text:
|By PR Newswire||
|November 30, 2012 11:00 AM EST||
NAPERVILLE, Ill., Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- OfficeMax® Incorporated (NYSE:OMX), a leader in office supplies, technology and services and the nation's 12th largest retailer online1, was ranked the #1 top performing website for speed of online transactions among U.S. online electronics retailers during the busiest shopping week of the year by Keynote®, the global leader in Internet and mobile cloud testing & monitoring.
For the shopping week ending November 25, 2012, which included Thanksgiving and Black Friday, OfficeMax.com was ranked #1 on the Keynote Online Retail Web Transaction Performance Index – Electronics2. The index measures the speed of going to a selected retail electronics site to search for an item, adding it to the shopping cart, and proceeding to check out without logging on to an account.
"At OfficeMax, our goal is to build deeper relationships with our customers that drive long-term brand loyalty," said Jim Barr, OfficeMax executive vice president and chief digital officer. "Delivering an excellent online shopping experience for our customers is absolutely essential to building those relationships. So, we're very pleased to receive Keynote's validation of our site performance."
"The Keynote ranking further substantiates what we've been observing and hearing from our customers – that our ongoing site improvements have led to a more intuitive, faster and more enjoyable online shopping experience," added Randy Burdick, OfficeMax executive vice president and chief information officer.
The top performance ranking is the result of ongoing website and search engine upgrades that OfficeMax.com started rolling out earlier this year to help customers shop faster, with more accurate search and recommendation results for a more convenient online shopping experience. Since the upgrades, OfficeMax.com has experienced increases in both conversion rate and customer satisfaction around site navigation, which has allowed customers to view more products with fewer searches, validating that consumers are finding the products they want with less effort.
"Keynote's mobile and web performance indices are the gold standard in the industry for over 15 years," said Daniel C. Berkowitz, senior director of corporate communications at Keynote. "Page download speed is a critical and integral part of delivering an optimal experience; one that delights customers and builds repeat business. Keynote congratulates and commends OfficeMax on ranking number one in speed during the week including Black Friday, no easy feat due to tremendous site traffic. OfficeMax should feel quite proud of this significant achievement."
OfficeMax.com also saw a seven-point rise in customer satisfaction for the promotional period of Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday3 since the same period last year, with the biggest increases recorded in site performance, product description and price.
The ongoing site upgrades are among many ongoing improvements to OfficeMax's e-commerce platforms to improve the customer shopping experience and build brand loyalty.
OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in integrating products, solutions and services for the workplace, whether for business or at home. The OfficeMax mission is simple: We provide workplace innovation that enables our customers to work better. The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress®, technology products and solutions, and furniture to businesses and consumers. OfficeMax consumers and business customers are served by approximately 29,000 associates through OfficeMax.com; OfficeMaxSolutions.com and Reliable.com; more than 900 stores in the U.S. and Mexico; and direct sales and catalogs. OfficeMax has been named one of the 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies, and is the only company in the office supply industry to receive Ethics Inside® Certification by the Ethisphere Institute. To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX. For more information, visit www.officemax.com.
All trademarks, service marks and trade names of OfficeMax Incorporated used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of OfficeMax Incorporated. Any other product or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
1Internet® Retailer Magazine 2012 Top 500 list.
2For the Index, Keynote takes measurements from the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.) on high-speed links attached to key points on the largest U.S. Internet Service Provider (ISP) backbones. The category focuses on the Electronics vertical in the online retail industry.
3 As reported by Foresee.
OfficeMax Media Contact
SOURCE OfficeMax Incorporated
Scott Jenson leads a project called The Physical Web within the Chrome team at Google. Project members are working to take the scalability and openness of the web and use it to talk to the exponentially exploding range of smart devices. Nearly every company today working on the IoT comes up with the same basic solution: use my server and you'll be fine. But if we really believe there will be trillions of these devices, that just can't scale. We need a system that is open a scalable and by using the URL as a basic building block, we open this up and get the same resilience that the web enjoys.
Nov. 25, 2014 09:30 PM EST Reads: 877
The Internet of Things is tied together with a thin strand that is known as time. Coincidentally, at the core of nearly all data analytics is a timestamp. When working with time series data there are a few core principles that everyone should consider, especially across datasets where time is the common boundary. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Jim Scott, Director of Enterprise Strategy & Architecture at MapR Technologies, discussed single-value, geo-spatial, and log time series data. By focusing on enterprise applications and the data center, he will use OpenTSDB as an example t...
Nov. 25, 2014 09:30 PM EST Reads: 932
P2P RTC will impact the landscape of communications, shifting from traditional telephony style communications models to OTT (Over-The-Top) cloud assisted & PaaS (Platform as a Service) communication services. The P2P shift will impact many areas of our lives, from mobile communication, human interactive web services, RTC and telephony infrastructure, user federation, security and privacy implications, business costs, and scalability. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Robin Raymond, Chief Architect at Hookflash, will walk through the shifting landscape of traditional telephone and voice services ...
Nov. 25, 2014 08:00 PM EST Reads: 1,304
The Domain Name Service (DNS) is one of the most important components in networking infrastructure, enabling users and services to access applications by translating URLs (names) into IP addresses (numbers). Because every icon and URL and all embedded content on a website requires a DNS lookup loading complex sites necessitates hundreds of DNS queries. In addition, as more internet-enabled ‘Things' get connected, people will rely on DNS to name and find their fridges, toasters and toilets. According to a recent IDG Research Services Survey this rate of traffic will only grow. What's driving t...
Nov. 25, 2014 07:00 PM EST Reads: 1,090
Enthusiasm for the Internet of Things has reached an all-time high. In 2013 alone, venture capitalists spent more than $1 billion dollars investing in the IoT space. With "smart" appliances and devices, IoT covers wearable smart devices, cloud services to hardware companies. Nest, a Google company, detects temperatures inside homes and automatically adjusts it by tracking its user's habit. These technologies are quickly developing and with it come challenges such as bridging infrastructure gaps, abiding by privacy concerns and making the concept a reality. These challenges can't be addressed w...
Nov. 25, 2014 04:30 PM EST Reads: 1,162
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Chief Architect for the Internet of Things and Intelligent Systems at Red Hat, described how to revolutioniz...
Nov. 24, 2014 07:00 PM EST Reads: 1,561
Bit6 today issued a challenge to the technology community implementing Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC). To leap beyond WebRTC’s significant limitations and fully leverage its underlying value to accelerate innovation, application developers need to consider the entire communications ecosystem.
Nov. 24, 2014 12:00 PM EST Reads: 1,437
The definition of IoT is not new, in fact it’s been around for over a decade. What has changed is the public's awareness that the technology we use on a daily basis has caught up on the vision of an always on, always connected world. If you look into the details of what comprises the IoT, you’ll see that it includes everything from cloud computing, Big Data analytics, “Things,” Web communication, applications, network, storage, etc. It is essentially including everything connected online from hardware to software, or as we like to say, it’s an Internet of many different things. The difference ...
Nov. 24, 2014 11:00 AM EST Reads: 1,574
Cloud Expo 2014 TV commercials will feature @ThingsExpo, which was launched in June, 2014 at New York City's Javits Center as the largest 'Internet of Things' event in the world.
Nov. 24, 2014 09:00 AM EST Reads: 1,586
SYS-CON Events announced today that Windstream, a leading provider of advanced network and cloud communications, has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9–11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY. Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN), a FORTUNE 500 and S&P 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications, including cloud computing and managed services, to businesses nationwide. The company also offers broadband, phone and digital TV services to consumers primarily in rural areas.
Nov. 23, 2014 07:30 PM EST Reads: 1,777
"There is a natural synchronization between the business models, the IoT is there to support ,” explained Brendan O'Brien, Co-founder and Chief Architect of Aria Systems, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at the 15th International Cloud Expo®, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Nov. 23, 2014 12:00 PM EST Reads: 1,716
The major cloud platforms defy a simple, side-by-side analysis. Each of the major IaaS public-cloud platforms offers their own unique strengths and functionality. Options for on-site private cloud are diverse as well, and must be designed and deployed while taking existing legacy architecture and infrastructure into account. Then the reality is that most enterprises are embarking on a hybrid cloud strategy and programs. In this Power Panel at 15th Cloud Expo (http://www.CloudComputingExpo.com), moderated by Ashar Baig, Research Director, Cloud, at Gigaom Research, Nate Gordon, Director of T...
Nov. 23, 2014 07:45 AM EST Reads: 1,726
An entirely new security model is needed for the Internet of Things, or is it? Can we save some old and tested controls for this new and different environment? In his session at @ThingsExpo, New York's at the Javits Center, Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, reviewed hands-on lessons with IoT devices and reveal a new risk balance you might not expect. Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, has more than nineteen years' experience managing global security operations and assessments, including a decade of leading incident response and digital forensics. He is co-author of t...
Nov. 22, 2014 05:30 PM EST Reads: 1,467
ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is bringing a greater level of control, security and flexibility to cloud-based application development and delivery with a single-tenant version of Bluemix, IBM's platform-as-a-service. The new platform enables developers to build ap...
Nov. 22, 2014 05:30 PM EST Reads: 1,534
The security devil is always in the details of the attack: the ones you've endured, the ones you prepare yourself to fend off, and the ones that, you fear, will catch you completely unaware and defenseless. The Internet of Things (IoT) is nothing if not an endless proliferation of details. It's the vision of a world in which continuous Internet connectivity and addressability is embedded into a growing range of human artifacts, into the natural world, and even into our smartphones, appliances, and physical persons. In the IoT vision, every new "thing" - sensor, actuator, data source, data con...
Nov. 21, 2014 08:00 PM EST Reads: 1,463
Technology is enabling a new approach to collecting and using data. This approach, commonly referred to as the "Internet of Things" (IoT), enables businesses to use real-time data from all sorts of things including machines, devices and sensors to make better decisions, improve customer service, and lower the risk in the creation of new revenue opportunities. In his General Session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Dave Wagstaff, Vice President and Chief Architect at BSQUARE Corporation, discuss the real benefits to focus on, how to understand the requirements of a successful solution, the flow of ...
Nov. 21, 2014 08:00 PM EST Reads: 1,538
"BSQUARE is in the business of selling software solutions for smart connected devices. It's obvious that IoT has moved from being a technology to being a fundamental part of business, and in the last 18 months people have said let's figure out how to do it and let's put some focus on it, " explained Dave Wagstaff, VP & Chief Architect, at BSQUARE Corporation, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4-6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Nov. 21, 2014 07:00 PM EST Reads: 1,391
Focused on this fast-growing market’s needs, Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: VTSS), a leading provider of IC solutions to advance "Ethernet Everywhere" in Carrier, Enterprise and Internet of Things (IoT) networks, introduced its IStaX™ software (VSC6815SDK), a robust protocol stack to simplify deployment and management of Industrial-IoT network applications such as Industrial Ethernet switching, surveillance, video distribution, LCD signage, intelligent sensors, and metering equipment. Leveraging technologies proven in the Carrier and Enterprise markets, IStaX is designed to work ac...
Nov. 20, 2014 09:15 PM EST Reads: 1,446
C-Labs LLC, a leading provider of remote and mobile access for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced the appointment of John Traynor to the position of chief operating officer. Previously a strategic advisor to the firm, Mr. Traynor will now oversee sales, marketing, finance, and operations. Mr. Traynor is based out of the C-Labs office in Redmond, Washington. He reports to Chris Muench, Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Traynor brings valuable business leadership and technology industry expertise to C-Labs. With over 30 years' experience in the high-tech sector, John Traynor has held numerous...
Nov. 20, 2014 06:00 PM EST Reads: 1,385
The 3rd International @ThingsExpo, co-located with the 16th International Cloud Expo - to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY - announces that it is now accepting Keynote Proposals. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal and enterprise IT since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago. All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - computers, smartphones, tablets, and sensors - connected to the Internet by 2020. This number will continue to grow at a rapid pace for the next several decades.
Nov. 20, 2014 01:00 PM EST Reads: 1,663


