text:
Air Travel Demand Falls Fifth Month in a Row
The Air Transport Association of America reported that passenger revenue fell 23 percent in March 2009 versus the same month in 2008 – the fifth consecutive month in which passenger revenue has fallen from the prior year.
March passenger traffic on U.S. airlines fell by 10 percent, while the overall cost to fly one mile fell by 13 percent. Declines extended beyond the mainland United States to transatlantic, transpacific and Latin markets. (Source: Air Transport Association press release).
Airlines Cut Fares
JetBlue Airways trimmed $100 off some of its nonrefundable fares. Air France introduced a lower priced business “leisure” fare for the summer and Continental Airlines cut BusinessFirst fares to Asia. JetBlue dropped nonrefundable fares from $599 to $499 on 24 of its transcontinental routes.
Air France is offering a 60-day advance purchase business fare to 25 popular destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Sample roundtrip fares: New York-Paris, $2,222, Houston-Madrid, $2,622 and Chicago-Zurich, $2,458. Continental is now offering fares from the New York area to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo starting at $3,076. (Source: Air France, Continental, JetBlue press releases).
Delta, Northwest Merge Frequent Flyer Programs in SkyMiles Card
A marketing campaign to build awareness for the SkyMiles cards in key Delta hubs that were formerly Northwest hubs within the U.S. including Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis.
The Northwest WorldPerks and Delta SkyMiles frequent flyer programs are merging, but Northwest members will have to apply for a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card to continue earning miles both from credit card purchases and from flying. They are expanding benefits in the program, so that card members can earn and redeem miles in more ways and places, including the ability to earn double miles on all Delta and Northwest operated flights.
Gold and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit card members and Delta Reserve card members, who now earn Double Miles on virtually every dollar of spend with Delta, can also earn Double Miles on all purchases made with Delta’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Northwest.
The Pay with Miles feature, which currently allows Gold, Platinum and Reserve card members to book Delta flights with no black-out dates or inventory restrictions on delta.com, will also be expanded to all Northwest-operated flights. (Source: press release).
Corporate America Curtails Travel to Mexico
Forty-seven percent of members of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) responding to a survey of the impact of the swine flu on their company’s travel said that their companies have restricted business travel to Mexico.
Three percent have restricted travel to the U.S. and Mexico, while 7 percent are restricting travel to any country with reported cases of H1N1 swine influenza. One percent reported restricting travel to the U.S. only. Forty-two percent are claiming no travel restrictions at all. Excluding travel to Mexico, only 11 percent of respondents cited travel restrictions.
Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association said airlines were prepared for dealing with swine flu, saying IATA has worked with WHO to prepare guidance materials for front-line staff at airlines, including cabin crew, maintenance workers, cleaners, passenger agents and cargo/baggage handlers. WHO advises there should be no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders.
It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities. (Source: ACTE, IATA press releases).
Customs Deactivates Older NEXUS Cards
U.S. Customs and Border Protection canceled old NEXUS cards for current NEXUS members on May 1. CBP has been mailing new NEXUS cards, a card that simplifies border crossing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers, to all members since November. The new cards have enhanced security features and allow U.S. and Canadian citizen cardholders to comply with the documentary requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
All members must activate their new cards within 30 days, verify and update their U.S. mailing address by going to https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/.
NEXUS members should destroy their old cards after activating their new ones.
(Source: Customs press release).


text:
Wokingham, Woodley And Twyford Open For Business – 15th June
With many local retailers set to reopen from Monday (June 15) there’s lots of activity going on in our main shopping areas of Wokingham town centre, Woodley and Twyford to make sure they can open safely.
Town & Parish Councils
Working closely with our local town and parish councils, as well as Wokingham Business Association, Woodley’s town centre manager, and Twyford Together, the council is offering a range of activities and resources to support our shops and businesses to open safely whilst still adhering to the latest government guidance such as social distancing and safe queuing.
Cllr Stuart Munro, executive member for business and economic development, said: “It’s great to see our local businesses start to reopen again as they are such an important part of our local community. By shopping local, whether in one of our great independent stores or in our local markets, you are helping our businesses to survive and thrive.
“We have been working with our business community throughout the pandemic to support them by distributing £17.3million in grants and £17.5million in business rates relief. Now, that non-essential shops are allowed to open from next week, we are working hard to support our town centre businesses welcome residents back onto our high streets in a safe way.
“But it’s incredibly important that people continue to observe the rules and follow advice on how to shop safely. Everyone must take responsibility, respecting the people around them and the place they are in. We need to make sure we limit the risk of infection spreading as, if a local outbreak occurs, there is a risk that a localised lockdown may return. This is something we can all agree no one wants to see happen.”
Key changes taking place around the main shopping areas of Wokingham town centre, Woodley and Twyford include:
- Clear signage across the towns to make sure people remember the importance of requirements such as the social distancing rule, sanitizing hands and queuing safely
- Increased marketing and social media campaigns to keep shoppers and businesses up to date with useful information and latest updates
- Temporary changes to local roads and footways to help maximise space for pedestrians and manage movement safely
- Clearly marked areas for queuing outside shops
- Support packs for local retailers and businesses including a range of useful resources, such as posters, signs and floor stickers to help encourage safe distancing
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, said: “Whilst we know some of the changes may seem strange at first, we know from our discussions with residents and businesses that creating safe spaces is incredibly important to everyone. All the changes being made are temporary, and we will continue to monitor them over the coming months and adapt them as required.
“Initially we will be realigning the roads in Wokingham town centre, reducing Peach Street, Rectory Road and Wiltshire Road down to one lane and creating wider pedestrian footways along Broad Street and Rose Street. A new 20mph speed limit will also be in place in the town centre. This will enable us to give people in the town centre the safe space they need to access the town, circulate and queue near shops. We will be retaining as much on street parking as possible in the town centre but, in some locations such as along Peach Street, this will not be possible except for loading and unloading and for blue badge holders.”
Works in Wokingham town centre will start tonight (Thursday 11 June) and will continue over the weekend to ensure they are ready for when the businesses reopen on Monday 15.
Other changes in Wokingham town centre include the introduction of a 20mph speed limit and changes to existing signalised crossings which will now be activated by sensors so people waiting to cross no longer need to push the button for them to change. Additional pedestrian crossings, or crossover points will also be established to help pedestrians navigate the town.
Cllr Jorgensen continued: “In the next phase we will be rolling out further changes along roads and footways such as Denmark Street in Wokingham town centre. Further works to Wokingham town centre are expected to start at the end of July, in time for the summer holiday period
“We are not currently proposing changes to the roads or footways in Woodley or Twyford at this time but are continuing to work closely with them to monitor the shopping areas and will take action if required. We will continue to keep resident’s updated if there are any changes.
“But it’s not just about our main retail areas as we want to make sure our shops and businesses are supported across the borough. Many of the ideas and improvements agreed for Wokingham town centre, Woodley and Twyford are applicable to all our retail businesses and we’re keen to work with them to offer support where we can.”
Retailers – Open For Business
Retailers in Wokingham town centre, Woodley and Twyford will be contacted directly to organise access to support packs. Retailers outside of these areas, but interested in finding out more should contact firstname.lastname@example.org
Funding towards these activities is coming from the European Regional Development Fund which helps local areas stimulate their economic development.

domain: news


text:
Ford India has raised prices of the Fiesta by approximately Rs. 90,000/- across all variants, which is going to hurt the sedan’s already dismal sales further.
We like the Fiesta, we really do. It is one of the best driver oriented cars around and offers so much value in the sub Rs. 10 lakh space. That being said; the Fiesta’s sales have never complimented its attributes. Worn out by competition, the Fiesta has been the underdog in this segment (apart from the Linea) and now parent Ford is only making it difficult for the sedan to sell. In a surprising move, Ford India has hiked prices for the Fiesta by 80-90,000/- across all variants, losing out on the fantastic pricing it came with in 2014.
The Ford Fiesta facelift was launched in June last year with only a diesel heart and a fantastic pricing starting at Rs. 7.69 lakhs. Pricing being one of the main reasons for its poor sales in the first place, it seemed that Ford has corrected its mistake, but the revision this year seems to have offset the difference. While other C-segment sedans have also seen a price hike of Rs. 30-50,000/- following the change in excise duty norms, a Rs. 90,000/- price hike is significant. Prices have been hiked by Rs. 81,000/-, Rs. 85,000/- and Rs. 90,000/- on the Ambiente, Trend and Titanium variants respectively.
Even post the revised prices in 2014, the Fiesta could not pick up on sales in comparison to competition. While the best selling Honda City manages to retail over 5000 units every month, the Fiesta on the other hand does a handful of under 500 units every month (Fiesta + Classic). Even Ford has limited the Fiesta allotments for the Indian market that stretches the delivery period to around three months for any variant. What has also been hurting the Fiesta’s sales has been the absence of a petrol engine under the hood.
In addition, despite the market trending back to petrol, Ford has shown no signs of launching the Fiesta with the former 1.5-litre Ti-VCT or 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol motor that might just infuse some demand for this very capable sedan. The company has been concentrating on its best selling EcoSport that currently drives in the sales, while its next major launches include the next generation Figo hatchback and compact sedan that could will hit the market in the following months. Please Ford, promote the fantastic Fiesta, it deserves to sell.
Source – Team-BHP


