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The PayActiv providers lets masters access that cash they have attained. For this reason at the many companies today – and Lee’s Well-understood Menu Poultry while the nation’s most significant individual providers workplace, Walmart – experts get a credit card applicatoin towards cellular phone. It’s out-of PayActiv and the payroll system of one’s movie director.
“Thus let’s say they usually have already acquired $900” of bringing $one hundred 24 hours having 9 days, claims Shah. But not, payroll might have been five days out in https://servicecashadvance.com/installment-loans-ak/ addition they require the currency quickly. Shaw claims it select the newest app and “they appear having an option that is 50 % of numbers he has got generated which is available so you can this lady or your.”
Anytime they need $400 for a vehicle boost otherwise a visit to go to a good unwell relative, it faucet multiple secrets due to the fact money becomes zapped managed into the bank account otherwise a prepaid card. Along with commission is actually $5. (Specific organizations afford the fee or a fraction of they.) And most workers are opting for that is a far better services than just getting caught regarding a time off loans having pricey payday loans.
The fresh application also offers kind of imaginative a means to push category to develop sale accounts so they aren’t chronically secured getting money. The computer uses particular processes grounded on behavioural business economics. Shah states it needs professionals to put, county, two hours of spend a week towards the offers, as the experts mode better to that than to a buck matter.
Eg gadgets are very important, without a doubt, as the reputation enterprises together with PayActiv make a keen energy to a target was not merely one off experts maybe not getting paid in for you personally to shell out certain expenses. It’s a harder condition inside condition a good amount of People in america deal with out of addressing and you will getting at the top of the fresh new funds in the midst of other requires regarding lifestyle.
“Somewhat candidly, many The usa try life style paycheck to assist your earnings which is maybe not a beneficial socioeconomic state, that’s an american problem,” claims Daniel Eckert, a beneficial Walmart elderly vice-chairman. “One to talks about several socioeconomic classes regardless if you are an enthusiastic eager every hour associate or an administration affiliate.”
“I absolutely think it’s video game-modifying,” states Laura Scherler, the latest director from economic stability and you can winnings during the Joined Way. She states alot more businesses run companies supply benefits actual loans – more than simply an improvements toward months they have currently did. Anyone get paid back over prolonged amounts of time having desire.
Consumer supporters state enterprises is careful so that their workers are receiving much. “Here seems to be a couple of things next together top since provides and that most exciting. I do believe companies happened to be so much more aware financial worry affects brand new advantages.”
And you can positives have a look extremely familiar with one also. More than 100 enterprises possess inserted PayActiv. A Walmart manager says there’s been an “extraordinary” impulse from teams. More 2 hundred,100 Wal.
Shah also pointed out that often people do not need certainly to explore very much currency. They just have not been paid down but really.


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Comment Amazon Web Services has announced the retirement of the network structure underpinning its third cloud service, the EC2-Classic network underpinning the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud.
A July 28 post by AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr explains that EC2-Classic was superseded in 2009 by Amazon Virtual Private Cloud, then again by Virtual Private Clouds for Everyone in 2013.
Barr’s post explains that customers who signed up with AWS since December 4, 2013, couldn’t use EC2-Classic unless they specifically requested it. The bulk of AWS customers will not, therefore, be inconvenienced by the service’s retirement.
Those that do use the service need to be on their toes, because AWS has set a deadline of August 15, 2022 – after which it expects “no remaining EC2-Classic resources present in any AWS account,” and all migrations to something else will be complete.
As a reminder, on October 31, 2021, AWS will disable EC2-Classic for accounts that don’t use the service and stop selling reserved instances. Barr writes that AWS will work with customers to make those migrations as easy as can be.
“We don’t plan to disrupt any workloads and will do our best to help you to meet these dates,” Barr explains.
The AWS man also reminisces about how EC2-Classic helped EC2 to become a big hit, fast. “We helped Animoto to scale to a then-amazing 3,400 instances when their Facebook app went viral,” he writes.
AWS has scaled things rather higher since: in 40th place on the June 2021 update to the Top 500 list of Earth’s mightiest supercomputers was a 172,692-core machine that ran for just 24 minutes in the Amazonian cloud.
EC2 was AWS’s third service. It debuted in August 2006, after the March 2006 debut of the Simple Storage Service and the July arrival of Simple Queue Service.
That all three sparked a vast and important change in business computing is not in dispute. Service providers had previously rented remotely-located compute and storage, but AWS made them more accessible and scalable than predecessors. AWS prices were also shockingly low – in a good way – and its services took off.
The Register cannot think of an enterprise computing product or vendor that has not been influenced by AWS and EC2, and what EC2-Classic made possible. Makers of on-prem IT have all striven to become more cloud-like ever since EC2 and EC2-Classic debuted – both in terms of the user experience and by charging for consumption rather than up-front. Whole new software development and deployment practices have emerged to take advantage of elastic resources sold as-a-service.
EC2-Classic has also left a cultural footprint, as the likes of Netflix realized that cloud computing offered previously unavailable possibilities.
AWS brings in more than $50bn of annual revenue, and is widely regarded as the dominant force in cloud computing.
Barr’s post states that AWS will give EC2-Classic “a gold watch and a well-deserved sendoff!”
The service deserves that, and more. ®

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Monday, November 16, 2015
ID Analytics Sets Marketing VP
San Diego-based identity risk management software developer ID Analytics has named Eric Lindeen as the company's new Vice President of Marketing, the company announced this morning. Lindeen joins the company from Zoot Enterprises, where he was VP of Solution Marketing; he has served at Zoot since 1998. ID Analytics said Lindeen has more than 25 years of marketing and technology experience.


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Going green – more to come from solid-state lighting
Much has been said about the role of LEDs in creating energy-efficient lighting. And, without a doubt, it’s a technology worth celebrating. But the story isn’t over yet, as researchers in the US believe that they’ve found a pathway to unlock even more energy-efficient LED lighting by plugging the so-called green gap.
The white LED bulbs that are all around us today are mostly based on blue light emitters covered with a layer of yellow (or sometimes separate green and red) phosphor. The photoluminescent coating absorbs some of the blue-LED emission and reemits yellow (or green and red) light to produce a white glow when the colors combine.
LED lighting has been credited with saving vast amounts of energy as solid-state emitters convert more energy into light compared with incandescent bulbs, which radiate large amounts of heat. The payback time for businesses that switch from using incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient LED lighting can be as little as 12 months or less.
However, the phosphor-based color mixing process, known as down-conversion, has its downsides. Firstly, there’s an energy penalty involved in turning high-energy blue light into lower-energy emission at longer wavelengths – in this case, yellow light. Regular white light LEDs emit around seven times more heat than light, according to reports.
The good news is that there’s a way to side-step these losses by using individual red, green, and blue LED chips to produce energy-efficient lighting.
Solid state white lighting featuring blue LEDs and phosphor coatings is said to have a theoretical luminous efficiency of 255 lumens/watt compared with 408 lumens/watt for devices based on individual color mixed elements. For comparison, incandescent bulbs – even halogen-based lamps – top out at around 20-25 lumens/watt, in practice.
There are other reasons to avoid using phosphor coatings, as they can degrade over time and add to the packaging costs of the device. And, having mentioned these drawbacks, it’s only right to point out that color-mixed LEDs have their own issues as well – principally concerning the emission of green light, which is why the latest news has raised hopes amongst developers.
.@bruce_munro’s ‘Field of Lights’ puts an otherworldly twist on the usual garden landscape, illuminating @nycgov with 18,750 #LED spheres! 🌼🌌@corcorangroup has more on the galaxy-inspired light show: https://t.co/jeOAexeJ1F pic.twitter.com/4GGUMB7v8E
— Lumileds (@lumileds) January 22, 2024
Typically, pushing more current through green LEDs – to make them brighter – produces an effect referred to as LED droop, which dims performance. But the researchers, based at the Innovative COmpound semiconductoR LABoratory (ICORLAB) in the US, believe that they’ve found a way to grow the necessary compound semiconductor layer with fewer defects to avoid such a scenario.
Looking ahead, they believe that the development of higher-performance green LEDs could unlock a 3x boost in the efficiency of white light LEDs compared with devices that are available today.
Don’t forget to turn off the lights
Innovations in solid-state lighting are welcome, helping to reduce energy costs at facilities. However, building management systems have an important role to play too in making offices and other business premises cheaper to run.
Using motion sensors to turn lights off when rooms and corridors are empty can further reduce the amount of energy consumed by buildings. What’s more, collecting occupancy sensor data can help building managers to determine how often different parts of the facility are being used.
Analysts credit LED lighting as saving millions of tons of CO2 emissions compared with the continued use of incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes. However, the challenge is being able to raise the efficiency of solid-state devices to keep up with the increased demand for lighting globally.
Smart tech for the 15-minute city
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that despite the falling carbon intensity of electricity, CO2 emissions from lighting rose slightly in 2022, which makes breakthroughs in green LEDs all the more important.
“To stay on track with the Net Zero Scenario, all lighting sales need to be LED technology by 2025, with higher efficacy levels by 2030,” writes the IEA in its analysis of lighting use in buildings. “Although the trend towards LED technology is positive, governments need to continue their efforts to realise this goal.”
Global electricity consumption in lighting needs to fall to 1041.45 TWh for services and 325.43 TWh for residential by 2030, which represents a reduction of around 20 – 30% from current levels.
22 February 2024
22 February 2024
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Short bio: Computer Scientist, FOSS supporter (read more)
Tux Machines (TM)-specific
The Fall is a dark, action platformer based on the unison of atmosphere, adventure and exploration.
Samsung manufactured the current Nexus 10, but it seems Asus has taken over as the maker of the next version of Nexus 10.
The new entrant to the Angry Birds series, Angry Birds Star Wars II is finally here!
Finland based Jolla Mobile has officially announced android app compatibility and technical specifications for their first smartphone.
CloudOn, one of the leading mobile productivity platforms that allows users to create, edit and share documents in real time across devices, has joined the advisory board of The Document Foundation (TDF).
The project has now been incorporated as a company. Steve Kondik, the founder of CyanogenMod, has announced that they have received $7-million of series A funding from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures.
Though Samsung has promised to provide 64 bit support in its mobile devices, Google has been quiet on that front. There might be no need for an announcement as the support might just be already there. In fact a recent ars technica report just confirms the same.
The BlackBerry Messenger is slated for a Friday release on the Android platform, though will be exclusive to Samsung Galaxy devices for the first three months.
IBM is investing $1 billion in new Linux and open source technologies for IBM's Power Systems servers.
Google Drive android App gets a facelift.
"Linux is the future of Gaming" are the words loud and clear during the keynote by Gabe Newell, the CEO of Valve Software, at Linux Foundation's 2013 North American LinuxCon event.
The Linux Foundation today released a report called "Linux Kernel Development: How Fast It is Going, Who is Doing It, What They Are Doing and Who is Sponsoring It."
Today I will show you how to make a manual backup of your Ubuntu Touch system and then to restore it.
Many Ubuntu users, including myself, are excited about the work Canonical are doing on their mobile platform - Ubuntu Touch.
I have been using Ubuntu Touch 13.10 as a daily driver on my Nexus 7 for about two and a half months now. There are a few minor hiccups and setbacks, but I can honestly say that it has improved drastically from the original MWC Demo.
Raspberry Pi is one of the most popular devices around. Educators, enthusiats, students and even Googlers love it.
Intel and Google have announced new Chromebooks powered by the much talked about Haswell processors.
Red Hat is offering free (as in beer) Storage Test Drives through Amazon Web Services (AWS) to give customers a hands-on experience.
Android continues to be the leading operating system.
Good news for Raspberry Pi users, there are brand new images of openSUSE for this revolutionary device.
Open Source is all about collaboration and contribution and two leading communities are working towards making Wayland a reality.


