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December 31, 2008
Austin, Texas -- Credit card issuers held annual percentage rates steady on new credit card offers this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report, as the industry awaited a new year that analysts predict could bring further declines in card usage.
The nine credit card categories tracked by CreditCards.com were unchanged.
Rates for card categories tracked by CreditCards.com are listed below:
|Credit Card Rate Averages|
|Avg. APR||Last Week||6 Month|
Data continue to suggest that Christmas shoppers largely put away their plastic this year, with a report from a unit of MasterCard indicating that retail sales fell as much as 4 percent nationwide during the holiday shopping season.
That trend is expected to continue. Experts who spoke with CreditCards.com predict further declines in card usage in 2009. Analysts say that credit card payments may fall as banks tighten lending standards and debt-averse cardholders attempt to rely less on plastic. Meanwhile, as regulators increase their scrutiny of punitive interest rate hikes on cardholders, experts say credit card fees could become a more important source of income for banks, making an increase a distinct possibility.
The CreditCards.com credit card rate survey is conducted weekly using offer data from the leading U.S. card issuers. Rate movement may be influenced by changes in the composition of offers tracked.
Introductory offer periods and regular interest rates vary with applicants’ credit quality and issuer risk-based pricing policies.
CreditCards.com is a leading online credit card marketplace connecting consumers with multiple credit card issuers, including nine of the 10 largest in the United States, based on credit card transaction volume. CreditCards.com, https://www.creditcards.com, enables consumers to search for, compare and apply for more than 150 credit cards and offers credit card issuers an online channel to acquire qualified applicants.
Ben Woolsey, 512-996-8663, ext. 106
Director of Marketing
NOTE TO EDITORS: The information contained in this release is available for print or broadcast with attribution to CreditCards.com.


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Thousands of disgruntled Tesco distribution workers across the country are to strike in the run-up to Christmas.
Up to 5,000 Tesco workers in the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) could take part in industrial action while some 1,200 workers in union Unite are also preparing to strike.
Members of both unions are unhappy with the offer of a four per cent pay rise, with Union dubbing the offer a“real terms pay cut” due to inflation.
Union bosses urged the company to negotiate to avoid empty shelves in the festive season, amid the supply chain challenges already rocking the food and drink sector.
Tesco said it had provided a fair offer and would mitigate any disruption for customers.
Usdaw gave notice of a stoppage starting on 20 December until Christmas Eve, across nine centres including in Peterborough and Southampton.
Yesterday the Unite union said its members at Tesco centres in Didcot and Doncaster would strike this month.
Up to 1,200 workers, including warehouse staff and HGV drivers, have opposed the supermarket’s pay offer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members have gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep Tesco’s shelves filled throughout the pandemic. At the very least the UK’s largest and wealthiest retailer should be making our members a decent pay offer.”
Sites in Didcot and Doncaster will see an initial 48 hour stoppage beginning at 6am on 16 December, in addition to a five day stoppage from 20 December,
There will also be a 48-hour strike on 30 December and a three-day stoppage on 5 January at the two sites.
Union members at sites in Antrim and Belfast will start a continuous strike from 7am on 16 December.
Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw national officer, said workers were a crucial driver of the company delivering a 16.5 per cent increase in profit for the first half of the year.
She added: “These workers deserve a decent pay rise as their reward for what they have done and continue to do day in day out – couple that with the rising cost of living and inflation currently running at six per cent, the company needs to do better.
“Industrial action and possible stock shortages in stores in the week before Christmas can be avoided. It needs the company to engage positively in talks with Usdaw and we stand ready to reopen negotiations.”
A Tesco spokesperson added: “Our distribution colleagues have worked tirelessly through the pandemic in order to keep products moving for customers. The pay offer we have made is a fair recognition of this.
“We welcome the decision by our colleagues at the sites who have voted against industrial action. We are disappointed that some have voted to proceed, and we have contingency plans in place to help mitigate any impacts.”

domain: news


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By ESL Gaming
We are pleased to announce esportsTV will launch soon on the pioneering Internet-based live TV service; PlayStation Vue. Later in April, U.S. residents will gain access to the very first linear channel dedicated solely to esports through PlayStation Vue. The 24/7 esports content will hit screens just in time for IEM Sydney, from the 4th of May.
Steven Roberts, Executive Chairman, ESL commented about the expansion for esportsTV:
“EsportsTV is the perfect complement to the PlayStation Vue offering and represents just another step for esports as a form of mainstream entertainment. ESL is in a unique position to significantly expand the reach and impact of premium esports content and we are thrilled to bring eSportsTV to the U.S. market.”
ESL launched esportsTV in Europe in May 2016 to bring the most amazing esports experience to fans globally. The channel’s 24/7 content represents ESL’s ongoing commitment to increasing accessibility for the rapidly growing esports community on a global scale. After launching in Europe, esportsTV grew to reach over 5 million households.
EsportsTV will be part of PlayStation Vue’s Elite plan and will be available to TV audiences all over the USA. PlayStation Vue is accessible through PlayStation 4, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PC/Mac, mobile devices and more.


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Cadillac was ranked second in JD Power’s 2022 US Customer Satisfaction Index study.
2022 marks 42and the year the study was conducted, and was redesigned this year to take into account emerging convenience features relevant in today’s market, including valet service, remote vehicle service, and online/mobile app payment options to gauge how these aspects affect overall customer satisfaction in terms of to certain automakers. This study measures satisfaction with service at an authorized aftermarket dealer or repair facility, among owners or renters of vehicles that are three years old or newer. Automotive brands are evaluated on a 1,000-point scale based on performance in five areas: service quality, service advisory, vehicle pick-up, service facility, and service initiation.
Cadillac scored 880 points, placing the luxury brand second among premium automotive brands. It was only beaten by Lexus, who scored 897. Cadillac outperformed Porsche, who scored 879 points for third place. Acura is fourth with 871 points, and BMW completes the top five with 866 points.
Among mass-market brands, MINI scores the highest with 873 points, followed by Cadillac’s corporate cousin, Buick, in second place with 872 points. Mazda is third with 856 points, fourth is Mitsubishi with 854 points, and GMC is fifth with 853 points.
Overall, owners of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles report an average customer satisfaction score of 852.
According to JD Power, the study revealed several important findings related to dealer service. Trust between the customer and the repair facility is absolutely essential to satisfaction, with the most important aspect being the customer’s trust in the dealer’s ability to perform complex and extensive repairs on their vehicles. Simple things like text messages or phone calls to remind customers of their vehicle’s status boost the automaker’s score, along with dealers providing videos and photos explaining the repair process.
Additionally, automakers whose repair facilities provide valet services – such as picking up vehicles from a customer’s location – score higher than those that do not.
However, JD Power notes that owners of battery electric vehicles typically report lower satisfaction scores than owners of gas and diesel powered vehicles, with an average rating of 784. It is critical that automakers like Cadillac provide services to increase customer satisfaction in electric vehicles. segment, especially with the launch of the Cadillac Lyriq 2023 – Cadillac’s first electric vehicle – on the horizon.
Subscribe Cadillac Society for round-the-clock Cadillac news coverage. We also invite you to join the latest discussions on our Cadillac forums.


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- Samara, co-founded by Airbnb's Joe Gebbia, sells modular accessory living units.
- In late February, the startup acquired a 150,000-square-foot factory in Mexico.
- Take a look inside the most expensive unit, a $324,000 two-bedroom tiny home.
A new startup wants to install tiny houses in your backyard.
No, this isn't a new twist on “The Wizard of Oz” (Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have already covered it). I'm Samara and I'm based in California.
If the name doesn't ring a bell, you might recognize one of our co-founders, Joe Gebbia. If the name Gebbia doesn't sound familiar, you probably know the other company he co-founded: Airbnb.
Like his co-founder, Samara has roots in the home rental giant, where it previously functioned as an in-house think tank and design studio for six years. (Samara is backed by Airbnb and its other co-founder, Brian Chesky.)
However, the startup, which became independent in 2022, is not in the business of renting out homes.
Quite the opposite. We manufacture factory-built accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or tiny homes, that can be installed in Californians' backyards.
The company started with studios and one-bedroom units exclusively for buyers in California. In the spring of 2023, we added an addition to our not-so-small two-bedroom house.
Two bedrooms are located at each end of the 47-foot-long unit, separated by a bathroom and a shared living room and kitchen.
Luckily, this 690 square foot unit has two rooms, one with glass double doors.
With this addition, Samara CEO Mike McNamara said the company now has a complete product portfolio.
If you're going to give up your backyard, he said, you'd better get as much money as you can out of it.
After all, rent for a two-bedroom apartment, especially one with two bathrooms, will always be higher than a one-bed or studio.
But McNamara said about 40% of customers are likely to use it as a rental.
“If you put these things in your backyard, they almost always make money the next day in the Bay Area,” he told Business Insider. Northern California is a boon for Samara, as it offers the flexibility to choose higher rents than Southern California.
But all of those buyers have one thing in common: employer stock options or equity in the home's appraised value.
“We're seeing a lot of multi-generational living,” McNamara said, citing the example of a client who has owned a Bay Area home for decades and accumulated a “tremendous” amount of equity as a result.
Like other mass-produced products, modular construction outperforms traditional home building methods in two areas: efficiency and cost predictability.
According to the CEO, Samara has already delivered several units. However, they are earlier models and were built using an outsourced manufacturer.
Once the factory is fully operational, the company's CEO said it will be able to produce 1,000 ready-to-deliver ADUs within a month and within a year.
Samara handles all aspects of the construction, delivery and installation process. Less glamorous factors such as permits and soil testing extend the lead time to seven months.
Before handing over the home, the team must also spend approximately six weeks on the customer's property, laying the foundation for the tiny home and establishing on-site utility connections.
That's when the fun begins, or as McNamara puts it, when the house “takes flight.”
Once on site, a crane will drop the house onto the foundation. Bolt it in place, clean it, and within a few days he'll be ready to use it on his Airbnb.
McNamara isn't worried about that. California law has changed significantly in a business-friendly direction since Samara's vision.
With the help of new laws and financial incentives, the Golden State is now leading the ADU revolution as a potential solution to the state's housing crisis.
Samara's CEO is confident that the company will one day have a national product. But for now, there's no place like home for this up-and-coming ADU maker in his own right.
Axel Springer, the parent company of Insider Inc., is an investor in Airbnb.


