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Geomerics has posted two videos showcasing its next-gen real-time Enlighten global illumination tech for Sony’s PlayStation 4 (PS4).
According to Geomerics founder Chris Doran, the technology will allow the addition of “cinematographic film practices to dynamic immersive worlds,” with Sony’s PlayStation 4 its first supported next-gen platform.
“We are delighted to be working on PlayStation 4. The hardware is everything we were hoping for in a next generation console, and a huge step forward from the current generation,” said Doran.
“Real-time global illumination was a big deal for games running on the current generation of hardware, but it required developers to make some compromises. With PlayStation 4, those days are behind us. We can finally unleash the full power of Enlighten, and allow game developers working on PlayStation 4 games to bring far deeper levels of dynamism and quality to game lighting. We cannot wait to see what developers produce with Enlighten.”
In related PS4 news, Sony’s upcoming console has won praise from industry heavyweight Sega, with COO Toshihiro Nagoshi offering a ringing endorsement of the system’s “hi-def” specs.
“I’ve been in this industry for 23 years, but compared to the past, modern specs are like a dream come true,” he said.
“At the same time, though, there are lots of issues with getting those dreams to expand to their peak as much as we can, so there is some nervousness checking the excitement I feel. I definitely realize that gamers will want to see those dreams realized as much as possible.”
The PS4 is powered by an AMD CPU and GPU. According to reports, the console boasts 8 x86-64 CPU cores, while the GPU is based on the next-gen Radeon graphics engine, capable of 1.84 teraflops of performance power. Because it is an APU, both the CPU and GPU reside on the same physical die, sharing 8GB of GDDR5 memory.
The console is also packaged with a redesigned controller that features a touchpad on the front, a share button, a headphone jack, a light bar for player identification and tech to sense a player’s depth and 3D position.


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NELHA exec says businesses played role in Hawaii’s record-high aquaculture sales
KAILUA-KONA — Exports of businesses at Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority played a major role in Hawaii’s aquaculture record-high sales in 2014, the ocean science and technology park’s executive director said.
Hawaii’s aquaculture sales totaled $78.2 million in 2014, a 40.4 percent increase from 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Services and the state Department of Agriculture reported in November. Data for shellfish and finfish was withheld and included in the “other” category, along with ornamental fish, which combined accounted for just over $45 million of the sales. Algae contributed $33.1 million and accounted for about 42.3 percent of aquaculture sales.
Greg Barbour, who oversees the state-administered facility, said a good part of the surge in sales could be attributed to products produced by the facility’s 40 tenants, including Shrimp Improvement Systems, a broodstock shrimp producer that works with companies in Asia and the Americas, and Cyanotech, producer of algae and astaxanthin products.
“That’s us — there’s no one else in Hawaii producing algae commercially,” said Gerry Cysewski, chief science officer and executive vice president at Cyanotech.
Cyanotech, which started in 1984 on 5 acres and now covers 90 acres and employs 125 people, 109 of whom are located on the Big Island, is seeing increases in exports and domestic sales of its Hawaiian astaxanthin and spirulina products, Cysewski said. This comes on the heels of the company installing a new extraction system allowing for more of the process to be kept in Kona, as well as promoting its finished Nutrex product over bulk products.
“Last quarter, our international sales were up 108 percent, primarily due to shipments to China,” he said.
Cyanotech has been working with a distributor in China for about seven years securing the necessary approvals from the Chinese government allowing for the finished product to enter the country.
“Sales are really starting to move,” he said.
The company expects that the Chinese market will continue to grow thanks to the country having a “a huge market with a growing middle class,” he said. Cyanotech is also seeing growth domestically. After working with Costco locally for years, the wholesale retailer is now carrying BioAstin at 43 stores in Los Angeles, among other stores in San Diego and Denver.
“We’re trying to keep a pulse on the market and we are very encouraged by the outlook for the future,” he said.
The company reported its net sales in 2014 were $34 million.
A recent NELHA review of select Census export data indicates a majority of the increase in production is being exported from Hawaii outside the U.S., as exemplified by the increase in exports at Cyanotech, he said. Federal data on the fish, crustaceans and aquatic invertebrates exports, which Barbour said is generally aquaculture, valued the category at $32.5 million last year.
“When we started looking at (the data), the aquaculture numbers are growing significantly, exports are growing significantly and we could see a relationship between the two,” said Barbour. “We feel confident in saying that not all of it, but a significant portion of this growth in aquaculture sales and exports is from the businesses (at NELHA).”
Excluding re-exports like aircraft, mineral fuel and oil (which accounted for about a half-billion dollars in exports in 2014) and iron and steel, and Barbour said aquaculture was the state’s highest export. Beverages, spirits and vinegar, which includes bottled water, came in second to aquaculture with statewide exports valued at $20.8 million in 2014. NELHA is home to four water bottling companies: Kona Deep, Koyo, Destiny and Hawaii Deep Ocean Water.
“Exports are really important because it brings new money into the state,” explained Barbour. “In economic development, we always talk about how to grow exports. It’s good to sell something from island to island, but bringing new money into the economy really helps a lot.”
Barbour sees the growth continuing for several years as companies like Cyanotech continue to expand operations and new ventures move in to the park.
The announcement of increased sales and exports follows the March release of an economic impact study, which is issued every three years, for NELHA. The report, compiled by the University of Hawaii, estimated NELHA had $123 million in economic impact on the state in 2013, a 40 percent increase from 2010 when the park’s economic impact was estimated at $87.7 million.
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“The next billion” is a phrase often heard in the internet industry. It refers to the next group of people who will gain internet access and begin to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the online world.
Globally, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that 47% of people are using the internet in 2016. There is a stark difference between the developed world, where 81% of people are using the internet, and the developing world, where the figure falls to 40.1%.
The wide variation between countries in terms of internet presence is demonstrated in Nominet’s ‘Map of the Online World’. According to this map, which resizes countries based on to the number of country-code domain names registered, the entire continent of Africa could fit into the UK several times.
ITU data tells us that only 25.1% of people in Africa use the internet. In the countries categorised by the United Nations as ‘least developed’, the proportion of people using the internet is only 15.2%. Thirty-four of the 48 Least Developed Countries are in Africa.
Whichever way you look at it, most of Africa — unfortunately — is on the wrong side of the digital divide.
This is not due to a lack of interest among those living there. As the incredible growth in mobile phone ownership demonstrates, if a technology is useful, affordable and accessible, it will be adopted at pace. By way of example: between 2002 and 2014 the proportion of people with a mobile phone went from 8% to 83% in Ghana, 9% to 82% in Kenya, and 10% to 73% in Tanzania.
According to a 2014 McKinsey & Company report, barriers to internet adoption span four key categories: incentives, low incomes and affordability, user capability, and infrastructure.
The infrastructure required for traditional broadband — digging trenches and laying cables — often isn’t viable. The costs of delivering connectivity can greatly outweigh the profits that can be made in many environments.
But new technology does offer hope.
One of the most promising is the use of TV white space to power low-cost, reliable wireless broadband. ‘TV white space’ refers to unused gaps in the radio spectrum, within the range traditionally used to broadcast television. As recently reported by the BBC, Nominet is using this technology to deliver broadband to remote parts of Scotland, in the first commercial rollout of its kind in Europe.
Another organisation backing TV white space in a big way is Microsoft, and we’re very pleased to be partnering with them to bring broadband to communities across Africa.
As part of its Affordable Access Initiative, Microsoft is using TV white space to provide internet access in some of the most remote parts of the world. One of many examples is this solar-powered internet cafe housed in a bright yellow shipping container in rural Kenya.
Nominet’s chief contribution will be our expertise in Dynamic Spectrum Management. Because the available set of TV white space frequencies varies, we’ve developed a database to perform complex calculations that tell devices what frequencies they can use in a given area, at what power, and for how long. This dynamic allocation of available space is far more efficient than any existing static technique. And ultimately, the more efficiently the radio spectrum is shared, the more devices — and users — can get connected.
Access to the internet is a key enabler of economic growth and social change. In the UK, Nominet has managed a critical part of national internet infrastructure — the .uk domain — for 20 years. We’ve seen firsthand the positive impacts of the internet across diverse parts of our society, from students to small business owners to new mothers.
We think it’s important to share these opportunities at a global level by bringing connectivity to communities in the developing world. We’re not alone in this. It’s something that’s being worked toward by the United Nations, by some leading international companies, and most importantly, by many people in these communities themselves.
According to Benson Maina, the man who runs the Kenyan internet cafe mentioned above, “Bringing the internet connection to the community… People never knew the possibilities, but now they have the whole world in their hands.”
At Nominet, we’re delighted to play our part in welcoming the next billion online.


