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10 December 2009
The Apple iTablet: should we believe the media?
It's been coming for years (apparently!) but according to today's Sydney Morning Herald, Apple is preparing to launch a tablet personal computer in late March or April 2010. It will be their launch into the digital book market which is controlled by Amazon's Kindle at present. The article said "Apple declined to comment". Is anyone surprised by that? Has anyone from Apple ever confirmed there is a tablet coming?! I'd have to dig around the web to find out the answer to that one....
Anyway, according to the "analyst" the tablet will have a 10.1-inch multi-touch LCD screen similar to that of Apple's iPhone. The books will sold on a non-exclusive basis and it seems they've requested only a 30% discount from the publishers as opposed to Amazon's 50% (which is pretty much the ballpark for the ebook vendors).
Interestingly, the SMH article didn't mention price. It was the cnet news that mentioned the $1000 price tag. (I'm assuming US dollars) OK, if it does lots of whizz bang things, including a fabulous experience with ebooks, would we be happy carrying around a device at that price tag day in, day out....?
Also, there is a big take-up of ebooks using the iPhone now. The head of one of the largest ebook vendors said to me recently that he reads everything now on the iPhone through the Stanza app. Absolutely addicted! I don't have an iPhone and while the screen is clean and it's easy to use, having the look and the feel of the traditional book is my preference. The larger screen works better for me. But he loved sharing his experience with me and I'm always open to everyone's reading experience whether it's e or p.
As I've said time and time again, consumers will read whatever way they want. Print, an e-reader, on their laptop, on their iPhone. And I still believe e and p can live in harmony. There will be a percentage of cannibilisation but I think it won't be anywhere near as high as 50%. And I still feel ebooks and ereaders will bring new readers into the book loving community. Anything that encourages people to read is surely a good thing?
But back to Apple, is it coming or isn't it? I can't help but think of those supply chain gurus at Frankfurt and the line they left us all with "It will be Apple, it will be cool, and everyone will want it". I wait for further news...


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Afghanistan: David Lammy quizzes LBC caller on Brexit stance
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In order to ease the pressure on British businesses, the Government has extended the deadline to use the UKCA certification until 2023. The Business department announced the change in part due to the issues to supply chains caused by the pandemic. This means, however, the current European CE label continue to be used until the beginning of 2023 – two years after the end of the transition period.
Ahead of the extension, businesses warned they did not have enough time to apply the changes due to the chaos caused by the pandemic.
It is hoped by extending the deadline, manufacturers will now have adequate time to test goods in order to comply with the 2023 deadline, although companies making medical devices will have until July 2023.
Commenting on the announcement, Samuel Lowe, trade expert and senior research fellow for the Centre for European Reform praised the move.
He said: “This should have been announced months ago, given it has long been obvious to anyone with a passing interest that companies would not be ready to switch to a UK-only regime by the end of the year.”
Manufacturers group, Make UK, also welcomed the extension despite the UK being tied to the EU for a further year.
A spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: “Companies were becoming increasingly nervous as the clock ticked down to the end of the year, caught up in the delays and bureaucracy in getting their products tested.
“The extra year will provide both exporters and importers with valuable breathing space to enable a new testing system to bed in place.”
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES:
7.25am update: Brexit Britain extends ties to EU for another year
The UK has announced an extension for the introduction of the new UKCA certification.
The new labelling will now be rolled out at the beginning of 2023 instead of 2022.
This means businesses will continue to use the EU CE labelling.
Companies producing medical devices will have until July 2023 to make the changes.
Source: Read Full Article

domain: news


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“It’s one of these classic double-edged swords,” he said, reports Gamasutra. “In one way the used game business has been critical for the health of the retail channel, and having a healthy retail channel is an important thing for us.”
Jorgensen also believes the industry will never be 100% digital. He believes that the gaming market can never be fully digital due to ”bandwidths constraints”, limitation of in-home storage, etc.
“Would we like to sell everything at full price and not have a used game market? Sure,” he added, “But I think the used game market’s a little like any other kind of market where it creates liquidity. The fact is, that liquidity benefits us in some fashion. So if someone goes in and trades in a game, there’s a good chance they’re going to buy another one of our games. And so if there’s a liquid market, I think that that’s not a bad thing at all.”
The used game market has picked up speed in the last few weeks due to rumors regarding next-gen consoles blocking used games. GameStop also states that consumers will turn away from consoles that block used games.
I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but I think for once, EA is right. That hurt to write.


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As reported the British AutoCar edition referring to the vice-president of Nissan concern for design Shiro Nakamura, new updating of Almera in a body "hatchback" will fill up a model range of brand in July of the next year.
The premiere of a compartment of Jaguar F-Type should take place already tomorrow and the company let out video of novelties. The car, as a whole, repeats design of the open version which already is on sale.
Hyundai's advertising campaign linked to the performance of the Brazilian National Team in the 2014 World Cup angered Volkswagen, official sponsor of the team. The German automaker said it has contacted the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for clarification.
Nowadays automakers are prestaando attention on hybrid vehicles, even large companies like Porsche already has models with this technology, so the president of Toyota, said the sale of these vehicles tends to grow in coming years.


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Although a Quarter Pounder with cheese might sound more appetizing to some than an all-juice diet, Living Juice founder Jamie Jensen swears that once you try her juice, it's hard to go back.
While a sculptor in New York City in the mid-2000s, the Laguna Beach native said she felt sick and unhealthy in every way imaginable — from her mood and everyday energy to having difficulty sleeping.
She was turned on to juices by her yoga instructor and decided to try a 10-day cleanse. Jensen said she immediately felt her cravings, bloating, agitation and sluggishness disappear.
She started to incorporate juices into her diet, and when she moved back to Laguna Beach last year, she felt like she had nowhere to go to satisfy her need for organic, raw, unpasteurized, cold-pressed juice.
Since January, Jensen has been producing Living Juice in a kitchen in Santa Ana with a small team of juicers, making each batch to order. Prior to launching the brand this year, she spent months in her Laguna kitchen perfecting the blends she knew and experimenting with flavors she never thought of.
She doesn't have a professional culinary background, but she said she's been in the kitchen since she was a kid. One thing is evident when talking to Jensen — she knows a thing or two about her juice.
"The flavors are impeccable," she said, as she points to a freshly made batch of "Heart of Gold," which contains tomato, spinach, olive oil, cayenne and sea salt. The juice, which has a hearty tomato soup consistency, can be served like gazpacho — cold in a bowl, she said.
Some juices are sweet, some sour, some savory — some are heavy and some are much lighter.
"The Beat," a sweet, tangy juice, contains beets, cucumbers, celery, spinach, kale, lemon and Peruvian Maca, an ingredient high in antioxidants that promotes weight loss.
During the Living Juice cleanse, a person will consume eight bottles a day.
Living Juice offers three cleanses: a one-day, a three-day and a five-day. If a cleanse isn't for you, Jensen recommends incorporating a couple of bottles of juice into your daily diet, along with two meals, with her "Out of the Box" option.
The health benefits include: craving reduction, better sleep, detoxification, increased energy, increased mental clarity, improved skin and self esteem, and a better relationship with food.
The cleanse isn't easy for all her customers, though, she said.
One customer, Michelle, tried the cleanse and hit some road blocks. Michelle had been used to consuming 60 ounces of soda and coffee a day, and she couldn't sleep well, Jensen said.
The cleanse was a shock to Michelle's system, and she got painfully sick. Jensen was on the other side of the phone, encouraging Michelle to stick with it, but told her she would refund her money if she did not want to finish.
"If you can just hang in there, you'll be so pleased and happy with yourself," Jensen said she told Michelle. "Sure enough ... she did and she did."
Jensen said hardly anyone is used to consuming such a concentration of vegetables and fruit.
"If I put a pile of vegetables and said 'eat that,' you would say 'I could never eat that'; that's 2 to 3 pounds of vegetables," she said.
She said many people don't realize that even a green salad is lacking in nutrients because it might only have fractions of a vegetable or fruit in it.
Each bottle of Living Juice has 2 to 3 pounds of vegetables and fruit and is only good for 72 hours. The bottles are delivered to the customer's home or office in an insulated bag.
Jensen said pasteurization kills enzymes and nutrients. Cold pressing literally presses the produce so juice is excreted and does not grind the produce, which Jensen said is less nutritional.
There are no additives or "secret" flavors that some might find in store-bought juices, she said.
"It's all about the nutrients, minerals, enzymes, vitamins in the juice that make it magic," she said.
For more information, visit Living Juice at livingjuice.me and or find them at the Laguna Beach Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.


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Modesto Offers Incentives to New Businesses
What’s the best way for a city to attract business? Fancy social media campaigns? Star-studded media efforts? Promises of specialized downtown events?
What about offering plain old cash?
The City of Modesto is considering the latter in its latest effort to encourage businesses to open in their downtown district. The idea is a collaborative effort between the City, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Improvement District. With a 16% vacancy rate, they decided to get creative.
In Modesto, if all goes to plan, a company that brings in zero to five jobs would receive $1,000; a company that brings in five to ten gets $2,000; and all others get $2,500.
Modesto is following in Turlock’s footsteps. After Turlock launched its successful program (which offered new businesses a flat $1,000 cash incentive), the city’s occupancy rates declined.
In addition to the basic cash incentive, Modesto is also offering matching funds for businesses who spiff up their exteriors and is exploring a mill tax refund.
For more, read here.


