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The internet is set for one of its most significant changes in years, after the global governing body for domain names approved a major expansion.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on Monday approved the expansion of domain names beyond ".com" to ".anything".
Top-level domains, which include .com, .net and .org, will be expanded to include new brand, generic and geographic domain name extensions - such as .shop, .sydney, .apple, .bhp or .nab, for example.
Domain name management provider Melbourne IT Ltd said the expansion represented a big change.
"It's significant for the whole internet community," Melbourne IT chief executive Theo Hnarakis said.
He said companies, community groups and cities would be able to apply for their name as a top-level domain.
"For corporations, it will change the way they operate and how they build their brands in the future on the internet," he said.
"For consumers, it will change the way they navigate the internet.
"It's a profound change. We can't even today imagine the different business models that will start emerging over the next 12 to 18 months."
Mr Hnarakis said as an example, if internet users currently typed "Ford Mustang" into a search engine, they would probably get results throwing up dozens of dealerships, collectors and the Ford Motor Company.
But if they typed "mustang.ford" as a direct navigation, the search engine would theoretically take them directly to the relevant Ford website.
Companies could also have shorter domains, which would be significant in terms of marketing and advertising.
For example, www.apple.com/ipad could become ipad.apple.
The domains would be easier to control, have a higher level of security and be more trustworthy.
Small businesses could also take part, for example, by joining to the .sydney domain.
The domain joesplumbing.com, which could throw up hundreds of results, could become joesplumbing.sydney, which would be more relevant to a resident of Sydney.
Mr Hnarakis said obtaining a new top-level domain would not be cheap, costing $US185,000 ($A175,380) just to apply to ICANN.
The new domains would also incur a $US25,000 annual licence fee to ICANN.
On top of that, there would be technical costs and management fees to pay, which could amount to a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
Melbourne IT shares were up five cents, or 2.9 per cent, at $1.775 on Monday, outperforming the general market, which was down almost one per cent.


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Ikea's retail holding company, Ingka Group, will allocate an additional 4 billion euros to invest in renewable energy. In addition, investment vehicle Ikea Foundation is pumping another 1 billion euros into reducing carbon emissions.
Wind and solar energy projects
Ingka Group, the largest Ikea franchise holding company, plans to invest 4 billion euros in the transition to a future using renewable energy. With the money, Ikea wants to reduce its climate footprint further and evolve towards achieving 100 per cent renewable energy throughout its entire value chain. In doing so, the home furnishing chain aims to help limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement.
Using the additional 4 billion euros, Ikea will invest in wind and solar energy projects, especially in countries where this was not yet in place. New projects will also be added, such as energy storage, developing hydrogen fuel and charging infrastructure. Recently, Ingka Group already bought a 49 per cent stake in 8 solar PV parks in Russia, which can provide electricity to all 17 Ikea stores and part of the Mega shopping centres in the country.
Ikea Foundation also allocates an additional 1 billion euros over the next five years to reduce carbon emissions. The investment holding company plans to make investments in renewable energy sources and provide energy to various communities, among other things.
The most crucial decade in history
"We are in the most crucial decade in human history," insists Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group. Today, the group has 547 wind turbines, 10 solar parks in 15 countries and 935,000 solar panels on the roofs of its stores. In Belgium, for example, solar and wind power already provides 65.9 per cent of all the company's energy.
"Climate change is no longer something remote and something to be ignored. We all need to do our part to limit global warming to 1.5°C," says Brodin. "The cost of inaction is too high and poses a significant risk both to our business and to humanity. We know that with the right investments, we can be part of the solution and limit the impact on our shared home -the earth- as we arm our company for the future."

domain: news


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— Twitte Algérie (@TwitteAlgerie) July 29, 2020
In a small village in the Soummam valley, in the heart of Kabylie, a take-away alcoholic drink shop attracts a crowd every day, as busy as it is discreet.
With the metal curtain down, customers enter this nirvana for lovers of suds through a small back door.
The shop is “open” from the early morning hours but at nightfall, there is a hustle and bustle to get served.
Officially, liquor stores, as well as all pubs, have been closed by a wali (governor) order since March.
Their owners know that they risk very heavy fines, the cancellation of their licences and the permanent closure of their shops if they are caught breaking the law.
However, security guards posted outside keep an eye out and the surveillance cameras inside the store provide timely warnings of any raids by the constables.
Several stores in the region work clandestinely like this. A tacit agreement seems to have been reached between the authorities and the alcohol sellers: some work with the curtains down, while others look down and pretend not to see anything.
In cans or bottles, beers are grabbed by the crate. The store is pretty well stocked. There are sections for local and imported wines, an impressive range of spirits and dozens of little-known brands of beer.
“We have a lot of customers who come from border areas where alcohol is not available, and they are used to stocking up for several weeks,” says the store manager.
Hide and seek with the cops
On Monday 10 August, hundreds of cars, most of them registered in Algiers, form a traffic jam of several kilometres at the motorway exit towards Bejaia and Jijel and their famous seaside resorts.
The announcement, a few hours earlier, by the government to lift the ban on travel between 29 wilayas, to reschedule the curfew hours from 11pm to 6am and to promise to reopen the beaches from 15 August restored some joy to the hearts of many citizens.
The sea routes have returned to their usual summer congestion. However, even when closed, the 426 beaches authorised for swimming along the 1,600km of Algerian coastline continued to receive thousands of summer visitors who sometimes played hide and seek with the gendarmes.
“Six months of confinement, fear, anxiety and depression. I just want to take a dip in the water and forget everything,” says Toufik, a bank executive who is about to take up summer residence in Tigzirt, a small seaside resort 70km east of Algiers.
Still partying, even when it’s all going wrong
The disappointments of the Hirak public uprising that did not keep its promises, the coronavirus pandemic, the sudden drop in oil prices, the economic crisis looming on the horizon and the gloomy news of forest fires and a series of scandals and political and financial lawsuits have created a deep social malaise among many Algerian citizens.
But in spite of everything, their willingness to celebrate even when everything is bad and their unquenchable thirst for life – which never left them even in the height of the dark years of terrorism – is still there.
The wind of panic that had swept throughout the country at the very beginning of the epidemic – that had caused Algerians to shut themselves off at home after having built up large stocks of semolina, flour, oil and other staples – now seems to have passed.
Now, masks and social distancing have become commonplace. And in August, the statistics on infections seem to have stabilised at between 500 and 600 new daily cases.
Hopes on the horizon
Health experts are now talking about a plateau. This is enough to give some hope, even if many people admit they have no confidence in the figures announced by the authorities.
Salim and Zhor – both civil servants – arrived from Tindouf, from the depths of the desert, with their four children. It took four days for them to cover the 2,150km of road and several stops to recover from the fatigue and heat that melted the asphalt in the hottest hours.
They will spend a few days with the family before heading to the small seaside town of Ziama, in Jijel, where they have rented a waterfront apartment for 4,000 dinars ($31.2) a day.
A tweet of Tighremet beach, on the west coast of Bejaia between Beni Ksila and Saket.
“This year, the temperature was over 50ºC, including at night. The heat and the confinement almost drove the children crazy. And us too,” says Salim.
Vacations at any price
In recent decades, Jijel and Bejaia, coastal towns with almost 170km of coastline, have become preferred destinations for many tourists.
Rocky inlets, sandy beaches, lush green forests and rivers with cool, deep gorges attract tourists by the hundreds of thousands.
On the west coast of Bejaia, dozens of upmarket residences and luxury tourist villages have sprouted up like mushrooms.
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It is the refuge of the wealthy classes. When it’s not mom and dad who come for the holidays, it’s the children who arrive for crazy evenings or weekends.
The marina of the brand new small fishing port of Tala Yilef welcomes more and more yachts and small boats. Those who cannot afford to buy one can still rent one for 10,000 dinars a day and a jet ski for 5,000 dinars an hour.
At 100 dinars, those with less to spend can get an omelette sandwich and chips. And for those with an extra 10,000 dinars a day, the wide open sea awaits.
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The Vale Resort in Hensol is expecting to have made almost £1m from weddings alone in the 2015/16 financial year.
The venue recently re-opened its 17th century castle and confirmed it hosted more than 30 marriages in August alone.
The upsurge in wedding business means the Vale Resort is expecting to see an increase of 50 per cent from 2013 and 2014 in terms of revenue from weddings.
The 400 year old Grade I listed Hensol Castle on site was officially opened in May following a multi-million pound refurbishment programme to restore it to its former glory.
The castle has a purpose-built Courtyard Hall capable of hosting 180 wedding guests.
It also has five smaller reception rooms to host between 10-100 guests per room.
Paul Beddoe, marketing director of the Vale Resort, said: “We are delighted that so many couples are choosing The Vale Resort and Hensol Castle to celebrate their special day.
“Weddings have always been popular at the Vale Resort, but are becoming increasingly so since the investment in Hensol Castle and currently represent almost 10 per cent of the resort’s total revenue.”
Phase two of the £10m investment in Hensol Castle will include adding up to 30 bedrooms and a top-end, destination restaurant at the castle
It is expected to be open by late 2016.
The Vale resort recently saw a £1m upgrade to its 143-bedrooms, including installing new bathrooms together with updating soft furnishings and free wi-fi.