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Diagnostic care health applications, enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), have become more widely available directly to consumers, including on mobile devices. However, consumers have been slow to adopt the use of such tools as they tend to trust human health care providers more than their AI analog. Lack of appreciation of the patient’s unique needs and the ambiguity surrounding accountability for mistakes made by AI, are just a few of the reasons that the consumer trust lags. In a recent Harvard Business Review article co-authored by Chiara Longoni, assistant professor of marketing, Carey Morewedge, professor of marketing, and their colleague Romain Cadario, assistant professor of marketing at Erasmus University, they grapple with this issue and discuss potential interventions.
Consumer adoption of medical AI has as much to do with their negative perceptions of AI care providers as with their unrealistically positive views of human care providers. Consumers are reluctant to rely on AI care providers because they do not believe they understand or objectively understand how AI makes medical decisions; they view its decision-making as a black box.Chiara Longoni
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Professor of Marketing
Understanding consumer resistance to AI is a critical topic for policymakers. For many health policy experts, the use of innovative health services and technology are a means to improving the health care system.
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Twitter is changing its prices. On Thursday, the company announced it was introducing new tools for what it calls “objective-based campaigns,” which include four new ways advertisers can buy ads on the social media platform.
Previously, ad buyers worked on a cost-per-engagement model, paying for promoted Tweets only when users interacted with them — a click, reply, retweet or favorite. Now, advertisers can opt to pay on engagements to capture new followers, conversions to an external website, app-installs or user email addresses.
For Twitter, the new model is intended to net more ad dollars and expand its young products. In June, the company began running app-install ads, which they charge per app click. It introduced its rich-media “Lead Cards” in 2013 and has been aggressively promoting the product as a tool to reach non-logged in users, an increasingly coveted demographic for Twitter.
For more Social Media News visit http://www.buzzmouth.com


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When MHI released its inaugural Annual Industry Report in 2014, more than 450 survey respondents said Big Data analytics was their top strategic supply chain priority. The anticipated outcome of more deeply investigating both internal and external information collected by their systems was that it would would boost efficiencies via predictive analysis. Just five years later, the 2018 MHI Annual Industry Report found that just 19% of the 1,100 surveyed industry leaders have predictive analysis in place, but 82% will adopt it in the next five years.
Bolstered by the competitive advantages already realized from expanding data analysis initiatives, companies are now looking deeper into so called “dark data.” Defined by Gartner as “the information assets organizations collect, process and store during regular business activities, but generally fail to use for other purposes (for example, analytics, business relationships and direct monetizing),” dark data could include customer information, e-mails, log files, financial statements, image files, previous versions of documents. The opportunities are enormous. Indeed, IBM says dark data comprises 80% of Big Data.
What does this mean for your company?
In a recent article in MHI Solutions Q4 2018 issue, “Shedding Light on Dark Data,” several experts weigh in on the risks and opportunities, as well as why companies should care.
Having data in the dark gets in the way of businesses functioning properly, says Brian Vecci, technical evangelist at Varonis. “Any CEO will tell you the more you know about how your business runs, the better off your business is going to be. That’s particularly true for companies interconnected within a supply chain. The reverse is also true—when much of your business is running completely in the dark, that’s a huge risk.”
Further, both security and competitive advantage are threatened. As Joe Vernon, senior manager in the Supply Chain Technology practice at Capgemini, explains: “Since dark data touches so many aspects of supply chain—from procurement to operations to transportation—if a competitor hacks your data and discerns a hidden pattern that you weren’t aware of, they might use it against you.”
The experts also discuss how to figure out which types of dark data will be useful and which can be deleted, as well as how machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be leveraged to glean useful information that leads to timelier and less risky decision making. ML utilizes algorithms to analyze and discover patterns that humans are incapable of seeing within information such as dark data. Knowledge gleaned from the patterns can then be used by AI systems to make decisions.
Applying algorithms via ML that fuels AI will dramatically speed up the process of determining whether or not relevancy exists within a specific subset of dark data, says Carlton Sapp, research director focused on data and analytics for technical professionals at Gartner.
“Using a data-driven approach like ML and AI allows a quick analysis without actually having to consume much of that dark data,” he explains. “If those algorithms are applied early in the dark data life cycle—as it emerges from a sensor for example—that enables a faster determination of whether or not the information needs to be collected or stored.”
To read the entire article and learn more about the potential benefits of dark data to your supply chain operations, click here.


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You Can Win A Gasparilla Themed Lightning Jersey
The Tampa Bay Lightning will wear Gasparilla themed warmup jersey before their game on January 29th against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Gasparilla parade through Tampa will be earlier that day.
The Lightning Foundation will be auctioning off five customized Gasparilla themed jerseys and the winners will be able to get their name and number on the back.
The team store at Amalie Arena will begin selling Gasparilla themed merchandise starting at noon on Thursday.
If you want to own one of these 🏴☠ jerseys customized with the name and number of your choice, the Lightning Foundation has your ONLY chance!— Lightning Foundation (@LightningFDN) January 12, 2022
Visit https://t.co/wEXI5qkMwk to bid on one of only FIVE customizable Gasparilla-themed jerseys!
Auction closes 1/19 at 6pm. https://t.co/wpEIPGj5C6 pic.twitter.com/8GmyMAtm5E
[SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times]
19 Celebrity Tampa Bay Lightning Fans


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- The new datacenter will be built in São Paulo and will be capable to link three other data processing centers that already existed in the country
- The main goal is to offer more security and efficiency
- The new datacenter is part of IBM’s strategy to reach the leaders of the cloud service global market: Amazon and Microsoft
Cloud service products are the current sweetheart of companies all over the world, and this market has never been as competitive as it is now. Great and innovative technology, all of the big players that are fighting for this market can offer. The key to success is in finding opportunities that weren’t seen by your competitors. This was what IBM has done when took the decision of building in Brazil the first connected datacenter in Latin America.
According to the Brazilian media outlet, Gazeta do Povo, with the new datacenter the company will be capable to link three other data processing centers that already existed in the country. The connection among three different servers will provide more stability, since if one server falls down, automatically one of the other two that are left will sustain the process.
The main goal is to offer more security and efficiency to their customers, “the data storage is on the heard of the companies, that’s why they need security. This launch will provide our consolidation in the artificial intelligence solutions in Brazil,” reveals IBM’s President, Tonny Martins in an interview for Gazeta do Povo.
IBM’s strategy comes as a new attempt to reach Amazon and Microsoft, the global leading players in cloud computing services. According to the Vice-President of Watson and Cloud of IBM Brazil, Marcelo Braga, in an interview for Gazeta do Povo, the focus of innovative investments such as this new connected data center in Latin America is part of the strategy of position IBM’s product as a “sophisticated” option.


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In major news from Honda, the company has announced plans to build a massive battery production facility based in the USA with Korean electronics giant, LG Energy Solution, as part of a $4.4-billion investment.
Honda and LG Energy made the announcement earlier this week, and if all goes to plan, construction will kick off in early 2023, with mass production of lithium-ion battery cells set to enter Honda’s supply chain by the end of 2025.
Details of that agreement state that battery packs produced at the facility will be used exclusively for Honda and Acura-branded battery-electric vehicles, although the joint venture is yet to be signed off.
Initial forecasts for the battery plant outline a yearly production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours, which is the exact same production capacity as another LG joint-venture with automotive giant, Stellantis, that was announced last year.
LG Energy has also signed agreements with General Motors and Hyundai for the production of lithium-ion cells in the USA.
There’s no word just yet on where exactly the battery production facility will be built, but considering Honda has massive production lines based in Ohio, Indiana and Alabama, the company likely has some ideas up its sleeve.
The largest of which is Honda’s Marysville production line, which suggests that a nearby location for its battery facility seems the most logical to keep transport and logistics costs low.
Honda is the latest in a long line of manufacturers that are scaling up their battery production numbers, as lawmakers become increasingly tough on exit dates for the production/sale of internal combustion engines.
The latest example came last week from California, with lawmakers stating that by 2035, all new vehicles on sale will have to come in the form of a plug-in hybrid or battery-electric vehicle.


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Thai threat to £800m Airbus order
THAILAND is threatening to switch an £800m order for eight Airbus jets to Boeing unless the European Union lifts its health ban on frozen Thai shrimps and prawns.
Bangkok said it could not pay for the planes without the revenue from sales of its shellfish.
The EU outlawed imports of the prawns after discovering traces of nitrofurans - a veterinary medicine that fights bacterial infections, but can cause cancer in humans.
Thai trade minister Watana Muyangsook said: 'We have no money in the kitty to buy Airbuses, which would cost us billions of dollars. We have to swap them for our frozen shrimps - it's a take-it-or-leave-it situation.'
Thailand, which wants to renew the fleet of Thai Airways, has expressed interest in buying eight A340-500 and A340-600 planes over the next five years to allow it to expand its route network. It had expected to take delivery of the first new plane next year.
BAE Systems owns 20%of Airbus and the A340 wings are made at the Airbus plant in Broughton, North Wales.
However, Bangkok faces increasing pressure from the country's powerful lobby of shrimp and prawn farmers. They have been denounced by EU and British health authorities for selling shrimps that could put public health at risk.
A spokesman in Brussels said: 'Nitrofurans damage genetic material in the human body and cause cancer. They are banned in food producing animals in the EU.'
But the drug has been thrown into the shrimp farm ponds in Thailand on a massive scale to produce fatter shrimps and prawns. Last year, one in seven in a sample of Thai prawns from shops in Northern Ireland was found to contain nitrofurans. Thai prawns were immediately banned from sale throughout the UK.
David Steeds, a manager for environmental health at the Food Standards Agency, said: 'These residues of chemicals are unacceptable in foods destined for consumption by the public.'
The shrimp row is certain to delay, and might even lead to the cancellation of the order of new Airbuses by Thai Airways. Muyangsook said: 'The ball is now clearly in the EU's court. If the Europeans outlaw our shrimps, we will outlaw their planes. The EU is discriminating against our food products.'
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PNG-based Kina Securities Ltd, which owns Kina Bank, has entered into sale and purchase agreements with Westpac.
Kina Securities has announced it is to acquire 89.91 percent of Westpac’s banking operations in PNG and 100 percent of its Fiji operations.
The overall purchase price is $US311 million, or over a billion kina.
The transaction is expected to be complete by the second half of next year, ending Westpac’s 110-year history in PNG.
It also effectively leaves only two banks still operating in PNG, after ANZ last year sold its local retail operations to Kina Bank which now only has Bank South Pacific as a competitor.
Bank South Pacific also has operations in Fiji and several other Pacific countries.
Furthermore, Westpac sold its Pacific operations outside of PNG and Fiji to BSP five years ago
Meanwhile, Westpac said it expected the sale to Kina Securities Ltd to boost its core capital by three basis points, but it is factoring in an expected loss of US$170-million from the deal
(Source; RNZ pacific news 09th December 2020)


