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Our newest fashion show addition is pushing the boundaries of wearable tech. Learn what she will be showcasing at our conference.
By Jessica Schimm (Assistant Editor, Women 2.0)
Katia Vega, who is currently a PhD candidate in Computer Science in Brazil, is pushing the boundaries of the definition of wearable tech through her work at Beauty Technology. Her projects go beyond revolutionizing makeup and appear to be as outlandish and incredible as some of the adornments you’d see in the Capitol of the Hunger Games. From chemical eyelashes to beauty tech nails that include embedded RFID tags, to conductive makeup to make nails twinkle, Vega is changing the way we think about appearance, art and our bodies.
Beauty Technology describes its products as “wearable devices that act as removeable and hidden electronics attached to body surfaces enabling wearers to interact with the digital world without inferring in everyday activities.” The goal of the work is to enhance physical appearance and her pieces have won top awards in just the last year.
The pieces she will be showcasing at our conference include a DJ set where music is signaled by hand and finger motions underwater and a ‘drone’ that flies after you charge it through blinking. She will be doing a collaboration with our special guest performer Congo Sanchez using her aqua DJ set to end the conference!
Vega has a background in computer science and is a system and informatics engineer. She is a specialist on IBM Rational Tools and is currently researching beauty technology, wearable computers, virtual worlds and groupware. You can follow her on Twitter at @kfcito.
Check out Katia’s work in action below:
Want to see Katia perform at our conference? We still have tickets and discounts available!
Photo via Beauty Technology Facebook Page.
Jessica Schimm (@JessicaSchimm) is the assistant editor at Women 2.0. She is a recent graduate of San Francisco State where she earned a B.A. in journalism and was the editor-in-chief of SF State’s Her Campus chapter. She has a strong interest in women’s issues and writes about them on her blog.


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LAS VEGAS — 4K TVs are great, but there isn’t a lot of content in the format yet. And even when you find some 4K videos, like Transparent on Amazon, whether or not you actually see those extra pixels is entirely dependent on your connection.
Really, the most surefire way to be guaranteed you’re watching 4K content is by watching it on disc. Well, you’re in luck: The Ultra HD Blu-ray format has been confirmed for a few months, and now the first players are coming out. One of the first ones is Samsung’s UBD-K8500.
See also: 7 tech trends that will rule CES 2016
The player looks pretty unexceptional, although it’s noticeably thicker than your typical Blu-ray player, with a slant along the front panel that cuts inward from the top.
Samsung says the player can take advantage of the latest HDR (high dynamic range) tech in more recent 4K TVs, and it’s worked with studios to ensure there are HDR Ultra HD titles in the mix this year. Among them: The Martian, Peanuts and Fantastic Four from Fox.
Checking out the player at Samsung’s First Look event, I was impressed by both the picture quality as well as the player’s ability to load a 4K disc in mere seconds. Compared to the first Blu-ray players, which sometimes took up to 30 seconds to load, it’s a big difference.
Samsung says pre-orders on its Ultra HD Blu-ray player begin today.

domain: news


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Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.
Apple is the latest and largest challenger bank—only it’s not a bank. On Monday it launched a virtual credit card, called Apple Card, and announced a partnership with Mastercard and Goldman Sachs, meaning it doesn’t have to bother with the whole banking rigamarole. So it’s left with one task: get everyone onboard.
Challenger banks like Monzo—which seek to replace your physical cards with virtual cards on your phone—have had to build up a user base from scratch, but Apple already has a legion of followers. A 2016 estimate by Credit Suisse gives it 588 million users, and as many as 43 percent are already paying for goods and services with their iPhones using Apple Pay. This provides a huge pool of potential users so is likely to boost the number of people using mobile banking.
That will lead to more mobile payments and better infrastructure surrounding them. Near-field communication (NFC) point of sale systems—which let you pay with a contactless debit card or phone—already increased to 24.7 million units in 2017. This is still too low but, with Apple in the market, it is likely this infrastructure will start building at a faster pace. And when Bitcoin mobile payments are ready, this infrastructure will be the key springboard for worldwide Bitcoin adoption.
To begin with, why is this infrastructure important? It's necessary because mobile payments are the best way to make everyday Bitcoin payments. Mobile phones fix the main issues of: storing private keys safely, receiving the payment information and sending the transaction. All of these are solved through the use of mobile phones with NFC technology, instead of sticking with legacy debit cards. Let’s go through them one by one.
First, it is important that private keys are kept securely. Nobody wants to remember a 12 word mnemonic phrase, or keep running to their safe to check their private key. In the main, private keys are better stored on users’ phones, which need to be sufficiently secure. Phone makers have already cottoned onto this and there are dedicated crypto phones, like the Sirin Finney or more mainstream phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S10, equipped for this purpose. With these, anyone can store their coins safely and take them wherever they go. Other phones are likely to follow suit.
Second, consumers need to receive payment information straight to their phones. Doing this manually involves typing out a string of digits like 0.00004030 (which is the amount of Bitcoin being sent). NFC can be used to send this information to the phone instead of typing it manually, making the process much easier and faster. Alternatively, QR codes can be used. Mobile phones are more suited to this than debit cards or cash because they have in-built NFC communication and cameras.
Third, you need to have access to the internet to make a Bitcoin payment. Bitcoin debit cards already exist but, in practice, they make payments using fiat money—not with Bitcoin. As mobile phones can be connected to the internet, this makes them more suitable for Bitcoin transactions.
It is often argued that widespread Bitcoin adoption hasn’t happened because it isn’t accepted widely enough. But there are actually quite a few places that already accept Bitcoin. The main problem, in fact, is that the whole process is clunky because mobile Bitcoin payments aren’t quite ready yet.
Even if they were ready, the infrastructure isn’t there to fully support them. Only a quarter of point of sale systems have in-built NFC technology. And, while China is leading the way in mobile payments, research firm eMarketer estimates that just 23 percent of people in the U.S. will be using mobile payments by 2021. In an interview with TechHQ, Andrew Jamison, CEO of digital payments platform Extend, estimated it will be ten years before the U.S. moves fully to mobile payments.
And this is where Apple Card will make a difference. It will encourage more people to ditch their bank and go mobile by providing a streamlined mobile banking system that casts shame on legacy bank apps—which are known for being limited and hard to use. While Monzo and other challenger banks have started this movement, it is likely the Apple brand will bring in legions of new users and also encourage other tech giants to provide similar mobile-based offerings.
Apple Pay is already the leading digital payment method in the U.S. and 50 percent of vendors accept it. A digital card that lives on their phone will allow more people to use Apple Pay and encourage retailers to keep up with the technology. So more retailers will introduce point-of-sales systems with NFC enabled, and thus speed up the adoption rates of mobile payments in the U.S., creating the necessary infrastructure which Bitcoin mobile payments will be able to use.
The only change for Bitcoin mobile payments is the vendor sends the payment request, or invoice, to the mobile phone rather than the mobile phone sending the vendor its virtual credit card details, as happens now. This will be much safer, as it doesn’t involve giving your details out to the vendor.
Apple Card also has a few features that will help get users into the right mindset for making crypto payments. It uses the “Secure Element” of the iPhone—secure data storage—to keep the unique number of the card safe. The same feature could be used to keep a user’s private keys safe too. In addition, with Apple Pay, you confirm transactions with your fingerprint, and this can similarly be used to confirm a Bitcoin transaction, so nobody else can spend your money.
Some see the Apple Card as a threat to Bitcoin. But, in reality, it’s a big step in encouraging the faster onset of mobile payments, the perfect breeding ground for ubiquitous Bitcoin payments. Apple may have just opened the doors to the ultimate challenger bank.


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Handloomed of polyester, the Avery rug from KAS is made in India. Shown in Taupe Ellison colorway.
The lineup includes presentations from actress and designer Diane Keaton; Forbes Top 100 Digital Influencer Erik Qualman; and a panel of television personalities that includes Hilary Farr, Mikel Welch and Libby Langdon.
Custom orders will be delivered to retail stores in as quickly as 2.5 months.
The exhibition will run from Sept. 5 to Nov. 27, 2019.
Here's what research from the Sustainable Furnishings Council says about consumer attitudes toward eco-friendly home furnishings.
Kerr's home decor company takes “personal” to the next level, offering exclusive, neighborhood-focused pillows and more.


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We all can be targets, but for some scammers, small businesses can generate a big payday. Finally starting your own business can be a dream come true, but with that dream can come a nightmare when con artists come calling. Your Better Business Bureau is partnering with state and federal agencies to stop small business scams. This is a law enforcement initiative seeking operations trying to defraud small businesses. It also is an educational outreach effort to help small businesses protect themselves from fraud. BBB joined with the Federal Trade Commission, eight state Attorneys General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and two U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to launch the efforts.
BBB Northwest + Pacific participated in the study by surveying thousands of small businesses in Alaska, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and western Wyoming. The top five riskiest scams are bank/credit card company imposters, directory listing and advertising, fake invoice, fake check and tech support. “Anyone could be a scammer’s next target,” said Chuck Harwood, director of the FTC’s Northwest Region Office. “Small businesses are not immune from the threat, as the BBB’s new report shows, and the monetary loses may be sizeable. Thanks to the team at BBB Northwest for calling attention to the harm that scams victimizing small businesses do to our regional economy, for encouraging a dialogue about prevention, and for supporting law enforcement actions such as those the FTC is announcing today.” “We knew that we needed thorough research to fully understand the types of scams targeting our small businesses,” Tyler Andrew, CEO of BBB Northwest and Pacific said. “This study helps us to focus our fight against scammers by spotlighting how these con artists are tricking our businesses and how we can help minimize that impact.”
The three top small business scams that often hit small businesses are bank and credit card scams, directory listing scams and fake check scams.
The bank and credit card imposter scams are the riskiest scams, based on our measurement tool that factors in exposure, susceptibility and monetary loss. Under the guise of verifying account information, scammers fool their targets into sharing credit card or banking information.
Directory and advertising scams target all businesses, but especially new companies that are beginning to grow their customer base. They are looking for new ways to get the word out about their products and services. Scammers ask them to pay for an advertisement in a directory or Yellow Pages. In some cases, the directory exists but is not widely distributed and therefore worthless.
The fake check scams can occur in various ways. Sometimes the check is a payment for products or services, but it’s an overpayment and the scammer ask the business to wire back the difference. In either case, businesses are asked to deposit a fake check and wire the difference. The business later learns that the check is fake after they’ve wired money to the scammer and the business is liable for the missing funds.
Jeremy Johnson is the eastern Idaho marketplace manager for Better Business Bureau, serving the Northwest and Pacific. Contacther at by emailing email@example.com.


