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The Rhode Island Supreme Court has vacated a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of a swimming pool retailer sued by the parents of a 4-year-old boy who drowned in one of their pools.
Raymond Oliver and Tiffany Gear filed the lawsuit against Namco LLC and others after their son, Nicholas Gear, drowned in 2012 in a pool at his grandmother’s Portsmouth home.
Namco argued for summary judgment because, among other things, it said it did not install the pool, and a Superior Court judge agreed.
The parents argued the pool was installed by a company included on a list of Namco-approved installers.
The high court in Tuesday’s decision said there remains a question of whether the installer acted as an agent of Namco, and remanded the case to Superior Court.
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Once again this year, Brightcove is proud to be the online video platform powering a host of exciting video footage from the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week.
The Consumer Electronics Association, the organization behind CES, continues to expand its use of Brightcove throughout the CES website, showcasing video content from this year's show as well as highlights from previous events. Even though the event does not end until Sunday, CES has already published a wide range of video content from this year's event, including interviews, session footage, and full length, high quality quality videos of keynotes from major names like Samsung, Audi and Microsoft.
CES is also leveraging the Brightcove platform to support a new feature this year, "CES TV" which is a high production show that provides important information about all facets of CES and major happenings at the event.
CES is also taking advantage of Brightcove's robust social sharing features to enable visitors to easily embed and share content with third party sites and social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
We look forward to again watching the events of this year's show unfold through CES' exciting online video content!

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Despite the recent disruption to travel and events, the alliance is continuing in expanding its reach in the physical security world.
Prior to the cancellation of ISC West due to the coronavirus outbreak, Pieter van de Looveren, marketing chairman of the Open Security and Safety Alliance (OSSA), was looking forward to introducing the latest developments in the alliance to the visitors of ISC West. Despite the recent disruption to travel and events, the alliance is continuing in expanding its reach in the physical security world.
Changes and updates to OSSA from 2019 ISC West
OSSA is now a little over 18 months old
. “Last year in ISC West we had around 20-25 members, now we have many more people at the table, around 40 members including Anixter, Carrier/United Technologies, Johnson Controls, and more. In the beginning the alliance was made up of predominately manufacturers. Today we have a nice mix of manufacturers, system integrators like Stanley Security, management software providers, app developers and SoC and component manufacturers,” explained van de Looveren. “From a product perspective, the alliance is still video-centric: we see the camera as the main sensor in a connected grid and our work is also dealing with creating unity across cameras. Last year at ISC West we were discussing our goals. This year it would have been a showcase of the first products based on the OSSA Technology Stack: outlines the use of a common, vendor-agnostic open Operating System (OS) for video security devices and defines standard application programming interfaces (APIs),” he added.
Among the launches planned for the cancelled show were the first cameras “driven by OSSA” running on an Android Open Source Project-based operating system for cameras
developed by Bosch start-up and OSSA member Security and Safety Things. In addition, OSSA also planned to support Security and Safety Things as they launch an app store and device management portal. Cameras following OSSA’s Technology Stack ensure seamless connectivity with this store and portal.
Member profile: Looking for more app developers
In the coming two years, the alliance will focus on including more app developers among its members. “There are no preset criteria for membership like company size,” explained van de Looveren “What we are trying to do is to bring together the people that can deliver solutions for end users.”
Innovation in the apps being developed is still at a nascent stage according to van de Looveren. “App development is a mixture of problem-driven solutions, but also solutions that are looking for a problem. Innovation is starting to exist in the market place and we see more solutions being created. For example anonymizer apps for GDPR compliance, facial recognition apps, analytics, etc. What I find impressive is the time to market: an app developer can roll out a solution within 2-3 months,” he said.
Future roadmap: Creating a strong quality guarantee
Looking into the coming two years, the alliance will focus on increasing the number of app developers among its members. Additional work is being carried out to strengthen the alliance’s quality guarantee and value proposition to the security industry. Other industry efforts like ONVIF, for example, establish good quality interoperability standards, but do not necessarily describe how standards must be interpreted and implemented. OSSA wants to complement these standards with additional specification, best practices and common agreements on how the standards are implemented. To support the launch of the first commercially available products following OSSA’s specification, OSSA is creating a seal of trust. A trademark that will represent that a product was tested by the alliance or a third party and can give assurance that a product is certified by OSSA. Work on this initiative has already begun and planned to roll out in 2021.


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Amazon expands virtual try-on tech to Europe
Amazon has introduced a new virtual try-on tool across its European markets for thousands of trainer styles.
Using augmented reality technology, customers can visualise how a pair of shoes will look on their feet from every angle before making their final purchase. App-users can virtually try on thousands of styles from brands such as New Balance, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, and Superga.
Muge Erdirik Dogan, President of Amazon Fashion, commented: “Amazon Fashion’s goal is to create innovative experiences that make shopping for fashion online easier and more delightful for customers.
“We’re excited to introduce Virtual Try-On for Shoes, so customers can try on thousands of styles from brands they know and love at their convenience, wherever they are. We look forward to listening and learning from customer feedback as we continue to enhance the experience and expand to more brands and styles.”
By selecting the 'Virtual Try-On' button on the shoe’s detail page and pointing the camera at their feet, customers will see how the pair look on from every angle. The carousel tool allows users easily swap colours of the same style without needing to exit the experience.
There is also an option for taking a photo and sharing it to social media platforms, encouraging further engagement with the tool, Amazon and the footwear brand. The new state-of-the-art technology is also way for brands to showcase their products, as well as making them more accessible to online shoppers.
Melissa Worth, SVP of North America at New Balance, added: “Innovation and elevating consumer experiences are at the core of New Balance. We’re excited to showcase our footwear selection in Amazon Fashion’s Virtual Try-On for Shoes as we continue to look for immersive ways to engage our shared customer base.”


