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Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has submitted its first quarterly report for 2021. According to him, the value of the Bitcoin owned by the company is over $ 2 billion.
Almost $ 2.5 billion in Bitcoin
Tesla has submitted its newest report quarterly at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It presents the company’s financial statement. Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet was included in this report. This is a new item on its balance sheet as the company recently transferred a significant portion of its capital to BTC.
As of March 31 this year. Tesla’s Bitcoin value was $ 2.48 billion. The company also recorded a net profit of $ 101 million on digital assets it holds. Tesla posted a $ 128 million profit from selling approximately 10 percent of its total stake in BTC. It also settled a $ 27 million loss after calculating the impairment losses on certain BTCs.
Musk explains the sudden sale of BTC
It is widely believed that Tesla’s decision to start investing some of its capital in Bitcoin was influenced by MicroStrategy. The company’s CEO, Michael Saylor, is the biggest supporter of Bitcoin, and in mid-2020 he started an institutional trend, commonly known in the crypto world as the “MicroStrategy Effect”.
Saylor at the end of last year offered to share his BTC knowledge with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. A few months later, an electric vehicle manufacturer revealed sizeable purchases.
In recent months, Musk has also become a strong supporter of the foundations behind an investment in Bitcoin. For this reason, the news that Tesla has sold 10 percent of its stake in BTC has created uncertainty among the community. Especially considering that the company has introduced BTC payment options for its cars and has stated that it will farm the coins obtained from their sale. Tesla’s CEO gave a brief explanation of the reasons for selling Tesla’s Bitcoins.
Well, you don’t. I have not sold any of my Bitcoin. Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2021


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A new Civilization game, most likely to be called Civilization VII, is in development at Firaxis Games, inbound workshop head Heather Hazen has actually revealed.
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy, beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise,” Hazen stated in a news release “I’m lucky to be working with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights for our millions of players around the world.”
The statement that a new Civilization game is in development comes greater than 6 years after the launch of the last new mainline entrance in the collection, Civilization VI, in 2016. Firaxis remained to sustain the game post-release with growth loads like 2018’s Rise as well as Fall as well as 2019’s Gathering Storm in addition to DLC collection like New Frontier Pass as well asLeader Pass
Although Ed Beach will certainly remain to function as innovative supervisor on the new Civilization, Firaxis revealed a number of vital staffing modifications at the workshop. Longtime workshop head Steve Martin has

domain: news


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If you don’t spend a lot of time in the sun
Most Americans obtain sufficient quantities of vitamins and minerals from their diets alone, but despite this fact, public health advocates are especially concerned about a deficiency in one particular nutrient — vitamin D. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, among Medicare beneficiaries, the number of blood tests for vitamin D increased 83-fold between 2000 and 2010. Vitamin D can’t be manufactured by the body; it must be derived from either the sunlight or a limited number of foods such as mackerel, salmon, or portobello mushrooms. Some doctors are worried that adult populations — especially those living in northern climates absent of significant sunlight — are at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus and is essential for building and maintaining bone strength (a major concern for aging adults), but new research has also linked the vitamin to pain-related conditions such as arthritis, chronic back pain, and menstrual cramps. A review published in the Journal of Endocrinology found that increased vitamin D supplementation paired with high quality sleep could improve the effectiveness of pain management treatments. Dr. Monica Levy Anderson, the study’s lead researcher, noted that there was a significant relationship between sleep, vitamin D, and hyperalgesia — a heightened sensitivity to pain. Anderson and her colleagues concluded that supplementation of vitamin D may have a therapeutic role in the prevention and treatment of chronic pain conditions.
Another study based on a meta-analysis of 10,007 diabetic individuals from around the world found a possible link between vitamin D deficiency and diabetic retinopathy (swollen blood vessels in the eye that impair vision and cause blindness). Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness around the world and is the leading cause for blindness in the United States for individuals between the ages of 20 and 64. The study concluded that the use of “vitamin D supplements as a protective mechanism against the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy warrants further investigation.”
But a recent New York Times article cast some doubts on the miraculous benefits of vitamin D. A flurry of research papers published nearly two decades ago connected vitamin D with a number of maladies ranging from mental illness to cancer risk, but most of these either used a small sample size or didn’t produce statistically significant results.
The National Institutes of Health, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that adverse effects can occur with too high an intake of vitamin D, so don’t start popping vitamin D supplements before speaking with a doctor. Getting tested for vitamin D levels might be unnecessary, but it doesn’t hurt either, and there remains strong evidence that vitamin D supplements can be useful in many circumstances.


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Gates Woos Developers for Wireless
As mobile phones and PDAs converge software becomes more important. Developers have been pretty much locked out of mobile phone software. But smartphones are designed around the idea of third-party software. Building a strong developer base is going to be critical for smartphone dominance. Microsoft held its Mobility Developer conference in New Oreleans along side CTIA where they announced new tools to make it easy for Windows deveopers to write software for Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone. Microsoft is going after corporate developers who they hope will help drive enterprise demand for MS powered mobile hardware.


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Facebook Inc. is currently trying to venture into a number of sectors including smartphone, video chat devices, and so on. The company is currently working on the video chat device that will be similar to Amazon’s Echo Show. The new product will be introduced next year at the F8 developer conference. Facebook will have its subsidiary company Building 8 lab take up the initiative of developing the video chat device, which will be the company’s first major hardware product.
According to former Google Executive and Director of DARPA, Regina Dugan, Facebook has given her the opportunity to lead Building 8 lab and develop some of the new hardware. The new hardware device will have a laptop-sized touchscreen display along with a range of whole new product category. The video chatting device has been designed such that it can be kept in the living room. The display screen measures about 13–15 Inches diagonally. In addition to the screen, it may also have a wide-angle camera lens, microphones, and array of speakers all powered using artificial intelligence. The basic plan is to make the device not only trendy but also with the best of performance.
The use of the wide-angle camera and smart screen will help woo customers as well as stay connected to each other using the new hardware device. Facebook basically aims at bringing users closer to each other. The prototype version of the product is currently being tested in people’s homes before finalizing the product for marketing. Google’s Android operating system is also being made to run on the prototype. The new device will have a 360° camera and also a unique feature that will allow the primary camera to switch automatically to scan for people as well as lock onto them.
In addition to this, Facebook is also planning to launch a standalone smart speaker. This new speaker is set to hold on a tough competition with Google Home and Amazon Echo in the coming years. Also, a voice assistant technology is something the company is looking forward to. Keeping in mind Apple’s Siri, Facebook plans to hire engineers from Apple and build the new voice assistant system. It will be made such that it will run on both the smart standalone speaker as well as the hardware devices. For now, nothing can be confirmed as Facebook hasn’t officially disclosed anything. Let’s hope Facebook doesn’t abandon any of the plans as certain similar products are already popular in the market.


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Sony's Japanese arm has unveiled a speaker dock for iOS handsets sporting a Lightning port.
The SRS-GC11IP, compatible with the iPhone 5 and latest models of the iPod Touch, features a 0.8W speaker that offers alarm clock and AM/FM radio functionality.
The tube-shaped accessory does not offer Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity, but comes with a remote control to eliminate the need to manually skip tracks or pause playback.
An alternative model dubbed the RDP-NWC11 is compatible with a range of non-Apple smartphones as well as a variety of MP3 players, according to Engadget.
JBL released its line of Lightning-compatible speaker docks last year, with the OnBeat Micro and Venue LT spearheading the range.
Sony lists the SRS-GC11IP as "coming soon" on its Japanese website, with a launch in other territories uncertain.


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The Latest Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Leaks Are the Most Convincing Yet
Here we go again.
It seems like the S10 leaks started coming and they don’t stop coming. Images of Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10 Plus, have emerged once again. The latest images are so convincing that some of the leakers circulating them have even claimed that they are the official marketing shots.
These photos were published by the tech blog 91Mobiles, a site that surfaced a patented blueprint that might have revealed what Google’s upcoming Pixel 4 smartphone might look like. But these S10 Plus images are much more convincing, as they appear to include all of the features that previous leaks and rumors have predicted.
On the front, the render depicts the expected OLED screen that’s rumored to be 6.4-inches diagonally. The phone’s traditional top bezel has been replaced by Samsung’s Infinity-O display design. This screen setup places the S10 Plus’s two selfie cameras at the top right of the screen, in a little oval cutout. This would make Samsung’s Galaxy S-Series close to bezel-less, though not quite.
Turning to the rear panel, you’ll find a horizontal, three-camera array just like previous leaks had predicted. The most glaring difference from the S9 Plus is the absence of the fingerprint reader under the cameras. This suggests the S10 models will adopt either some form of Face ID or come with a fingerprint reader underneath its screen on the front. That’s a design choice that’s gained some traction with big-name Chinese smartphone brands, like OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi.
The S10 Plus is expected to be accompanied by as many as four other smartphone releases during Samsung’s February 20 Unpacked event in San Francisco and London. These will definitely include the smaller, S10 model which is expected to have a 5.8-inch OLED screen. Other potential launches that are up in the air include a budget-friendly S10 Lite, a 5G-enabled S10 X, and the long-awaited Galaxy F foldable phone that Samsung teased in November of last year.
Samsung’s smartphone line up could be game-changing this year. But one thing will remain the same, the nonstop leaks ahead of its launch.


