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This may just be one of the greatest gifts of all this holiday season.
E! News has confirmed that Paramount Studios have decided to change the release date for Anchorman: The Legend Continues—but wait, don't frown. They're moving the date up by two days! Yes, that means it's getting released to theaters sooner than we expected!
Instead of the regularly scheduled Dec. 20 release date, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and our favorite news team will hit the big screen on Dec. 18.
But that's not all the Anchorman goodness we have for you...
The film's stars—Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner—treated a moviegoers to a little treat on Sunday night. The news team showed up at the movie's Sydney premiere and gave a live impromptu performance of "Afternoon Delight."
Hitting every note perfectly, the costars gave a great cover of the Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit, recreating the memorable scene from the original film.
But wait, there's more!
Ron Burgundy was nice enough to create a holiday greeting card for fans who celebrate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, and they were written in true Ron Burgundy fashion.
"Chappy Chanukah to the chosen people," one card read, "I hope you choose to watch me, Ron Burgundy, as your trusted news anchor. Even though me and my news team aren't remotely Jewish, if your Chanukah party has cocktails and ladies, we'll be there and we'll be staying late."
Meanwhile, the Thanksgiving card said, "Thanksgiving is a time when we gather with the family of the woman we're sleeping with for incredibly awkward conversation. Remember to drink lots of wine, eat a bunch of turkey and try not to argue with her dad. In the words of the Pilgrims, have a dynamic Thanksgiving!"
Why, thanks Ron.


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Google may settle with the Department of Justice in a case surrounding online ad campaigns run by drug companies.
The case alleges that certain online pharmacies illegally selling prescription drugs ran ad campaigns through Google's various ad programs.
Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal reported Google had released a "cryptic regulatory filing" showing it had earmarked a $500 million payment to the DOJ to resolve a case. The Journal states the settlement would be one of the highest ever paid to the government in a corporate dispute.
In the DOJ's investigation, officials are looking into whether Google may have knowingly worked with advertisers who were using Google's ad platforms to promote illegal activities, such as selling controlled pharmaceuticals to U.S. citizens from pharmacies operating in Canada and other countries.
The WSJ's sources say the investigation has been carried out by the FDA and the U.S. Attorney Office in Rhode Island, where the investigation is reportedly ongoing.
Mere months ago, Google told the world it was suing online pharmacy advertisers who broke the company's rules by offering to sell prescription medication without a prescription on its ad network.
And in 2009, Google took other scammers to court for similarly violating the company's terms.

domain: news


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MyDala.Com Raises Rs18Cr From InfoEdge In Second Round
by Irfan Khan
Group buying site - MyDala.com has raised Rs18Cr from InfoEdge India in it's secind round of funding. Earlier in April'11, InfoEdge had invested Rs 9Cr in the company.
MyDala.com is operated by Kinobeo Software Private Limited, which was launched in November 2009 by Anisha Singh and Arjun Basu.
Last year, MyDala.com raised Rs.1.1 Cr in angel funding from Ajay Relan and Jayanta Basu, besides two unnamed US investors. Relan and Basu, the founding partners of Delhi-based PE firm CX Partners, invested in MyDala in their personal capacity.
Some of the deals on the website include recreation, restaurant, health and beauty services.
Other group buying sites like Snapdeal.com and Taggle have also raised funding in last one year.
Earlier in the month, InfoEdge also made a follow on investment of Rs20Cr in Applect Learning Systems. It had earlier invested Rs 6.5Cr in the company. Recently, Infoedge also announced a Rs13.5Cr investment in restaurant directory portal:Zomato


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Coffee after high-fat meal can raise blood sugar to harmful levels
Drinking coffee with a high-fat meal 'can raise blood sugar to harmful levels'
Coffee with fatty diet pushes blood sugar levels up 65 per cent
Drinking coffee after a high-fat meal can raise your blood sugar to potentially harmful levels, a study has found.
Not only are blood sugar levels increased after a fatty meal, but the rise doubles if the meal is followed by caffeinated coffee, researchers discovered.
Drinking coffee while eating junk food causes your blood sugar levels to soar
The study used a specially prepared drink containing molecules of fat, known as lipids, enabling researchers to mimic what happens to the body when fat is ingested.
Healthy men drank about one gram of the fat beverage for every kilo of body weight. Six hours later they were given a sugar drink. Typically when sugar is ingested, the body produces insulin, which takes the sugar out of the blood and distributes it to muscles.
But the researchers, from the University of Guelph in Canada, found fat affected the body’s ability to do this. Blood sugar levels were 32 per cent higher than they were when the men had not ingested the fat cocktail.
In further tests, participants received the equivalent of two cups of caffeinated coffee five hours after ingesting the fat beverage. An hour later, they were then given the sugar drink.
The results, published in the Journal of Nutrition, showed blood sugar levels increased by 65 per cent compared to what they were when participants had not ingested the fat and caffeinated coffee.
Study author Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, said: 'Ultimately we have found that fat and caffeinated coffee are impairing the communication between the gut and the pancreas, which could be playing a role in why participants couldn't clear the sugar from their blood as easily.'
She added: 'We have known for many years that people with or at risk of Type 2
diabetes should limit their caffeine intake.
coffee instead of caffeinated is one way to improve one's glucose
'Limiting the intake of saturated fatty acids found in red
meat, processed foods and fast food meals is also beneficial. This study
has shown that the effects of these foods can be severe and
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According to the newly rediscovered video this Apple store in Shanghai was build from the largest pieces of curved glass ever made at the time the video was recorded. YouTube
Many of the secrets behind how Apple turned its brick and mortar retail stores into landmark destinations have been revealed in a newly rediscovered video narrated by Ron Johnson, Apple’s former retail chief.
“We discovered that if you tailor a store unique to its setting it can actually improve a city,” said Johnson who is now JCPenney’s chief executive.
Of the many interesting points elaborated on in the video, three stand out: location at the center of the city, beautiful architecture, and a respect for the historical intentions of the location.
Produced by Washington Square Videos, apparently for internal use, the video was likely finished around July 2011, based on a date in the video.
Rediscovered by the self-described Apple retail store enthusiast Gary Allen and republished by 9to5Mac, one possible explanation for the near disappearance of the video is Johnson’s departure for JC Penney in November of last year.
Michael earned his BA from Mercer University, along the way excavating a Roman bathhouse with the American School of Archaeology. Plus, he provided security at Oxford University, where he also studied literature and philosophy. He earned his MS from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism while training for and running in the New York marathon.
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Deal or no deal, British companies will have to confront a wall of bureaucracy that threatens chaos at the border if they want to sell into the world's biggest trading bloc when life after Brexit begins on Jan. 1.
When Britain casts off from the European Union, firms that drive nearly $1 trillion in annual trade will have to navigate myriad new rules and red tape that will increase costs just as COVID-19 bleeds the economies of the West.
Outside the EU single market where trade flows freely, Britain's exporters will have to complete a raft of paperwork including customs and safety declarations and navigate multiple IT systems to gain entry to Europe.
But with a matter of weeks to go, companies used to trading as easily to Berlin as to Birmingham are yet to see the new IT systems.
Customs brokers have not been trained, operators do not know what information is required nor how the rules will be enforced.
Many have predicted chaos. Even the government has said 7,000 trucks could be held in 100-kilometer (62-mile) queues in Kent in southeast England if companies do not prepare.
"It's going to be carnage," Tony Shally, managing director of freight specialist Espace Europe, told Reuters. "We'll be fire-fighting from the 1st of January."
The current row over whether Britain leaves the EU with or without a deal has helped mask the fact that the deal on offer represents the biggest change to U.K. trade since the formation of the single market in 1993.
Outside the bloc, companies will have to complete paperwork and submit goods for random checks to cross borders, increasing both the cost and time it takes to do business.
In 2019 Britain, the world's sixth-largest economy, imported EU goods worth 253 billion pounds ($331 billion) and exported 138 billion pounds-worth to the bloc, when removing goods like oil and gold which distort trade flows.
To keep goods moving after Brexit, the government has published a new 271-page Border Operating Model, covering everything from the trade of rough diamonds to molluscs, chemicals and cultural goods.
A step-by-step guide on one of the main customs clearance sites gives a flavor of what traders can expect.
Points 12 to 15 state that "A Movement Reference Number" is generated by a "Transit Accompanying Document" and "Exit Summary Declaration" and should be lodged with the "Goods Vehicle Movement Service."
This then generates a "Goods Movement Reference" which is given to the driver, before a "Kent Access Permit" is secured to enter the county of Kent. Point 16 notes that anyone arriving in France without the correct documents could be sent back.
Customs brokers say the cost of paperwork could exceed the cost of moving small consignments. Completing a typical export declaration can require more than 50 pieces of information on transport, commodity codes and value.
The logistics industry estimates an additional 215 million customs declarations will need to be filled in each year after Brexit.
While disruption is expected in early 2021, British companies could be ousted from the complex manufacturing supply chains which stretch across Europe if that persists.
Customs adviser Anna Jerzewska said every potential delay adds up when trying to predict delivery times for operators of trucks and their drivers, known as hauliers in Britain.
"If you can get your goods elsewhere, why would you not?" she asked. "Why would you continue trading with the U.K. if you can get something for the same price elsewhere without the hassle and the uncertainty."
Richard Burnett, head of Britain's Road Haulage Association (RHA), said industry faced a colossal challenge, with even some large companies in Britain and Europe not yet prepared.
One senior director at a big British supermarket said he did not know whether he could keep his trucks rolling. "If it's fresh food, if you lose a day and you lose the sequence, the whole thing falls over," he said, declining to be named.
The RHA's Burnett warned that many European drivers would simply stop coming to Britain if they risk sitting for days in queues. With European-registered trucks making the vast majority of EU-U.K. crossings, that would hit capacity and prices.
"There is an enormous amount of work still to do," he told Reuters. "But how do you test the systems, and train people on them, when we haven't seen them yet?"
A September survey of U.K. freight forwarders – firms that arrange transportation of goods – found 64% said they did not have enough staff to cope with extra customs demands. A separate October survey of U.K. supply chain managers found 46% were less prepared for Brexit than last year due to the pandemic.
What makes British logistics so vulnerable to huge change is the fact that the industry is so fragmented, with a dense mosaic of drivers, freight forwarders and customs brokers working with small exporters and importers.
While logistics giants like DPD, DHL and UPS offer a range of services, most independent drivers do not have any experience of dealing with paperwork, meaning they will rely on their customers or customs brokers to complete it.
But it is drivers who will be penalized if they arrive at the border with loads that have not been properly cleared, and can face a 300-pound ($391) fine.
"To me, the single biggest risk of Brexit is the different links in the chain not knowing who is responsible for what," said Shane Brennan, the head of the Cold Chain Federation trade group for companies moving chilled food and pharmaceuticals.
Paul Jackson, a federation member who runs Chiltern Distribution, is helping his customers prepare because he knows a delay at the border hurts everyone.
"Time is money," he said, adding that he was "obsessed" with finding any titbit of information to prepare.
Some truck owners are going further, hiring customs staff and registering to move goods in one transit movement across several EU countries to limit the checks. But they have complained of having to deal with multiple government departments and months of delays.
With the clock ticking down, the tension is mounting. Minister Theodore Agnew this month accused many traders of taking a "head-in-the-sand approach," infuriating those who have demanded greater clarity for months.
Darren Jones, from the main opposition Labour Party and the head of the parliamentary business committee, told Reuters that companies were not ready because the government was not either.
Britain's Brexit supremo Michael Gove accepts there will be disruption even with a deal, and warned of turbulence if Britain leaves without one, meaning traders would have to pay tariffs.
In its defense, the government says it has set aside 84 million pounds to train new customs intermediaries and phased in paperwork demands for imports, reducing the initial impact.
It has identified 10 potential inland customs sites and is launching pop-up sites and a hauler handbook to help.
"There are both new challenges and new opportunities for businesses," a government spokesperson said. "These changes are coming in just 70 days, come what may, and time is running out for businesses to act."
If trucks do fail to cross the border it will most immediately be felt in Kent, home to the ports of Dover and Folkestone, which funnel around 10,000 trucks a day between Britain and Europe.
On a bright autumnal day in Sevington, diggers and dumper trucks were working on a 93-hectare (230-acre) site, nestled between an ancient church and pretty red brick cottages, that will hold around 1,700 trucks.
Locals accept the site is needed but hope any disruption will ease over time. The government expects to use it for five years, a letter to residents shows.
"You look at it and think, how can that possibly be ready for the first of January?" neighbor Mandy Rossi said, speaking over the loud din of the work.
"Kent has always been known as the Garden of England. Now it's rapidly becoming the lorry park of England."