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The UK's vote could reopen a bitter dispute between chocolate makers...
The UK's decision to leave the EU could affect British chocolates being sold in Ireland.
The labeling of British-style milk chocolate as 'chocolate' was actually the subject of a 30-year dispute between the UK and its European neighbours - this disagreement was eventually settled by a court ruling in 2003.
European firms had argued that some British companies should be required to call their products "vegelate" or a "chocolate substitute" as they contain vegetable oil, instead of pure coca butter. The ruling allowed UK producers to continue to call their bars 'chocolate.'
However, former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned that the old wound could soon be reopened after Britain triggers Article 50.
"The chocolate purists, I guarantee, will quite quickly start fiddling with the definition of chocolate to make it much more difficult for British exporters to export elsewhere in Europe," the politician stated.
"By having a single definition of chocolate it meant our chocolate manufacturers in York, the Midlands and elsewhere could sell chocolate to sweet shops in Spain, Greece and Finland just as effortlessly as they can in the UK," he continued, according to Bloomberg.
The BBC has also explored the possibility that the recipes for some of Ireland's favourite chocolate bars could change when British producers are free from EU rules.
Mr Clegg warned of the disruption that Brexit could cause for British exporters:
"Food and drink products are currently traded across borders with no forms or checks, once we leave the EU, products will have to go through customs checks at the EU border which include applying for relevant import licences, costly export health certificates to show that the product meets EU public health standards, and veterinary inspections."


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Washington warily eyes surge in trademark applications from China
The Wall Street Journal
Thousands of Chinese are filing trademark applications in the United States as they try to cash in on subsidies offered by local governments to Chinese citizens who register a trademark in a foreign country. U.S. officials are concerned that the applications are full of false information. Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer based in Washington, D.C., told The Wall Street Journal: “The significant number of fraudulent trademark filings being made from China is disrupting our trademark system,” he said.
40 years after launching economic reforms, China still retains elements of a command economy. A central-planning ethos underlies its big policy initiatives. Just as the central government is focused on boosting the number of patent filings, it now wants to do the same with trademarks.
The emphasis appears once again to be on quantity over quality. In the case of patents, China surpassed Japan last year to reach No. 2 globally after the United States. Chinese entities filed 48,882 patents, up 13.4 percent year-on-year, compared to 56,624 U.S. patent applications. But most of the patents filed were in China, while the U.S. filed many more applications globally. China's approval process for patents is not considered as stringent as in the world's advanced economies.
In a November 2016 article, The South China Morning Post points out that China's patent system is domestically oriented because of its dependence on state subsidies. "Raw patent numbers are similar to steel production during the Great Leap Forward," Fordham law professor Mark Cohen told the SCMP, "with an overproduction that doesn’t necessarily reflect quality."
Beijing appears to have realized that filing trademarks overseas may boost the credibility of Chinese brands. But its core numbers-driven approach remains the same. Chinese state media has been highlighting that China led the world in trademark applications last year, which rose almost 56% to hit 5.7 million. At the end of 2017, China led the world with 14.92 million qualified registered trademarks.
Unfortunately, many of the trademarks are suspected to be illegitimate. Chinese applicants are gaming the system, according to the U.S.-based Trademark Policy Advisory Counsel. "So, they’re filing [a use based] application and sending in a photograph of, say, some shoes with a tag on them. It looks like a great specimen until you see the same pair of shoes with the same shadow in the photograph 10 times filed by different applicants with different marks," the Commissioner of Trademarks was quoted as saying on the Gerben Law Firm's website.
On the Gerben Law Firm's website, attorney Josh Gerben points out that the Chinese government is paying Chinese citizens about $800 per successful U.S. trademark registration, of which profit can reach $525 after filing fees. "Given that the median monthly income for a Chinese citizen is around $1,000, the government payments make it possible for someone in China to have a full-time income by registering just two US trademarks per month," Gerben wrote.


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Infiniti May Get Three-Row CUV Based on Small Mercedes Platform
The Infiniti Q30 concept that debuted in Frankfurt previews the brand's compact future, and also represents one of the first product from its partnership with Daimler. But according to a report from our friends at Automobile, Mercedes and Infiniti are already working on the replacement for the MFA platform on which the Q30 will likely be based. That platform would reportedly debut in 2017, and in addition to underpinning the next Mercedes A- and B-Class, it could also serve as the basis for an Infiniti compact hatchback and sedan as well as a seven-passenger small crossover.
Going by the internal name JC1, the platform is being developed primarily by Mercedes and Infiniti, with Nissan partner Renault opting out for cost and compatibility reasons. The JC1 will eventually support 10 body styles, and Infiniti has reportedly chosen three for its future lineup. Those choices include a replacement for the Q30 hatch; a compact four-door sedan to take on the Audi A3; and most surprising of all, a seven-seat crossover built on a long-wheelbase version of the next-gen GLA's architecture. Automobile says all of Infiniti's future compact offerings will be produced at a new plant in Mexico.
We recently asked if the Q30 would be better off in sedan form for the U.S. If this report is accurate, Infiniti will offer a compact sedan by 2017. Until then, the crossover-like Q30 may have to serve as the hatchback alternative to the Audi A3 and Acura ILX sedans. It's unclear in what markets the proposed seven-seat crossover would be offered, but given the size of the current GLA, we're guessing that a small third row of seating would be for short trips only.


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There are generally two things that people of all age, color, and creed can agree on: cute animals and great Read more →
OnLive Goes Mobile
Cloud gaming service OnLive will today release apps for Android and iOS, featuring support for the new OnLive wireless controller and with 25 games adapted for touchscreen controls.
CEO Steve Perlman said: “Today marks a major milestone: OnLive is now delivering the latest, console-class, top-tier games, literally to your fingertips on mobile tablets and phones. Tablets and smartphones, the fastest-growing consumer product categories in history, are now capable of running the hottest high-end games.”


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Mercedes-Benz is recalling a number of 2015 C-Class sedans worldwide — including about 10,000 in the United States — because the steering might fail, the automaker said. The C-Class is all-new for the 2015 model year.
The steering coupling interlock may not have been put in the locked position at an assembly plant, Donna Boland, a spokeswoman for Mercedes in the United States, said by telephone. She said the problem was noticed on models sold in Europe, which are assembled at a different plant than those sold in the United States. American-market Benzes are built at the automaker’s plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
No problems have been found yet on C-Class sedans in the United States, but Mercedes decided on a worldwide recall, Ms. Boland said, adding that the automaker could not immediately say how many vehicles were being recalled around the globe.
The automaker said it was not aware of any injuries related to the problem.
Earlier this year, Mercedes recalled about 253,000 C-Class sedans from the 2008-11 model years for a wiring problem in the taillights that could lead to a fire. The action came after an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which had been prompted by complaints from owners.


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MELBOURNE, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Australia has asked Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Japan for urea needed to make a diesel additive essential for trucks, as China holds back urea exports to cool fertiliser prices at home.
The Australian Trucking Association last week raised concern about a looming shortage of diesel exhaust fluid known as AdBlue, which it said could hit trucking operations and threaten goods transport across the country.
Diesel exhaust fluid is made from urea and is used to curb nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.
Prices for Urea , also widely used as a fertiliser, have surged more than 200% this year amid rising demand and lower supply, while South Korea last month started rationing diesel exhaust fluid as panic buying by drivers worsened the shortage. read more
Australia imports about 80% of its urea needs, with most of the rest produced by fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot Ltd (IPL.AX).
Australian trade minister Dan Tehan said the country has about seven weeks of urea supply, and it expects to have enough beyond February after having approached several countries for stocks.
"There is, obviously, issues around container shipping disruptions that we're also working through, but ... from everything that we're seeing, there is clear supply there which we can bring to Australia," Tehan told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio on Monday.
The government set up a task force last week under Energy Minister Angus Taylor to ensure there is enough supply.
"Given we've got seven weeks already in stock, we're very confident we'll be able to get the urea into the country that we need," Tehan said.
Australian Trucking Association Chair David Smith said AdBlue prices have doubled over the past two months.
"It'd be extremely dire if no additional source of AdBlue-grade urea is found," he told Reuters. "If we come close to hitting the 'brick wall', there would have to be some kind of rationing."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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By the end of 2020, Dietz & Watson deli slicing meats — including turkey, chicken breast, ham and roast beef — will be uncured. The Philadelphia-based company will not use nitrates or nitrites in their curing process for these products.
MIAMI — The Food Marketing Institute introduced new directors to its board during its annual meeting at the Midwinter Executive Conference. FMI Board Chairman Joe Sheridan, president and COO of Wakefern Food Corp, announced the following appointments.
Automation, packaged refrigeration, packaging flexibility and new ideas in food safety design are among the trends in construction of production facilities for suppliers of grocery fresh perimeter items.


