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Apple Inc. parted ways with a prominent advertising-technology executive weeks after hiring him, following complaints from some employees about passages in a memoir about his time in a prior job at Facebook Inc. that they deemed sexist and misogynistic.
Antonio García Martínez, who wrote the book “Chaos Monkeys” about his experience working at Facebook, is no longer with Apple, a spokesman said late Wednesday. Apple didn’t disclose more details about his departure.
“At Apple, we have always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace where everyone is respected and accepted,” an Apple spokesman said. “Behavior that demeans or discriminates against people for who they are has no place here.”
Mr. García Martínez didn’t immediately respond to multiple messages seeking comment late Wednesday. A LinkedIn page for him listed him as working in “Product Engineering, Ads Platforms” at Apple, and says he started there last month.
Apple has largely avoided the sort of public controversy among employees over issues of gender and race that have shaken other big tech companies in recent years. Chief Executive Tim Cook has made it a pillar of his leadership at the company to publicly champion diversity and equality.
Some Apple employees communicated their concern and anger Tuesday over Mr. García Martínez’s hiring on Slack messaging groups, one Apple employee said. Several Apple employees complained publicly Wednesday about the company’s decision to hire Mr. García Martínez, citing passages from his 2016 book. A group of employees circulated a letter to Apple senior executive Eddy Cue, who oversees internet software and services, asking for an investigation into how Mr. García Martinez was hired, according to one of the employees who signed it. Technology-news site the Verge reported on the letter earlier Wednesday.
The letter described as misogynistic statements in Mr. García Martínez’s book that it said run counter to Apple’s commitments to inclusion and diversity, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The letter highlighted the way in which a number of passages in the book refer to women. In one, Mr. García Martínez wrote: “Most women in the Bay Area are soft and weak, cosseted and naive despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of shit.”
In other passages, he referred to women based on his attraction to their bodies and said “most women” at Facebook and in the Bay Area didn’t know “how to dress.” In another passage dealing with fundraising, he said an “equity round is having to convince five women to do a sixsome with you,” he wrote.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
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Romania's OPCOM electricity spot volumes - Feb 25, 2024
Romania's OPCOM electricity spot prices - Feb 25, 2024
Croatia power consumption - Feb 23, 2024
Serbia power consumption - Feb 23, 2024
Bulgaria power consumption - Feb 23, 2024
Aug 17, 2022 17:40 EEST
August 17 (SeeNews) - Moldovan utility company Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said on Wednesday that the company asked Russia's Gazprom to postpone its advance payment for August and September until December.
"Moldovagaz has asked Gazprom to postpone until the end of the fourth quarter the due date for advance payments for August–September of the current year,” Ceban said in a post on Telegram.
In his words, delayed payments by Moldovagaz clients leads to an increase in debt to Gazprom.
"Under these circumstances, Moldovagaz is forced to once again ask for government support in the form of direct state assistance, or to request payment of the historical debts by Termoelectrica to cover the August-September cash gap created after the company will fully pay the cost of imported natural gas," Ceban added.
On Wednesday, Moldovagaz said that it had ordered the suspension of gas deliveries to more than 2,000 non-household gas users over 75.53 million lei ($3.94 million/3.87 million euro) unpaid debts which threatens the company's ability to pay Gazprom for gas imports.
On August 10, Moldovagaz cut natural gas supply to 708 household customers whose unpaid bills totaled 4.1 million lei.
At the end of July, Moldovagaz asked household clients to pay their bills, saying that over 4,036 households or 36.6% of total consumers owe over 46.1 million lei for natural gas consumption.
As of July 31, the National Commission for Exceptional Situations has voted to allow disconnection from the system of household consumers who have outstanding debt to Moldovagaz.
On August 4, Moldovagaz said is seeking a postponement of payment for August gas deliveries from Gazprom after the local energy market regulator ANRE approved gas prices for end users that are insufficient to cover the cost of deliveries. While ANRE calculates the tariff based on a price of $899 (883 euro) per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, the price for August delivery set by Gazprom is $1,458, the company said at the time.
Russia's Gazprom owns 50% of Moldovagaz, the Moldovan government owns 35.33% and 13.44% is held by the government of Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist republic within Moldova.
(1 euro=19.485 lei)
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According to reports, RIM's latest smartphone BlackBerry Bold 9790 will hit the shelves on November 25. Priced at EUR 380, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 will first arrive in Indonesia followed by an international launch.
Research in Motion (RIM) recently announced BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380, running on its latest BlackBerry OS7. According to reports, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 will hit the shelves on November 25. The device is slated to arrive in Indonesia first and then in other countries.
According to reports, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is priced at EUR 380, which is approximately Rs. 27,000. The BlackBerry 9790 is a 3G enabled GSM smartphone, featuring a 2.45-inch TFT touch display. It has a physical QERTY and traditional optical trackpad. The device supports various apps including Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF), push email. It also offers feeds for social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has a 5MP camera with LED flash and auto focus feature. For connectivity, the device supports GPRS, Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi. Check out below a video preview of the new BlackBerry Bold 9790.


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Yesterday I talked about the growing trend of meatless "meatballs" and how vegetables are encroaching on traditional recipes that you might never expect. Going along with this theme, Häagen-Dazs in Japan recently announced that they are releasing two new vegetable-flavored ice creams in May. Mhmm. You heard that right.
The new line of vegetable ice cream is called "Spoon Vege" and the two new flavors are "Tomato Cherry" and "Carrot Orange". This ice cream has about half the amount of milk fat (8.5%), making them (maybe?) slightly healthier than your normal pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
I'm personally a big fan of vegetable-flavored yogurt from Blue Hill, so this new line of ice cream might actually be good. Would you try this ice cream if it came to the states?
Read More: Häagen-Dazs Japan Releases Vegetable Ice Creams via Grub Street


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BlackBerry, the Canada-based smartphone maker is exploring joint ventures, partnerships or a sale of the company, it announced yesterday.
In a media statement, the company said that it has formed a Special Committee of the Board, comprised of Barbara Stymiest, Thorsten Heins, Richard Lynch and Bert Nordberg, and will be chaired by Timothy Dattels.
It has appointed JP Morgan Securities LLC as its financial advisers while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP will serve as legal advisers.
With the announcement of the Special Committee, Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial informed the company that he felt it was appropriate to resign due to potential conflicts that may arise during the process. Fairfax Financial is the largest BlackBerry shareholder. Watsa said, “I continue to be a strong supporter of the Company, the Board and Management as they move forward during this process, and Fairfax Financial has no current intention of selling its shares.”
According to a media report, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board CEO Mark Wiseman said last week he would consider an investment in BlackBerry if the smartphone maker decided to go private.
Speculation about possible foreign bidders have focused on Chinese companies such as Lenovo, Huawei & ZTE, all three which have been expanding its mobile-devices business. However it is very unlikely the Canadian or U.S. governments would allow such a takeover to occur, since there would be huge security questions surrounding a merger with BlackBerry and a Chinese device manufacturer.
The possible deal is subject to the Canadian Government’s approval as any foreign takeovers of companies with asset values of more than $334 million will be reviewed to determine whether the transactions would benefit the country.
Some analysts have suggested that Samsung might be interested in BlackBerry. Samsung, which most of its smartphone runs on the Google Android platform, appears to be trying to distance itself from Google. Since Google acquired Motorola, the creator of the Android platform now compete with its Android licensees, such as Samsung.
“There can be no assurance that this exploration process will result in any transaction. The Company does not currently intend to disclose further developments with respect to this process, unless and until its Board of Directors approves a specific transaction or otherwise concludes the review of strategic alternatives”, BlackBerry said.
BlackBerry shares rose to $10.78 at the close in New York, marking the biggest one-day gain since March.


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Courts have used internet activity to find personal jurisdiction in the United States. Many of these cases have relied on either the Zippo test from Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc or the Calder test from Calder v. Jones. The Zippo test applies a sliding scale where a court looks at the interactivity versus passivity of a website to find purposeful availment and is considered to be the main standard in internet jurisdiction cases. The Calder test has been used to determine if a website is targeting a specific forum state even if the website lacks enough Zippo interactivity. Although the case law of internet purposeful availment between states in America is well developed, the increased global use of the internet has brought about new issues in the law. Will a company with an interactive website in Russia or the United Kingdom be able to be sued in those forums? Recently, Google has refused service in the U.K. for a privacy lawsuit brought by internet users in that country. In this still pending litigation U.K. users want to sue Google for alleged privacy violations when Google is run on Safari web browsers. This is a similar claim to an American class action law suit last August where Google agreed to pay out $22.5 million. This lawsuit highlights the growing relevance of internet based international purposeful availment. I believe that an adoption of the Zippo test will significantly raise liability independent of company size, but an adoption of the Calder test will raise liability proportional to the size of the internet using company.
If the Zippo test is adopted, legal costs for all companies that use an interactive website will rise considerably. Currently many startup companies are trying to innovate America and the world with interactive websites of all kinds. When these sites go on the world wide web they can be easily accessed anywhere. Personal jurisdiction in America was expanded slowly because a foreign party would be an outsider to the court and the foreign party would have to pay more to defend a lawsuit in another state. These concerns grow exponentially when one defends a suit halfway across the world. A large company would likely have foreign connections, the capital to translate documents and would likely not be unknown to foreign citizens, but the unfairness presented to any small or startup company would be astronomical. This could lead to frivolous litigation which would deter startups from creating interactive internet innovation.
On the other hand, an expansion of Calder liability would not be as unfair to defendants. Targeting a particular market suggests that the company has connections and language skills in a particular forum which would make purposeful availment in that forum less burdensome. Additionally, larger companies will likely target more forums so the defendants which are best able to handle complex litigation will likely have the most purposeful availment. These companies will be able to vigorously defend claims against them and thus will disincentivize the creation of frivolous litigation. Cases like Yahoo! v. LICRA have followed this doctrine in the reverse direction granting American jurisdiction to a foreign group.
While it is difficult to speculate on how the international internet purposeful availment doctrine will develop in the future, I would support the expansion of the Calder doctrine above the Zippo doctrine. International litigation can be significantly more expansive, unfair and burdensome to parties so jurisdiction should be granted cautiously. Also, whereas in the past a business would likely have to have physical goods arrive to foreign customers to be subject to personal jurisdiction in that location, today parties easily enter forums since the world wide web layer of the internet is truly global and largely public. The global nature of the internet and great costs associated with international litigation should direct future purposeful availment doctrine.


