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Take a guess at how many days it takes the average company to detect a cyber breach? Would you believe that it sits around the 214 day mark? That’s over 7 months where your data, your assets are at the hands of cyber criminals. Not to mention, once that attack has been spotted it can take a considerable amount of further days for that breach to be contained. By that point your business could have suffered irreparable damage, both from financial and personal data loss.
Red Teaming is flavour of the month within the cyber security industry. But what does it mean? And should I really be considering it for my organisation/business?
Reading through the British Army Military Doctrine manual the other day (as you do!) the concept of Fighting Power in the context of cyber warfare got me thinking. How could a traditional approach from a historically renowned army be applied to the cyber world? Cyber, or the internet - if we remove the hyped buzz word - has been described as the fifth military domain after land, sea, air and space, and is certainly at the forefront of the attacks reported in the media these days.
We know that our mind-sets need to shift these days and we must start by expecting to be hacked, but what then? How do we really manage an effective, secure environment? What steps do we need to consider?
Cyber threat intelligence provider ‘iSIGHT Partners’ has today announced* the discovery of a serious vulnerability that affects all supported versions of Microsoft Windows and Windows Server 2008 and 2012.
Data theft is in the headlines again as news speads that a Russian gang has reportedly stolen 1.2 billion usernames and passwords from various companies. The exact details of what and how much data has been exposed is unclear, but if such a large amount of customer data has indeed been amassed, it reminds us that companies are still being breached. While on the one hand reports of data breaches such as this keeps the cyber threat in the public eye, there is also a risk that the frequency of these incidents creates a certain amount of ‘cyber fatigue’ and a dangerous sense of complacency.
Domino’s Pizza is the latest victim of a breach and ransom demand. The recent Evernote and Feedly DDoS ransom demands, along with the efforts of Cryptolocker and other tricks to extort hard cash from unsuspecting users, are being tested to the max. These brazen attempts to make a quick profit will only be fuelled for as long as they remain successful.
You can’t fail to have noticed that eBay has become the latest high-profile company to fall victim to a data breach incident, thanks to the global media attention and commentary that the incident has attracted. In a post on eBay’s corporate site, the online auction site urged its customers to change their passwords following a cyber attack that compromised one of its databases earlier this year. According to eBay, attackers successfully “compromised a small number of employee log-in credentials, allowing unauthorised access to eBay's corporate network”, which enabled them to access customer information, including names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, contact details and dates of birth. Despite eBay hastening to add that no financial information had been stolen, data breaches involving customer information can be extremely damaging for any business, as lost customer confidence can be hard to regain. Particularly, when you are responsible for 233m customers’ details. The fact is that all companies that store client data must ensure they have a rigorous cyber security plan in place, that they identify and manage any areas of high risk and that they are fully prepared with an incident detection and response strategy should the worst happen.
You can’t have failed to notice the media storm in the IT and security press around the recent vulnerability in the bedrock of the internet – SSL. The service designed to be protecting our data when sent over the big bad public wire has been wide open since early 2012 within many OpenSSL deployments (unpatched OpenSSL 1.01 or 1.02beta).
Some interesting and rather alarming findings from a recent survey around Security Awareness Training (SAT): source 1,000 people surveyed by One Poll for PhishMe.


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It seems none of us can get enough news lately—Axios calls the news “America’s biggest pastime” at the moment, but we think it might be more of a crippling addiction. And supply could soon be strained if news sites don’t get more money coming in.
Axios notes that traffic to news sites is way up; however, data from Yieldbird notes that while ad requests for news sites in its programmatic network are up 78%, ECPMs are down 10%. Overall, Yieldbird found that ad requests across its network were up 28%, but ECPMs were down 20%.
With most sports leagues currently suspended, it’s not surprising to see ad requests related to sports on the downswing (14%, but… the 14% rise in ECPMs certainly lifts eyebrows. It seems in some situations, advertisers are willing to dole out cash to market away from the pandemic—though definitely not in dining and nightlife (according to Yieldbird, revenue down 70% and impressions sinking 63%) and travel (revenue down 40%, impressions 46%).
If you’re grumbling to yourself that social media companies will probably be just fine throughout this crisis… think again. People may be more engaged on Twitter than ever, but Twitter’s CFO just warned investors of slumping ad revenue, particularly in the last few weeks. Social media marketing platform SocialBakers reports that ad spend on Facebook has nearly fallen off a cliff since the beginning of March. Overall ad spend on the platform has declined by nearly 50% since December 2019.
Goin’ Down to the Crossroads
We’ve noted for a while that guaranteed ad sales were going to take a hit during this pandemic, but were cautiously optimistic that programmatic revenue might pick up the slack. So far, no dice, but we are in early innings. (Are those enough mixed gaming metaphors for you? Man, we must really need some sports—watching the toddler slam dunk on her kiddie basketball hoop is not cutting it.)
However, it does feel like we’re fast approaching a distressing crossroads. Even though people are more active online than probably ever before, many publishers can’t monetize the traffic because they can’t draw advertiser spend. This is most evident on the local level, where regional news outlets are breaking traffic records left and right, but can’t squeeze any spend out of their regular local advertisers (many of which are businesses currently lying dormant).
Buzzfeed is warning of a “Media Extinction Event,” with massive industry layoffs and local news outlets collapsing in droves. Don’t think local publishers banding together will stop the bleeding—publicly traded networks of publishers like Gannett have been tanking in the market (though some investors see an opportunity…)
Oh, to get inside a brand marketer’s head in this trying moment… Wait, why not conduct a survey? That was a wise move by Wyzowl, a company that focuses on video explainer content. In polling 160 marketers mainly from the US, Wyzowl found 71% were reducing spend in physical events and 45% in print, while 31% were pushing more spend toward video, 31% toward paid ads, and 28% on broadcast. (I bet many a digital publisher feels they are yet to see these increases.)
But most interesting: 46% expect no reduction in marketing spend due to coronavirus, while 48% are already resigned to a decrease. Publishers are going to have a hard time waiting this out till the advertising faucets turn back on.
Subscribe to the Solution
So consumers are demanding more and more content (particularly news), but digital media companies can’t pay the bills… At least not with advertising. Let’s think about this—advertising subsidizes the cost of content for consumers, so the next logical option would seem to be… subscriptions.
It was arguable that the industry was hitting subscription fatigue before coronavirus made it to these shores. Certainly with a major economic downturn cresting, consumers will probably be less likely to crack open their piggybanks for subscriptions. On top of that, Washington Post and New York Times have put coronavirus coverage outside of their paywalls, setting an admirable but potentially costly precedent.
Publishers might want to follow the model of companies like The Guardian, which basically solicits donations from highly engaged readers while leaving content open to all. In addition, consumer relationship management companies enable publishers to offer customized subscription products, such as sliding scales or pay-what-you-can.
Long story short—if you’ve been pondering some kind of subscription or consumer payment service, now’s the time to follow it to fruition. Also, chase down all of those alternative revenue schemes you’ve put on the backburner.
This story has been modified from a post in AdMonsters’ industry newsletter, The Wrapper. Perhaps you’ll subscribe to get even more sizzling analysis of the latest ad tech news?

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UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja on Wednesday said they will sign the free-trade agreement with Israel by the end of March. “The agreement will serve as an accelerator for significant economic prosperity,” Al Khaja said in a tweet post.
Al Khaja added that after India and Indonesia, the UAE and Israel are looking forward to concluding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) before the end of the month.
“The UAE remains confident that the CEPA with Israel will serve as a catalyst for even greater economic prosperity,” Al Khaja added.
Israel Economic Minister Orna Barbivai and her UAE Counterpart Abdullah bin Touq Al Mari began talks in November for establishing the CEPA between the two countries. CEPA is part of wider economic connectivity including trade in goods.
Ohad Cohen, director of the Foreign Trade Administration had recently said that the agreement includes customs, trade in services, government procurement, e-commerce and the preservation of intellectual property rights.
According to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics and Foreign Ministry, there has been a massive increase in trade between Israel and its Middle East neighbors. The development was made after US-brokered Abraham Accords, opening ways for Israel to normalize ties with Gulf states.
Trade between Israel and UAE has also increased dramatically in the past one year since the Abraham Accord, as trade between the two was worth about $125 million in 2020, that figure reached nearly $500m in 2021.
Meanwhile, the economic experts estimated that trade between the two countries will exceed $1 billion this year and reach $3 billion within three years.
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® — All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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I’ve really enjoyed Helldivers, to the point where it’s easily one of the biggest surprises this year. Thankfully, Sony has just announced that a new expansion is actually out now — and it’s free! It’s called Masters of the Galaxy, and features new enemies to battle with, as well as new trophies. You can also buy the retail edition of the game on August 18.
If you haven’t played this yet and enjoy top-down action games, this might be your huckleberry.


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By: Ice Moni
Ghanaian musician, songwriter, creative director and entrepreneur,
Kwame Nsiah-Apau, known by his stage name as Okyeame Kwame and also Rap Doctor, has disclosed that it is time for Ghanaians and the industry to create their own digital streaming platforms to benefit the country and the entire musicians.
The Rap Doctor made this statement at Graphic Showbiz forum on TV3’s Executive Theatre on Tuesday, June 22 which was monitored by oktranking.com
Okyeame Kwame said that, it is very important for Ghanaian and African content creators to gain from a monetize platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and more.
“I believe it is significant for Ghana to have its own Spotify, Amazon and other digital platforms so that when artistes create content, we can put them on our platforms and the money will stay in Ghana. He stated.
In addition, The “Yɛɛko” Hitmaker added that “More important is the need for the government to support us who are creating content for these platforms so that we can keep the money at the market economy because it takes money for me to create content and put it on Facebook.
Okyeame Kwame revealed that a lot of people in Ghana and in Africa and beyond have always been making a lot of money from his post on facebook without receiving a dime from anyone or to the Government.
“Because of my content, people come on Facebook and when they do, Facebook will advertise to them and take all the money and not give me and also not give the government,” he declared.
When ask about the benefits of the digital platforms in this COVID-19 era”, the Rap Doctor said the idea of Ghanaians and Africans in general to have their own digital streaming platforms had pushed him to start his own digital platform as Trendasquare
“I’m starting my own digital media platform for Africans to create content. We need to let the world know that we can do our own thing. We must lower the dependence on the West so that they will respect us,” he said.
Currently Okyeame Kwame is having a digital streaming platform known as lalafio.com. His main motive for this platform is to support African entertainers.
Mr Nsiah Apau developed this platform with his partners by name Vokacom in the lockdown era.