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Does a lawsuit filed in Arizona by the US Federal Trade Commission signal a sea change in regulatory willingness to act aggressively against transaction laundering?
A lawsuit filed in the United States District Court in Arizona at the end of July this year may be the tipping point in the ongoing regulatory struggle against the online money laundering practice known as transaction laundering.
In this groundbreaking action, the FTC has essentially drawn a line in the sand against online payment fraud. By holding an ISO accountable for a scam perpetrated by one of its merchants, the FTC has ended the years-old practice of regulatory agencies looking the other way while funds for massive amounts of illicit goods and services were laundered electronically.
The suit alleges that Electronic Payment Systems (EPS) facilitated money laundering through the use of fictitious merchant accounts in its capacity as Independent Sales Organization (ISO) in a telemarketing scam referred to as Money Now Funding (MNF) – either owing to willful participation in the scheme or due to negligent KYC/EDD practices.
Backgrounder: What is the FTC?
The FTC is an independent agency of the United States Government created by statute. Among other responsibilities, the FTC enforces those sections of the FTC Act which prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. This includes the Telemarketing Act, which prohibits deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or practices.
What is Transaction Laundering?
The FTC lawsuit relates to transaction laundering by another name, defining “the practice of processing credit card transactions through another company’s merchant accounts” as “credit card laundering” or “factoring”. Despite the nomenclature, the practice is identical – and is illegal under the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and other regulations.
Transaction laundering occurs when an unknown business uses an approved merchant’s payment credentials to process credit card payments for unknown products and services. It’s a massive problem. EverCompliant estimates that transaction laundering for online sales of products and services is over $200 billion a year in the US alone. Of this, some $6 billion involves illegal goods, which were sold online by nearly 335,000 unregistered merchants.
How Does Transaction Laundering Fit in with the Payments Ecosystem?
Credit card processing involves a complex series of interactions between multiple entities – on one side the consumer and his or her bank, and on the other side the merchant and the merchant’s bank. In between are credit card organizations (like VISA and MasterCard), acquiring banks, and third parties known as Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs).
To accept online credit or debit card payments, every merchant needs to establish a “merchant account” with an acquiring bank. To facilitate this, and grow their volume of merchants, acquirers contract with ISOs. ISOs seek out merchants that want to open credit card merchant accounts, and refer them to the acquiring bank. Sometimes the ISOs actually underwrite the merchants for their acquirer or even process payments on their behalf, either directly or through third party payment processors. ISOs can also engage in screening prospective merchants, or even wholly operate the acquirer’s merchant processing program (directly or through the services of third party processors), and monitor the merchants’ transactions.
By maintaining a trusted relationship with acquirers, ISO’s should function as a gatekeeper – screening and blocking fraudulent merchants from accessing credit card networks. However, less scrupulous ISOs – like EPS, according to the FTC – can actually be complicit with fraudulent merchants, enabling illicit merchants to gain access to credit card networks they would otherwise be unable to touch.
What is the Lawsuit About?
Filed July 28, 2017, the FTC litigation alleges that EPS facilitated transaction laundering in the previously-prosecuted Money Now Funding (MNF) scam.
From 2011 to 2013, the MNF telemarketing scam stole more than $7 million from thousands of consumers. The scam’s telemarketers convinced consumers they could earn income by referring small businesses seeking loans to MNF. However, consumers were first required to make an upfront payment of $299 to $499 to “go into business” with MNF, and only then could receive lucrative commissions for each loan opportunity referred.
After consumers first payment, MNF telemarketers would attempt to deceptively upsells, convincing consumers to pay additional thousands of dollars “leads” – contact information for businesses ostensibly in need of loans. Consumer were promised that these leads would easily generate hundreds or thousands of dollars per month, resulting in in huge returns on their investment in MNF.
In 2015, courts found that MNF was indeed a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud consumers, stipulated damages, and empowered the FTC to begin orchestrating repayments to thousands of affected consumers.
In this new lawsuit, the FTC decided to follow the chain to its source and go after EPS as a facilitator of the MNF scam. The reason is that the scam was wholly dependent on MNF’s ability to accept funds from its victims via credit and debit card, without raising fraud alerts.
To accomplish this, MNF needed to conceal its identity and prevent acquirer and card networks from scrutinizing (and possibly terminating) its merchant account. To make this happen, MNF created multiple fictitious companies, each with an MNF principal or employee as the owner or principal of the company. Then, MNF applied for merchant accounts under each fictitious name, through which they could launder charges to consumer credit or debit cards.
For example, one fictitious company was called “D&D Marketing,” a company whose “owner” was an MNF employee with the initials “D.D.”. Thus, some consumers that made payments in the framework of the MNF scam would see charges on the their credit card statements to “D&D Marketing” rather than “Money Now Funding”.
And here’s where EPS comes into the picture.
The lawsuit alleges that from May to November 2012, one of the defendants submitted phony merchant applications on behalf of 23 of these fictitious companies to EPS for EPS’s underwriting approval. EPS then approved all 23 applications, set up merchant accounts for each fictitious company, and immediately began processing for these accounts through EPS’s acquirer, Merrick Bank.
EPS Facilitated MNF Transaction Laundering
The lawsuit alleges that, in approving these 23 applications, as well as others documented in the paperwork filed, EPS essentially “…engaged in the underwriting and approval of MNF’s fictitious companies, and helped set up merchant accounts with its acquirer for these fictitious companies. Using the services of two payment processors, EPS processed more than $5,895,035 in MNF transactions through these and other fraudulent merchant accounts.”
Without the ISO and processing services provided by EPS, the MNF scam could not have obtained the fraudulent merchant accounts at Merrick, through which MNF’s credit card transactions were processed.
As Merrick’s ISO, EPS was contractually bound to comply with that acquiring bank’s underwriting rules for merchant screening. These included strict guidelines that could verify merchant identity and legitimacy, screening out merchants possibly engaged in fraud. EPS was also obligated to closely monitor merchant transactions, maintain merchant information in Merrick’s merchant database, and ensure that its merchants complied with VISA’s rules and regulations (EPS was also a registered ISO with VISA through Merrick).
Despite this, the lawsuit alleges that EPS did not verify merchant identities, opening merchant accounts in the names of multiple fictitious companies for the same underlying merchant, and misrepresenting the companies’ true identity and ownership. By doing so, EPS also evaded card network fraud and chargeback monitoring programs, which were designed to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
The Bottom Line: Regulators Are Getting Serious About Transaction Laundering
With its involvement in the MNF scam’s transaction laundering, EPS:
- Ignored obvious warning signs of fraud, including likely transaction laundering
- Concealed from Merrick (the acquiring) and the card networks the true identity and nature of MNF’s fictitious companies
- Made every effort to continue processing for the MNF Fictitious Companies, and other merchants related to the defendants, even after Merrick noticed signs of fraud and instructed EPS to stop
Clearly, this case represents one of the first definitive actions taken by a regulator against transaction laundering. What the exact fallout will be is not yet know, as the lawsuit’s charges have not been assessed. We expect that EPS will ultimately be required to pay all associated card brand fines. But either way, this lawsuit demonstrates that regulatory scrutiny involving transaction laundering has reached critical mass – and that we can expect more cases like this moving forward.


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Horrified shoppers step in ‘pools of blood’ after man slashed inside Harrods by thugs ‘trying to steal designer watch’
HORRIFIED Harrods customers stepped in "pools of blood" after a man was stabbed inside London's world famous department store.
Shocked shoppers watched on as the 29-year-old was slashed in the Louis Vuitton section inside the luxury brand store.
The victim - believed to have been targeted for his designer watch - was rushed to hospital following the shocking incident in Knightsbridge, west London, last night.
Several 999 crews raced to the scene and the store was cordoned off, but the knifeman managed to escape and is still at large.
A dad, who was in the next room inside the store's Louis Vuitton concession with his teenage daughter when the attack happened, told of the horror scene.
Ronnie Chopra, 49, of Mayfair, central London, said: "My daughter and I were at the Louis Vuitton concession on the second floor when the incident occurred.
"We were in the adjacent room waiting to see men's wallets as my daughter wanted to buy me a birthday present.
"We didn't see the actual incident, but heard another customer saying that someone had a knife and slashed a person's arm trying to get a watch.
"When we were leaving the area, there was a pool of blood on the floor and my 13-year-old daughter, Anoushka, sadly walked into it.
"I'm horrified that this occurred inside a shop in London. She was visibly shaken."
Most read in The Sun
There was no sign of the horrific violence at the store today which was open for business as normal.
There have been no arrests following the incident at around 7.30pm on Saturday.
The victim remains in hospital, although his injuries are not believed to life-threatening.
A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called at 7.33pm on Saturday to reports of a fight inside the Harrods store in Brompton Road, Knightsbridge.
"Officers attended and found a 29-year-old man with stab/slash wounds.
"He was taken to hospital by ambulance where his condition was assessed as non-threatening and non-life changing."
He added: "Detectives from the Met's Central West CID are investigating.
"There have been no arrests at this early stage."


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On March 26, Del. Vanessa Atterbeary presented her Maryland online casino bill to the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee, emphasizing its importance to the education budget and the efforts made in the bill to address concerns about employment in the retail sector. Although this year’s iGaming effort began in the Senate, those original bills are now dead. Atterbeary’s bill passed in the House on March 16 with a vote of 92-43. Hers is now the state’s only hope to hold a referendum to legalize online casinos this year.
Del. Atterbeary began her presentation by emphasizing that the House bill is different, not a refiling of Sen. Ron Watson’s legislation. His bills failed to advance because of a belief in the Senate that the revenue from iGaming isn’t currently needed.
Atterbeary stressed that local governments are having difficulty finding the money to follow the Department of Education’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
According to her, the House Ways & Means Committee found iGaming to be the most appropriate way to address that issue and advanced it as part of a budget package.
As all of you know, we are running out of Blueprint funds come 2028. And so this is the House’s way, and the way that Ways and Means came up with to generate funds for specifically the Blueprint.
The bill would create a fund using 1% of iGaming revenue. This would be distributed to local jurisdictions in proportion to the number of school-aged kids living in each area.
Opponents of the Maryland online casino effort have been stoking fears of potential job losses in the brick-and-mortar casino industry. Del. Atterbeary’s bill would also commit funds to alleviating such problems, should they occur.
However, she faced significant pushback from Sen. Joanne Benson, whose concerns stem from a report by the Center for Data Analytics and Sports Gaming Research at Morgan State University (MSU).
Maryland Online Casino Bill Aims to Quell Union Fears
In recent years, retail casino workers’ unions have emerged as one of the trickiest hurdles for online casino expansion efforts to clear. Retail casinos themselves are now split on the question of whether iGaming is a threat to their revenue. Their employees, however, have seized on those fears of cannibalization.
In Maryland, as in New York, winning union support will be critical if the bill has any hope of passing. Del. Atterbeary presented two ways in which her legislation addresses union concerns.
First, she said it commits the first $10 million in annual revenue—before any other deductions—to create a cannibalization fund. Any workers losing their jobs due to a shift from retail to online gambling would receive compensation from the fund in addition to their usual unemployment benefits.
Del. Atterbeary emphasized that this money would be used only if cannibalization occurs. She believes those fears are unfounded. She said the House had considered five different studies, of which only one suggested that revenue and job losses were likely in the retail sector.
Second, the bill proposes a much lower tax rate on live dealer games revenue than other games—20% vs. 55%. She said this would encourage operators to invest in their live dealer offerings. The bill would require such studios to be located in the same county as a brick-and-mortar casino and to keep their hiring in-state.
That said, promises of new jobs opening up in the live dealer online casino space haven’t always quelled union fears. Retail casino dealers make much of their money from tips. Live dealer games also allow tipping in the US, but the worry is that online customers might not be as generous as retail patrons.
Sen. Benson Establishes Herself as iGaming Critic
When the committee’s chair, Sen. Guy Guzzone, opened the floor for questions, there was only one. This came from Sen. Benson, whose words made it clear she would be unlikely to support the legislation.
Sen. Benson asked Del. Atterbeary if she had read the MSU report. Atterbeary admitted she had not.
Sen. Benson said she takes the MSU study report very seriously, as it suggests the impact would be “very devastating for people of color.”
Del. Atterbeary and Sen. Benson are both Black, as is Sen. Watson, who sponsored the Senate online casino bill.
A second line of questioning from Sen. Benson was about jobs at brick-and-mortar casinos and the surrounding businesses. On this, Del. Atterbeary deferred to Michelle McGregor, an industry representative from the Sports Betting Alliance.
McGregor cited “other studies” and SBA’s client operators. They have found that in the states with legal iGaming, it has been additive to the retail industry. She said:
Across the six states, data substantially shows that iGaming revenue is additive to land-based casino gaming. In fact, for states where casino gaming was on the decline or stagnant, they’ve since seen increases in their land-based revenue. So I think that would reinforce sustainability for jobs and even for the existing businesses around casinos.
Sen. Benson was not convinced, reiterating that the MSU report says otherwise.
Possible Outcomes for Del. Atterbeary’s Bill
Maryland’s legislative session ends April 8, so there’s not much time for the bill to pass. It looks like it will have at least one vocal opponent in Sen. Benson, and so far, union leaders have given no indication of coming around.
Passing a bill in one half of the legislature is more progress than other states have made in 2024. However, most pundits have tended to be of the opinion that its odds in the Senate are slim.
The short remaining timeline means there isn’t much leeway to go back and forth on details. However, Sen. Watson’s original legislation came in two parts—one to call the necessary referendum and the other to establish the implementation details. It’s possible that we could see a reversion to that strategy, with only the referendum portion passing in 2024.
Under that scenario, the question of whether to allow online casinos would go to voters in the November general election. If they were to approve it, then the legislature could go back to the drawing board with the implementation details in 2025. Addressing all the concerns coming from every camp would be no easy feat. But it would be easier with a mandate from the Maryland public in hand.


