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Originally published on MarTech Series
Unique Ability to Reach the Financial Web Drives 64% YOY Revenue Growth in US in Q3 and Underscores its Role as a Key Revenue Stream for Publishers and In-Context Solution for Premium Brands
In an otherwise disruptive and challenging year in the publishing industry, Dianomi, the financial and business-focused native ad marketplace for premium brands and publishers, reported 58% revenue growth on a year over year basis, as well as an expanded roster of the world’s leading business and financial publishers as well as new brands. The company now serves more than 8.5 billion ads on 220 premium publications, reaching more than 340 million readers per month across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC.
“During the pandemic, we saw media consumption among the professional and business-minded audiences our publishers serve continue to grow and sustain,” said Rupert Hodson, CEO and co-founder of Dianomi. “Brands are seeing that our audiences seek out information to help them manage their businesses, their clients and their own portfolios, unlike the general population, which has experienced dips from news or election fatigue. They also appreciate being able to precisely connect with readers with relevant information about topics they’re actively leaning into, whether that’s more on asset classes like Gold or ETFs or on socially responsible or conservative investment strategies.”
Publishers who have joined or expanded their presence on the Dianomi platform include Dow Jones titles such as Barron’s, MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal as well as The Washington Post, Kiplinger, The Times (of London), New York Magazine, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and TMX Money.
In addition, financial institutions and other premium brands who have begun working with Dianomi to better reach affluent, professional audiences include Aramco, FXCM and Schroders.
“Readers around the world are seeking out our trusted news, information and analysis to help them make their most important decisions in these uncertain times,” said Dan Shar, Chief Commercial Officer, Barron’s Group and GM, MarketWatch. “Our partnership with Dianomi centers around collaboration as we work together to think creatively about the best ways to provide maximum value to our readers.”
“Though most revenue channels were set back this year, Dianomi has been an outlier, growing monetization against all odds,” said Andy Price, Head of Revenue Operations US for Kiplinger’s parent, Dennis Publishing. “They have been a partner to us for almost a decade now, thanks to the impressive brands they work with and the quality of their content recommendation. Their reliable performance and commitment to quality standards have been invaluable, more than ever this year.”
“Dianomi has been a wonderful partner, consistently delivering advertising content that has exceeded our expectations and objectives,” said Kaja Szczechura, Head of Media Activation & Performance, Net Natives for NYU Stern School of Business.
“I have been using Dianomi’s native advertising services for a number of years, across different organisations and I’ve always been impressed with the reach and effectiveness of the platform. It’s also a real pleasure working with the team who are always willing to discuss different ways to target very niche audience groups,” said Caleb Culverwell, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Barclays Private Bank.
As brands look to reallocate ad budgets from social platforms and third-party, data-targeted display to more brand-safe environments, Dianomi rolled out a premium lifestyle vertical in H2 2020 to answer to advertiser demand for more premium, in-context and brand-safe solutions that operate at scale. Based on the same premise as its financial vertical, Dianomi’s lifestyle network is built on contextually relevant, premium publishers with cookieless targeting and charged on a performance basis. Dianomi has proven its ability to bring premium brands and publishers in the professional services and financial industries together and is building upon that expertise for lifestyle brands and publishers, starting initially with automotive, fashion, travel and hospitality verticals.


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FLORENCE, Ala. (KSNT) – The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall last week for a brand of fireworks noting that the fireworks can explode unexpectedly after being lit, posing a burn and injury hazards to consumers.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled fireworks and contact America Promotional Events for a full refund.
They can be reached at 800-243-1189 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday; or online at http://www.tntfireworks.com . You can click on Product Recall at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
About 36,100 units were sold. The recalled fireworks are pyrotechnic devices that make smoke when lit.
They were sold in a bag containing three canisters: one red, one blue and one white.
Each colored smoke firework is a cardboard cylinder tube that measures about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long.
The TNT logo, “Red, White & Blue Smoke” and UPC number 027736036561 appear on the packaging.
American Promotional Events has received three incident reports, resulting in three people suffering burn injuries. No property damage has been reported.
The fireworks were sold at Albertsons, Kroger, Meijer, Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers in Illinois, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin from May 2017 through June 2017 about $5.
WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
- JULY 4TH LIVE: FIREWORKS AROUND THE BAY AREA
- OAKLAND POLICE OFFICER UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR SEX AT HEADQUARTERS
- DOCTOR ACCUSED OF SEX HARASSMENT KILLS 1 AT NYC HOSPITAL
- KRON4 GOES WHALE WATCHING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY
- SURPRISE! SAN DIEGO SAILOR COMES HOME TO FIND WIFE 8 MONTHS PREGNANT
- WOMAN ACCUSED OF RUNNING OVER, KILLING FRIEND IN CAMPBELL
- DISTURBING VIDEO: MOM, DAUGHTER ATTACKED OVER COLD CHICKEN

domain: news


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Under the cheery front-page headline “Her Friendliness,” WWD introduced its readers to New York Mayor John Lindsay’s feisty wife, Mary, in a free-wheeling interview at Gracie Mansion that ran Nov. 3, 1967. Long before Donna Hanover Giuliani and, more recently, Diana Taylor, made names for themselves as the independent significant others of New York’s most powerful player, Mary Lindsay — possessing “an abundance of energy and a refreshing sense of the incongruous,” according to WWD’s reporter — was multitasking on her husband’s behalf (case in point: she had her own office at the campaign headquarters in the Hotel Roosevelt during Mayor Lindsay’s 1965 campaign).
WWD clearly approved of Mrs. Lindsay’s segue from campaign spouse to the city’s first lady: “Mary is the same today…except she’s improved her taste in clothes and her hair is blonder,” the reporter wrote. With an affinity for Roger Vivier shoes and Valentino suits (she chose an orange one for the interview), Mrs. Lindsay admitted that her style upgrade made a dent in her budget. “‘My clothing bills have tripled since I got here. It’s a real problem. It just gets too expensive,’ sighs Mary,” the reporter wrote.
Despite her interest in fashion and habit of being “not one to mince words,” Mrs. Lindsay frequently cut a traditional figure during her husband’s tenure (she also smoked, offering the reporter one before curling up on an armchair and lighting up). “The first thing is to try and run the house and have a family life as much like anyone else’s,” she explained. “It’s very important for John and for the children. If I’m rushing around and doing all sorts of little things, things sort of fall apart.”


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Hella plans to alert drivers when bodywork is damaged
The Hella group has released details of a new system called the Intelligent Damage Detection System that is capable of detecting scratches and dents as they happen.
Depending on the specification, anything from two to 12 sensors are positioned through a car’s body panels. A central control panel is able to detect a pressure being applied to the panel and then decide whether it is rain or something far less innocuous like a scratch.
Using the control module and information technology backend, the top-of-the-range setup can detect both minor and major damages, anything from parking scuffs to hidden chassis problems to a glass breakage or stone stroke.
Multiple use cases
Hella intends to push the system out to multiple use cases with consumers being able to benefit from immediate alerts through a smartphone app when somebody uses a key to vandalise their car, for example. If the car has cameras, a live image of the culprit could be recorded too.
For businesses, manufacturers would have better risk profiling, immediate repair measurements and less personal costs. Whereas fleet companies would have the chance to start repair actions immediately and have optimised vehicle availability.
Elsewhere, insurance companies could benefit from having detailed information at their disposal of the circumstances involved in the damage, while being able to provide claims faster and avoiding fraud.
Connected Car understands that Hella are currently having intensive discussions with a number of potential customers and the company is looking at several different application cases for this technology.


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The Super-Sol supermarket next door to the G shopping mall in Kfar Sava checked out its last groceries not so long ago, squeezed between competition from the mall and growing online sales.
- Super-Sol Signs Deal to Buy New Pharm
- After a Stormy 2016, Israel’s Supermarkets Head for Calmer Year
And what happened in Kfar Sava could happen elsewhere to Super-Sol’s network of brick-and-mortar stores – the biggest in the country – as Israeli consumers forswear shopping carts in favor of smartphones.
Online sales for the food retailer jumped 30% in the first quarter and now account for 12% of total turnover. Meanwhile, overall sales were a sluggish 1.5%, lower than the 2.2% for all supermarkets, which spells falling sales per square meter of grocery store space and per employee at its branches.
Super-Sol hasn’t made a final decision on how many of its stores will close or shrink this year. In fact, it has plans to add two more in Be’er Sheva’s Ramot neighborhood and in the new city of Harish, south of Haifa. But executives have been talking about 8,000 square meters, or about 1.6% of the total.
Israelis have been slow to buy online, but the trend is quickening and Super-Sol executives say that within three years, web sales will reach 15% of the total.
They expect that 5 to 7% of stores will be converted into warehouses, where online orders can be fulfilled near the customers who have ordered them. In the retail industry these are known as “dark stores,” a retail facility that resembles a conventional supermarket but is not open to the public and houses goods used to fulfill orders placed online.
Eventually, though, even these facilities will be abandoned in favor of dedicated logistics centers. In fact, right now Super-Sol is building a 55-million-shekel ($15.6 million), 8,000-square-meter facility in the coastal town of Netanya, which will open in the first half of next year.
Not long after it is completed, Super-Sol expects to have reduced its retail selling space by 7% compared to the end of 2016, and 18% relative to the end of 2012 – a total reduction of 100,000 square meters by the end of 2019.
It is all part of a cost-cutting operation that began in 2014, in response to heightened competition from discount retailers like Rami Levy. More recently, the rapid adoption of online shopping has made the cutback even more urgent.
Super-Sol’s strategy has implications beyond grocery shopping patterns. It’s a big blow to the company’s real-estate unit, which owns many of the stores that it leases to its parent. Super-Sol Real Estate owned 67 of the food retailer’s stores as of the end of last year, and rents another 205 stores from other landlords in Super-Sol’s name.
Super-Sol’s brick-and-mortar retreat is no less a potential blow to mall owners and operators, especially since Super-Sol supermarkets serve as an anchor store for many of these malls.
Super-Sol spun off its real-estate operation four years ago with the idea of eventually taking it public, but since then the unit has become more of a burden than an asset.
Sources at Super-Sol say they aren’t concerned about the shrinking number of stores, saying they should be able to find alternative tenants – but the company’s own financial statements point to a different story: Super-Sol Real Estate’s rental income dropped 3.8% last year to 126 million shekels, while net operating income dropped 4.9% to 118 million shekels.