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Apple’s list of currently available content for Apple TV+ continues to grow, but there’s an even faster-growing list of projects in the works. Films, limited series, specials, and multi-season series, Apple’s got lots of irons in the fire for all of them.
Some of these projects have been officially announced and acknowledged by Apple, but many have just been reported by the Hollywood press, which always has its ear to the ground about what actors, directors, and producers are getting involved with which projects.
We’ve divided this list in two: Coming Soon is a list of shows for which Apple has given an official release date or release window, and Further Out compiles other announced and not-officially-announced projects that are still in production or perhaps haven’t even begun yet.
Updated 09/22/22: Deadline reports that the next series from Vince Gilligan (of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame) is headed to Apple TV+ with a two-season commitment. It will star Rhea Seehorn, who was nominated for an Emmy for her role on Better Call Saul.
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With the desire to update its stand-alone payment system, the eighty-five unit YUM brand franchisee, Luihn Foods, decided upon an integrated payment system that is helping to cut costs and curb fraud.
Quick service restaurants that use PAR Exalt with TransNet can now process gift card transactions without a stand-alone terminal.
Several hundred customers at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q were subject to debit-card fraud or attempted fraud earlier this year, writes Shane Benjamin of The Durango Herald.
First Data's TransArmor solution replaces card data with a token number to preserve the value of card data for merchant business operations while removing all value for fraudsters.
Dairy Queen, Carl's Jr., and Buffalo Wings & Rings are among those operators topping point of sale headlines this month. Meanwhile, new solutions from the vendor community focused on encryption, payroll processing modules and more.
The HyperSafe Secure EFTSec Server 2.0 point-to-point payment data encryption system encrypts cardholder data during transaction processing, starting at the payment terminal and ending at a trusted point where the data is decrypted.
Magnolia Hotels leverages a PCI compliant, cloud-based property management system to secure sensitive information while centralizing proprietary guest data across five properties. The result: thousands upon thousands of dollars in additional revenue.
Dairy Queen Corp. has selected Vendor Safe Technologies as an endorsed and preferred provider of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance solutions to its network of 5,000+ North American locations.
Although the new versions will not introduce any new major requirements, they will include a number of key updates and clarifications.
To avoid paying credit-card fees, some restaurants are taking plastic off of the menu. But can this strategy backfire? The New York Post's Selim Algar reports on this growing trend.


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The Herald & Times Group is running a major promotion to boost sales of its glossy monthly magazine – tgo.
The magazine, which brands itself as 'the UK’s leading monthly magazine for the independent hill walker and backpacker', and has 'The Great Outdoors' incorporated in its masthead, has already been recently distributed free with The Herald newspaper.
And The Herald is carrying a form enabling readers to claim a free copy of the November issue of the magazine. The offer ends this Saturday. The magazine is also offering a free Coleman Lite sleeping bag, worth £39, to anyone taking out a subscription.
The newspaper group has also been cross-promoting the magazine with an article each week on the back page of the main paper of the Sunday Herald – alongside a regular article by Cameron McNeish, a former editor of the magazine and now its editor-at-large.
Tgo, which is edited by Emily Rodway, and retails at £3.60, was redesigned and relaunched two years ago, and at last year’s Scottish Magazine Awards, won three awards: Publisher of the Year (Darren Bruce), Columnist of the Year (Jim Perrin) and Sales Performance of the Year (Ronnie Dodd and Louise Jane McDonald).
It is shortlisted in four categories for this year’s awards.
On its website the magazine, says: “TGO’s successes were further cemented with its ABC certification in February 2010, confirming that the magazine has been bucking economic trends and demonstrating consumers’ confidence in the magazine and their passion and support for the great outdoors. Official figures confirmed by ABC certified TGO with an 8.2 per cent year-on-year increase of its headline figure, with news trade sales up by 11 per cent and subscriptions up by 8.9 per cent.”
This year the magazine launched a new website, tgomagazine.co.uk, which features outdoors news, gear, walks and topical debate and features inspirational outdoor videos, podcasts and blogs. The website says: “TGO online also now enables users to register on the website to interact with other users and comment on articles as well as become part of an online outdoor community on the tgo forum and social network.”


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VogueQueen.com is a famous brand in women’s wigs. Recently, this company has launched a women’s wig promotion, i.e.
- The analysis of literature, focusing on the words and grammar to the exclusion of context or literary merit.


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First Solar (FSLR) on Monday announced a new deal to supply solar modules to a Japanese solar distributor, which coupled with news Friday about new tariffs to be imposed on Chinese solar markers helped boost First Solar stock. Japan is "one of the highest-priced (solar) markets globally," so the deal is a "positive," Sven Eenmaa, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., told IBD. First Solar ...
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Anyone still waiting to take the plunge with regards to PlayStation 4 may just tip-toe over the edge with what looks like a brand-new bundle in celebration of the release of The Last of Us: Remastered.
Spotted by the keen-eyed folk over at NeoGAF, the bundle – which has appeared as a listing on the French branch of online retailer Amazon – has the standard 500GB PlayStation 4 bundled with a copy of Naughty Dog’s remastered magnum opus, The Last of Us. Priced at €429.99 with a release date set at July 30, the bundle would undoubtedly come as a welcome surprise to anyone looking to snap up both the game and the console – especially with bit of a discount.
Listed with pictures to boot, any confirmation of the bundle will likely come next week at some point – especially if Amazon chooses to list the console of its other county-orientated websites. It is surprising, however – provided if the listing is indeed real – that Sony neglected to announce any such bundle at this year’s E3.
Would you be interested in a new PS4 bundle? Don’t forget to give us your thoughts in the comments section below and stay tuned to PSU for any confirmation of the bundle if it indeed proves to be true.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17th, 2014
Contact: Eric Hogensen, 323-761-9514
Local Small Business Owners Endorse Dr. Jose F. Moreno for Anaheim City Council
(Anaheim) – Local small business owner Bill Dalati and Brian Chuchua, founder of the Anaheim Small Business Association announced their endorsements of Dr. Jose F. Moreno for Anaheim City Council today.
“Dr. Moreno will put the needs of Anaheim residents and small businesses before those of the special interests,” Dalati said. “He understands that local businesses are the key to growth in Anaheim and must be invested in. Small businesses provide vital jobs for our community.” Continue reading


text: Sirit wins $5.9 million contract in CaliforniaToronto-based RFID provider Sirit Inc. has secured an order valued at up to $5.9 million from the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) in California. Beginning next month and running for one year, the contract requires Sirit to deliver a combination of its traditional sealed and new battery replaceable Title-21-based toll transponders at retail locations. "We are working to increase the use of electronic toll collection in the Bay area," said Linda Lee, FasTrak project manager for BATA, in a news release. "Sirit continues to be a partner in that effort. Electronic tolling allows us to maximize throughput on Bay Area bridges. Approximately 120 million toll-paying vehicles cross the seven state-owned bridges in a year." BATA expects to begin distributing the transponders in late August or early September.  Globalstar petitions FCC for ATC authorityMobile satellite voice and data services provider Globalstar Inc. has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for authority to use all of its assigned mobile satellite service spectrum for Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) services in the US. "Currently Globalstar is the only MSS operator that is not permitted to use its entire spectrum for ATC," said Globalstar’s chairman and CEO Jay Monroe in a press release. "This unequal treatment in the FCC’s rules places us at a disadvantage relative to our competitors and undermines the very goals that the FCC sought to advance when it adopted the ATC rules, which were to encourage the flexible use of the spectrum and provide ubiquitous wireless coverage in the US, especially during times of emergency." Presently, Globalstar can use 11 MHz of its 1.6/2.4 GHz satellite radio frequencies for ATC. ATC solutions can potentially provide wireless solutions for a wide variety of voice, broadband data and multimedia wireless applications.  TelePlus buys Maximo ImpactTelePlus Enterprises Inc., a wireless and telecommunications product provider with offices in Barrie ON, has acquired Maximo Impact Inc., a company that specializes in marketing and distribution as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the US. As part of the deal, Maximo will launch its own wireless brand called MX Mobile, which will cater to mass merchandisers and retailers. The company will also distribute Liberty Wireless products, which are primarily dispersed online. "This acquisition enables TelePlus to combine the synergies between Liberty Wireless and MX Mobile," said Marius Silvasan, CEO of TelePlus, in a press release. "We now operate two wireless brands, each catering to different market segments, thus enabling TelePlus to capture a bigger piece of the $32 billion pie that is the prepaid wireless industry."  Vocel receives funding from TorstarCanadian media company Torstar Corp. has provided Vocel with a second infusion of funding to fuel the company’s growth after the launch of its Interactive Commerce Accelerator (INCA) mobile marketing and promotion engine with Qualcomm and Midwest Wireless at the beginning of June. INCA lets mobile phone users purchase content such as ringtones, wallpaper and games with one click. Said Lorenzo DeMarchi, managing director corporate development for Torstar, in a news release: "We are...excited about the rapid evolution of INCA and the opportunities it presents both carriers and consumers for the accelerated adoption of purchasing content over mobile phones."  Mobile games market to increase more than five fold by 2011: JuniperAccording to a report by Juniper Research Ltd. the global mobile games market – both subscriptions and downloads – should grow from $3.1 billion in 2006 to $17.6 billion by 2011. Juniper also states the Asia Pacific region is forecast to contribute 38% of the nearly $57 billion in cumulative revenues from 2006 to 2011, with Europe contributing 31%, North America 22% and the rest of the world 9%. The report predicts that leading-edge game technology will focus on 3D and multiplayer games, but the greatest growth will come from the casual game sector, with female game players growing as a proportion of the market and bringing more balance to the genders using mobile games.  Fujitsu, BelAir provide metro wireless mesh solutionFujitsu Network Communications Inc. has announced the availability of a new metro wireless mesh solution for North American telecom carriers, cable/MSO operators, utilities and municipalities using Wi-Fi mesh products from BelAir Networks. Under the terms of the agreement, Fujitsu will resell BelAir’s entire portfolio of carrier-class Wi-Fi products, which includes a diverse set of environmentally hardened outdoor Wi-Fi devices with single-, dual-, and multi-radio products that provide uniform, high-density and high-bandwidth broadband wireless capabilities. The multi-radio product solution offers a true wireless mesh, which is capable of providing solutions across a wide area network and in which carriers can offer applications such as virtual private networking and Voice over Internet Protocol.  Mobile Suite now available from AliantAtlantic Canadian ICT provider Aliant has unveiled its new wireless email and messaging service called Mobile Suite. The service offers small and medium-sized business customers wireless email and messaging on devices using Palm and Microsoft Pocket PC operating systems. Mobile Suite uses push technology to send email directly to the device enabling customers to easily manage mail, meeting requests, calendar entries, contacts, tasks and other data. "Aliant recognizes that business mobility is paramount to businesses large and small, in urban and rural areas alike," said Tom Libretto, director of enterprise solutions at Nokia, the firm hosting Mobile Suite.  Nokia, Siemens to mergeNokia and Siemens announced they intend to merge the networks business group of Nokia and the carrier-related operations of Siemens into a new company called Nokia Siemens Networks. The combined company, which will be a 50-50 joint venture, is positioned to develop and implement revenue-generating and cost-saving products and services via its scale and global reach. "We believe the partnership with Siemens is the most effective way to build the scale and broad product portfolio necessary to compete globally and create value for shareholders," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia, in a news release. Nokia Siemens Networks will have its operational headquarters in Helsinki Finland.