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You are hereBack to top
First Philippine Durian Exports To Reach China Next Month
According to the Philippine News Agency, the first ever exports of Philippine durians to China weighing a total of 7,500 metric tons will be delivered in March of this year.
Cheloy Garafil, secretary of the Philippine Presidential Communications Office, said that even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had been notified of the development during a meeting held at Malacañan Palace. The durians are expected to originate from 59 producers with a combined planting area of approximately 400 hectares.
During a state visit to China in January, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a fruit export agreement with China worth $2 billion. This agreement is expected to greatly promote exports to China of high-value agricultural products such as durians, coconuts and bananas. On Jan. 7, China’s General Administration of Customs published on its website the phytosanitary requirements for Philippine durians, thus completing one of the final steps needed for shipments to commence.
In a previous notice, the Philippine Department of Agriculture announced that the durians making up the initial shipments to China would originate from registered orchards in Davao City, Davao del Sur and North Cotabato.
At least four Chinese companies, including Dole (Shanghai) Fruits and Vegetables Trading Co. Ltd., Shanghai Goodfarmer Group, and Dashang Group, have committed to purchasing durians from the Philippines. It is projected that the country will export $260 million worth of durians to China in 2023.
Davao, a key seaport city on the island of Mindanao, produces over 50,000 metric tons of durians each year, accounting for more than 70% of the country’s total durian output. In comparison to other durian cultivars, local varieties exhibit superior features in terms of yield and disease resistance. The peak harvest period for Davao durians runs from July to October, with Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore as the main overseas markets. At present, Davao has at least five durian packaging plants and 3,000 durian growers.
Growers and traders in the Philippines are reportedly very optimistic about the Chinese durian market. In 2021, China imported over $4 billion worth of durians from Thailand, more than three times the total value of Philippine agricultural exports to China in the same year.
At present, the major fruit item exported from the Philippines to China is bananas. However, in the face of quality issues and fierce competition from other suppliers such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ecuador, the share of Philippine bananas on the Chinese market has recently been shrinking.
This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.
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Atari has announced that it is to acquire retro gaming specialist studio Digital Eclipse.
The deal is expected to be finalized in the coming days and totals $20m in value, with $6.5m of that being paid in cash and shares as soon as the acquisition closes.
The remaining $13.5m will be paid in cash over the next decade “based on future performance of Digital Eclipse”.
Atari CEO Wade Rosen says that the deal will allow his studio and Digital Eclipse to “push the boundaries of retro innovation together” and that Atari’s new purchase aligns perfectly with “Atari’s DNA and renewed purpose”.
For his part, Digital Eclipse CEO Andrew Ayre says his studio and Atari “share the same ethos” in terms of game preservation, and that the two studios represent an “exciting combination”.
In an FAQ on the official Digital Eclipse website, the studio goes into some more detail regarding what the Atari acquisition means for future operations.
In short, it sounds like things will generally proceed as normal; Digital Eclipse will “still have the freedom to seek out other projects” outside of Atari, and the Gold Master Series documentaries will also continue to be released unimpeded.
If you’re not familiar with Digital Eclipse, you may well have played some of their games without realizing it.
The studio has worked on retro collections like Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and The Disney Afternoon Collection, as well as other compilations for studios like Blizzard and SNK.
Atari’s acquisition makes a lot of sense, too, given that Digital Eclipse was the studio responsible for last year’s birthday extravaganza Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration.
This is the second retro studio acquisition Atari has made this year, too; back in May, the legendary company also purchased retro revivalists Nightdive, whose name you might know from projects like the System Shock remake.
It remains to be seen what Atari intends to do with its new acquisition, but it sounds like usual operations won’t be interrupted much. Stay tuned for more.


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Messe Muenchen South Africa has announced the cancellation of Food and Drink Technology (fdt) Africa 2021, which was due to take place from 2 to 4 November at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The decision was made after consultations with industry stakeholders, and comes amid ongoing bans and restrictions on international travel to and from South Africa as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Exhibition/ Live Music/ Workshops/ Battle of the Bands MUSIC RESONATES. IT EVOKES MEMORIES & EMOTIONS, IT INSPIRES, AND IT MOVES PEOPLE. MUSIC BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER.


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The latest edition of Lingerie Insight is now available to read online, featuring the latest business news, industry interviews and trends features.
The December issue kicks off with the news that fuller bust brand Scantilly by Curvy Kate has launched the next edition of its #NewSexy marketing campaign with a diverse line-up of lingerie models.
Wearing Scantilly’s new boudoir collection, the models champion a variety of skin tones, body shapes, backgrounds and abilities, all with the aim of celebrating the beautiful diversity of women.
Our Front section also covers the news that Elissa Grainger, a Contour Fashion graduate from De Montfort University, has beaten over 600 hopefuls to win the ASOS Fashion Discovery competition, and online lingerie and swimwear retailer Figleaves has appointed former Tesco director Natalie Burrows as its interim managing director.
Over on our analysis pages, we meet the new designers set to impress talent scouts at The Lingerie Edit in January and report on Selfridges’ profits slump after it opened The Body Studio in April.
In the interview hotseat this month is Liesl Goodman, head designer of fuller-figure lingerie brand Elomi.
She explains her passion for engineering popular A-D lingerie shapes and styles into fuller-figure garments that support and fit the wearer.
Also this month, we published our 2016 Lingerie Industry Review. In a series of interviews, top buyers in the intimate apparel sector reflect on the biggest trends of 2016, discuss the main challenges they faced over the last 12 months and reveal their predictions for the New Year.
Participants included Figleaves head of buying Jenni Burt, Bravissimo product director Laura Martino and House of Fraser branded buyer for lingerie and hosiery, Claudia Walker.
Meanwhile, we head to Yorkshire for this month’s Regional Focus. We meet six independent retailers from Driffield, Elland, Harrogate, Sheffield, Ilkley and York to find out how business is faring in their local areas.
Over on our product pages, we list some of the top lingerie solutions on the market to appeal to your customer this Christmas and report on leading brands’ top-selling products of SS17.
Last but not least, Lingerie Insight editor Sarah Clarke interviews Theo Paphitis, the founder of Boux Avenue, to find out his expectations for the Christmas trading period.
Click here to read the December issue of Lingerie Insight.


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Marconi warns on cost of BT blow
MARCONI today spelled out the extent of the fallout from its failure to win contracts to help build BT's £10bn 21st Century Network. The BT blow, at the end of last month, has already forced the telecoms parts maker to axe 800 jobs and instruct bankers Morgan Stanley to look at all options for the future, including its outright sale to a foreign competitor.
The immediate effect of the failure to win any of the massive contracts means Marconi will see its sales to BT drop £50m to £272m in the financial year ending next March.
But the group also warned that, in the three-quarters of its business which is not with BT, 'pricing pressure remains fierce across products and services and this, together with a changing business mix, will impact gross margins in 2006'.
Chief executive Mike Parton said: 'Product manufacturing and overhead cost reductions will remain key in our efforts to address the competitive environment of our industry.'
During 2005, BT accounted for 25% of Marconi's total sales which rose 4% to £1.27bn. Today, the group said it still expects overall revenue for the year to be flat. At the same time, Marconi highlighted the cost savings it now expects to make as a result of the job cuts and reorganisation.
In the short term, spending on research and development will come down modestly as it halts BT-specific work on the so-called SoftSwitch, which forms the hub of new networks.
Shifting manufacturing to cheaper countries and the loss of 800 jobs will start to produce savings in the second half of 2006. On a yearly basis, these should amount to £50m with half of that achieved in the current year.
The cost of this restructuring will be around £55m, of which £45m will fall in the current year and will show up as a £36m charge in the profit and loss account.
For potential bidders, Marconi's year-end figures look better than expected with the pension fund deficit down £15m at £228m while the amount of tax losses which could be used to offset other profits by a purchaser, is up from £659m to £817m.
At the headline level, the group swung from a loss of £55m to profits of £28m and, after share options, goodwill amortisation and exceptional items, operating losses were reduced from £249m to £95m.
The group today said it has now signed a distribution agreement with Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker which some analysts believe could be the financial purchaser of the whole of Marconi.
Today's deal covers reselling each other's equipment into the respective markets. They are still discussing a deeper agreement which could see them share product development.
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March 12, 2010
This year’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition had so many promising business plans that picking winners proved difficult. So judges did something unusual: they ponied up their own money on the spot to award another $3,000 prize. The contest, which had 161 entries from 36 countries this year, encourages creative solutions to global poverty. The spontaneous Judges’ Choice award of $3,000 went to two brothers for their plan to help small-scale rice farmers in Mali earn a better living by providing storage, marketing and other post-harvest services. One of the brothers, Mohamed Ali Niang, grew up in Africa and is now studying at Temple’s Fox School of Business.