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Best Bitcoin Card for Singapore
At the Singapore Consensus 2018, the government in Singapore was open to crypto currencies. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expressed its interest in the industry.
Blockchain – the future in Singapore
At the Singapore Consensus 2018, the largest annual Bitcoin and Blockchain event, thousands of crypto visionaries, experts and entrepreneurs met to discuss the future of the industry. One of the highlights was the presentation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Compared to the rest of the world, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is well informed and more transparent about its views on blockchain technology. This time, too, the authority showed great interest and emphasized its understanding of the technology. As the financial centre of Southeast Asia, Singapore would thus set a fundamental milestone with regard to blockchain and crypto currencies. In the past, the MAS had already published its statement in “A Guide to Digital Token Offering”. They are particularly positive about ICOs and do not want to restrict them in contrast to other countries.
The technology is not to be regulated, but rather its use
At the Singapore Consensus Fair a lot was discussed regarding the tokens. In principle, one wanted to distinguish between three different types: Utility tokens, payment tokens, security tokens. Damien Pang, head of FinTech Ecosystem and Infrastructure at MAS, emphasized, however, that payment and security tokens would require more legal attention. The MAS will not restrict either the blockchain or the cryptos, because it does not aim to “regulate the technology itself, but its use,” says Pang.
Singapore as a driver of innovation
Some months ago the South Korean team Mass Vehicle Ledger (MVL) introduced the app “Tada”, which is equivalent to “Uber”. The Tada app itself is based on blockchain technology, which was developed specifically for the automotive industry and its customers. MVL wanted to have a location that has a courteous legal system but is also close to South Korea.
The supply of crypto projects, as well as the strongly increased trading volume, have benefited Singapore in recent months. When China banned ICOs in 2017, Singapore was the first port of call for crypto companies. The legal situation in Singapore is extremely attractive for these industries, as they are more out to support the technology than to stand in its way. Other companies are already setting the first trends, with companies like Binance and Upbit announcing their plans to enter the Singapore market.
Singapore in the fast lane
Perhaps it is their sense of competition, or perhaps it is just the will to offer their citizens the latest developments. Anyway, one thing is clear, Singapore strives to be one of the first to introduce and adapt crypto currencies.


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AMO, IER collaborate on eye care products
SANTA ANA, Calif. Advanced Medical Optics on Monday announced a collaboration with the Institute for Eye Research to develop contact lens disinfectant and cleaning solutions and related products.
“IER’s world-class scientists and clinicians have had a major impact on the development of contact lenses and lens care technologies,” stated AMO executive vice president, research and development Leonard Borrmann. “We look forward to working closely with the IER on the development of next-generation contact lens solutions.”
“Through our collaboration with AMO, we will work to develop, test and deliver, through product innovation and education, the best in contact lens care products,” stated IER chief executive officer Brien Holden. “Our goal is to develop new, safer, better and more convenient initiatives in the field of contact lens cleaning and disinfection systems, including the containers for storage, cleaning and disinfection.”
IER is a non-profit research organization that conducts collaborative and contract research with and for industry in the area of vision correction, eye care, the anterior eye, contact lenses, contact lens care and patient management, to avoid contact lens complications. IER is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
New York pharmacies discovered with expired OTC items
NEW YORK New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo held a conference yesterday to announce that his staff had found loads of expired over-the-counter medications, food items, and baby formula at more than 250 stores across the state, including CVS and Rite Aid, which were regarded as the two worst offenders, according to The New York Times.
Between the two chains, Cuomo’s staff bought more than 600 expired items, many of which were intended for children. Investigators visited 250 Rite Aid stores and 250 CVS stores, and found at least one expired item at 112 Rite Aids and 142 CVS stores in 41 counties, or 57 percent of the CVS stores and 45 percent of the Rite Aid stores. Most of the medications had expired in 2007 and 2008.
The drugstore chains did not contest Cuomo’s findings. They said that keeping expired products on their shelves was a violation of company policy and that they would cooperate with Cuomo’s office to fix the problem. “We value the trust our customers have placed in us to sell them products that are safe and effective, and the findings of New York’s attorney general are unacceptable to us,” Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS, said in a written statement.
Ashley Flower, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid, said the company was checking the expiration dates of products in every store in New York and across the country. “We take the allegations in the New York attorney general’s letter very seriously,” she said.
Cuomo’s letter to CVS said the company had violated the terms of a 2003 settlement with the state attorney general’s office, in which it agreed to refrain from selling expired over-the-counter medications and to put safeguards in place.
“This persistent and flagrant defiance of the settlement calls into question CVS’ desire to alter its conduct,” Michael Berlin, a deputy attorney general, wrote to the company in the latest letter threatening litigation.
CRN, NPA meet with Congressional committee to discuss sports nutrition
WASHINGTON Two trade associations last week met with leaders on the Hill to discuss the value of sports nutrition.
The Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus, in cooperation with the Council for Responsible Nutrition and the Natural Products Association, hosted the first of a series of lunch briefings aimed at educating Congressional staffers on issues of import within the dietary supplement industry.
“The physical stress from intense exercise depletes electrolytes and certain vitamins, which increases an athlete’s nutrient needs, making dietary supplements a vital component in an athlete’s training regimen,” stated Steve Mister, president and chief executive officer, CRN. “We want members of Congress and their staffers to know that dietary supplements are not steroids—nor are they substitutes or replacements for hard work and determination. But along with rigorous training and healthy diets, supplements are mainstream, safe and effective products that athletes should feel comfortable and confident taking.”
“It’s important that we educate individuals who come at this from all sides,” said David Seckman, executive director and chief executive officer, NPA. “Congressional staffers are a key audience and play an important role, through policy and legislation, in determining availability and perception of dietary supplement products. We share with Congress the desire to help ensure our industry has consumers’ best interests at heart. These briefings will serve to ensure Congress has access to accurate information about dietary supplements.”
Jay Hoffman, department chair and professor of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey, and Mark Bearden, strength and conditioning coach at George Washington University, addressed the more than 70 attendees, providing insight on how to best counsel athletes about proper strength training, nutrition and use of dietary supplements. They also offered opinions on what dietary supplements realistically will and will not do.
“Athletes realize that supplements won’t take the place of other parts of their training regimen,” Hoffman said during the briefing. “But sports nutrition supplements can be advantageous in maximizing athletic performance.”
According to data from Nutrition Business Journal, total sports supplement sales in the U.S. grew 8 percent to $2.5 billion in 2007.
This event was the first of two briefings taking place this year and the briefings will continue to take place quarterly in subsequent years, the associations announced. Each briefing will focus on topics relevant to the dietary supplement industry and wellness arena and will feature speakers who will address the latest science and offer practical information.