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What are you going to do this Christmas to put the spark in your wife’s eye? It’s a lot easier than you think. These top 10 Christmas presents will warm the fire of the woman you promised to spend the rest of your life with, your wife.
As with most economies, Malaysia has been affected by the global financial crisis and some reports suggest that Asia has been affected more than western countries. Malaysia, being a small open economy with a strong export-dependent manufacturing sector, has been particularly vulnerable.
An ambitious package of economic reforms aimed at deregulating the economy by the Government of India has made India an ideal destination for investment opportunities for NRIs and foreign nationals.


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Unlawful solutions: extortion, junk e-mail, phishing
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In late May and early June, things were looking up for retail real estate investment trusts (REITs) as the economy slowly started opening back up. Restaurants, shops, and businesses received the green light to reopen following new safety guidelines and protocols. This created optimism for retail owners and consumers to rebound from the closures and loss of income they'd suffered since the coronavirus outbreak began in early March.
On June 8, 2020, Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) was up 112% from its March 18, 2020, low, a huge jump by any means. And they're not the only retail REIT to bounce back so quickly. Numerous retail REITs like Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE: KIM), who owns retail shopping centers across the U.S., saw a 101% gain from their April low, and Realty Income Corp (NYSE: O), who specializes in single-tenant retail properties, saw a 51% move from March lows.
Hope comes to a halt
On June 13, 2020, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases started to spike following an alarming trend of new record reported cases daily with the number of confirmed cases nearly tripling just 30 days later. Several states revoked their orders for opening, closing down the same businesses they'd reopened just a few weeks later.
While some retail REITs are in a better position to fare another round of closures, like Kimco Realty Corp, who's shopping centers are comprised of 43% essential retailers who remained opened during the first round of retail closures like Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), and other grocery stores -- others, like Simon Property Group, who are mostly comprised of shopping, dining, and mixed-use properties like malls, will likely feel the pinch if closures are extended for a long period of time.
What it means for investors
The ups and downs retail REITs are facing right now will probably continue as long as uncertainty looms over increased cases and when businesses will be able to safely reopen. It's a volatile time for our country, and that volatility will continue to be reflected in the performance and consumer confidence of stocks, REITs, and the businesses that are directly affected by the pandemic. Many retail REITs, even those who are hit hard from pandemic closures, are in positive enough shape to weather the coronavirus storm in the long run, but true recovery will take time. While several retail REITs are at historically low prices, it doesn't mean they are a buy. Having a firm understanding of where each company stands financially is crucial before buying.


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"If, in writing some article that's negative, you effectively dissuade people from using autonomous vehicles, you're killing people," said Musk, CEO of Tesla as he criticized the media on Wednesday for covering driverless car crashes while ignoring the 1.2 million people who are killed in car accidents worldwide annually. This was quoted as he was persuading that his self-driving technology to be twice as safe as people driven cars and he is adamant that the public sees his opinion and vision. In May, an Ohio man died in an accident while he was using Autopilot - a partial self-driving technology that Tesla has been offering since last year. His Model S failed to spot a tractor-trailer crossing a divided highway, and while neither the car nor the driver braked, the Model S crashed into the side of the trailer. Federal investigators are still looking into the accident to see if Autopilot had a role in the crash.
While there are few studies to prove Musk right or wrong on this matter, there is a bit of data which favors his position that computer controlled vehicles are safer. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety determined from 2016 police data that forward collision warning alone reduced front-into rear crashes by 27 percent while automatic braking cut the rear crashes in half and reduced injures by almost 60 percent.
Tesla Motors announced this week that all of its cars are now equipped to be self-driving vehicles even though the technology to operate autonomous driving is not ready. Tesla will be charging USD $8000 for the "full self-driving capability" feature when it is released. The company also notes the release date will be dependent on regulatory approval. And in the fine print on a page describing options for new cars, Tesla Motors made it absolutely clear that it will ban owners from using their self-driving vehicles for ride services with exemption of their own network, proving they are planning to set up their own ride-sharing service. The disclaimer quotes "Using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride-hailing for friends and family is fine, but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla Network, details of which will be released next year."
While ride-sharing/hailing is a vision of many autonomous vehicle makers and developers, some analysts are skeptical in Tesla's move into the market since there are well established players already such as Uber and Lyft. While autonomous vehicles are being tested in the market, it is also the first time Uber and Lyft have had to own, maintain and insure their vehicles since their prior business model relied heavily on the driver to do so. While Tesla's resources and technology available to them may be more advanced, the future is yet to be clear on which company will emerge victorious.
But being bold and aggressive is nothing new to Elon Musk and Tesla Motors. He already has a reputation of making outrageous claims and then proving to be following through albeit behind schedule such as SpaceX and trips to Mars. Musk pledged he'll produce a Tesla that can drive itself from Los Angeles to New York City, no human needed. With such an aggressive timeline, this pledge puts him years ahead of all the other players in the autonomous driving market. Ford is aiming for 2021, China's Baidu for 2019. Google hasn't given a hard date even though they have been working on this project for nine years and have a fleet of 60 self-driving cars which has covered more than two million miles mostly around cities. And GM has yet to also provide a hard date.


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Monday Morning Brief for March 21, 2022: Canceled plans
- Published: Mar 21, 2022, 7 AM
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley. If this statement by Scotland’s Robert Burns is not the official motto of the United States Mint, maybe it should be.
As Paul Gilkes reports this week, the Mint has canceled plans to strike and release 2022 Morgan and Peace dollars as a follow-up to the 2021 coins. This announcement was a surprise, but given the reasons why Mint officials decided not to issue the 2022 coins, maybe it should not have been.
“This calculated pause is directly related to the global pandemic’s impact upon the availability of silver blanks from the Mint’s suppliers,” the press release reads. “We’ll be required to make business decisions like this until the supply chain for silver blanks recovers from the disruptions caused by COVID-19,” said Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson in the press release.
The global supply problems have led to shortages of innumerable products, with no date in sight for when normal deliveries of your favorite food or computer chips or silver planchets might resume.
Silver itself is not in short supply. The same supply-chain problems faced by other industries are behind the planchet production shortfalls.
Compounding the problem is that world mints, both government and private, are issuing new numismatic products of uncountable number and variety. The U.S. Mint is issuing not only bullion and numismatic coins authorized by Congress, but is also issuing silver medals of various sizes and themes. Since the Mint does not produce coinage strip or create coinage metal from the raw elements, it is entirely dependant on private suppliers for the needed products, and the U.S. Mint is competing with other mints for those products.
The Mint, faced with reality, apparently found that all of the planned 2022 products could not be produced. Something had to give, something had to be abandoned. But what?
Will the one-year gap in this program reduce the interest in the program? That is what one of our staff editors wondered upon being informed of the news. Once our news coverage hit the internet minutes after we received the Mint press release, others began asking the same question.
Collector response that we are seeing has been rather muted. Many of those commenting online show a preference for making the new Morgan and Peace dollars a one-year issue. After all, many commenters note, the program was intended to celebrate the centennial of the transition from the Morgan design to the Peace design in 1921. With the centennial year of 2021 past, no need exists to issue future editions.
As one reader wrote at our Facebook page, “We don’t need another ‘commemorative’ in a series. The 2021 should have been a one and done (albeit, not enough were minted to meet demand). If people want a Peace or Morgan, get a real one with 90% silver in a nice grade. Quit looking backwards for new sales.”
However, not everyone agrees that canceling the planned 2022 coins was a good decision. One reader succinctly sums up his opinion: “Boo.”
One wonders whether the 2022 Morgan and Peace dollars will be the only canceled program this year. Time will tell, to use a cliché.
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Plumbase first multibrand store in NW
Published: 07 November, 2012
CRAWLEY: Plumbase has opened its first 'four brands under one roof' store in Nelson, Lancashire.
The 800sqm store includes the four Plumbase brands for the first time in the region: Plumbase, Bathbase, Ecobase and Sparesbase.
Andy Hirst, Plumbase regional director for the North West says: "The Nelson store is the next step in the Plumbase offering.
"We are really looking forward to giving our customers a multi-service store to save them time and money in their business or personal projects."