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Although all English stores are currently closed due to lockdown, Primark has big plans for Christmas this year.
As well as a whole range of festive products, the fashion brand has introduced new bags to encourage people to reuse them.
The paper bags have red stripes and can be torn to remove the handles and bottom to use as wrapping paper.
The store’s logo sits along the bottom so the person receiving the gift will have no idea where the wrapping came from.
Along the top, it says: ‘This bag makes great wrapping paper.’
It means you can save a little cash on gift wrap but it’s also a great way to reuse the bags.
Once the wrapping has been ripped off, you can then put the paper in the recycling bin.
The bags will be available in stores throughout the festive period but as Primark does not sell online, you’ll only be able to get one once your local branch is open.
Some stores in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales are currently open as restrictions differ across the UK, while shops in England hope to reopen when the current month-long lockdown ends on December 2. You can check if your store is open on their website.
The idea was spotted by the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook group and people loved the idea, though many joked that the bags from the store often fall apart in the rain.
One person tagged a friend and said: ‘If you can get the bag home in one piece you can reuse it as wrapping paper.’
Another laughed: ‘Great idea, why not, don’t have to use it but in a pinch might come in handy.’
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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A commuter in Richland, Wash., who thought he had been overcharged — by $81 billion — for a tank of gas was fooled by an error in a voice mail about the transaction, his debit card company said.
Juan Zamora told the Tri-City Herald newspaper this week that he received a communication from PayPal showing a debit card transaction of more than $81 billion, instead of the $26 worth that he said he pumped.
But a spokeswoman for PayPal, Sara Gorman, said Friday that misunderstanding was the result of a mistake in a voice mail from a PayPal processing partner about the transaction that put the merchant identification number where the amount should have been. “I can assure you that we did not charge him $81 billion,” Gorman said.
Zamora told the newspaper he had called customer service for PayPal and that the matter had been resolved after some discussion.
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints


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Amazon.com Shares Soar on 1st Trading Day
Shares of money-losing Amazon.com Inc. surged on their first day of trading Thursday as investors bet that the online retailer can maintain its early lead in the growing business of selling books over the Internet.
Amazon.com stock jumped $5.50 to close at $23.50, a gain of 31% over the $18 price set on Wednesday in its $54-million initial public offering. The stock was among the most actively traded on Nasdaq on Thursday, with 6 million shares changing hands.
Though it remains unprofitable, Amazon.com has been one of the more successful ventures to set up shop on the Internet. The 2-year-old company, a mail-order operation based in Seattle, publishes a catalog of several million book titles on the Internet and online services.
It reported a first-quarter loss of about $3 million, but sales are growing. Revenue for the period was $16 million, outstripping the $15.7 million in sales for all of 1996.
At Thursday’s prices, investors valued the company at about $560 million. If underwriters exercise an option to buy an additional 450,000 shares, Amazon.com will have nearly $58 million in fresh funding after fees.
Investors are betting that name recognition among Net users will give Amazon.com an edge over brick-and-mortar booksellers that are just entering the online world.
“It has great revenue growth and a great name,” said Kathleen Smith, portfolio manager at Renaissance Capital, an investment firm specializing in IPOs. “Investors seem to feel that the story is strong enough that they can wait for earnings.”


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The number of property sales in Evanston so far this year is down 12 percent from the same period last year, but prices so far have squeezed out a 1.4 percent increase.
Two large commercial transactions helped boost sales figures for last month.
The eight-story Shand Morahan Plaza office building at 1007 Church St. downtown sold for $27 million and the building that houses the Dominick’s supermarket at 2748 Green Bay Road was sold for $7.55 million. In the only other $1 million plus commercial transaction, the Citgo Gas station at 1925 Green Bay Road sold for $1.2 million.
Overall last month figures from the City Clerk’s office show 154 properties changed hands, down from 216 sales in August last year. But the value of sales last month totaled $107.6 million, up from $98.5 million a year ago.
For the past 12 months the number of sales is down 9.8 percent, while the average price is up 22.1 percent, compared to the year earlier period.
Seven residential properties cracked the $1 million barrier last month:
- A mansion at 2888 Sheridan Place, sold for $4.1 million.
- A lakefront home at 101 Hamilton St., sold for $2.85 million.
- A home at 1145 Sheridan Road, sold for $2.3 million.
- A home at 2524 Hurd Ave., sold for $1.53 million.
- A condo in the former District 65 administration building at 1314 Ridge Ave., sold for $1.385 million.
- A home at 1142 Asbury Ave., sold for $1.17 million.
- A home at 2012 Harrison St., sold for $1 million.
The city gets about five percent of its general fund budget from the Real Estate Transfer Tax, charged at $5 for every $1,000 of selling price.
Half way through the city’s fiscal year, collections are running 21 percent ahead of the pace needed to reach the $4.055 million budget goal.


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Wall Street firm Jefferies believes that Tesla could lose a quarter of its value, as they predict the company's financial performance will be weak in the next few years, according to CNBC.
Philippe Houchois, an analyst, set a 12 month price target for Tesla's shares at $280. If Tesla's shares fell to $280, that would represent a decrease in their value of 27%. The analyst predicted that the company will continue to lose money on an annual basis through 2019.
"It is with a bit of a heavy heart that we initiate coverage of Tesla at underperform," said analyst Philippe Houchois
Watch More with TheStreet:
- What's Behind Bitcoin's Volatility?
- 5 Things on the Menu at Jollibee, the McDonald's of the Philippines
- Billionaire Ray Dalio Reveals His 'Principles' for Success in Life and Investing
- 5 Stores With the Best Return Policies


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Foodstuff shortage is likely to hit Senior High Schools across the country because suppliers to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) have threatened to withdraw their services.
According to some suppliers who spoke to Asaase News on condition of anonymity, they have not been paid for supplying the schools with foodstuff for almost three months.
They furthered that some suppliers took loans to buy the food items needed by the schools as well as meet the demands of the Buffer Stock outfit.
This they said has left many of their members struggling to stay in business because they are financially handicapped.
“We have not received any payments from Buffer Stock for almost 90 days now and our members are really struggling. Some secured loans to be able to meet the supply demands of Buffer Stock and the schools and the delay in the payment is really messing up their businesses and their ability to plan.”
On behalf of the Ministry of Education, NAFCO receives all the items from its suppliers and distributes them to Senior High Schools in the country.
After the schools have received the items, invoices are processed and the suppliers, on the other hand, get their monies back within 60 days.