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Stories by Olabisi Olaleye
The issue of poor quality of service (QoS) has become a popular phrase in the country and several subscribers have come to accept their fate, while diverting their daily communications to various applications including BlackBerry messenger, Whatsapp, Skype, IMO and Viber.
But when NatCom Development and Investment Limited (trading as ‘ntel’), the company that acquired core assets of NiTel/MTel (in liquidation), disclosed that it had made its first data call on Voice over Long Term Evolution(LTE) in Lagos on Monday January 18, 2016, there was panic among telecommunications operators.
Smile Communications has also disclosed that it was offering its customers Voice over LTE services, giving them access to the fast growing global standard for voice and video calling.
According to the company, during a media briefing, SmileVoice comes in two options – using a world-first downloadable free mobile App that affords customers with a Smartphone Android and Apple iPhone device the ability to make super clear voice calls over Smile’s 4G LTE network, or through the use of VoLTE-enabled handsets plus a Smile SIM card, while Smile Unlimited offers customers 30 days of unlimited access to a superfast 4G LTE mobile broadband service.
VoLTE calls are enabled over a carrier’s high-speed data network instead of on a voice network. Voice over LTE calls also connect faster upon dialling and feature ultra-clear high-definition voice quality. LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is the new globally accepted 4G wireless standard. All of the United States of America carriers are now leveraging on it.
According to ntel CEO, Kamar Abass, it is confirmation that the key network elements are now in place to support the full commercial launch of premium integrated voice, video and data services over 4G/LTE.
He said: “The ntel network is built on the 900/1800 Mhz, which are the most efficient propagation frequencies for the deployment of 4G/LTE technology.”
Prior to the latest disclosure, industry watchers have predicted that the Global System for Mobile (GSM),gap will close eventually as everyone moves to 4G LTE. However, they disclosed that it doesn’t mean everyone’s phones will be compatible.
With the latest switch to LTE, stakeholders have continued to ask, if it would enhance the quality of service that the Nigerian subscribers needed badly. And whether it won’t be another story of challenges for the other operators on reasons they are yet to migrate to the next generation technology.
According to the President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and GSM technologies are almost dead.
“It is very clear that CDMA and GSM are mere technologies, and we know that technology keeps evolving. The GSM and CDMA technologies are near obsolete because new technologies are emerging, so they would have to go down the drain. The new technologies that are emerging include LTE, which is going to replace GSM and CDMA. It is no big deal because technology keeps changing every day, and in a few years, LTE would be obsolete, another technology would come in. There is nothing strange about that”. Adding thatVoLTE would definitely have a greater impact on voice clarity, given the speed of the new technology.
Another industry watcher, Martin Taylor added that most operators are turning on in different frequency bands, with different 3G backup systems, and even, in the case of the new network, using an LTE variant (TD-LTE) , many Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs), would start to upgrade their devices to fit perfectly to the latest technology.
On his part, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta at a recent industry event explained that the latest voice over long term evolution has come to stay and believed that it would further deepen the broadband penetration as well as accelerate the GDP of the economy.
“At the end of 2014, the total foreign investment into the sector $32 billion, the sector has contributed to the consolidatory account of the government, I think, something in the region of N500 billion. The sector has created jobs like I said, about 2.5 both direct and indirect employment and the contribution to GDP is about 11 per cent. The internet penetration is also about 97 million Nigerians having access to the internet, by the time we deploy broadband infrastructure to roll out broadband and services, we envisage the internet penetration to rise astronomically,” he said.
Vodacom Business Nigeria appoints first Nigerian MD
Vodacom Business Nigeria has appointed its first Nigeria Managing Director, Mr. Lanre Kolade.
With the appointment, which took effect from April 1, 2016, Kolade has taken the reins at Vodacom Business Nigeria, replacing Guy Clarke, who after eight years at the helm, returns to South Africa to take up the role of Managing Director, Vodacom Business Africa.
Commenting on the appointment, Chairman of Vodacom Business Nigeria, Vuyani Jarana, says: “Lanre has been a senior leader and key component of the succession management plan; he is a perfect choice to lead the company at a time when the Nigerian economy, like most African economies, is undergoing major difficulties”.
Vodacom Business Nigeria provides total communications solutions to enterprises in Nigeria, ranging from IPVPN, internet of things (IoT), cloud, hosting services, enterprise mobility applications that transform key value chains such as healthcare, agriculture and education.
kolade has been in the Telecoms industry for over 19 years and has recently served as the Managing Director of Vodacom Business responsible for business growth in West, East and parts of Southern Africa excluding South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia. A graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and the London Business School, UK, is a seasoned and innovative business leader who is passionate about people and great customer service.
According to Kolade, Nigeria’s economy is fast digitising, enterprises must invest in digital platforms that will enable them to capture the opportunities presented by a fast digitizing Nigerian consumer. He added that Vodacom Business Nigeria is well positioned to help enable enterprises in Nigeria to take advantage of opportunities brought by the digital economy. He is committed to delivering best customer service and innovation to Nigeria’s business customers.
LG woos customers with 10 years warranty on core tech
With the constant evolving of technology, LG Electronics is focused on providing consumers 10-year-warranty on its core technologies that have gained international recognition and patent right.
These products include the refrigerators with Inverter linear and smart inverter compressors, chest freezer, washing machines with Inverter Direct Drive motor, charcoal lighting heater in charcoal microwave and cordless vacuum cleaner with smart inverter motor.,
Commenting on this development, General Manager, Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics, West Africa operations, Mr. Hyunwoo Jung said: “At LG, we understand that durability is just as important as strong performance. A large range of our products are backed by 10-year warranty, ensuring worry-free operation year after year. LG Electronics is the first electronic brand in Nigeria to offer a decade-long warranty of reliability on a large gamut of its product offerings. The 10 year warranty offering covers only specific parts of the selected products from the date of purchase.”
He maintained that LG is committed to delivering products that allow users to experience life in more meaningful ways, including how it impacts the environment.
“With the introduction of the 10-year warranty on its refrigerators, front Load as well as top load washing machines, charcoal Lighting Heater Microwave and Cordless vacuum cleaner, LG Electronics has once more indicated its commitment to delighting as well as meeting the peculiar needs of its Nigerian consumers.”
SB Telecoms & Devices to host TAMS summit
As part of efforts to sensitise Nigerians on the virtues of time consciousness and its benefits, SB Telecoms & Devices will host the inaugural edition of its high-level time management meeting, tagged TAMS Summit on May 19, 2016.
The summit is inspired by the success and acceptance of the company’s Time Attendance Management System (TAMS) software.
TAMS is a robust cloud-based time and attendance management application that allows organisations to centrally monitor the attendance of their employees across multi-locations from any part of the world.
Speaking on the need for the summit, Chief Executive Officer, SB Telecoms & Devices, Mr. Afolabi Abiodun said “In today’s Nigeria, the African Time Syndrome has become the norm rather than the exception. It has devotees across all sectors of the economy with institutional and national inefficiency as the visible output. As a people we have always excused this away by blaming the unreliable public transport system, poor road networks or traffic jams. The goal of the TAMS Summit, which was inspired by the acceptance and success of our TAMS application which has solved this same problem for over 1000 organisations, is to question the status quo. We believe this to be the significant first step required to make Nigerians more time conscious thereby improving our national productivity level.”


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The Audit Bureau of Circulations’ board of directors last week approved changes in report regulations and verified circulation measurement.
Under the newly approved initiative, dubbed Audience-FAX, US newspapers may include estimates of in-market print, online and net combined readership in this fall’s ABC circulation reports.
“It was part of a multilevel initiative to help advertisers get easy access to all this measurement data so they could fully understand a newspaper’s entire reach and audience,” said Kammi Altig, communications manager at ABC.
“This will give them a one-stop shop,” he added. “The online database will allow them to generate reports to compare different markets across their buy.”
Scarborough Research will measure these new numbers. Reports of monthly Web site unique visitors by Nielsen/NetRatings, comScore Inc. or server-based analytics tools will also be allowed in the reports.
All estimates will be independently audited by the ABC. The information will be available to ABC members through an industry database created and hosted by Scarborough Research.
Audience-FAX is set to launch on November 5 and will cover the six-month ABC reporting period that starts in September.
The ABC board also approved a new form that allows consumer magazines to report print and online activity in the same document. The report, which will be sent to advertisers, will detail print circulation by issue as well as unique users, total visits, average visit duration and most popular sections for the publication’s Web site.
In unanimous votes, the board modified rules concerning verified circulation and sponsored sales for consumer magazines. The changes say that back issues of magazines served to public sites can no longer be classified as verified. Back issues sent to individuals may no longer be claimed as sponsored or verified unless the individual has requested the material.
Additionally, public-place magazine subscriptions sponsored by advertisers or other parties must now be reported as “verified” rather than “paid.”
Altig described the modified rules as not necessarily stricter but as ABC’s way of addressing verified as a new circulation category. Verified was first recognized as a category in June 2006.
“As a forum, ABC has listened to agency leaders, advertisers and buyers, and we’ve gathered feedback from the industry on verified and how it’s being used,” Altig said. “These changes are reflections on how the marketplace views verified circulation.”
ABC, based in Schaumburg, IL, is a forum for magazine and newspaper publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. It has more than 4,000 members in North America.