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- by Steve Dent01.07.2024
The EOS R8 and EOS R100 are very different cameras, but both are marketed as ideal for travel, so I tested them in the Canary Islands.
- by Steve Dent10.11.2023
For those photographers who wait for sales to buy cameras and photography accessories, now is the time to act.
- by Steve Dent08.02.2023
Canon has just unveiled the MS-500, an unusual model that's one of the most sensitive non-infrared cameras ever developed.
- 8710087100by Steve Dent07.18.2023
Canon’s 24-megapixel EOS R50 is the company’s third APS-C camera to launch in the EOS R mount ecosystem and it's a great value at the $680 price point.
- by Steve Dent07.12.2023
If you're looking for a camera for content creation, travel photography and more, Amazon Prime Day has some great deals.
- by Steve Dent05.24.2023
Canon has unveiled its cheapest R-series camera yet, the $480 EOS R100 that's essentially a no-frills version of the EOS R50.
- by Will Shanklin05.15.2023
Hasselblad is reportedly joining Canon and Nikon in phasing out DSLRs. Third-party vendor Capture Integration broke the news, saying on its blog that it received notice that the entire Hasselblad H system lineup is officially discontinued. The move leaves Pentax and Ricoh as the biggest remaining names in the rapidly diminishing DSLR space.
- by Steve Dent02.07.2023
Canon has put Sony and its other rivals on blast with the launch of the $1,500 24-megapixel EOS R8, its cheapest full-frame camera yet.
- 9010090100by Steve Dent01.17.2023
Sony and Canon are locked in a pitched battle for the full-frame mirrorless camera market, and Canon’s latest salvo is the $2,500 EOS R6 II
- by Steve Dent11.02.2022
Just two years after the launch of the original EOS R6, Canon has unveiled its successor, the $2,500 EOS R6 Mark II.
- 8510085100by Steve Dent09.12.2022
Canon’s EOS R10 offers some nice features for a sub-$1,000 camera, but it can produce rolling shutter and lacks in-body stabilization.
- 8910089100by Steve Dent08.04.2022
Today’s review is all about the higher-end $1,500, 32-megapixel EOS R7.
- by Steve Dent05.24.2022
Canon has launched its first EOS R APS-C crop sensor cameras, the 32-megapixel EOS R7 and 24-megapixel EOS R10.
- by Steve Dent03.08.2022
Canon plans to more than double its RF mirrorless lens lineup by 2025, producing around 32 more models over the next four years.
- 8710087100by Steve Dent02.03.2022
Canon's EOS R3 delivers incredible shooting speeds and reliable autofocus, but lacks resolution compared to rival cameras.
- by Steve Dent01.20.2022
Canon has revealed the EOS R5C, a new member of its cinema camera line that's also looks like a very good camera for photos.


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Tommy Hill signs for Swan Yamaha
Tommy Hill will race a factory-spec R1 in BSB next year for Shaun Muir’s Swan-backed Yamaha team.
Muir’s team have ditched the Honda’s they have developed over the past six seasons to run the factory R1s with backing from Yamaha Motor UK, Yamaha Motor Europe and Yamaha Japan.
And with that support, Muir has enticed BSB number three Tommy Hill to their team from Crescent Suzuki who recently lost direct support from the factory for their Worx-backed team but were hoping to continue developing their GSXR-1000s as an independent team, built around Hill.
Hill said: “As soon as we started talking about the prospect of getting a factory Yamaha I knew it would be a special deal. Not only am I getting a factory bike for next year, there could be future prospects with Yamaha.”
Muir added: “The whole idea of the link with the factory is to benefit from their technical support and foster a relationship so our bikes will mirror the WSB R1s.”
Full exclusive story in today’s MCN (Wednesday).


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Coin collecting continues to thrive despite the summer season! In general, summer is a slower time of year. Coin collecting is put on hold while time and money are spent on vacations and other outdoor activities. Dealers have reported some slowdown in sales, but nothing too dramatic compared to what was expected for this time of year. Similarly, gold, silver, and platinum have all seen their spot prices soften over the past two months.
However, demand for bullion and coins with intrinsic value remains high. The demand for newly released U.S. Mint products is high, but the secondary market for these items is weak. This holds only partially true even in this case. The availability of non-circulating legal tender commemoratives varies widely. According to data from the United States Mint that was available when this commentary was written, 219,181 2023 clad proof sets were purchased in the first six days after release, making them the best-selling product at the Mint that week.
What sells and what doesn’t continues to be heavily influenced by factors like quality and scarcity. Although bullion buyers aren’t as active as a few weeks ago, the interest in rare coins as an asset class hasn’t wavered. There are several upcoming auctions of significance, and bidding is expected to be robust.
As in years past, the fall shopping season will likely get underway after the American Numismatic Association convention in August draws large crowds. The hobby of coin collecting is still going strong, with many sought-after items being in short supply due to high demand!


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New Brazil Mobile Observatory Reveals How Increasing Mobile Connectivity, Innovative Mobile Services and World Cup and Olympics Opportunities Will Boost Brazilian Economy and Society
Today the GSMA released its first comprehensive assessment of Brazil’s mobile sector, revealing fresh insights into the breath-taking speed with which mobile technologies have pervaded Brazilian life. The GSMA Brazil Mobile Observatory 1 details the explosive growth of the sector and the range of services that mobile is enabling for Brazil’s citizens.
Brazil is the fourth largest mobile market in the world with more than 260 million active mobile connections, 60 million of which are mobile broadband. Brazil is set to maintain a strong pace of growth and reach 135 million mobile broadband connections by 2014. The increasing uptake of mobile technologies and services, including NFC, mHealth, mEducation and mCommerce, will further shape Brazil’s mobile future.
“Mobile services are at the forefront of Brazil’s transformation through widespread broadband reach and by promoting innovation and affordable data services through major infrastructure investments,” said Franco Bernabè, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group . “There is now a real opportunity for mobile to deliver even greater socio-economic benefit for the country and beyond.”
Exponential Growth of Mobile Data and its New Business Opportunities
As the affordability of smartphones and tablets increases in Brazil, data traffic per user is expected to grow on average by 83 per cent per year between 2008 and 2020, with over 75 million smartphones forecast in 2016. D emand for mobile broadband is expected to increase 19-fold between 2011 and 2016 .
By transforming the way consumers and businesses operate and communicate, mobile broadband services will further increase productivity, allowing local small and medium enterprises to participate in the mobile value chain by producing local content, software and applications. The mobile industry is at the core of the economy’s innovation ecosystem and new services such as mCommerce, mMoney, mHealth, mEducation and Smart Cities will be enabled by technologies such as NFC and machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will only further increase demand for mobile services. The World Cup is expected to generate over one million roaming connections, producing 300 per cent of the normal data traffic for a period of eight weeks . Analysts estimate that during the London 2012 games, 60GB of data crossed the network in the Olympic Park every second, and this figure is likely to grow substantially in four years’ time. Providing extra capacity in such a limited time window will be a major challenge for operators.
Allocating the Digital Dividend to mobile
Mobile net works are likely to come under significant strain if additional spectrum is not continually allocated to mobile services. The 700MHz band, known as the Digital Dividend, is currently allocated in Brazil to broadcasting services but has ideal properties for improving mobile coverage and combines effectively with the 2.5GHz band for seamless availability of 4G services. A GSMA/TAS study recently calculated that the allocation of the 700MHz band for mobile services would provide an additional direct and indirect contribution to the Brazilian GDP of US$ 5.3 billion, and generate over 4,300 job opportunities and additional tax revenue of US$ 1.3 billion 2 .
Simplifying Regulation and Reducing Taxation
Despite the mobile success story in Brazil to date, a number of key constraints on the sector are undermining its full potential. Complex, prolonged approvals by national and local authorities for site and antenna deployment have been identified as the greatest obstacle to further investment by the mobile community. Regulations on power limits for electromagnetic waves and tower build out licensing are just as complicated and unaligned among government bodies, with over 250 different antenna policies. Furthermore, levels of taxation on both mobile consumers and operators in Brazil are amongst the highest in the world.
“Consultative, transparent and stable regulation, greater coordination between local and national authorities and lower taxation will optimise investment opportunities in mobile,” continued Bernabè . “This will be key for successful deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services, making them available in time for the 2014 World Cup.”
Economic and Social Impact of Mobile in 2011
Mobile operators and the wider mobile ecosystem have contributed significantly to Brazil’s economic and employment growth:
- Revenue generation by mobile operators: US$ 14.8 billion in 2011, representing an estimated 2 per cent of Brazilian GDP.
- Investment by mobile operators: almost US$ 23 billion since 2008.
- Direct impact of entire mobile ecosystem 3 : US$ 53.8 billion, an increase of 20 per cent from 2008.
- Overall impact, factoring in increased productivity, price reductions and greater consumer usage: US$ 110.6 billion or approximately 4.6 per cent of GDP.
- Contribution to national employment: 250,000 full-time time employees in the mobile communications industry last year.
The social benefits of mobile in Brazil are extensive and range from greater personal communication and increased social cohesion to access to vital services for people on low incomes and in the most rural areas. With the government’s target of 60 million broadband connections by 2014 already achieved due to the rapid growth and extensive investment of the mobile sector since the introduction of 3G services four years ago, the GSMA is now calling for the government to consider a further role for mobile in Brazil’s strategy for social change.
“The mobile industry will lead to a wave of transformation in the way Brazilians communicate and live their lives,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA. “The country faces a number of challenges in the next years, including the successful delivery of the World Cup and Olympic Games. By working in partnership, operators and government can build on the success story of the mobile industry, extending its unique benefits nationwide and boosting Brazil’s image on the world scene.”
To view the full report, please follow this link: www.gsma.com/MO .
Notes to Editors
1 This is the first ever Brazil edition in the GSMA Mobile Observatory series, prepared by Deloitte for the GSMA, and provides a thorough analysis of the Brazilian mobile communications industry. This Observatory provides the latest statistics and mobile market developments, and is an important reference point for mobile industry members, policy makers and other interested stakeholders. It covers the state of the industry, including the evolution of competition, innovation in new products, services and technologies and the industry’s contribution to social and economic development in Brazil.
2 GSMA/TAS (Telecom Advisory Services) report “Economic Benefits of the Digital Dividend for Latin America” can be accessed at http://www.gsma.com/latinamerica/economic-benefits-of-the-digital-dividend-for-latin-america/
3 Brazil’s wider mobile ecosystem encompasses handset manufacturers, providers of network and support services, local content providers such as “app” developers, and a network of wholesalers and retailers of handsets and airtime.
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem , including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.
Further information about the GSMA’s activity in Latin America can be found at www.gsmala.com.
Tatiana Cantoni (Brazil)
T: +55 11 2858 9190
GSMA Press Office