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Articles about Jio
15 Jun 2021
Jio introduces five prepaid plans without daily data limit
Do you still prefer a wired internet connection just because it doesn't have a daily fair usage policy (FUP) limit?
02 Jun 2021
JioGames will bring popular SEGA Corporation titles to India
Home-grown telecom provider Reliance Jio has partnered with popular Japanese game developer and publisher SEGA Corporation. The partnership will make the latter's popular game titles available on the JioGames Store.
02 Jun 2021
NewsBytes Briefing: Tesla gets dearer due to pandemic, and more
The pandemic has made life hard for everyone across the board. Gamers can't buy graphics cards and carmakers can't, well, make cars due to lack of essential chips.
31 Dec 2020
Jio to make all domestic calls free from January 1
Reliance Jio on Thursday announced that all off-net domestic voice calls from its network to other networks made anywhere in India will be free from January 1, 2021.
29 Dec 2020
Farmers protest: Over 1,500 mobile towers damaged, Captain issues warning
The agitation of farmers took a pernicious turn when protesters started damaging mobile towers to register an objection against Reliance Jio, owned by business tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
23 Dec 2020
Reliance set to relaunch JioPhone next year
The COVID-19 pandemic has given a completely new perspective on the use of smartphones in India. This has prompted Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to relaunch its 4G feature phone in the next quarter.
25 Nov 2020
#LeakPeek: Vivo Y1s to cost around Rs. 8,000 in India
Vivo is planning to launch its Y1s model in India in December. In the latest development, tipster Mukul Sharma has revealed the prices of the phone, claiming it will cost around Rs. 8,000.
21 Oct 2020
Jio and Qualcomm begin 5G trials, achieve 1 Gbps speed
In a new development, Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms Ltd. has announced its 5G plans in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies.
28 Sep 2020
Jio appears to be blocking Twitch streams in India
Telecom giant Reliance Jio appears to be blocking Twitch streams in India.
19 Sep 2020
Flagged concerns, says ex-Minister Harsimrat Badal; SAD is rethinking alliance
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who resigned from the Union Cabinet on Thursday over a disagreement with the Centre on three farm Bills, said on Friday that her party — the Shiromani Akali Dal — repeatedly flagged concerns in the Cabinet, but to no avail.
04 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: SoftBank considering bidders for TikTok India, and more
In another twist to the saga, SoftBank is reportedly working to broker a deal for TikTok India.
31 Aug 2020
New JioFiber Plans: Unlimited internet, OTT apps on offer
To help Indians adjust with the routine of working and studying from home, Mukesh Ambani's home broadband service JioFiber has updated its plans.
16 Aug 2020
Jio is offering free data for 5 months: Details here
As part of a special offer, Reliance Jio is providing unlimited 4G data and free Jio-to-Jio phone calls for up to five months, to all the customers who purchase a new JioFi 4G wireless hotspot device.
28 Jul 2020
OnePlus Nord is up for pre-ordering in India via Amazon
The much-hyped OnePlus Nord is now available for pre-ordering in India via Amazon. The pre-booking window will remain open till August 3, a day before the mid-range handset goes on open sale.
19 Jul 2020
#WeeklyRecap: Twitter hacked, Huawei banned, Jio's 5G strides, and more
A lot has happened this week!
15 Jul 2020
Is Reliance's new 'Jio Glass' worth the hype?
During Reliance's first 'virtual' Annual General Meeting, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of the conglomerate, shared a lot about his oil-to-telecom businesses.
15 Jul 2020
Airtel-Verizon launch 'BlueJeans' to take on JioMeet, Zoom in India
As Indians adjust with the reality of working and connecting remotely, leading telecom-to-technology companies in the country are racing to get affordable yet high-quality video-conferencing solutions up and running.
14 Jul 2020
Google likely to invest $4 billion in Reliance's Jio Platforms
After several major conglomerates and foreign funds, technology giant Google is mulling an investment in Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms.
14 Jul 2020
Tech Briefing: Apple pays $1bn penalty, Google invests in India
A lot happened in the technology world when you were sleeping.
12 Jul 2020
#WeeklyRecap: Instagram's Reels, Jio's WhatsApp clone, Google's smart speaker, more
This week, tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Jio made headlines in the world of technology.
10 Jul 2020
Mukesh Ambani's Jio blatantly copied WhatsApp for JioChat
A week ago, Jio Platforms, the telecom-to-digital entity of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, launched JioMeet, a video conference service that looked more like a rip-off of its prime competitor 'Zoom'.
09 Jul 2020
Government wants shopping sites to display 'origin country' of products
Amid calls to boycott the foreign goods, especially those from China, to make way for Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Government of India is looking to have 'origin country' of products displayed across online shopping portals.
03 Jul 2020
JioMeet, Reliance's free Zoom rival, is now available in India
After a nearly three-month-long fundraising spree, Mukesh Ambani's telecom-to-digital entity Reliance Jio Platforms is expanding its footprint to step into the arena of video-conferencing.
03 Jul 2020
Jio Platforms scores Rs. 1,894 crore investment from Intel
Jio Platforms, the entity that holds the telecom and digital businesses of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has scored another big investment.
02 Jul 2020
Why DuckDuckGo is not working in India?
Along with Chinese applications that were deemed prejudicial to national security, India has also blocked popular US-based search engine DuckDuckGo.
02 Jul 2020
OnePlus 8 Pro to go on sale today at 12pm
The OnePlus 8 Pro is scheduled to go on another flash sale today at 12 pm via Amazon and OnePlus e-store. Due to production issues faced during the lockdown period, the company has been offering the flagship handset via flash sales only.
27 Jun 2020
OnePlus 8 Pro to go on sale on June 29
The OnePlus 8 Pro is scheduled to go on sale in India on June 29 at 12 pm via Amazon and OnePlus e-store. Alongside the Pro model, the regular OnePlus 8 will also be available for purchase.
25 Jun 2020
OnePlus 8 Pro to go on sale today via Amazon
OnePlus's latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 8 Pro, is all set to go on sale today at 12 pm via Amazon and OnePlus.in.
18 Jun 2020
Jio Platforms scores another investment: $1.5bn from Saudi Arabia's PIF
Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms has scored yet another multi-billion-dollar investment.
18 Jun 2020
Chinese hackers are planning attacks on Indian telecom, pharma companies
Amid heightened border tensions between India and China, hackers associated with the latter are gearing up to target critical Indian establishments.
18 Jun 2020
No Chinese equipment for 4G upgradation: Centre to BSNL
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to not use any Chinese equipment in its 4G upgradation work.
05 Jun 2020
Ambani's Jio Platforms scores another investment: $1.2 billion from Mubadala
In another multi-billion-dollar deal, Jio Platforms, the company holding the telecom and digital businesses of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has agreed to raise Rs. 9,093.6 crore from Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor.
04 Jun 2020
Amazon may invest $2 billion (Rs. 15,000cr) in Airtel: Report
After Facebook's multi-billion-dollar investment in Jio Platforms, e-commerce giant Amazon is moving to strike a deal with its competitor - Bharti Airtel.
01 Jun 2020
Why WeTransfer is not working in India?
WeTransfer appears to have hit a roadblock in India.
30 May 2020
OnePlus 8's next sale in India on June 4
OnePlus's newly-launched flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 8, will once again go on sale in India on June 4 at 12pm via Amazon.
18 May 2020
OnePlus 8 to go on sale at 2pm via Amazon
As part of a special early access sale, OnePlus's newly-launched flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 8, will go on sale for the first time in India today at 2 pm via Amazon.
17 May 2020
Jio Platforms raises Rs. 6,598 crore from General Atlantic
Jio Platforms, the entity holding telecom and digital businesses of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has raised Rs. 6,598 crore ($869.8 million) from US-based private equity firm General Atlantic.
15 May 2020
Vivo V19 goes on sale in India today
Vivo's recently-launched smartphone, the Vivo V19, has gone on sale in India for the first time today via the company's e-store, Amazon, Flipkart, and other partner offline stores.
12 May 2020
Vivo V19, with 32MP dual selfie camera, launched in India
Vivo has launched its latest mid-range smartphone, the Vivo V19, in India. It comes at a starting price of Rs. 27,990 and will go on sale starting May 15 via the company's e-store as well as major e-commerce partners like Amazon and Flipkart.
08 May 2020
Jio Platforms raises Rs. 11,367 crore from Vista Equity
Jio Platforms, the entity holding telecom and digital businesses of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has raised Rs. 11,367 crore from US-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.


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A report on Gamesindustry.biz says that Jeremy Heath-Smith told staff today that the company was closing although he and PR manager Suzie Hamilton have told the press that the reports are false.
The studio was opened in October 2003 – the brothers had previously co-founded Core Design, in 1988, which went on to produce Tomb Raider. The two left that studio following the release of the critically mauled Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness.
Circle’s first – and only – console games was PS2/Xbox actioner Without Warning for Capcom, released in October 2005. Since then the team had focused on interactive DVD titles.


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Sasini Limited eyes Sh300,000 per acre from new nuts venture
Sasini Limited Company anticipates to generate Sh300,000 a hectare from intercropping macadamia in its Kiambu County coffee estate in the next six years.
The listed firm expects to have produced enough nuts over the period for its planned Sh400 million macadamia processing factory on a 20-acre farm next to its coffee mill.
“I am glad to report that the company has aggressively embarked on inter-planting macadamia within our coffee bushes to increase the income for our farmers,” said Sasini chairman Naushad Merali.
Addressing farmers at the company’s 10th farmers open day in Kiambu County, Mr Merali confirmed a new factory would be operational by January 2018.
The company has so far planted about 6,000 seedlings in its coffee plantations in Kiambu and has more than 20,000 seedlings in nurseries which will soon be planted in the expanded pilot project.
Mr Merali said Sasini would supply seedlings to all its affiliated farmers starting next year and assured the growers that madacamia would not interfere with coffee production cycle.
“The new initiative has been approved by relevant authorities mainly the researchers and hence will not have any negative impact to coffee production,” he said.
He thanked President Uhuru for the recent Sh2 billion coffee debt waiver and said it would boost farmers’ morale to produce more.
Mr Merali urged the two levels of government to enhance security within the coffee factories citing rampant theft of the produce that has not only impoverished the famers but has also seen many guards lose their lives.
CREDIT: Daily Nation


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BREAKING NEWS: Chrysler agrees to recall on 1.56 Million Jeep Grand Cherokees and Libertys. Check out the latest recall news.
Chrysler this week told Jeep owners to drive at their own risk, after refusing to recall approximately 2.7 million of the vehicles that the government claims are susceptible to fuel tank fires in rear-end collisions.
Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty a Potential Hazard
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the muscle behind the recall request, found Chrysler’s turndown disappointing. Said David Strickland, the agency’s head man, “Our data shows that these vehicles may contain a defect that presents an unreasonable risk to safety.” These include:
- 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees
- 2002-2007 Libertys
The government agency sent a letter to Chrysler requesting it voluntarily recalls the models mentioned above, but Chrysler refuses. And although NHTSA can order a recall itself, it might need a court order to have any power enforcing it. Drivers can always find out the latest on vehicle recalls online.
Cause of Government Safety Concern
According to a three-year study conducted by the NHTSA, these particular Jeep models harbor fuel tanks that can leak gas when hit from behind, making them highly prone to igniting. The kink, the NHTSA wrote in its recall request letter to Chrysler, derives from the fuel tanks being located behind the rear axles and approximate height to the road.
Although Chrysler moved the fuel tanks to ahead of the axles of Grand Cherokees in 2005 and of Jeep Libertys in 2007, it remains defiant. In response to the recall request, the company said in a statement Tuesday that the Jeeps are safe and it "does not intend to recall the vehicles."
The company is normally compliant with recall requests – 52 in the last three years – but this is not the first time Chrysler has shook a fist at the government. In 1996 it refused to recall 91,000 Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Cirrus cars for alleged faulty seat belts. For the sake of fun facts, Chrysler at the time was represented by current chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts.
Do you or someone you know drive one of these potentially dangerous Jeeps? What are your thoughts?


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The LA Auto Show is coming to southern California this year on Nov 30 – Dec 9. I’ll tell you one thing, I will personally be there this year, as I am every year. The last few auto shows haven’t had much going on since they debuted the Nissan GTR things have been getting rather slow and boring. Last year we saw both the BRZ and the FR-S Concepts. The Cadillac CIEL was also an amazing specimen last year that never made it to the streets of LA. Hopefully this year we’ll see more cars that actually make it to North America then usual. Lets just keep our fingers crossed!
I know they’ll have a few cool cars such as the R-Line CC from Volkswagen along with 3 new Mini Coopers, and the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Black Series. The SLS Black Series is an amazing vehicle but with the price tag bound to be above 300 large we’ll probably almost never see one here on the streets of LA. Look for more coverage from us in the next coming weeks!


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Movado is another luxury mechanical watchmaker looking to get into the smartwatch game, and it just revealed its new Android Wear 2.0 watch, the Movado Connect, at the Baselworld 2017 watch show.
It looks pretty much exactly like what you would expect a Movado smartwatch to look like. All the usual hallmarks of Movado’s design ethos are on display with the Connect. The iconic single dot used as a 12 o’clock indicator, a clean and simple case and a custom watchface made to resemble the company’s classic Museum model.
The company said smartwatches under the Movado Connect brand will feature “five unique customizable dials” that will each also have three to four customizable elements such as backgrounds, watch hands and complications. Complications are like widgets that sit on the watch face, offering a shortcut and a brief glance into specific apps, such as your calendar or fitness activity. It seems as though Movado will offer further customization of these dials than what’s currently possible on other Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches.
They will all likely feature NFC, as Movado specifically mentions Android Pay compatiblity. Google Assistant, which was introduced in Wear 2.0, will also be present. The watchmaker said the devices will have an always-on display, round screens, improved fitness tracking (which is likely the Google Fit improvements introduced in Wear 2.0) and iOS and Android compatibility.