text:
Bango platform can scale to handle tenfold upgrade in user spend to £50bn
Cambridge-based mobile payments powerhouse Bango is ramping its technology to increase by tenfold the amount of end user spend its platform is comfortably able to cope with.
The current £5 billion EUS capacity could be scaled to as much as £50bn as Bango continues to evolve the platform, CEO Ray Anderson revealed to Business Weekly.
Anderson (pictured) also disclosed significant expansion of Bango’s capability in Asia where it has already grown its Japan office and its team in Korea. Expect to see an uptick in other key centres such as Taiwan and Singapore.
Bango is already growing its influence in India through its client Amazon and has a strong European springboard from its offices in Milan following the acquisition of Italian-quoted business Audiens.
Bango powers mobile payments around the globe for online stores such as Google, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft and other key operators. They use the Bango Platform to collect payments from tens of millions of customers.
The company’s first half results to June 30 showed an inexorable march towards profit in 2019 without exhausting current cash in hand; the payments business is already EBITDA positive.
End user spend in the first half increased 138 per cent to £220m; total revenues increased 54 per cent to £2.63m.
Bango has £5.88m cash which Anderson expects will fund the group through to profitability and cash generation. He said the war chest was sufficient to support both planned investment to grow sales and develop new products.
In the first half, Bango expanded the use of billing integration technology, enabling customers to sign-up for Amazon Prime Video in the US, UK and India.
Pandora, a leading music streaming service, chose the Bango Platform for mobile operator launch in the US.
Additional Google Play routes in Africa and South America were opened up and Anderson sees these as high growth territories along with Asia.
The business model Bango has evolved ranks alongside those of other Cambridge enterprises that have shown long-term sustainability, notably Marshall, Domino, Arm and more recently Grapeshot.
Anderson said: “We work hard to ensure we deliver what we say we will deliver. And I am sure investors are encouraged by the fact we refuse to rest on our laurels; we are constantly evolving our technology to improve our offering to customers and expand our client base globally.”
Mobile operators around the world are seeing the substantial additional profit they can make by working with Bango. An increasing number are expected to upgrade to Bango in the coming months.
For its part, Bango is able to control spend by improving its technology to leverage efficiencies rather than pile on headcount. While its workforce is ethnically diverse the company is in the talent stakes rather than a numbers game.
“We have managed to recruit a number of non-UK hires to boost our talent pool but that is the key – to improve our staff not just put bums on seats. Our continuous technology upgrades enable us to invest wisely in the things that will improve service to clients and make Bango stronger,” Anderson told me.


text:
Riverside, California (NAPSI) - Today’s families are busier than ever. From work and school to sports, the holidays and other activities, it can seem like there’s never enough time to fit it all in, let alone make another stop by the store.
But thankfully, an increasing number of companies are offering new products and services designed to make life easier for their time-crunched customers—using new technologies and home delivery to revolutionize the way people buy groceries, rent movies and even shave. These services offer customers the peace of mind that they’ll have what they need, when they need it and without another errand. But perhaps best of all, many of these time-saving solutions offer another welcome benefit: significant cost savings.
This highway of home delivery already makes its way to pantries, refrigerators and medicine cabinets across the country, but, thanks to HP, the trend has now arrived at the home office, where the trusty family printer regularly prints out homework, schedules, photos, DIY crafts and more. With the new HP Instant Ink (hp.com/go/newinstantink) replacement service, buying printer ink is now another chore to permanently cross off the list as ink is automatically delivered to the doorsteps of users before they run out. And the kicker? The convenient new service can actually save customers up to 50 percent on Original HP ink.
HP Instant Ink printing plans range from $2.99 a month for 50 pages to $9.99 a month for 300 pages. The printer’s ink levels are monitored through the cloud, and HP automatically schedules the delivery of replacement ink well before the cartridges run out. Because plans count printed pages and not the amount of ink used, customers can print high-quality color photos or black-and-white documents, all for roughly $.03-$.05 each. And much like some cell phone services, a certain number of pages can be rolled over from month to month for later use.
The service works with one of several new HP Instant Ink-enabled printers and uses larger-than-normal ink cartridges, which need to be replaced and recycled less often than traditional-size cartridges. The company says this efficiency, combined with such savings as fewer car trips needed to purchase new cartridges, allows HP Instant Ink to deliver a 60 percent reduction in carbon footprint. Ink, shipping and cartridge recycling are all included in the monthly price, and customers can change or cancel their plan at any time.
Juggling work, family and everything in between can be a real challenge. But from diapers to DVDs, cantaloupe to ink cartridges, there’s a solution available to save you time, money and headaches.
To learn more about HP Instant Ink, visit www.hp.com/go/newinstantink.


text:
Nubia has announced that it’s to launch its next generation of gaming phone, the Red Magic 7, on February 17.
The ZTE-associate smartphone brand, which specialises in phones that are custom-made for intensive gaming, has taken to Chinese social network Weibo to reveal a February 17 announcement.
From the (Google Translated) language used in the post, we’re expecting a series of phones under the Red Magic 7 banner.
Last year saw the launch of the Red Magic 6, the Redmagic 6 Pro, the affordable Redmagic 6R, and the Redmagic 6S Pro.
The latter is, in this writer’s humble opinion, the best all-round gaming phone on the market right now, offering speedy specs and sharp physical controls in a design that isn’t irredeemably obnoxious. And you’ll know that latter point is quite an achievement if you know anything about the dedicated gaming phone market.
We’re excited to see what Nubia can do with its 2022 batch of releases. So far, Nubia hasn’t mentioned any official specs for the Red Magic 7 family, but there have been a few leaks and tips.
It seems likely that there will be a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip in there, as well as the eye-catching potential for a 165W charger. Yes, you read that right.
165W would certainly be the fastest mobile charging standard we’ve ever seen if true. Which, judging from various sources and Nubia’s own hints, it seems to be.
Other leaks suggest that we might be in line for in under-screen selfie camera. Previous Nubia phones, like the aforementioned Red Magic 6S Pro, have gone with a chunky forehead bezel so as to incorporate a selfie camera without getting in the way of game content (a cardinal sin). For the next generation, we could have a less chunky device without resorting to a bothersome notch.


text:
Gotta hand it to the gougers at Ticketmaster: They sure got a set of stones.
For the second time in three months, “Ticketbastard,” as critics call it, has ticked off Springsteen fans — this time by overselling a concert in Washington, D.C., through its ticket-scalping subsidiary, TicketsNow.
TicketsNow told more than 300 customers that their top-dollar premium seats at Washington’s Verizon Center weren’t available.
Of course, several Springsteen fans were beside themselves.
But one of the angriest respondents is one Bill Pascrell (right), a congressman from the great state of New Jersey, who called Ticketmaster and TicketsNow a bunch of shameful, greedy liars.
I’ve known Bill more than 25 years. He is nothing if not fair. God forbid he sees anyone being taken advantage of, however. The Paterson street kid in him takes over.
“TicketsNow is apparently not only in the business of gouging consumers by selling tickets at several times their face value, but also selling tickets that they don’t even have,” he told reporters today.
Despite agreements with authorities in New Jersey and elsewhere following a ticket debacle for Springsteen at the Meadowlands; and despite complaints that similar ticket-gouging tactics have been used for other acts, Ticketmaster keeps raking in the dough.
Those officials have offered full refunds and gift cards of equal value — in essence, doubling the refund for Springsteen in D.C. Or fans could choose better seats from another show. On top of that, the company says it’ll pay your gas (but not tolls) and up to $150 for a hotel stay.
(Choose your punchline: (a) Who knows? They just may leave the cigarette lighter on for you; or (b) “Does anyone here know CPR? “No, but I got ripped off on a Springsteen ticket.”)
That’s nice, says Pascrell, who plans to get his colleagues to agree on a law requiring strict new rules for what essentially are legal scalpers.
“Right now there is no transparency, no checks and balances,” Pascrell told NJ.com. “No one knows what the hell is going on.
“What you have here is worse than a scam. There’s all sorts of legalized scalping going on, and it’s happening right under our noses.”
My money’s on the esteemed Democrat from the bare-knuckles Silk City fast by the Great Falls. If TicketMaster wanted a fight, they got the wrong guy. They could end up going over the Falls in a barrel.


