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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said Monday that the highly touted original show House of Cards had only a “gentle impact” on subscriber growth during the most recent quarter and, in fact, Hemlock Grove, an original series that was less hyped, earned a bigger global audience its first weekend than did House of Cards.
Earlier Monday, Netflix said that it added 2.03 million domestic streaming subscribers in the first quarter, up from 1.74 million a year earlier. Netflix ended the quarter with 29.2 million domestic streamers, making it a bigger TV “network” than HBO in the U.S.
PHOTOS: Biggest Rule Breakers: Kim Kardashian, Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Chuck Lorre and More
Hastings said he saw no spike in sub growth just before or after House of Cards debuted exclusively on Netflix but instead saw a “gentle impact,” and that he suspects that will be the trend surrounding debuts of other original shows. That said, he guesses that Arrested Development will be an “absolutely spectacular phenomenon” when original episodes hit Netflix next month, given the show has a passionate and built-in audience.
Hastings made the remarks during a conference call with Wall Street analysts Monday.
Netflix launched 13 episodes of House of Cards, a political thriller, on Feb. 1 and 13 episodes of Hemlock Grove, a horror thriller, on April 19. It launches 15 episodes of Arrested Development on May 26 and a second season of Lilyhammer later in the year.
PHOTOS: ‘Arrested Development’ Returns: 7 Posters for the New Netflix Episodes
Other original shows Netflix has in the works include Orange Is the New Black, a prison dramedy; Turbo F.A.S.T., a kids show in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation; and Sense8, from the Wachowskis.
Hastings said another season of House of Cards will be added to the Netflix streaming service and that there are no plans to dial down its pursuit of original programming.
Hastings and CFO David Wells also said Amazon.com and Hulu are driving the cost of licensing higher as they become more aggressive bidders for streaming content.
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Benjamin Ho to lead HTC marketing strategy
HTC has appointed Benjamin Ho as chief marketing officer, as the Taiwan handset maker seeks to revamp its brand amid fierce smartphone competition.
Ho, a former FarEasTone executive, will join HTC in January 2013. He will report directly to CEO Peter Chou.
Ho's first assignment, HTC said, will be to lead a project, dubbed internally as Marketing 2.0, refocusing HTC’s efforts around holistic marketing and mass-market brand outreach.
Ho was previously VP of business strategy and marketing at Taiwan mobile carrier, Far EasTone Telecommunications, and has extensive experience in marketing. He has served as VP and CMO at Motorola Asia Pacific, as well as director at BBDO Greater China, Dentsu and Young and Rubicam International.
Jason Mackenzie, currently serving as president of global sales and marketing, will focus on HTC’s global sales strategies, partner collaboration and field execution.
John Wang, who has been driving brand marketing, will leave the company, HTC added.
Juniper strengthens APAC management team
Juniper Networks has announced a number of senior appointments for Asia-Pacific.
Kevin Ackhurst, previously VP of partner sales, will now lead Juniper’s newly formed Asia regional unit.
Mark Ablett, former senior director of Juniper’s commercial business in APAC, has been promoted to VP for Australia and New Zealand.

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Netbank, a fully-regulated bank offering Banking-as-a-Service solutions or BaaS, is attracting the interest of established lenders in the local landscape due to its ability to offer the service at a much lower rate than its giant competitors.
The BaaS is a menu of services made available by fintech firms like Netbank so that even non-bank institutions and their clients may enjoy the benefits of a suite of financial services on its platform just like the clients of regular banks do.
Net bank has unveiled Netbank Virtual, an openly accessible web-based platform where anyone can freely browse, test and integrate its financial products and solutions.
Legacy lenders similarly offer BaaS to clients although fintech executives claim these are at significantly higher costs than that offered by fintech competitors.
“While some larger local banks have started to offer banking services through API, none have built the technology and the business from scratch, as we have done at Netbank”, said Gus Poston, Netbank’s co-founder.
“We use the latest technology, which means we can offer services at much lower cost. Netbank Virtual will rapidly accelerate the collaboration between fintechs and banks. Netbank Virtual allows fintech to offer a much wider range of services, which will accelerate innovation and achieve the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ goals of greater financial inclusion,” he added.
Netbank previously engaged Brankas, a leading open finance technology company in Southeast Asia, as its technology provider to build and deliver the service.
“Netbank is transforming access to banking services, with a new approach that enables any business to offer fintech solutions ” said Krizelle Lazatin, Brankas Territory Manager for Philippines.
Todd Schweitzer, Brankas CEO, also added, “Together, Brankas and Netbank are helping enable the next generation of fintech businesses, expand financial inclusion, and give customers more choice and flexibility.”
Companies in the Philippines may now embed financial solutions into their products and services in a much more efficient and low cost manner than through traditional channels.
“By combining Brankas’ technical expertise with Netbank’s Banking-as-a-Service approach, we can provide automated account opening, payments, disbursements, cards and even loans via digital channels such as white labeled mobile apps and banking-as-a-service APIs”, said Dave dela Paz, Netbank’s co-founder and Head of Netbank Virtual.


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Setting the citrus industry up on the world stage
Tania Chapman is passionately pushing Australia’s citrus industry further onto the world stage and expanding local offerings. A citrus grower from Mildura, Victoria, and current Chair of industry body Citrus Australia, Tania’s push to get money into market development has resulted in a new export market to China opening for Australian citrus produce.
“Six years ago, there were no Australian citrus exports to China, but 40,000 tonnes were sent last season and all at premium returns,” Tania says.
In addition, there are four new varieties of mandarins now in quarantine that will be available for the local industry to trial. This achievement is the result of Tania’s 2014 Nuffield Scholarship study, where she looked at new mandarin varieties in Japan.
“The Nuffield study was an amazing experience to gain firsthand knowledge and develop new ideas for how Australia can open up its primary produce exports. No matter how busy or involved you are in your business, you can put steps in place to take time out to learn and to share the learnings,” she says.
Tania is one of the regional finalists for the 2017 Syngenta Growth Awards, nominated in the Community & People category. The Awards aim to recognise leading agricultural professionals across three award categories: Productivity, Sustainability and Community & People. 25 Regional Winners will be selected from the pool of finalists to continue to the final round of judging, which will determine the seven overall winners of this year’s Growth Awards across Australia and New Zealand. The Regional Winners will be announced in Sydney in early November.
In 2012, Tania was named Rural Victorian Woman of the Year and she recently finished a term on a Victorian Government task force to entice young people into agriculture. She believes that the depiction of farmers as focusing on the tough times is not a true reflection of the industry.
“We wanted to find out what skills need to be developed to build the industry and how to attract young people into agriculture,” Tania says.
“It’s important to highlight the positives of being involved in agriculture. It’s not just a lifestyle choice, the opportunities are amazing.”
And Tania is the proof in the opportunity pudding – from doing business in China, Indonesia, Japan and the United States to meeting the likes of Australian Federal Ministers Andrew Robb, Barnaby Joyce and Julie Bishop, Tania is getting Australian citrus on the agenda.
“It’s not enough to stand up and speak – you have to lead by doing,” she says.


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Halton police have laid charges in a bogus auto theft scheme.
Police received a call from a man last month about the theft of his 2009 Toyota Camry from a vehicle auction.
Investigators found the car at a storage facility in Mississauga and determined it had been hidden at that facility before it was reported stolen to police.
Further details emerged that implicated an Oakville auto body shop in the scam, and a search warrant turned up more stolen property.
Two men, one from Oakville and the other from Milton, are facing fraud charges.


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Cannabis use will not alter teenagers brain that is, new research says
While we strongly discourage teens from making use of cannabis recreationally, it appears to be like there could be no cause of be concerned about the way the utilization of the medication impacts young people’s brains. At minimum that is what a study that is new telling us.
Many individuals be concerned about cannabis consumption among teenagers causing long-lasting problems for their still-developing minds. This fear just isn’tunfounded as you can find a quantity of studies suggesting that cannabis does have actually undesireable effects on our many important organ.
Simply Take for example a scholarly research carried out by scientists in the University of Montreal, which implies that cannabis use among teeners features even worse effect on the memory, thinking, and behavior in comparison to having a drink.
Worldwide CBD Exchange
a brand new research, but, shows that this could maybe not totally function as the instance.
There was a weird plant that is moss-like might be an alternative to cannabis
The analysis, carried out by scientists from Arizona State University and posted in Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal, tracked cannabis utilize among 200 males in Pittsburgh with issues regarding their conduct throughout the belated 80s. The scientists contrasted the boys’ weed consumption rates with mind scans taken 20 and three decades later on. It had been unearthed that there is no obvious difference between their brain framework.
In line with the writers of this research, perhaps the guys that has the greatest degree of cannabis visibility during adolescence revealed the subcortical that is same mind volumes and cortical mind volumes and depth in adulthood once the guys that has almost zero experience of cannabis in their adolescent years.
The analysis has specific disadvantages, such as for instance its sample that is small size the simple fact that MRI scans might not precisely end up being the many way that is effective of the results of weed regarding the mind. But, it will provide a fascinating perspective plus some valuable information.
Learn links cannabis used in teenagers to despair
cbdoilexpert discount Madeline Maier, manager of ASU’s substance usage, health insurance and behavior lab and also the lead writer of the analysis, stated that probably the most significant part of their scientific studies are so it follows other people in suggesting that the influence of cannabis on young minds is not permanent.
She remarked that reviews among these scholarly research reports have revealed that many of them have never discovered proof of a link between an early on chronilogical age ofcannabis adult and use brain structure — although there are many of those which have.