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A rather disappointing session on Mobile Marketing, at the IAMAI Mobile VAS Conference, though it started off with the right agenda - with Vijay Shukla, Country Head (India) for ValueFirst, playing the devils advocate: "Projections for the next year leave us with a lot of hope, but every year, we hear that next year will be the big year for mobile marketing. Unfortunately, it was a discussion that flattered to deceive - mentioned were the same mobile user growth trends, relevancy of the mobile business in India...frankly, not much discussion followed on what needs to be done, not many details of the challenges faced. One issue that was raised by the Suresh Narasimha of TeliBrahma, who suggested "Lets not undercut each other on pricing", and mentioned issues with not adequate skillsets. Virgin Mobile will roll out more advertising funded services in the next few months, Prasad Narasimhan, CMO of Virgin Mobile mentioned. On the marketing front, he said that they "are going to colleges and create digital interactive platforms for the youth. We're trying to create two-way communication - bluecasting is a part of that. It's about trying something, prototyping it and then scaling it up." He emphasised the need to build models and prototypes, and scaling those that work. Gaurav Mishra, COO of Guruji suggested that Mobile Marketing (on WAP) today is at the pre-search state of web - and from a search paradigm, we need to figure out where the money is going to come in from. Milind…
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The Mad Taco arrives in Essex (finally), its first Chittenden County location
ESSEX – The Mad Taco has become a bit of an urban legend for those living and working in and around Burlington.
The two Mad Taco restaurants in Montpelier and Waitsfield – communities that are not exactly light years from Chittenden County – are something those in northwestern Vermont hear raves about but may not often get to experience first-hand.
Conversely, Mad Taco co-owners Wes Hamilton and Joey Nagy have been considering their best route toward opening their first Chittenden County restaurant.
“For the last couple years,” Nagy said, “we’ve been exploring what is the right location.”
He and Hamilton think they’ve found it. Next week they’ll open the first Chittenden County location of The Mad Taco, down the hall from the T-Rex Theater at the Essex Shoppes & Cinema, a venue being rechristened for occasional musical offerings as The Double E.
The Mad Taco is a key part of the transformation of the shopping/movie-theater complex into what developer Peter Edelmann plans to rename the Essex Experience. The retail-heavy location plans to increase its food and live-music options, adding green space and redoing roads and parking lots to turn the site into the closest thing the town of Essex (outside of the village of Essex Junction) has to a downtown.
Edelmann said that as online shopping depletes business at retail shops, the nationwide trend is toward a broader experience. “Everyone is getting on the bandwagon of experiential shopping,” he said.
“We just kind of fit into that larger vision,” Hamilton said.
- More retail news:CityPlace Burlington: Where the downtown development stands now
- Ulta Beauty coming to Williston; Carter's opens second store
- Essex developer re-imagines T-Rex Theater as concert venue, tables residential project
Eric Koval, a partner in The Double E plans, called music and food “the golden thread.” He said The Mad Taco will add to what he and Edelmann have in mind for The Double E.
“These guys, what they do with food is what we’re trying to do with music, create an experience,” Koval said of The Mad Taco. “They’ve been wicked successful building a brand.”
Though The Mad Taco won’t open its Essex location until June 1, the restaurant and revamped Essex Cinemas had a trial run last week. The T-Rex Theatre held a benefit concert for Vermont musician Ray Paczkowski, who recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor, and The Mad Taco served a limited menu for the more than 400 attendees of the sold-out show.
The Essex restaurant, like its predecessors, will have more than a dozen varieties of tacos as well as burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tamales and fajitas. On May 16, though, diners in Essex had the choice of only five Mad Taco plates – carnitas, chicken, shrimp, roasted yam and brisket tacos.
The food was being served from behind the bar in a lobby space at the theater that will become The Mad Taco’s dining room.
“You should get a taco. You should definitely get a taco,” a man was overheard telling a woman as the line for tacos continued to grow.
The carnitas (two for $10) – smoked and shredded pork shoulder, cilantro and onions on soft-shell tortillas – had a mild smoky flavor and just the right dryness, avoiding the greasy presentation of lesser taco dishes. Wine and six varieties of draft beer were available on this night, but the bar should be fully stocked by the time opening night rolls around next week.
“It went really, really well,” Nagy said of the test run at the benefit concert. Kevin Statesir, the former co-owner of the Higher Ground music venue in South Burlington who’s helping to get The Double E off the ground, said the first night of music in the T-Rex Theater also went well; concert-goers raved about the sound and light systems.
Nagy said he and Hamilton will leave the entertainment planning to Statesir, Koval and Edelmann. “We’ll make tacos,” Nagy said, smiling. Plans are in the works to offer music in smaller spaces surrounding the restaurant while having occasional concerts in the larger T-Rex Theater.
Statesir and Edelmann were among those who had not sampled The Mad Taco’s food until approaching Nagy and Hamilton about coming to Essex. They initially talked about just having The Mad Taco serve food at The Double E’s special events, but Nagy and Hamilton decided they wanted to open a restaurant there seven days a week. That way they could hire a full-time staff, many of whom live in and near Essex.
“It was very clear that there was a tremendous amount of potential,” Hamilton said.
The Mad Taco owners are talking about installing a smoker outside the restaurant. The Double E could augment operations by screening music-related films and showing its concerts on a video screen inside the restaurant so those in the dining room don’t miss a thing.
Hamilton said he and Nagy aren’t worried that they’re moving into a retail complex at a time that retail is making a transition. The space is off Vermont 15, which Hamilton noted is filled with commuters every day, and the Essex area has more residents than do Montpelier or Waitsfield. The location offers ample free parking in a way that Chittenden County’s prime retail and dining communities, Burlington and Winooski, can’t offer, according to Hamilton.
“I don’t feel like there’s a tremendous amount of risk,” he said of coming to Essex. “We feel pretty confident with the product and the experience we sell.”
If you go
WHAT: The Mad Taco
WHEN: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, starting June 1
WHERE: 21 Essex Way, Essex
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck. Support local journalism in Vermont by downloading our app or subscribing to the Burlington Free Press.


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Early sales indications are showing that DRM-free music, available from EMI on the Apple iTunes Store, is proving very popular and giving download figures a further boost.
EMI's senior vice-president, Lauren Berkowitz, announced impressive figures highlighting increased sales since the release of files free of any rights protection on Apple's iTunes Store.
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, a perennial top-seller, saw downloads increase by 350 per cent in the first week of the new format. Sales have steadied since, but the album has still seen an overall increase of 272 per cent since its release in DRM-free form.
Other EMI artists saw similar spikes in sales after the record company became the first to take off copy protection. This had previously restricted both the type of device and the number of computers that purchased digital music could be played on.
Also adding to the new format's appeal was the increased quality of Apple Plus music - available in 256kbps quality rather than the standard 128kpbs - and the ability to upgrade a previously purchased EMI track to the new DRM-free format for just 20 pence.
The evidence seems to suggest that people are buying into the new format. Norah Jones' Come Away With Me was another album that saw downloads increase since the release of the DRM-free format - sales went up 24 per cent compared, while the CD version dropped by 33 per cent over the same period.
Could it be just a matter of time until other record labels follow suit? Let's hope so - better quality, more usable files have to be a good thing, don't they? Let us know what you think by posting a comment or starting a thread on our forums.