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Job number-on in the legal sector has been to adopt a new business model. A step in that direction has been for Pepper Hamilton to appoint a nonlawyer Scott Green as its Chief Executive Officer. The next logical and needed step is to overhaul marketing from a sales model to what's being called "content marketing." Essentially, as MASHABLE explains, that's when B2B reaches out to share information, not promote itself. Of course, since law firms deal with complex issues, this is how they could shine.
The ideal way to do that is through online video. Show, don't tell. Yet, just yesterday, I received in snail mail a 2-page writeup from a Texas law firm detailing its wins for 2011. Of course, I tossed it. Why invest time in following a law firm from which I can learn nothing, be it a legal fundamental or how to market.
Marketing experts see organizations putting themselves out there as "houses of content." Everything will be framed as data to share, not self-promoting. The best of those houses of content will be operating out of their own online newsrooms. In them will be available what the media, public, prospects, clients, regulatory bodies, and more need to find out. For example, there will be backgrounders, packaged in compelling ways, on the legal history of birth control in the U.S., if the law firm has a practice related to those issues. Another set of backgrounders could be on grassroots or bottom-up lobbying. That would assist their clients in messaging.
Soon enough we will see help-wanted placed by law firms for a "Chief Content Officer," not a "Chief Marketing Officer."


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Egg Recall 2010: Salmonella Eggs in Eight State – An egg recall has been made by an Iowa based egg company receiving reports of Salmonella illnesses in California, Colorado, and Nevada. The Federal Government is currently investigating the recall and the company, to find out what has happened, what the causes were and what the company is doing to fix the situation.
A noticed was released yesterday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a recall regarding eggs farmed from Wright County Egg, based in Galt, Iowa. Certain Julian dates were recalled of their shelled eggs after it was found that many may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) after an upswing in cases of this illnesses were found in the population. In June and July, the number of cases of infections was up to 200 people.
The farm produces about 2.5 million eggs per week from five different sites in Iowa. The company follows the requirements set out the the FDA food safety rules, and is also a willing participant in the 5 star rating quality assurance food safety program. What the program covers is cleaning and disinfection of poultry houses, pest control, proper egg washing, biosecurity, and refrigeration from packing through delivery.
At current, it is still being determined on whether or not the eggs are the cause of the SE outbreak.


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President Trump’s metals tariffs have cost Ford Motor Company $1 billion, a cost they cannot afford to bear and which figures into their just announced plan to reorganize, laying off workers in the process. While Ford has not stated the exact number of workers they plan to lay off, Morgan Stanley in a recent report estimated that Ford would lay off 12% of its workforce, i.e. 24,000 of its 202,000 worldwide workforce, according to NBC News. The reorganization is, as you might imagine, an effort on Ford’s part to cut costs, by reducing both the number of workers, apparently including both blue collar and white collar workers, and reducing the number of layers in their management hierarchy. According to The Hill:
Ford Motor Company is planning to lay off an undisclosed portion of its workforce as part of a reorganization as the company deals with a number of challenges, including the fallout from President Trump‘s tariffs on steel and aluminum. NBC News reported on Monday that the layoffs are part of Ford’s $25.5 billion reorganization plan that intends to cut costs by, among other things, making its staff leaner and reducing layers…The news outlet (NBC) noted that the exact amount of employees that will be laid off is unknown. But a report from Morgan Stanley estimated a “global headcount reduction of approximately 12 percent” of its 202,000 workforce around the world, according to NBC…The automaker has lagged behind competitors in sales and has also been adversely impacted by Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, according to NBC.
Ford Motor Company has been at odds with Donald Trump since Trump was just a candidate for president, not actually the president, but when candidate Trump was spouting plans for punitive tariffs on cars manufactured in Mexico just as Ford was planning to import cars from factories in Mexico, a plan which Ford then shifted to China. The $1 billion hit Ford has taken from President Trump’s tariffs is joined by the fear Ford has that Trump’s trade policies might even interfere with their plan to reorganize the company to keep it afloat. According to NBC News:
Ford has already warned that President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs have impacted the company to the tune of $1 billion, and the president’s trade policies threaten to play havoc with Ford’s ongoing reorganization, Shanks told NBC News. Trump and Ford have been squaring off since well before the 2016 election, when then-presidential candidate originally threatened to impose hefty tariffs on vehicles Ford intended to start importing from a factory in Mexico. The carmaker eventually scrubbed that plan, but rather than return production to the U.S. it decided to move it to China.
President Trump keeps claiming that his tariffs have not hurt American companies, when that is not at all true. The $1 billion increase in costs Ford has had due to Trump’s tariffs is a price few companies could bear – even a company as large as Ford has had to plan to reorganize and lay off workers to try to compensate for increased costs and lagging sales. Higher costs and lower sales are a troubling situation for any company.
Consumers, meanwhile, are faced with higher car prices – the American Automotive Policy Council estimates that the cost per car will increase by $400 on average as a result of Trump’s metals tariffs alone.


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Mystic Cruises has purchased the 1993-built 55,400 gt cruise ship ’Vasco de Gama’ at auction.
She was involved in the ongoing auction of the cruise ships owned by the Global Maritime Group of Greece, previously operated Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV).
Last month, the UK Admiralty Court instructed the auctions of five of the cruise ships.
The first two auctions have been completed and three more are due to close soon.
Mário Ferreira, Mystic Invest Holding President, parent company of Mystic Cruises, said that the company had taken the opportunity to grow its current fleet and to better position it for the expected rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our focus is on smaller cruise ships, under 1,000 passengers, to create a more personalised, safe and intimate cruise experience for our guests,” he said. “We believe that this segment of the market is better placed to answer to what cruisers will expect in the near future.”
Currently laid up at Tilbury, UK together with other former CMV operated cruise ships, Mystic said that it plans to use the vessel for the British and German markets under Mystic Cruises ownership.
“Our company believes in offering an intimate, safe and great value for money experience to our guests, we believe that the ’Vasco da Gama’ will be a great addition to our fleet of ocean cruise ships,” Ferreira added.
The other ship to be auctioned, ‘Columbus’ (pictured) was sold to undisclosed interests, thought to be Turkish, for about $7 mill.
It was believed that the new owner will not operate her.
The auctions of the other three ships – ‘Astor’, ’Magellan’ and ’Marco Polo’ – were due to be completed as ICSI went to press.
Another vessel due to be operated by CMV’s German operation, Transocean, the ‘Pacific Adria’ was sold to Greek owner Seajets in a separate transaction.
Meanwhile, the returning crew of Fred.Olsen’s former cruise ship ‘Boudicca’, having completed their obligatory quarantine, took her sister ‘Black Watch’ out from layup in Rosyth, Scotland on 21st October.
Like the ‘Boudicca’, she sailed to Tuzla to become an accommodation ship.
The crew had to go into quarantine upon their return from Turkey, having delivered the ‘Boudicca’ to her Turkish buyers from Rosyth.