text:
Instagram is about to launch support for NFTs after announcing a pilot scheme. This is a massive step forward for the NFT space and will open up the economy in ways not imaginable.
Today, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, confirmed the NFT support in a video, following the rumours in recent days.
NFT integration on Instagram will allow billions of users to join the space
Instagram NFT compatibility will allow Ethereum, Polygon, Solana and Flow NFTs to use the new feature. The platform has over 1.1 billion active monthly users, and until now, there has been little way for NFTs to penetrate the platform.
At first, Twitter charged people to display their NFTs in a hexagonal profile picture. However, there is no longer a charge after negative feedback, and anyone is free to use the service.
In the video, speaking to Tom Bilyeu about NFTs and the wider Metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg said, “We’re starting building for NFTs not just in our metaverse, and Reality Labs work, but also across our family of apps.” He added, “We’re going to bring similar functionality to Facebook soon.”
Meta has also confirmed that they are working on numerous ways to introduce NFTs into Instagram. One way is through three-dimensional, augmented-reality NFTs. They will use Spark AR software to work on making them compatible with Instagram stories.
Notably, after NFTs, Instagram is also thinking about cryptocurrency wallet integration. Reportedly, this will include popular wallets such as MetaMask, Rainbow, TrustWallet and others.
Meta is expanding its reach in the NFT space
Traditionally, Twitter has been the best way to find NFTs, build community and explore new art on social media. In fact, one could argue that to create a genuinely successful NFT project, you must gain Twitter support. What’s more, many artist communities, such as the NFT photography community, use Twitter to follow each other and build their networks.
Now, with Instagram entering the market, that could all change. Essentially, Instagram is an image-sharing platform, so it makes sense for them to have an NFT economy. In years to come, this move by Meta might become a turning point in NFT culture and mass adoption.
Significantly, and perhaps taking note from Twitter and their NFT integration, Instagram will not charge users extra for the new feature.
The Instagram announcement also confirms that Facebook (Meta) will soon have NFTs in some way or another. This will provide another way for Meta to dominate the space. In October last year, Mark Zuckerberg announced the name change from Facebook to Meta and the plans to enter the Metaverse space.
Since then, Meta has made active moves in the space that some have welcomed and others have taken issue with. The latest news about Instagram adopting NFTs confirms that Meta’s influence will only continue to grow in the Web3 world despite opposition and financial losses.

domain: news


text:
Three quarters of UK warehouse owners say they have no space left and that storage costs have risen 25 per cent as a result of Brexit.
The UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) has more than 700 members and found that there was a shortage of space after a trend in people stockpiling goods in fear of a no-deal exit from the EU.
A survey of UKWA members from across the country last month found 85 per cent had received Brexit-related requests. Around 75 per cent were then unable to take on more business and 60 per cent had turned customers away.
Businesses have been seeking storage for goods such as food ingredients, packaging materials and consumer products in case stocks run low either after a no deal or any deal with the EU that slowed up the free flow of goods.
‘A perfect storm’
“The rising demand for warehousing is already apparent as our members are reporting, but there is a serious shortage of space which is simply being exacerbated by the Brexit effect,” said the CEO of UKWA, Peter Ward.
“In addition to this situation, we have a shortage of labour in this industry, which has also been made worse by immigrant workers returning home in increasing numbers and the prospect of caps on unskilled immigration being introduced after March 2019.
“Add all of this to the growth in online retailing and requirement for next or same day delivery by consumers and we can see a ‘perfect storm’ brewing.”
Earlier this month Amazon advised that UK-based traders who sell on its platform should consider sending stock to its continental European warehouse to prevent any export delays.
British manufacturers have similarly increased their stockpiling efforts in preparation for a no-deal Brexit.
According to findings from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, worries over border hold-ups in a no-deal situation saw more businesses build up stocks in December.
The Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which measures economic growth of manufacturers in the private sector through factors such as new orders, showed a reading of 54.2 last month, higher than the 53.6 recorded in November, and reaching a six-month high.
Stockpiling has been a source of concern for many over the last few months. Aside from warnings on particular items, products such as The Brexit box have been launched to make “stockpiling easy” for everyone.
It costs £299. Inside are 60 servings of main meals, a water filter, and a fire-starter. The box designed to last for three months, though the company doesn’t specific how many people it feeds over that time period.
“This Brexit box is a great start to help you overcome Brexit worries,” the product description reads. “It contains a range of ‘Fuel Your Preparation’ freeze-dried food range of delicious meals and a water filter to kick start yor brexit stockpiling [sic].
“Made by the makers of Mountain House [freeze-dried food for camping] and with a lifespan of up to 25 years – this really is the best you can get when being prepared for Brexit.”