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CANMORE, Alta — Clique Hotels and Resorts is set to open a four-star luxury hotel in Canmore, Alta. — the first of its kind to open in the last 20 years, according to Troy Media.
The Malcolm Hotel and Conference Centre will open its doors in November. Featuring 6,600 sq. ft. of event space, a fitness centre and hot tubs, the 124-room hotel will also feature a restaurant called Malcolm Grill & Lounge.
The property’s Spring Creek location offers access to Canmore’s shops, art galleries and restaurants, as well as the mountain attractions and adventures of the Bow Valley and Banff areas.


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As a conversation piece, the circular economy is on everyone’s lips. It’s not just a buzzword. With the global population predicted to approach 9 billion people by 2030, we are using more resources than the planet can provide. Our future depends on reusing what we have in a sustainable way. Not only are we using more resources, we are producing large amounts of waste, especially municipal solid waste (MSW) as more and more people move from rural areas to urban ones to primarily seek opportunities for economic development.
By 2050, the global municipal solid waste generation is estimated to rise to 3.4 billion tonnes per year, compared to the current 2.1 billion tonnes, according to data from the World Bank. This increasing amount of garbage and diminishing resources available at a global scale pose a challenge for European politicians, society and industry alike. The reduction of single use plastic, such as bags or straws, is in particular a major public concern.
An EU-funded project aims to develop and implement a circular economy approach for products and services which will get consumers more involved in design and production, supports sustainable consumption, increases recycling and reuse, and cuts waste.
The Start-ups Circularise, DOMO and Covestro have announced a new collaborative project for circularity in the plastics industry through the use of blockchain technology. The newly formed Circularise PLASTICS project group aims to set up an open standard for sustainability and transparency within this field. EIT RawMaterials supported Circularise protocol enables trusted data exchange in fragmented supply chains without public disclosure of datasets or supply chain partners. Unlike other blockchain transparency solutions, Circularise’s technology called ‘smart questioning’ protects a company’s privacy and sensitive information.
Biodegradable waste, or bio-waste, from urban areas is being used to produce a bio-based material to replace plastic — this is relevant to the sustainable development of a circular economy (CE), which requires the innovative use of waste materials. Understanding public attitudes to such materials, and the drivers influencing their uptake, is key to their viability. This study explores how consumers respond to products made from regenerated bio-waste.
The Council stresses in its conclusions that further ambitious efforts are needed to stimulate a systemic transition to a sustainable society. The circular economy is an important driver for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, respecting the planetary boundaries as well as reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Council today adopted conclusions which offer political guidance for the EU’s environment and climate change policies for the period 2021 – 2030. It calls upon the Commission to present at the latest by early 2020 an ambitious and focused proposal for an 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP).


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Will mandates work for flex fuel?
Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate mandating that by 2012 fifty percent of vehicles sold by American car makers would be Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs), that number rising to eighty-percent by 2015.
For starters, no where in the legislation does it provide for consumer demand. Time was when markets not government drove American industry and we did pretty well. American car buyers should also note that they are, more or less, being mandated as to what they will be allowed to buy. And that's only one reason for concern over the proposed legislation.
One has to dig below the mostly glowing news reports on Flex Fuels to understand the true complexity of the issue. See here for example.
Two years of performance have given some village officials in the northwest suburbs enough' information to evaluate gas-efficient hybrid vehicles they bought for department fleets.
So far, the verdict is mostly positive, but emitting less carbon pollutants are not the only green features to consider. Municipal budgets are strained, as public and elected officials foresee costs in hybrid upkeep and replacing the $5,000 to $8,000 electric battery.
Then buried well down in the item is this:
"It's been tough making the good economics work for us. We burn twice as much flex fuel, and we don't have many gasoline stations around Buffalo Grove with E-85," said Bill Brimm, Buffalo Grove village manager.
As was recently pointed out in graphical form here, nationally, the ratio of availability between traditional gasoline stations and those that provide E85, or Flex Fuel is staggering - 164,000 gasoline stations to 1,765 for Flex Fuel.
President and CEO for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Dave McCurdy recently pointed out that and other serious concerns in a letter to Senator Richard Shelby - see this pdf.
I'd encourage you to read it so as to at least understand the perspective of American car makers - whether you choose to debate it, or not. The reality is our auto industry has been a cornerstone for our economy for decades. It's presently reeling from a number of pressures. And any reasons for their predicament don't really matter much right now.
My personal take away is that more government interference in the private sector placing additional burdens on an industry America needs at the very time it's struggling - combined with the ever-present law of unintended consequences - could prove disastrous for America at this critical time.
There's no question that America needs to move toward improved and more efficient
technologies and fuels as regards our automobiles. But just as with actually driving, sometimes going too fast fails to get you where you want to go without an otherwise avoidable crash.
Again, that pdf is here, should you want to give it a look.
Dan Riehl blogs on cars and the auto industry at thefastreport.com. His personal blog is riehlworldview.com. As a consultant on new media and blogging, his client list includes companies within the automobile industry.


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In the last week, good old GOG.com have shown themselves capable of tossing out the bad things Steam does, like regional pricing plans; now, they’ve revealed they’re more than happy to adopt the good things Steam does too. At some point in the Autumn, Linux versions of PC games will begin trickling through GOG’s storefront.
After “much deliberation”, GOG have announced support for Ubuntu and Mint. They’re not quite ready to launch yet – their team are training each other to talk Linux, and feeding games through as wide a variety of configurations as possible. But in the Autumn, there’ll be a big, simultaneous launch of at least 100 Linux games.
Some will be games already sold for Linux on rival storefronts like Steam. But others will be Linux versions of “classics” never before officially supported and maintained by a major distributor.
“This is something that we’re in the early stages of, so we can’t talk about what games will be a part of our launch,” say GOG, who aren’t entirely sure which games will launch themselves. “But we hope that you’re excited about the fact that we’re able to set ‘GOG.com Support for Linux’ in our community wishlist as a task that is ‘In Progress’.”
I think we are, aren’t we? Surely the several percent of Steam users running Linux includes at least a couple of PCGN readers?


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Microsoft have released on Monday the Windows 10 Technical Preview tools, which offers software developers the first go at designing the much discussed universal applications. The tools are available for download for developers signed up for the Windows Insider Program.
Using them necessitates an installation of the latest Windows 10 technical preview release, while also having the community technology preview for Visual Studio 2015, and the previews version of the tools which include the operating system’s software development kit.
The universal apps are the base on which Microsoft are pushing their „One Windows” ideal, meaning that apps will be built cross-platform on the same runtime version and framework, and will be available for sale on a single unified store. Microsoft also state on their Windows blog that their upcoming system’s device platform will offer tools and techniques that will cut the cost of manufacturing Windows 10 devices, while also making it easier.
Besides this, the software giant has also announced that its new OS will incorporate support for 8k displays, which do not exist commercially at the moment but are expected to emerge in the near future. These will show images at a mind blowing 7620×4230 resolution, and support will be limited to PC’s. Considering the fact that 4k displays are still in the process of being adopted, this marks some extensive long-term planning on the part of Microsoft.
These announcements continue the wave of details that are being released at an automatic fire rate about the upcoming operating system, which is to be released worldwide this summer. In the past week, we’ve learned that Microsoft will offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and 8 users. Moreover, this will also apply to those that use non-genuine versions of these operating systems, as they curiously have the option to be upgraded to an unlicensed version of Windows 10.
Concerns were also voiced that hardware manufacturers that strive to obtain the “Designed to Windows 10 logo” are now offered by Microsoft the choice of whether to allow users to turn the mandatory Secure Boot function off; not offering this option restricts the system to functioning only on Microsoft’s upcoming OS.


