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Agora Downtown Coffee Shop is aiming to open its second Fredericksburg location at 1517 Princess Anne St. on Dec. 1.
The new location, which is in the former home of Billingsley Printing, will be known as Canal Quarter Coffee. It will also be home to Canal Quarter Arts, which will open in November. Canal Quarter Arts will include a pottery studio run by Lawton Clites as well as other artist studios run by Jeannie Ellis, owner of Darbytown Art Studio at 241 Charles St.
“It’s going to be a combination art studio with a coffee shop inside,” said MJ Stone, who owns Agora with her sister Andi Stone Chitty. “It kind of encompasses how we view Agora as a community place where artists can share their art. This is going to be on the opposite side of downtown, but an expansion of what we have already.”
She said Clites will offer pottery classes.
Canal Quarter Coffee will offer the same menu as Agora, and there are plans to begin roasting coffee as well. The sisters also have a location inside Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center’s gift shop at 4600 Spotsylvania Parkway.


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Leading Cheshire uPVC installer Northwich Glass has developed a close, supportive relationship with its composite door supplier Vista – and now, the fast-growing door manufacturer is supporting Northwich as it exhibits at the prestigious Grand Designs Live show.
The 5-day event, to be held at the Birmingham NEC from the 19th to the 23rd of October, sees over 500 organisations showcase the latest and best home improvement products to an audience of thousands of industry specialists and end users. It will be presented by Kevin McCloud, host of the hit Channel 4 TV show that inspired the event.
In addition to sending a member of staff to support and help promote Northwich, Vista has also produced point of sales material especially for use at the event.
“This is a fantastic time for us to be stepping up and showcasing ourselves,” commented new Northwich managing director Mark Patrick. “We’re investing extensively in new resources, purchasing vehicles, constructing a new showroom, and training our staff, and we’re significantly expanding our product offering with the support of our long-term composite door supplier Vista. Northwich is a fantastic brand, a firm with 551 years of accumulated industry experience, and, under new ownership, we’re determined to make it the biggest and best business we can possibly be.”
“As we look to expand and improve our operations in the months and years ahead, we’re hugely grateful for the continued support we get from Vista. It goes without saying – the XtremeDoor is a fantastic product, leading in its class. But that’s just one aspect of the service you get when you deal with Vista. They offer first-class marketing material, extensive technical support, and so much else that goes on behind the scenes.”
Northwich Glass at Grand Designs Live
Vista MD Keith Sadler commented: “We’re delighted to be supporting Northwich as they showcase at Grand Designs Live. They’re a fantastic installer, committed to quality and exceptional customer service, and spend thousands of pounds with us every year. We wish them the very best of luck for the show, and look forward to continuing to work closely with them for a long time to come.”
Founded in 1995, Vista Panels has grown every year it’s been in business, steadily expanding to become one of the country’s biggest and most respected composite and uPVC door manufacturers. Continuing the unbroken year-on-year growth it has experienced since it was established, the fabricator saw a 50% increase in fire door sales, a 30% rise in coloured composite doors and an 11% rise in contemporary-style doors in 2015.
To learn more about Northwich Glass, please feel free to give us a call on 01606 810 000.

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Worldwide spending on technologies and services that enable digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products and organizations is forecast to reach more than $1.1 trillion in 2018, an increase of 16.8% over the $958 billion spent in 2017.
DX spending will be led by the discrete and process manufacturing industries, which will not only spend the most on DX solutions but also set the agenda for many DX priorities, programs and use cases.
Discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing are expected to spend more than $333 billion combined on DX solutions in 2018. This represents nearly 30% of all DX spending worldwide in 2018. From a technology perspective, the largest categories of spending will be applications, connectivity services and IT services as manufacturers build out their digital platforms to compete in the digital economy. The main objective and top spending priority of DX in both industries is smart manufacturing, which includes programs that focus on material optimization, smart asset management, and autonomic operations.
IDC expects the two industries to invest more than $115 billion in smart manufacturing initiatives this year. Both industries will also invest heavily in innovation acceleration ($33 billion) and digital supply chain optimization ($28 billion).
Driven in part by investments from the manufacturing industries, smart manufacturing ($161 billion) and digital supply chain optimization ($101 billion) are the DX strategic priorities that will see the most spending in 2018.
Other strategic priorities that will receive significant funding this year include digital grid, omni-experience engagement, omnichannel commerce, and innovation acceleration. The strategic priorities that are forecast to see the fastest spending growth over the 2016-2021 forecast period are omni-experience engagement (38.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)), financial and clinical risk management (31.8% CAGR), and smart construction (25.4% CAGR).
“Some of the strategic priority areas with lower levels of spending this year include building cognitive capabilities, data-driven services and benefits, operationalizing data and information, and digital trust and stewardship,” said Research Manager Craig Simpson, of IDC’s Customer Insights & Analysis Group.
The DX programs that will receive the most funding in 2018 are digital supply chain and logistics automation ($93 billion) and smart asset management ($91 billion), followed by predictive grid and manufacturing operations (each more than $40 billion). The programs that IDC expects will see the most spending growth over the five-year forecast are construction operations (38.4% CAGR), connected automated vehicles (37.6% CAGR), and clinical outcomes management (30.7% CAGR).
The use cases that will receive the most funding this year include freight management ($56 billion), robotic manufacturing ($43 billion), asset instrumentation ($43 billion), and autonomic operations ($35 billion). The use cases that will see the fastest spending growth over the forecast period include robotic construction (38.4% CAGR), autonomous vehicles – mining (37.6% CAGR), and robotic process automation-based claims processing (35.5% CAGR) within the insurance industry.


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The customs agency for Beijing released data on Monday that showed trade with the United States increasing by 133.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to reach $12.5 billion.
Total trade for the city with all partners was up by 8.8 percent from the pandemic year of 2020, and 1.9 percent higher than pre-pandemic totals in 2019.
China’s state-run Global Times cited the figures as evidence “Beijing’s international trade has become stable” after the pandemic.
Growth was especially strong in medical goods, agricultural products, imports of iron ore for China’s heavy industry, and even exported cell phones – a business widely expected to suffer overall due to U.S. bans on China’s telecom giant Huawei over security concerns. According to the Global Times, Beijing’s cell phone exports were up 92 percent over 2020.
Medical exports were 15.2 times higher than the previous year, driven by high worldwide demand for medical goods to combat the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
China’s trade growth began accelerating in the fall of 2020, including higher exports to the United States. China reported it had largely returned to pre-pandemic growth levels by the end of the second quarter of 2020, although retail sales were still seen as weak.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) observed on Sunday that China is increasingly aggressive about using its trade growth as a political weapon, arguing that as the first to recover from the pandemic, it has become an indispensable trade partner for every major economy.
This aggressiveness has produced a “backlash” from Chinese trade partners such as Australia, which killed two of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects even as economists warned the Australians could not afford to lose the investments they represented. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Paine invoked the authority given to her by Parliament to cancel the two BRI deals because they were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations.”
Reuters on Tuesday cited a U.N. analysis that said China’s share of global exports increased almost 15 percent over the past year, but may have peaked now that China’s domestic demands are growing, the cost of labor is rising, and other exporters are emerging from the pandemic.


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» Keputusan Siaran Langsung Piala Malaysia
Keputusan Siaran Langsung Piala Malaysia
Keputusan Siaran Langsung Piala Malaysia on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Thursday, April 17, 2014
This week, modifier application to be like a cartoon face or an application iMadeFace in the 4th position popular iPhone apps in iTunes. IPhone users is being fond iMadeFace. So what’s so special?
On the iTunes page, iMadeFace claimed as the number [...]
Raise money for children with cleft lip.
Today many people are using Google Maps to find directions to a mall, offices, and other locations in the city, a man wearing this app to walk 5.000 miles or 8046.7 kilometers.
Armed with the Google Maps application [...]
Smartphone Sony Yuga is estimated by some analysts will be the mainstay.
A number of people have stated that Sony was preparing his most recent flagship smartphone, which is rumored to be a major competitor iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S III.
According to [...]
Sophisticated glasses, Google Glass will use the “Bone Conduction” to create the sound of the speakers wore traditional.
The workings of this technology is to send sound vibrations to the inner ear through the bones of men.
Quoted from the [...]
Apple has recently released iOS 6 operating system update to the new version, the iOS 6.1.4.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Friday (3/5), strangely this update is only intended for those users of the iPhone 5.
It is something that is not unusual for Apple to [...]
Facing the war in the “second front”
The Israeli government on Sunday (11/18), admits millions have been subjected to attacks in cyberspace since the country launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Palestinian territory last [...]
PHENOMENON of Storms Sandy that hit the United States and around to make many people cringe and increasingly wary of the increasingly erratic weather. Natural conditions also makes a number of flooded social networking posts related to storm sandy.
Lenovo’s new hotshot in laptops for SMBs, M490s, offers several security features and maintenance through LSSB (Lenovo Solutions for Small Business).
Among them is a Software Monitor that works to improve security by ensuring the safety of the [...]
Google has finally released Google Now app for Apple devices, the iPhone and iPad.
Quoted from Techradar, Tuesday (30/4), as a whole, Google Now in the both iOS device that is very similar, and no different with the launch for Android.
For those who [...]
Who does not know the game Battlefield series. Games were popular through its multiplayer mode has a slick visual images and an interesting storyline.
According to an official invitation received by Gamespot, Electronic Arts and DICE plans to celebrate [...]
The hunt to find a twin of planet Earth never stop conducted by researchers planet (astronomers).
And now astronomers are working with NASA’s Kepler space telescope, discovered two Earth-like planets.
The two planets the distance of about 1,200 [...]