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Back in June, Boundary Road Brewery, the newly rebranded Independent Liquor, launched a campaign to celebrate the launch of a ‘craft range’ that asked Kiwis to be the arbiter of taste and choose their favoured variety of beer, with the winning brew eventually released commercially. The print campaign asking for tasters took out the NAB ad of the month award and now it’s followed that up by acknowledging the 999 humans who tasted and chose the Chosen One beer with an ad in The New Zealand Herald that listed every one of them by name.
Executive Creative Director: Paul Catmur
Executive Creative Director: Daniel Barnes
Art Director: Crispin Schuberth
Creative: Jesse Stevens
Creative: Matt Weavers
Account Director: Sally Willis


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Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report shares jumped higher in pre-market trading after founder and CEO Elon Musk said the Model S Plaid, the car-maker's high performance luxury sedan, will be made available in China early next year.
In a Tweet early Monday, Musk said the Plaid will be coming to China "probably around March", following its formal launch in September. The Plaid, priced at $140,000, has a charge range of 520 miles and reportedly can reach top speeds of 200 miles per hour.
Tesla sold 54,391 China-made vehicles in the world's biggest car market last month, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, just shy of the record total of 56,006 tallied in September.
The Tweet follows a weekend of disruption for some Tesla owners after an app server outage that prevent many from connecting to, or entering, their Tesla vehicles. Musk apologized for the disruption, noting it was linked to "increased verbosity of network traffic."
Tesla shares were marked 4.1% higher in early Monday trading to change hands at $1,184.90 each.
Tesla posted net income of just over $2 billion for the three months ending in September, alongside the strongest profit margins in the group's history and record sales of $13.7 billion. The blowout figures followed another all-time high in third quarter deliveries, which rose 73.2% from last year to 241,300 units.
CFO Zach Kirkhorn cautioned that plans to open and ramp-up production at new factories in Germany and Texas, as well as surging input costs and labor shortages, would impact margins in the coming quarters, but the group's ability to defy the global semiconductor shortage, while weaning its reliance on carbon credit sales to flatter its revenue line, has been truly impressive.
Tesla noted in its earnings release that 'a variety of challenges, including semiconductor shortages, congestion at ports and rolling blackouts, have been impacting our ability to keep factories running at full speed," although the group still managed to deliver a record 241,300 new cars over the three months ended in October.


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Forget what you’re hearing about online shopping. There are more grocery stores than ever.
At least, that’s the word from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A new study from the agency out this month shows that the number of grocery stores in America has increased by 7 percent over a decade, with much of that growth happening in cities and other populous counties.
The question, of course, is, who’s behind the growth? Big surprise: It’s not small businesspeople.
By examining a decade of data between 2005 and 2015, the researchers found that chains with four or more stores claimed 3 percent of market share that formerly belonged to independents.
So while the grocery market in general is growing, it’s also consolidating. The study doesn’t differentiate between, say, a regional chain with a dozen stores and America’s grocery oligarchy—Walmart, Kroger, Albertson’s, and Publix, with thousands of locations across the country. But one thing is clear: There are more stores, and fewer stakeholders.
That doesn’t surprise Joseph Welsh, a long-time retail consultant who goes by “Joe the Grocer.” For the past two years, he says, independent grocery sales have gone down overall, albeit with a slight bump in October. Today, even though they make up at least half of all food retailers in 44 percent of U.S. counties, independents account for just 11 percent of total grocery sales, according to the USDA report. Compare that to the big four, who alone represent over 42 percent of sales. Their market share has increased every year since 2012, according to unpublished research by USDA economist Howard Elitzak.
Welsh says the downturn is due to increased competition from a variety of sources—whether it’s convenience stores adding milk and bread to their assortments, or direct sellers online, or corporate-owned “neighborhood markets,” like Walmart Express and Publix’s expanding line of smaller-scale GreenWise Markets.
“In the Southwest, neighborhood markets have done really well,” says Welsh, who comes from a family of independent grocers in El Paso. If they were still in the business today, he says, they’d be a target for corporations, eager to home in on the corner-store market share.
Meanwhile, independent store strongholds remain in Great Plains states and low-income and rural environments, according to USDA. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. For one—and it’s obvious—larger chains just don’t think they can turn a profit in a small town.
“It’s the old Willie Sutton line,” says Nedelman. “Why do you rob banks? That’s where the money is.”
But even there, a profit isn’t guaranteed. Welsh says independent grocers—which are primarily superettes, according to the USDA report—are now facing stiff competition from dollar stores. As convenience stores did in the city, these value-minded outlets cut into grocers’ turf, adding perishables, money services, and affordable private-label products.
Still, rural America’s rapidly changing demographics—with Hispanics representing half of the population growth—may create opportunities for independents. The USDA study finds that independents are three times as likely as chains to meet the culinary needs of growing minority populations. That may be because independents have the flexibility to respond to a community with shifting tastes. They can change the product mix, or the store concept, or even the name, without red tape. Independent stores in rural Texas, for example, often change to cater to Latinos, says Welsh.
Despite the stiff competition from deep-pocketed corporations, though, Welsh doesn’t think independents are permanently screwed in cities. One thing that keeps independents growing, at least in his experience, is when large chains, up to their eyeballs in debt, go belly-up and sell off their stores.
Look at what happened to Furr’s, a Texas grocery chain. In the late 1980s, backed by foreign capital, the Lubbock-based company completed a federally contested purchase of 59 Safeway stores and warehouses, expanding its reach into New Mexico. But within a few years, the company buckled under the weight of too much real estate, and was forced to liquidate its assets—before eventually declaring bankruptcy. Welsh says independent grocers, like his family, were the beneficiaries, and gobbled up the stores on the cheap.
Call them the leftovers.


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The developer is known for many famous franchises including Conker and Banjo-Kazooie. However, for the past few years, the team was focused on developing Kinect games for Xbox One and Xbox 360, but that's no longer the case. Sea of Thieves is a result of that and it's a concept the team hasn't tackled before.
Sea of Thieves features co-op multiplayer and is played from a first-person perspective. Just like Destiny, it takes place in a shared world. A group of players travel in the open world together and take on different roles. For example, the captain may steer the ship while the other individuals attack enemy vessels. Despite being open-ended, there are numerous quests, loot and combat opportunities. It's all about finding your own way in this massive oceanic world.
Sea of Thieves has been delayed a few times and now is scheduled to release in 2018. Given the fact that the Xbox One X launched a few days ago, a recent developer interview focused on the console. All of the upcoming enhancements were detailed during this conversation.
Sea of Thieves runs at native 4K resolution on Xbox One X. During the interview, the developers made is clear that this is native 4K and doesn't utilize techniques like upscaling or checkerboarding found in many other games. Towards the end, they also added that the Xbox One X version is on par what you find on an "ultra-spec" PC. Those with 1080p televisions will also benefit from the upgrade because it uses higher-resolution textures than the standard Xbox One version.
It's great to see Rare pushing the Xbox One X by making Sea of Thieves comparable to the PC version. Hopefully this isn't just talk and the final product will stand strong. The developers also said that they weren't going to use a dynamic scaling solution, which lowers the resolution if it senses problems with the frame rate. Let's hope the performance is stable as well. However, only time will tell. We'll have to wait until 2018 to find out.
Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!
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Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.


