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|By Business Wire||
|July 23, 2014 09:06 AM EDT||
Marvel’s next summer blockbuster film is coming to Disney Infinity. Today, Disney Interactive officially announced the latest Play Set for Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition) – Guardians of the Galaxy, inspired by the upcoming film Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, in theaters August 1.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set Figures for Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (Photo: Business Wire)
The Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set follows Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians as they arrive at Knowhere, having just stolen a powerful cosmic object from the villainous Ronan the Accuser. Players will guide the team as they race to protect Knowhere from Ronan and his attacking Sakaaran fleet while keeping their newly liberated item safe from the villain’s evil grasp.
To view gameplay trailer, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncIACV_Q17A
In addition to the trailer, the new asset pack includes character images and action screenshots showing the characters in the Play Set and Toy Box 2.0.
To access images and screenshots, please visit: http://smu.gs/1ucXtUC
Playable characters for the Play Set include Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora and Groot, as well as crossover characters Iron Man (from The Avengers Play Set) and Nova (from The Spider-Man Play Set). Mission givers will include Cosmo, The Collector and Yondu.
Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora and Groot will be also playable in the all-new Toy Box 2.0, along with all characters previously released for Disney Infinity. Players will be able to use these characters, plus hundreds of Marvel and Disney-themed items, locations, props and vehicles to create new adventures in customized worlds. Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy characters will partake in one of the new structured Toy Box Games now offered in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes. The Toy Box Game, called Attack on Asgard has Loki opening a series of portals that allow an army of Frost Giants to invade Odin’s Palace at Loki’s command. The Giants threaten to lay waste to Asgard, rob Odin’s Palace and ultimately grant control of the throne to Loki.
In addition, there will be Guardians of the Galaxy themed Power Discs that will enable players to customize their Play Set and Toy Box experiences. The Power Discs include:
- Space Armor - Unlock Gamora's out of this world Space Armor costume for added protection against enemies. Who says fashion can't be functional too?
- Marvel Team-Up: Yondu - Fight alongside this powerful, arrow shooting ally and send enemies running for their lives
- Groot’s Roots - Theme out your Toy Box world with Groot’s Roots. It’s sure to grow on you!
- Groot's View - Embrace your inner green thumb and theme Toy Box skies out Groot-style
- Star-Lord’s Galaxy - Turn your Toy Box into Knowhere - Star-Lord’s home base in the Galaxy
- The Rip - Turn Toy Box skies into the skies of Knowhere with this Power Disc and transport yourself to the outer edge of all space and time
The Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set will be available in retail stores this fall. Additional characters will be announced in the coming months. Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes is being developed by Avalanche Software and is rated E-10+ by the ESRB.
About Disney Infinity
Disney Infinity is an interactive gaming platform where players have unprecedented freedom and endless opportunity to create stories and play experiences starring the beloved characters from across the worlds of Disney. Building on the success of last year’s initial launch, Disney Interactive announced that Disney Infinity’s next chapter, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, will hit stores this fall. In the all new game, players use real-world interactive figures to activate original storylines (Play Sets) in the virtual game worlds of popular Marvel franchises and create new adventures with other Disney Infinity characters in the Toy Box mode. Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes is rated E-10+ by the ESRB. For more information, visit Disney.com/Infinity.
For additional information, please visit www.disney.com/infinity and www.youtube.com/disneyinfinity, join the Disney Infinity Facebook community (Facebook.com/disneyinfinity) and Google+ community (https://plus.google.com/+DisneyInfinity), and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/disneyinfinity) and Instagram (instagram.com/disneyinfinity).
Disney Interactive, one of the world’s largest creators of high-quality interactive entertainment across all platforms, is the part of The Walt Disney Company responsible for the global creation and delivery of interactive entertainment, multi-platform video games, and family-focused content across all current and emerging digital media platforms. Disney Interactive produces and distributes a broad portfolio of content from Disney Interactive Games and Disney Interactive Media. Products and content released and operated by Disney Interactive include blockbuster mobile, social and console games, online virtual worlds, #1 kid’s entertainment destination Disney.com and the #1 Family/Parenting portfolio on the Web. Disney Interactive is the interactive entertainment part of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com. © MARVEL
DISNEY INFINITY: MARVEL SUPER HEROES PRESS ASSETS
SYS-CON Events announced today that the DevOps Institute has been named “Association Sponsor” of SYS-CON's DevOps Summit, which will take place on June 9–11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. The DevOps Institute provides enterprise level training and certification. Working with thought leaders from the DevOps community, the IT Service Management field and the IT training market, the DevOps Institute is setting the standard in quality for DevOps education and training.
Mar. 28, 2015 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 816
Plutora provides enterprise release management and test environment SaaS solutions to clients in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Leading companies across a variety of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, retail, pharmaceutical and media, rely on Plutora's SaaS solutions to orchestrate releases and environments faster and with integrity. Products include Plutora Release Manager, Plutora Test Environment Manager and Plutora Deployment Manager.
Mar. 28, 2015 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,515
SYS-CON Events announced today the DevOps Foundation Certification Course, being held June ?, 2015, in conjunction with DevOps Summit and 16th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. This sixteen (16) hour course provides an introduction to DevOps – the cultural and professional movement that stresses communication, collaboration, integration and automation in order to improve the flow of work between software developers and IT operations professionals. Improved workflows will res...
Mar. 28, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,506
Mar. 28, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,438
Containers and microservices have become topics of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities. Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 16th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in New York June 9-11 will find fresh new content in a new track called PaaS | Containers & Microservices Containers are not being considered for the first time by the cloud community, but a current era of re-consideration has pushed them to the top of the cloud agenda. With the launch ...
Mar. 28, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,147
The WebRTC Summit 2014 New York, to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY, announces that its Call for Papers is open. Topics include all aspects of improving IT delivery by eliminating waste through automated business models leveraging cloud technologies. WebRTC Summit is co-located with 16th International Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, Big Data Expo, and DevOps Summit.
Mar. 28, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,386
Modern Systems announced completion of a successful project with its new Rapid Program Modernization (eavRPMa"c) software. The eavRPMa"c technology architecturally transforms legacy applications, enabling faster feature development and reducing time-to-market for critical software updates. Working with Modern Systems, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) leveraged eavRPMa"c to transform its Student Information System from Software AG's Natural syntax to a modern application lev...
Mar. 28, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 740
SOA Software has changed its name to Akana. With roots in Web Services and SOA Governance, Akana has established itself as a leader in API Management and is expanding into cloud integration as an alternative to the traditional heavyweight enterprise service bus (ESB). The company recently announced that it achieved more than 90% year-over-year growth. As Akana, the company now addresses the evolution and diversification of SOA, unifying security, management, and DevOps across SOA, APIs, microser...
Mar. 28, 2015 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,988
Even though it’s now Microservices Journal, long-time fans of SOA World Magazine can take comfort in the fact that the URL – soa.sys-con.com – remains unchanged. And that’s no mistake, as microservices are really nothing more than a new and improved take on the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) best practices we struggled to hammer out over the last decade. Skeptics, however, might say that this change is nothing more than an exercise in buzzword-hopping. SOA is passé, and now that people are ...
Mar. 28, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,134
The webinar, hosted by XebiaLabs, will feature 4 experts including Special Host Gene Kim, author of The Phoenix Project, along with IT thought leaders Gary Gruver, Randy Shoup and XebiaLabs' Andrew Phillips. The panel brings more than 30 years of collective experience surrounding microservices transformations at major companies including Google, eBay and Tripwire. "The story around microservices and containers is pretty compelling and the attraction of more flexibility is obviously alluring,"...
Mar. 28, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,147
SYS-CON Events announced today that Creative Business Solutions will exhibit at SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Creative Business Solutions is the top stocking authorized HP Renew Distributor in the U.S. Based out of Long Island, NY, Creative Business Solutions offers a one-stop shop for a diverse range of products including Proliant, Blade and Industry Standard Servers, Networking, Server Options and...
Mar. 28, 2015 05:30 AM EDT Reads: 3,779
WHOA.com has announced the newest addition to its data center footprint with the expansion into Equinix's newest state-of-the-art facility: DC-11 Washington, DC IBX+. Located in Ashburn, VA, this data center expands Whoa.com's presence to meet rapidly expanding customer demand for secure cloud solutions. Equinix, Inc. operates International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers in 32 markets across 15 countries in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. Equinix is committed to operating faciliti...
Mar. 28, 2015 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,018
SYS-CON Events announced today that FierceDevOps will exhibit at SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. FierceDevOps keeps software developers and IT operations personnel updated on the latest news and trends around the rapidly evolving role of the traditional IT worker.
Mar. 28, 2015 02:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,363
The Open Compute Project is a collective effort by Facebook and a number of players in the datacenter industry to bring lessons learned from the social media giant's giant IT deployment to the rest of the world. Datacenters account for 3% of global electricity consumption – about the same as all of Switzerland or the Czech Republic -- according to people I met at the recent Open Compute Summit in San Jose. With increasing mobility at the edge of the cloud and vast new dataflows being pre...
Mar. 28, 2015 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,778
GENBAND has announced that SageNet is leveraging the Nuvia platform to deliver Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) to its large base of retail and enterprise customers. Nuvia’s cloud-based solution provides SageNet’s customers with a full suite of business communications and collaboration tools. Two large national SageNet retail customers have recently signed up to deploy the Nuvia platform and the company will continue to sell the service to new and existing customers. Nuvia’s capabili...
Mar. 28, 2015 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,393