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|Bid||5.96 x 1200|
|Ask||6.00 x 900|
|Day's Range||5.96 - 6.03|
|52 Week Range||4.33 - 8.53|
|Beta (3Y Monthly)||1.73|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||47.24|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||0.33 (5.44%)|
|1y Target Est||N/A|
Larger U.S.-listed ship owners are poised to grow larger still via so-called ship-for-share deals, in which the fleet seller takes stock in lieu of cash. Shipping stock prices have risen substantially, making shares more palatable as transaction currency, and private equity (PE) vessel owners are increasingly anxious to "harvest" positions as their funds reach maturity dates. Trading ships for public stock gets them one step closer to the exit.
U.S. refiners, as well as transport and tanker companies, stand to benefit from the international rules that go into effect on Jan. 1.
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Readers hoping to buy Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly...
If you're really worried about the limitations on marine fuel supply due to upcoming regulations, one way to hedge your risk – assuming you're big enough – is to buy your own marine fuel supplier, or at least part of one. This is the strategy chosen by dry bulk owner Golden Ocean (NASDAQ: GOGL), which reported larger-than-expected quarterly losses on August 15. Golden Ocean has signed a non-binding term sheet to buy 10 percent of a bunkering (marine fuel supply) joint venture (JV) together with global trading giant Trafigura, which will own 75 percent, and tanker company Frontline (NYSE: FRO), which will own 15 percent.
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be...
This should theoretically be a heady and turbulent time for very large crude carrier (VLCC) rates, given escalating geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. VLCCs, which carry two million barrels of crude oil each, are the workhorse tankers of the Middle East export trade. According to data from Clarksons Platou Securities, VLCC rates as of July 24 were $14,800 per day, essentially flat week-on-week (up 0.8 percent) and down 44 percent month-on-month.
Dry bulk – iron ore, coal, grains and other mineral and agricultural commodities – is by far the world's largest cargo segment. One of the most innovative options is the Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (NYSE: BDRY), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched in March 2018 that owns and tracks bulker freight futures. Not surprisingly given what's going on with bulker rates, BDRY is now gaining more traction after a quiet start.
This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios...
Today we'll take a closer look at Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) from a dividend investor's perspective...
Freight rates and shipping charter rates are on the upswing in certain segments of the ocean transport market. For ship owners who have suffered through years at break-even or below, it's a welcome reprieve, for however long it lasts. In the spotlight this week are larger bulk carriers carrying iron ore from Brazil to China, container ships bringing Chinese goods to California, and gas carriers transporting propane from the U.S. Gulf and Middle East to Asia.
Some have more dollars than sense, they say, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of...
Golden Ocean (NASDAQ: GOGL), one of the largest U.S.-listed owners of dry bulk ships, swung to a loss in the first three months of 2019 due to disruptions in Brazilian iron-ore exports, but it sees signs that the situation in Brazil is improving. The company, whose largest shareholder is Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, reported a net loss of $7.5 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $16.7 million in the same period last year. In the most recent quarter, Golden Ocean's ships earned an average of $13,131 per day, down from $15,593 per day in the first quarter of 2018.
Golden Ocean Group (GOGL) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 61.54% and 23.27%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2019. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift...
The U.S. stock selloff is accelerating as American and Chinese tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, and counter-retaliatory tariffs continue to pile up – with seemingly no end in sight. The latest round of Chinese tariffs covers $60 billion in U.S. products, beginning June 1, according to China's Ministry of Finance. The finance ministry released four lists, showing the Harmonized Commodity Description System Codes (HS Codes) of all U.S. products that will be subject to tariffs of 5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent, and 25 percent.
Golden Ocean Group (GOGL) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.
U.S.-listed shipping stocks have fallen on investor fears that U.S.-China trade tensions could reduce the volume of cargo at sea. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet on May 5 that previously implemented 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would be increased to 25 percent as of May 10, and further warned of 25 percent tariffs on an additional $325 billion of Chinese goods.
Is Golden Ocean Group Ltd (NASDAQ:GOGL) a good stock to buy right now? We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more incentives and resources than the average investor. The […]
The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. Investors in Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) have tasted that bit...


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Microsoft has long followed the "let a thousand flowers bloom" approach towards applications running on Windows, letting anyone download and run any application they want. All that will change with Windows 8, as Microsoft will join Apple and become one of the biggest tech censors in the world.
If you want to download an app onto your iPhone or iPad, the only way to do it is through Apple's App Store. Apple has frequently used its heavy hand of censorship to ban apps from the App Store it doesn't want people to use. Just recently, Apple banned an app called Phone Story that shows the potentially negative impacts of the manufacture of smartphones such as iPhone and Android phones.
In the past, it's banned plenty of other apps, often for political reasons. At the behest of Chinese censors, for example, it has banned Chinese users from downloading apps that mention the Dalai Lama and Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, an especially hypocritical move because it prominently featured the Dalai Lama in its "Think Different" ad campaign. It also removed a WikiLeaks app from the Apple store. And it banned an app from political cartoonist Mark Fiore until it realized he had won a Pulitzer Prize, and then let the app back in.
The list of apps banned by Apple is long; there's no space to list them all here.
Microsoft, by way of contrast, has always allowed anyone to download any app they want and run it. But all that will change when Windows 8 ships. Microsoft has said that the only Metro apps allowed to run in Windows 8 will have to be downloaded from Microsoft's own app store, called the Windows Store.
Microsoft claims it's doing this to make sure that all Metro apps are safe to run. But that's clearly not the real reason. In Windows 8, you'll be able to download and use any app for the Desktop that you want. Why would Microsoft want to keep only one part of its operating system safe and not the other?
Not surprisingly, the reason has to do with money. According to Computerworld, Microsoft documents show that developers will have to pay in order to upload apps to the Windows Store, and Microsoft will receive 30 percent of their revenue. That was revealed in "Primer for current Windows developers." Microsoft later killed references to revenue sharing in the document.
The very act of vetting apps for download in a central store necessarily means that Microsoft will be involved in censorship. When you buy a piece of hardware, you should be allowed to run any software on it you want. Limiting that in any way amounts to censorship. Microsoft should follow Google's model, in which anyone can download and run any app they want on Android. True, there's an Android Market run by Google, but you can also download and run Android apps outside of the Market. That's the way it should be in Windows 8 as well.
This story, "Microsoft Looks to Join Apple as World's Biggest App Censor" was originally published by Computerworld.


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Need to know more?
East Dumps West in Tech Love Story Gone Sour
Once upon a time, China's tech sector cozied up to Western chipmakers like Intel and AMD, building their digital kingdom with these silicon bricks. But alas, the winds of change are blowing, and China's Information Security Evaluation Center has updated its relationship status to "It's complicated." With a document fresher than your morning coffee, dated December 26, 2023, the center has essentially unfriended Western processors, signaling a move toward tech self-sufficiency that has Silicon Valley whispering, "Is it something we said?"
The Local Chip Shop's New Menu
The new approved processor list is like a menu at a hipster café; it's exclusive and locally sourced. The 18 CPUs making the cut are a mix of the familiar and the exotic, with x86 architecture represented by homegrown Shanghai Zhaoxin Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. Meanwhile, the Arm and RISC-V architectures are like the avocado and acai of the chip world – trendy and increasingly popular. And let's not forget the operating systems and databases, which are as domestic as grandma's apple pie, ensuring that China's tech ecosystem is as homegrown as it gets.
Renovation Frustration for Chinese Tech
Chinese businesses have been using Western tech like a comfy old couch, but now they're being told it's time for an upgrade, and it won't be cheap. Entire infrastructures need to be remodeled, and it's going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and some throw cushions. This transition is a giant leap for Chinese tech-kind, and without some government love in the form of financial sweeteners, it could be a bumpy ride for businesses. Think extreme home makeover, but for data centers.
Digitally Sovereign or Just Really Into Control?
China's not just redecorating; it's also tightening the reins on its digital kingdom. The Great Firewall is getting some new turrets and moats, with regulatory updates that are changing the way cross-border tech talk happens. It's like your parents installing a curfew right as you turn 21 – a real party pooper move for international tech relations.
Global Tech Tectonics
As China struts towards technological independence, the rest of the world might need to learn some new dance moves. This isn't just a domestic affair; it's a global tech tango that could lead to a reshuffling of partnerships, supply chains, and who brings what to the international potluck. Businesses and consumers alike are waiting to see how this will pan out – will it be a smooth waltz or a cha-cha with two left feet?
And there you have it, folks – China's tech evolution is making waves, and we're all here with our floaties, wondering if it's going to be a pool party or if we're about to hit the high seas of change. One thing's for sure: it's going to be an interesting swim.


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The malware accessed customer’s payment card information, including credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates, and cardholder names used at potentially all Wawa in-store cash registers and fuel dispensers.
Wawa announced Thursday it has discovered a data breach that affected customers’ payment information at potentially all Wawa locations from March 4 up until last week.
The regional convenience store and gas station chain said its information security team discovered the breach last Tuesday, and the breach was contained by Thursday, Dec. 12.
“Once we discovered this malware, we immediately took steps to contain it and launched a forensics investigation so that we could share meaningful information with our customers. I want to reassure anyone impacted they will not be responsible for fraudulent charges related to this incident. To all our friends and neighbors, I apologize deeply for this incident,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa CEO, in a statement.
According to a letter from Gheysens posted on the Wawa website, the malware accessed customers’ payment card information, including credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates, and cardholder names used at potentially all Wawa in-store cash registers and fuel dispensers.
The malware accessed the information at different points in time from March 4 to Dec. 12. In his letter, Gheysens said most locations were affected by April 22, but some locations may not have been affected at all.
Information such as debit card PIN numbers, credit card security codes, other PIN numbers and driver’s license information used to verify age-restricted purchases were not affected.
“At this time, we are not aware of any unauthorized use of any payment card information as a result of this incident,” Gheysens said. ATM machines inside the stores were not affected.
Gheysens said the company is working with an external forensics firm as well as law enforcement to investigate the breach.
Wawa has set up a dedicated toll-free call center (844-386-9559) to answer customer questions and offer credit monitoring and identity theft protection without charge to anyone whose information may have been involved.


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Bad news for would-be Twitch streaming celebrities who expected the service to be available on Xbox One this Friday: it's just been delayed into next year.
Microsoft announced on Xbox Wire that the Xbox One's integrated Twitch functionality, which will allow players to broadcast live gameplay, isn't yet ready for public consumption.
"We know the ability to instantly broadcast gameplay is something the gaming community is excited about, and we are too," the Wire post read.
"We are working to ensure the initial Twitch on Xbox One broadcasting experience meets the expectations of the Twitch community, so while this feature won't be available right away, we'll let you know as soon as it is ready. Our goal is to deliver it during the first part of 2014."
That's pretty vague, and unfortunately it leaves the companies a lot of wiggle room to delay Twitch streaming on Xbox One well into next year.
But better a late app that works than a broken one right away, right?