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The government has decided not to sell the loss making National Textile Corporation (NTC) but instead plans to nurture the ailing state-owned textiles firm back to health by disposing of its land worth Rs 1,750 crore in Uttar Pradesh. Textile Minister Santosh Gangwar at the conference said that they are committed to not sell National Textile Corporation.
NTC has 11 places in UP and British India Corporation Ltd (BICL) has 35. The matter has been pending since last 15 years and the government has already wasted Rs 500 crore.
Textile Minister had to fruitful discussion with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the issue and arrived at a decision that they will dispose of/sell the land worth Rs 2,000 crore of BIC and Rs 1,750 crore of NTC (to generate revenue).
However, Textiles Secretary Sanjay Kumar Panda said that as most of the land is leased by the state government. So, unless the lease arrangement changes, it will not be possible to dispose of the land. They are in discussions with the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the state government has tentatively agreed that they will help them in disposal of the land.
Textile Minister emphasised upon the need to take a fresh look at the National Textile Policy and reiterated that the government was in the process of framing the new policy.
Moreover, the Textiles Minister informed that he would launch the Pashmina Promotion scheme announced in the budget on October 8 in Ladakh for which a sum of Rs 50 crore is set aside.
Gangwar further said the government has decided to increase the financial support for setting up a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) centre in Srinagar from 50 percent to 90 percent.
On the eight mega clusters announced in the Budget, he said that seven of these are under various stages of implementation, while the one in Varanasi is operational. The government had announced setting up of mega clusters in Varanasi, Surat, Bhuj, Lucknow, Bareilly, Burhanpur, Mysore and Trichy.
The Minister also highlighted that children working on traditional vocations within their homes voluntarily should not be counted as child labourers, and demanded a change in labour laws in this regard.
The Textiles Ministry is exploring the option of building showrooms at prime locations to help marketing of its products.
A weekly report covering market and price information on the entire chain of polyester along with online access to daily polyester chain prices.
One-time reports that are issued annually cover the demand and supply trends in individual products including polyester, nylon, acrylic, viscose, and cotton.
One-time reports that are issued annually cover the demand and supply trends in the individual country's natural and manmade fiber/filament industries.
Countries Served Worldwide


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If you’ve seen the images of Apple’s upcoming spaceship-style campus, you’ll agree that it look pretty remarkable. New details and drawings of Apple’s new HQ, submitted to the Cupertino City Council on August 14, reveal the new office will have a bigger footprint than the Pentagon.
Given that comforting sanity check, I measured the diameter of the Apple spaceship as 1615 ft, plus or minus a few ft., depending on where one places the ruler. That’s a radius of 807.5 ft.
That makes Apple’s new HQ larger than the world’s current larges office building, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, which Martellaro says has a diameter of 1,566 ft., and a radius of 783 ft.
The put that into perspective, take a look at the graphic above which lays the Pentagon over Apple’s new campus. Pretty impressive, eh?


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The Square Enix E3 2019 press conference will soon begin, and we’ve got the livestream for you all to watch right here.
The conference will detail some pretty big games including the Final Fantasy 7 remake, Avengers from Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal and a new sci-fi game called Outriders. Fans are also hopeful for news of a new Final Fantasy title. Hopefully Square Enix has a couple other surprises up its sleeve, eh?
Things are scheduled to commence at 11.00 am AEST (or check your own timezone here).
Enjoy! The livestream is below. We’ll be reporting on news as it happens, so stay tuned.


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Hungarian government spent €23 million of taxpayers’ money on propaganda before the election
The Hungarian government spent 23 million euros on ‘government communications’ in the month before the April 8th election. The infamous and widely condemned anti-immigration campaigns were included in this budget, as well as the anti-UN campaign. The largest amount was spent on advertising the ‘results’ of Viktor Orban’s government.
In Hungary, parties have a limit on how much they can spend on campaigning before an election. However, the sitting government has an advantage: it is allowed to spend taxpayer money on communicating with citizens. It is easy to see how this helps a party in government promote its own agenda before the election.
On April 8th, the ruling Fidesz government was re-elected and won a two-third majority in the parliament.
Atlatszo has been tracking how much taxpayer money the government is spending on promoting itself. After receiving the latest documents from the Cabinet Ministry of the Prime Minister (the department responsible for the advertising campaigns), our research shows that the government spent 23 million euros on ‘communications’ in the two months preceding the election.
The anti-migration advertisements cost 3.9 million euros and the anti-UN ads cost 3.8 million euros.
What kind of results did the Orban government achieve that it wanted to advertise right before the elections? It advertised, for example, the family tax credit, the financial help that families are entitled to when they buy a new home, and it also advertised how simple it is to file your taxes through the new tax filing website. These were advertised on TV2 and Echo TV.
Here are the main topics of the government advertising campaigns:
There are several interesting changes in the data compared to previous campaigns. First, the money spent on outdoor campaigns (billboards and citylights) was cut back and the share spent on television advertising grew.
It is also interesting that Magno Studio Kft. received a much higher share of the money than before, and the other media companies received much less compared to previous campaigns. More than half of the budget (12.5 million euros) was spent at Magno Studio Kft. They got this money for advertising the ‘results’ of the Fidesz government and the decision of the government to subsidize the heating bills of Hungarians.
It is interesting that the ‘usual suspects’ received less money this time than they usually do. It is an established fact that the Orban government is using these advertising campaigns to finance its media machine; Mediaworks (owned by Lőrinc Mészáros) and the companies owned by enigmatic spin doctor Árpád Habony and film magnate Andy Vajna are always big winners of these propaganda campaigns.
Here are the top 10 media partners of the pre-election advertising campaigns:
Written by Katalin Erdélyi
English version by Anita Kőműves, editing by Clare Humphreys.


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Google Introduces Expandable Featured Search Snippets
The search engine giant is reportedly testing a new feature related to its search snippets. As reports emerge, a new form of search snippet is being tested at Google that can be expanded to help searchers dive deeper into and get more info available around the specific query they searched for.
Google Expandable Featured Search Snippets
The feature that was earlier rumored in April this year is now live for the global users.
This is how Google introduced the feature:
“We’re introducing a new way to get you to relevant information fast and help you get a glimpse of multiple aspects of a topic with a single search.” Google has not given them an official name – such as “expandable featured snippets” but I think that name works for them.”
- 13 Free Websites to Watch Cartoons Online in HD - April 6, 2021
- Top 10 Font Finder Online to Discover Fonts and Shapes - March 19, 2021
- Top 10 Best Dating Apps for Singles in India in 2021 - March 16, 2021


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Sabancı sells stake in cupboard facility
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News AgencySabancı Holding has decided to sell its 43.73 percent stake in Olmuksa, the cardboard company, to its partner International Paper.
The sale price will be 101.2 million Turkish Liras, and the share transfer will take place after the approval process is complete, according to a company announcement.
Sabancı Holding is confident about Turkey’s future due to the significant economic strides the country has been able to make over the past few years, Sabancı Holding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Zafer Kurtul said. Therefore, he said, Sabancı Holding wants to increase its capital in sectors where it has a greater competitive advantage.
“It was as part of this strategy that we decided to sell our shares in Olmuksa to our partner International Paper. We’ve had a very successful partnership with International Paper since 1998,” Kurtul said, adding that Sabancı thanks Olmuksa’s hardworking staff. Sabancı will continue to evaluate organic growth and investment options, Sabancı Industrial Group President Mehmet Pekarun said. “To solidify our profitable growth, we will continue to invest in value-added business segments, research and development, innovation and new markets to set ourselves apart,” Pekarun said. “With the complete integration of sector leader Olmuksa and International Paper, we believe that Olmuksa will continue with its current success.”


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Throughout 2022, many Canadian stocks have fallen in price, with some losing more than 75% of their value. This isn’t necessarily surprising, given the current economic environment. However, what could be surprising is that a stock like Dollarama (TSX:DOL), which has long traded with a major growth premium, hasn’t lost any value this year. In fact, it’s gained roughly 30% so far year to date.
Dollarama has been an impressive company for years. It offers Canadian consumers something that everyone is looking for: essential items at discounted prices. Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that both its business and stock have seen a massive boost from a high-inflation environment.
Dollarama is one of the best stocks you can buy, especially if you plan to hold it for the long haul. If you’re thinking of adding Dollarama to your portfolio, here are five things to know about the stock.
Dollarama stock has been growing its business for years
Dollarama has a long track record of growing its business through impressive execution — a major reason why it’s one of the best long-term growth stocks you can buy.
Through the expansion of its store count and strong merchandising, it’s consistently grown and scaled its business to increase its margins and ultimately drive growth in the value of the stock for investors.
Back in 2007, the company had already expanded to 500 stores nationwide. However, it’s continued its strong expansion and now has more than 1,400 stores across the country with a goal of reaching 1,700 by 2027.
The stock is one of the few businesses in Canada that can benefit from inflation
One of the reasons that Dollarama has been so popular is that consumers can find essential goods that they need to buy at prices cheaper than Dollarama’s big-box competitors. And when you can minimize your expenses on these essential items, it naturally allows your discretionary income to grow.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that Dollarama’s products are always popular. However, they become even more popular in periods of economic turmoil, where consumers are seeing an impact on their income, whether that be high inflation or a recession.
This is crucial, because while Dollarama is still a high-quality growth stock, it can be a defensive investment as well.
Because it’s such a high-quality stock, Dollarama is often priced at a premium
Dollarama is one of the best-performing stocks over the last decade and continues to have excellent potential over the long haul. If you’re waiting to buy Dollarama undervalued and at a discount, you may never get the chance to pull the trigger.
The highest-quality stocks almost never go on sale and consistently trade at major premiums. For example, over the last decade, Dollarama has traded at an average forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.7 times. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t earn significant returns owning the stock.
Dollarama has increased in value in nine out of the last 10 years
While Dollarama trades with a premium most of the time, due to its incredible execution, it’s constantly gaining value. Therefore, it’s a stock that’s still worth an investment, especially if you plan to hold it for the long haul.
In fact, over the last decade, the stock has finished the year with a positive performance every single year except for 2018. In addition, it’s also outperformed the TSX in nine of the last 10 years and most years by a significant factor.
Dollarama stock has earned investors a total return of upwards of 725% over the last decade
Dollarama doesn’t just grow in value most years. Over the long haul, it can contribute some truly impressive growth to your portfolio.
Over the last decade, the stock has managed to earn investors a total return of 727%, compared to just 56% from the TSX. That 727% is a massive gain, especially in such a short period of time. In fact, it amounts to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.5% compared to a CAGR from the TSX of just 4.6%.
Therefore, buying high-quality growth stocks like Dollarama, which have years of potential, can be some of the best investments you make, even if they do trade with a significant growth premium much of the time.