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Another L.A. “Fashion Week” Launches In October
by Adam Tschorn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Get out your scorecards and sharpen your pencils. There’s a new “week” on the Los Angeles fashion week horizon — and its founders are billing it as “the first official L.A. Fashion Week.”
Promising a format that includes “European-style runway shows, brand presentations and sponsor lounges,” the new event is the result of a partnership between local PR firm World Coast Management, or WCM, and LA Production Studios. It is scheduled to take place at the latter’s 18,000-square-foot facility at 1025 E. 16th St. in downtown Los Angeles starting Oct. 20 and ending either Oct. 24 or Oct. 25.
“We’re really excited, we’ve been working for about a year on this project,” said WCM Chief Executive Susan Costa, “and it’s going to be an actual fashion week and not just events and parties.”
Of course the immediate question is: Just how does the new event plan to succeed when the catwalk is littered with the stiletto-clad corpses of so many efforts that came before (for instance, Rock Fashion Week LA and Downtown Fashion Week LA, to name two of the more recent)?

domain: news


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The international pet industry will again gather at Interzoo in Nuremberg, Germany, May 29-June 1, 2014. Show organizers say that based on the current level of registrations, Interzoo 2014 is on track to beat registration in 2012.
"The number of registrations is up 21 percent over the comparable period before Interzoo 2012," says Hans-Jochen Büngener, chairman of the Interzoo Exhibition Committee.
"Interzoo has gained new exhibitors, but many of the more than 1,500 companies at the event in 2012 have also registered again and booked larger stand spaces," says Herbert Bollhöfer, managing director of the Interzoo promoter Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft Zoologischer Fachbetriebe GmbH.
Interzoo says its growth is also thanks to positive growth in the worldwide pet market.
It gives more direct control to CVM in establishing and maintaining ingredient definitions
The intent was to educate regulators and industry about the Model Pet Food Regulations
Public meetings invited comments and provided updates
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Have you heard of Aspiro? No? Well, you're about to, since Jay Z is in talks to buy it.
Hov,and his company, Project Panther Bidco, has made a $56 million offer for the company, according to The New York Times, which is based in Sweden and owns two music services. Aspiro is the parent company of WiMP and Tidal, which are each streaming services in the vein of Spotify and Beats Music. The rapper would reportedly acquire 59% of the company.
"Panther believes that the recent developments in the entertainment industry, with the migration to music and media streaming, offers great potential for increased entertainment consumption and an opportunity for artists to further promote their music," Panther said in a statement, according to Business Insider. "Panther's strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro's platform, technology and services."
Music streaming services are continuing to grow, becoming an increasingly common way that many people listen to music. In hip-hop, it's become especially pronounced. In 2014, total sales for hip-hop albums decreased by almost 25%, but streams increased by 54%.
Heads up, Dr. Dre. Jay Z is coming for that spot.


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- Amir Nahravan
Google has announced that the company has extended the availability of its legacy voice-controlled digital assistant, Google Assistant, to more devices including speakers, electronic appliances, and more.
The announcement is made during IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung), the electronics and home appliances trade show going on in Berlin, Germany. And, the company has indicated that we will see a whole lot of new devices and appliances equipped with the Google Assistant in the next few days of the event. However, most of the products are from the renowned manufacturer, LG.
In a recent blog post, Google stated,
“You’ll hear about a number of new products that either have the Assistant built in (you can talk to them) or that work with the Assistant (you can control them with the Google Assistant) ……. The Assistant already supports more than 70 home automation manufacturers, including Honeywell, Netatmo, TP-Link and Wemo, so you can get help with everyday things using your voice. Whether you need to dim the lights to 20%, set the sprinkler, or turn on your slow cooker, you can just start with “Ok Google....”
We know that Google Home is equipped with Google Assistant already but more speakers remain to be announced during the show, including the Zolo Mojo by Anker, TicHome Mini by Mobvoi and the GA10 by Panasonic. The company confirms that they have worked on the NLP techniques and speech recognition technology of the Assistant so that it can distinguish your voice more accurately and also, now users can ask more tough and contextual questions, such as – “Where is the Eiffel Tower” and, “How tall is it?”.
Similarly, we will see several smart appliances ready for working on a simple “OK Google” voice command. The electronics manufacturer, LG, has come up with a bunch of such appliances including washers, dryers, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators etc. Now, we can say that accomplishing daily house-hold tasks will become a lot easier and smarter.
The company indicates that they will keep updating the blog with the list of new members in Google Assistant Family as they are announced. The countries that will see most of the devices by the end of this year include the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France; however, the availability may differ from device to device.


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Microsoft Advertising, along with other ad agencies is taking part in a contest named, “The Big Ad Gig” . The contest will feature eight contestants competing for a job at a top ad agency. The New York Times Building will host the contest at 10:00 AM on Thursday, September 24, in conjunction with Advertising Week 09.
'The Big Ad Gig' will have a panel of Creative Directors, CEO's and marketing leaders from leading ad agencies like Atmosphere Proximity, Ogilvy, Crispin, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, The Ad Council and Microsoft Advertising. The panel will judge the eight contestants who will be vying for the chance to work a 30-day paid freelance gig at one of above top ad agencies. New York Times advertising columnist, Stuart Elliot will be the moderator at the event.
Also, one winning campaign will be produced and run across Microsoft Advertising's media properties, including gaming, online and mobile.
“Our core mission at Microsoft Advertising is to build the platforms, content and technologies that breathe life into the big dreams and creative vision of today's top advertising minds,” said Charles Johnson, General Manager of Mobile Media for Microsoft Advertising.“We are excited to help foster a new generation of advertising talent, and look forward to bringing the winning concept to life.”Microsoft Advertising To Join Top Ad Agencies and The New York Times For 'The Big Ad Gig',


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ZenLedger and CoinGecko have partnered up to provide a discount reward to US-based CoinGecko users for their cryptocurrency accounting and tax preparation.
Discover the latest crypto trends, emerging use cases and the evolution of government regulations around the world.
Learn what lawmakers are doing to improve crypto and how those laws are being enforced by federal agencies.
Learn about the Fed’s revised mandate, what it means for crypto investors and how you can hedge your portfolio.
Learn how crypto-related crimes have evolved over the past few years and how you can protect yourself.
Learn about the Coinbase controversy and what it means for the future of the crypto market.
Learn how Wirecard’s $2 billion scandal could impact the crypto market and some possible ways forward.
Learn what questions you should ask before purchasing crypto tax software, as well as some of the most popular options.