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Sony Pictures, the studio behind the Spider-Man films, is hoping to acquire the rights to produce a new 3D film based on the popular video game Assassin’s Creed. Varity reports that negotiations between Sony and Ubisoft (the publisher/developer of the game) are nearing completion. Ubisoft has been shopping the project to studios over the past several months.
Sony apparently sees potential in converting popular video game franchises into blockbuster movies. The studio has already obtained the rights to Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Sucker Punch’s InFamous series.
Ubisoft hopes all its popular titles can one day become popular films.
The Assassin’s Creed series which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, takes place throughout various historical periods including the Renaissance and the Crusades. The series is usually recognized by its famous hooded hero pictured above.


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Nashville-based National Certified Alarms Inc. (NCA) expanding business model into other markets
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — January 26, 2006 — Customers throughout the Southeast will soon enjoy the low-cost, high-quality philosophy of National Certified Alarms Inc., CEO James A. Stein announced today.
Stein has entered into a licensing agreement with Drew Trapnell to form NCA USA, Inc. Trapnell will serve as President of NCA USA and will expand the NCA business model across the United States starting with the Southern states. NCA USA opened its first operation in the Greater Memphis Area last year, and has plans to open Jackson, MS and Birmingham, AL in the first quarter of 2006. His plans call for additional branches to eventually penetrate all the major markets throughout the country.
“What makes us different from other companies is that we are committed to providing a first-rate service at a reasonable price,” Stein said. “We saw that the market was there and we’re going to give a real value to the customer.”
NCA, Inc. offers alarm-monitoring services for $9.95 per month compared to the industry average of $35. The company was founded in 1997 by Stein, who believed people were paying too much for alarm monitoring and sought to offer high quality service for a lower price than the industry norm.
In the Middle Tennessee market, NCA has averaged 40 percent growth year over year and now serves over 6,000 customers in the Middle Tennessee area.


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The proposed $2.8 billion plan to import shrimp from the Philippines has been thrown into a maelstrom after Trump claimed the country has “total control” over the U.S. supply chain.
The White House has been vague about what controls, if any, have been put in place by the Philippines.
The shrimp and other seafood import bill would require the Department of Commerce to identify shrimp from all countries in the world that are sourced from an import facility in the U: that is, a facility that has the capacity to process shrimp.
That includes the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan.
It would also require that the U’s shrimp-processing plants comply with “trade-related standards,” including those in place for imported shrimp.
This would mean the U would have to ensure that imported shrimp is free of any trace of trace elements like pesticides, GMOs, and other toxins.
The proposal is based on a report by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which was released in March 2017 and is meant to outline how the U should regulate imported shrimp after the importation of shrimp from other countries.
The report’s authors said that the import ban would prevent a number of fish and seafood products from entering the U, including shrimp, crab, and lobster.
The Senate’s bill would add a provision to the seafood import ban that says, in part, that the imported shrimp must be free of trace materials and contaminants.
That provision would apply to imported shrimp and all other imported seafood.
Under this provision, imported shrimp would have an “exclusion area” that would limit the amount of shrimp that could be processed and sent to the U without an export permit.
The ban would also prevent imports of seafood products that were not approved for export, according to the Whitehouse report.
The bill has been called a “trade war” and “trade death sentence” by a group of U.N. inspectors.
In an editorial published Wednesday, the International Food Policy Research Institute, an advocacy group, said the shrimp proposal “will put the U in the position of choosing between protecting the lives of the people and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the developing world.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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Here’s a piece of bad news for Sonic fans out there on Nintendo Switch.
According to SEGA social media coordinator Aaron Webber, the Sonic Forces demo which was recently released in Japan “was not intended for western audiences”. Thus, this means it will not be released on the eShop outside of the Japanese one.
There’s not much to worry though, as it’s pretty easy to access the Japanese Nintendo eShop to download the free demo. Check out more details here.


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The latest leaks from WikiLeaks' Vault 7 is titled “Dark Matter” and claims that the CIA has been bugging “factory fresh” iPhones since at least 2008 through suppliers.
And here is the full press release from WikiLeaks:
Today, March 23rd 2017, WikiLeaks releases Vault 7 "Dark Matter", which contains documentation for several CIA projects that infect Apple Mac Computer firmware (meaning the infection persists even if the operating system is re-installed) developed by the CIA's Embedded Development Branch (EDB). These documents explain the techniques used by CIA to gain 'persistence' on Apple Mac devices, including Macs and iPhones and demonstrate their use of EFI/UEFI and firmware malware.
Among others, these documents reveal the "Sonic Screwdriver" project which, as explained by the CIA, is a "mechanism for executing code on peripheral devices while a Mac laptop or desktop is booting" allowing an attacker to boot its attack software for example from a USB stick "even when a firmware password is enabled". The CIA's "Sonic Screwdriver" infector is stored on the modified firmware of an Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter.
"DarkSeaSkies" is "an implant that persists in the EFI firmware of an Apple MacBook Air computer" and consists of "DarkMatter", "SeaPea" and "NightSkies", respectively EFI, kernel-space and user-space implants.
Documents on the "Triton" MacOSX malware, its infector "Dark Mallet" and its EFI-persistent version "DerStake" are also included in this release. While the DerStake1.4 manual released today dates to 2013, other Vault 7 documents show that as of 2016 the CIA continues to rely on and update these systems and is working on the production of DerStarke2.0.
Also included in this release is the manual for the CIA's "NightSkies 1.2" a "beacon/loader/implant tool" for the Apple iPhone. Noteworthy is that NightSkies had reached 1.2 by 2008, and is expressly designed to be physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones. i.e the CIA has been infecting the iPhone supply chain of its targets since at least 2008.
While CIA assets are sometimes used to physically infect systems in the custody of a target it is likely that many CIA physical access attacks have infected the targeted organization's supply chain including by interdicting mail orders and other shipments (opening, infecting, and resending) leaving the United States or otherwise.
On Sunday’s Face the Nation, Sen. Rand Paul was asked about President Trump’s accusation that President Obama ordered the NSA to wiretap his calls. The Kentucky senator expressed skepticism about the mechanics of Trump’s specific charge, saying: “I doubt that Trump was a target directly of any kind of eavesdropping.” But he then made a broader and more crucial point about how the U.S. government spies on Americans’ communications — a point that is deliberately obscured and concealed by U.S. government defenders.
Paul explained how the NSA routinely and deliberately spies on Americans’ communications — listens to their calls and reads their emails — without a judicial warrant of any kind:
The way it works is, the FISA court, through Section 702, wiretaps foreigners and then [NSA] listens to Americans. It is a backdoor search of Americans. And because they have so much data, they can tap — type Donald Trump into their vast resources of people they are tapping overseas, and they get all of his phone calls.
And so they did this to President Obama. They — 1,227 times eavesdrops on President Obama’s phone calls. Then they mask him. But here is the problem. And General Hayden said this the other day. He said even low-level employees can unmask the caller. That is probably what happened to Flynn.
They are not targeting Americans. They are targeting foreigners. But they are doing it purposefully to get to Americans.


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Find out what our customers have to say about our service.Read more
Owners worried about dogs' diets
Wednesday May 16th 2012
Around two-third of dog owners worry that their dog will become ill from eating something which it shouldn't have, according to a new survey.
As part of the 'Be Lungworm Aware' campaign, 1,000 dog owners were quizzed on their pets' eating habits. It was revealed that almost 60% of dog owners admitted that their pet has eaten something which it was not supposed to.
It was also uncovered that 20% of dog owners had taken their dog to the vet more times than they had visited the dentist and, 12% had seen their dog eat a slug or a snail.
Luke Gamble, a veterinary surgeon and TV personality, said: "It is a hidden killer so we are very supportive of the 'Be Lungworm Aware' campaign in the hope that more dogs will be saved from this horrible disease."
However, on a lighter note, out of the 1,000 people polled, one in five admitted that their pet had eaten their underwear whilst 25% said that their dog had chewed through an important document which came through the post.
Copyright Press Association 2012
Protect yourself from large, unexpected veterinary bills with a Lifetime Pet Insurance policy from helpucover.


