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Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. and U.S.-based food waste management company Divert Inc. have broken ground on their first joint project to be built under the terms of a US$1 billion infrastructure agreement announced earlier this year.
The two companies are investing approximately US$100 million in the first of what is expected to be several projects across the U.S. that will convert food waste into non-fossil fuel, renewable energy.
The first facility, for which a groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday afternoon, will be built in Longview, Washington and will be the first of its kind in the state. It will accept wasted food from retail food customers, agricultural food producers, industrial food manufacturers, restaurants and others and convert it into renewable natural gas, or RNG.
“When we started looking at who we wanted to partner with in this space, Divert really stood out because they have kind of mastered … diverting wasted food,” said Caitlin Tessin, vice-president of strategy and market innovation for Enbridge.
“The fact that it doesn’t just go into a landfill really attracted us to the Divert partnership because it’s not just about decarbonized gas — there’s a really strong social and community benefit to what they’re doing,” Tessin added.
Enbridge, which bought a 10 per cent stake in Divert earlier this year for US$80 million, is one of a number of traditional fossil fuel companies that have been investing in RNG as concerns about climate change intensify.
According to the World Biogas Association, organic waste from food production, food waste, farming, landfill and wastewater treatment are responsible for about 25 per cent of human-caused global emissions of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
But it’s possible to harness the methane from organic waste to create an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional natural gas that can be used for home heating, cooking, and even fuelling vehicles.
Divert — which uses a patented “depackaging” process and anaerobic digestion technology in its facilities — already operates 10 sites across the U.S., working with nearly 5,400 retail stores to process more than 2.3 billion pounds of wasted food annually.
Enbridge will help to finance the Longview facility, and will transport the fuel produced there to customers in the Washington area via Enbridge’s already existing natural gas pipeline network.
“RNG is a drop-in fuel replacement for traditional gas,” Tessin said, adding replacing traditional gas with RNG helps to lower Enbridge’s overall carbon footprint.
“It (allows us) to utilize the billions of dollars of infrastructure we already have.”
The Longview facility is expected to be fully operational in 2024. Enbridge says it will be able to offset up to 23,000 metric tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent to removing 5,000 gas-powered cars from the road annually.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ENB)
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An ISO 13485 certified contract manufacturer, Amnovis’ FDA Master File features key information on all aspects of its qualified titanium 3D printing processes for Ti grade 1 and Ti-6Al-4V grade 23.
The company claims that this addresses FDA concerns regarding titanium 3D printing processes. According to Amnovis, this Master File will simplify the regulatory submissions of 3D printed titanium implants in the USA for medical OEM’s worldwide, enabling faster time-to-market.
“Having an FDA Master File is a new milestone for our company and perfectly fits with our strategy of manufacturing high-end products for quality-critical and high-tech applications,” commented Amnovis CEO & Co-founder Ruben Wauthle. “Guided by our commitment to quality, we are ISO 13485 certified and combine our thorough understanding of product specifications and process capabilities with state-of-the-art metrology and material testing methods.”
“As a result, we enable our customers to shorten their time-to-market and to eliminate costs related to non-conforming parts,” added Wauthle.
Amnovis’ medical 3D printing expertise
One of the first companies to use laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) to 3D print titanium medical devices, Amnovis has been employing additive manufacturing to produce high-end medical devices since 2008.
Just last year, the company was selected by medical device firm CairnSurgical to 3D print its patient-specific Breast Cancer Locator (BCL). This surgical guide device was designed to help surgeons precisely locate and remove breast tumors during lumpectomies. Available for commercial use in the EU, Amnovis 3D prints these devices using Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology.
Similarly, Amnovis has also collaborated with medical device service provider BAAT Medical to develop a novel and efficient process for 3D printed medical devices. The two companies combined their expertise to develop a process spanning initial design stages to manufacturing and validating end-use devices. Much like Amnovis’ FDA Master File, this process is said to enable medical device start-ups and OEMs to achieve faster time-to-market and deliver improved patient outcomes.
Amnovis’ FDA Master File
A common hurdle for medical device OEMs is addressing FDA concerns surrounding the 3D printing process as part of their regulatory submissions of medical devices. To mitigate potential delays and issues related to approvals for the US medical device market, Amnovis’ FDA Master File includes much of its titanium 3D printing experience and expertise.
The company claims that these expertise can help to remove the hurdles in medical device development, validation and manufacturing. Indeed, the Master File covers key aspects of Amnovis’ 3D printing processes for standards and patient-specific devices using validated Ti grade 1 and Ti-6Al-4V grade 23 materials. Thus, the Master File is said to simplify the regulatory submission for 3D printed titanium implants for Amnovis’ customers.
“As a company, we continuously want to redefine the state-of-the-art for 3D printed medical devices, and at the same time make our unique process knowhow and expertise more readily available to customers worldwide, like we do with our FDA Master File,” explained Wauthle. “In the end, this helps the adoption of 3D printed medical devices, which offer more added value for patients and provide them higher degrees of comfort and mobility.”
3D printed medical devices
Securing FDA approval is a key stage in the production and commercialization of 3D printed medical devices. Last year, UK-based medical 3D printing specialist 3D LifePrints received FDA clearance for its EmbedMed personalized surgery platform.
EmbedMed digitizes the surgical planning process, allowing for rapid design. The platform also assists in the additive manufacturing of patient-specific medical devices. Achieving FDA 510(k) clearance ultimately allows the company to demonstrate that its device is both safe and effective for wider public use.
“This clearance is the first step in executing 3D LifePrints’ strategy to bring Personalized Surgery to the US,” said Scott Parazynski, 3D LifePrints US Strategy Director.
Elsewhere, Ricoh USA also received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Ricoh 3D for Healthcare workflow. This workflow was cleared for craniomaxillofacial and orthopedic patient-specific anatomic modeling. Ricoh views this as a major step in providing widespread access to patient-specific 3D models for healthcare providers.
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Samsung trolls Apple with new advert taking a pop at iPhone X
Samsung has taken another pop at its Apple by launching a new advert claiming its phones are always ahead.
There are not many corporate rivalries bigger than the one between the two companies, who constantly battle for dominance of the smartphone market.
It is a competition which has been going on for years, with Samsung having previous history of launching digs at its American rival.
And now, just days after the launch of the iPhone X, the Korean company has released a new advert... read more
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TSMC has apparently begun production on Apple’s next-gen A15 iPhone processor.
The news comes from a paywalled report by Digitimes (via TechRadar), who says that the new chip will retain the 5nm process used by the iPhone 12's A14. According to the report, the A15 is expected to see greater demand than its predecessor did the previous year.
Digitimes previously mentioned the A15’s end-of-May production date in March (via MacRumors), and described the 5nm process used by the new chip has an enhanced version. It also reported on an upcoming 4nm process at the time, saying that TSMC will move the new process to volume production from 2022 to Q4 2021.
The iPhone 13 is expected to show up in September 2021. As per TechRadar, rumours for the new phone suggest that it will have a smaller notch and rear cameras with bigger lenses, while the Pro versions are expected to get a 120Hz refresh rate.
Several days ago, Notebookcheck reported on leaked renders obtained by @LeaksApplePro from @ld_vova which purported to show the finalized design of the iPhone 13. The images showed a flattened camera bump and the aforementioned reduced notch. Also mentioned were a stainless steel band that will be less prone to fingerprints.


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Sales for the retailer were flat at £10.6bn in the financial year ending 1 April. Like for like sales were down by 1.9%.
The biggest drop was in clothing and home sales which fell by 3.4% in the final quarter. M&S chief executive Steve Rowe said the fall was partly due to a decision to sell more clothes at full price.
Food sales performed better, dropping 2.1% in the last three months of the financial year.
Excluding one-off costs, M&S' pretax profit was down 10.3% to £613.8m.
In a statement, M&S also revealed that marketing costs declined by 12.6% to £162.7m year on year.
This, the retailer said, was due to "reduction in activity and the more effective use of our marketing budget, such as our Christmas campaign where we increased customer views while reducing costs, as well as the annualisation of the launch of Sparks last year."
During the last financial year M&S ended its 16-year relationship wth Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R (now Y&R London) and earlier this month launched its first ad campaign by Grey London.
The retailer is also bringing in Halfords chief executive and former McDonald's UK boss Jill McDonald to turn around M&S' struggling non-food business.
Rowe said M&S had made improvements to its non-food business and was starting to stabilise market share.
He added: "As we anticipated, the planned restructuring of M&S has come with a cost and has impacted profits, but the business is still strongly cash generative and we reduced our net debt.
"Looking ahead, we will continue our programme of self-help in a tough trading environment."