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Abuja, Nigeria. December 23rd, 2014 – The Annual Special End of Year Poll results released by NOIPolls revealed that Nigerians (86%) reported that the environment in which they would be spending the holidays will be ’peaceful & secure’, even as they mostly remain confident (87%) in the ability of the state police command’s to respond to any security alert during this festive season. More findings revealed that the larger share of Nigerians (51%) will be ‘staying at home to relax’ during the end of year festive period while a considerable proportion ‘will be traveling’ (29%). However compared to the previous year (2013), the proportion of Nigerians that are staying home to relax or travelling has declined by 4-points and 3-points respectively. Furthermore, in 2014 there was a 6-points increase in the percentage of those that will continue to run their businesses during the festive period. Most Nigerians anticipate a general rise in prices during the festive period because activities that take place at the end of year typically require extra spending, however this perception has declined steadily from2012. Though poll results do not specify the reason for this observation, an indication from responses given suggest it could be as a result of the decline in inflation rates as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. The inflation rate declined for the third straight month to 7.9% in November 2014, slightly down from 8.1% in the previous month due to lower food prices. More findings from the 2014 poll revealed that Nigerians (52%) mostly anticipate a rise in the prices of food while 29% anticipate a rise in the cost of transportation and 10% anticipate a rise in the price of clothes. However, there was a 13-points decline in the proportion of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in the prices of food items from 2013 to 2014 with a corresponding increase in the proportion of those that anticipate an increase in the cost of transportation. This increase may be influenced by the fear of disruption in petrol supply following the recent industrial action embarked on by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) resulting in the non-availability and artificial scarcity of petroleum products. In reaction to anticipated price increase in 2014, most Nigerians (78%) foresee a general increase in their spending although a small proportion (10%) affirmed that it will have no impact on their spending. Finally, in ushering in the 2014 end of year festive season, Nigerians mostly wish fellow citizens ‘Peace& prosperity’, ‘Happy Xmas & New Year in advance’ and ‘God’s blessings’These were some of the key findings of the ‘The Annual Special End of Year Poll’ by NOIPolls conducted in the week of December 15th 2014. Brief Background End of the year festive period for a typical Nigerian is a period for different celebrations, from parties to carnivals, social gatherings, family/school reunion, annual sporting, cultural fairs and art events. Mid-December through to early January is normally checked with a miscellany of entertainment such as the Calabar carnival, the Fanti Carnival and Eyo festival in Lagos. Benin City also comes alive with traditional dancing, mock battles, themed events and lively parades, when the Igue (Ewere) Festival takes place to mark the beginning of the seasonal yam harvest. While the end of year Festive Season is a special time of celebration and connecting with friends and family, with the exchange of gifts, loud noise in the streets, dancing and songs, movement of people to their respective states of origin to celebrate with their loved ones among other activities; the need to be security conscious and take precautions to protect lives and property is also imperative in the end of year festive season. Against this background NOIPolls conducted this special edition poll to explore the plans and expectations of Nigerians for the 2014 end of year festive season. This poll results release further trends current results with results of the first and second edition conducted in December 2012 and2013. To obtain the full report of this survey, please click here. Key Findings Respondents to the poll were asked eight specific questions; however, six of these questions are discussed in this release. To ascertain the plans of Nigerians for the end of year festivities, respondents were asked: What are your plans for the holiday? Findings revealed that majority of Nigerians will be ‘staying at home to relax’ (51%) while a considerable proportion ‘will be traveling’(29%) during the festive season. Other Nigerians who run businesses will take advantage from the general increase in the demand of goods and services by staying back to ‘continue with their business’(8%) while others would use the festive season to socialize by ‘attending family re-unions’ (6%) as well as ‘attend events’ (5%) amongst other activities. Analysis by age-group revealed that Nigerians would generally be staying at home to relax regardless of age-group; although this is mostly true for the senior citizens aged 61 years and above, which accounted for the highest percentage (69%) of Nigerians who ‘will be staying at home to relax’. On the other hand, Nigerians who would mostly be traveling during the festive period are aged 18 – 21 years(37%), this may be driven by the fact that majority of Nigerians in this age-group would most likely be students in various schools across the country which would generally be closed for the end of year holiday. When current findings are compared to responses from the previous poll conducted in 2013, findings revealed that Nigerians would be cutting down on staying at home to relax (4-points decline) or even traveling (3-points decline) in 2014 and would rather be socializing by attending family reunions or even continuing their business (6% increase) rather than closing it as usual for most businesses during the end of year festive period.
With the aim of gauging the perceptions of Nigerians regarding possible rise in the prices of goods and services, respondents were asked: Do you anticipate a general rise in prices during this festive season? Overall Nigerians regardless of demographic differences anticipate a general rise in the prices of goods and services during the festive season as confirmed by 68% of respondents surveyed, while 22% stated otherwise. In addition,10% were not sure if there will be a general rise in prices or not. When current findings are compared with poll results from 2013, a significant 12-points decline is seen in the proportion of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in prices and this can be attributed to the relative economic stability being experienced in the country and an eased inflation rate in the recent times.
Respondents who anticipated a general rise in prices (68% of the total) were further asked: Which item do you anticipate a rise? A higher proportion (52%) of the respondents indicated that ‘food’ will be the item most affected by the general rise in price. This is followed by 29% that anticipate a rise in the cost of transportation as and 10% anticipate an increase in the price of clothes. Analysis by gender reveals that more female (14%) than male (7%) respondents mentioned clothes as one of the items they anticipate a rise in price indicating that more female shop for clothes than male respondents. Also, those aged between 18 – 21 years accounted for the highest proportion (21%) of respondents who indicated clothes as part of the item they anticipate a rise in price. This age-group is most likely to be concerned about wearing new clothes during this festive season than any other age-group. In comparing current results with the poll conducted in 2013, findings revealed a substantial 13-points drop in the proportion of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in the food item. On the other hand, there was a corresponding 13-points increase in transportation. This increase may have been driven by fear of disruption in the supply of petrol across the country following the recent few days industrial actions by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), resulting in the non-availability and artificial scarcity of petroleum products, which generally impacted on the cost of transportation over the short period it lasted.
Furthermore, respondents who anticipate a rise in price were also asked: How will rise in price affect your spending? A general rise in price will ‘increase spending’ as stated by 78% of Nigerian surveyed; a few (10%)affirmed that it will ‘have no impact’, while some others (12%) maintained that it will ‘reduce their spending’ this festive season. Further evaluation by gender reveals that more female (81%) than male respondents believed that it will increase their spending; this is so as the female gender is generally known to shop more than the male gender especially during the festive season. Trended results from 2012-2014 revealed that the proportion of Nigerians who anticipate a rise in price will increase their spending increased by 9-points in 2013 and by 10-points in 2014. Although the belief of inflation of goods and services during the festive period has declined over the years, nevertheless, the general perception of increased spending during the festive season has increased over the years. This occurrence could be a reflection of the devaluation of Naira over these years and even in recent time where the Naira has been devalued by N13 as announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria,  there by resulting to the continuous decline in the value for money received for goods and services. This therefore implies that to get the desired quality or quantity of goods and services Nigerians would need to spend more due to the devaluation of the Naira.
With the aim of evaluating the security situation of the environment of Nigerians during the end of year festive period, respondents were asked: At present, how would you assess the security situation where you will be spending the holidays? Recent findings revealed that majority of Nigerians (86%) claim that the environment in which they would be spending the holidays is ’peaceful & secure’. Analysis across geo-political zones revealed that the North-East zone (19%) had the highest proportion of Nigerians who indicated that their environment is ‘peaceful but not very secure’. This also applies to North-West and North-Central zones (14% and 10% respectively). Meanwhile, the number of people who indicated that the environment where they will be spending the holiday is ‘tense and insecure’ was highest in North-West zone(8%).
While it is a known fact that criminal activities increases during the end of year festive period, especially with the financial commitment that is associated with festivities, the perception of a ‘peaceful and secure’ holiday environment has increased over the years with a total increase of 32-points from 2012 to the present time. This increased confidence could be stimulated by an increased awareness of common crimes around various localities, adapted security tips by Nigerians in staying security conscious coupled with the proactive measures taken by security agencies in curbing crime especially in this period. Meanwhile, the number of people who indicated ‘peaceful but not very secure’ environment declined by 21- points in 2013 and further dropped by 7- points in 2014.
In the same manner, respondents were asked: Do you believe your state police command is ready to respond to any security alert during this season? Findings revealed that majority of Nigerians (87%)believe the state police command is ready to respond to any security alert during this festive season. This cuts across all regions and age-groups. Although a considerable proportion of Nigerians especially in the South-East region do not have confidence in the state police command to respond to security alerts. Trended results from 2012 to 2014 depicts that the number of people who indicated the state police command is ready to respond to any security alert increased by 24 points in 2013 and has remained stable since then. Similarly, the number of people who do not believe state police command is ready to respond declined by 24 points in 2013 and has also remained stable till now.
In conclusion, the end of year special poll revealed that majority of Nigerians will be staying at home to relax(51%) while a considerable proportion will be traveling (29%) during the festive season although there will be a reduction in these activities in 2014 as some Nigerians would rather be socialising by attending family reunions or even continuing their businesses (6% increase). More findings revealed that Nigerians anticipate a general rise in prices this festive season as confirmed by 68% of respondents surveyed while 22% stated otherwise. In line with this, a higher proportion (52%) of the respondents indicated that ‘food’ will be the item most affected by the general rise in price. This is followed by ‘transportation’ (29%)and ‘clothes’ (10%) amongst other items. As an impact of increased prices of goods and services in the end of year festive period, most Nigerians anticipate an increase in their spending as stated by 78% of Nigerian surveyed; a few (10%) affirmed that it will ‘have no impact’, some others (12%) maintained that it will ‘reduce their spending’ this festive season. Furthermore the poll revealed that majority of Nigerians (86%) claim that the environment in which they would be spending the holidays is ’peaceful & secure’. With respect to the preparedness of security forces for the festive period, majority of Nigerians (87%) believe the state police command is ready to respond to any security alert during this festive season. This reflects the confidence of Nigerians in the state police command in ensuring the protection of their environment from theft, conflict and violence. Finally, most Nigerians wish their fellow patriots ‘Peace& prosperity’. Survey Methods The opinion poll was conducted in the week 15th December 2014. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited, No 1 for Country Specific Polling Services in West Africa, which works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA), to conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com Disclaimer This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published. NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking. Press Contact The Editor Email: firstname.lastname@example.org


