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LONDON, United Kingdom — “Producing one single gold ring can generate up to 20 tonnes of mine waste, with mercury and cyanide going into the water system,” explains New York-based jeweller Monique Péan, who, several years ago, became horrified by the destructive impact of her industry. “The more I learned, the more frightened I was about how I’d be able to proceed and create beautiful things that spoke to the same sense of quality and craftsmanship as other luxury players and still be able to stand behind the pieces that I was producing.”
Péan is one of a new generation of fashionable fine jewellers who are increasingly building ethical and environmental concerns into their businesses. Each one of Péan’s pieces – which blend references to ancient culture with modern, architectural sensibilities — is now environmentally friendly and sustainable. She uses a combination of recycled gemstones and those obtained from artisan mining companies and larger, environmentally responsible mines.
“It’s exciting to see that more designers are becoming interested and the consumer landscape is changing globally,” says Péan. But while several small, independent operations like Péan’s have embraced ethical jewellery, the situation is much murkier across the wider industry.
Around the year 2000, the term ‘blood diamond’ became hauntingly familiar to the wider public, first through news reports and, later, as the title of a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio that depicted the human cost of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone. The film’s epilogue dramatised the industry’s first steps toward developing a ‘conflict-free’ classification for rough diamonds, now widely adopted by reputable jewellers.
For consumers interested in the ethical integrity of their jewellery, however, the story does not end there. Alongside rising concerns about the environmental damage, human rights abuses and dangerous labour practices associated with mining precious metals and stones, the validity of ‘conflict-free’ diamonds has come into question.
In December of 1998, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness published a report entitled A Rough Trade on the role diamonds had played in the devastating civil war in Angola. During a period in which over 500,000 lives had been lost, the war effort of the opposition party had been funded by $3.7 billion in diamond sales. A Rough Trade stimulated the creation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2002, to which 81 countries — representing 99.8 percent of the global production of rough diamonds — signed on. At the time, the Kimberley Process was seen as a hard-won triumph, an effective response to the destructive practises that had bloodied the diamond industry’s reputation.
However, in 2011, Global Witness, the organisation that had been so instrumental in its creation, left the Kimberley Process, stating: “Despite the existence of the Kimberley Process, diamonds are still fuelling violence and human rights abuses. The Kimberley Process’ refusal to evolve and address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny has rendered it increasingly outdated.” Despite this, the Kimberley Process still remains the jewellery industry’s standard.
There is currently no single universal certification scheme that can provide full reassurance that the jewellery you buy is ethical, though some retailers have taken matters into their own hands. Several jewellers, such as the online retailer Blue Nile, have made a point of going beyond the Kimberley Process by examining abuse reports from specific areas and vetting sources of stones on an individual basis. Along with Boucheron, Cartier, Piaget and Tiffany, Blue Nile is also one of 100 signatories of the ‘Golden Rules’ against dangerous and destructive gold mining practices laid out by environmental organisation Earthworks.
The venerable Swiss jewellery house Chopard launched its first Green Carpet Collection (a response to Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge) in 2013 with earrings and a fairly mined gold bracelet set embedded with conflict-free diamonds. Actress Marion Cotillard wore the set on the red carpet at Cannes. While it represents a tiny fraction of Chopard’s output, the house sees the collection as the start of a larger company-wide journey towards what it calls sustainable luxury. The gold for these pieces was mined from small communities in South America that, together with the NGO Alliance for Responsible Mining, Chopard supported and helped to reach Fairmined certification.
Currently, membership in the Responsible Jewellery Council is touted by jewellers as the benchmark for good practice and the diamonds used in Chopard’s Green Carpet Collection were proudly described as being from an RJC certified member. But, off the record, many are circumspect about the effectiveness of such industry-led initiatives, pointing out that groups like the Responsible Jewellery Council are trade organisations conceived to benefit their members, rather than bodies dedicated to protecting the interests of more vulnerable parties further down the supply chain.
By contrast, a group like Fairtrade “works for the benefit of artisanal and small-scale miners and poor producers,” says Greg Valerio, gold program coordinator at Fairtrade International. Guaranteeing a transparent supply chain from mine to retail, the standards behind Fairtrade gold certification are complemented by a strategic focus on three key issues: eradicating mercury and promoting safe usage of toxic chemicals; sourcing conflict-free minerals; and eliminating child and forced labour.
Fairtrade International currently has three certified sources of artisan-mined gold in South America, with a couple more being readied for certification later this year and nine pilot projects in East Africa for 2015. Together, these mines will bring approximately 1 to 1.2 tonnes of Fairtrade gold to market per annum. Miners receive a $2,000 per kilo premium for the certification and the total cost to a jeweller is only $3.80 per gram on the retail price. Fairtrade began issuing licensing contracts to jewellers in 2011, authorising them to use the Fairtrade stamp on their gold products. Currently over 60 small goldsmiths and 50 licensees are registered in the UK, with additional jewellers in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. Later this year, Fairtrade will start licensing jewellers in the US and Switzerland, with Germany and Italy likely to follow in 2015.
Dutch high fashion jeweller Bibi van der Velden is an ambassador in the Netherlands’ for Solidaridad, an independent body that trains miners to achieve Fairtrade certification. She has visited mining communities in Colombia, Peru and Ghana. “I’m passionate about gold mining as I’ve seen what it does to the rainforest, to the ecology and to the millions of people involved in small-scale mining,” says van der Velden. “Changes have to be made; in surface mining, virgin rainforest is cut down, the soil is dug out and sieved to find gold dust, the miners use mercury because it attaches itself to the gold, and they get paid a fraction of what the gold is worth. They are barely able to provide for their families, and with the mining comes social issues such as child labour and sexual abuse.”
Van der Velden draws a direct link between the high price of gold in recent years and the explosion of destructive and dangerous small-scale illegal gold mining. She was only vaguely aware of the impact of gold mining until she began working with Solidaridad in 2010. Since then, she has seen growth in consumer awareness of the issues surrounding gold, but says that there is not currently a meaningful level of demand for Fairtrade gold. “The demand is small from consumers — I get couples coming wanting ethical wedding rings, but in the end the price is 10 to 15 percent higher than the going market rate and at that point people will nearly always make an opportunistic choice,” she explains. “I wouldn’t put the responsibility or choice on the consumer — it’s a choice the industry has to make.”
Thanks to these initiatives from Fairtrade International, the Alliance for Responsible Mining, and Earthworks, ethically sourced, traceable gold is becoming a viable material choice for jewellers (although van der Velden says that she currently still needs to use three different sources to put together a full kilo of gold for her workshops).
Ethical silver, however, is more of a problem. “It’s rarer, as it is the principle by-product of the refining of certified gold, so the volumes are naturally lower,” says Greg Valerio. The rarity of Fairtrade silver makes it hard for jewellers to commit to using it — van der Velden uses ethical silver in her children’s line Samenhaas, but can’t currently obtain enough to use it in her main line.
Sourcing ethical gemstones is also a problem. Beyond a few sources of traceable stones — emerald, ruby and amethyst from Gemfields, or rare single-mine stones such as zultanite — it is extremely hard to know where stones come from. In May, Global Witness issued a formal call for due diligence in sourcing precious stones, identifying the ongoing trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe and Central African Republic, jadeite from Myanmar (Burma) and precious stones from Afghanistan as examples of materials that fund regimes or organisations associated with repression and human rights violations.
London-based jeweller Pippa Small has direct experience with the issues surrounding gemstone mining in Afghanistan. Since 2008, Small has also worked with the charity Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, which has restored part of the old city and created an institute for traditional craft and art. She has also helped set up a three-year jewellery course teaching business skills and craft techniques, with an aim to showcase Afghanistan’s minerals as well as the skills of the craftspeople.
“The mining system is very informal; all the best gems go straight out of the country,” explains Small. “The challenge is to show miners that if they pay tax to the government, they’ll receive expertise and support from engineers in return, and help generate a more formal market. At the moment they’re just sticking dynamite in the ground, which is very dangerous; it’s damaging them and the stones. The government thinks the miners are smugglers and the miners think that government are thieves. It’s an interesting dilemma.”
Indeed, according to the Global Witness report, Afghanistan has reported mineral deposits worth nearly $1 trillion, with an estimated 1,400 illegal mines in operation. Yet in 2013, no more than 3.4 percent of government tax revenues came from mining. By contrast, the Taliban take a 20 percent cut of the profits from mining in areas where they are present, such as Jegdelak in Kabul province, home to legendary ruby mines that date back over 700 years.
Small says that from a jeweller’s perspective, it is almost impossible to know the provenance of a precious or semi-precious stone. “By the time it reaches you in India, for example, you have no idea where it comes from. Gems move and always have done, and there’s not a huge amount of certification; their sourcing still has a long way to go.”
Designers such as Monique Péan and Bibi van der Velden have pioneered the use of non-mined, alternative precious materials, such as fossils, shells and mammoth ivory. Scrapping and re-using metal and stones also continues to provide a healthy alternative source of materials. But, overall, the search for ethical jewellery remains overwhelmingly complicated, awash with competing systems of certification, claims and counter-claims, and informal assurances.
Editor's Note: This article was amended on 7 August 2014. A previous version of this article stated that Solidaridad was a chapter of Fairtrade International. It is not. It is an independent body that works with miners to achieve Fairtrade certification.


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It has been rumored that Tractor Supply Company, a national retail chain, is planning to open a store in Medford, Wisconsin. This has caused quite a stir in the small town, with many residents both excited and concerned about what this could mean for the community.
On the one hand, having a Tractor Supply store in Medford would be a huge boost for the local economy. The company is known for paying its employees well and providing good benefits, and it would likely bring other businesses to the area as well. Additionally, it would give residents easy access to affordable farm supplies and equipment.
On the other hand, some residents are worried that a Tractor Supply store would change the character of Medford. They worry that it would lead to more traffic and noise in the town, and that it would eventually drive out smaller businesses.
At this point, it is still unclear whether or not Tractor Supply will actually be coming to Medford. However, it is certainly something that has many people talking. Whatever the outcome, it is sure to have a big impact on the town.