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Buckzy Payments Inc, a global real-time cross-border payments network based in Canada, recently announced it is extending its European operations with the launch of a new office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, this summer.
Buckzy is also pursuing an EMI licence, which will allow any Buckzy Payment Network participant anywhere in the world to use virtual account services and real-time payments across the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), which includes 36 European countries and territories, including the 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and the Vatican City State.
Commenting on the news, Buckzy President and CEO, Abdul Naushad said, “We’re excited to expand Buckzy’s presence and operations in Europe with our new office in Amsterdam, one of the world’s oldest and most respected banking and finance hubs.
“The new office is a clear statement of our commitment to establish Buckzy as the leading global payments network that banks, financial institutions, neobanks and fintech start-ups across the globe connect to for their real-time cross-border transactions needs.”
Pan Finance is a print journal and news website providing worldwide intelligence on finance, economics and global commerce. Known for our in-depth analysis and opinion pieces from esteemed academics and celebrated professionals; our readership consists of senior decision makers from across the globe.


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The founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar, is the latest billionaire to get involved in the future of journalism, in what is becoming a global trend.
The US-based, French-born billionaire is in the early stages of creating a new mass media organisation that will also involve Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the National Security Agency surveillance story for The Guardian.
The news follows Amazon boss Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post for $US250 million ($262 million) in August, sports magnate John Henry buying The Boston Globe for $US70 million and Warren Buffett buying several newspapers in the past two years. Russian oligarch Evgeny Lebedev bought the London Evening Standard a few years ago as well.
In Australia, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart owns a stake in Fairfax, while Wotif founder Graeme Wood founded The Global Mail, backed The Guardian Australia and has donated $1.5 million to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Wealthy press barons were a mainstay of the early 20th century but the phenomenon declined in recent years, as the internet challenged the business models of traditional media.
Omidyar says his new journalism venture would be separate from his philanthropic work through the Omidyar Network and Democracy Fund.
“I explored purchasing The Washington Post over the summer," Omidyar says. “That process got me thinking about what kind of social impact could be created if a similar investment was made in something entirely new, built from the ground up."
Omidyar became a billionaire at age 31 when eBay floated in 1998 during the dotcom boom. He has previously founded a news site in Hawaii, where he lives, called Civil Beat.
New York University journalism academic Jay Rosen has interviewed Omidyar and posted the article on his website, PressThink.
Omidyar told Rosen that he was concerned about erosion to the US First Amendment right of freedom of speech and wanted to support serious investigative journalism.
He is prepared to invest up to the $US250 million he would have spent on The Washington Post. The new venture would be a company, not a charity, but with revenue reinvested into journalism.
Omidyar says that it could not be a niche product but would need a mass audience to have clout. It would therefore meet user demand by covering sports, business, entertainment and technology and use technology to create a personalised product, much like NetFlix.


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Going off to college is always a big move, both physically and mentally. But there’s a big difference between going to college a few miles away from home and going a few hundred miles, which means you should plan differently when you’re moving out of state. The typical college freshman checklist for moving away from home will need adjusting.
Deciding what to pack and what to leave behind becomes critical when it’s probably going to be several months until you’re home again.
“The seasons are likely different than what they’re used to,” says Dawn McMullan, a Texas mother with sons in college in Brooklyn, NY, and Denver, CO. “[My sons] were used to wearing shorts until Thanksgiving, so they didn’t think they’d need winter clothes. That’s something you need to think through.”
Also important are those essential items like prescriptions, retainers, and favorite personal items like photos and maybe a pillow you can’t sleep without. Other than that, McMullan suggests to go for minimalism and remember that “everything you take has to be brought back eventually — plus whatever else they’ve acquired.”
What to Ship and What to Skip
It might be tempting to load up a truck with furnishings and make a road trip out of it, but McMullan says to be selective about what’s staying and what’s going. Both of her sons traveled by airplane, so there was a limit to what could go with them. She recommends buying and washing things like sheets and towels beforehand, then either packing them in an oversized suitcase or shipping them.
“In our case, the stores [near the college] were pretty cleaned out by the time we got there,” she says. “It saved money to buy beforehand, plus they were clean and ready to use when the boys unpacked. Remember that the more you plan, the less you’ll pay.”
It’s easier to pick up items like hangers, trash cans, laundry detergent, soap, and other basic but common necessities once you’re in new surroundings. The same goes for bigger items, like shelves or lamps, which may be difficult to pack or costly to ship.
“Just think about what things you’re going to be more picky about — like sheets and towels — and prioritize those things.”
The Well-Furnished Dorm Room
If you’re going to college close to home, then it may make sense to buy furniture, such as a desk, lamps, mattress, or other items that you can move yourself. For those who are moving out of state, however, McMullan reminds that in addition to the expense of the furniture itself, there’s an expense every time that furniture has to be moved. There’s also the question of what happens to the furniture if you go home for the summer.
Whether living in a dorm room or in an off-campus student apartment, keeping the number of new items acquired to a minimum can help keep costs down and resolves the problem of what to do with those items over summer break or if you decide to attend a different school.
As you’re researching tips for moving out of state for college, check and see what CORT Furniture Rental can do to provide everything you need to make your new dorm room or apartment feel like home.


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– Advertisement –
Young Ghanaian business mogul and projected future president, Kojo Jones has taken over the internet again with his white wedding after earlier making it into the news last Thursday.
The white wedding of the real estate mogul came off today and as we all expected, he made it a very sleek and glamorous one.
A video of how Kojo Jones stormed the church premises with vintage and super expensive cars has surfaced online and Ghanaians have been wowed once again.
Some of the exotic cars spotted in the fast trending video include a Lamborghini, G-wagon, Mercedez Benz and several other luxury automobiles.
Both Kojo Jones and his long time girlfriend now Mrs Racheal Jones come from rich & affluent families hence it’s not surprising that huge sums of monies were splashed on both their white and traditional weddings.


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Key Lime Pie »
Google X Phone will have Android Key Lime Pie, quad-core Tegra 4i, 4.7-inch display, and 16-megapixel camera [Rumor]
It’s been known for awhile now that Google has been hard at work on a phone that they hope will battle it out for smartphone supremacy with the likes of Apple and Samsung. It’s also been known that they’re planning on making it a Motorola-built device and codenamed the X Phone.…Read More »
Leaked documents from Qualcomm have revealed a spring announcement for Google’s Android 5.0. The documents have since been taken down by request of Qualcomm, but the information in it, as always, will live forever on the internet.
One of the documents say that the “K release” of Android should be hitting in the “March – June” window.…Read More »


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EA has told videogamer that BioWare is "working towards Mass Effect 2".
"They've (BioWare) talked about it being a trilogy," said the rep. "It's no surprise that they are working towards Mass Effect 2."
Well, yeah, it isn't. Especially as it was revealed last week that BioWare devs Dusty Everman and Corey Andruko would be talking about the game at GDC 09.
Slow news day.
By Mike Bowden


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The Chief Executive Officer of the newly established Money Trust Microfinance Bank, Mr. Chike Memeh, has predicted a bright future for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the micro finance banks in the country in the years ahead.
He also expressed concern over the increasing number of unbanked Nigerians and urged women and youths to key into the microfinance system to transform the economy.
The CEO stated that his company, which opened for business recently, was inaugurated on a unique brand identity and differentiated products as competitive edge in the crowded microfinance industry. According to him, this strategy is in line with the goal of competitive differentiation tactic which is one of the greatest business successes.
Already there are about 950 microfinance firms in Nigeria but money trust which has the mission to be the microfinance of repute is coming with focus on women, youths, health pool funds management, cooperative society partnership plans and others. Its mothersâ€™ unique service called Mom-preneur is targeted women empowerment while its youth service targeted called Youth-preneur is targeted at innovation and enterprise.
â€œAs a multi-purpose microfinance bank recently licensed by CBN and strategically located in Lekki, we want to be a bank that is integrated in our customersâ€™ aspiration by adding value. It is not just prompt services but being a dependable partner customers can rely onâ€, Memhe said.
Membe, who believed that there is still room for more microfinance in Nigeria considering the population and high level of unbanked estimated at over 30 million of Nigeriaâ€™s 170 million population, said Money Trust has tailor-made account types suited for various cadres in the public, stating that the bankâ€™s operations would be largely driven by innovation.
The level of enterprise by Nigerian is amazing. â€œWe have talents in Nigeria and those who design wonderful CIT applications, design shoes and other things but what those entrepreneurs lacked is the support at the micro level. Again some Nigerians are de-emphasizing reliance on government. The youth of today are not looking jobs in the ministry but they want to do something on their own and that is where we come to be partners in those enterprises.â€
Memeh further said that banking is not just about money, but at times having somebody who lends advisory support.
He told THISDAY during the unveiling of the company that banking should be more of reforms, innovation and enterprise. â€œWe are not cut out for traditional banking that waits for customers. We like doing things differently. Even when things are good, we would like to spoil it and do it in a different way. We think that Nigeria has developed very fast over the years.
The banking industry has evolved, that is why a number of Nigerian banks are among the top 500 banks in the world. So, that is positive. But we still have a long way to go, especially when you look at merchant banking and micro-bankingâ€.
He further said that on the lower end, there is a lack of depth of microfinance in the country. Microfinance is largely for the poor and unbanked. They hardly have banks. So, what we find in such areas are in the informal transactions like the esusu going on in the markets. There is hardly any bank that supports that sector for growth. That is what MoneyTrust was set up forâ€, he said.


