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PALISADE, COLO – (July 8, 2022) —The Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology (CAVE), the non-profit responsible for coordinating the largest wine festival in Colorado, is pleased to announce the details for the 31st Annual Colorado Mountain Winefest presented by Fisher’s Liquor Barn.
The Festival in the Park is scheduled to take place Saturday, September 17, 2022 in Palisade, CO from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. VIP tickets to the festival are sold out, however guests can join the VIP ticket waitlist by visiting www.ColoradoWinefest.com. General Admission tickets are still available for purchase at www.ColoradoWinefest.com, however, they are selling quickly. Colorado Mountain Winefest is a premier event in the Grand Valley and was voted Best Wine Festival in the Nation by USA Today in 2017.
“We are very excited to see that this year’s festival is on track to sell out once again!” said CAVE Executive Director, Cassidee Shull. “It is inspiring to see guests return to the festival year after year and continue to support Colorado’s winemakers and grape growers.”
This year’s festival will once again take place at Palisade’s Riverbend Park and will feature 45 wineries, live music, artisan vendors, chef demonstrations, educational seminars, and more. Please note that all Colorado Mountain Winefest attendees must be 21 years of age or over with a valid ID to enter. Winefest events will be held rain or shine.
“In addition to Colorado Mountain Winefest, we would also like to highlight the events that are scheduled throughout Colorado Wine Week.” said Cassidee Shull. “This year we’re excited to announce many new and returning wine-focused events taking place across the state!” Colorado Wine Week takes place September 11-18, 2022. Participating wineries, restaurants, and industry partners will be hosting a variety of events such as Wine, Dine & Paint, a Chocolate & Wine Tasting, Feast in the Fields, Food & Wine Pairings, Wine Tours, Live Music, and more! Many events are free to attend, however some do require tickets. For more information on these events and to view the festival schedule, please visit www.ColoradoWinefest.com.
CAVE is also excited to announce the return of its Colorado Wine Week Photo Challenge during September 11-18, 2022. Participants are challenged to share photos of their adventures during Colorado Wine Week using #ColoradoWineWeekChallenge, in exchange for a chance to win tickets to the 2023 Colorado Mountain Winefest. For contest details, please visit www.ColoradoWinefest.com.
Colorado Mountain Winefest is the largest fundraiser for CAVE, the Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology (CAVE). CAVE is the only non-profit dedicated to the Colorado wine and grape growing industry. All event proceeds go towards its annual VinCO Conference & Trade Show, which is focused on improving winemaking and grape growing in Colorado.
For more information about Colorado Mountain Winefest and for the Colorado Wine Week schedule of events, please visit www.ColoradoWinefest.com.
For more information about CAVE, please visit www.WineColorado.org.


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Orange 'forces Google' to pay for mobile traffic
The head of French telecoms operator Orange said on Wednesday it had been able to impose a deal on Google to compensate it for the vast amounts of traffic sent across its networks.
Review: Fire TV device great, but not fully ready
Amazon's new Fire TV streaming device shows a lot of potential in bringing together the best features from competing devices and adding voice search on top of that.
Microsoft applies for patent on technology to count users watching streamed content
Comcast rumored to be considering adding to Copyright Alert System
White House threatens veto over net neutrality
The White House warned on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto a resolution introduced in the Senate that seeks to overturn "net neutrality" rules aimed at ensuring an open Internet.
Pakistan expected to unblock YouTube
Pakistan is expected to unblock access to the popular video sharing website YouTube on Saturday after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, a cabinet minister said.
Ubisoft game aims to be what the doctor ordered
Ubisoft on Tuesday unveiled a tablet video game crafted as a prescription for a medical condition known as "lazy eye," blending the worlds of play and health care.
Health care organizations under siege from cyberattacks, study says
Add this to the list of reasons for consumers to fret over privacy: Health care organizations of all kinds are being routinely attacked and compromised by increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.
BlackBerry boss has swipe at Apple as Z10 hits stores
The head of BlackBerry has taken a swipe at Apple, saying the iPhone's operating system was outdated, while promising thousands of new apps as it prepares to launch its Z10 model in Australia and the US.
TV makers design for streaming video to stay relevant
Does anyone just watch TV anymore? The dramatic shift toward online and mobile viewing is driving television set makers to design as much for streaming video as for watching broadcast or cable channels.
Netflix to stop posting notices that irked Verizon
Netflix will stop sending messages blaming Verizon and other Internet service providers for problems with its video subscription service.
Netflix's Comcast deal improves quality of video
Netflix's videos are streaming through Comcast's Internet service at their highest speeds in the past 17 months now that Netflix is paying for a more direct connection to Comcast's network.
Verizon to Netflix: Stop blaming us for bad video
Verizon Communications Inc., the country's fourth-largest home Internet service provider, is telling Netflix to stop blaming it for bad video quality or face a lawsuit.
Video-game consoles add more non-gaming features
When Chris and Rebecca Rider sit down to watch a romantic movie together, they don't pop in a DVD or turn on the DVR. They fire up their video game console.

domain: news


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Motorville Prepares for Annual Car Show
The second annual Star Performance & Performanceparts.com car show is set for this weekend in Lenexa, Kansas. Star Performance and Motorville have the same ownership.
The show will be June 2 at Star Performance headquarters in Lenexa.
“With cars from all over the midwest heading, this year appears to be on track to best last years near capacity crowd,” the company stated in a news release.
Raffle prizes include the traditional T-shirts, hats, and other apparel, as well as a piston set, valve covers, starter motor, and a belt drive system. Proceeds from raffle sales and concessions will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
For additional information, call 800-625-9454, or email email@example.com.


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Game1 has released a video with a interview (English) with the producer of Far Cry 2: Lois-Pierre Pharand. Some information about the open world, the story and the missions.
if this game doesnt bring something new then it will suck and will have same fate as UT3 and same with haze. they need to bring something knew and just different locations and different weapons!
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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South Africa’s 3D Printing Sector Shows Potential Growth Across the Board
All across the world, the 3D printing sector is expanding at an exponential rate, and South Africa is no exception to this growth. The country has gained recognition from the…
Inside 3D Printing
Seoul, October 13-15, 2021
Additive Manufacturing Strategies
Industry Intelligence Summit, February 2022
3D Printing jobs around the world.
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19 Nov 2020
Posted in Banking
Card payments in Vietnam to slowdown in 2020 as consumer spending plummets, says GlobalData
COVID-19 had impacted the Vietnam’s economy with reduced consumer spending, affecting the overall growth of the card payments market. The gradual reopening of businesses and easing of lockdown restrictions will provide the much-needed push to the country’s economy, which will positively impact the payment industry, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
According to GlobalData’s Payment Cards Analytics, card payments in Vietnam are estimated to grow by 11.0% in 2020 compared to the 35.3% growth in 2019. The value is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.9% between 2020 and 2024 to reach VND1,432.2 trillion (US$61.8bn) in 2024.
Nikhil Reddy, Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The COVID-19 pandemic has affected consumers’ buying capacity, forcing them to cut-down on non-essential purchases, which impacted card payments growth in the short-run.”
Following the surge in COVID-19 cases, Vietnam declared nationwide lockdown on 1 April 2020. The large-scale social restrictions imposed across several regions resulted in the closure of businesses and brought the domestic and international travel to a complete halt. However, with the gradual easing of travel and other lockdown restrictions after decline in new cases, the country is now opening offices and commercial establishments.
Vietnam is one of the few countries that has been able to control the outbreak to a certain extent, recording less number of cases and low death toll. World Bank estimates the country GDP to register 2.8% growth in 2020, which will jump to 6.8% in 2021.
Mr Reddy concludes: “Vietnam’s card payments market witnessed robust growth during the past few years supported by rising financial inclusion and improvement in payment infrastructure. While the growth has been halted by COVID-19 this year, the easing of lockdown restrictions will increase consumer and commercial spending, which in turn will push card payments in the country.”