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Dr. Pimple Popper’s Maskne Hack Is The GOAT
If you’ve been doing your part in fighting the current COVID-19 pandemic, then you’ve probably experienced the perils of those trusty cloth masks. Yes, masks combat the spread of the virus, but no doubt they’ve made the acne struggle all the more real. The negative effects of wearing masks over your face for an extended period of time can cause oil and sweat build up leading to inflammation and breakouts. And it doesn’t help that it is currently summer.
Fortunately, Dr. Pimple Popper (AKA Dr. Sandra Lee) has come up with some pretty practical tips for combatting acne and keeping your skin clear.
Last week, the Los Angeles-based skin expert took to TikTok to share a simple tip for avoiding face mask acne.
One of the dermatologist’s most practical tips was to spray the inside of your mask with a salicylic acid-based product.
In the TikTok clip, Dr. Lee can be seen spraying the inside of a face mask with a product from her SLMD Skincare line. The Salicylic Acid Body Spray, which costs $37.99, is what she uses on her own masks to prevent mask related acne.
“Spray it on the inside of mask, fan your mask to dry it a little,” she explains in the video. “Salicylic acid cleans out the oil and debris within your pores, preventing acne.’ The trick, although simple, sparked a slew of praise from her TikTok followers, with many thanking her for coming to the rescue of their struggling skin.”
As some users pointed out in most cases damp medical masks are useless even after they’ve dried.
Fortunately, if you’re using a reusable face mask made from cloth, the trick works without jeopardizing the effectiveness of the mask.
Other users in the comments section of Dr. Lee’s post have noted that spraying the product directly onto the skin before placing the mask on can also prevent acne from masks.
Check out the clip here.


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Fake X-mas lights seized, to be destroyed in La Union
SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Around 500 boxes of alleged imported Christmas lights with fake seals of International Commodity Clearance (ICC) were confiscated by personnel of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) from various establishments here yesterday.
Zaldy Zafra, officer of DTI-La Union Consumer Protection Division, said that most of the fake ICC seals, worth around P2.00 each, were bought in Manila by local businessmen..
“We have seen that all the products (Christmas lights) confiscated were fake because these should have been inspected and certified by the Bureau of Product Standards before they were given ICCs. The vendors claimed they bought it Manila with their supplier,” Zafra said.
Zafra said they found that the ICCs were fake because their serial numbers contain eight numbers instead of seven and the genuine should be hologram with different shining colours and not just plain silver.


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All the D.C. news that’s fit to eat (and drink).
This week in BYT Food:
- We tasted Table’s Meatless Monday menu, proving that sometimes it’s all about the vegetarian options.
- We tried a bunch of delicious drinks at Macon in Chevy Chase, including duck fat infused cocktails!
Upcoming Food Events:
Through December – Cordial Fine Wines is holding their Cordial Scotch Series at Union Market. Register here.
- Friday, December 5th – The Heights is celebrating Repeal Day with Prohibition-era cocktails and food pairings all weekend. All cocktails are $10, and all food pairings are under $10.
- Saturday, December 6th – The D.C. Repeal Day Ball will sell-out in advance for good reason. Some of the best bartenders in the country will serve cocktails at the Carnegie Library for three-and-a-half hours.
- Monday, December 8th – Nourishing Our Communities! The annual fundraising event for Healthy Living, Inc. is an absolute must attend! Healthy Living is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching people of all economic backgrounds how to plan and prepare healthy meals, in a nurturing, safe environment. Everyone is welcome!
- Wednesday, December 10th – Roofer’s Union is hosting a “Tacky Sweater Party” in collaboration with local breweries. Don we now our gay apparel, and head to Adams Morgan to try the 15 local beers on draft. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes.
- Friday, December 12th – Second State is celebrating the 227-year anniversary of Pennsylvania becoming the second state to ratify the Constitution. Guests who visit for lunch or dinner will receive a complementary glass of champagne with their meal.
- Friday, December 12th – Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro and The Wine Cabinet are holding their last wine dinner of 2014. Dine on a five-course meal while sipping hand-selected Pahlmeyer wines.
- Saturday, December 13th – Black’s Bar and Kitchen is holding a truffle-making class from 11 am to 1 pm. Learn to make truffles while also enjoying a two course meal from their pre-fixe lunch menu.
- Monday, December 15th – The 2nd annual Foie La La competition returns to H Street NE. Nine restaurants along the corridor will be featuring a special dish foie gras dish, and diners can vote for their favorite online.
- Wednesday, December 24th – Fiola, Fiola Mare, and Casa Luca are all featuring Christmas Eve Tasting menus with 7, 5, and 4 courses, respectively. For more information and to make reservations, check out their websites.
Everything else that’s fit to eat (and drink):
- Chez Billy Sud in Georgetown is now serving brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 2 pm. Menu items include apple bacon bread pudding and other wintery dishes.
- Amsterdam Falafel and 100 Mondaditos are opening new locations around the city. (Eater DC)
- Rise Bakery in Adams Morgan is now open, complete with gluten-free offerings. (DCist)
- Bibiana is offering 25 holiday cocktails this year. This should keep you busy for the rest of the month. (Eater DC)


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The United States has banned imports of palm oil from Malaysian company FGV Holdings following an investigation into allegations it uses forced labour, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency said today.
FGV, the world’s largest crude palm oil producer, and some other suppliers of the oil used in everything from food to cosmetics to biodiesel have long faced allegations from rights groups over labour and human rights abuses.
FGV did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“We are issuing a Withhold Release Order on all palm oil and palm oil products manufactured by FGV Holdings Berhad,” Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, told a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, referring to one of the world’s largest palm oil companies, in which a Malaysian government agency has a 12.4 percent stake.
She said the order was being issued “due to information we have that forced labor was in their production process.”
Smith said the action came after a year-long investigation of allegations from a variety of sources, including labor rights groups. This is the first time CBP has taken action against a palm oil producer, she added.


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Samsung Group, the South Korean electronics giant may be unveiling a new product into the gadget world come January 2015.
New smartphone may be unveiled at CES 2015 - report
According to reports, the company is likely to unveil their new Galaxy S series smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S6 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which will be held early next year.
According to reports, the company is likely to unveil their new Galaxy S series smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S6 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which will be held early next year.
Though Samsung is known for launching their products mostly in the month of February or March, reports suggest that the company could unveil the new Galaxy S6 sometime between January 6-9 which coincides with the dates of the CES to be held in Las Vegas.
Reports also speculated that the Samsung Galaxy S6 could have a curved screen, a 5.5-inch QHD (1440×2560 pixels) display, an Exynos 7420 octa-core processor supported by 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage.
The device will come with a 20-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front snapper, reports said.
With its latest product, Galaxy S5 failing to impress critics and fans alike, this could be an attempt to hit up its sales and dominance of the market.
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IMPHAL, Jun 11: Due to lapses on the part of officials, the Govt of Manipur has been losing crores of rupees that should be accrued to the State exchequer as Value Added Tax (VAT). Not a single paise has been received by the State Government as VAT for importing cigarettes and bidis worth Rs 4.65 crores.
This serious loophole in collecting VAT, which is one of the primary sources of generating income for the State Government, was discovered in an independent investigation conducted by The Sangai Express.
These lapses on the part of Taxation and other department officials have resulted in loss of crores of rupees annually which would otherwise be accrued to the State exchequer.
After enforcement of the Manipur Value Added Tax Act 2004, the taxation check post located at Kangpokpi was closed.
In place of it, a new system of checking movement of goods carriers along NH 39 by Taxation office headquarters was started.
Along with launching of the new system, collection of taxes for importing cigarettes and bidis was also stopped.
For instance, between June 2008 and June 2009, cigarettes and bidis worth Rs 4.65 crores were imported to Manipur. But the State Govt did not receive any amount as VAT from these goods which according to the official estimates should be Rs 58.08 lakhs.
The goods were imported by the dealers without any Way Bill or statutory forms.
For engineering departments too, some officials of the Finance Dept have been deliberately releasing bills for contract works without deducting VAT.
According to rules, VAT for contract works handled by engineering departments should be deducted at source. But many officials have not been complying with these rules.
All these loopholes in collecting taxes were mentioned explicitly in the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
On the other hand, IOC Limited (AOD), IOC Limited (MD) and NRL Energy Station, City-I Khurai have not paid the due VAT amount of Rs 1.61 crores till July last year, pointed out the annual audit report.
Moreover, another Rs 11.31 lakhs that should be deducted as VAT for constructing Manipur Bhavans at Shillong, Guwahati and New Delhi were not deducted.
Even though Works Department contended that VAT could not be deducted as these buildings were constructed outside the State, the audit report said that payment of VAT were included in the cost estimates.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)Number of Views :2242
*All postings on this website are provided “AS IS” from the source duly mentioned at the end of the post. It comes with no warranties, and confer no rights. All entries in this website are the views/opinions of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect the view/opinion of ManipurOnline.


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E-scooter start-up Ather Energy to take its scooters to global markets
Ather Energy is eyeing to launch its scooters in global markets, including Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe in the five years. The smart electric scooter start-up is also planning to expand to about 50 cities across India in the same period.
The Bengaluru-based company is backed by marquee investors like Flipkart’s Co-Founder Sachin Bansal, Tiger Global and Hero Motocorp. It is also looking at other business models, including rental and ride-sharing, leveraging the connectivity features in its scooters.
Tarun Mehta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Ather, said, “I am extremely happy with the (Budget) announcement. I don’t think I was going to ask for more. A product like this has to go global. I think as companies like ours emerge, there is more of an opportunity to go international rapidly.”
“Now the government needs to stimulate local production and supply chain. This includes incentives that help not just the original equipment manufacturers but also the supplier ecosystem. We can’t afford to get a lot of demands and have no local producers of these vehicles,” he added.