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Though a familiar name to videogame fans who remember the 80s and early 90s, Japanese developer SUNSOFT have not been seen much outside Asia in the past few years. As part of the company’s celebrations of its 40th Year of operation, the company is returning to Europe and North America with the upcoming release of its virtual reality (VR) title Dark Eclipse.
Dark Eclipse is due to be released on PlayStation VR globally on 25th September, 2018 where it will be available as a free-to-play title compatible with both DualShock 4 and PlayStation Move controllers.
The developers have aimed to bring the core elements of a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) while offering a new twist on some of the typical conventions of the genre. Dark Eclipse is described as a fast-paced, one-on-one battle where players need to overcome an opponent’s team of three’ leaders’ which are chosen from a roster of 15 available characters.
As expected of a MOBA, each character has its own mix of skills and abilities and will also have access to supporting ‘soldiers’ that can be ordered to attack by the player. Gameplay will involve what SUNSOFT believes is an intuitive drag-and-drop control system which combines real-time strategy (RTS) mechanics with the action of a MOBA.
“With 40-years in the business, we’ve seen many gaming trends come and go, but few have been as exhilarating as VR’s expansion and mainstream acceptance,” said Shohei Sakakibara, Producer and Project Leader at SUNSOFT. “Everyone at SUNSOFT is enamored with this type of quick, strategic, multiplayer gameplay, so we brought our passion for the genre and combined the best characteristics of VR, MOBAs and RTS games into Dark Eclipse, a game that’s both familiar and eye-catchingly innovative.”
SUNSOFT are planning on introducing regular, free updates to the title, which will add new Leader characters and regularly re-tuning the gameplay balance. For future coverage of Dark Eclipse and other upcoming VR titles, keep checking back with VRFocus.


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The upcoming 5th Amazing 10 Tribes of Maesai event will showcase the cultures, traditions, clothing, food and lifestyles of ethnic groups that exist around Chiang Rai province, which include Akha, Lu and Shan people. The event is to begin with a parade displaying the different clothing of the 10 tribes and include traditional activities such as Khan Tok dinners. Highlights of the happening will include over 100 OTOP food vendors representing all four regions of the country and demonstrations of local wisdom, medicine and handicrafts as practiced by the tribes.
Mae Sai District Chief, Somsak Kanakam, remarked that the event will underline Thailand’s appreciation of its ethnic groups and help them to preserve their cultures and traditions. It will also boost tourism to Chiang Rai and enhance ties with Thailand and its neighbor Myanmar. Entry will be free throughout the event, to be open 10am to 10pm daily this 8th to 12th December.
Source: National News Bureau & Public Relations


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LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC HFL) has said that the company is expecting a 15 per cent growth rate during this fiscal. The company is expected to raise around Rs 55,000 crore this year through non-convertible debunture (NCD), said Vinay Sah, Managing Director and CEO, LIC HFL.
Speaking to the reporters after inaugurating its property fair "Ungal Illam" (Your Home) in Chennai, said that the company is looking at a growth of 15 per cent in business during this fiscal. The retail business is clocking in better growth, which will back the expected growth rate, he added.
LIC HFL's loan disbursement has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent. It has recorded a disbursement of Rs 41,541 crore, a growth of 15 per cent over the previous year during the year ended March 31, 2017. The income grew at a CAGR of 16 per cent and registering a profit after tax of Rs 1,931 crore for the last fiscal.
In the current market situation, purchase of homes for investment is in a decline while the purchase for own use continue to take place. Implementation of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, has impacted the market as customers are waiting for price correction, which has not happened so far.
The company has seen a 17 per cent year-on-year growth in disbursements during the first quarter of FY18. The loan book grew at 15 per cent and stood at Rs 1,47,051 crore. It has a network of around 9000 marketing intermediaries to provide service to the home aspirants.
The southern region, comprising the states of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, holds around 22 per cent of the loan book of the Company having serviced around 300,000 lakh customers since inception, added the company.


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(Filed Under wholesale Costume News). When it comes to Halloween, sexy sells - but so do other product categories.
In that vein, trade show organizer Specialty Trade Shows will host its first-ever Las Vegas Halloween Show next year - an expansion of its Adult Halloween Show exhibiting not just sexy costumes, but traditional costumes, gifts and novelties.
With the expansion, Michael Moreira of Specialty Trade Shows, who runs the Halloween show and the International Lingerie Show concurrently, expects attendance to surpass the 3,000 buyers he attracted to both shows combined last spring. Overall, he expects 300 exhibitors at the Rio Hotel - 70 of them for the Halloween Show, a large uptick from last year's 40 Halloween brands.
"We've had very good success with bringing the Halloween industry as a complement to the International Lingerie Show with the sexy costumes," Moreira said. "Because of that, there have been requests to expand the show into other Halloween product categories, and to bring it more into the mainstream Halloween trade."
Already signed up for the show, which will run April 20-22, are major brands like Rubie's Costume Company, Leg Avenue, Forplay, Dreamgirl and RG Costumes, along with brands that haven't been exhibiting recently, including Billy Bob's Teeth, Big Stuff Inc. and Garland Beauty Products.
On the lingerie side, visitors to the International Lingerie Show can expect an expanded lingerie-only room. In the Miranda room, which is anchored by brands like Rene Rofe, IBasic Intima, Tia Lynn, Dynashape and Milili, Moreira is working to display no novelties and to attract more mainstream brands, like those that would exhibit at smaller mainstream shows, he said.
"My vision or goal for that room is to become like the 180 Madison Avenue lingerie building," he said.
Moreira said ILS and the Las Vegas Halloween Show are a good option for more traditional buyers because it introduces them to products they wouldn't otherwise consider - many of them less expensive.
"I think it gives the retailer an opportunity to see not just the products they came to see, but they would be pleasantly surprised to find some quality in some of those other exhibitors that they wouldn't see at Curve and Lingerie Americas," he said. "They would be very surprised to find that the styles are just as nice as what they're finding elsewhere, and at better price points.
Moreira designed the Las Vegas Halloween Show as an alternative to earlier costume shows, like those in December and March, which he said don't accommodate independent stores who need to shop later for several reasons. He also said his show is more convenient for West Coast shoppers.
"We believe there are a lot of retailers that would prefer to buy later in the season for economics and for the opportunity to see what's out there... to be in tune with what the trends are and be a little more responsive," Moreira said. "Most of the larger chains and department stores, such as the Wal-Marts and Party Citys of the world, are such big companies they like to have a lot of their stuff very early - they can have deeper pockets and they can afford to do that. But we believe there is a larger percentage of the market that would prefer to buy later, and buy on the West Coast."
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U.S.: Aldi and Publix to buy Lucky's Market stores
German grocery retailer Aldi and Florida-based Publix announced that they are in negotiations and contracts for leased locations of Lucky's Market, reports the Orlando Business Journal.
Publix already has confirmed that it will buy five Lucky's Market leases in Florida while Aldi is still in the process for negotiations for several locations in the state.
After Lucky's announced that it will close 32 of its 39 U.S. stores following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Jan. 27, the Colorado-based retailer said it signed a purchase agreement of five leased stores in Florida.
Publix's contract with Lucky's includes five locations, detailed spokesperson Maria Brous to the Journal. "We are currently in the due diligence process," she told them. Publix reported an annual revenue of $36.1bn in 2018 and has more than 140 Central Florida locations.
Aldi, on the other hand, confirmed in an email to the Orlando Business Journal that the company is currently in negotiations "among other innovative real estate strategies". Further, vice president of national real estate for Aldi U.S. said that "site acquisitions are an important part of our growth efforts.
We are pleased to continue to invest in Florida,". Although the details aren't yet sorted out, Gavin explained to the newspaper that Aldi could open as many as 20 new stores in Florida in 2020.
Today, the company has more than 144 stores and two distribution centers in Florida. The grocer opened its first Florida store in 2008.
20 of Lucky's 21 stores in the state will be closed, the location in West Melbourne being the only remaining store.
To read the full article, click here.


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BATTLE CREEK, MI - You don't have to spend all day in the kitchen to get a taste of Thanksgiving this November.
Pringles will once again be offering three Thanksgiving dinner flavors of chips, Turkey, Stuffing, and Pumpkin Pie, Battle Creek-based Kellogg's announced on Nov. 5. These were three of the most-popular flavors of the eight Thanksgiving-inspired chips released in 2017.
Turkey Pringles are a take on the traditional oven roasted turkey flavor while Stuffing mimics the herby side dish and Pumpkin Pie recreates the sweet and spicey dessert. Supplies are limited.
"When we launched Pringles Thanksgiving Dinner last year, it was so exciting to see Pringles fans' positive reactions celebrating how insanely accurate the flavors were," said Yuvraj Arora, senior vice president of marketing for Kellogg's U.S. Snacks division.
"We knew that we had to get Pringles Thanksgiving flavors in more people's hands this year--particularly hearing that Turkey, Stuffing and Pumpkin Pie not only were delicious, but truly tasted like the real deal."
Pringles Thanksgiving Crisps are available for a limited time and come in mini Pringles cans and will be available beginning at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Three packs can be purchased for $14.99 each.