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Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
The Netherlands is already known as an innovation hub. Indeed, this past April the European Commission awarded the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) to Amsterdam.
The country has built an outstanding infrastructure for facilitating innovation. The government has made it easy and affordable for companies to incorporate, and recently instituted the startup visa scheme as a way to attract foreign entrepreneurs. It is always in the top 10 rankings for countries with the fastest Internet speeds. And the educational system, particularly the polytechnic institutions, churns out a steady supply of creative problem-solvers.
And now the country is emerging as an epicenter for virtual reality (VR) innovation. While Dutch startups have sprung up only very recently in this space, they’ve done so in large numbers — and they’re highly concentrated in the content creation end of the supply chain.
Adriaan Rijkens, who runs the country’s top VR meetup events, estimates that there are about 30 VR companies in the Netherlands at the moment. The majority of these are content agencies, paid by their clients for each project they take on, so they haven’t had to worry about product/market fit or venture funding. The majority are also run by local entrepreneurs. But that’s likely to change as word spreads and foreign VR entrepreneurs, such as myself, join the community. And while the focus now is very much on content creation, we should begin to see platforms and product companies emerging soon too.
I was raised in Vancouver and I’m allergic to cloudy, rainy, weather, so the Netherlands, although lovely and a favourite place to visit as a tourist, was not a place I ever thought of moving to. But after doing two modules at the THNK – School of Creative Leadership campus in Amsterdam, seeing all of these Dutch VR companies, and how talented they are, visiting the world’s first permanent VR cinema in Amsterdam, and finding out about the country’s awesome startup visa option, the decision to move there was unavoidable.
While I was in town for my second THNK module, I scoured Linkedin for relevant contacts that I could interview for the sake of sanity testing my concept. I found them aplenty, and did what I usually scold others for even considering doing: I sent unsolicited connection requests.
If I had been able to stay in the country for just one more week, I wouldn’t have missed Startup Fest Europe, an epic matchmaking event run across 13 cities across the Netherlands that brings startup founders, investors, business leaders, and developers together.
But that didn’t matter because seven of the 10 VR companies I reached out to responded, and seven of seven arranged to meet with my cofounder and I during a span of three intense days.
Let me share just a handful of what I’ve learned so that you can get a taste of how exciting this landscape is.
For starters, we’re all aware of the rise of the co-working space model and how well this is doing internationally. Amsterdam has a variety of superb options like Spaces, but what will raise your eyebrows is that there is even a nascent co-working space dedicated to VR companies called VR Base. It is organized and run by Daniel Doornink, a VR pioneer and cofounder of Dutch VR Days, an annual event that is a blend between a conference and an exhibition and is testament to its hub-like status in the VR space.
About eight solid startups are currently working together at VR Base, including Lab4242. Meet Gijs Molsbergen, one of the two cofounders of a VR agency passionate about building prototypes for companies of all creeds. The agency is but three months old but already has traction with a steady base of clients.
“We are, metaphorically speaking, a young experimental inventor, inviting the stakeholders surrounding the Lab to work with us to create VR solutions and experiences that matter,” Molsbergen told me.
Most of these companies are self-funded but are itching to scale in order to realize their ambitions, which given they are all upstarts in the VR space, is understandably sky high. One of the key barriers to attracting investment and getting their hands on capital is the fact that while there are plenty of technology and content players, there is a lack of companies addressing the issue of deliverability and distribution models that fill the gap between users and products.
But community spirits are strong and each startup seems to have steady work for the time being.
Adriaan Rijkens, who I mentioned earlier, runs VR/Heroes, a two-year old VR agency based in Rotterdam. Aside from the projects he continually develops for clients, he runs two regular VR meetups — VR010 in Rotterdam and VR020 in Amsterdam. He started the events last year, and each one attracts a showing of 50 – 100 VR professionals.
So I’m slowly making the case of quantity; but what about quality?
“I do see a lot of VR companies, but I think it still lacks a lot of quality and ideas for really great VR experiences,” Marco Alting, cofounder at VR content maker dfab, told me. Alting’s company initially focused on innovative simulations for niche industries such as architecture, but it is now also entering other spaces where it can have an impact.
To address Marco’s point, we have to look to Aron Versteeg of ArtBeat, the gentleman who has to have the record in the Netherlands for having the longest track record in VR. He started ArtBeat in 2001, which means he has a whopping 15 years of experience creating VR projects.
Versteeg describes the following types of companies in the VR space in the Netherlands based on his broad view of the landscape:
- Group 1 – Out for the quick bucks; usually recent business graduates.
- Group 2 – IT-oriented companies that already have steady revenue models and have simply switched to VR or added it to their offerings.
- Group 3 – Bonafide innovators that are in it for the long haul.
The VR market is projected to hit $30 or 40 billion globally by 2020 depending on whether you reference Tim Merel at Digi-Capital or SuperData Research.
But for those who aspire to be, as Molsbergen puts it, “true belieVRs”, their aspirations will have to be tempered by the sobriety of indicators like the Gartner Hype Cycle, which currently places VR on the slope of enlightenment, with still at least four years left before we can expect the kind of maturity to arrive that allows for investor confidence. Thankfully, the Dutch are not in short supply of the two ingredients that are necessary to wade the storm: innovation and adaptability.
“I can now finally work with clients to create worlds that are creative, contain stories worth telling and solutions worth it not just to experiment for a minute, but for hours and hours of usage, over and over again,” said Molsbergen.
Amir-Esmaeil Bozorgzadeh is currently working on Virtuleap, a VR startup in the EdTech space. He is Managing Partner at Gameguise, a Dubai-based publisher of online games in the Middle East and a consultancy to global game developers and publishers that need local help in understanding and operating in the market. Follow him on Twitter: @whiteboxamir.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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These articles are tagged with "security labels"
To help ensure patient compliance as well as product quality, more and more is expected of pharma packaging designers. Are you not quite sure whether your designs hit the mark technology-wise? This article highlights three smart packaging technologies your competitors are either using as we speak or are bound to implement in the near future.
With February right around the corner, pharma companies and their packaging designers are scrambling to meet the Falsified Medicines Directive. As of February 9, 2019, each prescription drug packaging circulating in the EU must feature a 2D data matrix code enabling wholesalers and pharmacists to track it across the entire value chain. The packages must […]
Trying before buying is all well and good if consumers actually purchase the product, but in many cases products that have been opened in-store only end up sitting on the shelves until they expire – would you buy something that’s evidently been opened by some stranger? Enter the tamper-evident packaging trend, which not just prevents […]
Amid increasingly stringent security regulations and an alarmingly high number of fake products on the market, anti-counterfeiting technologies are the latest trend to take the packaging industry by storm. According to Smithers Pira, the anti-counterfeit packaging market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 percent, reaching 3.6 billion USD by 2022.
Pharma packaging design is due for a makeover, thanks to a new EU regulation that will come into effect in February 2019. The Falsified Medicines Directive will cost the pharmaceutical industry more than 5 billion euros; a major investment for which patients can’t be charged. Reportedly 82 percent of manufacturers are taking the necessary measures […]
The pharma industry’s fight against counterfeit drugs is long from over. International investigations reveal alarming figures: at least 10 percent of all drugs sold worldwide are counterfeited, costing pharmaceutical manufacturers over 10 billion euros annually – not to mention the dangers patients are being exposed to every day. Called upon to help identify and prevent […]
More than 3,400,000,000 people worldwide own a smartphone. By 2021, that figure is expected to double. It is no wonder, then, that there is a revolution going on in the world of interactive packaging, with more and more brands and packaging designers establishing a connection between packaging and the consumer and the consumer via the […]
Patient compliance, GMP compliance, anti-counterfeit measures, shelf-appeal, … Pharmaceutical packaging designers have plenty of boxes to tick before their design can hit the shelves, let alone sell, sell, sell! Still, every so often we come across a pharmaceutical packaging concept that stops us in our tracks. So, of course, we could not resist compiling a […]
The amount of counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging circulating the world is now bigger than ever, even creating what experts call a ‘parallel economy’ – with potentially deadly consequences. With counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging unlikely go away anytime soon, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly turning to innovative covert and overt anti-counterfeit measures.
Designing labels has never been an easy feat, but these days it’s particularly difficult as labels are often too small to contain every bit of information the consumer needs – or wants – to know. Another challenge label designers are facing today is counterfeiting, which means labels need to include both covert security measures (hidden […]
The pharmaceutical packaging industry is thriving. From improved anti-counterfeiting and temperature-controlling technologies to ergonomic packaging and packaging that facilitates patient compliance, this article provides a closer look at the key safety trends shaping pharmaceutical packaging design today.


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China has a trade volume with the continent of $200 billion….
Nearly 50 heads of state are expected to attend the three-day event, which began on Monday.
US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has said about $900m in business deals will be formally announced during the event.
But the presidents of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have cancelled their plans to attend amid an Ebola outbreak.
The disease has killed more than 800 people across West Africa.
US President Barack Obama promised to convene a summit during his three-country Africa tour last year, when he visited Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa.
The summit’s focus is on trade and business with the continent, where the US lags behind China.
China has a trade volume with the continent of $200 billion, more than double the US, and it started the Africa summit trend in 2001. Japan, India and Europe have followed.
The summit also comes shortly after Ghana has said it will seek financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help strengthen the West African nation’s currency, which has become one of the world’s worst-performing currencies this year (source).


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How do you spend your day?
Posted August 17, 2009 6:13 a.m. EDT
The New York Times has created a magnificent interactive graph, using data from the 2008 American Time Use Survey to show how Americans spend their day. You can also select different demographic groups to see how they spend the day.
I'm part of the 5 percent of Americans who are asleep at 8 p.m. Hmmmm.


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When Toys R Us announced it would close more than 800 stores due to financial difficulties, it marked the latest chapter in the struggles of many retailers to keep up in the age of internet retail.
It's a climate that has forced mom-and-pop retailers to adapt, too.
The secret to success, say some local shops, is you have to roll with the punches.
Recycled Books has been a Denton staple for 35 years. When Don Foster opened the store, he had no idea how big it the store would become.
"People will come in and spend hours in here," Foster said. "Occasionally, someone will come in and spend all day in here."
Not that it's always been easy.
"It can get tight sometimes," he said.
The latest news from around North Texas.
Competition from large retailers can drive a small business out of business. To survive, Foster says, you have to offer the customer something different. Aside from used books, he sells a lot of records and compact discs — things many big-box retailers have abandoned. He's also embraced the internet age.
"We do a lot of online sales, which has been a savior to us," Foster said.
For other small retailers, carving out a niche is also the key to success.
"We don't do anything current generation, because big-box stores like Toys R Us control that market," said Alec Featherstone, who opened Freaks and Geeks, a vintage game and toy store in Denton, three years ago.
Featherstone called the Toys R Us situation "tragic." He believes his shop may pick up a few more customers with the chain's closing, but it's not going to change the way he does business.
"To be successful you have to be driven," he said. "You have to realize there's gonna be those bumps in the road."
Both business owners do sell items online, adding to their revenue. Both also say they have an advantage in that their businesses are more than just stores — they're places where customers can come in and just hang out.
Foster says stores like his can stand up to online competition, because a lot of people still just like to shop the old-fashioned way.
"It'll be right there in front of you," he said. "And you'll go, 'Oh, my. Maybe I need this.'"


text: From 1961 to 1992, Renault sold over eight million Renault 4 city cars. The compact shape, front-wheel drive layout, and hatchback would prove to be a look at the future of transportation and especially the Japanese economy cars to come. The Renault 4EVER Trophy builds on the legacy of the 4 and the 25th anniversary 4L Trophy Rally held every year since 1997. The 4EVER Trophy concept wraps Renault's EV platform in chunky, slightly retro-styled bodywork. The high beltline, roof rack, magenta accents, and futuristic wheels give the 4EVER a look that sits between off-roader and moon rover. The Renault 4EVER isn't headed to production, but expect to see elements of the design appear on new models going forward.