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Xperia Play Launch Delays
Those looking forward to the release of Sony Ericsson’s new device might be in for a little disappointment. Vodafone are now the second (following 02’s earlier announcement) to state that they won’t be offering the phone up in time for the April 1st launch date in the UK.
Sony Ericsson have stated they have “experienced a freight issue that may impact the number of Xperia Plays arriving at some retail outlets”, but intends for the launch to continue as planned tomorrow. This means that some stores will still have the sleek device for purchase.
Vodafone told Eurogamer, “We contacted our customers who pre-ordered the device yesterday to advise them that Sony Ericsson had informed us that they hadn’t been able to ship the devices in for the 1st April launch date to the UK”, but are expecting the delay to be a matter of days instead of weeks.
It would be a shame for a transportation incident to put a dent in the launch of what looks like a promising device.


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Infiniti Kills Off the QX30 Globally and Exits Western Europe
Infiniti has decided to exit the Western European market. The Japanese luxury brand’s residency in the competitive region only lasted a decade, and middling consumer interest coupled with increasingly stringent emissions regulations were all cited as reasons for this departure.
As a part of this move, Nissan’s premium division plans to cease global production of the QX30 at its Sunderland, England, assembly plant. The subcompact crossover, born of a rocky Mercedes-Benz partnership, and its overseas-only Q30 hatch sibling will be discontinued in July of this year.
The QX30’s discontinuation was foretold.
At January’s Detroit Motor Show, Infiniti President Christian Meunier told Motor Authority, “[The QX30 is] not a very successful product. We’ll keep selling it for now…but this is not a product that has a future beyond its current life. It will be replaced in the future by an all-Infiniti platform.”
Suffice it to say that the partnership that spawned the QX30 and Mercedes-Benz GLA didn’t really do it for Infiniti.
As for the Infiniti brand itself, customers in Western Europe and the U.K. continued to find alternatives much more enticing. The brand, which launched there in 2008, will leave completely by early 2020, the automaker said. In the wake of this decision, Infiniti will renew its efforts in more receptive markets like the U.S. and China, while maintaining operations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
“Western Europe remains the most challenging and competitive region for premium cars,” Infiniti spokesman Trevor Hale told Reuters. The brand’s sales in the region sunk to 5,800 vehicles last year — roughly half of what it sold the year before.
In comparison, Infiniti sold 149,280 vehicles in the U.S. last year, only 8,101 of which were QX30s. That’s a 42.5 percent sales drop from 2017. The model first appeared in the U.S. in October of 2016.
Devoid of the plug-in hybrids and electrics European lawmakers and regulators like, Infiniti faced a future where it would need to invest heavily in green tech to stay in the region’s good books. It’s not worth the effort, the company claims.
“The commercial reality for Infiniti in western Europe is that there is simply no visibility of a viable and sustainable business, especially given the regulatory challenges,” Hale said.
A version of this article originally appeared on TTAC.com


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The Lowther family have owned the 13th century Askham Hall near Penrith since the 1800s, but only launched the business as a restaurant with rooms in 2013. The awards came thick and fast soon after reopening, with Askham Hall awarded Guest Accommodation of the Year and Wedding Venue of the Year in 2016 at the Cumbria Tourism Awards, as well as two consecutive Taste of Cumbria prizes.
This success was spearheaded by Charles Lowther, who opened the 18-bedroom hotel in its current look and feel with his sister Marie-Louisa Raeburn and his wife Juno. Despite the build up of accolades and industry recognition, it’s during the last two years that business has really started to motor.
Lowther hailed 2018 as an ‘exciting year’ and he didn’t disappoint. In the spring, the hotel’s restaurant was relaunched as Allium, led by head chef Richard Swale with an emphasis on home grown produce.
A few months later, Lowther acquired a former pub situated next to Askham Hall in a bid to meet an increased demand for accommodation. The Queen’s Head is undergoing a refurbishment before reopening and sits adjacent to a new health barn, which was first unveiled in November 2018 to capitalise on the wellness trend.
Lowther is also overseeing a bedroom expansion at Askham Hall to bring the total room number across the two sites to around 25.
Charles Lowther and family also own and operate the George and Dragon at Clifton, which they opened in 2008.


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HA NOI — Gold prices in the domestic market hit a ten-month high yesterday and remained well above the global price, despite last month's intervention by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to stabilise the market.
The cost of gold hit VND46 million (US$2,190) per tael after the global price reached $1,698 an ounce - one tael is equal to 1.2 ounces - pushing the domestic price to 7.5 per cent above the global index.
This comes despite last month's intervention, when the SBV ordered Viet Nam's largest gold refiner the Sai Gon Jewelry Co (SJC) to stop producing SJC gold bullion. From August 23, SJC began producing only gold bullion of 99.99 per cent purity under the direction and supervision of the central bank, which also oversees the scale of production, when production takes place and the raw material gold supply.
Yesterday SJC, which has a 90 per cent share of the domestic market, listed buying/selling price at VND45.8/46 million a tael, a rise of VND300,000 on the previous day. Doji Group also raised its prices to VND45.45/45.6 million a tael.
Tran Nhu My, director of the Doji Group, said that people turned to gold assets as a safe-haven in the wake of negative reports from the financial markets.
My added that the lack of a readily available supply of gold locally, also played a part in pushing the domestic price higher than its global counterpart.
Using the official exchange rate of Vietcombank, local gold prices were still roughly VND2.6 million a tael higher than the world price.
The world price started to pick up late last week after the US Federal Reserve hinted at a fresh stimulus package, or a third round of quantitative easing (QE3), to aid the US economic recovery.
World gold prices marked their third consecutive monthly rise with a 4.5 per cent increase in August, the strongest rise so far this year. — VNS


text: Roadmaps to achieve net zero are placing great focus on supply chains. Technologies central to the transition require much more critical minerals than conventional energy sources, yet governments and industry have expressed alarm about whether there will be sufficient mineral supply to move from a fuel-intensive to a mineral-intensive energy system. Beyond sourcing, pandemic lockdowns and the war in Ukraine have underscored the risks when things go wrong. Technology failures, commercial delays, new geopolitical crises and broken supply chains are inevitable realities going forward. How will supply chains adjust and scale and what are the industry’s contingency plans for disruption? Is globalization giving way to regionalization?


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Makers of healthy clean-label snacks have seen significant sales gains in the segment as shoppers seek out healthier foods to satisfy their appetites.
"We have experienced strong financial performance over the past several years," affirms Tom Ennis, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Amplify Snack Brands, maker of SkinnyPop popcorn and Paqui tortilla chips. "Net sales increased from $55.7 million on Dec. 31, 2013, to $132.4 million by Dec. 31, 2014, representing growth of 137.6 percent. We believe our sales growth reflects consumers’ growing preference for [better-for-you] snacks."
"Bare sales have grown dramatically over the past year, with 70 percent year-over-year growth in the grocery and natural channels," notes Dana Ginsburg, director of marketing at Manteca, Calif.-based Bare Snacks. "This growth has been driven by both consumer and retailer demand for better-for-you snacks that truly deliver on taste. More and more consumers are reading labels and looking for simple, real ingredients."
"Our Clearview Foods portfolio of products has been performing ahead of their respective competitive sets within the better-for-you snacks segment," observes Peter Michaud, VP and general manager of Clearview, a division of Charlotte, N.C.-based Snyder's-Lance encompassing the Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Eat Smart and Late July Organic Snack product lines. "Our focus on innovation that delivers great taste via better ingredients has really worked well for us and our loyal consumers."
"Performance has been exceptional," says Joe Lupica, marketing manager for the East Haven, Conn.-based SuperSeedz gourmet flavored pumpkin seed line. "We are now one of the fastest-growing snack companies in the category. … [O]ur volume has increased more than 120 percent versus last year."
Asserting that its meat snacks are performing "exceptionally well," Justin "Duke" Havlick, president of Boulder, Colo.-based Thanasi Foods, adds that sales of the company's Duke's "Shorty" Smoked Sausages "alone are up 200 percent."


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Marijuana Dispensaries, Delivery, and Doctors in Honolulu
Honolulu Marijuana News & Events
How These 7 Amazing Women Changed the Weed Industry
The cannabis industry has made huge leaps to break down the stigmas surrounding it for quite some time now. As one of the biggest elixirs on the market with 11 states (and counting!) legalizing it for recreational use, this community would be nowhere.
What is CBD Oil? Benefits, Dosage & Effects
You may have noticed over the past few years that shops selling “CBD” have begun to pop up everywhere. What was once a niche product has turned into a nationwide phenomenon, but a lot of people still don’t know what it is. What is CBD oil good for? W.
Hawaii decides again not to legalize marijuana
Hawaii is one of the most liberal leaning states in the U.S. and even legalized the use of medical marijuana nearly 20 years ago, however the state’s legislators fell short last week of legalizing recreational marijuana. The legalization bill mad.
Marijuana might reverse heart failure, University of Hawaii study finds
Patients allover the world use medical cannabis to treat ailments of many varieties and now the researchers at the University of Hawaii have discovered one more, recovery from a damaged heart. Heart failure can be caused by many things like heart att.
Honolulu Dispensary Reviews
Dr Cook and his staff are excellent and I am happy to have found such a great doctor
Find Honolulu, HI dispensaries, marijuana delivery services, and mmj doctors to get your medical card and buy cannabis legally .