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Turkey’s Petkim cuts PE and PP prices
Petkim’s new LDPE offers are at $1395/ton for G03/5 and F2-12 and at $1385/ton for H2-8 grade. The producer’s new LDPE-t prices are reported at $1385-1410/ton for different LDPE-t grades. The producer had last revised its LDPE offers lower on November 30, 2015.
The producer decreased its prices for HDPE pipe to $1490/ton compared with the levels last revised on November 30, 2015.
Meanwhile, the producer’s new PP offers are now at $1225-1235/ton for raffia, $1235/ton for injection and at $1250/ton for fibre. The producer had last revised its PP prices downward on November 30, 2015.
All contracts are on an FCA Aliaga, cash not inc VAT basis.
More free plastics newsPlastic resin (PP, LDPE, LLDPE ,HDPE, PVC, GPS; HIPS, PET, ABS) prices, polymer market trends, and more...
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New Delhi: FOX Life, India’s leading lifestyle channel which is known to bring a variety of exciting content and interesting journeys to its viewers, is all set to become the latest destination for high fashion as it launches a thrilling reality TV series ‘The Face’.
With the newest show, The Face brings fashion icon Naomi Campbell, thus expanding the style and fashion horizon of the channel. FOX Life will roll-out the entire dynamic series of ‘The Face’ which has traveled across US, UK and Australia. Unveiling the Australian season to begin with, the viewers will see Naomi creating an impressive TV persona through all the action and her icy-cold, tough-to-please personality.
Demanding challenges, fierce fights, harsh feedback and the passion to win – The Face Australia has it all and much more for everyone keen to binge watch TV. Along with the queen of runway, Naomi Campbell, the show also features supermodel icons like Nicole Trunfio and Cheyenne Tozzi as mentors to a team of four aspiring models who battle it out to become ‘The Face’. The models are tested through onsite challenges as well as real campaigns for some of the biggest names in the fashion industry. With every challenge the tension builds up as each mentor pushes their reputation on line to support their favorites.
Talking about The Face, Aparna Deshmukh, Vice-president Content and Communication, FOX Network Groups India said, “The Face is our latest high-on-fashion series on FOX life, promising the viewers an entertainment filled dose of reality fashion with the glitzy Naomi Campbell. Fox Life, the ultimate lifestyle destination, expands its existing fashion and style portfolio with the addition of ‘The Face. This is sure to get the viewers hooked on. The show is also a reiteration of our promise to experiment with different show formats and bring about more popular and entertaining content to the Indian audiences.”
The highly entertaining show is filled with passion and race to win which have never been this intense and real. ‘The Face’ will be premiered on 5th of December 2016, every Monday and Tuesday at 10 pm on FOX Life.


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Pakistan was working on an imported Chinese Nuclear reactor for the past few years and…
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd deal in cargo services, the cargo…
The first four month of FY21 witnessed a grwoth of 5.25% as compared to the first four months of FY20. But there is a decline on YoY basis.
In a recent talk, the PM of Pakistan spoke of furthering developing relations with China. He also appreciated Chinese for their continuous support.
In the currency market, the Pakistani rupee depreciated, the dollar rose to 45 paise, the…
SBP recently relaxed small-sized eCommerce businesses by skipping the submission of ‘E’ form when they export goods valued up to $5,000.
Inflation Dip: 8.35% YoY During November in Pakistan – low inflation means decreasing power to buy common products.
With the government claiming to have a control over the food prices, LHC is demanding proofs and measures to show the evidences.
ECC to resume gas supply to PSM and clear it dues – The dues are payable to SSGC and amounted to Rs. 61 billion.
In a recent meeting, ECC approved several projects under discussion including the removal of 5% import tax on cotton.


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Under new leadership, Barnie's Coffee & Tea Co. will aim to become a national chain and expand its market base through sales to hotels and offices and on the Internet.
The Orlando-based company also will continue a strategy of opening outlets in shopping malls, rather than duplicating the free-standing cafes of its chief rival, Starbucks Corp.
But the company may not always call Central Florida home.
Sara Lee Corp., Barnie's largest shareholder, may purchase the chain - making the $45 million Barnie's part of the $20billion packaged-foods company.
"Sara Lee has an option to buy the remainder of the company," said Richard Ungaro, Barnie's chief operating officer. "That option period [is for) another year to 18 months."
Barnie's other major shareholder is Jacques VanDijk, a former executive with Chicago-based Sara Lee. He will likely become the company's chairman pending a vote by the board, Ungaro said.
The expected elevation on VanDijk follows the resignation earlier this week of Barnie Philip Jones, chairman and founder of the 20-year-old chain.
Jones, 52, and his wife, Barbara, sold their shares to VanDijk, Ungaro said. Jones said only that he was ready to move on.
The changes at Barnie's occur amid flux in the specialty-coffee industry. The segment grew dramatically in the second half of the 1990s, from about 5,000 outlets in 1995 to 12,000 in 1999.
However, experts predict up to 2,000 stores will close in the coming years.
"It can't sustain that kind of growth," said Mike Ferguson, spokesman for the Specialty Coffee Association of America in Long Beach, Calif.
But growth is what Barnie's expects.
Ungaro, a former executive of Starbucks, was hired by Jones last March to help Barnie's expand. Seventy of its 110 outlets are in Florida, with the remainder scattered in the Southeast and along the East Coast.
"I'd like to have 1,000 stores in five years," Ungaro said.
Before that can happen, the company wants to establish a stronger base with distributors that can get its products into hotel rooms and offices.
Plans also include beefing up Internet sales, which Ungaro said were particularly strong during Christmas, with coffees sent as far away as Japan.
He said the company was less interested in opening coffeehouses because Starbucks has a corner on that market. The Seattle-based chain has 2,100 stores, including 42 in Florida, financed from public stock offerings.
Barnie's fueled much of its past growth from investments by Sara Lee, Ungaro said. In exchange, Sara Lee was granted stock and an option to purchase the chain.
Ungaro said about half of Barnie's sales are of coffee drinks, with the remainder in bulk coffees and teas, as well as coffee makers, mugs and related products.
He said the company has canceled plans to open a new outlet in downtown Orlando at Orange Avenue and Livingston Street. He said Jones still may develop the corner lot.


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ST. LOUIS – Thousands of American families are scammed into buying sick or dying puppies, according to a report from the Humane Society of the United States, with Missouri dog breeders generating the most complaints in the country.
From 2007 to 2022, the HSUS received nearly 7,900 puppy buyer complaints via the organization’s puppy mill tip line, or by email or online form. However, the Humane Society says those are just a fraction of all sick puppy complaints filed nationwide, since many buyers file grievances with the seller, local animal control or law enforcement, or consumer advocacy groups. Others simply don’t file a complaint at all.
Puppy buyers complained of illnesses like parasites, skin disorders, various infectious diseases, some of which can be deadly, and respiratory issues. Buyers also reported congenital defects and temperament problems.
Pet buyers reported getting a puppy from a pet store or breeder, only to see their animal fall ill and die weeks after purchase, according to the Humane Society.
The report shows Missouri at or near the top for complaints involving buyers, breeders, and brokers or middle-men.
You can look through the HSUS report in its entirety below.
The Humane Society recommends pet seekers adopt from a reputable shelter or rescue group, or buy from a breeder they’ve met in person who can provide verified health records from a licensed veterinarian.
Puppy Buyer Complaints (2007-2022) by KevinSeanHeld on Scribd


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The future of medical hemp
CBD companies who survive the punishment of the current overheated market will be those with deep pockets who already have established business relationships and supply chains, who nurture innovation and put a strong emphasis on quality.
That’s how representatives of leading global CBD companies assessed the market going forward during the Future of Medical Hemp Summit held at HempToday Center in late August, 2019.
Delegates to the summit also said CBD stakeholders should self-regulate toward strong consumer safety standards, and agreed the sector should take more of a proactive approach to media communications to overcome misunderstanding in the marketplace.
The Summit also found:
• Current massive oversupply in the CBD markets will trigger a “race to the bottom” in which a lot of enterprises will suffer.
• The explosion of CBD in the USA after passage of the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing hemp has hit European CBD players hard.
• Despite passage of the U.S. Farm Bill last year, stakeholders in the USA still face challenges with regulatory issues at the federal level while individual state programs still need time to be refined.
• The industry can rapidly increase its footprint and message by adopting an aggressive media strategy that combines leading hemp media enterprises, industry trade groups and hemp producers to produce a better communications framework and more awareness of the critical issues facing the industry.
• More scrutiny is needed regarding so-called brokers, whom some delegates to the Summit said are contributing to image problems both on the buyer and seller side.
• Progress is being made to make hemp flowers legal under international regimes such as the World Health Organization. Major efforts in this area have been underway for the past two years, and may pay off in 2020.
• The success or failure of efforts to exempt extracts from the EU’s Novel Foods Catalogue will shape the future of the CBD and hemp food sectors in Europe.
• Thailand and Colombia are markets moving fast, representing two of the most dynamic regions around the globe: Asia and Latin America.
• Smart CBD companies will begin to diversify around the whole plant.
Get the HempToday CBD Intelligence Bundle, with full analysis of the sector and moderated presentations from The Future of Medical Hemp Summit.
Sources and partners:


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Cyprus, 23rd December 2019 – Casino and sportsbook group Soft2Bet has launched Rabona, the most recent addition to its leading multi-brand portfolio.
Named after the popular football skill, Rabona is the sixth online sportsbook under the Soft2Bet umbrella.
The brand is set to revolutionise the market with a unique in-built gamification tool allowing users to collect cards featuring popular football teams and players. The innovative feature is available to customers who earn points by placing bets on Rabona.com.
The site, which stands out from the competition with a striking design and state-of-the-art proprietary technology, can also be saved as a standalone desktop application.
Among Soft2Bet’s consumer-facing brands are Malina Casino, Campobet, Zulabet, Wazamba and Nomini. The group currently operates with SGA, MGA and Curacao licences, with further certification within the EU set to follow.
Commenting on the launch, Boris Chaikin, CEO of Soft2Bet, said: “We are thrilled to launch Rabona.com, a ground-breaking new brand designed with sports fans in mind.
“With cutting-edge gamification features, stunning aesthetics and a user-friendly interface, we look forward to introducing this innovative online sportsbook to customers around the world.”
Soft2bet, and its affiliate program 7StarsPartners, is a rapidly growing and dynamic casino and sportsbook operator group offering exclusive in-house games and the best titles from the world’s top gambling providers, including jackpot slots, branded video slots, live casino, and sports betting. The company has developed and deployed over 15 successful websites with 1,000+ casino games, seamlessly integrated into its high-performing platforms. It is one of the fastest growing online casino groups in Europe, boasting 69 providers, 3000 affiliates and 100,000 active customers, with more added every month. Learn more at: https://soft2bet.com.