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The magic behind this really comes from Ossia, who developed the Cota Real Wireless Power tech. It uses a silicon chip that sends a signal that bounces off objects to connect to a transmitter, which in turn sends power to the device. The transmitter can take various form factors, including inconspicuous ones you wouldn’t even notice, be paired for doubling its range. With one transmitter, you can charge a device up to 10 meters away, whether it’s on the table, in your pocket, or moving around with you.
The easiest way to think of the transmitter is like a Wi-Fi router. Ossia expects it to operate at 5.8 GHz frequency by the time the Spigen cases are ready and says it can power a mind-blowing 1,000 devices simultaneously.
If you’re concerned about wasting energy, note that the transmitter is not constantly sending out power. That’s only activated if a device with the sensor is in range and in need of a charge. Ossia claims the tech is 500 times more efficient than a AA battery.
Since Ossia licenses its technology, Spigen will be deciding on pricing for its case and necessary transmitter. However, Ossia said it doesn’t expect them to be more than $100. Spigen will also be designing the case, which Ossia assured me would be much more stylish than the prototype they’re showing at CES.
The wireless charging company is also hopeful that by the time the case is released, its transmitters will be in more business locations around the country.


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A. Perez Meca | Europa Press | Getty Images
The European Commission is ready to tremendous Apple about 500 million euros ($539 million) over alleged breaches of EU competitors legislation, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources with information of the matter.
Brussels first launched an investigation into allegations that Apple hindered third-party music providers on its units and favored its personal Apple Music service, after Spotify filed a proper criticism to regulators in 2019.
In most areas, Apple’s App Store guidelines prohibit corporations equivalent to Spotify from billing customers for subscriptions straight inside the app, making them as a substitute use Apple’s App Store billing service, which takes a minimize of as much as 30%.
Brussels formally charged Apple in an anti-competitive probe in 2021, however narrowed the scope of the investigation final yr, abandoning a cost of pushing builders to make use of its personal in-app fee system.
The newest model of the probe centered on whether or not Apple had restricted apps from informing customers about cheaper subscription options exterior of its native App Store and thus violated EU competitors legal guidelines.
The findings of the investigation will result in the Commission accusing Apple of abusing its highly effective place and banning its “unfair trading conditions” concerning its music service subscription insurance policies, sources advised the FT.
If imposed, the tremendous can be one of the crucial substantial monetary penalties the EU has imposed on a serious know-how firm. It follows a collection of huge contested fines towards Google.
While Apple has confronted fines for antitrust conduct earlier than — such because the €1.1 billion penalty in France that was later lowered to €372 million on enchantment — this might mark its first such tremendous from Brussels.
The reported tremendous is a part of a broader crackdown within the EU and comes forward of the enactment of the bloc’s landmark Digital Markets Act set for March. The new legislation goals to handle anti-competitive practices from massive tech gamers deemed as “gatekeepers,” together with corporations equivalent to Apple, Amazon and Google.
Smaller web corporations and different tech companies, equivalent to Spotify, have lengthy complained of being unfairly restricted by these tech large’s enterprise practices.
In Apple’s case, the Digital Markets Act would require it to permit third-party builders to distribute apps exterior the iOS Store and for these apps to invoice their prospects straight.
Apple has made strikes to handle EU laws by asserting adjustments to its iOS, Safari and the App Store within the EU, and introduced that it’ll quickly permit software program builders to distribute their apps to Apple units through different shops.
In a separate antitrust case, the European Commission is wanting into the way in which Apple restricts rivals from accessing its Apple Pay cellular system. Apple has already made concessions in relation to the case.
The timing of the Commission’s announcement on the fines has not but been set, however that won’t change the course of the antitrust investigation, in keeping with the FT report.
Apple has the suitable to enchantment the choice in EU courts. The tech large declined to touch upon the report, referring CNBC to a earlier assertion that it was happy regulators narrowed the main focus of the probe.
Read the complete report from the Financial Times.


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Sustainability agencies Republic of Everyone and The Bravery are encouraging consumers to have a better idea of the food they’re eating in a campaign designed to create awareness of Target 100, a sustainability initiative of the Australian beef and lamb industry.
Featuring chef and TV personality Darren Robertson, a judge on Recipe to Riches, and sustainable food advocate Rebecca Sullivan, the campaign tracks their journey from paddock to plate as they encourage consumers to ask questions about where their food comes from.
The campaign launched with a 30-second teaser video which introduces the food philosophy of being a “Bettertarian”.
The first of the MKR knock-out rounds saw Josh and Danielle eliminated from the competition and brought 1.64m for Seven and winning the top program of the night as The Block posted another Wednesday night record high with 1.346m for Channel Nine.
Meanwhile The Biggest Loser had 276,000 on Channel Ten ranking fourth in the timeslot and just ahead of SBS One’s Tea and Coffee Trails with Simon Reeve, which averaged 252,000 preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTam show.
ABC1 was third in the 7.30pm to 8.30pm timeslot with 7.30 and Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell taking in 668,000 and 619,000 viewers respectively.
Puberty Blues averaged 464,000 on Ten from 8.30pm, falling from 517,000 last week, and ranking 17th for the night, just ahead of Spicks and Specks which had 437,000 on ABC1 at the same time. Read more »
Taylor replaces Caroline Squire who moved to natural skin care brand Jurlique in January in the role of marketing manager of Australia and Europe.
Glenn Abell, general manager for Lego Australia and New Zealand, announced the promotion today saying: “Troy brings with him tremendous strategic, commercial and leadership capabilities while also having a deep knowledge of the Lego Brand and products. Read more »
Morning Update: Nissan celebrates role a car plays in family; Nicole Kidman unrecognisable in Jimmy Choo ad
This is our Morning Update, rounding up international media and marketing news from while you were sleeping.
“TBWA has presented the relationship between a car and a family as a love story in a short film to mark Nissan’s 80th birthday in Japan.
The four minute film, entitled ‘My car forever’, follows the story of a girl who leaves her home in Kyoto to move to Tokyo.”
Nine Entertainment Co is spinning a new data division out of its Mi9 digital unit which it claims will be one of just two “top tier” providers in Australia, with anticipated revenues of $50m-$100m in the next three to five years.
Tipstone will sell data on users from Mi9′s suite of sites and data from partners including Microsoft, which is tracked from assets with logins such as Windows Live (formerly Hotmail), Xbox Live, Skype, Nine’s Jump In catch-up TV service and data tracking across other assets including NineMSN. The Mail Online data is not part of the offering.
This is then married up with offline data from a range of Roy Morgan surveys and sold to agencies and marketers for what new CEO Richard McLaren describes as a push to get marketers having “meaningful conversations” with their clients.
At a launch event yesterday in Sydney McLaren said Tipstone would be going head-to-head with data giant Quantium, which Woolworths took an equity stake in a year ago, when it goes live on July 1, describing Google as a “second tier” data provider, and the other major Australian publishers including Fairfax and News Corp as “third tier”.
“It’s the consistency of recognising a logged-in user account the others don’t have,” he said. He added the data would also be made available to agencies for programatic trading “over time”.
McLaren said the idea for the spinoff came from clients asking for access to data to improve their digital experiences. He added: “It’s about knowing whether people are more likely to buy this and that product and understand things like where they live, but there’s also other sides to data, like being able to find people at various touchpoints and making communications relevant.
Women’s website The Hoopla has erected a paywall introducing a subscription model after three years of providing news and opinion for free.
The website co-founded by editor-in-chief Wendy Harmer and publisher Jane Waterhouse will relaunch with a new look on April 14 and offer subscriptions priced at 99 cents for a day pass, with monthly options ranging to a $75 annual subscription.
Waterhouse, CEO of publisher We Magazines, said the changes reflected the commercial reality for an independently-owned publishing house in a crowded market.
Welcome to Mumbrella’s live blog, a rolling diary of all you need to know in Australian media and marketing. Refresh the page for the latest updates.
- Mumbrella hangout this afternoon: The problem with pitching
- Digital Stars returns for 2014 and widens search to New Zealand
- The Australian celebrates 50 years of ‘impartial information’
- ABC boss Mark Scott warns of News Corp ‘aggressive editorial positioning’ and market dominance
- Police injunction forces Herald Sun to stop the press
- Dr Mumbo: Has Singo ‘bought a Jeep’?
4:35pm - There are just a few days left to enter the Cannes Young Lions competition for 2014, with entries closing this Friday. However, it’s worth pulling a couple of all-nighters for the chance to go to the south of France and test yourselves against the best in the world (and sip a few roses too).
4.00pm - The videohangout with Darren Woolley and Richard Bleasdale is now over but you can watch the video here.
Cricket Australia is reviewing its creative account putting incumbent GPY&R Melbourne on notice, Mumbrella can reveal.
A spokesperson for the sport organisation said: “We are currently reviewing our creative agency structure across the business. We have a strong relationship with GPYR and they have done some excellent work for cricket over the last four seasons where we have seen strong growth across our key metrics of participation, attendance, viewership and digital consumption.
“GPYR have been asked to take part in the process.”
The Melbourne agency won the account in August 2010 and has worked on many campaigns since, including the ‘Play Cricket’ campaign which launched in September last year.
The News Corp title reported police had taken the “extraordinary” action of seeking a Supreme Court injunction at 7.30pm last night, preventing it from reporting any information about “Lawyer X”.
Although the newspaper argues it had no intention of naming or identifying the lawyer, the court ordered the newspaper to stop its presses.
Victoria Police had sought the court order to prohibit the publishing of any information that would tend to identify the lawyer. Read more »
Incumbent UM will face-off against rivals MediaCom, Carat and ZenithOptimedia for the $137m account, one of Australia’s largest.
Both OMD and Starcom Mediavest are understood to have declined to pitch due to the amount of new business in the market, with Woolworths and Lion both in play at the moment, and the resources required to tender for the account. Read more »
Telstra has lifted the lid on its programmatic client trading desk claiming it has developed a major competitive advantage in the digital marketing space, with 65 per cent of its spend now directed through it.
Speaking today at the Mumbrella Programmatic Trading Masterclass Telstra’s GM of digital marketing Harry Lowes and Dan Robins, head of performance at media agency OMD, described how two years into its program the telco already had 65 per cent of its digital spend going through the programmatic trading desk, and how they had brought in staff from creative agency DDB to cut lead times.
“Our ambition is to have 80 percent of our media digital dollars go through some sort of programmatic capacity by the end of the financial year. Which is a big jump from where we are now,” said Lowes.
Apple has taken experienced mobile sales man Marc Fine to lead its new iAds division as it looks to boost advertising spend on its apps and recently-launched iTunes Radio offering.
Fine was head of marketing and key accounts for independent mobile ad sales network InMobi for three years, and prior to that had stints at Optus as portal manager and advertising platforms and innovation manager and marketing manager for Vodafone Live.
Apple rolled out the iTunes radio and iAds offering in Australia in February, as it looks to tap into the burgeoning and competitive music streaming market here, with advertisers including McDonald’s and Pepsi Next on board.
Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes has pastiched late night sex phone line adverts, positioning the product as a guilty pleasure any time of day in a new digital campaign.
Mumbrella understands the agency has been appointed to a panel and could handle other briefs in the future for the pharmaceutical giant.
The Hallway launched its public relations offering at the end of 2012, hiring Louise Pogmore, the former head of PR at Naked Communications, to spearhead the move.
Budget Direct is promoting its 60 second car insurance mobile estimate in a new ad featuring alien Zeek and human Dave.
The ad sees slightly hopeless Dave using an archaic looking landline and looking frustrated before Zeek pops up and asks: “What’s this remarkable contraption you have? What activity can it achieve?”
When Dave tells him he’s trying to get a quote for car insurance Zeek suggests he use “this smart communicator can get you one in 60 seconds”.
Westpac is highlighting the impact its Bicentennial Foundation, a private education scholarship program, has had on the nation in a new campaign which is the company’s first step towards celebrating its 200-year anniversary in 2017.
Created by DDB Australia the campaign asks what drove eye surgeon Fred Hollows and cancer researcher Adele Green as it aims to highlight how the $100 million contributed to education has impacted on Australia, ending with the tagline “Westpac Bicentennial Foundation making sure those with the drive to shape Australia get to”.
Westpac’s general manager, strategic marketing, Australian financial services John Harries said: “This is an incredibly exciting campaign for Westpac and reflects one of our most significant and important initiatives. The new creative campaign highlights Westpac’s commitment to Australia’s future by telling stories of inspirational Australians, who have made major, life-changing contributions to our nation.
The Australian is celebrating its 50th birthday this year with a campaign looking back on its half century of journalism while also promising continued innovation into the future.
In a press release this morning News Corp’s said: “The Australian launched on Wednesday 15 July 1964 with Rupert Murdoch promising it would be a newspaper of impartial information and independent thinking; tied to no party and to no state, only guided by its faith in Australia and the country’s future.
“Fifty years later, The Australian continues to deliver on this promise. It reports fearlessly, holds Governments and institutions to account, and has consistently argued for big policy changes whose implementation have benefited the nation, and its people, enormously.”
To mark the milestone, the paper is undertaking a series of print and online specials including an editorial publishing series looking at the events that have shaped the last 50 years of Australia’s history, a digital recreation of the first edition of the paper, a special digital hub dedicated to the birthday that will showcase content published since the paper’s launch and a glossy collectors’ edition magazine celebrating its best bits.
The Australian CEO Nicholas Gray said: “2014 marks the 50th birthday of the nation’s greatest newspaper. Fifty years ago The Australian launched because the country needed a newspaper that advanced the nation’s welfare. This year we are saluting it’s proud past as we continue to evolve for more successes in the future.
American supernatural drama Resurrection lost viewers on its debut of 1.9m last week as the show averaged 1.547m for the second episode last night, according to preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTam.
The show dropped from its number one slot to second place behind My Kitchen Rules last night, which averaged 1.621m for Channel Seven, with the channel winning the largest share of the audience in all people with a 27.3 per cent share, with Nine getting 25.7 per cent and Channel Ten 9.3 per cent.
Nine’s The Big Bang Theory and The Block were third and fourth in all programs, but were top in Nine’s target demographic of people 25-54.