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Edwards Lifesciences Corp., which makes heart valves and other cardiovascular products, said fourth-quarter profit fell on a mix of restructuring charges.
The Irvine-based company earned $15.8 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with profit of $20.7 million, or 34 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company said it earned 56 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected profit of 53 cents a share.
Edwards said charges included $13.9 million in restructuring costs and $7.3 million in severance costs, among other items.
Revenue rose 10% to $293 million from $265.6 million. Analysts expected revenue of $280.1 million.
Shares of Edwards Lifesciences rose 18 cents to $47.28 in after-hours trading after rising 11 cents to $47.10 during the regular session.


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Kia GT4 Stinger, sports car of the future?
Kia revealed the GT4 Stinger concept car at the Detroit motor show, a rear-wheel drive 2+2 sports car, created at Kia's California design studio. Kia described the sports car as "the brand's most aggressive concept car ever". The car is equipped ...
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Reports of luxury sales in northern NSW have proven the prestige market has finally made a turn around in the region.
Speaking with Real Estate Business, company director and property sales at Unique Estates Nicolette van Wijngaarden said it had been the busiest her Byron Bay office has ever been.
“We’ve definitely had the best quarter we’ve ever had since we started the business four and a half years ago,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s setting the world on fire yet but I’d certainly say it’s been a lot better than it has been. There are a lot more genuine buyers in the market.”
With a median house price of $700,000, the luxury market in Byron has historically been quite flat. But it all began to turn around late last year, according to Ms van Wijngaarden.
“I think there were a lot of people sitting on their hands waiting to see what would happen locally, nationally and globally, and now feel it’s a good time to buy," she said.
“In the sub-$1 million market, activity picked up from August to September. However, we specialise in the over $1.5 to $2 million market, which started picking up a month later.
“Since then we’ve had six sales in four weeks between $2 and $3.5 million.”
Agent at Raine & Horne Byron Bay Janis Perkins agrees that the luxury market has been flourishing.
“The top end of the market in Byron is definitely on the up, with momentum building and the market having its best quarter in the past few years," she said.
“We’re finding that a lot of our buyers in this price range love the fact Byron isn’t mainstream, and now after some years of flat growth, buyers are surging back into the township to relocate from interstate or overseas, or to buy a Byron holiday home.”


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LEGO has been torturing parents' feet for decades now - but here's a project involving the building blocks that they can finally get behind.
Families are being given the chance to have a sleepover at the newly-opened Lego House in Billund, Denmark.
Winners of a competition to stay the night will enjoy the Lego House all to themselves for a whole night, sleeping in a dream Lego bedroom under a giant Lego waterfall.
The experience, in association with AirBnB, will stay over on November 24 - with Jamie Berard, Design Manager Specialist and "Master Lego Builder" at the LegoGroup as their host.
At the beginning of the day, they will be tasked with building their lunch order out of Lego bricks before it’s sent to the kitchen to be made into real food and served by two robot waiters.
The guests will get to get up close with the Tree of Creativity, built by hand from 6 million bricks, direct their own Lego movie, engineer robotic cars and design Lego cities.
When night falls, the family will bed down in the Lego bedrooms under a six-metre-tall Lego waterfall, surrounded by a pool of bricks.
The whole space is made totally out of Lego bricks, including the teddy bear, lamps, alarm clock, TV, story books, and even the pet cat.
The Lego home has two bedrooms and a living room, featuring Lego armchairs in front of Lego TV.
To enter the competition, a family just have to describe what they would build if they had an infinite supply of Lego bricks.
If they win and get to spend the night at the Lego House, they will also get he chance to make their dream a reality with an unlimited brick supply - to find out more, head to the Lego House profile on the AirBnB website.


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Related News & Articles
Performance update may help stabilise 30fps target.
Rare veteran looking forward to studio's latest game.
Could Microsoft exec be hinting at an unannounced Rare title?
Believes you won't find a game that offers such a wealth of creative freedom anywhere else.
Nuts & Bolts to get 'lifespan-lengthening activities'.
Gamers with standard definition television sets will soon be able to read in-game dialogue text.
The bear and bird duo are back with a user created bang.
The game's not in stores until next month but you can give the demo a try now.
Set for release exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 14.
Ad spotted on Xbox LIVE, Rare says it's unlikely we'll see the demo in October.


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Some unscrupulous pool and spa companies are using scare tactics and fraud to profit from the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.
“One company called [a client] and said they’re the only ones that could do [the work],” said Eva Harris, president of Conner Construction Corp. in Cornelius, N.C. Harris was told by several clients that a local firm has been misrepresenting the VGB Act as a ploy to get work.
“[The company said] it would have to pay them $2,000 to come out and do an evaluation, and that the average [renovation] cost was something outrageous,” Harris said.
Others have engaged in scare tactics, such as running advertisements that tell homeowners they must comply with the law or face severe penalties. At this point, only commercial pools must be in compliance.
“You want to give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re mistaken, but I doubt it,” said Lawrence Caniglia, executive director of the Northeast Spa & Pool Association. “I think they know it’s not required, but they’re doing it to try to drum up business.”
Some competitors are notifying the publications that the ads are false, Caniglia added, but it isn’t clear whether that will help.
Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, suggests industry firms notify their state attorney generals’ office if this occurs.
Cases of outright fraud are relatively rare, experts say.
“It was more interpreting the law to benefit themselves,” said Jim Muise, owner of DesignRI, LLC, an aquatic consultant firm in Charlestown, R.I.
In his opinion, the bigger problem is companies that are being careless in their work. “I’m seeing covers that may not meet the flow requirements of the pool,” he said, adding that some companies also neglect to ground large-scale stainless steel drain covers.


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Amazon Political Book Sales Heat Map Means Absolutely Nothing
You can tell we’re getting close to the Presidential election by just how silly attempts to politicize things get. Case in point:Amazon basically calls any given book “red” or “blue” based on marketing materials, reader votes, and so forth, and then tracks which books have been selling better in which states over the last 30 days. The result is a largely-pink map of the USA which seems to suggest that nearly everyone’s reading Republican, regardless of what the election is going to look like.
Now just watch all the pundits try to take this map and make something out of it. For example, Wired’s Roberto Baldwin has this to say:
Still, there’s no getting around the fact that even reliably blue states like California come out in shades of red in the Amazon map. According to publishing-industry analyst Michael Norris, of Simba Information, that might be due to the right’s ability to connect with its readers. “I can tell you that there are conservative imprints and conservative publishers that are just brilliant at figuring out what kind of books their audience wants to read,” Norris told Wired. “There just aren’t aggressively left-leaning imprints like that.”
Even that may be giving this map too much credence. There’s absolutely nothing scientific about it. Even leaving aside the fact that people may be reading the books not because they agree with them but to know what the “other side” is thinking, the sheer fact that a book is either completely red or completely blue assigns the same weight to a book by a serious political thinker as one by a loony conspiracy theorist.
All you can really tell from this map is that the books Amazon categorizes as red seem to be selling better than the books Amazon categorizes as blue. But I expect that’s not going to stop anyone who wants to cite it as “evidence” for their favored political prognostication.


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US carrier Verizon officially announced on Thursday that it plans to launch an early upgrade program, called Edge, which will go against T-Mobile's Jump and AT&T's Next.
Verizon CFO Fran Shammo first revealed Edge during a call for investors, but then the carrier followed-up with a more formal unveiling complete with details. Verizon said Edge was "a flexible equipment payment plan that spreads the retail price of a phone over 24 months". There will also be no long-term service contracts, finance charges or upgrade fees.
In other words, Verizon customers can upgrade to a new device after six months if their current handset is 50 per cent paid off. This also provides customers with the ability to pay the full retail price of a phone on a month-to-month basis. The plan, which has long existed to UK consumers via a similar Vodafone UK payment plan, seems like a great deal for Americans at first blush.
However, many reports have already begun chastising Verizon - as well as T-Mobile and AT&T - for its upgrade efforts. Despite criticism of such plans, Vodafone UK has certainly done well utilising the same model. Just today, for instance, the UK carrier announced that it would exclusively offer the Huawei Ascend Mate for free with a £29 a month plan.
The biggest complaint with early upgrade plans among American consumers, though, is that they don't want to pay much more each month just to save on the initial cost of swapping phones more often. Verizon Edge will be available to customers on Share Everything plans starting 25 August.


text: Several grocery store chains are recalling ice cream bars that may be contaminated with Listeria. The bars were manufactured by Fieldbrook Foods Corporation between January 1 and December 31 of last year. The bars have sell by dates of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. The company says routine testing found Listeria in a few ice cream bar samples. They say there is no evidence of contamination before October 31, but the company extended the recall back to January 1 as a precaution. No illnesses have been reported. Customers who have bought these ice cream bars are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. They were sold at various stores under various brand names. For example, ice cream bars sold at Kroger were under the Kroger Arctic Blasters brand name.