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At the October 2018 Surface launch event in New York City, Microsoft officials showed a glimpse of a coming feature of Windows 10: Android app-mirroring. That feature would allow Windows 10 users to see and interact with applications already installed on their Android phones directly on their Windows 10 PCs. It now seems Microsoft is set to begin to test that feature externally.
Late last week, MSpoweruser.com reported that Twitter user “Ajith” had discovered the Android app-mirroring capability was close to its debut. Ajith showed the description of the feature, which stated “Bring your phone’s screen to the Your Phone app and control all your apps from your PC. You can use your mouse and keyboard to help you interact.” He also showed a screen shot of a phone notification app which would allow Windows 10 users with the Your Phone app to get notifications from their phones in an app rather than the Action Center.
MSPoweruser reports that the Android app-mirroring feature initially will be available on certain Android phones running Android 7.0 or greater, specifically the Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S9 and S9+. Supported Windows 10 PCs need to have the “Bluetooth radio supports Low Energy Peripheral Role” on their systems in order to get the app-mirroring feature to work. Users will need to have Microsoft’s Your Phone app installed for the feature to work.
Only Windows Insiders running the latest test builds on certain devices will be able to test app-mirroring at first.The app-mirroring feature potentially could be available to Insiders as soon as this week.
Android phone users already can see the last couple dozen photos taken with their phones on their Windows 10 PCs with the Windows 10 October update installed via the Your Phone app. They can edit, share and save these photos right from their Windows 10 PCs when using Your Phone. Android phone users also can see and respond to SMS messages directly from their Windows 10 PCs running the October 2018 Update.
Android app-mirroring support on Windows 10 may lead some to recall Microsoft’s rather brief foray into allowing developers to bring Android applications to Windows 10 using the cancelled “Astoria” bridge technology. Microsoft dropped Astoria in 2016, claiming that it wasn’t necessary, given the company also was offering an iOS-porting technology (and most Android apps also had iOS complements). Microsoft’s iOS bridge is basically dead and not being actively updated or used by almost any (or possibly any) developers.
Source Article from https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-is-preparing-to-test-android-app-mirroring-on-windows-10/#ftag=RSSbaffb68
Microsoft is preparing to test Android app-mirroring on Windows 10
Latest blogs for ZDNet
Latest blogs for ZDNet


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Over Half of Apple Employees Say Jony Ive’s Departure Won’t Affect the Company’s Future: Survey
Jony Ive’s surprise resignation from Apple won’t have a negative impact on the Cupertino company, say Apple employees in a survey.
A survey emailed to IIC conducted by Fortune along with Blind, an anonymous social network for discussing workplace issues, asked Apple employees how they thought the abrupt departure of Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive would affect the Cupertino company.
According to the survey’s results, more than 100 Apple employees were contacted on Monday and Tuesday. 52 percent of Apple employees said that Ive’s resignation wouldn’t have any impact on the company’s future.
22 percent of employees answered that Ive’s departure would positively affect Apple, while 26 percent of respondents believed that it would negatively affect the company.
When asked whether Apple can continue to be a tech industry leader product leader after Ive’s departure, 76 percent responded affirmatively. On the notion of whether Ive was instrumental to Apple’s success during his tenure at the company, 76 percent responded that he was, while only eight percent said that he wasn’t important.
Since Ive’s resignation, there has been constant noise from major media outlets that his decision would negatively impact Apple in the future. Now, this survey has cleared things up a bit.
“The findings undermine the idea that Ive’s departure, at least in the opinion of Apple employees, is a major loss for the company,” reads the report. “Although he was a key lieutenant, first under Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and then current CEO Tim Cook, the general sense among Apple rank and file is that Apple will be just fine without him.”
So while Jony Ive was certainly instrumental in the creation of Apple as a company today, his absence, according to his former peers, won’t have a negative impact on the future of the company.


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August 30, 2013
A Kickstarter-funded UK company led by app developer John McLear has created a piece of jewelry with built-in RFID technology that can be used to unlock doors and mobile phones, start a car, transfer information, link people and more. The NFC Ring, which never needs charging, provides users with the option of public and private inlays for secure information sharing. The Kickstarter campaign concluded last week and dramatically exceeded its target goal by raising about $380,000.
“The ring has contactless, or RFID, technology built in and can be used to automatically unlock an NFC-capable phone when a person picks it up, or to operate other RFID devices such as door locks,” reports MIT Technology Review. “One side of the ring stores ‘personal’ data such as passwords, the other is intended for ‘public’ data such as contact information.”
All of the software is open source, developed in Apache Cordova, allowing for the creation of personal applications.
“The ring is designed so that you need to hold it within a millimeter of something for it to be read to reduce the risk of it being accidentally or maliciously read,” notes the article. “You can program credentials into the two sides of the ring and use a companion Android phone app to set up various functions on devices with contactless technology built in.”
“You can use your NFC Ring to share Wi-Fi information, links to websites, links to pictures, contact information or whatever you think is suitable to be passed securely to your friends’ smartphones and tablets,” explains the product site. “You can also use your NFC Ring to start apps with custom settings (parameters) which makes it a really easy way to personalize the app experience to match your ring.”
According to the promotional video, the NFC Ring could also be set to hold a user’s public Bitcoin address for receiving payments.
Other companies are pursuing similar technologies. MIT Technology Review explains that Google has been “experimenting with using physical tokens such as USB keys or even jewelry to take the place of passwords.”
“The Disney Infinity game environment uses NFC tech in the play pieces to unlock characters and options in the virtual world,” adds ETC@USC staffer Phil Lelyveld, who forwarded this news item to ETCentric. “This opens up all sorts of opportunities for full family, friends, and community engagement.”


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EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has told the BBC that the European Commission is ready to investigate the tech giant over its tax practices within Britain. It was confirmed that the issue was raised in an earlier press conference by a member of the Scottish parliament.
This is not the first case of multinational companies coming under the spotlight when it comes to their taxes. Apple is currently facing investigation by the European Commission.
Google has insisted that there is no issue and that the California based company has paid the right amount of tax. In an official letter to the Financial Times Google head of VP and Communications wrote that “Google complies with the law”.
While there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Google, tax avoidance by multinational companies has been a hot topic for a number of years in Europe where a large portion of people are questioning whether or not companies are meeting their responsibilities.


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Super Micro, which is best known for its enterprise and high-performance computer (HPC) servers, is now eyeing small and midsized business customers with a new, low-cost system.
On Dec. 15, Super Micro will begin selling the SuperServer 5035L-iB, a mini-tower server that offers configurations with starting prices between $300 and $500, which is typically 20 to 30 percent lower than the company’s more typical enterprise systems.
With the debut of the SuperServer 5035L-iB, Super Micro is looking to expand its business beyond its core enterprises government customers and into the small and midsize business (SMB) market that has been attracting the likes of Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard in recent years.
Super Micro CEO Charles Liang, who was recently featured in a New York Times profile, calls this new opportunity for his company SOHO for small office, home office business environments.
In an interview with eWEEK, Liang said that in order for his company to grow, it needed to reach out to small business customers with a lower-cost system. Liang also emphasized the SuperServer’s energy-efficient 300-watt power supply and engineering that ensures the system runs quiet enough that it can be installed in a small office or a home.
“We wanted to bring enterprise technology to the SOHO market,” said Liang during a telephone interview. “We wanted to have our SOHO server and storage system perform at 80-Plus Bronze level power efficiency. Besides the low power supply, we to have very low noise. It’s like a home desktop noise level.”
While companies such as HP with its SMB specific servers and systems such as its BladeSystem C3000 chassis have been courted small businesses for years, Liang said Super Micro needed to begin expanding its business and its channel offerings in order to grow.
“Last year, we grew 53 percent in terms of engineering manpower so we have more engineering resources now and that’s why we have more of an opportunity to offer more products,” said Liang.
The SuperServer 5035L-iB is based on Super Micro’s own X7SLM-L server board, which supports one Intel Core 2 Duo E4000 series processor. The board can also support older Intel Pentium and Celeron processors as well for lower price configurations. The Super Micro X7SLM-L supports Intel’s 945GC chip set as well as two DIMM (dual in-line memory modules) that offer up to 2GB of main SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory).
The Super Micro X7SLM-L also supports up to four SATA (serial ATA) ports that support RAID O, 1, 5, 10 configurations. There is also support for 8 USB 2.0 ports.
In addition to more traditional business technology, Super Micro’s server board also supports an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics engine as well as PCI-Express x16 graphics connector, which allows this system to work as multimedia server for home entertainment.
The SuperServer 5035L-iB is 7.25 inches wide and 15.25 inches high and supports up to four, 3.5-inch internal hard disk drive bays as well as two, 5.25-inch external bays and four I/O expansion slots.
The new Super Micro SuperServer 5035L-iB for SMBs is available to order as of Monday and the company plans to offer new configurations within the first quarter of 2009.