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Hyundai's new SUV invaded Madrid's famous Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Soccer players are no strangers to fancy cars. Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly bought the $9-million Bugatti Centodieci, and Manchester City star Benjamin Mendy was recently spotted cruising around Cannes in a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which is in danger of being crushed by police for being uninsured.
While sports stars are wealthy enough to afford some of the world's most expensive cars, sometimes they are also awarded free cars thanks to sponsorship deals. MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, for example, has been awarded multiple BMW M cars over the years. Now, soccer players for the Atletico Madrid team have been handed the keys to the all-new Hyundai Tucson.
Since Hyundai is the official sponsor of the team, every player of the male and female team will receive the new Tucson free of charge. At a special event, the SUV was handed over to players at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
In a new video posted by Hyundai, top players from both the men's and women's teams including Joao Felix, Yannick Carrasco Saul Niguez, Amanda Sampedro, Deyna Castellanos, and Toni Duggan take the all-new Tucson for a spin in Madrid, passing through iconic areas such as Plaza Castilla, Neptuno, Calle Alcala and Rio Manzanares before arriving at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium. To celebrate the launch of the all-new Tucson, the Hyundai logo was placed on the grass of the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Each player received the all-new Tucson Hybrid, which is powered by a 1.6-liter turbo engine and a 44.2-kW electric motor producing a combined 226 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. As a homage to the club's official team colors, each Tucson is finished in Engine Red.
As standard, the new Hyundai Tucson comes with Hyundai's SmartSense Safety suite of advanced driver assists including forward collision-avoidance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, high beam assist, lane-keeping assist, driver attention warning, and rear occupant alert. Hopefully, this safety technology will stop the Hyundai Tucson from suffering the same fate as the Mercedes G-Class wrecked by Arsenal's Joe Willock.


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Anuva Manufacturing Services has moved to Melbourne, FL, in a newly built 40,000 square foot facility. Anuva Manufacturing moved from Morrisville, NC, where it launched as part of the “Design to Distribution” family of businesses that started in 2008 with the launch of Anuva Services. The company hopes to expand staff and increase the home automation and electronics manufacturer’s output by 250% at the new location.
Anuva Manufacturing Services at Melbourne, FL.
“We have been steadily growing to 55 employees and we expect to keep growing,” said Vinu Patel, CEO of Anuva Manufacturing. Patel also noted that the impetus for the move into larger space is closely tied with Anuva’s recent acquisition of the TiO brand of building automation products. Through the TiO Android app, users can easily create unique environments in every room of their home that includes streaming music, lighting control, climate control, and control of other systems.
“After acquiring TiO in August, it became apparent to Anuva that the manufacturing capacity needed to increase to support the demand,” said Mike Anderson, President of Anuva Automation, the company responsible for TiO. “The fact that we’re in Florida’s central tech corridor is ideal. By being here, we’re positioned to take advantage of the technology-oriented brain trust amassed in this area.”
Although some staff are already working within the new building, the official grand opening is scheduled for February 1, 2015. “We’re excited that TiO will be manufactured in the U.S. This will help us provide high-quality products and deliver quick turnaround,” Anderson said.


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Karimzadeh to take part in the technical session on CNP Fraud, False Declines & ATOs
New York, August 15, 2022 – Vality Corporation, the unique software provider of authentication and verification technology for securing payments, announced today that the company co-founder, President and COO Mansour Aaron Karimzadeh will take part in a panel at the upcoming MPC Mobile Conference on August 22 at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North. MPC is known as the premier industry conference on mobile payments covering new mobile technologies, fraud issues, security systems etc.
Mansour A. Karimzadeh will be part of the panel discussing fraudulent payment transactions, their effects on users and what technologies are available to stop fraudulent activities.
“Payment industry is facing two immediate problems, uncontrolled increase in fraud, and the looming threat of Quantum Computing attacks,” said Karimzadeh. “With the use of the newly patented technology, Vality Corporation can provide solutions that mitigate both of these threats.”
The technology is based on quantum randomness that cannot be reverse engineered or broken by brute force. The implementation of the Vality Keyless Authentication software product offers a dynamic platform that can continuously change the credentials and keep the system one step ahead of hackers. Plus, Vality can reduce false declines, enjoying retention of valuable cutomers.
Vality Corporation was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in New York (www.valitycorp.com). Vality is the unique software provider of device identity and user authentication software based on new technologies patented by Dr. Gideon Samid.
Vality Keyless Authentication product is designed for use by ecommerce merchants and card issuers and processors; to detect and block fraudulent payment transactions before they are approved.
The Vality software does not use digital keys or encryption by using quantum randomness which makes the software quantum computing safe.


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Use Claim in a sentence. How to use the word Claim in a sentence? Sentence examples with the word Claim. Sentence for Claim.
Examples of Claim in a sentence
- This claim would become standard in anarchist works.
- Environmentalists claim there is no reason to cull seals.
- Rodgers can also claim four victories in the New York Marathon.
- I claim there aren’t Another Saint As great as Valentine.
- Now US researchers claim to have shown in a study that carbohydrates are even worse.
- RZA had corroborated Bank’s claim that the actor ‘spat’ at her that night.
- A customs officer at the airport, she helped them claim back their VAT (sales tax) before leaving the country.
- The 34-year-old seemed to have particularly targeted the claim that she has a trainer, explaining that she bares her workouts in social media.
- After the death of the singer, Austin took over Garden Lodge and reportedly expelled Hutton, despite Hutton’s claim that Mercury wanted him to stay there.
- With these views, I could not, when writing on the duties of a teacher of the young, refrain from bringing distinctly to view this which has so imperious a claim.
- Furthermore, she explained that the ingredients of these products are usually questionable as most of these contain herbs that have no science to back the claim that they could really help in weight loss.
- IDO participants have now been able to claim their MEAN tokens at ido.meanfi.com for a few hours now.
- Alleged abductees claim their memories of the abduction events have caused posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Apart from its effect on the cognitive level, avid consumers of the oil claim that it gave them increased endurance and boosted their energy – research found that recreational athletes who consumed food rich in MCT rather than long-chain had increased the time they can endure high-intensity activities.


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Wednesday, March 19, 2014
No more stolen mobiles in Greece by the end of this month, read what will happen
End to thefts of mobile phones are expected to put the new regulations of telecommunications providers that implement the National Telecommunications and Post Commission in Greece ( EETT ) by the end of this month .
The regulation will enable subscribers of fixed and mobile telephony to automatically interrupt the services they provide. In this way , a stolen cell phone will be useless and will not be sold on the domestic "black market" , or even activate the SIM card with another company .
Now by this new law mobile operators will be able to network blocked any mobile phone is stolen in Greece.Yes all stolen mobiles inside Greece.. The " lock " in this case is a total and not only at SIM, which means that the device becomes inactive - at least in
Today expensive mobile devices can be used again , if you remove the SIM card and personal information (contacts , photos , etc. ) of the victim - the owner and then sell them in the "black market.
From the end of this month , 31 March 2014, the owner and victim can report only his IMEI number( (International Mobile Equipment Identity) of his stolen device and the operator will automatically lock his mobile so will be available only abroad .
Twitter News Recently updatedTweets by @tsismosaonline_


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This week has seen the third edition of ictQATAR’s Cyber-Security Drill, STAR-3. Conceptualized by ictQATAR and held at Qatar University, the event is a role playing exercise that places IT security teams from nearly 50 of Qatar’s leading corporations and government departments into a simulated business environment facing a series of unexpected cyber-threats, while trying […]
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, the ultimate celebration of shopping. Many US states even declare it a public holiday. Stores open their doors in the early hours to welcome the seething hordes of frenzied shoppers in search of their one-day deals – minor injuries are common in the dawn stampedes […]
We all use the internet in so many aspects of our daily lives, from knowing the directions to a particular address and booking travel reservations, to making banking transactions. The challenge that every online user faces is to enjoy the benefits and facilities the internet provides while protecting their privacy online. The digital world is witnessing a […]
Online gaming has become a favorite pastime for young and old alike as advances in technology and high-speed broadband availability has become more accessible. Online gamers are willing to invest time and money on high-end games. However, there are also users who are hesitant to indulge in online gaming for various reasons. Not all games […]
Last year, governments and corporations frequently experienced cyber security threats and discovered vulnerabilities that dominated the headlines due to global security risks. The year 2015 may also be a turbulent year for cyber security.


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If you thought the first UFO Comic Anthology was good, prepare to be blown away by the second, available now from Anderson Entertainment
Pre-orders open for its second UFO Comic Anthology – here’s a sneak peek, including some of the strip pages drawn by Brian Lewis, Jon Davis and John M. Burns
A quick look back at downthetubes most popular news and features in 2021
Initial and unashamedly enthusiastic comments about the new Gerry Anderson comic strip collection, available now
Details of the first Gerry Anderson “UFO” collection teased
Let Anderson Entertainment know your views on their comic collection plans
The hunt is on for original artwork by 2000AD and Look-in artist John M. Burns… can you help?
Latest Phil-Comics auction offers more British comic rarities – including a Girl comic carpet sweeper!
Sometimes even here at downthetubes we’re staggered by what comic rarities Phil-Comics uncovers for sale!
Great news for the many fans of Gerry Anderson’s live action alien abduction series!
We’re sorry to report of a veteran British comic artist


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Samsung Unveils The Wave
Samsung Electronics has officially launched what it hopes would help the company become a major player in the smartphone market. The South Korean electronics giant presented its Samsung Wave in a launching party in Spain, just ahead of the official opening of the Mobile World Congress.
The Wave, which will hit the shelves in May, features a 3.3-inch touch screen and a five-megapixel camera that is capable of playing and recording high-definition videos. In addition, it has an application store that gives users the opportunity to download games and news programs.
It is the first Samsung phone that uses the Bada operating system. The Wave is the first of about 15 smartphones that Samsung plans to unveil this year, Jean-Philippe Illarine, the company telecommunications marketing director in France, said.
Samsung, the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, has struggled to make a mark in the smartphone segment with only a 3.2 percent share of the market as of last year. However, the company believes that the Wave will change its fortune in the smartphone war.


