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“Elegant” as a descriptor doesn’t make many appearances in the world of financial services or payments, which tend to favor other terms. “Disruptive” is a common attribute, as is “innovative.” “Cutting-edge,” “friction-free” and “one-of-a-kind” also hold sway.
That, Alacriti’s Co-Founder and CEO, Manish Gurukula, said, is about to change. The ability to use voice to do something as simple as paying a bill is what will tip the scales.
“In the age of voice-activated UX [user experience] in general,” Gurukula told Karen Webster in a recent conversation, “users expect that a transition to a conversational mode of interacting should mean that ‘technology’ just fills in a lot of the usual information gaps without having to ask the consumer.”
The implication, Gurukula said, is that developers must learn to build skills that understand and can respond to user intent.
It won’t be easy, simple or straightforward, he explained, particularly in a vertical like healthcare, where HIPAA only amplifies the already high requirements for securing and managing sensitive consumer data.
And consumers expect their interactions with those service providers to be channeled or device-agnostic — in other words: Their experience is the same no matter where they’re accessing the skill.
Elegance Meets Security
The Alacriti team has spent the last decade and a half developing payments technology that supports bill payment for verticals including financial services (think online bill payment through banking apps), insurance, healthcare and utilities.
Gurukula said the bill payment landscape has changed significantly over the last 15 years, and even more quickly over the last several, as chat-based interfaces (particularly using voice) have emerged and have provided an opportunity to create an elegant, simple and streamlined way for consumers to pay bills — and an opportunity for development teams to rethink these transaction flows, while keeping consumer data private and secure.
It began with a simple text-based chatbot for use with Facebook’s Messenger service, the CEO said, with the goal of making payment interactions like bill pay simpler. That effort has been in beta testing with several firms for the last year and will get its first full launch next week.
As the Alacriti team was building out that functionality, it became clear the next generation of conversational transactions were going to be carried out via the various emerging voice platforms, which meant they needed to begin evolving their offering along with their ecosystem.
“As we were contemplating how to move our text-based Messenger chatbot capabilities to voice and Google [Home] and Alexa, we had to first answer a few key questions: Where does the user data reside, how is it handled [and] how is the flow from one endpoint to another managed?” Gurukula said.
Those foundational questions, he said, can be answered in a few different ways in order to connect an elegant experience to a secure one. Alacriti, for example, does not allow users to add payment information directly through a voice device or Facebook Messenger. Instead, that information is collected during the user’s registration process.
The key, Gurukula noted, is to leverage the best practices that PCI, and HIPAA in the case of healthcare, have already put in place in order to minimize data exposure to what is necessary for the transaction workflow to move forward.
The One-Time Payer
Many consumers have automated recurring bill payments to flow directly from their bank accounts. Maybe they get a text or an email alert that an automatic payment is scheduled, but most autopay customers like the autopilot aspect of autopay.
However, Gurukula noted, there are many one-time payers that exist in a variety of contexts.
In healthcare, for example, people encounter all kinds of players in a one-time-only capacity — specialists, for example, or doctors visited for a single consultation.
The problem, Gurukula said, is that when it comes time to pay, the customer has to deal with whatever payment mechanism the provider has set up, and those provider portals can require a level of information provision that rivals trying to get security clearance from the federal government. Those very robust, secure portals make sense in the context of a patient with a long, ongoing relationship with a provider. where there are all kinds of sensitive data points to be managed.
But for a one-time visitor, it’s a bug, not a feature — and a bug that Alacriti can fix by offering a more streamlined — but still compliant — one-time payment platform.
In the wider world of recurring bill payments — for utilities, credit cards and the like — one-time customers are likely not one-off customers. These customers show up once a month to pay a bill, but (for whatever reason) they don’t want to set the bill to automatically pay out of their bank account.
“That is a fairly large number of customers, and that is the segment of the market we are serving,” Gurukula told Webster.
The goal for that customer is to make it as easy for them to say out loud, once, “Alexa, I would like to pay my bill” and be done with that process in one or two quick, simple conversation interactions.
“More than that,” he noted, “the process gets tedious and annoying quickly,” immediately squandering the advantage of voice by irritating the customer when it should instead be delighting them.
A Real Artificial Assistant
The potential inherent in Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Home Assistant, according to Gurukula, is to offer a better and more elegant way to interact with the elements of an individual’s day-to-day life.
The voice assistant, he noted, does better than just responding appropriately to its user’s requests; it comes to understand what the user is requesting, so it can fill in more of the steps on its own and keep its user moving forward, without having to think much about the instructions it’s giving an assistant.
“This means that when the customer says, ‘Alexa, I want to pay my bill,’ or ‘I want to pay my bill now’ or ‘I want to settle up,’ the skill we have programmed is strong enough to differentiate what it is hearing in a few consumer contexts — and still serve up the right action,” Gurukula said.
Because a good assistant is one that “needs as little instruction as possible. Otherwise, you’re assisting it.”
That means, for example, the virtual assistant should “remember” the customer and what his or her previous habits were like. When a customer says she wants to pay her bill, the assistant knows to ask if she wants to use the same method she used last time to pay and can then complete the transaction when it gets confirmation.
Or it means the virtual assistant can handle a slightly more complicated command, so that when the customer says, “Alexa, I want to pay my power bill with my Discover Card ending in 1234,” it can process both of those ideas at the same time and get the job done.
Or it can even mean, Gurukula said, greeting the user in the morning, noting the daily rundown of payments due and offering the option to settle up in the typical way while the customer is in the shower getting ready in the morning.
At this point, he told Webster, Alexa isn’t just a repository for a bunch of digital skills, she’s literally the user’s assistant programmed at every corner to make life a bit smoother, a bit more efficient and a bit more friction-free.
Or, in a word: a bit more elegant.
Alacriti is hoping to help push Alexa’s potential forward with the skill it’s prepping for the PYMNTS Voice Challenge With Amazon Alexa. All submissions will be on PYMNTS for public voting. The top five submissions will get to pitch their skills at our Annual Awards Ceremony in April 2018.
We look forward to finding out if Alacriti makes the cut.


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SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) surrogates can survive on meat products in the refrigerator or the freezer, for up to 30 days, according to a new study.
Those findings of the study were published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).
Also read: New Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75 has 18% growth advantage over the rest
“The research was conducted using chicken, beef, pork and salmon, and surrogate viruses with spikes similar to those on SARS-CoV-2, as surrogates,” said first author Emily S. Bailey, an assistant professor at Campbell University in the US, according to a press release from the American Society for Microbiology.
The researchers stored the products at both refrigeration (4 degrees Celsius) and freezer temperatures (-20 degrees Celsius), the release added.
“Although you might not store meat in the fridge for 30 days, you might store it in the freezer for that long,” said Bailey. “We even found that the viruses could be cultured after (being frozen for) that length of time.”
Also read: There’s talk of COVID 4th wave; what exactly constitutes a wave?
The researchers undertook this research after learning that COVID-19 outbreaks were occurring in Southeast Asia absent prior community transmission.
Reports from those communities “suggested that packaged meat products, produced in areas where SARS-CoV-2 was circulating, could have been the source of the virus,” said Bailey. “Our goal was to investigate whether or not similar viruses could survive in this environment.”
“The research is important because SARS-CoV-2 can replicate within the gut, as well as in the respiratory tract,” said Bailey.
In the study, the researchers used 1 RNA virus with a lipid envelope, and two animal coronaviruses, murine hepatitis virus and transmissible gastroenteritis virus as surrogates.
Also read: Long COVID in infected children: New study reveals top symptoms
All three viruses have previously been used as surrogates for SARS-CoV-2, generally with greater reductions in their numbers observed at refrigeration than at freezing temperatures. The reduction in numbers also varied according to the food item used.
“Continued efforts are needed to prevent contamination of foods and food processing surfaces, worker hands and food processing utensils such as knives,” the researchers wrote. Additionally, “the lack of, or inadequate disinfection of these foods prior to packaging needs to be addressed.”

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Facebook's CEO has just announced the company will adhere to EU privacy laws when they go into effect in late May, but will not extend the same privacy protections to the rest of its global operations.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) aims to give EU citizens more control over their data, including the right to erasure, by introducing accountability rules for any organization which collects personally identifiable information.
"We're still nailing down details on this, but it should directionally be, in spirit, the whole thing," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. He added that many of the tools which are part of the law, such as the ability of users to delete all their data, are already available for people on Facebook.
Lies And Fear
Users already have the ability to delete all their data? There are two situations where this is not true, a) users who are locked out of their accounts and b) the shadow profile of every non-user, constructed from information supplied by their family, friends, and peers. Even if you have a Facebook account, there is no process to delete your shadow profile. Facebook is making false statements to the press.
Zuckerberg's vague statement is very revealing: Facebook is gearing up to run two discrete business units, one which adheres to privacy laws, the other doing so "in spirit". This is a risky bet, both legally and financially. The company will need to identify not only the true identity of each user, but also their citizenship, regardless of their physical location. How far will this division extend? Two sets of colocated server farms running two different versions of software? Two groups of lawyers to interpret two sets of legal standards and implement two legal policies across all services? How far will Mr. Zuckerberg go to continue selling user data to advertisers? How much will it cost the company, and how will it impact their net income?
The announcement is also an inadvertent admission: the GDPR is effective, and it scares them. It includes steep penalties for companies which violate the law (up to 4% of worldwide turnover) and radically restricts how companies like Facebook can collect and store user data. As soon as the GDPR goes into effect, any user wishing to permanently delete their data should present themselves as an EU citizen. If Facebook has no shame in lying to the public, the public should have no apprehension about lying to Facebook.
Published April 04, 2018We depend on the support of readers like you to fund research initiatives and product development.