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Facebook on Wednesday warned about a margin hit as revenue growth slows and user privacy costs climb, and its 20 percent share drop heightened focus on the online retailer, already a closely watched stock.
Amazon was the second-biggest decliner in the so-called FAANG group of high-flying tech companies, but Facebook's second-quarter earnings also cast a pall on shares of Apple Inc, Netflix Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
Amazon shares fell nearly 3 percent to $1,811.66, while shares of Netflix, Alphabet and Apple were flat.
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On April 12, Adidas announced their newest release: the ‘Croptober’ Campus 80’s. These shoes are unique because they have two layers. The shoes come out of the box with a brown rolling paper wrapping around them, but the owner can rip the paper off to find a green furry layer underneath.
These shoes are made in an effort to increase awareness about sustainability and contribute to Adidas’ goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. The materials used on these shoes are all recycled materials.
These shoes are one-of-a-kind, but we have seen similar initiatives by different companies. As the world becomes more cognizant of carbon footprint and increases the usage of recycled materials, the shoe industry will evolve with it. Most sneaker companies have promised carbon neutrality somewhere in the years of 2025 to 2050.
These shoes are the physical representation of the carbon neutrality goals, and we can expect to see more shoes made with recycled material.
The shoes will retail for $110 and are being released on April 20.
Adidas releases the Croptobers in a time of growing emphasis on the environment. There are a significant amount of smaller companies (Allbirds, Veja) whose platforms are built on being environmentally friendly, and there is a huge market for these companies. Now, most of these smaller companies are certainly not in the sneaker resell market and are nowhere near it, but a precident is starting to be set.
Croptobers are a hybrid shoe in the sense that they are conscious about sustainability, but also in the realm of fast fashion. The Croptobers likely won’t resell for more than they’re bought for (or maybe even resell at all), but slowly, we are moving that direction.
The leaders of the sneaker resell market in Nike and Jordan haven’t released any resellable sneakers that compare, but it’s safe to say we can expect one soon. This branch of the sneaker resell market and fashion is growing quickly.
Companies around the world have expanded sustainability efforts into areas like studs in cleats, shoe soles, and laces, all made from recycled material beads.


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TYRONE servers at MAIT-ETMS 2021 (Photo Credit: News Nation)
Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), the apex industry body of the IT manufacturing companies in India, organised the 3rd edition of the Electronics Manufacturing Summit (ETMS) from 22nd to 23rd April 2021. A major attraction of this virtual summit was the launch of TYRONE family of servers by Netweb Technologies. The event was unveiled by the Minister of State for Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Sanjay Dhotre, and the Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Ajay Prakash Sawhney.
India is fast becoming self-reliant on devising every aspect of complex business process computing solutions. The significant boost behind the achievement comes from cutting-edge innovations by Indian IT manufacturing companies. As part of this industry trend, Netweb Technologies delivers TYRONE - the 1st Make in India servers with global standard server solutions.
“I am proud to see the unveiling of sophisticated, innovatively designed and made-in-India products at MAIT ETMS 2021, including a family of servers. These are the outcome of India’s strategy towards Atmanirbhar in electronic products.” - Mr. Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Communication, Education and Electronics & Information Technology at ETMS 2021.
For over two decades, Netweb has been at the forefront of building indigenous compute and storage technologies along with supercomputing capabilities for the socio-economic development of the nation. Netweb is renowned for deploying Supercomputing infrastructure to meet the increasing computational demands of corporate, academia and research organisations alike especially under India's National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). Notable projects include – establishing 'Param-Amber' ISRO’s fastest Supercomputer, 'Param-Yuva-II' India's one of the fastest Supercomputers listed in the world's Top 500 fastest supercomputers & most recently a highly advanced data center for the Jammu & Kashmir region.
“We heartily thank the entire team of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology for such progressive steps to encourage manufacturing capabilities in India. Netweb has been a leader in manufacturing servers in India since 2008, but with Govt of India's 'Make in India' mission, the Indian OEMs have got the right ecosystem which was due for years.” - Mr. Sanjay Lodha, CEO for Netweb Technologies.
As innovation becomes increasingly important, Netweb has recently launched an AI innovation centre at its headquarters at Faridabad to increase its R&D capabilities as a part of the ‘Make in India’ program. Also, it offers turnkey concept-to-production capabilities to its customers who can rely on a single partner to build end-to-end AI solutions.
Mr. Hirdey Vikram, Director of Sales at Netweb Technologies said,“To elevate the level of manufacturing, over the years Netweb has come up with path-breaking innovations in our PCB design, R&D practices and manufacturing capabilities, today we are capable of manufacturing Servers suitable for building Private Cloud Solutions, High-Performance Computing Clusters, and Modern Data Centres.”
Netweb Technologies is best known for its advanced methodologies to stitch compute, storage and interconnect seamlessly, data center expertise, and exceptional deployment capabilities. But over the years, it has developed solutions covering the gamut of new age and emerging technologies such as cloud, big data and AI, deep learning, virtualization, and containerization to offer comprehensive hardware solutions that match customer needs.Netweb’s trademarked innovations such as Kubyts®, Tyrone Container Platform, VERTA®, FluidOS® and Skylus® have revolutionised the manufacturing of ‘Out of the Box’ usable server, workstations and storage systems. The company has offices across 12 locations in India, a high-end manufacturing hub, innovation centres, AI labs, world-class processes, and over 300 employees.


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U.S. marshals began auctioning Bernard and Ruth Madoff's personal possessions Saturday in a New York hotel in the first of a series of sales.
At least 500 people showed up at the New York Sheraton Hotel and Towers and another 1,000 registered on line, The New York Times reported. They could bid on anything from Ruth Madoff's diamonds to her kitchen equipment. Rubber waders, duck decoys and furniture also were on the block.
Some appeared prepared to pay extra for something that had belonged to Madoff or for something with his monogram on it. They could also take consolation in knowing their money would go to help out his victims.
Madoff is serving a 150-year prison term for running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. His wife made a deal to keep about $2 million, giving up everything else.
People who showed up at a preview Friday night seemed unimpressed by the Madoff possessions. Jennifer Crane, who works in the Marshals Service forfeiture division, found some of the items a bit worn.
"You think you're going to see something spectacular," she told the Times. "It was the home of a 68-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man. It was well-lived-in."
DISCUSS AND COMMENT ON THIS STORY Reality TV World now offers Facebook Comments on our stories. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then 'Add' your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the 'X' in the upper right corner of the comment box.