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REVENUES from ticket sales to Cambodia's main attraction Angkor Wat fell almost 20 percent in the first half compared to last year, the Apsara Authority, one of the main bodies responsible for income from the temples, said Tuesday.
Bun Narith, director general of Apsara Authority, blamed the global economic crisis, political unrest in neighbouring Thailand and bad weather for the drop.
"Almost all countries have been affected by the global economic crisis, which has fully impacted our tourism sector.... [Foreigners] have cut down on travelling," he said.
The first-half decline reported by Apsara represents the latest fall in visitor revenues from Angkor Wat - in 2008, revenues declined to US$30 million from $32 million the previous year.
However, as in the past, Apsara declined to supply a detailed breakdown of ticket sales or revenues. Svay Ritthy, a representative of Sokha Hotels, declined to comment Tuesday and referred questions back to Apsara.
The government awarded Sokimex, the holding group that owns Sokha Hotels, a 10-year concession on revenues from Angkor Wat in April 1999 as part of an agreement that included Apsara.
Bun Narith said efforts had been made to improve the situation facing tourism since the downturn - namely price reductions and promotions, the launch of new national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air in July and new border crossings.
"We are seeing the number of Vietnamese tourists to Angkor Wat rise every day," he said.
In the first six months, Vietnamese arrivals rose 40 percent year-on-year to 147,721 while Thai visitors fell sharply by 25 percent - from 67,502 to 50,886 over the same period.


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Move over grassfed and grainfed cattle. A new factory upcycling waste from one of Australia's major crops could lead to more "cottonfed" beef, and a byproduct from the process could find its way into your fish and chips.
- Cottonseed waste is being converted into two usable products: meal for livestock feed and oil for cooking
- The company behind the move is creating a "circular economy" to make its operation zero waste
- Market analysts say there's increasing pressure for industry to take responsibility for the "whole lifecycle" of products
Seed that is not used to plant cotton has long been converted to cattle feed, particularly during droughts, but the nutritional quality can vary depending on how much it is processed.
A new, $20 million cottonseed "meat" factory in southern Queensland has developed high-protein feed pellets that have similar fat and energy levels to traditional grain through a "zero waste" process that also makes cooking oil.
It means more producers can access a cheaper feed product without losing quality, potentially putting more "cottonfed" beef on consumer plates, while also solving a waste issue for both the feed and cotton industry.
Fifty million tonnes of cottonseed is produced worldwide each year, but only 1 per cent is planted to grow cotton, creating an opportunity to value add.
To feed cottonseed to animals it has to dehulled — split into its component parts — creating a meal, also referred to as a "meat", that animals can eat and a byproduct, the extracted oil, which is often discarded.
The plant at Mort & Co's Grassdale Feedlot on the Darling Downs will come online in the next two months, producing an oil that can be refined and used in cooking.
Communications manager Marita Ramia said the company, as Australia's largest private feedlot, was attempting to create a circular economy to ensure the operation's environmental and economic sustainability.
"We care about where we're headed in the future and how we can sustainably continue to grow the feedlotting business, it also means making sure we are sustainable in many other areas," she said.
"It started with that idea of dehulling the cotton seed and now taking the oil from the cottonseed meat is is another step in ensuring there is no waste product at Grassdale."
"The next generation is very interested … the people that we're employing are saying to us, 'What are you doing? What are you contributing environmentally?'"
Two rural powerhouses
Southern Queensland is home to a significant portion of Australia's cattle feedlots, where animals are fattened before being processed for both domestic and international meat markets.
It is also one of the most productive cotton-growing regions in the country.
Marrying the two together is the stuff of integrated supply-chain dreams, creating a cheaper feed source for livestock from an otherwise unused cotton byproduct, while ensuring the process does not create more waste.
Project manager Cameron Walker said there was growing market interest in both the meal and the oil.
"I think predominantly we have looked at cottonseed for the hulls, the fibre, and the meat has been a byproduct," he said.
"Now we're looking to process the meats into de-oiled cottonseed 'meat' and high-quality cottonseed oil.
"Both are valuable … the oil for fish-and-chip-shop-style frying oil and the 'meat' is a great source of protein for many stock feeds."
Mr Walker said the environmental goals would also help the factory's profit goals.
"The project has to stand on its own two feet commercially," he said.
"Part of sustainability is both business growth and expansion stability.
"The project will be a new revenue stream for us."
Mort & Co still considered itself fundamentally a feedlotting business, but commodities analyst Matt Dalgleish said markets increasingly expected companies to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products.
"We do need to think of the whole lifecycle of the product we're producing and what the inputs are that come into that product and the lifecycle of those as well," he said.
"I don't think we can afford to carry on just being as wasteful as we've been in past generations.
"We've got to pay more attention to what we use."
He said with rising costs for traditional feed sources like grain, it made sense for producers to address both their input costs, and environmental outputs.
"It's a really good opportunity to look at other alternatives and to demonstrate that the red meat sector and agriculture more broadly can be a solution to climate change," he said.
"There's still room for improvement, but … when we're talking about the industry, we need to continue to focus on … the things we're doing in technological advancements, sustainability.
"The fact that we're feeding the planet, I think it's a thing to be proud of."


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Chevrolet has announced the Camaro ZL1 has ran the quarter mile in 11.93 seconds at a speed of 116 mph (186 km/h).
Chevrolet has announced the Camaro ZL1 has joined the exclusive "11-second" club.
In testing, engineers were able to run a standard production model through the quarter mile in 11.93 seconds at a speed of 116 mph (186 km/h). This is pretty impressive as drivers who use drag radial tires could find themselves going too fast for most NHRA-sanctioned tracks where a five-point roll bar is required for vehicles running 11.49 seconds or quicker.
According to Tony Roma, Camaro ZL1 program engineering manager, "The ZL1 is great at everything and we're very proud of that. You can take it to the drag strip and run 11-second quarter-miles all day long. You can also take it to a road course, where it's balanced, handles well, and does exactly what you want."
As we have previously reported, the ZL1 is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine that produces 580 hp (432 kW / 588 PS) and 556 lb-ft (754 Nm) of torque. It enables the coupe to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds and hit a top speed of 180 mph (290 km/h) - 3.9 seconds and 184 mph (296 km/h) with the optional TapShift automatic transmission.


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People upset with Musk’s decision
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk’s decision to lay off paid blue ticks and massive employees is hurting himself and other companies as well. According to the reports, a blue tick has been found near a fake account. After which this feature has been suspended for the time being.
How wonderful is this blue tick, people are becoming poor
At the same time, many companies are facing the brunt of this. Recently, a fake account created in the name of Pepsi wrote ‘Coke is better’. Many users were confused by this post as this tweet was done from a verified account. If you look carefully, you will find that the name of this handle is PEPICO which is with this fake account. There are many other brands who are being made fun of in the market by creating fake accounts. Someone has also tweeted by creating a fake account in the name of Nestle.
Billions lost due to one tweet
At the same time, it is reported that the company has lost billions due to a fake tweet made in the name of Eli Lilly, an American pharmacy company. Someone made an account in the name of Eli Lilly and tweeted that ‘insulin is free now’. That is, now insulin is free. Since, this tweet was done from a verified account, people assumed it to be true.
Company shares fell
After this tweet, the company’s shares fell by about 4.37 percent and their market cap decreased by about $ 15 billion. As soon as the company came to know about this fake tweet, they issued a clarification. But by then it was too late and the company suffered heavy losses. At the same time, Elon Musk has not said anything about all these matters so far.
Also read: Twitter may be bankrupt! Elon Musk expressed apprehension after the resignation of the officers