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October 10, 2022 – MILWAUKEE – Renaissant, Inc, a leading logistics workflow platform designed to accelerate transportation by eliminating nodal inefficiencies, has been named a finalist for the 2022 Wisconsin Innovation Awards.
Renaissant is one of 30 companies named a finalist out of more than 300 nominated businesses, products and services across Wisconsin. Finalists were determined by a panel of 19 statewide industry experts and announced in late July.
“To be named a finalist for the 2022 Wisconsin Innovation Awards is an honor,” said Tom Dean, President & Chief Executive Officer. “Our commitment each day is to drive innovative new solutions to help companies solve their most complex ground level logistics and transportation challenges, and its humbling to be recognized by the innovation community in Wisconsin for what we’ve accomplished in just a few short years.”
Winners for the 2022 Wisconsin Innovation Awards will be announced on Wednesday, October 12 in Madison.
Renaissant launched in 2018 to help companies accelerate transportation by harnessing technology and data. The company has experienced rapid growth in the past two years, doubling employee size as well as its core customer base. The company’s workflow platform is driving efficiencies across its customers’ U.S. and Canadian transportation nodes. To learn more about Renaissant, visit renaissant.com.


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The San Francisco company posted net income of $716 million, or 97 cents per share, on revenue of $2.03 billion for the period ended June 30.
That tops Wall Street expectations for profit of 93 cents per share on revenue of $1.97 billion. But results were down from last year's third-quarter results, largely because of lower investment income.
Shares slipped $1.45 to $75.19 in aftermarket electronic trading.
The company says it's too early to tell how much impact a new law that limits the fees charged to merchants for processing debit card payments will be.


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The European Central Bank (ECB) has released its card fraud report, revealing a continued decline in card fraud cases throughout 2021. The report, which draws data from 20 card payment scheme operators, indicates that card fraud has reached its lowest level since data collection began. In terms of the total value of card payments made within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), card fraud constituted only 0.028%, amounting to €1.53 billion out of a total value of €5.40 trillion. This represents a significant decrease compared to the previous year, as card fraud in 2019 accounted for €1.87 billion from a total value of €5.16 trillion. The highest level of card fraud observed thus far was recorded in 2008 at 0.048% of the total value.
The report distinguishes between two main types of card fraud. The first type is card-not-present fraud, which involves fraudulent transactions conducted remotely, such as online and telephone payments, using stolen card details obtained through techniques like phishing. This category accounted for approximately 84% of the total value of card fraud in 2021, marking a 12% decrease from the previous year. The implementation of strong customer authentication under the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) across the market contributed to this decline. The second type is card-present fraud, typically occurring at retail outlets and ATMs and involving the use of counterfeit cards. Card-present fraud decreased by 6% in 2021 compared to the previous year, thanks to the global adoption of industry standards that have effectively reduced opportunities for magnetic stripe counterfeit fraud.
Consistent with previous reports, the majority of card fraud cases in both 2020 and 2021 were related to cross-border transactions. Although cross-border transactions represented only 11% of the total value of card payment transactions, they accounted for 63% of the total value of card fraud in 2021.
The Eurosystem is closely monitoring trends in card fraud in its capacity as overseer of card payment schemes operating in the euro area. Statistical information on the volumes and values of card transactions and corresponding fraud is collected, analysed, and reported regularly. The latest report on card fraud focuses on data for both 2020 and 2021, providing a more differentiated overview of the impact on card fraud of both the recent regulatory measures and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Fraud data for 2022 is currently being collected.


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Nissan Juke-R: behind the scenes
Nissan has released a series of videos detailing the construction of the GT-R powered ‘Juke-R’ demonstration car.
Nissan has released more in its series of videos detailing the construction of the GT-R powered ‘Juke-R’ demonstration car, with no fewer than four now telling the story.
We’ve already told the story of the complicated process that goes into mating a lightweight shopping SUV with the twin-turbocharged V6 engine and four-wheel drive powertrain of the mighty GT-R – but now you can see even more in these behind the scenes videos.
And, don’t worry, when the time comes to drive the Juke-R you’ll be able to read the whole story here first.


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Digital News and Time Supervision
In today’s modern age, time supervision is a necessary skill in newsrooms and other marketing organizations. Reporters used to spend their time typing content and performing interviews inside the newsroom, great, they can document stories via anywhere, carry out video selection interviews and upload breaking information stories within just minutes. The media environment is intense, and media must be able to balance offering timely, correct information considering the needs of their readers.
The first press relied heavily upon fax equipment to send out campaign critiques. Later, the videotex program was introduced, which was a massive time-saver. The brand new technology made newsrooms more efficient, and elevated the number of press reporting important link from the discipline. It also meant that journalists could verify stories quicker.
The traditional newspaper industry is slow to adapt to the modern media. Papers face a forty percent job reduction in the next decade, and small papers happen to be closing every single day. Meanwhile, weak advertising income has forced various news outlet stores to downsize staff or perhaps sell downright. Eventually, these types of publications were bought by simply conglomerates and have been forced to downscale.
Today’s press must be acquainted with software employed with respect to multimedia editing. They must discover how to use online video and image editing applications. They must become familiar with lighting and camera techniques. The capacity to produce high-quality online video and audio tracks will help media reach a broader customers. Managing time and projects successfully is crucial through this new videos environment.


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The Plastics Industry Is Changing – Because It Has To
Wednesday, November 13th, 2019 | 646 Views
That’s the general consensus among some of Europe’s leading plastic industry commentators – the very people working to re-shape the industry.
While plastic, in its myriad forms is ingrained in every aspect of our life, ‘plastiphobia’ has entered the vernacular as a condition, and the regulators are cracking down hard on an industry that already faces a number of complex challenges.
But plastipobia shouldn’t be a thing. Plastic should not be demonised, rather treated like the crux of modern living that it actually is. The problem is not with plastic per se, rather recycling of plastic and its inappropriate usage.
The plastics industry has become acutely self-aware, and some might even say introspective. Directive targets must be met, new processes researched, developed and launched, and consumer education delivered, and consumer expectations met. And looming over all of this is the spectre of sustainability, and the demonisation of plastics.
Speaking at Circularity for Polymers: The ICIS Recycling Conference in Berlin last week Paul Hodges, Chairman of International E-Chem, said there’s an awful lot of work to do in a very limited time.
“It’s very clear there’s a paradigm shift going on in the industry. Companies are waking up to the fact that waste plastics are a really big issue – one that’s not going to go away. Single use plastics are going to be in the firing line for the next few years – and business models simply must change,” he emphasised.
The core of the shift required is the fact that people don’t know how to recycle plastics, but they do understand why we need to. That move to smaller, local chemical recycling plants – which are more efficient and effective at separating out the different types of plastic to help better achieve the dream of a circular economy – is certainly on the horizon, yet still only a nascent industry.
Another hurdle is that collection is simply not big enough. Mark Victory, ICIS Senior Editor, Recycling says local authorities – where most responsibility for household waste collection lies – have been underfunded since the global economic downturn more than a decade again, and investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with the growing complexity of packaging as a result. And that domestic issue is further exacerbated by China’s decision to stop taking waste plastics from the rest of the world.
What the industry urgently needs is project teams to work out how to produce more sustainable product and better recycling collection and processing facilities. Brand owners which have committed to the 2025 deadline need reassurance from the plastics industry.
“The sector needs heavy investment, to catch up across the entire chain. There’s no point in everyone wanting to recycle if the infrastructure isn’t there. We are relying on people to understand and embrace recycling systems – which is hard to predict. There’s a strong education element to it. For most people, plastic is simply plastic – they are unaware of the different types and what to do with it,” said Victory.
The biggest industry challenge – and perhaps opportunity – is the shift from massive mechanical recycling plants to smaller, local chemical recycling plants. “The new industry business model is small scale and local, whereas for the last 30 to 40 years, all we’ve talked about is massive and global – and this is a complete game changer,” Hodges concluded.
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF
Published 4:00 am, Friday, December 8, 2000
Regulators Bless Merger to Blend Oreos, Velveeta
Federal regulators yesterday conditionally approved the $14.9 billion purchase of Nabisco Holdings Corp. by Philip Morris Cos. Inc., which would create the world's largest food company. The combined company would have such brands as Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, Velveeta cheese, Kool-Aid and Jell-O.
To resolve the Federal Trade Commission's misgivings about the merger, Philip Morris agreed to sell Nabisco's U.S. dry-packaged dessert and baking powder businesses to the Jel Sert Co. and its intense mints operation to Hershey Foods Corp. "By requiring divestitures in these markets, the commission will ensure consumers continue to enjoy these products at palatable prices," said Richard Parker, director of the FTC's competition bureau.
AGILENT SELLS UNIT: Agilent Technologies Inc., a test- and measurement- equipment-maker, agreed to sell its automation software business to closely held Verano of Sunnyvale and will take an equity stake in the company. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. The Automation Integration Software unit is part of Agilent Technologies Canada Inc., based in Calgary, Alberta. Verano makes software that links suppliers and manufacturers.
GOOD NEW ON BAD LOANS: Wells Fargo & Co. chief executive Richard Kovacevich said bad loans at the fifth-largest U.S. bank will likely rise in coming quarters, though not at the pace seen at rivals such as Bank of America Corp. and First Union Corp. Kovacevich said the San Francisco bank has managed to skirt outsized losses by limiting its exposure to riskier clients and lending to its most profitable customers.
Kovacevich blamed a recent rise in losses and profit warnings by rivals on years of undisciplined lending spurred by a decade of economic expansion in the United States. "It does no good for this economy for bankers to provide such easy credit that bubbles are created," Kovacevich said in an interview. "The banks were not pricing for risk and the covenants were too loose."
CHECKING OUT AT ALBERTSON'S: Albertson's Inc., the second-largest U.S. grocer, said Chief Executive Officer Gary Michael will retire in June after 10 years at the helm. Michael, 60, has worked for Albertson's for 35 years. Albertson's board will form a search committee to look for a successor, the company said.
MORTGAGE RATES DIP: Mortgage rates declined this week with rates for 30- and 15-year mortgages dropping to their lowest levels in 17 months. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 7.54 percent, down from 7.65 percent last week, according to a survey released yesterday by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company. A year ago, the rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 7.84 percent and was rising. In mid-May, rates on 30-year mortgages hit a five-year high of 8.64 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, declined to 7.19 percent last week, down from 7.35 percent the previous week. A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 7.45 percent.
GIGANET TO EMULEX: Emulex Corp., a maker of equipment that speeds data transmission, said it will buy closely held Giganet Inc. for about $645 million in stock to expand its product line. Giganet makes computer circuitry cards that connect network attached storage devices using a technology called gigabit Ethernet. Emulex's main products use a different technology called fibre channel, which is used in a storage network configuration called storage area networks.
FAST AUTO PARTS: The Big Three automakers have formed an Internet company to speed the sales of replacement parts from dealerships to repair shops, with the goal of grabbing a larger share of the parts market. The unnamed company is far smaller in scope right now than Covisint, formed by a larger group of automakers to handle what is expected to be nearly $300 billion in purchases annually. The new company's first effort will be to automate parts orders between dealers and collision repair shops, which handle $15 billion in business a year.