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American financial media Capitalwatch April 19thWritingReported that Baidu, the domestic Internet giant, is cooperating with the US group for comment, and plans to open the delivery service of the unmanned vehicle in Xiong an new area.
Also on this day, Baidu Apollo automatic driving platform ushered in the release of 1st Anniversary nodes, and the latest 2.5 version was also released. In terms of the whole ecological construction, the current Baidu Apollo platform has reached 100 partners, and the US group comment is one of them.
Last December 20th, the first Apollo Council was held in Xiong an new area and opened 10 smart cars with Daimler, Ford, Chery, Beiqi, the Great Wall, Jinlong bus, and Skywalker technology partners, including passenger cars, commercial buses, logistics cars and scavenges. Model, multi scene, multi dimension application. Baidu hopes to accumulate technology and experience for autopilot in Xiong an's operation.
On the one hand, the introduction of the United States group review to become a member of the Apollo ecosystem, on the other hand, has accumulated the experience of automatic driving operation in Xiong an.
The cooperation between the two sides will start in May this year, but the relevant road infrastructure suitable for the distribution of unmanned vehicles needs to be improved.
In fact, according to the reports of Lei Feng's new intelligence drive last February 28th, the group has set up an unmanned robot team in the review and began to build a distribution unmanned vehicle. The team is mainly responsible for robot related work, including machine vision, sensor fusion, machine learning, target tracking, and path planning, and team members are currently recruiting.
I wonder if the team is working with Baidu Apollo to promote the distribution of Xiong an's unmanned vehicle.


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Now that we’re about ten minutes past digestion of Thanksgiving turkey, it’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to talk about the Christmas stores in prime locations in midtown.
Within a few blocks just north of Times Square on both 7th Avenue and Broadway, there are not one, not two, not three, but four Christmas stores operated by the company Christmas and City. (There’s also another one in Little Italy.)
The company says that one of those is a popup. The others are permanent, and they have been around since 2017, according to lease information from CoStar, a commercial real estate research firm.
The most nostalgic and holiday elvish among us may get a kick out of the feel-good holiday merchandise, the Christmas music and cheer. With all the options you can’t really miss the stores if you’re walking into or out of Times Square.
But the stores are not exactly centers of wintry imagination and creativity. Basically, there are tree ornaments. Four solid walls of tree ornaments. There are different versions of the Empire State Building, and many iterations of faces on balls outfitted with paraphernalia from New York sports teams. There are cookie-cutter Game of Thrones characters and Downton Abbey denizens, which can be among the cheaper of the ornaments at around $10 each.
Spend some time walking approximately 30 seconds from one store to another and it’ll be like Christmas morning if you can find something that’s not an ornament. There are scattered lawn decorations and stockings and nutcrackers and an animatronic figure decorating holiday cupcakes, which does not appear to be for sale. Good luck finding a dreidel.
The major Christmas innovation is that the store will personalize an item for you for free. It’s unclear if that applies to the sodas which are waiting in small soda refrigerators, not Christmas-themed other than the fact that they are Coca-Cola red.
On a recent visit to the outlet off 52nd Street, one employee said that tourists come in year-round for the merchandise. She gave a knowing Christmas smile in her red t-shirt.
Clearly the company thinks it can make an economic go of it with all the neighboring stores, popup and permanent. Retail in Manhattan seems to be in a moment of change. A Real Estate Board of New York report last week found that the majority of popular retail corridors in the borough saw year-over-year decreases for ground floor retail asking rents per square foot.
The report calls this a natural correction, and says that owners are accepting more short-term deals and trying new concepts for the retail market — like popups.
Robin Abrams, who worked on the report and is the vice chairman of the real estate company Compass, says that businesses are sometimes using brick and mortar presences to drive online sales. Maybe you walk by and remember the brand and then do your Christmas shopping with them online.
Meanwhile, even some famous storefronts are finding it difficult to survive in the new environment, with Lord & Taylor’s flagship and its famous holiday windows closing after the season.
Apparently surviving: the Christmas stores.
Too bad the current economic strictures don’t allow literally anything else to flourish in the heart of Manhattan. Instead of maybe a supermarket, or a non-chain store, or a library, or a concert venue, or a nonprofit center, or a health facility, or cheap housing, or even (gasp) public space, we have the Christmas stores.
Enjoy the ornaments.


text: ‘Double, double toil and trouble’… don’t get spooked into buying a ‘Hallowe'en horror’ - a study shows that one in three cars should be chucked into a cauldron.It’s witching season and according to HPI, a UK vehicle information company, dodgy used-car sales folk are up to all sorts of during Hallowe'en.HPI said that one in three used cars (in the UK) checked had something to hide and issued a warning that buyers should have their wits about them to avoid the risk of buying a nightmare on wheels, at ANY time. The same applies to car-hunters in South Africa.ROTTEN BUYSHPI operations director Phil Peace said: “Buying a used car won’t to turn into a horror story if buyers take the right steps. Used-car fraudsters have more tricks than treats up their sleeves, leaving people with the risk of paying retail value for a car that could be stolen, written-off or still on outstanding finance. “Clocking is also a major problem, as unscrupulous sellers turn back the mileage to push up the price on their vehicle.”The consumer company which provides vehicle information to car buyers said there were many Jekyll-and-Hyde vehicles out on the roads, with crooks using tricks such as cloning to disguise the identity of a stolen vehicle with that of a legitimate car. LIGHT OF DAYHPI claimed more than 30 stolen vehicles were uncovered every day in the UK through checks done within the company. Anybody who buys a stolen vehicle could lose their money when it is returned to its rightful owner. Peace explained: “These long, dark nights in the UK offer the perfect cover for less-than-honest car-sellers looking to pull a fast one so buyers should always view a vehicle in daylight. Under the cover of dusk and darkness, it’s a lot harder to notice tell-tale signs of damaged bodywork, even more so if it has been raining."They also try it in the bright South African sunshine."Buyers should also be looking under the bonnet and checking that the chassis numbers match each other and the car documents, so good viewing conditions are essential to uncover the skeletons in a vehicle’s closet."


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Originally published April 28 2011
Dieters easily misled by food labels
by Kaye Stringer
(NaturalNews) A recent study examining the names and descriptions of foods reinforces the growing body of evidence that health claims can cause confusion among consumers. The study found that dieters tend to focus on certain words or product names more than a food's actual ingredients. For example, dieters are more likely to choose a product that is described as "salad" rather than one described as "pasta," even if the ingredients are exactly the same.
Researchers at the University of South Carolina presented participants with a "daily special" containing pasta shells, salami, and mozzarella cheese served on a bed of romaine lettuce. Individuals who described themselves as being health conscious or dieting were more likely to assign the meal a healthy score when it was described as a "salad." Non-dieters were not as easily swayed by the name of the product.
In another part of the study, college students were given a snack to eat while watching a nine-minute movie. Some of the students were told the product was "fruit chews," while others were told they were "candy chews." Not surprisingly, the dieters ate more of the product when it was described as "fruit chews."
Misleading claims on food products are nothing new. Food manufacturers often trick consumers with deceptive ingredients lists (http://www.naturalnews.com/021929.html). Calorie-laden milkshakes are sold as "fruit smoothies," and sugary flavored water is marketed as "sports drinks." In 2008, Natural News reported on a study that showed sugary children's foods often mislead consumers by making nutritional claims (http://www.naturalnews.com/025000_food_healt...). Food manufacturers have been attracting health-minded consumers for years by using the words "all natural" on products that actually contain dangerous additives such as MSG (http://www.naturalnews.com/005778.html).
Findings from the recent study, published in the April 11 issue of The Journal of Consumer Research, indicate that consumers who seek out healthy foods may actually end up making poorer food choices than individuals who are less concerned with a food's nutritional quality. They also underscore how little the average American understands about nutrition.
Earlier this year, a Consumer Reports poll revealed that nine out of 10 Americans described their diet as "somewhat healthy," even though two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. More than forty percent of the people questioned admitted to drinking at least one soda or other sweetened beverage per day, and only one in four said they limited their consumption of sugar and fat.
Furthermore, forty percent of Americans said they eat "pretty much everything" they want, and a third described their weight as healthy even though their BMI actually qualified them as overweight or obese. Only three out of ten people surveyed said they consume five or more servings of vegetables a day. Those who did eat vegetables tended to favor those lowest in nutrients, such as lettuce, or starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml


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Dark Horse continues to further its digital initiative with the announcement of titles now available on Google Play!
Hot on the heels of a successful partnership with Amazon Kindle, and following up on the incredible success of Kobo and Nook, Dark Horse is proud to announce a partnership with Google Play.
Dark Horse digital graphic novels are now available for purchase in the Google Play store, including over four hundred of the company’s top titles, like Mass Effect, Hellboy, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Sin City, and more!
“We are very excited to be working with Google to bring Dark Horse graphic novels to the Play store,” said Dark Horse’s director of digital publishing, Mark Bernardi. “It is an important addition to the growing list of platforms where our digital books can be enjoyed.”
Starting today, readers can download their favorite Dark Horse graphic novels on Google Play. Look for more and more titles to be added every month!
Here’s what’s inside this month’s issue of Judge Dredd Megazine – issue #402 UK and DIGITAL: 19th December 2018 £5.99 NORTH AMERICA: 19th January 2018 $13 DIAMOND: OCT181872 COVER: CLIFF ROBINSON (a) DYLAN TEAGUE (c) In this issue:JUDGE […]
Some thoughts on this weeks comics from Zenescope – the final issue of Belle: Beast Hunter and the Grimm Fairy Tales 2018 Holiday Special! Grimm Fairy Tales: Holiday Special 2018 Tis the season to be […]