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Automotive holdings company Motus has sited its fears in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China as this will directly impact global economies and further weaken emerging markets. The company posted a group revenue increase of 7 per cent to R41.95 billion and a headline earning gain of 9 per cent to 517 cents per share for its interim 2019 results and also warns of domestic pressures moving forward. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Osman Arbee, CEO of Motus Holdings.
Acknowledged as the world’s largest Africa-focused digital infrastructure and emerging tech event, the Africa Tech Festival has always attracted a stellar line-up of critical thinkers, analysts, futurists, keynote and inspirational speakers. 2020 will more than deliver on that reputation, with a stimulating array of visionary industry presenters, raconteurs and even some sporting greats.
By Olga Arara-Kimani, Regional Head, Corporate Affairs and Brand & Marketing Introduction Mobilising support for female...
The theme for October Transport Month 2020 is Smart Mobility. Smart Mobility is an innovative way of getting around. it is the...
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A Filipino’s Christmas solo photoshoot gained traction for referencing popular Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” in a way that amused social media users.
Facebook user Grace Borromeo Casitas shared pictures of her inspired by the style of the show’s leading role, Anna Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon, with the dining table across her.
“Queen’s Gambit: Noche Buena Edition. Hope it’s not too late,” she wrote as a caption in her post that she shared on a public Facebook group called “Queen’s Gambit Chessposting.”
Based on Casitas’ post, her makeup was done by “joshyyy” while the pictures were taken by Jaggy Nicolas Lanuza.
The images featured Casitas looking at their Noche Buena spread instead of a chessboard.
One picture showed Casitas getting a cheese puto or a Filipino steamed rice cake instead of holding a chess piece.
Her post on the Facebook group has gained 13,000 likes and reactions and 6,900 shares as of this writing.
It has also been featured on News5’s Facebook, where it was called “Queen’s Gutom.”
“Actually nagkataon lang po siya. Though may mga nakapagsabi naman po sa akin na hawig ko ‘yung gumanap. Pero ‘di rin po namin alam ano naisip namin nun, siguro po gutom lang. Nagugutom nga po ako ngayon eh, habang tina-type ‘to hahaha,” Casitas told the news outlet.
Some of the foods featured in her photoshoot are puto, salad and sushi bake, one of the food trends that sprouted during quarantine period last year.
“The Queen’s Gambit” is a miniseries on Netflix that features a talented young woman and her rise to chess stardom as she grapples with addiction. It is based on a 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis.
Reports note that it reached the Top 10 list of viewers in the Philippines over the last three weeks as of November.
The series premiered on the streaming giant last October 23.
“Google search queries about the sport and ‘how to play chess’ also went up in the country, with downloads for Chess.com‘s app also rising dramatically. The number of daily players in online site Lichess.org also peaked during the show’s first few weeks on the platform,” Philstar.com reported.
“Meanwhile the novel itself, written by Walter Trevis, has found itself on The New York Times bestseller list more than three decades after its release,” it added.


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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – October 29, 2015 — Cyara announced today that it has been named to the 2015 BRW Fast 100. The Fast 100 list has for 26 years ranked Australia’s fastest growing businesses. Cyara’s corporate headquarters are in Melbourne with additional offices in San Francisco, CA and London, England.
Cyara’s Fast 100 ranking for their second appearance on the list is 13 spots higher than last year’s ranking, and they remain in the top 5 as a software vendor. The announcement reflects the momentum Cyara has built in 2015 with 202% year on year growth in North America and 86% growth globally.
Cyara has also received the following recognition this year:
- Gartner Cool Vendor in CRM Customer Service and Customer Support, 2015
- CIOReview’s 20 Most Promising Solution Providers for Avaya
- CIOReview’s 20 Most Promising Solution Providers for Cisco
- 2015 CUSTOMER Magazine TMC Labs Innovation Award
- 2015 Speech Technology Excellence Award
- 2015 TMC Customer Product of the Year Award
“In 2015, Cyara has grown not only in revenue, but also by adding new functionality to the Cyara Platform,” said Alok Kulkarni, CEO of Cyara. “The new functionality, which was in response to our customers’ needs, included Cyara Chat, a proactive web chat testing solution, Cyara Crawler, the first-ever automated IVR discovery and monitoring solution, and the release of Cyara 6.1, makes the Cyara Platform the most comprehensive omni-channel customer experience testing, discovery and monitoring platform in the world,” he added.
Cyara is the global market-leading provider of an omni-channel customer experience testing, discovery, and monitoring platform and was named a Gartner Cool Vendor in CRM Customer Service and Customer Support, 2015. Cyara enables its customers to rapidly innovate while dramatically reducing the cost of development and testing and the risk of exposing their customers to poor customer experiences. Every day, millions of flawless customer interactions are delivered by some of the most recognizable brands in the world utilizing the Cyara Platform. For more information, please visit www.cyara.com, or connect with Cyara on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.


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After a year diligent with terms like “fake news,” and headlines centering around code reserve issues and impassioned content, it appears a actions taken by amicable sites to quell a liquid of antagonistic calm is branch out to be a genuine bonus for hunt mention traffic.
For a initial time given 2014, Shareaholic says hunt outpaced social in a commission of altogether trade it delivered in 2017. According to a analytic platform’s data, hunt gathering 34.8 percent of site visits in 2017 compared to amicable networks that accounted for 25.6 percent of mention traffic.
Chartbeat, an analytics height for online publishers and media organizations, has witnessed a identical trend with trade from Google hunt to publisher websites adult some-more than 25 percent given a start of 2017.
“Google Search has always been a largest referrer to Chartbeat clients,” writes a company’s CEO, John Saroff, on Chartbeat’s blog, “In late August, Chartbeat information scientists beheld that Google Search referrals opposite a customer bottom were trending up.”
The CEO says his group primarily suspicion a arise in Google referrals were trustworthy to events like final year’s solar obscure and Hurricane Irma, though trade continued to arise even after news headlines around a events subsided. Instead of descending behind into normal patterns, Chartbeat saw Google hunt pushing even some-more trade to publisher sites.
Search beats out amicable for share of visits
“At a high level, it’s transparent that amicable media’s gossamer hold on being a tip mention difficulty is over. After violence out hunt for a final 3 years, it’s given behind a title, driven by changes to a algorithms behind Facebook’s News Feed,” writes Shareaholic in its latest trade report.
Shareaholic’s commentary are formed on trade to some-more than 250,000 mobile and desktop sites that have opted-in to a calm selling platform’s edition tools. The association says it analyzed a accumulation of trade sources — approach traffic, amicable referrals, organic hunt and paid hunt — for websites that ranged in distance from a thousand monthly singular visitors to one million, and widespread opposite a extended preference of website categories (food, tech, conform and beauty, marketing, sports, ubiquitous news, and more).
Google was a tip altogether trade referrer for a year, and owned a 36.82 percent share of visits during a second half of 2017. While Google’s share of visits was adult some-more than 7 commission points between a second half of 2016 and a second half of 2017, Facebook’s forsaken 12.7 percent during a same time frame.
Even with a double-digit dump however, Facebook remained a tip amicable network for share of visits in 2017.
Shareholic records a changes Facebook has done to a news feed algorithm, boosting calm from “trusted” news sources while penalizing spammy, click-bait headlines, shabby a site’s dump in share of visits: “After a hilly 2016 US choosing year, Facebook done a series of vital changes to what calm they arrangement in a news feed and how they arrangement it.”
The dual charts below, one from Shareaholic and a other from Parse.ly communicate identical trends with honour to hunt vs. amicable mention trade in 2017, by a third entertain of a year. The Parse.ly information reflects a ceiling trend in mention trade from Google (all – including AMP – Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages format) and disappearing trend in mention trade from Facebook privately (all Facebook – including Instant Articles).
Publishers also see continued gains from hunt driven by AMP
While Shareaholic’s trade mention news is formed on a far-reaching difficulty of websites, Chartbeat’s information is privately trustworthy to publishers’ web traffic.
As mentioned earlier, Chartbeat saw a 25 percent swell in trade to publisher sites by Google hunt over a final year. Josh Schwartz, Chartbeat’s arch of product, engineering and data, told Digiday that Facebook referrals to publishers was down fifteen percent in 2017 — aligning with Shareaholic’s findings.
Facebook’s news feed algorithm tweaks to quell feign news and spam calm are really impacting a altogether mention trade numbers, though Chartbeat reports a many poignant cause pushing trade to a clients’ sites is AMP content. After examining either or not a arise in trade was a outcome of a bug, or “un-darkening” of formerly dim amicable trade and anticipating nothing, Chartbeat incited a courtesy to mobile contra desktop trade numbers.
“We afterwards looked privately during hunt trade by device and a answer was transparent from a dataset. Mobile Google Search referrals were adult significantly while Desktop Google Search referrals were flat,” writes Saroff.
Chartbeat afterwards dug serve into a information to weigh sites regulating AMP and pronounced it found a “stark” disproportion between a sites regulating AMP and those that were not.
“While Mobile Google Search trade to a AMP-enabled publishers is adult 100 percent over a same time-frame, trade to publishers not regulating AMP is flat.”
Chartbeat says, during a final 6 months, Google Mobile Search referrals now overtake both mobile and desktop Facebook referrals.


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Samsung Galaxy Phones
Explore Samsung Galaxy Phones
Samsung executive Patrick Chomet clarifies Samsung's position on future Galaxy AI compatibility.
In an interview with TechRadar, Samsung executive Patrick Chomet spoke on the company's lofty ambitions for Galaxy AI.
Updated The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra costs even more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Here's what you'll have to pay.
Updated Full pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra could tempt me to switch from gaming handhelds like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck and embrace ray tracing power.
I’m surprised at how much the basic Samsung Galaxy S24 has already impressed me even in the face of the mighty Galaxy S24 Ultra.
With its Galaxy S24 series, Samsung is looking to put powerful AI tools in users' hands – so what are the headline features, and what do they do?
In an interview with TechRadar, Samsung executive Patrick Chomet has defended the company’s position on generative AI.
Google had a tough year with Pixels, and the Galaxy S24 gets the best features, so maybe it should stop making them.
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text: A Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDOS) hit the internet yesterday, tossing several networks offline. Leo says this happens all the time as robot computers are drafted to clog networks with phoney requests. What's disturbing about this particular attack is that it's using not only computers, but it's taking advantage of smart devices used in the home (called the internet of things), like routers, DVRs, smart refrigerators, and even internet enabled home security systems. With over 6.4 Billion devices connected this year, 5.5 million every day, most being poorly secured, these devices can be added to botnets for even more drastic DDOS attacks. What's Leo's advice? Well, don't use them. Until security is addressed, that's really all you can do. Or at least change the passwords.