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By Emmanuel Nduka
As the October 1 take off date for the rollout of digital currency nears, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the formal engagement of the global Fintech company, Bitt Inc as its Technical Partner, ignoring home-grown Fintech companies.
The decision of the CBN is disturbing, especially as it comes at a time when other countries are utilising their home-grown solutions. The CBN deliberately ignored top Nigerian Fintech companies such as: Flutterwave, Paystack, PiggyVest, Paga, Interswitch, E-tranzact, Carbon Paylater, Remita (SystemSpecs), and VoguePay.
The CBN’s move also disagrees with Nigeria’s status as the first movers in Africa and most populous black nation in the world, with a rich option of Fintech solutions capable of doing the job, and have received international accolades.
While countries like Rwanda (e-RWF), South Africa (digital Rand), Ghana (e-Cedi) are utilising home-grown solutions and creating jobs for their people, Nigeria may have taken the back seat in further frustrating the efforts and capacity of its young generation of technocrats.
Unlike Nigeria’s case, Rwanda in its planned take off for digital currency, looked at critical areas. Norbert Haguma, Chairman of Rwanda’s Blockchain Association, noted that among the most important aspects to look into, is the necessity of a CBDC, and whether or not it would actually bring value.
“Finally, will a CBDC help Rwanda in our goal to become a financial and technology center? Will we develop some if not all of the CBDC technology locally?” he worried.
But in announcing the selection of Bitt Inc, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele argued that Bitt was chosen from among highly competitive bidders based on the company’s technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability, and implementation experience.
“In choosing Bitt Inc, the CBN relied on the company’s tested and proven digital currency experience, which is already in circulation in several Eastern Caribbean Countries.
“Bitt Inc. was key to the development and successful launch of the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC), pilot of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), in April 2021,” he said.
It would be recalled that the apex bank had on July 22 during a private webinar with stakeholders outlined a digital currency initiative. It said about 80 percent of central banks globally are currently exploring the possibility of issuing their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Nigeria could not be left behind.


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Nothing like a little insurance, right? Samsung was the first major OEM to loosen its dependence on Google by making their operating system Tizen, however the company is only using it on a smaller scale for wearables and IoT products, and they claim they aren’t ditching Android anytime soon.
But it seems they won’t be the only company to do such a thing. The Information reports Huawei is also secretly cooking up an OS of their own. Does that mean the company is looking to defect from this great union?
Not necessarily. Huawei’s motives are supposedly only cautionary. The company wants to have a strong backup plan for a potential future where Google gets too — shall we say — totalitarian-like with Android.
It’s not a sin for a company to think that way. Even if Google keeps Android the happy garden of joy that everyone loves today, tomorrow isn’t certain. And it’s not just about Google’s potential future behavior, but also a potential future where Android becomes defunct. It’s hard to think that’ll ever happen, but did we ever think Windows Mobile would die in its glory days? Did Blackberry ever foresee their brand dying?
That said, Huawei can’t be quite as liberal as a company like Samsung in this regard. They still have much bigger fish to fry in the way of expanding their global presence. Sure, they’re a top 3 OEM in smartphone sales, but most of that is in China.
They have solid plans for expansion in the US and Europe, but those plans are still in their infant years and much of their attention has to be on that in the here and now. In the meantime, though, their crack team of engineers will be behind the scenes working on their safety net.


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FRAMINGHAM – A Framingham warehouse sold for $6 million, according to the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds
Located at 190 Fountain Street, the 29,000 square-foot warehouse is the headquarters for Elevation Brands LLC. It is located in District 8.
The limited liability company is the manufacturer of Ian’s Natural Foods and Blue Horizon Wild, a seafood company.
Built in 1856, the warehouse is assessed at $2.863 million according to the City of Framingham. It sits on an acre of land across the street from Keefe Technical High School.
The new owner is 190 Fountain Limited Partnership, which is registered to an address in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photos courtesy of City of Framingham


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The maker of Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and other consumer goods also said Friday that it plans to buy back $4 billion in shares this fiscal year. That's a reversal from June, when the company said it did not plan any share repurchases.
P&G has admitted missteps in pricing and balancing growth in emerging markets, which make up about 30 per cent of its sales, with the realities of an uncertain global economy and lacklustre market share growth.
On Friday, P&G executives also sought to reassure analysts and investors that its $10 billion cost-cutting plan and its strategy to prioritize investments in bringing new products to market and growing in its biggest and most profitable markets and its biggest emerging countries, are all on track.
The pressure is on, since activist investor William Ackman disclosed last month he has a 1 per cent stake in the company. Ackman has agitated for change at companies including Target Corp. and J.C. Penney. In a call with the media, P&G executives said they are having a dialogue with Ackman's Pershing Square like the company does with all of its investors, but those discussions are confidential.
In the call, CEO Bob McDonald said the company's strategy will work, but it will take some time. He cited P&G's long history as a reason why he believes it will be successful.
"Over long periods of time, when Procter & Gamble successfully executed its business model, it is consistently delivered and it is outperformed," he said.
He said periods of underperformance, like past two years, have historically been followed by periods of outperformance.
"This past track record does not in any way guarantee future success," he said. "It does reflect, though, the strength of a time-tested business model."
CFO John Moeller added that the company is ahead on its job cutting plans, having cut 2,000 non-manufacturing jobs by June 30, when the target was 1,600 jobs. The company said its target of cutting 10 per cent of jobs should be reached by the end of the calendar year.
During the quarter, P&G's global market share was down half a percentage point, and overall market share was flat or higher in one-third of P&G's categories. That has improved to 45 per cent in the current quarter, helped by raising prices in some areas and lowering them in others.
After raising prices to offset higher commodity costs, P&G last quarter said would roll back some prices. The company said Friday the rollbacks in some categories like powdered detergents in the U.S. and its blades and razors business have helped those categories regain some lost market share.
Net income rose to $3.63 billion, or $1.24 per share in the April-to-June quarter, up from $2.51 billion, or 84 cents per share last year. That includes 48 cents per share from the sale of its snacks business.
Excluding that benefit and restructuring costs, it earned 82 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 77 cents per share.
Revenue slipped to $20.21 billion from $20.45 billion last year, slightly below analyst expectations of $20.26 billion. The stronger dollar hurt revenue by 4 percentage points, offsetting the benefit of higher pricing, which helped revenue by 4 percentage points. But revenue excluding acquisitions or selling businesses and some instances of foreign exchange, a figure known as organic sales, rose 3 per cent.
For the July to September quarter, P&G expects adjusted net income of 91 cents to 97 cents per share on revenue that is down 4 to 6 per cent. That implies revenue of $20.6 billion to $21.04 billion. Analysts expect net income of $1.02 per share on revenue of $21.24 billion.
For this fiscal year, the Cincinnati-based company expects core earnings per share excluding restructuring charges of $3.80 to $4 on revenue that is flat to down 2 per cent, implying revenue of $82 billion to $83.68 billion. Analysts expect net income of $3.92 per share on revenue of $84.7 billion.
Shares rose $1.99, or 3.1 per cent, to close at $65.50 Friday. The stock is down about 2 per cent since the beginning of the year.


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Last night I appeared on Fox News Scoreboard when I was asked about the former car czar Steve Rattner's new book, full of bad information. It is unfortunate that two Presidents tried to do what is right and they were badly served by Mr. Rattner. While I know the attorney general of New York has been a distraction for Rattner during their investigation of his alleged misdeeds for which he has been disavowed by his former business partners, there is no excuse for obfuscation.
Please click here to see the video
Friday, October 1, 2010
Jack Fitzgerald, who lost his bid to restore his four Maryland Chrysler stores this summer, is back selling Chrysler vehicles in Maryland. He’s also back helping a fellow dealer.
Fitzgerald was a leader in a fight by rejected dealers to keep their franchises after the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies. He lost his Chrysler arbitration cases in Maryland but won his Chrysler battle in Florida. He also reached settlements with GM to keep two dealerships slated to be closed.
This week, Fitzgerald bought a majority stake in Park Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep in Lexington Park, Md. Seller Jerry Dillard, a minority-dealer leader, will retain part-ownership in the store and continue as the operator.
On its face, this looks like a normal partnership, but it’s actually a rescue. Fitzgerald said Dillard has been a good operator for many years and only ran into trouble when he lost his inventory financing last year. Many lenders were unwilling to provide floorplan financing for Chrysler dealers during such uncertain times.
Fitzgerald told me he and Dillard had been friends a long time, and an acquisition was the only way he could help Dillard keep the store. The credit crisis and Chrysler bankruptcy had taken too much of a toll.
So Fitzgerald is at it again -- selling Chrysler and helping out when he can.
You can reach Donna Harris at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100930/BLOG14/100939967/1400/blog#ixzz118NFyFfQ