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“As of today we have just over 1000 of our team members isolating across Auckland and Wellington because their store is a location of interest, because they have a family member who has been impacted by a location of interest, or because they don’t have childcare available or are vulnerable to COVID-19,” says Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s General Manager Corporate Affairs, Safety and Sustainability.
“We’re expecting this number will continue to increase, and we’re managing this as best as we can. The safety of our team and customers is our top priority.
“Currently our Birkenhead, Albert Street Metro, Hauraki Corner, Mangere Mall and Halsey Street Metro stores are all temporarily closed due to low team numbers and ensuring we have team members across as many other stores as we can. Any of our stores which are locations of interest will close for deep cleaning, and re-open as soon as possible. We’re trying to keep customers and our website updated in real time as much as we can, but things are moving very fast.
“Our online shopping service is seeing a lot of demand at the moment and we are working incredibly hard to make sure we have slots available for people who need it – especially our Priority Assistance customers and those who are having to stay home and isolate. Anyone who can shop in-store should do so to help free up online shopping slots for other people who cannot go to supermarkets.
“Over the weekend customers will have seen gaps on the shelf and particularly in meat. There is plenty of food, meat and groceries to go around – we had a technical issue in the weekend with meat ordering in the North Island but this is now fixed and meat is on its way to stores everywhere. Our supply chain is looking in good shape this morning.
Countdown locations of interest
As of 10am 23 August, 16 of our stores have been visited by someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Stores identified today are as below, and these stores will close while we undertake deep cleaning:
- Countdown Manurewa – visited on Monday 16 August at 12:00pm – 12:30pm
Previously identified Countdown locations of interest are:
- Countdown Lincoln Road – visited on Wednesday, 11 August at 2.56pm – 3.30pm
- Countdown Glenfield – visited on Saturday, 14 August at 5pm – 5.15pm and Sunday, 15 August 2021.
- Countdown Lynfield – visited on Wednesday, 4 August at 2.45pm – 3.05pm and Sunday, 15 August at 8pm – 8.15pm
- Countdown Takapuna – visited on Sunday, 15 August at 3.20pm – 3.30pm
- Countdown Birkenhead – visited on Friday, 13 August at 6:00pm – 6:30pm and visited twice on Monday, 16 August. The first visit was at 7.00am – 7.15am and the second visit was at 12.30pm – 12.45pm.
- Countdown Botany Downs – visited on Tuesday 17 August between 10.20am and 10.30 am
- Countdown Newtown – visited on Friday 20 August between 8.05 am – 9.45 am
- Countdown Johnsonville – visited on Wednesday 18 August between 4.30 pm – 5.00 pm
- Countdown Manukau – visited on Thursday 19 August between 4.53 pm – 5.30 pm
- Countdown Mangere East – visited on Friday 20 August between 10.50 am – 10.55 am
- Countdown Greenlane – visited on Tuesday 17 August between 8:27 pm – 8:50 pm
- Countdown Victoria Street West – visited on Sunday 15 August between 2.30 pm – 3.15 pm
- Countdown Grey Lynn – visited on Tuesday the 17 August – 6.52 pm to 7.15 as well as Wednesday the 18 August 4.45 pm to 5.30 pm
- Countdown Westgate – visited Monday 16 August between 5pm – 6pm
- Countdown Takanini – visited Thursday 19 August between 7am – 7:10am
“As a precaution, deep cleans have been undertaken in each of these stores in addition to the thorough cleaning that is undertaken during each day, which has been further increased following the recent alert level change. Any team members who were working during the time of the visits have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days and be tested three times as per the guidance we have received from Auckland Public Health,” says Hannifin.
Store hours change, bonus payment announced
Countdown also announced nationwide store trading hour changes, and a 10% bonus for its frontline team as the country remains at Alert Level four.
From Saturday, 21 August, trading hours across Countdown stores nationwide will change to 8am to 9pm, to help give teams time to restock shelves and meet the high levels of demand being seen across the network. Four Auckland stores will further reduce their trading hours due to having team members isolating after COVID-19 positive visits to those stores: Countdown Lynfield (8am-6pm), Takapuna (8am-6pm), Lincoln Road (9am-6pm) and Botany (9am-6pm). Countdown Birkenhead will remain closed until 31 August due to having team members isolating from across several different shifts.
Countdown’s central Auckland Metro stores in Albert Street and Halsey Street will also temporarily close from Sunday, 22 August to allow team from these locations to provide support in other larger stores that are seeing increased demand since the lockdown began.
Countdown has also announced it will pay an Alert Level 4 lockdown bonus to its waged permanent part-time and full-time, fixed term and casual team members in its supermarkets, meat plant, customer care team and supply chain, in recognition of the essential role they are playing in keeping Kiwis safe and fed. The bonus will be the equivalent of an additional 10% more per hour worked at Alert Level 4.


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BMW issues recall on 500,000 vehicles including 17500 in Australia
- From: News Limited Network
- February 19, 2013
FOLLOWING a recall two days ago for a brake defect, BMW has issued another that affects more than 500,000 vehicles worldwide and 17,500 in Australia
BMW, the German car maker, has issued a wide-ranging recall on more than 500,000 vehicles across several of its model lines - including about 17,500 cars in Australia - ranging from the 1-Series to the Z4 sports car. The cause of the problem is a faulty battery cable connector, which may fail over time. The recall follows a recall from two days ago for a faulty brake hose that affected 1600 of BMW’s X5 SUVs in Australia.
BMW says the latest recall is for the connector for the positive battery cable connector and the corresponding terminal on the fuse box, which on the affected vehicles may degrade over time due to high current flow and heat from electrical resistance. Should this occur, there could be a loss of electrical power to the vehicle, causing it to stall and possibly crash.
"Vibrations in the car can cause poor connection and electrical issues as a result," BMW spokesman Scott Croaker says. "In the main, those problems would be flickering lights or the vehicle failing to restart after it’s stopped. But in absolute extreme cases, it could lead to the car stalling while driving."
Croaker says there has been one field report of the problem in an Australian vehicle, and another in Canada.
"Given the nature of it, it's an important thing to take very seriously - we can’t rule out that these are isolated cases so we’ve taken this action. We're not trying to sweep anything under the rug. We take the responsibility very seriously."
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IF you're planning an overseas holiday any time soon, this will come as bad news: the Australian dollar is down and staying down.
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Increasing networking of manufacturing equipment is opening up factories to the benefits of flexible production and wireless mobile communications. However, the rising use of connected devices is also exposing production sites to security breaches and cyber attacks, compelling companies to seek ways to protect their networks, according to a new white paper from IHS Technology.
Wireless network connections in industrial automation components in global factories will rise from 2.1 million in 2012 to 3.4 million by 2017. This increase magnifies risk factors to manufacturing environments.
“The rising use of wireless networks and industrial Ethernet is leading to a growing trend in the so-called bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement in the manufacturing business, with workers utilizing their own smartphones and tablets to monitor and control industrial equipment,” said Mark Watson, associate director, industrial automation group at IHS. “However, such devices may lack adequate security, offering hackers easy access to confidential data — or allowing them to spread malware through factory automation systems.”
To counter this threat, manufacturing operations are taking cyber-security measures. Among these is the “honeypot,” a site that masquerades as a manufacturing network but is actually an isolated system designed to divert and gather information about hackers.
The current level of adoption of wireless in factory and process environments is low. Nonetheless, the technology’s presence is expanding, bringing both benefits — as well as increased risks from hackers — to the manufacturing market, IHS says.


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Yahoo's 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has been the company's get out of jail free card for a while. Now, CEO Marissa Mayer is handing it in—to the tune of $39-plus billion, or about $6 billion less than Yahoo's own market value. Prominent shareholders have long pushed for the company to make a deal like this, and Mayer appears to have found a good reason to agree with them: By spinning off its Alibaba investment into a separate company, Yahoo can avoid paying taxes on the earnings. Investors are happy too, as the share price increased 7 percent in extended trading.
Transactions with this many zeroes excite people who read salmon-tinted newspapers, but the real Yahoo story for the last few years has been a strange existentialist drama. “What is Yahoo?” commentators demand. Moribund advertising company, struggling to catch up with Google and Facebook's mobile ad dominance? Old-school portal with a pricey celebrity news arm attached? Clueless overseer of Tumblr, one of the world's most popular blogging platforms?
When Marisa Mayer became company CEO in June 2012, she added a mediagenic gloss to this ongoing question of company identity and whether an iconic pre-Bubble name—albeit one colored by a peculiar nostalgia—could compete with a new generation of monopolistic competitors. She also recognized that Yahoo had cash—last year, it brought in about $1.18 billion in revenue—and aggressively made use of it. Since Mayer came aboard, Yahoo has bought at least 66 companies. Katie Couric might be among the most talked-about additions, but she probably costs less than BrightRoll, a video ad company picked up for $640 million, or Flurry, a $200 million analytics firm (whose code the NSA has piggybacked on to spy on smartphone users).
Yahoo might use this huge influx of cash to acquire a few more toys, and perhaps it'll even turn one or two of them into something. But if Mayer were able to quell the shareholders, and to maintain a still-profitable advertising division and massively popular, low-rent portal and news site, then the company could continue in this way for quite a while. It's just that a lot of people seem to expect a lot more from Mayer. And it's not very heartening that its plan for Tumblr seems to be: hire artists to make ads for big brands.
To be fair, most of the tech industry is boring—the same grand-but-sterile promises to change the world issued from a few identical-looking white men, the same-but-slightly-better gadgets unveiled twice a year. Many companies are plagued with sexism, mired in uneasy collaboration with NSA snooping, manage humiliating contract worker platforms, or are simply fly-by-night startups that won't exist by the end of the year. With some money and its institutional history, Yahoo could do something interesting. It's earned some latent goodwill from challenging the U.S. government in court and winning the release of secret surveillance documents. But there's a good chance that the question of what Yahoo will do is always going to be more interesting than the answer.