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Sep 23, 2011:
Ghana has made huge strides in reducing the amount of child laborers on cocoa plantations, due in part to a 10 year fight to get them out of the fields and into the classrooms, IRIN reports.
Aug 16, 2011:
Although the years of conflicts in northern Sri Lanka have subsided, the region is now facing a new challenge - finding adequate teachers to support the newly reopened schools, IRIN reports.
Dec 14, 2010:
Wegmans shoppers at 22 stores in the Rochester, New York, region raised $688,214 for its Check Out Hunger campaign, up 11 percent from last year's dividends, according to the Henrietta Post.


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“We’re this far from taking off,” said a speaker at a pellet boiler firm’s recent sales meeting in Portland, Maine, while holding his thumb and index finger two inches apart. At the same time, another major pellet boiler firm in Maine is pounding the television airwaves with a commercial comparing the price of pellet fuel to heating oil, and Maine’s state energy agency recently announced an incentive program whereby up to 50 residential pellet boiler purchasers will receive rebates up to $5,000. The boiler firms and installers hope that this incentive will prove so popular that it will be extended beyond the initial funding.
Speaking at the 2013 Kedel (a Danish pellet boiler) Summit in Portland, former Biomass Thermal Energy Council Chairman Charlie Niebling was asked what it will take for residential pellet boiler sales in Maine and New Hampshire to achieve liftoff. Niebling suggested that increased tension in the Middle East, thereby spiking oil prices, would be an obvious stimulus. Absent such a spike, Niebling stated that while the pellet sector is “poised to significantly expand,” it behooves the industry to undertake a strong education and promotion program.
Other speakers at the meeting cited the need to answer consumer questions about bulk delivery, the long-term price outlook for pellets, the resale value of homes with central pellet heat, and greenhouse gas emissions. A panel of customers speaking at the end of the meeting emphasized that the desire to “get away from oil,” for both economic and environmental reasons, trumped whatever unanswered questions they had about switching to pellets. A secondary reason cited was a desire to spend their fuel dollars in support of Maine’s forest products economy.
Sales staff at the meeting spoke with confidence, noting that the 20-year longevity of oil burners means that every year, five percent of Maine homeowners are in the marketplace for a new heating system. The marketing pitch is “pellets are half the price of oil, and emit one-tenth the greenhouse gas.”
Will Maine be a significant partner in achieving pellet heat liftoff? According to its critics, the outlook among some trustees and staff at the state’s energy agency, Efficiency Maine, is that economic development considerations—the huge multiplier effect of a heating system using a locally produced fuel—are not central to the agency’s mission. In addition, the “insulation uber alles” crowd continues to demand that no home receive funds for a heating system change-out without the building envelope first being secured, a proposition that often leaves the homeowner with only enough funds for a new oil burner.
There are indications that the insulationists’ shrill arguments, threatening legal action if Efficiency Maine does not interpret an ambiguous section of new state law in their favor, are losing sway at the state agency. Also, Efficiency Maine recently made a modest grant to assist the Northern Forest Center’s promising Model Neighborhood project, which incentivizes pellet boiler installations in a concentrated area of homeowners.
At any rate, Efficiency Maine has just announced a wide range of incentives designed to reduce both energy demand and heating costs. Pellet stove purchasers will receive a $250 rebate provided the stove is EPA-approved and makeup air is ducted into the unit. Homeowners installing heat pumps or efficient new gas, propane, or oil furnaces will receive $500 rebates. The first 50 homeowners to install pellet boilers meeting HUD Energy Saver standards—or geothermal heat—will receive a $5,000 rebate, which is approximately the incentive amount that has proved most effective in selling pellet boilers.
Our industry up here obviously hopes that this incentive, sales force enthusiasm, the media advertising being done by one boiler firm—Maine Energy Systems—promoting pellet heat in general, and word-of-mouth recognition of our product quality will get us into a sharply upward flight path.
Customer support service by UserEcho


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The Buzz: Gnome Games to open in Darboy
Gnome Games Appleton East, a tabletop game store, is under construction in Darboy at W3192 Outagamie County KK, between Dickey’s and Doolittlez in the strip mall east of Kohl’s.
The store should open by early October.
Gnome Games has two locations in Green Bay, including one with seating for more than 400 people for in-store gaming events and tournaments.
“Board games are our backbone,” said Pat Fuge, co-owner with wife Paula. “Everything we do is unplugged.”
Fuge said coming to the Fox Cities makes sense given the number of existing customers.
“We see a lot of Appleton families that come and play in our Green Bay stores right now,” he said.
In Darboy, the small store will be able to seat 30 for daily events. It will have leagues and tournaments for collectible card games like Pokemon.
The staff will also take age-appropriate games into schools, churches and nursing homes for game nights as a free community outreach.
“The purpose is to get families to sit down at the table to play with each other. We currently do about 100 game nights a year,” Fuge said. “We’ve seen some Appleton schools already sign up.”
— Maureen Wallenfang: 920-993-7116, or firstname.lastname@example.org; on Twitter @wallenfang


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Dr. Carmichael IPC, President of Philip Greater China, said that China and Taiwan's electronic assembly (EMS) companies are evolving to the original design manufacturer (ODM) model. The majority of EMS companies in North America also focus on PCB assembly, China's EMS companies have been more concerned about the end product manufacturing. Foxconn Technology Group / Foxconn is a good example, Foxconn OEM for Apple iPhone is very successful, and now Foxconn has been developing its own brand of products. This diversification strategy based on a large customer will help Foxconn in the future have a steady growth. In addition, they found that there are more companies in the use of international standards and norms to improve the consistency and quality of their products.
For the future development trend of global and Chinese electronics assembly industry, Dr. Carmichael said, the original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) outsourcing business growth, the development speed of assembly industry over the development of the electronics industry in any other sub sector. The growth of the electronics industry is relatively slow, especially in China. China electronic assembly enterprises have been widely infiltrated OEM outsourcing market, while the North American EMS enterprises on the OEM market penetration remains to be increased. This difference in the evolution of the industry between China and other regions, is narrowing the difference in the speed of development of the assembly industry in different regions. EMS industry analyst Sherman Randall forecast, as of 2017, the compound annual growth rate of China's electronic assembly industry (CAGR) will grow at a rate of 8.6%, CAGR in North America and Europe is 7.7%. And in the EMS Sherman report and "IPC quarter of the global EMS business report", details of the EMS industry sales growth data, profit rate, utilization rate and other important indicators of management, and in accordance with the regional data respectively.
Dr. Carmichael also said that the show's newly introduced APEX IPC elements will bring significant changes in 2013, is expected to effectively expand the scope of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) part of the exhibits. This show in the electronic manufacturing industry has been playing a leading role, has become the industry enterprises, talent, technology, market exchange and development of trade, business opportunities indispensable platform. "Dr. Carmichael said," we must continue to maintain and expand the advantages of the exhibition, to help more enterprises to build the business relationship, but also will better integrate the various sectors of industry supply chain resources, to further promote the development of industry."


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This week on the CGPodcast the crew are joined by film Critic Phil Brown as they discuss the latest from Comics, Gaming and Movies.
It seems like there are new games released almost every year these days. Some people snatch these things up right away at $60 a pop
kotaku.com: Well, someone had to go first. As far as history will be concerned, Nintendo did one thing and one thing only in 2012: they released a brand new console, putting the first of three nails into the coffin of a seven year old generation. That sounded weird
Next year is shaping up to be a pretty big year for console gamers. Grand Theft Auto V, Dead Space 3, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, just to name a few. And that’s only for the first-half of 2013!PlayStation 3 has a handful of exciting exclusives, including The Last Of Us, Beyond and the Sly Cooper reboot (which is arriving a few years too late for my liking).But for the 360, exclusive brands are nowhere to be seen, aside from the under-the-radar Gears of War: Judgement, which feels like a forced tide-over of a tired franchise until the next Xbox arrives.So why has Microsoft done so little to evolve its exclusives lineup for Xbox 360 beyond 2012
OXM – With next generation consoles heavily predicted to launch next year, the world is awash with mystery right now. Recently, for instance, I happened upon an intriguing combination of two elements – one, an empty bottle of lager on my desk, and two, the striking absence of Matt


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Now Available: PR “Express” Services
June 5, 2011
Beginning June 1, BroadBased will offer a new line of public relations services titled PR Express. This line of “express” services will provide small businesses and start-ups the benefit of agency expertise with a minimum of commitment and cost.
This offering focuses on non-retained, one-time projects including:
- Industry-based media list development
- Special event list development
- Single press release writing
- Promotional writing
- Press release distribution
- PR-managed social media projects
For more information on PR Express, please email Maria Coppola, PR Director, at Maria@bbased.com.