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Lidl has become the latest supermarket chain to announce that it will be installing rapid electric vehicle EV charge points at all of its new stores.
In addition to installing rapid EV chargers at its new stores, Lidl will also retrofit EV charging points at a number of its existing stores.
The German supermarket has committed £25m to installing 300 rapid EV charge points over the next three years. These Rapid EV chargers will be able to charge electric vehicles from 0-80% charge in about 50 minutes. This commitment means that by 2022 over a third of Lidl stores will have rapid EV chargers available for customers. The charge points will be operated by Pod Point and can be used via the company’s mobile app. Users will pay 23p per kWh, to charge their electric vehicles. Lidl says this is the best value rapid charger rate on the market.
Each Rapid EV charger will have its own allocated and marked parking bays for use. Lidl stores with EV charge points will also be visible on the Lidl app, Zap-Map and Pod Point’s maps.
Ingo Fischer, Chief Development Officer for Lidl GB, said: “At Lidl, we are committed to tackling the environmental concerns that our customers care most about, whilst giving them access to solutions that will support them in their ambition to lead more sustainable lives. Not only will our customers be able to charge their electric cars in 50 mins – less time than it takes to do a big shop – they will be able to do it for the best price on the market.”
“It is our hope that, through this significant investment, we will enable easier access to charging points, ultimately helping more households switch to electric vehicles.”
Applegarth Engineering specialise in the installation of Rapid EV charge points for supermarkets. If you are interested in a rapid EV charge point, or have any questions, call us 0151 649 8350. Alternatively, you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.org and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible. We install EV charge points in Wirral, Liverpool, Cheshire, Chester & North Wales.


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Hi, everyone, welcome back! Hope you had a nice weekend.
As some of you read one week ago, but we’re hosting our next StrictlyVC event on Thursday evening, September 29, and if you’re in the Bay Area, you won’t want to miss it. Half our seats vanished at first mention, so don’t wait too long to get yours.
Thanks to our partners Bolt, the early-stage hardware-focused fund, and Ballou PR, which represents many investors and startups (from Stripe to Accel Partners). It’s sponsors that make these fun nights possible and we appreciate them.
Top News in the A.M.
Prime Minister David Cameron this morning rejected calls for a do-over vote on leaving the European Union and set up a team of officials to prepare for withdrawal following the referendum last week that stunned the world. The markets are being slammed again today as a result.
Jason Lemkin Just Raised a $70 Million First Fund; Here’s How He Did it
Two-time entrepreneur Jason Lemkin just closed a debut venture fund with $70 million called SaaStr Fund.
It’s an impressive feat and the latest in a string of interesting opportunities that Lemkin has created for himself since selling his most recent company, EchoSign, to Adobe four years ago.
It started with blogging. Lemkin also began actively answering questions about SaaS businesses on Quora — and people listened. Soon, he’d created a popular site that publishes SaaS-related tips and news, along with a growing events business, one whose yearly SaaStr Annual conference attracted more than 5,000 attendees earlier this year.
All have worked together to lead Lemkin (who also worked briefly at 16-year-old Storm Ventures) to this point. Last week, we asked him to share a little more about how he did it.
Your debut fund is huge, considering that you’re the only GP. Are your investors a mix of institutions and individuals?
No. I have a handful of VCs who know what they’re doing, but I think high-net-worth individuals are a terrible idea. No matter how sophisticated they are, venture is too illiquid. The timeline is too long. When you’re an angel investor, you can maybe see a 50x return on your dollars. But in a tiny fund – even with a Union Square Ventures — you’ll do 8x in the best-case scenario and it’ll take the fund 12 years. It’s stupid. And I don’t want unhappy customers.
So your backers are endowments? Pension funds?
Top endowments, big universities, hedge funds.
Hedge funds don’t mind being locked up for a dozen years?
They’re interesting. They want to find a place to play where they can see high returns, so they want exposure to the best managers so they can see the best companies at their “pre unicorn” phase. They don’t want to do the $3.5 billion round but the round before that, including [by way of special purpose vehicles, which VCs organize when they want to make aparticularly large bet in one portfolio company]. So if you squint and look at a lot of emerging managers, a lot of time they [feature hedge funds as LPs].
What’s in it for your VC investors — deal flow?
When you have a fund like this, you want to build two downstream layers. One of Series A VCs, and whatever the next stage is. So I have folks who are involved with my fund who’ve also put money into my companies and who I want to continue to [know], from Emergence [Capital], Social Capital, Bessemer [Venture Partners]. Then, in a perfect fund, you want folks who can invest even later. What you don’t want to do is take second check risk.
Affiris, a 13-year-old, Austria-based developer of therapeutic peptide vaccines, has raised $10.9 million in funding from FCPG Affi, with participation from earlier backers MIG Funds and the Strüngmann family. More here.
Arevo, a three-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based company that says it has developed advanced materials, intelligent software, and “additive” manufacturing tech to create ultra-strong composite partners, has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures. More here.
D3 Banking, a nine-year-old, Omaha, Ne.-based company that helps traditional, mid-size banks digitize and simplify their own platforms, has raised $10 million from West Partners, a San Diego-based investment firm. More here.
MisterFly, a two-year-old, Paris, France-based online travel agency, has raised €20 million ($22 million) in first-round funding led by private equity firm Montefiore Investment, with participation from the e-commerce company Vente-Privee. Tnooz has more here.
Orbital Insight, a three-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based geospatial big data company, has just raised $15 million in Series B funding led by previous investor GV, with participation from CME Ventures and earlier backers Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital, and Bloomberg Beta. Together, with an investment and development agreement from In-Q- Tel, the company has $20 million in fresh capital altogether. TechCrunch has much more here.
Quoine, a two-year-old, Singapore-based bitcoin trading platform, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by JAFCO. VentureBeat has more here.
Real World Retail, a three-year-old, Dublin, Ireland-based retail analytics start-up, has raised €920,000 ($1 million) in funding from angel investors and Enterprise Ireland. More here.
Thrive Market, a three-year-old, L.A.-based online discount marketplace for healthy foods, has raised $111 million in new funding led by Invus Group, with participation from Greycroft Partners, Cavu Venture Partners, Cross Culture Ventures and e-Ventures. Dealbook has more here.
Bee Partners, an eight-year-old, San Francisco-based seed stage firm, has closed a second fund with $30 million. Among its bets: TubeMogul, now a publicly traded ad-tech company. Bee was also an early backer of the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, drone tech startup Skycatch, and the second-hand fashion marketplace Tradesy. TechCrunch has more here.
Nikesh Arora surprised the business world when he suddenly resigned last week from Softbank. In this interview with Fortune, he speaks candidly about what went down.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin says not to come to Silicon Valley to start a company. Here’s why.
B Capital Group, a new venture capital fund founded by Raj Ganguly and Eduardo Saverin, has brought aboard Gavin Teo as partner to lead the firm’s San Francisco office. (It also has an office in L.A. and Singapore.) Teo was most recently investor at Comcast Ventures, where he focused on digital healthcare, connected home and VR.
Amazon is doubling down on its Dash push-button ordering devices, getting dozens of consumer-products companies to invest in the gadgets even amid evidence that consumers are cool to them.
Some of the web’s biggest destinations for watching videos have quietly started using automation to remove extremist content from their sites, according to Reuters sources. More here.
Why a Palantir IPO may not be far off.
This foul-mouthed parrot may be used as evidence in murder trial.
Prediction: Malaysian designer Moto Guo will be entering a new line of work in the not-too-distant future.
Steel yourselves. The Mac n’ Cheetos — deep fried sticks of macaroni cheese encrusted in a Cheetos-flavored shell — hits select Burger King locations today. The Washington Post bills the item as a “food monstrosity” that is “sadly genius.”


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On August 1, 2021, Germany’s largest manufacturer of sports boats, Bavaria Yachtbau (Giebelstadt), will have a new boss: Marc Diening (45) will succeed Michael Müller (64), who is moving to the company’s advisory board. For the past five years, Diening was head of the fire protection technology division of CNH Industrial with the core company Magirus.
When asked, a spokesman did not provide figures for the 2020/21 financial year (31.7.) Coming to an end. The latest available data from the report in the Federal Gazette show sales of EUR 65 million for the 2018/19 financial year – that’s a good half of what was on the books before the bankruptcy. In the meantime, business seems to have stabilized. “The incoming orders are very good,” confirmed the Bavaria spokesman. Yacht construction benefited about as much from the pandemic as the caravan sector. Overall, however, the supply chains are “no longer as stable”, which has led Bavaria to “extremely expand” warehousing for the resins used, among other things, over the past few months.