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Justice fails again against Aena in its war against the tenants of its airports. The JCourt of First Instance number 39 of Madrid has ratified the precautionary measures approved in March in favor of Dufry -the owner of the Duty Free-, which included the collection of the guarantees given in guarantee of the rental contracts.
As Aena has notified, the judge also maintains the suspension of the payment of the rent of the rental contracts, as well as the bail of 27.47 million euros imposed on Dufry to respond to the damages that your request may cause to Aena.
The manager had appealed this decision considering that these measures had been taken from unheard of part, understanding that Aena's version had not been heard.
Despite this new blow, Aena assures that it will appeal the judicial decision again, as it has communicated to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). In addition to Dufry, the manager also has lawsuits for the payment of rents with other large merchants at its airports such as Areas and SSP.
Maurici Lucenadefends that between 2020 and 2021 it will have stopped entering 800 million euros due to discounts on the annual guaranteed minimum rent - the minimum rent to be charged to businesses, which pay based on their billing - to their tenants.
Aena's proposal is to cancel the entire payment of the guaranteed minimum rents to merchants and hoteliers during the first state of alarm last year and that they pay 50% of the rents from June 2020 until next September.
An extreme to which large merchants refuse due to the fall in air traffic of over 70% in 2020 and the not better numbers of the first half of 2021.


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U-T File: In this July 2009 file photo, a Comic-Con attendee shows off the digital version of a "G.I. Joe" comic book, published by IDW Publishing. This week, the comic book giant announced it has launched a new television division to bring its portfolio of comics and graphic novels to global TV.
— K.C. Alfred


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TUCSON, ARIZ. (April 25, 1:15 p.m. ET) — Walbro Engine Management has opened a multi-layer fuel tank blow molding plant in Chonburi, Thailand.
The Chonburi facility is Walbro's second fuel tank production facility. The company's Cass City, Mich., plant was recently expanded to accommodate a fourth blow molding machine.
The 20,000-square-foot Chonburi plant will help customers deal with regulations that require tanks to meet more stringent clean air standards, The plant will supply tanks used in lawn and garden, recreational and marine applications to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Evaporative emission regulations are growing more stringent around the globe,” said Tony Martin, president and CEO of Walbro Engine Management, in a news release.
Tucson-based Walbro Engine Management makes six-layer tanks with a vapor barrier to contain hydrocarbon emission.


text: What is your opinion on this Boxing champ on theft charge From: By Joel Dullroy December 30, 2005 BOXING legend Jeff Fenech will appear in court today charged with stealing three watches from a jewellery store on the Gold Coast. Fenech, 41, was given a notice to appear in the Southport Magistrate's Court charged with stealing. Police said the former world champion boxer was among a group of people in a Broadbeach jewellery store when three watches went missing. Marrickville Mauler: Jeff Fenech in the spotlight The watches were returned and Fenech was later interviewed over the theft. A 58-year-old Sydney man will also appear in the court charged with the same offence. Advertisement: The alleged theft occurred in a jewellery store in the Oasis shopping centre which adjoins the five-star Sofitel Resort where Fenech was believed to be staying. The former world champion boxer, who has earned millions through his sport, now runs a Sydney training gym. He counts controversial American fighter Mike Tyson as a friend. Fenech is one of a select band of international boxers to claim three world titles. He retired in 1996 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame six years later.


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Honda Rebel 500
Kia Sonet Kia QYI
2020 Hyundai i20
Royal Enfield Meteor 350
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2021 Husqvarna Svartpilen 250 launched in Malaysia at INR 4.53 lakh
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Husqvarna Svartpilen 250 & Vitpilen 250 - First Ride Review
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The startup, which emerged from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wooltari USA and will leverage the retailer’s capabilities to expand its sourcing, product development and distribution, the companies said on Tuesday. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The purveyor of sauces, snacks and spices launched in 2017 through Kickstarter, where it raised nearly $40,000 to produce the brand’s eponymous KPOP Sauce. KPOP Foods grew its reach substantially after adding celebrity chef and Food Network star Chris Oh to its executive roster as head of product, with its food offerings—which include a kimchi mayo sauce, Korean potato chips and yuja tea—having reached up to 3,000 retailers nationwide.
Los Angeles-based Wooltari USA is well-established in the Korean food scene; it has partnerships with hundreds of Korean food manufacturers and operates six brick-and-mortar grocery stores locations in California, Texas and Virginia. Wooltari USA also offers one-day delivery in major cities and one-to-three-day shipping across the U.S.
"We share a common vision, and our teams possess expertise and knowledge in complementary areas,” KPOP Foods co-founder and CEO Theo Lee said in a statement. “Together, we're excited to influence the future of Korean food in the US."
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University of California, Los Angeles economists say the glass is half full for the U.S. economy — at least for now.
The quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast released Wednesday wanly touted a "better-than-expected outcome" for the U.S. economy in the near term, a major upgrade from the last report's forecast of a "depression-like" crisis for the economy. But the new, relatively optimistic assessment is highly reliant on how the pandemic progresses, the authors cautioned.
California's economy is broadly expected to mimic the nation's so long as pandemic-related shutdowns dissipate in 2021. Still, the optimistic outlook doesn't expect a full recovery for California until after the end of 2022, when economists forecast state unemployment will remain close to 6%, compared to just under 5% for the U.S. overall.
Part of the reason for this improved forecast is that the economy opened up earlier than anticipated and there were no new shutdowns, despite multiple states experiencing a surge in cases over the summer. Moreover, consumers and businesses adapted quickly to new technologies and remote working, while the Federal Reserve committed to near 0% interest rates until labor market conditions recover. In fact, borrowing rates are at historic lows, below even the levels reached during the Great Recession.
The economic bounce-back was always expected to be big, as temporarily laid-off workers returned to work. Because the economy reopened earlier than USC analysts predicted, recovery numbers, which had been expected in 2021, came instead in the third quarter, leading to "stronger 2020 growth and weaker 2021 growth," the report said.
GDP is expected to grow 0.3% in the fourth quarter with real GDP declining overall to 4.2% for all of 2020, the authors wrote in an essay entitled "The recovery is losing momentum." For context, that's 50% steeper than the decline of 2.8% from the Great Recession in 2008. But those numbers are far better than the annual 8.6% decline forecast in mid-June. The forecast for 2021 is 3.5% growth and 4% growth for 2022.
"That there's more economic activity than we expected that's good news, but it's not something that you'd say we're out of the woods, because we're not," Jerry Nickelsburg, the director of the forecast, told dot.LA. "The economic outlook depends critically on the trajectory of the pandemic and the public health response to it."
Nickelsberg forecasts that it will take the U.S. until the first quarter of 2022 to achieve the same level of economic activity that it saw in the fourth quarter of 2019.
He expects 2020 fourth quarter growth to be relatively weak, with more bankruptcies and layoffs. And winter will put a damper on economic activity in many parts of the country where it has been moved outdoors, Nickelsberg said.
Unemployment isn't expected to reach pre-pandemic rates until late 2024 at the earliest.
And that's with some rather optimistic assumptions, including that there is widespread availability and usage of an effective vaccine in early 2021 or that the pandemic has a relatively mild impact on economic activity in 2021 and 2022. The report also assumes another, more limited federal fiscal stimulus round before the end of 2020.
"None of these assumptions are assured, and if they do not come to pass, our forecast, presented here, is too optimistic," the authors wrote.
Though employment recovery has been fast as workers returned from temporary layoffs, sectors that rely on more human contact have seen a rise in permanent layoffs. In those sectors, employment "won't fully recover until consumers and businesses return to old habits, which won't be for some time, if ever," the forecast said.
But it's on theme that the forecast is a little more uncertain, as Nickelsberg said, "there's a higher probability that we are too optimistic than that we are too pessimistic."
California's leisure and hospitality industry have been hurt by the drop off in international tourism. But home sales have bounced back after a precipitous first-quarter drop.
"There is heightened uncertainty now, uncertainty about the pandemic, uncertainty about fiscal policy, another stimulus package or not out of Washington, uncertainty about the election, there's lots of uncertainty in the economy right now," said Nickelseberg.
A Dive into L.A.'s Tech and Gig Economy
The forecast noted that the gig economy in California has been hit harder by the pandemic in terms of overall unemployment.
L.A. County has more than one million gig workers as of 2018 — roughly one gig job for every four traditional jobs — and the numbers are growing faster in this segment than the U.S. overall.
That helps explain why L.A. has seen steeper drops in overall employment during the "pandemic-induced recession," the report states, especially since a greater share of its gig workers are in transportation, arts, entertainment and recreation, which have been hit especially hard.
Many have been buoyed by the unemployment benefits provided by the coronavirus stimulus bill.
That's especially relevant because gig workers tend to make less than their conventional counterparts. Gig workers in the professional, scientific and technical sector in L.A. earn an average of $52,000 annually, compared to their counterparts who earn $142,000.
The forecast examined tech industry jobs, with five large clusters led by the Bay Area and followed by Southern California, then Boston, Seattle, and Manhattan. The report noted that tech jobs increased dramatically in most of those areas from 2005 to 2020, while in Los Angeles there was only a moderate increase of 36,000 tech jobs.
Although L.A. County ranked second out of 20 counties for having the most tech jobs in the U.S., it was 11th on that same list for average pay. Tech workers in L.A. earned an average salary of $142,000, slightly above the national average of $135,000 for the industry. In Santa Clara, tech workers received an average salary of $287,000, while in Manhattan that number is $205,000 and in Seattle $200,000.
Though the tech industry has done well amid the pandemic, the forecast noted that it could be harder to see a near-future increase in tech workers in the Bay Area and New York, with high costs of living, as companies experiment with remote working.
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Riders Share is AirBnB for motorcyclists.
The motorcycle rental platform that launched two years ago as a way to help fanatics enjoy a ride without the high cost has now raised $2 million in Series A funds led by LiveOak Venture Partners.
Created by a UCLA alumna, Riders Share will use the cash infusion to expand their customer service and marketing, along with developing new products. The company operates a sharing platform where users can rent out their own motorcycles or rent someone else's. Based in Austin, the company already has more than 10,000 listings. Los Angeles, where it was born, is among its largest market.
The idea for the Riders Share came to founder Guillermo Cornejo — who has worked as an analyst for Nissan Motors, General Motors and Hyundai — after experiencing sticker shock when he tried to rent a motorcycle himself.
"You know, bikes, they are not really sophisticated," said Cornejo. "They are more like a toy that you use on the weekend for fun. And when I tried to rent one, it cost over $200. That's when I started looking into rentals as a way to make motorcycles more affordable,"
The company is among a growing list of car-sharing companies such as Turo competing in a crowded marketplace. Cornejo says that since the pandemic broke out, he's seen a jump in motorcycle rentals. He suspects many of them are using the vehicles to deliver food, as demand for delivery services has risen amid stay-at-home orders.
The average rental fees range from $36 to $97 per day. The company rents everything from Harley-Davidson to Triumph, Ducati to Honda motorcycles.
When it first launched Cornejo only had $20,000 to invest into Riders Share, which made it difficult to grow.
"It was really hard. We had $40,000 in credit card debt," he said. "I had pitched my business and no one wanted to invest."
Originally from Peru, Cornejo attended UCLA's Anderson School of Business. There he began to build a network including investors. He lucked out when he entered a pitch competition at the university and scored his first investment, which eventually led him to Los Angeles TechStars.
The biggest obstacle for Riders Share was insurance costs, which can be high for motorcycle riders.
Riders Share renters and owners are covered by the company's insurance. The company uses machine learning to understand the background of their riders, which Cornejo says can drive down insurance costs by as much as 50%.
If the driver has their own insurance, they are free to use that instead.
"Guillermo and the Riders Share team have managed to address the insurance risk problem while also bringing motorcycle owners and renters together all across the United States, and they did so with very little help," said David Stewart, Venture Partner at LiveOak Venture Partners. "We are confident we can help Riders Share scale and modernize the way people interact with motorcycles."
Cornejo moved his business to Texas, home to several similar companies where, he says, costs would be cheaper.