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The security industry usually spends its time analyzing viruses, not the programs meant to catch them. But Tavis Ormandy has been looking instead under the hood of one antivirus firm's tools. And he doesn't like what he sees.
At the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas Thursday, Ormandy dug into enterprise security products sold by antivirus firm Sophos, and described the results of reverse engineering the company's software. Ormandy found flaws in Sophos' signature system and its use of cryptography that he says could break the integrity of the antivirus program, allowing malware writers to bypass its scanning or create false positives.
Those problems, Ormandy argued, were symptomatic of an antivirus industry that obscures its products from scrutiny by other security professionals rather than allow it to be audited for bugs. "[Antivirus firms' marketing materials] are high level double speak. They make up Hollywood-sounding names, but there's little technical substance," Ormandy said in his talk. "So I'm publishing the missing technical specifications for Sophos."
Ormandy works by day as a security engineer at Google but said he was representing only himself at the conference and that his research had been done on his own time, without the company's knowledge or support.
In his talk, he said that Sophos used a weak system to verify the signatures, coded attributes that identify the malware its software detects. Sophos uses a proprietary scheme to authenticate those signatures, and one that Ormandy found could easily be broken to spoof the company's signatures. He described what he called "pool pollution" attacks that would create false positives on the victim's network until the user tires of seeing alerts and disables the software.
"Sophos ignored this, and the result is a pretty weak signature scheme," says Ormandy.
The cryptography that Sophos uses in its products is also poorly implemented, Ormandy argued. In many cases, the key to encrypted data is stored in the same place as the data itself, allowing an attacker to find it. Ormandy says those vulnerabilities could be used to access protected data and break the program's integrity and cause it to miss malware on a scanned machine.
Ormany analyzed Sophos' exploitation mitigation system, too, the software used to prevent malware from being installed in the first place rather than cleaning it up after the fact. There he found that Sophos only examines a small portion of potential exploits for malicious code, so that modifying the code slightly can obscure it from Sophos' protections. "Only the most standard, non-modified payloads could be intercepted by this," says Ormandy. "It's ridiculously weak."
Sophos researcher Vanja Svajcer attended Ormandy's talk, and said after the presentation that Sophos had been contacted by Ormandy ahead of the presentation, acknowledged his criticisms, and intended to update some of its security measures.
Svajcer said that Sophos hadn't yet spotted anyone using the flaws Ormandy pointed out to create malware the company couldn't detect, and he argued that it would be unlikely that malware writers would tailor their code to exploit flaws in Sophos given that it controls only 10% of the enterprise market. "Malware writers have to be very generic in terms of what they write," he says. "They don't have time to investigate forty or fifty vendors to circumvent their products."
Ormandy already has some unpleasant history with Sophos. Sophos blogger and researcher Graham Cluley took Ormandy to task after the Google engineer released a new vulnerability in Microsoft's code after giving the vendor only days to fix the problem. When that bug was exploited by cybercriminals, Cluley wrote a post titled "Tavis Ormandy - are you pleased with yourself?"
Ormandy has defended his decision to release that bug, arguing that he gave Microsoft plenty of time to fix the problem. And he called Cluley a "marketer" and said that his decision to focus on Sophos was based only on the availability of its code, not a personal grudge.
But Ormandy's presentation also went beyond Sophos to jab the entire antivirus industry. He argued that companies obscure their products' code and claim that making it available to researchers would allow cybercriminals to more easily circumvent it, when in fact they should simply expose and fix their bugs. "If you examine a system's security and it's weakened, that system is flawed," says Ormandy.
"Antivirus vendors won't explain what they do," he says. "To make a good decision about whether whether antivirus is a good idea, we need to know how effective antivirus is."


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Huawei G9 Plus with Dual-Cameras, NFC Payments & Large Battery to Launch Tomorrow
Almost every OEM like the Huawei, OPPO, LeEco, Coolpad has been stepping up the game by launching Dual Camera Smartphones that we are also hearing to be coming up from Apple in the next month. The Dual Camera setup does add a different perspective in case of Bokeh shots and also the Night Mode because the sensors allow in more light and ultimately with dual the hardware you can certainly expect something better. It would have been great if all these brands also focused on the swivel camera’s that were earlier launched by OPPO because that reduces the cost and the consumers get the same set of cameras on the front as well as the rear.
Talking about the G series, Huawei had launched the G9 Lite Smartphone in the month of May 2016 in China following which there has been no announcement from the brand in this specific series. It is the same device that was launched in global markets as the Huawei P9 Lite. Huawei has been pushing their Premium P Series devices all over the world with the P9 Smartphone launching in India today & now we have a confirmation that the G9 Plus Smartphone from the G Series is launching in China tomorrow.
A quick look tells us that this device is also Camera Centric with the Invite clearly hinting the Dual Camera Setup. Along with this you can also notice the triple batteries hinting that the Phone could come with a large battery capacity and since the device is under the plus series that’s obvious. Another Important point to take a look at is the Credit Card at the bottom which hints that the phone would come with a NFC Tag and Huawei would be bringing the ‘Huawei Pay’ Mobile Payments System with the G9 Plus Smartphone.
Earlier in March Huawei had officially introduced the NFC payments service in China, while the same was announced this week by Xiaomi also in China. The collaboration is with China UnionPay for the Huawei’s Smartphones that come equipped with a NFC Card and is right now available with a selected few devices. The Mobile Payments is another trend that was initially seen with Apple, Samsung and now every brand is getting into the same.
Recently, a new Huawei smartphone listed on TENAA that looks same as the Nexus 6P. Instead of Nexus brands, it sports Huawei logo on front and back. A week back we have posted the leaked image of a smartphone with the logo Flowde, now we expect that to be the same Huawei G9 Plus that will launch tomorrow in China. Lets look forward to what Huawei is launching tomorrow in China with the G9 Plus Smartphone.


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NORTHAMPTON, Co., Va. - Shore Breeze Farms will increase production by 30% and will provide leafy greens to local schools, restaurants and businesses, Gov. Northam announced Thursday.
Shore Breeze Farms will expand operations at its hydroponic greenhouse facility in Northampton County. The company provides Virginia-grown lettuces to Virginia public schools, local restaurants and farm stands on the Eastern Shore and in Virginia Beach.
This is the first Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund grant awarded to Northampton County.
“It is exciting to see homegrown companies like Shore Breeze Farms harnessing new agriculture technologies to bring fresh, local vegetables to their communities,” said Gov. Northam. “Shore Breeze Farms has long been known for innovative product offerings, and I am especially proud to see how they are branching into new markets during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis to offer pre-packaged salad kits to Virginians on the Eastern Shore.”
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Northampton County to secure the project for the Commonwealth. Governor Northam approved a $15,000 grant from the AFID fund to assist Northampton County with the project.
A fourth-generation farmer on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Steve Sturgis started his eight-acre farm in 1979, took over his family’s farming operation in 2002, and has since doubled its size to 900 acres. In 2019, Sturgis opened Shore Breeze Farms, a new produce market and hydroponic greenhouse facility.
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants that uses a solution of water and nutrients instead of soil. This system typically yields more, requires less space, and allows for year-round growing


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Azerbaijan, Baku, May.7/ Trend R.Zamanov
US dollar was sold at the price of 24,774 rials at Iran's Forex Centre on Tuesday.
The euro was also presented at the price of 32,398 rials, while the British pound was traded at 38,510 rials, the IRNA News Agency reported.
The euro, British pound and US dollar were traded at the prices of 32,518, 38,607, and 24,773 rials respectively on Monday.
The new foreign exchange centre was officially inaugurated on September 24. Some 21,013 applications worth 7.5 billion dollars have been registered at the centre up till February 28.
The new centre allows importers of goods including truck tyres, construction equipment and synthetic fibres to buy dollars at a rate of two per cent cheaper than the street rate at any given time.
According to the centre's spokesman Samad Karimi, Iran's Forex Centre has the capacity to trade over 100 million dollars each working day.
The government maintains an official reference rate of 12,260 rials to the dollar, but only a limited amount of foreign exchange is available at this rate.
The Iranian government plans to use revenues from petrochemical sales and 14.5 per cent of its oil revenues to provide dollars for the centre, Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani said in September, 2012. He did not give an absolute figure for the amount of dollars to be supplied.
"With the distribution of currency at this centre, the exchange rate in the market will go down because some of the demand for dollars will be met at the centre and the pressure of demand will be removed," Bahmani was quoted as saying.


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Microsoft has cut the teams responsible for releasing Xbox games on physical media
Microsoft closed the divisions that were involved in the release of Xbox games on physical media. This was reported by the editor of Windows Central, Jez Corden.
“Microsoft has closed the divisions involved in the release of Xbox games on physical media for retail sale”, – wrote he’s at X. He added that cutting those teams doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft is abandoning this sales format entirely, but it “gives an idea of where the company is going.”
Also, according to Corden, Microsoft releases almost the entire customer support team of Activision Blizzard and is outsourcing this service.
Earlier it became known that Microsoft will lay off 1,900 employees of Activision Blizzard and Xbox. Against the background of these events, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and Blizzard chief designer and co-founder Allen Adam decided to leave the company. The cuts will affect approximately 8% of Microsoft Gaming’s workforce, which employs about 22,000 people.
According to Windows Central, amid the layoffs, Microsoft also canceled Blizzard’s in-development survival game, which was announced in 2022. It was the studio’s first completely new project since Overwatch, released in 2016. Microsoft’s president of game content and studios, Matt Booty, said that the company is “relocating some of the developers who worked on the project to future Blizzard projects.”