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Britain's biggest drugmaker, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, fired an executive from its South African unit for refusing to appear for a performance review, which was called a week after he complained of racial discrimination in the workplace, Bloomberg reported, citing company documents.
Drivers at a Louisville facility of FedEx Corp's trucking unit voted on Wednesday against union representation, dealing a blow to a concerted effort by the Teamsters to unionize the Memphis-based company.
Failure to reform and shield weaker members threatens to divide the euro zone, the head of the European Central Bank warned on Thursday, amid fresh signs the currency bloc's economy is losing speed.
Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari said on Friday that consumer prices are basically flat as a decline in oil prices has been slowing inflation.
China Railway Construction Corp (601186.SS) (1186.HK) has signed a deal worth nearly $12 billion with Nigeria to build a railway along the West African nation's coast, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.
Insiders say staff at Samsung Electronics have never been so anxious ahead of the annual reshuffle, as a weak smartphone performance and its worst earnings in three years are expected to cost many jobs.
Germany has approved Canadian smartphone maker Blackberry's (BB.TO) planned acquisition of Secusmart, the encryption technology of which is used to protect the mobile devices of top politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
U.S. investment firm Blackrock (BLK.N) has lowered its stake in Italian cooperative bank Banco Popolare (BAPO.MI), according to a regulatory filing on Friday which showed a holding of 4.91 percent as of Nov. 21.
German utility E.ON (EONGn.DE) agreed to sell an 80 percent stake in two wind farms in the United States to Canada's Enbridge (ENB.TO), as the group continues to rake in much-needed cash by building and selling pricey renewable assets.
Songbird Estates (SBDE.L), the majority owner of London's Canary Wharf, said an upturn in property markets means it is now worth 2.82 billion pounds ($4.42 billion), more than the takeover offer from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.N).
U.S. medical device maker Medtronic (MDT.N) gained European Union regulatory approval on Friday for its $43 billion takeover of Covidien Plc (COV.N) after agreeing to sell its Irish rival's drug-coated balloon catheter business.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it has cut more than 20 mid-level jobs in China as part of its effort to lower costs in the world's second largest economy where it has been grappling with slower sales and tough price competition.
China hopes that last week's interest rate cut will increase lending into the economy to shore up flagging growth, but measuring any rise will be impeded by a number of tricks the country's bankers use to manipulate the figures.
Airbus Group and Dassault Aviation aim to oversee the complete sale of Airbus's 4.8 billion-euro stake in the French planemaker by the end of next year, two people familiar with the matter said.
France's competition watchdog said on Thursday it had given its go-ahead to Numericable's purchase of Virgin Mobile France. Numericable, which is also in the process of buying number 2 mobile operator SFR, agreed in June to buy Virgin Mobile France from owners Britain's Carphone Warehouse and entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group for an enterprise value of 325 million euros.
Stock-picking fund managers are testing their investors’ patience with some of the worst investment returns in decades. With bad bets on financial shares, missed opportunities in technology stocks and too much cash on the sidelines, roughly 85 percent of active large-cap stock funds have lagged their benchmark indexes through Nov. 25 this year, according to an analysis by Lipper, a Thomson Reuters research unit. It is likely their worst comparative showing in 30 years, Lipper said.
Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 57,000 vehicles globally to replace potentially deadly air bags made by Takata Corp, as a safety crisis around the Japanese auto parts maker looks far from being contained.
Subdued food price inflation in Europe is unlikely to pick up any time soon, adding to the pressure on mainstream grocers as they struggle with changing shopping habits and competition from discounters.
The World Trade Organization adopted the first worldwide trade reform in its history on Thursday, after years of stalemate, months of deadlock and a final day's delay following an eleventh-hour objection.
Barclays' private bank in Switzerland has dropped out of a U.S. program aimed at cracking down on wealthy Americans evading taxes through hidden offshore accounts, the British bank's market head for Switzerland said on Thursday.
Oil prices, oil-related shares and oil-linked currencies all tumbled in Asia on Friday, in the wake of OPEC's decision to refrain from cutting output despite a huge oversupply.
- Germany backs Blackberry's purchase of Secusmart
- Blackrock cut stake in Italy's Banco Popolare to 4.9 percent: filing
- E.ON sells majority in U.S. wind farms to Enbridge
- Songbird Estates says worth $4.4 billion, more than takeover offer
- Medtronic wins conditional EU approval for $43 billion Covidien buy
- Airbus could shed full Dassault stake by end of 2015: sources
- Crimeans should pay back loans to Ukrainian banks: Russia
- Chinese team arrives in Liberia to staff Ebola clinic
- Putin says Russia won't demand early repayment of $3 billion lent to Ukraine
- From Monet to Picasso, L.A. museum gets major gift from mogul
- Ebola crisis highlights China's philanthropic shortfall
- Dallas Zoo sells rights to name baby giraffe for $50,000
- Barclays says its Swiss private bank drops out of U.S. tax deal
- Ridesharing firm Uber suspends operations in Nevada
- French regulator approves Numericable-Virgin deal
- FedEx Freight workers in Louisville vote against union membership
- British lawmakers urge EU to stop Sri Lanka trade perks if UN probe not given access
- Ackman's Pershing Square sees big payoff from Allergan deal
- ECB Draghi: Relationship of financial fragmentation and monetary policy & the Eurosystem’s collateral framework
- Weekly Economic Recap: US Growth performance in line with projections; UK Growth and inflation forecasts lowered; Japan GDP data takes centre stage
- Economics Monitor
- Entrepreneur, 13, gets Intel funding for low-cost Braille printer
- PepsiCo President Zein Abdalla to retire
- Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's speech in Tokyo Ensures Achievement of the Price Stability Target of 2 percent through QQE
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- Behind Black Friday's giant, cheap TV deals
- Australia working on new drift modeling for MH370 wreckage
- Countries engaging in currency wars?
- Saudis block OPEC output cut, sending oil price plunging
- Internet-connected device sector deals accelerating, report finds
- Japan's Amari - consumer prices flat after oil price fall
- GlaxoSmithKline fires executive who raised race complaint in South Africa: Bloomberg
- French regulator approves Numericable-Virgin deal


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Shares of Constellation Brands Inc. shot up nearly 38 percent after the Victor firm, along with Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, announced early Thursday a revised agreement over AB InBev’s proposed $20.1 billion takeover of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.
The stock (NYSE: STZ) was trading midday at $44 a share, up from Wednesday’s close of $40.80. The shares hit a new 52-week high.
The terms of the new deal calls for AB InBev to sell Modelo's Piedras Negras brewery in Mexico, next to the U.S. border, to Constellation and grant it perpetual rights for Corona and other Modelo brands in the United States, at a cost of $2.9 billion.
Constellation still would acquire the 50 percent of its Crown Imports LLC joint venture it did not own for $1.85 billion. Crown is a 50-50 venture with Grupo Modelo.
AB InBev and Constellation have agreed to a three-year transition, during which Constellation plans to invest $400 million to expand Piedras Negras' capacity to enable it to supply 100 percent of U.S. needs, up from 60 percent today.
AB InBev would supply Constellation with beer, cans and information technology support over this period. Constellation would have the option to extend the beer supply period for up to two more years.
"The revised agreement with AB InBev will make Constellation's Crown beer division a fully independent competitor and the third-largest producer and marketer in the U.S. beer industry,” said Robert Sands, Constellation Brands president and CEO, in a statement. “This is a transformational acquisition for our company as we will hold perpetual rights to Corona and the Modelo brands distributed by Crown in the U.S.”
The U.S. Department of Justice this month filed a lawsuit seeking to stop AB InBev from buying the half of Grupo Modelo it did not already own, saying the multibillion deal would lessen competition in the U.S. beer market.
Constellation Brands had planned to acquire the remaining half of its Crown Imports LLC joint venture in a $1.85 billion deal. Last year, Constellation Brands announced the Crown Imports deal with Anheuser-Busch, which would give Constellation total control of distribution of popular Corona beers, among other products, in the United States.
(c) 2013 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.


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The Labor Government will sell-off the TAB with 35 per cent of the sale to be invested back into the racing industry.
The opposition have no plans of blocking the move with plans in place for a reform package for the racing industry which will include a point of consumption tax.
The Government will also set the point of consumption tax on betting in WA at 15 per cent, of which 30 per cent of the sale will be put back into the industry.
Racing Minister Paul Papalia said it was the most generous package in the country.
“This is going further than the ‘no worse off’ scenario,” Mr Papalia said.
The reform means online and foreign-owned corporate bookmakers will have to pay tax in WA for the first time.
$200 million to $1 billion could be fetched in the sale.


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Is Buy Now, Pay Later a ticking time bomb?
Investors who have been following the fintech industry have probably started hearing the words “Buy Now, Pay Later” pop up increasingly lately. This latest generation of consumer spending solution is rapidly becoming a popular means of affording expensive purchases.
Consequently, many industry leaders have begun investing significant capital into adding this functionality to their services. Roughly two weeks ago, PayPal acquired Paidy, a Japanese Buy Now, Pay Later business, for $2.7bn. And before that, Square had made a $29bn acquisition of Afterpay.
Despite these rigorous investments, some troubling data is emerging about the sustainability of this payment model. In fact, if current trends continue, this could lead to one of the biggest personal finance disasters in modern history. So, let’s take a look at what’s really going on under the surface.
What is Buy Now, Pay Later?
As the name suggests, Buy Now, Pay Later allows consumers to purchase products without paying the bill immediately. Instead, the cost is spread over time, allowing the consumer to pay in small instalments. That way, expensive products become more affordable without changing the price tag.
This is one of the primary contributors to Peloton’s success in 2020. With lockdown restrictions forcing people to stay at home, the demand for home exercise equipment skyrocketed. Being a leading provider of such products, Peloton capitalised on the situation. The problem is that one of its treadmills or bikes can cost upward of $3,000 (before the recent price drop). Needles to say, it’s an expensive piece of equipment that not everyone can afford.
To solve this price barrier, the company partnered with Affirm Holdings to introduce a Buy Now, Pay Later scheme. Under this plan, customers could spread their payments over up to three years. And pay zero interest in the process. Historical solutions, such as a credit card, can achieve something similar. But beyond not having to pay interest, Buy Now, Pay Later has another significant advantage.
Let’s say I’m using a $4,000 limit credit card to purchase a $3,000 Peloton treadmill. After completing this transaction, my credit score is immediately damaged, as I now have a near-maxed out credit card on record. However, using a Buy Now, Pay Later scheme would have no effect on my credit score. Why? Because so long as I don’t miss a payment, the transaction doesn’t get reported.
The cracks start forming
As exciting as this payment innovation is, it’s ultimately another form of debt. And that requires consumers to be responsible with their spending – something that historically hasn’t really happened. There are undoubtedly plenty of individuals who are financially responsible and pay their bills on time. But the early data surrounding Buy Now, Pay Later is pretty worrying.
The Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) have been tracking this payment method since 2018. And since then, the level of delinquencies surrounding Buy Now, Pay Later contracts has been rising fast. As of November 2020, up to 19% of consumers using this system have missed payments. By comparison, credit card delinquency rates currently stand at 1.58%.
A brewing personal finance disaster
This high delinquency rate isn’t surprising given the lack of credit checks performed before a Buy Now, Pay Later loan is issued. But as a consequence, it seems many consumers are now taking out additional loans to meet their monthly obligations.
According to the ASIC, in 2018, 2% of users had to take out a loan to stay on top of their Buy Now, Pay Later instalments. As of November 2020, this proportion has grown to as high as 20%. And to make matters worse, it seems they are using credit cards to do it. This only amplifies the problem as now consumers owe interest on late payments to their credit cards.
On average, 42% to 46% of credit cardholders incur an interest fee. These numbers jump to 66% and 73%, respectively, if the credit card had been used to pay for a Buy Now, Pay Later scheme. Furthermore, an average of 16% to 18% of credit cardholders tends to use more than 90% of their credit limit. These numbers again jump up to 38% and 43%, respectively, if the credit card is used to pay for a Buy Now, Pay Later scheme.
The future of Buy Now, Pay Later for Investors
If these trends continue, regulators would likely begin to step in. Their actions could lead to new regulations requiring more rigorous credit checks before issuing a Buy Now, Pay Later loan. And that could cause some significant disruption to all the fintech companies investing in this space, especially the pure-plays like Affirm, among others.
Personally, I believe eventual regulatory intervention is inevitable. But it’s not the only threat. If more people miss payments, it’s likely merchants will simply stop offering this payment method due to its unreliability. In such a scenario, I think the impact could be significantly more damaging than the addition of credit checks.
The quantity of data collected so far is still relatively small. But based on what’s been gathered so far, it’s pretty evident that consumers are not being fiscally responsible. And this behaviour could lead to an enormous pile-up of personal debt. It’s worth noting that this is happening during a time when the economy is in a reasonably strong position. So, what happens when a recession hits?
Top 3 Stocks For Trying To Beat Rising Inflation
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Deciding which stocks to add to a shopping list during times like these can be daunting for new and seasoned investors.
That’s why our hotshot analysts at The Money Cog’s flagship Premium research service have just unveiled what they think could be the three best buys for investors right now.
What’s more, we’re sharing all three in a special FREE investing report available today!
Zaven Boyrazian owns shares in PayPal and Square. The Money Cog has published a premium report for PayPal. Views expressed on the companies and assets mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the opinions of analysts in The Money Cog Premium services.