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New report reveals leisure travellers ready to go
Upbeat about travel
Newly released research by Flywire indicates that there is “strong consumer demand” for travel “post coronavirus crisis.”
Bouncing Back: Consumer Views on Travelling Again is an interactive report based on an independent survey of adult leisure travellers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Japan.
Flywire’s research looks at the impact of the coronavirus crisis on consumer travel plans and their expectations of travel providers to encourage more travel.
While the impact of COVID-19 is being felt at every level of the industry – from the largest online travel agencies to individual tour operators and the local ecosystems that support them, Flywire’s report found that in spite of that bleak financial outlook, travellers are optimistic about the industry.
And that suggests a resurgence of the industry when travel options return; 93% of respondents are confident the industry will still be here after the pandemic is over and 69% plan to travel again when it does. For 74%, just thinking of travelling again while they are self-isolating is keeping them going.
Colin Smyth, senior director of Travel & Commercial segments at Flywire, observes that: “The economic loss combined with the lack of clear guidelines as to when consumers can travel freely again puts a lot of stress both on travel providers and the consumers they serve.”
Smyth said that: “It’s also impacting consumers significantly. In times like these, people crave a break from their normal routine; they are looking for new challenges and action-packed adventures. These are experiences uniquely offered through travel.”
Ready to spend
Other findings indicate that consumers are ready to spend on travel again, pointing out that over half of the travellers surveyed say they will spend the same on travel for the remainder of this year/next year as they did last year, while one in five will increase their budget. 55% plan to stay in their own country for their first trips. The types of vacations planned include the beach (38%), visiting family and friends (36%) and city vacations (23%).
Flywire also found that adventure travellers are looking for more adventure and of those who have travelled for adventure in the past 12 months, nearly half say their first trip will be another adventure experience. Specific preferences vary widely – from exotic (13%), camping (13%), hiking (11%) and general adventure (7%) to skiing (4%), safari (3%) and biking (1%).
And when it comes time to pay, 88% of those surveyed said ease of payment is important to their overall travel experience with almost half (48%) saying it is very important. 66% said that the payment experience impacts their choice of travel agent or tour operator. This suggests that ensuring a seamless payment experience can directly impact revenue for travel agents and operators as they try to bounce back.
Travel and well being
The report also found that travel correlates closely to well-being, with 73% of travellers across all countries had a negative feeling as a result of not being able to travel, and 70% said not travelling means they are not able to make new and/or special memories.
And clearly, being stuck at home is taking an emotional toll. Over one-third (35%) of consumers surveyed said not traveling now makes them feel sad and/or depressed while one-quarter said it makes them feel isolated and/or anxious.
On the positive side, over four in five (82%) said travelling is a way to calm their soul and 72% say the opportunity to travel again gives them something to look forward to.
Pleased, but want more
The report also found that consumers are pleased with the travel industry’s response, but they also expect more.
The coronavirus crisis caused an unprecedented amount of disruption to travel plans and it impacted both providers and consumers.
Overall, consumers feel the industry has responded well with over three quarters (77%) saying that the industry is doing a great job considering the circumstances.
On the flip side, 88% of those surveyed said the travel industry needs to be more flexible in dealing with changes and cancellations.
Hotels received the highest grades for their response while cruises and airlines were viewed as the least responsive.
Everyone felt the impact
Not surprisingly, Flywire reports that the impact of COVID-19 was felt in all four of the countries surveyed.
A similar percentage of travellers were forced to cancel or change their travel plans as a result of the crisis, but there were some important differences by country in their attitudes about the industry and their plans to travel:
- US travellers are the most bullish about the travel industry and the most ready to travel again.
- UK travellers will wait a bit longer to travel again, but when they do, 80% plan to spend the same or more as they did in the last 12 months.
- Canadians are the most conservative when it comes to expected travel spend vs. the previous year but for those that plan to travel, adventure will be high on their list.
- Japanese travellers are the least ready to travel again, but still plan to spend the same or more vs. the previous year.
Smyth observers that: “The travel industry has bounced back very well from previous crises. This time doesn’t have to be any different as evidenced by consumers’ stated willingness to spend on travel again. At the same time, it’s important for the industry to listen to their customers. As operators and providers plan their comeback, this new research provides important insights into how they can meet consumers’ pent-up demand and revitalize their businesses.”


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Florists usually put on extra staff the week before Valentine's because of the hundreds of extra flower orders, but just because they're more busy does not mean they're making more money. It's because of the way we buy our flowers.
'When you go to the internet and go on to the telemarketers,' says Jini Cerio, who owns downtown Syracuse's Markowitz Florist, 'that money stays in their state, in their town. We need it to stay in our town. It's our money.'
Cerio, and other florists, say that the big, popular online sites are not florists, but telemarketers who then order from local businesses, but 'with these wire services it is close to almost 50% that we lose with it.'
It's a business development that strikes a chord with Syracuse First's Chris Fowler, who is running a Buy Local campaign. 'It does a real disservice to the local businesses because there's a big markup and a lot of that money goes to the broker and not to the business.'
Cerio points out that the customer who orders through telemarketers (not necessarily the florists' cooperatives like FTD or Teleflora) loses two ways: money--because there's a processing surcharge, usually $20 more to order online, and also in quality.
She says if a customer calls or walks in, the local florist can advise which flowers look (and smell!) better. Cerio tells us many of the pictures on online ads are photoshopped, that arrangements may look different because all the flowers are fresher and not completely open. She says if you specify an amount to spend, rather than picking out a model, you cold do better locally.
"It comes down to just picking up the phone and finding the number or going to your local florist and making that same order," says Fowler, and you have that personal service and a relationship with a person."
Cerio says it's not a matter of stopping all internet or smartphone use to order, just being careful that you're working with an actual florist--one with a local address (you can order online with many locals' store websites)
Fowler says Valentines is the perfect time to make a personal commitment, not only to your sweetheart, but to also doing something to do something for the local economy. His Syracuse First website has a directory of local stores and businesses.


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Nordstrom announced yesterday that after 30 years in the area, they are leaving their anchor location at the West Side Pavillion and moving to Westfield's Century City mall, which is nearly doubling its retail space in an $800 million dollar redevelopment effort.
"We are grateful for the nearly 30 years we've been able to serve customers in West Los Angeles in our current location but we believe we can offer customers a better shopping experience in a new store that will include our latest design concepts," said Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom in a press release. "We're excited to join Westfield Century City, a truly exciting shopping and entertainment destination."
The move is expected to take place in 2017.
No word yet on what the Westside Pavillion will do but on his blog, Places Worth Caring About, planner and urbanist Patrick Prescott suggests that the Rancho Park corner location, a short walk from the soon-to-open Expo Westwood station, is ideal for a mixed use commercial-residential development. A development - or redevelopment - that he says could provide more housing in the area and open up the corner, eliminating what he calls, "the fortress-like appearance" of the mall.
Photo from Places Worth Caring About.


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Apple almost partnered with Uber to become part of its same-day delivery program, but the deal never went through, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The report doesn't say why the partnership never happened, but the Journal writes that Uber "lost out on the opportunity" to make deliveries for Apple and Starbucks.
Instead, Apple decided to work with Postmates for same-day deliveries, which is currently available in 18 states across the country.
Same-day delivery is only available for some Apple products, but shoppers have reported seeing the "courier delivery" option alongside iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Apple TVs, according to TechCrunch.
It's unclear why the Uber deal fizzled out, but the Journal notes that Gilt Groupe also turned down a partnership with the on-demand car service partly because Uber couldn't insure Gilt Groupe's high-priced items during the delivery process.


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Mukesh Ambani became 8th richest person in the world
According to Hunar Global Rich List 2021, Mukesh Ambani with a wealth of USD 83 billion (INR 6 lakh crore) became 8th richest person in the world.
In the Hunar Global Rich List 2020 , Mukesh Ambani was ranked 9th.
Mukesh Ambani :
- Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 19 April 1957 .
- He is a Indian billionaire businessman and chairman , managing director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Ltd.
- Reliance was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, a yarn trader in 1966 as small textile manufacturer.
- He is richest person of Asia.
- During the Covid 19 lockdown, Ambani raised more than one of $ 20 billion selling a third of Jio to a string of investors, such as Facebook and Google.
The Hunar Global Rich List 2021 ranked 3228 billionaires from 2,402 companies and 68 countries.
Elon Musk took the number 1 spot for the first time and the age of 49 years is the youngest to take the no. 1 spot.
The Hunar Global Rich list was topped by :
- Elon Musk ( CEO of TESLA)
- Jeff Bezos ( CEO of Amazon)
- Bernard Arnault ( CEO of LVMH – Louis Vuitton)
India has now 209 billionaires , of which 177 live in India.
Thanks for reading :-


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Home >Pest infestations cost UK businesses £1.2 billion in revenue
Pest infestations cost UK businesses £1.2 billion in revenue
18 September 2015
New research has revealed the threats posed by pests to businesses in the UK and worldwide.
The report, commissioned by Rentokil Pest Control and produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), found that pest infestations cost British businesses £1.2 billion in revenue in 2014 alone.
Worldwide, the business impact of pests was £5.8 billion in operating costs and a further £11.8 billion in lost revenue, due to effects such as closure of premises, reputation damage and negative customer reviews.
The research found that over 92% of UK companies had suffered with pest problems over the past five years, experiencing an average of three infestations each during this time. The problems associated with these infestations were manifold, with one third (33%) of business owners saying that they had affected staff morale, 20% that they had damaged goods and 18% that they had caused increased maintenance and repair costs. More than 60% of affected businesses believed their pest problems had impacted their revenues, while even more (82%) said their problems had increased their operating costs.
Rodents were the most troublesome pest for UK PLCs, with over half (52%) of businesses having suffered a mouse infestation over the past five years, while 39% had had problems with rats. Flies (15%), cockroaches (14%) ants (11%) and bed bugs (10%) were also common intruders.
Rentokil’s report was based on the analysis of over 1,050 responses from businesses across the US, UK, Australia, France and Italy. The United States was the hardest hit by pest problems, with lost revenues totalling more than £8 billion, while losses in Australia and France amounted to £953 million and £920 million respectively.
As well as the economic impact of pests, the research also revealed how the effects of an infestation extended beyond financial terms. On average, 55% of businesses suffered a loss of at least one working day and over a quarter (26%) suffered a loss of at least five working days each year – a full working week.
David Cross, head of technical training academy at Rentokil Pest Control, said: "Pests can have both a direct and indirect effect on a company’s finances. Dealing with a serious infestation will of course bring with it increased costs, but potentially more damaging and long-lasting are the effects it can have on a business’ reputation. In the digital age, one negative review or bad employee experience can potentially be seen or read by thousands of people, so it’s more important than ever to keep pests at bay."
He added: "There are simple, practical steps that all businesses and workplaces can take to discourage pest activity, but in the event of a serious problem it’s always best to call in the professionals."
Rentokil Pest Control’s Recommendations
A business should aim to suppress the risk of pest infestation completely – so they do not reach the point of infestation in the first place. Rentokil uses the following four factors in an Integrated Pest Management approach across any commercial environment:
1. Exclusion– eliminate opportunities for entry, blocking gaps, proofing doors, windows and open areas, in order to halt entry into critical business areas
2. Restriction– Pest Awareness knowledge and training for staff in order to help staff spot the signs of pest activity or entry at an early stage, as well as removing pest access to food and harbourage
3. Destruction– includes innovative, effective solutions to eradicate existing infestations effectively and efficiently by professionally trained technicians
4. Monitoring– ensure regular checks for early warning signs of pest activity and use monitoring devices to show early signs of activity, enabling a quick reaction, so that the impact on the business is kept to a minimum and halted as soon as possible.
To download the report, visit: http://www.rentokil.co.uk/assets/content/files/rentokil-business-impact-report-2015.pdf