text:
Big Brother is manipulating you?
As anyone that has read George Orwell’s 1984 knows, the ability to rewrite history and manipulate information is at the heart of controlling behaviour. As communist Russia showed, people could simply be airbrushed from the official account and would vanish from the public consciousness.
Of course, in the age of social media, the web, and 24 hour global media, this ability to control news should have disappeared. If a government blocks a site or a mobile phone network, there are ways around it that spread information quickly, bypassing attempted censorship.
However, I’d argue that the reverse has happened and that Big Brother can operate stealthily in two ways. Firstly, rumours can start and spread unchecked, with the majority of us not taking the time to get to the original source, instead believing something that has been retweeted or shared on Facebook. I’ve had people swear blind to me that a major incident took place ‘because I saw it on Facebook’ – though I can’t believe they’d be as credulous if a random stranger told them the same story down the pub. By the time the truth is out, immeasurable damage can be done – to a company’s brand or share price or a person’s reputation.
Secondly, we believe what our computers tell us, and act accordingly, particularly when it chimes with our own preconceptions. Essentially we think that the complex algorithms that control what appears on our screens are unbiased, rather than reflecting what the site owner has determined in some way.
This leaves us open to manipulation, whether by marketers trying to sell us things or more sinister experiments. Facebook received justified criticism for running an experiment where it tampered with the stories in people’s timelines, seeing what the impact would be on what users themselves wrote. Unsurprisingly the percentage of negative or positive posts had a direct link to the tone and language people used in their own posts.
Now dating site OKCupid has admitted that it experimented on its users. This included deliberately pairing up unsuitable couples and telling them that they were a perfect match to see what would happen. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a little serendipity, but deliberate meddling risks breaking the trust between a site and its users. Throwing in a wildcard of “here’s someone completely unlike you, but why not see what happens if you meet?” is one thing if it is advertised, but quite another if it is hidden behind the veil of computer processing.
Some might argue that this is just a next step in techniques such as Nudge, where choices are ordered in a way to drive particular outcomes. These are supposedly for the greater good. For example, if diners come to the salad bar first in a cafeteria they eat more healthy stuff and if you automatically enrol people in pensions, they tend not to take the opportunity to opt out. But I’d say it goes much further than this, and is about trust.
In many ways breaches of trust are similar to security breaches – something that the user relied upon unthinkingly has been removed, calling into question the entire relationship they have with a company. And like trust in any relationship, it is a time-consuming and difficult process to rebuild it.
So, anyone involved in marketing, media or technology does have a responsibility to be as open and transparent as they can be. At the very least there are legal safeguards (such as the Data Protection Act) that need to be obeyed, but I think companies need to go further than that. We live in a world where people want to have a genuine relationship with brands that they respect and trust, rather than the transactional, one-sided versions of the past. Therefore organisations need to think first about the consequences of experimenting on their users before playing Big Brother with their lives.
No comments yet.
Why Revolutionary Measures?
Marketing is undergoing a revolution. The advent of social media provides the opportunity for one-to-one communication for the first time since the move to an industrial society. This blog will look at what this means for B2B PR and marketing, incorporating my own thoughts/rants and interests. Do let me know your feedback!
About meI'm Chris Measures and I've spent the last 18 years creating and implementing PR and marketing campaigns for technology companies. I've worked with everyone from large quoted companies to fast growth start-ups, giving me unrivalled experience and ideas. I'm now director of Measures Consulting, an agency that uses this expertise to deliver PR and marketing success for technology businesses.
- @JonWilcox_ @SteveBarclayMP Maybe he's lying low on the boat on his Twitter picture? 4 days ago
- Delighted to be co-leading a breakout session at @CIPR_EastAnglia #BestPRactice17 in May - hope to see people there… twitter.com/i/web/status/8… 4 days ago
- RT @LondonLibDems: Important news from the European Parliament: vote Lib Dem and Britain CAN cancel Brexit theguardian.com/politics/2017/… 4 days ago
- RT @letouryorkshire: Win a #TDU backpack full of goodies from our sister race @tourdownunder, including a @richie_porte signed Ochre Leader… 4 days ago
- RT @CambNetwork: Startups: join the next @SeriousImpactUK Accelerator in Cambridge ow.ly/Ate530b0D3g #membernewsfrom @AlliaLtd https:… 5 days ago
advertising Amazon Android Apple ARM Artificial intelligence Autonomy Barack Obama BBC BBC Micro Business Cambridge Cambridgeshire Cambridge University CfEL Chris Measures Communications Crossing the Chasm Daily Mail David Cameron Digital Donald Trump Ed Miliband Edward Snowden Entrepreneur European Union Facebook FIFA Google government IBM Idea Transform innovation Intel internet Internet of Things iPad IPhone Journalism Journalist LinkedIn London Malcolm Tucker marketing Mark Zuckerberg Measures Consulting Microsoft mobile MySpace Nick Clegg Nigel Farage Nokia Norwich PR Privacy Public Relations Raspberry Pi Silicon Fen Silicon Valley Smartphone social media Social network Starbucks startup Tech City Technology The Economist The Times twitter Uber United States WhatsApp World Cup YouTube ZX Spectrum
Site infoRevolutionary Measures
Blog at WordPress.com.


text:
Top chef coming to North Norfolk
A top television chef is set to come to North Norfolk to conduct a meat masterclass.
Tom Kerridge, who was a finalist in last year's BBC Great British Menu and is taking part in the competition again this year, will be conducting a the meat masterclass at The David Adlard Cookery School at The Walpole Arms in Itteringham, tomorrow .
The class will give amateur cooks the chance to learn about seasonal cuts of lamb, beef and pork.
There are just two place left for the event, which is limited to 12 participants.
The full-day course costs �175, including all ingredients, lunch with wine and a booklet containing all the day's recipes. For full details, and to book, log on to www.davidadlardcookeryschool.co.uk, or call 01263 587258.
You may also want to watch:
- 1 'She was a fighter'- Tributes to music-loving Kelsey, 27
- 2 Surgery turns away people asking for 'spare' Covid vaccines
- 3 Man who drove 128 miles for fish and chips among latest Covid fines
- 4 Store open despite positive Covid test at town centre Sainsbury's
- 5 Man who died in west Norfolk crash named
- 6 Covid case rates continue to fall across Norfolk and Waveney
- 7 Norwich sees biggest rise in Covid infection rates in the country
- 8 Car gets stuck at ford after missing warning sign
- 9 Rare melanistic seal pups caught on camera
- 10 Hospital gets a brand new MRI machine


text:
MW3 Zombies is one of the modes players hope to see in the upcoming Call of Duty, and thanks to a mysterious audio clip, we finally have confirmation.
COD Zombies is a mode that allows players to test out their Call of Duty skills by placing them into a survival round mode. It gives players a break from the usual multiplayer and Warzone chaos and allows them to explore a new story tied around a mysterious zombie outbreak.
At first, there was a lot of discussion regarding Zombies even coming to MW3, but thanks to a new update from Sledgehammer and a mysterious audio clip, we finally have confirmation.
MW3 Zombies Confirmed by Audio Clip
Call of Duty has confirmed that MW3 will have Zombies in a recent update on the official blog. They have already begun to tease it using an audio clip of zombies growling sent to players who texted the Unknown Caller “Zombies.”
If you want to hear the audio clip for yourself, then you can check it out in the tweet below or even text “Zombies” to the Unknown Caller at (202) 918-3022 (US Only).
The audio seems to start with a ringing sound that is often heard in the popular mode, followed by the iconic noise of the COD Zombies growling.
MW3 hasn’t revealed much about how they will implement the survival mode, but it is worth noting that this is the first time a Modern Warfare game has a Zombies mode. Treyarch is the studio that usually handles COD Zombies.
However, in their most recent update, Call of Duty mentioned that the new Modern Warfare Zombies would be the largest Zombies offering to date. This means they will likely expand on the Zombie Outbreak mode from Black Ops Cold War that captivated the players.


text:
Because "our marketing operation needs a more dynamic structure to ensure our consumer is at the core of our marketing strategy," Random House has created a new department structure that aims to let the team "focus on creating and executing unique marketing campaigns that are not only reader-centric, but also promote cross-functional collaboration," Sanyu Dillon, executive v-p and director of marketing, wrote in a memo to staff.
The related following appointments have been announced:
Leslie Prives has been promoted to the newly created position of senior director, integrated marketing operations. She joined the company as director of digital marketing in 2015 and earlier worked at Digitas and Ogily CommonHealth. She will head the new integrated marketing operations team, which includes the creative services department, copy department, audience development and marketing technology department and the newly formed digital campaigns & media planning department.
Maxwell Minckler has been promoted to director, marketing insights and analytics. He joined the company in 2014 from Disney Interactive.


text:
Sales director for Electronic Arts UK, Keith Ramsdale, says grocery has provided the games publishers with a lucrative additional route to market.
He says a new consumer demographic of parents with younger children are being introduced to the concept of purchasing games in the supermarket, attracted by family-oriented entertainment zones. “The type of games buyer is different from the more specialist shops and will be drawn to highly recognised brands or franchises such as Lord of The Rings,” he says.
There is also evidence more traditional games buyers are spending more in grocery as stores stock a wider choice of titles.
EA is increasing its marketing activity with supermarket partners, with key Christmas titles including Fifa Football 2004, Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup, and the Return of the King.
“Around 70% of people who buy VHS and DVD videos in supermarkets are consumers who would not buy them anywhere else,” says 20th Century Fox retail controller David Stevens. “The market is increasing in size all the time and DVD will boost sales for everyone.”
He believes the supermarkets have preferred to remain chart and new release focused rather than struggle with the retailing complexities of a wide back catalogue.
“The grocers are investing more in creating extra depth to their displays so more copies of the biggest titles are available,” he says.
On the issue of day one compliance, Stevens believes Tesco has the best record of supporting new titles. “The supermarkets have been slow to realise the importance of first day sales and it has not been a priority for them.”
EMI Records is on a mission to increase the amount of back catalogue product sold in the supermarkets. For this Christmas it has convinced Tesco and Sainsbury to stock a specially produced range of back catalogue titles featuring triple and double CDs from artists such as David Gray.
The music industry believes both chains have struggled to compete with Asda in the amount of archive product available.
EMI has produced catalogue titles for Tesco in the past to support one-off promotions but Mike McMahon, commercial director, sales EMI Music UK and Ireland, says he is determined to convince the supermarkets of the merits of selling back catalogue throughout the year.
“We are urging all stores to review their catalogue range, pricing and promotions to ensure shoppers understand this part of the market better,” he says.