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Some iPhone 12 users have complained about the durability of battery power which is considered wasteful in its use. In fact, some users claim that the battery has decreased by 20 to 40 percent. Even though they do not operate the smartphone.
Some users on Apple’s Community Support forums have also reported the findings of the ‘battery leak’. It even occurs when the smartphone is in low battery mode or overnight standby.
“More and more users are reporting that even if their phones are in standby mode. It means the phone is not being used, they are experiencing a rapid and overnight battery drain,” IT expert Tyler Lee quoted Ubergizmo as saying, Thursday (3/12).
The battery drain may be due to an iOS software error
Some users have also been reported that they have brought their device to Apple outlets. But after being tested diagnostically, it seems that their battery is fine and there are no serious problems. This finding raises speculation that the wasteful battery could be a bug or iOS software error.
User with the username Master26A in the Apple Community forum revealed that his iPhone 12 Pro battery drains quickly. eventhough it was in standby mode. He mentions the battery loss is around 4 percent per hour.
“Since then, more than 1,000 other people said they saw the same problem. Many have complained of between 20 and 40 percent battery loss overnight, and many have tried things like turning off 5G and turning off background app activity,” he wrote quoting Imore.
“No matter what I try, it seems the battery is still dropping very fast. I checked the battery report, and it didn’t show the real cause, just a quick drop for no apparent reason,” wrote another user.
iPhone 12 was criticized by the founder of the Telegram Messenger
Smartphone, which was released last October, and received criticism from the founder of the Telegram Messenger service, Pavel Durov. According to him, the iPhone 12 Pro has a design like the iPhone 5 but uses a larger size.
What makes the iPhone 12 Pro look unattractive, according to Pavel Durov, is the bad array of rear cameras, especially because they have different heights.


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When Sony rolls out its newest video game console, PlayStation 4, in Brazil next month, Brazilian gamers are going to have to break the bank to bring one home.
Sony’s new PS4 may be set to retail for $400 in the US, but in Brazil the system will sell for a whopping 3,999 Brazilian Real, or $1850 at launch, reports Brazilian news outlet Globo. (link in Portuguese)
According to Sony Brazil, the vast majority of the costs have nothing to do with the actual product and everything to do with Brazil’s absurdly steep import fees and taxes. “60 to 70% of the retail price of the PS4 corresponds to the country’s import tax,” Sony Brazil told Globo. Restrictive import taxes are compounded by poor infrastructure, which raises delivery and transportation costs.
Brazil has gained something of a reputation as one of the world’s worst markets for electronics. Restrictive import taxes, intended to protect local manufacturers, are compounded by poor infrastructure, which raises delivery and transportation costs. Couple that with the fact that Brazil actively restricts the number of imports from abroad, and electronics prices soar through the roof. Smartphones in the country sell for upwards of $1000 and iPads are among the world’s most expensive.
What makes the inflated PlayStation prices even worse is Brazilians don’t make anywhere near as much money as, say, Americans do. While the current average monthly wage in the US is over $4000, in Brazil it’s barely even $800. Meaning that the average Brazilian will have to fork over more than two months-worth of income just to buy Sony’s new console. That’s nearly 20% of their annual income! And it doesn’t even take into account the extra controller—which will cost over $100—or games—which will cost nearly $100 a piece. For those making Brazil’s minimum wage of $312.33 a month, thoughts of buying the new PS4 will likely amount to little more than wishful thinking. For them, it will cost a whopping 50% of their annual income.
Sony’s new system isn’t the only gaming platform being released next month. Microsoft’s new Xbox One will also be hitting shelves shortly. The estimated retail price in Brazil? 2,200 Brazilian Real, or $1,016.


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Royal Enfield sold over 60,000 motorcycles in February 2019, but overall sales are down compared to the peak of more than 70,000 motorcycles the company was despatching a year ago. In all, Royal Enfield sold 62,630 motorcycles in February 2019, with overall sales falling 14 per cent from 73,077 motorcycles the company had sold in the same month a year ago. The domestic market, which is Royal Enfield's primary sales market, reflected the dropping sales. Growth in domestic sales fell 16 per cent to 60,066 motorcycles in February 2019, compared to 71,354 motorcycles sold in the same month a year ago.
Commenting on Royal Enfield's performance, Siddhartha Lal, Managing Editor and CEO of Eicher Motors Limited, said, "The latter half of 2018 was a challenging period for the two-wheeler industry in India. Factors like increased insurance requirements, rising raw material costs and the subsequent price increase due to regulatory safety requirements impacted the momentum of the industry. Royal Enfield's market share recorded improvement on a sequential basis, while volumes in the quarter were impacted. We believe this is a temporary impact due to a price reset. We continue to remain optimistic about the trend of premiumization in the motorcycling industry, and are confident that this trend will continue in the future."
The silver lining however, is in Royal Enfield's export numbers. In February 2019, Royal Enfield exported 2564 motorcycles, registering a growth of 49 per cent over the same month a year ago, when Royal Enfield had exported just 1723 motorcycles. The newest models from Royal Enfield, the 650 Twins - Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, and Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 - have been positioned as the company's global products, and looks like traction is slowly building in export markets. There's already a few months waiting period on bookings in the domestic market on the 650 Twins. As production of the 650 Twins is streamlined, within the next quarter or so, expect Royal Enfield's exports to show significant growth and volumes.


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Bitcoin to Hit $100,000 in 2020? You Can Bet on It
LedgerX Unveils New Product
Bitcoin-centric derivatives platform LedgerX has just unveiled a helluva product.
Reported first by Bloomberg, the American exchange that recently secured a derivatives license from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will be allowing traders to bet on if Bitcoin will pass $100,000 by December 2020. The call option will pay only if BTC manages to surmount that crazy milestone by December of 2020, which is still around 18 months away.
According to Paul Chou, the chief executive of the startup, institutional customers that have assets valued at anywhere from $10 million to $1 billion have expressed interest in this new vehicle. Chou adds:
I understand $100,000 is a large number, but a lot of us who’ve been in this space remember Bitcoin at $1, and then it hit $10 and $100 and $10,000. A $100,000 contract doesn’t even make us blink.
As reported by Ethereum World News previously, LedgerX has received clearance from the CFTC. This regulatory green light will allow the company to list physically-settled BTC futures, which are far different than the paper contracts offered by the CME.
According to CoinDesk, chief operating officer Juthica Chou has claimed that her company has no exact timeline, but she noted that LedgerX is looking to be the incumbent in this market. Chou adds that LedgerX intends to “serve customers of all sizes”, hinting that there may be a much-needed retail component to this upcoming product, something that Bakkt is seemingly not focusing on yet.
Is a $100,000 Bitcoin Possible?
Alright, so now that you know that such a zany product is available, do analysts think that Bitcoin achieving $100,000 by 2020 is possible?
According to one model, just maybe. The model is from analyst PlanB and centers around the idea of the stock-to-flow ratio (SF).
The stock is the value of an asset, usually a commodity, above the ground/produced; the flow is the growth in the supply of said asset in any given year. These two sums can be combined to form a ratio, which defines scarcity by how much inflation an asset sees (the higher, the more scarce).
According to an analysis compiled by PlanB, the value of commodities like gold and silver can be plotted, and thus predicted, by a stock-to-flow valuation model.
In a recent tweet, the analyst noted that if you take BTC’s prices in all historical Octobers, then plotted it against his stock-to-flow model, Bitcoin fits it to a 99.5% R2.
The model predicts that should Bitcoin continue to follow the model to an eerie degree of accuracy, BTC could reach over $100,000 a pop after May 2020’s halving event. You see, when the cryptocurrency’s block reward reduction arrives, the SF ratio naturally increases, doubling actually.
The model doesn’t predict exact price action on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis, but it does show that a six-figure Bitcoin is entirely possible.
Title Image Courtesy of Through Catalog Via Unsplash