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Payments processor TransCard LLC is putting a new meaning behind the phrase "time is money."
The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company is working with Watch2Pay LLC to provide U.S. banks with wristwatches built with MasterCard PayPass contactless chips and linked to a prepaid card account.
Starting in April, any U.S. bank using TransCard's prepaid program services will have the option to offer a Watch2Pay wristwatch, says TransCard CEO Craig Fuller.
"The watch takes us in a different direction than other mobile payment options," Fuller says. "We are always seeking product partners, and we are adding the Watch2Pay program into our distribution channels."
Watch2Pay is a Florida-based unit of United Kingdom-based Laks GmbH, which developed the contactless payment wristwatch. The product has been available to banks and consumers in Poland and the UK in the past year, with many banks opting to link it to a credit or debit card, or to a retailer's closed-loop store card, the company says.
Whereas many newer contactless payment products work with phones to tap into the device's data connection and GPS, TransCard is pitching the Watch2Pay product instead for its promotional use.
Banks could opt to provide a contactless payment watch to any customer signing up for a new account, or could sell the watches to current accountholders, Fuller says. "The watches are perfect for giveaway items at sporting events or other venues in which the bank may be promoting its card products and signing up new customers," such as at college campuses, he says.
TransCard's goal in providing extra products for its bank partners is to "increase the life cycle of the prepaid card and retain that card as top of wallet," Fuller says. "The watch helps do that because it is linked to the primary card account."
A payment wristwatch product "has been out there and talked about for a long time," says industry analyst Todd Ablowitz, president of Centennial, Colo.-based Double Diamond Group LLC. "It would be nice if this proves to be its time," he adds.
A key for banks seeking consumer adoption will be to match the wristwatch up with a baseball team or other well-known organization, he adds.
"You probably can't count on it only as a fashion choice," Ablowitz says. The product "certainly has its place" in situations in which consumers would prefer not to carry cash or plastic cards, he says.
For U.S. issuers, the companies are adding an online account-access feature, says Watch2Pay CEO Zoltan Kaman.
"Our U.S. program allows real-time access, including peer-to-peer payments, reload options, balance and transaction monitoring through a smartphone application," he says.
TransCard did not provide specific financial details of the partnership with Watch2Pay, though Fuller says the companies would share any revenue generated from sales or distribution of the watches through bank partners.
TransCard serves 106 banks, covering nearly every state in the U.S., that provide prepaid card services to customers, Fuller says.


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— -- When Sir Richard Branson opened his first discount record store in 1971, it was called Virgin -- because he, and his business partners, were completely virgin to business.
Now, Branson is the billionaire founder of Virgin Group, a business empire that controls more than 400 companies and is worth an estimated $5 billion. He’s disrupted every industry from recording labels to airlines, mobile phone carriers to wineries, hotels to space exploration. And to top it off, for his “services to entrepreneurship,” he was knighted in 2000 at Buckingham Palace.
So it might be safe to say he knows a thing or two about being one step ahead of the pack.
In a recent interview on "Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvis," the billionaire shared his vision of the future -- specifically what technology and workplace environment changes he believes we may see within the next decade.
Here are three predictions Sir Richard Branson sees for the future:
Part of Virgin’s empire includes the airline Virgin Atlantic, so it’s no wonder that the business mogul has thought about the future of airplanes.
“There’s a possibility that cockpits of airplanes will not have pilots in 10 years from now,” Branson said. “In the same way that self-drive cars are likely to be the future, I think self-drive airplanes and self-drive lorries [that’s British for 'tractor-trailers'] are likely to be the future as well.”
If the thought of flying thousands of miles above the earth at hundreds of miles an hour without someone at the steering wheel makes you think twice, you’re not alone. Branson noted that despite the technological possibility of that feat, it would take a strong-stomached airline to go through with it.
“It’s definitely doable,” he said. “The question is how many airlines will actually make it happen.”
2. It will all be off the grid
Whether it’s a plane, train or automobile, Branson believes they will all share a common factor: “I think they’ll be battery-driven,” he said. “[Some] governments just pledged we’ll be carbon neutral by 2050, so to make that happen, governments need to say, ‘Right, by 2030, every car in America will be battery driven, otherwise they’re never going to get there.”
3. Three-day weekends for every worker, every weekend
Now this is a future we’d all probably like to see as soon as possible: Branson believes companies will have to adapt to all the new technology and they won’t require the same human hours to get the job done.
“With all this self-drive and new technology, you’re going to need to make sure that people are well paid for less work,” Branson said. His solution? “Three-day weekends, and make sure that people are paid the same amount of money on four days as they are for five days.”
Sounds great. Which companies are actually going to get on board ... hopefully by Friday?
“Companies won’t suffer -- in fact, they’ll make quite good money out of this new technology, and they should be able to afford to let people have three days off rather than two days off of the week.”
To hear more of Sir Richard Branson’s views on the future, his worst piece of advice and one area where he totally disagrees with Elon Musk, watch his interview with Rebecca Jarvis on "Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvis"and follow @RebeccaJarvis for more live interviews like this one.


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Caltex Australia has forecast a record profit for 2015 on the back of weak oil prices, strong refining margins and continuing increases in marketing profits.
The oil refiner and distributor expects to report full year net profit between $615 million and $635 million, topping analyst estimates.
It had posted net profit of $493 million in 2014.
Shares in the company surged on the news, jumping nearly 12 per cent to an intra-day high of $38.49. At the close, the stock still traded $2.05 higher at $36.50.
Caltex said it had benefited from strong operating performance at its Lytton refinery in Brisbane, which is poised to deliver earnings before interest and tax of $400 million, an 83 per cent jump from the previous year.
Refining margins are set to average $US16 per barrel in 2015, up from $12.42 a barrel in 2014.
Caltex has significantly reduced its dependence on the refining business with the closure of its Sydney refinery in 2014.
However, the plunge in crude oil prices from more than $US100 a barrel last year to less than $US40 currently, combined with its own improved operational performance has sharply boosted its results.
The company expects earnings from its supply and marketing business to improve five per cent to $675 million, despite total volumes dropping five per cent from last year.
While Caltex said the higher earnings flowed from its focus on premium fuel sales, the numbers will raise fresh accusations of price gouging by fuel retailers.
Earlier this week, a quarterly report by Australia's consumer watchdog found petroleum retail margins at their highest level since monitoring began in 2002, despite cheaper crude oil.
Caltex said its net debt at December-end will be sharply lower at $420 million, on account of stronger second-half earnings, lower crude oil prices and a lower Australian dollar.It had reported net debt of $715 million at June-end.
The cash-rich company has been under pressure from investors to either make acquisitions or return capital after major shareholder Chevron exited earlier this year.


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BBC iPhone apps: exciting, but they should never see the light of day. Here’s why:
The tide is turning against the BBC. Whoever grabs power at the next election will be faced with a gaping black hole where the Bank once stood – every tax will be scrutinised, and the TV licence is likely to be seen as an inessential frippery.
Worse, while the tax-funded BBC is developing brilliant products (iPlayer, BBC News, HD, 3D) at a startling pace, the UK’s commercial media industry struggles to raise advertising and grapples with the impossibilities of charging for its wares online. It’s all falling apart.
The battle for the desktop is lost. People won’t pay for an in-browser experience. Which is why the holy grail for media is mobile. Because folks are willing to pay for stuff on iPhone and Android. Hence The Guardian can successfully charge £2.49 for an (admittedly lovely) iPhone app that does little more than repurpose its website. And so every magazine maker is looking to develop iPhone (and iPad) apps that replicate the magazine experience. Apps they can charge for. Every month.
So when the BBC rides into this nascent market and delivers free apps offering brilliant news, sports and video, it devalues the market. The BBC doesn’t need to chase after sponsors or wonder how to fit advertising onto a tiny screen. It doesn’t need to offer a premium service or get inventive with in-app purchases. It doesn’t even need come up with a business plan.
So as an iPhone user, and BBC fan, I want free BBC iPhone apps. But this time I have to play the role of killjoy: we’re more likely to see a healthy media industry – and therefore a reason to keep the licence-funded BBC – without free BBC iPhone apps.