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- Japanese companies are lagging behind government estimates for economic recovery
- Most See COVID Pain By FY2022 – Company Survey
- Half of them affected by a shortage of chips by FY2022
TOKYO, Sep 16 (Reuters) – A majority of Japanese companies say the world’s third-largest economy will recover to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal 2022, a Reuters poll found, with many expecting it to be by Will continue to face COVID pain next year or later.
The corporate survey results underscored a cautious view of Japan Inc’s economy, contrary to the government’s optimistic estimate that gross domestic product (GDP) will return to pre-COVID levels later this year.
Revised government data last week showed Japan’s economy grew 1.9% from April to June, supported by solid capital spending, but economists say a pandemic resurgence will slow the pace of recovery in the coming quarters. Continue reading
“There will be a repetition of the vicious cycle of variants and resurgence,” wrote a managing director of a ceramic manufacturer in the survey on condition of anonymity. “It will take time to contain the pandemic thoroughly.”
The manager added that the economy will return to pre-COVID levels in fiscal 2024.
The company survey found that a slim majority of respondents said the economy will return to pre-pandemic levels in FY 2022, followed by a third of those who expected the economy to rebound to this level in FY 2023.
About 16% saw the economy return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024 or later.
The September 1-10 survey polled 500 large and medium-sized Japanese non-financial companies, conducted by Nikkei Research for Reuters. Around 260 companies took part in the survey.
In the survey, three quarters of Japanese companies said they had been negatively affected by the pandemic, while 11% were positively affected. Almost 60% said the negative impact will go away in fiscal 2022. About 21% said these effects will go away this fiscal year, and the rest saw them go away after fiscal 2022.
The outlook continued to gloom, with half of Japanese companies saying they were affected by a global chip shortage that six out of ten companies said will be resolved in the next fiscal year.
About 20% said the chip shortage caused or will cause a downward revision of their production and sales plan in fiscal 2021.
“The spread of infections and the lockdown in Southeast Asia have shortened the supply chain for parts,” wrote a manager of a mechanical engineering company. “The lockdown in Malaysia was a factor in the chip shortage,” wrote a manager of a transportation equipment manufacturer.
When asked what activity they will focus on in a post-pandemic economy, many companies said lifestyle and consumer behavior changes, as well as digital transformation and decarbonization.
Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Rivertown brewing venture Atwater Beer is in expansion mode with a new taphouse, spirits line, and a Grand Rapids restaurant on the way, but until now the familiar "Brewed in Detroit" slogan and hard hatted, mug-raising logo have been a constant. Today, the company announced plans to revamp its marketing strategy.
Beginning in January, Atwater's bottles and cans will forego the Detroit skyline and large logo in favor of stylized illustrations by artist Tony Roko. The brewery also plans to reinvent its tagline, switching to "Born in Detroit. Raised Everywhere." Additionally, the company is releasing three brews in the New Year: Going Steady IPA, a grapefruit session ale; Corktown rye IPA; and Tunnel Ram imperial bock.
Atwater makes 26 beers and distributes to 27 states and Canada. The brewery recently revealed a new beer stand in the Joe Louis Arena and, somewhat controversially, launched its new biergarten and taphouse in Rivertown over Thanksgiving weekend. Whether or not fans will pine for the original labels, anything is probably a step up from Griffin Claw's recent Donald Trump-inspired release.


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Amazon, which has been adding pieces to its cargo operations, has received federal approval to sell ocean-freight services to other companies.
Amazon, which appears to be checking off all the boxes for launching a shipping business, recently acquired federal approval to ship ocean freight for other companies.
The filing, with the Federal Maritime Commission, was first found by San Francisco logistics firm Flexport, which wrote about the discovery on its blog. The online retailer’s Chinese subsidiary registered to operate as a freight forwarder. That means Amazon.com is now authorized to sell ocean-freight services.
An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed the company made the filing but declined to comment about its intentions.
News of the filing comes nearly a month after The Seattle Times reported Amazon is negotiating to lease 20 Boeing 767 cargo jets for its own air-delivery service. The company has been operating an air-cargo trial from an airport in Wilmington, Ohio. And it recently added thousands of trucks to its delivery fleet.
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And the company is on the verge of acquiring the 75 percent of a French package-delivery company, Colis Privé that it doesn’t already own. That could help Amazon better manage its own delivery operations. Some analysts have speculated, Amazon may one day offer delivery services to other companies.


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Edinburgh crime news: US businessmen caught at Edinburgh Airport with £100k worth of cannabis
and live on Freeview channel 276
Two American businessmen have been caught attempting to import £100,000 of cannabis into the UK.
Brothers Leon Melassanos, 68, and Mitchell Melassanos, 59, were caught trying to smuggle the huge amount of drugs into the country when they were stopped at Edinburgh Airport earlier this year. The siblings, from California, were found to have around 30 kilograms of the Class B drug packed into their luggage following a search of their belongings by custom control officers.
Both men were arrested and charged and were remanded in custody following a private petition appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in June. They appeared back in the dock from custody at the Capital court on Tuesday, where they pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis to others at Edinburgh Airport on June 10 this year.
No narration into the facts of the case were read out in open court but will be heard in full at the sentencing hearing later this month. Solicitor Cameron Tait, for Mitchell Melassanos, told the court: “The background of this is both gentlemen are US nationals and were stopped at Edinburgh Airport.”
Sheriff John Mundy said: “In this case there will have to be a background report prepared by a social worker. The matter will be deferred to a date approximately two weeks from now for the necessary background reports. I urge you both to fully cooperate with the preparation of the report. We need full information from as to your background.”
Both men were remanded in custody and sentence was deferred for social work reports to be prepared to September 21.
Leon Melassanos is the owner of a chain of restaurants in California and Pennsylvania while his brother Mitchell is a computer specialist and helps run a fashion and lifestyle platform in Los Angeles.


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Giving versatility to what previously were car brand-centric models, Pioneer, the first to manufacture aftermarket products meant to complement Android Auto has recently announced its newest lineup that make NEX Android Auto for 2017.
Comprising of five new models, the Pioneer NEX Android Auto 2017 lineup includes the double-DIN 7” LCD AVH-2330NEX and AVH-2300NEX, double-DIN 6.2” LCD AVH-1330NEX and AVH-1300NEX models, and the single-DIN AVH-3300NEX.
Made as an overhaul to the previous models, these new products are designed with better and smoother user-interface that makes navigation easier to learn for those who are totally new to the system.
For music buffs who like to tinker in how their music play, the system’s audio equalizer is a boon for mix and matching different settings for a dynamic vibe of every music.
Similar to the previous models, these new Network Entertainment Experience devices are meant to be plugged in to any Android smartphone in order to enjoy Android Auto experience.
While Android smartphones that run on Lollipop and later versions will have no problem connecting their device to enable Android Auto, older OSes such as Kit-Kat will find trouble running the system for a different driving feel.


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Claret Jug touches down at Glasgow Airport ahead of The 145th Open
One of the most iconic trophies in sport, the Claret Jug, touched down at Glasgow Airport today ahead of The 145th Open at Royal Troon from 10-17 July 2016.
The airport visit marked the opening of The Open’s new Glasgow Airport shop in the main terminal building, where travellers can purchase a range of official merchandise and apparel from golf’s most prestigious Championship.
The visit was part of a series of activities taking place in Glasgow, the Partner City to The Open, which will be a transport and accommodation hub as thousands of golf fans from across the globe travel to Host Region, South Ayrshire, to see the world’s best players competing for the title of Champion Golfer of the Year.
Billy Hill, airfield operations manager at Glasgow Airport, received the famous Claret Jug on the airport's runway. It was then placed on public display in the shop, to let visitors get up close to the historic prize, which has been presented to the winner of The Open since 1873.
Francois Bourienne, Commercial Director at Glasgow Airport, said, “It is an absolute honour to welcome one of the most famous trophies in world sport to Glasgow Airport. The Open will attract tens of thousands of visitors from across the world and a number of our airline partners have added extra capacity in order to meet demand.”
Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A said: “It is an exciting opportunity for The Open to have a retail presence in such a prominent location at Glasgow Airport and we hope that it proves popular with the many thousands of travellers going through the airport each day.
“We are delighted to have Glasgow as the first Partner City of The Open and there is a great deal going on to celebrate the return of one of the world's great sporting events to Royal Troon just down the coast in South Ayrshire.”
An event impact study carried out by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University estimates that The Open will deliver a total economic impact of £8 million to Glasgow during the week of the Championship.
The Open Shop at Glasgow Airport will be open until August and is located on the second floor adjacent to the airport’s departure gate. Visitors to the Shop can enter a competition to win a VIP ticket and Hospitality package for The Open by visiting the shop before July 4.
Tickets for The Open are available now, including the new Twilight Tickets which allow fans to experience the Championship from 4pm onwards on Thursday July 14 and Friday July 15 for only £25. Children under the age of 16 attend The Open free of charge and discounted tickets for Youth aged 16-21 are also available. For more information visit TheOpen.com/tickets.