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To make a business come to life, it takes a dream and a plan, and in the Silicon Valley there seems to be no shortage of either. One avenue for entrepreneurs to get on their feet is the Silicon Valley StartUp Cup, back for its second year.
Those familiar with the competition may remember it by a different name in its inaugural year: the Santa Clara County StartUp Cup. The name was changed, said organizer Alice Fenton, to expand the field of competitors. But the spirit of the competition remains the same: providing an outlet for entrepreneurs who want to take an idea to market or grow an existing new business.
“It’s for anyone who has an idea for a business, no matter what the idea, and is interested in getting it started,” Fenton said.
Entrepreneurs are asked to come prepared with answers to such questions as the name of their business, the target market and customer base, how they plan to finance the business and how they plan to make money.
As of early June, 25 business models had been selected to move on to the first round, taking place June 26-27 at CreaTV in San Jose. From there, the finalists will be whittled down to 12. That group will then advance to the second round in September, and then the top seven will go on to the third and final round in October.
In between the rounds, each entrepreneur receives coaching from business experts in sessions held at West Valley College. An awards celebration to announce the top three winners will be held at West Valley on Nov. 14.
In selecting the top 25, Fenton said she and other organizers focused on the diversity and quality of entrepreneurs.
“It’s really exciting for me to see this much diversity this year,” she said.
Entrepreneurs advance based on how good their pitch is in each round. The first pitch will be seven minutes long, the second five minutes and the final pitch will be two minutes. Each time, the judges–a panel of seven to eight seasoned professionals–will ask the entrepreneurs questions and give them suggestions on how they can make their business model a success.
Throughout the process, the judges and coaches determine whether the entrepreneurs have integrated the feedback they were given into their business model.
In between pitches, the entrepreneurs receive coaching advice from expert mentors on understanding customer development, bootstrap funding techniques, team development and revenue generation. They also give the entrepreneurs tips on how to improve their plan as well as pitching techniques.
“In the judging portion judges not only judge the pitch, but they also coach,” Fenton said. “Judges will listen, and then there’s a Q&A and they make suggestions as to how they can move their business models forward.”
New judges in this year’s competition are Saratoga City Councilman Manny Cappello; Greg Meyer, community relations manager at Meriwest Credit Union; Andrea Skov, principal partner at Guild Associates; and Brad Vernon, senior architect and engineer at Alcatel-Lucent.
Back for their second year of judging are Bruce Knopf, the county’s director of asset and economic development, and Kris Stadelman, director of the North Valley (NOVA) Workforce Board.
As an added bonus, the top 12 finalists will be given a DVD of their pitch to review during a subsequent coaching session, and all 25 entrepreneurs will receive a recorded copy of their pitch.
At the conclusion of the competition, the judges will select the top three business models, which will be announced on Nov. 14 at an awards celebration during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The winners of StartUp Cup will receive targeted coaching time focused on their business model needs: the first place winner will receive 20 hours; second place, 15 hours; and third place, 10 hours.
The winner of the first StartUp Cup was Andy Kogelnik, whose 2½-year-old company, Open Medicine Institute, is a combination of genomics, bioinformatics and social networking.
To see the 2013 top 25 finalists list, visit siliconval ley.startupcup.com.


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The arrival of the G8 and G20 later this month to Ontario has a lot of Canadians upset – and those who aren’t are welcome to read some books. Canada’s largest bookstore chain has a display of books to read to learn about the complexities of what the G20 is all about.
It’s a good list of books that you should take a look at. Are there books you’d like to see on the list?
The book chain has created a reading list and series of G20 tables in its stores across Canada to â€œpromote dialogue,â€ said Bahram Olfati, Chaptersâ€™ vice president for adult trade.
â€œYou see people such as Bono talking about giving aid to Africa. We have included the book Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo, which says this aid isnâ€™t really helping,â€ said Olfati. â€œIt is one of my favourite books on the tables.â€
With subheads such as â€œOutlaw Literature,â€ the tables are the product of a series of roundtable discussions among Chapters executives and staff to cover G20 issues from the left, right and centre, said Olfati.
But each store has the leeway to add to the table. And the one Chapters store inside the yellow security perimeter in downtown Toronto for the summit of 20 world leaders this month has decided to include titles by Chomsky, a long-time outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, and a few on Guevara, including Che: A Memoir by Fidel Castro.


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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — In light of the new year — many people turn to new goals — like exercising more, kicking a bad habit, or trying to eat better. Our Morgan Koziar caught up with one local woman who’s making it easier for people to chose better options when it comes to their diet —
all through a business that she created.
For many people, busy schedules can be hard to navigate – especially when it comes to choosing what we eat. We’ve all been there, juggling time, options and convenience.
“Planning ahead and just having those meals ready to go is going to help you avoid you know throwing a pizza in the oven or going through MacDonald’s or another drive-thru whenever you would really like to just stick to cleaner options,” Owner/Founder of Simple Nutrition Meals, Katie Gutwald says.
And Katie Gutwald knows all about those temptations, “what I recommend is to just break it down to little steps so you don’t completely overhaul your diet maybe one meal a day try to focus on eating whole foods – eating a little healthier and then bump it up to two you know just pick something that’s going to be sustainable,” Katie says.
As an athlete herself, Katie saw a need in the area for better options. Options that were quick – convenient – and healthy. So, she started – Simple Nutrition Meals – a meal prep service that basically does everything for you…”All of the shopping, the prep, the clean-up. we weigh everything so you know exactly what you’re getting all of our meals are fully nutritionally labeled so they have all of the macros, with the protein, the carbs, the fats — everything right on them,” says Katie.
All of the meals are prepped in bulk in a commercial kitchen. All customers have to do is select what meals they want for the week, how many – and their pick-up location. “We have seven different pick-up locations and when people place an order they can select any of the seven, we range from Ebensburg all the way to somerset, a few in Johnstown, Richland, Westmont so people can get on there and whatever is the most convenient for them they can select,” Katie says.
It’s simple – but when it comes keeping those new years resolutions like eating better – Katie says it’s never too late to start.
“You never have the wait for Monday you can start tomorrow, you can start the next meal, the next hour – anything you don’t have to wait til a Monday or a new year,” says Katie.
For more information on Simple Nutrition Meals visit their website simplenutritionmeals.com.


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You wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and — it’s hopeless. No matter what you try and do, your hair just won’t go the way you want it to. You’re going to have a “bad hair day” — and it’s likely going to make your day a bit cloudy. Of course, it’s not that big of a deal — beyond the fact that it’s something that can be fixed by wearing a hat, it’s not a reflection on your reputation or anything like that. And, despite the fact that WebMD (comically?) has a four-page (!) article titled “Surviving a Bad Hair Day,” hair that won’t give way to a brush isn’t some sort of rare illness, right?
Well… it can be. It’s unlikely, but you may have something called “Uncombable Hair Syndrome.”
Identified in 1973 by a team of French researchers, the malady is not all that worrisome unless you have designs of being an adolescent fashion model. The only problem associated with the condition is the uncombable hair itself; there are no other associated medical issues. People with the condition, as NBC News summarizes, have typical hair in general, but there are blonde clumps that do not seem to play nicely with the comb: “affected hair is dry, curly, brittle, and progressively uncombable,” as seen above (via Wikipedia). As one dermatologist further explained to NBC, “Normally, hair is quite pliable. You can run your fingers through it; it will bend easily when you comb it. But this makes the hair very difficult to comb. It just won’t bend.”
The condition is believed to be genetic, following what is called an “autosomal dominant inheritance pattern,” but researchers have yet to isolate the gene upon which the mutation is carried as of 2015. And the condition is also very rare, with known cases numbering in the hundreds. That may be a function, however, of the relative unseriousness of the syndrome — how often do you go to the doctor over difficult hair? — and the fact that almost all those affected are under the age of 12. So unless you’re not yet a teenager (and therefore, unlikely to be freaking out about your hair), you may let it go unnoticed.
From the Archives: A Hair-Brained Rule: North Korea’s haircut rules.