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LIMERICK – Teleflex Inc. is moving its headquarters to Chester County early next year, consolidating workers from its current home office in Limerick, Montgomery County, and most of its operations in Reading, Berks County.
The medical device company has signed a long-term lease for 84,000 square feet in CrossPoint at Valley Forge, a two-building complex at 530 and 580 E. Swedesford Road in Tredyffrin.
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord. CBRE Inc. represented Teleflex.
About 160 employees will move to the Swedesford Road offices. In the new space, the workforce has the ability to grow to 200 employees, said Jake Elguicze, treasurer and vice president of investor relations.
Teleflex will continue to operate one of its sites in the Reading area.
The headquarters in Limerick ‘is not representative of the new company we have become,’ Elguicze said. In addition, ‘we are consolidating our facility footprint and management costs.’
Founded in 1943, the company made cable for the Spitfire, a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout World War II.
Teleflex built its Limerick headquarters in 1974. It entered the medical device business in 1981.
Over time, Teleflex moved from being an operating company focused on engineering to becoming a diversified industrial company and, eventually, a medical device company. In 1984, it began shedding subsidiaries that didn’t fit into the medical device mold.
Today, Teleflex’s end customers are hospitals in the United States and abroad, Elguicze said.
About $150 million in products are sold as original equipment but the ‘vast majority’ of Teleflex products are sold to other medical device manufacturers, who in turn use them in their products and sell the finished devices to hospitals, Elguicze explained.
The company has 12,000 employees in 40 locations worldwide, mostly in manufacturing and sales.
Traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Teleflex reported approximately $1.5 billion in revenues in 2011 and customers in more than 130 countries.
Elguicze said Teleflex began the process of evaluating new headquarter options in the spring of 2012.
‘As part of the process, we examined a variety of alternatives within both Chester and Montgomery counties,’ he said.
‘We were attracted to CrossPoint’s first-class amenity package, which includes a fitness center, shared conference facilities and cafe, as well as easy access to routes 202, 422, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Schuykill Expressway.’
In addition, the property provides the company with the ability to display the Teleflex logo prominently, with visibility from routes 202 and 422.
Elguicze said the company expects to complete the move sometime during the first quarter of 2014.
As part of the move, Teleflex will sell its current holdings in Limerick – a three-building complex totaling 200,000 square feet it owns off South Limerick Road.
Teleflex is using about 43,000 square feet of that space in one building. One building has a tenant, the other is unoccupied, Elguicze said.
The buildings are not yet on the market. Elguicze said he didn’t know what the listing price would be.
Information from the Daily Local News, www.dailylocal.com


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OnePlus’ next flagship smartphone, known as the OnePlus 6, will be unveiled on May 16th. The company announced the date on both social media and press invites. We’ve seen various leaks regarding the phone as of late so it makes sense its launch date isn’t too far off.
— OnePlus (@oneplus) April 25, 2018
As for what we’re expecting, the OnePlus 6 is set to come with a notch above its tall display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and (likely) Android 8.1 Oreo. OnePlus has also confirmed the phone will feature a glass design and will get a special Avengers-themed makeover in India.
Not too much else is known at this time, but we expect to hear more over the coming weeks. As always, we’ll be covering everything OnePlus announces at its event in London on the 16th so stay tuned.


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Malaysia’s U Mobile reportedly is planning an IPO to fund a MYR1.5 billion ($474 million) network expansion over the next 15 months.
CEO Wong Heang Tuck yesterday disclosed the plan for the IPO but did not give details on the timing or location. A U Mobile representative declined to comment on the plan.
The company plans to roll out 1,000 3G and 1,000 4G base stations by the end of 2015.
Heang Tuck issued a statement saying “we love being the challenger brand” and that the operator aims to aggressively expand its market share and increase revenue by 50 per cent by the end of next year.
He certainly has his work cut out for him. U Mobile is the fourth-ranked operator in the country with a 10.5 per cent market share. But with 4.5 million connections, it has less than half of third-place DiGi (which has 10.9 million). Less than 1 per cent of its customers have a 4G connection, according to GSMA Intelligence.
Celcom is the market leader with a 32 per cent share, followed closely by Maxis with 29 per cent.
U Mobile said it recently upgraded its business support systems by migrating to a new billing platform that will enable end-to-end real-time tracking and customer fulfillment.


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PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwired - Aug 19, 2015) - iovation, the global digital reputation authority, announced the opening of a new data center in Hillsboro, Oregon. Opening the data center was essential for iovation in order to keep up with its always-growing number of online transactions it screens for fraudulent behavior. The company analyzes billions of online transactions every year.
When moving to the new data center, there was zero downtime for customers. The company credits two key strategies for this. First, iovation's open-source technology stack, including Apache Cassandra, powers its active-active architecture for always-on reliability. Second, iovation's commitment to DevOps ensured the right balance of tools and cross-team collaboration to make it happen.
"Zero downtime is nearly unheard of when moving data centers, but we achieved this thanks to years' worth of work and planning," said iovation CTO Scott Waddell. "My team is to be commended because they recognized early on that there was no way we could scale to handle our 600 percent annual increase in traffic on our legacy Oracle database. There was zero chance we could have made this seamless move to a new data center without the flexible open-source stack and the DevOps mindset to manage it efficiently."
iovation's newest data center, like its others, runs on an active-active architecture in order to accommodate iovation's growing volume of traffic that is now at 12 million transactions a day. An active-active model means multiple data centers can simultaneously handle increased velocity while eliminating scheduled downtime. This is essential, because there is no time of day that fraudsters are not trying to carry out their schemes. The open-source stack is a cornerstone of this active-active architecture.
Best in Biz Awards, an independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts, recently named iovation's CTO Scott Waddell a Technology Executive of the Year after evaluating his efforts in managing the company's transition to its open-source stack setup. Waddell also received the award for leading the enhancement of iovation's mobile SDK (software development kit) and launching the company's device-based authentication services. The company's mobile SDK leverages iovation's device intelligence network to determine the trustworthiness of transactions conducted from iOS and Android phones and tablets. The authentication service uses a customer's known devices to verify their access to online accounts.
iovation protects online businesses and their end users against fraud and abuse, and identifies trustworthy customers through a combination of advanced device identification, shared device reputation, device-based authentication and real-time risk evaluation. More than 3,000 fraud managers representing global retail, financial services, insurance, social network, gaming and other companies leverage iovation's database of more than 2.5 billion Internet devices and the relationships between them to determine the level of risk associated with online transactions. The company's device reputation database is the world's largest, used to protect 12 million transactions and stop an average of 250,000 fraudulent activities every day. The world's foremost fraud experts share intelligence, cybercrime tips and online fraud prevention techniques in iovation's Fraud Force Community, an exclusive virtual crime-fighting network. For more information, visit iovation.com.


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Survey Finds Prescribing Behavior Affected by Insurance Exchanges and ACOs
Health care reform affects market access for pharmaceutical brands (October 24)
Based on a recent survey of physicians and managed care organization (MCO) executives, Decision Resources Group, a research and advisory firm located in Burlington, Mass., finds that pharmaceutical companies are facing a paradigm shift in the way their brands gain access to the U.S. market as accountable care organizations (ACOs) continue to develop across the nation and enrollment on the health insurance exchanges moves forward.
“When we looked at currently available and emerging brands by therapy, it was clear that some will benefit and others will be challenged,” said analyst Roy Moore. “For instance, looking at schizophrenia and depression, physician and payer responses suggest constrained use of branded therapies on exchange-based plans because of generic competition — even though they feel Abilify [aripiprazole, Otsuka] and Cymbalta [duloxetine, Eli Lilly] will remain popular therapies.”
ACOs, of which there are more than 500 across the U.S., will also affect prescribing behavior and brand uptake across therapies, the report finds. For example, half of surveyed pulmonologists who participate in an ACO reduced their prescribing of the branded leukotriene inhibitor Singulair (Merck Sharp & Dohme) — while one-third assigned more of their patients to montelukast, a generic form of the same drug favored by ACO policies, such as co-pay reductions. Similarly, 43% report they are less likely to prescribe Dulera (mometasone fuorate/formoterol fumarate dihydrate, Merck Sharp & Dohme) because of their participation in an ACO, whereas only 13% report increased prescribing of this agent.
Yet the findings show that ACOs did not universally push physicians to generics — pulmonologists are evenly split in whether they increased or decreased the prescribing of Advair (fluticasone propionate/salmeterol, GlaxoSmithKline), a competing combination therapy, highlighting how a brand can withstand the challenges stemming from new reimbursement models.
Source: Decision Resources; October 24, 2013.