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In July and August 2013, Spanish apparel retailers offered discount to customers and it resulted in sales rising by 1.5 percent year-on-year during the two-month period, according to estimates from the Trade Business Association of Textile and Accessories (ACOTEX).
Month-wise, in July the apparel retail sector incurred an increase of 4.8 percent year-on-year in sales, however, in the month of August, the sales declined by 4.4 percent, according to the Fashion Trade Indicator, which is compiled by data from ACOTEX, reports modaes.es.
During the July-August period the apparel retail sales amounted to € 2,600 million, according to ACOTEX estimates.
Borja Oria, president of ACOTEX, said that during the spring-summer season from February to June 2013, apparel retail stores incurred a decrease of 9 percent in sales, due to the current economic environment marked by unemployment which has resulted into low purchasing power of the consumer.
The huge decline in sales during the first half prompted the retailers to give major discounts to consumers during the July-August sales period, which has resulted into a significant reduction in the profit margins, he added.


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- Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro price in India is Rs 15,990
- The earbuds can be pre-booked starting today from Samsung’s Exclusive stores, Samsung e-store, online portals, and offline retail outlets
- Pre-booking customers can get the Samsung 10,000mAh wireless power bank at Rs 499 (original price is Rs 3,699)
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro price in India has been announced by the company as the TWS earbuds are up for pre-booking across the country starting today. The earbuds pack premium features like ANC (active noise cancellation), IPX7 water-resistance rating, up to 28 hours of battery, 3D spatial audio, coaxial dual speakers, and more to the table. The company is also having a pre-booking offer for customers reserving the Galaxy Buds Pro ahead of the sale. The latest wearables from Samsung were announced last night (i.e. Thursday) at the Unpacked 2021 event alongside the Galaxy S21 series flagships and Galaxy SmartTag and SmartTag+.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro price in India, pre-booking offers
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro price in India is Rs 15,990, with the earbuds up for pre-order from Samsung’s Exclusive stores, Samsung e-store, online portals, and offline retail outlets. Customers pre-booking the earbuds can get the Samsung’s 10,000mAh wireless power bank U1200 at just Rs 499 (originally priced at Rs 3,699).
The Galaxy Buds Pro deliveries to pre-booking customers will begin from January 29th and they will be on sale across the country on the same day. They are available in three colour options, namely Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Violet.
The Galaxy Buds Pro deliveries to pre-booked customers will begin from January 29th, and they will be on sale across the country on the same day.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro specifications
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro feature ANC with multiple levels of noise-cancellation and a dedicated Ambient Sound mode to stay aware of the surrounding noises. This is something to what Apple calls ‘Transparency Mode’ on the AirPods Pro. The ambient mode can let the sound from the surroundings in and amplify them by more than 20 decibels. The Galaxy Buds Pro can automatically switch between ANC and Ambient mode when users starting talking. Each earbud has coaxial dual drivers, with a 6.5mm tweeter and an 11mm bass driver. Samsung says the Buds Pro earbuds are deeply integrated with the Galaxy ecosystem as they can seamlessly switch between Galaxy smartphones and tablets.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro have three microphones each and a dedicated Voice Pickup Unit (VPU) that is said to work alongside the company’s Wind Shield technology to deliver an immersive calling experience. The earbuds have 61mAh battery each and are claimed to last up to five hours on a single playback with ANC on and up to 8 hours without ANC enabled. With the charging case, the Galaxy Buds Pro can achieve a maximum battery life of 28 hours (without ANC). The carry case has support for wireless charging as well.


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|FROM ||Ruben Safir
|SUBJECT ||Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Patant wars take a bad twist
27 June 2012 Last updated at 04:50 ET
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales banned by US court
Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab Apple and Samsung have accused each other of
copying aspects of their devices
Continue reading the main story
Apple told to pay Samsung damages
Apple seeks Galaxy S3 ban in US
Samsung sues patent commissioner
A court has banned sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the US
while it decides on the firm's patent dispute with Apple.
Apple has claimed that Samsung infringed its design patent and copied
the look of its popular device, the iPad.
The Samsung tablet is considered by most analysts as the biggest rival
to Apple's iPad.
The ban does not apply to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 II, the tablet's new
The trial for the case is scheduled to begin in California on 30 July.
"Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to
compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products," said
US District Judge Lucy Koh.
The judge had previously denied Apple's appeal for an injunction on the
Galaxy tablet and smartphones, but was asked by a federal appeals court
to reconsider Apple's request on the tablet PC.
In an emailed statement to the BBC, Samsung said that it "will take
necessary legal steps" and that the ruling was unlikely to have a
significant impact on its business.
Continue reading the main story
They are going to use every legal manoeuvre they can, including
patent battles, to keep each other out of the marketâ€
Tim Charlton Charlton Media
The two rivals are involved in a variety of legal cases in various
countries across the globe amid claims and counter claims of patent
While Apple had accused Samsung of copying its design and look, the
South Korean firm has alleged that Apple infringed its patents relating
to the way phones and tablet PCs connect to the internet.
Analysts said the order passed by the judge was a significant
development in the continuing legal battle between the two companies.
"The relief being given to Apple here is extraordinary," said Colleen
Chien, a professor at Santa Clara Law in Silicon Valley.
"Preliminary injunctions are rarely asked for and rarely granted."
Apple and Samsung are two of the biggest manufacturers of tablet PCs and
smartphones in the world.
The success of Apple's iPhone and iPad has seen the firm recently become
the world's most valuable company.
It sold 37.04 million iPhones in the three months to 31 December 2011,
more than twice as many during the same period a year earlier.
Its sales for the iPad also more than doubled during the period to 15.43
Meanwhile, Samsung has enjoyed considerable success in the sectors with
its Galaxy range of products. The company, however, does not provide a
breakdown of its sales data.
The demand for tablet PCs and smartphones is likely to grow even further
in the near term.
Analysts said that given the growth potential, the two firms were using
every possible tactic to ensure that they capture a bigger share of the
"They are going to use every legal manoeuvre they can, including patent
battles, to keep each other out of the market," Tim Charlton of Charlton
Media told the BBC.