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Thailand’s villa rental market
For the world’s discerning travellers, nothing carries quite the same prestige as spending a holiday in a luxurious private villa somewhere exotic.
And who can blame them? With such added perks as personal chefs, butlers and drivers at your beck and call as you relax by a private infinity pool in your five-bedroom retreat, that 5-star resort down the beach suddenly pales in comparison.
Villa owners in Europe, the Caribbean and the US have been capitalizing on this mindset for decades, but it is a trend that has only really started to catch on in Thailand in recent years, partially because the country’s high-end villa sales market itself is still in its infancy compared to other global resort markets.
Thailand’s villa rental market is for the most part limited to two areas: Koh Samui and Phuket. Hundreds of travel agencies and rental firms specializing in villas around the world are beginning to take an interest in these two destinations, which has translated into an increase in the number of local firms turning to villa management as a way to offset the recent sales slump that has enveloped the country.
“It’s a trendy market. It’s the next best thing to having a private house,” says Marc Ribail, chief operating officer of villa management firm Samui Villas & Homes (SVH), noting that in the last six months, property sales on the island have been down, so quite a few firms are going into property management. Hence, there are now three or four decent companies that have begun offering villa management among their services, he says.
But unlike most firms, which expanded their services to include rental management under their umbrellas as a means of diversifying, Samui Villas & Homes (SVH) initially set out in 2001 solely as a villa management company, only later entering the sales market to cater to the growing number of clients that wished to purchase a holiday home there. The firm recently announced it’s expanding with a branch in Phuket that will focus on villa management there as well.
Ribail says when the company was created in 2001, it managed only three properties, but things quickly grew from there.
“At the beginning of 2006 we had 25 and now we have nearly 50 so it’s definitely an emerging market,” he says. “In some respects we’re still kind of creating history and track records in Samui. If you look at Phuket, they’ve been doing this for a much longer time, so they have a bench mark they can rely on. We’ve just started making a bench mark now.”
Ribail says when the tsunami hit in 2004, SVH received a dramatic increase in business as holiday-makers shied away from Andaman destinations, however competition and Phuket’s resurgence has caused the market to take a breather.
“There’s a bit of a slow-down this year, because of the recovery of Phuket. The first quarter has been difficult but the rest of the year looks much better,” he says. “The offerings are increasing but demand is the same. So basically the competition is increasing,” says Ribail.
A similar trend is emerging in Phuket, where there are now dozens of firms offering villa management services. Allan Mossop, managing director of Phuket Island Property Services (PIPS), says they’ve definitely seen an upswing in the property rental market in the last year, but it’s been a long time coming.
“The last five years has been a challenge for most folks because Thailand is not a traditional holiday home destination like say the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. But we’ve been making serious inroads. If you go online and look at the international rental sites, the number of properties featured for Thailand has increased dramatically as has the number of inquiries.”
Mossop feels that more people are travelling to Thailand as repeat visitors and are starting to feel more comfortable and don’t’ feel that they have to go stay in a more protected environment of a hotel.
“Holiday rentals are very popular with families, knowing that they’re going to be in a property that’s got a private pool and a kitchen, which means they’re able to take care of their kid’s requirements better. If you’re travelling with your family, it’s a little inconvenient to have the young ones on the fold-out couch.”
PIPS deals with the mid-to upper segment of the rental market. Mossop says that in the low season villa rates range from US$250-500 a night for a three-bedroom villa, but in the high season rates can go for between $600 to $2500 a night, depending on the size of the villa. With rates like these, it’s not surprising villa owners are jumping to put their properties on the rental market when they’re not in use.
But half the battle is attracting interest. According to Mossop, the most important thing for villa owners to consider before putting their property on the rental market is whether their agent able to make their property available to a wide selection of other agents.
“For a long time PIPS was the only company in Phuket actively marketing the full-service rental projects we represent with 50 other agents locally nationally and internationally,” he says. “A lot of the property management companies or rental management companies are only able to take their straight 10% and they are not able to market a home to other rental companies which is a major factor.”
Indeed villa owners have a lot to consider before renting out their property, and this includes whether or not they’re even in a position to do so. SVH’s Ribail says before they’ll even take a villa into their portfolio they consider several factors.
“The first is location. It has to be situated either on the beach or inland with absolutely stunning views. If you look at Phuket, Bali, The Phillippines or Malaysia, there are not as many properties directly on the beach as there are here. So the guests want to pay a bit more to be on the beach rather than sitting in the hills. So because of that location is very important for us,” he says. “We try to keep the level of standards equal among all houses in our portfolio. So even though they’re all individual, if one house doesn’t have a range of amenities or facilities that matches our portfolio we recommend the owners upgrade.”
SVH offers clients two brands to choose from – the Signature Collection or the Boutique Collection. The higher end villas in their portfolio on average go from US$700-900 per night for a 4-5 bedroom villa, which includes 5-star facilities and amenities, however rates can go as high as US$2,000 a night.
Most agents agree that while these prices may sound a bit lofty for your average traveler, when you consider the rates being charged in 5-star hotels for a single room with no privacy and added costs tacked onto nearly everything, it’s no surprise people are looking for new alternatives.
Koh Samui Rental Villa | Koh Samui Pool Villas | Luxury Villas Thailand | Luxury Villas Koh Samui | Beach Villas Thailand
Samui Beach Villa | Koh Samui Villas | Koh Samui Rentals | Koh Samui Real Estate | Koh Samui Property | Koh Samui Real Estate Advice


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U.S. Postal Service dealing with skyrocketing cases of change-of-address fraud
NEW YORK -- The U.S. Postal Service is making adjustments after a major increase in change-of-address fraud.
That's when scammers change your address on file to get sensitive information from your mail with the goal of stealing your money.
CBS2 has been investigating this big problem.
Just this month, the USPS announced new policies after a recent report found a 167% jump in change-of-address fraud. CBS2 is asking if the Postal Service's new plan will actually fix the problem.
Laurette Olson is no Californian. New York is home.
"I am grounded here in Scarsdale," Olson said.
So imagine her surprise, more than 2,700 miles from the Hollywood sign or the cable cars of San Francisco, when the USPS told Olson someone had changed her address on file to somewhere in the Golden State.
"Complete and utter shock," Olson said.
Her suspicions started earlier this month when she stopped getting mail and started getting notices on her phone that her bills were past due.
She reached out USPS, who filled her in on the fraudulent switch.
Olson said she even got a call from a bank saying someone was trying to open a credit card in her name, which she stopped before she lost money.
"I know about three bills, but I don't know what else was sent there. And I don't know what they have in terms of personal information," Olson said.
The Postal Service has long faced criticism over a lack of safeguards when it comes to people signing up to change an address.
A 2018 report from the USPS inspector general found when people change an address in person some post offices check IDs, but "there is no national policy outlining such a control."
When it comes to changing addresses online, another inspector general report found fraud and attempted identity theft jumped 167% from 2020 to 2021.
"The verification process, if you want to call it that, is far too lax," New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer said.
In March, Gottheimer slammed the Postal Service's online process and its requirement of a $1.05 credit card charge to let users submit their form, but with no ID required.
"But they have no idea if the credit card actually belongs to the person living at the address being changed," Gottheimer said.
In a series of new requirements just announced, USPS says it is now texting online customers with one-time security passcodes.
USPS also plans to send activation letters to the new address.
When asked if that's going to fix the problem, Dr. Chelsea Binns of John Jay College of Criminal Justice said, "I think it would help. It won't get us to 100% because there's always going to be a way that fraudsters get around those controls."
And the new announcement says starting May 31, USPS will offer "enhanced in-person change-of-address transactions" in which customers can present an ID to verify it's really them. But the USPS website, since at least January, has already listed a requirement to show IDs. Yet, the fraud is still happening.
CBS2 asked the USPS what it is doing differently to ensure IDs are checked, and hasn't received an answer.
for more features.


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Acer Leap Ware wants to chill you out with stress-testing sensors
There are a lot of fitness trackers and smart watches out there and Acer is looking to be another one.
Acer's Leap Ware is going to be coming out this summer, and it's a fitness watch that promises a few extra health tracking tricks.
It has four additional metal sensors in additional to heart rate tracking.
What these are for is kind of unclear, but it looks like they could be tracking simulated blood pressure among other things.
The watch is not Android wear.
Instead it runs its own software that works with iOS and Android.
It has a reflective screen kind of like a pebble.
And it has IPX7 water resistance.
Instance if you're curios.
In addition to checking for stress and fatigue levels, Leapware also promises to check stamina, heart rate, and ultraviolet rays.
It has replaceable 20 millimeter wristbands and it even has a side LED flashlight.
It's about a $139, which is standard issue for fitness trackers.
Leapware hopes it'll do a little bit more but there's a lot of competition out there.
Nike's self-lacing sneaker will be worn in the NBA
A solar and heat-powered fitness watch? Yes, please
Huawei Watch GT bulks up on battery life, loses Wear OS
Montblanc Summit 2 smartwatch adds fitness and longer battery...
The Apple Watch Series 4 delivers on its fitness promises
Fitbit Charge 3 is here: Here's what's new
LG Watch W7 is a crazy mechanical-smartwatch blend
Elvie launches the next breast pump that makes pumping wearable
Polar's newest heart rate watch will last 40 hours with GPS
Qualcomm and Google's new WearOS smartwatches finally get better