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Newdex Has A New EOS/EOSDT Trading Pair
Newdex is one of the world’s leading decentralized crypto exchanges, and it’s just added a new trading pair worth talking about. Crypto market players using this exchange now have access to the EOS/EOSDT trading pair.
Making a name for itself as the world’s first EOS-based decentralized exchange, Newdex now makes it easy for people to trade EOS for one of the network’s first decentralized stablecoins, EOSDT. Traders can use this volatility-neutral asset as a safe way to store their accrued value without worrying about price crashes while they sleep.
You can check it out here on the Newdex site.


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Could there be a clearer message from our planet that we need to live more sustainably?
The anti-plastics debate is a hot topic, with supermarkets moving to ban plastics from the fruit and veggie aisles, and there are few fashion debates that don’t touch on microfibre pollution in our oceans, with over 200,000 plastic fibers washing off polyester clothing to pollute 83 percent of tap water world-wide.
The trend to eating vegan has grown six-fold to three million people in the U.K. alone in just two years, and large corporations are coming to grips with how to eradicate modern slavery from their supply chains and meeting sustainable development goals.
This holiday season, Po-Zu, manufacturer of sustainable shoes, would like us to think differently before we purchase. If you are going to buy new, buy ethically and sustainably.
“Seasons may come and go but the ethical footwear trend is here to stay, which is why we are also introducing new styles, the majority of which are vegan for this [holiday] season. It’s been incredibly exciting building our ethical and sustainable supply chain in Sri Lanka, and we’re so pleased to be able to offer customers an even wider collection of ethically-made footwear at prices that are ever more affordable.” — Sven Segal, founder and CEO, Po-Zu, and founder of The Better Shoes Foundation, pictured below
Using the best sustainable materials—organic cotton, cork, pineapple leaf fibre, chrome-free leather and pollution-free factory air where workers don’t breath harmful toxins from glues, Po-Zu has created safe factories to work where the highest ethical standards are in place to bring the brand’s shoes to market.
Watch how Po-Zu shoes are made here or click on the image of Safia Minney, MBE, managing director of Po-Zu and founder of Fair Trade fashion pioneer, People Tree, below, with one of the factory workers in Sri Lanka.
Here is a curated collection from Po-Zu shoes to consider adding to your holiday shopping list this year.
Photos and video courtesy Po-Zu


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The latest numbers surrounding bitcoin are in, and it appears the father of cryptocurrency has finally reached the bottom.
Bitcoin Likely Won’t Fall Further
This is going to alleviate a lot of stress that cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been feeling as of late. Many were wondering if bitcoin had reached the bottom with its drop to the $3,000 range last November, or if more bearish turns were lining up in the coin’s future.
According to a new report released by digital asset research firm Delphi Digital, the currency has officially reached its bottom for this quarter. Authors of the report are suggesting that now may be a good time to purchase new units.
To better understand bitcoin’s behavior, the report analyzes current price trends with those of bitcoin during 2013. The document states:
Analyzing bitcoin’s aggregate UTXO age distribution over time provides insight into the buying and selling patterns of previous market cycles. This allows us to forecast where we are in relation to prior cycles and what we can likely expect going forward… The one year+ holder rate during the potential December bottom is within one percent of the one year+ holder rate during the previous cycle’s bottom in January of 2015.
Bitcoin, as we all remember, was trading for roughly $20,000 in December of 2017 following two years of straight up price gains. The currency appeared unstoppable, and traders had high hopes for the coin, believing it would never fall into bearish hands again.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t meant to be just yet. The following month (January 2018) saw bitcoin drop to $16,000. By February, the currency had fallen to $12,000 and then $9,000 in March. By summer of last year, the currency was trading for just over $6,000, where it remained for some time.
Analysts argued that the correction bitcoin underwent was designed to bring bitcoin down to a more natural price, but nobody expected it to fall again following the bitcoin cash hard fork that took place in early November 2018.
It was here when bitcoin fell into the mid-$3,000 range, and it remained there until just a month ago. Now, bitcoin has managed to strike $5,700 territory, which doesn’t compare with where it stood in December of 2017, but it still marks a $2,000 gain since last Thanksgiving.
Things Are Coming to a Halt
The report by Delphi Digital suggests that a slowdown rate is occurring with bitcoin, which is the primary indicator that it had bottomed out prior. The report states:
This slowdown likely marks the end of the high growth period in the one year+ UTXO rate, which makes sense considering the pricing environment and the waning level of new interest we were seeing at this point last year. Slowing global growth expectations but modest economic output provides a favorable backdrop for bitcoin as investors seek out above-average growth opportunities.


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On 15 September, one of the world’s biggest tennis stars — and eight-time Wimbledon singles champion — announced his retirement from the sport after over two decades, and we’re still reeling from the news. Here’s a look at tennis legend Roger Federer’s net worth.
The maker and breaker of countless records, Roger Federer is the zenith of achievements and success in men’s tennis with 20 Grand Slam titles won in the singles division. His successes and trophies are also a part of his huge net worth that also includes massive brand endorsements and partnerships.
Roger Federer’s net worth
Born on 8 August 1981, in Basel, Switzerland, Roger Federer has had an illustrious career over his two decades on the court, amassing a net worth of US$550 million throughout the years.
One of the most famous and wealthiest professional tennis players in the world, Federer has earned nearly US$130.5 million in prize money from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Apart from that, he also amassed a whopping US$90 million from his brand endorsements with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Rolex.
Federer retired with an estimated US$1.1 billion in earnings from his career. But most of his sponsors and brand endorsements will stay with him, which means he will continue to rake in profits.
His brands and endorsements
The legend announced that he will not be playing any “Grand Slams or on the tour”, but will still continue to play tennis.
View this post on Instagram
And his sponsors like Uniqlo, Gillette, Wilson, Barilla, and Moët & Chandon are staying back. He had also earlier worked with brands like Nike and Mercedes Benz China. In fact, Nike used to be his apparel sponsor up until 2018. After that, Federer signed a 10-year, US$300-million deal with Japanese apparel giant Uniqlo. With Rolex, he struck an endorsement deal worth US$15 million.
The brands that he endorses are Credit Suisse Group (ADS), JURA, Lindt & Sprungli, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, NetJets, On, Rimowa, Sunrise Communications AG, Switzerland Tourism, and Wilson Sporting Goods.
Roger Federer’s charity and philanthropy work
His charity foundations and donations also include Elton John AIDS Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Humpty Dumpty Foundation, Mines Advisory Group, Roger Federer Foundation, and Small Steps Project.
Expensive things owned by Roger Federer
Federer lives in a stunning house overlooking Lake Zurich in Switzerland. Built over a 1.5-acre plot in 2014, the house cost around US$7.3 million to build. It’s a three-storey house that’s divided into two apartments, one for his parents and the other for his family.
View this post on Instagram
Federer also owns a fleet of luxury cars. Reportedly, he owns six cars — a Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster, Mercedes AMG G63, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Mercedes AMG GT, Mercedes AMG GLE 63 S, and Range Rover SVR.
(All images: Instagram)
The post Here’s how much Roger Federer earned from tennis and endorsements during his career appeared first on Lifestyle Asia Singapore.


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PlayStation Turns 25, Top 10 Best-Selling Games on the Console - SalesWilliam D'Angelo , posted on 03 January 2020 / 5,583 Views
Sony's fifth generation console, the original PlayStation, turns 25 years old today in Japan. It will turn 25 years old in North America on September 9, 2020, and 25 in Europe on September 29, 2020. The home console was on the market from 1994 to 2006.
The PlayStation was the first console to sell 100 million units worldwide, as it sold 102.5 million units lifetime. That makes it the third best-selling console to date, with the PlayStation 2 selling over 157 million units lifetime and the PlayStation 4 selling over 102.5 million units through November 23, 2019.
Sony was recently awarded a Guinness World Record for the PlayStation brand as it is the "best-selling home video game console brand ever." The original PlayStation, PS2, PS3, and PS4 as of November 7 have sold over a combined 450 million units worldwide.
The original PlayStation sold 40.78 million units in North America, 31.09 million units in Europe, 21.59 million units in Japan, and 9.04 million units in the rest of the world.
962.01 million games were sold on the Original PlayStation. One game sold more than 10 million copies on the console, 16 games sold over five million copies, 65 games sold over two million copies, and 209 games sold over one million copies.
The first game in the popular racing series, Gran Turismo, was the best-selling game on the original PlayStation with 10.85 million units sold. Final Fantasy VII was the second best-selling game and best-selling third-party game on the console with 9.90 million units sold.
Gran Turismo 2 ranks third in sales with 9.37 million units sold lifetime, followed by Final Fantasy VIII with 8.60 million units sold. The fighting game, Tekken 3, rounds out the top five with sales of 8.30 million units.
The first three Crash Bandicoot games rank 6th, 7th and 8th on the charts. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back sold 7.58 million units, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped sold 7.13 million units, and Crash Bandicoot sold 6.82 million units.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at firstname.lastname@example.org or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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Half of shoppers who originally planned to return to their pre-pandemic in-retailer buying routines as soon as coronavirus is under management now plan to stick with online purchasing. That shift in preferences implies that e-commerce merchants should sustain with trending ways to market, promote, and prevent fraud. Let’s look at a number of of an important developments and see the place they’re going. The arts have seen a shift in the final 12 months away from in-individual gatherings, but that doesn’t imply that performances, showings, and other artistic activities have stopped. Rather, they’ve been remodeled, becoming more and more virtual and digital.
- The $185 million lab also will develop electronic controls and other gadgets as Ford strikes more of the method in-home.
- There’s extra competition from native suppliers and from the cloud, at a time when the pandemic has made resiliency and digital transformation even more necessary.
- Throughout the federal authorities, and particularly in protection and nationwide security, synthetic intelligence is getting an elevated amount of consideration, together with the adoption of hefty AI budgets.
Even so, Russia’s announcement that it had successfully tested what it terms a “sovereign web” still felt like a major moment. But if Mr Bezos …