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Vodafone, Melita precede EU deadline on roaming rates reduction
After the EU commission decided to lower the capping for mobile phone rates on roaming, Melita Mobile decided to apply the reduction with immediate effect – rather than the July 1 deadline imposed by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Vodafone said it does not have to reduce its rates since they already fall within the uncapped price range set by the EU.
GO Mobile on the other hand, skirted our questions on when such reductions will come into force.
Under new EU terms, the retail price of a roamed text message within the EU will be capped at €0.11c from 1 July 2009, compared to the present rate of up to €0.49c.
The wholesale price of data roaming will be capped at €1 per megabyte from 1 July 2009, falling to €0.80c from 1 July 2010 and to €0.50c from 1 July 2011.
Retail caps on outgoing roamed voice calls will be extended for three years to 2012, with the price falling to €0.43c per minute from 1 July 2009 from the current €0.46c, and then to €0.39c from 1 July 2010 and €0.35c 1 July 2011.
Likewise, retail caps on incoming roamed calls will be capped at €0.19c from 1 July 2009 from the present €0.22c, falling to €0.15c from 1 July 2010 and to €0.11c from 1 July 2011.
“This is a victory for European consumers and for the European single telecoms market,” Reding commented after the agreement on the new cuts was reached last March.
Local mobile phone operators react to EU deal Asked whether Vodafone Malta will be introducing the new tariffs immediately or on 1 July as proposed, including per-second billing on mobile phone calls after 30 seconds, a spokesperson for the company told Business Today that Vodafone customers “already enjoy roaming rates that are below EU directives.
“Our base roaming tariff for outgoing calls from EU networks is €0.53c a minute including VAT, while incoming calls have been reduced to €0.25c a minute including VAT,” she said.
These rates are “below the requirements of the EU Directive and apply to all Vodafone pre-paid and post-paid customers roaming on any EU network”.
Moreover, Vodafone Malta customers can benefit from the Vodafone Passport tariff. “This tariff was implemented prior to any EU regulation and is the favoured option of our customers as it provides more value to those that need to make relatively longer calls,” she told Business Today.
With regards to roaming, Vodafone customers could also benefit from “favourable data roaming rates when roaming on Vodafone preferred networks”.
As to per-second billing, the spokesperson explained how in October 2008, “we introduced the ‘per second’ billing after the first minute of calls for our customers using their mobile within the EU member states.”
The ‘per second’ billing applies on both outgoing and incoming calls.
GO Mobile however, decided not to answer our question on whether it would be introducing the new tariffs immediately or on 1 July as proposed.
“GO will follow closely the developments and reactions by other operators in the short term and will always act within the best interest of the subscribers,” he said.
Soon after we sent them our questions, new kids on the block Melita Mobile issued a press release to announce the introduction of lower reduced roaming rates with immediate effect.
Commenting on our questions, a spokesperson for Melita said the company “welcomes any decision by the EU or local authorities that make mobile telephony more accessible, transparent, simpler and cheaper for customers to use.
“We have always supported this line of thought and we continue to strive to reflect this thinking in every new mobile product and service we launch,” he added.


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Sportswear giant Adidas is set to launch a personality-based avatar creation platform to go with the release of its Ozworld collection.
Meanwhile their partnership with Ready Player Me, the site allows users to create an artificial intelligence (AI) generated avatar that can be used throughout the web to explore other virtual worlds in the metaverse.
The site asks users a range of questions that aim to identify their personality in order to establish the appearance of their digital selves.
Prompts include selecting their favorite Ozworld footwear silhouette, with the final outcome also to draw inspiration from the collection’s visual aesthetic.
After generated, users can use their avatar to try-on and purchase sneakers from the line and further download their online character to use for stickers and GIFs across social media.
The company said the initial launch was scheduled for April 8, but due to unexpected technical challenges in the Ozworld platform, the launch of the avatar experience will be delayed.
However, Adidas said that its first instalment of avatars is set to arrive in the metaverse on April 28.


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Revealed: New Ford Territory
First official pictures of crucial new version of Ford’s Falcon-based soft-roader, which will be offered with a diesel engine.
Ford Australia has unveiled its new Territory it hopes can propel it back to the top of the SUV sales charts.
The local car maker's official pictures confirm the new look captured last month by Drive of a vehicle that will gain diesel power when it goes on sale in May.
It's seven years since the Territory was launched but Ford admits the new model is more of a "major update" than a next-generation vehicle.
Technical details won't be revealed until next month as part of a drip-feed reveal campaign, though the company says the Territory continues with the same underpinnings as before.
The Territory's new exterior design adopts the 'Kinetic' design language now being applied to Ford models globally as part of the blue oval's One Ford strategy that is targeting fewer models with greater styling consistency.
Ford says 70 per cent of the Territory's sheetmetal is new, though with the doors, roof and tailgate among those elements carried over there's still a familiar shape to the mid-sized soft-roader.
The new Ford Territory's front end receives the most notable changes, including narrower, projector-lamp headlights, slimline upper grille and visually related triple-deck trapezoidal lower grille, and a reprofiled bonnet.
The range-topping Territory Titanium - which replaces the former Ghia model - features LED daytime running lights as standard.
At the side there are sharper-looking sills and a cleaner-looking side (C) pillar, while the rear end - which carries over the tailgate - is styled with new, horizontal tail-lights that wrap around to the restyled rear quarter panel and revised lower bumper.
A significant makeover for the interior imports key cabin parts from the current Falcon, including audio, heating and ventilation controls, large colour information screen and steering wheel design.
New trim materials are employed throughout the three-model range, with the Territory Titanium standing out with new plush leather upholstery.
The Territory retains its clever functionality that includes more than 30 storage spaces, with additions including a new console bin with mobile phone/iPod holder and a bread bin-style roller-lid compartment placed beneath the centre stack.
An extra third row is optional on the base Territory TX; the Territory TS and Territory Titanium feature seven seats as standard.
Rear parking sensors are standard on every model, as is a driver's knee airbag that adds to dual front and side curtain airbags.
The Ford Territory's new design and diesel engine will be vital to Ford's hopes of rekindling the glory sales days of 2005 when the model was selling up to 2500 units a month. Ford Australia typically sells fewer than 1000 on average per month, with the Territory overtaken by rivals such as the Toyota Prado and Holden Captiva.
Ford Australia's director of product development, Russell Christophers, says the new diesel engine - a retuned version of the 2.7-litre single turbo V6 from the Land Rover Discovery 3 (created through Ford's old ties with Peugeot and its former ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover) - will be pivotal in the chase for increased sales.
"That mid-size 4WD segment is now about 40 per cent diesel and it has been growing over a period of time," says Christophers. "We've been playing in only half the segment, though we have a 12 per cent share with petrol only.
"Some years ago we had about a 25 per cent share of the segment. If we play in full segment, you can do the math [on the potential for volume growth."
The new Ford Territory range
Ford Territory TX
Rear parking sensors and reversing camera
Front, side curtain and driver's knee airbags
5-inch black and white display
USB and iPod connectivity
Five seats (with optional third row)
Black trim (‘Shadow’)
17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels
Ford Territory TS
8-inch colour infotaintment touch-screen
Third row seating for seven-occupant capacity
17-inch double-five-spoke alloy wheels
Unique front-end design with circular foglights
Black/grey wavy/striped trim
Ford Territory Titanium
Over TX and TS:
Unique front-end design with LED daytime running lights
18-inch Y-spoke alloy wheelsBlack trim ('Shadow') or beige ('Cashmere')
Side indicators incorporated in wing mirrors
Extensive use of chrome-look finishes, including on grille, side vents and faux exhaust outlets


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Amid the economic storm in the region the sector has been a source of considerable revenue for the governments. We at latam investor dont want to ruin your relaxed holiday ideal but behind the sun sand sea and ice cream is a very serious industry.
The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable To Hold Inaugural
Destination News Latin America Caribbean Cuba Tourism Industry
Ttc Special 2016 Good Prospects For Tourism In Latin America And
Research indicates that as countries such as guatemala el salvador costa rica and nicaragua have increased efforts to promote tourism on a wide scale sex tourism has risen proportionately.
Latin america tourism industry. Travel accounted for 9 percent of latin americas gdp while international tourist arrivals increased by 7 percent according to the world tourism organization unwto. The global travel and tourism industry made more than 717 trillion us. For the travel and tourism industry in latin america 2017 was a year of renewal and growth in nearly all sectors.
It is estimated that anywhere from 6000 to 10000 female work in the sex trade in the dominican republic and many cross over from haiti as well. News americas new york ny fri. Latin americas tourist destinations have excelled at nation branding by creating vibrant and colorful content to entice travelers.
Latin americas sheer diversity in scenic beauty cuisine and cultures has combined with an increasingly sophisticated domestic industry to cater to every kind of traveler. In 2015 the number of foreign visitors recorded in the region amounted to more than 966 million the highest. The dominican republic is seeing a rise in sex tourism especially female sex tourism.
The leading three travel and tourism markets north america the european union and north east asia comprised nearly three quarters of this figure. Tourism in latin america and the caribbean has recorded positive growth. Dollars in total contribution to gdp worldwide in 2015.
Its less often talked about but seen widely in many caribbean nations sex tourism. Undoubtedly the tourism industry in latin american countries is strong and has clear trends. Here are the top four.
Travel and tourism industry in latin america statistics facts. Invest in latin americas tourism boom at this time of year most british peoples minds turn to their upcoming summer holidays. The world tourism organization wto reports that the total number of visitors to latin america and the caribbean grew by 61 percent last year to 576 million.
So where are the top places for sex tourism in the caribbean. Since 2006 tourisms direct contribution to gdp in latin america has grown by 7 percent in real termsmore than double the world averageto reach an estimated 134 billion in 2011. In 2018 the regions tourism offices will get more savvy with their digital marketing efforts as the visitor economy grows in importance.
According to the 2017 wtm latin america trends report this sector had an increase of 40 in making more trips during 2017 and it is expected that by 2020 it will reach 26 million tourists within this age group in all over the world.
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Bahrain food imports from India at $ 18.73 mn
Dubai, Jan 30: The Kingdom of Bahrain imported food worth .73 million from India in 2005-06 while its non-oil import from the latter totalled 157.56 million dollars, latest figures have revealed.
Other goods imported by Bahrain were mainly textiles and readymade articles, including confectionery items and meat, according to figures released ahead of the four-day Gulfood 2007, one of the biggest food and hospitality trade shows in the world opening here on Febuary 19.
The show is expected to witness India's largest ever representation at an international food show in the Gulf, officials said, who indicated that exports from Bahrain to India had remained stagnant in the last few years but were expected to grow in the years to come.
Overall, food exports to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) costed an estimated three billion dollar a year, with agricultural and processed food exports from India to the UAE alone accounting for more than 273 million dollars.
Total annual trade between India and the GCC currently exceeds 15 billion dollars, representing 15 per cent of India's total foreign trade.
India exported agro products to West Asian market in the year 2005-06 to the extent of 1,325 million dollars out of its total export turnover of 3,977 million dollars, which is 33 per cent of India's exports.