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Airbnb was dealt a setback in one of its most important markets Tuesday as voters in a New Jersey city approved restrictions on short-term rental companies in a hard-fought referendum.
The vote in Jersey City was lopsided in favor of the restrictions with early returns showing 70 percent voted for restrictions, according to Bloomberg.
Airbnb going down to defeat despite spending at least $4.2 million on an effort to sway voters while its opponents, including the hotel industry.
The ballot question asked residents’ permission to limit rentals to 60 days a year if the owner does not live on site. It also asks that no rental units would be allowed in buildings that already have more than four rentals, namely high-rises.
“The stakes are very, very high for Airbnb,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop told Bloomberg, adding that expansion is key for Airbnb’s initial public offering, which is set for 2020.
Critics of Airbnb took to the streets to protest Airbnb’s policies, claiming it is destroying neighborhoods by increasing property values. Already, in Jersey City, the median home costs nearly $488,000 and median rents are about $3,000, double the national medians.
The Manhattan-based Hotel Trade Council also came out against Airbnb, pouring $1 million to support the proposed rules in Jersey City, one of the state’s fastest-growing metros.
Airbnb has spent $4 million to fight against the hotel union. Spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco said the group is trying to “make it impossible for people to rent their home,” and that some of the proposals were “crafted at the behest of the hotel industry’s special interests.”
Officials at Airbnb fear the new proposed regulations would mean an outright ban on listings in New Jersey and that it could mean an end to the company altogether, which pulled in $16.7 million for hosts over the summer and turned an $18.7 million operating profit in 2018.
Fulop, on the other hand, said the rules are commonsense and not unlike what other cities have already enforced. “The ordinance is not a ban. We want to make home-sharing fair.”


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Although dwarfed in size and scope by more recent incidents, three of the most well-known mega-breaches involved large retail chains. With the approach of the holiday shopping season, our loss data experts pulled together these and other cyber incidents against retailers, as highlights from our 55,000+ cyber incidents.
Retailer cyber losses
From 2005 to 2006, cyber-criminals accessed the payment processing systems of a global retailer and its U.S. and foreign subsidies. The 18-month breach affected 100 million individuals and resulted in total costs of over $218 million.
Another cyber incident against a retailer cost a whopping $553 million. A major retailer discovered an ongoing data breach that had been in progress for several weeks. The breach had been accomplished through a phishing attack on a 3rd party service supplier who legitimately had credentialed access directly to the retailer’s systems. A total of 110 million customers were affected.
These are two of 10 retailer cyber losses featured in this paper prepared by Advisen using loss data pulled from its loss database. This cyber loss data is housed in a structured, relational database, and is mapped to the appropriate company from our database of over 20 million insureds.


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The most successful brands on Facebook share a common trait - they've figured out a way to connect with users around a shared interest or passion. They build upon that foundation and success by creating unique and engaging content, encouraging conversations, and adding value. While "likes" can build quickly through word of mouth, they are often accelerated through the integration of the brand's Facebook address across all key touch points and via promotions and advertising to Facebook's more than 126 million active users in the U.S. and Canada. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Facebook was the U.S. display advertising leader for the second straight year according to eMarketer, with $1.73 billion, followed by Google and Yahoo. But with Google nipping at its heels, Facebook is once again looking to change the game, and it starts this month with the launch of Premium Ads, its new ad format.
Facebook's Premium Ads, announced officially at Facebook's "fMC" confab on February 29, combines the strengths of Facebook (where connections, conversations, and community flourish) with the triad of marketing disciplines (paid, earned, and owned media so central to every leading brand's media strategy). Premium Ads not only puts a brand's page and relevant post in front of the right audience, but it leverages an individual's connections, i.e., "social context" to amplify its relevance and trust. The result, according to Facebook's internal testing, is expected to delight advertisers. Specifically, according to Facebook, Premium Ads are:
Source: Facebook Premium Page Post Ads Guide
Expectations are so high for the new format that many new and established social media players are rushing to support the new ads. Forbes.com recently highlighted several social media players scrambling to buy, build, or partner to support Premium Ads. Featured players included Buddy Media's acquisition of ad buying software company Brighter Option, Wildfire Interactive's integration of Adaptly's ad buying technology into its platform, and GraphEffect's new feature enhancements designed to recommend new target audiences and help brands identify and optimize the most valuable engaging content to feature into Premium Ads.
So if you're a brand that's established a strategy and been fairly successful at engaging your community, what should you do?
Will Premium Ads redefine advertising and keep Facebook on top? Well, if the influx of new solutions combined with the promise of combining paid, earned, and owned media with a double-digit lift in performance is any indication, the answer is yes.
Meet Your Favorite ClickZ Contributors
Many of ClickZ's leading expert contributors will be at ClickZ Live, the new online and digital marketing event kicking off in New York (March 31-April 3). Hear from the likes of: Jeremy Hull, Lisa Raehsler, Andrew Goodman, Bryan Eisenberg, Mathew Sweezey, Aaron Kahlow, Stephanie Miller, Simms Jenkins, Jeanne S. Jennings, Dave Hendricks and more!
Michael Della Penna is senior vice president of emerging channels at Responsys. His responsibilities include spearheading the overall strategic direction, partnerships, and solution offering across emerging channels including social and mobile for the company. Michael is a seasoned marketing professional with a long, proven track record of launching successful marketing, branding, and sales strategies for leading public and private companies. Most recently, Michael founded SuiteDialog, a full-service email and social CRM agency that helps brands ignite conversations and cultivate relationships with customers across the social web. Prior to SuiteDialog, Michael founded Conversa Marketing, a social CRM company that was acquired by StrongMail Systems in 2010. Before branching out on his own, Michael served as chief marketing officer for Epsilon, a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven marketing services. Michael's other key marketing leadership roles include CMO at Bigfoot Interactive, VP of strategic development at CNET Networks, Inc., and VP of marketing at ZDNet. Michael received a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Hofstra University.
March 19, 2014


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Codemasters has today released a fresh batch of images comparing the nighttime lighting effects between last year’s Formula One title and this year’s game launching later this month.
As you can see, there are dramatic differences between the two which really highlights (no pun intended) the progress made by the British-based developer in the last twelve months. So good are the visuals in fact, that it’s hard to imagine a next-generation title looking a whole lot better.
You can view all six mouth-watering comparison shots in the gallery below.
We recently got hands-on with the title and were joined by game director Lee Mather to talk all things F1 2019, see for yourself in the video below.
F1 2019 will give players the chance to finally get behind the wheel of a Formula 2 car and contains an impressive total of 22 classic Formula cars including 18 returning from previous titles. F1 2019 will release on June 28 across the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms so mark your calendars.


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This day came with a bit of a surprise when Kenneth Scott, senior art director on Halo 4, has decided to step down from his current duties at 343 Industries. He has been working for over four years on Halo 4 and presumably has been working too on the new Halo for Xbox One.
343 Industries will have a new Art Director for new Halo projects
For what the motives to leave his current position a Microsoft spokesperson told IGN, "In order to be with his family, Kenneth Scott and 343 Industries have agreed to transition his current role". If not many people knew Scott's wife is Corrine Yu, who decided to left 343 Industries in November to start on a new career for Naughty Dog in California.
But this will leave us all curious to know who will be replacing Kenneth Scott. Well the new Art Director is going to be Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier, a long-time colleague and collaborator with Kenneth. Even Bouvier is going to step into the position of Art Director, Kenneth will continue to work with 343 Industries remotely and also will be partner with Nicolas in a newly created role as a Visual Design Consultant.
This news are going to be quite a show, making all those fans excited and eager to know more details of the plans the studio has regarding the future of Halo. But meanwhile we can have a look of Nicolas work on his own personal blog. Which we can start to have ideas on the new styles and designs we can see on future Halo games.


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Vessel congestion at the port of Oakland increased over the past week as trucker protests against California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5). If protests continue into this week, vessel queues will lengthen further as carriers will not be able to divert cargo already loaded for Oakland at short notice. However, as Oakland accounts for less than 8% of total container volumes in the US West Coast, the impact will not significantly affect overall North American congestion unless the protests spread to Los
US port congestion is rising again with worsening delays at US East Coast ports. The vessel queues at East Coast ports has grown to over 630,000 teu.
Global port congestion increased to 12.4% as at 19 June 2022, with congestion picking up again in Chinese ports especially around Ningbo, Shanghai and Qingdao.
The active containership fleet increased slightly over the past week due to the reduction in port congestion, with about 400,000 teu coming out of the congestion queue.
Global port congestion has eased slightly over the past week, due to reduced queues at China with carriers omitting calls at Shanghai as export cargo volumes have been substantially affected by the extended lockdowns. Waiting times at Shanghai and Ningbo remain at less than 2 days on average...