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During the most recent round of safety testing on midsize SUVs — conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit funded by auto insurers — only three of the seven cars performed well enough to earn an acceptable or above rating during a crash test.
This particular crash test was introduced in 2012, and is believed to be more difficult than the U.S. government’s head-on frontal crash test. During the test, the 25 percent of the vehicle’s front end will strike a barrier at 40 miles per hour. The hope is then to use the safety results to encourage automotive companies to improve their safety features and to manufacture more crash-resistant vehicles.
Of the models tested, the Nissan Murano and the Jeep Wrangler received the highest crash test rating, a “good.” Following the Murano and the Jeep Wrangler was the Ford Flex, which received an “acceptable” rating during the test.
The Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Hyundai Santa did not fare as well. Each were rated as “marginal” during the crash testing by IIHS.
Overall, the Fiat Chrysler’s Doge Journey scored the worst of all the vehicles during this particular round of testing. While, the Nissan Murano scored the best overall, earning it a Top Safety Pick Plus from IIHS.


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800 competing cars, 900 drivers, 9,200 club vehicles and 235,000 spectators: numbers that consolidate the Le Mans Classic’s position as the world’s largest classic car event.
Races kicked off by two Richard Mille partners: Rafael Nadal and Didier Drogba.
Presentation of the RM 72-01 Le Mans Classic watch dedicated to the 2023 event.
In a year devoted to celebrating the centenary of the Le Mans 24-hour race, this year’s Le Mans Classic embodied a passion for vintage motorsports like never before. The entire weekend dedicated to this 11th edition treated spectators to the visual and acoustic thrills of unique engines. 235,000 people – a record number – watched the sparring matches between vintage speedsters divided into six categories according to their age.
Many other races supplemented the programme, offering an opportunity for some legendary Group C cars to relive their former glory and for Porches to battle it out amongst themselves like in the heyday of endurance racing. The enthusiasm aroused by this historic year was also demonstrated by the presence of around 70 Bentleys on the track. The sight of these venerable British cars lined up in position along the pit straight before making an old-school ‘Le Mans style’ start was one of the highlights of this year’s event, as was the display of Lola T70s and Ford GT40s that reigned supreme in their category.
What other event enables you to admire true legends like the Porsche 917, the Ferrari 250 LM or the Alpine A442 in action all at the same time and place, alongside curiosities such as the aptly named 1950 Cadillac Monster, the 1968 Howmet powered by a helicopter turbine or the 1976 Ford Gran Torino straight from Nascar? While a few showers occasionally spiced up the competition on the track, the heavens were kind enough to allow the event’s sporting and spectator success to unfold unhampered after tennis icon Rafael Nadal, accompanied by football legend Didier Drogba – both friends of Richard Mille – kicked off proceedings.
A faithful partner of the Le Mans Classic since it began in 2002, Richard Mille was keen to pay tribute to this wonderful event by revealing a particularly spectacular model this year adorned in the colours of this historical event.
Released as a limited edition of just 150 timepieces, this new RM 72-01 Le Mans Classic boasts a sporty look. Fashioned in green and white Quartz TPT®, the watch showcases a dial with multiple indicators. Visible through the transparent case back, its self-winding skeleton movement notably includes a flyback chronograph function, a first for an in-house calibre which stands out for its patented coupling system featuring two oscillating pinions and offering optimal performance.
Highlighted in red, the number 16 on the hour counter is, of course, a nod to the traditional start time of the legendary Le Mans race.
Spectators will have to wait another two years before witnessing the start of the next Le Mans Classic, which has become the world’s largest gathering of vintage cars and an unmissable event in the classic car racing calendar. See you there in 2025!


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Fresh from a recapitalization by new owners, the TCBY and Mrs. Fields brands are heading into a year of innovative products, new franchising opportunities and building their presence in grocery stores. Tim Casey, president and chief executive of Mrs. Fields Famous Brands, franchisor of the 580-unit TCBY frozen yogurt and 337-unit Mrs. Fields cookies chains, spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News about new growth opportunities for the Salt Lake City-based company, which last month engaged ...
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Tongal Runs a Competition for a Crowdsourced 'The Office' Super Bowl Ad1/16/2013 8:18 AM Eastern
NBC and Staples' Quill.com are running a crowdsourced Super Bowl ad contest, asking users to submit ideas for a spot that advertises for both the television show The Office and the line of real-life Dundler Mifflin-branded office supplies it has inspired. The winning ad will win $15,000 and may air during the Super Bowl in Scranton, PA -- the locale of the show.
The contest is being run by production company Tongal. Read more here.


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Pakistan’s textile exports declined 16 per cent in December 2022. Coupled with the decline in value terms, volumetric sales abroad were also reduced.
Textile is Pakistan’s top foreign exchange earner and occupies over a three-fifth share in the country’s total exports.This has been the third month in a row that the country’s textile exports have declined. In October 2022, textile exports declined 15 percent and in November 2022 18 percent. Exports of all categories of textiles including cotton cloth, cotton yarn, knitwear, bedwear, and towels have shrunk sizably. In December 2022, cotton cloth exports dipped by 14 percent compared to December 2021, while over the previous month’s exports they increased by five percent.
Likewise, over the corresponding month of last year, exports of knitwear in December 2022 declined by 19 percent, bedwear fell by 17 percent, towels by 14 percent, readymade garments by seven percent and cotton yarn by 50 percent. In the first half of this fiscal year total textile exports were down by seven percent over the same period of last year’s exports. In December 2022, the economy imported 57 percent less machinery as against December 2021.


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Nine wineries and 14 breweries are expected to participate in the inaugural New Mexico Cup competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center Saturday.
The event focuses on handcrafted beers and wines produced in the state. Attendees can sample local beer and wine alongside professional and celebrity judges and then vote on their favorites, which will culminate in an awards ceremony. There will be awards in three categories — professional, public and celebrity.
The event is organized by Albuquerque’s Feel Good Festivals, which also produces the Blues and Brews and ABQ Beer Week events. Organizer Marne Gaston said she expects about 2,000 people to attend the event. “We want people to think about beer and wine in a different way and not just go to the store and buy blindly. This event allows attendees to use score sheets and voting cards to walk through and looks at different aspects of what goes into the production of a certain beer or wine,” she said.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door for general admission, or $30 in advance and $35 at the door for VIP admission. The event runs from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Convention Center is located at 401 2nd Street NW.
The presenting sponsor is BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, which opened Nov. 5 at Winrock Town Center in Uptown. A portion of proceeds from the event will benefit Albuquerque’s TrickLock Theater Co.
For more information and to buy tickets, click here.


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Bose launched its QuietComfort 35 (QC35) noise-cancelling headphones back in 2016 and the Bose QC35 II was launched in QC35 II, but the company launched Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 in 2019 instead of QC series. Now the company is finally gearing up to launch the QuietComfort 45 (QC45) noise-cancelling headphones as it has been certified by the FCC.
This shows a similar design as the QC35 II model with USB Type-C charging port, AUX port to use it with a wired headset, Bluetooth switch on the outside along with microphone holes. On the side of the right ear cup there are controls for volume, and the multi-function button for incoming calls. Both the QC35 II and Bose 700 offer 20 hours of battery life, so it is not clear if we can expect improvements in the new model.
We should know more details about the Bose QuietComfort 45 in the coming weeks.


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BP oil spill poses growing worry for US seafood restaurants
Seafood restaurants and others are tracking the BP oil spill and trying to glean just how much impact it will have on menu prices and consumer perception.
(Page 2 of 2)
“They ask us if the fish is from where the oil is. They ask us all time,” says Linda Blyth, who works at Go Fish!, a seafood restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Del. For Ms. Blyth, the questions are especially worrisome because her restaurant specializes in Icelandic cod, which she says is fished off the coast of Canada.Skip to next paragraph
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Consumer perception “is absolutely one of biggest concerns right now,” says Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group for the US seafood industry. Consumer hesitancy about seafood is not necessarily warranted, he says, considering that 83 percent of the seafood Americans consume is imported.
Oysters raise the greatest concern among consumers, and for good reason: 70 percent of this country’s supply comes from the Gulf, says Mr. Gibbons. To date, 32 percent of federal fishing waters in the Gulf are closed to commercial and recreational fishing. He says wholesalers are responding to the potential shortfall by raising prices on Gulf product between 10 and 30 percent.
It is not yet known how the oil is affecting the marine life in the Atlantic. Gibbons is optimistic, saying that migratory species, unlike species bound to a seabed, will simply move in the opposite direction of water contaminated with large plumes of oil.
“We’re watching that and certainly it’s a concern, but it’s also a different dynamic,” he says. “There’s not a lot you can do in preparing for it.”
Blyth says she worries about friends who own local crab houses, who depend on crab pulled up off the South Carolina's crab-rich coast.
For them, a movement of oil around the tip of Florida “could be detrimental” to their livelihood. South Carolina is "a hop, skip, and a jump from Florida,” she says.
- What popularity of the BP live feed 'spillcam' says about us
- Louisianans to Obama on BP oil spill: Show us we matter
- 'Top cap' on BP oil spill not tight enough as crude keeps spewing