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Jury duty can be a real bummer.
Unless, of course, you can use that time to immerse yourself in the proceedings and learn about how the judicial system works.
Or you can use that time to steal stuff. Whatever makes the time go by faster!
One Brevard man is now in jail after he sneaked into courthouse offices to steal an iPhone and some cash while the grand jury he was a part of was on a break.
According to an incident report, juror Kyle Powell took advantage of his jury taking a break and went and ganked an iPhone from one state office and more than $200 from another.
Powell was busted thanks to a GPS tracking device built into the iPhone he stole.
The GPS led cops to Powell's home. When confronted by police, he admitted to stealing the iPhone and the cash.
He said he used some of the money on pot and dinner.
"For someone to violate that trust and to violate that position of trust that we had in them, it's just, it's outrageous," said circuit state attorney Phil Archer.
As for a juror stealing things while on duty, the State Attorney's Office told wftv.com that it's looking to see if it needs a second grand jury.
Keep New Times Broward-Palm Beach Free... Since we started New Times Broward-Palm Beach, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering South Florida with no paywalls.


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International Top Tech Conference EMERGE to debut in the UAE this May 28-29
EMERGE conference will take place in Dubai bringing a new perspective of the tech industry to the GCC – connecting tech, start-ups and investors from all over the globe.
Date: 28-29 May 2023
Location: Emirates Sports Hotel, Dubai
(19th May, Dubai) EMERGE has built a reputation as one of the most established international technology conferences, with a focus on emerging markets. Bringing together start-ups, tech talents, investors, and related industries from the New East (MENA, CEE, the Balkans, Turkey, and Central Asia). Over the years, various events have attracted up to 12,000 participants from more than 100 countries, and this year EMERGE is expanding its outreach to MENA.
HONOR collaborates with Hamdan International Photography Award – HIPA for its latest HONOR Magic Series
The partnership comes as a part of HONOR’s vision to empower users to seize every moment in their life
Dubai, UAE – 19 May 2023: HONOR has always been a brand that recognizes the crucial role that photography plays in people’s lives, allowing them to capture and preserve memories that will last a lifetime. As such, the global technology brand continuously strives to enhance the camera capabilities of its smartphones to meet the evolving needs and expectations of its users and provide the best-in-class experiences.


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WALLINGFORD, Conn., May 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Edible Arrangements franchises have been popping up across North America at an average of one a week since the first of the year, with more than 20 new locations opening for business through the end of April.
The pace growth, which will significantly increase through spring and summer, has allowed the fresh-fruit franchise to surpass the 1,000 mark for locations now open with another 100 under development and scheduled to open by the end of the year.
"We are thrilled to welcome so many new franchise partners into the Edible Arrangements network," says Founder and CEO Tariq Farid. "Not only are we helping these entrepreneurs pursue their own American Dream, but we are giving our loyal customers even greater access to our fresh products."
Of the new openings, 12 are Edible To Go, the new on-the-go concept, which features takeout treats such as fresh fruit smoothies, fruit salads, fruit parfaits and an assortment of chocolate dipped fruit.
"Thanks to the popularity of the Edible To Go locations, more and more of our customers can now enjoy Edible Arrangements at a moment's notice, whether it's picking up a fresh treat or having an arrangement made while they wait," said Farid. "We could not be more pleased with how 2012 has started."
Since January, Edible Arrangements has opened new locations in these U.S. and Canadian cities:
About Edible Arrangements
With over 1100 locations open or under development worldwide, Edible Arrangements International, LLC. is the leading purveyor of delicious, high quality, artistically designed, fresh fruit arrangements that are practical and healthy gifts and centerpieces for everyday occasions and events. Brothers Tariq and Kamran Farid developed and launched the company in 1999 in East Haven, CT, after many years in the floral industry. Edible Arrangements stores are located in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Italy, Turkey, Hong Kong, Jordan, Oman, India and China. The company has been recognized as an industry leader since its inception, including ranking first in its category in Entrepreneur Magazine's annual "Franchise 500" for the past five years and also placing in Entrepreneur's top 40 of "Fastest Growing Franchises" and "America's Top Global Franchises." Edible Arrangements was the winner of the ICSC's 2010 Hot Retailer Award and the company has also ranked in Inc. Magazine's top 5,000 fastest growing privately-held companies for seven consecutive years, ranked ninth on Forbes "2011 Top Franchises to Start for the Money" and was recently named one of Inc's "10 Promising Franchises for 2011." The company also was recently named one of the Top 100 internet retailers by Internet Retailer magazine. More information about Edible Arrangements and Edible Arrangements franchise opportunities is available at 1-888-727-4258 or online at www.eafranchise.com.
Scott White BizCom Associates (214) 458-5751