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The group is likely to collate content from all of its properties into this platform.
South African media group eMedia has announced plans to launch a video-on-demand service called ‘eVOD’ in July. The privately-owned group holds a few television and radio broadcasting businesses such as eNCA, OpenView, and Yfm, together with production studios.
It has originally planned to call its video streaming service ‘Openview Plus’ as a content extension of its existing free-to-air, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite-TV service.
In a statement, eMedia Holdings said that it had closed various non-core assets, which now has allowed the organisation to focus on its core business: broadcasting, content creation, and being a platform and technology provider for broadcast services.
Earlier in its annual financial results for the year that ended 31 March 2021, the company said: “The new financial year will also see the launch of the group’s over-the-top (OTT) service eVOD in July 2021.”
It didn’t specify any eVOD pricing or reveal any further details about its planned video streaming service and whether it would be using a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) model, or if it will go the advertiser-funded “freemium” route.
The company said that South Africa’s “television market is facing numerous technology and viewership challenges which will require the group to continually assess its strategic alternatives”.
It has recently launched its Openview Connect dongle as a new broadband internet service – something that will help to carry and funnel eVOD as a content service into viewers’ internet-connected homes.
The streaming service will compete with a crowded space of VOD services available in South Africa, including Netflix, MultiChoice’s Showmax, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Acorn, Vodacom’s Video Play, Telkom One, Viu and a few smaller services.


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While “cyber-speak” might puzzle those who do not frequent online forums and chatrooms, the unique lingo has become even more of a riddle lately as Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) is gradually incorporated into popular usage.
For example, the term “older sister” would be written as “阿寄” (a-tsi), the term “eating rice” becomes “呷奔” (tsiah-png), “matter” becomes “代誌” (tai-tsi) and “interesting” becomes “促咪” (tshu-bi).
This year, more colloquial Hoklo terms have entered the lexicon of the nation’s netizens, including terms such as “安爪” (an-tsuann, meaning “what’s up” in Hoklo), “休跨” (sio-kua, meaning “a little” in Hoklo) and “啊嗯勾” (a-en-kou, meaning “but” in Hoklo).
However, the incorporation of Hoklo into cyber-speak is not a new phenomenon as in previous years other terms made their way into cyber-speak, such as “凍蒜” (tong-suan, meaning “get elected” in Hoklo) and “莊孝維” (tsong-hsiao-ui, meaning “playing dumb” in Hoklo).
According to writer and Internet celebrity Lucifer Chu (朱學恒), the unique culture of Taiwan’s cyber-speak also reflects the “gang effect,” referring to the trend that groups of friends constantly develop their own unique vocabulary and culture that is understood only be those who are in the same circle.
Chu said riddle-like terminology that requires a bit of guesswork and thought is more likely to become popular than lingo that is mundane.
Chu said the increasing incorporation of Hoklo into cyber-speak is fun for Taiwanese netizens and it helps increase their cultural recognition.
However, despite the creativity and fun of cyber-speak, Yes123, an online job bank, found that young job seekers may be too accustomed to Internet lingo as some of the terms are beginning to appear on resumes posted on the site.
Yes123 said some the resumes submitted by young job hunters were riddled with strangely written words that baffled their human resource directors.
For example, some resumes mixed Hoklo and Chinese, used emoticons or incorporated the zhuyin fuhao (bo po mo fo system), a phonetic system used in Taiwan, to substitute a Chinese character, such as using “ㄉ” for “的.”
Writing their resumes in a linear fashion without punctuation marks or misusing punctuation marks, such as using exclamation marks or tildes in place of periods, was also part of the informal style used by a number of young job hunters, the job bank added.
Yes123 Public Relations director Lin Ming-hui (林明慧) said that although creative resumes might get a potential employer’s attention, “it is not always a good idea and may be seen as an inability to express oneself articulately.”
Wang An-lun (王安倫), assistant vice president of ATEN International Co’s Human Resources Department, said there are many young people writing their resumes in lighthearted and witty ways, adding that about 10 percent of resumes submitted to ATEN used either the phonetic system, emoticons, Internet slang or Chinese-Hoklo terms such as ho-ka-tsai, (好家在, meaning “fortunately” in Hoklo).
“If it was an application for [the position of] sales [person], it may be interpreted as being creative, but it would not be appropriate for law or engineering-related jobs and would prompt a human resources director to worry about the potential negative effect to the company’s professional image and corporate culture,” Wang said.
Lion Travel vice president Chen Cheng-ta (陳正達) said out of 100 resumes submitted to the firm, 5 to 10 percent were found to contain inappropriate language.
“A resume is the first impression a company has of an applicant, and overt lightheartedness or wit has a detrimental effect because it gives off the impression of overt casualness. This makes hiring directors worry that the applicant may lack discipline which could have a negative impact in the future,” Chen said.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
SAFETY RISK: The government is working to categorize countries based on their COVID-19 cases and prevention efforts, which would determine quarantine periods The government plans to rank countries based on their COVID-19 risks to determine how to treat tourists and other travelers from those nations once Taiwan reopens its borders, but it is still working out the categories, a top health official told lawmakers yesterday. “We would divide countries around the world into several categories. One category would comprise those countries with very few confirmed COVID-19 cases, such as New Zealand and Palau. Travelers from the countries in this category would only need to practice self-health management,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told a Legislative Yuan seminar hosted by
China would attack Taiwan if there is no other way of stopping it from becoming independent, Chinese General Li Zuocheng (李作成) said yesterday. Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the 15th anniversary of China’s “Anti-Secession” Law, Li, who is chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Central Military Commission, left the door open to using force. The 2005 law is China’s legislative basis for military action against Taiwan. “If the possibility for peaceful reunification is lost, the people’s armed forces will, with the whole nation, including the people of Taiwan, take all necessary steps to
SECURITY CONCERNS: The Telecom Technology Center ran black-box tests for the Executive Yuan on devices and software from Chinese, US and South Korean firms Network devices from several Chinese manufacturers are insecure and allow personal information to be leaked, testing commissioned by the Executive Yuan has shown. A variety of devices and software, including apps, from Chinese, US and South Korean manufacturers that are used by government agencies at the central and local level were subjected to black-box testing — in which the functionality of an application is examined without knowing about its internal structure, an information-security official said yesterday on condition of anonymity. The Telecom Technology Center conducted the tests, which simulated cyberattacks, to determine their resilience to the attacks, the official said. The center
CASH BOOST: Foreign spouses with residency permits are also eligible for the coupons, which can be bought at post offices or linked to digital payment options Stimulus coupons for Taiwanese and foreign spouses with residency permits can be ordered starting on July 1 and can be used from July 15 to Dec. 31, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. Aimed at boosting domestic spending, the coupons worth NT$3,000 (US$100.04) are to cost NT$1,000. “For our consumers, this is a very good deal as they get three times as much value for their money,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a news conference in Taipei. While the coupons are to have a wide range of uses, including at department stores, restaurants, book stores, night markets, beauty and hair salons, hotels, and to


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Chances are you have heard about the data breach at Target that occurred late last year, in which customers’ information including credit card numbers were obtained through a cyberattack.
The details are still under investigation, and the results of what is found could have a major impact on both network and credit card security. During this ongoing investigation, information about the attack has been appearing online and in the media. Some of this information has been fairly accurate, while other parts have been speculation. For example, the website www.KrebsOnSecurity.com revealed that the credentials to access the Target network were stolen from an HVAC and refrigeration contractor. This information appears to be accurate, but the site then went on to speculate that the contractor may have had access to the Target network in order to monitor the control systems for HVACR and refrigeration. That turned out to be false; the contractor had access to get work orders and to submit invoices. But even having this issue raised has caused concern for many owners about control systems being a potential security weakness.