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On Wednesday 8 February 2023, the Confédération Luxembourgeoise du Commerce (the Luxembourg trade confederation, clc) held its annual networking event at La Provençale in Leudelange.
Around 150 members attended the event which was organised in collaboration with the Luxembourg Food and Distribution Federation (FLAD) and was conducted in Luxembourgish with simultaneous translation into French. The topic of the evening was “The ecological transition in mass distribution: the challenges of a winning recipe”.
The welcome was given by Carole Muller, clc President, and Georges Eischen, Managing Partner at La Provençale and FLAD President.
Carole Muller introduced the topic of the evening and stressed the importance of investing in our future and that such decisions need to be taken at a European level.
Georges Eischen addressed the issue of packaging from an environmental perspective, stressing the importance of all a tors needing to work together.
A round-table discussion followed, moderated by Nathalie Reuter and including Georges Eischen together with Claude Turping, MD at Valorlux, Joëlle Welfring, Luxembourg’s Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, and Cédric Gonnet, Country Director of Delhaize Luxembourg and FLAD Vice-President.
Minister Welfring started off and stressed the importance of working together for a common goal. She referenced 50% of plastics are not recycled and end up being discarded. She called out fast food wrappings but also mentioned the new law from 1 January 2024 where large supermarkets must allow in-store recycling. She said that the law should also consider users / shoppers who need to have access to recycling centres close to high concentrations of population. She addressed European legislation on packaging that needs to be good for the market and respect the environment, agreeing that consumer education is necessary.
Cédric Gonnet emphasised s number of plus points for Luxembourg, including salary indexation and close collaboration with the government and industry associations. Concerning the new law from 1 January 2024, he stressed that supermarkets in the city centre, in shopping centres and stand-alone all have different issues and challenges and should not be classified together. He highlighted food safety and stressed that certain packaging is required to keep certain food fresh. For fruit and vegetables he stressed that packaging is still required, e.g. while in transport. However, he said that consumers are taking decisions on purchasing such items with / without (single-use) packaging, or reusable packaging. Asked about the younger generation being vocal in saving the planet, he agreed that consumer education is important, including the blue Valorlux bags. He agreed that ecological solutions are part of a transition.
Georges Eischen agreed that different establishments should not be treated in the same way. He called for a model that could be adapted and highlighted the blue bags from Valorlux. He also highlighted the restaurant trade, including fast food outlets as well as Christmas markets, pizza boxes, etc. He stated that the consumer must be able to choose an alternative model that needs to be installed within two years. He admitted that the packaging issue is complex and said that consumers need to be educated and offered alternatives.
Claude Turping addressed the issue of consuming in-house / on-site and said that recycling should be encouraged at every opportunity. On the subject of young people, he agreed regarding education being needed, and also stressed the need for fast food packaging to he recycled. He concluded by talking about plastic packaging being replaced by cardboard.
The formal part of the evening was followed by a networking cocktail and visit of La Provençale’s premises.
The clc represents 11,000 companies in the Grand Duchy which employ 100,000 staff and are responsible for 22% of the country’s GDP.


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Laramie Salvation Army Toy Drive
The Laramie Salvation Army will be having their Toy Drive at Walmart and Murdoch's.
The dates for Walmart are:
- Friday, November 27 through Sunday, November 29
- Friday, December 4 through Sunday, December 6
- Friday, December 11 through Sunday, December 13
The dates for Murdoch's are:
- November 30 through December 9th
For more information on this event, or how to purchase toys online, please visit their Facebook page here, or call 307-399-8750.
Enter your number to get our free mobile app
Light Up Entries So Far


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BeMe Health, a digital behavioral health tool geared towards teens, has raised $7 million in seed funding from Polaris Partners and Flare Capital Partners.
BeMe offers teens mental health content, coaching, self-guided activities and telehealth support on a platform that looks and feels like social media, gaming and streaming sites.
The company said it plans to use the funding to scale the use of its tool. At the time of the seed funding, it announced it had also entered into partnerships with private health plans and Medicaid payers.
“Today’s teens have grown up mobile-first, and that will be true for every generation that comes after them; this means they expect relevant and authentic content, experiences and interactions – all the time and everywhere,” Mandeep Dhillon, chief technical and chief product officer, and BeMe cofounder, said in a statement.
“We need to provide the best resources for young people to build support systems, networks, experiences, and resources, and to allow themselves to have better lives. BeMe is using emerging technologies to enable teen well-being.”
Pediatric sleep care app Huckleberry scooped up $12.5 million in Series A funding, led by Morningside Ventures, with participation from existing investors Spero Ventures and Tamarisc VC.
Huckleberry said the latest round brings its total raise to $16 million. Over the next year, the company plans to expand the team in engineering, marketing, and product development, and move into other pediatric care topics, like tantrums, language-acquisition and screen time.
“We’ve taken very intentional steps to create a human-centered design approach that does not contribute to additional stress and anxiety for new parents. Technology can unfortunately make it easy to get addicted to checking, tracking, and comparing so we purposely do not offer competitive features like “winning streaks” and seek to empower parents to feel at ease to use it in a way that fits their lifestyle,” Jessica Toh, cofounder and CEO of Huckleberry, said in a statement.
Company illumigyn, maker of a platform for remote gynecological imaging, raised $33 million from Yozma Group Korea and Ubicom Holdings Japan.
Its Gynescope system uploads images of the cervix, vagina and external genitalia to the cloud so providers can remotely assess their scans. The company said it will begin shipping its product this month in the U.S., United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore and South Korea.
“We are proud to introduce to the world a cutting-edge innovation that will ensure that women all over the world will feel safe during gynecological exams and will have access to all of their medical information,” Dr. Avi Ludomirski, CEO and chairman of the board of illumigyn, said in a statement.
“The funding secured by the company will be deployed to ramp up production and will enable illumigyn to execute existing distribution agreements and sign additional new global partnerships.”


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Even though the Canadian market is down about 5% since the beginning of 2020, that hasn’t stopped a list of tech stocks from absolutely exploding this year.
Tech favourite, Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP), continues to be an incredible growth story. The stock is up 125% this year and more than 3,000% over the past five years. Valued at a market cap of $150 billion, Shopify is also Canada’s largest publicly-traded company.
While Shopify still has plenty of room left to grow, you could argue that it most likely won’t see growth of another 3,000% over the next five years given that it’s already valued at $150 billion. While anything is possible, I’d prefer to focus my time searching for companies that are on the brink of surging to multi-bagger level growth.
I’ve covered two TSX tech stocks that I believe have the potential to be multi-baggers within the next five to ten years.
Just over a decade ago, BlackBerry (TSX:BB)(NYSE:BB) was trading well above $100 a share. Today, you can own BlackBerry stock for less than $7 a share. It’s been a painful 10 years for BlackBerry shareholders, but I believe the tech stock has the potential to return to delivering market-beating growth to investors.
BlackBerry is no longer a top player in the smartphone industry. Today, the company is ranked as a leader in the cybersecurity industry. Cybersecurity might not be as large as the smartphone industry today, but there is definitely reason to believe that BlackBerry could return to multi-bagger level status.
The entire cybersecurity industry is expected to grow at an average annual rate of more than 10% over the next five years. BlackBerry is already a top player in the space, and with an aggressive acquisition strategy already in place, the tech company is in a prime position to put together a very strong turnaround story.
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The hype surrounding space travel has only increased over the past several years, but Maxar Technologies (TSX:MAXR)(NYSE:MAXR) share price has only gone down. The company is trading more than 50% below where it was just five years ago, which is why there’s the potential for a turnaround story here too.
The past five years haven’t been great, but Maxar Technologies has seen its share price grow by more than 400% over the past year and a half. The company saw its share price bottom out in the spring of 2019 and has been on an incredible run since then, and I don’t think it’s anywhere near close to slowing down yet.
The stock’s recent success can be attributed to two major factors. The company was not long ago buried in debt. It has since restructured its finances and moved the headquarters to the U.S. The second major reason is the rapid growth in popularity of other space-tech companies, such as Virgin Galactic and SpaceX.
Foolish bottom line
BlackBerry and Maxar Technologies are both trading today far below all-time highs. But cybersecurity and space-tech are two industries that have high expectations of growth over the next five to 10 years.
If you’re an investor with a time horizon long enough to wait for these companies to turn around, you’ll be glad you picked up shares of both companies at today’s prices.
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This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.
Fool contributor Nicholas Dobroruka owns shares of Shopify. Tom Gardner owns shares of Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify, Shopify, and Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. The Motley Fool recommends BlackBerry, BlackBerry, and MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES LTD.