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July 01--Seven months after it called retreat from a contentious plan to build a new store in the Bel Air South area, Walmart has signaled it will expand its existing store in Abingdon's Constant Friendship business community, something company representatives had previously claimed couldn't be done.
The giant retailer plans to add about 50,178 square feet to the store, according to a request submitted to the Harford County Department of Planning and Zoning.
A community input meeting on the expansion will be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 21 at the Richlin Ballroom in Edgewood.
Walmart announced last November that it decided not to move forward with building the controversial new store at Route 924 and Plumtree Road, ending a three and a half year battle with community opponents, who formed the Bel Air South Community Foundation to fight the project.
At the time the project was abandoned, final county government approval for the new store had been stalled for over a year over a number of issues, most prominently millions of dollars of off-site road improvements the county wanted, but at which the company balked.
Although it would have been built in a fairly saturated commercial area, the opponents claimed a store the scale of what Walmart planned at Bel Air South would have exacerbated traffic congestion on Route 924.
They urged company officials to expand the 25-plus year-old Constant Friendship store, but company representatives claimed that wouldn't be feasible. They not only rebuffed community leaders, but also then County Executive David Craig and other local elected officials, who likewise pushed for the expansion alternative.
Joseph Snee, a Bel Air lawyer who represents Walmart locally, acknowledged the expansion plan and referred questions to the company.
In an emailed statement Thursday, Phillip Keene, director of corporate communications for Walmart, wrote:
"At Walmart, we work hard every day to provide a pleasurable shopping experience for our customers. The improvements we have planned for the Abingdon store represent Walmart's reinvestment in our associates, customers, and the community."
"The store will have a fresh look, as we will be working to improve not only the interior of the store, but also the exterior," he continued. "The upcoming renovations will offer our customers more convenience and choices and better their shopping experience."
Reaction from Bel Air South community leaders was predictably positive.
"It's like they are finally waking up and listening," Bill Wehland, one of the foundation organizers, said with a laugh about Walmart's change of plans.
A preliminary site plan shows the 137,449-square-foot store, which is off of Constant Friendship Boulevard near Route 24, would grow to 187,627 square feet.
The company had planned a similar sized store on the Plumtree site. The expanded Abingdon store will be about 24,000 square feet larger than the Fallston Walmart that opened in 2011.
The Constant Friendship store was built in 1993 and does not offer groceries, unlike Walmart's other two Harford County locations in Aberdeen and Fallston.
The smallness of the Abingdon store, built before Walmart made a big move into the grocery business in the 2000s, was cited by the company as a main driver of its desire to abandon that store and move to the Plumtree Road property, about three miles north on Route 24. Conversely, Walmart previously expanded its Aberdeen store, built after the Abingdon store, to accommodate groceries.
"I think that the public will be really happy that they are going to make a store improvement," Steve Tobia, another Bel Air South Foundation organizer, said. "I think that it is in their business interest to just build a new store, but with that not, apparently, being an option, I think that is really good that their back-up plan is to expand their existing store -- one, because I think that is a better location, being close to the interstate and serving more communities, and, two, it will prevent the possibility of a large building being vacant."
Wehland forwarded The Aegis a copy of a letter he had sent to Walmart in 2013 pointing out how the store could grow to the rear, based on an original 1992 plan for the store. Company representatives said that idea wouldn't work, if for no other reason than they couldn't afford to shut down the store while it was being expanded.
Wehland said he found it "interesting" that the company now wants to expand at Abingdon.
"I am pleased to see that they are going to do it, because if they want to make that a larger store, that is all well and good," he said. "It was interesting, though, how they told us so much why they couldn't do it."
A few customers shopping at Abingdon Walmart Thursday morning did not have strong feelings about the possibility of the store expanding.
"I don't care if they do or don't," Veneria Williams, of Edgewood, said, explaining she goes to Walmart because it is convenient, but she also saw a documentary showing the company treats its workers poorly.
"Walmart's OK for me. One thing I don't like is how they treat their workers overseas," she said. "I think they could pay people more."
Tracie Pierce, of Abingdon, said she is glad the store did not move to Bel Air South because of the traffic impact. She did not feel strongly about the planned expansion at Constant Friendship, but said it made sense.
"If you're here, you might as well stay here," she said.
(c)2016 The Aegis (Bel Air, Md.)
Visit The Aegis (Bel Air, Md.) at www.baltimoresun.com/explore/harford/publications/the-aegis
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
© Tribune Content Agency, source Regional News


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So Who Really Does Offer The Lowest Car Loan Rates?
A recent analysis by WalletHub has found that it is the automakers who are offering the most competitive rates on auto loans.
Essentially, the down economy has caused a significant drop in new car sales so auto manufacturers have been offering low rates on new cars as an incentive to purchase them.
WalletHub, a social media based, financial advice website recently studied over 150 auto lenders and car companies to compare their rates. Their findings show that in the 4th quarter of 2014 good credit car customers found an average of a 1.92% interest on three year auto loans. While credit unions were charging 2.44% for the sames loans.
Shocking enough, the banks wanted an interest rate of 4.31%!
Of course however, with the auto manufacturers rates you have to factor in the 0 percent financing deals that pop up all the time in television advertisements.
WalletHub found that for people who can’t get their car loans from an auto manufacturer or for people who want to finance a car that include any financing incentives that a credit union is your best bet. Followed by small local banks. Large commercial banks should be your last option as they will typically result in high car loan rates!
If you’re interested in a car loan, feel free to submit a 1-minute hassle free application! Fast Free Auto Loan can help you get a competitive rate on a car loan no matter what your credit situation is like! With over a 98% acceptance rate, filling out our safe & secure form is a no-brainer!Apply Now!


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It happens more than you might think – sneaky cashiers swapping coupons for cash, in order to earn a little extra income. The store will get reimbursed for the coupons without even having to sell the products, and the cashier gets to keep the money – sounds like a win-win for everyone, and no one will be the wiser!
And yet so many of them get away with it for so long – and so many others who we never hear about, end up getting away with it altogether.
But they may not for much longer. The inventors of a “smart cash register” say their system might be able to help stop these sticky-fingered cashiers in their tracks.
The British-based cash management company Tellermate recently debuted the newest version of a system they call “T-ice”. T-ice is a “smart” checkout drawer that knows exactly how much money is in a cash register – and how much money should be in there.
The idea is to free up retailers from having to manually count their cash. It also alerts a cashier when incorrect change is given, and deters employee theft by alerting the back office if a cashier slips a bill into their pocket.
And that’s a big problem. According to loss prevention specialist Checkpoint Systems’ most recent Global Retail Theft Barometer, employee theft in the U.S. alone accounted for $18 billion in retail losses in 2013.
Coupon fraud, however, can be more difficult to detect than shoplifting or outright theft. Most coupon fraudsters know enough to scan their coupons before they steal any money. That way, their cash drawers will balance out. And that’s how so many manage to get away with it. So is T-ice smart enough to catch them?
Sure, Tellermate says. For those who pay cash, coupons should reduce the amount of money going into a drawer, not cause money to be taken out of a drawer. So regardless of whether a cashier scans a coupon first and then takes the equivalent amount of cash in order to balance their drawer, T-ice can alert management that something may not be quite right.
“The purpose of T-ice is to provide real-time information to enable better cash management, identify compliance/training issues and to provide an additional loss prevention tool to the retailer,” Tellermate’s Vice President of Marketing Jim Stone told Coupons in the News. “That would cover coupon fraud.”
When integrated with a store’s point-of-sale system, T-ice “can immediately flag any variances,” Stone explained. “Depending on the alerting thresholds a store has in place, the store manager or Loss Prevention could be alerted. If there was also video surveillance, you can use the date and time stamp at the end of the transaction to view the video for the same time” and identify the culprit right away.
Of course, not all coupon users pay with cash. But neither do crafty cashiers pay themselves by swiping a debit or credit card, or writing themselves a check, for the value of their fraudulently-submitted coupons.
So T-ice’s cash-counting ability may not solve all of a retailer’s accounting issues. But if it can help keep cashiers out of jail, and illicit coupons out of the system, a “smart” cash register might be just what it takes to thwart a pretty dumb crime.
Image source: Tellermate
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (WJZ) -- A vegan restaurant in Owings Mills has been frying up some new specials for the holiday season that have become very popular.
"It's been crazy here ever since we've introduced that shrimp po'boy. I mean the lines are out the door," said Ejama McNeill, the head herbalist and owner of the restaurant, Hue Cafe & Apothecary.
She and her husband Aaron McNeill have been serving the sandwich throughout December and they say it has attracted many to their restaurant, both vegans and non-vegans.
"Baltimoreans, we love crab, we love seafood, so we figured if you have transitioned and you no longer can have that option, well when you come here to hue cafe and apothecary you now have been introduced the vegan way," said Ejama.
Like everything else they serve, the "shrimp" is made entirely out of plants, specifically peas. Many say they taste just like the real thing.
"A lot of my non-vegan customers say they're shocked that it's not shrimp," said Aaron.
The restaurant is also serving little apple crumble pies and sweet potato pies for the holiday season.
"If you've never had vegan food in your life, give us a try," said Aaron.
The shrimp po'boy sandwich is only until New Year's Day.
Visit Hue Café & Apothecary at 10210 S Dolfield Rd, Owings Mills, MD 21117.
for more features.