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High-tech goods and services from New Zealand’s ICT sector are worth almost $23 billion, Statistics New Zealand said today.
While this marks a $3 billion increase over just two years, one of the underlying stories is that more and more goods these days count as ‘information and communication technology’.
Today, high-tech goods include much more than just computers and smartphones, and perhaps the most subtle changes can be found in the home.
Many common devices are now intelligent machines: washing machines and driers, Blu-ray players and TVs, even our toasters and kettles are now driven by smart technology.
“The challenge is to keep pace with how quickly the definitions and perceptions of these technologies change,” says Hamish Hill, ICT manager, reacting to the ICT Supply Survey 2012.
“Each time we’ve run this survey, we’ve had to include more businesses from increasingly diverse industries.
"We're seeing new smart products and online services being offered all the time.”
This said, the traditional areas of ICT continue to grow.
New Zealand businesses received $5.8 billion in computer and phone sales in the 2012 year; $800 million more than two years ago. While sales of internet connections also rose sharply, up 44% to $1.3 billion.
“Some of this may appear contrary to expectations, since the cost of many of these high-tech goods have gone down over the same period," Hill says.
"The fact is, more people are buying these items and getting connected. They have become a necessary part of life."


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BG&E 2 promises much
While Ubisoft have yet to officially announce Beyond Good and Evil 2, we've already been offered more than enough hints about the sequel's existence.
Designer Michel Ancel has even been talking about the title, telling All Gamers that the new adventure will be bigger and more immersive - encompassing more investigations.
The 'spirit' of the first title will be retained, we hear, while there will also be many returning characters.
Despite Ancel's claims, the game remains a distant prospect, although new technology has also played a part in expanding the new game's ambitions. No PS2 Emotion Engine to worry about now.
More on BG&E 2 as we get it.
- Underworld Ascendant makes its Kickstarter goal with room to spare
- Rare is 30, has something special coming in recognition of the anniversary
- Destiny will get one more update before House Of Wolves arrives
- Warner Bros to bring DC MOBA Infinite Crisis to Steam
- Gabe Newell: No-one gets motion-sick with the Vive VR headset
- NPCs can now be mugged in The Elder Scrolls Online
- Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander passes Square Enix Collective and heads to Kickstarter
- Zombie Army Trilogy shambles onto PC and next-gen consoles
- Sony aiming to release Project Morpheus in 2016


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Belgian company will focus on its core business in neurology and immunology
UCB is selling Kremers Urban to private equity
UCB is selling its US speciality generics business Kremers Urban to private equity firms Advent International and Avista Capital Partners for US$1.53bn.
Belgium-headquartered UCB plans to use the proceeds to reduce its debt and increase its investments to accelerate growth and strengthen its medicines pipeline.
The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.
'This is another step for UCB to enhance focus on our core business in neurology and immunology,' said Roch Doliveux, CEO of UCB.
Detlef Thielgen, Chief Financial Officer of UCB, added that Kremers Urban had been 'an important enabler to build UCB's core business'.
'It's now the right time from a value perspective to focus on our core business and to offer Kremers Urban further growth opportunities with two strong organisations that are well equipped to help Kremers Urban continue to grow.'


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UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 22
(Adds futures, company news items)
March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 4 points, or 0.07 percent, on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures 0.1 percent lower ahead of the cash market open. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on
* The UK blue chip index steadied to close 0.08 percent lower on Monday at 6,184.58, after a choppy session, with gains in the pharmaceutical sector and by supermarket Sainsbury outweighing a fall in mining stocks.
* OFCOM: Britain's telecoms regulator said BT, the owner of the biggest fixed-line network, must install business lines more quickly and significantly reduce the wholesale prices it charges rivals for the lines.
* THOMAS COOK: British holiday company Thomas Cook said bookings were lower than last year due to uncertain geopolitical conditions, but prices were holding up and it was sticking with its annual guidance.
* JOHNSTON PRESS: The world's largest journal publisher said it posted a 23 percent jump in adjusted profit before tax as it continued to cut costs.
* IG GROUP HOLDINGS: British online trading company reported an 18 percent rise in third-quarter revenue as traders speculated more during heightened market volatility.
* BREXIT: Ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday it saw "clear downside risks" if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum in June, and repeated its warning that this would make the country's debt more vulnerable to a downgrade. Continuación...


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Paul Mitchell Partners With Marriott Hotels
It was announced at a press conference in New York this week that the more than 2,000 Marriott hotels throughout North America will now offer Paul Mitchell products to their guests as amenities in their hotel rooms.
"Clients will now be drawn to professional products more than ever," said John Paul DeJoria, co-founder and CEO, Paul Mitchell Systems, at the press conference. "Guests staying in Marriott hotels who are not used to luxury professional products will have a chance to sample and ideally head to the salon for both services and to purchase products."
In 2011, more than 23 million bottles of shampoo were used in any of the four Marriott Hotel brands (Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites). This is in addition to 15 million bottles of conditioner. The products featured at the hotels include Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Shampoo, The Detangler and Awapuhi Body Bar.
“We know quality amenities can make the difference between a good hotel stay and a memorable one,” said Brian King, senior vice president, Global Brand Management, Marriott International. “Research shows us that guests really want a brand name when it comes to shampoo and conditioner. This partnership allows us to feature great products that guests recognize and value, thereby enhancing their overall travel experience.”
Added DeJoria, “Paul Mitchell has been a style arbiter for more than 30 years, committed to producing professional hair care products that deliver high-performance results. This partnership merges two brands that are icons in their respective industries to create one of the largest amenity partnerships to date.”
“In researching partners, we look for alignment in a variety of angles including social responsibility views,” said King. “Paul Mitchell was the first beauty supply company to announce that they do not conduct or endorse animal testing. Overall, this is a perfect fit for us and a great win for guests.”


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New Delhi: Auto-maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday reported 30.38% jump in sales at 37,684 units in August 2011.
The company had sold 28,903 units in the corresponding month of 2010, M&M said in a statement. In the domestic market, the company registered a rise of 31.09% at 35,756 units during the month compared to 27,275 units in the year-ago period, it added.
Total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 15,664 units as against sales of 13,796 units in August 2010, up 13.54%. Sales of the Verito sedan went up by over two-fold to 1,710 units during the month from 801 units in the same month a year ago.
“We have been able to maintain a healthy growth of 30% in August, in spite of increasing pressures on the automotive industry. Verito has continued its growth momentum having sold 1710 units in August,” M&M chief executive (automotive division) Rajesh Jejurikar said.
The sales of three-wheelers during August went up by 26.01% to 6,394 units from 5,074 units during the same month last year.
The company’s Gio and Maxximo mini-trucks and other four-wheeler commercial vehicles sales increased by 66.77% in last month to 12,563 units from 7,533 units in the year-ago period, the statement said.
Light commercial vehicle sales from Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd during the month stood at 1,135 units as against 872 units in the same month a year ago, a rise of 30.16%.
M&M’s exports during the month jumped 18.43% to 1,928 units from 1,628 units during August 2010.


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At its most recent meeting, held on March 5 and 6, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review reaffirmed that parabens — preservatives used in cosmetics and personal care products — are safe.
The chemicals have been controversial for the past few years. Several non-governmental organizations, such as the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, allege that parabens are linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and skin irritation. The Food and Drug Administration’s Web site says that the chemicals have been in use since 1984 and are continually evaluated, with the last comprehensive report published in 2008. But it states, “FDA is aware that estrogenic activity in the body is associated with certain forms of breast cancer. Although parabens can act similarly to estrogen, they have been shown to have much less estrogenic activity than the body’s naturally occurring estrogen.” As well, the FDA’s Web site notes that “FDA believes that at the present time there is no reason for consumers to be concerned about the use of cosmetics containing parabens.”
In December 2011, the Personal Care Products Council requested that CIR reexamine its review of parabens in light of two recent opinions by the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety. SCCS concluded, among other things, that some parabens are safe at current use levels but recommended that levels of others used be reduced.
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At the March 2012 meeting, the CIR reviewed SCCS’s opinions and came to the conclusion that there was little additional new data concerning parabens.
“The cosmetic industry formally requested that CIR re-examine the safety of parabens as they are used in cosmetics, and we are gratified that the panel has done so and confirmed the safety of these ingredients,” stated Halyna Breslawec, chief scientist for the PCPC. “The Council also appreciates that the Consumer Federation of America and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supported the CIR decision.”