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Who’s Willing to Pay $1 Billion for Hulu?
KKR & Co.’s (NYSE:KKR) joint bid with Guggenheim Digital Media was reportedly eliminated yesterday. Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC) has also expressed interest in buying stake in Hulu, offering an option of becoming an investor alongside Hulu’s current owners rather than buying the company outright.
The popular online TV streaming service is currently owned by Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), 21st Century Fox, and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Disney and Fox have had difficulty agreeing on a direction for the company, and so have decided to sell.
As online TV streaming becomes a more popular way for consumers to watch television, traditional cable and satellite TV companies are eager to jump on the trend. Web-based services like Hulu and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) are much less expensive than cable or satellite, and many people have turned to such services as a way to save money without losing TV completely.
While Hulu was a founding part of the streaming-TV trend, a purchase of the company would not be without disadvantages. Hulu offers a free ad-based version of the service through personal computers and a paid version with more content and availability for use on a range of devices called Hulu Plus.
The paid service has not yet become profitable, as licensing for its programming is more expensive than the $7.99 per month Hulu Plus costs. While the ad-based version makes some money, the company as a whole is not yet profitable. Secondly, the company that purchases Hulu will have to work out programming rights with Disney and Fox if Hulu is to keep the same programming it currently offers.
DirecTV and AT&T could benefit by offering Hulu in bundled TV packages along with their other services. One of Hulu’s biggest draws is that it starts streaming shows the day after they air. This has helped the site compete with Netflix, which generally doesn’t have access to such new programming.
Follow Jacqueline on Twitter (@Jacqui_WSCS)


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Century-old time capsule unsealed in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — A century-old time capsule, filled mostly with documents by long-gone Wall Street businessmen celebrating New York as a commercial hub, was unsealed Wednesday.
Spectators at the New-York Historical Society gathered around the mysterious bronze box as workers wearing surgical gloves removed 26 screws keeping it sealed since 1914.
The crowd leaned in when the lid came off and historian Nick Yablon reached in for the items: a collection of documents, booklets and newspapers depicting the turn-of-the-century businessmen's interests — from the tea, coffee and spice trade to other commerce, baseball and bullfights.
"This is the thrill of recovering relics," said Yablon, a professor of American studies at the University of Iowa who's writing a book about time capsules.
The Lower Wall Street Business Men's Association deposited the box with the historical society after celebrating the tricentennial of the 1614 charter of the New Netherland Company, one of the colony's pioneering commercial enterprises and a precursor of New York business. The association asked that the time capsule be unsealed in 1974.
But that didn't happen because the time capsule was forgotten.
A curator discovered it in the society's warehouse in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.
The box containing the well-preserved papers included another interesting item: a facsimile of a 1774, pre-American Revolutionary War letter written by the colony, now New York, to British colonized Boston, urging that the colonies unite.
Fast forward to May 23, 1914, the date of a telegram in the box from then New York Gov. Martin Glynn wishing the New York of 1974 well.
A copy of the New York Times from the same day reports that a banker was found guilty of murder.
As it turned out, in 1974, the city was battling a fiscal crisis. And The Lower Wall Street Business Men's Association no longer existed.
But the future does.
And a new time capsule was created by high schools students from the society's internship program. They selected items to be unsealed in 2114, including tickets to a Lady Gaga concert.
Contributions also include Purell hand sanitizer and an iconic, Greek-style New York paper coffee cup.
Julia Gatenio added a New York subway poster alerting riders to service changes, taped to a station pole.
"I stole it," confessed the giggling 17-year-old.


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146 Brentwood Ave., sale price $204,400, orig. price $199,900. Sold on Dec. 30, 2014.
269 Spencer Ave., sale price $580,000, orig. price $635,000. Sold on Dec. 29, 2014.
Warwick, RI — The real estate market in Warwick ended 2014 on a busy note — here’s how to find the recent sales in the city through Jan. 2, 2015, representing all types and price ranges.
This week, we’ve got a sampling from 23 recent property sales, including a 2-acre plot near Goddard Park and a Colonial in Buttonwoods that sold above list.
Scroll through the gallery to see what sold in Warwick and get an idea of local market conditions — and find the rest of the recent home sales here.
Information for this article was furnished by the Matt Patty Team with Keller Williams.
This is a test


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Volvo has launched a new online sales platform, allowing customers to buy or lease a brand new Volvo from their own home during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Stay Home Store concept leverages Volvo’s existing online sales tool and provides customers and dealers with a new, transparent and easy-to-use platform to interact, without the need for human contact.
Customers can browse and choose from a series of pre-negotiated prices and lease rates on new Volvos. The Stay Home Store also offers buyers additional flexibility options such as no down payments or payment-free car loan periods.
“We want to give customers the option of finding a new Volvo that suits them, without having to wait for the current pandemic to be over,” said Lex Kerssemakers, global head of commercial qperations at Volvo. “Our online sales team has developed a great online tool - and because we understand that getting a car is a big commitment especially now, we offer our customers additional financing options.”
The launch of the Stay Home Store concept follows the introduction earlier this month of the Volvo Valet pick-up and drop-off service in the United States, which enables owners to have their cars serviced without leaving their homes or offices.
The Volvo Stay Home Store concept will initially be available in the following countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom


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An Israeli Diplomat Says He Was Thrown Out of an Uber for Speaking Hebrew
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An Israeli diplomat in Chicago says his Uber driver yelled at him and kicked him out of the vehicle Thursday when he answered his phone in Hebrew.
Itay Milner, deputy consul general of Israel to the Midwest, used the ride-sharing company’s app to summon a car home in Chicago around 5:30pm, the AP reports. During the ride, he answered his cell phone and said “How are you?” in Hebrew.
After that, Milner says the Uber driver yelled profanities at him and ordered him to “get out now” because he was speaking Hebrew.
“Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination,” an Uber spokeswoman told TPG. “We are reaching out to the rider to extend our support for the experience he described here. As soon as we were made aware of this, we removed the driver’s access from the app as we look further into this.”
Welcome to The Points Guy!


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Globe is offering these solutions as an alternative platform for customers' concerns and transactions that are usually catered by visiting a Globe Store.
Globe streamlines GlobeOne and Globe at Home apps to make it easier for their users to manage their respective accounts. GlobeOne and Globe at Home apps offer straightforward monitoring and tracking of usage, easy access to bills, quick load purchases, balance payments, and even requesting tech support.
GlobeOne and Globe from Home appsGlobe is offering these solutions as an alternative platform for customers' concerns and transactions that are usually catered by visiting a Globe Store. Globe understands, that amid this pandemic, customers don't have to step out of your house to find solutions and services.
Customers can now download the apps for free and have their concerns resolved within minutes, without having to wait for their turn or step out of their homes.
Read also: Globe at Home offers Xtreme WiFi Plan 999, Their Most Affordable Home Internet Plan
“As we shift to a more relaxed quarantine across the country, we continue to recreate the way we serve our customers to make it easier and safer for them to manage their accounts,” says Rebecca Eclipse, Globe Chief Customer Experience Officer. “They have relied on online platforms for essentials, groceries, and even education, to lessen physical interaction. We are offering this same convenience as we bring our most widely-used services to our customers’ reach through our apps,” Eclipse added.
Globe wants GlobeOne to be its users' digital companion for Globe Postpaid, Globe Business and Prepaid subscribers. This app allows them to access their billing statements, monitor their data consumption, check their rewards points and even buy load credits.
Globe at Home AppOn the other hand, the Globe at Home app allows Broadband and Prepaid Wifi subscribers to easily track their data usage, add volume boosts and even upgrade their plan subscription.
GlobeOne and Globe at Home apps are now available for download. You can register in the app by using your email or third party credentials like Google, Facebook or Yahoo Mail. After registration, users can enroll the their existing mobile number. Of course, customers may also dial *143# and chat with Globe Telecom’s FB Messenger to do self-service transactions.
Download GlobeOne and Globe at Home from these links glbe.co/GlobeOne and glbe.co/GAHapp.


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Microsoft is poised to use India as the launch pad for its first post-Nokia smartphone, the budget-priced Lumia 535.
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is wooing Apple customers with a cash offer for trade-ins of iPhones for its new square-screened, keyboard-equipped Passport.
A rise in Apple shares Tuesday pushed the market value of the trend-setting US tech icon above $700 billion, becoming the first company to hit that milestone.
Firefox maker Mozilla announced Wednesday that it is switching to Yahoo as the default service for online searches done through the Web browser in the United States.
Video game and e-commerce markets are growing "exponentially" across the Middle East and North Africa, driven by the mobile revolution and new youth-produced content, according to a study.
Online retail sales totaled $75 billion in the second quarter of 2014, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. As consumers shop more using the Internet and cell phones, retailers must adjust their marketing strategies ...
The U.S. tablet market posted an 8 percent decline in revenue during the back-to-school season, leaving the once-thriving product category in a tough spot as the holidays draw near.
Retailers who hope to get a leg up on the competition by opening on Thanksgiving Day are taking the wrong approach, according to a national expert in retail marketing and strategy in the University at Buffalo School of Management.
Amazon has garnered far less success than it deserves in consumer electronics, and its latest line of tablets may well continue that trend despite comparing favorably with Apple's latest iPad.
Science begins with observation, and many defining moments in scientific progress followed the introduction of new ways to observe the world, from microscopes and telescopes to X-rays and MRIs.