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Holiday gifts are invitations for thieves
Posted December 13, 2012 7:52 p.m. EST
Updated December 13, 2012 7:57 p.m. EST
Cary, N.C. — The holidays are a time of reflection, celebration and giving, but while you're busy with family and friends, police say, thieves could be out for your gifts.
Besides the obvious – locking your doors – Cary police officer John Reeves says there are other easy things you can do to help prevent being a victim this holiday season – starting with the door.
"Actually, the weakest point is not normally the lock itself, but it’s the strike plate," he said.
The strike plate is a metal plate attached to the door jamb with holes for the bolt of the door. Because it can usually be removed with a crowbar, Reeves recommends specifically checking to make sure the screws holding the hardware in door frame are long enough.
Outdoor lights and alarms, he says, are some of the best deterrents to theft.
"Dogs are also a good thing, especially the barkers," Reeves said.
One of the things that can be a problem is large windows, in which would-be thieves can see inside a home and see what's there to steal.
If you're not home, Reeves says, shut your blinds or curtains. And keep Christmas gifts out of sight.
When it comes to packages, if you're not home, have a neighbor pick them up. Another option is to have packages delivered to another address. Some delivery companies, such as UPS and FedEx, also offer options to pick them up at their shipping stores.


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The number of devices updating to iOS 8 has slowed, according to figures from Apple revealing that the proportion of iPhones and iPads on the new OS is now at 47 percent, a rise of just one percent.
There was a huge rush to iOS 8 when it was first released, with 46 percent of iPhone and iPad owners updating to the new version of the platform.
However, since then there have been numerous problems with the software. Apple was forced to pull the first update after it blocked phones from making calls. It has since issued a new update, iOS 8.0.2, to address this and other problems.
Despite this, it seems that many users on iOS 7 are reluctant to update, perhaps put off by these issues or unconvinced that there are many new features worth updating for.
Meanwhile, the number of devices left on older versions of the platform is now at just six percent. This will no doubt include some iPhone 4 owners put off moving to iOS 7 by numerous reports in 2013 warning that it slowed down these devices.
Despite teething problems, iOS 8 does have some key enterprise features including improved password security, S/MIME features and VIP threads, support for Microsoft Exchange out-of-office replies and OS X Continuity.
Continuity offers a variety of synchronisation features, one of the most useful being the ability to AirDrop files between the iOS and Mac OS devices.
IOS 8 also adds HealthKit and HomeKit services. HealthKit can track calorie intake and exercise routines, while HomeKit is an Internet of Things-focused service designed to let users control household devices using their iPhone.
Found by calculating the strength of the material deep inside the crust of neutron stars
Can highlight in real-time the relevant regions of an image being described
Double legal trouble for Musk as he also faces civil lawsuit over renewed British pot-holer 'paedo' claims
Battery development could help boost performance of smartphones


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Lenovo’s latest Yoga Book is a solid companion gadget to your laptop, and that’s the point.
It also comes with a properly-placed webcam.
Lenovo’s latest Chrome OS device is a big, speedy 2-in-1 with a lot to like.
The company also unveiled a new, portable monitor for your laptop.
There’s also an upgraded 13.3-inch model.
No shipping information just yet, but we expect to hear more next month.
Microsoft’s Surface Go went up for sale a few months ago, and to the surprise of many, the device is actually quite good. Now, Microsoft is gearing up to introduce a new version of the product equipped with LTE connectivity. […]
Today at an event, Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Book 2, a successor to last year’s Galaxy Book which aimed to compete with Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Apple’s iPad Pro. This year’s iteration of the device sees Samsung adopt an […]
This past summer, Samsung unveiled the successor to 2017’s Chromebook Plus. Called the Chromebook Plus V2, the laptop featured a 2-in-1 design with improved specs, an S Pen, and Chrome OS onboard (hence the Chromebook branding). Now, Samsung is introducing […]
Today during the company’s New York event, Microsoft unveiled its new Surface Pro 6. The device serves as the successor to last year’s Surface Pro, with this year’s edition focusing on the internals of the device. For one, Microsoft says […]
Microsoft is hosting an event next month where the company is expected to unveil upgraded versions of its Surface Pro and Laptop devices. While we haven’t heard too much in terms of what upgrades will be present besides the usual […]
Microsoft and Qualcomm have been teasing for what feels like years at this point the forthcoming future when Windows 10 finally runs on ARM-based processors. The benefit to this technology is improved battery life, always-on capabilities, and a constant connection […]
Back in 2016, Lenovo unveiled an interesting device called the Yoga Book. The device tried to balance being a tablet, a laptop, and an artist’s creation station at once. It got pretty good reviews (including from myself), but most of […]
Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Go as a cheaper alternative to the company’s other Surface-branded hardware. Priced from $399, the device aims to provide a good-enough experience for the money and, hopefully, become a hit in places like […]
Google is likely to announce a new Pixel 3 smartphone at an event this October, and we’re starting to hear more about what this particular keynote will entail. According to Evan Blass on Twitter, we’ll also be seeing second-generation Pixel […]
Last year, Samsung unveiled the Chromebook Plus, a 2-in-1 laptop that included an S Pen, Chrome OS, and Android app compatibility. While that version stood as a pretty great option if you wanted a Chromebook, the company today announced it’s […]
Back in 2016, Lenovo unveiled the weird, unique, and futuristic Yoga Book at IFA. The device tried to blend a productivity-focused tablet with an ultra-portable laptop and did so to a degree. I personally loved both the Android and Windows […]
HP today unveiled the world’s first detachable Chromebook. Known as the Chromebook x2, the device is built to compete with companies like Apple and Microsoft in the productivity-focused tablet market. It also marks the second tablet to be powered by […]
Lenovo likes to release a bunch of laptops. Its flagship lineup, the Yoga 900 series, usually gets all the attention from both the public and media. This leaves other series unnoticed by a lot of people such as 700 and […]
Launching this April


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The smack talk continues.
Although it was revealed a year before, the Ford Mustang wasn't used as a benchmark for the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. In fact, they didn't even pay attention to their rival Motor City pony car. Supposedly. Why's that? Because, according to GM Vice President of Product Mark Reuss, there simply was no reason to do so. "We did the car way before the New Mustang came out," Reuss told GM Authority. What's more, the sixth-generation Camaro didn't need to play catch up in the same way the Mustang did.
For example, the outgoing Camaro already had an independent rear suspension as well as other performance features that kept it fully competitive with the Mustang. What's more, the fifth-gen Camaro regularly outsold the previous Mustang. Even this time around, the new Camaro won't be following in the 2015 Mustang's footsteps. Best example? No turbo four-cylinder will be offered. However, don't be surprised to see Chevy one day drop one of its high-output twin-turbo V6s under the Camaro's hood. But until that happens, your 2016 Camaro will stick with natural aspiration only, something that Mustang has already began to move away from.