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Brazilian beauty Gisele Bundchen is the top-earning model in the world, according to forbes.com.
It is estimated that Bundchen, 29, will earn US$25m (NZ$35m) in the year to June 2010, pushing her ahead of Heidi Klum ($16m) and Kate Moss ($9m).
The figures show that despite the recession, which saw many advertising budgets contract, well-known models were still able to command good pay packets.
"Companies want to know that if they're putting money behind a talent that she is recession-proof," Ivan Bart, senior vice president and managing director of IMG Models, told forbes.com.
"We find that the experienced models continue to earn well."
In addition to her modelling engagements Bundchen, who is married to NFL quarterback Tom Brady and gave birth to their first child last December, has her own skin care line and footwear brand - Ipanema by Gisele.
Fellow mother Klum, 36, has forged a successful off-catwalk career as the host of reality TV show Project Runway but she continues to star in modelling campaigns for a wide variety of companies.
British model Moss, also 36, is the face of Versace - among others - and has more recently branched into fashion design, creating a line for retailer Topshop and handbags for luxury label Longchamp.
Others models to make the cut include Holland's Doutzen Kroes, Australian Miranda Kerr and American Carolyn Murphy - the face of Estee Lauder.
The world's top-earning models
1. Gisele Bundchen
2. Heidi Klum
3. Kate Moss
4. Adriana Lima
5. Doutzen Kroes
6. Alessandra Ambrosio and Natalia Vodianova
8. Daria Werbowy
9. Miranda Kerr
10. Carolyn Murphy
- NZ HERALD STAFF


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Contract hire firm Seven Asset Management has entered into a three-year deal with Bridgestone to manage its tyre programme across its range of trucks, trailers and vans. Its reporting systems and partner dealer network were both cited as reasons for Seven Asset’s decision to work with the tyre firm. Greg Shaw, Seven Asset Management’s key account manager, (pictured left with Bridgestone’s national fleet executive Neil Collison) said: “We will be able to take our reporting to the next level, moving […]
Groundforce has dug deep and ordered two more Isuzu trucks for its fleet, after the vehicles performed consistently well for the construction equipment supplier.
Great Bear has won a contract to manage distribution and warehousing for high street brands Hello Kitty, Tresemmé, Babyliss and Cuisinart. As part of the deal, the Tattenhall-based company is to manage the UK distribution centre for Conair, the US firm behind a range of brands in the personal care products and small appliances sectors. Once fully operational, the 230,000ft² Conair centre at Chorley in Lancashire will expect to handle 11 million units per year for delivery to major high […]
Davies Turner has donated 25 pallets of Hunter Boot’s women’s wellingtons to the London Ambulance Service to help protect staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.


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NTN-SNR Europe has announced the reinforcement of its global communication with the creation of a general communication department serving the company’s development. Its perimeter of action will be global including the Automotive, Aeronautics and Industrial business lines as well as institutional and internal communications. The Group Communication Department will be entrust to Christophe Espine, who was previously in charge of the Automotive Aftermarket Business Unit Marketing Department, a position that will be taken over by Amélie Paviet.
2018 saw the Group’s centenary. In 2019, NTN-SNR is entering a new era with a strong positioning. Aware of the challenges to be met in Europe, the need of a stronger and more consistent communications has arisen. NTN-SNR Europe is completely focused on its development strategy. Therefore, two people have been appointed.
Christophe Espine, NTN-SNR Europe Group Communications Director 45 years old, an Arts & Métiers engineer, he began his career at Honeywell as a Pricing Manager, before taking on the role of Product Manager from 1999 to 2008. In 2008, he joined the DELPHI group as France Marketing Director. He joined NTN-SNR in 2013 and managed the EMEA Automotive Aftermarket Marketing Department. At the beginning of January 2019, Christophe Espine was appointed Director of NTN-SNR Europe Group Communication.
Christophe Espine said: “I am very much looking forward to supporting the Group in all its business sectors. As we emerge from our centenary, it is essential that we meet the challenges of the future and position the company on the major stakes that are innovation, digitalisation and new mobility solutions. The creation of a general communications department will enable the NTN-SNR Group in Europe to strengthen its lines of communication even further”.
Tel: +33 (0) 4 50 65 97 89


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- Nintendo is already working on the console that will succeed its wildly popular Nintendo Switch.
- The company is still working out the console's concept and design, executives said this week.
- The Nintendo Switch is on track to be the company's best-selling home game console of all time.
Sorry, Nintendo Switch fans: Nintendo is already planning the wildly popular console's successor.
Details of the Nintendo's next game console, which the Japanese gaming giant referred to as its "20xx next-gen device" in its most recent investor presentation, are still being ironed out.
"We are still going through internal discussion on concept, timing, etc.," Nintendo executives told investors during a Q&A session, which was translated by gaming analyst David Gibson.
The execs also said that the Nintendo Switch is "in the middle phase" of its life cycle, with future sales buoyed by the recent Switch OLED model paired with major upcoming game releases. That prediction may come true, but sales of the Switch were down year over year.
Perhaps more critical: The Switch is about to be a 5-year-old gaming console as of next March.
Even the recently released Switch OLED model, with a larger and more vibrant screen, is powered by the same years-old gaming tech.
Nintendo's own history of game console launches undercuts its statement about the Switch life cycle.
Since 1983 with the original Nintendo Entertainment System and continuing through through to the Nintendo Switch in 2017, the company has released a new home game console just shy of every five years.
That doesn't include any of the handheld consoles and, if it did, it would actually increase the frequency of game console launches.
What's perhaps most supportive of Nintendo's statement, however, is that the company has yet to announce any formal plans for the Switch's successor — it was a full two years before the launch of the Switch that former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced vague plans for the "Nintendo NX."
This is critical, because game makers need time with new hardware to make games for it. Yet, thus far, there have been no credible rumors about Nintendo's next console — the kinds of leaks that would come from people outside of Nintendo getting their hands on prototype hardware.
What we know for sure, however, is that Nintendo plans to launch its next game console with the same "integrated hardware-software" approach it has taken in the past. What that means for you is that Nintendo is going to keep making game consoles (hardware), the operating system that powers them (software), and some of the best games for that console (software).
Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (firstname.lastname@example.org), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.


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“I had started my business in 2008. There is a demand for pithas and larus here as people in the city don’t have the means to get the ingredients and also many lacked the time,” Das said.
After starting the venture from her own kitchen, Das said she now employs four women for making the orders and two men to help in the packaging and delivery.
Talukdar is part of a 10-member women’s group which engages in various activities for income generation.
“In villages, we can grow our own vegetables, help in farming, etc, and help save money. But in Guwahati, as women, our means to contribute to the family income are limited.
“In such a scenario, this business of selling pithas and larus has helped us earn money and help the family,” she said.
Buyers are aplenty for these entrepreneurs as most city dwellers find it difficult to get the ingredients like rice flour, grated coconut or sesame seeds.”I know how to make pithas and larus, but getting the ingredients is a big headache. Also, with the daily schedule of looking after the household, time becomes a constraint,” Mina Sharma, a Guwahati resident, said.
She pointed out that in villages, making these delicacies is almost a community affair as women from several households come together and make them.
For youngsters like Sumi Tanti, who have settled outside the state due to work, the packaged goodies are a reminder of home.
“We really miss home, especially if we can’t visit during the Bihus. With the pithas and larus now available in all major cities in packaged form, we can at least relish these delicacies,” Tanti, who lives in Bengaluru, said.
These women entrepreneurs have been helped by self-help groups and NGOs working for gender empowerment by training them in packaging and helping in marketing their goods.
Archana Talukdar, who has been working in this sector for over a decade, said, “We do basic hand-holding of these women. They have the skills and we help in monetising it.”
Talukdar, who has been organising a popular fair of pithas and larus before Bihu every year in the city, said there is no dearth of buyers.
“We have witnessed the popularity grow, in fact. Not just Assamese people, but people from other states who live here are regulars at our fairs. We also try to ensure that at least a few women can make these sweets at the fair ground itself and serve right in front of the buyers,” she added.
As these women earn a few bucks themselves, they have also ensured that skill of making pithas and larus continue to flourish and the taste of these traditional delicacies appease their customers.


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Something that’s interesting is that OnePlus had two launches today.
One was obviously the OnePlus 10T launch – that’s what you’re here for, presumably – but the other was a Chinese-only one for the OnePlus Ace Pro.
However this second launch event has been canceled at the last minute, and it’s not quite clear why. What’s doubly odd is that this cancellation happened the day after Motorola called off a similar China-only event.
So what’s going on? We don’t know – but the OnePlus 10T launch is still going on.
It’s OnePlus 10T launch live blog time at TechRadar, and we’re getting the engine running for another launch event – there are still hours to go before OnePlus’ live stream starts though, so there’s no need to warm up your popcorn just yet.


text: Everyone drives through town and see the big pink and zebra print sign, "Pinki's Shabby Chic Boutique." It's hard to miss, on HWY 190 West. Even before they were open at 11 am, they had people trickling in to shop and chat. Pinki's however is not just another boutique in the growing trend of small town boutique shopping that is erupting in Jasper, it has a story and a purpose. The shop is owned by breast cancer survivor Linda Jones and her daughter Wendi Jones Bangoy and has a deep rooted parallel to Linda's breast cancer battle.Bangoy says, "we basically started because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, we went through surgeries, and chemo therapy...during that time period of driving back and forth to Houston so much we would stop at malls and other stores, to kind of let her cope with it [breast cancer], I'd let her shop..." She says playfully, "Dad was like 'this has got to stop now,' so we decided to open up a small boutique and mainly we were focused on resale to sell some of that stuff."Pinki's was originally located in a small building across the street from their location now.