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Comcast Corp. boosted the content of its online portal last week, offering its high-speed Internet subscribers a new $14.95 per month “Games on Demand” package featuring 60 CD-ROM style games.
Over the past year, Comcast has added Real Networks’ Rhapsody music download service, MLB.com’s monthly subscription package and new broadband content in its “TheFan” streaming wheel to entice new subscribers to counter the inroads digital subscriber line service has made into cable’s high-speed data business.
“As a market-leading media and entertainment company, we provide the hottest on-demand content through as many channels as possible,” said Comcast senior vice president of marketing Greg Butz. “Games on Demand is a natural fit with the Comcast.net portal, and it further extends the value of the site for our customers.”
Exent Technologies is supplying the backend software for the gaming service. “The launch of Comcast Games on Demand service signifies the tipping point for attractive content services,” said Exent CEO Zvi Levgoren.
Exent offers secure digital delivery of gaming applications, and has worked with Yahoo, Bell Canada and RCN. Investors include AOL Time Warner Ventures and Comcast Interactive.
Games will be refreshed each week. Because of the broadband connections, gamers can play online with and against other gamers or by themselves.
The more than 60 games cover a variety of formats. The service includes strategy games Celtic Kings: Rage of War, Civilization III: Conquests, Disciples II: The Rise of the Elves and O.R.B.; adventure games Temple of Elemental Evil, Alone in the Dark 4, Zapper and Neverwinter Nights; and action games Pacific Gunnerand Robin Hood.
There are also family and kids categories, which include Monopoly, Risk II, Scrabble Complete, Clifford Learning Activities, Tonka Monster Trucks and I Spy Fantasy.
Comcast said sister company G4techTV will provide content designed for game subscribers, including clips from the network’s series, such as X-Play, Judgment Day and Sweat, gaming news and sneak previews.
Subscribers to the service can play an unlimited number of games The MSO is making the service available for a two-week free trial period as a promotion signup.
The service also offers parental controls to limit access to certain games.
Part of the pitch to consumers is ability for users to test certain games inside the service before going out and purchasing those games. One PC game usually costs more than entire monthly subscription Comcast is offering.
The smarter way to stay on top of the multichannel video marketplace. Sign up below.


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|Tablets Hit Mainstream, Android Tops
Remember when market research firms were predicting the impact of tablets? Some were skeptical, considering the bust of netbooks. But tablets are officially mainstream and seemingly have staying power.
|For Work Hours, Surface Usage Higher
iPad tablet users are the most active user group throughout the day in North America, but Microsoft Surface users generate a bit higher share of total Web traffic during work hours, a new study has found.
|VMware Puts Win Access on Chrome
A new partnership between VMware and Google will provide businesses with secure cloud access to Windows applications, data and desktops via ultramobile Google Chromebooks.
|Juniper: Global Phablet Sales Soaring
Over the past year, phablets have grown in popularity despite their awkward form factor. A new report indicates that phablets will reach 120 million annual sales by 2018.


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Tension may still be high between Japan and China as their diplomatic ties are challenged by the territorial disputes they’re involved in but when it comes to tourists, this issue does not matter. Proof of this is the rise in the number of Chinese tourists that visited Japan this year to experience the Cherry blossoms.
The Japan National Tourism Organization recently reported that in March alone, Chinese tourist arrivals went up 80 percent. This translates to a total of 184,200 people from China visiting Japan starting in January 2014. For that period, some 79,000 group visas and 30,000 individual visas were issued to the Chinese. These figures are said to be the highest number of visas ever issued since the start of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration in 2012.
Chinese Confidence in Japan
The rise in the number of people from China is clear proof that the Chinese still love Japan, its products and culture. This positive trend was noted in July 2013 when an estimated 60,000 visas were issued. [Read more…]


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Twitter has seen a rapid drop in advertising revenues amid the acquisition of the social network by Elon Musk. Major advertisers have massively cut costs, which were Twitter’s main source of revenue, according to Reuters.
According to a study commissioned by the agency from Pathmatics, Twitter lost nearly half (14 out of 30) of key advertisers. It happened after Elon Musk’s entry into the ownership of the social network.
Pathmatics analysts found that “four advertisers cut spending from 92% to 98.7% a week before Musk’s arrival and by the end of the year.” Over the last two months of last year, total ad spend from 30 key advertisers decreased to $53.8 million (42%). Even the increase in spending by six advertisers didn’t help.
However, Pathmatics noted that “spending data may be higher for some brands if Twitter offers them incentives.”
In response to the agency’s numerous requests for comment, Twitter refuses.
We previously reported that a new feature called Coins will be coming to Twitter soon. Thanks to it, users will have the opportunity to “support authors who create cool content.”


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A new generation of smokeless, flavored tobacco products that look like breath mints or breath-freshening strips may be life-threatening for children who mistake them for candy, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Nicotine is a poison, and now we’re seeing smokeless tobacco products that look like Tic Tacs or M&M’s, which parents can leave on the counter and children can be attracted to,” says Greg N. Connolly, D.M.D., the director of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, Massachusetts.
The new products — currently being test-marketed in three cities — include Camel Orbs, which resemble breath mints; Camel Sticks, which are about the size of a toothpick and dissolve in the mouth; and Camel Strips, which are similar to breath-freshening strips. Small, teabag-like “snus” — pouches filled with tobacco that are placed between the upper lip and gum — are also a potential hazard, according to the study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics.
These products are not smoking cessation aids; rather, they are marketed as a nicotine alternative in places where smoking isn’t allowed.
Although children in the study were most often poisoned from eating cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products in general, the researchers single out the new, dissolvable products — especially Camel Orbs — as a “major concern.” Orbs are available in cinnamon and mint flavors and could easily be mistaken for candy, the researchers say.
“The candy form can only mean trouble, particularly for children and infants,” says Connolly. “And snus are attractive, flavorful, and easily ingested by an infant or child.”
R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard says that the packaging of Camel Orbs and the other dissolvable products is “100 percent child-resistant in accordance with Consumer Product Safety Commission standards” and bears a label that says “Keep Out of Reach of Children.” Adults, he adds, should ensure that “children do not have access to any tobacco products — including dissolvable tobacco products.”
Still, the researchers say, the pellets could find their way into children’s mouths. Nicotine poisoning can cause nausea or vomiting, and severe cases can result in convulsions, respiratory failure, and even death. Just under 0.5 milligrams of nicotine per pound of body weight is the minimum lethal dose for children, according to Connolly.
Regulators, he adds, “must ask tough questions about who is at risk from these products, and who we are trying to help with them.”
The FDA has broad authority to regulate tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was signed into law last June. Later that fall, the agency banned the sale of candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes.
While accidental infant poisonings are certainly cause for concern, purposeful ingestion of smokeless tobacco products by kids and teens may be a larger problem, Winickoff points out. As the study notes, the use of smokeless tobacco products among adolescents increased 6 percent per year from 2002 to 2006.
The attorneys at Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson urge the FDA to regulate these products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. These products unnecessarily put children at risk. We also urge parents to talk to their children and teens about the hazards of these products.
Tags: tobacco camel orbs R.J. Reynolds candy poison


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A new report by environmental advocacy groups should have everyone alert about the packaging on your fast food or takeout. According to environmental advocacy groups like Toxic-Free Future and Mind the Store, food chains may be using PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acids) in their packaging. PFAS are dangerous man-made chemicals like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, and scientists believe that exposure to PFAS over a long period of time may lead to harmful health effects like cancer.
A recent test conducted by the environmental advocacy groups revealed toxic PFA substances in the food packaging of Burger King’s burgers, chicken nuggets, and cookies; in Wendy’s paper bags; and in McDonald’s wrappers for their burgers, french fries, and cookies. Additionally, the “environmentally friendly” molded fiber bowls and containers sold by the Mediterranean chain Cava, the Canadian franchise Freshii, and salad chain Sweetgreen all tested extremely high for PFAS. These results show that ecologically friendly doesn’t necessarily mean human health-friendly.
However, not all fast food packaging products contained these dangerous chemicals. For example, paperboard cartons or clamshell packaging sold at the three burger chains all tested below the screening level. According to microbiologist Linda Birnbaum, the former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, these results show that it is possible for food packaging to be made without the dangerous PFA chemicals.
This report on PFAS chemicals found in so-called environmentally friendly packaging versus those found in fast food packaging has forced fast food chains to heavily consider not only making their packaging more environmentally friendly, but also more human heath friendly. Since the research has come out, Sweetgreen, Cava, and McDonald’s have all put out statements on their efforts to limit their PFAS levels in packaging. Sweetgreen stated that they hope to eliminate these toxins by the end of 2020, Cava hopes to eliminate PFAS in their packaging by 2021, and McDonald’s announced that they are trying to limit the amount of PFAS found in their food packaging all across the world. This sets a wonderful precedent to other restaurants to ensure that they are prioritizing human health and the environment.