text:
Nowadays, you can spend your bitcoin on much more than pizza, in a wide.
can also buy Reddit Gold with bitcoin, and give it out as gratitude for the user who.
05/08/2019 · Coinbase is a global digital asset exchange company (GDAX), providing a venue to buy and sell digital currencies. Products like Coinbase are a.
28 Dec 2014.
The company seems to be tracking what their customers are buying with Bitcoin and closing any accounts involved in transactions that the.
How Do I Transfer Money To A Bitcoin Wallet Bitcoin Wallet App Mac 29 dec 2017. Bitcoins bewaar je in een zogeheten wallet, een soort digitale. en MacOS): Bitcoin Core is door alle functionaliteiten een app voor de. The secure app to store crypto yourself. All your digital assets in one place; Use Decentralized Apps; Pay friends, not addresses. Get on Google Play Download.
Q1 2020 Earnings Conference Call May 01, 2020, 09:00 AM ET Company Participants Jason Weyeneth – Director of IR Jonat.
A conversation about the latest market-moving news, including a surge in oil prices and the latest unemployment data.
In the wake of the announcements of Facebook’s Libra and the Chinese government’s intention to have a Central Bank Digital.
28 Apr 2020.
The wallet stores the private keys on the user's device and only they have.
When you buy Bitcoins from Coinbase the price you pay consists of the following.
Expect Coinbase to track how you spend “their” coins and to.
People can use Bitcoin for almost any type of transaction, including online.
form of currency, keeping track of Bitcoin is essential to smart spending and saving.
16 Jul 2016.
Coin base is is a Bank of the Bitcoin World.Since day 1 they have been very strict about tracking users especially transferring coins on the.
31/10/2019 · Bitcoin transactions, on the other hand, typically cost around $0.75,⁸ can be done 24/7, are instantly seen on the network, and are widely regarded as secure after confirmation of six blocks, which happens in about one hour. Bit-sized fact: In September 2019, a Bitcoin address transferred over $1 billion dollars worth of bitcoin for a $700.
Indian shares tumble as lockdown extends. The benchmark stock indices that opened deep in the red in the morning only managed.
Bitcoin allows users to transact pseudonymously, so there is no data contained within.
Transactions are final, once fully confirmed in the blockchain nobody can issue a.
There actually are simple steps to dramatically reduce online tracking.
CoinTracking helps with taxes for your tax declaration of Bitcoins and other digital currencies. According to the methods FIFO, LIFO, HIFO and LOFO, CoinTracking calculates all your trades exact to the cent and prepares them automatically, so that they only have to be attached in the tax return. Our tool is designed to adapt to the laws.


text:
It looks like the horsepower wars are far from over in the States and may see Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 released with a higher power output than was originally planned. The ZL1 (pictured) won’t reach American car dealerships until early next year, but fresh reports are claiming that power output for the pony car has been bumped up to more than 570 hp (425 kW).
When the ZL1 officially debuted at the Chicago Auto Show, GM said the supercharged 6.2-litre engine would have a max power output of approximately 550 hp (410 kW). That was all good until word came out that the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 was expected to use a supercharged 5.8-litre V8 with up to 620 hp (462 kW). With Ford now throwing down the challenge, Chevrolet was left with little choice but to upgrade its hardcore ZL1, just to stay in the fight. Continue reading “Chevrolet’s hardcore Camaro ZL1 to come packing 425kW” »
Ford has just released details of the 2011 Shelby GT500, ahead of its official debut at the Chicago Auto Show.
Looking virtually identical to the 2010 model, the 2011 GT500’s changes are mainly under the bonnet. An aluminum 5.4-lire V8 engine takes pride of place. It’s based on the 5.0-litre V8 found in the 2011 Mustang GT, the new engine has an additional 0.4-liters of displacement, an improved block structure, six-bolt billet main bearing caps, and a supercharger.
Weighing 46kg less than the previous cast-iron engine, the new engine produces 550 hp (410kW) and 510 ft-lb (691 Nm) of torque making for a 10 hp increase over the outgoing model. Ford hasn’t released exact performance specifications yet.
Besides the new engine, Ford has reworked the electric power steering system, added slotted brake dust shields, installed a new pedal box, reduced the ride height, and developed a new exhaust system.
There is also an optional SVT Performance Package that features unique styling accents, stiffer springs, a higher rear axle ratio, and lightweight wheels wrapped in specially-developed Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar G: 2 tyres.
Check out a short video of the latest GT500 in action below.
To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the original 1965 Shelby GT350, Shelby American has just unveiled an all new GT350 Mustang. Presented initially in concept form, the new GT350 features a supercharged version of the new 5.0-liter V8 engine in the 2011 Mustang as well as performance upgrades from Ford Racing, Borla, Cragar, Baer and others.
Unlike Shelby’s GT500, the GT350 will be a post-title upgrade available from Shelby in the States. American customers can have their 2011 Mustangs shipped directly to Shelby’s Las Vegas facility to be converted or they can deliver the car themselves. Once received at Shelby, each Mustang is fitted with a Ford Racing supercharger good for approximately 500 horsepower, a Ford Racing suspension system, Baer brakes front and rear, Borla exhaust system and Cragar wheels. For the exterior, Shelby fits a new front fascia, front splitter, functional hood scoop tail light trim, rear deck lid filler panel and a replacement rear fascia with centre exhaust exit. There’s only one colour combination white with Guardsman Blue racing stripes.
What’s the price for the extensive upgrade? Shelby lists the full package at $33,995 USD, which naturally doesn’t include the base car. With the 2011 Mustang GT costing just over $30,000 USD, the total price of the GT350 will actually exceed that of the Shelby GT500.
Check out images of the Shelby GT350 in the gallery below.


text:
Red hot artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC is projecting that it will now achieve an $850 million annualized revenue run rate by the end of 2024, significantly greater than an earlier forecast it made just three months ago.
Back in September, the company told investors it was generating revenue at a $100 million annualized run rate, and expected that number to top $500 million by the end of next year. A report by The Information today said the new estimate comes from two people with knowledge of the company’s finances, but it didn’t say why the new projection is materially higher than the last.
Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC, is one of a number of high-profile AI startups attempting to take on OpenAI in the generative AI industry. The best known generative AI model is ChatGPT, which is renowned for its ability to create humanlike responses to text and audio prompts.
Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT is Claude, which many say is just as impressive. The company’s most recent model is Claude 2, and it’s designed to compete with GPT-4, which powers the latest version of ChatGPT. Besides responding to basic questions, it can generate marketing copy, solve mathematical problems, write original software code and more.
The startup was founded by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at OpenAI. One of the main differentiators between Claude 2 and rival models is that it has the ability to process more complex prompts containing up to 100,000 tokens, which is a unit in AI that corresponds to characters and numbers. The more tokens, the more data that can be processed.
In contrast, GPT-4 is only able to process up to 8,000 tokens. As such, Anthropic argues that Claude 2 has a much higher capacity for summarizing long documents.
The Information’s report added that some people who are close to the company believe its annualized revenue could reach as much as $1 billion by the end of 2024, amounting to $83 million per month in sales.
In addition to generating its own dollars, Anthropic is also said to be holding talks over an additional $750 million funding round that would be led by Menlo Ventures, according to a report from The Information last week. The new round will reportedly bring Anthropic’s valuation to a cool $15 billion.
The startup has already raised several billion dollars in funding, with Amazon and Google agreeing to invest $4 billion and $2 billion, respectively, in the past few months. Prior to that, it raised $300 million from Google in an earlier round in March, which was followed by a $450 million Series C round led by Spark Capital in May. Sapphire Ventures LLC committed $1 billion to the startup in June, while South Korean telecommunications firm SK Telecom Co. Ltd. said in August it would invest $100 million.
The latest revenue projection appears to justify the confidence of those investors in Anthropic’s growth projections, and provides yet more evidence that generative AI is rapidly gaining steam in the enterprise.
Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.
One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.
Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.


text:
Berkmann Wine Cellars has become
the exclusive UK distributor for the Chilean winery De Martino
after a 12-year break. The two had worked together in the past but parted company in 1997.
The body representing Portugal's Vinhos Verdes will
hold a tasting on April 23 from 2pm-7pm in London's Royal Exchange. The event will feature a masterclass on the region by wine writer Sarah Ahmed followed by a walk-around tasting.
Contact firstname.lastname@example.org or 07894 809112.
Waitrose is showcasing wines from Italy, Spain, southern France, Lebanon, Kosovo and Montenegro in its Mediterranean wine showcase, which runs from April 15 to May 17.
English Vine Tours is offering three one-day vineyard experiences to celebrate English Wine Week, which runs from May 23-31. The tours cost £99 or £59 per person and combine vineyard visits with luxury lunches.
Contact 01323 732001 .
Guy Anderson Wines is launching Sauvignon Blanc in 25cl cans next month. The wine, called Cancan, is sourced from south west France and will be followed by an Italian Pinot Grigio rosé and a Prosecco.
Symington Family Estates has announced that Warre's, Dow's and Graham's ports have declared the 2007 vintage, after an exceptional year that produced high quality grapes in all the brands' vineyards.
PLB has become the UK distributor of Grove Mill after signing up the New Zealand Wine Company, which was formerly with Paragon Vintners.


text:
UTV announces successful deal closure with The Walt Disney Company
UTV Software Communications Ltd, the integrated media group with business interest in motion pictures, broadcast, TV content, and animation and gaming, has announced the closure of its preferential allotment to The Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) Pte Ltd. With this, the promoter group and Disney will have equal stake of 32.10 per cent in UTV.
This was approved on May 9, 2008, where the committee allotted 9,352,500 equity shares of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs 860.79 per equity share aggregating to around Rs 8050 million. The promoter group has also subscribed to 4,532,000 warrants at the same issue price.
This investment further establishes The Walt Disney Company's entry into the Indian market and complements the fast-growing Disney-branded businesses and long-held joint venture in ESPN-STAR Sports. As a result of this investment, The Walt Disney Company's stake in UTV will go up from 13.7 per cent to 32.1 per cent on a fully diluted share capital basis.
Our typical marketing budget is usually 10 per cent of the topline spend
There are some forces impacting the way our business works. The IT/ITeS sector has changed tremendously. Platforms like Twitter have made everyone journalists. Smartphones have made everyone a photographer. The trend that we are seeing is one of hyperdigitalization, which is causing the lines between product and services to blur. For example, <a href=http://www.exchange4media.com/company/news/amaz...
The OOH sector is among the fastest growing, globally. Brands and marketers have realized its potential and impact and begun to craft medium-specific adverts. Self-regulation is not only necessary but also essential to growth of the sector. The industry needs to exercise a certain level of this self-restraint to prove its commitment to maintaining the best standards in advertising.
Clients are looking for experiential solutions beyond radio or print: Abraham Thomas, Radio City 91.1 FM

