2005. Friendster will work with both Havoc Digital and Yehey! to build award-winning, successful campaigns for advertisers in the Philippines where Friendster has over 13 million unique visitors** — virtually the entire online population of the Philippines — and where Friendster is a top-3 website and the #1 mobile site in the country.***
Lots of nice statistics quoted in the release and boilerplate, all pointing to Friendster’s in-the-running position in parts of the region, with the Philippines and a few other countries being relative strongholds. While they are focused on the Asia region, it’s hard to see them cracking the relevant range again in the U.S., and even in the larger countries of the region, dominated as they are by homegrown social nets like Cyworld in Korea. Pointing out that one has 13 mm visitos in the Philippines doesn’t obscure the several hundred million online population in China alone, tapped into by their social nets.
Full details in the release.
Filed under: 10+3
, Havoc Digital
, Pixel Media
, Richard Kimber
, Social Networks
Posted: January 20th,2009 | By: Jeff
Capitalism is thriving in China’s mobile phone section . . . Here are some of the highlights from the China Internet Information Center:
- – China Mobile’s (CMCC) 3G coverage will reach the 28 target cities in June this year;
- – China Telecom (CHA) will launch 3G service in 100 major cities before the end of March and would launch full-scale nationwide 3G services in July;
- – CHA started a trial by offering 3G service in approximately 81 cities, mainly along the eastern coast,
- – CMCC is focusing their efforts in 28 provincial capitals;
- – CMCC’s advantage is its established customer network;
- – CHA’s advantage is the speed of its CDMA network (a company official has gone on record stating that the company aims to be the country’s number one in 3G SP);
- – CMCC, the country’s largest wireless telecommunication operator with 460 million subscribers (420,000 are 3G users)
Posted: January 19th,2009 | By: jeremy
Some news out of Samsung reflecting the economic difficulties: the companies 6 divisions will be reorganized into 2, and 20% less executives than usual will be promoted. The Korea Herald is reporting that due to the global economic downturn, the company was taking a number of steps, including personnel decisions and reorganization. The structural change is interesting:
The electronics giant will conduct a sweeping organizational shake-up under its decision to merge its six units into two – Device Solution and Digital Media & Communications. The reorganization is seen as a move to slim down its organization to flexibly adjust to an economic downturn.
The Device Solution unit will be headed by Lee Yoon-woo, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, while Choi Gee-sung, currently president of the mobile communications unit, will run the Digital Media & Communications division.
The Device Solution unit will be comprised of four businesses – three semiconductor businesses (memory, system LSI and hard disk drive) and the LCD business. Currently, the LCD unit is divided into high-definition LCD and mobile LCD businesses…
Digital Media & Communications, which will cover “sets” such as mobile phones and TVs, will be comprised of six businesses.
The second division, of course, is where much of the emerging internet capable devices are located. While still hardware, the interfaces and ability to perform consumer digital media related tasks, for example to stream video directly from the web to a television set, will be in this division.
The personnel moves are also sweeping for a Korean company – not only are 20% less executives being promoted – but those that are making the cut are being determined on a more performance based measure, as more execs from the better performing areas (not semiconductors) receiving good news. The paper also reports that fully 10% of executive ranks were slashed in belt-tightening moves as well.


text: According to the German timber industry association, Germans are expected to purchase about 29 million Christmas trees this season. Christmas is the most important holiday in Central Europe and many retailers depend on it for as much as half of their annual sales. Shoppers carry their trees at a Christmas tree farm on December 12, 2010 in Mellensee near Berlin, Germany. A mother and her children search for a tree at a Christmas tree farm on December 12, 2010 in Mellensee. Santa Claus walks with kids through a Christmas tree farm.


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The CGA’s OPUS consumer study has seen cocktails ‘gaining significant traction’ as drinkers returned to bars and venues, with Margaritas and Mojitos amongst the most popular choices.
CGA’s OPUS (‘On Premise User Study’) delves deep into consumer insights with a national representative sample of Australian on-premise visitors. OPUS has a specific focus on drinker behaviour, revealing insights into category drivers, sub-category preferences and preferred serves.
Following March’s prediction of an on-premise revival, CGA has revealed further OPUS findings, showing that 28 per cent of Australians say they are drinking more cocktails in bars and restaurants than the last year.
This result is supported by the perspective of bartenders themselves, with 59 per cent of those surveyed ‘stating that they believe cocktails are in the best position to thrive in 2022’, with bartenders more confident about the future of cocktails than any other category.
30 per cent of Australian consumers are choosing cocktails when visiting bars and venues. In context alongside other categories, beer continues to lead the way in overall popularity, with 47 per cent of on-premise consumers, while wine is second with 41 per cent and spirits third with 36 per cent.
OPUS also investigates beyond the overarching category type, exploring what the most popular ‘serves’ of cocktail are amongst drinkers. Both the Mojito and the Margarita attract 24 per cent of drinkers each, followed by the Pina Colada at 22 per cent, and the Espresso Martini, which is ordered by just over a fifth of drinkers (21 per cent).
The study revealed insights into the consumption occasion, showing that 45 per cent of drinkers are ‘looking for a treat’ when choosing to drink cocktails. CGA stated that ‘this aligns broadly with the premiumisation trend identified in the on-premise channel around the world.’
Moreover, OPUS offers an understanding of the key decision-drivers for on-premise operators, revealing that a quarter of consumers found that detailed menu descriptions influenced their decision to order a certain cocktail. The second most important decision-driver was ‘bartender recommendation’ – cited by 24 per cent of consumers.
Scott Elliot, the Managing Director of CGA, was on-hand to give some context to the study’s findings, with key takeaways for both operators, and suppliers.
“Clearly, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to On Premise strategy is outdated and insight-led channel and occasion-based tactics are required now more than ever.
“Operators today have enough challenges to deal with and absolutely must get the support they need from sophisticated drinks suppliers. Not just in terms of relevant trends and evidence-based recommendations but also in practical help around menu creation, operational and advocacy training, support in effective pre-batching techniques and many more elements that are needed to create a compelling and operationally manageable cocktail program,” Scott said.
“Here in Australian Cocktail Month, it is great to objectively see how important Cocktails are to the On Premise,” Scott concluded.
OPUS will launch into New Zealand in June, following its successes in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK and France.


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Evonik Industries AG is seeking a buyer for a unit making color blends used in adhesives and paint as Chief Executive Officer Klaus Engel focuses the company on specialty chemicals ahead of an initial public offering.
Evonik is in the final throes of selling its carbon black operation and expects to divest the colorants unit by the end of the year, Engel said today at a press conference in Essen, where the company is based. Carbon black accounts for the bulk of the units’ combined sales of about 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion).
“We are embarking on a new chapter in our journey to the stock market,” Engel said.
Disposals will help Evonik focus on more value-added specialty chemicals as petrochemical producers in the Middle East and Asia squeeze margins on commoditized products. With annual sales of 13.3 billion euros, Evonik is a candidate to join Germany’s benchmark DAX index upon selling shares. Part owned by CVC Capital Partners, Evonik’s IPO is expected to take place inside 15 months, Engel said today.
RAG Stiftung, a state trust that oversees mining assets in Germany, will likely decrease its stake to 25 percent from a current 74.99 percent, the CEO said. RAG sold a 25.01 percent stake to CVC after shelving plans for an IPO in 2008 because of an economic slowdown.
A rebound in earnings and sales is helping put those IPO plans back on the table. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 47 percent to 2.4 billion euros last year. Sales added 26 percent. Evonik had a fourth-quarter net loss of 56 million euros on costs to dispose of an initial stake in its Steag energy unit.
Sales this year are expected to rise “slightly” while operating profit will hold steady, the company predicted today.
Buyout firms including Advent International Corp., Triton Beteiligungsberatung GmbH, Rhone Capital LLC and Apollo Management LP are among the potential buyers for carbon black, which supplies materials used to improve the performance of tires, two people with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg on Jan. 22.
Evonik will also divest a real-estate unit by 2013 and its remaining stake in an energy business with an enterprise value of about 600 million euros within five years, the CEO said. It sold 51 percent of Steag to a Ruhr-Rhein group of municipal utilities.