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The Columbia Association Board of Directors approved Thursday the mind-body wellness concept for its downtown fitness club, which is scheduled to open in the Rouse Company building next September.
The concept, which consultants presented to the board in May, will offer customers a place to "relax, retreat and rejuvenate," and was selected based on the results of a 687-person survey.
While the concept was generally well received at the May 30 meeting, the board took no official vote, prompting Thursday's official tally.
The vote to approve the concept passed 6 to 3, with board members Russ Swatek, Gregg Schwind and Alex Hekimian voting against. Board members Michael Cornell, Andy Stack, Nancy McCord, Brian Dunn, Cynthia Coyle and Suzanne Waller voted in favor of the concept (board member Tom O'Connor was absent).
CA announced in December plans to lease space from the building owner Howard Hughes Corp. for a fitness facility in the basement of the iconic Frank Gehry-designed building. The news came months after Howard Hughes announced plans to build a Whole Foods on the building's main level, which is also scheduled to open in September 2014.
The 27,000 sq. ft. fitness club will overlook the lakefront and house three exercise studios inspired by European and Asian mind-body routines – like Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Barre – a wellness spa featuring integrated medicine, a three-lane 60 foot lap pool, and an exercise pool and hot tub overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi.


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India is rapidly recovering from the effects of the lockdown. Production has increased the most in the last decade. Such information has been published in a recent study. Indeed, the Nikkei Product Purchasing Managers' Index (Manufacturing PMI) compiled by IHS Markets stood at 57.9 in October, up from 56.7 in September this year. This is the biggest increase since 2010.
According to a Reuters report, there has been a significant improvement in manufacturing activity due to huge demand and increased production. Despite this, there is little good news for companies to find employment.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that India's economy was growing faster than expected. Relief from various quarters has also helped the Corona epidemic in the social and economic spheres.
The Prime Minister is aiming to bring India's economy to আর 5,000 billion by 2024. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also directly stated how it is possible to reach this goal even in this Corona situation.
The Prime Minister said, “With the help of various sectors like coal, agriculture, labor, defense, civil aviation, we will be able to go back to the way it was before.” It is through the improvement of all these sections that we will be able to return to the pre-epidemic state.


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Riot Games has announced Valorant Mobile, an adaptation of the “same competitive experience” to mviles phone from all over the world of shooter free tactic published on PC just one year ago: June 2, 2020. The company celebrate the first anniversary of his title confirming the intention of expand the saga beyond the computer game.
The Los Angeles development team has not given any specific details on this Valorant Mobile: no release date, no platforms (It is expected that it will come out on both iOS and Android). If you look at the previous games of the company, they have released in betas that have been opened by territories. For example, League of Legends: Wild Rift launched its beta in Southeast Asia in September, arrived in Spain in December and expanded to America this March.
The press release shared by Riot, however, makes it clear that the mobile game is a first step: “With a support to Valuing that does nothing but grow, Riot is now preparing to expand the franchise, starting with Valorant Mobile, with the purpose that more players around the world enjoy Valuing“.
The other great saga of Riot, LoL, has had parallel games (Legends of Runeterra) and comics, will be expanded with separate titles such as Ruined King: A League of Legends Story and will have an animated series on Netflix. Not to mention the numerous musical collaborations among the characters of LoL and world stars.
More than 14 million monthly players
One year after the release of version 1.0 of Valuing, the shooter tactician has more than 14 million monthly players. In total, more than 500 million games since the closed beta was launched in April 2020. During this June, Riot give away rewards for the game and present various initiatives: there will be a commemorative digital button (like this player card) and a free event pass.
Visit https://t.co/g4NHKbUJaV and claim the Dualidad player card 🌍 🌍 and don’t miss the new VALORANT kinematics 👉🏽 https://t.co/sN7P4iCmZR pic.twitter.com/uyPBJ1e10a– VALORANT (@VALORANTes) June 1, 2021
“One of our main goals this year was earn the trust and respect of the community of FPS players globally, “explains Anna Donlon, Executive Producer, in a press release.” Seeing that our growing community of gamers recognize and appreciate what we are trying to do with VALORANT goes beyond what we had imagined, and we are dying of desire for power offer the same competitive experience of VALORANT even more players of all the world”.
Valuing receive a new agent in update 3.0That if the plans do not change, it will reach the computers of Spain and the rest of the world this June.


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Winemaking is as French as baguettes and mimes. But how did the drink come to the region in the first place? A new study confirms what archaeologists had long figured: Though the ancient Romans brought their own wine to France, the country was making and importing it long before they arrived.
In 525 B.C.E., the people of Lattara, on the Mediterranean coast near Montpellier in present-day France, were France's native Celts. They spoke a language related to Welsh and Gaelic and enjoyed a fermented drink—maybe beer or mead. A building in their walled town housed Etruscan merchants, people from a pre-Roman civilization around Tuscany. Conveniently for the archaeologists who have been excavating the site since the early 1980s, that building collapsed in 475 B.C.E, burying the merchants' goods under the broken walls and roof. Many of their amphoras were crushed in place. These ceramic vessels were used to transport and store all kinds of goods, including dried fruit and olive oil—and wine.
Archaeologists thought that these amphoras were probably used to transport wine, partly because they appeared to have pitch on the inside, which dissolves in olive oil. Anthropological archaeologist Benjamin Luley, then a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago in Illinois, was interested in understanding how the lives of Celtic people changed after the Roman Conquest. He was working on the site as the amphoras were excavated and took samples from the ones with visible residue at the bottom. After 2500 or so years in the ground, the bases weren't super clean. "We actually kept the dirt because we wanted to analyze the dirt, too, as a sort of control," Luley says.
He and his colleagues also took an unusual step for their pottery-centric field: sampling from a coffee table-sized limestone press, of a type that could have been for olives or grapes, from 50 years or so after the building's destruction. It's on display at a museum near the site. Luley and another researcher took a stone chisel and carefully scraped a roughly 5-centimeter square area off the artifact, a few millimeters deep. "We did it when there were no visitors," he says, but, surrounded by displays, he was aware that people would be looking at the stone later. "We didn't want to put a big scar on it."
The samples were sent to the United States for chemical analysis. Researchers led by biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the samples for compounds including tartaric acid, a chemical that is found in grapes and some other fruits and is often used to show that wine was present. The methods included liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, done on state-of-the-art equipment at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, that is normally used for analyzing drugs.
The researchers found tartaric acid, suggesting wine, and other chemicals that suggested that pine resin was present in the amphoras—it could have been a preservative or flavoring, like in modern day retsina, or used to waterproof the vessels. They also found some evidence that herbs such as thyme and rosemary may have been included in the Italian-made wine. That wine was imported, but, as the team reports online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it also found tartaric acid in the scrapings from the press. That suggests that the press was used to squash grapes—and that Celts were already producing their own wine around 400 B.C.E., more than 2 centuries before the Roman conquest.
Moving away from pots to look at the limestone press was "a rather neat innovation," says Carl Heron, an archaeological scientist at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. Chemical analysis of old samples is always tricky, he says; the samples have spent thousands of years in the environment, with all sorts of possible contamination, including plants and bacteria. The methods that used to be used to analyze them, such as infrared spectroscopy, aren't always reliable. This paper uses more advanced, sensitive methods—a good direction for the field, he says.
Archaeologists already thought those amphoras were for wine, because the evidence from this and other sites suggests that's the only Etruscan product these Celts were interested in, says archaeologist Michael Dietler of the University of Chicago. He's Luley's Ph.D. adviser and works at the Lattara site, but wasn't involved in this study. At the sites where the Etruscan amphoras were emptied, he says, "we find lots and lots of drinking cups." Also, the remains of grape seeds and stems have been found nearby, while olive pits were rare—and, just outside of the settlement, archaeologists have even excavated a 3rd century B.C.E vineyard. "It was already pretty clear that there was wine production going on there, but this just adds a nice bit of confirmation," Dietler says.