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Hunter-gatherer, bargain shopper
Once upon a time, holiday sales were quiet affairs, held a respectable time after Christmas in sedate stores with names like Lord & Taylor. Now they’re launched the day after Thanksgiving, and conducted with all the civility of a wrestling smackdown, with pushing, shoving and warrior whoops as doors open before dawn.
And even before the doors open, bargain hunters waiting all night in the cold are hosting the equivalent of Super Bowl tailgate parties, complete with mini-TVs, crockpots and Smokey Joes.
For those desperately trying to stretch a dollar, standing in line to get a great bargain can truly make a difference in the quality of gifts they give. But for many others, the decision to dive into shopping madness almost before the giblets have departed the gullet is driven by more complicated motives.
Most are on a mission that can only be described as primal, say behavior experts and mental health professionals. In the truest sense, they are bringing home the bacon -- whatever it takes -- and in the process they are reinforcing a sense of personal mastery in their skillful procurement of coveted items. When they’re successful, the feeling is similar to the triumph of a hunter bringing home the kill, even if the kill is actually a TMX Elmo.
Some too are drawn to the wildly unpredictable social scene of Black Friday. Like crashing a great party and talking about it the next day, showing up at an ungodly hour and rubbing wallets with strangers can generate adventures worthy of rehashing later around the water cooler.
And still others see the trials and tribulations of shopping on Black Friday as a means to strengthen family relationships or friendships -- nothing says “I’m there for you” like the shared experience of tag-teaming your neighbor for the last Nintendo Wii at the local big-box store.
Fueling this drive to shop early and shop often is the inevitable media attention -- and savvier-than-ever retailers pulling folks into their stores like carnival barkers. “This is the first year that we saw entire outlet malls open all night,” says the National Retail Federation’s Daniel Butler, vice president of merchandising and retail operations.
All this provides the perfect agar for crazed holiday shopping.
This year, more than 140 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday weekend, spending $360 per person, up 18.9% from last year, according to the National Retail Federation. More than one-third of shoppers got to their first destination before 6 a.m.
The growing willingness to do almost anything, publicly, for a deal and then talk about it afterward signals a cultural shift of sorts.
“It used to be that we celebrated what we purchased,” says Paco Underhill, founder and chief executive of Envirosell, a research firm and author of “Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping.” “Now it’s a celebration of what we paid for it,” he says. “People aren’t bragging about how much they spent, but how little they spent.”
Regardless of what brings them to the sales, nearly all the shoppers share one characteristic: Like tigers on the hunt, they are tracking down and pouncing on something of perceived value. In doing so, they are relying on an instinct as old as mankind.
In this case, the prey is a sale item. And, as savvy shoppers know, sale items are more precious than retail items, both at home and on the savanna.
Spotting an item of perceived value taps into a survival instinct, says Dr. Timothy Fong, director of UCLA’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic. “When things are perceived to have value, we as humans want it, whether it’s a piece of meat or a good-looking girl or a nice car or a job opportunity,” he says. And where once we might have sought out an antelope and a nice fire, “we’re on the hunt for a PlayStation 3 or Louis Vuitton bag,” Fong says. But the extent of the bargain isn’t the only thing that determines the value of an item -- the pain and misery endured while procuring it count too.
“The more suffering that goes into the purchase, the more valuable the item is perceived to be,” says Rajagopal Raghunathan, assistant professor of marketing at University of Texas at Austin and author of several papers on shopping. “This is enhanced even more when you see others suffering as well in pursuit of the product.”
When it comes to suffering, camping outside a big-box store in the middle of a strip mall in November would certainly qualify. Although the less-driven may shudder at the notion of staying up all night for any reason, Fong gives such campers credit for moxie -- and for prioritizing.
“They’re in touch with what they want and need, and they’re willing to set out a plan to get it,” he says.
A plan is key, of course, to not only surviving Black Friday but also triumphing over it.
Among bargain hunters most likely to be successful are those who see such shopping days as an opportunity to showcase a skill, much like playing golf, says Lars Perner, an assistant professor of clinical marketing at USC who has studied bargain hunting and other shopping behavior. These are shoppers who are highly educated about prices and very organized in their shopping plan. Included in this group are people who like the idea of being in the know and believe that they gain social status in being acutely knowledgeable about sales, he says.
But sometimes the thrill of the sale can be too much for even the most rational, knowledgeable shopper.
Checking out Black Friday action this year, Raymond Burke, professor of business administration at Indiana University, stopped at an office supply store at 4 a.m. and found shoppers lined up to buy heat laminators -- something most of them couldn’t possibly have needed. “There’s a herd mentality where you see others buying something and infer that if they need it, you must need it too,” he says.
Such poor decision-making is sometimes compounded by other very human factors: In the middle of the night, shoppers are tired, under stress and not always sober. The lack of sobriety illustrates the increasing reputation of Black Friday as a holiday kick-off party for a hearty band of wild and crazy folks who like a good time.
“I think there’s an American ideal where we promote people who do wild and crazy things,” Fong says. We may not want to camp out, party-on and race our way around a mall at midnight, he says, but we like hearing about the folks who do.
Finally, there’s another phenomenon at play. Slowly, consciously or unconsciously, Americans have not only incorporated Black Friday into their holiday traditions, Black Friday has become a holiday tradition.
For people such as Mindy Steinman, the day signals the beginning of the holiday season, but more important, it’s all about friendship.
Steinman, who once couldn’t conceive of shopping in the wee hours of the morning, was dragged to her first Black Friday 10 years ago by friends. “I approached it as a cross-cultural experience,” she says. “I thought they were crazy.” After that first time though, Steinman, a producer for AirTalk on KPCC-FM (89.3), was hooked.
“I enjoy the people-watching and the bargains,” she says, “but more than that, it’s a tradition with these dear friends.”
Although Fong sees the passion for Black Friday shopping as inherently positive, he also has another thought.
“We’re putting huge amounts of energy on acquiring stuff,” he says. “Wouldn’t it be great if people camped out to help the homeless or recycle or clean up the beach?” When we’re motivated, he says, “we’re willing to do anything.”


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Ever dream of being a billionaire? Well, you could be one in the near-ish future if you know a thing or 63 about college basketball. This year, Warren Buffett and Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans are offering one billion dollars to any fan who fills out a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket as part of the company’s annual Bracket Challenge. Per Yahoo! Finance:
Any qualified entrant who correctly enters the contest and predicts the winners of every game in the tournament will share the total $1 billion prize paid in 40 annual installments of $25 million. Alternatively, the winner(s) may elect to receive an immediate $500 million lump sum payment or share in that lump sum payment if there is more than one perfect bracket submitted.
“We’ve seen a lot of contests offering a million dollars for putting together a good bracket, which got us thinking, what is the perfect bracket worth? We decided a billion dollars seems right for such an impressive feat,” said Jay Farner, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Quicken Loans. “It is our mission to create amazing experiences for our clients. This contest, with the possibility of creating a billionaire, definitely fits that bill.”
So the odds aren’t exactly great — the chances that you fill out the perfect bracket are roughly 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808, but hey, what do you have to lose? Quicken Loans will also pay $100,000 to 20 of the closest “imperfect” brackets filled out, so start doing your college basketball research now.


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Google has been doubling down on its commitment to making the internet a much safer place for its users by giving them control over their online data. The search giant recently introduced alerts for Android users during unauthorized tracking attempts. And now, it has updated its Results for Yu tool so that you have more control over your personal data if found online. Here are the details.
Google’s Results About You Tool Gets an Update
In its latest blog post, Google has announced that it is bringing a significant update to its Results About You tool, with which, Google will alert you if your personal data ends up online and will further assist you in their removal. If you can recall, this specific feature with the ability to request the removal of personal information was introduced back in 2022 at Google I/O.
With this new update, Google will let you opt-in for alerts when your personal information like your address, phone number, email, and alike end up on Google Search. And with a new Dashboard interface, Google will let you easily request the removal of those data from Google with a single click. Additionally, Google will keep on notifying and updating you as and when your data pop up on the web like new search results.
As of now, this feature is only live in the United States in English. So, if you are in the US, you can access the Results About You tool either by clicking your profile icon on your Google homepage or by visiting the link here. Google has promised that it is bringing this new feature to new locations in new languages soon.
Apart from this, there’s a new SafeSearch blurring setting, which will blur explicit content on Search is being rolled out globally and will reach every user within this month. You will also be able to remove previously-deleted explicit content from Search if it still shows up. Additionally, Parental Controls are now directly embedded in Google Search.
With that being said, the major highlight of this announcement is the Results About You tool, and with a global rollout, it is sure to help let you take control of the data that you decide to share online. We will be sure to share our thoughts on this new tool once it goes live for us. In the meanwhile comment down your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.