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UPS expands Worldwide Express package service
UPS has expanded its UPS Worldwide Express package service to reach 124 countries and territories.
The UPS Worldwide Express service offers guaranteed delivery in 1-3 business days by 10:30 a.m., noon, or 2 p.m., depending on the destination. In 2017, UPS Express service was added to 7,000 new postal codes in 57 countries and territories.
In a statement issued today (26 February), Jim Barber, UPS International President, commented: “With the latest expansion of UPS Worldwide Express services, we are the industry leader in making this connection in 124 countries and territories, which comprise nearly 96% of the global gross domestic product, and 93% of real imports.”


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Evolution Gaming Group is set to acquire Livespins, a social gaming platform, for €5 million. This acquisition, part of Evolution’s “Product Leap” strategy, will allow players to wager behind their favorite influencers, streamers, and brand ambassadors.
The purchase agreement includes an earn-out consideration based on Livespins’ performance until 2026. Livespins will integrate into Evolution’s casino lobby through an Application Programming Interface (API), enabling players to bet behind the streamer and collaborate to win jointly.
Despite the acquisition, Livespins will continue to operate independently as its own brand within Evolution. It will join other brands such as DigiWheel, Nolimit City, Big Time Gaming, and Red Tiger. The acquisition is projected to be finalized in the first half of the ongoing year, subject to customary closing terms.
Evolution’s Chief Product Officer, Todd Haushalter, expressed excitement about the acquisition, highlighting the potential for players to engage with streamers directly from the Evolution lobby. Chris Scicluna, CEO of Livespins, also expressed enthusiasm, describing the acquisition as an unprecedented milestone for the company.
In related news, Evolution has also formed an alliance with South African company Kiron Interactive to strengthen its presence in Africa. This partnership reflects Evolution’s ongoing efforts to expand its global footprint and provide innovative gaming experiences to players worldwide.


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LUKOIL expects restoration of gas production in Uzbekistan before the end of 2020, Sputnik quotes the company’s Vice President Pavel Zhdanov as saying.
According to him, while maintaining production at the current level until the end of the year, the total volume for 2020 will be about 7 billion cubic meters.
Zhdanov hopes that such a pessimistic scenario will not prove real, and that production and sales volumes will recover.
“We invested $9.9 billion in the project in Uzbekistan, including administrative expenses. Today, about $8 billion has been compensated,” he added.
LUKOIL’s report stated that the company has reduced gas production in Uzbekistan to about 40% of its design capacity since February due to low gas demand from China, which affected the company’s total hydrocarbon production in the first quarter of 2020.


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Many gamers expected to get more games for Playstation 4, but they will “waste” it. It is true that the launching of Playstation 4 from Sony sold more than 20 million units to customers around the world. However, Niconico News stated Playstation 4 only sold around 1.1 million units in Japan, compared with Playstation 3 that sold one million units in Japan for 9 months.
The reason why Playstation 4 does not sell high in Japan because Japanese people prefer mobile games and PC browser games, not to mention they are “popular right now”. “Trying to put a 47-inch LCD TV in my 10-tatami room (about 16 square meters) and having lots of free time? I don’t have that sort of foreign country lifestyle, so a PS4 would be waste for me.”
Final Fanasy Type 0 HD will sell in Japan soon, Ryuga No Gotoku 0 (Yakuza 0) has released on March 12, 2015, but many people in Japan will doubt to buy them, “so there’s a lot of speculation that PlayStation 4 sales will pick up in the coming weeks”. In addition, April is the students who will graduate and starts new jobs. “A steady paycheck could encourage them to start spending on luxuries, but there again all that overtime might make them think twice about splurging on something they won’t get to use.”


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Whether you're channelling spooky, funny or fancy, it's safe to say Glaswegians love any chance to dress up.
And after a long lockdown, people are pulling out all the stops to create some cracking costumes this Halloween.
We asked readers to send in their best costumes from over the years – and it really was tough choosing our favourites.
Sign up for our newsletter for all the latest news and happenings in and around our city.
Pennywise the Clown, Joe from Tiger King, and Hocus Pocus were among dozens of amazing looks posted on our Facebook page – you can have a look for yourself here.


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Uruguay: Inflation increases in June
Consumer prices increased 0.67% from the previous month in June, accelerating from May’s 0.46% increase. June’s uptick was the sharpest rise in prices since February. Looking at the details of the release, housing prices increased at a stronger pace in June. Meanwhile, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a slower rate.
Inflation came in at 7.3% in June, which was up from May’s 6.6%. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down mildly, with annual average inflation coming in at 8.8% in June (May: 9.0%).


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Twitch is considering a pay cut for its top creators to boost its bottom line. Here’s what we know.
According to insiders who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity, the move would see creators’ pay cut from 70% down to 50%. Other updates under consideration would offer streamers more incentive to run ads for viewers. The changes could be implemented to Twitch’s monetization structure as soon as this summer.
Twitch is considering dropping from a 70/30 split in favor of the creator to an even 50/50 split. Another option is to create multiple payout tiers with creators needing to reach certain milestones to achieve a higher payout. In exchange for these changes to the platform, Twitch may offer to release partners from its exclusivity restrictions.
Twitch hasn’t publicly commented on the potential updates. Bloomberg notes the proposed pay cuts may be abandoned at any time.
Viewership of video games has exploded after the pandemic. Twitch still leads the market, but Amazon wants the site to be profitable for its bottom line. Many long-time creators have been unhappy with Twitch’s focus on profitability and they’re leaving the platform in favor of other live streaming services like YouTube and TikTok.
According to the service TwitchTracker, there are more than 51,500 people in the Twitch Partner Program.
Twitch has increased its focus on getting channel creators to run ads in recent months. Creators who stream at least 40 hours a month can now get paid $100 per two minutes of ads per hour. The payout increases the more ad minutes are run by streamers.
These Twitch pay cuts are a hard slap in the face for creators who often don’t make much from the platform in the first place. We know this because of the Twitch hack last year that revealed all of the payouts for the top streamers on the platform in 2019. Once you scroll past the top 10,000 highest paid streamers, the profit starts falling off fast. In fact, 25% of the highest-paid streamers on Twitch don’t make the equivalent of minimum wage based on their leaked payouts.
There are around 9 million streamers on Twitch, so 10,000 is just 0.1% of the platform. Those numbers resemble multi-level marketing schemes where only the top earners (those with the most viewers) are successful, while everyone else languishes by paying in more than they generate. At least streaming on Twitch is free if you don’t count the time spent setting it up, right?


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DRS Technologies, Inc. has unveiled its Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition business unit’s new thermal camera, a lightweight surveillance device that weighs just over an ounce and consumes one watt of power to produce a thermal image.
The camera is slightly smaller than a golf ball and the thermal image detects infrared energy that is emitted by people, objects and structures. It produces clear pictures even among smoke, dust, haze, light fog and total darkness.
“This latest innovation extends RSTA’s standing as the thermal imaging industry’s technology leader and largest producer of uncooled detector’s in the world,” said Terry Murphy, president of RSTA.
DRS’ Original Equipment Manufacturer customers plan to incorporate the camera in a variety of applications, including security and surveillance, unmanned aerial vehicles, portable handheld devices and other commercial applications.