text:
Holy smokes, Batman. The rumors, speculation and general chit-chat can be put to rest.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman epic The Dark Knight Rises will be released on Blu-ray combo pack, DVD, and digital download on Dec. 4, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced exclusively to EW.
The last film in Nolan’s dark, gritty Gotham City trilogy, starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hardy as brutal villain Bane, will also be available in a limited edition Blu-ray Bat Cowl collectible package — not quite in time for your Halloween costume, but there’s always next year.
The Blu-ray combo pack is stuffed with a bunch of extras, from a documentary about the Batmobile, where all five Batmobiles are together for the first time, to Ending the Knight, an in-depth look featuring about 17 featurettes at how Nolan and his production team made The Dark Knight Rises, from Batman vs. Bane to totally demolishing a city street. Both the Blu-ray and DVD include a featurette called The Journey of Bruce Wayne. There are also trailers and art galleries.
Check out these exclusive pics of the packaging and the cowl, below.
Issue 2 is fully penciled!
The second issue of the Plagued is nearing its completion. The pencils are fully done, and the pages are inked up till #20. Colored up till 19. Although it will be months until it is for sale, Should be just in time for the Inland Empire Comics Expo in February! we are so excited to share this news. It’s almost Halloween, and this month we will be having multiple events with Forbidden Panel. The first event is our second round at 24 Hour Comic Book Day on Oct. 20th. And no this story won’t be about Zombies, but something totally different both in esthetic and concept.
After that on Oct. 28th Forbidden Panel will be hosting their Second Annual Zombie Beauty Pageant. See photo for details. More events will be posted soon.Also if you are a fan come meet the artists of the Plagued every first Friday of the month at Perma Dirty Project Space Gallery in Claremont CA. Both of us work in the gallery on Fridays and would be happy for you to stop by. Happy October!
“Wanted” and “Kick Ass” creator Mark Millar is set to serve as creative consultant for 20th Century Foxs various adaptations of Marvel Comics properties.
According to a press release, Millar wrote several celebrated Marvel books and will work with Fox on developing new avenues for its “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” franchises.
Upcoming films on Foxs slate include James Mangolds “The Wolverine”, Matthew Vaughns “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and Josh Tranks “Fantastic Four” reboot.
All this means is that he will take a really cool comic book and make a movie that has nothing to do with it.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Walking Dead co-creators Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore have reached an agreement regarding the comic book and TV show, after Moore launched a lawsuit earlier this year.
Moore had quite heatedly stated that Kirkman intentionally deceived him when persuading him to sign a contract transferring rights to Kirkman and that he hadn’t received paperwork or payment due to him, stating that “Kirkman is a proud liar and fraudster who freely admits that he has no qualm about misrepresenting material facts in order to consummate business transactions”. Kirkman’s lawyer responded saying “The lawsuit is ridiculous, we each had legal representation seven years ago and now he is violating the same contract he initiated and approved and he wants to misrepresent the fees he was paid and continues to be paid for the work he was hired to do.”
The Hollywood Reporter received the following statement, which is much more conciliatory;
“Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore are pleased to jointly announce that they have reached an amicable agreement in their respective lawsuits and all parties have settled the entire matter to everyone’s mutual satisfaction. Neither side will be discussing any details but will instead happily and productively spend their time focused on their own work and move on in their lives.”
Just reccently this intrepid geeky fashion addict was treated to a wonderful surprise. The Shoppes at Chino Hills put on an enthusiastic and fun filled night of fashion that was highlighted by a speech and commentary from none other than famous and fabulous fashion designer Austin Scarlett, who graciously agreed to answer a couple questions for all of us here at Forbidden Panel!
For those of you who may not know who this is let me give you a quick rundown. Most recently Mr. Scarlett is the creator of a line of bridal and formal gowns that will be premiering later this month and will be carried by Neiman-Marcus. He has been a renowned and sought after bridal designer as well as a contributor to the arts through costume design for the Greenwich Music Festival, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and many other arts inspired venues. Oh and he was on a little show called Project Runway.
Some big Marvel news has come to light this afternoon – Thanos, the Mad Titan, appears to be a lock to serve not only as a villain in James Gunn’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but he’ll also square off against Earth’s mightiest heroes in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers 2. Let that soak in for a moment.
Cosmic Book News nabbed the official scoop when Armand Rock spoke with Thanos creator and rights holder Jim Starlin at the Montreal Comic-Con. Starlin confirmed that a deal is in place for the character to appear in both films.
With this new insight, we can begin to see just what Marvel has in store for Phase 2 of its movie empire. Thanos is now positioned as the new Loki – and we’ll be introduced to the character in Guardians before seeing him in the main event in Avengers 2. You really have to tip your hat to the guys at Marvel – they’ve figured out how to bring these beloved comic characters to new audiences without ever selling them short in the process. The idea of introducing characters in one film as the setup for the big payoff in another is inspired and has almost assuredly helped new comic fans get in on the action without being lost as to who these lesser-known players are.
That Thanos will be involved in both films is not exactly Earth-shattering news. Comic movie geeks have suspected Marvel would move in this direction for some time (especially after his brief cameo at the end of The Avengers), but it’s nice to finally get confirmation. Now, the question becomes whether or not we’ll see Starlin’s other creation – Adam Warlock and his evil alter ego Magus – in these films. Internet gossip earlier this month indicated that we would, but there’s been no official word yet. We’ll bring you more on all this Marvel madness as new details emerge.
Tokyo Game Show is always an exciting time for gamers everywhere, as we all look forward to new games and other news being unveiled during the show. This year is no exception. We are always looking for ways to create better experiences for our gamers, and to that end, we just unveiled a smaller, lighter PlayStation 3 at the show.
The new PS3 will be available in two different models, with 250GB and 500GB HDDs which will allow you to store even more of your digital life. It also features a smaller, streamlined design that will look great as part of any entertainment system. The new model is approximately 25% smaller and 20% lighter than the current PS3.
In order to maintain the superior gaming experiences that you expect from us here at PlayStation, we are always looking for ways to change and evolve with your gaming behavior. You might remember the smaller models that we launched for PlayStation 2 and PSP (PlayStation Portable), and we know that many of you love the opportunity to add these streamlined models to your home. Additionally, as developers continue to release deep and rich digital gaming content, providing an option for larger HDD is essential, especially for games with large DLC packs, and full game downloads, as well as personal entertainment content. The biggest and best games live on PS3 this holiday season, and the new PS3 is the perfect way to play.
We are also excited to announce that the launch of this new PS3 model will include incredible additional value. The 250GB PS3 will be available on September 25th for $269.99 (MSRP) as part of a limited edition bundle featuring UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception: Game of the Year Edition and a voucher for more than $30 worth of bonus digital content for the highly acclaimed digital title, DUST 514. This bundle offers more than $70 in total combined value.
The winner of over 60 industry and Game of the Year awards, UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception will be re-released next week in an all new Game of the Year Edition, which includes 12 new multiplayer maps, over 40 multiplayer skins, Fort Co-Op Adventure, and Shade Survival Mode, a value of over $45 in bonus content. In case you somehow missed it, UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception is the latest installment in Naughty Dog’s storied UNCHARTED franchise that chronicles the adventures of Nathan Drake. UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception Game of the Year Edition is a great way to kick off your gameplay experience on the newest PS3 model.
UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception Game of the Year Edition will also be available as a standalone title on September 25th for $39.99 (MSRP).
CCP Games’ DUST 514 brings intense infantry combat, large-scale warfare and deep character advancement to PS3 in an exclusive free-to-play massively multiplayer shooter. Set in, and integrated with, the massive universe of EVE Online, players wage war in the next generation of first-person shooters, where a single victory could prove the crushing blow to a galactic empire of thousands of online gamers. This bundle includes an incredible amount of bonus value – more than $30 in total.
For those of you who do not own a PS3 yet, or have been looking to add another PS3 to your household, this is the perfect opportunity to jump in before the next wave of blockbuster games launch this holiday season.
The new 500GB PS3 will be available in a limited edition bundle on October 30th in conjunction with the release of Assassin’s Creed III – one of the most anticipated games for this holiday season featuring four exclusive levels, only available on PS3.
PlayStation fans – let us know what you think of the new PS3 model. Stay tuned for more PlayStation 3 updates here on PlayStation.Blog!
For fans who have been wondering where Colossus might end up following the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, and who had briefly entertained the notion that he might be the series’s big fatality since we haven’t seen him in any of the Marvel NOW! solicitations, it’s time to finally exhale.
Colossus–along with Forge, Domino, Cable and Dr. Nemesis–will appear in the upcoming Cable and X-Force series from writer Dennis Hopeless who’s also doing the Avengers Arena title announced yesterday and Salvador Larroca.
“We knew the return of Cable had to be big and this is going to be one of the most explosive Marvel NOW! launches, ” said Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief, Marvel Entertainment. “Dennis and Salvador are bringing a new look and feel to the X-Force, with a story that hearkens back to the core themes that made them such a phenomenon while moving them forward in an exciting way.”
The team–apparently all wanted criminals–will reconvene in December with Cable back in the lead of X-Force for the first time in quite a while, and he’ll still be reeling from AvX, which left him in a coma following his brutal attack on The Avengers.
“Not only does every book with the Marvel NOW! logo feature a new superstar creative team and blockbuster story, but they also come with all-new incentives for our retailer partners,” explained David Gabriel, Senior Vice-President of Sales, Marvel Entertainment.. “We want to make sure every comic shop nationwide is fully stocked to meet the high demand we’re already seeing for Marvel NOW! And want to make sure their voices are heard throughout this exciting time. Stay tuned for more news on how Marvel will be working directly with retailers to make sure our programs address their needs.”
“The X-Force that Cable’s leading is a group of outlaws trying to save the world,” said Hopeless in a release from Marvel. “They’re fugitives being chased across the globe and doing what good they can while always looking back over their shoulders. There’s not much room for error on this team.”


text:
Google sure seems pleased with its Nexus One “superphone,” as the search giant’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said the handset is the “benchmark setter” in the mobile world.
During a Morgan Stanley conference Monday, Pichette said the Nexus One has raised the bar for the industry and showed consumers that there are legitimate alternatives to Apple’s iPhone juggernaut. After freely distributing the Android mobile platform to various handset makers for about a year, Google began selling the Nexus One directly through its online store in January. This can be seen as somewhat of a risky strategy because it could alienate Open Handset Alliance members like Motorola and HTC but Google must have felt it needed more hardware integration in order to control the Android experience. A few of the IntoMobile staffers have the sexy handset and they seem to love it, but it would be a stretch to say the Nexus One has been a blockbuster success.
Getting into a physical business isn’t as easy as getting into a digital one. Sales haven’t been that strong compared to devices like the iPhone and Droid, users have complained about 3G connections and the Federal Communications Commission publicly questioned why the search giant charges an equipment-recovery fee when U.S. customers are already subject to an early-termination fee from T-Mobile. Like most Google products, the phone selling business appeared to launch in beta form and it is slowly getting better. The company has implemented a customer assistance line, slashed its ERF and it could begin selling a Verizon version of the Nexus One as soon as March 23. The Verizon version could be quite popular because Big Red has more than 90 million users and a large 3G network.
I still have some misgivings about Google’s phone store because I believe the intent is better than the outcome for U.S. consumers. Because of the lack of true interoperability between networks, Google just becomes another pricey middleman between consumers, mobile service and the devices. Hopefully, Google’s open vision for its store will have a positive impact on how AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon do business.