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Mumbai: ALTBalaji, one of India’s leading homegrown OTT platforms has launched its latest monsoon campaign, #ALTBINGEATHON. Through this campaign, the platform takes a fun route to raise awareness around staying safe at home amidst the ongoing pandemic and lift their spirits by binge-watching ALTBalaji’s entertaining content library.
Monsoon season has always brought with it multiple plans, and it can be interesting for Gen Z to spend monsoons at home. With 80% of their audience aged below 35 years, ALTBalaji introduces this quirky campaign for the youth that encourages everyone to stay at home safely while giving them a wide variety of captivating content to explore and enjoy. In addition, the OTT platform has started a social media campaign, reminding people to log into ALTBalaji and binge-watch their shows, amidst monsoons, with an engaging video.
On the campaign, Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing & Revenue at ALTBalaji said, “Monsoon is the perfect weather to get into our cozy space and enjoy binge-watching our favorite shows while we relish the rains through the window. #ALTBINGEATHON is a reminder to our audience to go back and watch those shows they always wanted to. With 84+ Hindi original shows across all genres, we want our audiences to be spoiled for choice. We can only promise more and more entertaining content going forward.”
The company sold 4.7m subscriptions during the year and currently has an active subscriber base of over 2.3m.


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Canopy Growth Corp. took a big step back from several international operations last week, cutting ties with its assets in South Africa, Lesotho, Colombia and the U.S.
Among the company’s attempts to reduce its workforce and its cash-burn rate was the closure of Waterpoint Hemp Farm in Springfield, N.Y. more than 1,000 acres of former dairy farmland. Canopy bought the property in early 2019. “Canopy Growth purchased Waterpoint not just because it had the good land for hemp, but it also had the housing, electrical infrastructure, buildings, diesel tanks,” Branson Skinner, Canopy Growth’s farm manager for New York State, said at the time.
As of last week, however, Canopy had closed the farm and turned its attention elsewhere in the hemp market.
“We have made the difficult but necessary decision to close our Waterpoint Hemp Farm based in Springfield, New York,” according to a statement from the company. “Like many other growers in the state, Waterpoint Hemp Farm produced an abundance of hemp in 2019, which does not commensurate with current market demand or the regulatory delays surround hemp extracts.”
The surplus biomass will be used in Canopy’s CBD isolate products manufactured under the brand First & Free, which includes soft gels, tinctures and creams, a company spokesperson told Hemp Grower. Canopy continues to build out its hemp production facility on the site of a former vacuum cleaner production plant in Kirkwood, N.Y.
The company also works with contract farmers in the U.S. to produce hemp for extraction purposes.
“The industry overall overestimated the market demand. I think that is certainly what we’re trying to understand moving forward, as well as the regulations around this,” a Canopy spokesperson told Hemp Grower. “Once regulations get finalized, then we’ll be able to forecast market demand better.”


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Pakistan Customs has stepped up enforcement at all international airports across the country to prevent the smuggling of items that have recently been banned by the federal government.
The items were banned by the federal government vide SRO No. 598(I)/2022, dated May 19, 2022, by amending Import Policy Order, 2022.
This round-the-clock vigilance at international terminals to prevent smuggling has already resulted in several seizures of these items which were being brought in the garb of bonafide passenger baggage.
During scanning and checking at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi on May 23, 2022, banned items such as foodstuff, fruits, sanitary wares, used mobile phones, and branded shoes, in commercial quantities were recovered.
The said items have been detained/seized under Sector 168 of the Customs Act, 1969 for violation of SRO No. 598(I)/2022, (Import Policy Order, 2022) and Sections 16 and 139 of the Customs Act, 1969.
While commending the efforts of Pakistan Customs, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman has reiterated the unflinching resolve of the FBR to further strengthen enforcement measures at all airports, seaports, and land border stations to ensure the prevention of smuggling of goods including newly banned items.
However, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and FBR Chairman have issued instructions not to bother bonafide passengers bringing in goods in non-commercial/small quantities for personal use and to facilitate such passengers at airports to the maximum possible extent as per legal provisions.
They should know to differentiate between personl,gifts (specially people in Pakistan have extended family)and commerical stuff.
There should be banners at Airport of what weight, quantities are considered commercial. Otherwise the customs agents will do whatever they please to fill in their pockets.
It’s not fair pm Shoud be allowed important thing brings in Pakistan for relatives and family members chocolates perfumes not banned


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Shares of Aphria Inc (TSE:APHA) traded down 15.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as C$11.28 and last traded at C$11.36. 3,981,011 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 5,816,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$13.41.
Separately, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Aphria from C$10.00 to C$12.00 in a research note on Tuesday.
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion and a PE ratio of 29.10.
Aphria Inc produces and sells medical cannabis in Canada and internationally. The company offers sativa, indica, and hybrid medical marijuana products, as well as cannabis oils. It serves patients and health professionals. The company also sells its products online. Aphria Inc is headquartered in Leamington, Canada.
Featured Article: QQQ ETF
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The amount was 106% more or almost RM79m compared to the same period last year
FELCRA Bhd announced an interim distributable profit payment 1/2022 totalling RM153 million to its 75,800 participants nationwide this year.
Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the amount was an increase of 106% or almost RM79 million compared to the same period last year.
“It is a commendable performance by Felcra and I highly encourage Felcra to collaborate with other private companies to further expand its business, especially in the field of agricultural technology.
“This will, in turn, increase Felcra’s operating profit and provide higher returns to all participants,” he said after officiating Felcra’s interim distributable profit 1/2022 presentation ceremony in Padang Terap yesterday.
Also present were Felcra chairman Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub and CEO Datuk Mat Roni Zakaria.
Meanwhile, Mahdzir said the payment of the distributable profit would be implemented in stages beginning yesterday.
“This year’s distributable profit performance is contributed by the increase in palm oil and rubber commodity prices. As at April 2022, the average price of palm oil commodity was almost RM1,200 (per tonne), an increase of RM550 or more than 79% compared to last year’s price of RM670.
“There is also an increase in the average plantation profit per hectare of RM4,900 or almost 57% compared to RM3,100 recorded last year,” he said. — Bernama / pic TMR


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Consumers say that shipping remains a major factor when it comes to making a purchase and it is imperative for merchants to focus on managing shipping costs and the returns processes in order to ensure a happy customer this holiday season.
A recent report from Pitney Bowes has found that 80% of Americans said when looking at the overall shopping experience, shipping options are considered “very important” compared to 2010. In fact, according to the report, nearly 50% of Americans have abandoned a shopping purchase due to the shipping cost alone.
So what can merchants do to keep the customer happy and secure the sale? According to this infographic from Pitney Bowes, it’s all about offering free shipping and fast delivery with a nominal fee.


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The Right Tune: Marketing Startup Music Audience Exchange Raises $6M
Dallas—If you think about it, executing a successful marketing campaign is similar to a match-making exercise done well.
But to try to ensure that a mutually beneficial relationship is formed, entrepreneur Nathan Hanks has added some data analytics to the match-making mix with his music-focused startup.
“The brands we are working with are in need of storytelling; artists have content but don’t have what brands have: the ability to access marketing power and prowess; media companies—like across streaming and video, like Pandora and YouTube—that we work with need better content,” he says. “We bring the three of them together.”
Hanks is co-founder and CEO of Music Audience Exchange, a Dallas startup that he says can address each of those needs through its marketing software platform. MAX, as the startup is called, announced today that it has raised $6 million in funding to help, bringing its total investment so far to $9 million. The funding round was led by Math Venture Partners and KDWC Ventures, with participation from G-Bar Ventures and Gregg Latterman, founder and CEO of Aware Records.
The three-year-old company crunches data of around 2.4 million artists (from mainstream stars to lesser-known musicians) recording today across 765 genres. It correlates that information with more than 200 consumer attributes—such as psychographic indicators (like whether the person is introverted or unconventional), geographic location, and occupation and income—to suggest artists that might appeal to different types of consumers. MAX primarily gets consumer data from its website where fans of featured bands enter in music preferences and demographic information.
“An artist can go to our site and register, get a link that can be shared via e-mail or social [media] with their fans,” Hanks explains. “People take the survey. The band gets a detailed report on their audience and the types of brands that make sense for them and we get valuable data for brand-artist matching.”
MAX’s website offers a few sample combinations:
- Gen X-ers, who drive foreign cars, go bowling, and drink fruit juice? They like New Wave with a hint of jazz.
- Millennial, 2nd generation Hispanics, who like to hike? That’s salsa and reggaetón.
MAX’s clients include Twix, Dr Pepper, and Jack Daniel’s.
Hanks previously co-founded ReachLocal, a digital media marketing firm that grew to half a billion dollars in annual revenues, with 23 employees in 15 countries, he says. “The big lesson there when dealing with 25,000 small businesses in 15 countries is that you get really good at doing digital marketing at scale,” Hanks says.
He decided to take the lessons learned at that firm and figure out a way to bring music into the marketing mix. Hanks has family members who worked as musicians and in radio. MAX co-founder George Howard is the former president of indie label Rykodisc and teaches at Berklee College of Music and Brown University.
“There’s more music being made by more artists than ever before, but because of the massive consolidation in the industry, even with explosion of content, more and more of the money is going to fewer artists,” Hanks says. “So how do you get people to it? We live in push society. Somebody’s going to have to toe that content up in front of you.”