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Research into Guernsey’s entrepreneurial landscape has found 90% of new local start-ups or entrepreneurs are incorporating AI when running their business.
Digital Greenhouse and Black Vanilla launched the second edition of the survey to understand the advantages and challenges for entrepreneurs setting up a business in Guernsey, and what support is needed to foster a positive environment for new and small businesses. The survey was launched ahead of Global Entrepreneurship Week where a panel event will take place to discuss in more detail.
The survey also discovered that 50% of SMEs believe that the cost-of-living crisis will be the biggest threat to their new business in the coming months and years.
Lucy Kirby, Director at The Digital Greenhouse, said: ‘Last year’s response to the survey was excellent, and we found the information extremely interesting. This year we have really focused on those newly starting out, to get a feel for what is changing. It is positive to see how many have already taken advantage of existing support programmes and we hope that this feedback can help us develop services further for local entrepreneurs.’
‘We want to keep growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Guernsey and hope that continuous fresh data can help us with this. Many challenges will resonate with businesses established and new, along with changes in how people are working differently with an increasing focus on the importance of technology.’
60% of respondents also claimed that access to banking and financial support was the most significant operational hurdle the business faced when starting up. This mirrored the 2022 survey where the same answer was the largest challenge, with a slightly lower percentage – 50% of respondents.
The survey results will be discussed in further detail at a panel event during Global Entrepreneurship Week (13-19 November 2023). The panellists include Nichole Culverwell, Agency Director at Black Vanilla, Lucy Kirby, Director at Digital Greenhouse and Wayne Atkinson, Senior Partner at Collas Crill, and moderator Matthew Leach, News Editor at Bailiwick Express.
The event will take place at Digital Greenhouse from 12-1pm on Wednesday 15 November.
Nichole Culverwell, Director at Black Vanilla, said: ‘Economic growth is a critical factor in making the island’s finances more sustainable. The results gathered in our 2023 survey give us some very helpful insights into the challenges that entrepreneurs face when setting up a business in Guernsey today. I look forward to discussing our findings on the panel and talking about the current local economic landscape and how the island’s business ecosystem supports new businesses.
Register your attendance to the panel event here.


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Eleventy Pop-Up at J3 Clothing
Luxury Italian lifestyle brand Eleventy has teamed up with two independent retailers for a unique pop-up shop experience in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Cleveland, Ohio-based menswear retailer J3 Clothing is currently hosting a seasonal Eleventy pop-up shop for ten days ending on Saturday, October 14. The pop-up shop kicked off Thursday evening, October 5, with an opening party featuring Eleventy style experts and brand president Geoff Schneiderman. Highlights also include New York-based models showcasing Eleventy’s latest collections and opportunities to win a wardrobe makeover.
J3 Clothing will partner with neighboring store Fringe where the Eleventy women’s collection will be available. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, portions of the proceeds during Thursday night’s kick off, as well as throughout the weekend of October 6, went to benefit Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio.
“We are extremely honored to have been chosen by Eleventy to host one of their select, national pop up shops,” said JB Dunn, partner, J3 Clothing. “Eleventy picks only two retailers per season for this special opportunity. This is a true testament to the strong and successful relationship we’ve developed and maintained with Geoff Schneiderman and the Eleventy brand, as well as their confidence in our business model.”
“We have all been touched by cancer in one form or another,” Schneiderman told MR. “We appreciate any opportunity to bring awareness and contribution towards fighting this awful illness. We partnered with J3 and Susan G. Koman for an exclusive pop-up store, fashion presentation, and unique experience.”
Eleventy Pop-Up at Garys
Additionally, Newport Beach, California-based independent retailer Garys is hosting a similar Eleventy pop-up in its store until Saturday, October 21. This pop-up shop will be donating 20 percent of Eleventy sales to American Cancer Society. And, like the J3 Clothing pop-up, Eleventy has provided fixtures, furniture, mannequins, and exclusive product to create a total world of Eleventy presentation.
Eleventy’s pop-up shop at Garys will culminate in a fashion show on Thursday, October 12 at nearby luxury shopping center Lido Marina Village, in partnership with Nobleman magazine. The brand will open a satellite pop-up during the event.


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Galaxy today have announced a new card to its range, an 8600 GT which is almost identical to an 8600 GTS, but called the GE, confused? Allow me to explain...
A Regional manager at Gigabyte China, Chang Chaosong has lost the company a substantial amount of money by using Gigabyte as the guarantor for a personal loan of $5 million without permission.
Desperate Nvidians can now pop over to the Nvidia website and download the newly released nTune 5.05.38.00.
Latest hardware reviews from our friends around the web.
Back in January at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Intel showed off a rig equipped with two quad core Xeons. HotHardware have now managed to get their hands on the parts used by Intel and have built a similar rig.
One thing that currently drives the console world is new kinds of user interaction with games. Sony's PS2 is now handing all its "Eye Toy" glory over to the PS3 with the new "Playstation Eye".
Nintendo's Wii will no doubt continue to lead the current generation console sales but will supplies be an issue?
On May 31, all pre-release betas and release candidates of Windows Vista will expire.
Since its launch in 2001, Wikipedia has grown to more than 1.7 million articles and has now been announced to be available on a CD with around 2000 selected articles.
A video has appeared online showing seven minutes of fresh Halo 3 gameplay.
Some early benchmarks of the HD 2900XT have appeared from the guys over at Daily Tech.
Due to hit stores in May, Lenovo have announced a new range of ThinkPads featuring Intel's "Santa Rosa" platform.


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- Traitors abound in new tactical RPG for PS3, PS Vita, Lost Dimension
- Gryphon Knight Epic to take to the skies August 20, new trailer up
- NIS announces exclusive Samurai Warriors 4-II limited edition for PS4
- Rare Replay now up for digital pre-order on Xbox.com, Xbox One dash
- Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, HD remake of Odin Sphere, coming 2016
Fancy A Date?
Developer- and Publisher-specific Articles: Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel
Electronic Arts has announced that Visceral Games’ Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel will launch on March 26 for 360 and PS3. For gamers looking to snag some pre-order bonuses, three extras were also announced, detailed below, with those who put down their cash early receiving the Overkill Edition, which includes early access to contracts, co-op gear, and weapons.


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Youtube's copyright content system is apparently out of control and is crippling some well known and lesser known Youtube game review channels.
Many gamers who upload footage of video games to YouTube are still getting troubling "content ID" matches that threaten to upend YouTube's gaming content as we know it. But on day three of this controversy, some game publishers appear to be taking steps to help these gamers out.
This story is unfolding rapidly as so-called Content ID notices continue to fill the inbox of big and small gaming YouTubers. Meanwhile, YouTubers and a bevy of game creators are taking to Twitter to talk about it, posting helpful videos to YouTube explaining the situation and talking directly to reporters like me.
Content claims do keep coming in, as YouTube's copyright-sniffing bots continue to crawl any monetized videos—videos on which the uploader is running ads—in search of matching content that might infringe on someone's rights. Those bots are claiming videos on behalf of game publishers, music rights holders and, in some cases, seemingly random parties. Once the bot sniffs out the content match, the gamer who uploaded it loses the ability to run ads and the supposed rights-holder can begin to collect money by running their own ads unless they release their claim


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Sandy Hook remaking its image
Published 11:32 pm, Saturday, March 1, 2014
Tripp Muldrow, an urban planner with a Southern twang in his voice, is known across the country for his expertise in marketing towns that want to turn around their image.
Now Muldrow is part of a team that is creating a Sandy Hook brand. Its aim is to help shopkeepers market the Newtown neighborhood that is best known for a massacre they don't want to define them.
The slogan the team came up with: "Sandy Hook Village -- A Place Within Us All."
Muldrow, whose firm is based in Greenville, S.C., was hired by the Connecticut Main Street Center in Hartford, a nonprofit that Newtown officials chose to coordinate the branding and marketing campaign. The $50,000 cost of the campaign is covered through a $500,000 state grant intended to spark Sandy Hook's economic recovery.
For the full story, subscribe now.