text:
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
TORONTO — Postmedia Network Inc., Canada’s largest newspaper group and the publisher of the National Post, will open a digital lab this fall at the Communitech Hub, an industry centre that works with more than 1,000 tech companies and start-ups in the Waterloo region of Ontario.
Thomas Jankowski, Postmedia’s Chief Digital Officer, said in a media release Tuesday the company will launch a development team solely dedicated to expanding its innovation capabilities and growing its business-to-business product strategy.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“Communitech is one of the leading tech innovation centres in the world,” said Jankowski in the release. “Establishing our presence there allows us to attract new talent and gain insights into breakthrough technologies that we can in turn layer on to our strategic objectives.”
National Post boosts weekly print and digital readership to 4.5 million, Vividata study reveals
Postmedia aims to eliminate $307 million in debt with recapitalization plan
Postmedia added that its new development team will be tasked with “evolving the company’s digital possibilities” for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), and will also have responsibilities for developing the company’s digital properties.
Postmedia’s new team at Communitech will work on media sales and offerings beyond its traditional platforms.
Last month, Postmedia reported third-quarter revenue of $218.3 million, a 6.4 per cent increase over the same period the previous year, which was largely attributed to its acquisition of the Sun chain of newspapers.
The newspaper and media industry continues to struggle with declines in advertising revenues, and Postmedia has been impacted alongside its industry counterparts as business models shift and media companies are increasingly faced with competition from platforms like Facebook and Google.
Excluding the impact of the Sun acquisition, the company saw declines in the last quarter in print advertising revenue of $14.7 million (19.4 per cent) and print circulation revenue of $3.1 million (6.8 per cent). However, digital revenue held mostly flat, and Postmedia draws 6.1 million weekly digital readers, according to Vividata numbers released last month.
Torstar, the second-largest newspaper publisher in the country behind Postmedia, last week reported quarterly declines of 16.9 per cent in print advertising revenues and a 6.1 per cent decrease in subscriber revenue.
“As our industry continues to evolve, what’s going to predicate future success is our ability to innovate and develop new solutions in the digital world,” Andrew MacLeod, Postmedia’s Chief Commercial Officer, said in an interview. “That world is increasingly dominated by the Google and Facebook platforms. We need to be able to be fluent in these new platforms and the language of those platforms is technology oriented.”
“With our strategic focus set on cultivating innovative new business approaches and continuous transformation, opening this new space within the Communitech Hub will help jumpstart a new team with new ideas to set new, higher benchmarks for success,” MacLeod said.
“We look forward to collaborating with Postmedia as they grow their digital footprint,” said Iain Klugman, Communitech’s CEO, in a release. “Our region’s pool of creative talent will help Postmedia to expand its services to businesses and develop new digital products.”
Postmedia said it intends to launch the new lab at the Communitech Hub in the fall. The new team working at Communitech adds to existing development teams in Toronto and Ancaster, Ont.


text:
The wildly popular German fintech opened its online bank in the UK this Thursday.
Founded in 2013 by two Austrians, the Berlin-based startup backed by Chinese giant Tencent distinguishes itself as a challenger bank with ambitious goals which include processing $1 billion annually and reaching +5 million customers by 2020.
N26 – which styles itself as “the first bank you will love” – intends to begin with current accounts and credit cards, with an upscale after its official launch in November 2018 to include overdrafts, paid-for membership packages, and the requisite mobile payment app.
N26 is currently operating under a European banking licence and intends to offer services in the UK via this, but understands it to be a temporary pre-Brexit solution. According to the Financial Times, the firm is “working with British regulators to attain the necessary authorisation in a post-Brexit UK and do not expect customers to be affected by any transition”.


text:
Digital TV News: Teleste
DNA deploys Teleste transcoders for live TV and VOD services
Sep 13, 2018 – Teleste has revealed that DNA has deployed Teleste's Optimo transcoders for the delivery of live TV and VOD via OTT networks. The transcoders enable DNA to provide 4K TV channels and streaming videos, and customers can also enjoy the content on mobile devices.
News categories: Teleste, DNA, Julius Tikkanen, Pekka Jääskeläinen, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Finland, IBC, OTT
Teleste to deliver headend system to Türksat
Jun 11, 2018 – Teleste will deliver a complete headend system to Türksat in cooperation with its Turkish Value Added Reseller. Based on Teleste’s Luminato digital headend, the deployment will provide Türksat with a platform for CATV, OTT and IPTV delivery and live content processing.
News categories: Teleste, Türksat, Julius Tikkanen, Ender Kümüştekin, Cable TV, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Satellite, Turkey
Multimedia Polska deploys OTT and TV Everywhere with Teleste
Sep 5, 2017 – Teleste has revealed that its Ubique video content management platform now powers OTT and TV Everywhere services for the subscribers of Multimedia Polska. Multimedia Polska selected Teleste's Ubique for the two-year project started in 2016.
News categories: Teleste, Ubique, Content Distribution, Digital TV, IBC, OTT, Poland, TV Everywhere
9 million broadband subscribers with DOCSIS 3.1 by 2017
Jan 28, 2016 – ABI Research has forecast that there will be approximately 9 million broadband subscribers using DOCSIS 3.1 equipment by 2017, representing slightly more than 1% of total fixed broadband subscriptions worldwide.
News categories: ABI Research, Michael Inouye, Sam Rosen, Cable Modem, DOCSIS, Market Research, Subscribers, Worldwide
Multimedia Polska selects Teleste next generation TV platform
Jan 11, 2016 – Teleste has announced that it has reached an agreement with Multimedia Polska for a next generation TV content delivery system. Teleste will deliver video processing and Content Delivery Network products and tech
News categories: Teleste, Multimedia Polska, Cable TV, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Poland
Teleste combines DVB-T broadcast TV with LTE data services
Sep 3, 2015 – Teleste has announced that the company will introduce a solution that combines DVB-T and LTE technologies to transmit high-quality broadcast TV and data services for households with an outdoor antenna.
News categories: Teleste, Pasi Järvenpää, 5G, Content Distribution, IBC, Terrestrial, Worldwide
Teleste headend for Arganet IPTV in Brazil
Nov 20, 2014 – Teleste has announced that the company and its partner, Digital Designers TV, have provided a solution for content acquisition and delivery of live streaming IPTV for Arganet, an ISP located north of São Paulo.
News categories: Teleste, Digital Designers TV, Arganet, Hanno Narjus, Ricardo Pirola, Cesar Cotrim, Brazil, Content Distribution, Digital TV, IPTV
OLL.TV deploys Teleste headend for OTT service in Ukraine
Sep 10, 2014 – Teleste has announced the deployment of Teleste's Luminato headend platform in Ukraine. The platform will be an integral part of live TV reception in a new Over-the-top video service called OLL.TV.
News categories: Teleste, OLL.TV, DEPS, Hanno Narjus, Mykola Nazarov, Yevheniy Yevtushenko, Content Distribution, Digital TV, OTT, Ukraine
Entropic Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013 Results
Feb 5, 2014 – Entropic (Nasdaq:ENTR) has reported fourth quarter results. Net revenues for the year ended December 31, 2013 were $259.4 million, a decrease of 19% from the $321.7 million reported for the year ended December 31, 2012.
News categories: Entropic, Results, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Worldwide
- VTR selects Media Distillery recording time correction technology
- Nilesat chooses ATEME video processing for two projects
- Facebook Watch TV app available for Vewd-enabled devices
- Western Europe to have 234 million SVOD subscriptions in 2026
- Kublai GmbH to complete takeover of Tele Columbus
- SITI Networks launches apps and Android TV STB with Nagra
- FreeWheel addressable technology unifies linear TV and digital video advertising
- Crackle app launches on Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex
- Research suggests CTV ads more effective than linear
- Mowies optimizes cloud streaming workflow with Harmonic
- Mola TV taps Viaccess-Orca to monetize EPL video streaming
- Streamhub enhances video audience analytics with Kantar data
- Eurofins announces NEXTGEN TV test suite for 2022 receivers
- Roku begins Roku OS 10 roll-out
- Roku Express 4K+ and Roku Voice Remote Pro launched in U.S.
- Fraunhofer and Sinclair working to bring Digital Radio Mondiale to ATSC 3.0
- Vodafone España adopts targeted content promotion from TiVo
- 3SS selected by FreeCast for SelectTV multiscreen UX
- LTN Global launches universal signaling for linear addressable TV advertising
- Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 10.4% in 2020


text:
London led the way this year with its new-age nudist The Bunyadi in Shoreditch; a concept that struck the fancy of more than 46,000 people on its waiting list (a good chunk of ‘peeping Toms’ in that figure). Then Japan entered the market with The Amrita in Tokyo but was just as quick to uninvite “overweight” diners because people are really nice these days. Third times the charm in Berlin? The famous burger hub Black Cat didn’t just go full-frontal, they let completely naked guests dine for free.
Earlier this month the restaurant announced on their big plans on Facebook but cheekily added “Ps: some of you, we don’t want to see naked…” Well, ouch. The marketing was intended to draw visitors to Berlin’s annual erotic fair, Venus, which may one day rival with Brazil’s Erotikaland theme park.
Those that were confident enough to make the cut were greeted by a nude waitress-for-the-day Playboy model, before being served Black Cat’s professed ‘soul food’. If diners chose to keep some article of clothing on, they instead got a free drink.
So there’s that.