 From entering new markets to launching large format events, Radio City 91.1FM has been on a roll. The radio channel recently announced the launch of India’s biggest singing talent hunt-Radio City Super Singer Season 8. Earlier this year, the channel set up its own creative-cum...
The interesting animated rap music video encapsulates Droom’s ecosystem tools and their role in facilitating second-hand automobile transactions
Perfumes are invisible and these new ads from Skinn create a story out of this
New campaign aims at first-time users by providing ‘first-night free’ – a first-ever offering by the brand on online hotels booking


text:
September 8, 2015
August 5, 2015
U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh today decided to stop a group lawsuit against Apple over undelivered text messages caused by an iMessage bug, Bloomberg reports. The issue drew a lot of attention last year when the bug with Apple’s messaging system caused former iPhone users that switched to Android to discover text messages were not being properly delivered to their phone number. In dismissing the lawsuit, Judge Koh explained that while Apple’s iMessage system may have resulted in lost text messages, their was inadequate evidence that the group faced a “contractual breach or interference” from iMessage… expand full story
June 23, 2015
At this year’s WWDC, Apple devoted a lot of onstage attention to a revamp of the Notes app in both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. One of my favorite additions is inline web link previews. Just paste a URL, and Notes will turn the link into a preview bubble with a thumbnail for the page, as well as a title and description.
This got me thinking about the possibility of applying the same functionality to other apps. The most obvious place to start, in my opinion, is Messages. I’m constantly sending and receiving links through iMessage throughout the day, whether it’s to a web page, an image, or even just a tweet. Having to flip back and forth between Safari and Messages just to see what the link I’ve been sent is removes me from the conversation and slows down my workflow.
June 22, 2015
Update: Reports of the outage are slowing down, although it’s unclear if issues are entirely resolved. Apple has yet to update its status page.
It appears that Apple’s iMessage is suffering from widespread issues this evening. While Apple has yet to acknowledge the issue on its system status page, users on Twitter have been reporting issues for the past hour, so much so that iMessage is trending on the social network right now.
May 26, 2015
Some of iOS 9‘s more important planned enhancements include split-screen apps on iPads, a new Home app for controlling HomeKit accessories, a new system-wide UI font, a mass transit directions service for the Maps app, and major quality, performance, and security enhancements. However, multiple sources note that there will also be some smaller, but still important, tweaks to the operating system. We spotlight some of these expected changes below…
May 13, 2015
If you want the security of knowing your voice, text and picture messages can’t be intercepted, direct peer-to-peer communication with end-to-end encryption is the gold standard: and that’s what BitTorrent offers with its Bleep app.
Every conversation is between you and your friends. There is no cloud to hack because messages are never stored in the cloud.
For text messages and photos, Bleep offers the choice of Whispers – where both text and images disappear when they’ve been read – and Messages, which stores them locally on the device. You can also make voice calls with the same peer-to-peer encrypted technology … expand full story


text:
Nikola Corp. said it rejected a slate of director nominees proposed by an entity controlled by founder and former Chief Executive Officer Trevor Milton, who was recently sentenced to prison for fraud.
The maker of electric big rigs received a notice last month from M&M Residual, the Milton-controlled vehicle, declaring its intent to nominate directors at Nikola’s 2024 annual shareholders meeting, according to a statement Friday. The candidates are Cole Cannon, Derek Johnson, Hans Peterson, Paul Southam and Dave Sparks.
Nikola said it opposes the slate because the nominees “have no public company experience, add no skills or experience to the board, and indisputably lack the depth of experience that the current Nikola board members bring.” They also lack expertise in zero-emissions trucking and energy infrastructure, the Phoenix-based company said.
The EV maker plans to disclose its own nominees for the eight-person board when the proxy statement is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Representatives for Milton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Milton resigned under a cloud from his role as Nikola’s executive chair in September 2020. In December 2023 he was ordered to spend four years behind bars after a jury convicted him of securities fraud and wire fraud for misrepresenting key details about the development of Nikola’s products and technology. Milton also was ordered to pay a $1 million fine.
While he has had no involvement in the company’s daily operations for several years, Milton remains one of Nikola’s biggest shareholders. Last year, he called for leadership changes, urging investors to reject company-backed proposals to reelect directors and allow new shares to be issued.
Nikola’s shares rose 1.5% to about 72 cents at 9:32 a.m. in New York.


text:
by Azeez Adeniyi
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has arrested two Chinese for importing substandard tyres worth over N5bn.
According to a statement in Sunday, the suspects are Taolung Shen and Xu Jing Yau.
The statement disclosed that they were arrested at awarehouse where they had been cloning different sizes of tyres under different brand names.
They reportedly imported the tyres by stuffing them into one another.
“Sometimes as many as five tyres were stuffed into one and the tyres would have bent and ruptured in several places, thereby looking weak and slack.
“But the Chinese adorned the tyres with new labels and shinny linings to create the impression of being new and healthy,” SON said.
Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma tool reporters round the warehouse.
He said the quality of the tyres were already compromised as they were stuffed together and shipped all the way from China.
“The SON Directorate of Compliance intercepted one of their trucks on the highway, tracked it and then this.
“You can see the amount of danger that these people are posing to our people and our economy just because they want to make huge profit at the expense of the lives of Nigerians.
“It is a clear case of investing millions in illicit business in order to take away the lives of millions of Nigerians, to destroy the lives of millions of Nigerians. If we allow something like this, it will amount to killing Nigerians,” Aboloma said.
He warned others involved in adulterated products to desist from it.
“I want to reiterate that there is no hiding place for those who deal in substandard products as they would be caught and their products confiscated. Today’s feat is an example,” he said.


text:
New COVID-19 Lockdowns Could Result In “Second Boom” For iPoker
The first coronavirus lockdown period which began in mid-March hurt most industries, with the exception of online poker. iPoker operators reported record revenues, owing to a massive surge in online traffic.
The top iPoker rooms took advantage of the worldwide trend by hosting massive festivals; quite a few of them have made history in terms of player turnout and the size of guarantees on offer.
Across the world, COVID-19 restrictions have been eased in recent weeks and the live poker scene is slowly getting back to life.
However, online poker traffic continues to remain strong. iPoker figures could once again reach record levels, with some countries currently enforcing a second wave of lockdown due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
EU Market Records Increase in Cash Game Traffic
In the segregated European online poker market, cash game traffic is slowly returning to the Feb-March levels, during which governments across Europe were still preparing to implement COVID-19 lockdowns. Latest figures show Spain, France, and Portugal enjoying an almost 30% rise in cash game traffic, with Italy also recording an 18% increase.
These countries, including the UK and Germany, have recently implemented a fresh wave of local lockdowns due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. This led to another surge in online traffic, which could extend to 2021. The international market is also recording an upward trend, though it has yet to reach the same rate of increase. In the US, the regulated online poker market is showing positive signs as well.
iPoker Operators Enjoy Year-On-Year Increase
As land-based casinos and poker rooms struggle to get back on their feet after being closed for months, the story is very different in the online poker market. Major online poker operators have recorded year-on-year increases, with GGPoker leading the pack.
Year-on-year figures for the up-and-coming online poker site increased by an incredible 208%, while partypoker and PokerStars both enjoyed increases of 30% and 7% respectively. Unibet Poker is up 11%, while 888poker jumped by 2% based on year on year revenues.
During the last two months of the year, the online poker market usually records strong figures. This seasonal trend has contributed to the latest growth in numbers aided by the fact that several European countries have implemented localized lockdowns. There is high chance that traffic will once again catapult to record levels in the weeks and months ahead, an indication that the iPoker industry could be up for a second boom in 2020.


text:
Fashion’s love of the late Alber Elbaz never seems to fade. Paris's Palais Galliera on Thursday announced that next spring it will stage an exhibition themed on the final tribute show presented in his honor.
Finally after 16 years closed; municipal headaches; massive rebuilding and Covid delays, France’s most storied department store La Samaritaine revealed itself on Monday, after an estimated €750m investment by owner LVMH.
On the same day as one malcontent was slapping Emmanuel Macron in rural France, the president’s start-up nation was showing another face – La Caserne, a dynamic new fashion incubator inside Paris' largest fire station.
As Tranoï and the French Fashion Federation join forces, and Who’s Next and Mode & Objet confirm their dates, French trade shows are preparing their return, after cancelling several editions due to the pandemic.
Alber Elbaz, the renowned fashion designer credited with giving classic tailoring a more playful edge, was buried in Israel on Wednesday following his weekend death in Paris aged 59 after a battle with Covid-19.