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After rocking and rolling across the world in search of a good pie, Neil Smith and Nikki Price gave up.
They’re going to make their own.
Smith and Price plan to open Proper Pie Company in Church Hill in the next few months. They’ll have plenty of variations on the main theme, such as family-size fruit pies and 5-inch handheld meat pies, a casual dining staple in Smith’s native New Zealand.
Getting “a pie in New Zealand is like getting pizza, or grabbing a burger here,” Price said.
Smith, a chef by trade, spent 10 years cooking for rock stars with a London-based catering company. The job took him around the world with acts such as Jay-Z, Neil Young, Green Day and Britney Spears.
Smith met Price, a VCU graduate, in 2006, when he came through Richmond during a Nine Inch Nails East Coast swing.
The two married in 2008, and Smith gave up the touring job and settled in Richmond last year.
Proper Pie is being financed in part by a $10,000 grant from Bon Secours, which Smith and Price won in October.
The pair signed a lease on 1,000-square-foot shop at 2505 East Broad St. last month, and moved in July 1. It Must Be Heaven Ice Cream and Desserts previously occupied the shop.
Price says the company needs about $50,000 to get started but has her fundraising goals set a little higher.
“My accountant said, ‘If you think you can get away with $50,000, I want you to raise $75,000,’” Price said.
Price and Smith have received some investments from family and friends and are setting up an online crowd-funding campaign at Kickstarter.com.
The shop will feature a fixed menu of pies with standard meats and fruits and a rotating seasonal menu.
Smith is working from many classic New Zealand recipes but said there is plenty of room to tinker.
“I’m making a lot of these up as we go,” he said.
Single-serving pies will cost between $5.50 and about $7.
Proper Pie will be open Wednesday through Sunday at first, but the team hopes to become a seven-day-a-week operation. Smith and Price also hope to start a Proper Pie food cart so they can take their food to fairs and festivals.
The first-time entrepreneurs are still on the business side of the shop, but Price isn’t worried at all about the product. She’s already picked out her favorite: a chicken and sweet potato variety common in New Zealand.
“I ate an award-winning pie in New Zealand, which was chicken and kumara, and couldn’t believe how delicious it was,” Price said. “Then I tried ours, and it was better.”


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TORONTO — Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Seabourn and Cunard have all announced extensions to their voluntary suspensions of operations due to COVID-19.
The extensions follow similar moves from Royal Caribbean and others and come as Cruise360 is postponed until later this year. Cruise360 was originally scheduled to take place in Vancouver May 12-18. Businesses unable to keep their commitments to Cruise360 will be offered the opportunity for a refund. with details on the request process coming soon.
“While cruising may be momentarily paused, our US$150 billion industry will be back … better than ever before,” says Charles Sylvia, ECC, Vice President, Membership and Trade Relations for CLIA. “We will be so much stronger for what we have endured together and how we reacted to it, dealt with it, and what we learned from it.”
Here are the latest updates from Holland America Line, Cunard and Seabourn:
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
Holland America, which previously announced a suspension through April 14, has made the decision to extend its pause of global cruise operations for an additional 30 days, cancelling sailings scheduled to depart through May 14, 2020.
Guests currently booked on cruises from April 14 through May 14 and their travel advisors will receive notification from Holland America in the coming days regarding options for either a future cruise credit for 125% of their booking value plus an additional $250 shipboard credit or a full refund.
All bookings will be automatically cancelled through May 14. Guests are not required to call to cancel, however, they may visit hollandamerica.com to indicate their preference for either the credit plus bonus or a 100% refund.
Holland America will reimburse cancellation fees for air and other arrangements for travel to and from the cancelled cruise (not applicable for chartered sailings).
The cruise line is requesting that all those booked on cruises from April 14 through May 14 do not call reservations for assistance as hold times are expected to be very long, and their booking will be automatically cancelled over the coming week.
It has also confirmed that travel advisor commissions on bookings for cancelled cruises, which were paid in full, will be protected for the total amount of the future cruise credits when guests rebook.
MSC is suspending all new cruise departures fleet-wide through to May 29. It previously announced the temporary halting of all its ships globally through to April 30.
With this latest announcement, MSC intends to provide travel agents and guests who are booked on affected sailings with as much time as possible to move their booking to a future cruise.
It is offering impacted guests the chance to transfer the full amount paid for their cancelled vacation plus an additional credit benefit to a future cruise of their choice at any point through the end of 2021.
Seabourn is also extending its voluntary pause of global operations for its five cruise ships for an additional 30 days. The extension includes sailings scheduled to depart through May 14, 2020.
The brand had announced an initial 30-day pause in operations, which took effect on March 14, 2020.
Impacted guests will receive a 125% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through Dec. 31, 2021.
For guests who do not opt to choose the credit, a 100% refund of the monies paid to Seabourn will be reimbursed to the original form of payment.
Guests and their travel advisors will be sent communications on how to manage cancellations and compensation online. Guests are asked not to call the Reservation Call Center for information about cancellations due to high call volumes.
Cunard is extending the suspension of all voyages from April 11 up to and including May 15, 2020.
The brand says it will continue to monitor government guidelines and travel restrictions in ports of call around the world, and this may mean there are further changes to the timing of when each of its ships returns to service.
“The impact of COVID-19 is affecting personal routines and businesses as well as placing significant travel restrictions around the world,” says Cunard’s President, Simon Palethorpe. “Everyone in the Cunard team is aware of the need to support the management and containment of COVID-19 globally. This includes protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew. It is therefore right we extend the pause in operations.”
For all guests impacted by this temporary suspension, Cunard will provide a 125% future cruise credit. This credit will be applied automatically to their guest account for use on a future Cunard voyage. This can be redeemed against any new booking, on any voyage sailing before the end of March 2022, providing the booking is made by the end of December 2021.
For more updates from cruise lines go to https://www.travelweek.ca/news/when-will-cruise-lines-return-to-service-here-are-all-the-latest-updates/.


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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed administrator and through what it described as a “complex restructuring deal”, which has seen some of its assets sold, has raised £84m and saved 1,800 UK jobs.
Travelex was held to ransom by hackers in January after a cyber attack forced it to turn off its systems. It took a £25m hit after its systems were encrypted by Sodinokibi ransomware on 31 December 2019.
It was then put up for sale after the international travel industry shut down as a result of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
PwC said: “The impact of a cyber attack in December 2019 and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic this year has acutely affected the business.”
There is also increasing competition


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Philippine Fruit, Veg in Singapore Market Test
Jumat, 20 Januari 2012 | 07:34
The Philippines will send a “trial shipment” of fruit and vegetables to Singapore next week in hopes of cracking the lucrative market and possibly expanding elsewhere, an official said Thursday.The move comes as the government tries to expand the nation’s agricultural exports, which currently sit at about $4 billion, compared with Vietnam’s $11 billion and Thailand’s $28 billion.
About 20 boxes of carrots, cabbage, bananas, papaya, squash and spices will be shipped next week through Singaporean company Green and Fresh Ltd, said agriculture assistant secretary Salvador Salacup.
“These are just initial trial shipments. They still have to test the market for receptivity by their consumers, to test quality-wise for pest and disease control, if we meet safety and health protocols,” he told AFP.
Officials from Green and Fresh visited the Philippines last year to check farms before deciding on the trial shipments, Salacup added.
If successful the trial could lead to large-scale shipments to Singapore which can open the door to other agricultural exports such as chicken and pork, Salacup said.
by Agence France-Presse


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"Any decision that impacts our hardworking and talented people is incredibly tough, but we believe this is the right thing to do for our business," Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
The company has bout 8,000 employees, 5,100 of which are stylists who help select the items that are shipped to customers each month via subscriptions.
Most of the layoffs will take place in September. The company will provide severance payments, bonuses and extended healthcare coverage to affected employees, the Journal said.
“All of our California-based stylists will be offered the opportunity to relocate to the new roles in other states,” CEO Lake said.
Stitch Fix said it would be hiring about 2,000 stylists in lower-costs cities such as Dallas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Austin, Texas, beginning this summer through 2021.
Stitch Fix was forced in March to temporarily close two distribution centers to comply with coronavirus health orders. The company also withdrew guidance for the third quarter and fiscal 2020 because of uncertainty created by the pandemic.
"While we anticipated our business would be impacted, we did not have visibility into the extent to which it would disrupt our distribution centers," Lake said at the time.
Stitch Fix is expected to issue its quarterly earnings report next week.
Shares of San Francisco-based Stitch Fix were rising 3.18% in premarket trading Tuesday to $24.37. The stock closed Monday at $23.62, up 2.16%.