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Fairtrade Fortnight is back once again and the Welsh Mountain Zoo is celebrating its commitment to operating a sustainable and ethical organisation.
Running from Monday 24 February – Sunday 8 March 2020, the UK-wide initiative aims to recognise the achievements of individual businesses operating under fairtrade principles.
The Zoo has shifted its emphasis further towards ethically sound products in recent years and is incredibly proud of its achievements in sourcing and supplying products that not only reflect the nature and vision of Fairtrade Fortnight, but support enterprises across the globe.
Andrew Crabtree, Visitor Services Manager at the Zoo explained: “As a retailer we are naturally driven by the needs and demands of the customers and we are definitely seeing a shift towards more ethical and sustainable items led by children, encouraging parents and adults – which is brilliant.”
“We work with Cadwyn, a wholesale supplier who source the bulk of their products from Africa. This includes a range of Swazee candles that have been crafted in various sizes and shapes, and are hand painted by members of a cooperative. Other products include a range of wooden coasters hand made in Nigeria as well as fair trade leather bracelets.”
Other products include soapstone, hand carved in various sizes and shapes and modelled into safari animals, alongside a unique range by Nature Planet which creates furry toy animals developed using 100% recycled plastic bottles. Bamboo products include mugs and dishes, whilst some other toys are made from bio-plastic, a product that is made from 94% sugarcane.
Jen Jesse, Director of Operations and Administration at the Welsh Mountain Zoo added: “Operating a sustainable organisation is of course incredibly important to the Zoo and this notion and vision must be felt on a broader level. We're proud of our achievements to date but we are continually exploring and considering new ways where we can integrate other sustainable measures, practises and processes into the wider Zoo operation."
NewsBIAZA Member Update – COVID-19 26th March, 2020In light of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic BIAZA is collating all resources to provide support so that our members can continue to deliver the highest…
NewsBristol Zoo’s vital role in saving endangered spiders 14th March, 2020Bristol Zoo Gardens is involved in an international programme to save critically endangered spiders.
NewsChester Zoo experts save tiny snails from extinction 10th March, 2020A group of tropical snails, believed to be extinct for more than 15 years, have been released back to the wild by conservationists at Chester Zoo.


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SCHNEIDER Electric yesterday closed the $900m (£556m) sale of its sensors and technologies business to private equity firms the Carlyle Group and PAI Partners.
Schneider told investors in April it had agreed to sell the Custom Sensors & Technologies division, which employs about 4,500 people, after entering into exclusive talks.
It has now received all regulatory approvals for the deal, as well as consent from the comites d’entreprise, the French employee works councils.
Schneider is investing $100m in the business to continue as a shareholder in the group. It will own roughly 30 per cent of the firm after the deal completes.
Schneider, which generated $600m of revenue in 2013, saw shares dip by 0.93 per cent in trading yesterday on the Paris stock exchange.
Carlyle is funding the deal from its Carlyle Europe Partners IV fund – its first investment from the new fund.
PAI is drawing down the money available from the €2.7bn PAI Europe V fund.


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In March, the firm said profits would more than halve this year as it set out a plan to try and restore its low-price image with shoppers by spending 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) cutting prices over the next three years. A move that sparked fears of an industry price war.
The northern England based grocer said on Thursday it would cut prices on 1,200 own-label and branded products, by an average of 17 percent, following the first round of cuts on basics like milk, fruit and chicken fillets in March.
"We see this not as a price war but more as a declaration of independence," Chief Executive Dalton Philips told reporters, noting the new cuts would account for "a big part" of the 300 million pounds set aside for reductions in 2014/15.
Morrisons gave as examples of its latest reductions, 500 grams of beef mince down 20 percent to 199 pence, a six pack of own brand crisps down 34 percent to 85 pence and Jammie Dodgers biscuits down 55 percent to 49 pence.
The price cuts will be backed with a new TV, billboard and print marketing campaign and a new price comparison website, powered by mysupermarket.co.uk, it said.
Morrisons' move comes a week after Tesco announced a round of price cuts on basic food products and reduced its online shopping charges.
Morrisons has fared the worst of the big four supermarket chains in terms of losing customers to discounters and has also lagged peers in entering fast-growing online and convenience markets.
The shares have lost nearly a quarter of their value so far this year and are trading near eight year lows.
Philips said that turning around the group's overall performance was not going to be quick and underlying sales were unlikely to improve any time soon.
"Our lower prices automatically and inevitably reduce the actual sales going through our tills. Quite simply its deflationary," he said.
"I am absolutely confident that, as we aggressively close the price gap (with discounters), our points of difference will shine through," he added, pointing to Morrisons' vastly bigger range, in-store services and uniqueness among Britain's grocers as a major food manufacturer.
Philips said he was also confident he had the support of big investors after holding meetings with 100 institutions following the company's results in March.
"There is really strong understanding and support for what we outlined which is the market is structurally changing ... I've been really encouraged by the dialogue that we've had with shareholders," he said.
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ORANGE PARK – The Clothes Closet and Food Pantry of Orange Park is hard at work to help to provide for those in need, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened to force more …
ORANGE PARK – The Clothes Closet and Food Pantry of Orange Park is hard at work to help to provide for those in need, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened to force more unemployment due to business cutbacks and shutdowns.
The Clothes Closet and Food Pantry has removed some of its usual restrictions to be able to help as many Clay County residents as possible. The community has been beneficial with donations such as clothes, food, toys, and furniture.
“I think everything is going well; we had a lot of the community bring in donations,” said Kathy Wray, a Day Leader at the CCFP. “We weren't taking donations for about two months, except for food. We weren't taking household items and clothing for couple months because we were overloaded. Plus, we didn’t have volunteers in here to help sort. A lot of our volunteers are over 70 and are not comfortable coming in.”
Wray says that the community has been very generous.
“Great time for them [members of the community] to clean out their houses; we’ve had a lot of toys a lot of clothes, household items, a lot of food,” said Wray.
Terry Rollen, president of the CCFP, added that there has also been a great deal of food donated.
Many churches have aided in food collection and donation.
“There’s been a lot of groups who have brought food as well,” Rollen said. “It’s realty been amazing. We have not run low on food.”
The food, though, is usually the most significant necessity. Even when the CCFP was not letting people into the building for health and safety reasons, they continued to hand out food. Eventually, they realized that they needed to reopen the doors. They instated a mask and limited entry policy to try to ensure safety and continued the excellent work.
“June 15th, we finally decided to let people in,” said Wray. The CCFP also takes donations of household goods and furniture. “We had to stop furniture for a while,” she said. “Because we just ran out of room. Like now, we could use beds every once in a while, but we need people to call [if donating furniture] to see if we have the space for it. That’s our big thing.”
Wray says their older volunteers often are joined by youths from the Mormon Church doing their service work.
With so many people and organizations donating, a significant portion of the job for the volunteers is simply sorting through everything that comes in. At one point last week, multiple receptacles were filled almost to the ceiling, according to Wray. So far, said Wray, the most significant focus among clients has been on food.
“Most of our clients that are coming in are coming in for food,” she said. “They’re not coming in for furniture like they used to or household items like they used to.”
“They’re just concentrating on the food, and some clothes, but mostly food,” said Rollen. “We’re not requiring the referrals like we were because we know it's hard to find an organization to give out the referrals and we’re not being as strict about how often we can give them food, so we’re pretty much-honoring anybody’s request when they come in because we know there must be a great need.”
The CCFP also accepts monetary donations. “A lot of people just walk up and say, will you take monetary donations. Yes. We’re thankful for that,” Wray said.
Wray says that right now they are doing well with food, but will never turn away those donations.


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The RateSetter Isa was initially only available to existing customers before being opened up to new customers on 1st March.
RateSetter said that it was “very pleased” with the level of take up since the offer was opened up to new customers.
- RateSetter launches IFIsa
- RateSetter stops accepting new unsecured business loan applications
- The House Crowd launches IFIsa
The P2P platform added that it was looking forward to opening up its IFIsa offering in April to customers that wanted to transfer existing Isas to RateSetter.
John Battersby, head of communications and policy at RateSetter, said: “RateSetter’s purpose is to give people the opportunity to earn more on their money.
“Our Isa makes that opportunity even more compelling because investing is now tax free.
“We are very pleased with the level of take up to date.”