text:
Parrot, the company famous for its range of AR drones, has revealed a prototype version of a new set of sports headphones packed with tech razzmatazz.
Showcased at CES 2015, the Parrot Zik Sports headphones feature a built in heart-rate monitor, thanks to an in-ear biometric sensor, wireless bluetooth connectivity and active noise cancellation.
Beyond that, there’s also a built in accelerometer to count steps as well as the ability to track vertical oscillation. The latter will enable the wearer to monitor how much time they’re spending on each foot while out running, while also tracking cadence.
The prototype headgear is a feather-light 70-grams and are constructed from sweat proof materials. There’s also street mode, which enables runners to head ambient noise while out running, alongside your favourite workout playlist.
Read more: CES 2015 – All of the biggest news from Las Vegas
Parrot is yet to announce pricing or availability for the Zik Sports buds, but we’d hope to see them sometime in 2015.
Of course, they won’t be Parrot’s first headphones. The Zik 2.0 are the self-proclaimed ‘world’s most advanced headphones’ and feature adaptive noise control, artist presets, and a powerful Parrot Zik app.
You can check out the premise for the sporty version in the YouTube video below.


text:
Earlier this year, a new law known as the FASTER Act took effect, adding sesame as a major food allergen and requiring the ingredient to be labeled as an allergen on packaged foods, including dietary supplements.
In an effort to adhere to the new law, some manufacturers are actually adding sesame to all of their food products and labels rather than properly cleaning their equipment between product runs to avoid allergen cross contamination. This action is taken in an attempt to avoid the costs associated with the processes and systems controls necessary to ensure safe baking practices. Certain products can be extremely difficult to completely eliminate in the processing environment, leading manufacturers to this alternative. To many, this action goes against the spirit of the law.
In response, a group of legislators, spearheaded by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. representatives Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), have urged bakers to stop unnecessarily adding sesame to baked goods and to protect consumers with sesame allergies.
In a letter to the American Bakers Association (ABA), the legislators condemned the actions, claiming adding sesame to baked goods that have not previously contained the ingredient, often without notice, undermines the trust that people with food allergies place in the food industry.
The ABA noted that, given current production operations in hundreds of bakeries coupled with the existing FDA regulatory scheme, including sesame and labeling it as an allergen, is the most realistic and safest way to protect allergic consumers. “We have also encouraged the FDA to use its existing authority under the Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act to work toward setting allergen thresholds, which would remove the need to add sesame where only traces below such thresholds might remain after applying rigorous Current Good Manufacturing Processes,” the organization noted in a statement. “Despite rigorous cleaning protocols, sesame is a uniquely challenging allergen to remove from the baking environment, and even the best practices cannot always remove traces of sesame.”
Sesame allergies impact more than 1.5 million Americans, and reactions can be serious and life threatening.


text:
The Business Council supports this legislation that would modernize the New York Business Corporation Law (NYBCL) to provide permanent authorization for New York-incorporated companies to hold virtual shareholder meetings that use means of remote communication such as the Internet or teleconferencing, in addition to traditional in-person annual meetings.
This legislation is based on Delaware law adopted in 2000. Currently, 22 states allow for virtual shareholder meetings (Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming) and companies are increasingly making use of these alternatives to the traditional approach of holding their meetings solely in-person.
Importantly, the bill does not mandate one approach over another, but instead leaves the decision to the corporation’s board of directors. The best approach for individual New York companies may vary depending on factors such as the location of the company’s offices and facilities, the size and concentration of its shareholder base, or the specific agenda items to be discussed at the meeting. The bill also provides for reasonable measures to protect the participation of shareholders and the integrity of the meeting process if a company elects to hold a virtual meeting.
As the technology to enable virtual meetings has evolved and become increasingly accepted in recent years, and as corporations and shareholders have successfully used the virtual meeting approach in New York State during the current pandemic under temporary authority provisions, we believe that the NYBCL should keep pace and provide New York companies the same range of options already available in a growing number of other jurisdictions.
Virtual shareholder meetings can improve shareholder participation and engagement with companies since they allow shareholders to participate without having to travel, thereby promoting participation by for a more representative sample of shareholders. Virtual meetings can also reduce companies’ costs of holding their annual shareholder meetings by reducing the expenses of hosting a physical meeting, such as meeting space, security and travel.
For these reasons, The Business Council respectfully supports approval of this legislation.


text:
The recent GIE+EXPO at the massive Kentucky Exposition Center was a killer. It shattered all records — exhibitors, attendees, educational sessions, you name it. I’ve never been a part of anything like it, and I’ve attended more than 25 EXPOs, probably closer to 30. (But, who’s counting, right?)
Leg-weary and my head spinning from the latest Louisville experience, it took me two days to recover. But that’s beside the point. Let’s get to the good stuff, the largest array of labor-saving and moneymaking innovations I’ve ever seen over the course of several days in one place.
Suppliers — buoyed by the landscape industry’s seven years of solid growth and competing in an environment every bit as heated as ours — are challenging their creative teams and engineers to explore new technologies, come up with new products and to upgrade product categories we already trust and use.
Friends, we’re on the vanguard of industry-changing technologies that will bring us more innovation to marking, selling and delivering our services over the next five years than we’ve experienced in the past 25 years.
But rather than blasting you with a fire hose of all of the neat, new stuff displayed at the EXPO (for now anyway) let’s start with just a single technology: virtual reality (VR). We knew it was coming. We’ve seen it on television and some of us have even experienced it at a theme park or even in our living rooms. Now it’s available and being used in the landscape industry.
I saw VR demonstrated at the Belgard booth in Louisville. Belgard is a major industry supplier of pavers, retaining walls and a variety of other outdoor hardscape products. Almost certainly we’ll be seeing a lot more uses for VR in the landscape services industry in the near future.
Belgard’s Billy Patterson and Joe Raboine shared their company’s VR service with me and several other media members at the EXPO. Patterson, director of National Residential Hardscapes, said his firm’s VR system got a lot of testing prior to the official EXPO launch, and that property owners loved it — so do contractors who reported closing 80 percent of their sales using the technology.
Getting a chance to try out VR myself, I donned the goggles Patterson shared with me. I found myself immersed in a 360-view of a stunning virtual backyard hardscape project. Standing and viewing the virtual project through the goggles, I could turn my head and view the residential hardscape in all of its many details as if I were outdoors on a patio. (If you are subject to motion sickness you may want to sit in a swivel chair when you first experience VR.)
Belgard “Authorized Contractors” will use simple, inexpensive VR goggles and an ordinary smartphone to share the experience with property owners. The service is free to them.
Coincidentally, just a week after the EXPO, the American Society of Landscape Architects posted a short but fascinating article about VR. Check out “New Technologies Promise to Upend the Design Process” to read more.


text:
The first Chinese-manufactured 21,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) ultra large container vessel, the largest one ever built by a Chinese shipbuilder, was delivered to its customer in Shanghai on Tuesday.
The ship delivery to the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) signified that China has become one of the few countries that can build such ultra large container ships.
The ship, named COSCO Shipping Universe, is 400 meters long and 58.6 meters wide. It has a maximum shipping capacity of 198,000 metric tons, with a designed speed of about 42 kilometers per hour.
After it is put into operation, the super-sized vessel, built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), will be used for shipping lines between Asia and Europe, which will help reduce operation cost by 25 percent.
"The 14,000-TEU container ship, as a major ship type, used to sail along the Asia-Europe routes. But now, operation cost per container (of the Universe) will be cut by 25 percent," said Yu Lai, deputy chief engineer with a research institute of CSSC.
Extra-large container ships have been a leading player in the international shipping market over recent years. There are currently 50 container ships between 18,000-21,000 TEUs in service worldwide, and 50 more are still under construction.
Please Contact Us at：