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Airwallex partners with powerhouse entrepreneur Naomi Simson to empower Australian businesses to scale
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 8TH JULY 2021 - Leading global fintech platform, Airwallex, today announced its partnership with renowned Australian entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Naomi Simson. The two have joined forces to launch a “Choose Growth” campaign aimed at empowering small-medium sized businesses (SMBs) as they look to scale their business operations. Through this campaign, Australian businesses will be able to draw on advice and insights that can facilitate their growth strategy as they contribute to the global economy.
Over the past year, SMBs have been met with numerous obstacles amid the global pandemic. Economic slowdown, market uncertainty and rapidly changing customer demands have resulted in a dramatic shift in the business landscape. The campaign theme of ‘Choose Growth’ with Naomi Simson aims to provide SMBs with the tools to tackle these challenges, including growing their customer base and cashflow, while also enhancing leadership and talent.
With a passion to support the startup community and foster innovation, Naomi is considered the ‘godmother of Australian small businesses’ and boasts more than 20 years’ experience featuring an impressive catalogue of successful business ventures. In 2001, Naomi founded leading online experience retailer RedBalloon, later co-founding the Big Red Group and appearing as investor on the Australian production of hit worldwide television show, Shark Tank.
Over the coming months, Airwallex is partnering with Naomi on a series of virtual and in-person events, advice guides and one-on-one sessions for SMBs. These sessions will combine Naomi’s own experience in building and supporting businesses from the ground-up, with Airwallex’s passion to help businesses operate anywhere, anytime.
Naomi Simson, Entrepreneur and Co-founder at Big Red Group said, “Our personal worlds may have become smaller with lockdowns and border restrictions, but the opposite is true for SMBs. Many businesses have grown successfully by expanding online, reaching new customers and extending into international markets. Now is the time to choose growth.
“A practical understanding on how to grow remains a key roadblock for business leaders, alongside time and resource constraints. I’m always asking the businesses I work with: What are you doing today to invest in the future of your business?
“I’m pleased to partner with Airwallex, an organisation whose passion for helping businesses grow is so inline with my own. I can’t wait to combine what I’ve learnt building my businesses with Airwallex’s practical expertise on how to scale internationally.”
Vijay Raghvani, Head of Customer Experience at Airwallex said, “This partnership is a first for Airwallex and we couldn’t be more delighted. As one of Australia’s leading business figures and with so much wisdom to share, Naomi’s reputation among the SMB community is unparalleled.
“Businesses today face a number of competing priorities: How do you balance meeting the needs of existing customers, reach new ones, maintain cash flow, excel as a leader and attract talent, all at once?
“To help businesses, we’re excited to combine our experience alleviating global roadblocks like opening accounts overseas, high FX fees on foreign transactions and employee expense management, with Naomi’s proven track record of building and scaling businesses. Together, we hope to foster the next generation of successful entrepreneurs.”
For further information, please contact:
Michelle Narayan, [email protected]
Airwallex is a global fintech payment platform with a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to grow without borders, and by doing so, contribute to the global economy. With technology at its core, Airwallex has built a global financial infrastructure and platform to help businesses to manage payments, treasury and expenses internationally, without the constraints of the traditional financial system.
Airwallex has secured nearly US$500 million since it was established in Melbourne in 2015, and is backed by world-leading investors. Today, the business operates with a team of over 800 employees across 12 global offices. For more information, please visit www.airwallex.com
Airwallex sees strong growth momentum in Singapore, reports 13x revenue growth YoY
Following a strong year of growth, leading global fintech platform Airwallex today announced business highlights in Singapore
Airwallex launches Australian-first ‘Yield’ high returns account
Airwallex ‘Yield’ offers market-leading returns more than double that of the big banks
Demand for embedded finance soars among SMBs as traditional banks fall short
Global report uncovers the financial services pain points faced by SMBs which can limit their ability to operate and grow globally


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Cocoavia Health Facts : Fortified chocolate good for heart, but there's a catch
Chocolate is typically not part of a heart-healthy diet. But what if chocolate delivered substances that are good for the heart? Mars, the maker of M&M's and other sweet treats, is rolling out CocoaVia, a line of chocolates laced with plant sterols and flavanols for what Mars calls "real chocolate pleasure, real heart health benefits." But there's a big catch, reports the Harvard Heart Letter.
Eating plant sterols can lower cholesterol, and flavanols may keep healthy arteries flexible. But you must eat two portions of CocoaVia every day to get the amounts necessary to do this. That means a daily dose of sterols and flavanols comes with an extra 200 calories and 36% of the daily recommended limit for saturated fat. If you don't cut back 200 calories somewhere else — or walk an extra 45 minutes — that would translate into a 20- pound weight gain over the course of a year. That's more than enough to counteract any benefits from sterols and flavanols.


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Loob Holding, parent of Malaysian bubble-tea chain Tealive, is preparing an IPO in Malaysia with a view to raising MYR300 million (US$72 million).
The firm, which operates more than 200 food-and-beverage outlets in the territory, has reportedly hired advisors to facilitate the process and is seeking a valuation of up to MYR1 billion.
“We have engaged corporate advisers for this exercise,” said Loo’s CEO Bryan Loo. “We cannot confirm the valuation sought nor the IPO portion, pending final recommendations from our advisers.”
New listings have been slow off the mark this year, with only $9.4 million in first-time sales so far compared to $47.8 million during the same period last year. Several retail businesses are expected to list shortly, including Malaysia KFC operator QSR Brands and home improvement chain Mr DIY.


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Drug Impact in Oakland
“Everyday 4,000 12-17 year olds use drugs for the first time”(Monitoring the Future 2012). The amount of teens using and selling drugs is alarming and all are using illegally because they are curious and want to be like everyone else, who is using. The drug problem in California is complex and many people know and believe that drugs are not good, but if so many people are using possibly the problems and abuse would go down if they were legalized. Therefore, drugs in California should be legalized in order to stop cartels and black market drug dealing and stop teens from selling drugs.
The use of drugs is increasing therefore, drugs should be legalized specifically to stop cartels and the illegal use of drugs. In an interview with an Oakland resident she was asked, what do you think should be done about drugs? She answered, “ I think drugs should be legalized because that’s the reason cartels exist and people are being killed. Everyone is trying to make money out of it not caring who they harm” (Personal Interview). Four words that are really important in this quote are legalized, cartels, money and killed because they are giving us a very clear reason on why drugs should be legalized. These words are telling us that once drugs are legal people won’t have to buy them illegally and cartels will stop hiding while selling them and they will stop killing. People will still be fighting and trying to kill each other because all they care about is money, but legalizing will reduce the number of people being killed. Additionally, in an article written by City Journal they wrote, “ The philosophic argument is that, in a free society, adults should be permitted to do whatever they please, always provided that they are prepared to take the consequences of their own choices and that they cause no direct harm to others” (City Journal). This quote is saying that if people use drugs it’s their life they are putting in danger. They are the ones that are deciding to use them and they know why. Legalizing drugs will allow people to use them in a calm way. They are able to do with their body whatever they want to. In conclusion, drugs should be legalized because by legalizing them people will be able to use them for what they want to use them. Legalizing them might stop some cartels and killing. People are killing each other because drugs are illegal and they are scared that people will say who is selling them to them.
Secondly, teens will sell less if it is legalized and monitored. In the article, “ 3 Kinds of Teen Drug Dealers, Study Says” the author Jimmy Hoover explains, “ The researchers panned through a pool of 12 to 17 year- olds from across the country to find 3,080 adolescents who reported to have sold drugs in the last 12 months” (Hoover). This quote is showing how if drugs were legalized teens will stop selling them and they won’t have to sell them and putting their life in danger. By having the drugs legal they will be able to buy them at the store just like they are able to buy alcohol. This number is very high and the people who are selling them are very young too. Moreover, in an article published by The Washington Post, they wrote, “The latest data from the U.S. Border Patrol shows that last year, marijuana seizures along the southwest border tumbled to their lowest level in at least a decade. Agents snagged roughly 1.5 million pounds of marijuana at the border, down from a peak of nearly 4 million pounds in 2009” (The Washington Post). This is an example that by legalizing marijuana the amount of drugs that are being crossed by the border has slowly been diminishing. If the other illegal drugs were to be legalized the number might also shrink and be less every time. It might be that right now people only use them because they are illegal but if at some point they were legal the number will also drop tremendously. People will also stop selling them because they will be worth less. In the article they also talk about how the price of marijuana shrunk since it was legalized. Others might say that if drugs were to be legalized they will only make things worse. In an interview to an Oakland resident she was asked “what do you think should be done about drugs?” she answered, “I think that drugs should not be legalized. They should make a more strict law against them” (Personal Interview). This quote is showing how not everyone is in favor of legalizing them. They think that if they were to be legalized they will just make things worse. Some people think that if drugs are legalized there will be more people in the streets and less people working hard. This is showing how people have completely different opinions about drugs. In conclusion drugs should be legalized because people will stop selling them illegally. Since marijuana was legalized the number of pounds that crossed the border has decreased and that might happen for all of the other drugs.
In conclusion, drugs should be legalized because the number of people using/ selling them will stop growing. Once they are legal people will be able to buy them at any store and they won’t have to pay a huge amount for them. The cartels and everyone killing people will stop because they won’t be selling and buying them illegally. Cartels might also stop because there will be no point in selling them in a illegal way because they will be able to buy them at a store like alcohol.
Photo by Jonathan Silverberg
Photo by Jonathan Silverberg
Photo by Jonathan SilverbergTags: Life Academy of Health and Bioscience
The Impacts of Drugs by Maria is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