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A self-filling water bottle may seem like science fiction, but that is just what MIT researchers have in mind. The scientists behind the unnamed device are still in the research and development phase, but a working prototype has been built. Now all that is needed to build the water bottle for consumers are investor dollars, time, brains and a breeze. As of right now, actual manufacturing is still years away.
Graduates from the Boston College biology program in collaboration with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) researchers are trying to mimic the Namib Desert Beetle’s technique of collecting water to be able to provide a technique for collecting safe drinking water in arid locations around the world. Their idea is to produce a device that that pulls moisture from the air into its container on its own, producing about six liters of water per day per unit.
NBDnano, a small tech startup which stands for Namib Beetle Design nanotechnologies, was founded to extract water from an artificial breeze created by a fan. In nature, the Namib beetle collects droplets of moisture from early morning fogs that blows through in its arid habitat to survive. Standing at a precise angle in a precise location, the beetle collects moisture from the fog breeze on bumps on its shell. Once enough water is collected, the beetle induces the water to flow down to its mouth along a series of precise troughs along its back.
Deckard Sorensen, one of NBD’s founders, speaking to the BBC said the idea for the project came from the natural survival instinct of the beetle. “I initially had this inspiration from a biomimicry course and biomimicry is looking to nature to draw inspiration for sustainable technology. It was important to apply this to our design and we have developed a proof of concept and [are] currently creating our first fully functional prototype. We think our first prototype will collect anywhere from half a liter of water to three liters per hour depending on local environments.”
Right now their devices are compact triangular containers about one foot tall and half a foot wide. The device will be self-sustaining, but it needs fans or some wind source to generate the moisture. It was created with poor communities in desert situations in mind, but the technology can be applied in survival situations and eventually in the outdoors once the product is commercialized.
“We take the ambiant air from the environment. So you can put this in your backyard per say, and what it would do is it would take the air in your backyard and start pushing it through our device and from this the materials will actually collect the condensation, or the moisture, from the air due to the relative humidity that naturally occurs in the air everywhere.”


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Naiboi Hits Out at CMO Officials over Failure to Pay Artist Royalties
2 March 2021
[Photo Credit: Capital FM]
By Lydia M Joshua
Renowned Kenyan artist Naiboi has broken his silence and called out Collective Management Organisation (CMO) officials who’ve been misappropriating royalties meant for artistes.
"The fact that artist’s money has not been paid out for the past few years, yet money has been collected and still been collected is sickening,” he said.
In addition, he expressed interest to be on the board in order to kick out the officials whom he branded as “thieves”.
“I wanna be in that office I want a seat on that board and kick them, thieves, out!! S**t change ain’t coming we just gonna get it!!” he opined.
Meanwhile, Naiboi and is Naiboi Worldwide label have been busy releasing new projects as they seek to grow the brand in 2021.
Band BeCa music group who are signed under the label recently released their debut album ‘Beca Fever’.
The album is iconic as it contains features from renowned female artists from East Africa.
On his part, Naiboi is currently flying high with his latest release dubbed ‘Kitu Tamu’ featuring all-stars.
‘Kitu Tamu’ features Band Beca, Femi One, Brand UB, Breeder LW, and Fena Gitu. The song is doing well and already has over 98,000 views on YouTube.


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On Thursday, Shares of KLA-Tencor Corp(NASDAQ:KLAC), added 0.81 % and closed at $71.79 in the last trading session. The last trading range of the stock ranges between $70.37 and $72.40. KLA-Tencor Corporation(R) (KLAC) recently declared that its board of directors has authorized a boost of the level of the company’s quarterly dividend from $0.52 to $0.54 per share. This increase is expected to take effect starting with KLA-Tencor’s quarterly dividend to be declared in November 2016. This represents a four percent increase contrast to the prior quarterly dividend, and is the eighth quarterly dividend increase since KLA-Tencor first instituted its dividend policy in April 2005.
“Recently’s dividend increase reflects the continued strength and sustainability of KLA-Tencor’s cash flow, our confidence in our business model, and our commitment to enhancing stockholder value,” said Rick Wallace, president and chief executive officer of KLA-Tencor.
Capital One Financial Corp.(NYSE:COF), dropped -0.90% and closed at $73.04 in the last trading session. The last trading range of the stock ranges between $72.39 and $73.75. The company’s Market capitalization is $37.89 Billion with the total Outstanding Shares of 505.92 Million. Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) recently declared that it has reached a 10-year program agreement to become the exclusive issuing partner of co-branded credit cards to Cabela’s customers. This agreement will become effective concurrent with Bass Pro Shops’ completion of its projected acquisition of Cabela’s that also was declared recently.
“This partnership is an appealing planned and financial opportunity, and plays to our strengths in the retail card partnership space,” said Jimmy Cannon, Executive Vice President, Card Partnerships at Capital One. “Brand loyalty has been a hallmark for both Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s and, together, we are looking forward to building on the strength of those relationships by providing customers with a rewarding experience.”
In connection with the Cabela’s credit card program, Capital One has reached a definitive agreement under which it will acquire the credit card operation from Cabela’s, counting about $5.2 billion in credit card receivables and other assets and about $5 billion in associated funding liabilities.


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Little General Store Inc. is here to stay in Marion County.
The company recently took over three Wilfong Sunoco stores in the county — in Farmington along U.S. Route 250 North, in White Hall at 2988 White Hall Boulevard, and in the East Fairmont/Winfield area off I-79 — as well as one location in Clarksburg and two in Morgantown.
On Dec. 1, Little General began changing the layouts and adding new signs, and the transition is now complete for all six of the stores, said Brian Waugh, director of retail. Because these modifications were made in the evenings between about 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., the locations were never closed to the public.
Customers will notice familiar faces, as all of the employees and managers continue to work at those sites, he said.
At these stores, the company has added a daily fresh sandwich program, called “On the Go” sandwiches. Also, customers can use their Shop ’n Save Perks Reward Cards at these locations, as well as other Little General stores, to get discounts on fuel.
The sites feature ATM machines, New River Coffee, roller hot dog grills and many varieties of pepperoni rolls. The stores are competitively priced on groceries, too.
In February, Little General acquired three Oliverio Shop-N-Go Sunoco stores — on East Park Avenue in Fairmont, in Barrackville and in Pruntytown. It also built a new South Fairmont location at 2395 White Hall Boulevard, which opened in late June and includes a Steak Escape Sandwich Grill. Any store that Little General builds from the ground up features some type of restaurant.
Following these additions, the company felt that it just made sense to continue building its store base in North Central West Virginia, where the state is growing. With this increased number of locations, customers are getting to know Little General as well as its merchandising and pricing strategies, Waugh said.
He said Little General feels that it can “offer everything to everybody.” The company is always thinking about what customers need and want and considering requests from the public. Waugh thanked the community for its positive response to the Little General operations in the area.
Since February, Little General has taken over or built 10 stores, which all have Sunoco gasoline/diesel, in the area. A year ago, the company didn’t have any locations in Marion County, but now it has six. Previously, Little General’s closest location was in Weston.
The company, based in Beckley, has stores stationed from Morgantown to Princeton. It currently operates 118 locations, including 104 convenient stores and 14 free-standing restaurants.
Waugh said Little General wants to continue to invest in West Virginia. The company is continually looking at opportunities to build stores or take over existing stores, and tries to keep all of its options open.
“We invest in the areas that we have stores in,” he said.
The company makes donations and presents scholarships in the communities that it serves, Waugh said. Little General is a big supporter of both Fairmont State University and West Virginia University. In fact, the company is owned by two WVU graduates, Cory Beasley and Greg Darby.
Email Jessica Borders at email@example.com or follow her on Twitter @JBordersTWV.
Little General Store Inc. is here to stay in Marion County.
‘L-gov’ program of West Virginia Treasurer’s Office providing many benefits
The “L-gov” program of the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office is providing many benefits to governmental entities across the state, including the City of Fairmont.
L-gov, which is an abbreviation for local government, helps cities, towns, school boards, public service districts and other entities process their bills in a streamlined, efficient way.
Helping people focus of Cardinal Tax Services
At Cardinal Tax Services LLC, Wendy Cutlip is doing what she enjoys — helping people.
Cutlip, owner and Registered Tax Return Preparer, opened her new business in White Hall at the beginning of June. It is located in the Mountain Gate Business Park, which is along Route 250 South just past Fabric and Foam and next to the Sunoco.
Your chocolate addiction is only going to get more expensive
For nearly two years, cocoa prices have been on the rise. Finally, that's affecting the price you pay for a bar of chocolate - and there's reason to believe it's only the beginning.
Wal-Mart to cut prices more aggressively in back-to-school push
Wal-Mart Stores plans to cut prices more aggressively during this year's back-to-school season and will add inventory to its online store as the chain battles retailers for student spending.
Morgantown’s housing expenses exceed national average
The housing prices in Morgantown are driving the city’s cost of living above the national average, a new survey reports.
John Deskins, director of the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics’ Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), explained that the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) orchestrates data collection in 288 cities across the country.
J.A. Used Furniture has valuable variety
J.A. Used Furniture in Fairmont carries items that people need — all at low prices.
Owner Ron Dray officially opened the doors of his new business, located at 10 Locust Ave., toward the end of December. He explained that the “J.A.” initials in the store’s name stand for the names of his two granddaughters, Jordan and Adriauna.
Backbone Security, T&T Pump Co. among 37 state companies recognized
Two Marion County companies were recently celebrated for their continued successes in exporting.
Backbone Security and T&T Pump Co., both in Fairmont, were among the 37 West Virginia companies that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Cabinet Secretary Keith Burdette, the West Virginia Development Office and the West Virginia Export Council recently acknowledged for expanding their business to new parts of the world. An awards presentation was held in Charleston on June 24.
All Things Herbal health and wellness shop
All Things Herbal Local Market is a one-stop, health and wellness shop.
Owner Christa Blais officially opened her new business in downtown Fairmont at 327 Adams St., across from Veterans’ Square, on June 6 during Main Street Fairmont’s First Friday event.
3-D printing continuing to revolutionize manufacturing
As 3-D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing, the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing continues to stay at the forefront of this technology.
RCBI has three Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers, located in Bridgeport, Charleston and Huntington.
Blackheart International bringing high-quality services
Blackheart International, a firearms manufacturer and provider of logistics and training solutions, is bringing high-quality services to the local community.
At the beginning of April, the company moved from Philippi, where it had been located since 2005, to its new home in Fairmont.
- More Business Headlines
- ‘L-gov’ program of West Virginia Treasurer’s Office providing many benefits