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But just about the most attention-grabbing metrics was the action that there was stronger expansion in signups from women than men. The growth in feminine signups was 1,009%, while that of men was 829%. WazirX experienced a 1,009% upsurge in signups by women.
- The verification process shall withdraw your crypto exchange into your bank account.
- In the mid or late 80s Sometime, it was converted to a complete Radio Shack store.
- Indian cryptocurrency swap WazirX has released a written report for 2021 that details a genuine number of interesting insights.
- So this was the info related to crypto.com/swap, and now hopefully that you shall go to our program and make your crypto swap here using
In the Bay Region we still have several small boutique spots that sell resistors and such. The dude who owns the manufacturer runs a company where they worship the ground he walks on. To stay up in the hobbyist area you need to go big like Fry’s, and now even that is gone.
Us Government Seized 1,700x More Crypto In 2021 Than 2019
This is probably a holding provider that bought the brand attempting to make a fast buck. When you are a desperate organization, you either sue everybody, get into crypto, or both. I remember there is a Tandy-simply Radio Shack in the first 1980s in regards to a mile from where I resided on the East Coast of the united states. Sometime in the mid or late 80s, it was converted to a complete Radio Shack store.
- Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Photos Binance will launch a new digital asset swap in Indonesia through a jv with a consortium brought by MDI Ventures, an expenditure arm of Telkom Indonesia.
- which live safely offline.
- The agreement follows on the heels of FTX launching an Ethereum-based NFT market place at the start of December.
There’s only so much they are able to lower rates to compete, because there’s lots of overhead involved in owning a brick and mortar store. If you are among the rare people that can distinguish whether something is a good idea or not, you may make a complete lot of money based on that. Nothing wrong with prebuilt RC vehicles when they’re not crap, just like the ones they sold.
Id Verification Steps Crypto Swap:
growing popularity in the adolescent generation. The thing is exacerbated because many cryptocurrency tasks, intent on avoiding government restrictions, set up in countries whose police agencies don’t have much capacity to go after transnational hackers. Recent casesOne of the largest heists happened in early on December, when the crypto trading program Bitmart announced that hackers broke right into a company account and stole nearly $200 million. The company froze all customer transactions for three days before these were allowed because of it to trade their money once again.
- One of the world’s top crypto marketplaces continues its drive to take the industry mainstream by teaming up with among professional basketball’s top franchises.
- But the most attention-grabbing metrics was the work that there was stronger development in signups from women than men.
- One notable statistic may be the known fact that there was a 1,009% increase in signups by women, even while officials deliberate crypto marketplace regulation.
- No, but that doesn’t mean the domain title won’t have some value https://cryptoinfobase.com/looking-for-the-cryptocurrency-exchange/ when attempting to lure in a few rube with a crypto currency scam.
Surely a crypto scam is considerably more profitable than years of selling mobile phones at a loss. With the growth that the Indian crypto marketplace is experiencing, both with regards to investment and employment growth, there is absolutely no doubt that there may be a tremendous boost by regulation. It remains to be seen, however, and investors just want regulatory clearness.
Crypto Exchange Ftx Inks Overseas Rights Cope With Nbas Golden State Warriors
The consortium of digital and fintech businesses partnering with Binance are said to have access to more than 170 million buyers in the world’s fourth most populous country. “With fast engineering adoption and strong economic probable, Indonesia could become one of the leading centers of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem in Southeast Asia,” he added. “The federal government’s impetus towards a regulated approach for crypto would put India on the world map with other developed international locations dealing in crypto. However, WazirX is assured that the government will regulate than ban cryptocurrencies rather, and Indian institutions will follow the lead of their United states counterparts in adopting crypto. Indian retail investors snapped up cheap and much more volatile coins like DOGE and SHIB relatively, perhaps to make a lot of money on a relatively small investment – a pattern observed across the globe, including inflation-ridden Turkey.
- Also, we have an API system that can help you exchange errors freely.
- The greater part of users were below 35 years, accounting for 66% of users.
- If I require a dozen resistors, 6 of 1 ranking, and 6 of another; its sort of insane to have to get a 200-pack which has 20 all of 10 different ratings, 8 off which happen to be useless to me.
If an swap is wealthy good enough and plans ahead with an emergency fund, it can compensate its consumers if its functioning is hacked, Jevans said.
Deposition Of Crypto Exchange:
With a postgraduate level in finance, he was among the few that first recognized the sheer untapped potential of decentralized technologies. Since then, he’s got guided many startups to navigate the intricate digital marketing and media outreach landscapes. His work has perhaps influenced distinguished cryptocurrency DeFi and exchanges platforms worth millions of dollars. Indian cryptocurrency trade WazirX has released a written report for 2021 that details numerous interesting insights.
- So withdrawal process is simple;To withdraw money from Crypto Exchange currency, first of all, you need to visit crypto.com/exchange.
- It’s a great time to be into electronics as a hobby, components will be super cheap these days.
- The Indian government has been sitting on
- With the expansion that the Indian crypto marketplace is experiencing, both in terms of employment and investment growth, there is no doubt that there may be a significant boost by regulation.
- Companies still making money selling electronic components disagree.
Investor interest in these coins was exceptionally high in the lead-up to the Diwali festival held in early November. Following is the process or solution to create a merchant account or register on Crypto; Now go to the browser of any device. As Best Buy discovered, the typical demographic that buys these things will use your retailer for a showroom and then make their actual buys online from a lower-priced competitor.
Crypto Exchanges Keep Obtaining Hacked, And There’s Little Anyone Can Do
Fortunately, Fry’s still carried almost all of the stuff that I used to get at Radio Shack. DIY electronics could be so niche nowadays that there no longer must be a Radio Shack in every strip mall. Something with vestigial name acknowledgement that was passed around from one business venture to the next. Radioshack did that themselves when they became a cellular phone reseller.
Radioshack Announces Ambitious Fresh Cryptocurrency Exchange Radioshack Com
So it’s a vaporware exchange investing in a vaporware aggregation of a vaporware product or service . Someone said to me, year old men “Crypto is merely Mary Kay for 20-something.” Right now, a complete lot of this stuff is young people getting into the get-rich-quick schemes . Now you can get it all online, with a much larger selection.
Indias Biggest Crypto Exchange Saw 17
WazirX noted several major milestones which were indicative of the enthusiasm for crypto in India. Overall, the exchange documented over $43 billion in trading volume in 2021, that was a 1,735% increase over the previous year. About 50 % of the investors entered the market in the last half a year, with friends and family being one major reason why they started. Exchanges often keep usage of a few of their cryptocurrencies in so-called frigid wallets, which live safely offline. The rest of it is in “hot wallets,” which are liquid and can be sent to users.
Crypto Regulation Debate Rages On In India
Almost all users were below 35 years of age, at about 66%. This is consistent with how many other reports have suggested, namely that younger investors were keener on crypto than older ones. “During these uncertain times , crypto has not only enabled common people with new ways to earn online but additionally fought the pandemic with the Indian crypto group stepping forward to help our country,” WazirX added. What do you consider about Binance helping to build a cryptocurrency exchange in Indonesia? This week, Binance announced that it is shutting down its crypto swap in Singapore. “Binance made a sizable investment into regulated trade HGX last week.
Chinese Bitcoin Miners Nevertheless Operating Under The Radar
Hackers have made off with vast amounts of dollars in virtual assets previously year by compromising some of the cryptocurrency exchanges that have emerged through the bitcoin boom. It has always been about marketing – anyone can begin a bitcoin clone tomorrow and mine a million coins using a TRS80 before lunchtime. It’s only the brand recognition of Bitcoin and another few famous ones that make it possible for them to possess any market worth at all – because they don’t really offer a lot of utility for making legitimate transactions. The RadioShack cryptologie website says they’ll focus on a “symbiosis https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/cryptology” with Atlas USV, a community-driven job to build a universal, accessible DeFi bottom layer decentralized/widely. Atlas USV’s “Barter” mechanism lets customers purchase third-bash tokens and move them to Atlas USV’s treasury in return for discounted USV tokens.
Polygon Launches Level 2 Token Swap And Decentralized Exchange Aggregator
pairs, bitcoin remained the most traded cryptocurrency, accompanied by stablecoin meme and tether tokens DOGE and SHIB, WazirX token , and Polygon’s MATIC. The verification method will withdraw your crypto swap into your bank account. Blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance announced Wednesday that it has established a joint venture with a consortium led by Telkom Indonesia’s $830-million capital raising arm, MDI Ventures . Telkom Indonesia is the region’s largest telecoms company.
Among them is the known fact that the number of registrations by female investors has got risen by a staggering 1,009%. Overall, WazirX crossed 10 million users this year, regardless of the heavy regulatory discussions taking place in the national country. Claire Georges, the deputy spokesperson for Europol, the European Union’s international police agency, said the agency is aware of a true number of cases against hackers who steal electronic assets. But she said building a solid case is a long, slow method that doesn’t match the pace of attacks. Their developers may function frantically to make the code work, accidentally leaving flaws that provide hackers a foothold sometimes.
Cryptocurrency Predictions For 2022
Of blaming the thief Rather, the ongoing company decided to interest his better nature, calling him “Mr. White Hat,” which is a cybersecurity expression for a researcher attempting to help make things more secure. Poly System thanked him for exposing a flaw in its code and asked for the money back. Crypto exchanges work like classic money exchanges, setting charges for various currencies and taking a small fee to let consumers trade one. But while a small number of countries have strict regulations in place, it’s relatively easy for tech entrepreneurs to set up an exchange anywhere in the world and run it nonetheless they like nearly.


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Students learn how to process an animal carcass ‘from nose to tail’
OLDS, Alta. — The motto on the coat of arms at the Olds College National Meat Training Centre declares: “revive the art.”
The centre has been operating since 1969, and teachers at the college wants people to think of butchery as an honourable profession.
“There was a period where if you said you were a butcher, people took a step back,” said Brad McLeod, head of the program for the last 15 years.
The recent opening of a spacious retail butcher shop on campus has allowed the program to take a step forward in its efforts to teach its students all there is to know about the meat trade.
The store has attracted customers from Calgary to Edmonton who appreciate a butcher shop that offers specialty products as well as high quality beef, lamb, pork and bison cuts.
“We are drawing people in from a large range because of what we do, how we do it,” said McLeod.
He said the school is the only one of its kind in North America.
Up to 16 students spend 15 weeks learning how to humanely handle animals in the barn and on the kill floor.
The facility, which was designed with help from University of Colorado animal behaviorist Temple Grandin, features non-slip flooring and a quiet environment as cattle, pigs and lambs are led to the stunning area for a humane death.
“Nobody teaches slaughter. Nobody trains butchers from the carcass anymore,” McLeod said.
Ten hogs and five cattle move through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved facility in an average week. Lamb and bison come from local farms.
“We learn how to use everything from nose to tail,” said Wayne Marietta, who graduates from the program at the end of April.
Students learn proper slaughter techniques, meat cutting, processing ground meat, sausage making and curing. They will learn recipes and regulations governing food safety.
“All the students are trained on every piece of equipment, so once you get into the industry you will be able to use different pieces of equipment,” Marietta said.
The students come from varied backgrounds. Most are mature students and many are like Marietta, who tried different jobs and now want a career. Students have ranged in age from 16 to 62.
Some are chefs who wanted to learn more about meat cutting, while others started their own shops or found jobs in the meat business in large and small processing facilities.