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PHOTOS of Samsung’s next smartphone have reportedly leaked online weeks before the mobile’s official release.
Posted to Twitter on Monday, the pictures purport to show the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, a beefy handset rumoured to hit shelves in August.
South Korean firm Samsung hasn’t even acknowledged the Note 20 exists yet, but is expected to unveil it during a live-streamed event next month.
Now leaked images of the device have made it to social media via US YouTuber Jimmy Is Promo.
It follows a hilarious blunder last week in which Samsung appeared to accidentally post a picture of the Note 20 to its official Russian website.
“Small Bezel,” Jimmy Is Promo wrote in his tweet. He followed it up with the hashtags “Note 20” and “Galaxy Note 2 Ultra”.
It’s not clear where Jimmy got the photo, but the phone in the image lines up with previous leaks and rumours about the Note 20.
The images show a large phone with squared-off edges and a shiny, black finish.
Like all of Samsung’s Note series phones, the gadget has a stylus that users can wield to tap the screen in place of their finger.
A triple camera array pictured on the back resembles the three snappers on the rear of last year’s Galaxy Note 10.
That nodule featured wide-angle and telephoto zoom lenses on top of the main camera – though Samsung may shake this array up for the Note 20.
On the front, the mobile appears to boast Samsung’s edge-to-edge “Infinity-O” display with a single, “pin-hole” selfie snapper in the middle.
Samsung has yet to acknowledge the new image. The firm typically doesn’t comment on leaks and rumours.
Samsung is rumoured to be working on as many as three versions of the Galaxy Note 20.
They include an entry-level model, a larger Note 20+ and a souped-up Note 20 Ultra – the device the leaked photos are thought to show.
Rumours suggest the Note 20 Ultra will come with a 108-megapixel camera and cost somewhere in the region of £999 / $1099.
Of course, there’s no way to confirm that the images actually shows the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, so take them with a pinch of salt for now.
It’s possible the picture shows a concept mobile, rather than anything Samsung is directly working on.
We’ll likely know more about the Note 20 when Samsung officially unveils it. The firm is expected to do so during an event in early August.
In other news, a social distancing gadget that beeps whenever you’re not keeping two metres from someone could help people return to work.
A huge Google Chrome update reveals if your passwords have been hacked.
And, the iPhone 12 could be the thinnest ever thanks to new screen technology.
What’s your favourite phone brand? Let us know in the comments…


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.tv Unveils Personal Webcasting Solution
After toiling as an Internet domain registrant for companies looking to get the .tv extension, the .tv Corporation (www.tv) announced it would start offering a personal webcasting solution at "my.tv." The service is powered by POPcast Communications (
www.popcast.com), one of the early do-it-yourself streaming providers.
The my.tv package includes a .tv address, an Intel webcam, a two-page Web site and video software and services by POPcast Communications. The service also includes a chat function using an instant messaging feature.
"The .tv Corporation is continuously searching for applications and new products that enable our customers to build rich media websites," said Lou Kerner, chief executive officer of The .tv Corporation. "The synergies between a .tv Web address and this powerful new video broadcasting software make my.tv a home-run."
The service lists for $99 and will launch in June 2001.
.tv has reported big demand among broadcasters for its ".tv" domain extension. Companies like Ziff-Davis (www.zcast.tv) , The Academy of Television Arts & Science (www.emmys.tv), Los Angeles' NBC affiliate (www.nbc4.tv) and others have started adopting the .tv name.
TV is the top-level domain assigned to the country of Tuvalu, a small Pacific Island nation, which will get a minimum of $4 million per year over the next 10 years from the .tv Corporation.


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Ticketmaster chat feature leads to Credit-Card Breach
The ticket-selling giant said that on Saturday it found malware within a customer chat function for its websites, hosted by Inbenta Technologies. Worryingly, the malicious code was found to be accessing an array of information, including name, address, email address, telephone number, payment details and Ticketmaster login details.
The malware managed to stay under the radar for months as well, Ticketmaster said. The breach affects those who purchased, or attempted to purchase, event tickets between September 2017 and June 23 of this year. About 5 percent of its customer base is affected, the company noted, which according to the BBC’s calculations works out to 40,000 or so victims.
Ticketmaster has since disabled the feature, which was running on Ticketmaster International, Ticketmaster UK, GETMEIN! and TicketWeb websites. It also said in a website notice that “forensic teams and security experts are working around the clock to understand how the data was compromised,” and said that it has notified the affected customers.
Top 5 Security links
Top 10 most abused top level domains
Google to Fix Location data leak in Google Home, Chromecast
Marketing firm Exactis leaked a personal info database with 340 million records
Botnets evolving to mobile devices
ANNOUNCING : STARTTLS everywhere: Securing hop-to-hop email delivery


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CA senators want to bar law enforcement from helping; others would go further.
The chain of argumentation is compelling – but unrealistic?
I have more concerns regarding the water consumption generally 1.7 million gallons of water per day to cool down NSA supercomputers is a big deal – especially when you think about the value of water and the fact that water becomes a more and more valuable ressource that is not affordable to everyone. Is this environment sustainable?
See on arstechnica.com


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Next year's Tales of Festival has just been confirmed!
Just announced over at the Tales Room 2018 web broadcast, Tales of Crestoria will be getting an English release!
Check out this new Japanese trailer of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition featuring the game's system, as well as new screenshots featuring costumes, attachments and more!
There will be a special broadcast on December 8, 2018 entitled "Tales of Room 2018" to commemorate the Tales of Series 23rd Anniversary.
New Japanese screenshots and a TV commercial of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition are now available, featuring the game's battle system and the Japanese opening theme "Kane wo Narashite" (Ring a Bell).
A new Japanese story trailer and new screenshots have been released for Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition!
Just announced today, North America and Europe will be releasing a figure of Tales of Vesperia's Repede, exclusive to the Bandai Namco Store!
We discuss ideal Tales teams, dream cross-overs and favorite Mystic Artes and character designers in the October 2018 issue of AC Weigh-In!
The Tales of Crestoria official website has been updated with shots of the first three characters' 3D models, and we also round up the ages of the characters revealed the past few days on Twitter.
In this week's AC Radio, we discuss the Tales of Crestoria Tokyo Game Show 2018 details on the characters and battle system sneak peek!
The second Tales of Tour will be at Ishigakijima!
Good Smile Company will be releasing a Nendoroid of Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia!
Revealed at Tales of Crestoria's dedicated stage at Tokyo Game Show 2018 were a new trailer, details on the previously shown characters and a sneak peek at the gameplay!
This week's issue of Famitsu magazine gives us new details on two Tales of Crestoria characters: Misera and Vicious.
Featured at the Tales of Vesperia 10th Anniversary Party are colored prototypes of the upcoming Tales of Vesperia True Knight Yuri and Repede figures set by Alter.


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Proponents of unregulated free market capitalism argue that a company’s success is determined by its appeal, or lack thereof, to consumers in the marketplace. Thanks to a new app, it looks like consumers will now more effectively be able to decide whether or not they want to support a given company by purchasing its goods.
Designed to make business more visible, the bizVizz app is “the first mobile iPhone app to make corporate behavior transparent,” its press release reads. “Snap a picture of a brand’s logo and a simple graphic screen instantly displays essential facts about America’s largest corporations.”
“Essential facts” include the amount of taxes paid, political contributions made and government subsidies received.
Based on the brand’s photo, the app is able to access the company’s corporate information. “BizVizz currently has 300 companies and over 900 brands with plans to expand,” reads the press release.
“This is public information,” says Brad Lichtenstein, filmmaker and president of 371 Productions and the app’s creator. “We’re just making it visible.”
A media company that produces public activism campaigns and documentaries about social issues, 371 Productions has partnered with a handful of organizations, including Tax Justice Network, Faculty Creative and the Sunlight Foundation, as well as U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the AFL-CIO, to create and distribute the bizVizz app. Some funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Lichtenstein says he developed the idea for the app when he was making his most recent film, As Goes Janesville, about the experiences of laid-off General Motors (GM) workers in Wisconsin.
“I watched the democratic process being subverted,” notes Litchenstein, “and felt that we should do something on a grander scale to make corporate behavior more transparent, especially when we’re all called on to do our part during these tough economic times.”
Will the bizVizz app be successful? As Adam Smith, the godfather of free market capitalism, suggested, that will be decided in the marketplace.•
For more information, visit bizVizz at bizvizz.com.


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DigiTimes Research claims sales of laptops are expected to hit 41.65 million units this quarter, a 6.4 percent sequential gain after eight consecutive quarters of volume declines. The agency foresees strong demand from the year-end holidays and expects HP will remain the largest notebook maker this quarter:
Hewlett-Packard (HP) will remain the largest notebook vendor in the fourth quarter, while its shipment gap with Lenovo will continue to widen as the China-based vendor is seriously impacted by high channel inventory and business reorganization, according to Digitimes Research's latest notebook report.
Dell has shifted some of its resources to push the consumer notebook sector for the fourth quarter. This will allow the company to achieve growth in the quarter despite the enterprise sector's weakening demand. Apple's new notebook products have seen some negative feedback in design and price, but their major hardware upgrades and new Touch Bar design are still expected to attract many users to replace their old Apple systems. With the shipment growth, Apple is expected to return as the fourth largest vendor worldwide in the fourth quarter.
The combined shipments from HP, Dell and Apple are expected to account for over half of global laptop shipments. Full details at DigiTimes.