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SiFive readies U8-Series RISC-V core designs to compete with ARM's Cortex-A72 models
When it comes to PC CPUs, the x86 architecture turned x64 in later years is by far the only one that stood the test of time. It is no wonder that Intel and AMD are still embracing it and every new generation of chips launched by the two giants is further building upon and expanding its capabilities, yet this is not to say that there are no alternatives. The open source RISC-V architecture, for instance, has been seeing some appreciation lately, as India is using it for its home-grown CPU chips that are meant to soon match Intel’s models. Previously thought to be too far behind compared to the x64 capabilities, RISC-V has received a significant performance boost in the past few years, and, thanks to SiFive’s latest designs, it looks like the architecture can also be a viable alternative to ARM’s mobile cores we see omnipresent in today’s smartphones.
SiFive is a new company founded by the people behind the RISC-V instruction set proposed back in 2010. In just 2 years, SiFive managed to push the envelope for RISC-V mobility cores to a point where the latest U8-Series design can compete with ARM’s Cortex-A72 cores. SiFive claims that the new U8-Series is the first RISC-V-based design to feature superscalar, out-of-order architecture. Similar to ARM’s cores that are meant for different workloads, SiFive’s U84 variant is a high-performance, energy-efficient core that is designed as a multi-purpose solution, while the U87 variant is specifically built for “vector processing.”
Details on the U87 are scarce, and SiFive seems to be focusing more on the U84 for now, as it mentions that the chip is built on the latest 7 nm tech, which boosts performance by 3.1 times over the older 16 nm U74 design. The jump from 16 nm to 7 nm also allows a 2.3 times increased instruction-per-clock count, plus it allows for 1.4 times higher frequencies. The U84 can be grouped in 9-core clusters that are similar to ARM’s 2+6 core clusters.
Moreover, the U84 is said to offer 1.5 times better performance per Watt and twice the area efficiency compared to the Cortex-A72. Granted, that is a 3-year-old design, and SiFive should probably compare the U84 to the newer A76 cores from ARM. Still, the new U8-Series has its merits, and the next iteration of cores coming from SiFive could eventually prove worthy competitors for ARM’s solutions.


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An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from an article at ZDNet: “As expected, Facebook has started displaying ads in users’ News Feeds. You may not be seeing them yet as the company is rolling them out gradually, like it does for all its changes. … Last month, a Facebook spokesperson said the company hoped to ‘show people no more than one Sponsored Story in their News Feeds per day.’ This is no longer the case, as Facebook now says you may see more Featured stories ‘if you visit your News Feed a lot.'”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Facebook Adds Ads To News Feed


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Saban Capital has bought back the rights to the Power Rangers series from Disney, and Namco Bandai will create games based on the property in a new long-term deal.
Billionaire Haim Saban and Japanese creator Toei introduced the first Power Rangers series in 1993 on the Fox Kids network. Bandai, THQ, and Sega have all published past Power Rangers video games. Disney, which published 2007's Power Rangers: Super Legends
, purchased the series from Saban in 2001 with its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide.
Bandai has been the toy partner for Power Rangers since the property was first introduced. The franchise has generated "well over $5 billion in retail sales worldwide," according to Saban Capital.
Saban did not disclose the terms of the new acquisition, but stated that its toy and game agreement with Bandai America is "long term." The company said that Power Rangers is the first property for the newly-established Saban Brands, which will manage and license entertainment properties.
"Power Rangers is one of the world's leading children's entertainment properties and we are delighted to see its return," said Haim Saban in a statement. "I am confident that the talented management team at Saban Brands will expand our licensing partnerships and capitalize on the significant growth potential of this powerful brand."


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The Kinect, less than a year released has already surpassed the 10 million unit mark, giving users a controller free interface for the Xbox 360. While consoles have their limitations people have already started using the Kinect for things it wasn’t intended to do. Microsoft announced that they’re going to be releasing a Software Development Kit for Kinect for Windows sometime in the future and today we’re starting to find out what we can expect.
Jonathan Fay from Microsoft Research showed guests at the MIX a good example of what’s to come from the SDK for Kinect. He demonstrated how you could navigate through the solar system using the WorldWide Telescope using your PC and the Kinect. It’s a pretty interesting video, you can check it out below:


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Wraps Taken Off All-electric Commercial Pickup/Delivery Van
Over the past year, Enova and Freightliner have been testing a 120 kilowatt all-electric drive system with several chassis platforms, but now they are ready to accelerate plans to serve corporate fleets.
The Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) truck just made its official debut at the 2010 National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show.
The vehicle, which is geared for the commercial pickup and delivery market, is built on the FCCC MT-45 WIV chassis platform.
Bob Harbin, FCCC president, said that the company’s vision was “clearly focused on transitioning the all-electric chassis into the mainstream of … walk-in van production programs.”
In a test on delivery and service routes, a study shows that customers could save up to $15,000 per vehicle a year compared with traditionally powered walk-in vans.
The vans use Enova’s 120kW all-electric drive system technology and are rated to haul 14,000 to 19,500 pounds. Powered by Tesla Motors lithium ion batteries, the chassis is 100 percent electric, including its HVAC system.
The van has a 100-mile driving range per charge. It takes six to eight hours to recharge, FCCC says.
The vehicle should enter full production in the first quarter of 2011, after which it will undergo testing with some “major” U.S. pickup and delivery fleets.
Energy Manager News
- At QER Roundtable, EPSA Recommends Competitive Pricing Improvements
- EPA Undeterred by Supreme Court’s Delay of Clean Power Plan
- Lux: Google, Amazon Emissions Claims Inaccurate
- FIU Again Tops in Energy Efficiency
- Invenergy Selling Wind Power to 3M
- U.S. House Subcommittee Reviews Kennedy’s Fair RATES Act
- Nevada PAC Seeks Entry into State for Retail Energy Suppliers
- Using Big Data to Help Solve the Big Building Energy Problem


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Indian fabric producers seek to raise exports to VN textile firms - Indian fabric producers seek to raise exports to VN textile firms - Website Ho Chi Minh City
India, which supplies 2 per cent of the inputs used by the Vietnamese textile and garment industry, wants to increase it to 25 per cent in the next five years, according to the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (TEXPROCIL).
Speaking at a Viet Nam – India Textile and Garment business forum in HCM City on August 8, Manikam Ramaswami, TEXPROCIL's chairman, said Viet Nam was the fifth largest garment and textile exporter in the world and had achieved an impressive growth rate.
But it had to import a lot of the raw materials while India was the world's second largest producer of materials like cotton, cloth and fibre, he said.
Co-operation between the two countries would help Vietnamese enterprises diversify their raw material sources and sell high-quality products to the international market, he added.
Siddhartha Rajagopal, TEXPROCIL's executive director, said Viet Nam needed huge quantities of right-priced, quality woven and knit fabrics to continue its growth momentum.
"India could be an economical source of quality yarns and fabrics to bridge the gap and make garments even more competitive for Viet Nam."
Viet Nam's import of yarns and fabrics from India accounted for only 2 per cent of its needs, and "Our aim is to look at a 25 per cent market share in the short term," he added.
Bui Thi Thanh An, deputy director general of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, said trade between Viet Nam and India sharply increased in recent years, reaching US$5.2 billion last year, of which VietNam's exports accounted for $2.3 billion.
Garment and textile trade also saw considerable growth in recent years, she said.
The event was organised by Vietrade, the Indian embassy in Ha Noi and consulate in HCM City, and e-commerce portal Vietrade.com together with TEXPROCIL and the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association in HCM City.
The Indian delegation, which visited Viet Nam from August 4 to 8 to explore business opportunities, comprised executives from 12 leading textile and garment companies.


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When it comes to smartphone apps, Facebook and Google dominate.
The tech giants collectively own eight of the 10 apps most used by US adults, according to comScore's "2017 US Mobile App Report." The only outliers? Snapchat and Pandora.
Unsurprisingly, many of the most used apps are also the most likely to inhabit app users' home screens. In fact, the most used app is also the top app on most people's front page.
Below are the 10 most used apps in the US.
41% of app users use Pandora.
44% of app users use Gmail.
8. Google Play
47% of app users use the Google Play app.
50% of app users use Snapchat.
50% of app users use Instagram.
5. Google Maps
57% of app users use Google Maps.
4. Google Search
61% of app users use Google Search.
3. Facebook Messenger
68% of app users use Facebook Messenger.
71% of app users use YouTube.
81% of app users use Facebook.
For more tech news, cool gadgets, and innovations, follow us on Instagram.