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By Kathryn G. Menu
Plans that were seemingly doomed after last month’s Sag Harbor Village Planning Board meeting to allow Gerard Wawryk to create an outdoor dining space at Page at 63 Main, may have been revived after a prolonged discussion with the planning board Tuesday night led to a potential change in the plan.
Wawryk changed his application last month from its original proposal — seeking now legal outdoor seating in an area behind Page at 63 Main under the village code provision that allows restaurants to apply for outdoor seating, provided it does not increase the number of seats allowed in a restaurant and only makes up 20 percent of the seats that business is entitled to.
Originally, the area was proposed to have high tables where patrons could wait for a table or take-out food from the restaurant, although they would be allowed to carry out drinks and take out finger foods while they waited.
In both the original and current scenario, no service is expected in this part of the restaurant — patrons will have to go inside to get libations or a snack.
While the public hearing on the application was closed last month, on Tuesday night the board reopened the hearing to allow for a new plan when attorney Dennis Downes agreed to make concessions after board members expressed continued concerns over the parking and traffic impacts inherent in Wawryk’s proposal.
Planning board chairman Neil Slevin began the session noting his reservations in approving Wawryk’s application. With board members Greg Ferraris and Jack Tagliasacchi both abstaining from voting on the application, Wawryk needs the approval of Slevin, as well as planning board members Nat Brown and Larry Perrine to gain approval.
Downes began his argument by noting that while Slevin has expressed concerns about traffic on Division Street being backed up by trucks loading beverages and food from that street rather than the parking area Wawryk hopes to transform into an outdoor seating area, that is already a reality — for Wawryk and several other restaurants on Main Street.
“The simple fact is they do not need to keep this as a driveway,” he said, noting the restaurant existed pre-zoning and has at least 118 parking credits as a result.
“That space in the back is free for him to use any way he wants just like any of the other restaurants east of Main Street,” said Downes.
Downes proceeded to show photographic evidence of other restaurants using Division Street as a loading area. He also questioned what he said were recent applications by Muse in the Harbor and Madison & Main for outdoor dining spaces that were approved without this scrutiny.
“I am not picking on any of these restaurants,” he said. “The owners are doing what they have to do to stay alive.”
Sag Harbor Village Attorney Denise Schoen said she would look into applications by both those restaurants to ensure they were within compliance.
“So we shouldn’t be held to any standard different from the rest of the restaurant community,” said Downes. “We are entitled to use that backyard and we are pulling our seats legally from the inside.”
Slevin said he did believed Downes’ argument presented “apples to oranges,” adding the examples of on-street loading of food and beverages for restaurants in Sag Harbor only proved this situation could exacerbate an already difficult situation in terms of traffic and parking.
“We are not required to have off street parking,” replied Downes.
“You have an existing site plan that shows what is allowed to be there and you are asking us to make a change to a site plan and my personal feeling is it is not a good idea to complicate flow of traffic,” said Slevin.
Downes countered Wawryk is attempting to take seats from inside a restaurant and move them outside, and on private property.
Schoen noted Wawryk does need site plan approval and a special exception use permit from the board to move forward.
According to special exception use standards under the 2009 village code, in addition to needing sufficient lot area and ensuring the proposed use will not impact adjacent property owners, among several other standards parking is specifically laid out as something that must be provided for.
Downes continued to argue because the restaurant building is pre-existing, non-conforming it already complies with those standards.
Schoen countered for the special exception use permit she did not believe adequate parking and traffic flow questions fell into the pre-existing, non-conforming use category. If that was the case, she noted, the 2009 code revision asking the board to look at parking when applications require site plan approval and a special exception permit would virtually not apply to any existing restaurants in Sag Harbor.
“The point is I am not about to make a bad situation worse,” said Slevin, wondering what would happen if all establishments on Main Street with rear parking areas closed them off.
“All those seats we have in the restaurant, those seats are exempt from parking whether they are in the restaurant or not,” said Downes.
Perrine said he agreed with Slevin.
“Regardless of what it says on a site plan, right now that driveway is being used to park cars,” said Perrine, agreeing with Slevin that anything the board approved to eliminate that parking area would result in those vehicles needing to go elsewhere in Sag Harbor — a village rife with parking issues.
Downes said he would bring a plan back to the board including some parking in the area.
Environmental planning consultant Rich Warren advised the board to carefully review other applications in Sag Harbor prior to its next meeting, on August 27.


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A collection of news and information related to Daimler AG published by this site and its partners.
Displaying items 1-12 of 84 » View latimes.com items only1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >
This week saw a homecoming of sorts for Mercedes-Benz's AMG performance division. In 2012, California accounted for more than a third of all AMG sales in the U.S. So the German automaker brought nearly its entire 2013 AMG lineup to Willow Springs Raceway...
What’s not to love about green SUVs? They’re a delicious mash-up, the best of all worlds – fun and function without going broke at the pump. And there’s no compromise whatsoever when it comes to luxury or performance. You can save...
Los Angeles Times Staff WriterBefore Chrysler's new 200, the company's mid-size car was on its deathbed. Last known as the Sebring, the third generation of this vehicle was roundly considered a mess. It was produced without compunction by Chrysler when the company was owned by...
Associated PressNicolas Hayek, chairman and former chief executive of the giant Swiss watch-manufacturing firm Swatch, who is credited with reinventing the country's industry in the 1980s by introducing radical cost-saving moves, has died. He was 82. Swatch Group said...
L.A. Times Tech BlogCar-rental giant Hertz Corp. said it planned to offer the Smart fortwo electric vehicle as part of a car-sharing program in three metropolitan areas starting later this month. Hertz will make the tiny vehicle -â a two-seater smaller than a......
L.A. Times Tech BlogCalifornia will receive about a third of the 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations that Coulomb Technologies plans to install for free around the country. The company, based in Campbell, Calif., will immediately start setting up public and private...
Los Angeles Times Staff WriterWith the 2007 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, Natty Bumppo has traded his buckskins for some designer jeans. Yes, Natty Bumppo, hero of James Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales," the great woody prose of which has prompted many an undergraduate to...
Associated Press WriterThe former DaimlerChrysler AG paid a record $30.3 million fine in 2007 for violating fuel efficiency requirements set by the federal government. The fine was assessed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration against the automaker, which...
Los Angeles Times Staff WriterGenerally speaking, Californians are pretty lucky. We have Yosemite, we have Big Sur. Our state leads the nation in Anna Nicole baby-daddies. And we have the California Air Resources Board, a bunch of bureaucratic do-gooders who actually do good when...
To Cerberus Capital Management, the New York-based private equity firm that just bought Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler, congratulations and … what do you mean I'm being laid off? I don't even work for you guys! So far, the company is off to a...
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is Man." -- Alexander Pope Want to know thyself better? Gauge your reaction to this car, the Smart Fortwo, a four-wheeled flea built by Smart -- a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler --...
Movie executives routinely refuse to talk about their agreements to insert consumer products into films in exchange for hefty fees from advertisers, although they insist that commercial interests never take priority over artistic integrity. But with...
Feb 1, 2013 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Oct 9, 2012 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Apr 14, 2011 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Jun 30, 2010 |Story| AP Member Choice Complete
Dec 6, 2010 | Los Angeles Times
Jun 7, 2010 | Los Angeles Times
Jun 13, 2007 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Jan 2, 2008 |Story| Associated Press
Dec 14, 2007 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Aug 8, 2007 |Story| Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2007 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Apr 15, 2007 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Original site for Daimler AG topic gallery.


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Chromecast Audio -- assuming that's the name -- is said to plug into a sound system's headphone jack and lets you stream music from your phone by way of a wireless signal.
The device is part of Google's two-pronged strategy for getting its technology into your home. Some of Google's gear, such as its Nest thermostat, are on the cutting edge of connected home devices. Others, like Chromecast, turn devices like the television already in your living room or bedroom into smart gadgets.
Read more: http://www.cnet.com/news/google-wants-to-make-your-living-room-devices-smarter/


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Countering Covid-19 in Germany
As a student from Germany, I thought it would be interesting for the Brentwood community to read about the measurements Germany has taken to combat Covid-19.
By the number of confirmed cases, Germany is one of the most affected countries. With approximately 130,000 cases on April 16, Germany is the country with the fourth most confirmed cases. But one reason we have so many recorded cases is because we are testing ½ million people per week.
Indeed, Germany is still a very safe country to live in right now. According to the Deep Knowledge Group, Germany is the second safest country to live in during the pandemic. www.dkv.global/safety-ranking There are several reasons. First, Germany has a really good health system so infected people overcome an infection better than in many other countries. We also have a lot more ventilators in the intensive care units which is giving Germany a smaller death rate of people infected. We also test a lot!
The strategies in Germany to minimize the spread of the virus are pretty similar to most other countries. Schools, restaurants and most stores have been closed and only supermarkets, gasoline stations and other important facilities are opened. But the country recently announced it would slowly decrease the measurements, due to a really good “flattening of the curve’’.
At the end of April or beginning of May - depending on the region - graduating students will be able to go to school again by attending smaller classes. Over the course of May, more stores are going to open again depending on the size of the store - smaller stores first. Restaurants, hotels and similar facilities will stay closed. Big events like soccer games or festivals can’t take place until August 31st. But the German government also announced that they will increase the restrictions again if a rise of infections is seen.
I believe that the German government has done an exemplary job in protecting the population of Germany from the virus. With a very low death rate and a decreasing number of new infections, it feels safe to live here.
Ben H, Privett ‘21