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American Express has pulled the plug on balance transfers for new credit card customers.
Since last Monday, applicants for any Amex card will no longer be able to switch their existing plastic debts over to it.
The company is the first to withdraw from the balance-transfer market altogether. If its move is copied by other lenders, this will represent a further blow to the "rate tarts" who flit from one card deal to another as they try to pay little or no interest on debts.
These savvy card users have already been hit hard in recent months, as 0 per cent deals on balance transfers become rarer. The lending criteria of many providers has been tightened, and fees introduced of up to 2 per cent.
Amex, whose transfer deals had focused on low "life of balance" rates of between 4.9 and 6.9 per cent until paid off (as opposed to 0 per cent offers for limited periods), says it wants to concentrate on customers who spend instead.
"We are focusing on attracting those who primarily want to take advantage of our reward schemes such as Nectar loyalty points and Money- Back," a spokeswoman says.
Its decision has been described as "momentous" by Martin Lewis of the consumer-advice website MoneySavingExpert.com. "Amex offered the leading 'life of balance' rate - allowing some customers to shift their debts to a rate of 4.9 per cent, which lasted until the entire debt was repaid," he says.
"This meant it was possible to have long-term cheap debt on a credit card, without needing to be a card tart."
If the trend is adopted across the market, he stresses, that should worry consumers who rely on being able to shift large debts around cheaply.
For now, though, there is plenty of choice.
Nick White from the price-comparison service uSwitch.com says there are still more than 40 "life of balance" deals available.
"Intelligent Finance is leading the way at 4.95 per cent, while NatWest is offering a rate of 5.8 per cent and GE Money 5.9 per cent," he says. Other recommendations include Capital One and Sainsbury's, both at 5.94 per cent.
Don't forget that most lenders will use your repayments to pay off the cheapest card debt first - the transferred balances. The more expensive debt, for new purchases, will be left to rack up interest.
If you can, keep separate cards for transfers and for new spending. Having two cards may require more monitoring on your part, but you can save hundreds of pounds in charges.Reuse content


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To Ramze Zakka, the restaurateur behind Z Hospitality Group, it takes three things to run a successful restaurant — great food, great service and a beautiful design.
“If one of those is missing, you have no prayer,” he says.
He should know. This fall, Zakka will open Mediterraneo Restaurant across from The Ritz-Carlton New York, Westchester in White Plains. That will be the seventh restaurant from Zakka, who has built a small empire of sleekly designed eateries stretching from New Canaan to central Westchester.
Originally a Texan, Zakka was working as a diplomat in New York City when he decided he wanted a change. That change came with an early 1990s move to Greenwich, where he opened his first restaurant, Terra, on Greenwich Avenue.
Terra will celebrate its 25th anniversary in October. From that original restaurant, Zakka launched Z Hospitality Group, which has grown to include six restaurants, with two more on the way.
But Zakka says he never imagined himself with more than just Terra. Indeed, he was originally looking for a way to do something simpler.
“I just wanted to open up a mom-and-pop shop on Main Street, small-town USA,” he says.
At the time, Terra represented a change for Greenwich, which he says offered only a mix of high-end restaurants and casual takeout places.
“We wanted a bistro with very serious food, beautiful design, but that offered a really great value,” Zakka says.
“Value” and “quality” are two words Zakka uses often when describing his restaurants. All of Z Hospitality’s restaurants are in wealthy cities and towns, where Zakka says people know quality food and can’t be “BS’d.”
“You have to put out serious food with a smile,” he says. “And if you don’t, they will go someplace else.”
At Terra, customers on the ultra-competitive Greenwich Avenue have been coming back for a quarter of a century. The next move for Zakka was Mediterraneo, which launched five years after Terra, also on Greenwich Avenue. (There’s also a Mediterraneo in Norwalk.) Besides these, Z Hospitality runs the restaurants Eastend in Greenwich, Solé in New Canaan and Aurora in Rye. The group will also open a new Terra location in Danbury in the fall in addition to the Mediterraneo in White Plains.
The key to this success, Zakka says, has been people who know and care about the business.
“Our executive chef is fastidious with his vendors,” Zakka adds. “He buys the best he can get his hands on. All cooking is made from scratch,” with fresh fish and veggies delivered daily.
The executive chef he was referring to is Albert DeAngelis, who runs Z Hospitality along with Zakka and Zakka’s son, Adam. DeAngelis has been with Zakka since Terra launched. Zakka describes him as is the creative force behind the food for all the restaurants. Meanwhile, Adam runs the service side, his father says.
Despite the growth in locations, Zakka says the hospitality group still takes a mom-and-pop approach, with its three-person executive team. So after his latest expansion is complete, Zakka says the team will take some time to regroup before planning any more new locations.
“There’s no layers of management,” he says. “Just my son and I and my executive chef. So we want to make sure that what we open is successful and we’re focusing on what we have now.”
The new Mediterraneo in White Plains will be about 6,000 square feet once completed, including three separate floors — a kitchen and dining room on the first floor, a mezzanine about half the size of the main floor with more dining and event space and a wine cellar for private dining.
The White Plains location will seat about 150 people, slightly larger than the size of the Mediterraneo locations in Greenwich and Norwalk, Zakka says.
“It’s going to be a spectacular place,” he says. “Design-wise, it’s going to blow people away.”
Zakka says he has already hired a “top-notch” staff for operations and hopes to establish his niche in the city once doors officially open in a couple months.
“We don’t want blow (the competition) out,” he says. “We just want to come in and wedge a spot for ourselves and be part of the community.”
For more, visit zhospitalitygroup.com.


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Red Faction: Armageddon to be revealed on GTTV
Tomorrow’s show on GTTV have announced that it will show the first details of Red Faction: Armageddon.
Details about the sequel haven’t been unearthed yet, but Core Games Danny Bilson said “it’ll be released this year” and commented “that it’s different from the last one but similar.”
“It’s sort of a combo of the old one and the new one, so it’s… I don’t want my marketing guy to be pissed at me for giving away too much, but it goes back underground and it’s really cool.”
Source Playstation Universe


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But the electric vehicle maker's stock was also up 1 per cent in extended trade after Musk said Tesla was on track to produce 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week by the end of June, in line with his previously stated goal.
Responding to a question about compact [Golf size] and sub-compact [Fiesta size] cars, Musk told the Tesla shareholders' conference: "I think we'll do a compact vehicle in less than five years".
Elon Musk expressed confidence about Tesla achieving the next production goal for its crucial Model 3, predicting that manufacturing will become a strength for the electric auto maker over time. The vehicle starts at $35,000, but now, only the $44,000 version with a long-range battery is available.
But the company added that "production bottlenecks" had left it behind on its planned ramp-up for the Model 3.
Kimbal Musk - who now sits on Tesla's board - would lie to his older brother about the time, telling the future billionaire that the bus would be arriving, several minutes ahead of schedule.
Tesla's shareholders were asked to vote on a proposal by one stockholder that the company's chair be an independent director, not Elon Musk, who has been chairman since 2004 and is also the chief executive officer. "But I think we're getting there".
Although Musk hasn't yet said how much the Model Y will cost when it goes on sale, he added Tuesday that the automaker expects to cross a key battery-cost threshold of $100-per-kilowatt-hour later this year.
The shareholders he represents want Tesla to succeed, he said, "but the current board is an obstacle, not an aid, to these goals".
(Musk is heavily involved in both SpaceX and The Boring Company, of which he is the founder and CEO of both.) Zhao's proposal noted the multi-company CEO could simply be spread too thin for the benefit of Tesla. The goal, said Musk, is to be able to go nearly anywhere on earth using the Tesla Supercharger system. It now looks as though 5,000 per week is going to be achieved before the end of June. The company's structure requires two-thirds backing for a shake-up.


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Apple makes changes to its core inter-device sharing protocols in iOS 8
Apple has disclosed in a recent announcement that it has, in its latest iOS 8 version, introduced some changes to its core inter-device sharing protocols, including simple file-sharing mechanism AirPlay and video and audio streaming protocol AirDrop.
The changes announced by Apple come as a part of a Tuesday-released massive update of the iOS 8 version.
The announcement made by Apple implies that the AirDrop file-sharing mechanism, which was introduced by Apple introduced in OS X Lion and iOS 7, will henceforth works between Macs and iOS devices. As such, due to the changed AirDrop functionality, users will get the ability to broadcast to any device within reasonable range; provided that a direct connection has been made between the two devices.
Similarly, the change made to AirPlay protocol - which plays back music as well as movies from iPhone, Macs, etc. on Apple TV and approved accessories - will no longer require a shared network to work. The change means that users will now be able to share content to an AirPlay-capable device as long as they can make a direct connection.
The changes which Apple has announced for its core inter-device sharing protocols in iOS 8 are essentially a part of the company's larger effort to ensure that devices have the capability to work together without causing any worries to the users about the transit technologies are involved.
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In an announcement made on December 22, cable giant...Read More


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Neiman Marcus Group, whose department store locations include the Neiman Marcus store at The Westchester in White Plains, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The company said in a statement that it entered into a restructuring support agreement with a significant majority of its creditors before the filing that would allow a substantial reduction in its debt load and interest payments while operations continue.
Neiman Marcus said it has secured debtor-in-possession financing of $675 million from its creditors to enable business continuity while the bankruptcy proceeding unfolds. It filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
In a letter to customers, Chairman and CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said, “This is simply a process that allows our company to alleviate debt, access additional capital to run the business during these challenging times, and emerge a stronger company with the ability to better serve you and continue our transformation over the long term.” He said that customers should not notice any changes as a result of the bankruptcy filing.
Van Raemdonck said, “The binding agreement from our creditors gives us additional liquidity to operate the business during the pandemic and the financial flexibility to accelerate our transformation.”
Neiman Marcus said that when it emerges from bankruptcy it anticipates having eliminated approximately $4 billion of its existing debt. It said that it expects to emerge from the process in early fall of this year.
The company said that the existing shareholders support what is being done and that creditors participating in the restructuring will become the majority owners of the company.
Neiman Marcus Group said the temporary closures of its Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Last Call stores have been extended through May 31. It said that 10 of its stores nationwide are now open for curbside pickup and two others are allowing customers in by private appointment.
The Neiman Marcus store at The Westchester in White Plains remains closed because of the state’s restrictions on business operations due to COVID-19, as does the mall itself. Simon Property Group, operator of The Westchester, has backtracked from an announcement that showed The Westchester being scheduled to reopen on May 16. Simon now says The Westchester will remain closed along with its other properties in New York state until state restrictions are lifted.