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Items sought for Kent Food Bank
Updated 12:02 pm, Saturday, May 16, 2015
Kent Cub Scout Pack 11 and Boy Scouts Troop 11 will co-sponsor a food drive May 23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Davis IGA in Kent.
Items are sought to restock the Kent Food Bank.
For more information, email firstname.lastname@example.org or call 860-927-1586


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Palm Inc. cut back its net losses for the third fiscal quarter on a sharp jump in sales. For the third fiscal quarter, Palm
reported a net loss of $18.5 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a loss of $95 million, or 89 cents a share, for the same period the previous year. Excluding certain charges, the company said it would have lost $102.8 million, or 61 cents a share, for the recent period. Revenue more than tripled to $350 million compared with $90.6 million in the same period last year. On a non-GAAP basis, Palm said revenue would have been $366 million. Analysts were expecting the company to report a loss of 42 cents a share on revenue of $316.2 million, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters.


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A recent podcast with Xbox head Phil Spencer has shared more about the upcoming Fable game including assuring fans of the series that the game is in “amazing” hands.
Fable Game in ‘Amazing’ Hands Says Xbox’s Phil Spencer
The Fable title was revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase last year, and many hoped a new trailer may appear during the E3 2021 showcase this year, however this was not the case. This means we’re still awaiting a progress update on the game’s development under studio Playground Games.
While there aren’t many details surrounding the game a recent podcast between Xbox Head Phil Spencer and Dropped Frames shared a small update on Fable. Spencer talks about the developer Playground games, sharing that fans should have every “confidence” in the studio and that the development team are “amazing”:
The only thing I can really say about Fable is, seeing the pedigree of the team and Playground, and where they set the bar for themselves in building a game – I think that showed with the Forza Horizon 5 preview that they had – I think people should just take confidence in that [studio director] Gavin [Raeburn] and the team there has that same level of focus on doing something amazing with an IP that we know is really important to a lot of Xbox fans, so we can’t wait to get to show more, but the team is just amazing.
The podcast covered a number of topics, but this gives hope to Fable fans that game is in the right hands, at least in Spencer’s eyes.
So far we have only seen a trailer which was shown when the game was first revealed. The trailer shows a very much fantasy world, narrated with a bit of humour. Not many other details were revealed apart from platforms Xbox Series X, PC and that the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass when it launches.
Previously there was a rumour that the Fable would not be an MMO but will still have online features. The rumour also shared that the game will be an Action-RPG with co-op gameplay. However none of these details have been confirmed.
Fable has been announced to be coming to Xbox Series X, PC and Xbox Games Pass.
For more news find it here in Elder Scrolls Online Midyear Mayhem Event Returns June 24th and Neo The World Ends With You Demo Release Time Plus Gameplay Trailer.


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New Delhi, Since Reliance Jio has been launched various trolls are being made on Bharti Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and various other companies. But seems like BSNL is ready to take on Jio, as BSNL is going to provide promotional unlimited wireline broadband plan which will provide 1 GB of data to customers in less than 1 RS. if they use more than 300 GB Data in a single month.
The Telecom (BSNL) PSU said ” BSNL is going to launch a very cost-effective and affordable promotional unlimited broadband plan “Unlimited BB 249″ from September 9,2016″. This will surely attract new customers and will affect Reliance Jio badly. He further added that ” Under this plan, customers can download unlimited broadband data without bothering about any data limit in GB , BSNL shall offer 2 Mbps speed under this plan”. BSNL plan is simple you can download upto 300 GB in just RS. 249 per month.
Shrivastav, BSNL PSU further added that “BSNL is the only operator in the whole country providing lowest per GB data download cost plan under broadband services in the whole country”.


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The LCS Group recently participated in the bidding for the country?s third major telco but lost out to the Mislatel consortium led by emerging tycoon Dennis Uy.
?Many Filipinos still have no access to a bank account, which prevents them from saving for their future and participating in basic financial transactions, such as simple payments,? Singson said. ?GCC aims to change all that by offering a ubiquitous currency that they can use for nearly all types of transactions, both in the country and abroad.?
In mid-2019, LCS will list GCC in local cryptocurrency exchanges, where it can be traded for fiat money or other digital currencies.
According to Singson, a phone application for GCC payments will be introduced that enables bill payments and online and in-store purchases with affiliate retailers and banks, beginning with transactions among companies owned by LCS.
The app is being developed with Billing System Corp., a Japanese fintech company that previously developed the PayB payment app.
?We plan to leverage the entire LCS network, in addition to partnerships with other vendors and firms, to drive mass adoption, which in turn will increase GCC?s market value,? Singson explained.
LCS is involved in several industries, including banking, mining, transportation, renewable energy, and, most recently, telecommunications.?
One non-LCS company that has already expressed interest in GCC?s usage was Hallohallo Inc., an e-commerce company involved in online shopping, property services, and classifieds.
Hallohallo members, numbering over 2.9 million, may start using GCC on their purchases as early as the first quarter of 2019.
?We are delighted to have this opportunity to be part of the Gold Chavit Coin project,? Hallohallo CEO Yasunari Okada said. ?As our company and market continues to expand and change, there is a need to provide a service that will offer our customers an innovative way to settle bills. Through this project, our clients will now have another payment method option that will make all their transactions hassle-free, easy and fast.?
GCC will be based on ERC-20, a standard for smart contracts used exclusively in the Etherium blockchain network. Virtual currencies following ERC-20 standards can be shared or exchanged with other tokens and crypto-assets that use the same standard.
Blockchain transactions are secure because they are not stored in a single server, but distributed across a network of computers. Each blockchain transaction requires the consensus of the network, making it difficult for a single entity to tamper with the data.
?Blockchain in the Philippines remains in its infancy, but it has tremendous disruptive potential that can help not only individuals, but also the economy as a whole by further expanding e-commerce access in the country,? Singson said. ?GCC is our contribution to that effort.?]]>


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Optimism by small business owners rose in October from the same period a year ago, according to a new Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey.
Although optimism was higher last month, the survey results still remain near historic lows.
Small business owner optimism increased to minus 15 from a minus 21 in the year-over-year October period, according to the survey of more than 600 business owners throughout the country. Owners were surveyed about financial situation, cash flow, revenues, capital allocation spending, job hiring and credit availability. When the economy was stronger, the survey reached a high of 114 in December 2006, according to a Wells Fargo news release.
Rolf Boone, The Olympian


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The legendary American Progressive Rock band, ‘Kansas’, celebrated the 40th anniversary of their album ‘Leftoverture’ at The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles, California. The night was filled with classic songs such as ‘Icarus – Borne on Wings of Steel’, ‘Dust in the Wind’, and the classic ‘Carry On Wayward Son’.
The group also performed tracks from their latest album ‘The Prelude Implicit’, which came out in Spetember of last year.
KANSAS will be expanding their highly successful Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour to more parts of the United States in the fall of 2017! Billboard announced the expansion of the tour in an exclusive article and interview here:
For the first time in its 43-year history, the band is performing the hit album in its entirety. The tour showcases more than two hours of classic KANSAS music including hit songs, deep cuts, and new songs from their new album, The Prelude Implicit.
Based on incredible demand, dates have been confirmed for a final U.S. leg of the Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour across cities such as San Francisco, CA; San Diego, CA; Houston, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Topeka, KS; Champaign, IL; Wichita, KS; Knoxville, TN; Toledo, OH; Jacksonville, FL; and many more.
“We are having so much fun doing these Leftoverture 40th Anniversary shows, we just want to keep doing them,” comments KANSAS guitarist and original member Richard Williams. “We had no idea when we started doing these, last fall, that they would be so popular. When we first started discussing this concept, we were just hoping to be able to do ten of these type shows. We would not have predicted we would end up doing nearly 70 of them. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up 2017, before taking a break from the road at the beginning of 2018, to record a new studio album.”
KANSAS pre-sale tickets, Wheat & Greet VIP Packages, and Premium Seat Packages for most new Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour dates will be available at 10 AM local time on Friday, March 24, using passcode KANSASBAND. More information, including pre-sale ticket & VIP Package links will be available at www.kansasband.com or at the band’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/kansasband. Tickets for most shows go on sale to the general public at 10AM local time on March 31.
In 1976, KANSAS released the album Leftoverture. Containing the smash hit and million-selling single “Carry On Wayward Son,” along with fan favorites such as “The Wall,” “Miracles Out Of Nowhere,” and “What’s On My Mind,” Leftoverture became the band’s breakthrough album. The album peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Album charts and reached sextuple-platinum status with more than six million copies sold. They are performing the album in its entirety on this tour.
The Prelude Implicit, the band’s most recent album, which was released on September 23rd, marked KANSAS’ biggest selling week in the Soundscan era, and the highest charting release since Power (1986). The album reached #14 on the Top 200 album chart, #41 on the Billboard 200, #5 for Rock Albums, #6 for Physical Albums, #17 on the Vinyl Albums chart and more. The Prelude Implicit is now available for purchase in stores and online at Best Buy, Amazon, Apple Music, FYE, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Spotify and Independent Record Shops. Links to select retailers can be found below:
Amazon – http://amzn.to/2cWwNRp
Best Buy – http://bit.ly/2da7bBI
iTunes/Apple Music – http://apple.co/2aSjBQc
Wal-Mart – http://bit.ly/2d2Fgog
Independent Record Shops – http://recordstoreday.com/Stores
Spotify – http://spoti.fi/2b0Oi3j
Google Play http://bit.ly/2asRFhn
Kansas is a progressive rock band that formed in Topeka, Kansas, United States in 1970. The band is best known for their international hit singles “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind”, from 1976 and 1977 respectively.
The band’s classic lineup consisted of Steve Walsh (lead vocals and keyboards), Richard Williams (lead guitar), Kerry Livgren (keyboards and guitar), Robby Steinhardt (violin, lead and backing vocals), Dave Hope (bass) and Phil Ehart (drums). Read more on Last.fm