text: Project Success Stories - Big steps in the nano-world revolutionise new products Not so long ago a mobile phone had the dimensions of a brick, laptops were not yet invented and tiny electronic devices in our pockets and embedded in our lives were still a figment of a scientist's imagination. Nano-science - the science of the very small - has transformed the electronics industry. And European research has been at the heart of this transformation. Digital Economy © Shutterstock Electronic devices are getting smaller but their power, speed and functionality is getting bigger. And with progress in nano-electronics come substantial new opportunities to develop more powerful microchips at smaller and smaller scales - a nanometre, or nm, is a billionth of a metre - and at a price that remains attractive for industry and for the end-user. Aware of this challenge, the European Commission gathered key players in the field - scientists from industry, research institutes and universities - to work together on advanced processes with the aim of developing ever-smaller microchip technology, 32 nm and below. But the laws of physics have not made this task an easy one. Moore's law - named after Intel's co-founder Gordon Moore - states that the number of transistors in a microchip doubles every two years. Computer scientists are reaching beyond that limit by packing more functions onto a single chip. And European researchers are at the cutting-edge of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies underscoring this progress. Beyond physical limits In 2004, the EU kicked off its campaign to take a lead in CMOS by funding an integrated project, called Nanocmos, which acted as a platform for knowledge and expertise development. By working together, the participants created a vibrant, united research community in Europe necessary to develop the 45 nm, 32 nm and smaller CMOS technologies. The encouraging results of Nanocmos prompted the EU to pursue its efforts and fund the Pullnano project. Uniting those involved in Nanocmos with around 15 new academic partners, Pullnano continued to advance knowledge in this challenging field. As a result of the project, 45 nm and 32 nm CMOS technologies were rolled out, allowing European integrated circuit manufacturers to consolidate their position in the global microelectronics market. Both the 45 nm and 32 nm CMOS technologies have been taken up by the Eureka nano-electronics clusters. They developed a project, entitled Foremost, which successfully finalised work on an industrial version of the 45 nm technology in mid-2009. This technology is now used in production by the leading European chip manufacturer STMicroelectronics. The results accomplished by Pullnano are today underpinning important innovation which is taking place in Europe's R&D sector, leading to products and services in a range of applications, from communications and consumer products to embedded electronics in industrial applications. For example, the applications being developed are used in new generations of i-phones, televisions, videos and audio systems, and a raft of mobile devices and portable computers. The Nanocmos and Pullnano projects have helped European chip manufacturers to maintain their strong contribution to the worldwide microelectronics industry and paved the way for new challenging system-on-chip designs and their successful introduction to the market. The technologies developed by these successive projects are also now being used in a series of more application-oriented projects focusing on such challenges as energy efficiency, CO2-reduction and electric cars. Thanks to some far-sighted research funding policy, the Commission has helped European industry gain a valuable lead in a fast-moving and vital enabling technology. The results of which can be seen in the small but powerful electronic devices that help us in our daily lives, at work, on the road and in our homes.


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Maine has the third-lowest sales tax rate in the country of the 47 states that have either state or local sales taxes, according to a study released by the Tax Foundation that examined state and local sales taxes.
The five states with the lowest averaged rate of combined state and local sales taxes are Alaska (1.69 percent), Hawaii (4.35 percent), Maine (5 percent), Wisconsin (5.43 percent) and Wyoming (5.50 percent).
Five states do not have a statewide sales tax at all: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Of these, Alaska and Montana allow cities and towns to charge local sales taxes. Maine does not.
Starting in October, however, Maine’s state sales tax will increase from 5 percent to 5.5 percent for two years, which is expected to generate an additional $133.8 million in revenue. The state charges differing tax rates for certain goods and services, such as a 7 percent meals and lodging tax that is set to rise to 8 percent, and an auto rental tax rate of 10 percent, according to Maine Revenue Services.
The sales tax increase is unlikely to have much of a chilling effect on consumer buying behavior, said Charles Colgan, professor of public policy and management at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service.
“For the most part, there’s very little effect at this level — a half-cent increase is not likely to be discernible,” Colgan said.
The study by the Tax Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., looked at statewide sales tax rates and the average local sales tax rates in each state.
Maine had a state sales tax of 6 percent in the 1990s. That increase initially created a short-term hiccup in consumer shopping habits, as people hurried to purchase big-ticket items such as appliances before the rate increased, but that lasted only a few months until normal shopping patterns returned, Colgan said.
Maine’s sales tax rate plays more of a role for retailers along the border with New Hampshire, which assesses no sales tax. Colgan said that high-priced items such as appliances and televisions may be attractive to buy in New Hampshire rather than some Maine border towns, but high gas prices may offset much of the savings in routine purchases.
According to the Tax Foundation, the five states with the highest average combined sales tax rates are Tennessee (9.44 percent), Arkansas (9.18 percent), Louisiana (8.89 percent), Washington (8.87 percent) and Oklahoma (8.72 percent).
The Tax Foundation monitors fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels. The organization is nonprofit but has received funding from conservative groups.
Jessica Hall can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:


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With new food truck regulations on the horizon, it’s likely Murfreesboro residents will see local and regional food trucks around the city more frequently in the near future.
In July, the City of Murfreesboro announced the City Council is looking to adopt new regulations for food trucks operating within the city limits. The revised ordinance not only aims to loosen restrictions currently in place, but it will also maintain regulations for the health and safety of citizens.
“Looking at nearby communities, we see the creativity and excitement that the food truck industry can generate,” Assistant City Manager Jennifer Moody said in a memo to the council. “We want to work collaboratively with operators and restaurants to see how changes in the way we regulate this industry could benefit our downtown, city parks and community events.”
On Aug. 15, food truck owners, local restaurant owners and members of the community attended a public stakeholders meeting to discuss the proposed regulations and offer suggestions. The new regulations look to offer clarity by defining food trucks, locations and hours of operation, mobile food service permits and food truck rally permits.
Murfreesboro residents Quinn Raines and Craig Betts, owners of a Cousins Maine Lobster truck, said that while the current food truck ordinance has caused confusion among food truck owners in the area, the proposed regulations and public meeting offered a sense of clarity.
“There’s been a set of regulations on the books for years, but they were set during a time when people were setting up things such as roadside stands, which are not the same as food trucks,” Betts said. “This new ordinance offers framework to avoid problems.”
Although the Cousins Maine Lobster truck frequents Nashville, Smyrna and Franklin each week, as well as events such as Live on the Green in downtown Nashville, Raines said she’d like to see the truck serving in Murfreesboro more often—not only because they live in the area, but also because they see heavy interest from customers. She says she hopes the new ordinance will not only eliminate confusion, but also make other mobile food operators feel welcome in the area, as well.
“There’s not a fresh lobster place here. . . . We received our fresh lobster today and do so very frequently,” Raines said. “We can bring that to the community.”
“There’s certainly an interest in food trucks here and we all sell different things so we like to help each other out,” Betts added. “That’s why we try to set up here and hold events with other food trucks—to show them that people in Murfreesboro have an interest in them.”
According to Betts, it’s easier under the current set of regulations for food trucks to set up shop in private business parking lots, with written permission and the proper permit. That’s why you’ll spot Cousins Maine Lobster outside Sam’s Club or trucks like My Roots Curbside Culinary serving up street food at Mayday Brewery before you’ll see them on public property.
That might change, though, with the new ordinance. In addition to operating on private retail property, the proposed draft offers a list of designated locations that include specified downtown streets and public property such as city parks and certain parking lots. In an effort to encourage food truck owners to easily seek permits, the Mobile Food Service application would require a low-cost fee at $50 for 12 months.
“Our intent with managing locations administratively is to be able to respond quickly to valid requests to consider new locations,” Moody said in the memo. “Placing responsibility at the administrative level will allow the ordinance to be efficiently adjusted when necessary, such as for large events or the particular needs of a park venue.”
Raines said she felt having food trucks in Murfreesboro parks would draw more community members to utilize those public spaces.
The ordinance would also regulate the frequency of food trucks operating at private businesses, the maximum number of trucks at the same location and the amount of parking space utilized, which would be no more than 25 percent of existing spaces. Also included in the new ordinance is a food truck rally regulation, which includes the gathering of two or more trucks at the same location and time. The events—whether on public or private property—will require a separate permit.
Raines added that she hopes the new regulations, including the food truck rally permit, will encourage more Middle Tennessee food trucks to set up in Murfreesboro. In an effort to strengthen the food truck community, Raines and Betts coordinate events with other food trucks including a recent event called “Food Truck Family Reunion,” held in Smyrna, featuring Cousins Maine Lobster, The Brothers Burger and Two Fat Men.
“Events like the food truck family reunion show other [owners of] food trucks that people will come out,” Raines said. “That’s something we would like to do in Murfreesboro more often.”
To learn more about the Proposed Food Truck Ordinance and Regulations and to read the full drafts, visit murfreesborotn.gov.