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CAli Cooking Competition
We are pleased to announce that the World Food Championships will be coming to the state of California for the first time ever! Taking place in Hollywood, California on October 13th and 14th, professional chefs and home chefs alike will have the opportunity to compete using Gotham Steel cookware, for cash prizes and 20 golden ticket opportunities to move on in competition at the World Food Championships this November in Orange Beach, Alabama. Cali Cooking Competition will also be hosting multiple events for competing chefs and participants at the The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel throughout the weekend.
“We are thrilled that Gotham Steel has joined us in providing residents of California with a creative and fun way to earn a chance at food fame and fortune.” -Mike McCloud, President and CEO of World Food Championships.
// HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA //
Friday, October 12th: Kickoff party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Saturday, October 13th: Five categories will compete throughout the day. That evening, there will be a party on the rooftop of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel where the winners for those five categories will be announced.
Sunday, October 14th: The remaining five categories will compete throughout the day. That evening, there will be an onsite reception where the winners of that days five categories will be announced.
About world food championships
The World Food Championships is the largest competition in Food Sport, where grand champions of previous events convene for a chance at winning the ultimate food crown and a share of hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. The World Food Championships is also the springboard for many up and coming culinary stars and home cooks as they seek TV fame through many well-known food shows and acting opportunities.
Since its debut in 2012, WFC has given birth to 30 TV food stars, awarded more than $1.5 million in prize money, garnered more than 5.7 billion media impressions, and connected 150+ food brands with food fans, food bloggers, and food media. In short, it has given birth to “Food Sport” by providing a level playing field, a fair judging system, a creative culinary fest, and a process that allows the culinary elite to show their chops and earn the respect they deserve.
We are excited to announce that this will be the first WFC event on the West Coast!


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The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has said a total of 214 cases were currently under investigation for (VAT) fraud.
According to the ZRA Commissioner-General, Dingani Banda, the authority had prioritised prosecuting VAT fraud cases in courts so as to set examples for would-be offenders.
He indicated that there were a total of 11 VAT fraud cases that are in various courts of Law at various stages.
The Commissioner-General said this on Friday in his presentation on “key tax measures pronounced in the 2024 budget” at the 2024 budget symposium in Lusaka.
“It is expected that with implementation of the Electronic Invoicing System (EIS) in 2024, detection of VAT fraud between Business to Business will be easy.
“So far 29 investigation cases of VAT fraud have been concluded by ZRA. The offenders have been communicated to on these assessments. A total of 214 cases are still under investigation,” Mr Banda said.
He highlighted selected tax policy measures pronounced in the 2024 budget.
Among them was the increase the period in which a business could claim a refund on VAT incurred on eligible goods before the commencement of commercial operations to seven years from the current four years, for hydroelectricity generation.
“’The measure is meant to extend the period in which businesses can be refunded VAT incurred on eligible inputs before commencement of operations to seven years from the current four years.
“This is in consideration of the average gestation period of hydro power projects,” Banda said.
Meanwhile, Banda said ZRA in 2024 was expected to collect K125.3 billion, growth of 21.5 percent from the 2023 target.
He explained that ZRA target steeply increased in 2022 by 53.3 percent from 2021.
“Relative to 2021, the 2024 target increased by 111.1 percent,” the Commissioner-General said.
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Microsoft's place in the business world is a little smaller today than it was earlier this week. Bloomberg reports that in terms of its market value, Microsoft has moved down from the second spot to the third position. In stock trading on Thursday, Microsoft's old partner IBM saw its market value go up to $214 billion while Microsoft's went down to $213.2 billion. It's the first time that IBM has been higher than Microsoft in terms of its market value since 1996.
IBM has been trying to redefine itself for the past several years. It decided to sell off its personal computer division to Lenovo back in 2005 and is now concentrating on creating software and services for business clients rather than the consumer. IBM generated $99.9 billion in revenue in 2010 and half of that revenue came from its computer services division. Microsoft has actually expanded its reach into the consumer market with efforts such as the Xbox 360 console, the Zune media player and more recently the Windows Phone 7 operating system. However it still gets 60 percent of its revenue from its Windows and Office divisions. So far in 2011, IBM's stock price has gone up 22 percent while Microsoft' price has gone down by 8.8 percent.
Of course, both Microsoft and IBM are well behind Apple, which is not only the biggest tech company in terms of market share but the single biggest company in the world, period. Apple now has a market cap of $362.1 billion.
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One of the Wii U’s biggest weaknesses was third-party support. But this time, Nintendo doesn’t want to repeat that mistake with the upcoming Switch.
Last month, Nintendo announced a slew of third-party titles for the Switch, including Skyrim. A promising sign? During a recent financial meeting, Nintendo talked more about this time will be different (which, I feel, is something I’ve heard before).
“For our previous game platforms, creating our own development tools was a high priority for us,” says Nintendo exec Shinya Takahashi. “However, since the start of Nintendo Switch development we have been aiming to realize an environment in which a variety of different third-party developers are able to easily develop compatible software, such as by making it compatible with Unreal and Unity as well as our own development tools.”
Shigeru Miyamoto added that third-party devs who are making PC title can “now easily adapt” those games for the Switch. “In the current development environment, Iʼd say that it would take less than a year for them to port a PC game to Nintendo Switch.”
People do buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo games, but it would be wonderful if its recent home consoles saw the kind of support its handhelds have.
Internally, Nintendo has also made changes to its corporate structure that should streamline development. Software development teams for home consoles and handhelds used to be in different departments, but now, according to Miyamoto, they’ve been merged.
Moreover, Miyamoto said that Nintendo’s own staff have been feeling “the ease of software development” for the Switch. “Also, even though game software developers in the U.S. and E.U. are often said to have superior skills to their Japanese counterparts when it comes to software development techniques,” Miyamoto continued, “Nintendoʼs software developers have mastered state-of-the-art technologies such as Unreal engine, and their skills can now be compared with those of Western developers.”
The desire of Japanese game makers to create their own game engines has always seemed costly and ineffective. Nintendo’s decision to make industry standard tools available should hopefully mean more third-party games end up on the Switch.
“Nintendo will keep on creating unique software,” said Takahashi. “By doing so, I believe we will encourage third-party developers to create a number of quality software titles for Nintendo Switch.”
I feel like this has been the attitude since the N64, and it hasn’t always translated into third-party support in the past. Maybe this time will be different.


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GroupWise shows Novells strengths
Has Novell turned another corner? In his review below, Technical Analyst Shammi Gill says the embattled company could be showing some muscle with the release of GroupWise 6, a compelling upgrade to Novells already-solid (if unspectacular) collaboration package.
New in this release are support for access from a wide variety of wireless devices and stronger security. The innovative price scheme should turn some system administrators heads, too. At NetWare shops and some sites with heterogeneous systems, GroupWise 6 will make it much easier to work together, but Novell must extend support to Solaris and Linux if it wants this product to succeed.
Good viruses or system scourges?
Last month, a new worm crawled onto systems through a security hole. But this one, called the Cheese Worm, came in peace, patching the security hole that it had used to get in, then looking around for other systems to fix.
Why not use worms like this one to fight fire with fire? East Coast Technical Director Jim Rapoza believes this is a good way to boost viral immunity across the entire Internet. Not so, counters West Coast Technical Director Timothy Dyck: “Visions of bots floating around in the ether waging mighty, but invisible, battles belong in books … not on production Internet servers.”