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May 14, 2021 Decibel Magazine
We have a limited number of advance copies of the July issue of Decibel, featuring our an exclusive new flexi disc single from crusty death metal upstarts Fuming Mouth.
May 7, 2021 Decibel Magazine
Our latest exclusive Decibel vinyl color variants of the new At the Gates and Amenra LPs will sell out in pre-order, so make your move to pick up these limited LPs now!
May 5, 2021 Decibel Magazine
Decibel‘s exclusive color of the new LP from Belgian post-doom collective Amenra is the most limited pressing of this album at only 200 copies.


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Gap one of the biggest clothing retailers has joined forces with Facebook, in a new campaign to give away 10,000 pairs of jeans to anyone who checks in to the new Facebook Deals feature. Here at OSM, we reported just yesterday of the new idea to come out of the Facebook Mobile event on Wednesday.
According to Lauren Indvik at Mashable, anyone checking onto the men’s and women’s Gap U.S. Retail location using the new Deals feature will benefit from this. The feature works on the principle of the user accessing special discounts from checking into different businesses via Facebook Places on their mobile handset. Once this has been carried out, the person will need to show their check in to a member of staff at a Gap store to have any chance of winning a pair of jeans. Gap is one of a number of retailers that seem to be using social media marketing to their advantage.
Back in the summer months, the clothing chain of stores collaborated with “Groupon” to offer customers $50 worth of Gap merchandise for $25. In turn, 441,000 Groupons were sold exceeding all expectations. Along with this, Gap partnered up with location-based Foursquare and anyone checking in to one of their retail stores was offered a $25 discount.
What do you think about social media marketing being used in this way? Will you be joining in to win a free pair of jeans? Let us know. Head on over to Mashable for more details.
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In an update to the media on Friday, FDA stated, “FDA and CDC have determined that the most likely vehicle for the Hepatitis A virus appears to be a common shipment of pomegranate seeds from Turkey used by Scenic Fruit Company to make the recalled Woodstock Frozen Organic Pomegranate Kernels and by Townsend Farms to make the recalled Townsend Farms and Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Blend.”
Earlier, Townsend Farms Inc recalled their Organic Anti-oxidant Blend of berries from Costco stores, and later this week, Scenic Fruit Company recalled some lots of Woodstock Frozen Organic Pomegranate Kernels. Both companies making the recalls are based in Oregon.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Hepatitis A outbreak exhibited a strain of virus which is rare in America, but common in North Africa and the Middle East.
The FDA statement mentioned the agency “reviewed records and determined the pomegranate seeds from this shipment were the only ingredient common to all of the recalled Townsend Farms and Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Blend … FDA will be working with the firms who have distributed pomegranate seeds from this shipment from Turkey to help ensure that all recipients of these seeds are notified.”
According to the CDC all victims until now had eaten Townsend Farms Organic Anti-oxidant Blend bought from Costco stores. So far, no illnesses have been linked to Harris Teeter.
The case count up to Friday included 64 in California, 25 in Colorado, 17 in Arizona, 7 in Hawaii, 5 each in New Mexico and Nevada, and 2 each in Utah and Wisconsin. Affected victims range in age from 2 to 84 years and there are at least 6 children below the age of 18. More than half of those affected by the outbreak needed hospitalization.


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VENTURES: The Cape's Cash Kings
Recent Western Cape Business News
THE Cape’s two best-known business tycoons – Johann Rupert and Christo Wiese – appear to both be sitting on serious piles of cash.
Professional investors might well interpret this rather ominously, perhaps arguing that if these serial investors are hoarding cash there is probably a belief that investment markets are still in for a torrid time.
Although Greece just managed to push through the austerity measures required for a bail out, a number of prominent European markets are still looking vulnerable.
Locally, investors are finally starting to look spooked by the ANC Youth League’s unrelenting crusade to nationalise mines (and banks, and who knows what else) – especially with very unconvincing reassurances being uttered by the ANC proper.
Some would argue that any indications that Rupert and Wiese are happier these days to sit on cash should be contextualised. And that maybe is a good point, because both Rupert and Wiese still have plenty ‘skin in the game’.
Rupert holds an array of local interests in Remgro (stakes in Medi-Clinic, Unilever SA, Distell, RMB/FirstRand, new assurance giant MMI, SEACOM, e-tv etc) and Richemont remains one of the best known luxury goods brand houses in the world. Rupert also clings onto his family’s fortune maker, tobacco, through a 5% holding in British American Tobacco via new investment vehicle Reinet. Indeed Reinet has also been making a few selected investments including the Jagersfontein diamond recovery venture.
Wiese still holds a major stake in supermarket giant Shoprite and clothing retailer Pep, and also has a variety of smaller portfolio interests in business that range from industrial/agricultural supplier Invicta Holdings to vehicle tracking specialists Digicore and mining group GoldOne International and Stellenbosch-based investment specialists PSG Group.
To be perfectly frank, neither Wiese nor Rupert are bailing out of their core investments.
But let’s look at what they are doing in terms of building heaps of cash.
The Rupert family’s two big investments – Remgro, and Richemont – both hold significant chunks of cash. Reinet, to a lesser extent, but one could easily consider the R20 billion stake in the very defensive and cash-spinning BAT as a ‘currency’.
Let’s look at Remgro first. While this diversified industrial investment company has traditionally leaned towards holding significant amounts of cash on its balance sheet (if only as buffer to ensure dividends are retained in tough times), the current cash holding sits at a rather imposing R5.6 billion at the end of March compared to R4.6 billion last year.
To put that in perspective; R5.6 billion is more than 10% of Remgro’s current market value and bigger than the market value of a well-established Cape company like Oceana.
Interestingly, the bulk of Remgro’s cash (roughly R4 billion) resides offshore – held mainly in dollars, euros, pounds some Swiss francs. The group’s cash balances will be further augmented by the R230 million earned from selling its stake in Fundamo to Visa (see separate story in this edition).
While Remgro certainly appears to be building capacity for a rainy day, the company has been adding to investments here and there. Most notably further investments have been made in Business Partners (the old Small Business Development Corporation), a R106 million investment to stretch its stake in Dark Fibre Africa to 41% and a new R120 million investment in Lashou, a Chinese marketing specialist.
Richemont, which generates heaps of cash from world famous brands like Cartier and Mont Blanc, is currently sitting on around R25 billion (2.6 billion euros) of net cash at the end of March 2011. That is roughly equivalent to almost 12% of Richemont’s market value, and well up on last year’s 1.9 billion euros.
At Reinet – at 236 million euros (R2.3 billion) has physically the least cash in the Rupert family companies – the situation is perhaps most interesting. The cash holding has shrinked markedly from around 343 million euros (R3.4 billion) last year.
Reinet chairman Johann Rupert, though, remains ultra-bearish on the investment markets. He noted recently: “Until we are more certain we have decided that we serve our shareholders best by not making ‘major bets’ on the future”.
Then supporting our earlier notion that BAT is essentially a currency for Reinet, he added: “The resilience and cash-flow generation of the tobacco industry and the sound performance of BAT have led us to hold on to this investment until we find alternate hedge strategies”.
Christo Wiese’s cash collection is a tad different in that the retail tycoon is not well known for holding large cash piles (and has never really showed too much fear of debt).
Wiese has in the last two months signalled an intention to raise substantial new cash by way of his participation in two specialised listed vehicles, Tradehold and Brait SA.
Wiese recently underwrote a rights offer to raise £59 million pounds (around R650 million) for Tradehold, which holds a small portfolio of UK-based properties and a minority stake in unlisted UK-based retailer Instore Plc.
There has been speculation that Wiese may be mobilising Tradehold as a new investment vehicle to take advantage of attractive asset prices in the prevailing market uncertainty.
Officially Wiese has said the fresh cash injection will enable Tradehold to “take advantage of the anticipated growing number of opportunities to expand its property portfolio with larger quality acquisitions that, up to now, has been outside its financial reach”.
Wiese’s participation in Brait SA (where he will serve as a non-executive director) is more intriguing.
Basically Wiese – through a targeted investment mechanism – takes the role as anchor shareholder in newly capitalised Brait with a influential 33% stake.
Brait’s R6.5 billion fund raiser was tagged to deals that saw Brait acquiring significant stakes in of 34,9% in Pepkor (Wiese’s holding company for Pep) and 49,9% in Premier Foods.
Brait also shifts its business model from a manager of third party funds to becoming an investment company – with some suggesting Bait will effectively become Wiese’s investment company.
The bottom line is that there is a lot of cash sloshing around between the Cape’s two premier deal-makers. CBN, and a host of ordinary investors, will watch with bated breath to see when the duo start buying in earnest.
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text: Irwin Mitchell Advises Gravity On Third Trampoline Park Ambitious Yorkshire Firm Chooses Norwich As Third Location 12.02.2016 David Shirt, Press Officer | 0161 838 3094 Yorkshire-based Gravity Fitness expects its latest indoor trampoline park to be open and ready for business by April this year after signing up to a 15 year lease at Riverside Entertainment in Norwich. The Bridlington leisure company has agreed a lease for a 30,693 sq ft (2,851 sq m) site and has confirmed it is on the lookout for additional spaces in other high footfall locations. Its other sites are at Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre in Maidstone and Xscape in Castleford. Harvey Jenkinson of Gravity Fitness Limited comments: “Our first park in Castleford is performing exceptionally well and the very successful opening weekend in Maidstone created a 35% increase in footfall for other leisure operators at the site. We have already seen customers travelling from all across the county to bounce with us and are excited to continue our expansion in 2016.” Gravity was again advised by the real estate team at the Leeds office of law firm Irwin Mitchell. Expert Opinion“Gravity is going from strength to strength and taking advantage of the growth in demand for trampoline parks. We are delighted to advise on this third deal for the company and look forward to seeing the company progress in the future.” James Knowles, Partner International real estate advisor, Savills, represented Gravity and has also been instructed to source new sites. Steve Henderson, retail director at Savills, said: “Trampoline parks are adding a new and exciting dimension to the UK leisure scene after becoming hugely popular in the US. We are pleased to have secured Gravity’s third venue and currently have a further three under offer, with plans to acquire several more sites across the UK in 2016 and 2017.” Key contact James Knowles Partner +44 (0)791 864 1789 Email James Press contact David Shirt BLS PR Manager 0161 838 3094 Email David Related articles 15.02.2017Cocoon Aims To Secure £2.5m For Latest Expansion Drive 14.02.2017Serious Fraud Office - The Big Funding Debate 14.02.2017Inflation Rises As UK Feels Effect Of Weak Pound Post-Brexit Vote 10.02.2017Today's Court Of Appeal Ruling To Have Impact on Uber And Other Firms In 'The Gig Economy' 09.02.2017Court Of Appeal Employment Ruling To Have Impact on 'Gig Economy'