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The local government has assured the public in a statement that supplies of essential commodities are ample, and has discouraged panic purchasing.
Availability of supplies has been checked with several supermarkets, a government economic taskforce said in yesterday’s statement. The taskforce was also assured by retailers that they would increase orders of the most popular products, such as rice, canned and frozen food products.
The taskforce has also required local supermarkets to implement quantity limits on individual retail so as to stabilize supply. Retailers were also reminded to comply with health measures recommended by the Health Bureau (SSM).
Even without replenishment, the stock of rice and cooking oil in Macau is sufficient for a month’s supply. As of the taskforce’s inspection, the city had 1.67 million kilograms of rice and 750,000 kilograms of edible oil.
By issuing the statement, the government means to assure local residents about the supply of vital products and hence discourage panic buying.
Price speculation and profiteering are also within the government’s scope of regulation, the taskforce noted.
Macau residents have a history of panic buying items such as several dozen toilet rolls, on the occasion of natural disasters. AL


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RUSH: You know, ladies and gentlemen, talking about this Chevrolet Volt business makes me very nervous because just as this phrase that was in the Washington Post story about Newt, he “does not carry Wall Street baggage,” you know, you could substitute something and you could have that phrase read: “He does not carry American baggage.” You know, Wall Street’s America. So here you’ve got a Democrat strategist saying of Newt, yeah, “he doesn’t carry Wall Street baggage.”
So Obama’s making it clear: They’re running against America. They’re running against American traditions, institutions, trying to defile them as corrupt, and Newt gives ’em a problem ’cause they can’t tie Newt to Wall Street. Well, you know, the Chevy Volt has got all kinds of problems. First, nobody wants to buy any. The regime, GM owned by the regime, what did they project, 10,000 sales and they’ve sold about 1100 of ’em, something like that. I forget the number, and they’re all bought with other people’s money, every purchase is subsidized.
Now they’ve got battery problems. The cars are supposedly catching fire because the batteries. GM has… I am not comfortable reporting this. (interruption) No, they’re rethinking the buyback. If you just stick with me on this, everything you think you know has changed about this. Yes, yes, yes. First, this is from a website called AutoGuide.com. “Chevrolet Volt Battery Issues Growing, Safety Findings May Have Been Suppressed. Following on from the announcement that GM is looking at redesigning the Chevrolet Volt’s lithium ion battery system in the wake of several highly publicized fires resulting from test crashes.”
You know, NBC didn’t even do the test crashes. Normally NBC does that for their documentary shows but they didn’t even do that; the government did that. “Now comes further news that both General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration delayed disclosure of their original findings of the safety problems with the car by months. Well, the regime runs General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And this assertion is that General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suppressed findings about the dangers posed by the car for months.
Apparently way back in June — now, my point here is that Corzine, this idiot, who in the world would invest long on European bonds? They had to think the government was gonna bail ’em out. Nobody goes long on European bonds back in October, September, for crying out loud. The Italians can’t pay their bonds. They’ve come to mature. That’s one of the problems here. And furthermore, Corzine taking advice from Clinton’s firm on doing just that. Going long on European bonds at MF Global is like the government investigating Volt. They hide the results. They hide the dangers from people. It’s almost on par with the government investing in this thing.
They tried to bring Toyota to their knees over this kind of thing. Remember all these phony baloney accelerator stick stories with these yokels getting in the Toyotas and driving into concrete abutments because the accelerator stuck. Turns out that was all made up. At any rate, “Apparently, way back in June, General Motors heard about a Volt fire that happened three weeks after said vehicle was crash tested, yet it wasn’t until November that the company, or NHTSA disclosed there was a potential problem.” So they knew in June; they didn’t tell anybody until November. All that while they’re selling the car, or trying to. They were “urging both dealers and customers to drain the battery pack immediately following an accident.”
So if you’re in one of these things and you have an accident, the first thing, if you’re conscious that you have to do is go drain the battery pack, or the first responders have to be trained to do this. Now, why not tell people of the dangers that you have discovered? Because it would hurt the president’s green energy push? It was because they didn’t want this kind of news coming out along with the Solyndra stuff and all the fraud going on in the solar energy business? Would it hurt his reelection chances? Why the cover-up? People’s lives were threatened here. Oh, by the way, Newt Gingrich is scum. That’s in the Republican media. Meanwhile, all this is going on and we’re being told what a bunch of rot guts our candidates are. All this stuff is happening. Clinton advising Corzine, Corzine’s firm going belly up, customers losing 80% of what they got, if not everything. Clinton getting 50 grand a month as a retainer ’cause Corzine wants an entree to Clinton’s political family.
Then we find out that the regime, General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety outfit discovered there’s a potential for fires from the battery in a Volt back in June, they don’t tell anybody until November. Meanwhile, what you and I are supposed to take away today is that Newt Gingrich is unfit for office. See how this works. “As a result the public relations nightmare surrounding Chevy’s halo vehicle appears to be deepening, though a good deal of the blame in this case also rests with NHTSA.” That’s the regime. The regime is the Chevy Volt; the regime is GM; the regime is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That would be Obama.
“Joan Claybrook, a former administrator at NHTSA believes part of the reason for the delay was the ‘fragility of Volt sales.'” Exactly! Now, if you have a company and you sell a product that causes fires, the regime will try to shut you down. If the regime has a product that causes fires, they won’t tell you so that you will continue to buy it. That’s what we come away with here. And we have now a former administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Joan Claybrook, saying so. “Yet she also believes that ‘NHTSA could have put out a consumer alert, not to tell them [customers] for six months makes no sense to me.'” Note she is a former administrator. She’s not there anymore. So Obama’s precious Volt sales might be hurt if a safety issue is not suppressed. What kind of deal is that? So these cars pose a potential safety risk but we’re not gonna tell you that because it might hurt sales. This is what happens when the regime runs businesses; what happens when government runs businesses.
You know, the left is constantly out there trying to convince people that every big industry and corporation in America is trying to kill its customers. Big Oil is trying to pollute the world and destroy it. Every outfit out there is trying to pollute the water and the air, and the Republicans like dirty water and dirty air and so forth. And now isn’t it ironic? We finally have a corporation that’s trying to kill its customers, there’s no outrage about it.


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Miami River is getting a huge addition this summer when Riverside makes its grand debut. Setting up shop at 431 South Miami Avenue it’s a 120,000-square-foot space boasting two full-service restaurants along with counter-service options from Le Chick, Old Lisbon and Morgan’s, a taproom and beer garden by Miami River Brewery, and open event spaces.
The space, which is inspired by a “boatyard garden,” will have two dining anchors, AWA, an Asian-inspired eatery, in addition to a high-end steakhouse. The beer garden and tap room will be surrounded by 100+ trees and feature local brews and plenty of outdoor seating. There will also be an air-conditioned area serving up cocktails with TVs to watch sporting events.
Riverside will include a waterfront boardwalk that connects to Brickell Avenue, and will also be extending the existing walkway along the South Miami Avenue bridge. The space plans to be accessibly by var, Metromover, and since it is Miami, boat, when it debuts. The space will be open daily for lunch and dinner and plans to be family friendly to the public throughout the daytime hours. Stay tuned for more details.


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Las Vegas — Rockford’s Lightning Audio brand will go to International CES to launch 11 new car audio speakers, which consist of two- and three-way full-
Las Vegas — Rockford Fosgate will go to International CES with more than 40 new car amplifiers, speakers, and factory-integration and application-specific
Seoul, South Korea — LG’s parent company continued to let more cats out of the bag on its planned new product showcase for the upcoming 2013
Pickering, Ontario – NAD will go to International CES with a new seven-channel amplifier that boasts lower standby power consumption than its predecessor and
Las Vegas – The IEEE’s International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE) will begin on Friday, January 11, the last day of International CES, here
Las Vegas — Monster announced that Alicia Keys would headline its annual awards show at International CES in January.
The 2013 Retailer of the Year
Arlington, Va. - The 2013 International CES will unveil the latest wireless technologies and trends during the annual show to take place January 8 to 11 in Las
Arlington, Va. – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has a new entrepreneur-focused keynote at the 2013 International CES, called The Next Generation
Arlington, Va. - The Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) Innovation Policy Summit at the 2013 International CES will feature panels with top government
Arlington, Va. – Bring your walking shoes to the 2013 International CES because it will have a record amount of exhibit space - more than 1.87 million net
By Lisa Johnston
New products on display at the American International Toy Fair, held in N
New York — The Anti-Defamation League’s National Consumer Technology Industry divisio
Los Angeles — Fifteen industry leaders were inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of
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Motorola’s Flagship Phone, the Moto X, has Arrived
After months of leaked details, loads of speculation, and plenty of waiting, the Moto X has been unveiled. And the new smartphone will be on all four wireless carriers later this month, for $200 with a two-year contract.
The Moto X is finally here, as Motorola took the wraps off its hotly anticipated new smartphone at an event on Thursday.
The new smartphone, which has been talked about for months, marks the official relaunch of the handset maker Motorola, since it was acquired last year by tech giant Google.
The new device, which will be Motorola’s flagship smartphone, marries Motorola’s history of hardware and design innovation with Google’s software and services chops to create a new device franchise that Google hopes will rival that of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy series of smartphones.
The Moto X will be available on all four major U.S. carriers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA, as well as regional provider, U.S. Cellular. It will also be available at national retailers, including Best Buy. T-Mobile subscribers will be able to get the device at Motorola.com.
The device, which sports a 4.7 inch screen with a curved back, and a 10 megapixel camera, will be offered in either white or black in carrier and retail locations. The initial version of the device will come with 16GB of memory, but it will not offer the option to add memory via a memory card slot. As a special promotion, Google is offering up to 50GB of free Google Drive storage for Moto X owners for two years.
With a two-year carrier service contract, the 16GB version of the Moto X will sell for $200. And it will go on sale in late August or early September in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Representatives from Motorola said the exact timing of the device’s various launches is up to the individual wireless carriers. Motorola gave no further details about other international launches.
The new phone does not use the latest version of Android software but instead sports Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
One of the strongest selling points of the new Moto X is a consumer’s ability to create and customize her or his device online and have it built to order in Motorola’s Fort Worth, Texas, factory. The company has set up a Web site and an interactive Web-based tool called Moto Maker that lets people custom-build their device online.
Moto Maker lets people choose from up to 16 colors for the back of their device, along with 7 accent colors that can be used to highlight the sides of the device and the rim around the back-facing camera.
Customers can also choose one of two colors for the front: white or black. The Web site also allows people to add a name or short message on the back of the phone. And it offers customized wallpapers and wake-up messages for the device. Devices built online will arrive in customers’ hands within four days of their order, according to Motorola.
People customizing their phones can choose from either a 16GB model, which is also sold in carrier stores with a two-year contract for $200, or they can upgrade for $50 to a 32GB model, which is available only through Moto Maker.
Before eager Motorola fans get too excited, it’s important to note that the customization option will initially be available only for Moto X customers on AT&T’s network. Customers who want a built-to-order Moto X on one of the other four wireless operators will have to wait.
What this means is that, at least initially, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular subscribers will get to choose only a white or black 16GB version of the phone — without any other customizable options.
People interested in learning more details about Moto Maker can sign up at motorola.com for more information as it becomes available. AT&T will have a Moto Maker kiosk in its stores, and Best Buy is also expected to offer the Moto Maker kiosk in its outlets.
Motorola said the new Moto X will also be available on major carriers at full price without a contract, but the company didn’t reveal any specifics or give a price for the unsubsidized versions of these devices. To read full article click here.
Article written by Marguerite Reardon, from cnet.com.