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According to a study depicted on NPR on June 20th, researchers conducted an experiment where they dropped 17,000 wallets in 40 different countries, containing varying amounts of cash, contact information and other personal effects. As it turns out, while most of us would think that the wallets would be long gone, the researchers discovered that most wallets, especially those containing cash, were handed over to the authorities. On this episode, we discuss our ideas on why people were leaning more towards honesty, have a conversation about ethical behavior, honesty and theft.
In looking at 10 years’ worth of retail sales, it appears to have been consistent, with the exception of 2008-2009, where storefront retail seems to have taken a dip. This year, we have noticed the closure of several stores, and increased in sales for Amazon. On this episode, we discuss our observations and projections of retails sales for the 2018 holiday season.


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Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Serves Up a Fresh Trailer
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Natsume’s Harvest Moon series saw the release of Light of Hope on PC in 2017. Now, a special edition is coming to consoles with new features and four pieces of announced DLC already in the works. With the release right around the corner, the game’s official trailer has been published.
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition not only streamlines the process of getting chores done, but also adds a new character and potential love interest into the mix. Another new feature exclusive to the console release is the ability to play the game in co-op mode, with the second character taking on the role of the Gem Sprite, Soleil.
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition is slated to be released on May 29, 2018. It will be available on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch home consoles.


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Volkswagen has set aside some €6.5 billion (£4.9 billion) to cover the cost of the emissions test cheating scandal currently engulfing the company.
In a statement Volkswagen said it "does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever" and is working "at full speed" to understand what led to the use of devices that masked the emissions levels of its cars during tests by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
During normal driving, the affected VW and Audi cars emit 10 times to 40 times the legal limit of harmful nitrogen emissions, the EPA found.
The US boss of Volkswagen Michael Horn was earlier forced to admit that the company had “totally screwed up” and been "dishonest" in using the so-called "cheat switches".
Eleven million cars around the world have been fitted with the switch.
Europe and South Korea are now looking at their own investigations into emissions tests.
France’s finance minister Michel Sapin said: "This is not a minor subject, it’s not about speed or the quality of leather, What we are dealing with is making sure people avoid being poisoned by pollution."
Shares in Volkswagen, listed in Frankfurt, extended earlier losses to drop 7.3% on the announcement.Reuse content


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2K Sports will be awarding a 1 million dollars to the first person to pitch a verified perfect game in Major League Baseball® 2K11. They ran this contest last year and one lucky gamer got to cash a million dollar check. MLB 2k11 comes out March 8th, and the race to a perfect game starts on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, April 1, 2011. This will give gamers on Xbox 360 and PS3 nearly a month to hone their gaming skills before embarking on a quest that only 20 pitchers in baseball history have accomplished.
I'm pretty sure we will be giving away a copy of MLB 2k11, so stay tuned!


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8 Incredible Effects of Giving Up Sugar for a Month
A 2006 study links sugar to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is linked to nearly 125 million Americans' illnesses.
Less body inflammation
Allison Tallman, MS, RDN, CNSC, registered dietitian at Sporting Smiles, explains how avoiding sugar may help prevent certain cancers.
Reduced risk of cancer
"While sugar is an energy source, the source's quality is critical," Tallman says. She says refined sugar makes you feel sluggish.
In fact, cutting out sugar for a month may be beneficial to digestive health if you suffer from bloating or an unpredictable digestive system.
Better gut health
Sugar has been linked to cavities since childhood, and for good reason. One to two sugary drinks per day increases dental disease risk by 30%.
Better dental health
A sugar-free month benefits both our bodies and minds. For example, consuming more sugar raises the risk of depression.
Unrelated to obesity, increased sugar in the food supply was linked to higher type 2 diabetes rates, researchers found.
Lowered risk of diabetes
A recent study in France observed over 24,000 adults to see if dietary habits had any effect on whether or not an individual developed acne.


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A law firm in Mexico City quietly filed for trademarks on behalf of Donald Trump’s company that would authorize the Trump brand to set up shop in a country with which the U.S. president has sparred over trade, migration and the planned border wall.
WNews is the place to be for the latest global news. Started in 2014, we want to bring the news back to the news with unbiased reporting of the news. We believed that news should be honest and trustworthy.
WNews is a W-World Brand, a Canadian-based company.


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Companies that fail to adapt to using Web 2.0 tools and practices are likely to find it difficult to move forward. Company managers are well aware of this.
Are companies which do not innovate doomed to disappear by 2020? Yes, warns the main conclusion of a survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Ricoh, which is due to be published in March 2012. According to a poll undertaken between September and October 2011, 60% of the 567 senior business leaders from various sectors surveyed are sure that their businesses will undergo profound changes in the next ten years, due mainly to the development of new technologies. Moreover, 37% of the business leaders surveyed believe their organisation will be unable to keep up with the technology and they will lose significant market share to the competition. In some industries pessimism is widespread: 30% of those surveyed from the IT sector don’t think their company will still be around in 2020.
Innovation coming from employees and customers
The new technologies are likely to change the very way companies work. Some 63% of bosses predict a shift to decentralised structures with a far-reaching devolution of business decision-making authority towards the periphery of their organisations. Business process innovation will be central to a company’s potential success, with ideas and suggestions no longer just coming from the top of the structure, but equally from employees and customers. According to David Mills, Executive Vice President at Ricoh, employees and customers “will play a key role in driving the changes by the way they are using” the technology. So business leaders will have to learn to listen to these new purveyors of ideas.
Access to information across all levels of the company
What really needs to change rapidly is the way information and knowledge are transmitted inside the organisation, in order to adapt both to the new demands of the digital age and also to the working practices of employees. Critical business information must be “easily accessed by employees across the organisation,” stresses David Mills, pointing to the “steady increase of mobile working,” and the consequent need to “access information across multiple locations." These are issues that business leaders are well aware of: 70% of those polled saw significant opportunities for technology to improve the way they conduct business and agreed that there are plenty of gains to be made in improving operating efficiency.


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TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Time to play ball at the brand-spanking-new Citi Field in New York. The Mets host the Red Sox there tonight, and the baseball players union is hoping for a home run in its experiment with a new retail concept. They have a store dedicated not to any specific team, but to star players. Here’s Marketplace’s Dan Grech.
Dan Grech: The Players Clubhouse will be on the second deck of Citi Field, behind Section 327. The store will be set up like a locker room and filled with jerseys, mugs and bobblehead dolls. But unlike the usual Major League Baseball store, every object must include a star player’s name or likeness.
Maury Brown is president of the Business of Sports Network:
Brown: Fantasy baseball is a large part of this. In that respect, you’re following a player irrespective of what team they’re on.
The union uses the money to operate, then divides what’s left over evenly among players. Brown says the players union is taking advantage of a new trend in baseball. Fans increasingly follow players rather than teams.
Maury Brown: The minute a player’s name is associated with a piece of merchandise, the Players Association gets a cut of that.
Baseball is following the lead of basketball, which glamorizes its big stars. The union hopes to bring The Players Clubhouse concept to other stadiums soon.
I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.
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Generous support from listeners and readers is what powers our nonprofit news—and your donation today will help provide this essential service. For just $5/month, you can sustain independent journalism that keeps you and thousands of others informed.