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AP Investigation: Supermarkets Selling Shrimp Peeled by Slaves
Earlier this year, we brought you news of horrific human rights abuses in the global seafood industry. Many of these tales of abuse were linked to Thai Union Group, the world’s third-largest seafood exporter and owner of popular U.S. brand Chicken of the Sea.
Following investigations from the New York Times, Associated Press (AP), The Guardian and others, reports of forced labor, inhumane working conditions and human trafficking in Thai Union’s supply chain have become an unfortunately common occurrence in recent months. From canned tuna to pet food, it’s becoming increasingly clear that American consumers cannot trust much of the seafood available on supermarket shelves today.
Now you can add shrimp to that list.
An Associated Press investigation released Monday found that migrants, including children, were forced to work for little or no pay peeling shrimp sent to Chicken of the Sea and sold to consumers at Wal-Mart, Kroger and Whole Foods.
AP reporters found products linked to forced labor at supermarkets in all 50 states. They also found that a Thai Union employee was visiting an implicated factory on a daily basis, suggesting the company knew about the abuses it was perpetuating.
We Must Demand Better Than This
All of these shocking investigations show one thing: the global seafood industry is out of control. The same unbridled economic interests that wreak havoc on our oceans are also allowing horrific human rights abuses to continue unchecked and the companies responsible are hoping we’ll look the other way.
This is the time to raise your voice.
Nobody wants to buy seafood tainted by forced labor and we know that the issue goes beyond just shrimp. Every single company involved must be held accountable for the unmeasurable human suffering they are complicit in, from those catching the seafood to the supermarkets selling it.
These are the stories Thai Union and Chicken of the Sea want to keep hidden—we can’t let them. Read and share this shocking investigation from the Associated Press.
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Elliott Negin
On July 19, President Trump hosted Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and their families, along with the family of their deceased colleague Neil Armstrong, at a White House event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon.
- Cold-climate lizards that give live birth to their offspring are more likely to be driven to extinction than their egg-laying cousins as global temperatures continue to rise, new research suggests.
Tuna auctions are a tourist spectacle in Tokyo. Outside the city's most famous fish market, long queues of visitors hoping for a glimpse of the action begin to form at 5 a.m. The attraction is so popular that last October the Tsukiji fish market, in operation since 1935, moved out from the city center to the district of Toyosu to cope with the crowds.
gmnicholas / E+ / Getty Images
Kristan Porter grew up in a fishing family in the fishing community of Cutler, Maine, where he says all roads lead to one career path: fishing. (Porter's father was the family's lone exception. He suffered from terrible seasickness, and so became a carpenter.) The 49-year-old, who has been working on boats since he was a kid and fishing on his own since 1991, says that the recent warming of Maine's cool coastal waters has yielded unprecedented lobster landings.
The climate crisis is getting costly. Some of the world's largest companies expect to take over one trillion in losses due to climate change. Insurers are increasingly jittery and the world's largest firm has warned that the cost of premiums may soon be unaffordable for most people. Historic flooding has wiped out farmers in the Midwest.
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano could be gearing up for an eruption after a pond of water was discovered inside its summit crater for the first time in recorded history, according to the AP.


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Here’s a positive for J.P. Morgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon about that whole London Whale disaster: Its retail clients didn’t really seem to notice.
A paltry 15% of Chase Bank clients said they had heard or read more information about J.P. Morgan’s troubles, according to a survey released by Harris Poll and its partner Google today.
J.P. Morgan has about $415 billion in deposits, just in its retail operations. Those deposits apparently aren’t worried about, or don’t know about, trouble in a formerly little-known area of J.P. Morgan’s investment banking operations — trouble that didn’t force the bank to post a loss.
In fact, Chase claimed the top ranking of the big banks for satisfaction in the industry, the same Harris Poll revealed.
Some 59% of Chase customers said they were “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with the bank, besting Citibank’s 55%, Bank of America’s 48% and Wells Fargo’s 47%.
“Over the past year we’ve implemented a number of changes to improve our customers’ experience with Chase,” a spokesman said today. “We’ve made dramatic progress, but recognize there’s still plenty of work to do.”
But even if 59% isn’t exactly stellar, maybe Dimon can use this survey as ammo for fending off critics who have said he has a bank that’s too big to manage.


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Completed episodes from the new Mr Men Show wil be unveiled to the industry for the first time at this month's Brand Licensing Europe and Mipcom events.
Chorion, which owns the rights to the classic literary brand, has had a busy year readying itself for the relaunch of the Mr Men and Little Miss characters. Fisher-Price is the master toy licensee for the new sketch-style comedy series, which has been created by LA-based Renegade Animation and will air on Cartoon Network in the US and Five in the UK next year.
Visitors to both the shows can expect to preview a number of the new-look characters as they take part in a series of comedy sketches set in the colourful Dillydale.
"We are very excited about the number of enquiries we have been receiving from interested international broadcasters and licensees for The Mr Men Show and our other wonderful children's properties," said Judith Luscombe, head of sales for Europe at Chorion.
"Let's hope we can announce even more high profile partners in key territories following these trade events. Watch this space."
In addition to The Mr Men Show, Chorion will be presenting a strong portfolio of youth brands at Brand Licensing Europe including Noddy, Eric Carle and the brand new animated Famous Five: On the Case, co-produced by Marathon and Disney, which is aimed at children aged seven to 11 and launches on the Disney Channel from spring 2008.
At Mipcom, alongside the Mr Men Show, pre-school favourite Olivia is making the move from Ian Falconer's award-winning books onto the small screen in a new show which combines 3D CGI animation with live action.
A deal is already in place with Nick Jr in the US.


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30 - (Search quality Highlights - 2012Google announced 30 changes over the previous month, including image search landing-page quality detection, more relevant site-links, more rich snippets, and related-query improvements. The line between an "algo update" and a "feature" got a bit more blurred. For more refer the original source below.
30 search quality highlights - with codenames! (Google)
Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements & Better Byline Dates (SEL)
Panda 3.2 - January 2012
Google confirmed Panda 3.2 data update, although suggested that the algorithm hadn't changed. Only data refresh has been done a week ago.
Page layout algorithm - Ads Above The Fold - January 2012
Google updated their page layout algorithms to devalue sites with too much ad-space above the "fold". It was previously suspected that a similar factor was in play in Panda. The update had no official name, although it was referenced as "Top Heavy" by some SEOs.
Panda 3.3 - February 2012
Google rolled out another post-"flux" Panda update, which appeared to be relatively minor. This came just 3 days after the 1-year anniversary of Panda, an unprecedented lifespan for a named update.
Search Quality Video - March 12, 2012
This wasn't an algorithm update, but Google published a rare peek into a search quality meeting. For anyone interested in the algorithm, the video provides a lot of context to both Google's process and their priorities. It's also a chance to see Amit Singhal in action.
Panda 3.4 - March 23, 2012
Google announced another Panda update, this time via Twitter as the update was rolling out. Their public statements estimated that Panda 3.4 impacted about 1.6% of search results.
Parked Domain Bug — April , 2012
After a number of webmasters reported ranking shuffles, Google confirmed that a data error had caused some domains to be mistakenly treated as parked domains (and thereby devalued). This was not an intentional algorithm change.
Panda 3.5 - April , 2012
In the middle of a busy week for the algorthim, Google quietly rolled out a Panda data update. A mix of changes made the impact difficult to measure, but this appears to have been a fairly routine update with minimal impact.
Penguin Update - April , 2012
After weeks of speculation about an "Over-optimization penalty", Google finally rolled out the "Webspam Update", which was soon after dubbed "Penguin." Penguin adjusted a number of spam factors, including keyword stuffing, and impacted an estimated 3.1% of English queries.
Panda 3.6 - April , 2012
Barely a week after Panda 3.5, Google rolled out yet another Panda data update. The implications of this update were unclear, and it seemed that the impact was relatively small.
Google : list of Quality Update till April - May, 2012
Google published details of 52 updates in April, including changes that were tied to the "Penguin" update. Other highlights included a 15% larger "base" index, improved pagination handling, and a number of updates to sitelinks.
Knowledge Graph - May 16, 2012
In a major step toward semantic search, Google started rolling out "Knowledge Graph", a SERP-integrated display providing supplemental object about certain people, places, and things. Expect to see "knowledge panels" appear on more and more SERPs over time. Also, Danny Sullivan's favorite Trek is ST:Voyager?!
Penguin 1.1 (#2) - May , 2012
Google rolled out its first targeted data update after the "Penguin" algorithm update. This confirmed that Penguin data was being processed outside of the main search index, much like Panda data.
Panda 3.7 (#15) — June , 2012
Google rolled out yet another Panda data update, claiming that less than 1% of queries were affect. Ranking fluctuation data suggested that the impact was substantially higher than previous Panda updates (3.5, 3.6).
Panda 3.8 (#16) — June , 2012
Google rolled out another Panda data refresh, but this appeared to be data only (no algorithm changes) and had a much smaller impact than Panda 3.7.
Link Warnings — July , 2012
In a repeat of March/April, Google sent out a large number of unnatural link warnings via Google Webmaster Tools. In a complete turn-around, they then announced that these new warnings may not actually represent a serious problem.
Panda 3.9 (#17) — July, 2012
A month after Panda 3.8, Google rolled out a new Panda update. Rankings fluctuated for 5-6 days, although no single day was high enough to stand out. Google claimed ~1% of queries were impacted.
DMCA Penalty ("Pirate") — August, 2012Google announced that they would start penalizing sites with repeat copyright violations, probably via DMCA takedown requests. Timing was stated as "starting next week" (8/13?).
An update to our search algorithms (Google)
The Emanuel Update: Google Will Penalize Sites Repeatedly Accused Of Copyright Infringement (SEL)
Panda 3.9.1 (#18) — August , 2012Google rolled out yet another Panda data update, but the impact seemed to be fairly small. Since the Panda 3.0 series ran out of numbers at 3.9, the new update was dubbed 3.9.1.
Confirmed: Google Panda 3.9.1 Update (SER)
Google Panda Refresh On August 19th: Version 3.9.1 (SEL)
Panda 3.9.2 (#19) — September , 2012Google rolled out another Panda refresh, which appears to have been data-only. Ranking flux was moderate but not on par with a large-scale algorithm update.
Google Rolls Out Panda 3.9.2 Refresh (SER)
Panda Update 3.92 Rolling Out (Or Is It Panda 20 Time?) (SEL)
Exact-Match Domain (EMD) Update — September, 2012Google announced a change in the way it was handling exact-match domains (EMDs). This led to large-scale devaluation, reducing the presence of EMDs in the MozCast data set by over 10%. Official word is that this change impacted 0.6% of queries (by volume).
Google's EMD Algo Update - Early Data (SEOmoz)
The EMD Update: Google Issues “Weather Report” Of Crack Down On Low Quality Exact Match Domains (SEL)
Penguin #3 — October 5, 2012After suggesting the next Penguin update would be major, Google released a minor Penguin data update, impacting "0.3% of queries". Penguin update numbering was rebooted, similar to Panda - this was the 3rd Penguin release.
Google Penguin Update 3 Released, Impacts 0.3% Of English-Language Queries (SEL)
Google Released 3rd Penguin Update: Not Jarring Or Jolting (SER)
Page Layout #2 — October 9, 2012Google announced an update to its original page layout algorithm change back in January, which targeted pages with too many ads above the fold. It's unclear whether this was an algorithm change or a Panda-style data refresh.
It’s “Top Heavy 2? As Google Rolls Out Update To Its Page Layout Algorithm (SEL)
Google Page Layout Algorithm Officially Updated (SER)
Panda #21 — November 5, 2012Google rolled out their 21st Panda update, roughly 5-1/2 weeks after Panda #20. This update was reported to be smaller, officially impacting 1.1% of English queries.
Google Releases Panda Update 21, Impacts 1.1% Of US Queries In English (SEL)
Official: Google Panda Refresh On November 5th (Version 21) (SER)
Panda #22 — November 21, 2012After some mixed signals, Google confirmed the 22nd Panda update, which appears to have been data-only. This came on the heels of a larger, but unnamed update around November 19th.
Official Google Panda #22 Update: November 21 (SER)
Confirmed: Google Panda Refresh #22 On November 21st; 0.8% Of Queries Impacted (SEL)
Knowledge Graph Expansion — December 4, 2012Google added Knowledge Graph functionality to non-English queries, including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, and Italian. This update was "more than just translation" and added enhanced KG capabilities.
Get smarter answers from the Knowledge Graph from Português to Japanese to Russian (Google)
Google’s Knowledge Graph Expands To More Languages, Including Italian, French, Japanese And Russian (TechCrunch)
Panda #23 — December 21, 2012Right before the Christmas holiday, Google rolled out another Panda update. They officially called it a "refresh", impacting 1.3% of English queries. This was a slightly higher impact than Pandas #21 and #22.
Confirmed: A Panda Refresh, Version #23 (SER)
Check out : Google Algorithm Change History 2013