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LAHORE: A bourse filing Tuesday from Millat Tractors revealed Nishat Mills through a letter of intent offered up to 18% shares of Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited, a joint venture Of Nishat Mills Ltd and Sojitz Corporation, Japan.
The company’s Board of Directors gave go-ahead to its participation in this joint venture, the notification read. Hyundai Nishat Motor Limited and Sojitz Corporation, Japan are setting up a green field project for assembly and sale of Hyundai vehicles in Pakistan.
In February, it was reported Millat Tractors Ltd, board of directors in a meeting held on 16th February had considered to jointly “explore the possibility of becoming a part of the joint venture consortium involved in the setting up a green filed project for assembly and sales of Hyundai Motor Company passenger and 1 ton range light commercial vehicles in Pakistan.
Last week, Nishat Mills announced the ground-breaking ceremony of Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited (HNMPL), would be held on 20 December 2017, at M-3, Industrial City, Sahianwala, FIEDMC, Faisalabad.
In March, it was reported Nishat Mills had decided to enter into a shareholder agreement with Sojitz Corporation of Japan (Sojitz) for an acquisition of 40pc stake in the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary HNMPL.
Earlier this year, Nishat Mills, a subsidiary of Nishat Group had announced venturing with the South Korean Hyundai to set up an assembly plant in the country. The agreement was significant in the sense that it marked the return of Hyundai to Pakistan’s automobile industry in addition to being a strong move to break the monopoly of Japanese companies dominating Pakistan’s automobile industry by assembling cars in Pakistan in collaboration with local partners.
Millat Tractors shares closed at Rs1079.04, down Rs6.24 and Nishat Mills shares closed at Rs138.21, down Rs2.31. KSE-100 index closed at 37,919.42 points, down 464.55 points on Tuesday.


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Fasten your seatbelts, because today’s trade update is a doozy.
As you likely already know, in mid-August the Trump administration announced its intent to move forward with tariffs on the remaining goods imported from China, collectively known as List 4. The Office of the United States Trade Representative confirmed the List 4 tariffs in an August 20 Federal Register notice, later delaying implementation on some goods for the Christmas season.
CHINA RETALIATES ON LIST 4
In the wake of that announcement, on August 23, China released a list of escalating tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. exports in retaliation. The Chinese list has been divided into two parts, Annex 1 and Annex 2, and includes over 5,000 U.S. imports that already face tariffs. China will also reinstitute tariffs on U.S. auto and auto part imports.
Like the United States’ List 4, China’s tariffs are divided into two parts that will take effect on different dates. China’s tariffs will range from 5 percent to 10 percent and will begin for the first group of American exports that are imported into China on or after September 1. The second group of American exports will face tariffs effective December 15.
PRESIDENT TRUMP RETALIATES ON THE RETALIATION
Responding to the response, President Trump turned to Twitter to proclaim:
“Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing…your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.”
In response, the Dow plummeted as folks tried to make sense of the series of orders and escalations. On Sunday Trump then softened this threat, saying he would only consider it if China again raised tariffs on American goods.
Following the statements, that Friday evening President Trump then announced two major tariff increases, again via Twitter. First, any imports from China currently subject to the “section 301” 25 percent tariff will increase to 30 percent on October 1, 2019. This includes all products on Lists 1, 2, and 3. Second, imports on List 4A, scheduled for a 10 percent tariff on September 1, will now be taxed at 15 percent. Expect a similar increase for List 4B. USTR has released a prepublication document confirming this increase, which is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on August 30.
GOOD FEELINGS AT G7?
Following the tumultuous afternoon, President Trump was off for the Group of Seven summit, being held in France. While he initially expressed what many interpreted as regret at the escalating trade fight, the White House later issued a statement saying that Trump only “regrets not raising the tariffs higher.”
On Monday morning, President Trump claimed that his trade negotiators had received two “very good calls” from China, though a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry denied any knowledge of these calls. Trump also claimed that China now wants to come back to the table and make a deal, saying that the two sides will “begin talking very seriously” and that the Chinese “mean business.” The Chinese continue to insist that these claims are untrue.
Despite this rapid escalation, talks between China and the United States are still expected in September. As of this writing, dates have not been set. But do not expect China to offer any concessions in September—the 70th anniversary of the communist party falls on October 1 and the country is celebrating “China’s rejuvenation after a period of foreign dominance.”
DON’T FORGET TO SUBMIT YOUR LIST 3 EXCLUSION REQUESTS!
As a reminder, the exclusion process for List 3 is still open. Requests for exclusions must be submitted by September 30. The RV Industry Association is happy to file letters in support of any member exclusion requests and has done so at the request of several members. If you would like the Association to file a letter on your behalf, contact Samantha Rocci at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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With the rise of FinTech, we're seeing a dramatic change in the way we manage our finances.
5 years ago, if you needed a loan or a mortgage, your bank would help.
Wealth management or international money transfers? Your bank.
Today, the finance landscape has changed. You can do all of the above (and more) with new, FinTech companies:
But, what is FinTech?
The World Economic Forum explains it as:
FinTech, the abbreviation for financial technology, is a broad category that refers to the innovative use of technology in the design and delivery of financial services and products. The application of FinTech cuts across multiple business segments, including lending, advice, investment management and payments. Many FinTech companies harness mobile technologies, big data and superior analytics to tailor products for various customer segments.
While using technology to power financial systems is nothing new, the core difference is putting technology at the heart of the financial services offering.
This is allowing companies to make finance faster, more accessible - and most importantly, transparent.
Will there be banks in the future? Time will tell.
Read TransferWise's Future of Finance report for more.


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Article: 2004 – The Year in Review
2004 was full of all kinds of memorable pop-culture happenings, as well as political, business, and other events. We decided to put our 2¢ in for this year’s edition of the year in review…After scouring all the archives (ours and many others), we decided what were the top Mac news stories of 2004:
The Macworld Expo was all about the music. And servers. But mostly music. The iPod Mini, a product many thought would never sell was quickly on backorder. GarageBand was introduced allowing anyone to make their own music. And the 10GB iPod became history. Did we also mention that this was the 20th anniversary of the Mac and our first up-to-the-minute Macworld coverage?
The Pepsi/iTunes promotion was kicked off on 1 Feb, giving a 1 in 3 chance to win a free iTunes song. Soon after its introduction, a way to cheat was found, and people were found examining Pepsi bottles in convenience stores everywhere.
Apparently the Power Mac G5 was too fast – or Apple was claiming it was. After of a complaint from Dell to the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. The NAD said Apple did not provide a reasonable basis for its claims that the G5 is “the world’s fastest, most powerful personal computer” and that it “edged out the competition on integer.” It also felt that “the world’s first 64-bit processor for personal computers” could be confused with workstations. The NAD suggested Apple “modify this claim to effectively limit it to personal computers.”
The iTunes music store became a year old in April. Along with news of its success, Apple announced that it would be giving away a special single away every day for a week. After that, Apple would give away a free song every Tuesday. This is still continuing, exposing iTunes users to all sorts of up-and-coming, and well-known artists.
Office 2004, demoed at the January Macworld Expo, was obviously a major update. It finally shipped in May, but Virtual PC 7 was still delayed. Many felt the new features, such as a notebook view in word, and page layout in Excel made it better than the Windows version.
Tiger was obviously the two major stories coming out of June. Or maybe the new aluminum displays were. Well, we’re going to just say that WWDC was probably the biggest story of June for Mac news, or maybe the biggest story of the year. Soon after Tiger was demoed, people everywhere cried out about the Dashboard feature, and how it was a “ripoff” of Konfabulator. Others said Apple had the idea first with desk accessories. At any rate, it’s a pointless argument.
The new iPods were clearly the important news item in July. With a click wheel just like the iPod Mini, they featured a simplified design. This meant third-parties must redesign their cases. It also now had moving parts for navigation, some felt was a step backward from the third generation iPods. The new features included
The month started with Apple employees receiving a memo from CEO Steve Jobs stating that he had undergone a surgery to remove a rare form of pancreatic cancer. This reminded many that Steve Jobs, was in fact, not invincible. His recovery lasted a tad longer, so Phil Schiller ran the Macworld Expo in Paris’s keynote.
The iMac G5 was introduced. Most people were speculating that the sunflower iMac design’s days were numbered, but to be replaced with what? Many were afraid that the replacement would be something along the lines of Gateway’s Profile PCs…something downright ugly and a step backward. Well, Apple managed to not only create something classy and simple, but also powerful, since it came with a G5 processor.
As if the new iPods introduced in July weren’t enough, Apple outdid itself with the iPod Photo, and the U2 iPod. iPod Socks were the other “innovative” product, and were quite controversial. Simply a pack of 6 colored and trimmed socks, Apple is selling them for $29.
We wrap up this year in review with good news to Apple stockholders and Mac fans in general. In an article published last week by the Wall Street Journal, numerous readers responded that the “iPod halo effect” is working, and that the future looks pretty good for Apple’s computer business. Essentially, the iPod is hooking Windows users into getting a Mac.
No matter how you slice it, 2004 was the best year for Mac users since, well 2003. It seems that Steve Jobs has much up his sleeve for 2005, despite the fact that some product information was leaked.
See you in 2005.