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Australia-based supplement company Vmores’ newest launch is a bird’s nest supplement manufactured using its freeze-drying technology, which the firm hopes will provide a more convenient format for consumers beyond the traditional cooking process.
In this round-up, we look at how Danone is banking on new HMO, A2 toddler formulas for success in China, financial performance from BY-HEALTH in the first six months of 2020, and the expansion plans of probiotics firm Scitop Bio-tech.
Drinking a high bioavailability curcumin formulation before and after exercise could speed up recovery, allowing athletes to resume training quicker and exercise at higher thresholds, says a new study funded by Gencor Pacific.
Taking inulin after an antibiotic therapy could reduce the amount of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) – an enzyme linked to liver damage – in individuals suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a study has shown.
See July's 10 most read stories, including new findings on the types of health supplements that could reduce COVID-19 severity, products that consumers in China have been taking during the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as brand stories.
Australian regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has doubled-down on its stance that online supplements and nutritional adverts intended for health professionals should not be accessible by the public and tools such as username and password...
China Post has opened its first in-house pharmacy in Beijing, but industry experts have argued that several developments are required if it is to lead to significant new opportunities for supplement firms.
South Korea will see the opening of 150 brick-and-mortar stores specialising in selling personalised nutrition products in the next two year as part of a pilot project, said the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).
In this round-up, we highlight the ongoing trends in the health and nutrition industry, including the best-selling vitamin, calcium, Q10 brands in China, how India is leading APAC in terms of new immune health foods launch and more.


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One must never doubt Blizzard. The company has helped shape the video game industry with a masterful list of series (Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm) that have taken existing ideas and transformed them to into titles that have reached legendary status, amassing millions of devoted followers and generated billions for a company that started their journey by initially cutting their teeth on middling fare such as RPM Racing and The Lost Vikings. Even with a resume as packed with success as Blizzard, analysts were still second guessing the company when they debuted Overwatch to the world back at their self-created fan service showcase, Blizzcon in 2014. The game showed off glimpses of a team based first person multiplayer shooter (FPS) that showed promise but left many unsure just how big a dent Blizzard could make in this already crowded genre.
The FPS marketplace had already been inundated with scores of memorable and popular experiences dominated by the likes of Call of Duty, Halo and Battlefield series and was looking to get even more crowded with more recent entries such as Star Wars: Battlefront, Titanfall 2, Doom and Battleborn all trying to vie for the same gaming space. Some were even questioning the sanity of both 2k (Battleborn) and Blizzard (Overwatch) that were releasing games with similar experiences just three weeks apart. Even though the game had tested well, no one was 100% sure what to expect on May 24th when Overwatch stormed onto retail shelves.
But lo and behold the gaming world once again underestimated the drawing power and the technical ability of this long standing industry giant. Overwatch was released to a flurry of critical acclaim due to its legion of characters and their diverse array of powers creating an easy to get into teamwork fast and a fun loot game structure that have courted players not willing to touch previous shooter entries while still finding a way to get seasoned players to dive in and find new and interesting ways to dispatch of their opponents. The simple fact that both staff members of Game Source, Pop Culture Cosmos and the gamers voting in our 2016 GoTY contest courtesy of our Retro City Games/Rob McCallum Films (with our lucky Grand Prize winner to be announced soon at the first “Game night” of 2017) overwhelmingly picked this game above all others is just a testament to how well Blizzard has managed to be able to delve into previously unfamiliar genres and still be able to strike a core with a mass audience.
Brilliant games such as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Inside and Superhot have given gamers in 2016 a shot in the arm they so desperately needed. It’s also incredible to see in the video game industry a format that has been done seemingly to death get invigorated by the likes of Doom and Titanfall 2 masterful campaigns. But when looking at the year as a whole and what company was driving the gaming world’s biggest phenomenon this side of Pokemon Go in actuality it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Overwatch is our Game Source/Pop Culture Cosmos 2016 Game of the Year. Congratulations to the winner of this year’s award and to those waiting to speculate on their next gaming venture the lesson once again is this: One must never doubt Blizzard.
Honorable Mentions: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Inside, Superhot, Doom and Titanfall 2.
2009: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
2010: Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2011: Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360, PC)
2012: Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2013: Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
2014: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
2015: Super Mario Maker (WiiU)


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There are literally tens of thousands of chemicals that are found in cleaning products!
It comes as no surprise that many consumers are a bit overwhelmed at the thought of the chemicals that they may be coming into contact with on a daily basis. Many consumers are ready for a change and want to choose products that are safer not only for the environment but for themselves as well. The problem comes in not knowing exactly what chemicals are used in which products and which ones are considered to be toxic in nature.
In 2010 alone, nearly 10 percent of toxic exposure in the United States came from cleaning products. The United States Poison Control Center reported over 200,000 calls for toxicity and nearly 130,000 of those calls involved young children. Cleaning products that contain chemicals are found in nearly every home in the nation and this is a potential hazard for those with smaller children who could potentially spill or even swallow those toxins.
Consumers should note that the ingredients found in these cleaning products will vary regarding how hazardous they are. Many may cause immediate danger such as respiratory issues or chemical burns. Others may cause long term issues like cancer. Keep in mind that this is only regarding chemicals found in cleaning products. There are a number of other products, foods and other items that contain chemicals as well. It is very easy to see why many consumers become overwhelmed at the thought of ridding their home of toxins.
Working toward a cleaner and safer environment means taking steps to avoid using products that contain harsh or hazardous chemicals. These products need to have labels that allow consumers to see exactly what it is that they are bringing into their homes and there are a number of environment projects currently ongoing that address this issue. San Francisco is working with the Safer Nail Salon Program which is designed to inform customers of which nail salons offer toxin free polishes and other products.
Green Chemistry is an ongoing project as well and one that is working toward finding a permanent solution to the toxic chemical issue involving many household items. The project seeks to find non-toxic substances that will be completely biodegradable and safer for the environment and consumers. California is also developing a program that when executed will require that all conventional chemical products have a green replacement. This will eliminate many of the hazardous chemicals that are found in most homes today. Several laws have been passed in California over the past ten years that help to protect consumers from many toxins found in certain products.
Green Chemistry is still a fairly new program but as it grows it promises to be very helpful in keeping toxins away from homes and out of products that many consumers use every day. While the chemical industry itself may be doing what they can to stop this initiative, many consumers have already gotten onboard with Green Chemistry and are working to find solutions to the toxic chemical issues at hand. Consumers who want to become more involved in a better environment should contact their legislators and let them know how they feel. Being a bit more responsible when it comes to choosing products will also help. Consumers can spend a bit more time researching various products, particularly cleaning supplies, to ensure that these products do not contain harmful chemicals. There are a number of green products currently on the market and choosing these products which are safer is one step in helping to keep the environment and consumer homes free from harmful toxins.


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Last week, USA Today published a column entitled "Paper may be bad for trees, but it is good for people," by Tal Gross, an assistant professor at Columbia University. Here at Two Sides we could not agree more with the findings and statements related to the benefits of paper for education and learning.
Two Sides to Sustainability
As many of you know, Two Sides has been working with several Fortune 500 companies in North America to encourage best practices for environmental marketing related to paper. Our ongoing campaign has been successful, with 33 companies out of 60 removing their claims—a 60 percent success rate to date. But our target is 80 percent and we continue to add new companies to our list regularly.
From working at a computer to socializing, playing games, paying bills, taking notes in class, doing homework, reading books, watching TV and texting, we are all spending an increasing amount of our lives looking at screens. But at what cost to our health?
Despite what many people think, harvesting trees for wood and paper production in a sustainable manner does not cause deforestation. The area occupied by forests in Canada has remained stable over the last two decades while in the United States it increased by 3 percent over the last 60 years.
Most consumers want a paper option for their bills and statements. Like earlier studies carried out in the United States and the United Kingdom, a recent nationwide survey conducted for Two Sides US by the research firm Toluna showed that 64 percent of consumers say they would not choose a company that did not offer a paper bill option and 88 percent want to be able to switch between electronic and paper bills without difficulty or cost.
It helps to know the many guidelines, regulations and standards that govern sustainable forest management in North America. These are important to keep in mind given that we all benefit tremendously from forest products, whether it is paper, lumber or the multitude of other products that are derived from wood.