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Walmart Pulls Baby Formula After MO Newborn Dies
A baby’s death has led the nation’s largest retailer to pull a shipment of a popular baby formula off the shelves. But Walmart isn’t the only one that carries the Enfamil line, and another baby in the same state has became ill – but recovered – from the same infection.
FOX News Radio’s Chris Hoenig reports:
Avery Cornett died of a rare infection in the southern Missouri town of Lebanon after consuming Enfamil Newborn Formula. Walmart stores, pulling the line of Enfamil because Cronobacter sakazakii, the bacteria causing the infection, can be found in powdered milk and baby formula.
(Gee) “Out of an abundance of caution, we made a company decision to remove the remaining product from our store shelves.”
Walmart Spokeswoman Diana Gee says it could return to shelves if tests come back negative.
Enfamil maker Meade Johnson Nutrition points out that the bacteria occurs naturally in the environment, and says the batch of formula tested negative for the bacteria before it was shipped.
Chris Hoenig, FOX News Radio.


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Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP; www.meredith.com), the leading media company serving 102 million unduplicated American women and 72 percent of U.S. millennial women, today unveiled the September 2016 issue of Rachael Ray Every Day magazine with a special guest appearance by First Lady Michelle Obama. The issue hits newsstands nationwide August 16.
In honor of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge – a national recipe challenge for kids that promotes cooking and healthy eating as part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative (www.letsmove.gov), winners representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories attended a Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama on July 14. The 56 aspiring young chefs joined the First Lady, Rachael Ray and Rachael Ray Every Day Editor-in-Chief Lauren Purcell for a healthy lunch featuring a selection of the winning recipes.
“Through efforts like the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and Kids’ ‘State Dinner,’ we’re inspiring kids to get into the kitchen and unleash their creativity to come up with healthy meals and snacks that they and their families can enjoy,” said Mrs. Obama.
Rachael Ray’s Yum-o! organization has joined with the First Lady to support this year’s Healthy Lunchtime Challenge to inspire children to learn about healthy food choices and to make nutritious meals that appeal to kids. Through Yum-o!’s support, each of the winners received a keepsake cookbook with all of the winning recipes. The full list of winners and recipes can be downloaded by clicking here.
“It’s truly a privilege to work with First Lady Michelle Obama to improve nutrition and health for our nation’s kids,” said Rachael Ray. “Thanks to her efforts, a new generation is learning how our relationship to food and one another can deeply affect the quality of our own lives.”
The magazine cover was shot with Rachael Ray and First Lady Michelle Obama in early June at the White House Kitchen Garden in Washington, D.C. The cover story, “First Lady Who Lunches,” includes an account by Mrs. Obama of how her Let’s Move! initiative – and her own family’s healthy eating habits – came about, and showcases six of the kids’ winning recipes.
“First Lady Michelle Obama is an inspiration to me and to so many others who are working to help children and their families learn to cook, eat and grow nutritious, delicious, affordable food,” said Editor-in-Chief Lauren Purcell. “And she’s the perfect cover star for us because she’s accessible, authentic and just plain cool. Anyone who hasn’t seen her ‘Mom Dance’ on the Tonight Show or her Carpool Karaoke appearance should go to YouTube immediately! Mrs. Obama’s warm, down-to-earth attitude and her motivating message make her exactly right for Rachael Ray Every Day.”
The September 2016 issue of Rachael Ray Every Day also serves up its usual family-friendly, make-it-tonight recipes in stories such as “Cook Once, Eat for a Month!” (page 108), which helps time-pressured readers make dinner ahead of time, and Rachael Ray’s beloved “30 Minute Meals” (page 98), which celebrates seasonal produce. The issue also includes a story on throwing a wine party, “Uncork Some Fun” (page 120), and “The Rachael Ray Every Day Restaurant Survey” (page 74), a collaboration with the James Beard Foundation, which helps readers get the best experience and the most for their money when eating at restaurants.
Rachael Ray Every Day is part of Meredith’s leading portfolio of food-centric brands, including the multi-platform Allrecipes brand; Family Circle, Martha Stewart Living and EatingWell magazine brands; and 34 food-focused Special Interest Media issues. Launched in 2005, the food and lifestyle publication continues to offer practical, simple ideas and a “keep it real” attitude that resonates with its loyal readers and fits into their own everyday routine. Published 10 times a year by Meredith, the magazine has a rate base of 1.7 million.
For additional information, please visit www.rachaelraymag.com.
ABOUT MEREDITH CORPORATION
Meredith has been committed to service journalism for more than 110 years. Today, Meredith uses multiple distribution platforms—including broadcast television, print, digital, mobile, tablets and video—to provide consumers with content they desire and to deliver the messages of its advertising and marketing partners. Meredith’s National Media Group reaches an audience of more than 102 million unduplicated American women and nearly three out of four millennial women.
Meredith is the leader in creating content across media platforms in key consumer interest areas such as food, home, parenthood and health through well-known brands such as Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Martha Stewart Living, SHAPE and Allrecipes, reaching over 82 million unique visitors per month. Meredith Xcelerated Marketing is a leader at developing and delivering custom content and customer relationship marketing programs for many of the world’s top brands, including Kraft, Lowe’s and Chrysler.
SOURCE Meredith Corporation


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The Grand Tour Season 2 will hit Amazon Prime Video on 8 December
A season air date and an action packed trailer to accompany the second season of The Grand Tour has arrived.
Without a doubt, Amazon Prime Video's biggest original hit to date has been The Grand Tour, the show that's essentially classic Top Gear, except in name. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set up their own production company to produce the show after signing a deal said to be worth millions with Amazon to produce multiple seasons of the show, which made its debut last December.
The next season of The Grand Tour has been announced as going live on Amazon Prime Video exclusively on Friday 8 December 2017. Here in Australia, Channel 7 has recently started airing The Grand Tour, but that's the first season which has been available on Amazon Prime Video since last year.
The hosts aren't getting any younger, and they're well aware of that, given the music they've chosen for the season 2 trailer, which appears to concentrate mainly on the comedic stunt-style challenges they're well known for. Also, there's no appearance of the frankly awful Celebrity Brain Crash segment, so here's hoping it's gone this season:
Amazon just recently made its service available in Australia for owners of Microsoft's Xbox One console if you're keen to check out the service before The Grand Tour arrives.
You can also check out all the new content coming to Amazon Prime Video this month in our handy guide to all Australian streaming services in November here.
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This article was first published as an op-ed in The Edge Markets on October 25, 2022
Image: Joko P / Shutterstock.com
Food prices have soared to record highs around the world
Food prices started to increase in many countries in the latter part of 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions disrupted agricultural production and food supply chains, while stockpiling of groceries pushed up demand. Across the world, food production from planting to distribution was constricted by labor shortages and processing plant shutdowns.
In the latter half of 2020, the disruption in food supply was compounded by strong global demand as the world emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns (Figure 1). The lifting of restrictions enabled social activities, such as dining out, to resume, in places like the United States and Europe.
When the war in Ukraine broke out in early 2022, it set off a series of direct and indirect supply shocks to commodity markets, pushing food prices up even further. Countries that used to import wheat and corn from Ukraine for food or animal feed were no longer able to do so.
Russia is a major global exporter of fertilizers and its decision to extend export quotas on fertilizers through the end of this year means that prices will continue to stay high. As fertilizers are essential inputs for boosting agricultural productivity, food prices will remain elevated into the next season.
The war, and ensuing sanctions imposed on and by Russia, also had knock-on effects on energy prices and global shipping, amplifying the pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions.
To make matters worse, export bans by some agricultural producers reduced the global supply of commodities such as wheat and oilseeds and intensified raw food scarcity. Perennial risks to agricultural output such as extreme weather and livestock diseases also affected global food supply in the past two years.
ASEAN+3 economies are experiencing rising inflation
In some ASEAN+3 economies, policies such as export restrictions and price stabilization measures have helped to temper the effects of rising food prices on domestic headline inflation. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, for instance, still rely on administrative controls to regulate the prices of key essential goods, such as cooking oil, flour, and sugar.
However, economies with higher food import dependence and a greater weight of food items in the overall household consumption basket, have seen headline inflation accelerate faster.
In the Philippines, which imports much of its food, headline inflation in the first three quarters of 2022 trended upwards to 5 percent year-on-year. In Lao PDR and Myanmar, headline inflation likewise surged to multi-year highs due mainly to soaring prices for imported food. The large depreciation of their currencies has also pushed prices up.
Still, aggregate headline inflation in ASEAN+3 is the lowest compared to other regions in the world.
Policymakers must be vigilant and ready to act
Food price inflation has triggered concerns in the region over broader price stability and social equity, prompting monetary and fiscal policies to respond.
An extended period of high inflation can cause inflation expectations to become unanchored, leading to the high inflation becoming entrenched. This occurs when consumers, businesses, and investors expect inflation to keep going up, causing wages and prices to increase in tandem. Such a situation would require monetary policy to respond more aggressively to inflationary supply shocks such as food price increases through larger policy rate hikes to tamp down demand than would have been the case otherwise. Therefore, the region’s monetary policymakers need to keep a close eye on inflation expectations and ensure that they remain well anchored, particularly in economies where headline inflation has exceeded the inflation target range for several months.
Food price inflation hits the poor harder than the rich. Fiscal policy should provide targeted assistance to low-income households, for example in the form of temporary cash transfers or subsidies, to help them cope with the rising prices. Efforts to clamp down on hoarding should continue. In the longer term, policies to support domestic production and improve food distribution efficiency could go a long way to build resilience to future food supply shocks.
Such measures would help prevent inflation from worsening, providing some comfort that future trips to the grocery store could stop being so painful on our wallets.