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It’s not just locals who are earning big bucks from China’s internet celebrity boom – foreigners are also helping themselves to a share of the pie. With millions of online fans, lucrative sponsorship deals and growing influence, they are reaping the benefits of fame and fortune. Here’s everything you need to know.
In China, the world’s most populous country, being an internet celebrity is a big deal and by all accounts, big business. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, social media personalities generated more than US$7.9 billion in revenue last year.
The potential audience reach is huge too. It’s estimated that China has more than 730 million internet users. Whilst Chinese online celebrities still have the largest number of followers on the country’s main social media sites, foreigners are also starting to get a look in and it’s paying off in more ways than one. Here are a few of China’s biggest foreign internet celebrities and how they made it big.
One example is the hugely popular Foreign Research Institute. Co-founded by Israeli born Raz Galor, 23, they post videos showing interviews with foreigners about their life in China, and have so far garnered over three million followers on social sites such as Weibo and Miaopai – China’s equivalent of Facebook and Twitter – and they enjoy 11 million views per video.
Raz and his team have labelled themselves “Laowai Influencers”. The term “laowai” is slang in Chinese for “foreigner”. Aside from fame and fortune, the main purpose of their platform is to “let foreigners in China express their thoughts about the country and let Chinese know how expats think of them”, says Raz. Their videos have become hugely popular with young Chinese and provide an often amusing source of information to understand cross-cultural differences.
The 34-year-old Australian standup comedian, who works as an English teacher, has managed to win more than five million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. He posts videos sharing the funny moments that he has experienced in his day job. One of his biggest successes was a video about a misunderstanding he had with two male students, who had invited him to their house “to play together”.
Rather than anything untoward, it turns out that the meaning of “play together” had been lost in translation. “In China, people don’t say ‘hang out’, they say ‘play with’”, Gulasi explained, laughing. People online saw the funny side and the video went viral, resulting in his followers jumping from 5,000 to 120,000 in just 24 hours.
As well as speaking flawless Mandarin, German social media expert Thomas Derksen, known to his Chinese fans as “Afu Thomas”, has more than five million followers on the Chinese platform Weibo.
His amusing videos depicting his life living in Shanghai attract tens of millions of views. What began as a bit of fun for an exchange student has turned into a good living. Just one year after starting out in Shanghai, Derksen has two employees helping out, plus his wife. In addition to becoming a bonafide internet superstar, Derksen’s videos often promote cross-cultural understanding between German and Chinese audiences. A letter he wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about how he thought Germany could learn from China and become a largely cashless society went viral. It was covered by both German and Chinese media, and was viewed as a masterstroke that promoted cross-cultural understanding.
There are growing opportunities to cash in on China’s internet celebrity boom, creating a wave of netizens hoping to build their follower numbers in hopes of hitting the big time. One of the top ranking public WeChat accounts run by Chinese internet celebrity Mi Meng (咪蒙), charges big bucks for promoting sponsored content. With 10 million followers, Mi charges 680,000 yuan (USD 103,000) for a headlined article, and 250,000 yuan (USD 38,000) for a banner article as of March 2017, mainland Chinese media have reported.
This lucrative business is only set to grow bigger as the value of China’s internet celebrity market is tipped to surpass 100 billion yuan in 2018, nearly twice the 52.8 billion yuan in 2016, according to Beijing-based research agency Analysus.


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MWC 2018 is just a few hours away. And before the day arrives, here’s a final burst of leaks that you can watch out. And yes, there are expected releases too.
GSMA, one of the biggest and reliable names in the tech world is all set to host one of the most anticipated mobile conferences. The Mobile World Conference which covers everything from smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches is all set to be conducted from 26 February 26 to March 1st. Always been a platform for companies to launch smartphones, the Mobile World Conference is expected to showcase more of higher-end devices like always connected laptops. The launch day is scheduled for February 25 and leaks have already begun about the new gadgets that are expected to be unveiled this year. Well, what are they? Let’s find out!
Huawei has the history of always releasing new devices at the MWC. Though the new flagship from the company, the P20 is not expected to be released at the event. There is another gadget that is expected. Just like in 2016, a new MateBook is expected, but with far more better and upgraded features. Among the various new features, a new 4G connectivity and Snapdragon chipset are also expected. Though fans were the letdown that the P20 will not be showcased at the event, the new MateBook is being looked forward to.
Though it’s been a while since HTC released a noteworthy phone for the global audience, a major phone is expected by HTC at the event. Expectations are up that the brand new HTC U11 Eyes that was released in China would soon be available to users around the world, for a more global audience. The HTC U11 Eyes has dual cameras in the back of the phone which clicks some gorgeous photographs. But considering the fact that HTC usually prefers to do online launches, an official launch at the World Congress also is doubtful, thus shutting down dreams of seeing the U12 at the Congress. But reports also suggest that HTC might go ahead and surprise us by releasing the HTC U11+ at the Congress.
Samsung has always announced on when the Galaxy S9 will be released, that is on Sunday before the MWC begins. And so there is not much of surprise over there. The S9 is bringing a brand new experience to the camera segment of the phone. In its own words, “It’s redefining the camera.” And since such a change will also call for a lot of showing-off, we can expect Samsung boasting the S9’s camera in the Congress.
Sony is expected to unveil a premium flagship at the conference. The Xperia XZ1 has been a few months back, and so there are chances for the updated version of the same phone, namely the XZ2. Chances are also likely for the compact version of the XZ2 too. Since Sony has just unveiled two mid-range phones, the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra, there are chances for Sony to unveil only the flagships, like the also rumored XZ Pro.
For the past many years, LG has been consistently releasing the top flagships at the MWC. Almost all the phones in the G series has been released at the Mobile Congress. Since LG is still pending on releasing the G7, expectations are high on that. But at the same time, there is also a rumor that the G7 has been scrapped due to the design. Hence we don’t know for sure if we’ll be seeing an alternative phone or no phone from LG this year.


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PEF, ACDI-VOCA unite for Sultan Kudarat coffee farmers
The coffee industry in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat gets a boost with the partnership of the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International-Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) to increase production and improve quality of coffee beans in the municipality.
During the meeting at the Municipal Agriculture Office of the town on 20 February 2020, PEF Area Officer Shunie Pearl Palacios said that PEF will provide production loan to coffee farmers of Kalamansig Farmers Agricultural Development and Marketing Association (KFADMA) while ACDI/VOCA will provide technical assistance on coffee production and post-harvest technology.
"We want to explore the possibility of having demo (model) farms here in Kalamansig. We also want to help our farmers in KFADMA to have equipment they can use," she said.
ACDI/VOCA's efforts in Kalamansig is part of their bigger Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise (PhilCAFE) project that aims to increase production of conventional and specialty coffee, expand export, and enhance technical services of coffee value chain actors.
"Kalamansig was chosen as one of our priority areas and it turns out PEF is working with the same organization (KFADMA) so we decided to put forward a partnership," ACDI/VOCA Regional Coordinator Ronnie Madronero said.
For his part, Kalamansig Municipal Agriculturist Emmanuel Albano said that Kalamansig has a "large potential for wide-scale production" with the coming of experts from Laguna who are seeking for alternative areas for farming after the Taal volcano eruption destroyed coffee areas in Luzon.
“We will have information dissemination for farmers to further enhance their production and we will provide them planting materials,” he said.


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Flexjet, one of the world’s largest private aviation providers, reported overall new business growth of 83 percent when comparing Q1 2013 versus Q1 2012. This included 48% growth in jet card sales.
“With the economy picking up speed, owners who have been tentative since the downturn have started to gain more confidence and are taking more and more trips,” said Deanna White, President, Flexjet. “Having the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach a record-breaking 15,000 points is not only a significant financial milestone, but also very good for our industry.
During the Easter travel weekend, Flexjet recorded flying hours at levels not seen since the height of the market in 2007. As a result, Flexjet is currently hiring pilots to satisfy the increasing demand.
Flexjet now offers whole aircraft ownership and management, fractional jet ownership, jet cards and charter brokerage services.


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November 19, 2021 – Earlier this month, The GIANT Company officially opened its new GIANT Direct e-commerce fulfillment center (EFC) in Philadelphia. The ultramodern 124,000 square foot facility will enable the company to serve more customers in Philadelphia and – for the first time in its 98-year history – in southern New Jersey.
In celebration of the grand opening, the company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with remarks from Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, The GIANT Company President Nicholas Bertram, and Ahold Delhaize USA Supply Chain President Chris Lewis.
“Today is the culmination of more than two years of collaboration between our team, Ahold Delhaize USA Supply Chain, and our partners at Swisslog and AutoStore resulting in a state-of-the-art facility that will propel our GIANT Direct offering across greater Philadelphia and for the first time, southern New Jersey. Our new GIANT Direct EFC represents the future of grocery and the future of The GIANT Company, as we are one step closer to realizing our full omnichannel aspirations,” said Bertram.
“The opening of this facility is an exciting step forward as we continue to collaborate to evolve the supply chain network for the future,” said Lewis. “Solutions like micro-fulfilment centers will be an important part of the self-distributed network, positioned to serve customers whenever, wherever, however they want to shop.”
Since the beginning of this week, the facility also provides GIANT Direct delivery to several New Jersey towns for the first time. . The company plans to introduce GIANT Direct to additional communities in southern New Jersey over the next several months.
As part of The GIANT Company’s commitment to optimizing and growing GIANT Direct for delivery orders and in-store pickup, The GIANT Company is the first Ahold Delhaize USA company to implement this new EFC technology which streamlines order fulfillment by using the latest in robotics, machine learning, and vertical integration. The GIANT Company worked with Ahold Delhaize USA company Peapod Digital Labs, Swisslog, and AutoStore on the project.
Within the GIANT Direct EFC, two space-saving, 3D grids contain totes filled with fresh and non-perishable groceries. When a customer places a GIANT Direct order, team members work alongside a team of robots that quickly gather the items for bagging. After bagging, GIANT team members place orders into temperature-controlled totes and on to trucks for delivery to customers.
The GIANT Direct EFC offers a selection of product that mirrors a traditional GIANT store’s offerings. The facility will stock more than 22,000 products, enabling The GIANT Company to meet increasing customer demand with greater capacity, faster order fulfillment, and room to grow home grocery delivery. The center is expected to fulfill up to approximately 15,000 home delivery orders per week.
At Ahold Delhaize’s virtual Investor Day held this week, Selma Postma, Chief Digital Officer Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia, also shared information about The Network Tool (TNT) that was used to help set up the GIANT Direct EFC. TNT is a best in-class network optimization engine that leverages predictive analytics and a wide range of data inputs to give network expansion recommendations that allow brands to maximize the reach and capacity of their e-commerce networks while minimizing operating costs and capital required. The TNT tool was used to determine the ideal location, capacity and coverage of the EFC and has allowed The GIANT Company to optimize capital investments and reduce operating costs.
The new facility builds on The GIANT Company’s strong presence in Philadelphia, which has grown from one store in 2018 to 10 by the end of 2023. In addition to three GIANT Heirloom Markets and its new Philadelphia flagship Riverwalk store, The GIANT Company will open three new stores by the end of the year.
The GIANT Company introduced the GIANT Direct brand in February 2019 when it debuted its first e-commerce hub in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Today, the company has more than 150 pickup locations and customers across 90% of the company’s footprint have access to online grocery ordering and delivery services.