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- New MSI laptop lineup is VR-ready
- The laptops come with new cooling technologies
- They feature updated graphic cards for VR compatibility
Following the launch of Nvidia’s new Pascal-based Titan X graphic cards, MSI has completely revamped its gaming lineup, introducing the latest GeForce GTX 1060, GeForce GTX 1070, and GeForce GTX 1080 graphic cards for its GT series, GS series, and GE series of laptops. The lineup names also adds “VR” to mostly all the laptops, thanks to the new VR-ready nature of the Nvidia GPUs.
MSI India has announced the new lineup for the country and will be available in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata, apart from being available online via Amazon India. The laptops have not yet been listed on the online retailer, while the company has not provided detailed specifications of the models that will be brought to India.
The MSI GT83VR Titan SLI notebook is the biggest among the lineup, supporting GeForce GTX 1080 or GeForce GTX 1070 cards in SLI. In addition, the MSI Matrix Display technology supports Surround View Mode, 3x4K@60Hz output for 3 external displays. The GT83VR Titan SLI features an 18.4-inch 1920×1080 pixel IPS display and features a mechanical SteelSeries keyboard with Cherry MX switches. The notebook comes with what MSI calls a “Cooler Boost Titan” which manages the heat from the dual graphics cards as well as the Intel Core i7 CPU. The GT83VR Titan SLI (Dual GTX1070, 8GB GDDR5) is priced at Rs. 3,37,900
MSI’s Dominator lineup, which includes the GT72VR Dominator, introduces Cooler Boost 4 technology for cooling the GeForce GTX 1070 GPU on board, alongside the Intel Core i7-6700HQ. It sports a 17.3-inch full-HD IPS 120Hz/5ms display with 100 percent sRGB coverage, and also offers Dynaudio, Nhaimic 2 and Audio Boost 2 enhanced sound system.
The GT72VR Dominator Pro Tobii (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, 8GB GDDR5) is priced at Rs. 2,35,000.
The company also launched the GS63VR Stealth Pro, is claimed to be the world’s lightest 15-inch gaming laptop that packs a cooling system and the GeForce GTX 1060. Apart from being lightweight, MSI is touting the 17.7mm thickness, apart from the SteelSeries keyboard, and Core i7-6700HQ processor. The GS63VR Stealth Pro (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, 6GB GDDR5) will be available for Rs. 1,77,900.
MSI’s Apache lineup will see the launch of the GE62VR Apache Pro, which features an Intel Core i7 processor and GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. The GE62VR is limited to a 1920×1080 pixel display, without the 120Hz option. The GE62VR 6RF Apache Pro (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, 6GB GDDR5) is priced at Rs. 1,46,900.
Share a screenshot and win Samsung smartphones worth Rs. 90,000 by participating in the #BrowseFaster contest.


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Do you know how to recognize and protect your employees and yourself from a wire fraud and business email compromise attack? Hackers have found a way to steal from businesses without hacking or infiltrating your operations or network system. Hackers can simply utilize email as a tool to convince employees to voluntarily transfer money with deception techniques. Hacker uses an email address made to look... Read Article
Working from home comes with perks however, it does come with some challenges! Learn how to work for home without compromising security. SECRET #1 It's easier for cybercriminals to hack your computer, therefore, you need to develop a security mindset and find a place to make it your office which is your dedicated spot, area, or space. Let your family know that this is your... Read Article
Days after the event - the team worked smart and fast and discovered that a 17-year-old Floridian among 2 other hackers (19 and 22 years of age) pulled the twitter scam of cryptocurrency on some well-known celebrities! Twitter is not a novice when it comes to having a smart security posture. Yet they STILL got hacked. There is ALWAYS going to be an endpoint or... Read Article
Did you know that hackers how found new ways to steal millions of dollars without threatening, hacking, or using malware?
Watch out for Wire Transfer Fraud!
Learn how to protect your business with these simple tips! Wire Transfer Fraud are very common and business owners need to watch out for these types of business email compromise.
BlackFire Cyber Insurance... Read Article


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Sunny Gupta Recognized for Entrepreneurial Success and Commitment to Business and Community
BELLEVUE, Wash. – June 18, 2012 – Apptio, the leading provider of on-demand Technology Business Management (TBM) solutions, today announced that Sunny Gupta, co-founder, president and CEO, was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2012 Pacific Northwest Award winner. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success and excellence in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Gupta was selected from nearly 90 nominations by a panel of independent judges consisting of previous award winners, leading CEOs, private capital investors and other regional business leaders. Winners were recognized at a special award gala on June 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Wash.
“The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award is one of the highest honors an entrepreneur can receive based on the program’s legacy of identifying the world’s next great business leaders,” said Matt McIlwain, Apptio board member and managing director at Madrona Venture Group. “Sunny has created a highly transparent company culture where his infectious passion drives a new level of success for Apptio’s customers, partners and employees. I am continually impressed by his laser focus on building the new category of Technology Business Management, and his unwavering commitment to grow Apptio into the next major enterprise software company.”
Gupta began his career in enterprise software more than 20 years ago, serving in numerous general management, strategic marketing, product management and business development roles. Before Apptio, he served as EVP Products at Opsware up to the company’s acquisition by HP for over $1.6 billion. Prior, Gupta was the co-founder and CEO of iConclude, which pioneered the IT runbook automation market. Less than two years after iConclude’s inception, Gupta successfully brokered its acquisition by Opsware for approximately $70 million. He has also held senior leadership positions in products, business development and engineering at Mercury Interactive, Rational Software, and IBM.
In 2007, Gupta co-founded Apptio after holding numerous meetings with Fortune 1000 CIOs which revealed a significant business need for greater transparency and insight into their technology spend. Under Gupta’s leadership, Apptio has achieved significant momentum. Backed by $91M in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group, T. Rowe Price and others, Apptio has pioneered the Technology Business Management software category. Over 90 enterprise customers, including Bank of America, Boeing, Facebook, Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase, use Apptio to manage and communicate the cost, quality and value of IT services. In response to strong market demand, Apptio has nearly tripled its employees from 115 in December 2010 to more than 300 today.
Regional award winners are honored each year in June, with the awards program culminating with the national awards in November. The US Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner then moves on to compete for the World Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Now in its 26th year, the Entrepreneur of the Year Program recognizes business leaders in over 140 cities in more than 50 countries around the world. The program has honored the inspirational leadership of such entrepreneurs as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, Michael Dell of Dell Inc., Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, and Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn.
Apptio is the leading independent provider of on-demand Technology Business Management (TBM) solutions for managing the business of IT. Apptio enables IT leaders to manage the cost, quality and value of IT Services by providing deep visibility into the total cost of IT services, communicating the value of IT to the business through an interactive Bill of IT™, and strategically aligning the planning, budgeting and forecasting processes. Apptio’s TBM solutions play a critical role in helping companies understand and drive chargeback, virtualization, cloud and other key technology initiatives. Global enterprise customers such as Bank of America, Boeing, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, St. Luke’s Health System, and Swiss Re rely on Apptio® products and services to reduce costs and align IT with business priorities. For more information, visit the Apptio website or the Apptio blog.
Barokas PR for Apptio


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Japanese IT company NEC Corp as well as private equity firms KKR and Advent International are among the suitors looking to buy a stake in Indian software services company Mindtree Ltd, a media report said.
Citing people aware of the development, The Economic Times reported that the suitors are interested in buying a 20.42% stake held by VG Siddhartha, managing director at Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd, and two companies – Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd and Coffee Day Trading Ltd.
According to the report, some other minority shareholders in Mindtree may also sell their shares if this transaction is successful.
Kotak Mahindra Capital is advising Siddhartha on this transaction, the report said.
Bengaluru-based Mindtree counts Nalanda Capital, Amansa Holdings and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board as its shareholders.
In another report, The Economic Times cited two people aware of the development as saying that Sarda Energy & Minerals Ltd and special situations investment firm SSG Capital Management may jointly bid for debt-laden companies Uttam Value Steels Ltd and Uttam Galva Metallics Ltd.
Sarda Energy is the flagship company of Sarda Group. The company makes steel and generates hydropower.
Uttam Galva Metallics and Uttam Value Steels are undergoing insolvency resolution processes at the National Company Law Tribunal. The two are the associate companies of Uttam Galva Steels Ltd and together owe around Rs 5,400 crore to their lenders, according to the report.
The other bidders for these companies include JSW Steel, Liberty House, AION Capital and Phoenix ARC, the report said.


text: Each car at the auction was given a lot number with Number One being the first car for sale on Tuesday, and lot number 1613 being the last car sold on Sunday. Air Ride's lot number of 993 meant that it was set for early Friday evening, which is a prime spot for both TV coverage, and for bidding. Barrett-Jackson assigns lot numbers based on when they want cars to go across the auction block. The cars expected to generate the most excitement are set to sell on Friday and Saturday evenings with Saturday being reserved for the biggest players. Here, Barrett-Jackson crewmen push the Mustang out of the tent towards the auction block.


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Own tablet Surface from Microsoft to us right thing seemed ambiguous , however ardent fans of the brand in the head with the head of Microsoft were convinced of the opposite – a hybrid notebook and tablet wait final and irrevocable success. Time has shown that even eccentric Ballmer was forced to admit a mistake – Surface was unsuccessful product.
Last week, the company made publicly available evidence that low sales Surface has lost $ 900 million. According to The Verge resource this week Steve Ballmer personally acknowledged the fact that the Surface odds on the hands of buyers is not as good as the company that expected.
We have made a little more tablets than able to sell.
Even despite the fact that in some editions Surface received high marks, the unit bought reluctantly, and most of the Surface RT and left to lie on the shelves of stores and warehouses. According to some reports nekuplennyh are about 6 million tablets. However, this does not prevent the company to continue to work on next-generation devices and reportedly resource Neowin, a new in-house Surface received enough positive ratings. Do not forget that these estimates may vary greatly with the opinion of real users. Also because of not the highest sales, at least they are lower than expected sales of desktop Windows, the company is pleased with the fact that Windows Phone 8 bypassed BlackBerry and took third place in the ranking of the most popular mobile operating systems.
Do users need a hybrid laptop and tablet? Or is it the tablet – a device for bedside and designed almost? It looks like this question, we have already got the answer. And Microsoft, despite the setbacks, continues to show the superiority of the tablet , which nobody buys, on a tablet, which are buying.
Read another very interesting article about alternative energy of the Sun, water and air.