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Let’s face it, and Intel didn’t have an excellent year in sales as 2020. But the company tried its best to make its products more functional but still faced several delays in production due to several issues.
The company has dominated every processor market for over a decade, except for the mobile chipset segment. But the year 2020, brought a lot of changes along with it. Not only is Intel’s long-time rival AMD squeezing in Intel’s dominant sectors and establishing its place, but Apple has also entered the desktop and Notebook processor market and has managed to impress everyone.
The Cupertino giant was initially a key client of Intel but moved away from Intel to in-house silicon. Even, the world’s biggest software giant, Microsoft is planning to leave intel and develop its ARM series processors. But is still adapting Intel though for the time being.
With Pat Gelsinger to helm Intel’s office from next month, we may soon see some changes in how the company operates. The future CEO is unhappy with how the company has fallen behind Apple in CPU technology, considering that the Cupertino Giant is relatively new in the field.
“We have to deliver better products to the PC ecosystem than any possible thing that a lifestyle company in Cupertino makes…We have to be that good, in the future.”
Instead of focusing on Apple, the blue team needs to catch up to the sophisticated technology of TSMC as its main rivals Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm, among others, use to fabricate their chips.


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Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Atmos Energy has been warning its customers all fall of an impending increase in the price of natural gas. On Tuesday, the company reversed its gloomy forecast and announced it has filed with the Colorado Public Utilities commission for a 1 percent decrease in the rate it will charge customers in Northwest Colorado this winter.
A company spokeswoman said Atmos' ability to gradually purchase 50 percent of its winter supply over the summer at rates lower than anticipated contributed to its ability to avoid a price increase.
"This put us in a very good position to reduce rates," said Atmos public affairs manager Karen Wilkes. "I'm sure some of this comes as a surprise."
Wilkes appeared before the Steamboat Springs City Council one month ago to prepare local officials for a potential rate increase in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent on top of the 48-percent rate increase the company was granted last spring. Wilkes pointed out that Atmos does not profit from the rate it charges for natural gas -- instead, it passes the price it pays to consumers without a mark up.
Another significant factor in the rate reduction is the fact that Atmos found it had overcharged its customers during the course of the summer. This winter's rates will effectively rebate that overcharge, said Joe Christian, Atmos vice president of rates and regulations for the Colorado/Kansas region.
The cost of gas, including additional charges for delivering it to Steamboat Springs using other companies' pipelines, accounts for about 75 percent of consumers' gas bills in Northwest Colorado.
The gas price adjustment, if approved by the PUC, would decrease the current residential gas rate from 72 cents per 100 cubic feet to 71 cents. The price charged to commercial customers would go down from 70 cents to 69 cents.
Despite the fact that the price of natural gas is poised to go down Nov. 1, residential customers will pay considerably more for natural gas to heat their homes and their laundries during the coldest months of this winter than they did last winter.
In Northwest Colorado, the average residential customer uses 910 cubic feet of gas per year. In 2002-2003 that amount of gas would have cost the consumer $551. This year, it is expected to cost the consumer $756. January is the coldest month, with the average monthly residential consumption jumping to 160 cubic feet. Last winter, 160 cubic feet of gas cost $87. This year, it will jump to $123.
Wilkes said there remains a chance that volatile natural gas prices will spike again before the end of winter.
"We remain concerned for our customers," she said.
-- To reach Tom Ross call 871-4205
or e-mail email@example.com


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Within the framework of "Germany at its best: Nordrhein-Westfalen", NRW.INVEST presented the digital location NRW in Seoul.
Around 160 representatives of German and Korean companies and multipliers took part in the investment seminar of NRW.INVEST and Aachener Gesellschaft für Innovation und Technologietransfer mbH (AGIT) to inform themselves about the development potential for Korean companies in the digital economy in NRW. Experts discussed digitization concepts and presented successful cooperations between the two countries in the field of technology and digitization.
The Korean event partner was the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH). In 2015, KITECH opened an office in Aachen to promote technical cooperation between Korea and Germany and the EU. The office also supports Korean companies entering the German market.
The event took place as part of the trip to Korea by the Mayor of Aachen, Marcel Philipp, and the platform Business Network Aachen. The reason for the visit was the opening ceremony of the Smart Textronics Center in Ansan City. The research center is the result of a cooperation between KITECH, Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea and the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University. The delegation also used the visit to intensify relations between the sister cities of Aachen and Ansan.


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Super-Pharm, the renowned Israeli pharmacy and beauty retailer, has recently launched grove, a new vegan skincare brand in Sweden. With the increasing demand for organic and sustainable products, grove is set to make a significant impact in the Swedish skincare market.
The trend towards vegan skincare has been steadily growing in recent years, with consumers becoming more conscious about the products they use on their skin. Vegan skincare products are free from animal-derived ingredients, making them suitable for those who follow a vegan lifestyle or have ethical concerns about animal testing and cruelty. Additionally, the focus on natural and plant-based ingredients in vegan skincare products is seen as beneficial for the environment and overall well-being.
The launch of grove in Sweden is a testament to the increasing popularity of vegan skincare in the country. Super-Pharm’s decision to introduce a vegan skincare brand reflects the changing consumer preferences and the growing demand for ethical and sustainable beauty products. As more people become aware of the impact of their purchasing choices on the environment, the demand for vegan skincare options is only expected to increase.
Grove’s range of vegan skincare products is designed to cater to a wide range of skin types and concerns. From cleansers and moisturizers to serums and masks, the brand offers a comprehensive selection of products that are formulated using natural and organic ingredients. What sets grove apart from other skincare brands is its commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. The brand’s packaging is made from recyclable materials, and the products are free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.
In addition to being vegan and cruelty-free, grove’s products are also designed to be effective in addressing various skincare issues. The brand’s use of natural ingredients such as aloe vera, avocado oil, and hyaluronic acid ensures that the products are not only gentle on the skin but also deliver results. With an emphasis on clean and transparent labeling, grove aims to provide consumers with skincare products that they can trust and feel good about using.
The launch of grove in Sweden comes at a time when the country’s beauty industry is undergoing a transformation towards more sustainable and ethical practices. Consumers are increasingly seeking out products that are not only good for their skin but also good for the planet. The rise of vegan and natural skincare brands is a testament to this shift in consumer preferences, and grove is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend.
As the interest in vegan skincare continues to grow, grove’s launch in Sweden is likely to be met with enthusiasm from consumers who are looking for ethical and sustainable beauty options. With its range of vegan skincare products and commitment to transparency and sustainability, grove is poised to make a significant impact in the Swedish skincare market.
In conclusion, the launch of grove is a testament to the growing popularity of vegan skincare and the increasing demand for ethical and sustainable beauty products. As consumers become more conscious about the impact of their purchasing choices on the environment, the demand for vegan skincare options is expected to continue to rise. With its range of vegan skincare products and commitment to sustainability, grove is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend and make a meaningful impact in the Swedish skincare market.


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Kiwi department store Farmers has been faced with increasing strike action from unhappy employees. Workers have been speaking out against the company’s payment methods and are calling for the implementation of a living wage for all employees.
The strikes began with workers wearing stickers reading “F For Farmers, Farmers Workers Deserve a Living Wage.” However, the action has intensified to include walk-offs and picket lines. Employees have also taken up a Work-To-Rule method of protesting, with no overtime and following procedures to a fault to reduce workplace effectiveness.
Farmers currently give out promotions and pay rises on a performance basis. However, First Union has spoken out against the fairness of their system.
“We have had union members who have won sales awards, employee of the month awards and every possible accolade only to be graded down to a ‘C’ rating. This year 70 per cent of workers were graded a ‘C’,” said the organisation’s divisional secretary Tali Williams. “First Union members are understandably offended by it.”
Michael Power, the chief financial officer of Farmers, spoke previously with Apparel Magazine about the company’s disappointment in the actions taken against them.
“We are very disappointed that First Union is taking this action, particularly as we are currently arranging mediation, to which the Union has agreed, to assist us in breaking the current impasse,” he said.
Picket lines are expected to start appearing outside Farmers stores across the country.


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Please enter a search term to begin your search.
Nursing Students Holding Food Drive
November 2, 2009
The Finlandia University Student Nurses Association is conducting a food drive through November 23, 2009, to support local food banks.
The local food drive is part of a statewide initiative organized through the Michigan Student Nurses Association.
Donation boxes are located at Shop-Ko and Maurice's in Houghton (Maurice's is offering 20% off a purchase with a donation), Superior National Bank and Finlandia Hall, the university's residence hall, in Hancock, Louie's Super Foods in Calumet, and Louie's Super Foods and Quality Hardware in Lake Linden (Quality Hardware is offering 5% off purchase with a donation).
For additional information, please contact Meta Bray, assistant professor of nursing, at 906-487-7357.