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Scheduled to launch on February 19th.
It looks like Apple is pushing for the global rollout of Apple Pay with more countries being added to the list. While it was originally announced that the Czech Republic will be getting Apple Pay on February 19th, Saudi Arabia is also joining on the same day.
Local advertisements confirmed the launch, with users tweeting newspaper screenshots showing Saudi-based Al-Rajhi Bank announcing that Apple Pay is releasing this week, with a guide on how to set up customer’s card to work with the service.
Other banks in the kingdom confirmed to support Apple is National Commercial Bank and Riyad Bank.


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Unstoppable shopping slows, and that could be a problem for the economy
The job market is chugging along, unemployment remains historically low and wages are rising at a decent clip. Still, consumers aren't spending like they used to.
Why it matters: That's a sharp turnaround from recent years, when shoppers looked unstoppable — even in the face of decades-high interest rates and inflation. Now consumers appear more cautious and spending is weakening, threatening a critical factor that's kept the economy strong.
By the numbers: Retail spending bounced back slightly in February from a sharp pullback at the start of the year. The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales rose 0.6% last month. But January's drop was worse than initially thought: Retail sales fell 1.1%, not the 0.8% first estimated.
- It was the fourth straight month with a negative revision to earlier months' data.
- And February's rebound in retail sales was driven by strong sales at gasoline stations that rose nearly 1% — a result of higher gas prices. The data is not adjusted for inflation.
- Retail sales of the control group — which excludes volatile categories like gas, autos, and building materials and therefore tracks more closely with overall consumer spending — was flat in February after a decline in January.
What they're saying: "Elevated interest rates, an uptick in energy costs, and persistent discomfort with price levels continue to push consumers to make trade-offs with budgeting, with goods categories increasingly overlooked in favor of services spending," Kayla Bruun, a senior economist at Morning Consult, wrote in a note.
- "Taken together, the January and February spending data point to softer spending momentum at the start of the year," Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, wrote — adding that strong income growth may support spending growth through the end of the first quarter.
What to watch: Other indicators hint that the consumer is losing momentum. In a report this week, BofA economists say that spending growth among lower and middle-income households is weakening after "being a point of strength during 2023."
- While the overall job market is healthy, employment for those without a college education has slowed in recent months, the economists say — one factor that might be crimping spending in this cohort.
- Delinquencies on credit card and auto loans have ticked up in recent months as well, according to New York Fed data.
The bottom line: U.S. consumers have powered overall economic growth forward for the last three years, but there are early warning signs that they can't be counted on to do so again in 2024.


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- Parent company Snap is looking at possible changes to Snapchat that would make public posts stay in the app longer or never disappear, undoing the key disappearing feature of the image-messaging app, unnamed sources told Reuters. Snapchat also is considering whether to reveal the identities of users who make those public posts.
- The possible changes would only affect photos and video shared to "Our Story" collections, which shares content beyond a user's friend network. Users would still have the option to delete posts at any point. However, one source told Reuters that celebrity content could be made permanent.
- Feedback from Snap's four news discovery platform partners could be behind the proposed changes, per the report. The platforms have said that the disappearing, anonymous public Stories are difficult to embed or cite into articles. Snap declined to comment on the plans.
Snap's possible changes to the "Our Story" section of the popular social media app may help the company generate another source of ad revenue, as rival Twitter has done. If Snapchat Stories embedded outside of the app lasted longer, the company could potentially earn more advertising revenue for the extend time ads are viewable.
"The advertising would be visible for longer, and I could see advertisers paying more for it," eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson told Reuters.
The biggest risk that Snap faces from making changes to its app is alienating more of its user base just one year after its redesigned app spurred an online protest and caused many users to flee the app. Snap has struggled with a shrinking user base, mounting losses and executive turnover amid more intense competition from larger rival Facebook. The departure of CFO Tim Stone after less than a year on the job may worry advertisers — especially those seeking to reach Snapchat's core audience of millennials and teens — about Snap's financial viability.
In deciding whether to make snaps permanent, Snap also must carefully consider how it handles user privacy amid the data-sharing scandals that have plagued Facebook over the past year. Snap will need to ensure it gets informed consent from users to reveal their identities in the "Our Story" section. To make posts permanent, users also must agree to give up direct control of the images and videos they post publicly, which may discourage people from sharing content in the first place.
The proposed changes come at a turbulent time for the social media company. Despite growing its quarterly revenue by 43%, Snapchat's user base fell for a second straight quarter, with Snap forecasting more declines ahead in its Q3 2018 earnings report. Snap is looking for a new CFO after Tim Stone announced his departure in a regulatory filing on Jan. 15. Chief accountant Lara Sweet will serve as the interim finance head after Stone officially departs on Feb. 5, when Snap next reports its earnings. Stone joined Snap in May after working at Amazon for about 20 years.


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PRODUCERS and branded beef exporters are stepping up the pressure for an enforced domestic standard guaranteeing food labelled organic is certified, saying the lack of such regulation is now costing millions in lost market opportunity.
As demand for organic food across the board surges on the back of pandemic-fueled increased consumer focus on health and knowing how food is produced, organic meat marketers say opportunities are being lost.
Australia is misaligned with global standards and the last developed nation in the world to not have a mandatory domestic standard for the use of the word organic, according to peak industry body Australian Organic Limited.
While the Federal Government is moving on the issue, with an industry advisory group set up in December to gather recommendations for a revamped organic standard, cattle industry people want to ensure the wheels turn quickly.
Paul da Silva, marketing director at Queensland-based Arcadian Organic & Natural Meat Co, said this move needs to be the final step, not the start of the process.
Organic food suppliers had been calling for regulation for ten years, he said.
"Organic food is now a large industry, by revenue and by participation, and that means the number of consumers it touches and the merchants and producers involved is significant," Mr da Silva said.
Indeed, AOL analysis indicates the segment is enjoying 15pc compound annual growth and is worth $2.6 billion a year.
"The lack of appropriate regulation is now impacting very big revenues, not to mention the risk to consumers," Mr da Silva said.
He explained importing countries can not provide Australian exporters an accreditation because there is no equivalent mandatory standard in place in Australia, which means exporters must go through a timely and expensive certification process in every single market they attempt to sell into.
"Inevitably, by the time we've gone through that process, the opportunity is gone," he said.
"It's exacerbated by border closures at the moment because certification typically involves hosting overseas auditors who physically check the supply chain, so we are now in a position where it's impossible to gain market access in some cases."
It's difficult to put a number on how much food in Australia is labelled organic without certification but beef operators say it is happening across many product categories.
"The temptation is high for marketers to use 'organic' - it's a magic word to consumers, especially when overlaid with the pandemic, which is making consumers think even harder about the origin of their food and how it's produced," Mr da Silva said.
"It's not good enough for someone to say 'I'm sure I'd pass if I was audited'. Consumers deserve better and so do the producers who invest in the organic system."
Tasmanian cattleman Rex Williams said domestic regulation was the only way the industry could weed out fake organic products currently reaching the shelves and misleading consumers.
"Without domestic regulation in place, producers can make false claims with almost impunity," he said.
AOL chief executive officer Niki Ford explains at present, the only way an Australian consumer can be certain a product is truly organic is to look for a certification mark.
There are six logos but the Australian Certified Organic Bud is by far the most recognisable and producers want it to be made the national mark.
Ms Ford said Australia was one of the first countries, outside the European Union, to have organic certification framework in place - it was set up in the 1990s - but it has never been enforced by law for those making organic claims.
"Over the past 30 years, a grey area has developed and marketing has taken over use of the word organic," she said.
"Australia has the largest certified organic landmass in the world. We could produce more organic food but consumer confidence and cost base for exporters is holding the industry back."
Mr Williams' mixed enterprise Kelty Farm produces premium Angus beef, pork and apples at Woodbridge, south of Hobart, and has been classified organic for more than 20 years.
His products carry the bud logo.
Maintaining that accreditation involves regular audits where everything from farm soil, to management practices are closely examined.
"Growers like myself rely on the integrity of the certification process to make that guarantee to customers," he said.
"I have great faith in the future of the Australian organic industry. If we can secure our domestic regulation, producers like myself can continue to position ourselves to attract premium prices from a growing market of consumers eager on purchasing from trusted organic farmers."
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