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Guerlain’s 2023 Muguet Millesime: Spring Blossoms in a Bottle
A ceramic artist’s magic transforms Guerlain’s 2023 Muguet Millesime bottle.
It has become a beloved May tradition. For over 110 years, Guerlain has celebrated spring with a new iteration of its legendary Muguet perfume. The eloquently composed fragrance, presented in a limited-edition Bee Bottle crafted by exceptional artisans, is a tribute to the delicate lily-of-the-valley blossom.
For the release of Muguet Millesime 2023, also marking the 170th anniversary of the iconic Bee Bottle design, Guerlain tapped the talent of ceramic artist Karen Swami. Inspired by the graceful shape and smooth texture of lily-of-the-valley, Swami has crafted a creamy white bell of six oversized petals draped over the neck and shoulders of the bottle.
The piece was brought to life by the workshops of Porcelaine Arquié in Limoges, France, in an extensive collaboration process requiring the production of 5,000 flowers according to Swami’s prototype. To evoke the blossom’s leaves, Guerlain has turned to Ateliers Vermont to fashion an intricately embroidered pale green tulle bow that ties around the bottle’s neck.
The Muguet Millesime fragrance itself is a refreshing twist on the classic: a verdant opening of leaves, sap, and moss, leading to a heady floral bouquet of jasmine sambac, rose, and lily-of-the-valley essence, all extracted from a precious harvest carefully selected by the perfumer. Once again, Guerlain accomplishes a work of art that celebrates perfumery and artisanship alike.


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Concern about supply chain disruptions triggered by the Lunar New Year holiday that began yesterday is running higher this year than last, according to a survey from the German container logistics platform Container xChange.
Seventy-three percent of supply chain professionals expect the event, which also known as Chinese New Year, to further disrupt the shipping industry this year, as opposed to 66% who said the same thing in 2022.
Specifically, most respondents said the impacts they expect will include “an increase in port congestions and delays” and “delayed container journeys” soon after China reopens. That contrasts with last year’s survey results, when most industry professionals feared capacity issues and higher rates as the holiday’s aftermath.
The Lunar New Year celebration spans countries and cultures throughout Asia, but may have its biggest business impact in China because of that nation’s stature as a global manufacturing center. During the 15-day holiday, so many people travel to spend time with their families that many factories and logistics facilities are forced to slow down or shut their doors entirely.
That effect may be multiplied further in 2023 due to China’s recent decision to lift its harsh “Zero covid” isolation and quarantine rules, freeing citizens to travel again to celebrate the “Year of the Rabbit” after years in lockdown.
“There are added, and new complexities ahead coupled with Chinese New Year where at one end we see China coping with the Covid infections, and on the other end we see a continued dip in demand,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release. “We cannot see Chinese New Year in isolation but in combination with all these challenges. The biggest concern is the reduced production and port capacity due to the infections in China. Also, the rates are low, capacity management is still a top priority for carriers and blank sailings are prominent. Amidst this, in the coming weeks, we foresee prolonged factory closures and bearish market conditions.”
The firm’s annual survey included replies from 2,300 respondents, including both freight forwarders and supply chain professionals in general.


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The sad reality is that many times a stolen phone is just not going to come back to you. There are a lot of iPhones out there and not enough police to recover them all, especially in New York City where so-called “Apple picking” is rampant. But one girl caught a break when none other than the person who stole her phone was the one who ultimately ended up reuniting her with it. [More]
The worst kept secret in telephony is that there is a new Apple iPhone coming in the fall. Thus, some of the big box retailers that offer the current version of the device are starting to offer discounts to clear inventory. Apple stores are not advertising any such price drops, but a new report claims that employees have been given authorization to offer price matches.
If you want an iPhone but don’t want to sign up for a two-year contract, you’ve been out of luck. But the popular device is about to cross over into the world of pre-paid wireless plans when it makes its debut on the Leap Wireless network on June 22.
We often hear from readers who can’t get their mobile phone carriers to provide unlock codes so they can use their phone on a different network, even just while traveling abroad. AT&T only recently started providing unlock codes to customers with iPhones, and Josh managed to get one for his iPhone 4S. There was one weird condition: he had to sever his ties with AT&T forever. They couldn’t provide the code and keep him as a customer. Wha?
Yesterday, the same day that Apple announced its new iPad would be able to access AT&T and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, AT&T iPhone 4S owners received an update to their devices — and suddenly millions of people who had been told their phone didn’t work on 4G networks now had a little icon that reads “4G.” But it’s really just the same speed they had the day before.
Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant on the iPhone 4S, knows to chide you gently when you swear at her, and she can handle complicated questions about the meaning of life and whether love is real. But faced with a thick Scottish burr, Siri fumbles.
Built up expectations boiled over into an all out egg fight, complete with shoving matches, when Apple’s Beijing store told customers they wouldn’t be selling the iPhone 4S as scheduled. You keep people away from their shiny toys, and that’s what you get — food rage.
We knew it was just a matter of time before Siri got fed up with the whole nice, iPhone voice-activated assistance thing and showed her true colors. A young boy in London was trying out one of the phones in a store and asked Siri, “How many people are there in the world?” and got quite the potty-mouthed response.
Readers know that we are huge fans of happy resolutions here at Consumerist, so even if it takes two posts and almost as many months, we are pleased to hand out props where they are due. David’s trials and tribulations involving a Sprint iPhone 4S with slow data speeds was first posted on this very site on Oct. 31. And now, he reports, all’s well that ends well.
Siri, the helpful virtual assistant in the iPhone 4S, will help you find the nearest Thai restaurant, tell you your nearby options to get an oil change and suggest places to get a haircut. What she reportedly won’t tell you, for now, is where to find an abortion clinic.
Users met the release of Apple’s new operating system, iOS 5, with complaints of battery life issues and bugs involving Siri, the digital assistant. Apple is attempting to smooth things out with a software fix called iOS 5.0.1, which it’s beta testing with a small group of users.
One of the best moments for those of us at Consumerist is when we’re directly able to help one of you, our fellow consumers, in resolving a sticky situation. And so it is with great displeasure that we must update the story of a Sprint iPhone 4S user in such an unsatisfactory way.
When Apple last overhauled the iPhone, our corporate cousins at Consumer Reports ruled that, in spite of all the device’s positives, they could not recommend it because of the so-called “death grip” issue, a fundamental design flaw that could lead to weakened signals or dropped calls if the user placed their hand over a certain spot on the edge of the phone. Now that the iPhone 4S has hit the market and the testers at CR have had the chance to put it through its paces, would the new phone fare better than its predecessor?
It’s been almost a week since some iPhone 4S users began complaining about their batteries not charging or draining too quickly and all the while Apple had remained quiet on the topic. But today, the cool kids of Cupertino confirmed that some glitches in the latest iPhone operating system appear to be the cause of the problem.
While purchasing items online is often very convenient, when it comes to returning said products, some retailers make it anything but easy — even if they have brick-and-mortar stores. Consumerist reader David had a frustrating experience attempting to return a Sprint iPhone 4S.
Our lab-coated colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports are still testing various features of the iPhone 4S, so we don’t have their verdict on its battery life yet. But many customers online, including reader Bill, are already complaining that the battery drains much too quickly, and never fully charges to 100%.
Customers like Stacey thought they were doing the responsible thing by pre-ordering the iPhone 4S and having it delivered to their doorsteps, instead of queuing up on release day. But now some customers won’t get their preordered phones for weeks while brick-and-mortar stores have stacks of them, and they can’t even cancel the preorders to go buy one from a local store.
Until a few minutes ago, most of us had barely heard of C Spire Wireless, even by its previous name of Cellular South. Regardless, the wireless provider with only about a million customers announced today that it is now taking orders for the iPhone 4S.