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Roku today announced that it’s expanding its Roku TV platform and has added Hitachi America as a new Roku TV partner, this means that Hitachi Roku TVs are going to hit the market later this year. Hitachi is going to make use of Roku’s TV reference design to build smart TVs that are powered by Roku software.
Happier employees tends to lead to better output and more efficiency, but how do you know if your employees are happy or if they secretly resent you? After all some employees might value their jobs too much to dare to speak out and voice their grievances. Over in Japan though, Hitachi High Technologies has come up with a wearable sensor that employees can wear to let bosses know how happy […]
Hitachi of Japan has recently unveiled not one, two, or even three, but nine (yes, nine!) different models of air conditioners for the masses, where these happen to be the ‘Stainless Clean Shirokuma-kun X series’ that will also see a “living camera 3D” installed. These days, when we talk about a 3D camera, we might think of something that has to do with movie making or the equivalent, but this […]
Hitachi has plans to work on what they deem to be the ‘world’s fastest’ lift in China, where it is touted to be able to hit floor 95 right from the bottom in a mere 43 seconds. Now that’s super fast, and I would like to think that the amount of time you would spend waiting for the lift to stop at your floor in a high density building would […]
Hitachi has revealed a tiny single-seat vehicle called Ropits; that’s Robot for Personal Intelligent Transport System. Ropit is a robot vehicle that can pick up and drop off passengers independently. Just punch in the destination and it will take you there. The vehicle is meant to travel on sidewalks and Hitachi had demonstrated its capability in the city of Tsukuba today. There will be more tests to come.
Ever since 9/11 happened, those who travel by air often, especially to and within the US, have run into a heightened level of security at airports which involves taking off jackets, opening and powering up your notebook, removing of shoes and belts, and not being able to carry liquids beyond a certain level among others. Hitachi has come up with a prototype of a bomb-detecting airport gate, and it was […]
If there is a modern day problem when it comes to storing our data, it would be permanency, or rather, the lack of it. After all storage medium changes from time to time, requiring one to migrate files on the existing media to a new generation format. The process is not guaranteed to work, but Hitachi of Japan claims that they have come across a new way to keep your […]
Just a few years ago, experts said that the future is in the cloud. That prediction turned out to be true after all. Hitachi seems to be headed in that direction as well. As Japanese companies like NTT Data and Fujitsu pushes its support for cloud-based services focusing on server farms and big data, which refers to the huge sets of information generated by websites, social networks, and physical networks, […]
The Japanese company, Hitachi said on Wednesday that it has developed a high-efficiency industrial strength motor without using rare earth metals like neodymium or dysprosium which is found in nearly all other motors. The company is aiming to commercialize the innovation starting in April 2014. The motor is said to be used for pumps or fans at factories or tunnels. Hitachi also stated that despite not using the rare earth […]
There is nothing quite like upgrades in robots to excite the robophile in you – although I am quite sure that if you were plugged in to the Matrix, you would have hated upgraded agents that Neo faced if you were not the One. I digress – Hitachi’s personal assistant robot known as the EMIEW 2 has just received its fair share of upgrades, where the EMIEW 2 is now […]
Hitachi had started to ship the first 4TB capacity hard drives in the world, never mind the fact that no press release was issued from Hitachi to date. According to Japanese site Akiba, someone had already spotted said hard drive on sale, where it will boast the model number HDS5C4040ALE630, going by the name Deskstar 5K. The name does point towards it being a lower performance model that has a […]
Could this be true? Are Hitachi and Sony working together to deliver a new 4″ device that will run on iOS from Apple? Some have dubbed it to be the iPad 4, but who knows what it will be called, perhaps Apple sees the Galaxy Note as a true blue threat to their portable device throne, and will want to meet it head on with a 4″ device of their […]
It looks like the Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba deal has finally gone through. These three major companies, together with Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, will form a new entity called Japan Display Inc. This new merger will focus on the small and medium sized display business, where they are hoping to give their South Korean rivals, Samsung and LG, a run for their money.
[CEATEC 2011] Remember how George Lucas had to figure out a way to film a 3D hologram when he made Star Wars, as R2-D2 played back a recording of Princess Leia’s distress call to Obi Wan Kenobi? I guess Artoo’s 3D hologram playback capability had its roots way back when Japan still existed on a planet called Earth, as CEATEC 2011 is the platform where Hitachi put forward their Full […]
In this day and age, having 1TB of hard disk space is barely enough to keep up with the downloading habits of most people, and especially for professionals who editing high quality video and audio files. So it comes as no surprise when manufacturers are now racing to create the largest hard disk drives on the market. Hitachi has just added new 4TB models to its high-end G-RAID and G-DRIVE […]
Hitachi wants to push the boundaries of hard drive storage even further by introducing a new range of hard drives which are capable of stashing away 1TB of data onto individual spinning platters. This new technology enables Hitachi to churn out even slimmer form factors – something that was not quite possible before, and with smaller hard drives, that means less material used to construct it, and this cost savings […]
Mergers often end up with some corners being cut (cost savings in corporate parlance), resulting in a leaner and often meaner entity. Of course, there will be collateral damage along the way, but then again that is to be expected. The latest news that is going around would be three Japanese giants, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi working together to merge their liquid-crystal display (LCD) operations by taking advantage of the […]
Hitachi, a well known home electronics manufacturer, has announced that it will be leaving the TV production. It will stop producing TVs on its own and will be outsourcing the work to other countries instead. Its single flat panel production plant that’s left in Japan will be shut down by the end of this year. So while the company won’t be producing TVs anymore, it will still be selling them […]
The glasses-free 3D movement has certainly picked up to a certain extent, what with stereoscopic 3D capable phones and the Nintendo 3DS having hit the market for some time already. The novelty does wear thin rather quickly for some people though, and perhaps with better technology in the future, things might change and people could very well soften their stance and start to see 3D as a need rather than […]
Hitachi G-Connect - Hitachi is just released G-Connect, a personal storage and networking device that addresses a pervasive issue with mobile devices: too little local storage


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clikeh advance The immediateors’ culpability for Wells Fargo’s misdeeds has never been in question. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D Mass.) last June called on then Fed Chair Janet Yellen to remove all 12 who had been in place between May 2011 and July 2015, the period in which the fake accounts scandal was occurring.cash advance
In addition, you can find poor credit signature loans without guarantor for sale in the credit market for consumers that not too friendly credit scores
cash advance online they certainly weren’t capable run fulltime. These were taking care of family members, they’d employment, and so on. And as a result of these, we watched men start to have the ability to rise again and earn some financial protection.