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CompCom accuses Takealot, Google of anti-competitive behaviour
The Competition Commission’s (CompCom’s) Online Platforms Market Inquiry has released its provisional report findings, which identify anti-competitive practices by Google, and SA’s largest e-commerce site Takealot.
According to the commission’s investigation, there are reasons to believe the two tech companies, among other online operators, have impeded or restricted fair competition among their competitors, and these actions may undermine the purpose of the Competition Act.
In May 2021, the CompCom officially commenced its investigation into online platforms in SA. The inquiry focuses on digital platforms with intermediate online transactions between business and consumers, with the scope covering e-commerce, app stores, travel and accommodation platforms, food delivery and online classifieds.
The investigation was initiated in terms of section 43B(1)(a) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (as amended), to identify market features that have adverse effects on healthy competition, and display areas of manipulation, exploitation or distortions within SA’s online retail sector.
These are acts the competition watchdog believes undermine the purposes of the Act.
In the provisional report findings, the CompCom highlights concerns that monopoly tactics have been used by Takealot and Google to gain an unfair advantage over rivals, including the conglomeration of consumer data across numerous online platforms.
For instance, it notes, Takealot, which has a marketplace of over 5 800 sellers, distorts competition with sellers on its platform by unfairly channelling more money-making opportunities towards the e-commerce player’s own retail business.
“In respect of e-commerce platforms, the inquiry has found that a range of conduct by Takealot distorts competition on the marketplace in favour of Takealot Retail. This includes the use of seller data by Takealot buyers to inform their own retail offering on the marketplace, [and it] expropriates and undermines innovation and risk-taking by marketplace sellers to the detriment of competition and consumer welfare,” the report finds.
“The pressuring of suppliers where Takealot is outcompeted, resulting in the raising of price by suppliers or by sellers threatened with non-supply, distorts competition and raises prices for consumers.”
Other anti-competitive acts highlighted in the report include:
- Takealot Retail benefits from the use of unsold promotional display inventory, and has a higher acceptance rate for applications to run promotions on the platform.
- The Buy Box (product detail page) algorithm favours Takealot, as it displays the cheapest in-stock, not cheapest overall, and almost all Takealot Retail is in its warehouse and therefore in-stock, unlike marketplace sellers that have more restricted warehouse space.
- Marketplace sellers are not permitted to offer ‘unboxed deals’, which permits Takealot Retail to clear returned stock and recoup a higher portion of the value.
- Takealot raises marketplace seller rivals’ costs through the lack of a speedy dispute resolution process, resulting in cases where sellers incur the ongoing costs from a lack of resolution.
Ready to comply
The CompCom’s Online Platforms Market Inquiry findings follow 14 months of evidence-gathering, public hearings and in-camera hearings into online intermediation platforms, with the online players and all relevant stakeholders.
Representatives from Naspers, which owns Takealot, were among the participants in public hearing sessions that took place in November.
Addressing anti-competitive practice concerns raised at the hearing, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO for Naspers, pointed out at the time that the group is committed to the development of a policy that is in the best interests of all stakeholders.
“Naspers is looking to see that all its businesses comply with competition laws and follow certain ethical practices. As a group, we are certainly working to ensure that, for instance, from Takealot management there is correct implementation of policies and consistent overview of what is required of them in terms of adhering to competition laws.
“Naspers’s investment in SA and its building of sustainable ecosystems in which innovation can thrive resulted in multiple South African success stories, leading to job creation, consumer welfare and efficiencies.”
Mahanyele-Dabengwa also asserted that SA needs a policy that is fit for the fourth industrial revolution and adopting a ‘one size fits all’ approach to regulation is not appropriate.
Conglomeration takes hold
Other dominant online market players investigated in the report include AirBnB, AutoTrader, Uber Eats, Mr D Food, Apple App Store, Mr Delivery, Property24, Cars.co.za, Google (including its specialist search units Google Shopping and Google Travel). These brands are managed and controlled by only a few large companies that are accused of conglomeration.
The inquiry has provisionally found that Google Search uses tools which position preferential placement of its own specialist search units to distort competition in Google’s favour.
While Google Search plays an important role in directing consumers to the different platforms, the tech giant has also been found to have anti-competitive tactics, notes the inquiry.
The prevalence of paid search at the top of the search results page without adequate identifiers as advertising raises platform customer acquisition costs and favours large, often global, platforms over smaller local businesses.
“The inquiry is also exploring whether the default position of Google Search on mobile devices should end in South Africa.The inquiry provisionally recommends that paid search results are prominently labelled as advertising with borders and shading to be clearer to consumers, and that the top of the page is reserved for organic, or natural, search results based on relevance only, uninfluenced by payments,” says the CompCom.
The report further recommends that advertising on Google Search is clearly displayed as such and the top results are reserved for organic search results.
The provisional findings and recommendations, notes the CompCom, will now be subject to a period of public comment and stakeholder consultation before a final report is released in November.
This means the inquiry may change its views on the findings and recommendations during this period of consultation and public submissions, it says.


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Shop Talk: Anglo-Anthro
After months of preparation, it's finally time for Anthropologie's first European store to open at 158 Regent Street in London's West End. The public is invited to see the vast new shop on Friday, October 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (I've heard the garden wall is amazing.) Click here for details.
Shown above, textile artist Becky Oldfield works on her signature Union Jacks, which will be a key part of the instore design. See Selvedge, issue 30 for more, and click here for a related Sundance Channel video with Becky and Anthro's buyer at large, Keith Johnson. Episode six of Man Shops Globe, scheduled for November 11, will highlight Keith's adventures in London.
Photos via Selvedge.
More shop talk. A Madeline Weinrib sample sale will take place October 22 through November 1 at ABC Carpet & Home, 881 Broadway, (lower level) New York.


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A new campaign was launched in Russia under a slogan “NO transgenic products for Russians!”
Yesterday, Greenpeace representatives bought several items in “The Seventh Continent” grocery store for testing. The results of those tests will reveal what specific companies supply genetically modified products without proper labeling their goods. According to a decree signed by the head sanitation doctor of the Russian Federation, which concerns the government's politics of healthy eating and also the law of consumer rights, all genetically modified (GM) products have to be labeled accordingly. Russians ought to know and decide for themselves whether they wish to spend their money on unnatural goods.
Yesterday afternoon, a paratrooper of Russian “greens” has landed right by “The Seventh Continent” grocery store on Big Georgian St. “Greenpeace” representatives spent 3898 rubles in the store while purchasing various items meant for testing. Their shopping cart was loaded with such items as sausages, pasta, ravioli, blini, cotlets, baby food, chocolate from various manufacturers.
Such visit of the Russian “greens” turned out to be quite an unpleasant surprise for the store's management. One of the store's security personnel, who carefully monitored the intruders' every move, has called the entire operation “hooliganism”. By evening, all of the products have been sent off to the Institute of Cytology located in St. Petersburg.
In his interview with Gazeta, the Institute's researcher Maxim Vonkovsky was chosen to lead a group of scientists for all the needed tests. Several days will be needed in order to complete their examinations. “We will conduct a thorough DNA analysis of all products in order to see whether either one of them contains genetically modified ingredients,” remarked the expert.
Afterwards, the results along with several samples will be sent off to undergo several additional tests at one of the Western laboratories. Last time (December, 2002) it was a German lab GenScan (Freiberg). This time, an international company Genetic ID will probably be “Greenpeace”'s partner.
Transgenic products are coming
According to a “Greenpeace” project coordinator Natalya Olifirenko, preliminary research has been underway since December of 2002. Back then, we found out that 30% of all samples purchased in various grocery stores in Moscow contain genetically modified ingredients and genetically modified organisms.
Most often, genetically modified organisms appear in sausages, potato chips, baby food, chocolate and sodas. Majority of these products contain 70%-80% of transgenic proteins.
The amount of transgenic products appearing on the Russian market increases with every year. Statistically, the amount of imported transgenic protein from the US has increased by 150 times. Interestingly, despite numerous regulations of the Russian Ministry of Health and of the chief doctor Gennady Onischenko, genetically modified products are still rarely labeled. Even if an item is marked, an unaware customer will most likely not realize that he/she faces a GM product. As a minimal requirement, one ought to too know that the sign ARDEX F, for instance, indicates a certain type of preservative of soy protein. As far as primary food supplies are concerned, soy protein preservatives, for instance are not required to be labeled.
Sociological surveys sanctioned by “Greenpeave” reveal that majority of Russians express negative attitudes towards GM products.
“It should be stated however, that scientists have not yet proven either positive or negative factors of GMPs. This will be known no sooner than 10-15 years. Many food manufacturers in Europe and the US for instance have already refrain from using genetically modified products, or place certain markings on all the labels in order to make people aware,” concludes the project coordinator Natalya Olefirenko.
At the end of the “Greenpeace”'s campaign, the company has contacted the store's senior manager Natalya Politova. As it turned out, she fully supports “Greenpeace”s idea. “I think that Russians should refrain from using such products in future even though their effects have not been outlined by scientists yet.” The store's press services reported to Gazeta that the chain of grocery stores “The Seventh Continent” does not accept products with labeled genetically modified ingredients. The stores aim at providing their customers with “healthy and clean products.”
Materials provided by Greenpeace