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Williams has become the final Formula 1 team to communicate its launch plans for the 2022 season.
Its new car, the FW44, is due to be presented as part of a digital launch next Tuesday (February 15).
Williams will enter 2022 with a partially revised driver line-up as ex-Red Bull and Toro Rosso racer Alexander Albon links up with Nicholas Latifi.
It is the first brand-new Formula 1 car designed by Williams under the ownership of Dorilton Capital, which acquired the company from the Williams family in 2020, and the first since the death of the team’s co-founder Sir Frank Williams.
The FW44 is also due to run as part of a filming day.
Williams’ launch will come in a busy week that also includes the unveiling of new cars from AlphaTauri (February 14), Ferrari (February 17) and Mercedes (February 18).
Three teams are due to unveil across successive days this week, with Red Bull (February 9) followed by Aston Martin (February 10) and McLaren (February 11).
Alpine is due to launch on February 21, two days before testing, while Alfa Romeo will run its new car in an interim livery before presenting its full scheme on February 27.


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A Quebec retail store is set to expand to Halifax in 2024 as in-person shopping makes a comeback.
In what it describes as a “Canadian retail milestone,” Simons has announced it is opening its 17th location at the Halifax Shopping Centre.
Simons CEO Bernard Leblanc says the fashion retailer has been interested in the Maritimes for some time.
Impacted industries in Nova Scotia optimistic as province eases COVID-19 restrictions
Leblanc in a Tuesday release that Halifax is experiencing a “real renaissance” and migration of Canadians and newcomers.
“As one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, Halifax is a vibrant place with a customer who is interested in travel, style, and living well,” he said.
Canada to ban imports of Russian alcohol, names 14 oligarchs in new sanctions
Canada confirms first 2 cases of monkeypox in Quebec
“We are excited to be entering the market and confident that our store will attract customers from throughout the Maritimes and beyond.”
The company was first founded in 1840 by John Simons in Quebec City. It originally operated as a dry goods store, but is now focused on fashion.
It currently has 16 stores across Canada, including 10 in Quebec, three in Alberta, two in Ontario and one in British Columbia.
The Halifax Shopping Centre location will be its first East Coast market. The store is set to open in the spring of 2024.
Small businesses struggle to bounce back from pandemic impacts
The news comes as business in the city and across the country make an effort to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We see evidence of the recovery every day and have also observed that our in-store sales now represent more than two-thirds of purchases,” said Leblanc.
He said the statistics prove that people appreciate “brick-and-mortar shopping” more than ever before.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.


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Bitcoin official currency
Bitcoin Is Now An Official Currency in Germany - BabyPips.comBitcoin is received, stored, and sent using software known as a Bitcoin Wallet.A reliable medium of exchange is the biggest obstacle to Scottish independence.Another payment option- Australians have what to look forward to, Bitcoin may become an official currency in Australia.
Person who will invest in kitcoin and hold it for long will.
It's Official: Bitcoin was the Top Performing Currency of 2015The European Union has passed no specific legislation relative to the status of the bitcoin as a currency,.Australian Senators Push Reserve Bank to Make Bitcoin Official Currency.
Correcting misinformation on Segwit2x and btc1 Bitcoin Core 0.14.2 Released.Founded in 2011, Bitcoin Magazine is the oldest and most trusted source of news, insight, reviews, guides, and price analysis on bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain.The largest Internet Service Provider and online forex market provider has an investment in the largest bitcoin exchange, Bitflyer, and is developing an upcoming Bitcoin exchange and wallet service.
Paying a Small Country to Make Bitcoin an ADITIONAL Official Currency.Bitcoin has been the top-performing currency every year since 2010, except for 2014.
The move opens up new opportunities for the Bitcoin ecosystem.The federal government will tax digital money such as Bitcoin like property, not currency, the IRS said Tuesday in its first significant guidance on the.They must also upload identification documents and wait for the exchanges to process them, which can take a few days.Author: Topic: ARGENTINA COULD BE THE 1ST COUNTRY USING BITCOIN AS OFFICIAL CURRENCY (Read 6572 times).Bitcoins scattered across a table top, which are used as a digital currency for open-source marketplaces and web transactions without an intermediate financial.Russian authorities have issued warnings against using Bitcoin, saying the virtual currency could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism and.There is no official ISO currency code for Bitcoins, although XBT is.
Its reliance on mobile technology makes the African nation a prime candidate for widespread adoption.What is The Kitcoin., Watch this whole Official Video. and see the Magic of The Kitcoin.
According to this article, Australian senators are looking to the central bank to treat bitcoin as an official.


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After 20 years in the industry, Mo Jones (director at TheTicketSellers) believes one of the biggest problems facing the ticketing industry is still ticket fraud.
“When it comes to sell out events, the secondary market of onward sales is an on-going challenge for ticketing agencies and event organisers – through more sophisticated technologies and new ticketing applications we are trying to reduce fraud related to our client’s events.
“We issue tickets as close to the event date as possible, and for those that have tickets they can no longer use, we offer a resale platform where individuals can get their money back and the tickets are sold onto a waiting list. On top of this, we have been investing in new technology and a forward-thinking solution that we plan to launch early next year aiming to reduce the likelihood of fraud – so watch this space.”
When asked how the sector is changing, Jones highlighted the increased use of smart phones to gain entry to events. “It goes without saying that we’re in a digital age and approximately 50% of event attendees at our client’s events last year presented their ticket at the gate on their smart phones as opposed to paper form. This means that scanning devices needs to be very efficient in reading screens as well as paper to avoid long queues. Last year, we invested £300k in new scanning kit that is not only fast but also NFC.


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Chevrolet has knocked Honda off the top spot in Warranty Direct's Reliability Index.
The Reliability Index is updated four times a year and analyses both the frequency of failure and the cost of repair to customers' cars. Currently, Chevrolet is leading with a score of 20.00 - lower scores indicating better reliability and lower cost. Honda's score is currently standing at 30.00.
Chevrolet is also topping the repair costs charts, at £195.14 per repair claim. Chevrolet's closest rival, Fiat, is over £40 more expensive. Chevrolet also has the lowest 'time-off-the-road' in terms of repairs, with an average of 1.41 days per claim to repair. Suzuki is in second place with 1.67 days.
Chevrolet offers the Five Year Promise, introduced in 2010 which offers a warranty, roadside assistance, servicing, MOT insurance and vehicle health checks over the period.
Warranty Direct's Managing Director, Duncan McClure-Fisher, said: “Honda has held the top spot in our overall manufacturer's reliability table for many months, so for Chevrolet to knock them off their perch is a major coup. You have to bear in mind that we do not hold as many policies on Chevrolets as Honda models but, nevertheless, the data we do have clearly shows that Chevrolets are trustworthy vehicles."
Chevrolet UK Managing Director, Mark Terry, commented: "It's a real testimonial to the quality and reliability of our vehicles that we're leading the Reliability Index. But more than that, the finer data such as time of repair and average repair costs goes to show that our passion for providing customers with real-world value goes beyond the initial purchase of the car. Our dealers are clearly making an effort to minimise the disruption of any repairs to our customers, and helping them keep their cost down at a time when we're all watching our pennies."Published 11 April 2011


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Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin project TBD kills its plan to trademark ‘Web5’
A plan which would see a corporate entity trademark the term “Web5” has been put to rest after much backlash. Late Tuesday night, TBD, the Bitcoin-focused division of Jack Dorsey’s p
Square now supports Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones
Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, now supports Apple’s Tap to Pay for iPhone feature for merchants. Existing Square users or new businesses wanting to use Square can now use their iPhon
Livestream platform Mandolin adds custom artist pages and a fan data analytics hub
Mandolin, the digital fan engagement platform, launched two new products today with the aim of assisting artists with turning fans into superfans and maximizing revenue. Fan Navigator helps artists co
Apple enters the BNPL market as regulation, competition intensify
How will all of these BNPL-focused providers fare with Apple pounding its way into their market?
IROKO co-founder Bastian Gotter raises $3.2M seed for new venture, Bamba
In 2010, Bastian Gotter invested up to $200,000 into IROKOtv, an African video-on-demand company Jason Njoku, his friend and co-founder, launched in Lagos, Nigeria. For the next couple of years, Gotte
Forma raises new funding to make employee benefits more flexible
Companies across the board are fighting to recruit and retain employees as the war for talent rages on. Employee benefits are no longer viewed as a cookie-cutter, standard set of offerings — rat
Block’s Cash App adopts Lightning Network for free bitcoin payments
Late last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his position in order to give his full attention to his other company, Square (now called Block), which had become increasingly invested in bl
NFT kingpin OpenSea lands monster $13.3B valuation in new raise
The NFT auction marketplace OpenSea had a blockbuster 2021 and as a result is seeing its private valuation grow more quickly than almost any other startup. The crypto firm announced late Tuesday that
Jack Dorsey dials in on his dream job — bitcoin missionary
Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review! Last week, we took a break from contextualization for some guides to consumption. This week, we’re looking at what’s happening in the min
Square’s Better.com name Block is Butter-y smooth
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. It’s Friday, which means the whole crew was aboard for th
Square is changing its name to Block
The fintech giant Square is changing its name to Block, effective December 10. The name change, which has been in the works for over a year, is intended to house the company’s various products &
Afterpay unveils BNPL subscription offering for US customers
The service will launch in both the U.S. and Australia beginning early in 2022 and will be free for customers who pay on time.
UNest raises $26M Series B to help parents save for their kids’ expenses
UNest, a fintech startup that provides financial planning tools for parents saving on behalf of their children, announced today that it raised $26 million in Series B funding led by The Artemis Fund.
Neuro-ID takes in fresh capital to combat fraud from all of our taps, types and swipes
The company captures real-time customer behavior so companies can see who is genuine, and who is fraudulent, and identify the root cause of customer friction.
Square’s Cash App opens up to teens ages 13 to 17 with parental oversight
Amid a growing number of banking apps aimed at teens, Square Inc.’s Cash App today is broadening its reach by making its payments app available to younger teens between the ages of 13 and 17. Pr
European point of sale provider SumUp acquires customer loyalty startup Fivestars for $317M
SumUp, a European-based competitor to Square, PayPal/iZettle and others that provide mobile-powered card readers and other sales technology to merchants and small businesses, has made an acquisition i
Really, this market isn’t good enough?
Klarna's CEO says he's 'nervous' to take the company public. But the public market for BNPL companies actually feels pretty strong at the moment.
Here’s what your BNPL startup could be worth
What would you pay for $1 of BNPL GMV?
Square to launch a new paid subscription, Invoices Plus
Square’s popular free invoicing software is becoming the company’s next big subscription service. The company is poised to announce a paid subscription offering called Invoices Plus, which
The next generation of global payments: Afterpay + Square
Sunday was a big day in fintech: Afterpay has agreed to merge with Square. This agreement sets two of the most admired financial technology companies in recent history on a path to becoming one.