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Marvel’s Spider-Man carries a massive roster of villains, but one baddie that seems to have not made the cut is Spider-Man’s arch enemy, Venom.
A Spidey fan recently hit up developer Insomniac’s art director, Jacinda Chew, inquiring about the size of Venom. Chew revealed that Vemon is so big, the developers didn’t have any space for him in the villain-packed game.
— Jacinda Chew (@jacinda_chew) July 1, 2018
Considering the size of some enemies confirmed for the game, such as Rhino, this was likely just a cute way to say that the developer simply wasn’t able to fit Venom into the story. Speaking of Rhino, the character’s voice actor recently leaked an unconfirmed villain that did make it into the game: Doc Ock.
Other famous villains confirmed for the game include Vulture, Electro, Mr. Negative, and Scorpion, all of which can be seen in the game’s E3 stage demo. Shocker also showed up as a villain at E3 2018, although he was part of the show floor demo.
Spider-Man is slated to launch September 7th, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
Source: Shack News


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Over the past few weeks, we've seen a handful of rumors and reports suggesting that Samsung is planning to kill off the Galaxy Note line of smartphones from next year, shifting more of its focus to foldable devices. However, in a statement to Korean news agency Yonhap News, Samsung has seemingly denied those rumors. A Samsung representative, who asked to remain anonymous, told the outlet that the company is preparing to release a new iteration of the Galaxy Note next year.
Yesterday, TM Roh, president of Samsung's mobile division, talked about the company's plans for 2021, which included saying that features from the Galaxy Note series are being considered for other Samsung phones. Rumors leading up to that statement claimed that S Pen support is coming to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, so many assumed that this was what's being referenced, lending further credence to the death of the Galaxy Note. After all, there aren't many major distinctions between the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series at this point, so S Pen support in the former would reduce the need for the latter.
However, S Pen support is only claimed to be coming to higher-end models of the Galaxy S21 family, and even then, these reports suggest the S Pen won't be sold with the device, which has been the case with the Note series. It's possible that Samsung is doing this to determine whether customers will keep buying Note smartphones if S Pen support is available on the S series.
Either way, the Samsung representative speaking to Yonhap News reinforced that Roh's statement doesn't mean the Galaxy Note series is being canceled. We should get a better idea of Samsung's plans when the company discusses its devices further. Currently, reports point to January 14 as the date for the reveal of the Galaxy S21 family.
Source: Yonhap News


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Main Pint: The Malaysia Fashion Week will start tomorrow showcasing more than 100 designers new collections
Story By Grace Chen
Source: The Star Oneline (Malaysia)
IMAGINE this – 305 booths spanning six categories of fashion and lifestyle products, and up to five fashion shows per day by more than 100 established and up-and-coming designers as well as the chance to meet potential buyers from Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
That is the kind of buzz one can expect at the Malaysia Fashion Week which starts tomorrow and ends on Nov 5.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) trade and services promotion division lifestyle unit director Abu Bakar Yusof said the sole ambition of the event was to generate business for the Malaysian fashion industry.
“We are going to act as a springboard for the SMEs to get into the international market. At this point, participation is 60% local and 40% international,” said Abu Bakar.
At last count, Abu Bakar said the event had attracted the attention of about 200 buyers from India, Egypt, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Myanmar and Russia, in addition to a delegation of 10 buyers from Qatar.
The fashion category, which includes handbags, footwear, accessories, apparel and textiles, has received the most attention.
Follow the story @ The Star Online …


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The New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is suing Google over alleged stealing and selling of students’ personal data. Google handed out free chromebooks to a large amount of New Mexican schools in need while also providing free G Suite services to others. The free G Suite services include Gmail, Google Docs, Google Slides, Sheets, etc. Google offers these services across New Mexico school counties at no cost, but in actuality these services come “at a very real cost that Google purposefully obscures,” according to Balderas.
In a press release Balderas revealed that Google has discreetly collected tons of student information and data. Information including student geolocation information, internet history, terms searched by students on Google, videos watched on YouTube, personal contact lists, saved passwords, voice recordings, and more. The collection of this data without explicit parental consent would make Google in direct violation of The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA prevents any company from collecting data on minors (anybody under the age of 13) without explicit consent and issues incredibly hefty fines for any company caught breaking any of these rules.
According to the Attorney General’s lawsuit, more than 80 million educators and students throughout the US currently use Google Suites or chromebooks, and 25 out of those 80 million use either products constantly in school. The lawsuit also states that Google publicly pledged to never use students data for their own commercial purposes, but then points to multiple discrepancies on Google’s end. For example the lawsuit points to a statement made by Google in response to a congressional inquiry, in which Google admits to using students’ data for “product improvement and product development.”
So is Google purposely giving away products to schools to collect and sell their data or are they genuinely trying to improve American education experiences? Well they responded to the New Mexican Attorney General’s claims.
In a statement to The Verge, Google Spokesperson Jose Castaneda denied Balderas’ claims. Castaneda said, “These claims are factually wrong. G Suite for Education allows schools to control account access and requires that schools obtain parental consent when necessary. We do not use personal information from users in primary and secondary schools to target ads.” But they admitted to using students’ data for “product improvement and product development.”
Google has had their fair share of lawsuits against them the past couple years when it comes to consumer and users’ privacy, but if they were found violating COPPA, it would be the second time in the past two years. In 2019, Google and Youtube had to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $170 million. If Google is found violating COPPA again do not be surprised if the consequences and fines are as tough if not more.


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Cazoo is consulting staff on the closure of a large number of its premises across the country in a move affecting hundreds of staff.
Up to 15 of Cazoo’s customer hand over centres – opened with a fan fare over the last few years across the UK – are scheduled to close if proposals go ahead.
The number of Cazoo preparation centres could also be reduced to three.
Cazoo acquired four prep sites when it snapped up Smart Fleet Solutions in February 2021, and added six more when it bought SMH Fleet Solutions in September that year for £70m.
It is believed Cazoo also acquired a preparation centre as part of its Imperial Cars deal.
Staff in Cazoo’s technology team and head office are also under the threat of redundancy following today’s announcement.
Chief customer officer Darren Bentley broke the news to staff in an all-hands Google Meet at 3pm today.
During that call – which has been leaked in full to Car Dealer – Bentley said Cazoo was also proposing to close its Lisbon office.
In today’s announcement to the New York Stock Exchange, Cazoo told investors it would be ‘closing more preparation centres and customer handover sites’.
However, it did not reveal how many would shut or how that would impact staff. The call leaked to Car Dealer revealed details of the online retailer’s proposals for the first time.
In the meeting, Cazoo said it plans to only retain customer handover centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Chertsey, Lakeside, Manchester, Northampton and Wembley.
On its website, it lists 22 sites where customers are handed over used cars bought online.
The employee at Cazoo, who shared the details with Car Dealer, said one of the sites earmarked for closure under the plan was in Edinburgh which has only recently opened after a ‘£1.5m refit’.
Many of the sites facing proposed closure were rebranded after Cazoo bought Imperial Car Supermarkets in 2020. Huge refits were undertaken as the company erected new signage and rolled out the openings across the country.
Staff were first told their jobs were at risk in a rushed call at midday today which they said they were informed about ‘two minutes before it started’.
A second call was scheduled for 3pm, a recording of which was subsequently leaked.
Bentley told staff on the call: ‘We’re targeting sales volume this year of 40,000 units, which is a step backwards from the 60,000 that we did in 2022.
‘However, the challenge within that is that our current infrastructure and headcount is set up to support a significantly higher level of retail sales, in the region of 200,000, and therefore the business needs to restructure the business and to continue to align with that revised sales volume.
‘That’s necessary in order to get to the cost savings, and the business efficiencies that we’re looking for from across all the teams in the business.’
Cazoo said this morning that it has reduced the number of cars it plans to sell in 2023 – to between 40,000 and 50,000, from around 65,000 achieved in 2022.
In its investor presentation shared before listing, Cazoo said it would be selling 176,000 used cars in 2023 and 58,000 in Europe.
Staff were asked to join the call in an email from Cazoo’s executive assistant with teams dialling in from across the country.
Cazoo has closed its customer handover centres this afternoon and no staff will work the evening shift in call centres so affected teams have time to process the news.
Bentley added: ‘The proposals that we have announced today cover reducing the number of vehicle preparation centres down to three, we’re proposing to reduce the number of CCCs [Cazoo Customer Centres] in which we operate, and closing our Lisbon office, and reducing our overall technology team and reconsolidating that to London, along with reducing a number of our head office support functions.
‘So the current proposal is to retain Birmingham, Bristol, Chertsey, Lakeside, Manchester, Northampton and Wembley, but we would close all other CCCs outside of those areas, along with our customer support presence in Leeds. All of our in-house customer support will be moving back to Southampton.
‘Because the company is considering these proposals, unfortunately today’s announcement is to advise you that your roles are therefore impacted and at risk of redundancy.’
A consultancy period will now take place over the next two weeks. Bentley pointed out that nothing has yet been decided and these were ‘proposals’.
Cazoo has been contacted for comment.
In today’s announcement to the New York Stock Exchange, Cazoo gave little detail on what its downsizing plans were.
Cazoo said: ‘In the current economic environment we believe the right course of action for 2023 is to focus on further improving our unit economics, reducing our fixed cost base and maximising our cash runway.
‘In line with the lower unit expectations for 2023 and the current economic climate, we will be making our operational and logistics networks more efficient through the closure of certain of our vehicle preparation centre and customer centre facilities and making further headcount reductions.
‘This plan is in the process of being finalised and we will provide more detailed information at the time of our FY 2022 results.’
This morning’s update came with details of Cazoo’s financial performance for the final quarter of 2022 and with preliminary figures for the year. Revenue reached £315m for Q4 and topped £1.24bn for the year.
It said it is now managing to make an average of £600 per car it sells. Industry rivals achieve upwards of £1,500.
Car Dealer Live – the future of the car dealer – exclusive conference features talks from leading car dealers, Google and Auto Trader among much more. Find out the full event details and book tickets.