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Vetr upgraded shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning. The brokerage currently has $15.50 target price on the technology company’s stock.
PSTG has been the subject of several other research reports. BidaskClub lowered shares of Pure Storage from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, June 10th. Robert W. Baird reissued a hold rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Jefferies Group LLC boosted their price target on shares of Pure Storage from $10.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a buy rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $15.29.
Shares of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) opened at 13.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.96 and a 200-day moving average of $11.34. The stock’s market capitalization is $2.81 billion. Pure Storage has a 52 week low of $9.12 and a 52 week high of $15.14.
Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 24th. The technology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.08. Pure Storage had a negative net margin of 31.62% and a negative return on equity of 44.04%. The firm had revenue of $182.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pure Storage will post ($0.27) EPS for the current year.
In other news, CFO Timothy Riitters sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.12, for a total transaction of $65,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 245,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,223,623.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 19,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $248,118.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,449,086 shares of company stock worth $19,052,468. Corporate insiders own 41.47% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 18,167.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,172,000 after buying an additional 13,574,457 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 3,403.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,738,819 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,093,000 after buying an additional 1,689,194 shares during the last quarter. Think Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Pure Storage during the first quarter valued at $13,187,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 497.3% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,548,691 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,516,000 after buying an additional 1,289,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Pure Storage by 480.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,284,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,622,000 after buying an additional 1,062,700 shares during the last quarter. 34.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Pure Storage
Pure Storage, Inc provides a data platform. The Company is focused on delivering software-defined all-flash solutions that are fast and cloud-capable for customers, enabling customers to put data to work for their businesses. Its data platform replaces storage systems designed for mechanical disk with all-flash systems optimized end-to-end for solid-state memory.
To view Vetr’s full report, visit Vetr’s official website.
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Kadokawa Games’ Root Film IP has been announced to launch in Japan on April 2020 on Nintendo Switch and PS4.
Root Film‘s director and writer is Hifumi Kouno, with character design by Taro Mino. The mystery adventure game features a story involving dual protagonists, video tricks, unexpected plot twists, “innovative” CG, and more. While not directly related to its predecessor Root Letter, the new game is once again set in Shimane Prefecture. This time around, players assume the role of 23-year-old Rintaro Yagumo. He is a filmmaker hired for the reboot of a TV series called “Shimane Mystery Drama Project,” which was “cancelled for an unknown reason 10 years ago.” Rintaro’s “excitement about this amazing opportunity is quickly curbed when a horrible murder interrupts their location scouting process.” Now the young man and his crew must search for clues in an attempt to unravel a “thrilling mystery” that may just cast some doubt on “the real purpose of this film project.”
What’s Root Film’s gameplay like?
Much like it’s prequel, Root Film is to be a hand-painted visual novel-style adventure. But with much more to the experience than simply reading and making decisions. The gameplay will include a “multitude of interactive elements.” These include elements such as Intuition, a mechanic that “allows players to acquire keywords during conversations.” Also, Zapping which is another puzzle-solving element that “reveals the perspective of two characters at the same time.” When you’ve collected enough evidence to confront someone, you will also be able to enter into Max Mode, a “fighting-game-like face-off” in which you must “choose the correct conversation options from a selection screen.”
Root Film will also have a European and North American release but it has yet to receive a release date. Root Letter launched in June 2016, then there was around a four to five month delay in its western release. It then showed up in Europe in October 2016 and North America in November 2016. With Root Letter: Last Answer, there was around an eight month delay. This was between the game’s December 2018 Japanese launch and August 30, 2019 European and September 3, 2019 North American launches. So, we can expect Root Film to have it’s western release sometime in 2020 as well.
Root Film will launch for PlayStation 4 and Switch on April 23, 2020 in Japan for 6,800 yen. Kadokawa Games also announced plans to open its own online store, Kadoge Store, on December 26. Pre-orders will open on December 25.
You may find interesting: Knives Out may be heading to PS5


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The Dangers In a High-Fat Diet
As a dietitian, I'd hate for consumers to be hoodwinked into believing that a diet chock-full of high-fat animal products, including butter, egg yolks, meat products and raw milk, is healthful ["The Great Divide: Who Says Good Nutrition Means Animal Fats? Weston A. Price," Food, Aug. 6].
Decades of scientific studies show that regular consumption of high-fat, high-cholesterol foods can wreak havoc on the human body.
British Heart Foundation research from Oxford University shows that high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets -- such as the diet Price advocates -- directly affect the heart by depleting energy stores.
And a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that high protein intake is associated with an increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer and prostate cancer.
To truly protect their health, Americans should fill their plates with an abundance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other vegetarian foods.
The writer is a staff dietitian with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.


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Silver futures plunge Rs 698 on lower global cues
Amid a weakening trend overseas, silver prices dived by Rs 698 to Rs 38,480 per kg in futures trade today as speculators cut down their bets.
Silver for delivery in September was trading lower by Rs 698, or 1.78 per cent, to Rs 38,480 per kg, in a business turnover of 1,388 lots in futures trading at the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).
The white metal for delivery in far-month December shed Rs 657, or 1.65 per cent, at Rs 39,075 per kg, with a business turnover of 75 lots.
In the international market, silver slumped 2.61 per cent to USD 16.62 an ounce in New York.
Market analysts said a weak trend in precious metals in global markets as data on retail sales and US manufacturing came in better-than-expected and easing geopolitical tensions between North Korea and the US undercut haven demand for the precious metal, kept pressure on silver futures.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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Newfound Research LLC grew its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,097 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the quarter. Newfound Research LLC’s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Litman Gregory Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Coca-Cola by 108.8% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, tru Independence LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the second quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.59% of the company’s stock.
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $59.00 target price on Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 15th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday, November 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $63.00 price target on Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, October 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.44.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.22% and a net margin of 23.31%. The business had revenue of $10.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 30th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.
In other news, COO Brian John Smith sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.65, for a total transaction of $556,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 144,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,026,343.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy Quan sold 18,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.82, for a total value of $1,034,464.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,170 shares of company stock worth $4,135,496 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
The Coca-Cola Co is the nonalcoholic beverage company, which engages in the manufacture, market, and sale of non-alcoholic beverages which include sparkling soft drinks, water, enhanced water and sports drinks, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages, tea and coffee and energy drinks. Its brands include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid, Georgia, Powerade, Del Valle, Schweppes, Aquarius, Minute Maid Pulpy, Dasani, Simply, Glaceau Vitaminwater, Bonaqua, Gold Peak, Fuze Tea, Glaceau Smartwater, and Ice Dew.
Featured Article: Key terms to understand channel trading
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Mirza Ikhtiar baig (Economist):
Textile is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. But, unfortunately from the last few years our textile exports have not increased because of the Covid and other reasons. It was a very good thing that the Ministry of Commerce organized this textile fair. Some of the prominent buyers from all over the world were invited. It is very impressive that Pakistan is exporting textile products like jeans and T-shirts on one hand, but on the other hand Pakistan is also exporting leather goods. The Prime Minister also met the business community during the expo. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the textile sector is the backbone of the national economy and assured that his government will extend full support to boost export and national economy.


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There have been a few stories in the news recently about new lighting technology advancements. The progression of OLED light bulbs is coming in to particular focus with companies such as Samsung putting OLED research above LED light bulbs.
A UBI report stated that in 2015 OLED technology will perform just as well as an LED. However, though manufacturers are developing OLED light bulbs many of them do not think their progress will be as fast.
One of the major advantages of OLED light bulbs is that they are more flexible than LED light bulbs so more varied products can be made. The problem is that manufacturers are struggling to lower manufacturing costs and lower their energy usage to match LED light bulbs.
Recent Nobel Prize Winner, Shuji Nakamura claims that the next big lighting breakthrough will be lasers.
Laser diodes are already being used in cars. The Audi R8 LMX and the BMW i8 are already using laser diodes. The BMW i8 was the first car to use laser headlights developed by Osram. A major advantage of laser diodes is that they are so small that they offer more design possibilities.
It’s a great opportunity for the next lighting [products]. Laser lighting is already used for automobile headlamps at BMW and Audi, because the laser diode headlamp is almost 700 metres, whereas LED headlamp is only 300 metres, and current automobile headlamps are only 100 metres.
However, Nakamura thinks it will be a while before laser diodes developed:
We can make highly efficient lighting in the near future but we still have to work very hard to make the laser diodes highly efficient. I think this will be a huge opportunity in the future.


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SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The Dayton location of Stop & Shop will be closed as of Feb. 24.
The pharmacy already closed on Jan. 6.
“After a detailed review of the operating performance of our stores, we have made the difficult decision to not renew our lease at our store located at 24 Summerfield Boulevard in Dayton, New Jersey.
“All store and pharmacy associates have the opportunity to transfer to other area Stop & Shop locations.
“The pharmacy closed on Jan. 6, 2022, and the store will close on Feb. 24, 2022. We look forward to serving the community until then,” Stefanie Shuman, external communications manager of Stop & Shop, said in regards to the decision.
As of now, the Middlesex County locations in East Brunswick, Edison, Highland Park, Monroe Township and Piscataway will remain open.