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Dubai, UAE - 04, March 2021: Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation “Empower” has announced that the total number of buildings provided with its district cooling services has increased to 1,252 by the end of 2020, marking 6% growth comparing to 2019. This reinforces the company’s position as the world’s largest district cooling services provider.. Empower has indicated that its diversified portfolio covers... ...
Study of more than 10,000 people identifies a rare group with controlled HIV in the Democratic Republic of Congo, suggesting additional research could uncover links between natural virus suppression and future treatments Discovery is a result of Abbott’s continued virus hunting efforts, which also uncovered a new strain of HIV in 2019 Abbott’s decades of work in global viral surveillance has advanced the understanding of ... ...
HONOR True Wireless Earbuds are the Ideal Companion for Music Lovers to Enjoy. United Arab Emirates - March 04, 2021: People have had a love affair with music for generations: pleasing the mind with beats, patterns and vocals. Research has shown that the brain releases dopamine when listening to music, a chemical messenger in the body that occurs when we do something essential to survival. Even though it is not biologically nece... ...
United Arab Emirates - March 04, 2021: So, the all-new HUAWEI FreeLace Pro has arrived and you are super excited to try out all the new features it has. Well, this new noise cancelling neckband hides a lot of technological innovations in its slender and trend-setting body that you will definitely love. Here are a few of those features and how you can get the most out of them.. Not one or two hours, but a whole day of use!. Worri... ...
• New report explores the expectations of UAE’s citizens and residents from future Smart Cities• Nearly 79% of residents would be happy living in a smart city • More than half (53%) of UAE residents highlighted living in a sustainable city as the most exciting innovation for smart cities 4 March - 2021; Dubai, UAE: Mastercard, Smart Dubai and Expo 2020 Dubai have collaborated to launch its Building the Cities ... ...
Enjoy up to 20 percent off on diamond jewelry with solitaires, statement earrings, stunning necklaces and showstopper rings.. Dubai, United Arab Emirates - March 04, 2021: From International Women’s Day to Mother’s Day, the month of March has many opportunities to celebrate the special women in your world and their indomitable spirit. . Spoil your mother, your mentor, soulmate, or yourself with stunning jewelry pieces... ...
May 16, 2021 - UAE, Dubai: Jawhara Jewellery, award winning jewellery retailer in the GCC, was one of the earliest companies to be honored by the Department of Economic Development (DED) with the Consumer Friendly Company certificate. The recent win reflects on the brand goodwill and Jawhara’s dedication to the consumer-friendly environment in Dubai.
Upon receiving the award, Mr. Tamjid Abdullah Deputy CEO of Jawhara ......
** Things you should know and do for long-term healthy skin**
May 16, 2021: It is almost impossible to stay away from our phones and other digital devices much less lower our screen time. With our lives spent more and more online, there is no escaping the eye fatigue that comes with it. Lines around the eyes are easily noticeable and can make us look a lot older than we are. And while spending less time squinting and ......
May 16, 2021: After years of exploring timeless materials of extraordinary strength and enticing mystery, Swiss watchmaker Rado launches a new line to celebrate women, and femininity in its myriad forms. The master of unusual substances is teaming up with the profoundly original (and of decidedly unusual substance) French-Austrian designer Marina Hoermanseder for a brand-new version of its Captain Cook timepiece — an exquisitely ......
Persil collection boxes placed at a mall in Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Dubai, United Arab Emirates; May 10, 2021: Persil Abaya Shampoo, the leading abaya wash detergent in the GCC manufactured by Henkel, initiated an abaya collection drive at various malls in the UAE, Saudi and Kuwait. Part of the company’s Ramadan initiative, the activity was welcomed by the community across the three countries. The public donated their beloved ......
May 11, 2021: A global trendsetter in the world of timepieces and accessories, AIGNER debuts a refreshing update to its collection by introducing a fashionable collection that celebrate the spirit of giving during the holy month.
Timeless and artistic, the collection intrigues with its design. ......
May 16, 2021: Balmy evenings require dreamy pieces to wear. Summer party season is sorted with an edit of long dresses.
This maxi dress available in 3 bold colours is made from a fresh and airy vegetable textile fibre.
In a flared cut with thin shoulder straps, it has detailing from small folds along the neckline on the back. Inset pockets, cotton lining.
16 May 2021, Dubai, UAE: Modest outfits are popular among many women who embrace a fashion-forward lifestyle while adapting and balancing their values with culture and sophistication. Trendy, casual outfits for fashionistas, are made with special intention of offering the perfect blend of modesty and style.
Those who love modest fashion consider abayas their go-to outfit for everyday wear. If you're looking for new ......
· The only fresh cut flower company in the ME to offer a 5-day freshness guarantee & a no quibble returns policy.
· Their selection also comprises dried flowers, pampas & cotton stems that are eco friendly & last for months.
[Dubai, 9 May 2021] [The Gorgeous Flower Co.] The Gorgeous Flower Co – the only fresh cut flower company ......
May 03, 2021: Soothing and versatile, the many hues of Mother Earth inspire the new season tinged in a palette of delicate neutrals that channel an understated elegance. Imagine an authentic and distinctive organic feeling that is at once on-trend and timeless. Handsome basics, including lightweight coats, dusters and logoed trenches in roomy, deconstructed silhouettes radiate a sense of ease and laid-back ......
This Eid, set yourself apart with some of the most unique pieces from YOOX.
These items are one of a kind, so don’t let the pieces you always loved get away!
There’s only ONE left, and it has to be yours.
For a festive house, or a unique gift, YOOX has curated a guide for all your house essentials this Eid.
For your little ones, YOOX has an entire section that will make any child Eid ......
Up to the latest 11th Gen Intel® Core™ H-series Mobile Processors
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 16, 2021: Lenovo™ believes powerful and immersive gaming experiences exist at the intersection of hardware, software, and support services. For nearly six years, Lenovo Legion™ has delivered savage performance and sleek yet sophisticated design to a growing audience of avid ......
Dubai, UAE – 10th May 2021 – Sony Middle East & Africa unveiled Eid gift ideas from its range of latest products from vlogging cameras and in-car audio.
Sony ZV1: The ultimate vlogging camera
Capture precious memories during Eid celebrations with Sony ZV-1, a lightweight, compact digital camera. Designed for content creators and vloggers it features a 1.0-type stacked Exmor RS® CMOS image sensor with DRAM ......
On May 11, Samsung Digital Appliances will be showcasing the “Bespoke Home” — a vision that reflects how the role of the home has evolved at a new event, “Bespoke Home 2021.”
Today, our homes have become multifunctional. Living rooms are now doubling as yoga studios, movie theaters, and makeshift classrooms. The kitchen counter has become a remote office desk. Living in this ‘new normal’ has ......
Dubai, 10 May 2021:
Dubai Municipality has enhanced its preparations to receive Eid Al Fitr 2021, in all sectors of its work and facilities, with the aim of ensuring that the Municipality's services are fully provided to all members of society, by formulating plans and following effective strategies in various sectors.
Working hours during the Eid Al Fitr holidays have been set for major parks and leisure facilities of Dubai ......
Looking for a sweet deal for the whole family?
May 10, 2021: Get a whopping 20 percent off when you order your favorite All-American fare anytime any day on the Denny’s UAE app this Eid break.
From all-day breakfast including Denny’s signature Slams, Premium Pancakes and Breakfast Favorites to succulent steaks, juicy burgers, hearty pastas, sizzling skillets, handmade sandwiches, and desserts to die for, ......
Real Estate & Retail
Sharjah, May 15, 2021: Many shoppers have celebrated their Eid with wonderful prizes and gifts after winning in the big raffle draw held on Friday evening at Sahara Centre Mall as part of the 31st Sharjah Ramadan Festival 2021, organized by the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
The big winner was from Egypt, Asmaa Al Awani, who won the grand prize, a brand-new BMW car, while 5
City Centre Al Zahia will be last the stop ......
Travel, Tourism and Hotels
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 8 May 2021: Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub at Dubai South announced that private jets movements continued their impressive growth in 2021 with a 336% increase in Q1 2021, reaching 4,904 compared to 1,460 in Q1 2020 and 1,676 in Q1 2019.
Aircraft movements include the four FBOs operating at MBRAH, which are Jetex Executive Aviation, Jet Aviation, DC Aviation and ExecuJet Middle ......
05 May 2021: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released March 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand continued to outperform pre-COVID levels (March 2019) with demand up 4.4%. March demand reached the highest level recorded since the series began in 1990. Month-on-month demand also increased albeit at a slower pace than the previous month with volumes up 0.4% in March over February 2021 ......
Banking and Investments
Education and Trainings
Government, Legal and Charity
Dubai, 10 May 2021:
Since the beginning of the month of Ramadan, Dubai Municipality launched a community awareness campaign, “Shop smart and reduce your waste” to raise awareness on the importance of community contribution in reducing waste production in general and adopting many sustainable environmental methods and ideas while shopping as well as at home, thus enhancing the values of the culture of rationalizing consumption, ......
Events and Exhibitions
Healthcare, Fitness and Medicine
With a first-of-its-kind procedure in SEHA care facilities. The network supplied washed platelets to resolve a patient’s very low platelet count who reacted with an anaphylactic shock to platelets transfusion
Abu Dhabi,16 May 2021: Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, (SEHA), the UAE’s largest healthcare network, provided washed platelets to a patient with very low platelets count who experienced an anaphylactic ......
Other Top Stories
Bespoke Home celebrates the global expansion of Samsung’s customizable refrigerator lineup, serving as a new platform to showcase an expanded Bespoke product portfolio including new lifestyle appliances and connected solutions.
UAE — May 16, 2021: Samsung Electronics recently hosted Bespoke Home 2021, a new virtual platform and global showcase for Samsung Home Appliances. The event highlighted the global expansion of the Bespoke refrigerator lineup and nods to the upcoming global launch of the Bespoke Kitchen package, along with new lifestyle appliances and ......
OE1 Workspace Collection Activates Agility and Modularity to Design Offices Fit for the Future
UAE: May 16th, 2021: COVID-19 may not have made any 2020 prediction lists, but it certainly is leaving an impression on how companies and individuals will work in the future. With vaccines rolling out globally, infection rates dropping, and local governments beginning to increase the occupancy of everything from local parks to restaurants, CEOs around the world are looking for new office solutions to fit the future of work.
Herman Miller, (NADSAQ:MLHR), who has been at the ......
Dubai, UAE (May 10, 2021) – Eid Al Fitr is a time of reminiscence that takes you back to your cultural roots and is also a festive occasion to redecorate your home. Western Furniture has you covered with some tips and trends to make your home as luminous and joyful as the spirit of Eid, allowing it to flow through the veins of your home.
As Eid coincides with the start of summer this year, many of the decors tips maybe used to decorate your home for summer as well to welcome the hotter months with flare and panache.
Lately the most marked trends in ......
May 09, 2021: Bring in the EID festivities straight from the heart of the house – Kitchen! This season, stay home and stay safe and continue to enjoy the pleasure of healthy cooking by upgrading your kitchen with Nikai appliances.
From innovation to envious designs, Nikai Electronics introduces the new range of kitchen utilizations that will modernize your kitchen experience and promote healthy living for you and your entire family.
The new range of premium products provides you with more options to experiment and expertise your cooking skills, saving your kitchen time and ......
EMs are poised to lag the DM oil demand surge
Even as Covid-19 cases hit record levels this week, oil prices have moved higher on growing vaccination numbers in Developed Markets. Recent data points to the high effectiveness of vaccines at preventing infections and fatalities. So both U.S. and European governments are pushing ahead with big reopening plans. Linked to this immunization push, driving mobility and service PMI (purchasing managers' index) trends between developed and emerging markets have visibly started to diverge, ringing alarm bells across the oil market. ......
• New project to transmit power to 700,000 citizens
• 400-kV station to be the largest in Northern Iraq
May 04, 2021: Siemens Energy and the Ministry of Electricity of the Republic of Iraq signed a contract to construct Iraq’s West Mosul 400-kilovolt (kV) super grid station, which will provide reliable and efficient power supply to around 700,000 Iraqi citizens in northern Iraq, particularly the Nineveh province.
The construction of the Mosul station, which was destroyed in 2014, will help ensure stability in the transmission of power supply ......
• Consortium led by renewable energy leaders EDF Renewables and Masdar is delivering the Dumat Al Jandal first utility-scale wind farm project in Saudi Arabia and the largest in the Middle East
• Vestas has installed half of the 99 V150-4.2MW™ wind turbines to reach a power capacity of more than 400MW upon full completion of the wind farm’s construction and its commercial operation in 2022
• The Dumat Al-Jandal wind farm will contribute to the Kingdom’s 16GW wind power capacity targets under Vision 2030 and once operational will ......
• An industry first, two global leaders in power technologies have entered into a non-exclusive, cross-licensing agreement that will allow them to expand their range of high-voltage equipment using a game-changing gas alternative to sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
• SF6 an insulating and switching gas commonly used in high-voltage electrical equipment, is a potent greenhouse gas
• This historic agreement announced just before Earth Day 2021 will enable utilities to accelerate their reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Dubai, April 29, 2021 – Hitachi ......
Announces appointment of Solar Power Etal as new distributor in Nigeria
Dubai, UAE – April 28 – Trina Solar Co., Ltd., a leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, is announcing the signing of an official distributor agreement with Solar Power Etal to supply Trina Solar’s products and solutions in Nigeria. The new appointment comes as part of Trina Solar’s commitment to further increases its footprint and presence in the Middle East and Africa to cater to the rapidly growing demand for solar energy in the region.
With Nigeria having ......
Company acknowledged in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for third straight year; also listed in the 2021 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Application Performance Monitoring
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – April 27, 2021: SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced it has improved its placement on the Completeness of Vision axis, in the Niche Quadrant of the April 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant® for Application Performance Monitoring (APM)1 for its APM Integrated Experience, which includes its APM ......
● Kitchen Innovation Award 2021: GROHE Zedra wins “Golden Award – Best of the Best” in the category “Kitchen Faucets and Sinks”
● The jury particularly highlights user-convenience, innovation, product benefits, design and ergonomics
● GROHE Zedra simplifies everyday kitchen tasks with its innovative Triple Spray
United Arab Emirates, April 26, 2021: It is official: Consumers trust in the qualities of GROHE Zedra. The reinvented line of kitchen faucets was awarded the “Golden Award – Best ......
April 26, 2021: As a warm tribute to traditions, Tanagra has entered into the spirit of the season by offering special pieces perfect for Ramadan. For those who cherish special gatherings and occasions with sparkle and style, look no further than Tanagra for the finest craftsmanship and wonderful gifts. Including L’objet and Lalique bowls, Jay Strongwater candles, Christofle cutlery and glassware, Vido luxury games, Agraria diffusers and more.
Now available at Tanagra, AYA The Art of Living is a design house which creates one of a kind contemporary products and ......
• Warm weather and weak industrial demand boosted end of Mar storage levels to 1.78 Tcf, nearly erasing the storage deficit
• Also, US gas output ramped up to 11 month highs in Mar at 91.4 Bcf/d and now a surge in associated gas volumes looms
• Thus we drop our HH bal-year forecast to $2.75 on higher storage levels and see Cal 2022 lower at $2.60 on rising output
March flips the script as gas demand ......
The EconiQ™ portfolio of products, services and solutions contribute towards a carbon neutral-future and accelerate the green energy transition.
Dubai - April 21, 2021: Hitachi ABB Power Grids today launched EconiQ™ – its portfolio of products, services and solutions that are proven to deliver exceptional environmental performance. With EconiQ, the global technology and market leader is reinforcing its commitment towards a carbon-neutral energy future.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids has pioneered many of the world’s technological breakthroughs in the ......
Reporting Operating Revenue of US$4.263 billion (RMB 29.418 Billion), 26.14% More Than 2019
Achieving Net Income Attributable to Shareholders of US $178 Million (RMB 1.229 Billion)
Company’s Total Module Capacity Reached 22GW
Module Shipments Reached 15.915GW, Ranking Third in The World
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – April 21, 2021: Trina Solar Co Ltd. (SH: 688599), the world's leading global PV and smart energy total solutions provider, has published its 2020 full- year financial results. The company had ......
LG’s InstaView Door-in-Door Design Brings Food Saving Technology to the Kitchen
DUBAI, UAE, 21 APRIL 2021 – As families purchase food to bring into the home for cooking and dining, it’s important that food is stored properly to maintain freshness. With the excitement of the Holy Month and families wishing to extend their generosity to loved ones through lovingly prepared dishes, maintaining the quality of food is key to a tasty and fulfilling meal.
For the home, there is nothing more wasteful than throwing away unused or spoiled food. LG ......
• Find exclusive labels, home-grown brands and Arabic-inspired designs in a special Ramadan edit
• Crate and Barrel has partnered with Carrefour and Emirates Red Crescent to distribute Ramadan Boxes of essential food items across the UAE
• Crate and Barrel is taking part in Majid Al Futtaim’s initiative to feed over 25,000 people in need throughout the Holy Month
Dubai, UAE - April 21, 2021: With the Holy Month upon us, Crate and Barrel – owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim in the UAE – is launching a very ......
Companies to Combine Respective Specialities and Resources to Realise Operational Synergies and Develop Competitive Offering
Abu Dhabi, UAE – April 19, 2021: Abu Dhabi Ports’ offshore logistics service provider, Offshore Support and Logistics Services Company (OFCO – Offshore International), has announced the start of a collaboration with Mammoet United Arab Emirates, a branch of the global engineered heavy lifting and transport services company, as part of a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations.
The integrated ......
Through this endeavour, the company aims to revolutionise the supply chain and logistics industry
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 18 April 2021: Fulfilling its vision to become the leader in smart trade, DP World, UAE Region has taken a step forward to explore the power of Quantum Computing in the logistics and trade industry through collaboration and exploration with D-Wave and other global leaders in the quantum computing sphere. This move will place DP World, UAE Region among the top organisations that are exploring the Quantum Computing technology to boost business and ......
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – April 12, 2021: Trina Solar, the world's leading global PV and smart energy total solutions provider released, the total volume of the orders for its distributed products Vertex 500W and Vertex S 405W has surpassed 2GW, which have spread their footprints all over the world with high reliability and power generation efficiency. In addition, the first batch of the Vertex S modules have arrived in Europe recently for mass installation in thousands of project sites.
Trina Solar exhibited Vertex S 405W and Vertex S 500W at the largest solar energy ......