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has been a long time coming, but the financial services revolution is finally here! Disruptive trends across markets, industries and demographics are driving new thinking and opportunities for investors, consumers and other stakeholders in the industry. Over the years, money as a transaction medium has evolved, from cash to card, from digital to virtual payments. It seems that advancements in technology will be a catalyst for further disruption. Welcome to the 21st century where Cloud-based technology, cryptocurrencies and borderless banking are no longer the future, but today’s reality.t
So, what are some of the most exciting trends in financial services?
API, Digital and Mobile Banking
Great advancement in digital and mobile technology has changed the way we live, work and communicate. From shopping online to booking a taxi, many of us now organise our lives through our mobile phones. Managing money this way has been challenge, until recently with the advent of neo or challenger banks. Revolut, Monzo, Starling, Atom, N26 and many others have successfully designed what is a “perfect” bank account. They’ve built digital-only, innovative banks offering features such as faster payments, contactless cards and real-time transaction processing. What they offer today’s customer is better control over their finances, using data analytics to access to a mobile market of products and services that best fit their financial needs. Perhaps the best of the latest developments is ‘borderless’ banking, pioneered by Transferwise. It has introduced the borderless scheme to improve efficiency of sending money abroad. It’s cost-effective for small businesses and is not constrained by country or currencies.
Death of a Password
The demise of passwords was constantly mooted over the last 10 years. It is now being hastened by ineffective password security, changes in technology, plus regulatory, commercial and competitive pressures. The rise in data breaches and identity theft is driving a rethink of passwords. Identity theft has reached record levels and the breached organisations are now feeling the pinch, to the tune of USD 6 million according to Dashlane. Great advancement in digital theft is driving changes towards a different kind of online identification process. Visa recently announced that it was eliminating the use of static passwords for its online authentication service, Verified by Visa, from April 2018. Elsewhere, the PSD2 in Europe requires strong customer authentication for all electronic payments. Exemptions aside, financial institutions must now perform two-factor authentication for face-to-face and remote transactions.
Changes in technology are also challenging password dominance. Today, advancements in smartphone cameras and fingerprint sensors enable the capture and verification of biometric details. This makes the new authentication methods, such as fingerprints, facial, voice or iris recognition and heartbeat possible. Smartphones have become a trusted token through the analysis of various device-related factors. Recent innovations such as Blockchain or distributed ledger technology also offer alternative ways to organise and strengthen identity systems.
One Click Checkout
Perhaps the most advanced payment technology has already become a reality in the retail industry. Developed by the visionary team at Smart Engine, it constitutes a blend of image recognition and deep learning software. How does it work? Well, one can take a picture of an advertisement and the application will instantly recognise the product within the advertisement. Then, in real time, the software will locate the same product in a connected ecommerce store, allowing the user to check out in one-click. Such a simple idea streamlines and enhances the entire ecommerce value chain, enabling merchants to close the gap between physical and digital. As digital payments become more popular, it will help firms optimise ecommerce customer experience.
Overlaps between GDPR and PSD2
A revolutionary development in Europe’s payments industry is the revised PSD2, which promises to unlock bank customer data for the benefit of consumers. PSD2 is a key piece of payments-related legislation in Europe, which aims to bring into scope new types of payment services, increasing competition, enhancing security and customer competition. Under the directive, payment institutions will be required to make customer data available to authorised third parties, with the account holder’s explicit consent. Similarly, GDPR is a regulation, which intends to unify and strengthen data protection for data subjects within the member states and will impose new fines on firms that do not adequately safeguard their data. Given, the overlaps between the two directives, one would assume that there have been interactions to align the similarities as well as address the conflicts. And, precisely because of this lack of configuration, it will fall to the national regulatory authorities to interpret the potential differences, with the data protection authorities enforcing the GDPR, while the appointed national financial regulators will take the responsibility of enforcing PSD2.
The eCommerce marketplace
Hot on the heels of PSD2 are the issues facing the high growth of ecommerce marketplaces, who control up to 39% of the global online retail market, according to Gijs op de Weegh (COO, Payvision). This presents any platform that hosts multiple vendors with a great opportunity for massive international growth. However, PSD2 will widen the scope of businesses that need to be regulated, including intermediary parties that handle funds from both seller and buyer, who will be required to own a payment institution license. To mitigate this, licensed payment service providers (PSPs) like Acapture have developed a specific payment solution for the online marketplace client, designed to eliminate all barriers to cross-border transactions and growth. Using artificial intelligence, they have also designed SlicePay, an automated system for simplifying and unifying complex transaction settlements. The huge proliferation of data generated across the online world makes this an extremely useful tool. Not only that, it provides actionable data analysis to improve processes, reduce fraud and strengthen customer services. To prosper in the hugely competitive internet age, the use of data science to optimise growth will critically vital.
Automated KYC Compliance
One of the most anticipated benefits of distributed ledgers is the challenge to streamline and automate ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) processes. Fully digitised platforms will eliminate the need for paper documents and offer real time identity verification. Thorough checks through global anti-terrorist and financial crime risk databases, cross-references with stolen ID card databases and third party address verification solutions offer a robust and reliable solution. Pioneers such as Know Your Customer use customer data and documents transmitted are fully encrypted to our secure server using the latest cyber-security technology. Verification data and document scans are presented in a fully electronic form to your risk officer for easy access, electronic filing and customer documentation maintenance.
Digitalisation in the Emerging Markets
Without a doubt, the digital financial services (FS) revolution may have even a greater impact in the Emerging Markets (EM) where traditional banking isn’t widely available. For example, Kenya’s mPESA as we all know pioneered mobile banking, an innovation that has been successfully copied globally. But, FS regulatory restrictions partly hindered the scalability of the technology across Africa. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Today, the landscape is different. Advancement in technology and regional integration plans opens a new era in EM financial services. “Borderless Banking” in my opinion is a revolutionary step forward, following on from international money transfers, driven by the likes of WorldRemit. “Instant Payments” will also improve business robustness and transparency for all stakeholders. As EM innovators such as Goldswans step up to design solutions that meet local consumers needs, government deregulation of FS, as is the case with PSD2 in Europe, will help, too. “Agency Banking” in some countries is a welcome start towards this change. For the billions of the “unbanked”, who have no proper access to finance, the transformative power of technology would be life-changing.
Forecasting the Future
The future of financial services will depend on continuous innovation that solves problems, with APIs and interfaces that are fully integrated and enabled to collaborate. PSD2 will require banks to open their data, which will enable consumers to aggregate all their bank accounts in one place. As an example, eWise’s data aggregation platform (Aegis) will enable end-users to privately and securely aggregate, store, manage and share their financial information. Another ground-breaking innovation is the augmentation of raw transactional data, a key step in building financial apps that assist consumers in understanding their financial spending patterns. “Categorisation-as-a-Service” makes the process frictionless by combining big data driven AI for auto categorisation. Income verification and spend analysis highlight risk factors used for a richer credit scoring experience, reducing the risk of default due to borrowers’ financial deep knowledge. Understanding users’ spend patterns and behaviours will help firms to develop better Money Management tools: cash flow forecasting, predictive spend analysis and auto-budgeting. Mining data from user’s transactions will determine customer behaviour to help in fraud detection.
Given the challenges that financial services face today, the race for supremacy in the golden internet age is only beginning. There will be winners and losers. Innovators, unafraid to take risk, will face up to the challenges ahead. They will talk to customers, understand what they need and design solutions to solve their problems. Access to data will be key to staying ahead of competition. Any sort of data will give useful insights and intelligence about customer behaviours. Corporate decision-making will increasingly use analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The end-state is that almost every business is going to be automated to the point where very few people are needed to run it. Michael Dubno (former Goldman Sachs CTO) notes that change is coming sooner than later. People will become “a smaller component of financial transactions, as the quality of software and data increases in importance. In the end, their role will be limited to face-2-face value-addition, and not transactional business.”


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Sponsored by AGTA
3 Indicted in $6.5M Diamond Investment Scheme
A federal grand jury in Dallas has indicted three men on various charges stemming from their alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud investors.
Dallas--Three Texas men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on various charges stemming from their alleged involvement in a diamond investment fraud scheme run between March 2011 and November 2013.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, three defendants--Craig Allen Otteson, 64, Jay Bruce Heimburger, 58, and Christopher Arnold Jiongo, 55--surrendered to federal authorities on Sept. 9 and made their first court appearances that afternoon.
They were all released on bond.
The 10-count indictment charges each defendant with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. Otteson and Heimburger also are each charged with six counts of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, Otteson acted as the managing member and chief compliance officer of Stonebridge Advisors LLC in Dallas, which was involved as the managing partner of Worldwide Diamond Ventures LP, a company that bought and resold diamonds on the international market but filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas in October 2013.
The indictment alleges that initially the defendants attempted to raise funds for Worldwide Diamond by offering the sale of additional limited partnerships--with a minimum amount of $100,000--in the company, but were unable to raise sufficient capital funds this way.
Then, in March 2011, the defendants attempted to raise additional necessary funds by offering “Non-Recourse Promissory Notes” (diamond notes), hiring three outside companies to market and sell the diamond notes to investors in Texas, Pennsylvania and California. Each $50,000 diamond note had a nine-month maturity date and an 8 percent rate of return.
The defendants promised investors that all of their funds would only be used to purchase and resell diamonds but defrauded them by concealing that they used nearly $2.5 million of the capital to make unauthorized loans to third parties.
Between March 2011 and May 2013, a total of 77 investors sunk approximately $6.5 million into the company.
If convicted, Otteson, Heimburger and Jiongo face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The indictment also includes a “forfeiture allegation” requiring them, upon conviction, to forfeit the proceeds obtained as a result of the fraud.
The attorney’s office did not respond to a request for more information on what was next for Otteson, Heimburger and Jiongo.
All proceeds up to $25,000 will benefit the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ youth.
Experience all the Italian Jewelry market has to offer in Las Vegas.
It’s a reminder that life is best lived with discretion.
The end-to-end software allows for real-time control over all sales, inventory, repairs, customer communications, and marketing.
Associate Editor Lenore Fedow shares her impressions of the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show and a few of her favorite finds.
Provide your customers with a seamless selling solution by partnering with Windsor Jewelers, Inc.
The Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences aims to set a color standard for the trade name.
Kate Della Monica, a senior specialist in the Jewelry and Watches department, will relocate to the Sunshine State.
LVMH’s investment arm has taken a stake in Lusix, a lab-grown diamond company based in Israel.
Sotheby’s New York put a colorless diamond and a fancy deep orange-brown diamond up for sale last week, with mixed results.
The organization also extended the terms of Vice President Feriel Zerouki and Treasurer Ronnie VanderLinden.
After suffering a professional setback, columnist Peter Smith reflects on our ability to bounce back even when the hits keep on coming.
Glatz owned and operated Glatz Jewelers in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania for more than 40 years.
The organization will present three awards at its annual dinner, dance, and gala in October.
The New York jeweler also made the pop star’s wedding bands.
It’s predicted to sell for up to $484,000 during the Bonhams Hong Kong Jewels and Jadeite auction on June 22.
The recipient will receive up to $17,500 toward a tech-focused certification or program of their choice.
The alleged scheme involving fake “Love” bracelets, necklaces and rings was designed to circumvent Amazon’s counterfeit detection tools.
Its new collection with subtle swirl designs draws inspiration from the family’s Armenian roots.