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Hyundai Capital America said in a recent announcement that it reduced mailing and call center costs, cut transactional costs, and enhanced processes to save time and resources after ChannelNet revamped its dealer access portal.
“We consider the reinvention of our dealer portal one of 2016’s most significant accomplishments,” HCA senior vice president and division head for dealer services Tim Devine said in a news release.
The cross-channel, integrated platform launched in November.
“A sleeker, smarter dealer portal, it is designed to give the best user experience possible. As a result, daily usage is up 52 percent, and mobile usage is up 95 percent,” said Devine.
HCA is the first to use the portal. The secure cloud solution has over 10,000 registered users at the auto finance company.
The portal is mobile friendly as well as designed to be personalized and role-based.
At HCA registered users range from dealership general managers, business development managers, sales staff, office administrators and OEM field sales staff.
The portal also applies customer-centric principles to the dealer staff experience.
“It is very exciting for us to work with a corporate team that understands the importance of being customer centric. In this case, the dealer staff are the customers,” said ChannelNet chief executive and founder Paula Tompkins.
“Sales people walking the lot with a prospective car buyer can use their smartphones to look up critical sales information on the spot. For example, they can instantly tell consumers what incentives are available on a specific vehicle.”
She said, “The portal is now a one-stop shop for everything the dealership’s staff needs from the captive finance company and other third-party vendors.”


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EU fresh/frozen pork exports were up on the year again in June, according to the latest report from AHDB analyst Duncan Wyatt, which shows volumes were 43% higher than in June 2019 at 250,000 tonnes.
The continued strength in the EU’s export performance is underpinned by the Chinese market, where shipments have been elevated since the beginning of the year and were up 114% in June at 159,000 tonnes. China is still keen to import pork, with lower domestic production due to African Swine Fever.
In addition, the EU’s offal exports in June were 110,000 tonnes, an increase of 11% hon the year. Volumes were also propped up by the Chinese market which took 78,000 tonnes, 30% more than a year ago. Shipments to Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong all fell slightly, further highlighting the importance of China’s share of EU offal exports.
Mr Wyatt commented: “Despite this continued demand for pig meat products from China, export prices to that destination have not been rising in recent months. EU pig meat exports including offal were pricing at €2/kg in June, nearly €0.20 lower than May, and €0.80 lower than the prices seen at the end of last year. However, more recently domestic pig prices have been rallying in China, which could signal strength to come in the price of imported pork.”


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Ottawa can’t build ’15-minute neighbourhoods’ without ensuring access to healthy, affordable food
Ottawa’s new Official Plan (OP) emphasizes the need to develop 15-minute neighbourhoods throughout the city. But what is a 15-minute neighbourhood and why is this important? A 15-minute neighbourhood is exactly what its name implies; it is a neighbourhood that allows its residents to have access to their basic daily needs within a 15-minute walk. Imagine having access to a variety of services, parks, schools, public and active transit, and general groceries all located 15-minutes away from your home. The benefits are simply too long to list.
Unfortunately, the success of these neighbourhoods is directly tied to the city’s current food deserts; an inability to easily access healthy and affordable food plagues many areas in Ottawa and makes 15-minute neighbourhoods impossible to achieve.
Food deserts don’t only occur in low-income neighbourhoods, where the number of fast-food chains typically exceeds healthy food options. However, as federal research continues to evolve, we have learned that income is not the only contributing factor. Throughout Canada and the U.S., food deserts are also a consequence of poor city planning. Once a neighbourhood is developed or occupied by a certain number of people, the city should have a responsibility to ensure that a grocery store is present that meets the community’s needs. Whether an area is occupied by low, middle, or high-income earners is irrelevant and should not determine access to healthy, affordable food.
Can governments eliminate food deserts when large grocers and mom-and-pop food shops are all privately owned? It may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. The government can offer incentives for the development of small shops and grocery stores to be built in food desert areas. They can improve public transit to healthy and affordable food options. The town of Baldwin, Florida, took matters into their own hands and built government-operated grocery stores. There are options, some more realistic and attainable than others, but all should be considered to help end food deserts and successfully create 15-minute neighbourhoods.
Residents of Ottawa’s Little Italy community know all too well what it’s like not having easy access to a grocery store. For over fifteen years, Little Italy has been classified as a food desert with occupants relying on smaller specialty food shops to meet their daily needs. The Covid-19 pandemic meant Sala San Marco couldn’t host large banquets; the owners converted the space into a full service grocery store, saving their business while continuing to serve their community. At the other end of the spectrum, residents of the Carlington area live within 15-minutes of a large grocery store but walking there poses risks. To get to the Food Basics at the Hampton Park Plaza, residents must cross the intersection at Carling and the 417 Highway, one of the worst in the city. This signifies that simply creating 15-minute neighbourhoods with a grocery store isn’t enough; it must be walkable and accessible.
Everyone deserves equal access to healthy, affordable food. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made this more difficult by further widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. That is why now is the time to act.
A gradual phasing in of 15-minute neighbourhoods over the years to come might be great, but existing food deserts must be resolved now. We must start to think of food as more than a commodity to be traded. Like housing, access to affordable, healthy, basic groceries should be a basic human right. We will never achieve the equitable city we aspire to if we don’t make it a priority to ensure everyone has access to healthy and affordable food within their community.
This article was also published in The Ottawa Citizen.
Toon Dreessen is president of Ottawa-based Architects DCA and past-president of the Ontario Association of Architects. For a sample of our projects, check out our portfolio here. Follow us @ArchitectsDCA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.


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It’s been a long time coming, and the company’s been doing poorly for at least a decade, but it’s still sad to see tech gadget stalwart Radio Shack declare bankruptcy today. Rumors swirl around what will happen to the over 5000 stores they have worldwide, with some predicting that Amazon will acquire some as demo outlets while others suggest Sprint is exploring options for making them branded mobile stores, but whatever happens, over half the retail outlets will be shut down in the near future.
Started way back in 1921 by brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, who wanted to provide equipment for the then-nascent field of amateur, or ham radio. In 1962 the company, almost bankrupt, was acquired by Tandy Corporation and had a good run until the growth of online retailers like Amazon dramatically, and ultimately fatally, cut into their business. And so it ends.
I have always had a soft spot for “The Shack” with its TRS-80 (yes, we all called it the “Trash 80”) entrant into the nascent personal computer world in the mid-70’s and stores full of more wires, adapters, plugs and electronic doo-hickeys than you could shake a stick at. In more recent years, the company pushed into radio-controlled and electronics toys aggressively, doing well around Christmastime each year.
I can also remember when I was young that Radio Shack had “battery cards”, a punch card that was essentially a battery subscription service: You’d go into The Shack with your (free!) card, and they’d give you a battery and stamp your card for the month. Planned well, you could save a ton of money on batteries, and the cards were quite popular in their day.
But the Achilles heel of Radio Shack has always been quality control. We’d buy radio controlled cars, helicopters and other devices, just to have them broken — or not work out of the box — time and again. It’s the curse of low-budget overseas manufacturing, but Radio Shack never had the economic leverage that Walmart, another firm that relies on cheap goods, and so reliability suffered. Eventually, it was easier for us to jump onto Amazon and buy our adapters, wires, cables and gizmos online, knowing they might be 20% more expensive and take a day or two to arrive, but they were also going to be 10x more reliable too.
Still, it’s a sad day when the biggest vendor of electronic components shutters its stores. Read the bio of any of the tech innovators and you’ll find that they hung out at a local Radio Shack, picking up transistors, chips, wires and other components to create their own gadgets. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s autobiography Woz has a section about the Palo Alto (California) Radio Shack, for example, and he talked about how it played an important role in his early hacking and phracking efforts.
A company is only as good as the goods and services it delivers today, however, and it’s dangerous to rely on brand goodwill or reputation, regardless of how large you have become. Not to mention that so much of retail has shifted online in the last decade. Theodore and Milton would be bewildered — and inspired — by the modern retail channels, passionate about serving their small gearhead community and excited about tackling the 21st century. Unfortunately, they’re long gone, and even with a recent change of CEO, Radio Shack Corporation couldn’t stop their headlong plunge into the abyss.
After over 90 years of selling nerds and hobbyists everywhere the gadgets and gizmos we so love, it’s a sad day to see the company go out of business.
We’ll miss The Shack. Even if only for the batteries.


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The company has decided to exit the country untill it can bid for a license as online gambling is soon to be regulated.
Slovenia.- Pinnacle has left the Slovenian market right as new iGaming regulations are set to be implemented in the European country. The online gambling operator no longer accepts players from said jurisdiction as from March 3.
Earlier this year, customers received a short email indicating Pinnacle’s departure for regulatory reasons. But they will probably return to Slovenia once they can get an official license from the authorities. The Curaçao-based company is not the only one to take such a decisition.
Online poker brand 888poker has left said market as well on January following last year’s government’s announcement that it was ready to regulate the local industry. Right before 888poker, PokerStars also stopped its operations in the Slavic country. Companies have been working in Slovenia with a non regulated market and want to avoid any possible trouble once the new law is implemented.
Government is ready to regulate the online gambling busines after working for four years in new legislation. Last year, they announced at the European Commission that said laws had been drafted and were ready to take effect during 2017.
Alongside the Slovenia, Poland is set to new adopt new regulations next April, causing operators (including Pinnacle) to flee the market but without the same optimism that surrounds the Slovene market. iGaming companies are to be taxed 12 percent on betting turnover, a quite less appealing busines opportunity than in the rest of the regulated countries in Europe, where they contribute according to revenue.