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Woman-Founded Company Championing Change
One woman-founded company is using their business as a force for good this Women’s Month. Women account for less than 1 in 5 business owners in South Africa. While more than half of our population are women, the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) found that women make up only 19.4% of business owners in South Africa, ranking us 45th in the world when it comes to woman-run companies. That’s a long way behind other African nations like Uganda (39.6%), Botswana (38.5%), and Ghana (36.5%).
Women account for less than 1 in 5 business owners in South Africa. While more than half of our population are women, the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) found that women make up only 19.4% of business owners in South Africa, ranking us 45th in the world when it comes to woman-run companies. That’s a long way behind other African nations like Uganda (39.6%), Botswana (38.5%), and Ghana (36.5%).
Historically, Women’s Month celebrates the strength and resilience of women and their contributions to our country and society. However, it is also an opportunity to draw attention to many critical issues women in South Africa still face. This August, Faithful to Nature will partner with its women-founded suppliers, entrepreneur ed-tech platform HeavyChef, clean skincare brand lelive, and global women’s organisation SheSays, to increase the representation of women entrepreneurs.
Heavy Chef, a learning platform for entrepreneurs, will be gifting 249 women-founded Faithful to Nature suppliers a year-long membership with Heavy Chef to help them build their businesses. Says Fred Roed, CEO & founder of Heavy Chef, “The Heavy Chef education team is incredibly excited to support the women entrepreneurs on the Faithful-to-Nature platform. By collaborating, we aim to tackle the obvious inequality in the South African business landscape. This is important work, and we are privileged to be part of it.”
Faithful to Nature has also partnered with clean skincare brand lelive, founded by local actress Amanda du-Pont. “It’s long overdue for women to be celebrated in business, and I love working with other businesses that share the same vision and drive to uplift and inspire other women to do the same,” says du-Pont.
SheSays and Faithful to Nature will end Women’s Month with a free event at Workshop17 in Cape Town on 25 August. The event will form a panel discussion with five dynamic women supporting female entrepreneurship in South Africa (including Faithful to Nature founder Robyn Smith), offering advice to other women on how to start their enterprises.
“It’s time for us to encourage, inspire, uplift women, and support them in their business ventures. This Women’s Month, we want to show South Africa that it is time to see women for who they are - strong, resilient and most importantly, extremely capable. Supporting women-run businesses is not only good for women but all of us. McKinsey & Company estimates that if women and men could start and grow businesses at an equal rate, the global GDP would likely increase by $28 trillion by 2025. Doesn’t that say it all?” says Smith.
About Faithful to Nature:
Faithful to Nature is an online retailer of natural and sustainable products, founded in 2006 by Robyn Smith. Faithful to Nature offers over 7,000 natural & sustainable products across health & supplements, food, beauty & personal care, home & lifestyle, and baby & kids. Faithful to Nature’s purpose is to make shopping more sustainably and ethically as easy as possible. Their vision is to build a future where more consumers shop conscious, from supporting local businesses to sourcing products that do not harm consumers, their communities, or our planet.
About Heavy Chef:
Heavy Chef is a learning platform for entrepreneurs, offering learning bites from successful entrepreneurs to a community of 35,000+ entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. Heavy Chef hosts the world’s leading technologists, leaders, and creatives and then shares their recipes of success with their members. Their membership service offers unlimited access to thousands of entrepreneur micro-courses and free access to monthly entrepreneur events. Heavy Chef believes that entrepreneurs can change the world for the better, and their purpose is to inspire entrepreneurs on their journey and empower them to succeed.
lelive (pronounced leh-lee-veh) was created in 2020 by Amanda du-Pont. lelive’s mission is to make clean, simple, effective and affordable skincare while celebrating what makes Africa unique. The range was developed by expert formulators alongside lelive’s dedicated online community, with sustainability in mind – their ingredients (95% natural and up to 5% plant-identical) are sourced responsibly, with local African ingredients as the heroes. Their packaging (mostly aluminium due to its recyclability) avoids using plastic wherever possible. The range is also vegan, cruelty-free, and reef safe.
SheSays is a global movement and community that supports women in the creative industry through mentorship, networking, and content aimed at powering their careers forward. SheSays has chapters in over 55 cities across the globe, including Cape Town and Johannesburg. Founded in 2007, it is the first and largest global network for creative women, with an estimated 70,000 members, giving a voice to over 1,600 speakers worldwide. The Cape Town chapter is led by Anelde Greeff (co-founder and Chief Content Officer of 2Stories), veteran marketer and brand architect Pride Maunatlala, and product strategist Cassidy Nydahl.


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Today, Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of The Internet Association, issued the following statement about The Internet Association’s filed comments with the White House Office of Science and Technology in response to its Request for Information on “Big Data:” “The Internet Association believes U.S. policy framework is effective in protecting consumers while allowing for innovation…. Read more
Monthly Archives: March 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Internet Association, the trade association representing the leading global Internet companies, today announced the opening of an office in Sacramento and the appointment of Robert Callahan as California Executive Director. “California is the central hub of the knowledge economy. The Internet industry is creating jobs, delivering economic growth and increased prosperity… Read more
Washington, DC — Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of The Internet Association, released the following statement in response to the NTIA’s announcement tonight that it will end its formal relationship with ICANN in 2015: “The Internet’s decentralized model is key to growth, innovation, freedom, and openness. The continued success of the Internet relies on… Read more
Statement of Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the Internet Association, on Senator Feinstein’s Introduction of The Patent Fee Integrity Act: “The Internet Association commends Senator Feinstein’s introduction of the Patent Fee Integrity Act, which would provide the Patent and Trademark Office with adequate funding and resources to improve overall patent quality. Improving patent… Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the Internet Association, released the following statement regarding today’s hearing entitled, “Section 512 of Title 17” conducted by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet: “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a key reason for the success of and innovation on the… Read more
In Case You Missed It, GCHQ, the British intelligence agency whose activities are interwoven with the NSA’s, used a program called Optic Nerve to intercept and store “the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing” (including Americans).
In Case You Missed It, assisted by the NSA, the British spy agency GCHQ has intercepted pictures from thousands of webcam users. Yahoo Messenger was a preferred target.
In Case You Missed It, British intelligence showed a “breathtaking lack of respect” for privacy by scooping on webcam transmissions, three U.S. senators said in a statement.
In Case You Missed It, following the revelations that Britain’s spy agency intercepts Yahoo users’ private data, three outraged American senators plan to launch an investigation into the NSA’s involvement in the GCHQ operation.


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A new world
While many sectors suffered during the pandemic, the service robotics market in the hospitality sector saw a growth of 196% ($32 million USD) as businesses strived to provide contactless services for customers (International Federation of Robotics, 2021) and leverage service robots to limit staff numbers to maximise customer patronage in the face of strict government mandates. In the hospitality setting, service robots can replace the number of frontline employees required for service delivery by performing tasks such as receiving customer orders and delivering food and beverages to guests. However, while service robots are presented as a ‘fix-all’ solution for the hospitality industry, this new innovation comes at the cost of the frontline employee.
The case of Henn-na Hotel
The landmark (pre-pandemic) implementation of service robots in the hospitality industry is the Henn-na Hotel, in Japan. In 2019, three years after boasting having an entire robotic workforce, the hotel fired half of its robotic staff due to the robots ‘creating more work than they were achieving.’ Hotel guests would become frustrated when their in-room robot was incapable of asking simple questions that their voice-activated smart phone could. Other guests would be woken up during the night as their robot had confused snoring for asking a question. In turn, while service robots were brought in to benefit the customer’s experience, the service robots were detrimental to the limited frontline employees as they now had to mitigate resulting tensions due to service robot failures.
While causing service failures, by conducting a systematic literature review, it was found that service robots truly affect frontline employees by intruding on their relationship with the customer. Frontline employees face ambiguous liability for service robot failures as service robots are unable to be accountable. Instead blame is attributed by the customer to the frontline employee for the service robot’s inability to perform the service, jeopardising their long standing relationship. Pertinent to frontline careers is the motivation to interact with customers and develop meaningful connections, meaning frontline employees can experience fear of degradation in front of the customer, the need to feel superior to the service robot in front of the customer, and a loss of autonomy when working with a service robot.
So, what does this all mean?
Before we jump in to introduce service robots into ‘human heavy’ sectors, we first must consider the importance of human connection in service delivery, and ask ourselves – just because we can, does it mean we should?
BEST Conference 2022 Presentation | “When frontline employees decide to work alongside service robots: a wellbeing and performance approach”
Chelsea Phillips is a PhD Student in Marketing at the QUT Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology.


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A recent uptick in coronavirus cases in a Brooklyn neighborhood appears to be the result of individual households not complying with social distancing rather than a widespread cluster of infections, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.
Health officials have tested more than 5,200 people and made 77,000 robocalls since late July to residents in the south Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, which they found had an infection rate several times that of the citywide average.
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As Australia's first lockdowns were announced in March last year, amid scenes of panic buying at supermarkets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a stern message.
- More than a year since Australia's first lockdown, panic buying is still occurring
- Experts say people may seek reassurance in possessions when feeling anxious
- The phenomenon is less acute in cities that have endured multiple lockdowns
"On bulk purchasing of supplies: Stop hoarding. I can't be more blunt about it. Stop it," he said on March 18, 2020.
"It is not sensible, it is not helpful, and it has been one of the most disappointing things I have seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis.
"That is not who we are as a people. It is not necessary. It is not something that people should be doing."
But as a fresh wave of lockdowns were announced in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and even Alice Springs, the queues outside supermarkets and bottle shops returned.
But why is panic buying still happening when authorities regularly remind people they're still allowed to leave home for essential reasons and supermarkets stay open?
Who is panic buying?
Macquarie University associate professor Melissa Norberg, a psychologist specialising in anxiety, hoarding and related issues, conducted research into last year's panic buying.
She found that the people most likely to panic buy were those who already had anxiety about their personal health, people who perceived products would be scarce — and people who saw others panic buying.
Turning to possessions can be a deep habitual instinct to calm our anxieties, Dr Norberg said, but the reality is that stocking up on toilet paper doesn't mean we will necessarily feel better.
"For Sydney, since this is just the second time we've gone into lockdown, I think it's because we haven't really learned that it's not the pasta and toilet paper that is getting us through the lockdowns," she said.
"I was told that Victoria engaged in less panic buying [this time around], and they definitely have more experience than we have in being lockdown."
University of the Sunshine Coast psychology lecturer Jacob Keech and his colleague Karina Rune also studied the phenomenon.
They too found that a fear of product shortages was largely behind queues forming at Coles and Woolworths within minutes of a lockdown being announced.
Dr Keech said the research found that panic buyers largely saw their actions as sensible, and even harmless, in the circumstances.
He said panic buying lessened during consecutive lockdowns as people became more familiar with the process and authorities reiterated messages about shops staying open.
"What I've really seen from politicians and the public health officials is their public messaging has become more evolved and sophisticated," Dr Keech said.
"The content of what they're saying is quite consistent with what we'd say on the basis of our research."
Panic buying isn't new — during World War II, rationing on clothes and some groceries and newspapers sparked frenzied buying sprees across Australia.
In May 1942, McWhirters – one of the largest stores in Brisbane – reported "sheer bedlam" as people "stampeded in" to buy up everything possible.
Pound notes were "flung across the counters as though they grow on apple trees", one West Australian paper reported, while Sydney newspapers reported shortages on butter and cheese.
From a retail perspective, a sudden rush on goods can cause difficulties for supermarkets, Queensland University of Technology retail and consumer behaviour expert Gary Mortimer said.
Supermarket chains use long-term forecasts to determine how much of a product to order on a weekly basis.
"When we see a spike like [this week], that knocks that trend forecast out, that creates significant problems right across the supply chain," Dr Mortimer said.
"That then puts a significant impact on orders being sent from warehouses, so … orders would have spiked in a number of categories.
"The challenge is when that stock arrives in stores … there's no demand for it, so that creates overstock."
Take stock, not toilet paper
So is panic buying a problem, or is it a legitimate comfort mechanism to help people get through a stressful time?
Dr Keech said while supermarkets needed to put limits on some products during panic buying, those limits could help drive the perception of scarcity.
"Unfortunately that is a necessary strategy to implement, but of course that in itself does have consequences," he said.
Older people who can't get to the shops easily or people in quarantine may suddenly find it difficult to access things they genuinely need during moments of panic buying.
Dr Norberg said she was contacted by people in rural communities last year who said they couldn't access basic supplies as panic buying in cities chewed up supply.
She said people feeling anxious about people in lockdown who might use shopping to regulate their emotions and ease anxiety.
"What we also found in the research that people who panic bought in March [last year], six months later they were more likely to engage in greater levels of hoarding," Dr Norberg said.
If people are feeling anxious about an impending lockdown and are tempted to head to the shops, Dr Norberg says they should pause and reflect on what got them through a previous lockdown — social connections with friends and family, regular exercise, and so on.
"Go home, take stock of what you actually have in your own house," she said.
"Think about the distress you're feeling — in most cases it's probably pretty minimal distress.
"From zero to 100, with 100 thinking we're going to die in the moment it's so bad, the anxiety we're feeling from this lockdown is probably a 15 or 20."
Sticking to a shopping list and reminding yourself of what you have at home can help reduce the impulse to grab a second pack of toilet paper, just in case.
"If you see other people doing it and shelves empty, just keep sticking to that list of what you need and reminding yourself that you can get through it," Dr Norberg said.