text:
Some say that 2020 was a year of the green revolution. It has definitely boosted the Estonian cleantech sector. Cleantech ForEst supports the bubbling ecosystem in this field that is bursting with fresh players, such as Woola, provider of alternative packaging material, and Single.Earth, biodiversity offset marketplace.
Even as recently as the beginning of 2020, investors were careful to tie up their funds in cleantech hardware startups that they deemed “philanthropy.” Yet, at the end of the year, the same investors sought globally promising initiatives such as Single.Earth, VokBikes, Woola, LaavaTech, Gelatex Technologies, RoofIt.solar, to name a few. According to Erki Ani, CEO of Cleantech ForEst, there are about 90 various startups in the field, and the number is growing.
Reasons behind it? Estonia is a small, compact state with little bureaucracy and a whole array of readily available state-wide data. Companies, both private and state-held, encourage the use of their databases. For example, Estonia was the first country in the world that was entirely covered with smart electricity readers. Elering, the energy transmission system operator behind this, now encourages start-ups to use its comprehensive data. Based on this, start-ups like R8 Technologies and WePower could pilot their energy-management products and enter the global market.
In addition to its size and data saturation, Mr. Ani points to Estonia’s support system. While #EstonianMafiaBackOffice is known globally for connecting startup veterans, investors, open offices, and so on, several programs are specifically designed for cleantech. Hence, once an idea gets enough traction, it is likely to receive support and acceleration from programs such as Negavatt, Prototron, Cleantech ForEst, Ajujaht, and so on. In turn, all of them improve cooperation with universities and public sector organizations.
Although it might be challenging to make generalisations in terms of specific industries because of their sheer number, Mr. Ani suggests that Estonian cleantech startups focus on energy and novel materials more than often. What could be the reason behind this?
“Well, bluntly put, the reason is that in terms of green transition, our energy sector is in poor condition,” Mr. Ani suggests. “Indeed, Estonia is highly energy independent because of our supply of oil-shale, there are a lot of talented engineers, and, as I mentioned, the sector is highly digitalised. This creates unique conditions for boosting innovation in the sector.”
Wool-based packing materials
Additionally, several successful companies operate with new materials: algae, gelatine, reed, insects. For an especially promising example, Mr. Ani mentions Woola, a wool-based packing materials producer that sprung from the Climate Hackathon (EIT Climate-KIC Climathon) of 2019.
“When I first saw Anna-Liisa Palatu, the founder, I knew she had the energy to breakthrough. And indeed, although they have done zero marketing, they have already been approached by global brands looking for better packaging,” Mr. Ani reports. Woola has already started production by now, looking to increase its output 10-fold by this summer.
Single.Earth aims to bring change to offsetting
Sparked from the 2019 “Future of Wood” hackathon, Single.Earth set off to find out how to find new ways to create value out of wood. Its founder and CEO, Merit Valdsalu, was convinced that there is more to forests than just timber. Shooting through several accelerators, Single.Earth made a hard launch this January and is now offering a unique platform for carbon and biodiversity offsetting.
“We realized that if we just focused on carbon, we are missing all the biodiversity that forests carry,” Ms. Valdsalu explains. “We also realised that there is not an easy way for small forest owners to create alternative revenue other than from harvesting timber. We are providing a solution to both of these problems.”
Single.Earth now operates globally while it is dedicated to connecting forest owners and companies locally (even its initial name was LocalOffset). However, several investors are buying forests to be cut after 20 or even 30 years, Single.Earth is predicting that keeping the forests may be more valuable than cutting them down by this time. This mindset may yet change the game both in Estonia and globally.


text:
IT’S been a big start to the holidays for Shawn Smith, his wife and creative partner, Jennifer Brody, and their Wee Ninja doll. Ever since the third week of August, when the new social shopping site ThisNext.com spotlighted the Wee Ninja — “Can’t resist his tractor beam of cute,” wrote one contributor — the couple have been unable to make enough of the cuddly black dolls with the cream-colored faces.
The retail Web sites that the couple rely on to help sell the Wee Ninja — ThinkGeek.com and MyPlasticHeart.com — are already out of stock. “From October through December last year, we sold a total of 200,” said Mr. Smith, who designs and assembles the $19.99 dolls in the couple’s five-year-old Shawnimals studio in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. “From October through December this year we’ll sell at least 600, and probably 800. That’s huge for us.”
Mr. Smith credits the online trend spotters at ThisNext.com, and more recently at Stylehive.com, for giving the doll a holiday boost. “Until August, we were just getting our normal orders of a few dozen at a time,” Mr. Smith said. “Then came the mention on ThisNext.com. All of a sudden, stores are ordering hundreds at a time.”
Americans are expected to spend $100 billion online for retail goods this year, $32 billion of that during the holiday season, Jupiter Research says. Though PriceGrabber.com, Shopping.com and Shopzilla.com may be the Internet sites that consumers turn to most often to compare prices, some new Web sites are trying a different approach: harnessing the idea of digital word of mouth.
Besides ThisNext.com and Stylehive.com, the sites include StyleFeeder.com, Crowdstorm.com and kaboodle. They are as much about personal taste and online conversation as they are about buying itself, although no products are sold on the sites.Continue reading the main story
They are also more elaborately designed, functional and interactive than regular chat rooms. Visitors can read about what’s popular and what’s hip in often surprisingly bright prose written by the visitors themselves. They can get ideas for their Christmas shopping lists, and store that information as bookmarks. They can find links to interesting, distinctive products they wouldn’t find in most storefronts. And they can become members and contributors, posting pictures and comments to describe themselves and the clothes, makeup, shoes, bags, electronics, games, movies and even dolls they think are worth a look.
Internet market analysts say these so-called social shopping sites, most of which sprang up in the last year, are still too new for analysts to assess their staying power or the soundness of their business plans.
“The challenge is to build traffic to their Web site,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, an online retail analyst for Forrester Research, a technology and market research company in Cambridge, Mass. “They are going to have the same acquisition costs that every e-commerce site has. I don’t know if that is going to happen.”
Patti Freeman Evans, a senior retail analyst at Jupiter Research, added: “Shopping tends to be a social experience in the offline world. These sites are trying to answer the question of how to bring that experience into the interactive online world. On the Internet, if you have five friends, you might also have five million friends. How do you harness the power of consumer-created content to drive retail sales? Whether these sites have a huge impact on retailers remains to be seen.”
They have certainly had an effect on at least one other small retailer besides the couple selling Wee Ninja.
In Boston, Giovannah Chiu, the 25-year-old director of lifestyle marketing for Karmaloop.com, an online and brick-and-mortar clothing retailer, has felt the influence of social shopping sites.
Earlier this year, Ms. Chiu said, she learned about Stylehive.com, which is based in San Francisco, where the conversation is generally focused on women’s fashions and interests. She signed up and posted some of Karmaloop’s clothing.
“We didn’t really know what Stylehive was,” Ms. Chiu said, “but quickly realized it was a huge community, so big that we posted on a daily basis for a while. It attracted some attention. Now all kinds of people are posting about Karmaloop.”
“That site does real well for us,” Ms. Chiu added. “I’d say they send about 300 to 400 visitors a week to our Web site, and probably account for an average of $400 a week in sales. We expect more as the Christmas season really gets going. For us, that’s amazing since we don’t advertise there. It’s all word of mouth. And when that happens people tend to come back.”
ThisNext.com, Stylehive.com and the few other social shopping sites share similar business pedigrees, and have been well financed by venture capital firms. ThisNext and Stylehive, for example, were started by West Coast Internet entrepreneurs in their late 30s who had already succeeded with other technology and Internet ventures.
Gordon R. Gould, ThisNext’s 37-year-old founder and chief executive, started a blogging company, was chief operating officer of the Silicon Alley Reporter, worked for a time for Sony and was involved in a breakthrough cybercast of a Rolling Stones concert from Madison Square Garden in the 1990s. Anthem Venture Partners and Clearstone Venture, Los Angeles venture capital companies, provided Mr. Gould and his 16-member staff $3.5 million to get ThisNext started.
Michael Carrier, the 39-year-old co-founder and chief executive at Stylehive, started Fort Point Partners early in his career to build large retail Web sites for clients like J. Crew. He then founded Totality, an Internet service company that maintains the large Web sites and which was later bought by Verizon. Stylehive, arguably the most colorful and inviting of the social shopping sites, is Mr. Carrier’s first try at the retail online world. Lightspeed Venture Partners in Palo Alto, Calif., provided $4 million in start-up money. The site has 30 employees.
Many of the social shopping sites have similar strategies, generally aimed at attracting a piece of the $250 billion that vendors and retailers spend each year on brand marketing. Mr. Gould and Mr. Carrier, for instance, say that ThisNext.com and Stylehive.com will earn their revenue from a combination of fees generated by marketing agreements with vendors and retailers, display ads and selling proprietary market and trend information gleaned from visitors’ comments at their sites.
“Advertisers, vendors and retailers are very interested in the shopping context,” Mr. Gould said. “Marketers are eager for insight into what the crowd is doing. We can provide that insight.”
Indeed, each site appears to have deliberately attracted and built distinctive cultures of interest to advertisers and marketers.
StyleFeeder attracts a young 20s informal city crowd interested in nonconformist products.
Stylehive is all about the shoes, clothes, jewelry, decorating tips, furniture and accessories that women with disposable income may desire and talk about. On Stylehive, it’s as if MySpace.com had merged with the coffee shop at Neiman Marcus.
Kate Chung, a 38-year-old mother in San Francisco, is a daily visitor to Stylehive, which she has used to compile Christmas lists for her 2-year-old daughter, Alexandra (the Land of Nod kitchen set is a favorite), and 5-month-old son, Elliott (the Melissa and Doug wooden tool set). She is preparing her own list to e-mail to her husband, which includes jewelry from Frank Gehry’s collection for Tiffany & Company.
“It’s become a practical tool,” Mrs. Chung added. “I can look on the site at the most popular postings. It’s a good way to cull for great stuff.”
ThisNext.com, which features gadgets and housewares, seems to cater to upper-income people over 30. John Polinsky and Rose Poirier, who design fiberglass furniture in Los Angeles and contribute to ThisNext, like to recommend good movies as well as display their own creations. Ms. Poirier, who is 49, says she spends several hours a day on the site.
“The cool thing is, you put a movie out there and then you go back and look if anybody saw it and also is making a recommendation,” she said. “I like the concept of peers, people like me, referring each other to interesting things. It’s more trustworthy.”Continue reading the main story


text:
Venmo Scammers Know Something You Don’t
This Slate piece explores how easily people can get ripped off when using the extremely popular mobile payment service Venmo.
We’re on the Brink of a Revolution in Crazy-Smart Digital Assistants
Wired looks at the progress that has been made in creating digital assistants that we can interact with by speaking naturally to smartphones and other electronics, what this will mean, and what still needs to be done to make this work.
Masters of the Small Canvas
A Bloomberg Businessweek story that offers a fun, interesting look at the world of designing icons for apps that will be viewed on all kinds of displays.
Smartphones Bring Happiness and Headaches to Myanmar
NPR takes a look at how the proliferation of smartphones in Myanmar–from 500,000 five years ago to 22 million today–is changing a country where many residents were previously offline.
Google Has Hired a Bunch of Engineers From Amazon’s Lab126 for a New Wearable Tech Initiative Called ‘Project Aura’
Business Insider reports that Google, widely believed to be working on a new version of its Glass head-worn computer that is more enterprise-geared, is creating it within a new group called Project Aura that will also work on other wearable projects.
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate
Make Sunsets is already attempting to earn revenue for geoengineering, a move likely to provoke widespread criticism.
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023
These exclusive satellite images show that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is well underway
Weirdly, any recent work on The Line doesn’t show up on Google Maps. But we got the images anyway.
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.