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U.S., Mexican and Canadian agricultural officials have wrapped up a series of meetings concerning trade relationships.
The negotiations also included an agreement to establish consistent trade relationships for breeding cattle between the three nations.
Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples says the agreement will be worth millions of dollars to U.S. cattlemen.
On March this year, Staples issued an order banning the movement of Canadian cattle through Texas Department of Agriculture export facilities along the Mexican border.
His action came after Mexico signed an agreement with Canada that allowed for a more lucrative trade of Canadian cattle than what had been allowed with U.S. cattle producers. Officials in New Mexico, Arizona and California soon joined Staples in the effort.
U.S., Canadian, and Mexican agencies implemented the new protocols for the trade of breeding cattle last week.
The U.S. says harmonisation of the standards in North America reaffirms the U.S. position that cattle can be traded safely when countries follow the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) standards for effectively managing the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
This new agreement ensures that trade protocols for Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are consistent between the countries and with OIE. In May 2007, the OIE formally classified the U.S. as a controlled risk country for BSE.
This status confirmed that US BSE regulatory controls are effective and that U.S. beef and beef products of all ages can be safely traded.
OIE recommendations, which are based on the latest science, provide guidelines for trade in cattle of any age, as well as beef and many other cattle products.


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Please note that this post is tagged as a rumor.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER to be the first GeForce with 1TB/s memory bandwidth?
Just a day after Greymon55 broke the news about the upcoming RTX 3090 SUPER SKU, another respected leaker kopite7kimi shares more details on the supposed flagship SKU.
RTX 3090 SUPER: ~450W of power?
It seems that GeForce RTX 3090 SUPER power consumption is growing by the day. According to Greymon55, the TDP of RTX 3090 SUPER is expected at higher than 400W. Kopite appears to agree with this rumor, but he further adds that this SKU’s TGP is equal to or higher than 450W, a 100W more than RTX 3090. Do note this might simply be a typo and he actually means under 450W.
This amount of power will likely force AIBs to use three 8-pin power connectors by default (allowing 450+75W of power). Alternatively, a single Molex 12-pin power connector should be sufficient as it provides a maximum of 648W of power.
RTX 3090 Super
10752FP32, no NVLINK
Original 21Gbps MEM
Launch in 2021.
— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) August 26, 2021
RTX 3090 SUPER: 1 TB/s memory bandwidth?
Furthermore, it is said that the RTX 3090 SUPER would be the first NVIDIA RTX 30 graphics card to feature 21 Gbps memory. Last year before NVIDIA even confirmed that RTX 30 series are coming, a memory manufacturer Micron confirmed that the then-upcoming RTX 3090 would offer memory speed between 19 to 21 Gbps. The graphics card eventually launched with 19.5 Gbps memory, leaving the remaining 1.5 Gbps as headroom for NVIDIA’s power optimizations. Increased power may mainly come from the faster memory clock.
There is no NVLink on RTX 3090 SUPER?
The RTX 3090 SUPER, considered to be the new flagship model, will no longer feature an NVLINK connector according to Kopite7kimi. This multi-GPU interface is now exclusive to the RTX 3090 non-SUPER and judging from Kopite’s statement, will likely remain so. Even the RTX 3080 Ti which launched 2 months ago lacks NVLink. The lack of NVLink on an RTX 3090 SUPER model might suggest that NVIDIA is abandoning this feature for the GeForce brand.
As noted by both leakers, the desktop GeForce RTX 30 SUPER series might launch in 2021. NVIDIA is also planning a mobile refresh featuring GA103 GPU, which Kopite7kimi had previously suggested. It is unclear if NVIDIA is also wishing to upgrade its existing RTX 3080 and 3070 models to SUPER variants, both have just recently been upgraded with Ti-specs offering higher performance.
|High-end GeForce RTX 30 Graphics Cards|
|VideoCardz.||RTX 3090 SUPER||RTX 3090||RTX 3080 Ti|
|Launch Date||Q4 2021 (?)||September 2020||June 2021|


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“Obviously we had a lot of population movement north following the earthquakes and we are following in order to reach out to our customer base up there,” says Bivouac Outdoor managing director Wayne Martin.
The new store will have 1200 square metres of premium outdoor products, including leading apparel brands like Icebreaker, The North Face, Arcteryx and Outdoor Research.
Bivouac Outdoor was founded in Auckland in 1988. It now has 12 stores nationwide, which are evenly spread across the North Island and South Island. It employs around 130 retail staff and reported same-store sales growth of over 17 percent in the last financial year.


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With physical retail shops closing their doors indefinitely across the UK, the climate for eCommerce is changing rapidly – especially with millions of people isolating inside their homes all day. While for some, it’s business as usual, for others, COVID-19 has left us with an unexpected amount of free time – and unlimited access to the internet. So, when it comes to the world of eCommerce, what has Coronavirus changed?
Online shopping is increasing
As you might expect, when we can no longer pop to the shops for our goods, online shopping has increased since the start of self-isolation – though not to the degree you might expect. While Italy, China and even India has seen considerable upticks in online shopping, as much as 50%, UK online store usage has risen by 18%. This may not sound like much, but for eCommerce business, this almost 20% increase represents thousands and new customers. Not to mention brand-new opportunities.
Of course, online shopping means anything. It could be ordering your food shopping from Amazon Pantry, for example; or bulk-buying loo roll wherever you can get it. So in reality, these statistics might be more skewed to customer purchasing the basics instead of clothing, shoes or non-essential goods. However, this increase in online shopping isn’t all accounted for by hand sanitiser and face mask purposes; which suggest that eCommerce may be on the rise – if only slightly.
Online store statistics might be skewed
One previously unthought-of effect of the current global climate is how new shopping habits are affecting statistics behind the scenes. Research has suggested that while visitors to platforms are massively increasing; the various statistics that eCommerce businesses have access to are becoming more skewed and less reliable. Reports have suggested very high cart abandonment levels, even for companies whose percentages were previously low. Similarly, click-through versus conversions will also be a stark difference in comparison to previous months.
With more time on their hands due to coronavirus to browse, and in many families less money to buy, window shopping was already a national pastime of many. But in these troubling times, that number is likely to shoot up, with plenty of visitors filling up virtual carts without ever completing checkout.
What can businesses do?
For companies that have had to shutter real-world shops, eCommerce is the single window they have to achieve sales targets and reach their customers. As such, it’s essential to continue to emphasise digital marketing, branding and getting your business seen by the right people. It’s also important to set the right tone; providing a service for customers without appearing overly-pushy in what can be a stressful time for many.
There has been an increase in people shopping online due to the coronavirus. So whether your product is a buy-now essential or a long-term consideration, getting yourself in front of those customers can pay off for your business beyond the current measures in place. With a professional digital marketing agency like CDA, weathering the COVID-19 storm is in reach. Get in touch with our team to find out more about how we could help you.


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Briogeo has announced its nationwide, omni-channel launch at Ulta Beauty, beginning January 1, 2021.
Guests can find Briogeo's products online and in all Ulta Beauty stores on January 4, 2021.
Briogeo will be part of Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty, the retailer's initiative to help guests make more informed choices about products that align to their values. It joins the program as the first prestige hair brand certified under four pillars: clean ingredients, cruelty free, vegan and sustainable packaging.
Briogeo will also be used at the Salon at Ulta Beauty as part of its professional hair service appointments, beginning February, 2021.
Nancy Twine, founder and CEO, Briogeo, said, "From day one, I knew I wanted Briogeo to be about more than just me, I wanted the brand to be about everyone. I created it to be clean and natural, offering effective solutions for every hair type, texture, need, ethnicity, background, and person."
Monica Arnaudo, chief merchandising officer, Ulta Beauty said, "We are thrilled to welcome Briogeo to the Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty family. Now more than ever, beauty enthusiasts want simplified, clean, effective solutions personalized for their specific needs, Briogeo does that and more. We're excited to partner with Nancy and her passionate team to provide greater access to award-winning products for all."


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Those with an interest in muscle cars will no doubt be aware of the Hurst Corporation’s famous shifters; some might even recall classic drag machines like the famous Hemi under Glass Baracuda.
More recently, as far as Mopar maniacs are concerned, the company, now known as Hurst Performance, has been working it’s magic on late-model Challengers and Vipers. Now the company is taking (literally) bigger steps, building a limited edition hot hauler, based on the current Ram 1500 shortbox pickup.
Hurst says it will only build 50 of these trucks per year, but each will incorporate a number of unique features. Most obvious are Hurst graphics on the fenders and doors, special Hurst emblems on the grille and tailgate; while under the hood the Ram’s 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 gets an extra shot of oats via supercharging and a performance tuned exhaust with polished tips.
Inside will be special upholstery with red stitching; Hurst logos and of course, a Hurst ‘Pistol Grip’ style shifter for rowing the gears and smoking the tires; which likely shouldn’t be a problem, even with the Ram’s more than 5000 lb curb weight.
Hurst has yet to announce pricing, but expect the truck to sticker for between $50,000 and $100,000 when it does go on sale.


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The Western NSW Local Health District is waiting on a "much bigger supply" of face masks after mandating their use by everyone entering Dubbo Hospital, its fellow hospitals in Orange and Bathurst, and multi-purpose services across the region.
It will provide masks for staff and patients to help protect them from COVID-19, as well as visitors if they turn up without them.
"We do have masks available if ..people don't have access to one or haven't been able to get to a pharmacy or somewhere in time," Dubbo-based chief executive Scott McLachlan said.
But he would prefer if visitors got their own masks.
"We do have a supply at the moment to get us through this week and a much bigger supply coming in next week, so we're confident we can manage the mask numbers for our staff and our patients," Mr McLachlan said.
"We are asking visitors to bring their own masks if possible."
The health district has given single-use masks, commonly called surgical masks, and reusable cloth masks the thumbs up, provided they are worn correctly.
"Properly-constructed reusable cloth masks are made from at least three layers of materials, including a water-resistant outer layer," a spokesman said.
Makeshift masks and those with holes or valves get the thumbs downs.
"A scarf or bandana does not offer the same amount of protection as a well-fitted mask," the spokesman said.
Children under 12 years are not required to wear masks when visiting the health facilities.
"Toddlers under two years of age and babies must not wear masks, which are a choking and suffocation risk," the spokesman said.
He said it was important to handle masks safely.
"Wash your hands before application, once it's on don't touch it further and wash your hands again," the spokesman said.
"If you touch the mask wash your hands afterwards.
"Safely dispose of a single-use mask in the bin and have more than one reusable mask so that you have a fresh one with each use and wash them all at the end of the day."
The spokesman said a mask was "not a substitute for other precautions" including staying home when sick, practicing social distancing and washing hands.