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Adobe announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fotolia, a marketplace for royalty-free photos, images, graphics and HD video, for approximately $800 million in cash.
Officials at San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe said Fotolia will be integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud, providing current and future Creative Cloud members with the ability to access and purchase over 34 million images and videos to help simplify and accelerate the design process. Adobe also plans to continue to operate Fotolia as a stand-alone stock service, accessible to anyone.
“The acquisition of Fotolia will reinforce Creative Cloud’s role as the pre-eminent destination for creatives,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president of Digital Media at Adobe, in a statement. “Creative Cloud is becoming the go-to marketplace for the creative community to access images, videos, fonts and creative talent, through critical creative services like Fotolia and our new Creative Talent Search capabilities.”
Adobe Creative Cloud has more than 3.45 million members and features leading desktop tools, an array of complementary mobile apps, training content, creative assets and services, and ready access to a dynamic community. Adobe said the value of Creative Cloud is continually increasing through product updates and new capabilities such as Creative Talent Search. Following the completion of the Fotolia acquisition, Adobe expects to integrate the delivery and purchase of stock assets into Creative Cloud.
“Becoming part of the Adobe family is a dream come true for the Fotolia team and will accelerate our vision to become the best place for artists to build a business and the ultimate destination for designers to find stunning creative work,” said Oleg Tscheltzoff, founder and CEO of Fotolia, in a statement.
Founded in 2004, with offices in New York, Paris and Berlin, privately held Fotolia is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., TA Associates and management. Fotolia currently operates in 23 countries and has Websites in 14 languages.
Adobe also announced fourth-quarter earnings, showing revenue of $1.073 billion for the quarter and $4.147 billion for the year. The company added 644,000 net new Creative Cloud subscriptions in the quarter, and for the year, Creative Cloud subscriptions grew by more than 2 million to 3.454 million. In addition, Adobe grew net new Digital Media ARR by more than $1 billion during the year.
“Adobe had an outstanding 2014. Creative Cloud adoption outpaced expectations and the acquisition of Fotolia will add a vibrant marketplace for our customers,” said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe president and CEO, in a statement. “Adobe Marketing Cloud, the leader in the explosive digital marketing category, continued to drive strong bookings at the world’s biggest brands, agencies and media companies.”
Adobe Marketing Cloud revenue was $330 million, with record bookings in the quarter. For the year, Adobe Marketing Cloud achieved a record $1.170 billion in annual revenue, with record annual bookings above the company’s target of 30 percent.
“2014 was a pivotal year for Adobe as we completed our business model transition,” said Mark Garrett, Adobe executive vice president and chief financial officer. “In 2015 we expect revenue and earnings to grow sequentially every quarter during the year.”


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The extra XP attached to the route badge can speed up your upgrade progress in Zwift. In addition, you can complete the distance of a route at a faster speed with a group of cyclists. This means th
All 42 games on the Nintendo Switch eShop this week, including Monster Hunter Stories 2
August’s first PS Plus game confirmed as Hunter Arena: Legend
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 will be
The most anticipated update of Marvel's Avengers has finally been released, and fans want to know what it contains.
This update will mark the arrival of the fan’s favorite superhero Spider-
A Mumbai designer has filed a lawsuit against Bigg Boss contestant Umar Riaz on the grounds that he did not attribute his clothing brand to himself.
Faizan Ansari has filed a lawsuit against
Brooklyn-The Brooklyn Nets and Motorola have established a new partnership, which will bring these two global brands together at the beginning of the 2020-21 NBA regular season, the iconic Motorola
In the near future, you may be able to pay for items with just a swipe of your sleeve near the card reader instead of searching for your credit card in your wallet.
In a recently published p
Russell Athletic and the New York creative brand Ceeze jointly launched a limited edition capsule series and redesigned the school team jacket.
Inspired by Russell Athletic's 70s and 80s cata
SEATAC, WA - A coastline man said he almost missed his flight on Thanksgiving Day, and the airport parking lot was full, even though he had a reservation.
Kevin Henry said that he paid the de


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Second Naperville Costco excites neighbors, but increased traffic concerns them
Even the neighbors who brought up traffic safety concerns about a second Costco store in Naperville said they're excited for the company to open a warehouse along East Ogden Avenue.
The store's anticipated second Naperville site is set to take the place of a long-vacant former Kmart in the Ogden Mall shopping center at Ogden and Iroquois avenues on the city's northeast side. It will join the Costco already in operation at 1320 S. Route 59.
"We're excited for Costco, but we want this to be done in a considerate manner," said resident Kevin LeFevour, who asked the city and the company to better understand neighborhood traffic before building such a large and popular store. "So far, it doesn't appear that's the case."
After hearing resident concerns during a virtual meeting Tuesday, city council and staff members pledged to keep an eye on traffic counts and speeds after the store opens and to work with the store to improve signal timing and left-turn lanes at the intersection of Ogden and Iroquois.
The future Costco will be built on a 19-acre site at Ogden Mall after demolishing 190,000 square feet of the existing building, including the space rented by the Classic Cinemas Ogden 6 Theatres. Costco representatives said the store will have 918 parking spots -- 193 more than city code requires -- and a loading dock on the northeast side of the building, farther away from neighboring homes than Kmart's had been.
Neighbors said they want to ensure Costco does not result in unsafe traffic speeding down Iroquois Avenue, especially near Arrowhead Park, a busy spot for kids and sports. Resident Brian Colgan suggested the city install speed bumps on Iroquois.
"This all comes down, for us, to safety, people wanting to protect our kids," Colgan said. "I love the fact that we're getting development. I love Costco. I think you're on the right track."
Bill Novack, director of transportation, said the city will gather traffic volume and speed data six months after the store opens before deciding if any fixes are needed.
Council member Theresa Sullivan, who lives in the neighborhood, said neighbors' emails about traffic concerns took on "a different flavor" as they supported development and safety.
A sales tax incentive granted in February helped Costco commit to a new store on East Ogden, an area the city has been trying to revive since Kmart closed in 2013.
The deal includes a rebate of 75% of the city's portion of the state-imposed sales tax and 75% of the city's own home-rule sales tax until $5.5 million is paid or 15 years passes, whichever comes first.
Plans for the store also call for a gas station, but the city will not rebate any motor fuel tax from gas sales.


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High-Tech Maker Spaces: Helping Little Startups Make It Big
Around the country, there are lots of tinkerers working on what they hope will be the next brilliant idea — but who don't have the tools in their garage to build it.
In dozens of cities, those innovators can set up shop in a "maker space" — community workshops where members have access to sophisticated tools and expertise.
Maker spaces have become hotbeds of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Now, governments, universities and big corporations are taking notice — and beginning to invest in them.
Tom Panzarella, the CEO of a startup working out of maker space NextFab Studio, says the space helps his Philadelphia business "appear like a very large company."
"You're not these two guys in a garage building a robot, right. You have your 21,000-square-foot production space; the boardroom here is really nice if we need to have meetings," he says. "We look a lot more established than we really are."
NextFab's 350 members pay for access to a million dollars' worth of tools, including high-end machines like laser cutters and 3-D printers that they could never afford on their own.
Members also benefit from the synergy found here, where accomplished people work in close proximity. Panzarella's company, Love Park Robotics, produces software used to drive electric wheelchairs. He's used 3-D printers here to make parts. And when Panzarella wanted to attach video cameras to a wheelchair, he hired a mechanical engineer four doors away.
"So, we effectively contract out to him some of our mechanical work, and it's like we have a mechanical engineer on staff," Panzarella says.
All of this is lowering the cost of entry for entrepreneurs. Mark Hatch, CEO of a chain of maker spaces called TechShop, says the old model meant that an entrepreneur had to spend $100,000 or more to produce a prototype for a new product. Now it's a fraction of that.
"When you move the cost of entrepreneurship from $100,000 to $2,000-$4,000, you completely change the operating terrain for entrepreneurs and inventors," Hatch says.
And these maker spaces are getting results. The company that makes Square, the device that enables smartphones to take credit card payments, created its prototype at TechShop.
"We have now a range of high-quality new product ideas that have not only launched, but are in fact on track to change the world in some fairly significant ways," Hatch says.
There are big players teaming up with TechShop, too, like Ford and Lowe's. The federal government has purchased thousands of TechShop memberships for veterans. State and local governments in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Massachusetts are funding maker spaces. And in Burlington, Vt., a new maker space called Generator has opened in a rent-free space provided by the city.
"I don't think this is some harebrained idea that we're experimenting with," says Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger. "I think we can point to significant successes in other communities."
Weinberger says the new maker space fits the city's economic development strategy. Three local colleges, including the University of Vermont, are supporting the approach as a way for Vermont to stay competitive.
David Finney, president of Champlain College, says, "We think manufacturing will return to the United States in force. And so we feel compelled to set this space up and begin to train the next generation on it."
If everything works out, Finney says he expects that Vermont's newest maker space will generate hundreds of jobs in the next five to 10 years.
Jon Kalish is a Manhattan-based radio reporter and podcast producer. For links to radio docs, podcasts & DIY stories,visit his website.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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The Port of Warrenpoint today (Friday 5th August) welcomed the Azamara Pursuit, the second of three cruise ships to dock at the County Down port this summer. At 180m in length, the Azamara is the largest cruise ship ever to dock at Warrenpoint.
The ship has a capacity of over 700 passengers and over 400 crew; and the local community were out in force to welcome them.
The Azamara Pursuit, when first visiting Warrenpoint, has a connection to the locality. As of 2018, she was the largest such vessel for many years to be refitted in Belfast; carried out by the outfitting company MJM Marine, whose head office is in Newry.
At that time, the Azamara brand was owned by Royal Caribbean and was later acquired in 2021 by Sycamore Partners, a New York-based private equity firm.
Warrenpoint Port Chairman Dr Gerard O Hare CBE DL said: ‘We are delighted to have welcomed Captain Toledo, his crew and passengers to Warrenpoint today for the second of our three vessel visits from cruise to port this summer.
“Cruise ships are not a major part of the port’s business model, but it is important from a tourism perspective for the region that we welcome a small number of these ships to the port each year. Many passengers have chosen to explore the region and we know they will have received a warm welcome. Many locals also come to see the ships, which helps boost business in the city.
“These cruise ship calls are organized and managed by local company Armagh Logistics and facilitated by Hamilton Shipping in Belfast. Brothers John McParland of Armagh Logistics, Leo McParland of Hamilton Shipping and their father Noel have long worked with the port. They continue to work to promote Warrenpoint and the Port to their global clientele.
Councilor Micheal Savage, Chairman of Newry, Morne and Down Council, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome the Azamara Pursuit on her first visit to Warrenpoint, which is the second of three cruise ships to come to the Destination Visit Morne. After two difficult years for the tourism industry, it is great to see cruise ships returning to the destination and for guests to discover local attractions and experiences. These cruise ships are a welcome economic boost for the local tourism industry.
“As is customary for a first visit to a port, a plate handover ceremony was held at the quayside with plates handed over to the Harbor Master; Newry, Morne and Down District Council; and Hamilton Shipping. The ceremony was accompanied by dances from the Brennan Miskelly McCormick School of Irish Dance.
The ship departed at 7.30pm with people lined up on the shore on both sides of the Lough to wave. The last cruise call of the summer will take place on Thursday August 18 with the visit of the World Voyager.