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SHRI DEREK O`BRIEN (WEST BENGAL): Yes, Sir. We have 17 minutes with two speakers. We will manage, Sir.
MR. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN: Okay.
SHRI DEREK O`BRIEN: Sir, the Trinamool Congress and its leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee have been the original and unstinting crusaders in the matter of FDI. Other parties have, periodically, jumped on and off the issue and, more recently, some parties, we see, are converting their morning walks into afternoon walks in the Houses of Parliament.
Only the Trinamool Congress has a consistent, principled and steady, committed and a well considered opposition to FDI in multi-brand retail at this stage of India`s development.
SHRI DEREK O`BRIEN (CONTD.): Sir, these are not hollow words. This is a solemn commitment made in our promise to the people. Since our party was instituted in 1998, we have published seven election manifestos and in each one of them we have made this very clear. It is telling that the points and objections that the Trinamool raised in the context of FDI in retail over these many years and months are today being accepted and echoed by parties across the board. We feel vindicated in this regard, and even if a feckless Government chooses to ignore our reasoning and our requests, we are confident in our wisdom. The Land Acquisition (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill that is being drawn up also takes much from the arguments and hard reality that we have been attempting to bring to the forefront since 2006. This will be repeated with FDI in retail, the Congress be warned. The Trinamool is against a policy that sees India only as a market. Our economy cannot be an economy that promotes just consumption and neglects production. Unfortunately, over eight years, the Congress-led minority UPA Government, that has now been reduced to an irresponsible, nonchalant minority, has rejected this idea. The Trinamool is definitely not anti-reform. We reject what the Congress-led minority Government is doing today in the name of reform.
Genuine reform is not about raising FDI limits in this sector or the other. Genuine reform is not about raising diesel prices. Genuine reform is not about putting a cap on LPG cylinders and driving the housewife in Bankura to tears.
What is genuine reform? Genuine reform is about Government giving infrastructure a push. Genuine reform is about coal being used to generate power. Genuine reform is not about coal mines being handed over to political cronies!
Genuine reform is about roads and highways being built. Genuine reform is about modern, labour-friendly factories. Genuine reform is about manufacturing units being encouraged to open in India. Genuine reform is providing jobs. Genuine reform is about being true to the salt of India. What is happening in the name of reforms, Sir, is not genuine reform. We will tell you what is happening. What is happening is deform. This is a deformed Government which has long ceased to perform, a Government that is steeped in corruption, a Government whose credibility has reached an all-time low. So low, Sir, is the credibility of this Government that it seems to act only when prodded or instigated by international opinion. Indian aspirations don`t seem to bother. For this UPA FDI is no more, no less, than `foreign direct instructions`.
Sir, on the 4th of September, 2012, The Washington Post newspaper published an article on the hon. Prime Minister of our country, sitting here today. That article said, `A tragic figure leading a deflated regime`. Ten days later, on the 14th of September, the Government announces its FDI-in-retail misadventure. It took the Government ten days to react. Sir, it took the Trinamool Congress three days to react. By the 17th of September, we had made it clear that we would sacrifice six ministerial positions. We sacrificed our ministerial positions; we will not sacrifice our principles. Today, the Government says, allowing FDI in retail was a considered decision, taken after 10-12 years of debate. Was it 12 years or 10 days in September? Please be honest. I know, you can`t be honest with us. You can`t be honest with the people of India. You can`t be honest with yourselves. So, at least, be honest with The Washington Post, and admit, you only acted when it mocked you; maybe, send its editors a `Thank You` note and that would be honesty.
SHRI DEREK O’BRIEN (CONTD.): Sir, consider the Asian countries with a well-established global retail chain in their economy. Before they open up their markets, Sir, they equip their people to become sustainable stakeholders and build an infrastructure. Before FDI, Sir, there needs to be another ‘I’. But for the Congress-led minority Government, that is not the ‘Infrastructure’ which is the ‘I’, it has always been the personal pronoun ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘myself’. We are told today very often that FDI in retail is needed because Indian companies too are investing abroad. L.N. Mittal has bought Arcelor in France; GVK is buying coal mines in Australia. Do note that all these countries are allowing foreign capital after years and centuries of development. As such, foreign capital is not a threat to domestic economic stakeholders, but complements in matured economy. I will welcome FDI in retail the day Murshidabad silk products have an easy and ready market shops in Melbourne; I will welcome FDI retail the day Channapatnam toys can be sold to children in Calgary or the day the Jaipur foot will find seamless access to orthopaedic clinics in Jamaica. That would be an equal world.
Why, Sir, are we surrendering so easily? Opening up of the retail is the final and logical step of the developmentalprocess. The UPA Congress-led minority Government has made it the first step. It is almost like a property developer who has started decorating the drawing room without building the foundations of the building. Sir, there are several misperceptions and even myths about the benefits of FDI in retail. It is claimed that FDI in retail, and some of my colleagues have also raised that, will create shorter and efficient supply chain due to contract farming which will help agriculturists. The point is, Sir, in the West there is a monopsony situation. Retail giants control the entire supply chain. We are told that FDI in retail will eliminate the middlemen from agriculture, from farm to fork, as it were.
Sir, we have done a study of our retail chain. They don’t eliminate middlemen; they bring in their own middlemen. Each big retail chain buys from the farmer. That retail chain has an assessor, a processor, a scrutinizer, etc., and thanks to this Government we will learn these new nouns and will suffer with this new breed of middlemen in times to come. The Congress once spoke of import substitution; nowadays the Congress speaks of importing and substitution. There is a clause, Sir, which the Commerce Minister has been touting, I heard in the Lok Sabha yesterday, to source 30 per cent of manufactured goods from SMEs or small industrial units. There is a clause there. This is a strange and a bizarre clause, obviously written by someone who has little understanding how big retail operates. The point we make is, in Indonesia, in China, in South Korea, in Vietnam, big retail chains source their goods from these SMEs and then grow these SMEs into customized suppliers often incapable of in terms of legal provisions, of product lines to do business with alternative buyers. The question we ask is: What will happen when these companies grow too beyond SME? They will be dumped and their work will be penalized for no fault of their own. All the companies will be used to use fraudulent methods and officially divide their operations into smaller operations and then an inspector will come, visit and seek a bribe. In the name of reforms, we are actually reinventing the Licence Permit Raj. In conclusion, this is an astonishingly bad idea. But what else can be expected from a Government of ‘deform’ — ready to sell India not to the highest but to the lowest bidder. In country after country, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Argentina, Vietnam, the implication of FDI in retail being permitted has seen a depreciation in local currency, a surge in imports, the BoP worsens, crime rates increase. We, in Trinamool, fear that this could happen to India. This country is not yet ready for FDI in multi-brand retail. Much more than what is needed, the Government needs to be sensitive to HDI.
SHRI DEREK O`BRIEN (CONTD.): I am concluding, Sir. I said, `Not FDI but HDI (Human Development Index).` When a Government brushes aside HDI and embraces only FDI, Sir, it breaks a fundamental contract with the people. It becomes a burden on the people. This is what has happened. It is not just the opening up to the FDI in retail; it is actually selling India wholesale.
This Government needs to spare us this agony. This Government needs to go. India deserves better. Thank you, Sir.


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2 min read.Updated: 01 Jul 2022, 01:10 AM ISTJoseph De Avila, The Wall Street Journal
E-commerce giant says its virtual assistant needs less than one minute of an audio recording to mimic someone’s speech
Amazon.com Inc. is developing a voice-mimicking feature for its virtual assistant Alexa that replicates the speech of people alive and dead, joining other companies that are experimenting with creating digital memories of people after death.
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Blockchain.com announced this week that its cryptocurrency exchange is now open to Florida residents.
The exchange, which opened Wednesday, allows users to buy, sell, and earn interest on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and dozens of other digital assets.
Blockchain.com opened its exchange in 2011 and has facilitated more than $800 billion in transactions to date.
The company also announced that it has dozens of open jobs for Floridians to fill, now that it has finished moving its U.S. headquarters from New York to Miami.
Those interested in working for the growing cryptocurrency company can peruse open positions on a Florida-specific careers page.
As of Thursday, there are more than 70 openings spanning several career fields — the company is seeking professionals in data science, engineering, law, finance, marketing, communications and customer support.
Other hiring waves are planned for this year and next. When it announced would move to Florida, Blockchain.com said it planned to hire 100 full-time employees by the end of 2021 and another 200 next year. It also committed to making investments into local STEM programs.
“While the Miami Movement is all about building a city that lasts forever and works for everyone, it has stretched far beyond Miami,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said in a news release.
“I’m thrilled that our movement has encouraged tremendous innovation and investment in the entire state. I commend Blockchain.com for its continued hiring efforts and opening up its products so all 22 million Florida residents can now trade crypto, putting financial independence at our fingertips.”
Miami-Dade Beacon Council president and CEO Michael A. Finney added, “As a hub for innovation, cybersecurity and fintech, Miami-Dade is a natural fit for Blockchain.com. Our international business community offers the talent, partners and global connectivity that companies depend on for continued growth.
“We support Blockchain.com’s efforts to bring more crypto trading availability to Florida residents, and count on the high value, high growth jobs they bring to our community. Supporting job creation and the long-term prosperity of Miami-Dade residents and businesses is at the core of what we do as an organization, and Blockchain.com’s expansion is a valuable part of that growth.”