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Zee5 HiPi was first announced in July front And now a month later Zee5 has introduced its beta version for Android users. The company has approached more than 400 influencers to attract new users to its platform.
It is worth noting that this time to launch HiPi is definitely very difficult, because TikTok in India ban Since then, many apps have caught the attention of people like Bolo Indya, Chingari, Mitron, Roposo, and ShareChat’s Moj app. Recently Instagram has also introduced Reels feature as its short video platform, in which users create and share their short videos of Tiktok.
The HiPi experience is going to be just like any other short video platform. In this, more than 100 videos will be available for viewing in vertical scrolling, which you can like and share on other social media platforms.
Let us tell you, Zee5 HiPi can be used only by users of 18 years or above, although this platform will only ask the creator for his/her date of birth for verification, at present it is not clear how this rule will be implemented.


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| May 27, 2014
| 6:04 AM
Thousands of apartments have been added to the Chicago marketplace in the past four years and with the supply of rental units still growing, so too are the number of websites and mobile apps designed to help renters navigate the search process.
| May 20, 2014
| 9:07 PM
Suddenly, the curtain of privacy dropped away, and there was billionaire Sheldon Adelson, one of the planet's most reclusive business magnates, taking a decidedly public stand on an issue he calls close to his heart: Internet gaming.
He calls it...
| Apr 25, 2014
| 11:21 AM
Whether you stay or go, it's smart to back up important files, photos and other information from your computer and other electronic devices.
MICROSOFT allows users to store data in the cloud with OneDrive. Once you create a free account, you...
| May 23, 2014
| 6:35 AM
| May 12, 2014
| 4:06 PM
Even before he released the first summary, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has been trying to set the record straight about his Net neutrality proposal. But when the actual language is released this week, critics may still reject...
| May 8, 2014
| 10:30 AM
Regarding an editorial that appeared in The Aegis, while we at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration appreciate the interest in promoting the MVA's "Anywhere, Anytime" online campaign, the editorial mischaracterizes the recent policies enacted to...
| May 13, 2014
| 6:21 PM
In a sweeping ruling, Europe's highest court placed unprecedented power in the hands of consumers to determine what personal information can be displayed in Web search engine results.
The so-called "right to be forgotten" case specifically targeted...
| May 19, 2014
| 9:23 PM
Two state attorneys general have reached nationwide settlements with an online address changing service to settle accusations that it deceived customers. Thousands of customers of change-my-address.com/change-of-address.us will receive refunds from a $3...
| May 14, 2014
| 2:30 PM
Canadian distributor Search Engine Films has received a seven-figure investment from Abbolita Films, aimed at expanding Search Engine's distribution operations.
Search Engine, founded last year by president John Bain, plans to be actively buying at...
| May 14, 2014
| 6:28 PM
Judges on Europe's highest court may have thought they were striking a blow for individual privacy when they ruled Tuesday that search engines could be ordered to stop linking to sensitive or older information about people online, even if it had been...
| May 15, 2014
| 7:55 AM
Orlando-based digital marketing firm .Com Marketing has been acquired by Cedar Falls, Iowa-based direct marketing agency EdgeCore.
Despite the new ownership, .Com Marketing will be staying in Orlando and won’t change its name, a spokeswoman for...


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Verizon Media’s Yahoo Cricket has launched their latest Daily Fantasy Cricket Game in India. The game is currently based on Indian Premier League (IPL) where users can create their own team using real players. The points will be given based on the real performance of the players. Game winners will receive e-vouchers worth Rs. 7500 per game day. Whereas the ultimate Yahoo Cricket Daily Fantasy winner will win a tournament prize worth Rs. 1,00,000.
Fantasy cricket games are gaining popularity very fast in India. Currently, there are 40 million active users who are playing the fantasy game. According to reports, the user base will reach 100 million by 2020. Currently, the most famous fantasy cricket game in India is Dream 11. If you want to download the Yahoo Cricket fantasy game you can download it from here.


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Hairdressing identity Milton Andrews is the new Havelock North Business Association president.
He says the association is a "living, breathing organism".
You mentioned there were so many "moving parts" in your role as president - how do you handle this?
By surrounding myself by an epic executive team who are like minded and have a passion to see the Havelock North village thrive.
How many hours a day do you spend on your president's role?
Some days very little then other days 4-6 hours. It's a living, breathing organism that constantly changes because it's all about the people not only business.
You've been working in the village for many years now, what's the biggest change you've seen on the retail scene there?
The village is an exciting thriving safe place that families want to spend time together in.
If there's three priority fixes in the village's business community - what are they?
Parking, upgrading of the village green and business growth.
Is the water crisis still being felt? If so, how do businesses move on from it?
It's like one of those scars that heal.
You know it happened but we've moved on and we are stronger from the experience .
As the president of Havelock North retailers association and a person who
lives and shops in the village I'm looking forward to a full and transparent report on what went wrong and how the Hastings District Council is guaranteeing us it won't happen again.


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Simon Malls is installing cameras at the Ross Park Mall after police say their investigation into shots fired over the weekend has been difficult without security cameras.
- Park mall says it will add more security cameras soon. It's also adding a canine program to help detect guns. It's in response to the shooting at the mall last weekend. Two teenagers are in custody facing gun charges. The mall says it takes the safety and security of its employees and shoppers seriously. The same company, Simon Property Group, owns South Hill's Village, and says it will be adding cameras there too.


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Senegal's black market for medicine
In Senegal eliminating the sale of unregulated or counterfeit medicines will take better laws and law enforcement, but as long as poor people have children getting sick sales will thrive, experts and residents say.
Street vendors across the country sell products of questionable quality smuggled in from other countries - in many cases outright fakes - orhawk medicines sold to them by pharmacists seeking illegal profits. In both cases consumers are at risk.
Aboubakrine Sarr, president of the private sector pharmacists’ union in Senegal, said there are no statistics on the impact, but “the free-for-all illegal street sale of aspirin packets wreaks havoc”.
Aspirins, antibiotics, Viagra, painkillers, anti-parasitic pills and many others can befound anywhere - improperly stored and sold by people who cannot advise on dosage or side-effects.
Many Dakar residents are aware of the risks but people IRIN spoke to said they had no choice.
Asked what mothers do when a child falls ill, Adama Ndiaye, a mother of four in Dakar’s Pikine neighbourhood, told IRIN: “We lose our minds. We’ve got no money for prescriptions.”
A neighbour,Mariama Niass, who sells sweets and trinkets in front of her home, said: “You go to the doctor and let’s say you’ve set aside 300 CFA francs [64 US cents] for the consultation. Then the doctor prescribes medicines costing 10,000, 7,000, 3,000 CFA francs [$6 to $21]. You come back home. You see the children. And you haven’t yet prepared dinner. You must use whatever money you have to buy rice and otheritems for a meal... The medicines that are sold in the streets - we all have been advised not to buy them, but we have to, because we can’t buy prescriptions.”
Efforts fall short
In July the Economic Community of West African States, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union published a guide to help states combat the unregulated sale of medicines, but there is a gap betweeninternational manuals and the reality on the ground.
“This is progress on the international scene but on the ground, we are forever taking one step forward, one step back,” the pharmacists’ union’s Sarr told IRIN.
Where pharmacists sell medicines to street vendors, some in the industry are calling for punishments similar to those faced by drug traffickers, but for now wrongdoers face minimalpunishments and in some cases none at all, Sarr said.
“Punishments often are not even applied, because of lax enforcement or a kind of protection that exists among colleagues in the industry.” Between 2008 and 2010, five pharmacists were briefly suspended for collaborating with unauthorized sellers.
A bill regulating the pharmaceutical industry awaits debate in parliament.
Senegal doesnot have enough inspectors, according to Mamadou Ngom of WHO in Senegal.
There are just four official inspectors to check up on more than 1,000 pharmacies, three manufacturers and four wholesale distributors. Effective control would require five national inspectors as well as one in each of Senegal’s 14 regions, Ngom told IRIN.
Despite an apparent crackdown on the sales side - in 2009 theauthorities shut down Dakar’s principal market for unregulated medicines, Keur Serigne Bi - sales continue, in that spot and many other marketplaces.
In Touba, one of Senegal’s main cities, several pharmacies have had to shut down because they can no longer compete with street vendors.
“It’s a problem that’s tough to manage,” Sarr told IRIN. “Still, on the positive side, religious authoritiesare beginning to take seriously the risk these unregulated products pose.”
Meanwhile, health officials are planning “awareness days” - in Dakar and four other regions - to talk with communities about the risk of buying unregulated medicines, according to Pape Amadou Diop, state director of pharmacies and medical laboratories.
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At the end of September, the European Commission submitted a proposal to create a unified USB-C standard in member states for charging small electronic devices and smartphones.
What initially seemed like a drastic legislative change may take a slightly different shape in the future. That’s because a better charging standard can get into the game or just wirelessly charge, he knows Europa.eu.
The EU wants a uniform standard for (nearly) all equipment
A new legislative proposal from the EC Workshop provided an idea for a uniform charging standard for select types of electronics, which would include smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and consoles.
The introduction of this change has been planned by the European Commission for many years, but until now it has not been possible to force a proposal that would definitively introduce a commitment to manufacturers to use a single common standard for charging. Thus USB-C seems to be the best solution of all.
After all, today it is used by the vast majority of Android smartphones, as well as other electronic devices. However, it is still notable Apple, which does not and will not abandon its own Lightning connector on its iPhones, even though it is already using USB-C in its tablets and computers.
The new proposal still has a long way to go before it is approved. The proposal must pass the European Parliament and the European Council. After that, manufacturers will have a two-year transition period to meet the terms of future legislation. However, USB-C may not be the only way and could be replaced by a better standard.
Not only does USB-C need to be judged, there is also an alternative solution on the table
This was stated by Anna Cavazzini, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Consumer Protection, who hopes that the European Parliament will complete the preparation of the proposal and reach an agreement with the Cabinet as early as the end of 2022.
However, some MEPs are calling for all electronic devices to be included in the legislation, such as the lack of an e-book reader. Others attack the proposal by claiming that this change would “hinder innovation”, which, according to Cavazzini, is incorrect and at the same time claim that the proposal could also be based on a better fee standard.
„The proposal states that if a new standard that is better than USB-C emerges, we can adapt the rules,Said Cavazzini.
It is therefore possible that in the future the European Union will also be open to alternative standards, which could theoretically replace the current USB-C in the proposal. However, until the proposal is approved in its current form, it is highly unlikely that another standard will emerge that will surpass USB-C and be similarly popular with manufacturers. Although Cavazzini talks about an alternative, it is highly unlikely, for example, that a “better” standard than USB-C will enter today’s smartphones.
However, it should be noted that the introduction of a unified USB-C standard, or a better alternative, in the EC proposal, prioritizes devices that are charged only by cable. In practice, this could mean that manufacturers who do not offer a non-wired charging method in their electronic devices will be obligated to comply with the conversion to USB-C.
The situation can be exploited by manufacturers who also offer wireless charging. This method is becoming increasingly common in many models of small electronics, especially in smartphones and wireless headphones.
As it turned out shortly after the proposed legislation was introduced, if a device uses only wireless charging, the new rules will not apply to it and the manufacturer will not have to provide it with a USB-C standard. the edge.
Apple can “cough” on USB-C. A complete wireless iPhone awaits us?
Once again, we came up with the idea of a completely wireless iPhone, which has been talked about in recent years. Apple is still pushing its own Lightning with force, but according to the above, it can only replace MagSafe in the future with charging or any other form of wireless charging in iPhones. The concept of such an iPhone is not new at all.
In 2018, this famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who assumed at the time that we would see completely non-imported iPhones this year, drew this. However, as it turned out, the new series of iPhone 13 still has a Lightning port. However, last year Apple came up with a survey asking customers if they used the Lightning cable included in the package.
Screenshot / YouTube / MKBHD
While it is not clear exactly what the company has been up to, it is possible in the future that the cable itself will disappear from the packaging of one of the new iPhone models after the charger, and users will have to charge the new models only wirelessly. In this way, Apple will comically avoid draft legislation from the EU workshop.
In any case, we won’t see the proposed legislation implemented in practice until 2024. At best in 3 years, only manufacturers of devices equipped with charging cables using the USB-C standard will be required and only manufacturers of wirelessly charged devices will be able to “skip this change”.
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President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan will visit Tajikistan, 10-11 April 2023, report the Tajik news service Asia Plus and the Turkmen media house Turkmenportal.
High-level meetings including the summit talks with President Imomali Rahmon are planned during the visit.
A business delegation of Turkmenistan will travel to Tajikistan ahead of the visit of the president.
The 100-strong delegation including 70 entrepreneurs will participate in the first meeting of the joint Turkmenistan-Tajikistan Business Council, 8-9 April 2023. A business forum will also take place.
The Tajik side will be represented by more than 200 businessmen and officials.
According to the data from the Tajik sources, the trade turnover between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan during the first two mnths of this year was about USD 11.8 million, an increase of 1.9% over the corresponding period of the previous year.
This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Turkmenistan estimated at almost US$200,000 and Tajikistan’s imports from Turkmenistan worth almost US$11.6 million. /// nCa, 30 March 2023