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India’s Primechain Technologies is rolling out a international payments solution built using blockchain.
According to news from The Times of India this week, Primechain is launching its Primechain-P5 platform, which is built for cross-border transactions. According to reports, the solution facilitates payments with lower fees on a 24x7 basis. The company is using Microsoft Azure APIs to integrate fraud solutions and anti-money laundering checks.
Several financial institutions are considering using the platform, Primechain said, including the State Bank of India and Emirates NBD.
“SBI is now a top 50 global bank, and we need to keep collaborating with banks and FinTech startups to keep putting the innovation agenda and take emerging technology like blockchain into mainstream banking,” said State Bank of India Head of Innovation Sudin Baraokar in a statement. “With blockchain, we can ultimately cover all the banking functions, like moving money, lending, collecting, securing and managing money.”
“Primechain-P5 is one of the most exciting developments in the field of global payments today,” said Primechain Technologies CEO Shinam Arora in another statement. “We’ve partnered with Microsoft Azure for maximum security, scalability and stability.”
Earlier this month, another financial institution (FI) in India, Axis Bank, announced the deployment of another blockchain-based, cross-border payments solution developed by Ripple. The solution can support cross-border corporate payments between Axis Bank and Singapore’s Standard Chartered Bank.
“The successful launch of our commercial cross-border payment service marks a significant milestone in the financial industry’s progress in applying distributed ledger technology for corporates,” Standard Chartered Bank Global Head, Digitization and Client Access, Transaction Banking, Gautam Jain, said in a statement at the time. “We are incredibly proud to be leading the way in this area. This affirms our commitment to digitization and innovation as we continuously look at new ways to add value to our clients and their ecosystems; in this case, corporates trading between Singapore and India.”


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Google Cookies Delay Changes Now Set for 2024
Google originally said it would remove third-party cookies in January 2022 as part of its privacy sandbox initiative (the response to the cookie-less future aims to provide anonymity to data unless expressly granted). The privacy sandbox was developed so online users would have open standards for tracking them while protecting their data. Since then, we have seen the removal of Google cookies delay twice, first to 2023, now, it is looking towards 2024.
What are Google cookies?
We’ve all seen the cookie popup asking us to accept or deny when visiting a website, but what are the cookies we accept? Cookies are little pieces of text which are sent to your browser by the websites you are visiting. They help a website remember information about you and your visit. This can then affect the ease of revisiting and ultimately make the site more useful to you.
There are a variety of cookies that are used for many reasons. Cookie preference or cookie control is used to remember a website user’s choice for cookies on the site.
A user chooses their selection; this will be reflected for future visits and stored in this cookie. If you accept cookies on a website, the site won’t (or shouldn’t) ask you to confirm this again. They should just rely on your decision from last time.
Another example is language selection, which is used to remember a user’s preference regarding the website’s languages. This enables the website’s content to be presented to the user in the same language as their previous visit.
They also aid in favour of remarketing services. Cookie remarketing is a marketing strategy that is used by marketers and advertisers. It’s when ads or campaigns are presented to customers who have previously interacted with a website. The end goal is to use a customer’s data to personalise the online experience, boosting conversions by doing so.
Why is Google going cookieless?
The term cookieless means marketing where marketers rely much less on third-party cookies. The tiny bits of data that include information personal to a user show how they prefer to browse the web.
The phasing out support of cookies will not affect Google itself but its other platforms. These include Google Search, Google Ads, YouTube and other Google platforms.
In simple terms, the cookie stores information about your behaviour on a computer to identify you as an individual. This is by keeping a tab on unique identifiers like registration numbers or the session’s identification numbers. It can keep note of internet browsing history, websites previously visited, the interest and demographic of the user, buying behaviours, social media usage and more to give marketers a niche way of targeting.
With the removal of cookies and subsequent change in how online behaviour is recorded, other methods of identifying your behaviour will be stored instead.
According to Justin Schuh, Google’s, Director of Chrome Engineering, Google’s idea to phase out support for third-party cookies is down to users. He said users are “demanding more privacy, including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used.” He has also implied that Google was “evolving” to create “the web ecosystem needed to meet these increasing demands.”
His statements were supported by a recent study by KMPG. Their research showed that 86% of the U.S general population have said that data privacy is a growing concern for them. A further 68% are concerned regarding the level of data being collected by businesses.
Amongst the general consumer’s opinions, Google may have also been forced to respond. This is due to various investigations into Google’s online advertising business. This includes The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) Investigation.
For advertisers, the Association of National Advertisers released a statement in January of 2020 regarding the cookie ban. They expressed their “deep disappointment” with the decision whilst acknowledging fears that it would cause significant disruption within the advertising industry.
How will the Google cookies delay affect businesses?
As with any significant developments or shifts involving privacy, data and advertising, some businesses have been panicking about how the phase-out and lack of tracking will change how companies work online.
One of the most noticeable impacts will be apparent by the sizes of third-party audiences. This is audiences whose data is collected solely through third-party cookies. This group size will eventually reach a number so low that they are not scalable for any media buying activity.
Marketers must be savvy in their new approaches to format and generate new audience data. Also, companies that process and sell advertising data must also create new innovative ways to collect audience data. Ensuring their new processes do not solely rely on collecting basic third-party cookies.
It will be in marketers’ best interest to use first-party data where they can. This is because first-party data will not be getting the boot and gives greater details and remarketing potential. These strategies could be crucial in providing a personalised online experience and ensuring a user feels protected and data secure.
Google’s privacy efforts could severely impact some areas of the marketing and advertising world. However, where data could be lost, some tactics will remain the same.
Suppose you’re an advertiser or marketer that has thrived on third-party data for online targeting strategies.
In this case, you may have some fears about navigating the change. However, with effective cookie policies, cookie management, and the use of Consent Mode, you may still be able to collect effective data to market successfully via the same channels.
Here are a couple of things to remember before you panic;
It’s worth noting that businesses are still in a position to collect third-party data if consented to do so. This is fully down to the user and whether they consent and ‘accept’ the cookies. This means there is still hope for businesses to collect the same useful data they previously had despite changes.
Google isn’t banning all cookies they are just phasing out the third-party ones. This means the primary data will still be trackable from first-party data sources.
This opens new opportunities for innovation within advertising! The change has sparked concern as Google, other browsers and tech firms such as Apple take a stand for user privacy. Going forward, this may present an excellent opportunity to begin looking at and developing less risky advertising strategies moving forward.
Thankfully you now have a little more time to prepare for the change. This is after the Google cookies delay will now be pushed back until midway through 2024.
If you would like to discuss the use of data privacy and analytics further, take advantage of ROAR’s Digital Marketing Consultancy Services. One of our specialists will help you get set with your Analytics tracking.