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In a sign that things are hotting up in the e-reader segment in India, the ET yesterday reported under the headline ‘ India’s first e-reader Wink unveiled, supporting 15 languages’ that
….. launched its multi-function e-book reader Wink that not only supports 15 languages but will also offer over 200,000 book titles on debut.
Strangely, the TOI of today has reported that
After Infibeam’s Pi — the country’s first e-book reader — which was launched at the beginning of this year, India will have its second such device, the Wink XTS, which will begin retailing from September 1.
A case of two publications from the same group not seeing eye to eye on getting facts right? Or has one of them gone into error correction mode? Could be anyone’s guess.
Nevertheless, this post is more about keeping our eyes open to the unfolding saga of technological improvements as they shape the contours of aspects such as reading, writing, publishing & marketing.
With more players (Amazon’s Kindle was launched in India in October 2009;
Apple’s Ipad is due in September 2010 ) entering into this segment, its unclear whether an ‘eye for an eye’ approach to selling these readers will eventually happen.
This report on rediff.com ‘Craze for e-readers in India yet to catch on’ suggests that manufacturers will have an uphill climb on their hands before acceptance levels increase & upward sales figures become a sight for sore eyes.
Meanwhile, with our memberships on the upswing & offtake of books peaking month on month, we keep hitting just one thing:


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Washington state apple farmers are gearing up to harvest the second-largest crop in history, but it appears there won't be enough workers to get the fruit off the trees quickly enough. The shortage comes as apple prices are high because of crop damage elsewhere in the country. Correspondent Anna King has our report from an apple orchard outside of Prescott, Washington.
The start of apple harvest should be the happiest, busiest time of year in the orchards. But now, weeks before the peak, managers here at Broetje Orchards are wincing. I talk with Broetje manager Roger Bairstow.
Anna King: “How do you sleep at night because that just seems like a very hard thing to have that many people missing?”
Roger Bairstow: “Ah, there are quite a few of us that aren’t sleeping through the night.”
There are about 1,500 workers out in the trees now working tall aluminum ladders and picking beautiful dusty-red apples off the trees. Music plays from the smart phones of workers and buckeye Gala apples thud gently into the waiting bins.
SOUND: Ladder clinking and tree branch picking snap sound, Mexican radio
But this operation needs another 800 people now just to get through harvest and not fall behind. Bairstow says apples have a limited branch-life.
Roger Bairstow: “So the longer an apple stays on the tree, the worse the condition gets and the longer the apple stays on the market. So at some point it’s not even worth picking.”
So if they fall behind, those past-prime apples will be left to rot. That makes R.C. Perez, an orchard foreman really upset.
R.C. Perez: “Yeah, it is it’s horrible. It’s sad.”
SOUND: General orchard ambi
Broetje Orchards is not alone. This year’s fresh crop in Washington is at about 108.7 million 40-pound-equivalent boxes. That’s the second largest on record. And Bairstow and Perez say they’ve never seen labor so tight as this year. Some farmers are buying commuter vans to port workers from one orchard to the next, and paying for the extra commute time. Bairstow says a top-rate picker could earn about 1-thousand dollars a week. Prices for pickers have also ballooned up 15 percent from last year in some areas this year. And some workers are earning "stay put" bonuses if they stay on a particular farm the entire season. We stand overlooking, hundreds of acres of green trees and bright apples on a dramatic bluff above the Columbia River.
Roger Bairstow: “By the end of November we’ll have the crop God willing in, and we’ll have a huge party and everyone will be a part of it because they made it all happen.”
Apple crop is just starting in the warmer sites of Washington's growing areas. Cooler places like Wenatchee and Omak have just begun. But as more and more farms come online for harvest, growers like Bairstow worry the worker shortage will only turn more rotten.
Copyright 2012 Northwest Public Radio