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The city council’s affordable housing and neighborhood committee held a hearing yesterday on mayor Ed Murray and Tim Burgess’s proposal to regulate Airbnb and similar short-term online rentals where people rent out rooms for short-term stays. The proposal focuses on rentals in non-primary residences—rentals where the host lives somewhere else and rents out rooms at a secondary property. Airbnb says only 13 percent of their 2,900 Seattle hosts rent secondary property—or about 300 units.
Those hosts, who said the new regulations would put many short-term rental firms out of business, showed up in force yesterday, packing the room and testifying against the proposal on the grounds that it would decimate a vital source of income that’s helping them pay mortgages, send kids to school, and cover the bills. One West Seattle resident who rents out a secondary property next door to his house on the short-term market said “my job’s been phased out” and the rental “is the only way we can go forward.”
Murray’s and Burgess’s proposed regulation would cap the amount of time secondary residences could be rented out at 90 days. They say non-primary residence rentals are taking long-term rentals off the market and exacerbating the affordable housing crisis; they acknowledge that the number of units makes up a minuscule percentage of Seattle’s housing stock (300 out of more than 320,000), but argue that every unit helps. The short-term rental hosts argued, conversely, that their small business operations were creating jobs and bringing tourists and dollars to the city; Airbnb says they generated $180 million in economic activity for Seattle in 2015. Additionally, one opponent of the regulations named Andre Zita, who owns four off-site short-term rentals, testified that the city was operating under a false premise because Airbnb "inventory has never been a candidate for affordable housing in the first place." He concluded: "Even if we had to revert to long-term [rentals], it'd still be the high end of any kind of investment."
Murray policy staffer David Mendoza, who presented to the council committee after the public testimony, said that the 90-day limit was intended to incentivize people to shift from short-term rentals to long-term rentals. “Everyone would make more money with a long-term rental than renting under 90 days,” he said. Council member Lisa Herbold drew sustained applause, though, when she pointed out that not everyone wants to become a landlord, which is a much different responsibility than running an Airbnb. (And as some short-term rental businesses who testified yesterday pointed out, they can’t simply switch over because their business model is based on short-term visits for people who are getting cancer treatment in town, for example, or they're hosting the patient's families. Indeed, one person suggested that Ronald McDonald House would be impacted by the bill.)
The opponents of the proposal had a surprising alternate recommendation for the city: Make us pay more taxes. “I’m here to ask you something you probably don’t hear very often,” Courtney Kaylor, an attorney who represents Sea to Sky Rentals, told the council “Please tax us.”
Short-term rental operators are already supposed to pay taxes and get business licenses, but traditional hotels pay an extra seven percent convention center tax on top of the 9.6 percent sales tax that both hotels and Airbnb-style house sharing rental operators pay.
This suggestion certainly jibes with the mayor’s original housing affordability and livability agenda (HALA). Under the HALA report’s section on “New and Expanded Resources” for funding affordable housing, the report specifically identifies Airbnb.
Meanwhile, the HALA report is silent about converting Airbnbs to long-term rentals as a strategy, but rather, it explicitly recommends taxing Airbnb.
The city should, in conjunction with the county and state governments, explore regulating and collecting hotel taxes from short-term rentals such as Airbnb or VRBO. Under such an approach, short-term rentals would collect and remit taxes to the county that originate directly from guests as an extra charge on their bill, the same way that hotels collect them…The city should commit to dedicating these taxes to affordable housing.
Council member Rob Johnson picked up on the tax pitch. Johnson asked Mendoza why Airbnb wasn’t paying the seven percent convention center tax that traditional hotels pay? The answer: You have to have 60-plus rooms to be hit with the extra tax. Johnson posited that Airbnb’s platform was much like a hotel and would easily meet that 60-room hotel threshold. “It’s strange to me that we wouldn’t be collecting that [extra seven percent tax],” Johnson said. After the hearing, Johnson told me specifically he’d like to explore using that tax for affordable housing. “That’s the simplest answer,” he said.
Council member Mike O’Brien took it further and, citing the testimony from people who wanted to be taxed, asked if the city could also create a brand new tax to pay for affordable housing. Mendoza told O’Brien the city didn’t have that authority.
O’Brien drew cheers when he quipped back: “We can ask all these folks in the audience to come with us to Olympia.”


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Twitter for Mac Will be Way Better Than Just an iPad Port
A little over a year after discontinuing its Mac desktop app, Twitter says that it’s bringing the program back after Apple unveiled Project Catalyst for macOS 10.15 Catalina. It explained why it decided to drop the app last year.
Twitter made the announcement during Apple’s WWDC conference last week, saying that the app would launch with Catalina this fall, and that this new version will have a variety of features like dark mode, keyboard shortcuts, multiple windows, and notifications.
In February 2018, Twitter pulled the application from Apple’s App Store after a history of sporadic updates, and recommended that people simply use the web version. In its post yesterday, it also provides a bit more of an explanation for why the original Mac app was discontinued: while it originated with the iPhone app, the Mac app “diverged as Twitter increasingly focused on its mobile apps,” and the company simply couldn’t maintain the two.
Twitter says that with Project Catalyst, they’ll be able to use their existing iOS codebase and will add on features for desktops “while keeping our maintenance efficient as we continue to improve this shared codebase in the years to come.”
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When the Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei blackout in the tech industry, the company started to develop its own operating system and it is dubbed as the Harmony OS which is also known as HongMeng operating system. The official of the company also commented that the OS will not limit in the smartphone which means it can run different devices.
Well, now the first device which will be powered by the in-house operating system is now in the light. According to the insiders, the operating system will debut with the Honor Smart TV witch means the sub-brand of the company will launch the first device with the power of an in-house operating system.
The television will have a 55 inch display and it will work as a Huawei’s smart home system, the company has added the functionality to encourage people to watch contents on the big screen.
As of now, we don’t have any other information but we believe to hear more about the same in the coming days and we recommend you to stay tuned with the latest update.


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UK supermarket giants Sainsbury's, Asda agree merger
London (AFP) –
Britain's second and third biggest supermarket chains Sainsbury's and Walmart-owned rival Asda have agreed to merge, the pair said Monday, creating a retail king that would leapfrog current leader Tesco.
The blockbuster deal comes as the UK retail sector faces squeezed profit margins due to fierce competition from German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl -- as well as major online players like US titan Amazon.
"Sainsbury's and Walmart Inc. are pleased to announce that they have agreed terms in relation to a proposed combination of Sainsbury's and Asda Group Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart, to create an enlarged business," they said in a statement after confirming advanced talks over the weekend.
The transaction values Asda at £7.3 billion ($10 billion, 8.3 billion euros). Walmart will own 42 percent of the combined business and also receive £2.97 billion in cash.
However, it still remains subject to approval from Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator, amid concerns over the impact on consumer choice and jobs.
The combined business would have total revenues of £51 billion and boast a network of 2,800 Sainsbury's, Asda and Argos stores.
No store closures are planned and both brand names will continue to operate side by side.
"The retail sector is going through significant and rapid change, as customer shopping habits continue to evolve," Sainsbury's added.
"This has led to increased competition across grocery, general merchandise and clothing, as customers seek ever greater value, choice and convenience.
"Bringing Sainsbury's and Asda together will result in a more competitive and more resilient business that will be better able to invest in price, quality, range and the technology to create more flexible ways for customers to shop."
Sainsbury's previously bought catalogue retailer Argos in 2016 for £1.4 billion.
In Britain's fast-changing retail landscape, Tesco meanwhile purchased wholesaler Booker for £3.7 billion earlier this year.
© 2018 AFP


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Anthropics, the world leaders in virtual fashion try-on technology, has announced the launch of Zyler Virtual Try-On for Menswear today. Zyler enhances the way consumers shop for clothes, providing a realistic virtual try-on experience. Customer uploads a headshot, enters some measurements, and then sees themselves on the screen wearing the outfit. Zyler fashion retail partners have seen an increase in browsing time and higher engagement among other positive outcomes.
Powered by the latest research in Artificial Intelligence, Zyler creates a lifelike virtual representation of the user, allowing them to see how different garments fit and look on their unique body shape.
Commenting on the launch, Alexander Berend, CEO of Anthropics, expressed excitement about the potential impact of Zyler Virtual Try-On on the men’s fashion industry, stating, “We believe that Zyler will transform the way men shop for clothes online. By combining advanced artificial intelligence technology with a user-friendly interface, we aim to provide an unparalleled virtual try-on experience.”
This innovative solution not only sets retailers apart in a competitive market but is also a valuable tool for driving customer engagement, satisfaction and loyalty.
Expanding Zyler Virtual Try-On for menswear from an in-store installation, as, for example, currently used by Larusmiani – an iconic Italian bespoke menswear retailer – to an online offering is a natural move.
To learn more about Zyler Virtual Try-On, please visit: www.zyler.com.