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Honey Prices Go Up by 20% in Bulgaria
Price of honey in Bulgaria has gone up by 20% because of the high mortality rate of honeybees, which reaches 60% and even 100% this year. According to beekeepers, about a third of the products on the market do not have the necessary qualities because they are mixed with Ukrainian and Chinese honey, reported the Bulgarian National Television.
Extremely high death rate in honeybee colonies has been recorded in the recent months across the country. The loss of bee families in Rousse, North of Bulgaria, on the Danube, is up to 100%. Beekeepers expected a significantly lower yield of bee products and the price of honey went up.
Beekeepers have already restored the destroyed population. Therefore, a new increase in honey prices is not expected, Ivan Kanev, a beekeeper, said.
The retail sales prices is between 8 and 13 BGN per kilogramme depending on the type of honey, he added.
Another problem is associated with the importation of honey from countries outside the European Union.
In the European Bee Week, experts in Brussels commented that 30% of the honey offered at the market does not have the necessary qualities.
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EAST MOLINE, Illinois -- A McDonald's of the future has made it's way to the Quad Cities.
The Avenue of the Cities location in East Moline unveiled it's remodeled restaurant and brand new touchscreen kiosks on Friday morning, December 1.
The new kiosks will allow customers to order without having to make a trip to the counter.
While some may think the addition eliminates jobs, East Moline McDonald's Owner Kevin Murphy says they've actually hired more employees due to a hostess being made available to help customers order.
This McDonald's is the first Quad Cities location to introduce the new kiosks.


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Ant Group unit AntChain has launched the first official cross-border blockchain-based transaction on Trusple, its new digital international trade and finance platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The new solution aims to make it easier for SMEs to obtain trade financing from several organizations. Through the use of blockchain technology, transactions are expected to be transparent and traceable as they will all be digitally recorded. According participating organizations on Trusple, this ability to track and trace successful transactions will create a “chain credit” that can be used by financial institutions to make informed decisions on a borrowing company’s credit-worthiness.
Presented at an event organized by Ant Group and Alipay, Trusple will work alongside five financial institutions, namely BNP Paribas, Citi, DBS, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered.
Member banks will offer payment guarantees for all goods traded on the platform, with the financing bank automatically dispatching payment to the seller once the buyer digitally acknowledges the receipt of goods on Trusple. This mitigates the risk of late payments and allows suppliers to enjoy greater predictability of cash flows, enabling them to optimize their working capital for strategic opportunities to grow their business.
“In the last few years, AntChain has been focusing on establishing industry benchmarks in various business scenarios to accelerate the connection between businesses on the blockchain network. We are pleased to announce today the launch of the Trusple platform with our international partners, which will support the efficient and convenient participation of SMEs in international trade,” says Guofei Jiang, president of advanced technology business group at Ant Group.
For years trade finance processes have relied on paper-based processes which are often susceptible to fraudulent activity. Thus the push for digitalization. Before the launch of Trusple, global financial hubs Hong Kong and Singapore have launched their own blockchain-based trade finance platforms, namely eTradeConnect and Networked Trade Platform respectively. In addition, there have been a segment of technology vendors that looked to digitalize trade documentation such letters of credit and bills of lading.


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United Airlines says it will stop issuing paper tickets in the United States by next July.
In the meantime, customers who want paper tickets to fly on United will have to pay an extra $20. The added charge goes into effect Thursday.
United converting entirely to electronic ticketing will save money and give customers less hassle at airports.
United is following several other airlines that already have decided to stop issuing paper tickets. The airline has been offering electronic ticketing since 1994 and a spokeswoman says about 70 percent of its customers use e-tickets now.
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


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Cometh year-end and you will tread into an all-new virtual world! Thanks to the innovative maneuvers of technology giants, Facebook and Valve who... ...http://www.topnews.in/battle-virtual-world-intensifies-oculusfacebook-or-valvehtc-2401612
Virtual reality has intrigued a lot of innovators over years. In 90s, Nintendo tried to make VR mainstream with its Virtual Boy gaming system.... ...http://www.abplive.in/gadget/2015/05/25/article598261.ece/Virtual-reality-headsets-to-watch-out-for
Two popular video gamers in black T-shirts posed as snipers wielding real semi-automatic guns at an outdoor range, blasting orbs of fruit and cups... ...http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/games/features/selling-young-on-gaming-fuel-694392
Wondering, how does it feel like being a cat? The new cat simulator answers all your queries. Developer Will Herring has created a simulator, 'My... ...http://www.sify.com/news/now-wreck-your-humans-night-with-this-cat-simulator-news-international-pfroJuhfccebg.html
David McNew/ Video games are more than just a past time - they can mean serious business. People are willing to pay a hefty price for nostalgia... ...http://www.businessinsider.in/RANKED-The-rarest-most-expensive-video-games-in-the-world/articleshow/47290601.cms?utm_source=ten_minutes_with&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=Content_Patnership
Whether you are looking to play Super...


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On the final day of the China-Africa Economics and Trade Exhibition, which took place from 27th to 29th June in the city of Changsha, another of the activities carried out by the Equatoguinean delegation was the visit to some industrial companies from the food and technology sector, in the presence of the Minister for Agriculture and forests, Nicolas Houtonji Acapo, and the Deputy Minister for Trade, Alberto Doria Lajai.
Houtonji Acapo welcomed the invitation, and appreciated the advances made by the companies and presented products from our country, while inviting them to join with the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, in order to develop the technology they have and increase productivity for our products.
According to the minister, the companies visited allow visiting countries to dream about what they want to achieve in their respective countries, as is the case of Equatorial Guinea, which is following the line of its national development strategy through the creation of small and medium-sized industries.
China continues to surprise its visitors, showing them that its cooperation with Africa is not only promises, but the search for a fruitful union in the win-win spirit.
Houtonji Acapo visited the fair, where he could appreciate the work done by the Equatoguinean delegation taking part, with the display of various products from our country seeking Chinese investors for export and commercialisation.
Source: Republic of Equatorial Guinea Embassy in People’s Republic of China Press Attache


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2011 Chevrolet Volt
After months of rumors suggesting that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt would start at around $40,000, General Motors has announced that the base price will be: $41,000, including the $720 destination fee.
Volt intenders who are looking to save a bit of cash should lease instead of buying, since the monthly payment will be $350 for a three-year lease with a $2,500 down payment. Compared to the 2011 Nissan Leaf, which has a lower purchase price, that monthly payment is only a dollar higher.
A federal electric-vehicle tax credit of $7,500 will apply to the Volt, but it goes to the lessor, not the buyer.
GM is offering such low lease prices because the company expects demand to outstrip supply for at least the first two years of production, keeping residual values high. Also, a 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty will help.
The Volt, which uses a gasoline engine to charge the electric motor that powers the vehicle, will be more expensive than the all-electric Leaf, which checks in at $32,780. Tax credits of $7,500 will be available to buyers of both the Leaf and Volt.
The Volt will offer only four options, including a premium trim package, a rear-view camera, parking assist, and premium polished wheels. A fully-loaded Volt will set buyers back $44,600 when the car starts arriving at dealers in November.
Interested? Go to GetMyVolt.com to register as a buyer.


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“The government is seeking to generate new activity in startup businesses and reduce unnecessary temporary layoffs,” Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Iselin Nybø, said in a press release.
The grant offers small and medium businesses a chance to apply for funding through Innovation Norway, the state-owned body with the aim of supporting and promoting Norway’s startup, technology and trade sectors.
“The programme aims to ensure the execution of projects in a development phase, despite a downturn in results and issues regarding liquidity,” Nybø said.
The government will also support jobs in the event, travel and services sector with an additional one billion kroner, 100 million euro. This funding will also be managed by Innovation Norway.
“We believe it’s important to support the necessary restructuring of businesses and ensure that the sectors most hard-hit by the pandemic are given a chance to develop their activities,” said CEO of Innovation Norway, Håkon Haugli, in a press release.
The two programmes are part of the government’s larger strategy to support Norway’s economy through the Covid-19 crisis with a total of 16.3 billion kroner. Parliament is scheduled to process the proposition on February 23rd, writes Innovation Norway.


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Maple Leaf Foods saw its net earnings from continuing operations rise to CA$18.7 million (US$1.43 million) during the third quarter of fiscal year 2015, rebounding well after experiencing a loss of CA$26.7 million during the third quarter of fiscal year 2014.
The Canadian meat, poultry and food company also reported for the quarter an adjusted earnings per share of CA$0.16, compared to a loss of CA$0.12 during the same quarter of fiscal year 2014.
Maple Leaf Foods is enjoying a return to profitability after nine consecutive quarters of losses as it replaced outdated processing facilities with modern, more efficient ones. Maple Leaf Foods’ last outdated processing plant went offline on April 30.
“We are making meaningful progress on eliminating inefficiencies driven by the ramp-up of our new facilities, though not at the pace we had hoped for,” said Michael McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods. “Delivering on our strategic margin goal of consistent double digits will be achieved through reaching stable end-state production in our network, which we expect will extend into 2016. Along with efficiency gains, we are launching a number of exciting initiatives, including a strong platform for more sustainable meat production, to deliver ongoing profitable growth.
The company had shown a move toward profitability during its second quarter of fiscal year 2015, ending with a net loss of CA$7.5 million, a year-over-year improvement of CA$32 million.


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We know how much you kids crave storage, and so for prospective Galaxy S3 buyers in India we bring good news. Until now, only the 16GB variant of the latest Samsung flagship have been available in the country. But, Samsung India is changing all that with the release of the 32GB version.
In stock now over on Samsung India's website, the 32GB Galaxy S3 is available in both the Metallic Blue and Ceramic White colors. Pricing is set at Rs.41500 (£476/$747) which is on the hefty side, but then we are talking a premium device and more available storage, and isn't a massive amount more than the 16GB S3.