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Matchroom Multi Sport is delighted to announce Cazoo, Europe’s leading online car retailer, which makes buying and selling a car as simple and seamless as ordering any other product online, the title sponsor of the 2021 Cazoo Mosconi Cup at Alexandra Palace, December 7-10.
The 2021 Cazoo Mosconi Cup is Pool’s biggest rivalry as Europe and the USA meet over four days in a race to 11 points broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and networks worldwide including DAZN in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Spain, and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Poland.
Alex Lely and Karl Boyes have assembled their five-player team consisting of World Champion Albin Ouschan, Spain’s David Alcaide, Germany’s Joshua Filler, Albania’s Eklent Kaçi, and last year’s MVP Jayson Shaw of Scotland.
Team USA will look to avenge last year’s heartbreaking 11-3 defeat with Jeremy Jones calling upon the experienced Shane Van Boening as playing-vice captain bolstered by two-time MVP Skyler Woodward, legend of the game Earl Strickland, two-time winner Tyler Styer and youngster Chris Reinhold.
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer said: “We’re delighted to welcome Cazoo on board for the 2021 Cazoo Mosconi Cup. The 2021 Cazoo Mosconi Cup promises to be a spectacle to behold at Alexandra Palace with the cauldron-like atmosphere making it one of the most intense arenas in sport let alone pool. The cup is one of the most prestigious in pool and we’re excited to have Cazoo on board for such a special week.”
Alex Chesterman Founder & CEO of Cazoo said, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Matchroom for the 2021 Cazoo Mosconi Cup, the most anticipated event of the pool year. It’ll be another great clash and I look forward to seeing if Europe can hold the title!”
Cazoo is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Europe, pioneering the shift to online car buying and selling and has already sold over 45,000 cars online since its launch less than 2 years ago, as consumers have embraced the selection, value and convenience of buying and selling used cars entirely online.
Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all of its cars before offering them on its website for either delivery or collection in as little as 72 hours and has thousands of cars available at any time. Its launch into commercial vehicles later this year will further expand the proposition and selection available on its website.


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Dallas—Jun 18, 2009
Texas Instruments Unveils Enhanced 4K Technology on Next Generation DLP Cinema® Electronics Platform
DLP Cinema Offers Widest Variety of Solutions to Illuminate Every Size Theatre Screen With Its Proven Platform
Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) DLP Cinema® announced plans today to incorporate enhanced 4K technology as an extension of the next generation electronics platform for DLP Cinema projectors. Texas Instruments is recognized as the cinema technology provider offering solutions with low operating costs, and its inclusion of another resolution gives exhibitors worldwide the widest variety of options to fit their needs and screen sizes. TI will continue to innovate on and further the development of its DLP Cinema 2K chips which are indisputably the industry standard with nearly 11,000 installations globally.
Texas Instruments will deliver the enhanced DLP Cinema 4K chip to its licensees, Barco, Christie Digital and NEC which will extend the breadth of products to exhibitors to over 12 projector models. All projectors with the next generation DLP Cinema electronics platform, regardless of the resolution, will have the leading attributes for which DLP Cinema products are known, including precise DCI compliant colors, superior contrast ratios and light output necessary to illuminate the largest auditoriums. The solutions provide the capability to light up theatre screens as big as 100 feet and 3D screens as big as 75 feet, which has been a challenge for competing technologies.
Cinemark’s chief executive officer Alan Stock said, “Based on our decade of experience with DLP Cinema technology, its unmatched reliability has made it our exclusive platform of choice for 4K deployments. With no limitations on resolution, DLP Cinema allows Cinemark to truly deliver the highest-quality image to our customers.”
“Texas Instruments is proud of its contributions to the cinema industry and is absolutely committed to further innovation through DLP Cinema,” said Kent Novak, senior vice president and general manager of DLP Products. “DLP Cinema remains dedicated to its customers, and through shipping millions of units we are able to provide a significantly lower cost structure in comparison with our competitors.”
Previously announced at ShoWest 2009, the next generation DLP Cinema electronics platform combines the three boards needed to produce images into a single board. The result is a lower cost solution to DLP Cinema’s three OEM licensees. The next generation DLP Cinema platform works seamlessly with over eight server solutions and multiple 3D platforms.
DLP Cinema projection technology is installed in nearly 11,000 screens on every continent except Antarctica. Today there are over 4,300 worldwide screens that offer digital 3D with the use of every pixel array in the frame for the brightest picture unlike other technologies in the industry. Since last year’s introduction, IMAX® digital projection systems powered by DLP Cinema projectors have reached a total of 83 locations worldwide.


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Akron Chamber of Commerce met Monday, June 20 for their regular meeting with ten members present. Odells Super’s prepared the meal for the day. President Susan Watson opened the meeting. The secretary’s and treasurer’s reports were approved.
Watson reported on upcoming events, including the annual car show, Saturday, June 25; movie in the park, Friday, July 15; Eastern Colorado Roundup, July 26-31; Bull Bash, Friday, August 12; and Crazy Days, Saturday, August 13. School will be starting soon after that.
Farmer’s Market was discussed and a tentative date of July 6 was given as the start date, depending on how much produce will be ready to be sold.
There was then a discussion on having a banner made to honor Chamber members and hang the banner during fair in both the Event Center and at the livestock sale buyer’s BBQ on Friday evening. Lori Baer moved to have a banner made to use during fair to thank Chamber members for supporting their town and the Chamber. This was approved.
Baer moved that Chamber donate $100 to the BBQ to help provide drinks for the buyers and this was approved. Baer also moved to give $100 to the 4-H Department to be used for 4-H awards and this was approved.
Watson handed out informative papers from the Bank of Colorado on cryptocurrency and protecting yourself from fraud. There has been quite a bit of fraud in Akron and the county and the bank is trying to get information out. There will be a longer article in next week’s paper.
Baer spoke about a new retail delivery fee that is being imposed by the state. If you sell taxable items that are delivered by a motor vehicle to a place in Colorado, you will now be required to charge, collect and remit a new fee to the Colorado Department of Revenue. This will take effect on July 1, 2022 and applies to all retail sales, including third party deliveries. The charge will be 27 cents per delivery and is charged to the purchaser. This will include grocery stores that deliver (which means Odells), restaurants that deliver, flower shops that deliver, other stores that deliver, such as furniture, online stores that ship orders;and business to business retail sales.
Members were asked to keep their eyes open for a July Yard of the Month nomination. If anybody sees a yard they would like to nominate for Yard of the Month, please contact Jo Anne Busing or Susan Watson.
The $10 in Chamber bucks was awarded to Susan Brown of Town and Country Insurance. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, July 18 at Akron Town Hall.


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As luck would have it, a recent visit to Rayton Packaging coincided with an auspicious moment: the company had just made the first zipper V-shaped bag in the world. The moment was also symbolic--the c...
As luck would have it, a recent visit to Rayton Packaging coincided with an auspicious moment: the company had just made the first zipper V-shaped bag in the world. The moment was also symbolic–the company has built the core of its business on many such inventions.
“Our general strategy as a company is not to pound out pounds of material,” says company president Pat Arnell. “It’s to be innovative.”
The V-shaped bag, which fits the shape of a cluster of grapes, was invented by Ray Sanders, a Rayton employee, in 1976. The bag is made of either high clarity polypropylene or polyethylene and can be vented on one-side or both sides. Arnell says there has been a high demand from grocery producers for an enclosed V-shaped bag for a number of years.
“Technically, it’s very difficult to put a zipper on a V-shaped bag,” Arnell says. He reports that a patent is pending for the bag and that the company should be ready to go commercial with it next year.
The company’s patented Dewlock System was invented to replace adhesive-type closures on rectangular-shaped produce bags used by growers of fresh fruit and vegetables. The system features a polyethylene non-reopenable zipper located on the bottom of the bag, combined with a conventional PE zipper on the top of the bag. The bag will see its first full year of commercial use in the field this year at seven or eight large produce growers, and Rayton has hired personnel to train field staff on how to use the bag. Arnell says growers are enthusiastic about the possibility of eliminating adhesive-based bag systems traditionally used to pack produce.
The company moved into its current 100,000 sq. ft. facility in Calgary two years ago. The plant currently has five mono-layer blown film lines in operation and is adding a multi-layer film line. For converting, the facility runs nine V-shaped bag-making lines, and six rectangular-shaped bag-making lines. Rayton employs 85 people.
The company’s product lines serve three main market areas: produce, general/industrial flexible packaging such as shrink film, pallet covers and box liners, and security/cash.
“Our next major market thrust will be in the security/cash management bag market,” Arnell says. “A lot of cash is moved from business and facilities to banks in tamper-proof bags.”
Arnell says the company is currently considering a strategic alliance with one or more companies in order to capitalize on market opportunities in Canada and the Western U.S.
Since 1992, the company has been growing at a 25 percent annual rate, a feat he attributes to Rayton employees.
“Our greatest strength is our people,” Arnell says, noting that he and other managers at the company devote a significant chunk of their time to training, coaching and leading.
“We firmly believe there’s opportunity for innovative companies in our market,” Arnell says. “We try to make it part of the culture here.”


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The ban on flavored vaping products is moving forward.
If you've never tried unflavored vape juice, it doesn't taste like clean air. Vapers have dubbed the taste "liquid death",and it's incredibly likely that this move is going to create a cigarette epidemic in the United States.
We're unsure when, or even if, new FDA approved flavor products will hit the market, especially considering no such product exists yet.
Hope you like cancer, America.


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Two WPP shops – Grey Healthcare Group (ghg) and digital specialty VML – are collaborating on an answer to Publicis’ digi-behemoth Digitas. The new shop, Healix Digital Health, will be led by representatives from both companies and will offer “enterprise digital marketing” for healthcare companies.
“This is really being established due to client interest,” said ghg chief Lynn O’Connor Vos. “There’s room for one or two more big players in the healthcare digital space, and we’re at a tipping point where most clients recognize that this is an area they’ve got to be competitive in, with mass consumerization of healthcare, with electronic medical records, with 87% of doctors getting information online and 25% of medicine potentially being practiced online by 2012.”
The new shop will have offices in New York, where ghg is based, and in Kansas City, MO, where VML is headquartered. Vos will sit on the agency’s board along with ghg chief engagement officer Erin Byrne, VML CEO Matt Anthony and VML managing director Jim Radosevic. Agency leadership and founding clients will be announced in January and will report directly to WPP chief Martin Sorrell.
The agency’s Kansas City office will boast a “communications lab,” Vos said, through which Healix will keep ahead of the curve on emerging technologies like the iPad and electronic medical records.
“This is going to be a new medium for us to communicate with physicians and potentially with patients,” said Vos. “We want to look at all technologies.”
VML and ghg have a longstanding relationship, she said, sharing business with Colgate and Hill Science, the dog food brand. VML boasts a roster of blue chip clients and recent work including Gatorade’s G2 campaign, while ghg has executed the text4baby and Think About Your Eyes efforts.
“This is definitely the moment to establish something this big and well-recognized for depth in digital and mobile for healthcare,” said Vos. “Clients are all looking for strategic solutions. They want a digital strategy – they don’t just want to buy a website but to understand where patients and docs are online, what’s that journey look like and how can they get there.”