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By Rachit Vats
Nov 6 (Reuters) – Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc posted better-than-expected earnings on Friday, returning to profit in the third quarter as its key customers ramped up production to meet recovering demand for new cars in Europe, China and the United States.
The Ontario-based company also raised its 2020 sales outlook to $31.5 billion-$32.5 billion from $30 billion-$32 billion. Analysts were expecting $31.4 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Auto sales in North America have gradually recovered since lockdown measures were eased, prompting major automakers to ramp up production and rebuild inventories for high-margin sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
That has lifted sales at several auto suppliers including Magna, which makes parts such as body structures, chassis and powertrain for customers including Ford Motor and Volkswagen.
Magna also raised its 2020 North American light vehicle production outlook to 12.7 million units from 12.5 million. In Europe, it now expects full-year production to be about 16.1 million units, compared with 15.9 million before.
Last week, auto technology supplier Aptiv Plc too forecast better-than-expected results for 2020 and gave a bullish outlook for growth for its electrification and assisted driving technology.
Magna’s light vehicle production was down 5% in Europe, flat in the United States and rose 10% in China during the third quarter.
In the prior quarter, production in Europe and the United States had slumped 59% and 70% respectively, while it was up 3% in China.
Magna reported a net income of $405 million, or $1.35 per share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $233 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, it earned $1.95 per share, while analysts were expecting $1.33 per share.
Total sales fell about 2% to $9.13 billion. (Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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Australian manuka honey producers score legal win over New Zealand producers in Europe, UK
Australian manuka honey producers have scored a win over their trans-Tasman rivals after New Zealand producers backed out of legal action aimed at preventing them from using the descriptive word.
- New Zealand manuka honey producers withdraw from trademark dispute in UK, EU
- Australian producers can now sell their product in those markets as "manuka" honey
- Manuka honey can sell for up to $500 a kilogram
A group of New Zealand manuka honey producers have been attempting to block their Australian counterparts from using the word "manuka" in export markets around the world since 2016.
Manuka honey from both countries is sold for hundreds of dollars a kilogram, and is included in a range of medicinal products because of its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Australian manuka honey is used in lozenges, throat sprays, and eczema creams, as well as cosmetic products.
The New Zealand Manuka Honey Appellation Society recently backed out of an appeal before the United Kingdom's High Court, as well as similar legal action in the European Union, meaning Australian producers were free to call their product "manuka honey" in those valuable markets.
The UK Intellectual Property Office had previously ruled in favour of Australia.
Both parties are still waiting to hear the outcome of a hearing held in 2021 before the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.
The NZ Manuka Honey Appellation Society argues manuka is a Māori word, and has attempted to trademark it in their home country, as well as the USA, UK, EU, and China.
It was seeking exclusive use of the word via a trademark, a move that's been rejected in the USA previously.
The plant that produces the pollen used by bees to make manuka honey, Leptospermum scoparium, grows natively on both sides of the Tasman.
The Australian Manuka Honey Association, which has appointed two Māori board members, has demonstrated the word has been used in Australia to describe the plant and the honey produced from its pollen since the 1930s.
It has also abstained from using a macron over the "a" in its branding.
Association president Paul Callander said the legal victory would have significant benefits in the sizeable UK and EU markets.
"This victory provides our industry with a noble precedent against some in New Zealand who are attempting to monopolise the term manuka honey for their own commercial gain," Mr Callandar said in a statement.
"Australian growers have every right to use the word to describe their produce as upheld by the UK Courts."


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Bloody Hell Hotel Reveal Trailer
Developer Unfold Games, known for their award-winning title DARQ, and their console publisher Feardemic, announce their magnum opus: Bloody Hell Hotel. This first-person simulation game was described as a mix of Stardew Valley and Vampires.
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The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative has just announced America’s First Sustainable Urban Agrihood: 3 acres of farmland featuring 2-acre urban garden, a 200-tree fruit orchard, a children’s sensory garden, and more nestled among vacant land and abandoned homes.
According to a new report, climate change threatens coffee production. Not just at some far-off date in the future. This is happening now.
Researchers at the University of Colorado have discovered how to harness the power of the sun to make an eco-friendly sunlight fertilizer.
Hemp is a sustainable crop with uses from food to fuel to building materials. Growing hemp on Maui has the potential to transform the island’s economy and the health of its residents.
The drug free meats debate misses the point. To feed the world, we need to eat more plants.
Recent field-scale tests of GMO wheat designed to repel aphids have shown the new GMO crop to be nearly completely ineffective.
Meet the people who seek out deformed vegetables and ugly fruit — giving them new purpose — and making us laugh. Ugly produce is in the spotlight.
Urban farming has been reimagined with Cityblooms’ lightweight, modular, hydroponic micro-farms. They call them “growbots,” and they’re remarkably cool.
What’s hotter than a starting career in the NFL with a multi-million dollar contract? Leaving it to take on growing vegetables. On a farm.
That’s exactly what Jason Brown, former center for the St. Louis Rams, has done.
Cuter than frolicking baby goats. More creative than Martha Stewart. This week, I got to meet the Beekman Boys — Brent and Josh. My food heroes! Say hello.
We eat lots of chicken. But these birds are not your grandmother’s chickens. The freaks of nature would shock your ancestors. Learn about chicken evolution.
Farm to school programs change kids’ lives positively. But that’s not all. Read this and get inspired to help grow the farm to school movement in your area.
What’s wrong with the state of farming and food in America? Vox posted a collection of maps, graphs, and charts that tell the story in an enjoyable way.


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It’s not exactly a new assertion for CA jurisdictions.. 2020 is starting the same way 2019 did
Pasadena Now reports
One of the unsuccessful applicants for one of the six highly coveted Pasadena cannabis licenses, 420 College Inc., is claiming that the City’s cannabis program could force people to sell cannabis illegally.
According to CEO and founder George Boyadjian, Pasadena has failed to create a pathway into the legalized industry for people who have been selling cannabis for years and instead created a process that only millionaires could compete in.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that wakes up in the morning saying, ‘Gee, you know, I want to go and break as many laws as I possibly can,’” Boyadjian said. “I don’t think there’s anyone out there like that. These folks are forced to do what they do because the City of Pasadena does not provide them with a pathway of switching over, including myself.”
Boyadjian will hold a seminar on Saturday at 420 College Office, 3500 E. Colorado Blvd., designed to teach people how to start up a cannabis business in California.


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Science Companies To Divest After FTC Request
Thermo Electron Corporation and Fisher Scientific International Inc. announced Wednesday that they had received a second request for information from the FTC. The request was limited to information concerning a single, minor product line, the companies said.
To resolve the concerns, the companies are divesting a Fisher product line valued at $17 million.
The companies said they hoped...
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The company “Les Ciments de Bizerte” has just published its interim financial statements closed on June 30, 2022. These statements show a net loss of 11.9 million dinars, against a profit of 1.3 million dinars at the end of June 2021.
The cement company has achieved revenues of about 57.8 million dinars during the first six months of the year, against 72.3 million a year earlier, down 20%.
Indeed, the first half of 2022 has recorded an under activity, compared to normal capacity. The cost of under activity was a value of 2.5 million dinars for production sold and 711 thousand dinars for stocks.
With a cost of sales of 58.1 million dinars, the gross margin is negative 327 thousand dinars, against a positive gross margin of 11.6 million dinars at the end of June 2021. This deterioration is explained by the recession in local demand and by export deficits.
Thus, given that the export prices (set by the international market price) are lower than the cost price, a deficit on export operations is assumed on the one hand for obligation to create resources necessary for the continuity of operation and on the other hand to avoid the cost of deterioration of stocks, costs of handling and financial costs needed for financing the operating cycle.
We also note the increase in the prices of consumables, the price of energy which constitutes +50% of the cost price and mainly the weighted average price of petroleum coke. The latter went up by almost 56% from 490,238 dinars at June 30, 2021 to 764,514 dinars at the end of the first half of 2022.
As for the weighted average price of fuel oil, it has increased by almost 29% from 742,162 dinars to 954,238 dinars between June 2021 and June 2022.
The soaring prices of consumables as well as the lack of production were the cause of the finding of the deficit even on local sales until the second ten days of May 2022, the third ten days saw an increase in sales prices.
Therefore, the operating result is a deficit of 7.2 million dinars, against a surplus of about 6.8 million in the first half of last year.


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The Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria (CBAN) has stated that despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), credit bureaus, and financial institutions to make loans accessible to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), only four per cent out of the 40 million MSMEs in the country have access to credit.
The Managing Director, Chairman Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria, Dr. Tunde Popoola, said it is as a result of this that CBAN is seeking ways to deepen access to credit for MSMEs by focusing on capacity building and awareness creation for small businesses. At a webinar tagged “MSMEs and access to credit”, organised by CBAN, he said easy access to credit has become imperative for MSMEs to perform their role as the engine of growth of the economy.
He said some of the issues hindering the growth of MSMEs included lack of adequate bookkeeping, inadequate capacity to present good business plans, inadequate business presence and the challenge of providing collateral to be used to access credit. “We have a lot that we do in advocacy on the issue of credit and we do a lot of capacity building for our stakeholders. For us at CBAN, we pride ourselves in our ability to develop the capacity to advocate for what we think would bolster every business and individual to get access to credit in Nigeria.
He advised MSMEs to go digital with their financial records, saying that there are various funding opportunities and intervention funds by the government, fintech companies and commercial banks. The Managing Partner, Taisha Associates, Taiwo Popoola, said MSMEs are the bedrock of the economy, but stated that bookkeeping still remains a challenge affecting their operations in the country.
According to him, bookkeeping gives small business access to loans for business expansion, saying that having a well kept book gives lenders or investors clear ideas on the financial state of the business and to make financial projections and investments. He noted that lack of keeping good records is one of the reasons MSMEs are finding it difficult to expand their businesses while also staying afloat.
The Managing Director, Credit Registry, Jameela Sharrief-Ayedun, emphasized the need for businesses to deploy the use of technology to deepen their access to credit to expand their access to credit. She recommended that MSMEs must take cognizance of the 3Cs to get easy access to credit from financial institutions
“The 3Cs include capacity, character and capital. A good financial record keeping demonstrates the capacity to pay back loans while also showing that you have a consistent income to pay back loans while character is another quality MSMEs must have to get access to loans because it shows your willingness to pay back. Bookkeeping can help you to be able to demonstrate the character to have a good credit score,” she advised.