text:
'Ya Filthy Animal' clothing stirs trademark dispute fight
“Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal.”
The holiday greeting on T-shirts and other apparel that Elliott and Dustin Fisher’s Columbus company sells online is meant in jest — or not, that’s up to the wearer.
What’s not funny, to the brothers, is a Dublin woman shutting down their sales on a retail website by claiming trademark and copyright infringements on her “Ya Filthy Animal” clothing.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. decided in favor of the Fishers and their company, DT Fashion, on Tuesday when he issued a preliminary injunction against Santana Jade Cline and the Dark Monkey, Cline’s Nevada-based online clothing company.
Cline cannot claim a registered trademark or copyright protection for “Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal,” according to the order.
The line comes from the movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Then-child actor Macaulay Culkin’s character was watching a movie on TV in which a gunman bestows the holiday greeting, then mows down the person with a machine gun.
Cline, who did not attend Tuesday’s hearing, applied for a trademark for the phrase “Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal” on Oct. 30, according to the Fishers’ complaint. A week later, she filed a trademark-infringement case against DT Fashion, causing Etsy.com to deactivate DT Fashion’s merchandise listings.
Eight days later, Cline applied for copyright protection for the slogan, the complaint said.
Retail sites adhere to federal copyright and trademark requirements, said the Fishers’ attorney, Peter Ezanidis.
“They don’t want to be involved in disputes, so when they receive a complaint, they let the merchants fight among themselves,” he said.
Sargus’ order should quickly restore DT Fashion’s merchandise to Etsy’s site, Ezanidis said. Every day costs the company at least $1,500 in sales, according to figures from Elliott Fisher.
He said DT Fashion received a registered trademark for “Ya Filthy Animal” in 2013. The phrase is among the company’s biggest sellers, he said.
Ezanidis said the phrase isn’t meant to associate with Home Alone the movie, which is back in theaters this holiday season for its 25th anniversary.
“This is taking something that had some pop-culture significance and creating a brand around it that has its own intrinsic meaning,” he said.
Cline said the Fishers lied on their trademark registration, saying the design would be surrounded by animal-related images, not holiday ornaments. So, she concluded, her trademark is valid.
Elliott Fisher said the company gave the U.S. Copyright Office several samples of the slogan and graphics.
The company on Chambers Road operates YaFilthyAnimalStore.com, where the apparel is available for other holidays or occasions, such as “Happy Birthday Ya Filthy Animal.”
There are copyright objections that are made in good-faith, Elliott Fisher said.
“If they send us a letter, and the claim looks legitimate, we say, ‘We’re sorry,’ and remove the item,” he said. “We don’t even mess with Disney; we don’t have the money to fight them.”
Then there are the “trollers,” who search for targets of copyright complaints, he said. Their motive can be a prank or an attempt to remove a competitor to make a profit until their application is denied.
“It used to be you’d have to go down to the copyright office and fill out the paperwork,” Elliott Fisher said. “Now you just right click and take someone’s image, take off some decoration and declare it as yours.”
Cline said that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy claim she filed in Nevada protects her property from creditors. The injunction affects her ability to sell “Ya Filthy Animal” apparel, she said, although the point is moot because she plans to continue selling it.
Cline said she didn’t attend Tuesday’s hearing to argue her case because the bankruptcy overrides the injunction. Sargus noted in his order that the injunction “does not impair any jurisdiction” in the Nevada bankruptcy.
“We just want her to go away and leave us alone,” Elliott Fisher said.


text:
On August 22, a group of leading companies across the global food supply chain announced a major blockchain collaboration with IBM intended to further strengthen consumer confidence in the global food system.
In addition to Golden State Foods, the consortium also includes Dole, Driscoll’s, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever and Walmart, who will work with IBM to identify new areas where the global supply chain can benefit from blockchain.
Every year, one-in-ten people fall ill – and 400,000 die – due to contaminated food.* Many of the critical issues impacting food safety such as cross-contamination, the spread of food-borne illness, unnecessary waste and the economic burden of recalls are magnified by lack of access to information and traceability. It can take weeks to identify the precise point of contamination, causing further illness, lost revenue and wasted product. For example, it took more than two months to identify the farm source of contamination in a recent incidence of salmonella in papayas.**
Blockchain is ideally suited to help address these challenges because it establishes a trusted environment for all transactions. In the case of the global food supply chain, all participants – growers, suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers, regulators and consumers – can gain permissioned access to known and trusted information regarding the origin and state of food for their transactions. This can enable food providers and other members of the ecosystem to use a blockchain network to trace contaminated product to its source in a short amount of time to ensure safe removal from store shelves and stem the spread of illnesses.
“IBM has deep experience and a commitment to business processing and security needs, which are exactly the skill sets needed to bring blockchain to full maturity for food safety and all associated transactions,” said Guilda Javaheri, GSF’s Chief Technology Officer. “As a customer and partner with IBM for more than forty years, Golden State Foods is pleased to collaborate with IBM and this group of trusted food companies.”
Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Walmart and others are now coming together with IBM to further champion blockchain as an enabling technology for the food sector. Together they will help identify and prioritize new areas where blockchain can benefit food ecosystems and inform new IBM solutions. This work will draw on multiple IBM pilots and production networks in related areas that successfully demonstrate ways in which blockchain can positively impact global food traceability.
*Source: World Health Organization http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/foodborne-disease-estimates/en/
**Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/kiambu-07-17/index.html


text:
Panasonic has launched a new smartphone in the Indian market, called the Panasonic P55 Novo. It succeeds the Panasonic P55 phone which was launched in November 2014 for 10,290. On design front, the P55 Novo comes with a fabric textured rear.
Under the hood, it is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. Running Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system, it features a 5.3-inch HD IPS display with 1280×720 pixels resolution. There is 8GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. The phone sports a 13 mega pixel auto focus rear camera with triple LED flash and a 5 mega pixel front facing camera with LED flash.
The handset offers 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS/EDGE and Micro-USB as connectivity options. The Panasonic P55 Novo measures 147.9×73.8×8.15mm in dimensions and is backed up by a 2500mAh battery. It comes with several features such as Tap Play which lets users to wake up the device without pressing the power button; and Gesture Play which lets the users launch various apps using gestures.
Features and Specifications of Panasonic P55 Novo
- Processor: 1.4GHz octa-core
- Operating System: Android 4.4.2 KitKat
- Display: 5.3-inch HD IPS (1280×720 pixels resolution)
- RAM: 1GB
- ROM: 8GB (expandable up to 32GB via microSD card)
- Rear Camera: 13 mega pixel auto focus with triple LED flash
- Front Camera: 5 mega pixel with LED flash
- Battery: 2500mAh
- Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS/EDGE and Micro-USB
- Dimensions: 147.9×73.8×8.15mm
Price and Availability
Priced at Rs. 9,290, the Panasonic P55 Novo will go on sale starting first week of July, 2015.
Commenting on the launch, Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India said, “With consumer priorities changing radically, we believe in enhancing customer experience by providing them with smart technology on the go. With the new smartphone, we are here to to offer a new dimension wherein the model has been specially designed to provide easy accessibility to consumers looking for a single app to control all home devices.”
Also Read: Panasonic Eluga S Mini Launched At Rs. 8,990


text:
Innovations in payment technology have made it easier and cheaper than ever to send money. However, all these innovations are built upon the existing financial market infrastructure. Stablecoins, being spawned from the crypto markets, are approaching this market from a completely different angle. A large part of the appeal of crypto and stablecoins is the fact that they are decentralized and censorship resistant.
Bitcoin’s original goal was to be a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” From a technical standpoint, it is a success. The blockchain network today enables millions of users to send the cryptocurrency anywhere in the world in about 10 minutes, with low transaction fees—and thousands of businesses around the world accept bitcoin as payment for goods and services.Methodology
Between March and April 2019, Greenwich Associates interviewed 107 executives active in the blockchain and financial technology space across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Seventy-one percent of respondents were actively involved in stablecoin initiatives.


text:
Most Dolphins Season-Ticket Prices Will Not Change Riddick: 49ers Almost Hired Him, McDaniels Phillies Diss Christie With "Bridgegate" Reference Manfred Confident In Tigers Under Chris Ilitch Marlins Sale Ends Amid Loria Ambassador News Redskins Analyst: Is McCloughan Drinking Again? Predators Could Sell Out All Home Games Are Knicks Bad For Long-Term NBA Image? Fowler Disputes Depiction Of Role In Padres Sale Mets Bringing Back Exhibition Game Against Army
ITT CONTINUES PLANS TO EXPAND INTO ENTERTAINMENT VENTURES
Published January 3, 1995
Over the last week, ITT sold part of its financial services group to facilitate a move into the entertainment and gaming field. First, ITT sold Commerical Finance -- a division of its Financial Corp that makes business loans -- for a reported $2.3B to Deutsch Bank's North American unit. The next day, ITT made its second billion dollar deal when it sold its Island Finance consumer loan unit for $1.4B to Norwest Corp. A third deal could raise an additional $1.8B (Eric Randall, USA TODAY, 12/28). News of the moves by ITT raised stock shares by 4 3/8 to 88 1/8. ITT said it hopes to use the revenue from the sales to "help pay off its $3.4B in debt" from their recent deals for Madison Square Garden and Caesars World (N.Y. POST, 12/28).