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Apple canceled plans to add a body temperature sensor to the Apple Watch Series 7, but the feature could come to the Apple Watch Series 8 instead, according to reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a thread of tweetsKuo explained that Apple originally intended to offer a body temperature measurement feature with the Apple Watch Series 7 models, but the company shelved the plans when the body temperature algorithm it had developed failed to meet requirements before the device entered the engineering validation testing (EVT) phase last year.
Kuo believes that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 could feature body temperature monitoring, providing “the algorithm can meet Apple’s high requirements before mass production.”
The problems Apple has experienced relating to body temperature measurement purportedly relate to the fact that skin temperature quickly varies based on the environment, and since a smartwatch cannot monitor core body temperature using hardware, the feature is heavily dependent on an algorithm that produces accurate results.
Kuo added that Samsung is experiencing similar challenges with body temperature measurement, noting that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may not come with a body temperature monitoring feature due to algorithmic limitations.
Both Kuo and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman have previously discussed how the 2022’s Apple Watches were likely to offer body temperature monitoring capabilities, but rumors related to the feature have quietened in recent times. Kuo’s comments today appear to raise further doubts around whether the feature will actually debut with the Apple Watch Series 8 later this year.
For everything we know so far about the Apple Watch Series 8, check out our dedicated guide.
iPhone 14 Pro Display Panels Reveal New Pill-and-Hole Design Replacing Notch
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 14 Pro models are widely rumored to feature new displays with a pill-shaped cutout and a hole for the Face ID sensors and front camera, respectively, and now a real-world look at this design has seemingly surfaced. Front glass panels for all four iPhone 14 models have allegedly surfaced on Chinese social media website Weibo, as shared on Twitter by @SaranByte and…
Here’s the Massive Kit Apple Will Send to Your House So You Can Fix Your iPhone
Apple today announced that it has officially launched its Self Service Repair program, letting United States customers repair their iPhones from their homes. To do the repairs, Apple is offering a $49 rental kit that consists of all the tools needed to repair an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 lineup model and the third-generation iPhone SE, and possibly unexpectedly, the kit is rather large. On its …
Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out – April 2022
Mac apps often don’t receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a regular video series that is designed to highlight some of the useful Mac apps that we’ve come across over the past few months. Our April picks feature apps for quickly accessing websites, adjusting external display settings from the menu bar, using a Windows-like “alt-tab” tool, and more. Subscr …
Deals: Apple’s 12.9-Inch iPad Pro Reaches Up to $399 Off in New Sales on Amazon
Amazon this week has introduced a slate of deals on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with markdowns hitting every configuration of the 2021 tablet. You’ll find the full list of sales below, with prices reaching as much as $399 off these devices. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us…
Here’s a Real-World Look At How the iPhone 14 Lineup Compares to the iPhone 13
New images of 3D-printed mockups, likely based on relatively accurate dimensions for the upcoming iPhone 14 lineup, have offered a close look at the design changes Apple is planning for the 2022 iPhones, particularly the enlargement of the camera systems compared to the latest iPhone 13 series. The iPhone 14 series will feature larger camera systems on the back, according to previous rumors…
Mac Studio Owners Complain of Irritating High-Pitched Noise
Some Mac Studio owners have noticed that their machines are making a high-pitched “whining” sound that appears to be coming from the fan. There are pages of complaints on the MacRumors forums about the issue, and it seems to be affecting a number of users. Most of the complaints are coming from Mac Studio owners who opted for the M1 Max Mac Studio rather than the Ultra version, which is not…


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Two companies interested in acquiring Dlubak Corp.’s bankrupt glassmaking business have stepped forward and are challenging its plan for a speedy sale of its assets.
Dlubak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, saying its operating capital has evaporated due to a three-year decline in sales. Much of its business is from making bullet-proof glass used in combat vehicles.
In objections filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, New Jersey-based General Glass International and an Israeli company, Oran Safety Glass Israel, said the proposed sale process is unreasonable and unfair.
It’s unreasonable, they said, because the sale schedule, as proposed, doesn’t give them enough time to conduct their due diligence. Bids tentatively are due Sept. 3, with an auction taking place two days later. The closing would occur the following day, Sept. 6.
And it’s unfair, they said, because the rules for the sale, as proposed, seem to give the upper hand to a private equity firm that also is interested in the business. That firm, Grey Mountain Partners, has laid a $2 million stalking-horse bid on the table. As the stalking-horse bidder, Grey Mountain is setting a floor price for the business, helping ensure that bidders don’t lowball their offers.
One of the rules being criticized holds that any matching bid Grey Mountain makes against a competing offer would automatically be deemed the highest bid. So to win during the auction, Grey Mountain doesn’t have to outbid its competitors, only match them.
Another rule being called into question holds that each competing bid against Grey Mountain’s offer will automatically be reduced by $200,000, the amount of a break-up fee due to the stalking-horse should it be unsuccessful at the auction.
The companies said those conditions and others will have a chilling effect on the bidding environment.
General Glass and Oran Safety Glass aren’t the only entities taking issue with the sale process. Dlubak’s primary secured lender, First Commonwealth Bank, also has filed objections over the sales rules. And so has the branch of the Department of Justice that monitors bankruptcies.
This year apparently has been disastrous for Dlubak — through three quarters of this fiscal year, it has recorded $819,433 in total sales. By comparison, it had about $15.4 million in net sales in fiscal 2012, according to court filings.
Dlubak lists assets of about $5.1 million and liabilities of roughly $7.3 million.
Dlubak said in previous filings that it had tried to secure new capital and refinance its existing debt. But when those efforts failed, the company decided that the only option left was to begin shopping itself around. To that end, it undertook what it said was an extensive marketing effort, which led to the agreement with Grey Mountain.
But in its objection, General Glass questioned the extent of the marketing effort.
“The debtor’s marketing efforts are suspect, at a minimum, because General Glass, a logical target of marketing efforts, was not contacted directly. ...”
The case is before U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Western District of Pennsylvania.