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Nvidia Releases Special Edition Somnus RTX 4090 Graphics Card
Prominent Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game Dota 2 holds a distinguished status in China as one of the most beloved and popular game titles. Dota 2 esports in China is also huge and two Chinese teams have won The International (TI), Dota 2’s premier tournament, so far.
Dota 2 also achieved recognition at the 19th Asian Games 2022 at Hangzhou, China, where it was one of the seven medal events. Owing to the game’s expansive popularity and widespread appeal, it is not uncommon for strategic brand collaborations to materialize. One such collaboration has recently come to light and it is none other than GPU manufacturing giant Nvidia.
The graphics hardware giant unveiled a brand new ‘Somnus x RTX 4090’ edition graphics card recently, as seen on Chinese social media sites including BiliBili.
The graphics card features esteemed Chinese Dota 2 player Lu "Somnus" Yao on it. Somnus is currently on the roster of Azure Ray, a team that reached The International 2023 (TI12) lower bracket semifinals.
Nvidia RTX 4090 Somnus Edition: All We Know So Far
The introduction of this special edition RTX 4090 Somnus graphics card stands as a testament to the enduring influence and appeal of Dota 2 and its stars in the global gaming community. This innovative collaboration serves as an intriguing development in the intersection of esports and cutting-edge technology.
The unique variant of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card is seemingly poised for release in the Chinese market, adorned with the likeness of Somnus, who was previously known by the moniker "Maybe."
The graphics card showcases an intricately designed artwork featuring Somnus featured with his old name "Maybe" highlighting a visually striking blue and black color scheme that distinguishes this limited edition offering. It also boasts his signature on it.
Somnus played for Team China and secured the gold medal at the 19th Asian Games 2022. He has also secured second place at The International 2018 and placed third during The International 2019.
Although not much is known about the Somnus special edition RTX 4090 card’s availability, it is highly likely that it is limited within the Chinese region.
China seems to continue to celebrate the wins and achievements of its Dota 2 esports players. Earlier in October, the Taicang City Fire Rescue Brigade reportedly hosted a Wang "Ame" Chunyu, another Asian Games 2022 Dota 2 champion.
Likewise, another noteworthy collaboration in the Dota 2 landscape that came up recently was the Ballantine’s special edition bottles. Ballantine's teamed up with Valve to mark the 10th anniversary of Dota 2 and as part of this, it released two limited-edition Ballantine's Finest x Dota 2 whiskey bottles.


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Bike shares are one of the fastest-growing modes of transportation in the country. Since the first U.S. bike-share system launched in 2008, the systems have spread like wildfire. Bike sharing allows users to rent bicycles from kiosks placed throughout a city and return them to any other location, creating a hassle-free way to get around. In just four years, 30 U.S. cities have launched bike shares, and many others have plans in the works. This year alone, 8 new cities have created bike shares and with more set to launch before the end of the year, 2012 may prove to be the biggest year for bike shares yet. Look for your nearest bike share on this map.
Americans are looking for cleaner and more affordable transportation choices. As city centers are choked by automobile traffic, bike shares become an increasingly attractive option for getting around. In Capital Bikeshare's 2011 Member Survey, more than 41 percent of users reported reducing their number of car trips after joining bike share. These users reported driving an average of 523 miles less per year after becoming a bike share member, which translates into avoiding releasing 487.7 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per bike share user. In Capital Bikeshare's first year alone, the system's members saved more than 1,632 tons of carbon dioxide just by replacing car trips with bike trips. By reducing our dependency on driving and oil, bike shares can have a significant environmental benefit.
Biking also helps save money by reducing the amount you need to spend on car payments, insurance, and oil. Most bike share systems offer year-long, monthly, and short-term memberships with no additional fees for trips under 30 minutes. With year-long memberships usually priced around $75, the cost of bike share is still very low compared to other means of transportation. In a 2011 Member Survey, Capital Bikeshare users reported saving an average of $819 per year. Most of these savings came from avoiding costs related to driving like gas, parking, and vehicle maintenance. Others reported saving money by replacing taxi trips with bike-share rides.
Another benefit of bike shares is that they not only add another mode of transportation to the existing city fabric but also do so faster and more cheaply than many other transportation projects. Bike shares in cities like Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., took between 12 and 18 months to get up and running after being announced. That seems like the blink of an eye compared to the years and even decades that highway and public transit expansions often take. Though costs vary based on the size and location of the system, Minneapolis-St. Paul was able to implement the first 700-bike phase of their system, Nice Ride Minnesota, for $3.2 million. The cost of creating a single mile of urban highway averages $60 million, making bike sharing a relatively inexpensive way to relieve urban congestion.
Bike shares can also help boost the local economy. Some local bike shop owners in Washington, D.C., were concerned that people might buy fewer bikes if bike sharing were an option. However, Capital Bikeshare proved to be the "gateway drug" for many new bicyclists, who have flocked to bike shops to buy their own set of wheels. Bike shop owners have seen an increase in bike sales in the two years since Capital Bikeshare began operating, and many new customers have said that they were inspired to purchase their own bike after using bike share.
Bike sharing has been around for decades but didn't catch on until technological improvements in the past few years made modern third-generation bike-sharing systems possible. Previous free and coin-operated systems suffered from rampant theft and never caught on, but membership requirements and improvements in bike tracking technology have reduced theft and damage to practically zero. Sophisticated systems that allow bikes to be easily checked-out have also made the systems increasingly popular with users. European cities began using these advanced bike-sharing technologies for city-wide systems in 2007. After seeing that success and recognizing the increased demand for transportation choices, many U.S. cities quickly followed.
Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., is one of the oldest and best-known bike-sharing systems in the United States. Launched in 2010 with 1,100 bikes at 114 stations throughout Arlington and the District of Columbia, the system now boasts over 1,670 bikes at 175 stations, making it the largest in the country. The program is considered a wild success, with 18,000 members in its first year alone. Large metropolises like Denver and Boston, and even smaller cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, have adopted bike shares. Many other cities have plans in the works, including New York City's CitiBike system, which will become the nation's largest bike share when it opens later this year, and cities like Los Angeles and Fort Worth, which plan to launch their systems in 2013.
-- Erin Gustafson, Sierra Club Green Transportation