text:
New Jersey, United States – The Verified Market Reports released the latest competent intelligence market research report on the Nickel Based Alloy Tubes Market, The report aims
New Jersey, United States,- The Water Distribution Pipes Market is carefully analyzed in the report with an emphasis on market dynamics, including key issues and challenges, drivers, trends
Parsippany is one of several towns directing residents to inspect and report possible lead pipes in their water-service lines following a new state law to eliminate the toxic metal from its wate
One person is dead after a reported industrial incident at local steel tubing manufacturer Atlas Tube early Wednesday.
Essex OPP report an employee at the Clark Street business was crushed
A global dislocation of clean tanker tonnage has driven freight volatility in recent weeks, as...
The Port of Long Beach, California said May 13 it had its busiest April in port history, a
This Global Electric Resistance Welded (ERW) Pipes Market research by MarketsandResearch.biz looks at historical and current growth prospects and trends for the years 2021 to 2027 in order to ob
Get Sample Report Buy Complete Report
California (United States) – Piping System and Piping Spools Market research is an intelligence report with meticulous efforts undertaken to st
Permanent link to this press release:
Delete press release


text:
“We are offering a limited menu with just 30-40 signature dishes. Recently, we also introduced Bento Box meals - 'Oakwood Treats'. We have both Veg and Non-Veg options from all our three restaurants (Ozaa – Mediterranean Cuisine, Soul City – Asian Cuisine and Le Bistro – European Cuisine),” said chef Altamash Patel, Executive Chef at Oakwood Premier Prestige Bangalore on how dine-in business has changed with the pandemic.
Not just QSRs and mid-sized restaurants, fine-dine restaurants have also partnered with food aggregators and also offered home delivery and takeaways for their regular patrons during the lockdown phase.
“We started off with a downsized menu to beat the cost and are now back with our full menu after almost months,” shared Nikita Poojari of Shiv Sagar by adding that as it was a global hit, it has also hit us in a big way. As the days go by, business is also taking a step by step positive attitude and we are hoping to revive fully & recover in a span of 12 to 18 months time.
A touch of local blend
“Most of our dishes are given a local touch while making sure we don’t drift away from the authenticity of the dish. Even the room amenities that we serve are all locally sourced, to give the guests a feel of Karnataka,” added Patel who also organize food festivals every 2-3 months. This year, they have celebrated Kolhapuri food festival, Mohammed Ali Road food festival, Tangra Food festival, The Royal Cuisine of Sailana festival at their rooftop-poolside restaurant Ozaa.
From including local, seasonal produce to getting the sustainability quotient in mind, chefs and restaurant owners have been working on delivering the best at the table.
“More than the innovation I would say, maintaining the authenticity of our products & service at this point of crisis,” added Poojari as she is looking at entering Delhi and Hyderabad market soon.
And, there’s no denying that the pandemic has changed the way we eat; people have become more health conscious and extra wary of what and how they consume their food. We’re finding comfort in comfort foods and going back to our roots. Ayurvedic Cuisine and Veganism are gaining popularity with people preferring plant-based meat and alternative milks.


text:
The New Mexico Lottery board of directors have forecast higher sales and revenue for the fiscal year that ends on June 30.
Under a revised budget adopted this week, ticket sales are forecast at $135.3 million, up from an original projection of $131.4 million. The scholarship revenue forecast has been increased from $39.4 million to $40.6 million.
“Chances are good that we will enjoy one or two more jackpot runs in Powerball and Mega Millions before our fiscal year ends,” said Dan Salzwedel, chairman of the lottery’s board of directors, in a statement. “Bigger jackpots stimulate sales, which always brings good fortune to college students counting on Legislative Lottery Scholarships.”
Salzwedel also said New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden has begun developing a three-year retailer recruitment campaign with a goal of adding 100 new stores a year.


text:
New Zealand - plans to double butter production
Yili, the large Chinese milk processor which took over New Zealand’s Westland Co-op in 2019, has announced it plans to double butter production in order to meet the demand for grass-fed butter in China.
Uruguay - new beef exports record
Beef exports to China set a new monthly record in March at 25,682t and overall beef exports for the first quarter of 2021 to China have increased by 55%.
USA - COVID assistance open to farmers
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the coronavirus food assistance program reopened this week for applications from farmers.
EU - Australian sheepmeat sales fall
Australian sheepmeat sales to the EU have dropped by 53% for the first two months of 2021 to 572t.


text:
The Dustbins at Mumbai Airport Are Helping It Save Rs 1.2 Crore a Year! Here’s How
A delayed flight, a curious COO and a rummage through garbage— all this has led to an important lesson that will be adopted at 280 food outlets across 19 Indian cities!
Last year Gaurav Dewan, the COO and business head of Travel Food Services, a food and beverages firm operating the GVK lounge in the Mumbai international airport, saw an overflowing dustbin on the premises while waiting for a flight that was delayed.
With time to kill, he picked up a pair of gloves and rummaged through the contents of that bin to figure out why it was overflowing.
‘Came to Mumbai With Rs 24 & No Cinema Dreams’: Celebrity Photographer’s Uphill Battle
Munna Thaakur is a well-known celebrity photographer today, but had to fight tooth and nail to be able to support his family. He recalls the struggles of chasing his dream, and how he made it to where he is today.Read more >
After a thorough examination, he ordered a three-day survey, and through it found out that the problem passengers had with the food was not about taste but portion size.
This discovery set in motion a process which has not only saved the firm Rs 1.2 crore through changes made in just the dessert section of the free lounge buffet which passengers dive into before getting onto their late-night international flights, but also cut down food waste significantly.
This April, Dewan’s company subscribed to a quarterly ‘Dustbin Analysis’ conducted across 280 food outlets across 19 cities, including other airport lounges in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, reports Times of India. The ‘Dustbin Analysis’ analyses the eating habits of passengers.
“The bin at the GVK lounge was full of barely eaten desserts,” said Dewan, in a conversation with Times of India. “Earlier, the dinner buffet would serve 15 varieties of desserts. Each passenger would pick two or three, maybe even four. They would eat a spoon or half and throw the rest.”
Following this survey, the firm cut down on the size of its desserts and began introducing smaller items like macarons and cupcakes.
“Now, we offer 18 [desserts] but small portions. Our dustbin waste has reduced, [the] cost has reduced. We saved Rs 1.2 crore in a year from the five lounges at Mumbai airport in the dessert’s category alone. Through bins used by customers we learn what food item is not doing well while kitchen bins reveal what has been overproduced,” added Dewan.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
This story made me


text:
Under Armour believes its women's business will eventually eclipse its men's business, but there's still a hurdle to overcome: Many women view the brand as male-centric, given its macho ethos.
No More 'Shrinking It and Pinking It' at Under Armour
"It's an undertaking. Coming in, that 's the same perception I had," said Adrienne Lofton Shaw, senior director-women's marketing. "The work [targeting women] really only began four years ago. So it's not a surprise that people are just starting to understand that we're in the business of women."
Four years ago, Ms. Lofton Shaw was lured to Under Armour from Target . There was no women's marketing team and only a handful of merchants were dedicated to the category. Early efforts to attract women involved "shrinking it and pinking it," Ms. Lofton Shaw said.
Still seeking voice
Today, there are more than 10 people on the women's marketing team, and there are more than 20 on the merchandising team. The women's business accounts for about 30% of assortment and sales. But compared to giants such as Nike , Adidas and Reebok, Under Armour is still a small player.
In women's footwear, for example, the brand is growing but still tiny, with 1.14% of the market, according to SportsOneSource. In apparel, Under Armour is stronger, commanding an 11% share compared with Nike 's 22 %. And in the fast-expanding yoga-bottoms category, the brand jumped to having a 19% share from 7% in the last year.
"I don't think they have found their voice in women's footwear yet," said Matt Powell, an analyst with SportsOneSource. On the other hand, the bra and studio-apparel lines are both doing well at retail. "[They] were well thought-out and executed."
Ms. Lofton Shaw said she believes there's still big opportunity for the brand, despite plenty of competition. "There are stats that say in a few years there will be more girls participating in sports than boys," she said. "From a generational level, young kids are being groomed to participate. We need to be part of the conversation early in a young girl's life."
Under Armour is launching its first TV spots that exclusively feature and target women. The tagline is , "No matter what, sweat every day. I will." The 60-second anthem spot features women prepping for and recovering from workouts such as running, boxing, cycling and yoga. Sprinkled throughout are more casual moments: A woman does a little dance to loosen up, another woman smiles during a workout.
The spot will air on TV and online. As part of the campaign, Under Armour is hosting events with media properties including DailyCandy and ESPNW.
The second iteration of the brand's "What's Beautiful" social program will run in tandem with the campaign. It encourages female athletes to post challenges and document their progress. Ten women will be selected to attend the brand's inaugural Camp Sweat. The brand worked with CP&B and Red Tettemer & Partners on the campaign.
"This is the first year we're looking at each other and nodding our heads. We've built the right product, we're dialed in, and we've got the right message," Ms. Lofton Shaw said. "We believe there's a massive white space. ... We just need to introduce our brand to more women, more often."


text:
Entrepreneurs need to seize back leadership
Can India make the transition from a startup nation to a scaleup nation?
Entrepreneurs tighten purse strings as cash runs dry
Venture Investment firm FAO Ventures has tightened the leash on the kind of investments ...
Know why Indore is becoming an entrepreneur’s delight
The advantages of starting up in Indore include low operation costs — rentals are half ...
India's startup laws, an entrepreneur's checklist
Choosing your brand will depend on your long-term goals and vision. Every type has a separate set of laws, and you have to decide keeping the existing legal frameworks in mind.
5 mistakes you need to grow out of as an entrepreneur
Deferring what you desire doing to do to an unknown endpoint is a wasteful way of spending your life. (Image source: keport)
Government plans reality show, dedicated channel for wannabe entrepreneurs
DIPP has written to the ministry of information and broadcasting to consider setting up a channel dedicated to startups.
The Y Combinator touch: How this Silicon Valley incubator is helping Indian entrepreneurs
Fast Company calls it the world’s most powerful startup incubator. Fortune magazine calls it a spawning ground for emerging tech giants.
Telangana plans India's first women entrepreneurs' industrial park near Hyderabad
The organization expects its members to set up industry with substantial investments of approximately Rs 200 crore, generating employment for over 2,000 people, primarily women.
IIM Trichy hosts lecture on challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
Garg said, "I always wanted to be my own boss and loved travelling. I do what I love and get to share it with others every day of my life."
How next-gen women entrepreneurs are scaling up traditional businesses
Women entrepreneurs like Roshini Sanah Jaiswal of Jagatjit Industries and Sakshi Vij of Myles are giving the traditional ventures a new dimension.
ET Startup Awards: It’s time to raise a toast to entrepreneurs
Nitin Gadkari will be the guest of honour and address the guests. He will be joined by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
25 years of reforms: Meet entrepreneurs of the open era
The 1991 liberalisation has given these entrepreneurs a new set of wings to pursue their dreams in India and strengthen their companies.
Successful entrepreneurs must have a God-complex: Naveen Jain, Moon Express co-founder
Naveen Jain’s company Moon Express recently became the first private outfit to receive US regulatory approval to land on the lunar surface.
Intel acquires AI startup run by Indian-origin entrepreneur
"We will apply Nervana's software expertise to further optimise the Intel Math Kernel Library and its integration into industry standard frameworks," said Diane Bryant, Executive Vice President of Data Center Group at Intel.
Too busy for Pokemon? These entrepreneurs will play for you
Many of their customers want to compete in the game at a high level but don't have time to roam the city playing the game all day.