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When Citruss TV approached Aramex in 2005 to outsource its logistics, customer service, and delivery needs, the new partnership provided a prime example of how a third party logistics provider (3PL) can support the region’s leading home shopping network. We sat down with Michael Trueshcler, Managing Director of Citruss TV.
A few years ago, shopping via television was still a novel idea in the GCC or MENA - but Citruss TV is turning that novel idea into a mainstream one. Started during April 2005 in Dubai, the T.V. network has rapidly expanded its coverage to 80 million households via Nile Sat 11938 MHz V and its online site. The station caters to the luxury segment and the trend setters in the region, selling everything from exclusive jewelry from Lebanese singer Roula Saad to the latest fitness equipment. “We offer our viewers a variety of exclusive quality products that are not available in their marketplace and we deliver directly to their doorsteps,” Michael Trueschler, Managing Director of Citruss TV, commented.
To deliver directly to their client’s doorstep, Citruss TV needed the help of an established logistics partner that could, among other things, handle Cash on Delivery (COD), provide integrated customer support, and provide scaled warehousing and logistics services. That is where the role of Aramex as a 3PL provider came in. “We are using Aramex's know how and expertise to maximize our efficiency with the advantage of having only one strong partner who can offer the full range of needed services,” Trueschler continued.
The role of Aramex in this supply chain process is extensive - it starts from the first day as the viewer orders a product to the moment that product reaches his/her doorsteps. “We have worked together for 3 years now to form a strong call center with dedicated agents who give the best customer service to our callers. Together with Aramex we have worked to improve the call center efficiency continuously, and still do so,” Trueschler described the customer support section of this chain.
COD, in which customers can pay at the time they receive their products, was also a critical service provided by Aramex which Citruss T.V. increasingly depended on. “Here we needed a partner that we could rely on, as handling cash is a very sensitive issue,” Trueschler concluded.
The Citruss TV business model has paid off, as the company posted a 35% increase in sales transactions in 2009. This result was even more impressive in a year where the retail industry has been hit hard by the global recession. As Citruss TV looks to a future that seems increasingly bright for online and TV based retailers, logistics and transportation providers like Aramex will play an increasingly decisive role in facilitating these new business trends.
Watch how Citruss TV provides a new way to shop.


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Freespee’s event; “Do we really want to talk to robots?” was a resounding success. An array of topics were covered by industry experts and GDPR fears were quelled. All in all, an evening of progress.
We started off with office preparations and photographs of the staff amongst the din. Prosecco was poured, and canapes were munched. Guests streamed in and socialised with Freespee team members in our open-plan space.
Eventually, we took our seats to begin the enlightening panel discussion featuring our CEO Anne de Kerchhove, Gumtree/eBay’s Head of Motors Vik Barodia and Freespee co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Carl Holmquist. The chat focused on AI, trust and the future impact of technology on brand and consumer relationships. Vik also brought up the future of MaaS (mechanics as a service), the gig economy and more.
The first quarter of the conversation covered AI. “It will become less an ‘I need something; therefore, I need to transact,” to a fully immersive experience that says, ‘hey have you thought about this?” and ‘we know what you want,’” said Vik.
He visualised a scenario where artificial intelligence is fully integrated into everyday goings-on.
“I’m amazed by what could one day be real life,” said Vik.
Presently, Barodia defines success in his industry not as predicting what a consumer wants before they want it, but by the building of trust.
“The reason that eBay is so successful is that it enhances the level of trust. eBay was one of the first businesses to introduce ratings. Ratings drive trust and probably the single biggest element of any transaction is trust. We see it on eBay and Gumtree all the time. Buyers are willing to pay more from a trusted seller. Influence comes from trust,” Vik stated.
Speaking of trust, during the Q&A portion, audience members brought up the word on everyone’s lips; GDPR.
One question explored how a post-GDPR world could stifle creativity when justification is now needed for every piece of data captured by marketers.
“I do think we’ll have a period of cleansing, but much of that pre-GDPR data wasn’t based on real relationships, replied Anne de Kerckhove. “We’re going to rebuild on true and trustworthy data and relationships. It’s a painful period, but once the data is clean, we’ll be able to renew our creativity.”
Renewal of creativity in this ever-changing world is something everyone can get onboard with.
“We are not that far away from big names in the digital space disappearing because they have failed to recognise what is happening in the online space, it’s completely cyclical,” Vik added.
Photographs: Howard Sayer


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How much computeronline.com.br is worth?
computeronline.com.br Has Estimated Worth of $ 346,25...
iPhone XR is by far Apple’s most popular handset right now
The iPhone XR is currently far and away Apple’s top-selling iPhone model in the U.S.. Right now, it makes up just under half of all new iPhone...
Etisalat second-quarter profit remains steady at AED 2.2b
The UAE-based telecom operator Etisalat’s net profit remained steady at AED 2.2b in the second quarter of this year compared to a year ago...
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ebay.de Has Estimated Worth of $ 207.459.075,40...
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wasser-sensor.de Has Estimated Worth of $ 0,08...


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Atlanta-based Salesfusion, a marketing automation solutions provider, has hired Carol O’Kelley as CEO. Previously, she worked at RedPrairie where she served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. In response to O’Kelley’s appointment, Salesfusion’s investors, which include Noro-Moseley, has raised $5 million in funding for the company.
ATLANTA, GA–(Marketwired – Mar 5, 2015) – Salesfusion has named Carol O’Kelley as its new chief executive officer. O’Kelley’s background in marketing, software and growing companies from startup phases into multi hundred million dollar global businesses positions her well to lead Salesfusion’s aggressive growth strategy.
Salesfusion’s investors responded to O’Kelley’s appointment by extending $5 million in additional funding to the company. The investment allows Salesfusion to accelerate product innovation and development of the client services organization to support its growing customer base.
“Having a CEO with Carol’s marketing credentials aligns with the board’s vision of creating a marketing technology company built around the needs of the marketer,” says Alan Taetle, General Partner at Noro-Moseley, the lead investor in Salesfusion.
The marketing technology industry has undergone massive growth the past several years. Chiefmartech expects the segment to grow at 12.4% compound annual growth rate the next three years, from $20 billion this year to $32 billion by 2018.
Salesfusion has doubled in size year over year for five consecutive years. The company has offices in the US and UK, and a staff of nearly 100 worldwide. Salesfusion expects to double its sales again this year, attributing growth to its industry-deepest integrations to leading CRM systems, focus on sales and marketing alignment, and ongoing customer success management.
“Salesfusion ranks as a leader among marketing automation systems for mid-size companies,” said marketing technology analyst, David Raab. “It offers exceptional range and depth of functionality, supported by a CRM-style data model that allows more flexibility than many other systems. It also has pre-built integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Infor CRM, Sage, SugarCRM in addition to Salesforce.com, letting it serve companies that use many CRM systems. Pricing is reasonable as well.” Salesfusion has repeatedly earned high scores in Raab’s VEST report, which evaluates all major B2B marketing automation solutions across 200 data points.
“I’m very excited to be working with an innovator in the marketing automation space. By putting marketing expertise at the center of our own company, we’re demonstrating to clients that we understand and are uniquely capable of supporting their businesses,” says O’Kelley. “The market opportunity is immense and I’m looking forward to applying my background in marketing, software and innovation to helping the next generation of marketers increase the effectiveness of their programs.”
O’Kelley joins Salesfusion with more than 20 years of technology and marketing experience. Previously, O’Kelley was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of RedPrairie, now operated as JDA. She led global strategy and marketing during a time of rapid growth for the company. Before RedPrairie, O’Kelley was Vice President and Chief of Staff of Oracle’s global business unit for retail, which acquired and successfully integrated numerous leading retail technology companies, including Retek, ProfitLogic, 360 Commerce, and Advanced Visual Technologies. Prior to that, O’Kelley was Director of Corporate and Americas Marketing at Manhattan Associates, the world’s leading provider of supply chain management solutions.
O’Kelley graduated from Washington and Lee University with a B.A. in English. She currently serves on the university’s advisory board for the Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship.
Salesfusion’s mission is to help marketers attract new opportunities, convert them into customers and nurture them into lifetime relationships. Salesfusion stands out among cloud-based marketing automation vendors for its superior lead nurture and engagement marketing capabilities. Salesfusion provides an out-of-the-box unparalleled integration between its Marketing Automation Platform and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Infor CRM, Sugar, Salesforce, and Sage. For more information visit www.salesfusion.com or on Twitter @salesfusion.