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Interested in learning what's next for the gaming industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry this October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Register today.
Belatedly confirming a November 2016 report that Apple planned to exit the wireless router business, the company today issued a statement that it is discontinuing its AirPort wireless base station products and releasing its remaining inventory for sale “while supplies last.” The notice includes all of Apple’s AirPort- and Time Capsule-branded routers, including everything from the $99 AirPort Express to the $299-$399 hard drive-laden AirPort Time Capsules.
The cancellation of AirPort comes a year and a half after Apple’s AirPort team was reportedly disbanded, at a time when the industry was just beginning to contemplate a transition from 802.11ac to a next-generation Wi-Fi standard. While two successor standards to 802.11ac have been floated, they haven’t yet taken off in the market — a factor that might have left Apple uneasy regarding the future direction of its router lineup.
Today’s news was first shared by Engadget, which says Apple has decided to leave the market for the time being, though “the company might revisit Wi-Fi routers if it can make a meaningful contribution to the space” — an outcome described as “far from guaranteed.”
Apple will apparently “continue to provide hardware and software support” for the devices, including bug and vulnerability patches. It will also release support documents over the next few weeks to guide customers toward other wireless router options in the future. Customers interested in purchasing the accessories can find them at Apple stores and authorized retailers.
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Britain's leading steel window manufacturer has received the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
Crittall Windows has received the award in recognition of its export achievements in the notoriously difficult American market where the Essex-based company has seen the value of its sales increase significantly over recent years. Crittall is now the second largest supplier of steel windows in the United States having re-built its entire distribution network there in just six years.
"We feel proud and honoured to be recognised by the queen's Award for our work and success in the US market, " said John Pyatt. "America can be seen as one of the hardest markets to compete in, and this accolade is the culmination of Crittall's long history, showing how a professionally-managed private company with an excellent product, a strong brand, and an enthusiastic workforce can take on the Americans at their own game."
The company dates back to 1849, and in 2004 Crittall Windows underwent a management buyout led by Mr Pyatt. At this point, its distribution market in the States disappeared, and the company had to begin again from scratch with its US operation.
Then, three years later, Crittall Windows moved to new state-of-the-art premises in Witham Essex from its factory in Braintree. Despite the upheaval, and now, the recession, the company has gone from strength to strength.
On both sides of the Atlantic, its products are being specified in high quality public and private sector buildings. These include the US 'Ivy League' universities of Princeton and Yale, the prestigious 300 Central Park West apartment block in New York, the University of Sussex, Grade II Listed Lichfield Court flats in Richmond-Upon-Thames, and the restored Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The firm is especially strong in the heritage market in both countries.
In order to win a Queen's Award, companies also have to demonstrate high quality business practices in employe relations, environmental policy, health and safety matters, and its relationship with the local community. In all these matters, Crittall Windows has scored very highly. Its worforce of around 200 is drawn from the local area, and one in ten employees has been with the firm more than 40 years.
"This is, in effect, an award for excellence in how we have gone about our business," says Managing Director John Pyatt.


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Here is some interesting news we stumbled across this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed that Waldorf Dodge will be one of the dealerships chosen!
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., July 6 (UPI) — U.S. automaker Chrysler said it had invited its dealerships to bid on rights to sell the Fiat 500 and that only 125 outlets would be approved.
Potentially, 2,300 Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram truck dealers could bid on the option to sell the small Fiats, which are scheduled to go on sale in the United States in December, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
In addition to a general investment in the brand, Chrysler is requiring dealerships arrange for showroom space that is separate from their Chrysler brand vehicles, company spokesman Ralph Kisiel said.
The four-cylinder vehicle is scheduled for construction in Toluca, Mexico, using engines made in Dundee, Mich.
The company has said half of the 100,000 Fiat 500s would be sold in the states, while the other half would be targeted for South America.


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MUMBAI (MarketWatch) -- U.S. entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. TWX and Australian company Hoyts are in "nascent stage" talks with Indian real estate developers to set up a chain of multiplexes across the country, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Indian developers in the talks include DLF Group, Raheja Group and Sobha Developers Ltd. (532784.BY).
The report cited merchant bankers as saying a deal is likely to be struck in the next six to 12 months.
Also, South Korean multiplex operator Megabox "is believed to be looking at the Indian market," the report said.
Industry sources said foreign entertainment players may favor forming partnerships with Indian realty companies since such alliances will help them get properties in prime locations in major cities, something which they may not manage by going alone, the report added.
Newspaper Web site: http://www.economictimes.com
-Edited by Rosalyn Lim


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Whole Foods Market Inc. faces a shakeup after activist investor Jana Partners acquired a stake and suggested that the organic-food grocer consider putting itself up for sale.
The investment firm announced an 8.3 percent stake in a filing on Monday, saying it would seek talks with management and push for a review of Whole Foods' strategic alternatives. Jana also may nominate at least three directors in a bid to help foster a turnaround.
The supermarket chain, which helped pioneer the organic-food movement, has been grappling with its worst sales slump in more than a decade. Six straight quarters of declining same-store sales have forced the company to close stores and rein in...
Wal-Mart Supercenter shelves sit stocked in Chicago.


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CHENNAI: Airconditioner manufacturers have raised prices by 8-13% for the second time in less than 100 days. The reason being cited is increasing input costs such as those incurred on AC parts and ocean freight.
Blue Star managing director B Thiagarajan said, “Input costs of steel, copper and ABS plastic are up 25% on an average since March 2020. After raising the selling price of ACs 5-8% in January 2021, we have raised another 3-5% as on April 1. We also expect to hold it despite the price hike.” However, in select categories, prices were kept 10% lower than last year to gain market share.
Panasonic officials said that given the market conditions, they plan to raise prices of ACs by 6-8%, while refrigerators will see an increase in the range of 3-4%. This is due to the rise in cost of commodities, thereby increasing the price of production.
Panasonic India and South Asia president & CEO Manish Sharma said, “As an organisation, we try to absorb maximum costs at our end and not pass it to our consumers. In the last 3-4 months, there’s been 25% growth in sales of air conditioners.”
While LG Electronics India has increased prices 5-7% this year, Voltas said ACs and cooling appliances have witnessed an overall 3-5% increase in average market price. Customs duties on some of the components have also gone up.
Godrej Appliances said after rising prices by 3-5% rise in January, an additional 3-5% hike is happening again in April. Its ACs product group head Santosh Salian said, “Commodity prices are not coming in control. In the initial stages of commodity prices going up last year by around 13%, manufacturers did not pass on the entire cost to customers at that time. They waited till demand picked up in the summer season to pass on the price increase.”
There is a tremendous price increase on ocean freight too — up 3x as compared to pre-Covid levels. Besides, this channel is also witnessing a shortage of containers coming to India, manufacturers said.
“Most input parts like steel, compressors are imported, and the freight price has gone up by 200-300% to $3,300 per container from $900 in pre-Covid times,” Salian added.


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Internet Explorer have released a new advert to promote the new version of the web browser. Being born in the 90's (1990 to be exact), I can totally relate to Internet Explorer's advert 'Child of the 90's. Cleverly targeting generation Y by usage of 90's inspired toys and technology; Internet Explorer have attempted to reconnect with a generation who may have lost touch with it's early exploration of technology. The advert continues the current 90's trend that has been going strong for a while now. If you remember the 90's or your part of generation Y, watch the advert and indulge in 90's nostalgia.
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As the presidential campaign begins swinging into gear, the rare and single refrain you’ll find all the candidates signing on for is their earnest, unwavering, unconditional support for one constituency in particular – America’s small businesses.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the first major politician to officially declare his candidacy, launched into his admiration for the small business economy only a few moments into his kickoff speech, as he noted. (His wife, Heidi, started a bakery as a child, he pointed out.) Cruz won’t be alone – all the candidates are likely to follow their previous scripts, extolling less regulation, lower taxes, and other advantages for what they regularly refer to as the cornerstone of America’s economy.
It’s unlikely anyone will rise up to argue against mom and pop stores and small tech startups. But the unanimous support for small businesses as an economic engine nonetheless overshadows a crucial shortcoming for those companies, and one that might serve as a better focus than more of those heartfelt tributes to Main Street.
You could, for example, think about small businesses this way: There are lots of startups taking advantage of Big Data by producing technology, products, and services. But most of the value gained by Big Data only comes if you accumulate huge amounts of data. And to do that, you have to be big in the first place.
Moreover, the costs associated with realizing value are fixed costs, meaning that the bigger you are, the smaller the average cost. The value achieved with boosting revenue or curbing costs is often small in margin terms, but large as an absolute number -- worth it for a big firm, not for a small one. So the bottom line is not just that healthy small businesses are great for America’s economy. It’s also that another competitive hurdle facing small businesses is the cost of Big Data.
And that’s something worth talking about.
In a case study for a Harvard Business Review article called “Small Businesses Need Big Data, Too,” the authors pointed out that while many small businesses are justifiably proud of using intuition and flexibility to compete in the marketplace, access to Big Data gives those clear advantages.
The article’s authors shared loyalty-card data and information from a supermarket giant in the UK with a handful of smaller grocers and markets. The results were dramatic. From the article:
“Once they were given access to loyalty-card customer data, most of the small firms took to it immediately. They were quick to adopt a more formalized approach to marketing planning. They were able to envision long-range innovations, rather than reacting to competitors’ or the retailers’ actions. One small-firm owner said the data had changed the company’s ideas about how to grow its consumer base. Another said, “Now we know precisely who our target consumer is.”
A yogurt maker, for example, learned by analyzing the data that older adults were a key market for its products, so when the company’s representatives visited supermarkets for in-store tastings, they no longer tried to entice younger shoppers and instead focused on older people. The tactic improved the events’ productivity. But the small firms didn’t abandon their reliance on experience. Instead, the data complemented the owners’ and managers’ intuition, giving them new confidence.”
The authors explain that they were able to provide the small grocers with the customer loyalty data free of charge, using funding from a regional government agency. That’s not how things happen beyond a research project, and HBR warns of the threat of a “deep divide” between what it described as the have-datas, and the have-no-datas. Big corporations can pay for access to data, small firms can’t. Also, in the experiment, the small firms were given expertise help to analyze the data. The numbers are only as good as the people who understand it, and that, too, costs money.
The outlook isn’t entirely grim. Big Data allows big businesses to capture small marginal gains at scale to generate value, but it also allows startups to do things that were not previously possible. One aspect of this startup landscape, though, is that they tend to get acquired by the giants once they have proved their worth.
Some of the interest in Big Data from small business surged after its successful use in President Obama’s last campaign. How small businesses will pay for this remains less clear. The cost of computing has come down, with the advent of cloud computing analytics services, such as those from Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The open data movement, the commercial availability of demographic data to match to customer records, and the public availability of Twitter and other social data, provide some raw material for leveraging analytics. The biggest bottleneck is expertise - the analytical talent is not in place to allow all organizations to gain anywhere near the full benefit of Big Data.
The opportunities to gain the expertise are there, though, with organizations like Statistics.com, as well as graduate programs in analytics and coding bootcamps, like Hack Reactor, which offer to turn students into data scientists. Small businesses definitely face challenges in accessing Big Data, but ways to overcome that data divide are opening up.