text:
Horror clothing company Terror Threads continues to produce apparel from genre films new and old. Its latest collections include recent indie horror hit Terrifier, John Carpenter’s seminal slasher Halloween, and a celebration of scream queen Danielle Harris.
With the third and final blood-splattered season, Ash vs Evil Dead has closed the book of the dead on Ash Williams and his fight against the deadites! While it’s sad to see the show come to an end, The Evil Dead lives on with Fright-Rags’ Ash vs Evil Dead collection.
Fright-Rags have also released a Creepshow 2 collection featuring five t-shirts and four enamel pins, and a Killer Klowns from Outer Space collection featuring four t-shirts and three ringer tees in custom colors.
“You know you could, uh, take off your gun… Put it over there with your chainsaw limb.”
Fright-Rags celebrates 50 years of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, honors Fangoria’s return to publication, and continue to release high-quality horror movie merchandise all year long.
“They won’t stay dead!”
Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most important, influential horror films of all time. Let the world know you’re a survivor of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history with one of five officially licensed, Cavity Colors enamel pins, or spin your favorite vinyl record on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre turntable slipmat!
“Who will survive, and what will be left of them?”
On Alien Day, April 26th, no one can hear you scream! It’s fitting that Alien Day lands on a Thursday this year because Fright-Rags have released a killer retro throwback collection!
“Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew… are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.”
Cavity Colors have created a terror no human being should ever live to see again… Brand new officially licensed, ultra soft 100% cotton apparel designed by Devon Whitehead, that will lead you to your dark, icy death.
“When the fog rolls in… the terror begins!”
Fright-Rags has once again joined forces with punk legends The Misfits for three t-shirts; launched a collection of apparel for Frank Henenlotter’s 1982 cult classic, Basket Case; and have expanded upon their Masters of Horror collection with new Alfred Hitchcock and Lon Chaney apparel.
“Flashbacks in nightmare, revenge his mother swears. Through a faceless hockey mask, the demons eyes they stare!”
Cavity Colors are incredibly honored and excited to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of what is arguably one of the greatest sequels in horror history; the SFX filled eyeball feast known as Evil Dead 2.
“Recite the passages… dispel the evil…”
You’re Next is a smart, innovative, blood-soaked horror film, and Cavity Colors are incredibly excited to bring you their brand new officially licensed, ultra soft 100% cotton apparel, enamel pins, and socks!
“Did you remember to lock your door?”
When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth in Fright-Rags’ Dawn of the Dead, Hellraiser, and Evil Dead apparel!
“Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!”
In collaboration with No Quarter Productions, Cavity Colors are excited to bring you this exclusive, limited edition enamel pin to commemorate the brand new album Leather Patrol by Carpenter Brut.
“He tries to create a concoction that will allow him to control them all, but ends up disfigured and decides instead to become a rock star.”
Fright-Rags commemorates the 25th anniversary of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness with a groovy line of apparel; The Strangers: Prey at Night with merchandise featuring the film’s mysterious killers; and with Saint Patrick’s Day right around the corner, Fright-Rags has also put Halloween III: Season of the Witch’s Silver Shamrock emblem on a custom-made baseball tee with green sleeves.


text:
Swedish automaker Polestar has finally kicked off the production of its new all-electric SUV, Polestar 4, in China. According to the press release, the model will hit the Chinese electric vehicle market before the year ends. It also stated the company’s first model to undergo production at Geely’s Hangzhou Bay factory.
Polestar 4 to be launched globally next year
Excitingly, Polestar also aims to officially launch the new electric SUV in some of its key markets across the world.
In the same year, the Swedish automaker plans to also start customer deliveries in these markets.
Polestar reported that it has already completed the production of the inaugural production model in Snow body paint this week, featuring the iconic Swedish gold accents of the Performance Pack.
“The first Polestar 4 rolling off the production line today is the culmination of hard work from countless colleagues and partners. Polestar 4 stands out in design and performance, a remarkable SUV coupé in many ways.”Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO
You can check more information about the Polestar 4 here.
What’s currently known about the Polestar 4?
It apparently features a 102 kWh battery pack that enables a driving range of around 373 miles (600 km.)
It is apparently the first model from the brand to have a high-tech rear window feature, along with other innovations.
“It is the first Polestar to feature a virtual rear window with world-class digital rear-view mirror. This car plays a very important role in our growing line-up of exclusive performance EVs. It illustrates the value of our diversified and asset-light approach, making use of our partner and major shareholder’s development and manufacturing expertise.”Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO
Polestar assured that it would not stay this way for a long time as it plans to extend production at Renault Korea Motors (RKM) by H2 2025 for the North American market.
Models in the pipeline
Polestar also aims to launch the Polestar 3 as early as next year. Its production is set to start in China in the first quarter of 2024 and in the US before the second quarter ends.
The arrival of the new Polestar 4 is crucial for the company’s target of reaching annual electric vehicle sales of 155,000 to 165,000 units in 2025, which is part of its wider plans to become a truly “climate-neutral” car brand by the end of the decade.


text:
The America Trades Produce Conference promises to be as relevant as the two prior events, and the third-annual conference, scheduled for March 6-8 at the McAllen Convention Center in McAllen, TX, will add a trade expo and food-safety discussions to the agenda.
As has been the trademark of the event, educational sessions will encourage direct dialogue between the industry and U.S. and Mexican government officials.
"Last year, we had top officials from FDA and SENASICA, including Mike Taylor and Octavio Carranza," John McClung, president of the Texas International Produce Association, a co-host of the event, said in a press release. "We expect that some more details of the Food Safety Modernization Act will be public by March, and just how the new law will affect produce crossings at the border will be a major point of discussion."
The event will also feature receptions and educational sessions on the expo floor in a new and exciting format.
"Attendees will have the chance to view Mexican fruits and vegetables and learn a little bit at the same time," Mr. McClung added in the press release.
This year's conference will bring together individuals and organizations from throughout the produce supply chain and across international borders to discuss the industry's hottest topics, political effects of the new administration in Mexico and other critical topics.
"With the Pena Nieto administration taking over the reins in Mexico, and potentially some new top leadership within the Obama administration, we will have a session that gives a preview of how the industry can expect the governments to interact," Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, a co-host of the ATPC, added in the press release. "With the tomato war, immigration and various trade issues in the forefront, it is crucial that our governments work together."
Attendees will include many U.S. and Mexican representatives, including grower-shippers, retailers, processors, allied industry representatives, and city, state and federal government officials.
In addition the new expo and historically dynamic topic and speaker line-up, attendees can participate in a joint tour of the Pharr/Reynosa Port of Entry and the Quanta Lab facility. Throughout the event, several industry awards will also be announced, including The Produce News Rising Star Award, The Packer's Importer of the Year Award and the Produce Business Exporter of the Year Award.
Visit www.americatradesproduce.com to learn more about the conference.


text:
Payment giants Visa and MasterCard announced plans to eliminate the need for password authentication in the companies’ respective “Verified by Visa” and “SecureCode” payment platforms which are designed to add an additional layer of security to online transactions.
In a press release, MasterCard announced that ultimate goal of an upgraded 3D Secure system, set to replace the current system next year, will rely on “richer cardholder data” in order to limit password interruptions in the payment process. In the event that an authentication challenge is required, MasterCard says it plans to replace static, memorized passwords with one-time passwords and fingerprint biometrics. MasterCard is also sponsoring commercial tests to design facial and voice recognition applications for use as authenticators in the future as well as a wristband that authenticates via cardiac rhythm.
Threatpost reached out to MasterCard for clarification on what the company means by “richer cardholder data” but did not hear back by the time of publication.
3D Secure is a card-not-present payment protocol developed Visa and adopted by a number of other payment card companies. It was designed to curb the growing problem of fraudulent purchases being made online. When a Verified by Visa or SecureCode user enters her card information to an online merchant, the merchant then sends that payment data to Visa or MasterCard. The payment company replies with an iframe that presents the user with an additional password-based authentication form. If the customer enters the correct password, the merchant receives an authorization code to proceed with the transaction.
However, the 3D Secure protocol has been criticized for requiring users to remember yet another complicated password as well as for its user interface, which has been mistaken for a phishing scheme.
“All of us want a payment experience that is safe as well as simple, not one or the other,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise security solutions at MasterCard. “We want to identify people for who they are, not what they remember. We have too many passwords to remember and this creates extra problems for consumers and businesses.”