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HTC will soon release its latest handset in a long string of products meant to take on the iPhone and compete with the best of whatever other Android manufacturers have to offer. Dubbed the HTC Vivid, the latest smartphone from HTC is 4G compatible, sports a 4.3-inch screen, and includes some high-end specs to boot.
But the most interesting thing about the HTC Vivid has nothing to do with its 8 megapixel camera or ability to shoot HD video. Rather, the most interesting thing about the HTC Vivid is the name of the device itself.
You see, Vivid might already sound familiar on account of the Vivid Entertainment Group, a company specializing in adult video production. With a focus on Hollywood quality production and contracts that tie up some of the hottest females in the industry to exclusive contracts, Vivid over the past two decades steadily became one of the more successful and well-known adult studios in the US.
And even assuming you haven’t heard of Vivid, there’s more than a good chance that you’ve seen or at least heard of their work. That’s to say that Vivid is the company that put out sex tapes from the likes of Pamela Anderson and Kim Kardashian.
That all said, Vivid sent a cease and desist letter to HTC alleging that their latest smartphone model – the HTC Vivid – infringes upon their trademark. HTC has until November 21 to change the name or else Vivid is going to sue.
Responding to the allegations, an HTC spokesman said, “We are reviewing the complaint and don’t expect to have any further comment until it is resolved.”
Regarding the potential lawsuit itself, Vivid claims that the smartphone will lead to brand confusion. While that might, at first, seem like far fetched notion, that high-res 4.5 inch screen was seemingly built for..
I kid I kid. In all seriousness, Vivid believe it or not actually launched its own Google TV channel earlier this month so maybe there’s something, however tiny, to Vivid’s allegations. But when push comes to shove, we just can’t envision anyone picking up an HTC Vivid and thinking it has anything to do with an adult movie studio.
via The Verge


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Data on the U.S. fractional share industry show that last year was extremely challenging for the big four fractional operators–NetJets, Flexjet, Flight Options and CitationAir–and for smaller but healthier Avantair.
Data released yesterday by aviation specialized services firm Argus indicates that business aircraft flight activity last month increased 5.3 percent from year-ago levels. However, January numbers were down slightly–2.8 percent–from December, and the year-over-year increase fell short of analysts’ predictions of double-digit flight activity gains during the first half of this year.
Since Sentient Jet was purchased by Macquarie Global Opportunities Partners last September, the company has returned to its roots, according to CEO Steven Hankin. Business is down, he concedes, but the slumping economy has forced business travelers to avoid owning capital assets–and therefore moved them toward purchasing jet cards.
Fractional ownership of private aircraft seems to be a struggling business model in North America and Europe but it’s alive and well in this part of the world, according to NetJets Middle East (NJME). The company, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s National Air Service and is affiliated to U.S.-based NetJets Inc.
Revenues at NetJets, Berkshire Hathaway’s fractional jet share company, dropped $471 million (41 percent) in the third quarter of 2009 and $1.495 billion (42 percent) for the first nine months of 2009, compared with 2008 results, according to the parent company’s November 6 quarterly report. The decline in revenues stems from a 79-percent drop in aircraft sales, according to the report, and a 24-percent reduction in flight revenue hours.
Responding to the brave new world of recession-shaped business aviation, CitationShares last month in New York City unveiled a rebranding that sees the company change its name to CitationAir by Cessna and promote the scope of its offerings beyond the fractional operation it has been since its founding in 2000 as a joint venture between Cessna and Geneva-based Tag Aviation when the two companies bought Wayfarer Starshares (founded in 1998 and f
Flexjet, Bombardier Aerospace’s fractional-share program, announced a reconfigured product offering at NBAA, with an emphasis on its ability to offer supplemental lift and other aviation solutions to corporate flight departments.
Marquis Jet’s Randy Brandoff said his jet card company is well positioned to take advantage of the shifting sands of the corporate jet market. Brandoff, the newly appointed executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Marquis Jet (Booth No. 291), said the company’s business is down slightly for the year, but demand is actually on the rebound.
The fractional share marketplace is changing rapidly in response to the lengthy global recession. While most fractional operators already reduced staffing levels to match lower levels of customer activity, it wasn’t until September 11 that NetJets announced layoffs of 350 nonunion employees.
Responding to the brave new world of recession-shaped business aviation, CitationShares this morning in New York City unveiled a rebranding that sees the company change its name to CitationAir by Cessna and promote the scope of its offerings beyond the fractional operation it has been since its founding in 2000 as a joint venture between Cessna and Geneva-based Tag Aviation when the two companies bought Wayfarer Starshares (founded in 1998 and


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Griffiths died Thursday at University Hospital in Coventry, central England, from complications following heart surgery his agent said.
Sri Srinivasan's confirmation hearing could make him the 1st ever Indian-American to serve as a federal judge. So is Kamala Harris, California's attorney-general.
Warby Parker is part of a wave of e-commerce companies that are trying to build premium brands at discount prices by cutting out middlemen.
Christie's London is presenting a sale of the renowned Benson Collection of Early Spoons on the 4 June 2013.
That would see people with stock portfolios and homes feeling richer and more confident, prompting them to spend more on everything.
"Retro-style toys for the under-tween crowd are on the upswing," says Adrienne Appell of the Toy Industry Association.


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Bitcoin, a digital currency that has shaken the world of finance, has captured the interest of the global community since its introduction in 2008. However, the identity of the creator of Bitcoin, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, remains an unsolved mystery.
The Origin of Bitcoin
Bitcoin has achieved remarkable popularity as a decentralized digital currency based on blockchain technology. However, the mystery surrounding the identity of Bitcoin's creator has sparked significant curiosity within the global community. A thorough investigation is necessary to comprehend the background and potential identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
The Bitcoin White Paper and Early Discoveries
In October 2008, an individual or group operating under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto released a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." This whitepaper elucidated the fundamental concepts of Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology. Following the release of the whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto actively collaborated with the developer community to launch the Bitcoin network in January 2009.
The Identity of Bitcoin's Creator
Although there are several candidates considered to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the true identity remains undisclosed. Some individuals who have garnered attention include a technology professional who was contacted by journalists in 2014 and an entrepreneur from Australia who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto in 2016. However, these claims have been met with skepticism and controversy.
The Success of Bitcoin and Focus on Technology
Although the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains undisclosed, the success of Bitcoin as a decentralized digital currency has paved the way for innovation in the realms of finance and technology. Presently, much of the Bitcoin community prioritizes the development and implementation of blockchain technology over uncovering the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.


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The process to roll out a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) has entered the final stage. The government plans to introduce the Constitution Amendment Bill in the current budget session of Parliament that ends on March 25.
The draft Bill, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, lays down the contours of the proposed regime. It was approved by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday.
The Bill stipulates that an all-powerful GST council will be created that will act as a joint forum for the Centre and states. The council will be headed by the finance minister and will have finance ministers of each state as its members.The council will decide on tax rates, exemptions and threshold limits.
"The council shall make recommendations on taxes, cesses and surcharges levied by the Centre, states and local bodies, which may be subsumed in GST," the Bill said.
If adopted, GST can dramatically alter tax administration by giving a one-shot solution to levies such as excise, value-added tax and octroi.
The Bill has proposed a dual GST structure - one for the Centre and the other for states - but has steered clear of making commitment on rates.
The proceeds of the central GST would be shared between the Central government and states on the basis of the devolution formula recommended by the Finance Commission.
GST will also be levied on imports based on the "principle of destination" and the state within which imported goods and services consumed will earn the revenue as per the state GST of the particular product and service.
The GST council will be set up through a Presidential order within two-months after the passage of the Bill in Parliament and state assemblies.


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Suncorp Bank has added a fingerprint login option to its iOS mobile banking app.
The feature will allow customers with compatible iPhone and iPad devices to log into their accounts from August 12.
Suncorp Bank digital banking manager Simon Clarke said the introduction of fingerprint login supported customer requests for quicker access to account balances and mobile banking services.
“40 per cent of our iOS customers already have a fingerprint ready device and are looking for more streamlined security options to manage their money on the go,” he said.
According to Clarke, the biometrics login allows customers to access their app without the need to remember a password or continually enter a passcode.
Fingerprint login is available on the iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3.
A Suncorp Bank spokesperson said it would look to introduce fingerprint login for Android devices in the future pending customer demand for the feature and assessment of the successful uptake amongst customers during this initial launch phase.
Last month Brisbane-based fintech company TSWG launched an iOS and Android password management app that verifies a user’s identity by taking a snapshot of their eyes.
The eyeSafe app uses a smartphone's camera to record an eyeprint image and pattern matches the blood vessels in the whites of the eye.
The app can work even when people are wearing glasses and at night.
Late last year Westpac announced that its 'Westpac Live' mobile app will allow customers to log in using their fingerprint on a range of Android and iOS devices.
Logging in using a fingerprint will be supported on the Android-based Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 4, as well as Apple's iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
"Over half of our digitally active customers are using mobile banking and now doing more than $50 billion worth of transactions each year," Jason Yetton, group executive, Westpac Retail, said at the time.
At the same time, Westpac subsidiary St George enabled biometric fingerprint app logins for Apple devices that support it.
Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick


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Hundreds of customers with smart meters will cook their Christmas Dinner without paying a penny for their power, after Octopus Energy said it would offer four free hours of energy.
The challenger brand said it would enable the price pause by tweaking its so-called “time of use” tariff, which is available to people with smart energy meters. Octopus is making the festive gesture following fears that smart meters might cause bills to spike at times of high demand because of “surge pricing”.
Greg Jackson, the chief executive, said the supplier wanted to show that “plunge pricing” was possible too.
Industrial usage of electricity being about nothing on this day, right?
Actually, don’t we get to see the stats on this in real time these days? Percentage of ‘leccie from different sources etc? And is the auction market price also listed? And, if it is, what was that price last Xmas Day? Anyone got this to hand?