text:
The development of drones is on the rise in both the public and private sectors in Japan to address the increasing demand for reliable, affordable drones to replace Chinese ones. One example is NTT East, which announced the launch of a joint venture specializing in drone development on January 18.
While it is said that Chinese drones account for 70% of the global market share, the U.S. and several European countries have taken steps to eliminate the use of Chinese equipment for fear of data leaks and other security concerns.
The new company will be launched as a joint venture with OPTiM, an IT company, and drone distributor WorldLink & Company in Kita-ku, Kyoto.
The Japanese drones are designed to provide solutions to community problems such as labor shortages, starting with agricultural use. They would be used for such purposes as dispersing pesticides and measuring plant growth. Their use could then be expanded to a wide range of industries, such as infrastructure inspection.
Hiroshi Tanabe, the vice president and future president of NTT East, shared his forecast at a press conference on January 18, saying: “The drone market will grow significantly in the next 5 to 10 years, along with the diversification of uses.”
Currently, most companies working on drone development in Japan are small or medium sized companies that have a weak presence in the global market. However, major companies have begun ramping up drone development.
In December 2020, Softbank announced that, in collaboration with Futaba Corporation, they are developing drones that can be operated with high precision from a remote location. The Japanese government has also begun offering subsidies and preferential loans to foster domestic companies that develop safe, next-generation drones.
The backstory to this trend is apprehension about the sweeping 70-80% global market share held by China’s DJI Technology, the world’s largest drone maker. If a drone’s security is not up to standard, its dataーincluding flight information and captured imagesーcan be extracted.
Since drones are also used in the inspection of important infrastructure, there will be dire consequences if they fall into the wrong hands. At the end of 2020, the U.S. government added DJI Technology to the Department of Commerce Entity list, which documents companies that pose security problems. The U.S. further diminished their presence by imposing sanctions.
Chinese drones are highly cost-competitive and “twice as good as Japanese drones if only the aircraft itself is considered.” Most drones owned by Japanese government ministries are said to be made in China, but “reliable drones are recommended” from a security perspective according to a government official. The government plans to gradually switch to drones with security measures next year and has considered using Japanese drones eventually.
There is also a marked difference in cost between Chinese and Japanese drones. The key to success for Japanese manufacturers may lie in differentiating their service by providing data analysis and image analysis technology, along with the aircraft itself.
(Read the original report in Japanese at this link.)
Author: The Sankei Shimbun


text:
By Anupam Manur (@anupammanur)
Instead of a price ceiling on cab prices, the government should look at all the ways in which it can increase the travel options within the city.
Karnataka’s Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy recently unveiled a new policy to regulate cab aggregator services such as Uber and Ola. While Karnataka previously had a policy to regulate regular taxis as ride-hailing services under Radio Taxi Scheme, 1988, Uber and Ola were not covered under the law, as they were aggregator services and not companies that own and operate vehicles for hire. However, as the app-based on-demand cab aggregator companies became increasingly popular, the government sought to bring them under the regulatory ambit.
The policy has introduced a few concessions for the cab aggregators, in a move to increase the supply of cabs. They have dropped the restrictions on the age of the vehicles, reduced the number of years that a driver had to be a resident in Karnataka from five to two, and has allowed drivers to switch between the ride hailing apps, as per their choice. They have also halved the license fee and security deposit. All of these moves will benefit the companies and the customers alike.
However, the biggest policy that will have a detrimental effect on the state of urban transport in Bangalore is the decision to disallow surge pricing for these companies. Both Uber and Ola use an algorithm to determine the prices based on real time demand and supply. If the demand for cabs were considerably higher than the supply, then the app would tell the customer that prices have surged. The surge pricing not only reduced demand, but is also a tool to increase the supply. A higher price will automatically incentivise more drivers to go to the area with surge pricing. However, the surge prices can, at times, be quite ridiculous, which is what caught the authorities’ attention. On New Year’s Eve, for example, Uber had a surge pricing of 10X, that is, ten times the normal amount.
Effectively, the government has put a price ceiling on what these companies can charge the customer. It has given a band with a fixed upper limit, within which the price charged to the customer has to fall. While, this might seem like something to cheer about for the customer at the first glance, a closer inspection will reveal that it will actually end up hurting the customer as well as the companies.
Price ceilings simply do not work, as economic history has repeatedly taught us. A price ceiling will simply create a shortage in the supply of the good in question and create distortions in the market, which will hurt the very customer that such laws are intended to protect. In this case, a ban on surge pricing will lead to a reduction in the number of taxis available in the market, thereby creating welfare loss to the customers who demand the taxis.
The supply of any commodity depends on the price. At each price point, a supplier (driver in this case) will decide whether it is profitable to sell at that price point. Auto rickshaws normally charge 1.5X from 9PM – 6AM, in a bid to be compensated for working late hours and at times that other would not be willing to. Imagine if a similar price cap had been put in place for autos, there wouldn’t be any autos available for hire after 9PM.
Similarly, during peak hours and other times of high demand, in the absence of surge pricing, an Uber driver would not consider it worthwhile to switch on the app or accept ride requests and thus, leading to shortages.
Another major impact of this ruling would be that Bangalore would lose out on the new investment that these companies had pledged. Uber, which has now partnered with 30,000 cabs in the city had planned to expand to about 1,00,000 cabs in the next few years. Uber and Ola combined had pledged to invest around Rs. 15,000 crores in the next few years in Karnataka. With regressive laws such as this, the state could easily lose this investment to neighbouring states. The other worry is that other Indian states could follow this bad example. Maharastra was considering a similar move and it could get buoyed by the Karnataka move.
Finally, the government must rethink whether this is the best method to achieve its objectives. The intention behind this move is to increase the supply of public transport at affordable rates for the consumers. Instead of creating distortions in the market by implementing a price cap, the government should look at other ways to make the market more competitive and remove entry barriers. The government could consider allowing flag down taxis on the streets, like they have in all other major metros in India, which will surely increase the supply of taxis. It could also allow shared autos to ply on Bangalore roads for fixed routes, which will ease the demand for taxis. Another related measure is to allow private busses of all sizes on Bangalore roads, which is currently disallowed. In short, the government should look at all ways to improve public transport in Bangalore and ways to increase the number of options available for customers to travel in the city. This will surely reduce the excess demand for Uber and Ola, which will automatically make surge pricing redundant.
Anupam Manur is a Policy Analyst at the Takshashila Institution.


text:
Food Standards Agency
FSA Social Science Symposium centres on food, innovation and the future consumer
Lab grown meat, the perspectives of Generation Z, climate change and the impact of space technology on the food system were some of the topics discussed at our third annual Symposium of Social Science.
This open event, held in Cardiff on 4 November, was part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science. Stakeholders from academia, other Government departments, business and NGOs heard about how social science informs real-life policy making in a government context.
Social science is a key pillar of our analytics work, helping us to deliver our strategic objectives by ensuring that insight into what people throughout the food chain think, feel and do informs our risk assessment, risk management and communication. The focus of this year’s event was on food, innovation and the future consumer, and explored some of the themes that are feeding into horizon scanning across a variety of disciplines.
The event began with a presentation from FSA Director of Science, Professor Rick Mumford on the future direction of science in the FSA, followed by presentations from FSA social scientists, economists, operational researchers and research fellows. These ranged from the food concerns of a rising generation, consumer perspectives on new food technology such as lab grown meat, new ways of measuring consumer wellbeing and ways of using social media to understand what people talk about when they talk about food.
The afternoon saw fascinating talks from Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh of Cardiff University’s UK Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) on the kinds of changes that will drive a sustainable food future. Dr Rhian Hayward of Aberystwyth University spoke about the cutting-edge science that is driving innovation in food and Professor David Lloyd of Cardiff Metropolitan University spoke about the innovations food businesses are undertaking now to be fit for the future food system.
A workshop was held to close the event where experts and practitioners discussed the areas of research interest, evidence gaps, and how this might inform our future research agenda.
Michelle Patel, Head of Social Science at the FSA, said:
‘Events like this are a great opportunity to bring together a wide range of disciplines, outlooks and perspectives to understand what the future holds for consumers and the food system. We’re keen to share our work, stay up to speed with innovation in the academic and business community, understand the implications for a regulator of a dynamic and changing industry, and what this means for consumers, and to feed what we learn into our research agenda for the coming years.’
The presentations are now available online (Opens in a new window)and a short report of the afternoon workshop will be published in due course.
Latest News from
Food Standards Agency
COVID-19 Consumer Tracker waves three and four report published12/08/2020 12:25:00
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today published the latest findings of the COVID-19 Consumer Tracker and additional qualitative research including social media listening.
FSA welcomes sentencing of DNP seller03/08/2020 14:10:00
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) welcomes the sentencing of a man who unlawfully sold DNP for human consumption.
Report into international foodborne disease rates published03/08/2020 09:15:00
The Food Standards Agency has published the first of three scientific reports, which attempt to compare international food standards.
Call to evidence: Front-of-pack nutrition labelling30/07/2020 14:10:00
We are seeking views and evidence from consumers and industry in Northern Ireland on the current UK ‘multiple traffic light’ label as part of a four-nation consultation.
Food we can trust - making it happen: Address to the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum08/07/2020 12:25:00
Transcript of FSA Chief Executive Emily Miles' address to the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum.
FSA publishes its Annual Report and Accounts for 2019/2002/07/2020 15:38:00
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today published its Northern Ireland Annual Report and Accounts for the past financial year. The report covers our performance and activities in 2019/20 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at a net cost of £112.6 million.
Food Standards Agency blog launches30/06/2020 16:51:00
Food Standards Agency yesterday launched their official blog.
Insufficient evidence for vitamin D preventing or treating acute respiratory tract infections30/06/2020 13:38:00
The Scientific Advisory Commission on Nutrition (SACN) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) yesterday published their rapid reviews exploring the role of Vitamin D supplementation in reducing the risk of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections (ARTIs) and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.