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A “Digitimes” report (http://www.digitimes.com) — quoting the Chinese-language “Economy Daily News” — says the next rev of the iPad will add five “distinct new features.” However, I’m dubious about at least one of them, as I am about reports of a 7-inch model.
“Digitimes” says the five new features include “video phone, better mobility, USB port, new display technology and 3-axis gyroscopes.” The gyroscope, video phone (actually, a camera for use with Apple’s FaceTime technology) are pretty much givens. The “better mobility” refers to an even thinner and smaller iPad, something that’s also likely if reports — based on discovered patents — that Apple is considering an iPad made of a fiber-in-matrix material such as CFRP prove true.
However, I don’t think we’ll see a smaller iPad. Why? Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that the 9.7-inch display on the current iPad is the optimum size for features the company has implemented — and, presumably, will implement. I’m taking him at his word. Admittedly, he could be setting up a smoke screen — he’s done this before — but I don’t think so.
Going back to the “Digitimes” report that the iPad 2 will have new display technology, that’s also very likely. Also, the next gen iPad will probably use the Retina Display technology of the iPhone 4 and latest iPod touch.
As for an USB connector– or, rather, a mini-USB connector — I’d like to see one, but I’m not expecting it. I don’t think Apple — or at least Jobs — sees the need. The company is convinced — or so I suspect — that the iPad is fine as is, with its sleek design and wireless capabilities.
If it does happen, Apple’s adoption of USB may be due to regulations passed in Europe requiring the adoption of a universal USB charging standard amongst mobile phone manufacturers including Apple, as “Digitimes” notes. But I think feel that Apple’s thinking is, “if you want USB in a small form factor, get a MacBook or MacBook Air.”
— Dennis Sellers


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Forget working from home. How about working from anywhere? With the ongoing pandemic prompting millions of people around the world to set up a home office, Nissan appears to have gotten wind that commuting daily from the bedroom to the room next door isn’t for everyone. The Japanese automaker has come up with the super-cool […]
The post Nissan Has a Cool Idea to Make Remote Working Truly Remote appeared first on TechFans.


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If you’re a Disney+ subscriber, you need to be on the lookout for a viral scam happening currently.
Disney Plus (stylized Disney+) is the home of some of the most beloved content in the world. The streaming platform includes properties from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, as well as the new general entertainment content brand in select International markets, Star, with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, as well as short-form content.
Many Disney Park fans use their Disney+ account as an opportunity to “stay in the magic” even when they’re not in Magic Kingdom or Disneyland Resort.
In the first quarter of 2023, the streaming platform announced its first subscriber loss, but the streaming platform still stood at more than 161.8 million subscribers.
However, if you’re a Disney+ subscriber, you need to be aware of a scamming attempt going aroundthat has attempted to steal thousands from fans.
According to reports, scammers have created a lookalike email, which mirrors the Disney Plus emails to confuse subscribers. The email sent to subscribers says that they have been unable to renew their account due to a “technical incident” and prompts them to update their billing information by clicking a link before their account is canceled.
Phishing emails and text messages have become a normal occurrence in today’s fashion of the internet. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that users should be cautious when opening emails that may be lookalikes. In total a whopping 3.4 billion spam emails are estimated to be sent every day.
Please keep in mind that The Walt Disney Company will not contact you regarding personal information through social media, emails, or text messages. On its website, Disney+ shares about phishing attempts and tells users not to respond to any email from an organization claiming to be Disney asking for personal information.
“Disney will never ask you for personal information, unless you willingly contact Disney and it is needed to resolve a problem,” the company said. “For your safety, if you receive an email or phone call from an organization claiming to be Disney and asking you to divulge this kind of personal information or Disney+ account details, do not respond.”
The newest releases are now on Disney+
New releases on the streaming platform for February 2023 include:
- Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
- The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder second season
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- “Twenty Something”
All of these are now streaming.
As we look ahead to March releases, the biggest of these will be the start of The Mandalorian Season 3, which premieres on the streaming platform on Wednesday, March 1st.
Have you seen this Disney+ scam? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!


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An analysis of the Ghana Statistical Service’s data on inflation for 2019 shows that Greater Accra was the most expensive region for consumers over the past 12 months.
Beyond the general movement of prices in December last year, a simple calculation of the average changes in prices of goods and services over the past 12 months indicated that the Greater Accra region’s 10.3 percent was the highest in all the traditional ten regions measured.
Greater Accra was followed by the Upper West Region — ranked as the poorest region according to the Ghana Poverty Mapping Report, which came in with an average of 10.1 percent.
The Ashanti region, which is home to the country’s second-largest city, Kumasi, came in at eighth position with average inflation of 7.6 percent, making it among the least expensive regions for consumers.
The region with the lowest average movement in consumer prices over the period under review is the Upper East region.


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Pepsi’s new campaign misleads consumers
It is rather disturbing the way major companies are able to use illusive marketing tactics to lure consumers into buying new products.
That Pepsi’s marketing representative labeled the new beverage as a “juice drink” is deceptive advertising. According to the FDA, a “juice drink” is anything that is less than 100 percent juice, which allows for a wide range of beverages.
It is misguiding to the consumer, who may think they are simply replacing their usual morning juice for another healthy alternative with a little energy boost. The artificial sweeteners and carbonation actually make it sound more like a diet soda, not to mention the fact that it is supposed to be a derivative of Mountain Dew.
The company should just call it exactly what it is and allow the customer to make an informed decision about whether or not to consume the product.
Second Amendment is safe from Obama
This is in response to the recent letter about President Barack Obama going after the Second Amendment.
That is just a rookie scare tactic because he doesn’t know that a repeal of the Second Amendment requires a majority of Congress and the states to vote on it.
Right now, there are no poll numbers that would show even one state that would vote for a repeal, so it is just saber rattling to generate some more Benjamins to give to the NRA.
Second, I just used my time machine to go back in time to see George Washington, who also talked to me about gun control. He said that under his Second Amendment, guns were to be used exclusively for militias to fight for national defense, and he was a little peeved about those guns that were used in the Whiskey Rebellion that he had to kibosh in 1794.
Way to go, G.W. Oh, I forgot to ask about the guns used in that Shay’s Rebellion, but I’ll ask him the next time I go back.
Postal Service decision is mostly sensible
I agree with the U.S. Postal Service decision to reduce expenses by eliminating one delivery day per week.
As a recent Times editorial stated, the service faces incredible competition from various sources. Much of the competition is due to the Internet, United Parcel Service and Federal Express.
UPS and FedEx get to cherry pick the most profitable business, while the USPS must deliver to almost everywhere on the map. This makes for a very challenging, if not impossible, business model for financial success.
I would even be in favor of limiting home delivery to four days per week. Why not? However, please leave Saturday delivery in the equation. Many families pay their bills on the weekend and enjoy and respond to other mail.
Why not follow the example of the neighborhood barber and stop delivery on Mondays? Monday is usually a light mail day anyway. Keep Saturday delivery.
As to my four-day-per-week formula? Why not Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday?
Feds should leave oyster farm alone
I read the letter regarding the feds wanting to close the Drakes Bay Oyster Co., and I’m in agreement. It’s totally ridiculous.
While President Barack Obama says he wants to put people back to work, his Cabinet is attempting to put the Drakes Bay Oyster Bay Co. out of business.
I have the distinct feeling the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. These clowns in Washington need to get their act together and worry about getting the budget balanced — and leave the people attempting to make an honest living alone.
Patrick W. Bowers
Corporate interests guide the gun lobby
Those who oppose gun control claim a constitutional right to own guns. But U.S. courts have carved out exceptions.
In fact, the gun lobby is propelled by large corporations and their single-minded devotion to profit. The largest seller of firearms is Walmart.
Following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, we learned that a Walmart executive sat on the board of the organization advocating for Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
Those who are concerned about the availability of guns might consider this the next time they make a shopping decision.


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Google Glass Hoopla Highlights the Revolution of Mobile Technologies
I was in the audience and was amazed along with thousands of others at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco June 27, 2012 when Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin interrupted a keynote speech to call attention via live video to skydivers descending to the event wearing strange-looking glasses which actually broadcast their own video feed.
That was the beginning of the hoopla around Google Glass, which everybody now knows as the piece of computing hardware that wraps around the face, and can take pictures and record and share videos, show text messages, and allow voice responses, and who knows what else.
The buzz has grown so intense around Google Glass that another company known for its creativity when it comes to consumer devices, Apple, has seen fit to respond.
"I don't know a lot of people that wear them (glasses) that don't have to," Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday at the D1 conference in San Francisco.
Cook’s pique is somewhat understandable considering Apple is rumored to be interested in developing its own wearable computing technology, including a “smart watch.”
One thing’s for certain in these fantastic developments: new technologies based on serving consumers’ mobile needs and wishes are transforming the way we live and work.
ShoreTel recognizes and has embraces this trend.
With ShoreTel Mobility for Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and with ShoreTel Dock, the company is keeping pace with the BYOD (bring your own device) trend by making it easier for workers to collaborate and be more productive with the devices they love.
A question: will there be a “bring your own glasses” trend (BYOG)?