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More than 24,000 items are now available for contactless same-day delivery from Walgreens stores across the country. Shoppers using the Walgreens app or online at Walgreens.com can now receive items in less than two hours, and members of the myWalgreens loyalty program can earn and use Walgreens Cash rewards and redeem digital promotions. Eligible products, delivery hours and fees will vary by location.
Walgreens had piloted same-day delivery in February 2021 in its Illinois stores. The retailer launched in-store, curbside and drive-thru pickups in as little as 30 minutes in November 2020, and also has made agreements for on-demand delivery services via partnerships with Postmates, DoorDash and Instacart.
“As the country gets ready to emerge from the pandemic, Walgreens continues its focus on enhancing our customer experience through integrated and simplified shopping solutions,” said Stefanie Kruse, VP of Digital Commerce at Walgreens in a statement. “Since the launch of myWalgreens in November 2020, we are constantly innovating to provide convenient delivery options to our customers that make their lives easier. We are confident that customers will enjoy our new Same Day Delivery functionality for those last-minute needs.”


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Customer satisfaction polls can provide useful information as to which industry mainstays are most appreciated and, perhaps, suggest why this is exactly. A recent study from J.D. Powers and Associates suggests that one major company has secured the top spot among customer affections.
The study in question is the annual "Wireless Customer Care Full Service Performance Study" that placed AT&T at the highest rank. This is apparently the first time that company has achieved this high of a score in this area, according to an official AT&T press release.
In general, customer satisfaction levels in this industry appear to be high, according to the responses taken from more than 7,370 subjects. Companies that offer both online customer services and a chat function seem to have done especially well, as more than 40 percent of respondents were users of chat systems.
J.D. Powers' senior director of telecom services, Kirk Parsons, described the reason why this trend might be occurring.
"The higher levels of satisfaction with online chat are partially due to the efficiency and immediacy of the experience, particularly with service issues or questions that are easier to resolve in this environment, such as billing or service/device questions pertaining to upgrades," he said.
It's important for companies to keep their customers satisfied and engaged with the best possible support teams. Text messaging services can be another way to keep an "immediacy" present in all exchanges. But it's not just the consumer who takes notice of these things. Reports such as this could help highlight exactly what makes your company's approach great, and what it can do to become stronger.


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By Christian Zibreg on Dec 6, 2016
Some proud owners of the new MacBook Pro with TouchBar are reportedly seeing their notebooks shut down repeatedly and unexpectedly. According to a report from Jeff Porten of TidBits, the problem might be related to external hard drives connected to the notebook through its Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports.
Apple declined comment. This is yet another in a series of teething issues that have been plaguing early adopters of the new MacBook Pro. Just a few days ago, for example, some MacBook Pro owners reported an annoying graphics glitching issue. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Dec 6, 2016
Apple has clarified in a new support document on its Chinese website that random shutdowns that have been plaguing some customers may affect more iPhone 6s models than previously thought, saying a software update may fix the issue on units outside of iPhone 6s devices which were manufactured between September and October 2015 and for which it’s offering a free battery replacement program.
As first noted by Gizmodo, Apple wrote it needed additional diagnostic data to determine the exact cause of the problem. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Dec 2, 2016
Two weeks ago, Apple issued a global battery replacement program to address a problem where some iPhone 6s handsets manufactured between September and October 2015 may unexpectedly shut down (see if your phone is eligible for a free battery via Apple’s web tool).
While the company originally did not say why these devices are shutting down when the battery indicator drops below the 30 percent mark, MacRumors points us to a message posted in a support document on Apple’s website in China which blames the problem on a manufacturing issue. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Dec 1, 2016
After launching a repair program two weeks ago for iPhone 6s devices experiencing unexpected shutdowns due to a faulty battery, Apple has now updated its support document with a web tool that lets you check if your iPhone 6s is eligible for a free battery, MacRumors reported Thursday. You only need to enter your device’s serial number to see if you’re eligible for a battery replacement service. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 28, 2016
Many people are complaining about poor battery life after deploying the latest iOS 10.1.1 software update on their iPhone, which released for public consumption on October 31 and squashed bugs where Health data couldn’t be viewed for some users.
Aside from this, it seems that iOS 10.1.1 is also causing some iPhones to shut down abruptly when the battery charge falls below a certain percentage, according to a thread on Apple’s support forums that at post time had thirteen pages. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 21, 2016
Apple on Monday announced a new repair program to address issues where “a very small number” of iPhone 6s devices manufactured between September and October 2015 may unexpectedly shut down. The issue is apparently caused by a faulty battery, which Apple will replace free of charge if your iPhone 6s is affected. The program covers affected iPhone 6s batteries for three years after the first retail sale of the unit and may restrict or limit repair to the original country of purchase. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 18, 2016
Apple has finally acknowledged existence of so-called “Touch Disease” following a class action lawsuit regarding the issue. The problem has been plaguing a subset of iPhone 6 Plus owners for quite some time now, manifesting itself in the form of a flickering bar at the top of the display and general multi-touch unresponsiveness.
The firm denied responsibility because under the terms of a new worldwide program it’s agreed to fix any affected iPhone 6 Plus devices, but for a $149 service fee. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 9, 2016
A year ago, screenshots and information leaked concerning Apple’s dedicated iPhone app designed to consolidate users’ support, repair and troubleshooting needs in the palm of their hand. Last evening, a brand new Apple Support app launched on the App Store in The Netherlands ahead of its presumed staggered rollout around the world.
With it, owners of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices can explore their support options, schedule repair appointments, manage AppleCare services and more. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Mar 28, 2016
Shortly after releasing the new iOS 9.3 firmware, Apple was forced to stop signing the update following numerous complaints from owners of older iPhones and iPads, such as the original iPad Air and the iPhone 5s and older, that it was bricking their devices.
Monday, Apple re-released iOS 9.3 to fix an issue that prevented users from activating their device via Activation Lock if they couldn’t recall their Apple ID password used to originally set up their device with.
The re-released versions of iOS 9.2 carries a build number of 13E237 and is now available as an over-the-air download although those with a bricked device might want to apply the update through iTunes in DFU mode. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Mar 25, 2016
As we reported, numerous users took to Apple’s support forums to complain that some owners of older iPhone and iPad devices saw their hardware bricked after updating to the recently released iOS 9.3 firmware. Apple has since detailed the problem in a support document on its website and pulled the software update for select devices.
Today, the company has re-released iOS 9.3 for those devices. The new build of iOS 9.3 for the iPad 2 has version number “13E236” versus the now defunct iOS 9.3 build “13E234” for the iPhone and “13E233” for the iPad, as per 9to5Mac’s Chance Miller. Read More
By Sébastien Page on Mar 23, 2016
Apple has released a support document Wednesday night to address an issue where some iOS users are unable to activate their devices after updating to iOS 9.3, a software version released earlier this week.
Most reports of the issue seem to come from iPad 2 owners, although a quick search online shows that some iPhone users were also affected. In this support document, Apple offers a few options to try and remedy the problem. Read More
By Anthony Bouchard on Mar 5, 2016
Within just a single day of launching a support account on Twitter, Apple has well over 130,000 followers and is answering over 100 people with questions about Apple products and services per hour.
Although it’s taken Apple quite a while to finally use Twitter as a support medium for its main products, depsite having Twitter accounts for Apple Music, Beats 1, and iTunes for quite some time, it’s still great to see Apple is using another method of communication to reach its users.
In this piece, we’ll talk about why we think creating the support account on Twitter was a great move for Apple. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Feb 19, 2016
Apple has extended a repair program to fix MacBook Pro notebooks that are plagued with video issue until December 31, 2016, reveals an updated support document on the company’s website. The MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues, as it’s officially referred to as, was originally scheduled to expire on February 27, 2016.
A small percentage of 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro models sold between February 2011 and February 2013 may display distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen, show no video on the inbuilt screen or external display or the machine may restart unexpectedly. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Feb 9, 2016
A new retail service by Apple, which offers to apply screen protectors on customers’ iPhones using dedicated in-store machines, is now available at Apple Stores in the United States and around the world, MacRumors reported.
Based on Belkin’s ScreenCare+ Application System, the system allows store employees to apply Welkin-Branded screen protectors (either a Belkin TrueClear InvisiGlass Screen Protector or a Belkin TrueClear Anti-Glare Screen Protector) on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices.
Apple rolled out the system a week ago in its retail stores in Japan. As of this morning, the service is available across Apple Stores internationally. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Feb 5, 2016
As first noted by MacOtakara, employees of Apple Stores in Japan have now received specialized Belkin tools to install screen protectors on iPhones in-store, though it’s unclear if this iPhone screen protector installation service might soon expand to other Apple Stores around the world.
Using Belkin’s TrueClear Pro device, store employees are able to apply a screen protector in a straightforward and easy manner. Prices range from 2,180 yen to 4,280 yen, depending on material and device size, which works out to about $19 to $37. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Jan 18, 2016
Has the battery percentage indicator been acting up lately on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus? If so, you’re not alone: this is a known issue, according to Apple’s newly published support document.
“If you change the time on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus manually or change time zones when traveling, you might notice that the battery percentage doesn’t update,” reads the document.
Apple is aware of the problem and working hard to deliver a permanent fix. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 20, 2015
Apple is working on a standalone app meant to make it easier for its customers to access a variety of helpful resources, documents and manuals whilst streamlining the repair and troubleshooting process, according to prolific Australia-based leaker Sonny Dickson who shared a few purported screenshots of a yet-to-be-named software with uSwitch. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 19, 2015
Following reports from iPad Pro owners who have been complaining about the device becoming unresponsive after being charged for a lengthy period of time, which typically occurs during overnight charging, Apple has now acknowledged the issue and confirmed it’s working on a permanent fix.
In the meantime, the company has provided an interim fix that it says will temporarily restore normal operation after the iPad Pro becomes unresponsive. Read More
By Christian Zibreg on Nov 16, 2015
A couple of threads are currently growing on Reddit and the Apple Support Communities forums, with a significant number of lucky owners of the iPad Pro complaining that their device becomes unresponsive after being charged for a lengthy period. This typically occurs during overnight charging.
The annoying issues causes the device to require a hard restart to restore functionality. Apple had not commented on the hiccup publicly at the time of this writing, and almost certainly will not. Read More