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Alibaba’s online shopping platform T-Mall will deliver foreign goods to customers in China tracked via Blockchain, the company reportedly announced early Wednesday along with its partner in the project, Cainiao limited, an Internet company focused on logistics.
Blockchain technology will be used to track the goods from source to delivery verifiable to consumers, the companies said. Because the delivery of the goods is tracked on a Blockchain, the movement of the goods from source to delivery will become transparent. Around 30,000 goods from 50 countries will enter the country through major ports across China.
Chinese consumers have bought items ranging from food and cosmetics to luxury yachts through online shopping. Goods from Japan, the US, Australia, Germany and Korea are most popular among T-Mall customers, a report it recently released said.
Matter of concern
Counterfeit goods have been a longstanding concern among Chinese consumers.
The announcement came on the heels of a one-page coverage of Blockchain by Renmin Daily, Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper.
According to Wang Jun, senior researcher at Tencent’s fintech think tank as quoted in the newspaper, China needs to develop home-grown Blockchain technology.
The article also explored Blockchain’s application in finance, charity, compliance and combating counterfeit products, a longstanding headache in China.
The coverage mentioned combating counterfeit goods as one of the possible applications of Blockchain.


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| ||Thread Tools|
|24th December 2012, 07:51||#1|
Join Date: May 2010
Micron and Elpida Announce Clearance of Transaction by Japan Fair Trade Commission
Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU) ("Micron") and Elpida Memory, Inc. ("Elpida") today announced that the Japan Fair Trade Commission has cleared Micron's previously announced acquisition of Elpida. Clearance under Japan's Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (Act No. 54 of April 14, 1947) satisfies one of the conditions necessary for consummation of the transaction. The transaction has also cleared premerger review in the United States, Czech Republic and Korea.
The closing of the transaction remains subject to other conditions-including approval by Elpida creditors, the Tokyo District Court and regulatory approvals in other countries-and is expected to be completed in the first half of calendar 2013. Elpida's proposed reorganization plan was submitted to the Tokyo District Court on Aug. 21, 2012, and the Tokyo District Court's approved the submission of Elpida's proposed reorganization plan to creditors on October 31, 2012.
|Thread||Thread Starter||Forum||Replies||Last Post|
|Micron and Elpida Announce Sponsor Agreement||Stefan Mileschin||WebNews||0||3rd July 2012 07:29|
|Micron buys Elpida for $750 million||Stefan Mileschin||WebNews||0||3rd July 2012 07:15|
|InterDigital Agrees to $375 Million Patent Transaction with Intel||Stefan Mileschin||WebNews||0||19th June 2012 07:42|
|Micron Emerges as Front-Runner To Buy Out Elpida||Stefan Mileschin||WebNews||0||9th May 2012 08:25|
|DTS to Acquire SRS Labs in Cash-and-Stock Transaction||Stefan Mileschin||WebNews||0||23rd April 2012 06:39|
|Intel & Micron Announce First 20nm MLC NAND Flash for Use in SSDs||jmke||WebNews||0||15th April 2011 07:44|
|Intel & Micron Announce 25nm NAND Flash Production, SSDs to get Bigger/Cheaper in Q4||jmke||WebNews||0||31st January 2010 00:16|
|Intel and Micron announce new flash chips: 1000 songs on your fingernail||jmke||WebNews||0||29th May 2008 18:42|
|Fair Trade Commission of Japan's Ruling That Intel Violated Antimonopoly Act||Sidney||WebNews||0||1st April 2005 21:50|


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Today at High Gear Media, Dodge teases the interior of the 2013 Dart as Lexus teases a new concept car. Fisker raises the price of the 2012 Karma and we take a look at how to protect yourself from car thieves this holiday season. All of this and more in today's car news, right here on The Car Connection.
Turns out, Lexus actually does sell cars as Christmas gifts.
One has to wonder if last week was the worst week in history for Ferrari fans.
The price of the 2012 Fisker Karma just went up again.
Dodge has teased the interior of the 2013 Dart before its Detroit Auto Show debut.
Here are six ways to protect yourself from car thieves this holiday season.
Lexus is teasing a new concept car that it will reveal at the Detroit Auto Show.
Are BMW and GM on the brink of a fuel cell partnership?
You can get up to $1,000 cash off your new vehicle during the Toyota "Shareathon."
The Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.
Have you been wondering what Greenpeace, Star Wars, and Volkswagen have in common? We can answer that.


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MediaTek says microcontroller chip seeing adoption in IoT devices
Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek Tuesday said that its MT3620 microcontroller unit chip (MCU) designed with Microsoft for its Azure Sphere security solution is receiving good adoption among IoT device makers.
NEW DELHI: Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek Tuesday said that its MT3620 microcontroller unit chip (MCU) designed with Microsoft for its Azure Sphere security solution is receiving good adoption among IoT device makers.
The company's announcement follows Azure Sphere deployments in 2019 that it said are all enabled by MT3620.
The semiconductor player said that the MCU which has Microsoft Azure Sphere directly integrated into its hardware, has been successfully adopted by major brands and global companies including Starbucks, Leoni, e.on and Gojo.
The MCU, the chipmaker said is the only chipset in the market that incorporates Azure Sphere’s comprehensive end-to-end security and enables manufacturers to develop secure IoT devices connected to Microsoft Azure Cloud services.
The maker further claimed that the secured solution provides device authentication and attestation, supports remote over-the-air software updates to maintain security in the face of evolving attacks, and automates error logging and reporting.
The MT3620 is now commercially available in the form of chipsets, modules and development kits.
“MediaTek is encouraged by the adoption of its MT3620 platform, as we pave the way for extended applications of Azure Sphere, MPU-based SoC chipsets and for OEMs to make great technology accessible to everyone, and on their own terms,” said Mohit Bhushan, VP and GM of US Business Development, MediaTek.
“Security is the single-most pivotal issue facing broad-based adoption of cloud-driven IoT services, particularly for mission-critical industries. We believe Microsoft Azure Sphere is the solution for secure cloud deployments, ” Bhushan added.
“IoT security starts in the silicon. The MT3620 is the first Azure Sphere certified chip, designed to deliver unparalleled IoT device security that keeps devices secured over time. This chip runs the Azure Sphere operating system and connects to the Azure Sphere Security Service out of the box,” said Anita Rao, Principal Program Lead, Azure Sphere, Microsoft.
“Today, customers across industries are adopting the MT3620 to design and produce everything from consumer appliances to retail and manufacturing equipment—these chips are also being used to power a series of guardian modules to securely connect and protect mission-critical equipment, ” Rao added.
What’s playing out today in India is eerily similar to what happened in the US Midwest five years ago, but this time the people and government of Gujarat have no excuse for not being aware of what’s likely to unravel. Americans were told clearly that the project in Mount Pleasant didn’t make sense. But still, they went ahead.


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Former government officials discuss how agencies achieve compliance goals by using leverage against companies.
Congress and President Trump dismantle Obama Administration rule aimed at bolstering Internet privacy.
Despite optimism about the future for the $85.4 billion deal, a new report claims Trump remains opposed to the merger.
Bill would crack down on clauses that ban consumers from writing negative online reviews.
Recently proposed mega-merger falls in the crosshairs of presidential race.
Consumer advocacy groups call on the FTC to investigate allegedly kid-inappropriate content.
FTC guidance on “active supervision” of state regulatory boards fuels concerns about intrusions on state sovereignty.
In its upcoming term, Supreme Court will decide key regulatory issues.