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Mary Jane is headed to the X-Men's Hellfire Gala in some stunning fan art by Mark Brooks, and she's bringing an unexpected date along with her -- Venom.
Brooks, a comic book artist who has worked for both DC and Marvel, posted the fan art onto his Twitter account. The artwork is part of a "Party Crashers" series created by Brooks leading up to the second annual Hellfire Gala. "Peter went solo so MJ grabbed #Venom so she wouldn't have to crash alone," Brooks wrote in the Tweet.
The story of X-Men's second annual Hellfire Gala, hosted by Emma Frost, will be told in Marvel's upcoming X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1, which comes from Gerry Duggan, C.F. Villa, Matteo Lolli, Russell Dauterman, Kris Anka and Carlos Gomez. Releasing on June 29, the issue promises a number of startling revelations that will shape the next stages of the Marvel Universe. The synopsis reads, "At last year’s Hellfire Gala, fans were mesmerized by jaw-dropping fashion moments from Emma Frost’s dazzling trio of Dauterman-designed pieces to Colossus’ unforgettable look by artist Lucas Werneck. This year will be no different – only this time around, mutants won’t be the only ones making fashion statements! The Hellfire Gala will be a night packed with repercussions for the entire Marvel Universe, and heroes from every corner will be in attendance."
“I’m so thrilled to do all this design work!” Dauterman previously said of X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1. “My general thought with the Gala designs is that they should be high fashion superhero costumes — looks that reflect the characters’ personalities, and could work on a runway or a battlefield.”
While Spider-Man didn't swing an invite to last year's event, Marvel previously teased that Peter will be attending and plays an important role in the night's festivities during this year's gala. More information as to what Peter will be doing at the Hellfire Gala will be revealed in May 7's Free Comic Book Day: X-Men/Avengers. Marvel also recently released a look at Spider-Man's outfit for the evening, which is designed by Dauterman. “This is meant to be a more dramatic, futuristic version of a Spider-Man costume,” he said. “The bodysuit recedes in darkness, so the glowing spider symbol and geometric accents pop.”
Brooks has worked on Marvel titles such as Immortal X-Men, Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, Avengers and many others. Along with MJ and Venom, Brooks also created fan art showing Inhuman's Medusa in Hellfire Gala attire.


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Realme C55 smartphone with a mini capsule feature to be launched on March 21 in India, know the price and specifications
8 months ago
The Realme C55 smartphone will be the first realme smartphone with Apple’s dynamic island-like mini capsule feature to be launched in India on 21 March 2023. Mini Capsule will display a low battery alert, the phone’s charging status, and data consumption. It will also show the user’s step count and the day’s walking distance. Additionally, the animated panels will show data such as step count and data usage.
Realme C55 price, availability
Realme C55 will come in two storage variants- one is the 6GB + 128GB variant that will cost around Rs 13,300 and the other one is the 8GB + 256GB variant costing around Rs 16,000. Realme C55 smartphone will be available for sale on Flipkart from March 21. Realme C55 smartphone will come in two color options- Rainy Night and Sunlight.
Realme C55 smartphone Specifications
- Realme C55 smartphone is a dual-SIM (Nano) handset.
- The smartphone has a 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate, and 680 nits peak brightness.
- The C55 smartphone supports a 72-inch full-HD+ IPS LCD display.
- The Realme C55 measures 6×75.9×7.89mm and weighs 189.5g.
- The C55 handset is powered by MediaTek Helio G88 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM.
- The C55 smartphone is equipped with 256GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded up to 1TB via microSD card.
- Connectivity includes 4G, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2, GPS, and a USB Type-C port for charging.
- Realme C55 smartphone houses a 5,000mAh battery with 33W SUPERVOOC charging.
- Realme C55 has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The Realme C55 sports a dual rear camera setup that includes a 64-megapixel primary camera accompanied by a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies and video calls, the handset has an 8-megapixel camera.


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Details on Cassandra Clare’s U.S. Tour for ‘Lady Midnight’
With Lady Midnight just a few weeks away, Cassandra Clare is gearing up for her U.S. tour, which includes seven stops in California, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas.
The tour will kick off on the book’s launch — on Tuesday, March 8 — in Los Angeles and wrap up on March 16 in Austin, TX.
You can check out the full tour information below, including new stops and details about each event. Be sure to contact the store by phone or their website to secure tickets.
Lady Midnight will be released on March 8.
I just want to meet her. JUST ONCE IS GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But Cassie isn’t coming to Maryland……
If only she would come to Ohio…I just want to meet her once! Once before I die…


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Recently, we learn from Tianjin Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology Committee that the goal of Tianjin Energy Conservation and Comprehensive Resources Utilization for 2010 has been established and energy consumption in Wanyuan area deceased by 4%. In addition, 10 million more lighting products will be on 2010 Tianjin central financial subsidy list to promote the use of energy efficient lighting products on the basis of 5 million last year, which will surely help further promote energy-saving society.
This year, Tianjin plans to promote the use of 60 million high efficient lighting products and continue to increase the popularity of green lighting products among common households with central financial subsidy. It is reported that Tianjin successfully fulfilled promotion of 5 million energy saving lamps in 2009, which feature high luminance, stable luminous efficiency, no color difference and economy. They can save 60-80% energy and increase life 4-6 times than conventional incandescent lighting products. From the perspective of electricity cost, it saves 294 degrees and more than 160 yuan electricity cost than a 60W incandescent lamp with the same effect during the life of 6000 hours, taking one 11W high-quality energy saving lamp, for instance.
In 2009, 120 million high efficient lighting products were promoted nationwide and the 600 million yuan special fund subsidy outlay for those who purchase energy saving lamps with 5 yuan per lamp. On this basis, the central government is going to allocate about 30 million yuan as subsidies for energy saving lamps among Tianjin residents this year.


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Naivas supermarket has opened a new branch in Githurai 44 with the aim of strengthening its position as the country’s leading retailer.
The Githurai Center opened today will be on Kamiti Road, targeting hundreds of buyers in the area.
The new store, located in the area currently served by the Khetias supermarket, will be the retailer’s branch in 74 countries and the fifth store in the Thika Road area.
The Naivas expansion comes at a time when foreign competitors like Carrefour and QuickMart have expanded the opening of new branches.
“The new store is located in a residential area along Kamiti Road and is 28,000 square feet long,” said Willy Kimani, Naivas Business Director.
In recent months, the leading retailer has put in place a sharp expansion plan, taking up the main space left vacant by competing competitors.
The seller has received financial support to promote growth after signing an agreement last year with the Private Equity Fund (PE) Amethis Finance to sell 30% of the shares.
Naivas also plans to open a branch in Kisumu at the Lions Club Hall near United Mall targeting hundreds of buyers across the region.
The Kisumu branch comes months after Tuskys cut off operations in the region due to declining cash flow.


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Foot Locker, Inc. (FL -5.72%) shares are up almost 9% just before 3 p.m. EDT on April 29, having cooled off a little after surging nearly 10% earlier in the day. Like other retailers that focus on discretionary consumer goods, high hopes for a treatment for COVID-19 have investors looking at the company as a potential winner once the economy opens back up.
A potential anti-viral treatment for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could be a big boost in efforts to arrest the spread of this deadly disease. Gilead Sciences (GILD -0.84%) said a trial of remdesivir being run by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, reached its endpoint, and separately reported that one of the trials it was running produced positive results.
This potential good news in the fight against COVID-19 has investors looking for stocks that could benefit. Health experts say that without a widely available treatment or vaccine -- which is probably a year or more away at the earliest -- it will be almost impossible to fully reopen the economy, so investors today are speculating that remdesivir could be a huge step toward that goal. Hence the price of Foot Locker's stock moving up sharply.
To put it bluntly, this is a big jump based entirely on speculation. Remdesivir has shown some potential as a treatment, but there's very limited data being released and it's still likely months before there's enough data to inform an accurate understanding of the drug's effectiveness. Even if it proves an effective treatment, it will take even more time to manufacture and distribute it to healthcare providers.
In other words, there's a lot more that needs to happen before we even know if this is a treatment that will lead to unshackling the economy.
It's nice to be hopeful, but hope isn't a very good investment thesis. Foot Locker has an e-commerce business, but the vast majority of its sales come from retail stores that are by and large shuttered. That's unlikely to change in a large way for many months to come, even if remdesivir and other drugs are identified as effective treatments.
Put it all together, and today's speculative jump on potential good news for a treatment could get erased just as quickly on bad news tomorrow or the next day. Until we actually start seeing non-essential retail opened up in a broad way, Foot Locker is going to have a tough time of it. If you decide to invest in the company, be prepared to ride out a lot of volatility until we get to a point where the economy can actually come back online. That could be much later this year in many parts of the world than you expect.