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Copyright 2017 Spokane Spokesman-Review
Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA)
Spokane's second climbing gym, the Bloc Yard Bouldering Gym, will open 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The bouldering-only gym was set to open in early March, but the city permitting process delayed the process, said co-owner Adam Healy.
"We will be letting people climb here tomorrow," Healy said.
Although the gym will open to the public Tuesday, the grand opening is scheduled for April 15. Membership prices will be discounted up until the April 15 opening, Healy said.
The Bloc Yard Bouldering Gym, at 233 E. Lyons, is housed in a 10,000-square-foot building and will offer 4,500 square feet of climbing surface. It will feature walls for advanced, intermediate and beginning climbers. The gym hopes to have between 180 and 200 new routes every six weeks.
The gym be Spokane's second climbing gym. Unlike Wild Walls, which opened in 1995, the Bloc Yard will only offer bouldering.
Indoor climbing is an increasingly popular sport, and business venture. Last year, 27 new gyms opened in the U.S., representing a 7 percent increase. Since 2012, the climbing gym industry has grown on an of average 9 percent per year, according to the industry magazine Climbing Business Journal.
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Latest News about digital banking
The Vietnamese government will support boosting the application of new payment methods to achieve the digital transformation goals of the banking industry.
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected almost all business and economic activities in Vietnam, and valuable and qualified human resource has taken a serious toll with several employees being laid off or having to accept large pay cuts.
Nearly 75% of Vietnamese consumers expect cashless payment to grow further in the next 12 months.
Mobile transactions in Vietnam are forecast to increase by 400 percent by 2025 in the Fintech and Digital Banking 2025 - Asia Pacific Report released by Backbase on May 11.
Allowing the "embedding" of fintech solutions into the ebanking app, banks may join the race to become "all-in-one" apps.
The banking sector is waiting for the State Bank of Viet Nam to allow the use of electronic know your customer/client (e-KYC).
It's clear that digitalization is a prerequisite for local banks to survive and develop in the new era.
Much is being done to take Vietnam's banking and finance sector into the digital age, according to industry insiders.
Digital is fundamentally changing banking in Vietnam and transforming the industry's competitive landscape.
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Rất nhiều đại gia lo sợ bị loại khỏi cuộc chơi, trong khi hàng chục ngàn nhân viên lo sợ mất việc.
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Parliament on Wednesday passed the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill which seeks to place a 1% tax on every Mobile Money transaction and a Shs 200 tax on Social Media per day.
The bill has been passed amidst cries from the public, who called on government to find an alternative source of revenue.
It amends the Excise Duty Act 2014 so as to limit the interest payable to the to the amount of unpaid principle tax, amend excise duty on telecommunications services and enhance excise duty of certain goods.
The tax on Social Media, according to the approved bill, will be levied on every mobile phone subscriber that uses the platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.
With the proposed 1% tax on mobile Money transactions, government targets to collect Shs 115 billion each year.
The bill also seeks to introduce cooking oil and motorcycles at first registration.
The Committee dropped the proposal to impose Excise duty on soft drinks arguing that the current tax is already the highest in the region and further taxation is bound to encourage smuggling of soft drinks from the neighboring countries.


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CHICAGO — A man credited with helping revive the abandoned warehouse district of the Clybourn Corridor started with $5,000, some picture frames and a lot of determination.
Jay Goltz started selling picture frames when he was in college. At 22 he took the little money he had and sunk it into a business he didn’t even know could work; but it did. And 40 years later, Goltz is still framing, but he’s also into furniture, art and real estate.
He’s made a career as a small business entrepreneur, and says despite what critics might tell you, retail is not dead.
"In the ‘70s, if you said an 'entrepreneur' it was like another word for a hustler," Goltz said.
When it was time to break away from his father’s five-and-dime on Armitage in Lincoln Park, Goltz went a little further west to build his own startup in a place he could afford with a plan to revolutionize framing.
"It was $200 a month rent, and I would tell people, 'I am opening a frame business on Clybourn,' and they would say, 'Clybourn?'" Goltz recalls.
Today, real estate along Clybourn Avenue is closer to $40 a square foot, a far cry from the $2 a square foot he was paying in the ‘70s.
"The crime wasn’t bad because there wasn’t anything to steal. There was no one here," Goltz said. "I can’t say I was a visionary, the rent was cheap and it was on the edge of Lincoln Park.”
It all changed in the ‘80s, as new neighbors moved into the area.
"The building across the street that was Gold Eagle Chemical Company sells out and they put condos in. And everybody is laughing themselves silly, 'can you believe someone is putting condos on Clybourn?' And it worked," Goltz said.
After grocery stores and Crate and Barrel planted roots, the picture framer found himself on the cusp of a real estate boom. Old rail cars were forced out so gasoline-fueled cars could move in. The city paved the way to welcome bikes on the busy thoroughfare, and even made room for horse drawn carriages.
Now 62 years old, Goltz still embraces his role as an entrepreneur. The Goltz Group now has 110 workers, who average over 10 years at the company. He's held on to the "old" ways of doing business: always respect the customer, adapt with the times and make sure when you run a successful retail business that the math always works. His motto, however, in the end: "It’s not the income that matters, it’s the outcome," Goltz said.
A strip of Clybourn is now called Honorary Jay Goltz Way, the city’s gesture of gratitude for claiming and re-shaping what was a largely forgotten stretch of the street.
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Mitsubishi Announces New LCD Monitors
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America’s Presentation Products Division this week announced the introduction of three new LCD monitors for various commercial applications, including “conference rooms, digital signage environments, broadcast booths, utility control, security monitoring and other industrial and commercial display venues,” the company said.
The models, called LDT521V, LDT651P and LDT651L, range in size from 52 to 65 inches, and all three boast 1080p resolution and 2000:1 contrast ratios.
“Our new LCD monitors are built to withstand demanding commercial use while displaying rich color and deep details,” the division’s senior director of product marketing, James Chan, said as part of the announcement. “They offer a wide range of features for maximum application and installation flexibility at very competitive prices.”
For more information on the products, visit www.mitsubishi-presentations.com


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BSV network now rivals credit card processor VISA in terms of transactions per second, the Bitcoin Association, which promotes Bitcoin SV (BSV), said. It also claims to receive “better returns” from BSV transaction processors (miners) than on BTC.
The Bitcoin Association (BA) said in its first annual report that the Bitcoin SV scaling test network had “consistently sustained 1,300 transactions per second over a prolonged period, besides handling a peak load of 6,400 transactions per second”
“To put the transaction capacity in perspective, the VISA network, which has long been viewed as the gold-standard for payment processors, handles an average of 1,700 transactions per second.”
It said that the test network processed blocks of nearly 2 GB in size, with 7,877 million transactions in total.
Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Cash emerged from the scaling debate over Bitcoin, which focused on claims that the inability of the BTC network to process more than a handful of transactions per second meant that mainstream adoption could not be achieved. Both BCH and BSV pursued larger block sizes as a way to scale out.
The annual report covers the period from February 2019 to February 2020 and makes some bold claims including that Bitcoin SV offers better returns on transaction fees for miners than its rivals:
“Bitcoin SV is emerging as the most profitable Bitcoin network for transaction processors (miners) to be working on, offering better returns than BTC on the majority of days from September 2019 to February 2020.”
However, Messari put transaction fees for Bitcoin SV at just $255 over the past 24 hours while Bitcoin raked in transaction fees of $214,199. In the report it is unclear how BA came to its fee conclusion.
The report cites data showing transactions increased by February to nearly 600,000 a day which was significantly higher than BTC. However, critics have argued that much of the volume of transactions on BSV is ‘busy work’ from apps to the blockchain writing weather or crypting price data.
The report said the February average block size was 2 MB, which is twice the size of 1.05 MB for BTC, and twenty times that of 0.10 for BCH. An average of 4127 transactions were processed on each BSV block.


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Not everyone has the luxury or convenience of shopping at a grocery store. That's why dozens of people took part in Saturday’s Crop Walk in downtown Panama City.
Crop Walk raises money and holds food drives to feed people globally and also right here in the Florida panhandle. Panama City first held the event in 1987. Since its debut, organizers have been able to raise more thousands of dollars for local food banks and organizations like the Rescue Mission and Salvation Army.
The walk is symbolic of what some people in this world have to do every day just to survive. The walk began at McKenzie Park in downtown Panama City. Volunteers also collected jars of peanut butter for local food banks.


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Despite a few hiccups due to the economic slowdown, Lokmat Group managed to launch a few new editions in the year gone by. Looking ahead in 2010, the Group is drafting plans keeping its new media businesses in the mind. Jwalant Swaroop, Director, Advertising and Business Development, shares Lokmat Group’s plans with exchange4media.
At the outset, Swaroop candidly admitted, “We have been struggling to build revenues and businesses even in years before 2009. However, I believe that building positive sentiments is more important. The recovery is slow and steady and I think that growth in small numbers is back in business.”
It might have been the distinctive approach of the Lokmat Group in 2009 tha helped it achieve a steady growth. Some new business initiatives worked out well for the Group. Swaroop elaborated, “Redesigning of supplements and also the huge distribution initiatives undertaken by the Group, captioned ‘Sanskarache Moti’, to build young readership, kept us connected with the consumers. We also took some CSR initiatives such as ‘My India, My Way’ and very recently, the Lokmat Digital Wall, which provides an opportunity to readers to come and express themselves by writing graffities on it, helped in building a unique bond with our readers.”
In terms of revenue growth, Swaroop considers the year 2009 to be a satisfactory year for the Lokmat Group. He said, “We were quite good in our revenue growth. It may not be right to specify a number, however, we were better off as the local markets showed decent growth. In the last IRS round, Lokmat’s figures showed a 5 per cent growth, and we largely attribute this to our efforts in continuously improving the product and driving the distribution.”
The Group had forayed into some new markets in 2009. “We launched an edition in Goa on April 21, 2009. It is currently clocking 62,000 copies. It indeed created a new revenue stream for us,” Swaroop added.
When asked whether it was back to business as usual for Lokmat now, Swaroop replied that this was a “reset period”. “A new normal has been set. So, how we see things will actually make the difference. The Group is still working on plans for 2010. But we are quite keen on building new media businesses and there cannot be a better time than this in doing so. We shall certainly be growing better than 2009 in a healthy double digit growth,” concluded Swaroop on a positive note.


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The Huawei service website shows that a screen repair for the Mate X in China costs 7080 yuan. Converted this amounts to approximately 910 euros. This makes the repair more expensive than many modern smartphones. The amount applies to consumers and includes labor costs. This does, however, concern prices for the Chinese market. The price will also be so high, because the folding screen is expensive to produce. The telephone itself costs 16,799 yuan, or 2185 euros.
Repair costs for the other parts are a lot lower. Replacing the chipset costs 3579 yuan, which amounts to around 460 euros. Replacing the camera costs 90 euros, a battery door costs 46 euros and a new battery costs 38 euros. The Mate X contains two batteries.
The Mate X has been available in China since 15 November. It is currently unknown whether the telephone will also be marketed outside of China. The Mate X was announced in February and would initially be released in June.
Read More: Samsung warning: Delete all fingerprints from Galaxy phones
The release of the device was postponed until September after the problems surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Fold release, but Huawei announced just before this planned release that the device was not yet ready for sale. Samsung asks for the first screen repair of the Galaxy Fold around 150 euros. The second time a Fold needs a new screen, it costs users around 600 euros.