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More than 2,000 people have downloaded free tickets for the West Midlands Caravan and Motorhome Show online at www.caravanevent.co.uk. In addition more than 40,0000 caravan owners have received a mailshot about the event, which is being hosted by Salop Leisure in Shrewsbury from April 30 to May 9. The show will be open daily 10am - 5pm.
"The public response to the show in terms of the number of people downloading tickets has far exceeded our expectations and it promises to be the most successful event the company has ever staged," said Salop Leisure's marketing manager Scott Higgins.
Designed as a family day out, the show is packed with things to see and do, with 150 of the latest caravan holiday homes, luxury lodges, touring caravans and motorhomes on display from the country's leading manufacturers.
Anyone who buys a holiday home, touring caravan or motorhome during the first week of the show will qualify for a free six-minute flight in a helicopter over Shrewsbury courtesy of Whizzard Helicopters from Welshpool on Saturday, May 8. Flights can also be booked by people attending the show at £29 per person.
Over the weekend from May 1-3, visitors will be invited to enter a closest to the pin competition on a golf simulator, with the victor winning a Nintendo Wii and magician Steve Grant will provide entertainment with his up close magic, card tricks and free balloon animals for children on May 9,
The show invites visitors to 'Go Explore!', with a team of experts on hand to offer essential advice and comprehensive information about caravan, lodge and motorhome ownership, finance packages and insurance.
In addition, the event will showcase more than 200 quality caravan holiday home and touring parks across the Heart of England, Mid Wales and the Cambrian Coast.
Exhibitors include The Caravan Club, The National Trust, Leisure Line Spas, Shrewsbury Mariner, Quest Leisure, Cycle Shrewsbury, Dave Mellor Cycles, Shukers Land Rover, Powrtouch Motormovers, Derwen Garden Centre, K Drew Insurance and Marche Industries.
This February, we will celebrate Shrewsbury as "The Origin of Independent Thinking" and birthplace of Charles Darwin -...
Brick History takes you on a journey through pivotal moments in world history, modelled in LEGO® bricks. This is...
Join one of our Visitor Information Centre guides exploring Shrewsbury and the places associated with Charles Darwin.Due...
SHREWSBURY FLEA is a fabulous mixture of Antiques and collectables, antique furniture, vintage clothing & fabrics,...
With stress and anxiety being so prevalent and effecting more of us than we think, Naomi...
Go along to Enginuity, near Ironbridge during the school half-term holiday between 19th...
Shropshire Council Outdoor Partnerships Team are delighted to be welcoming renowned...
Discover more about digital coding at a new series of workshops for all ages in the...
This is the official tourism and visitor website for Shrewsbury provided by Shropshire Tourism, the official destination marketing organisation for Shropshire - read more


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You might remember mention of a new AT&T service called Toggle last month, a service which promised to allow enterprise users to access corporate email, calendars and contacts securely from whatever Android device they choose to purchase, while separately maintaining their personal data. AT&T's official Toggle app hit the Android Market today, heralding the beginning of the service, and bringing hugely useful functionality to enterprise users concerned with keeping their business and personal activities separate.
Poor AT&T. This is the second year in a row in which Ma Bell has been tossed under the knife with other carriers and came out dead last in terms of customer satisfaction. The survey, taken by Consumer Reports, examines voice, data, text messaging services, and customer care; the biggest hit came from... can you guess?... voice. Phone-based customer care also helped the company to achieve its bottom-tier ranking.
Surprisingly, the top position is held by regional-based carrier Consumer Cellular, a provider that, ironically enough, runs off of AT&T's network and focuses on senior citizens.
Amid the turmoil surrounding Carrier IQ, the company's VP of Marketing, Andrew Coward, has come forward in a series of interviews with a few clarifications.
For those not in the loop, the controversy around Carrier IQ is based on developer Trevor Eckhart's findings which indicated that Carrier IQ's software was indeed collecting a vast array of information, and his demonstration showing that said data could be read using a simple command – one that could be executed by any malicious app with access to logcat.
The Motorola lapdock for the original Atrix 4G is being blown out of the AT&T store starting today for $250 off its $300 list price. Yup, just $50 after an instant discount gets you a laptop shell with a 36Wh battery inside.
Plug your Atrix into it, and the dead frame comes alive with a desktop-grade Webtop experience (it's really a custom, though severely cut down, Linux flavor), including desktop Firefox and virtual access to your phone's screen and data while docked.
Yesterday, we caught early wind of two class action lawsuits filed against CarrierIQ, HTC, and Samsung in Chicago and St. Louis. You can now add a whole new class action suit to the pile, except this time it also names AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Motorola, and Apple in addition to the aforementioned three companies.
Led by law firms from Delaware and New Jersey - Sianni & Straite LLP, Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy LLP, and Keefe Bartels L.L.C.
Our elusive friend the Galaxy Nexus has made yet another appearance at the FCC, gaining approval for GSM 850/1900 and WCDMA II/IV bands, indicating an impending AT&T release.
So yesterday, the FCC released a report detailing its feelings on the AT&T/T-Mobile. The FCC basically called it like it is and said the merger will reduce competition, raise prices, cost jobs, and AT&T will have to build out its network with or without T-Mobile.
Well, AT&T got wind of that report, and they are not happy. Today they responded with all the composure of a rejected middle schooler:
We expected that the AT&T-T-Mobile transaction would receive careful, considered, and fair analysis. Unfortunately, the preliminary FCC Staff Analysis offers none of that. The document is so obviously one-sided that any fair-minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece, and not a considered analysis.
Ready to add another device to AT&T's growing number of LTE smartphones? Welcome the LG Nitro HD, Ma Bell's version of the Optimus LTE.
Spec-wise, the Nitro is packed to the gullet with top-of-the-line guts:
- 4.5-inch 1280x720 AH-IPS display
- 1.5GHz dual-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB built-in storage, 16GB microSD card included
- 8MP rear shooter, 1.3MP front cam
- Android 2.3 (will most likely be upgraded to ICS)
- 4G LTE
The Nitro will be available beginning December 4th for $250 with a two-year agreement.
Thanksgiving is over, but you know what that means - Black Friday is now officially in full effect, and we're seeing some pretty good deals, some of which are getting snatched up in mere seconds (cough, $199.99 Toshiba Thrive).
One of such BF deals is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc X12 with AT&T 3G frequencies for $319.99. The MSRP is listed at $549.99, and the price before today was somewhere around $370, so if you're looking for a slim and sexy Android Gingerbread device without signing a contract, this phone may very well be for you.
A few days ago, we received a mystery package from the good folks at RadioShack. Inside the package were three phones - the Samsung Stratosphere on Verizon, HTC EVO Design 4G on Sprint, and Samsung Infuse 4G on AT&T. Since these phones are ours to do with what we please, we've decided to do what we always do when we end up with extra goodies: give them away.
Since we have three phones to hand out, we're going to make each contest quick and dirty.


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A Scunthorpe shopkeeper whose store was targeted by a would-be burglar is considering sleeping on the premises to stop it happening again.
Culprit Christopher Barrett - who has a shocking 121 convictions under his belt - was arrested, interviewed and released on bail before targeting another shop just 24 hours later.
Barrett, 47, of Trent Street in the town, was jailed for a year at Grimsby Crown Court after admitting attempting to break into The International Store on October 7.
Grimsby Crown Court heard that neighbours alerted police who used CCTV cameras to later trace Barrett. He was interviewed and released on bail.
The next night, while on bail he broke into the Upper Crust sandwich shop on Ravendale Street North, Scunthorpe. Barrett admitted that offence, committed on October 8, as well.
He was also on licence from a previous offence.
Prosecuting, Nicola Quinney said Barrett was heard trying to break into the International Convenience store by neighbours awoken in the early hours by noise.
When police arrived there was no one at the store but they used CCTV cameras to trace Barrett. She said £1,000 of damage had been caused by the burglar. She added: "The owner saved up all his money to invest in the business. he is very frightened and considering sleeping at the store to stop people breaking in."
Miss Quinney said police were called to a burglary in progress at The Upper Crust sandwich shop where officers found Barrett with £30 in notes and a bundle of coins and chocolate bars, to a total value of £100. Fridge doors were left open which meant £200 stock was discarded.
For Barrett, Ian Haywood said: "It is as plain as a pike staff what his problem has been since 1988. He was in work. But Mr Barrett relapsed and the wheels came off spectacularly. He was homeless and living on people's sofas and then his brother died. Things have spiralled and he could not get to grips with it."
Sentencing him, Judge Graham Robinson highlighted Barrett's 121 previous offences and 34 court appearances, prior to 2003.
"Between 2003 and 2015, there is nothing at all," he said.
"Then what happens? Drugs.
"From December 2015 there is a burglary and possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply. You were released in July and here we are in October when in the early hours with a crowbar you attempted to enter a small convenience store.
"The owner saved up and put all his money into the business where margins are really tight. He is terrified the same thing might happen again," said the judge.
"Then when you are bailed, 24 hours later in another small shop you are found by police on the premises. You did not get away with anything. But the fridges were left open which meant £200 in stock had to go in the bin," he said.