text:
Pluto TV launching in France
January 21, 2021
ViacomCBS Networks International has confirmed that Pluto TV, the free streaming television service, will debut in France on February 8th.
Pluto TV will be available on all major streaming devices (TV, smartphone, tablet, PC) via the Pluto TV browser, via app on Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and the iOS and Android apps available on the Apple Store and Google Play.
Pluto TV offers an ad-supported streaming experience with no registration required. It will launch with 40 specially curated and original channels for French audiences. Its library will include content from both ViacomCBS brands and third parties through partnerships with a large number of leading international and French publishers, broadcasters, and distributors with the aim to deliver constantly fresh and varied content.
“The launch of Pluto TV in France marks an important step for the growth of our company’s streaming presence in Europe,” said Olivier Jollet, Senior Vice President Emerging Business ViacomCBS Networks Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia. “Pluto TV has already demonstrated its strong appeal in many markets across the world like the UK, GSA, Latam, and Spain. I’m sure that with its market-centric approach and extensive reach, Pluto TV’s innovative digital model will transform the French streaming and television market, both in terms of consumer experience and Ad sales offer.”
Pluto TV continues its ambitious international roll-out and expansion with the French launch, following successful launches in the UK, Germany, 17 countries across Latin America, including Brazil and Spain.
Italy will be the next market to launch Pluto TV, which is planned for late 2021.


text:
Pakistan was essentially created to protect the religious and economic rights of Muslims who were a minority before the partition of the Indian... ...http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/intolerant-pakistan-finding-new-ways-to-torment-its-minorities-117102000447_1.html
In a bid to boost Indias horticulture output, the Centre is relying on eyes in the sky to seek guidance on what crops should a farmer sow in his... ...http://www.deccanherald.com/content/638568/centres-eyes-sky-boost-horticulture.html
The Bombay Hemp Company offers goods fashioned out of hemp, the lesser known cousin of ganja.Nikita Puri reports.Illustration: Dominic... ...http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/7-young-men-and-their-unusual-start-up/20171020.htm
What's better than festivals coming with long weekends and giving you the perfect reason to take off to a vacation with your family or a bunch of... ...http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-still-haven-t-figured-where-to-spend-the-diwali-weekend-check-out-these-amazing-getaways-near-mumbai-2554108
An inquiry report on the food poisoning incident on-board the Tejas Express train has found no problem with the food quality, and said the unease... ...http://www.rediff.com/news/report/not-food-poisoning-kids-vomiting-caused-unease-on-tejas-express-railways-/20171016.htm
Mango is a great.


text:
On April 17-21, US operator SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment offered free one-day admissions to any UK, Irish or Continental European tourists stranded in Florida due to the interruption in international air travel caused by Icelandic volcanic ash.
SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica waterpark and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay partnered with travel reservation company ReserveDirect to offer an online booking and packaging solution. In a well-timed display of altruism to the thousands of tourists that were stranded due to the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, visitors were asked to simply show a valid airline ticket and identification.
The huge ash cloud caused by the eruption on April 14 caused substantial disruption to air traffic across Europe. Yet while some individuals still remain stranded around the world as carriers strive to clear passenger backlogs, most European airports have now re-opened and almost all scheduled flights are expected to have resumed by tomorrow (April 22).
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.


text:
Nina Kharey, the talented designer behind Nonie, was thrilled to see her sleeveless trench dress on Meghan Markle earlier this year, but spent little time basking in her good fortune. Instead, Kharey got to work on the daringly minimalistic pieces which comprise her 2019 spring summer collection. Rather than focus on creating intense standalone pieces, Kharey produced garments which give the wearer the autonomy to make them their own.
Last Sunday, Sufi devotional music pulsed overhead in a warehouse on Washington Street as models glided down a runway, sporting clean pinks, whites, blacks, yellows, and reds. Mostly silks, Nonie’s newest looks are meant to both embody the calming chants of Sufi lyrics and remain timelessly uncomplicated. Sufism is a mystic sect of Islam, which focuses on a personal connection with God. Kharey particularly fixated on the work of Qawwali musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose music frequently overlays videos of Sufis spinning in a mesmerizing synchronized dance, an integral part of their faith.
The first-generation Canadian designer takes inspiration from what she calls “the Orient”, which appears to mean relaxed robe-like clothing that can be worn around the house or under a business blazer. It comes from Kharey’s understanding of her parents’ immigration from India in the 1970s, according to an interview with Hello! Magazine. In old photographs, Kharey’s mother is decked out in flowing bell-bottoms and oversized bows.
These nostalgic touches were present at the runway show last week. Silk gathered in bunches at the waist, and large bows and ties adorned many of the outfits. Nearly every outfit on display was monochromatic, and the standout half-pink, half-red dress still blended seamlessly with Kharey’s vision for chic timelessness.
Nonie launched in 2008 and has stuck with that simple but refined vision for the past decade, including in its manufacturing process. The label remains ethically developed in Canada, after its small beginnings at local boutiques in Kharey’s hometown, Calgary.
The designs this season were not overly revolutionary, and one can find similar styles in the business-wear section of most retail stores. But each dress, pant, or blouse presented last week lent itself to bold, clean lines and in an increasingly cluttered world, the light style of Nonie’s SS19 represented a break from the everyday visual chaos.


text:
Volkswagen of America has rehired former chief executive and sales chief Mark Barnes as vice president of sales. Barnes is replacing Frank Trivieri effective February 1. The rehiring of Barnes would make it seem that Volkswagen AG has managed to achieve a major shake-up of its US sales and marketing team.
In December 2013, German carmaker named Michael Horn to become the new chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America, replacing Jonathan Browning. The carmaker has replaced all four of VW brand's top US sales and marketing executives in the past nine months.
In April, VW hired Maserati's former U.S. boss, Mark McNabb, to become the chief operating officer of Volkswagen Group of America. In November, VW acquired the services of Vinay Shahani from Nissan to replace Kevin Mayer as US marketing chief.
In 2013, VW brand posted a 7-percent drop in US sales while the overall market gained 8 percent. In a statement, McNabb remarked that Barnes' work experience, "particularly in sales and U.S. dealer relations, will help continue to build our partnerships as we work towards future growth in this market."
Prior to rejoining VW, Barnes was GM’s vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales for China and other international markets for 18 months until November 2013. [source: Volkswagen]


text:
Errors in the updates happen not from today. Mostly they are the reason for suspension of release on the market. Exactly this has happened in case of Android Nougat update for HTC 10 smartphone. Some time ago the media reported that HTC decided to suspend the update to Android Nougat for European HTC copies 10. This information gave the German branch of a Taiwanese company.
It turned out that the update for this model phone has a lot of errors.
There were just enough to not spend it productively. Unfortunately, the company did not disclose the details, so we do not know exactly what the errors mean. Users were not informed when the update will be resumed. Fortunately, bug fixing did not last long, and the company has already successfully deal with all inconveniences. The first country where the update was resumed, turned out to be the United Kingdom. Although at any moment update should be brought back to the other European countries. New version of Android Nougat for HTC 10 has a size of 1.11 GB. There is some do not know how extensive weight. Yes, as it happens in a standard update is available in the OTA format. With the release of Android Nougat on the HTC 10, will be cast as all necessary security patches and other fixes.
So far it is not known which errors have delayed Android Nougat release on HTC 10.
It’s hard to even speculate what was the reason for the withdrawal from the market of renovation and no official information on this subject is not. HTC began to update their phones to Android Nougat at the beginning of November 2016 year. It was already some time ago. Of course, HTC 10 was this model that has been selected as a precursor to update, and updates are released at different intervals. Many users are starting to wonder if Android N is hopefully certainly all right, since its release on the market pauses the update.
The truth is that Android has long been is not what was intended to be.
It destroys not only the branding, but also the system itself is already a good mare. Some time ago I conducted tests that showed that the most powerful telephone 2016 years is the iPhone 6S. It turned out that the toy from Apple is more efficient than all phones with Android. There would be nothing unusual, if not for the fact that Android, which took part in the tests were much better guts than the iPhone 6S. This shows how far Android becomes more burden than a useful system. Google may in time saw what was happening, because I have to prove that the Android share the fate of even Symbian.