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(Guelph, Ontario, August 1, 2006) - Rowe Farm Meats has announced that Investeco Capital has made a significant investment in the company to increase awareness of naturally-raised food, develop new products and increase productivity and sales.
Investeco is a leading Canadian-owned investment organization which partners with companies that are providing effective, ecologically-responsible products and solutions.
“We believe that naturally and locally raised food is a fast-growing market segment, and we are delighted to be involved with Rowe Farm Meats,” said Andrew Heintzman, president of the Toronto-based private equity firm.
John Rowe, founder of Rowe Farm Meats, set out 40 years ago to market the products of animals raised in a more natural way without the use of growth promoting hormones, antibiotics or animal-based feed additives. Driven by early success at his own retail outlets in Guelph and Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, Rowe Farm Meats was formed and has developed a strong following amongst discerning meat buyers in southern Ontario, including many leading chefs and caterers.
Today, Rowe Farms is the province’s largest producer of natural meats including beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey, as well as eggs.
A strong advocate of traditional, natural farming, John Rowe was enthusiastic that the investment partnership will allow him to continue to meet the needs of a growing market of consumers who base their decisions on environmental stewardship and superb quality.
“This is a natural evolution for our business,” he said. “Together we can empower people to eat more naturally. Imagine the difference naturally-raised food can make in our lives and in the environment.”
For more information on Rowe Farm Meats contact Dan Jewell or Martyn Vernon at 519 822 8794
For more information on www.investeco.com contact Michael Curry 416-304-1750 ext333 or Andrew Heintzman ext398


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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issues an “Order of Suspension of Trading” for Evolution Blockchain Group, Inc. The firm was trading on OTC Link, previously labeled pink sheets. Evolution Blockchain is a Nevada corporation trading under the ticker symbol EVBC.
The SEC cited;
“(1) questions about the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace since at least May 17, 2018, including the accuracy of information contained in an Evolution Blockchain press release dated May 17, 2018, referencing a white-paper, and (2) concerns since at least May 15, 2018, about recent unusual and unexplained market activity in the company’s common stock.”
Evolution Blockchain last traded at $0.93 a share.
On May 17, Evolution Blockchain announced the acquisition of two blockchain based firms: Drive-coin and Gamebitcoin.
Drive-coin was described as a peer-to-peer blockchain solution for the automotive and parts industry.
Gamebitcoin was said to be a game specific blockchain development solution tailored to gaming transactions across the globe.
The SEC has issued several suspension orders in the past for companies making statements regarding interest in blockchain or cryptocurrency based firms.


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News about EarthLink Inc., including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
ARTICLES ABOUT EARTHLINK INC.
Stealing my passwords doesn’t make you the Sundance Kid.
March 9, 2014, Sunday
San Francisco in a Wi-Fi Fog It has been more than two years since Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco championed the idea of blanketing the city with free wireless Internet access. After fits and starts and protracted negotiations, the plan...
September 3, 2007, Monday
Earthlink, which has not had a permanent chief executive since Garry Betty died of cancer in January at the age of 49, is dangling unusual incentives before five of its top executives. Call them ''please don't leave before the new boss is...
June 3, 2007, Sunday
Google and EarthLink won a bid on Wednesday to provide free wireless Internet access in San Francisco. The city will start negotiations with the two companies on the project, said Chris Vein, director of San Francisco's telecommunication and...
April 6, 2006, Thursday
San Francisco could become the first major city to offer free access to all its residents.
February 23, 2006, Thursday
Smaller Internet access providers who are trying to find a new way to connect with consumers may have found it in wireless technology.
October 31, 2005, Monday
With seven million Americans expected to switch to high-speed Internet connections this year, broadband companies are using a number of strategies to lure customers.
June 21, 2005, Tuesday
Profit at EarthLink, the Internet service provider, more than tripled in the fourth quarter, but revenue fell as subscribers moved to high-speed services. The company, based in Atlanta, posted net income for the quarter of $35.6 million, or 23 cents...
February 9, 2005, Wednesday
Time Warner cable will now sell a broadband service that combines its Road Runner high-speed service with AOL's online features.
February 1, 2005, Tuesday
Having lost a recent patent case in Virginia, Research in Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry device, has turned to an unusual appeal strategy: Were not based in the United States, so you cant touch us.
January 24, 2005, Monday
Copyright © 2008. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the vendor disclosures page.


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- » View All
Bullet-Proof Tech: Machine Vision Industry Will Outperform in 2016
by Winn Hardin, Contributing Editor - AIA Posted 01/26/2016The sweetest place to be in any technology market is on the upward leg of the adoption curve. And that’s where the machine vision industry is and will continue to be in 2016.
“For the past 30 years, the machine vision market has continued to expand,” says Ghislain Beaupré, vice president of operations and R&D for Teledyne DALSA’s (Montreal, Québec, Canada) OEM group and new AIA board member. “When one industry’s demand has gone down, another industry has increased demand. The same is true of regions. The U.S. used to be the dominant market. As manufacturing moved overseas, that changed.”
As an enabling technology, machine vision doesn’t drive markets, but like water, it flows into all available spaces. When manufacturing moved from the U.S. to Asian markets, U.S. companies responded by using automation to reduce production costs. Today, according to Dr. Rex Lee, president of machine vision distributor Pyramid Imaging (Tampa, Florida) and an AIA board member, China is turning to vision-guided robotics for the same reason the U.S. did 10 years ago: to protect manufacturing market share as companies view even lower-cost manufacturing markets in India, Vietnam, and elsewhere.
“The other unknown beyond which countries represent the new manufacturing frontiers is which countries will become new consumer economies,” Dr. Lee says. “The U.S. is the leading consumer country, which has been great for machine vision companies in the U.S., but who will be next? China? The stock market has had a rough start this year, but car sales are up, gas prices are dramatically down, disposable incomes are up, and the U.S. economy continues slow but steady growth. If we can avoid destabilizing events, I think machine vision will continue to grow through 2016.”
A strong U.S. market also has the leading machine vision market analyst upbeat on 2016. “The machine vision market saw a softening toward the end of 2015 due to a cyclical downturn from record-high order levels earlier in the year,” says Alex Shikany, director of market analysis for the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). “Turbulence in the semiconductor industry, which is an important market for machine vision companies, also contributed. As we move into 2016, the global manufacturing climate is poised to remain strong, and more specifically, analysts are predicting a great year for the U.S. manufacturing sector. This is a good sign, as many experts in the machine vision industry expect North America to be their key region of focus over the next 3-5 years. AIA expects the market to turn upward and resume growth by the end of the second quarter in 2016.”
Another enabling factor is that machine vision is used pretty much everywhere these days. While outperforming the general market may seem like optimistic folderol in light of Wall Street plunges and Asian market slowdowns, a look at specific economic drivers reveals both the source of headwinds and emerging opportunities.
Greg Hollows, director of machine vision solutions at Edmund Optics (Barrington, New Jersey) and an AIA board member, expects that Asian market difficulties and semiconductor softness could flatten global growth in 2016, but new applications could pick up the slack for the machine vision market.
“The semiconductor market is supposed to come back big this year, but in the last year, a couple of the largest consumer electronics manufacturers have warned about softening sales,” Hollows says. “The cell phone and tablet markets, for example, will continue to grow, but it’s hard to keep up explosive growth once sales volumes reach hundreds of millions of units. The Internet of Things and medical and life sciences could all help the electronics market, however. Other big opportunities include vision-guided robotics and autonomous vehicles.”
George Chamberlain, CEO of Pleora Technologies, a manufacturer of high-performance video interfaces (Kanata, Ontario, Canada), sees huge opportunities attached to the automotive data network of the near future.
“When you look at the requirements of driverless cars or driver assist, these networks need low latency, testing, and networking,” Chamberlain says. “The machine vision industry has solved all those problems, which creates a lot of opportunities for us. Today, it’s not about high-volume machine vision sales into autonomous vehicles; it’s more about being a part of the design win. High-volume sales are still a few years away.”
Infrastructure and surveillance applications will continue to drive machine vision industry growth in an uncertain world, adds Chamberlain, as will technical developments and emerging standards such as NBASE-T, which provides intermediate data rates between 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
“In 2016, GigE Vision cameras are still the most popular with over 50% of the global share of units sold. However, USB3 Vision has seen strong recent growth and now represents over 10% of the global market,” says A3’s Shikany. “GigE is the interface most users are comfortable with and is used in the lion’s share of all machine vision cameras in traditional machine vision applications. USB3 is making noise, however, and is consuming share from Camera Link and FireWire interfaces as it grows.”
Next-generation USB3, Thunderbolt, Camera Link HS, and CoaXPress will all help to lower the overall share of GigE Vision cameras sold during the next 3-5 years’ time, Shikany adds, but also notes that only a fraction of current widespread applications will be demanding these higher bandwidth interfaces. “Thus, GigE as an interface remains at least somewhat protected moving forward,” he says.
Whether it’s new interfaces, standards, or simply the shrinking of existing technology and price points, all these factors are combining to drive new demand in existing machine vision markets while introducing new ones.
“Our existing customers demand newer, better cameras, which then opens up new markets for us,” says Teledyne DALSA’s Beaupré. “When it comes to machine vision, people aren’t really investing in a new service, but in a system that will save them money down the road. It’s not difficult to invest in a solution that helps you save money and be more productive.”
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