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In the science fiction thriller Minority Report, Tom Cruise’ character interacts with a computer via a three-dimensional touch screen interface. Accenture, a global technology and corporate consulting agency, has brought a similar technology to life and installed it at Terminal 3 of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
The high-definition, interactive screen, which is 10 feet wide and 7 feet tall, is aimed primarily at business travelers and allows users to access information such as stock quotes, news, lifestyle tips, and sports updates. It is operated by touch and can be accessed by two people at one time.
“Accenture has already partnered with CNN Pipeline and the Weather Channel,” said Dale Herigstad, executive creative director at Schematic, the company that developed the technology for Accenture.
Accenture hopes this new technology could evolve into a network of interactive, wall-sized screens. The Accenture Interactive Network could one day link multiple screens at airports, shopping malls and other locations. And, because they are so large, the person interacting is not the only one who will view the content, as passersby will also be able to see what is going on on the screen.
“It’s going in two directions,” Herigstad said, “completely private, where you’re doing your own thing, but public as well.”
“The immersive experience fosters collaboration by allowing multiple users to simultaneously manipulate content, a feature lacking in other commercially-available, wall-sized screens,” Accenture published in a press release.
“Video is wallpaper,” said Herigstad, who consulted on Minority Report, “screens are getting better and cheaper.”
“Accenture has been a pioneer in airport billboard advertising and we view the Interactive Network as another example of our ability to use innovation to cut through the clutter,” said Teresa Poggenpohl, Executive Director, Global Advertising & Brand Management, Accenture. “It entertains travelers, while
simultaneously delivering our advertising featuring Tiger Woods. In the future, users might be able to request a brochure or white paper, or even order a product or service.”
The O’Hare screen was unveiled in May and Accenture plans to install another interactive screen at New York’s JFK airport, as well.
For more information, visit www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enweb&xd=newsroom%5Cepresskit%5Cinteractive_network%5Cinteractive_network.xml.


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Vaping devices have been marketed as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.
But a new GHN Commentary argues they are anything but safe. Melanie Dallas, CEO of Highland Rivers Health, says inhaling the chemically enhanced water vapor that these devices produce can expose a person to any number of risky substances.
“One of the biggest dangers of vaping – you can never be sure what you’re getting,’’ she writes. “Retailers may sell you something they call ‘synthetic marijuana,’ but you have no way of knowing what chemicals are actually in that vape cartridge, how harmful they might be or how your body will react to them.”


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Kaspersky Wants Microsoft AV Antitrust Investigations
Russia has launched an antitrust case into Microsoft after the founder of Moscow-headquartered anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab alleged the tech giant has abused its dominant position to foist its own AV products on customers.
In a lengthy blog post late last week, founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky argued that the Redmond giant has slowly squeezed independent developers from its Windows platform and offered its own products, “which in many cases were in no way better.”
“When you upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft automatically and without any warning deactivates all ‘incompatible’ security software and in its place installs … you guessed it – its own Defender antivirus,” he added.
“But what did it expect when independent developers were given all of one week before the release of the new version of the OS to make their software compatible? Even if software did manage to be compatible according to the initial check before the upgrade, weird things tended to happen and Defender would still take over.”
Even if the user has installed compatible products they will be urged to switch to Defender – and therefore automatically deactivate the third-party software – with a large “Turn On” button, Kaspersky claimed.
He also argued that Microsoft has buried warning notices from third party software designed to encourage customers to renew expired AV licenses. And it has restricted the number of AVs allowed to run on a machine.
“Let’s say you’ve an independent AV. You intentionally – or not (e.g., with bundled software) – install a trial version of a different AV, but forget to delete it or purchase a license for it,” said Kaspersky.
“When the trial period is up, Windows quietly turns off both AVs, and – you guessed it – turns on Defender! So, it’s out with two non-Microsoft products, and in with one Microsoft product, in no way whatsoever for a more comfortable – or safer – user experience.”
Kaspersky Lab has now asked the EU and Russian governments to investigate these alleged anti-competitive practices, with the latter’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) already taking action.
“Since ‘Microsoft’ itself develops antivirus software – Windows Defender that switches on automatically if third-party software fails to adapt to Windows 10 in due time, such actions lead to unreasonable advantages for ‘Microsoft’ on the software market,” said FAS deputy head, Anatoly Golomolzin. “Our task is to ensure equal conditions for all participants on this market”.
Source: Information Security Magazine