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Bob Laishley, an engineer by training, joined Caterham after a 25-year career at Nissan just as the 2020 Covid outbreak began.
His first job was to be the company’s part-time chief strategy officer, tasked with finding ways to boost production because it was plain that the company could sell more cars than its usual 500 a year.
In the first months of 2021, the company was bought by VT Holdings, a large Japanese trading group that was, among other things, the Seven’s Japanese importer. Within a couple of months, Caterham’s CEO of 10 years, Graham Macdonald, decided to retire and Laishley, who had been enjoying part-time working but was known through his Nissan connections to VT Holdings CEO Kazuho Takahashi, was persuaded to take on the CEO’s role.
Laishley says he was as surprised as anyone at his elevation. He had moved to Dubai with a view to working in the UK a few days a month, but the prospect of running the little sports car company he describes as “traditional and well respected, with a brand value that’s massively under-leveraged” changed his ideas. He has since moved back to the UK to run the company full time “for as long as I enjoy it”.
Laishley’s key former job – he was one of Nissan’s global project directors, in charge of the Nismo performance car range and of promoting Nissan’s business relationships with other OEMs – has proved invaluable to the Caterham task. He knows enthusiast car buyers well and also has contacts in big companies money couldn’t buy.
“I’m used to being on good terms with people in OEMs,” he said, “because they know me. Normally, it’s not so easy for a little company like ours to say to a giant: please tell me your product roadmap for the next 10 years. But we’ve had some surprising help.”


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Toyota says it has agreed to pay about $US1.1 billion ($A1.07 billion) to settle a class action lawsuit launched by US vehicle owners affected by a series of mass recalls from the Japanese carmaker.
Toyota did not accept any blame but agreed to compensate owners who argued that the value of about 16.3 million vehicles took a hit from dozens of deadly accidents allegedly caused by Toyota vehicles speeding out of control in 2009.
The deal will cover the cost of installing a free brake override system in about 2.7 million vehicles.
It will also provide cash payments to those who sold their vehicles in the wake of the recalls or who own vehicles ineligible for the override system.
Toyota shares jumped 2.74 per cent to Y3,935 by the morning break in Tokyo on Thursday, outpacing broader gains in the Japanese market as investors reacted to the settlement which was announced in the US on Wednesday.
The huge payout will "sting" Toyota, but it will also allow the Japanese giant to "leave these troubles behind and move forward in the new year", said Michelle Krebs, an analyst with automotive site Edmunds.com.
Once lauded for its safety standards, Toyota has been forced into damage control mode in recent years after recalling millions of vehicles because of a series of serious defects.
The firm's biggest domestic rivals, Nissan and Honda, have also issued huge recalls over their own safety and quality problems.
Earlier this year Toyota added two models to the 2009-2010 recalls launched after it was discovered that floor mats were trapping the accelerator pedal.
Toyota's mishandling of the initial problem and other reports of sudden, unintended acceleration led to a US congressional probe, more than $US50 million in fines from US regulators and public apologies by its chief.
Just two weeks ago, the company agreed to pay a record $US17.35 million fine for failing to promptly notify US authorities that the floor mats could also be trapped under the accelerators of 2010 Lexus models.
And last month Toyota agreed to pay $US25.5 million to settle claims from shareholders who lost money after the carmaker's stock price plummeted in the wake of the recalls.
Toyota has worked hard to regain its reputation for safety, while at the same time fighting off the impact of the economic crisis, a strong yen and the devastating 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.
The settlement helps Toyota avoid a lengthy and risky court battle with angry owners who also argued that its technology - not the trapped floor mats - was behind the deadly instances of sudden, unintended acceleration.
"This was a difficult decision - especially since reliable scientific evidence and multiple independent evaluations have confirmed the safety of Toyota's electronic throttle control systems," Christopher Reynolds, Toyota Motor North America's chief legal officer, said in a statement.
"However, we concluded that turning the page on this legacy legal issue through the positive steps we are taking is in the best interests of the company, our employees, our dealers and, most of all, our customers."
The settlement, which was filed in a California federal court on Wednesday, must still be approved by a judge.
It includes $US250 million for owners who have sold their vehicles, $US250 million for owners whose vehicles are ineligible for the brake override system and $US30 million for safety research.
Toyota will also provide free repairs for certain components linked to the recall.
Toyota said it would take a $US1.1 billion charge to cover the estimated costs of the settlement and two other cases.
A lead lawyer for the plaintiffs told the Wall Street Journal that Wednesday's deal could end up costing Toyota as much as $US1.4 billion.


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Let's be honest: guys never really get tired of playing with toys, their toys just get bigger. Read More
Between zombies, serial killers and invading aliens, Elysia Rotaru keeps her resume interesting. The actress (a proud Vancouverite) has had her fair share of weird story lines thanks to shows like iZombie and Motive but has no plans of slowing down. We caught up with Elysia to talk about her range of strange characters, filming in her hometown and why she’s getting a doctorate in Chinese medicine.
Kevin Spacey’s father wrote “how to” manuals. It wasn’t his dream job, but it put food on the table. He […]
Introducing the 360fly Action Camera. Look out, GoPro. Read More
Baselworld, the world’s largest watch show, comes to an end tomorrow, but plenty of new releases have been announced already. Making headlines at the show were a multitude of innovative timepieces from independent watchmakers, updated classics from iconic brands and news about things to come. (TAG Heuer announced a partnership with Intel and Google for a smartwatch that is set to hit shelves closer to the end of this year.) In case you missed it, here’s the best of Baselworld 2015.