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RALEIGH – The Body Shop, after several years of sales decline, is back on the offensive with a new store design launching nationwide this year, new products and new leadership in the U.S. market.
The Body Shop, based in the United Kingdom with Americas headquarters in Wake Forest, promoted Jason Feldman in January to be its new president and general manager for the U.S. market, as well as for Mexico, after hiring him away from Atlanta-based The Home Depot in 2009.
Feldman says The Body Shop has over the past 24 months refocused its efforts to grow the brand both inside and beyond its store locations in malls, shopping centers and airports around the world.
In 2012, the company remodeled or relocated 27 of its stores in the U.S. to reflect the company’s new beauty boutique store model, called Pulse, that sometimes shrinks the total store footprint but adds more space for make-up products and display tables for its skincare experts, Feldman says.
Thirty additional stores are slated to be relocated, remodeled or opened in the U.S. with the new Pulse design in 2013.
The Body Shop store at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh was among the first on the East Coast to be converted into the new model, and Feldman says the results have been “spectacular.” He notes that the new location and the new look are catching the eye of younger customers who may not have noticed the brand before.
“Our core audience is between 32 to 45 years old, and our customers are loyal to the brand,” he says. “But, it’s interesting now ... because the younger customers are not necessarily loyal to any brand. But, they do love engagement and things related to their core values, and that’s how they find us.”
The Body Shop was among the first big international brands in the 1970s to actively promote a social agenda. Its founder, the late Anita Roddick, often used The Body Shop brand as she advocated for social change, and the company still takes stands publicly against testing of products on animals, for protecting the planet, support of farmers and small businesses through community fair trade practices, and other issues.
The Body Shop in 2006 was acquired by the international beauty product maker L’Oreal for $1 billion, and while many of its supporters worried that L’Oreal would try to dilute The Body Shop’s advocacy programs, Feldman says that hasn’t happened.
But the numbers show that sales have suffered since the acquisition.
There were reports around Europe last October that L’Oreal was considering selling or spinning off The Body Shop, which employs about 200 people in Wake Forest, but Feldman says the rumors were not true. “We heard the same thing, but I can tell you those rumors didn’t come from the inside,” he says.
The Body Shop’s sales in North America declined by 25 percent between 2007 and 2011, and it was only after the new store model was introduced and after The Body Shop started introducing its products inside Ulta Beauty, Sephora and other beauty product stores that sales rebounded – up by 5 percent in 2012.
Feldman estimates the company spent about $300,000 with the store remodel at Crabtree Valley Mall, and most other remodels are comparable. “We’re putting a lot of money in to make this concept come to life,” he says.
The Body Shop has 235 stores in the U.S., 120 in Canada and 17 in Mexico. Worldwide, The Body Shop has more than 2,700 stores in 64 countries.


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eCommerce: Commission publishes results of first EU-wide control of Internet marketed food
Today, the Commission published the results of the first coordinated official controls of Internet marketed foods carried out by 25 EU Member States, Switzerland and Norway.
In September 2017 the competent national authorities checked nearly 1100 websites for offers of non-authorised novel foods and food supplements. They found 779 offers for the sale of products clearly not complying with the EU legislation, whether in terms of labelling, false claims or lack of authorisation.
This was the first time that the national authorities pooled their experience and resources, showing their preparedness to respond to the challenges of the online world and to protect the citizens from unsafe and misleading products offered online.
Recognising that the online sales of food products are increasing in Europe, the Commission issued a Recommendation in 2017 calling for the establishment of a coordinated control plan to encourage Member States to strengthen eCommerce controls and to cooperate more closely on cross-border offers of products.


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A common practice with investor meetings is to update everyone on the million Nintendo sellers. Below is a new, full, list of million sellers.No a big change since the last time we saw this list.
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Pierce County, Washington faced the same issues many counties now face, they are looking for ways to upgrade their technology, provide in-field support, and manage bring your own device plans – all with uncertain funding. County officials started an initial pilot to introduce tablet computers to public workers who spend their days away from desktop PCs. The pilot program amounted to some 200 tablets, but county officials lacked a device management program. CivSource spoke with Kevin Mattsen, the systems engineer for Pierce County, about how they launched the pilot, and their partnership with Air Watch to expand the mobile device plan in the future.
“Our original pilot had no real management, we were using an internal tool that was cumbersome and lacked key features,” Mattsen says. “We realized quickly we needed to find something that would handle security and device management. We started by going through the Gartner research on vendors in this field and came to Air Watch.”
Air Watch, based in Georgia is a leader in mobile application, device, and content management. Mattsen explains that the county needed to be able to track the devices, ensure security compliance, and be able to control what types of applications were downloaded. In terms of mobile phones the county, like many others, is an all Blackberry shop. However, moving into tablet computing meant bringing on a new operating system, and new security concerns. “iOS (iPad) is the only tablet that is ready for business, and it was a new system for us,” he says.
Washington State is a rapidly growing state, but also one with significant budget concerns. Pierce County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, and demand for public services is also growing. But, with consistent budget shortfalls, financing for plans to provide technology that will keep pace with these demands is often uncertain, and the small pilot program size can make it challenging to sign up for typically larger enterprise technology plans. According to Mattsen, Air Watch was a logical choice because the way plans are set up, the county could basically pay for what it needed as it needed. “It breaks out to about $4 per month, per device,” Mattsen says.
By working with Air Watch, the county was able to launch the pilot and deploy all of the devices within 60 days. Using the Air Watch mobile device management technology, Mattsen and other county officials could see and control the devices remotely allowing them to be locked or wiped from the main office if something happened to a device in the field. The service also provides a secure VPN connection, giving public workers access to their files from the device.
Now that the pilot has been successful, Mattsen says the county has plans to expand their device support, potentially including smartphones and custom applications that will be available on the Internal Application Catalog on the Air Watch service.
It addition to new contracts like that with Pierce County, the company recently announced a plan to expand its present headquarters facility in metro Atlanta, creating 800 jobs over the next two years and investing more than $4 million in new equipment. The company currently employs 650 people at its headquarters. Hiring has already begun, and the company’s expansion is scheduled for completion in 2015.
“We’ve grown to twice the size of our nearest competitor and expect to double our size this year by combining innovative mobile technology and exceptional talent with the state’s economic development resources,” said chairman of AirWatch, Alan Dabbiere. “AirWatch and other software companies are playing a critical role in attracting new businesses to the region and solidifying Atlanta as a leading technology player.”


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Bride with Bouquet at the 2019 Cannabis Wedding Expo in Los Angeles. Bouquet by Flowers on Flowers. Credits: Vanessa Oliver.
Legalization is allowing for a budding new industry: cannabis weddings. From flower arrangements, to organizing a budtender for the celebration, there are seemingly an infinite amount of possibilities for couples taking the plunge.
Vanessa Oliver, CEO of Cannabis Wedding Expo (CWE), said that the market for cannabis-themed weddings is growing. While they have held conventions in Las Vegas and Denver, Oliver wants to expand as more states legalize. “We have some exciting announcements to look forward to including new locations we will be adding to our 2022 tour,” she tells Emerald.
Since the first convention in 2016, the CWE has grown. Now that pandemic restrictions are lessening, there is more opportunity for couples to learn about how they can incorporate cannabis into their wedding.
Bridging the gap
CWE is committed to filling a gap in the matrimony market. “We wanted to be the bridge between traditional weddings and specialty cannabis products and services,” says Oliver.
Specifically, CWE wants to give smaller companies a platform to create innovative products, and consumers to access them. “It truly is an exciting and fun opportunity to broaden their imagination by seeing cannabis in a classy and immersive setting,” Oliver says.
She encourages couples to attend these wedding expos to immerse themselves in cannabis-infused products as a way to destigmatize.
The Cannabis Wedding Expo highlights hundreds of vendors. Attendees can peruse these vendors, and see how they cater towards a cannabis-friendly wedding. From bouquets to jewelry, and even wedding dresses and invitations made from hemp, the CWE showcases different ways to be cannabis inclusive.
What is a Cannabis Wedding?
According to Brides, cannabis weddings encompass more than just budtending. Infusing cannabis into different products has become a major hit. “[T]here have been several innovative ways on how people can creatively add cannabis to their nuptials,” writes author Liz Susong. Those include cannabis infused drinks to décor.
Chas Thompson, founder of flower company Wildflower Portland, tells Brides that “more than anything, being cannabis-friendly creates a space for open dialogue. The joy in my job is knowing my couples can talk to me about the ‘taboo’ and that together we can collaborate on a vision that is honest to them,” adds Thompson. “A majority of my couples come to me wanting something unique, and because I am cannabis-friendly they wonder, what else can she do? The answer is, a lot!”
For example, there’s pot-laced flower bouquets, hair pins, bud boutonnières, flower crowns, and weed bars, which give guests an alcohol alternative.
One bride, Michelle Casanova, tells The Guardian that her dream was to take a “huge bong rip in [her] wedding dress.”
But Casanova wasn’t the only one partaking at her wedding. She walked down the aisle with a bouquet of sunflowers and cannabis, guests ate THC-infused cake. They were also treated to a dab bar. “It was like your typical wedding, but with hints of cannabis here and there,” she tells The Guardian. “Everything was really subtle, except for the smoking part.”
The wedding industry came to a halt last year due to the pandemic. Consequently, wedding planning did too. As states start to open up, couples are starting to plan and host weddings again.
“The weddings and events industry was hit hard this past year. But we were fortunate to be able to move forward with new and exciting changes,” says Oliver, CEO of CWE.
Couples, it seems, are anxious to learn more about about cannabis weddings. “This can be seen in areas like ticket sales which hit roughly 30% pre-marketing. Part of this we can contribute to the community’s eagerness to return to live events and part to the iconic culture CWE has built over time,” Oliver says as she spoke about her excitement for events to return.
Planning a Cannabis Wedding
Wedding planning is difficult and a frustrating process, add cannabis to the mix and it becomes more challenging. In an article by Wedding Favors Unlimited, legality and consent are two areas of concern that need to be targeted. For starters, couples should consider their state’s cannabis policies regarding recreational and medical cannabis.
“When making plans for the venue, consider all your guests. Some of them, especially if older, might not be comfortable with attending a cannabis reception,” states the article, which goes further into consent for all parties involved at the wedding.
For this reason, some couples are creating smoking sections, and designating them for cannabis users. Others are cutting the consumption altogether. For example, Anna and Mark Balfe-Taylor tell The Guardian that, “Mark sported a bud in his suit pocket and Anna carried a bouquet with marijuana leaves, [but] neither partook after the ceremony. “We wanted to make a statement about policy and people’s rights,”” states Mark.
As cannabis use becomes more acceptable, more people feel comfortable combining their lifestyle with life events. As a result, more couples are incorporating the plant into their nuptials, sharing their love for the herb with friends and family.