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A report out of Geneva by Reuters, based on a Swiss newspaper, said that the Swatch Group – owner of luxury brands like Harry Winston, Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Léon Hatot, and Omega; as well as maker of more economical timepieces like Longines and Swatch – has decided to pull out of the Baselworld watch and jewellery trade fair.
Baselworld, which has been a fixture on the annual trade fair calendar of the watches and jewellery industries, has been facing some challenges, and was this year held on a smaller scale than usual, with several brands bowing out of the show. Reports say companies which have decided to not participate have attributed their decision to “high costs and insufficient returns”.
The Swatch Group has held pride of place in the Hall for Watches for several years now and been one of the mainstays of the exhibition.
Some of the high-end brands which have also withdrawn from Baselworld, have now decided to participate in a fair in Geneva. Swatch chief executive Nick Hayek, however, has opined that “traditional annual watch fairs” are becoming irrelevant in the modern marketplace.
Hayek, it is learnt, has also cited the expenditure on the fair’s new exhibition building – to the tune of some 430 million francs –as one of the reasons for their decision to not participate in the show.
“We are not there to amortise an expensive hall designed by (Swiss architects) Herzog & de Meuron,” the Swiss paper quoted Hayek as saying, Reuters reported.
Earlier this month, Baselworld’s longstanding erstwhile Managing Director Sylvie Ritter had made way for Michel Loris-Melikoff to take over her post. The Reuters report says Loris-Melikoff has stated that “Baselworld intended to remain the number one event for the watch industry” and that the Baselworld organisation was doing everything it could to retain the participation of the Swatch Group.
News Source: gjepc.org
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and TJM Media Pvt Ltd. is not responsible for any errors in the same.


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The Ministry of Health of Panama announced that starting this Friday, February 12, florists will be allowed to open for home delivery.
Likewise, Minsa modified the restrictions in restaurants and beaches and made the curfew more flexible at the national level, which will be from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am as of next Monday, February 15.
As of February 15:
Restaurants and businesses will be able to extend their opening hours until 9:00 pm nationwide, an hour and a half more than previously established.
Access to beaches and rivers will also be allowed from Monday to Friday, from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm, in the provinces of Panama, Panama Oeste, Coclé, Los Santos, Veraguas and Herrera; one more hour.
While in Chiriquí, Colón, Darién and Bocas del Toro it will be at the same time but from Monday to Sunday.
In addition, according to the initial gradual reopening plan, this Monday they will reopen:
- Car washes, tailor shops and shoe stores.
- Creative and cultural industries, except cinemas.
- Industries pending to open.
The Minsa announced that from February 17 the sanitary fence in Capira will be lifted, and replaced with a checkpoint.
All national control posts will be maintained and covid-19 tests will be carried out randomly.
On the other hand, in the province of Herrera, the retail trade, beauty parlors and barber shops will be able to reopen their doors from February 15, with 50% of the capacity.


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Microsoft has officially released the Xbox One almost one year ago. To a great many of you this might seem like old news – after all, it was way back in November 2013, hardly recent. Since then we had a lot of games, a lot of activity and a lot of people gaming. Again – this is hardly news.
So then, as odd is it may seem, Microsoft will officially be releasing the Xbox One in 29 more countries over the course of September. The full list of countries and dates is below:
- Tuesday, Sep 2 – Chile, Colombia
- Thursday, Sep 4 – Japan
- Friday, Sep 5 – Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates
- Monday, Sep 15 – Israel
- Tuesday, Sep 23 – China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan
- Friday, Sep 26 – Russia
As you can see, we’re talking about a major rollout here – A good part of Europe, China and Russia are all getting official Xbox One consoles. While it is hardly surprising for Microsoft to do this (it took almost 4 years to finish the release of the Xbox 360 globally) it still somewhat is – especially considering Sony’s announcement this Gamescom that it has sold over 10 milliion units compared to just 5 mil Xbox Ones.
Will this new market finally put Microsoft back on the map or is it too little too late? Only time will tell.Some of our posts include links to online retail stores. We get a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Don't worry, it doesn't cost you anything extra.


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KOTA KINABALU: A 5.7-acre land, identified as one of the key ecological corridor for elephants and orang-utans in Lower Kinabatangan, has recently been secured by Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) with the financial support from Co-op Clean Co., Ltd of Japan.
Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin, Chairman of BCT, expressed his appreciation to Hideyuki Oohira, the Managing Director of Co-op Clean Co., Ltd, for their support in securing the “link” to connect the fragmented forests, during the corporation’s visit to Sabah.
Ibrahim emphasised that this effort to purchase the forest land parcel is another positive step in achieving BCT’s vision to secure the ecological corridor for elephant and orangutan.
“This particular land parcel is important for the elephant migration from Lot 3 to Lot 4 of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary,” he said yesterday.
According to Oohira, the corporation consists of 250 key cooperatives supported by 20 million consumers in Japan. From the sale of each detergent product, the company pledged 1 yen to BCT-Japan as their contribution to the conservation project in Borneo.
He said Co-op Clean’s deep concern on the issue of sustainable management and conservation of the ecosystem has driven them to work towards achieving greater sales so that a bigger contribution can be made.
Takashi Yagi, General Manager (Sales Department) last year, meanwhile, said that Co-op Clean sold about 2.6 million of their detergent in Japan, which has contributed 2.6 million yen towards the purchase of this land parcel.
Raymond Alfred, Head of Conservation and Research of BCT, said that this CSR concept or model could be duplicated in Sabah or even in Malaysia, as long as corporations know where and how they can contribute.
“Part of our plan in the effort of securing the link is to invite the cooperation from sectors such such as agricultural developers and product suppliers to participate in our conservation effort and understand where their contribution is being used.
“Through land purchase, and securing and restoration of riparian reserve, we hope to re-establish the vital wildlife corridors linking key habitat and protected areas together”, Alfred added.


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Top-Ten Consumer Website Ranked #1 in Performance.
When booking a hotel room online, marriott.com users are experiencing the best the Internet has to offer. According to a recent USA Today-commissioned study, Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) beat all others as the fastest and best performing lodging website.
By winning the top spot, marriott.com (http://www.marriott.com) earned the Gold Award for Best of the Web. This designation came from USA Todays partner in the study, Compuware. The studys metrics included speed, navigation and room details. Extensive testing found that marriott.com loads quicker than two seconds. Other hotel websites were sluggish, some taking up to eight seconds to load.
For our guests, booking a room online is the beginning of their hotel experience and this study validates our own customer surveys. Our guests give marriott.com high marks.
We design our websites to please our guests, who are looking for speed, rich content, features and ease of use, said Shafiq Khan, Senior VP e-commerce, Marriott International. Delivering on all of these simultaneously is a difficult balancing act, made even more challenging by the fact that we have practically re-invented our website in the last 18 months.
Marriotts commendable site performance is proof that it puts its customers online experiences front and center, said Bruce Reading, Senior Vice President, Compuware.
Marriott.com has more than 12 million visits monthly and growing. It is among the top ten consumer retail sites in the world in revenue. Through its main website, users can access home pages for more than 3600 hotels globally. Marriotts multilingual websites are supported by services and technology from www.translations.com.
Compuware, a technology performance company, tested 47 hotel booking sites using its Gomez platform. Click here to read the study methodology: http://bit.ly/jaIqSE
Visit Marriott International, Inc. www.marriott.com , and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com.
For nearly 40 years, Compuware has lead the way on solutions for application performance management, business portfolio management and mainframe solutions. Its Gomez benchmarks are the industry leader in comparing websites. Compuware makes the worlds most important technologies perform at their best. When technology performance really matters and it matters now more than ever organizations, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the 20 most visited U.S. web sites, turn to Compuware.
Connect with firstname.lastname@example.org


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New hopes over rate rises
Hopes were raised of a halt to the recent run of interest rate rises as figures showed manufacturers suffering a sharp slowdown in growth last month.
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply found the manufacturing sector expanding at its slowest pace for nine months.
Its Purchasing Managers Index, whereby any figure above 50 points indicates expansion, showed 51 in February against 51.8 in January.
Order books were still swelling, but at a slower rate than any time since last April.
CIPS said the millennium was still having an impact on the figures, as companies were still running down stockpiled goods bought before the New Year in case of bug-related emergency. This would probably last another month.
'The continued strength of the pound was also reported to have contributed to the latest easing in order book growth,' CIPS said.
Neil Parker, senior European economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, said the figures added to the argument that a further interest rate hike by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee next week would be a mistake.
'The strength of the pound is reigning in exports and the Bank's interest rate rises seem to be quashing domestic demand.
'These figures are further evidence suggesting the MPC has done enough.'
Sterling weakened modestly following the figures, as currency dealers saw the chance of an interest rate rise recede.
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