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Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom Video Communications takes part in a bell ringing ceremony at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York Reuters
- Zoom is introducing OnZoom, a new way to host events — free and paid — using the popular videoconferencing tool.
- Zoom has come to be used to host all kinds of events amid the pandemic, from board meetings and conferences to fitness classes and concerts. The new OnZoom platform includes the ability to charge for tickets, as well as a directory of public event listings.
- Zoom is also launching a new kind of app integration, called a Zapp, that can bring information from productivity tools like Dropbox, Slack, or Asana directly into a video chat.
- Facebook launched its own features for paid videoconferencing events over the summer.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
As the pandemic drags on, Zoom is releasing a
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Kotak Mahindra Bank on Wednesday announced that its VISA debit and credit cardholders can now make payments via the Google Pay mobile app. Using a process called tokenisation that hides sensitive card information, Kotak customers can now link their Kotak debit and/or credit card to Google Pay and then seamlessly and securely digitally transact using their mobile phones across different payment platforms.
“Not only is this process highly secure, but also very convenient as cardholders now do not need to enter their card information for every transaction, transforming the end-user experience,” Kotak Mahindra Bank said.
“Under this value proposition, Kotak customers can now use their Kotak VISA debit and/or credit cards to make payments virtually via Google Pay. Put simply, sensitive card information such as the card number, expiry date, CVV etc. is replaced with a token, and this token gets used for processing payments
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LONDON, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The adoption of digital tools including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in Human Resource (HR) departments can accelerate the HR digital transformation journey and add value to existing HR activities – especially in the wake of COVID-19. According to a new report from global tech market advisory firm ABI Research, by 2025, there will be close to 60 million active users of AR for expertise and training applications across various verticals, such as healthcare, logistics, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), and manufacturing.
“Both AR and VR solutions can allow HR departments to reach potential talent more creatively, assess workers in novel ways, and support workers with improved and remote-enabled training and employee collaboration. This can save time and costs (AR/VR training can save between US$2,000–US$2,500 per employee in comparison with traditional training) and enhance the candidate/employee experience and build
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In the two months since earned wage access (EWA) provider Immediate launched Visa Direct as a payment option, the near real-time method is already accounting for 50% of its payments.
When Immediate launched in October 2018, it first offered its users the ability to gain access to their earned, but not yet paid, wages through an ACH transfer that could take several days. But one Saturday this February, just before the pandemic hit, an end-user put in a customer support ticket that prompted the fintech to shift to a faster payments rail.
“We had a guy put in a support ticket on a Saturday morning asking ‘where’s my money?’,” said Matt Pierce, founder and CEO of Immediate. “He needed $10 for gas to get to work and couldn’t wait until it was ACH’ed to his account on Monday. We had one of the guys on the support team Venmo him


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Sm to expand mall of asia | inquirer business, Manila—sm prime holdings has earmarked as much as p1.5 billion to redevelop mall of asia, which will expand its selling area by about a third and become the country.Halo halong pinoy, Enchanted kingdom is a theme park in the philippines. it is located in santa rosa city, laguna, about 29 kilometers (18 mi) from manila. it has a land area of 17. Maguindanao m.acre - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, The maguindanao m.acre, also known as the ampatuan m.acre after the town where the mgraves were found, occurred on the morning of november 23, 2009, in the.
Hsbc news headlines. hsba share news. financial news, No easy exit for hsbc from turkey's punishing retail market * selling retail business in turkey a priority -sources* turkey a difficult market for foreign banks.Yahoo philippines news - latest news and headlines, The latest news and headlines from yahoo philippines news. get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.. Myx - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Myx stylized as myx, is a filipino cable television network based in quezon city, philippines. it is targeted to youth audiences with music videos as its primary.
Steve janousek - imdb, Steve janousek: iron man. actor, commercial model, dancer, & photographer/cinematographer - stephen janousek doesn't want to be labeled any one category thus he feels.


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Purolator Tests Low-Speed Electric Delivery Vehicles
By Chad Elmore18 November 2020
Purolator Inc., the Canadian freight, package and logistics solutions provider, is now using low-speed electric delivery vehicles in the cities of Toronto, Ont., and Montreal, Que., which it said will help increase network capacity, reduce its carbon footprint and provide greater fleet flexibility in urban centers. The new fleet of vehicles offers a last-mile delivery solution to respond to the ever-increasing growth in e-commerce, said the company.
“More than ever, we’re committed to helping dense metropolitan cities operate more smoothly through new delivery methods that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says John Ferguson, Purolator President and CEO.
The company is testing new fully electric low-speed vehicles to reduce noise and traffic congestion when delivering within busy downtown core areas. The compact size of low-speed vehicles make delivering on busy streets with limited parking more manageable, said the company, as they take up less than half the space of a traditional delivery truck.
Purolater also said it will expand its fleet of electric-cargo bikes in Montreal to maneuver through pedestrian-only and zero-emission zones and street closures. Additionally, the e-bikes can be parked on sidewalks for delivery within restricted-parking areas. The fleet of e-bikes is housed at Canada’s first urban distribution center, opened with the City of Montreal.
Since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Purolator said it has seen residential deliveries increase approximately 50%, including in areas designated as pedestrian-only or those with limited access for delivery trucks
As regulations around transportation and city logistics continue to evolve, the company said these alternative vehicles provide an agile solution with the ability to deliver the same number of packages as a standard-size delivery truck.
“Purolator has made important sustainability investments as part of our $1B delivering the future growth and innovation plan,” said Ferguson. “We’ve consistently evolved over our 60-year history to stay one step ahead of change. Our goal is to continuously innovate, adapt intelligently and provide workable solutions for the unique challenges of urban growth, along with the growth in B2B, e-commerce and home deliveries, particularly as the economy navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In the company’s 2019 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Purolator underscored its commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. To meet that goal, the company will introduce new types vehicles to its fleet, with advanced technology to improve delivery performance and safety, complementing Purolator’s existing fleet of 323 hybrid-electric vehicles.


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International Pooper Scooper Week, 1-7th April 2019Emma Doheny
Apr 01, 2019
GO BIO-DEGRADABLE THIS INTERNATIONAL POOPER SCOOPER WEEK
International Pooper Scooper Week runs from the 1st – 7th of April. Petmania are encouraging pet parents to clean up after their dogs in public spaces while being environmentally conscious by using their bio-degradable poop bags.
Emily Miller, Marketing Manager with Petmania says, “Our 12 Petmania stores nationwide stock biodegradable poop bags. Biodegradable plastics take three to six months to decompose fully which is much quicker than synthetic plastic which could take several hundred years.”
The specialist pet retailer are urging dog owners to be aware of the dangers of dog waste this International Pooper Scooper Week. Along with dog waste being foul smelling, there are serious health implications associated with dog waste. It contains harmful bacteria such as E-coli and parasites like roundworm and can also cause serious kidney disorders, diarrhoea and intestinal illnesses.
It can be easily picked up on the wheels of buggies and bikes and it is an issue for wheelchair users and people who are visually impaired. If dog waste is not disposed of appropriately it can be of serious danger to humans especially children. Children can easily come into contact with dog waste through contaminated soil in play areas or parks.
Petmania advise dog owners to dispose of bagged dog waste in any public bin. If there is no public bin nearby, it should be brought home and disposed of in a suitable sanitary manner using biodegradable poop bags.
Petmania is a specialist pet retailer with 12 stores nationwide. Along with being a retailer, Petmania offer dog grooming services, flea, tick and worming treatments and pet nutrition advice. Petmania experts are happy to advise on any pet related issues.


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Indian wines fly off British supermarket shelves
Critic is not ‘overly impressed’ but consumers keen on sub-continent’s brand
- Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 September 2011 18.22 BST
- Article history
The first Indian wines to be sold by a British supermarket could become a fixture on its shelves after coming close to selling out in record time.
Earlier this month, Waitrose became the first UK supermarket to stock the little-known brands from the sub-continent as part of a showcase of unusual wines from across the world.
Wine experts have questioned their quality and suggested the popularity is down to novelty value. But some of those trying to buy the wines – a red and a white – have found their local stores were already out of stock.
The two wines at Waitrose are a red, Zampa syrah 2008 and white, Ritu viognier 2010, made from grapes grown in the Maharashtra region of India, south of Mumbai on the western coast.
Both are discounted in price as part of the supermarket’s autumn promotion, with the red initially costing £8.49 and the white £6.99.
They are produced by global spirits company United Breweries, owned by the Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
Waitrose wine buyer Matt Smith said he decided to offer Indian wine to British shoppers after finding the quality had improved greatly over the past five years.
To the supermarket’s great surprise, both have been selling strongly, but the white was closer to selling out. He said: “Sales far exceeded expectations so we are looking at adding them permanently to our wine range.”
The run was in part sparked by BBC1’s Saturday Morning Kitchen, which recommended the wine to partner a curry dish.
Smith said: “I think the Indian wines are good with curry, but we chose to stock them as they stand up on their own, too. The aromatic white goes well with mildly spiced dishes, but both wines are very versatile thanks to their grape varieties.”
India has a long tradition of winemaking but its wines have only recently been able to compete with more established regions.
Most vineyards in India are in the west of the country, as it is too hot in the eastern half for vines to grow. The vineyards are at higher altitudes to avoid adverse weather and to gain as much cool air as possible.
Last year, Indian wines were showcased for the first time in 30 years at London’s International Wine Festival.
The country is also being recognised in international competitions: Sula Vineyards’ sauvignon blanc 2010, for example, produced in Nashik, also in Maharashtra, won a silver medal in the Decanter world wine awards 2011. Guy Woodward, editor of Decanter magazine, said: “We’re seeing more wines from far-flung corners of the globe – often regions without a long wine history – with some exciting results.
“Increased knowledge and technology means better wines than ever are being made all over the world – we’ve had award-winning wines from Slovenia, Santorini and China in recent weeks.
“Of course, there’s a lot of dross, too, and I wasn’t overly impressed with these Indian wines.”