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Elon Musk unveiled prototypes of tesla ’s solar roof tiles in October 2016. They came in four styles that looked just like reveals roofing material but were essentially miniaturized versions of traditional solar panels.
The roof tile reveals helped Tesla justify a 2.6 billion dollar acquisition of SolarCity and represented Musk’s vision for what businesses could do together. It’s been almost two years since then, so where are the tiles?
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“We now have several hundred homes with the Solar Roof on them, and that’s going well. It takes a while to just confirm that the Solar Roof is going to last for 30 years and all the details work out,” said Elon Musk.
As in May this year, Reuters reported there are actually only 12 tiled roofs connected to the grid all in Northern California.
Tesla declined to give an updated figure but later clarified that hundreds of homes refer to roofs that are scheduled for install or are only partially installed.
Tesla has been accepting a $1000 deposits for the Roof Tiles since May 2017, but at that point, the company wasn’t even close to mass producing them.
It established a factory in Buffalo New York to make the tiles but it is not running at full capacity yet.
In one of the company’s most recent annual shareholder meetings, Musk blamed ongoing delays on the need for more testing.
“There is only so much accelerated live testing that you can do on a roof, so before we can deploy it to a large number of houses we need to make sure that all elements of the roof are going to last for at least 3 decades. Ideally for half a century or more,” Musk at the June 5, 2018, Annual Shareholder Meeting.
Solar Tiles like large solar panels use silicon solar cells to convert sunlight into electricity but it turns out this tech is difficult to shrink and to manufacture.
“It’s like saying the early iphone screens which were real breakthroughs were just smaller versions of the flat screens on your wall. Making things small, actually changes the way the technology will work, and that has been a big challenge for Tesla, but certainly for the entire industry as well,” said Andrew Beebe, Obvious Ventures Managing Director.
“To try and miniaturize the product in a way that keeps it cost effective and also giving it the very reliable performance that solar is known for,” Mr. Beebe added.
One of the customers with the tiles already installed is San Jose resident and Tesla Model 3 owner Tri Huynh. He pre-ordered as soon as possible and the roof is installed earlier this year.
“I was extremely surprised when I got the call because you never know with this stuff. I thought there would be extreme delays but I didn’t know how long it’ll take,” said Tri Huynh, Tesla Customer and San Jose resident
in an interview with CNBC
While traditional solar panels can be installed in a day, it took a team of ten to fifteen workers two weeks to install this roof.
When asked the why his home was chosen:
“They said it was kind of at proximity to headquarters and they could do quick troubleshooting. I think the simplicity of the house helps, you can see my house has a very simple roof layout, I think that goes into account as well,” answered Tri Huynh
Tesla’s customers are paying a premium for the tile’s sleek look. Huynh’s roof cost him about a US $100,000; though he did need to replace his roof anyway.
For people that don’t need any roof but want to install solar, traditional panels are definitely cheaper.
“People have often asked me: do we need to find some new type of technology to make solar work? I think the answer is no! The solar industry has won in America. We have made solar cost-effective in most of the country,” adds Andrew Beebe.
Huynh is excited to be an early adaptor and see his energy bill decrease.
“Traditionally in the summer my power bill is around US $400 – $450. My last bill was only US $40,” adds Huynh.
Ultimately Tesla goal is to make the tiles a cost-effective option partly be ensuring there are more durable than other rooftops. Tesla is promising 30 years of solar power generation.
“I would expect that these Solar Roofing Tiles to be reasonably priced in just a few years if they can get the market interested,” said Dan Kammen, PhD, Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley.
Experts anticipate a wave of new solar installations within the next three to five years.
“Not just for homes. For businesses, for mini-malls, all kinds of built infrastructure where we can make solar the “go-to” product. It’s no longer a roofing shingle anymore, its a power plant on your roof,” adds Kammen.
Tesla says solar roof installation will scale up later this year and into 2019.
“Its highly likely that great engineers and incredible technologists, and a lot of these people might be at Tesla; are going to be able to take on this very difficult challenge and engineer the heck out of it to get us to that cost parity. We are not there yet,” says Andrew Beebe.


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More information and a rather nifty render have surfaced on one of HTC's many rumoured 2010 smartphones - this time, the Android-powered Legend, which apparently is the next-gen successor to the five star Hero.
According to the ai.rs website, the Legend will eschew Android 2.0 as seen on the Motorola Milestone for the newer, even beefier Android 2.1 operating system. It's certainly feature packed with an AMOLED screen that beats the Hero's humble TFT screen, and bears a pleasing resemblence to another HTC rumour, the high-performance Bravo. The screen is Hero-sized, though, at 3.2 with a HVGA resolution.
Based on a 600Mhz CPU, the new phone supports high-speed HSPA internet, an optical trackpad, Wi-Fi, A-GPS for location finding, a 3.5mm headphone port for music fans, a five-megapixel camera with autofocus, 512MB ROM, 256MB RAM and utilities such as the new version of HTC Footprints and HTC People.
HTC is still keeping mum, but we think we can expect an official launch at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, next March.


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Kazakh National Holding Baiterek has signed an agreement with Peugeot Citroën to set up full-cycle assembly of cars in Kostanay, Kazakhstan.
Sarykol village of Kostanay oblast in northern Kazakhstan has been hit by a tornado on June 26.
56 y.o. Kostanay native Sergey Polikarpov has won the Spring Half Marathon in Omsk, Russia for the sixth time.
The first complete solar eclipse of the year is going to take place on March 20, 15 hours prior to the astronomical spring in the Northern hemisphere - equinox.
Oksana Klochkova from Kostanay Oblast who took part in Miss Bikini CIS 2014 has spoken about poor conditions at the beauty pageant.
Oksana Klochkova from Kostanay Oblast has been awarded the Second Runner-up title at the Miss Bikini CIS 2014 beauty pageant.
Nomad SUVs manufactured in Kazakhstan will be exported to the Russian market through SsangYong Motor Company.
Kazakhstani fashion designer from Kostanay Svetlana Kushnerova has presented her collection at the Paris Fashion Week 2014.
Gale warning has been issued for several regions of Kazakhstan.
Steel rods plant Evraz Caspian Steel has been unveiled in Kostanay.
Production of Toyota Fortuner offroaders has been kick-started in Kostanay, in northern Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan's cities will be divided into three categories for development purposes.
Kazakhstan is banning heavy trucks from national highways during daytime in summer to save the road-surface.
A local surgeon in Kostanay Oblast village Vladimir Kukhar saved a boy’s life with an angle grinder.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau plans to dismiss almost one thousand Kazakhstan workers in 2014.
Chinese Datang Corporation and China Engineering Machinery Corporation are interested in constructing a thermal power plant in Kazakhstan.
Kostanay city fried over one ton of Nauryz baursaks and treated the city folks with the yummy snacks.
Medical blunder of the Mendykary Central Hospital led sorrowful parents to almost bury their baby girl alive.
Design shortcomings of the international highway cause the flooding in Zhanakorgan region: Kazakhstan Emergency Minister.
Maksim Yastrebov, 25 had his own idea of an original proposal.
- Kostanay Oblast
- emergency situations
- Central Asia
- solar eclipse
- South Korea
- Asia Pacific
- East Kazakhstan oblast
- South Kazakhstan oblast
- job cuts
- power plant
- Valentine's Day
- love story