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Three students at the University of Texas ignited an online movement celebrating women of color and condemning skin-lightening creams popular in India and Southeast Asia this month. The campaign, called #UnfairAndLovely, takes aim at the popular bleach product Fair & Lovely. An Instagram account created by the students shows someone giving a middle finger to a tube of the cream lying in a trash can. Since they created the account two weeks ago, they have uploaded dozens of photos of men and women of color from around the world, as well as encouraging others on Twitter and Instagram to upload their own photos. The campaign coincided with Reclaim the Bindi Week, which was celebrated March 8 through March 14, which aims to end cultural appropriation.
“Growing up half Indian, I was never really good enough for either side of my families but especially not my mother’s side. They would always recommend skin lightening creams so I would be more acceptable for them and society. Yet here I am, reclaiming my culture because I am my mother’s daughter regardless of if I’m fair or not,” one user wrote on the campaign’s Instagram account.
Read the full story at Mashable.


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Apple Makes iPhone Model Using China's WiFi Standard
One of the main sticking points - other than its exorbitant price
- blocking wider acceptance of the officially-sanctioned iPhone in China has apparently been removed: the national regulatory agency has approved a new phone compatible with China's own WAPI wireless standard. The government of China had blocked the sale of WiFi-enabled iPhones by China Unicom, though grey-market iPhones with WiFi have been available in China for some time.
The Chinese government initially developed WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) purportedly as a way to overcome the flaws in Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which was easily cracked by US law enforcement officials
in about 3 minutes back in 2005. The Chinese standard was rejected by the International Standards Organization as the [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS4[/ame] block cipher it was based upon was a Chinese military secret, so it could not be independently validated. Attempts to require that all foreign WLAN gear sold in China must implement WAPI almost touched off a trade war
in 2004. The government did require in 2009, however, that all mobile devices sold in China must use WAPI. As a result, the iPhones officially sold by China Unicom since last year have not had WiFi capability.
PCWorld noted today
that the State Radio Monitoring Center
website shows a Chinese government frequency-use application for a previously-unknown Apple phone with the designator A1303. The device, which shows GSM/WCDMA frequencies identical to the iPhone's, is listed as being WAPI-compatible. The network access license was granted April 26.


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Journalists need just one piece of kit to take photographs, film video and engage with their audience – an iPhone.
Panellists at the news:rewired – digital stories conference, in London this morning, were full of praise for Apple’s smartphone, which has been given out to journalists at several print and broadcast news organisations to enable quick and effective reporting from the field.
Nick Garnett, North of England correspondent for BBC 5Live, spoke of times past, when radio broadcasting equipment was heavy, expensive and difficult to use.
Now, sharing the photographer’s mantra of “The best camera is the one you’re carrying”, Garnett said he used his iPhone to record audio bulletins.
He explained to conference delegates how his iPhone proved essential when reporting on last year’s riots, when the media found themselves targeted as much as the police.
We had to find a way to safely report the story.
Using just an iPhone, Garnett said he was able to report from outside a shop without drawing attention to himself. He also had some advice for engineers wanting to develop mobile technology:
If you’re going to make something for mobile journalism, you’ve got to make it easy to use.
This was echoed by Neil McIntosh, deputy editor Europe of the Wall Street Journal, who said the easy functionality of iPhones ensured his reporters had no problems using the hardware out on the field, responding to a demand from their audience for more video content.
They’re actually able to shoot HD video on their iPhones now. Five years ago, that would have been outlandish.
In addition to the increased functionality of handheld devices, Eric Siereveld, vice president of Finnish company Scoopshot, said his firm’s app allowed journalists to harness both amateur and professional photographers at the scene of a breaking story as it enabled journalists to search for user-submitted pictures to illustrate their stories online and in print.
Don’t underestimate the power of the crowd. People want to engage in the news.
Panellists also emphasised that while are plenty of smartphones and apps available on the market for Android-enabled handsets, the iPhone seemed to have a well-established reputation for producing good quality mobile content, including audio and video.


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It's readily apparent that electronic devices have pervaded most aspects of our everyday lives, but a new market research report may pique the interest of those with a computer science degree. "Global Multi Touch Market, by Product (SmartPhones, Tablets, Laptops, Televisions/LCD, Tables, Floors), Applications (Entertainment, Infotainment, Enterprises, others) & Geography, 2011-2016'’ said the multi-touch market is expected to grow to $5.5 billion by 2016 thanks to an annual growth rate of 18.2 percent.
Multi-touch technology - which is associated with capacitive touch-screen displays rather than resistive touch-screen displays - entered the spotlight in 1980 thanks to Apple. The MarketsandMarkets report said the use of the technology will be growing in upcoming years as consumers replace the traditional keyboard/mouse setup. Laptop computers, TVs, floors and tables also are integrated with the technology at a growing rate.
Elsewhere in the technology industry, more consumers are using mobile shopping apps on their smart phones to complete holiday shopping and snag the best deals. A recent PriceGrabber survey found that 39 percent of consumers have such apps on their phones, and 42 percent reported that they plan to download a new shopping app before the holidays.


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Wild recipes mixed with local restaurant dishes and a smorgasbord of silent auction items will dish up donations for the Boys & Girls Club of Jasper County on April 28 at the fifth annual Taste of the Lowcountry, Jasper Style.
The fundraiser, known in its first four years as the Taste of Jasper, has expanded and changed its name to reflect its growing popularity. The menu will be generously sprinkled with entertainment by the young club members. It will be held from 6-10 p.m. at the Jasper County Farmers Market.
"This is the fifth annual event and each year it has gotten a little bit bigger and better," said club director Ann Walker, adding that Taste of Jasper began shortly after the farmers market was brand new and the facility just remodeled. "We were looking for ways to bring some revenue and funding into the Boys and Girls Club so we decided to do an auction and a taste. We thought that not only would it bring some very much-needed dollars into the club but that it was a very good way to highlight our restaurants and cuisine and show the world what we have to offer in Jasper."
Among the restaurants participating are Chelsea Plantation, Country Morning Bakery, Dot's Red Dot, Fiddler's Seafood, Frazier's Catering, Jack Frost Ice Cream, Jasper's Porch, Lunch Lady, Pizza Bella, Robert Irvine's NOSH, The Cakery, The Galley at Boat-n-RV Supercenter, Turkey Hill Plantation and the Wild Wing Café from Bluffton.
"People can come in and sample the tastings from 15 different restaurants. There will be a wine sampling, a full bar, entertainment and music," said Walker.
Focusing on the young people
"We think the kids will be lively and fun and very energetic," Walker said. "We will have our Youth of the Year Bre'Anna Orr speaking."
Orr, a junior at Ridgeland High School, is also the first Boys & Girls Club of Jasper County member to be selected as Youth of the Year for the Lowcountry. She is currently in the running for selection as the state Youth of the Year, Walker said.
"She's a Boys & Girls Club kid. She started when she was 6. This is what the Boys & Girls Club does. She's our product," said Walker. "The proceeds truly keep us alive. We're a nonprofit so we rely on the kindness of others. We write a lot of grants, too, so this is important to us."
Wild chefs show off
New this year is a wild game cook-off.
"We're inviting the public to participate in the cook-off - come show off what you've got. There will be judges and prizes," said Walker. "Quit your bragging in the back yard and bring it to the front. Let's see what you can do."
Experienced wild game cooks can bring their recipes and ingredients for deer, quail, turkey and duck to the contest and aim to claim local bragging rights.
"Because of Ridgeland being rich with hunting plantations that are known throughout the nation, we wanted to capitalize on that," said Liz Vallino, coordinator for the cook-off. "We also wanted to give a new flavor to our event. It's in its fifth year and we wanted to spice it up a little. We do have a lot of hunting trips on the auction, so it kind of gears toward the local flavor of Jasper County."
And there's more
In addition to the entertainment and samplings, there will be a number of items up for auction in support of the club.
Bidders may choose from a wide variety of art, hunting trips, fishing trips, a trip to Disney World in Orlando and a purse auction.
"This is a designer purse auction. These purses are going to be stuffed with prizes - jewelry and gift certificates. You don't know what you are going to get when you bid on a purse," Walker said.