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This week’s round-up of the latest innovations in payment rails for B2B payments shows a key focus on real-time transactions and embrace of emerging, faster payment rails.
That includes advancements in Canada’s upcoming Real-Time Rail, as well as adoption by Transcard of Mastercard’s Track Business Payment Service to facilitate real-time, account-to-account transfers for businesses. Plus, blockchain makes new inroads in the B2B arena.
Canada Taps Vocalink for Real-Time Rail
As Canada gears up to launch its real-time payments system, the Real-Time Rail (RTR), Payments Canada, the entity at the head of the initiative, has announced that Mastercard-owned Vocalink has been chosen as the clearing and settlement solution provider for the new payment rail. The partnership supports Payment Canada’s need for RTR to enable ISO 20022 messaging standards and remain in compliance with the Bank of Canada’s risk management standards for payment systems, an announcement revealed. Payments Canada President and CEO Tracey Black said RTR will help both businesses and consumers drive long-term economic growth.
Mastercard Adds A2A For Track Business Payment Service
In an expansion of its Track Business Payment Service, Mastercard has announced account-to-account (A2A) capabilities to enable businesses to more seamlessly pay their suppliers with a choice of payment rail. In a conversation with PYMNTS, Mastercard Executive Vice President of Global Commercial and B2B Solutions James Anderson described the importance for Mastercard to develop overlay services on top of existing rails to promote that choice.
“That’s an important distinction between what we’re doing now and what we think we’re going to be doing more of going forward, versus what it took with the card rails,” he said. “We started on the process of seriously thinking through what it looks like to add value to transactions, even if you don’t control the underlying rails.”
Transcard Embraces Track for Real-Time B2B Payments
One of the latest adopters of Mastercard’s Track solution is Transcard, which announced its A2A capabilities wielding Mastercard technology. While Track supports a range of payment rails, Transcard highlighted its support of the RTP network as a key value proposition within the context of B2B eCommerce. Through integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP), the A2A solution enables a more seamless B2B payment experience for both buyer and seller while both sides also gain access to rich remittance data, the company noted.
Businesses Drive Australia’s NPP Adoption
Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), its real-time payments rail, continues to gain traction according to the latest figures from the network. According to the NPP’s latest Roadmap report, businesses are a key driver of adoption of the payment method. More than 20 percent of A2A transactions in Australia are now done via NPP, and one-in-three involve a business either as a sender or recipient of the payment. Financial institutions (FIs) are increasingly automatically routing transactions that would have once been moved via the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) Direct Entry to NPP, while businesses are replacing real-time gross settlement (RTGS) transactions with NPP as well, the report noted.
Volante Explores the Real-Time B2B Value Prop
While real-time payment rails are gaining traction, there remains some lack of clarity into exactly how the capability will gain adoption within the B2B payments context. In a conversation with PYMNTS, Volante Head of Market Infrastructures Domenico Scaffidi explored how financial service providers can get creative to understand how businesses will use real-time payments. As he discussed, banks must look beyond speed to find the value proposition. Finserv providers need to understand the “culture shift” that comes with real-time payments, particularly as it relates to the shift from batch to individual transactions. That means opportunities to wield real-time payments for liquidity management, while the payment rails that facilitate real-time transactions are also embracing the movement of data that can be especially valuable to business end users, he said.
Rapyd Combats Fraud Across Payment Rails
In an announcement, FinTech-as-a-Service company Rapyd rolled out its Rapyd Protect solution. The technology is designed to combat fraud for both businesses and customers as an overlay service that operates on top of a range of existing rails. In the announcement, Rapyd identified a growing number of alternative payment methods, including real-time payment networks, that increase demand for fraud mitigation capabilities without forcing customers to change the method with which they make a payment.
TOMIA and Clear Embrace Blockchain for Telecom B2B Payments
As more payment use cases emerge from distributed ledger technology (DLT), some solution providers are looking toward industry-specific applications of blockchain. Two businesses doing so are connectivity optimization firm TOMIA and blockchain settlement and clearing network developer Clear. The companies announced last week their partnership to develop a roaming management, reconciliation and settlement platform designed for the international telecommunications industry. When a telco customer is using roaming data and services while traveling abroad, their telco provider must pay the international provider that facilitates that roaming service. The technology developed by TOMIA and Clear aims to use blockchain to help telcos manage the process of managing roaming deals with each other and facilitating cash flow between businesses, although their announcement did not specify whether the platform will be able to facilitate the actual payment between telcos.
BitPay Debuts BitPay Send
One blockchain company that is wielding the technology to facilitate the movement of funds is BitPay. The crypto FinTech last week rolled out its BitPay Send service, a technology that allows corporations to issue payments to workers, clients, contractors, suppliers and others using digital currency. The solution is designed to facilitate mass payouts and allow businesses to embrace crypto payments without having to purchase, own or manage crypto.
Credit: Source link


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Six Australian doctors have each swallowed a Lego head in the name of science, to determine the typical time it takes for the commonly swallowed object to pass through the human body.
University of Melbourne researchers found that a Lego man’s head is likely to pass in 1-3 days on its own, without complications, and without the need for searching through stool*.
Lead researcher Dr Andrew Tagg wrote in the Journal of Paediatrics* and Child Health that it was likely the toy parts would pass faster through a child’s more immature* gut than the average 1.7 days it took for adults in their study.
One doctor was unable to find the ingested* Lego head despite searching for two weeks.
“This will be of use to anxious parents who may worry that transit times may be prolonged* and potentially painful for their children,” Dr Tagg wrote.
“If an experienced clinician* with a PhD* is unable to adequately find objects in their own stool, it seems clear that we shouldn’t be expecting parents to do so.”
HISTORY OF LEGO IN AUSTRALIA
Lego bricks are celebrating their 60th birthday this year.
The simple triple-painted brick was launched in Denmark in 1958, taking its name from two Danish words: leg and godt, meaning “play well’’.
But it didn’t arrive in Australia until 1962 and since then, it’s become a feature of nearly every second house in the country.
Worldwide, 75 billion Lego bits were sold in 2016 and interestingly, the most popular seller is the Lego City range.
But when Irishman John Peddie arrived in Australia in 1962 as Lego’s 27-year-old sales representative from London, he had a hard time selling the building blocks to Aussies.
“There was a lot of resistance,” he said. “Retailers told me, ‘It’s summer in Australia, it’s Christmas time and kids want outdoor things — beach balls, cricket sets, tennis racquets’. They don’t want to be inside.”
Another roadblock for Lego was the fact that “the big retailers had to buy the whole range.
“They were taken aback. Nobody had ever sold it like that before.”
Things were looking a bit grim*. Then one of the big retailers decided to try a small amount of stock. And the Dutch who were living in Australia heard about it.
“A lot of migrants* from Holland knew about Lego and were very excited about it,” Mr Peddie said.
“It helped that we had giant Lego models to put in store windows. We had the Tower Bridge of London, St Paul’s Cathedral. We had a giant kangaroo and a koala.”
European migrants were buying Lego two boxes at a time, then the Aussies started buying it, too. And then Lego Space came along.
“We decided to allocate 25 per cent of our entire Australian budget on the 13 Space lines. The Danish headquarters were concerned about us spending too much money on the product that nobody knew,” Mr Peddie said.
“Then it launched in Europe and we were getting faxes*: ‘It’s selling like wildfire*. People can’t get stock’. It arrived by June and by September we’d sold out completely.
“It was a big gamble. We didn’t know kids would rush in for rockets to the moon.”
Other fads* came along — hula-hoops, Rubik’s Cubes, Nintendo Game Boys, Tamagotchis.
“We were always in a different category, that’s why we’ve lasted,” said Mr Peddie.
“People say, ‘What an easy job you must have had.’ It might look easy today but in the early days I was thinking, ‘My god what I’m going to do now?’ ”
Mr Peddie, a sprightly* 83-year-old, still plays with his Lego.
“I’m retired but still on the Board of Directors and every Christmas they send us a Lego pack to build. In December it was an old-fashioned German soldier from The Nutcracker; 740 individual pieces. It took a while to put together,” he chuckled. “But it was worth it.”
paediatrics: medicine dealing with children and their diseases
immature: younger and not as developed
prolonged: long lasting
PhD: doctorate or the highest level of degree a student can achieve
grim: very serious or gloomy
migrants: person who moves from one place to another to find a better life
faxes: exact copies of a document made by electronic scanning and sending via a phone line
wildfire: spreads quickly
sprightly: fit and lively
LISTEN TO TODAY’S STORY
1. Why did the doctors swallow the Lego heads?
2. What did their experiment prove?
3. Where was the first Lego block made and in what year?
4. When did Lego arrive in Australia?
5. How many Lego bits were sold worldwide in 2016?
1. Long Live Lego
Sixty years is a long time to survive in the competitive toy market, and it wasn’t an easy start for the company in Australia.
Work within a small group of 2-3 students to come up with a design brief for a new toy to land in shops before Christmas.
Your design brief should include;
– Name of product
– Price range
– Labelled sketch of toy and its features
– Target age bracket
– Target gender (boy, girl, unisex)
– Why you think this toy will sell
Present your design brief to the class and then conduct a vote on which toy would be the most likely to sell and be successful.
Plan a marketing campaign to accompany the launch of your new toy. Think of a slogan and how and where you would like to advertise your product.
Time: Allow 30 minutes
Curriculum links: Design & Technology, English, Personal and Social
After reading the article, with a partner, highlight all the openers you can find in blue. Discuss if they are powerful and varied openers or not. Why do you think the journalists has used a mix of simple and power openers? Would you change any, and why?
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think it was a good idea for doctors to swallow Lego? Why or why not?
No one-word answers. Use full sentences to explain your thinking.