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A BIT OF meteorological serendipity is responsible for a big change in this year’s Savannah Craft Brew Fest.
Inclement weather at last year’s edition forced all the usual outdoor beer tents and entertainment inside the Trade Center.
“We found out that people actually liked that better,” says event organizer Alex Colee of Red Mountain Entertainment.
“It’s usually really hot in Savannah over Labor Day weekend, and last year people could stay out of the heat. They said it felt like a more together, communal event. Also, it’s a lot easier on our volunteers not to have to work in that heat all day long,” Colee says.
However, you won’t be shut inside – you can still ramble the riverfront with your beer sampling glass in hand.
And while you’re outside you can enjoy the other big new addition to the Craft Brew Fest – food trucks.
“In surveys of attendees, one of the big things people suggested was adding food trucks,” Colee says.
There will be three at the Trade Center: Dark Shark Taco, Chazito’s, and the Squeaky Beaver.
“So we’ll have the actual event, with all the beer tastings, indoors, and the food trucks will be outside with seating,” Colee says.
A lot has changed in the craft beer world since the first Savannah Craft Brew Fest. Not only is there a huge proliferation of breweries – in some estimations glutting the market – but big breweries are now swallowing up many of the most successful ones.
“We see these changes in every market we go to,” says Colee, whose company runs many similar events throughout the South. “We try to include everybody, and really shine a light on the smaller breweries that are the heart of the craft beer movement.”
One of those larger national breweries, Sam Adams, actually has a long relationship with the Savannah Craft Brew Fest going back to day one.
“Sam Adams was at the forefront of the craft beer revolution,” Colee says. “They will be holding their Brew University again this year.”
In years past, the Brew Fest has tried to appeal to college football fans, who might be drawn to season opener games going on Labor Day weekend.
“Foothills Brewing and Terrapin Brewing will be sponsoring our sports bar area,” Colee says. “The Georgia Bulldogs actually don’t play until after the Brew Fest is over, but we’ll have all the other games streaming for folks to watch.”
VIP ticket holders will enjoy catering delights provided in full by BowTie Barbecue, a local establishment that is getting rave reviews.
“BowTie is doing all the food in our VIP area, and they’ll have wings, pork sliders, boiled peanuts, and even some green apple cole slaw!” says Colee.


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Medical services disruption escalates with 27 surgeries canceled
[Editorial] Deepfake risks in election
US unveils new major sanctions package for Russia's war against Ukraine, Navalny's death
[Robert J. Fouser] Turning Seoul’s dead streams into parks
Temple that housed book on Hangeul launches Hangeul awareness group
Celltrion, Nippon Kayaku to sell Rituxan biosimilar in JapanBy Sohn Ji-young
Published : April 27, 2017 - 15:36
Celltrion Healthcare, the marketing and sales subsidiary of Celltrion, and Nippon Kayaku have signed a partnership under which the Japanese drugmaker will sell Truxima in Japan.
Rituxan, also known as Mabthera, achieves sales of around 400 billion won ($354 million) in Japan annually. Celltrion and Nippon Kayaku plan to work on securing sufficient clinical trial records in Japan proving the safety and efficacy of Truxima, with aims to seek approval by local regulators. Celltrion has yet to announce an estimated filing timeline.
Nippon Kayaku is also Celltrion’s sales partner in the Japan market for two other biosimilars it has developed -- Remsima referencing Remicade and Herzuma referencing Herceptin.
Meanwhile, Celltrion filed Herzuma for approval by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare earlier this month. It expects to launch its Herceptin biosimilar in Japan next year.
By Sohn Ji-young (firstname.lastname@example.org)
Major hospitals experience disruptions as junior doctors' walkout enters 5th day
Parents of 7 first to receive W10m for childbirth in Seoul
FM Cho meets with UNESCO chief in Brazil


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We have one last Christmas, so make a Jenners pilgrimage - Stephen Jardine
In the newspaper archives, there is a photograph marking the end of an era. Taken in 1981, it shows a bemused student leaving the RW Forsyth department store on Princes Street as it closed it’s doors for the final time. That scruffy figure was me.
At the time, the shop seemed a bit quiet but I really thought no more about it. Yet as the door shut behind me and the flashlight popped, a chapter closed on the history of Princes Street.
Down the years many big department store names have disappeared from Edinburgh. Darling’s, Binns, Grants and Patrick Thomson’s are all gone and mostly forgotten but one name survived, until now.
The news that Jenners is to quit Princes Street feels like the final nail in the coffin for big retail in Edinburgh City Centre. Founded in 1838, a store that saw two queens, four kings, Crimea and two world wars just couldn’t survive the move to out of town retail and online shopping.
The departure of Jenners from Princes Street will be a sad moment, heavy with nostalgia for anyone linked to the city but it is also inevitable. The fate of the business was sealed the moment it was sold to House of Fraser and especially when Sports Direct ogre Mike Ashley took over.
In other hands it might have shaped a fresh future as a modern lifestyle store like Liberty on Regent Street in London.
But the combination of a labyrinthian layout and an owner who just wants to flog cheap cotton sports socks meant the business was on life support.
Seasoned observers watched the closure of the basement toy department last week and realised the writing was on the wall. Generations of Edinburgh adults will remember being taken there to see Santa as children and to marvel at the shelves groaning with toys that were out of reach in every sense.
Any shop shutting down it’s toy department with just four weeks until Christmas really was giving up the ghost.
If the grand old lady of Edinburgh shopping didn’t love herself, then why should any of the rest of us care about her ?
I suspect Jenners will now evolve into a smaller business selling cashmere scarves and tartan ties to rich visitors in a shiny new store with only monochrome photos on the walls commemorating what the name once represented.
Down on Princes Street, after yet another vast construction project, something new will emerge on the famous old site.
That is not a bad thing. As retail moves online, Edinburgh’s main thoroughfare couldn’t survive as a shopping street. Instead it’s future will be hospitality with hotels, cafes, restaurants and bars taking advantage of the breathtaking views to the castle.
But before that, we have one last Christmas. So make a pilgrimage to see the big old tree, buy some overpriced mince pies and wander aimlessly in search of a gift for that uncle you don’t really like. You’ll miss that experience once it’s gone.


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Majority of the Americans refuse to accept that they are overweight. According to a study published on Tuesday, 90% of the Americans know that most of their fellow men are overweight , but just 40% believe themselves to be too fat.
The statistics show that more that 60 percent of the U.S. population is overweight, and half is obese, meaning they are at serious risk of health effects from their weight. But in a telephone survey done by the Pew Research Centre, on more than 2,000 adults found that many people overestimate how tall they are and underestimate how much they weigh and do not rate themselves as overweight, even when though they might be.
The survey also found that some people appear to have given up on dieting to control their weight. One in four respondents in the survey feel that they are currently dieting, and roughly half (52%) claim that they have dieted at some point in their lives. In a poll taken 15 years ago, the percentage of adults who reported having ever dieted was slightly higher 57 % the report reads.
In the report, the survey finds that most Americans, including those who say they are overweight, seem to agree that it's the personal behaviour rather than genetic disposition or the marketing by food companies which is the main reason people are overweight. The survey finds that the public seems to feel that particularly the failure to get enough exercise is the most important reason, followed by a lack of willpower about what to eat. About half the public also says that the kinds of foods marketed at restaurants and grocery stores are a very important cause, and roughly a third say the same about the effect of genetics and heredity.


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Toyota Motor Corp. posted a 45-percent jump in sales in North America in the second quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012, to 598,000 vehicles, from 413,000 units in the same period in 2011. The company’s strong sales allowed the Japanese carmaker to double its operating profit in the region to JPY64.9 billion ($807.1 million) in its second fiscal quarter, from JPY32.5 billion in the same period in the last fiscal year.
The carmaker attributed its strong showing in its second fiscal quarter partly to increased output. In 2011, the company’s sales were heavily hit by lack of inventory as the carmaker was much affected by the quake that shook Japan in March that year. Toyota Executive Vice President Satoshi Ozawa said that the carmaker’s improved operating income in North America was a result of increased vehicle production and sales, despite the decreased contribution from financial services.
With the increasing demand for vehicles in the US and its normalizing supply chain, Toyota hiked its North American production by 42% to 391,000 vehicles in the quarter. Toyota’s strong showing in the region allowed it to mitigate its diving sales in China, where protest sparked by a territorial dispute with Japan resulted to lower demand.
Thanks to its performance in North America, Toyota has updated its full year 2012 forecast to reflect an increase in net profit expectation by 2.6% to JPY780 billion ($9.7 billion). The carmaker saw its net profit for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012 more than triple to JPY257.9 billion, thanks to strong sales in North America and Southeast Asia.
In October, Toyota posted a 16-percent year-on-year increase in sales in the US, allowing the carmaker and its Lexus luxury brand to grab 13.9% market share, up from 12.3% for the same period in 2012. In China, Toyota and its Chinese joint ventures logged a 49-percent and 44-percent year-on-year drop in sales in September and October 2012 respectively.