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Ireland has High Standards for Bread.
According to the Subway Ireland website, the chain's six-inch and footlong subs are available on six different kinds of bread, including nine-grain multi-seed, Italian white bread, Italian herbs and cheese, nine-grain wheat, hearty Italian, and honey oat. And, according to the country's Supreme Court, all six varieties are too sugary to legally be called “bread” at all.
From a report:
The court case itself is a slightly confusing one unless you're well versed in Irish tax policies, but it started when a Subway franchise owner challenged the tax authorities' decision not to issue a refund for value-added tax (VAT) on some takeout foods.
Galway-based Bookfinders LTD said that it shouldn't have to pay VAT on hot coffee and tea, or on the hot sandwiches that weren't eaten inside the restaurant.
Its argument was that since the sandwiches contain bread, they should be considered a “staple food” and shouldn't be taxed. But the five Supreme Court judges countered by suggesting that those sandwiches aren't served on “bread” at all, at least not under the “statutory definition of bread.”
According to the Irish Independent, the judges ruled that Subway's bread is not a staple food because its sugar content is 10 percent of the weight of the flour in the dough;
The Value-Added Tax Act 1972 stipulates that sugar, fat, and “bread improver” cannot add up to more than 2 percent of the weight of the flour.
(Those limits are in place to prevent things like pastries and other sweet baked goods from being labeled as “staple foods” and exempt from being taxed.)
Well, you just can't make this stuff up. Here's the original: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/subway-bread-sugar-content-ireland-court-ruling
sincerely, ~ a human observer .


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Bloomsbury Publishing has reported a 19 per cent increase in first quarter revenue driven by strong sales of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series and a list of other titles.
The publisher said revenues in the three months to 31 May were up 13 per cent on a constant currency basis in what is traditionally the slowest quarter in the financial year, driven by the consumer division.
The boy wizard's tales from Hogwarts were still among the top selling titles in the quarter - two decades after Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published.
Other big sellers were A Court of Wings and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, Tom Kerridge's Dopamine Diet and The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray.
Kate Pankhurst's Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World was also the biggest selling children's non-fiction title in the UK in the year to 3 June.
Bloomsbury are hoping to continue to cash in on the Harry Potter phenomenon. They celebrated the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on June 26.
Two new books will be published in October with the British Library to accompany their Harry Potter exhibition.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic - The Book of The Exhibition which takes readers on a journey through the subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Harry Potter - A Journey Through A History of Magic, the history of magic, from alchemy to unicorns, ancient witchcraft to Hogwarts.
In digital, Bloomsbury said first quarter revenue was up 16 per cent and were in line with the 2020 plan launched last year to become a business-to-business and academic publisher.
The business reorganised into two divisions last year, consumer and non-consumer.
The group said the launch of new digital resource, Bloomsbury Popular Music, earlier this year is “proving popular in academic library trials”.
Bloomsbury Professional Online is also reported to have made a “strong start” to the new financial year and a new professional resource, International Tax, was launched in May and law resources Practice and Procedure; Intellectual Property and Info Technology and Clinical Negligence was also launched in the first quarter.
The Bloomsbury Design Library will also launch this month following its successful showcase at the American Library Association conference in Chicago in June.


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Whether it’s ransomware or data breaches, the numbers involved in cyberattacks keeps growing to staggering proportions. Last Thursday, the consumer credit reporting giant, Equifax, publicly announced that hackers had breached their network back in mid-May. The hackers then spent the next ten weeks accessing the personal information of 143 million Americans within their database, as Equifax did not discover the breach until July 29. The hackers accessed sensitive information including names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and the numbers of some driver's licenses. In addition, the credit card numbers of approximately 209,000 U.S. customers were exposed as well. The scope of this security breach is massive.
One of the aspects that makes this data breach unique is the fact that the people affected by the breach are not “customers” of Equifax in the traditional sense. Equifax is one of three major credit-reporting agencies that draws its data from credit card companies, banks, lenders, retailers and just about any institution that reports on the credit activity of customers to consumer credit agencies. While the vast majority of those afflicted are U.S. citizens, not everyone is. Citizens of both Canada and the UK were also affected. In fact, Equifax holds credit information for over 44 million residents of Great Britain as well.
It is yet unclear what the culprit for the breach actually was. Current unsubstantiated reports target the blame at an open-source Apache server software application. In addition to the apparent uncertainty as to how the breach occurred are a number of other issues that are drawing harsh criticism. Although Equifax announced that they would be contacting all affected parties by mail, they have temporarily implemented a website, https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com which people can check to see if they are impacted. Unfortunately, the site resides on a simple WordPress site. While this is perfectly suitable for a “read only” information site offering information concerning the breach to customers, the site prompts users to input the last six digits of their credit card number. Even more comical is the fact that some Internet browsers and web filters were initially blocking the site, issuing a warning that it could be a suspected phishing threat based on irregularities in its functionality such as issues with its web certificate.
Of course, Equifax is not the only site to have been breached this year. According to a security report, there were 2,227 publicly disclosed data compromise events for the first half of 2017. This includes a breach of the Women’s Health Care Group of Pennsylvania in which 300,000 patient records were compromised. Hackers began infiltrating that database back in January of this year. Ironically, the breach was discovered in June as a result of an investigation concerning a ransomware attack that took place on May 16. Stolen data included social security numbers, birth dates, insurance information and sensitive medical history.
What Can We Learn from Equifax and Other Data Breaches?
As frequently as these types of hacking attacks seem to occur today, they can serve as case studies that the rest of us can learn from.
Shorter Time Windows
When evaluating breaches such as the Equifax incident, it is obvious that there needs to be significant improvements to the time it takes to both identify and contain a data breach. According to the latest 2017 figures, it takes 146 days on average to detect a breach and over a month to respond and contain it. Too often in fact, breaches are discovered by third parties rather than by internal IT. Having a written and rehearsed plan of action to deal with a breach is critical as well.
It is also important to be open and upfront when communicating with those whose information has been compromised. Utilizing a PR firm that knows how to deal with the media and the aftermath of such incidents can pay big dividends later on.
Encryption of data is a MUST today. Whether in transit or at rest, unencrypted data equates to unprotected data. Data that is secured using the strongest encryption methodologies is useless in the hands of anyone that lacks the decryption key. Encryption should not be limited to just the data stored on your backend data servers. Encryption tools should be utilized for data residing on laptops, mobile devices and cloud storage as well.
Hackers do not utilize one methodology for penetrating networks, which is why you cannot rely on simply one system to secure your network. Properly securing your network means implementing a strategy of multi-layer protection consisting of an enterprise level firewall, IDS/IPS, anti-spam gateway, content filtering, anti-phishing and endpoint protection. The dependency of using only passwords to protect accounts should be decommissioned in favor of multi factor authentication as well.
Educate your Employees
In the wake of this massive hacking attack, you have to assume that the bad guys now have even more highly personal information that they can use to trick you into paying that invoice or opening that infected email attachment. It is crucial to educate your employees. Encourage them to report anything that appears suspicious or unusual. Although employees may at times be your weakest link, they are also your last point of protection.
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Trade on several of the dark web’s illegal markets has boomed since two major players were shut by the authorities last month, according to research carried out for the BBC.
The US and Dutch authorities forced AlphaBay and Hansa offline to prevent the sale of drugs, weapons and malware.
But over the last week of July, other sites saw their number of listings rise by as much as 28%, the study indicates.
Sales of some goods do, however, appear to have been reduced.
“There is growing evidence that when one illegal dark web marketplace is closed, the illicit business quickly starts to be redirected to other sites which are still active,” commented Elad Ben-Meir, marketing chief at the Israeli cyber-security firm Cyberint, which carried out the research.