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Olympus America will apparently be doing a lot of hiring to fill its headquarters and distribution operation in the Lehigh Valley.
Consultants involved with Olympus' move told local officials in March that probably only about 200 of the company's 840 Long Island employees will be offered fully paid corporate relocations. Of that, only 100 are expected to come, based on corporate relocation statistics.
"That leaves 750 jobs," said Lehigh County Executive Jane Ervin. "They are high-end jobs that fit into the Lehigh Valley's job profile."
Others think the company will be hiring fewer than that. Ray Spencer of Lehigh Valley CareerLink speculates the number will be around 500. That's because some workers may elect to pay for their own move to the Lehigh Valley, Spencer said.
Olympus America will move to the Stabler Corporate Center in Upper Saucon Township in 2006. The company's Long Island work force consists of 710 administrative, sales and marketing jobs, and 130 distribution jobs.
The cost of living will be one consideration for Olympus employees thinking about relocating.
"The more excited people tend to be the couples," said one 32-year-old Olympus employee. She did not want her name used because the company had sent employees an e-mail forbidding them from speaking with the media. "They can't afford a house on Long Island. It seems like a great opportunity."
Olympus America is in Melville, an affluent suburb in Suffolk County. A three-bedroom house in need of repair in nearby Huntington Station was on the market in April for $339,000. "For something that doesn't need work, you're looking at the $400,000 range," said Tara Martin, a local real estate agent.
Some workers on Long Island said it would be hard to give up New York's lifestyle and amenities.
Standing outside company headquarters late last month, the 32-year-old employee added, "I'm a New Yorker my whole life. It's hard to think about the positives of Lehigh."
Others expressed similar feelings. "You're used to a certain spontaneity on Long Island," said one 30-year Olympus veteran. "Pennsylvania is a whole different scenario. I guess it's good for families."
But not necessarily good for upscale shoppers.
The most upscale mall on Long Island is a few miles away from Olympus headquarters in Melville. The Walt Whitman Mall is home to four department stores including Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, where shoppers can enjoy an in-store spa and a private jewelry viewing room. Within five miles of Olympus, there are five Starbucks coffee shops. In nearby Huntington Village, residents have more than 50 restaurants and bars to choose from in a compact entertainment district. And, of course, to the west is New York City.
"It is very hard to get people who live on Long Island to move away," said Charlie Galloway of corporate relocation firm Moran, Stahl & Boyer in Sea Bright, N.J. "Unless they are vital to the company, a lot of people just stay there because it is such a highly desired place to live."
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It’s a Great Pumpkin season, Charlie Brown!
And along with the gleeful grade schoolers who eagerly are trading a seat behind a desk for one behind a tractor these days, local farmers are tickled a decidedly orange shade of pink.
“We had rain in the beginning, and then it was very dry. When all the foliage went dry, there was just a blanket of orange balls,” said Chris Schaefer of Schaefer Farms in Flemington, who’s been growing pumpkins for two decades. “It’d have to say it’s the best crop we’ve ever had.”
Other farmers around the states echo his enthusiasm. “We had a record-breaking season. The weather just cooperated, the bees did their job, we didn’t have any floods,” said Colleen Brennan, marketing manager at Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon. “Last year was a disaster. We lost almost all our pumpkins. This is ideal growing conditions for pumpkins,” said Peter Melick of Melick’s Town Farm in Oldwick.
“I think the good Lord decided to give us a good crop for a change,” said Jim Giamarese of Giamarese Farms in East Brunswick.
The season’s dry growing conditions helped keep away the fungal diseases that can devastate a pumpkin patch. “The pumpkins aren’t huge because we didn’t have the water to make them swell, but the quality is good,” said Ed Wengryn, a field representative with the NJ Farm Bureau in Trenton.
The recent sunny weather has also been luring families to area farms to pick their own pumpkins and, as a result, farmers are seeing a lovely shade of green. “If it weren’t for the pumpkins, we probably wouldn’t have many people here,” said Giamarese. “We do probably half of our income in apples and pumpkins from mid-September to Halloween.”
“You’re not just selling a pumpkin; you’re selling a family outing. It’s like going for a Christmas tree,” said Schaefer, whose 227-acre farm has been in his family since 1949. “It’s become an Americana family fall fun thing,” said Brennan, who sells pumpkins to 15,000 school children a year from mid-September through November.
Though initially attracted by vibrant displays of jumbo pumpkins, customers find plenty else to savor. The common perception is that the local growing season is winding down, said Wengryn, “yet it’s the best time of year for all our greens — cauliflower, kale, lettuces and end of year herbs like sage — and root crops, squashes, beets, carrots.” As for the pumpkins, Wengryn estimates that “90 percent of the people buy them for decorative purposes.”
If pumpkins are sold as decorations, they’re subject to sales tax. But rare is the farmer who charges tax on pumpkins, for there’s no way to know if customers will end up eating them or not.
But if they don’t, it’s a darn shame, maintains Alfred Finocchiaro, manager of the Tri County Cooperative Auction Market in Hightstown, which auctions wholesale quantities of produce, including pumpkins, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. Having grown up on a farm in Swedesboro, Finocchiaro was raised on home-baked pumpkins. “They’re delicious if you cook them right,” he said. “Pumpkins once represented your food for the winter. Today, it’s a decoration,” he said. “People will pay $15 for a pumpkin and let it rot on the steps. But if tomatoes go up 10 cents at the market, they’re up in arms.”
“It’s an older generation food that used to be stored in the root cellar,” noted Michelle Infante-Casella, an agricultural agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County. Ready availability of specialty foods from around the world has taken the luster off many traditional winter staples, she added, and researchers conducting variety trials don’t bother to evaluate pumpkins for flavor anymore. “People want a face pumpkin, a carving pumpkin,” she said.
A member of the Curcubita genus and native to the New World, pumpkins, along with squashes, are related to cucumbers and melons. “The American cucurbits are thought to have evolved at a very early date in Central and South America from gourd-like fruits with bitter flesh and edible seeds.
It was these oil- and protein-rich seeds that early American Indians were after when they brought them into cultivation,” wrote Jonathan Roberts in “The Origins of Fruit & Vegetables” (Universe, 2001). Having never seen anything like them before, the 16th-century Spanish explorers who were the first Europeans to encounter them called them melons. Our word for them may come from the old French pompon, which came from the classical Greek pepon, which also was applied to melons.
According to Roberts, the survival of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts was secured when the Patuxet Squanto Indians showed them how to grow pumpkins among their corn, and “in October, 1621 they held their first Thanksgiving meal, with boiled pumpkins on the table.” Later they learned “to cut off the fruit’s top, scoop out its flesh and seeds, fill it with milk and roast it whole until the milk was absorbed.”
An excellent source of beta-carotene, pumpkins also are the richest source of alpha-carotene, which has been shown to protect against cancer.
Yet the earthy — some would say bland — taste of pumpkin and its fibrous flesh are not for everyone, and even many pumpkin farmers maintain that butternut squash makes the best-tasting “pumpkin” pie.
“All pumpkins are edible, but there are so many other choices that are more palatable and have a higher sugar content,” said Infante-Casella. Since the flesh of face pumpkins tends to be watery, she recommends baking them to evaporate the excess moisture.
“Take a small pumpkin and halve it around the equator,” suggested Finocchiaro. “Put it face down in a pan with some water and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees until it’s soft. Then turn it up and fill it with maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins and walnuts and bake it for about 30 minutes. Talk about delicious! It’s pumpkin pie without the crust. You just scoop it right out of the skin.”
With dense orange flesh and a tan exterior, the cheese pumpkin — so-named because it resembles a wheel of cheese — is a popular baking variety. So are mini pumpkins like Jack-Be-Little and Jack-Be-Quick and the squat, red-orange Rouge Vif d’Estampes, also known as Cinderella, because it’s the variety that was transformed into the fairytale heroine’s carriage. But not even the most well-intentioned fairy godmother can conjure much of a demand for pumpkins come November.
“After Halloween you see the big drop off in people’s interest,” said Wengryn. Nonetheless, the local harvest can last well into December, and as long as temperatures don’t drop below freezing, pumpkins that have been sitting outside as decorations can be used for autumn meals. “You can still make a nice pie from a regular pumpkin,” said Schaefer.
For best results, select a meaty-fleshed pumpkin, said Wengryn. Look for one that’s heavy for its size and makes a dead, not hollow, sound when you give it a thump. A fresh pumpkin will have a hard green stem A brown stem signals an older pumpkin. Avoid pumpkins with cracks or soft spots. When picking up a pumpkin, do so by the body, not by the stem, to avoid damaging the flesh at the top. There are no other tricks to picking a pumpkin treat.


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Christmas: Thistles in Stirling will not allow nativity plays
The Legion of Mary Association had requested a space to present a Christmas display for the public, however this was rejected by the centre in a post which was shared by the MP for Stirling Stephen Kerr. Thistles Shopping Centre refused and said the centre “prides itself on being religiously and political neutral”, adding there is not the “available space”. Members of the Catholic Legion of St Mary's Association said on Facebook: "While I understand that no one wants religious or political evangelists in a shopping centre, the request was simply to have a nativity, which would be manned and anyone approaching could ask about it."
An outraged user wrote: “Surely there is room for a simple display.”
Religious leaders also pleaded with the centre to reconsider their stance and get into the Christmas spirit.
A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh said: “It seems Grinch-like for the Thistles Shopping Centre to ban the Christmas crib and, in the true spirit of Christmas, we would ask them to reconsider.”
Meanwhile the Church of Scotland accused the shopping centre’s bosses of having double standards and called it a “sad day”.
A spokesman for the Church said: “We find it very disappointing that the true meaning of Christmas has been completely lost here.
“When a shopping centre can focus purely on commercialism to the exclusion of the reason for the celebration of Christmas it is a sad day for all of us.”
One angry shopper wrote on the shopping centres Facebook page: “You say about offending non-Christians well you’ve just offended millions of Christians.”
Another user branded the centre a “disgrace” adding: “I am utterly ashamed and embarrassed to think that my hometown where i got mass and live live a christian lifestyle has chosen to ignore the true meaning of this wonderful celebration.”
A spokesman for Thistles in Stirling defended the move stating they did not want to be “affiliating with any specific religions”.
They said: “While we are sympathetic with the Legion of Mary’s request to have a Nativity scene, we are unable to accommodate it.
“As is common among shopping centres, our policy is to support our local community in celebrating the festive season without affiliating with any specific religions or beliefs.”
However the centre has announced it will feature an “extra special” Christmas market which will be a “fantastic new addition to this year's retail experience”.


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Hawaiian Electric Industries nets $180M from stock offering
- Staff Pacific Business News
Hawaiian Electric Industries said Tuesday that it has closed on its common stock offering with net proceeds of about $180 million for the 7 million shares sold.
The offering, which was announced last week for 6.1 million shares at $26.75 per share with the goal of raising $160 million for Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE), was more popular than expected.
The offering was oversubscribed with about 55 percent of the shares going to institutional investors, according to an HEI spokeswoman.
The offering utilized a financing technique called an “equity forward,” which allows companies to lock in interest from investors without having to issue the stock until capital is needed. As a result, the company minimizes dilution of shares by existing shareholders.
The last time the state’s largest publicly traded company had a common stock offering was in 2008.
HEI President and CEO Connie Lau said in a statement that her company will utilize proceeds from the equity offering to help pay for about $880 million in utility upgrades on Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and the Big Island.
“More than ever, investors are recognizing the value of our unique combination of businesses and the financial synergies it provides,” Lau said. “Investors are pleased with the steady performance of American Savings Bank and its ability to provide dividends and capital to HEI, [and] they also remain very interested in Hawaii’s move to clean energy and our utilities’ role in facilitating the achievement of one of the most aggressive clean energy goals in the nation.”
HEI’s stock closed at $27.40 on Tuesday, which was up 19 cents from Monday’s close.
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