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“In a brand new and ever-evolving ecosystem, we’re very proud to be on the forefront of offering professional-grade merchandise, with a easy person expertise, to merchants, permitting them to do far more with their crypto than merely ‘hodl’ ”
CoinShares has introduced the launch of a crypto asset buying and selling methods platform designed to simplify crypto buying and selling by providing all trade customers entry to buying and selling algorithms designed by CoinShares quants.
The European digital asset funding agency focuses on exchange-traded merchandise and affords low-cost, regulated entry to cryptocurrencies. The launch of a crypto buying and selling methods platform expands the scope of the corporate’s choices.
CoinShares Expands Crypto ETP Attain to HAL Platform
Having allowed publicity to digital property to conventional monetary gamers by way of its suite of crypto ETPs, CoinShares now targets the audience of crypto merchants.
With HAL, customers can hook up with their most popular buying and selling platform and select the buying and selling methods that go well with them greatest. Buying and selling algorithms are designed or chosen by professionals with confirmed expertise in cryptocurrency buying and selling.
The HAL platform can be meant to be an alternative choice to “complicated market choices aimed toward superior merchants with bots designed by non-professional merchants,” the agency said.
CoinShares units the worth at €19.90 monthly as a non-binding provide with no restrict on technique choice.
The staff plans to proceed working to enhance current methods and frequently develop new indices and methods.
CoinShares launches HAL after buying Napoleon
CoinShares has acquired Napoleon Asset Administration, which focuses on cryptocurrencies, following regulatory approval from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
The transaction follows the acquisition of Napoleon Group final December and suits CoinShares’ technique of turning into a full-service digital asset buying and selling and funding group, inside a powerful regulatory framework.
The Various Funding Fund Supervisor (“AIFM”) license is without doubt one of the most stringent European rules for asset managers and is a key element in CoinShares’ ambition to grow to be the main funding group within the asset sector. digital. The acquisition of Napoleon Asset Administration permits CoinShares to supply AIFM-compliant services along with its market-leading place as an issuer of crypto exchange-traded merchandise (ETPs).
Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of CoinShares, commented: “We’re delighted to launch HAL beneath CoinShares. We acquired Napoleon, who created Napbots, as a result of we might instantly see our frequent objectives: to democratize entry and educate buyers about buying and selling crypto property. In a brand new and ever-evolving ecosystem, we’re very proud to be on the forefront of offering professional-grade merchandise, with a easy person expertise, to merchants, permitting them to do far more with their crypto than simply ‘ hodl'”.
The HAL platform is out there in Europe, besides the territories of america (and the international locations included within the FATF checklist: Democratic Individuals’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen).


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Pets on a Pedestal – Spending Big Bucks on Bowzer –Dave’s Diary
Cat and dog owners are putting their pets up on pedestals like never before. In fact, a recent survey says the average owner would gladly pay a vet more than $1,500 to save his or her pet's life.In a breakdown by pet, dog owners would spring for a little more cash paying $1,824 and cat owners would pay $1,309. And that vet bill would have probably been even higher if the owners' answers had not been limited to speaking on behalf
the health needs of their oldest pet.
In the survey by Consumer Reports, 14 percent of the subscribers polled proclaimed that "price was no object" when it came to buying the best commercially prepared pet vittles. And 1 percent of the 1,3000 owners polled said they made most of the pet's food themselves.


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This worries economists and consumer advocates, who have little idea of the erratic use of these services coupled with a lack of transparency Regulatory oversight, makes them wonder how much American debt really is.
While other household debt, such as credit card spending and auto loans, are recorded and tracked by the Federal Reserve, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) data is not included because funding is typically provided by non-bank sources and is not yet reported extensively credit bureaus.
This means there is no publicly available database of BNPL-related consumer debt, transaction volumes, delinquency rates, and fees and interest charges.
“There’s no question that if you don’t factor in ‘buy now, pay later,’ there’s a huge hole in our understanding of people’s finances,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “And that’s a problem for credit bureaus, credit bureaus and lenders.”
From Affirm and Apple to PayPal and Zip, BNPL transactions are currently valued at at least $100 billion a year — a number that analysts say could grow to $1 trillion to $4 trillion within a few years.
These types of services split a purchase into four or more installments to be paid over a period of a few weeks or months. Customers can open a new account for each transaction or keep an account for their purchases as long as they make their payments on time. BNPL accounts are typically offered with no or minimal interest and often do not require a rigorous credit check.
A key downside is the risk of getting into debt fairly easily without realizing it, said Terri R. Bradford, a research specialist in payments systems at the Kansas City Federal Reserve.
The installment process makes it seem like someone is paying virtually nothing for the goods or services they are purchasing, she said.
“So the possibility is that you’re thinking about everything you’re buying in those four installments, and as a result, you’re going to incur more debt than if you had to pay them in full all the time,” she said.
“The ability to stack your debt by using multiple buy-now-pay-later loans through multiple service providers is one of the biggest risks I see,” she added.
The big three credit bureaus have announced they will start including BNPL activity in credit reports, but they still have to rely on providers to get this information. Currently, some BNPL providers report when payments are missed or plans are paid out.
“With everything that’s going on in the economy, this isn’t getting the attention it deserves,” he said. “Meanwhile, young people and the unbanked are getting hurt badly, potentially ruining their creditworthiness for years to come.”
“People are buying more than they should and they admit it. Whether it’s aggressive marketing, whether it’s impulse buying, whether it’s believing I’ll have more tomorrow, they use a lot of them [services],” he said.
The biggest red flag for Lux, a former Chase chief risk officer, is what people are buying with these services and how customers can create “a spinning cycle of ever-increasing debt.”
“They buy cleaning supplies, they buy socks, they buy sneakers, they buy everyday household items,” he said. “When people start turning everyday purchases like groceries, you know there’s a problem.”
means for the purpose
BNPL providers say they view their offerings as a safer and more sustainable option to traditional lines of credit.
“The product and business are ultimately built entirely on the premise of consumers’ long-term success and ability to repay,” said Libor Michalek, Affirm’s president of technology, risk and operations. “And if they can’t, we share the negative result.”
In a statement emailed in response to questions from CNN Business, a Klarna spokesperson wrote:
“Our interest-free products are designed to keep people out of debt. We conduct rigorous eligibility checks on every purchase, constantly review our lending criteria and spending limits, and restrict use of our services until missed payments are met.”
Some consumers use BNPL services hoping to stick to a budget or balance their finances from month to month, said Charlotte Principato, a financial services analyst at Morning Consult.
“What it signals to me is that this is a means to an end,” she said. “It’s a well-considered choice of making money to go that little bit further and still get the goals you want and still get the things you need.”
That’s especially true for the multitude of Americans who don’t have a steady month-to-month paycheck, she said.
“They have to work with imperfect data on what their monthly paycheck is going to be and still manage to cover more fixed expenses and still make the voluntary purchases that anyone is allowed to make,” she said.
The single mom, who lives in a small town in south Texas, has to commute 90 minutes every day. At home she has three adolescents.
To conserve her budget, she uses BNPL for discretionary purchases and also for some everyday necessities, including a recent $400 grocery bill.
For Ramirez, spreading the cost through a buy now, pay later app was a better alternative than charging a credit card, taking out a loan, or skipping a utility bill. If all payments are made on time, most BNPL services do not charge interest or late fees.
“I don’t want to do this forever, but it’s good to know I can use this again and again if I ever find myself stuck in a dead end future,” she said.
CNN Video’s Zach Wasser contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this article contained incorrect estimates of the size of the BNPL industry. Transactions were forecast to be at least $100 billion in 2021.


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Half of advisers (51%) see a lack of consumer awareness and understanding of pension freedoms as their biggest concern about the regime three years on from its introduction, research from Prudential has found.
A similar proportion (49%) of advisers cited savers running out of money as their biggest concern, according to the research conducted among 100 advisers in April. Unexpected tax bills and the risk...
UK economy falters
More launches planned for 2019
£50,000-plus 'earned' from steelworkers
'Not convinced of merits'
Talking at Later Life Adviser Conference


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Daimler hands over the first eCascadia electric trucks to customersAugust 26, 2019
The first heavy-duty eCascadia went to North America for the needs of Penske Truck Leasing and NFI Industries.
Daimler created two Freightliner eCascadia electric truck tractors to enable them to undergo a “baptism of fire” at Penske and NFI. Now it became known what kind of work awaits these electric trucks. So, Penske plans to use the resulting electric car for regional transportation in Southern California, but NFI is going to use the novelty in transportation both in the ports of Los Angeles and in Long Beach. These two units were the first heavy trucks in the Freightliner Innovation Park, which today consists of 30 electric cars. Cascadia and eM2 promise to organize a market debut in 2021.
By the way, Penske and NFI have also been testing the Freightliner eM2 electric truck since the end of last year.
The eCascadia tractor, which will have to compete with the future Tesla Semi, will be able to drive up to 400 kilometers without recharging, and its capacity reaches 730 horsepower. A set of batteries with a capacity of 550 kW / h allows you to replenish the energy reserve of an electric car up to 80 percent in just an hour and a half. This is enough for a trip of 320 kilometers.
- US enthusiasts have made a unique car out of a GMC Sierra pickup
- Low-mileage Cadillac XLR-V goes on sale
- Serial Ford Bronco will not receive doors with holes
- 1993 Porsche 911 in good condition for sale
- Ford believes people are irreplaceable when assembling cars


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TEMPE, Ariz. – It’s become common for powersports dealers to open eateries near their stores, but it’s not every day a five-star chef opens a motorcycle mecca.
Chef Michael O’Dowd left the posh restaurant Kai in 2012 after a 10-year run to “undertake a new challenge at a different level.”
That concept is taking shape as Renegade by MOD, which O’Dowd and partner Ed Leclere, former promotions director at Chester's Harley-Davidson in Mesa, opened in Scottsdale over Memorial Day weekend.
The pair’s Vivid Lifestyle Concepts is teaming with Rick Hatch, a former Harley-Davidson dealer, to create the Motorsports Garage Fork & Torque, a food and motorcycle complex spread across seven acres in Tempe.
Along with the Fork & Torque restaurant, the site also will house a motorcycle and hot rod dealership and rental agency, a 5,000-seat concert venue, a clothing store and jewelry shop.
The group is aiming for a September opening, according to the Arizona Republic. O’Dowd says Fork & Torque will offer a smokehouse menu in a casual, diner-style setting suitable for families.
Posted by Holly Wagner