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Singtel and Optus use AWS for 5G edge computing
Singtel and Optus have expanded their 5G ecosystems by enabling its enterprises and start-up customers to develop 5G solutions on their multi-access edge compute (MEC) infrastructures.
Using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outposts, the MEC will enable 5G solutions like robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence to operate at ultralow latency, closer to the end-users.
“We’re pleased to work with a world-class cloud provider like AWS to expand Singtel’s and Optus’ 5G ecosystems and increase the adoption of edge computing by enterprises and start-ups,” said Bill Chang (pictured), chief executive officer of group enterprise at Singtel.
“Our 5G ecosystems of partners, including global cloud providers, technology providers, device manufacturers and apps developers, provides an essential one-stop hub for enterprises’ and start-ups’ 5G and edge computing needs. As we gear up to launch and lead 5G adoption in Singapore and in Australia through Optus, we will deepen our collaboration with AWS to expand beyond the two countries to the region. This will enhance our portfolio of 5G edge computing apps to empower enterprises with the means to accelerate their digital transformation.”
AWS Outposts enables service providers to operate the full suite of AWS tools and services on their premises. Combined, the MECs with AWS Outposts can be accessed from the closest Singtel site to help businesses operate their applications that use AWS tools and require ultralow latency data processing.
In addition, Singtel can also deploy the MEC with AWS Outposts to the customer’s location for trials involving confidential data that the customer prefers to retain within their premises.
“Our customers are excited to unlock the potential of 5G networks, and we are pleased to collaborate with Singtel and Optus to lead and shape 5G adoption in Singapore and Australia,” said Phil Davis, managing director of Asia Pacific and Japan at Amazon Web Services.
“AWS Outposts will provide the underlying compute and storage for Singtel’s and Optus’ 5G MEC infrastructures, allowing their customers to develop applications that require ultra-low latencies over the 5G network to support use cases such as machine learning inference at the edge, smart cities and smart factories, and autonomous vehicles.”


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U. S. hog producers will import wheat from Britain and Brazil due to the high cost of U. S. corn and feed grain, said Don Butler, spokesman for Murphy-Brown, the hog-raising unit of Smithfield Foods Inc.
Hog producers will also import a cargo of wheat middlings, a by-product of milling, from Nigeria, he said Nov. 24. The United States is the world’s largest wheat exporter and it is rarely economical to import feed grain. However, a dramatic drop in ocean freight has made foreign wheat more economical than U. S. supplies, Butler said.
The first two vessels will arrive in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the first week of December. The other shipments will arrive in January and February. Two cargoes will be from Britain and one cargo from Brazil, which imported U. S. wheat earlier this year when supplies were not available from neighboring Argentina.
The amount of wheat in each cargo was not specified.
Wheat cargoes are normally 25,000 to 55,000 tonnes, depending on the size of the vessel.
Murphy-Brown and Smithfield are part of Wilmington Bulk LLC,
a consortium of hog and poultry producers that also includes Nash Johnson & Sons and Prestige Farms Inc. Wilmington Bulk last imported grain about two to three years ago, Butler said.
“The shipment of wheat will offer us an alternative to very expensive corn,” he said. “I can’t get into specifics but it’s not an insignificant volume.”
U. S. meat producers have struggled this year with high prices for feed and fuel and the inability to raise meat prices quickly enough given the economic slowdown.
U. S. corn and wheat prices hit record highs earlier this year on demand for alternative fuels made from grain and crop production problems in parts of the world. Prices have since fallen more than 60 per cent for wheat and 55 per cent for corn.
However, U. S. wheat remains among the most expensive in the world, with cheaper supplies available from both Europe and the Black Sea region.


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It’s been speculated for some time that the NFL may opt out of its NFL Sunday Ticket partnership with DirecTV before the contract ends in 2022. With that option looming, Disney has said it is interested in taking the NFL Sunday Ticket and streaming it on ESPN+.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said “there has been exploration whether there is an opportunity there. We are very bullish on the NFL.”
The NFL has been open to streaming games. Amazon streams Thursday Night Football, while Twitter had rights to those games before. Meanwhile, the NFL App and Yahoo stream in-market games without a cable subscription.
The NFL isn’t dead set on leaving DirecTV just yet as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in March.
“We’re having great discussions with DirecTV and AT&T,” he said. “We’ve had a 25-year partnership and we want to continue that partnership, but we also are looking to see how we can change the delivery.”
Still, the tension between AT&T and the NFL is very real after AT&T dropped the NFL Network from DirecTV and Uverse.
Pro Football Talk first reported in late April that not only Disney would be interested in the NFL Sunday Ticket, but that Amazon and Google could make a push as well.


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Zhamanak daily writes: «Bread went up again last week, which is the direct consequence of the depreciation of the dram. The more the currency is depreciated, the higher the price of the flour and the higher the price. The reason is that flour is sold in dollars in Armenia, and this is about wholesale. That’s how it happened before the velvet revolution.
As a result of the increase in flour prices, other bread products will also increase, which mainly affects the poor, which is the most commonly used for bakery products. Meanwhile, the government promised to abolish extreme poverty. «


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JCPenney, the struggling American retail chain that some analysts speculate may go the way of bankrupt Sears, said Wednesday it’s too early to write its obituary.
The stock market may be bearing that out: shares, which fell below $1 on Dec. 27, were rose more than 3 percent in afternoon trading on Wednesday.
The gains follow the hiring earlier this month of two executives who will be central to the turnaround plan of CEO Jill Soltau.
However, Soltau, along with her new team, have a great deal of skepticism to overcome.
According to a Wall Street Journal report from earlier this week, the embattled retailer continues to battle declining sales and executive vacancies as it desperately tries to hang on and avoid the same fate as Sears.
What's more, earlier this month, the retailer announced plans to shutter three more stores by spring, on the heels of disappointing sales numbers during the critical holiday shopping season.
Then, a week later, the company announced a series of leadership changes, noting that searches are “well under way” for a new chief financial officer and chief merchant officer.
However, the retailer said the changes reflect the “strength and the depth” of its turnaround strategy, fending off rumors that a bankruptcy could be imminent.
In a statement to FOX Business, a JCPenney spokesperson said it is "misleading to say that [it's] struggling to avoid bankruptcy and it's an irresponsible assumption that executive vacancies somehow translates to our inability to operate our business."
The company added that it expects to end the year with well over $2 billion in liquidity and noted that it exceeded market expectations on earnings per share in the third quarter.
Yet again, Fitch Ratings Inc. last week downgraded the retailer’s debt one notch closer to junk and its shares, which previously soared as high as $80 during the recession, are now hovering slightly above $1.
"Despite previous downgrades, the credit rating agencies have maintained their highest liquidity rating for JCPenney," the spokesperson added.
However, Marc Rudov, a branding adviser, said the departure of Marvin Ellison -- the former CEO -- last May was extremely telling in regards to the retailer’s future.
“Managerially, he had checked out long before then: the stores had become dirty and unorganized, littered with merchandise on the floor. The sales ‘help’ were notably lost, overburdened and unhelpful. If a retail store is nothing more than a glorified warehouse, Amazon will destroy it, and rightfully so,” Rudov said.
Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School, told the Journal that JCPenney is a “broken business” and that “they are looking at a very problematic 2019.”
“It’s the mistakes of the past coming home to roost,” he said.
Bob Phibbs, CEO of New York-based consultancy firm The Retail Doctor, told FOX Business that the biggest problem the retailer has is that it doesn’t “know who their customer is.”
“[It] hasn’t since Ron Johnson (the retailer’s former CEO) tried and failed to reinvent the brand. They need to own that their customers tend to live in rural areas. That means stopping their unsuccessful attempts to compete with hot brands with a big presence, such as Target,” Phibbs said.
He noted that JCPenney needs to create a plan if it wants to survive -- if not, it will be in the same place that Sears was in not long ago.
“If JCPenney wants to avoid the same fate, they need to cut their store footprint and find their customer again.”
This story was updated on Jan. 23.


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Mini Supercomputers of the FutureComputers are getting smaller, but pioneering research has suggested that science could shrink the world's most powerful supercomputer processors to the size of a sugar cube.
|In leading research by IBM, scientists were trying to reduce computers energy use, the scientists believe that by making them smaller they can achieve this.|
By stacking computer processors on top of one another, scientist believe that they can cool the processors by flowing water between them. This would keep them cool, hence making them much more efficient, as computers work most efficiently when they are cool.
Around 2% of the world's energy consumption is caused by running computer equipment and building it. With computers being used more and more, making them more efficient could lower the amount of energy that needs to be produced, saving the planet!
It used to cost a lot of money to buy a computer and the relevant hardware, however with computers becoming cheaper and cheaper, soon it could be the electricity bills that determine what consumers buy.
|In the future, computers will be dominated by energy costs - to run a data centre will cost more than to build it.|
|Source: Dr Bruno Michel - IBM|| ||There is competition for supercomputers manufacturers to get their machine in the 'Top 500 list'. This is a list of the fastest 500 supercomputers worldwide. In the future however the 'Green 500' is likely to be a more important factor, as rising energy costs and the ever nearing threat of mass climate change, mean that governments, businesses and individuals are starting to become more concerned as to how 'eco friendly' their computers are, and not necessarily how fast they are - although this is still a big player.|
This is why this amazing breakthrough is just that! Smaller more efficient computers mean: less electricity used, leading to lower running costs; less materials are needed to make the components; and a big factor, less space is needed to contain these currently massive machines!
Posted By: Christopher (Admin)
Date posted: 8th December 2010
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