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DJI could be getting Oppo’s VOOC fast charging
Oppo have brought plenty of innovations to the Chinese smartphone market over the years and now one of their most loved might make its way in to the drone arena.
JJRC’s H31 is a very affordable ‘waterproof’ drone
The JJRC H31 is a waterproof drone that you can now get for under $30. Keep reading for more info!
Dobby Drone Update Brings “Follow Me” Mode
The Dobby Drone has been one of the most impressive pieces of Chinese tech I have owned for a good few years, and now the latest update makes the tiny UAV even better.
World first review with the Dobby foldable pocket drone!
A few months ago we posted some news about a new start up in China who were funding a mini foldable drone, well it’s been …
Beauty phone maker Mito working on new drone
Mito, the smartphone maker known for it’s smartphones with camera features are now rumoured to be working on a new type of drone.
Meet Dobby China’s first pocket drone
Chinese start-up Dobby are crowdfunding a drone in China that can fold up and fit in your pocket and will cost just $260.
Xiaomi Drone App makes a brief appearance online
Xiaomi drone rumours continue today with a purported iOS application showing up for download for a brief time before being taken down, but a few …
Chinese company launches smartwatch controlled drone, beats Xiaomi while at it
The Flypro XEagle is a Chinese drone that features smartwatch controls and more. Details inside!
Eachine’s new Falcon 180 FPV drone looks like one for the racers
Meet the new Falcon 180 FPV quadcopter, a racing drone on a budget.
Xiaomi Drone briefly listed online
Xiaomi’s rumoured drone made a surprise appearance in the menu of their online forums today.
First purported image taken with the Xiaomi drone
The first images purportedly taken from the Xiaomi quad-copter have surfaced, increasingly the likelihood of a launch next week.
Xiaomi’s drone leaks again with design and photo
Chinese site UAVNews, have managed to get their hands on an image and leaked photos of Xiaomi rumoured upcoming drone.
More details of Xiaomi’s ‘follow me’ drone
Last week patents of a rumours Xiaomi drone revealed a quad-copter which would be controlled by your Mi Band. Further details today show the drone will use your wearable for a ‘follow me’ feature.
Patent points to Xiaomi drone controlled by Mi Band!
There has been talk for sometime that Xiaomi might make a move to the drone market sometime this year, now a patent gives us some clue what to expect.
5 amazing pieces of outdoor tech from CES 2016
CES has been and gone and this year we saw a boom in tech just perfect for use outdoors. From drones to wearables, here are 5 of the top items from CES 2016.
Tencent are working on a folding app controlled selfie drone
China’s Tencent tech giant are working on a foldable drone designed for taking aerial selfies and controlled from your smartphone.
It’s time for drone fans to get excited! Xiaomi working on a UAV!
Phone maker, accessory maker and vendor of action cameras and even segway rival, Xiaomi are now rumoured to be working on their own range of low-cost drones! This is exciting!
GetOne’s offering some mini drones for $10 flat
After catching our attention with the Mi Band deals initially, GetOne has expanded its inventory with some new quadcopter and hexacopter deals, all at $10.


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“I would like you to choose Ahamo (of the new plan) as if it were a white T-shirt. It is a simple plan that is easy for digital natives to use as an individual.”
At the presentation of the new plan held on the 3rd, there was an unusual production that is not like DoCoMo, which is said to be “hard” among the three major companies. Ahamo’s target is “digital natives” in their 20s who grew up touching smartphones and SNS. At that very generation, two young male and female employees who were in charge of Ahamo for the third and fifth years of joining the company gave a presentation.
Mr. Motoyuki Ii, the president sent from NTT, took office on the 1st, two days before the presentation, and has just transitioned to the new system. At the end of December, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT, and DoCoMo is at a turning point. Two young employees wearing fashionable suits and floral dresses seemed to symbolize “Shinsei DoCoMo.”
However, the question and answer session after that was like DoCoMo.
Is it really the main brand?
When asked, “Did Ahamo come out from the bottom up of young employees?” President Ii said, “I didn’t say that young people wanted to make this. How can I get this layer from a management perspective? I thought about it. ” He left the specific examination, but said that the direction was decided by the upper management.
Ahamo has been delicately elaborated so as not to buy the anger of the Yoshihide Suga administration, which has requested the mobile industry to reduce prices immediately after its inauguration in September.
Initially, DoCoMo was an existing main store …


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Image via Crunchgear
The other day we caught word that Apple had filed a patent for a greenish feature on new iPods - solar panels. We talk about solar panels on gadgets often, with two main problems surfacing every time that take the steam out of this off-grid charging feature. First, who leaves their device just sitting in the sun? Second, how much more embodied energy and e-waste does that add to a device for a minimal return on the capabilities of that device? No one gets as enthusiastic about embedded solar cells as they do about external solar cells like the new solar skin for iPhones and iTouch devices. Well, Apple is certainly paying attention to what consumers want when it comes to novelty solar, and we know the company is always thinking about how to make iPods greener, but does that mean a new iPod device with solar charging?
Rumor. Crunchgear confirmed that it's just a rumor - Apple won't be adding a solar powered casing to iPods.
Is this a good thing? Probably for now. Beyond the two issues mentioned earlier, there's also the issue of how scratches would degrade the charging capabilities, making the device ever less efficient at gathering energy from available sunlight, how something like this would impact the recyclability of a device, and of course, how it would impact the price.
It doesn't seem like the technology is quite good enough for a perfectionist company like Apple to hop on board. But that doesn't mean we won't hear word about this again in the future.


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Russia's car and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) sales in February contracted for the first time in two years, dropping by 3.6% year-on-year and by 1.8% y/y in January-February overall to 0.133mn and 0.235mn units respectively, according to the latest data from the Association of European Businesses (AEB).
"For the first time in almost 2 years, market sales in February showed a – however small – downturn compared to the prior year result," the head of AEB Joerg Schreiber commented.
The sale of new cars grew for the second year in a row in 2018 after nearly five years of contraction. In 2017, the new car market grew by 12%, and in 2018 by 13% to 1.8mn vehicles.
As for the slip in February, for the AEB is was, "not entirely unexpected" as the consumer confidence has been in decline for several months now. Consumer confidence dropped sharply in January to crisis-years levels.
"The key question is where the market is headed in the coming few months – back to stability and growth or in the opposite direction," the report asks, noting that the present outlook is not too strong. AEB also warned that recently announced government measures in support of car purchases, e.g. for young families, are too limited in scope to make a fundamental difference to the overall market.
Previously the sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia in 2019 were forecasted to grow by 3.6% to 1.87mn units, according to AEB.


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Microsoft has asked users not to install the buggy Windows 10 Creators Update if they want a stable computer. This year’s biggest update to Windows was rolled out just two weeks ago. However, now the company is asking users to stop fetching and installing the code manually and wait for the automatic update.
Older systems most likely to encounter problems
Problems are more likely to be encountered in older systems, which may not be able to handle the Creators update. Microsoft has started updating the latest kits first because such hardware is apparently less likely to face issues. It has also stopped offering the latest Windows 10 upgrade to computers that may break down, notes The Register.
Although the Windows 10 Creator update went live on April 11, some users got the update as early as April 5 with the help of Update Assistant, which can download and install the update quickly and efficiently. When the company offers an automatic update to newer machines, it has control over it and can resolve issues. But computers running the Update Assistant make it difficult for it to pick up on problems.
At this year's SALT New York conference, Wences Casares, the chairman of XAPO, and Peter Briger, the principal and co-chief executive officer of Fortress Investment Group discussed the macro case for Bitcoin. Q2 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more XAPO describes itself as the first digital bank of its kind, which offers the "convenience" Read More
Microsoft wants users to wait
In a blog post, John Cable, director of program management for Windows Servicing and Delivery, issued a warning.
“We continue to recommend (unless you’re an advanced user who is prepared to work through some issues) that you wait until the Windows 10 Creators Update is automatically offered to you,” he said.
Cable does not outright say that users should not use the Update Assistant. He gave an example of a Bluetooth accessory connectivity issue with PCs that have a specific series of Broadcom radios and face issues in connectivity. After realizing the issue, the company took steps to block the additional devices with those specific Bluetooth radios from updating. After a solution is available, Microsoft will unblock it for those users.
Ideally, Microsoft would want users to wait, but if they are impatient and install it themselves, then the company wants them to post about the problems they come across after the installation.
What the Windows 10 Creator update offers
The Windows 10 Creator update took center stage for the interesting features it came up with. One of the most talked-about features was the presence of the 3D paint app. Further, there is a Game Mode for optimizing PC settings and additional gaming features that allow for an Xbox-like experience on the Windows platform.
Further, Microsoft, which often finds itself on the receiving end when it comes to privacy issues, has promised to tweak the privacy features. Not only is the company offering revised privacy controls, but Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Windows and Device Group at Microsoft, stated that the operating system will be more transparent on how controls affect a user’s data.
“With both short descriptions about each privacy setting and a ‘Learn More’ button, we are committed to making information about your privacy choices easy to access and understand,” Myerson said.


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Riverside Furniture to invest $5.4 million in N.C. warehouse, distribution center
HIGH POINT – Case goods resource Riverside Furniture Corp. is investing $5.4 million in a new warehouse and distribution center about 60 miles northeast of High Point in Caswell County. The project will result in about 50 new jobs for the area, according to an announcement made Friday by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The 300,000 square-foot facility is expected to reduce lead time s for the company’s retailers on the Eastern Seaboard, according to the statement.
The project occurs as the company is also renovating the former YMCA building in downtown High Point for a new showroom and year-round product development center expected to open in time for the April High Point Market. The company is spending a total of about $15 million on both projects.
“Riverside’s investment in North Carolina, including both the new High Point showroom and the Caswell County distribution center, is a combined $15 million, which is a reflection of our growth as a company and the expansion of service to our customer base,” said Fred Henjes, President and CEO of Riverside. “Because the distribution center is situated on 50 acres of land, the campus will give us the ability to expand.”
For the Caswell County expansion, the company is receiving a performance based grant of $150,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. Companies must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for these funds. The grants also require a matching grant from local governments.
New positions at the facility include shipping and receiving personnel, forklift operators and warehouse supervisors.
“Growing companies know they can succeed with North Carolina’s skilled workforce, location and infrastructure to support their distribution operations,” said N.C. Governor Roy Cooper in announcing the project. “Riverside Furniture’s increased presence fits with North Carolina’s reputation as the furniture capital of the world.”
I’m Tom Russell and have worked at Furniture/Today since August 2003. Since then, I have covered the international side of the business from a logistics and sourcing standpoint. Since then, I also have visited several furniture trade shows and manufacturing plants in Asia, which has helped me gain perspective about the industry in that part of the world. As I continue covering the import side of the business, I look forward to building on that knowledge base through conversations with industry officials and future overseas plant tours. From time to time, I will file news and other industry perspectives online and, as always, welcome your response to these Web postings.