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The rooms will stay, but now men will be allowed to reserve a spot on the hotel’s secure-access Bella Donna floor, where rooms cost about $28 extra and include amenities such as large towels, international women’s magazines, upgraded beauty products and a minibar that the hotel website boasts is stocked “with smoothies and champagne instead of potato chips and beer.”
“We had no idea this product could be remotely illegal,” said Allan Agerholm, CEO of the company that owns Bella Sky Hotel. “It is a business product we created to differentiate our hotel from others. This is a petty case that should have never been brought. It detracts from real discrimination issues happening in our society.”
Last Friday, a court ruled that even though the hotel had two ladies-style rooms elsewhere in the hotel bookable by men, the women’s-only floor was indeed discriminatory.
The hotel has opted to keep the Bella Dona floor intact, but open it to men and women.
“If for some reason a male guest should find it interesting to stay there in the pink environment, they are welcome to do so,” said Agerholm.
When the 812-room, two-tower hotel opened in spring 2011, the 20 upgraded rooms on the secure-access “Bella Donna” floor were set aside for women only, with feminine touches and amenities ranging from large dressing mirrors to a minibar stocked with smoothies, wine and high quality chocolate.
But shortly after the hotel opened, two men complained about the women-only floor to the Danish Board of Equal Treatment, which ruled the floor was gender discriminatory and illegal. Because the board had no authority to sanction, Bella Sky kept the Bella Donna floor women-only and appealed to the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen.
While not very common, some hotels in the United States and elsewhere continue to offer women-only floors, including the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington, D.C., and the Crowne Plaza in Bloomington, Minn.
“Our ladies floor, where we charge a $20 premium, is usually 85 percent occupied or sold out Monday through Thursday and is very popular with female corporate travelers,” said Charlie LaMont, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Bloomington. “Some like the amenities, but for most, it’s the security of the secure-access floor,” he said.
The 10 rooms on the 10th floor of the 127-room Ellis Hotel in downtown Atlanta are set aside for women. In addition to private-access entry, the rooms include upgraded amenities, slippers and use of curling iron and a flat iron.
The hotel charges an added fee of $20 for the rooms, “which are most popular with the female corporate traveler,” said Tom LaVaccare, director of sales and marketing. “It’s a privacy issue, not necessarily a security issue,” he said, “but we’re working on adding more amenities.”
LaVacarre said no male customer has ever complained about being excluded but “if they wanted to be on a floor just for men, we could accommodate that.”
For several years, the Georgian Court Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, has offered 18 Orchid Rooms on a “women-preferred” floor with amenities such as curling irons, flat irons, high-powered hair driers, upgraded Aveda products, satin-padded hangers, nylons and other items at no extra charge.
The rooms were so popular that the hotel recently added a second floor of rooms with the same amenities, and men aren’t excluded from those floors, they rarely book there, General Manager Lisa Jackson said.
( My story about hotels with women-only floors first appeared on CNBC Road Warrior in a slightly different version.)


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- Archive by category 'Videos'
August 14, 2014
Android Architect Brian Parent answers this week's top question, about whether to update your app now that Android L is out.
August 1, 2014
Get ready for hearables — wearables made especially for your ears.
July 31, 2014
iOS Architect Kevin Harwood answers this week's top question, on how Extensions in iOS 8 will be a huge deal to developers.
July 23, 2014
Web developer Alex Wasner answers this week's top question, on Apache Cordova - a way to create cross-platform applications using web technologies.


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Area goes to seed
Record numbers turn to gardening to economize
|Seed sales began climbing last year and are expected to continue an upward trend this season as people find ways to economize on food bills. photo by Catherine Minolli.|
March 25, 2009TRI-CITY AREA — The economy has a lot of properties in the area going to seed. And for some who are interested in the bottom line, the seedier the better.
Vegetable seed sales are on the rise both locally and across the country as people root out ways to reign in spending. Even the First Lady is getting in on the act. For the first time since Eleanor Roosevelt planted her World War II era 'Victory Garden,' Michelle Obama on Friday broke ground for a 'Kitchen Garden' on the White House grounds.
Whether it's to save money, get healthy or go green record numbers of people are getting this year's gardening project 'shovel ready.'
While it's too soon to turn the earth around here just yet, seed sales at Almont's Country Corner are brisk, says co-owner Lori Nash. That's because the time is now to get the seedlings going indoors, Nash adds.
"We can already tell that seed sales will be up," Nash says. "We started to see a difference last year with an increase, and this year it's obvious that a lot of people are planning gardens."
Nash says customers who've never grown vegetables before have come in search of seeds to give it a try. Others say they plan to expand their gardens to get higher yields.
"A majority of people are saying that they had some success last year and are going to make their garden bigger this year," Nash says.
Whether novice gardeners or experienced backyard growers, customers seem to like the option of buying as few or as many seeds as they can handle from the rows of jars and buckets filled with bulk seeds. Offering seeds in bulk is also as economical as it is practical, Nash says.
"You get more for your money that way," Nash says.
Noting that many people aren't aware that bulk seeds are available locally, Nash says those who do stop in are pleased with the option.
"It's almost double the amount for the money that you get with prepackaged seeds," she says.
Consumers can choose from a quarter-ounce, half-ounce, ounce or more of smaller seeds. Larger seeds like corn, beans and peas are sold by the pound.
A wide variety of vegetable seeds are offered in bulk, as are almost a dozen varieties of flower seeds.
For those who prefer prepackaged seeds, they can pick up offerings from Ferry Morse, Nash says.
The local trend to 'grow your own' is being mirrored across the country as well. USA Today reports that the nation's top seed producers reported an increase in sales last year and the numbers are expected to grow in the 2009 season.
Aside from the health benefits of fresh, home grown produce, The National Gardening Association says successful backyard gardeners can save as much as $500 annually by digging into the dirt this summer.


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Following the release of last year’s World War II, the Call of Duty series is officially back to it roots. The boots-on-the-ground gameplay is what fans have been wanting for years, and now it seems that’s exactly what the series will be churning out for the foreseeable future. However, it looks like the next game in the series might actually be a direct sequel to one of the games in the series, whose last installment was futuristic.
The game in question is Black Ops 4, which is rumored to be the next game to release in the Call of Duty series. This rumor comes from industry insider Marcus Sellars, who has been right multiple times in the past regarding big gaming rumors. He said the following:
“COD 2018 is Black Ops 4 and is coming to PS4/Xbox/PC/Switch. It is set in the modern times and is boots on the ground. The Switch version will support DLC, HD Rumble and motion controls. The Switch version is also being ported by a company which is familar [sic] with COD games.”
It’s very interesting that Treyarch will be continuing on with their Black Ops series, as it would be the first in the series to go beyond a trilogy. Black Ops 3 was the first in that sub-series to shoot into the future, but the series began as a boots-on-the-ground ordeal. It looks like the developer will simply go back to what they were doing at the beginning of the Black Ops series, though there will undoubtedly be some new bells and whistles.
This all needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as we need to wait on official news from Activision regarding the future of the series. However, due to the credibility of the source, this seems like it could be something that ultimately ends up being true. More information will likely be coming within the next few months, so be sure to stay tuned for that.


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Jim Lahey, owner of NYC's famed Sullivan Street Bakery and newish restaurant Co. was in LA last week scouting locations for a potential Sullivan Street Bakery LA outpost. After placing a call to the NY flagship we were told that nothing is set in stone but "we're talking about" coming west. Sweet!! [EaterWire]
Jim Lahey, Coming to LA?
by Kat Odell


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Microsoft's annual Build developer conference kicks off on Wednesday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and streamed online to the rest of the world.
There's not a whole lot that's officially known about the event this year, but we can make some educated guesses as to what'll be on show. After some experiments with different formats, the company is sticking to its traditional two keynote schedule this year, with day one being mainly about Windows, and day two being mainly about development.
Windows 10 and the Universal Windows Platform is sure to be the focus. The Windows Insider Preview builds that have shipped since the November Update was released last year have thus far been light on new features; we'd expect this to change at Build, and for the company to go public with its plans for the next incremental iteration of the operating system. Session listings point to new or improved capabilities for live tiles and notifications.
Last year, the major news was the company's efforts to let devs port their Android and iOS apps to Windows in a bid to fix the app gap. While part of that plan has already fallen by the wayside, with Android no longer being part of the vision, there's sure to be plenty of focus on the other platforms that are still supported.
In particular, we're expecting to finally learn the company's plans for opening up the Xbox One as an app platform that any developer can target, realizing the nearly decade old vision of "three screens and a cloud." There are more screens beyond the PC, phone and TV in play nowadays, and so Microsoft's fourth screen—HoloLens—is sure to play a big part. Wednesday also happens to be the day that the first wave of HoloLens developer units ship, so demos galore of the new apps seem like a safe bet.
Windows 10 also runs on gizmos that don't have a screen at all, as Microsoft tries to push it as a platform for building Internet of Things hardware too.
Day two will be more developer focused, and the big item here is sure to be Xamarin, the .NET-on-Android-and-iOS company that Microsoft at long last bought in February. Every Visual Studio developer under the sun is expecting some kind of bundle or promotion or something to let them get their hands on Xamarin, and Build would be the best time to announce that.
We also wouldn't be too surprised to see time spent on two things that Microsoft is traditionally not known for: open source and Linux. The company surprised many earlier this month when it announced that it would release a version of SQL Server for Linux, and its continued embrace of open source, especially in the .NET and browser space, is still raising eyebrows. More developments in one or both of these areas would not be a surprise.
We'll be on-site at Build all week, liveblogging the keynotes and reporting on any other news that the conference throws out.