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Nutson' s Weeky Auto News Wrap-up November 6-12, 2022
LEARN MORE: Complete versions of today's news nuggets, along with thousands of pages of relevant news and opinions, information stored in a million-page library published and indexed on The Auto Channel during the past 25 years. Complete information can be found by copying a headline and inserting it into any Site Search Box.
Nutson's Auto News Weekly-wrap-up November 6- 12, 2022Here are Larry's picks among the past week's important, relevant, semi-secret, or snappy automotive news, opinions and insider back stories presented as expertly crafted easy-to-understand automotive universe news nuggets.
* The average price paid for a new vehicle in the United States in October 2022 was up from September and remains above the $48,000 mark, according to data released by Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive company. The Kelley Blue Book new-vehicle average transaction price (ATP) increased to $48,281 in October, slightly lower than the revised all-time high of $48,301 set in August. October 2022 prices rose 0.2% ($187) month over month from September and were up 3.8% ($1,775) year over year from October 2021. According to Kelley Blue Book calculations, October marks a record 17th straight month that new-vehicle ATPs were higher than the average manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), also known as the sticker price. The average price paid for a new EV declined in October by $2,286 (or down 2.3%) compared to September but was up by 7% compared to a year ago in October 2021. The average new EV price was $64,249, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates, well above the industry average and aligning more with luxury prices versus mainstream prices.
*Although the pandemic may be over, vehicle buyers are still suffering from its effect on new-vehicle production. With new-vehicle inventory remaining very low, transaction prices have significantly increased—and consumers are not happy about it. Customer satisfaction with the vehicle purchase experience has declined for the first time in more than 10 years, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study,SM released today. Overall sales satisfaction has dipped to 786 (on a 1,000-point scale) from 789 in 2021. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221109005420/en/
* Small Car Side crashes account for about a quarter of car deaths in the U.S., according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. For the first time, the independent safety organization crash-tested small cars with a newer, heavier barrier in order to determine how safe some models are in collisions with today's bigger and faster vehicles. Experts say the results surprised them. Eleven small cars were put to the test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to see how well they could stand up to a side impact crash. While all 11 of the same car models received good ratings using the old barrier, this time only seven cars received a good or acceptable rating, with the Mazda 3 topping the list. The Kia Forte and Subaru models were rated poor.
* U.S. DoE factoid of the week: Fuel Economy Improvements in Low-MPG Vehicles Yield the Greatest Savings. The relationship between gallons used over a given distance and miles per gallon (mpg) is not linear. For example, replacing a truck that gets 10 mpg with one that gets 15 mpg will save 33 gallons of fuel for every 1,000 miles driven. In contrast, replacing a 30-mpg car with a new car that gets 35 mpg will save 5 gallons of fuel for every 1,000 miles driven.
* After months of being a tease Honda gave us an on-line unveiling of the fourth-generation 2023 Pilot, its largest and most powerful Honda SUV ever. New on the outside and new on the inside the Pilot has a new more powerful 3.5-liter DOHC V6 engine. A new Pilot TrailSport has special off-road features including a raised off-road tuned suspension, all-terrain tires, steel skid plates and expanded all-wheel drive system capabilities. This fourth-generation Pilot goes on sale next month in five trim levels: Sport, EX-L, TrailSport, Touring and Elite.
* MINI USA is bringing back the fun of driving a manual transmission by launching a new MINI Manual Driving School at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, Calif. The announcement came shortly after MINI USA confirmed the manual transmissions would return to specific MINI models for November production. To expand the accessibility and fun of driving a manual, MINI USA is offering a manual driving school that is open to ANY drivers looking for the opportunity to learn to drive manual in an engaging and safe atmosphere. The BMW Group Performance Center West will be the exclusive location for the MINI Manual Driving School. Through the team of their experienced instructors, the school will incorporate both a classroom portion and a hands-on driving experience at the on-site test track. The curriculum that focuses on vehicle controls, finding the friction point, practicing smooth starts, stops, acceleration, and more. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be tested on a timed course to assess the driver's knowledge.
* The all-new 2023 Toyota Crown won Green Car Journal's prestigious 2023 Green Car of the Year award. Additional Green Car awards winners were announced here: https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2022/11/08/1215433-toyota-crown-wins-green-car-journal-s-prestigious-2023-green.html
* Bloomberg reports General Motors will be able to meet all requirements in three years for buyers of its electric vehicles to get the full $7,500 federal tax credit, Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra told Wall Street analysts. That’s pretty quick work. To be eligible for the full credit under the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August, EVs must be assembled in North America and contain batteries made from raw materials sourced in countries where the US has free-trade agreements. Automakers have balked at the plan and asked the US Treasury for leeway, saying it will take time to secure materials. Barra said GM has been working on battery materials and supply contracts to meet the automaker’s goal of selling 1 million EVs in the U.S. in 2025. “We think, out of the gate, we’re going to be eligible for the $3,750, and we’ll ramp to have full qualification in the next two to three years, getting up to the $7,500,” Barra said. “It just takes a couple of years to ramp up based on our expectations with the supply moves that we’ve already made.”
* In reference to the GM report take note: Vehicle price and type also matter. Vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs with a manufacture’s retail suggested price (MSRP) of more than $80,000, won’t qualify for the credit. For clean cars to qualify for the EV tax credit, the MSRP can’t be more than $55,000. Also note there are personal income limitations to qualify for the EV credit.
* Joe Szczesny writing for The Detroit Bureau reports Tesla’s controversial Full Self-Driving software has come under withering attack again — this time from a computer industry watchdog claiming the tests of the software indicate it fails to stop for child-sized mannequins crossing a street. The Dawn Project, in a full-page ad in The New York Times, states Tesla’s Full-Self-Driving system fails to detect children and fails to stop, striking the small crash dummy (used to simulate a real child). Tesla has been hit with a class action lawsuit for deceptive advertising around the FSD system, which is also under investigation by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has yet to order a complete recall. Ralph Nader, the midwife of the modern automotive safety system, also has attacked Tesla for putting the system on the road, The Dawn Project noted in its ad, which appeared over the weekend.
* Reuters reports a U.S. judge granted final approval to a class-action settlement worth at least $80 million to resolve claims Volkswagen AG and its Porsche AG unit skewed emissions and fuel economy data on 500,000 Porsche vehicles in the United States. The settlement, first reported by Reuters in June, covers 2005 through 2020 model year Porsche vehicles. Owners accused the automaker of physically altering test vehicles that affected emissions and fuel economy results. Owners of eligible vehicles will receive payments of $250 to $1,109 per vehicle.
* Automotive News reports the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition will not be held this year due to the COVID-19 situation in the country, the organizer of China's most important auto fair said in a notice. The organizers had previously postponed the auto show, which was originally scheduled to be held in late April, due to a flare up of COVID cases in China. The trade show in the world's largest auto market alternates each year between Beijing and Shanghai, and traditionally attracts both international and domestic automakers, including Volkswagen Group, General Motors, Toyota and Geely.
* GM is recalling nearly 340,000 full-size SUVs in the U.S. because their daytime running lights may not shut off when the regular headlights are on. The NHTSA says in documents posted on its website that having both lights on at the same time could cause glare for oncoming drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.The recall covers certain 2021 Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans, as well as some GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades.
* Volkswagen and Audi are recalling almost 225,000 vehicles that may have faulty tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). Because that’s a common part used in many VW and Audi models, the list of recalled vehicles covers thirteen models. The vehicles’ TPMS functions work fine in most circumstances but may not notify the owner in time if all four tires lose pressure at the same rate simultaneously. Dealers will fix the problem with a software update.
* Tesla is recalling 40,000 Model S and X vehicles in the U.S. over potential loss of power steering assist The EV maker has released an over-the-air software update to recalibrate the system after it began rolling out an update on Oct. 11 to better detect unexpected steering assist torque.
* At the Hilton Head Concours d'Elegance & Motoring Festival the 2022 Best in Show and Best Rolling Art was awardded to the 1936 Horch 853A Special Roadster owned by Robert S. Jepson, Jr. of Savannah, Georgia. Best Production/Performance winner is the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible owned by Robert and Suzanne Thomas of Indianapolis, Indiana. Best Road & Track car is the 1939 Lea-Francis Corsica Super Sports owned by Jim and Sue Wulf of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Best Motorcycle is the 1936 Brough SS80 owned by Andrew Meislin of Camas, Washington. The ACE Hardware of Hilton Head People’s Choice Award is the 1956 BMW 502 owned by Paul and Jayne Queck of Indianapolis, Indiana.
* The McLaren Senna has set a new circuit record for street-legal production cars at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, with driver Ricardo Mauricio covering the 2.677 mile track in 1:37:856. The feat was achieved during a UK Motors Academy Porto Seguros event, organized by the McLaren importer in Brazil. With production of the original version limited to 500 units, the McLaren Senna is one of the most extreme street-legal cars ever produced by McLaren Automotive. Its V8 4-liter twin-turbo engine delivers 789 bhp and 590 lbs-ft of torque for race car performance: acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, 0 to 124 mph in 6.8 seconds and 0 to 186 mph in 18.8 seconds, with a maximum speed of 208 mph.
* NASCAR's 2022 champion is Joey Logano with his win in the finale at Phoenix Raceway. Logano won the pole and was never really challenged in the race. Driving the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske, this is Logano's second championship. He took the title in 2018.
* Team Penske had a strong 2022 season. In addition to Logano's NASCAR title, Will Power won the IndyCar championship in September. Roger Penske, the Captain, turned 85 this year which was capped with a win at the Daytona 500 by Logano teammate Austin Cedric on Penske's birthday.
* Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died unexpectedly last Saturday night just hours after his son won the Xfinity Series championship. He was 49 and died in his sleep. Coy Gibbs played linebacker at Stanford from 1991 to 1994 and served as an offensive quality control assistant during his father's second stint as the Washington NFL coach. Gibbs had a short racing career, including two years in the then-NASCAR Busch Series and three in the Trucks series before helping his father launch Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross in 2007. Joe Gibbs has lost both of his sons. J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of degenerative neurological disease; he was also 49 at the time of his death. Coy Gibbs succeeded his older brother as vice chairman of the family-run NASCAR organization.
Stay safe. Be Well.


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Global supplier of fraud prevention and payments solutions Alaric, announced that it has signed a deal with the Indonesian arm of a large international bank, the first success of Alaric’s recent partnership with PT. Mitra Integrasi Informatika (MII).
The bank, which is headquartered in The Netherlands, has selected Alaric’s Authentic product as the card authorisation switch for its portfolio of debit cards in the region. This will be part of a larger project to move to a new core banking system and bring card management and authorisation in house.
“Indonesia has a large number of banks and they offer a wide range of transaction types – far more than we would typically see in Europe or the US – these might include complex transfers, a wide range of service payments and pre-paid top-ups,” said Paul Griffin, general manager Asia/Pacific at Alaric.
Barclays has signed contracts with six of the fintech startups that just graduated from its second New York accelerator programme.
Company card killer Pleo has raised $3m in new funding as it prepares for public launch in the UK and Denmark.
Cheques are become less and less common in the UK according to new research from global market research firm Mintel which claims contactless card use has overtaken cheque payments in the UK for the first time.
Payments for digital and physical goods made mobile operating system-based payments platforms like Apple Pay and Android Pay are expected to boom in the next few years according to new analysis from Juniper.