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Consumers are now more interested in clean label ingredients instead of product descriptions or the brand name itself, when shopping for new foods and drinks, according to a new global survey – highlighting the ongoing importance of clean label products. Natural and clean label ingredients have become an absolute expectation for consumers, but what they consider to be natural varies widely. Ingredient supplier Beneo commissioned this latest poll among 3,000 online consumers in the United States, Germany and the UK. It found 59% of respondents expected a ‘natural’ product to be healthy, 53% said they thought it should not be genetically modified, and 50% equated ‘natural’ with high quality. Read more…
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Apple has shut down the Twitter analytics company Topsy two years after it was acquired.
Topsy is (or was) a company that analysed raw data from Twitter to help gauge public opinion. It had rare access to the Twitter’s unfiltered data stream.
We reported on Apple’s acquisition of Topsy for around £122 million on December 3, 2013, making it one of Apple’s more expensive purchases. Now it’s been confirmed that Apple is shutting the service down.
Topsy’s Twitter profile also reads: “Every tweet ever published. Previously at your fingertips.”
Related: iPhone 6S review
It’s still not entirely clear what Apple has used Topsy for, though the above redirect suggests that its technology can be found in iOS 9‘s powerful search function. This Google Now-like feature proactively seeks out services you might need based on context, and places this alongside data sourced from the internet.
There’s also a chance that Topsy’s technology has been put to use behind the scenes of Apple Music and Beats 1.
Next, take a look at our iOS 9 feature video:


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GoSIM Calls for Tougher Roaming Legislation
The European Parliament will vote today on new regulation on roaming, including price ceilings for calls and data roaming. The vote follows a first-reading agreement by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on 28 March.
But international SIM card provider GOSIM.com cautions that, while a ‘Yes’ vote would be a big step in the right direction, there is an urgent need for even stronger legislation to protect mobile phone users from bill shock while abroad.
“Today’s vote in the European Parliament could see subscribers throughout Europe benefitting from cheaper prices when using their mobile abroad, but there’s still some way to go, says GOSIM.com’s John Assiter. “These rules will only apply to EU citizens roaming within Europe, so if you’re travelling further afield, you could still be stung with inflated roaming charges. But the real issue lies in the prices mobile operators are charging their subscribers for roaming. Savvy mobile phone users are already looking at their options and choosing to use an international service that will offer significant cost savings on data and phone charges while abroad, compared to domestic providers. This is going to be particularly important if travelling beyond the EU, where there is currently no bill shock protection and prices are higher.”
GOSIM.com offers data rates of €0.39 (£0.29) per MB in most parts of the EU, a significant saving on current rates available in the market. It also offers plans that provide free incoming calls in over 70 of the most popular holiday destinations around the world.


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NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Nanosphere said today that its second quarter revenues jumped 38 percent year over year, with the rise being driven by sales of its Verigene Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test.
Nanosphere also lowered its revenue guidance for the year as well as its expectations for instrument placements. In response, its shares plummeted around 32 percent to $2.00 in Wednesday morning trade on the Nasdaq.
The Northbrook, Ill.-based molecular diagnostics firm recorded $1.9 million in revenues for the three months ended June 30, compared to $1.3 million a year ago. That came in below the average Wall Street revenue estimate of $2.1 million.
All of the firm's quarterly revenues came from product sales, as it had no income from grant or contract revenues during the period, compared with $30,000 from such sources in the period last year.
The firm said it placed 35 systems during Q2, and it revised downward its expectation of placements for the year from the 200 to 250 range to between 150 and 200.
Nanosphere's net loss for the quarter fell to $7.8 million, or $.14 per share, compared to a net loss of $8.4 million, or $.19 per share, a year ago, beating the average analyst estimate by a penny.
The firm's R&D spending dropped 34 percent to $3.1 million from $4.7 million in Q2 2012. The company attributed that decrease to reduced spending on development goods and materials, and raw material inventory capitalization that had previously been expensed.
Nanosphere said its SG&A costs rose 22 percent to $5.1 million from $4.2 million in the year-ago period due to expansion of its field sales and customer support teams and increasing clinical trial expenses.
During the quarter, Nanosphere raised $4.7 million through a direct offering of its common stock and inked a deal for Hitachi High-Technologies to distribute its products in Japan.
The company exited the quarter with $32 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Nanosphere also revised its full-year 2013 revenue guidance downward from the $13 million to $15 million range to between $10 million and $11 million.
"We are lowering 2013 revenue and placement guidance to better reflect the extensive implementation process that our customers utilize in validating our Gram-Positive Blood Culture test as they adopt this significant change in diagnostic protocol," Nanosphere President and CEO Michael McGarrity said in a statement.
McGarrity said the company is encouraged by several indicators he says shows the foundation of "a sustainable revenue ramp," including that its customers are "generating clinically actionable results," that customer data confirms the accuracy and performance of the Nanosphere tests, and that its focus on streamlining the implementation process will speed up revenue growth in coming quarters.
"We expect this momentum to be further bolstered by our gram-negative and gastrointestinal enteric menu additions, each on track for submission to the FDA in 2013," McGarrity added.
On Wednesday morning investment bank Jefferies downgraded Nanosphere's stock to Hold from Buy and cut its price target on the firm's stock to $2 from $5.50.


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Shazam: Fury of the Gods is getting a Roblox tie-in game. Shazam: Fury of the Gods is one of the biggest movies coming in the first half of 2023 and is also one of the last films in the current DCEU as we know it. After that, The Flash intends to reset everything we have seen thus far and create a whole new DC cinematic universe that is being shepherded by James Gunn. As of right now, we have no idea if or how Shazam will fit into this new universe. It's entirely possible that even Shazam gets rebooted, but it has also been suggested that he could stick around, just as some other actors appear to be in the cards for more films in this universe.
With all of that said, the marketing for Shazam: Fury of the Gods is in full swing and there are no shortage of ads out there right now. Unfortunately, some ads have even spoiled major moments and cameos in the film, but there is one way to get yourself hyped without spoiling yourself. A new Roblox experience has been released to tie-in with Shazam: Fury of the Gods and features all kinds of rewards that are directly connected to items and characters from the upcoming film. Similarly, Black Adam also had a Roblox game when it was released in October and fans seemed to enjoy it. Of course, Shazam and Black Adam are characters that have a famous comic book rivalry, but it seems like we won't get to see that materialize on the big screen anytime soon.
Despite all of the chaotic comings and goings in the DCEU, it's still nice to see Warner Brothers putting an effort to give fans gaming tie-ins for its films. James Gunn has also noted that he plans to integrate gaming in a big way with the upcoming DCEU, but we have no idea what exactly that will look like right now.
Are you excited for Shazam: Fury of the Gods? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.0comments


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Ukrainian Cops Bust Phishing Group That Stole $4
Card Not Present Fraud , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Social Engineering
Fruadsters Used Fake E-Commerce Websites to Swindle Victims Mihir Bagwe (MihirBagwe) • March 31, 2023 Ukrainian law enforcement take down an alleged phishing ring that swindled victims out of nearly $4.4 million (Image: Secret Service of Ukraine)
Ukrainian law enforcement busted a transnational group of scammers that used more than a hundred phishing websites to defraud Europeans.
See Also: LIVE Webinar | Stop, Drop (a Table) & Roll: An SQL Highlight Discussion
The Cyber Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, together with Czech law enforcement agencies detained 19 individuals across Ukraine and the EU, including Ukrainian and Belarusian nationals.
Ukrainian authorities said Thursday the suspects embezzled nearly $4.4 million by fooling more than a thousand victims to hand over payment card details. Now dismantled call centers in Vinnytsia and Lviv added to the scheme’s credibility. The scheme was active since February 2022.
The Security Service of Ukraine identifies the leader of the gang as an IT specialist from Kyiv who recruited others through mutual connections and dark net forums.
Fraudsters posted ads on e-commerce platforms offering popular goods at a “below market-price.” They directed victims, who hailed from a swath of countries including France, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic and Portugal, to one of their phishing websites.
Once they obtained payment card data, the operators embezzled victims’ money in a crypto wallet under the control of the operators, the SSU said.
Law enforcement officers raided 35 locations in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia regions as part of the take down. They several mobile phones, SIM cards and computer equipment used in the illicit activities.
The alleged fraud kingpin and an accomplice detained in Ukraine face fraud and other computer crime-related charges and are being held without bail.