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GTA 5 Online down and Red Dead Online down reports are coming in at the moment as Rockstar Games fans have been hit with issues.
Independent outage monitor Down Detector has received a surge of GTA 5 Online and Red Dead Online down reports today.
Out of those affected, some 88 per cent of GTA 5 Online players have been hit by online play issues.
While some 92 per cent of Red Dead Online players have also been hit by server connection issues.
As the reported Rockstar Games server problems hit GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 players took to social networking site Twitter.
One tweeted: “@RockstarGames gta servers are down”.
Another posted: “@RockstarSupport GTA online Xbox One servers not working for me and my friends.”
One added: “@RockstarSupport the red dead servers are down!”
And another wrote: “@RockstarGames Why are red dead servers down?”
The Red Dead Online and GTA 5 Online server issues come after Red Dead Redemption 2 got a major patch earlier this week.
The Red Dead Redemption 2 summer update was launched on Tuesday, bringing with it three brand new character types.
The ability to change existing characters’ appearances was also finally added.
• Stay tuned to Express.co.uk for more Red Dead and GTA news


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Nvidia’s Crypto Mining Chip Sales Continue to Fall Sharply
The chipmaker’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue from its Cryptocurrency Mining Processors (CMP) tumbled 77% from the previous quarter.
Chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) Cryptocurrency Mining Processors (CMP) revenue fell to $24 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ending Jan. 30, a 77% decline from $105 million in the previous quarter, according to its filings.
- Nvidia announced the introduction of crypto-specific CMPs in February of last year as a way of protecting sales of its flagship GPUs for gamers.
- In the second quarter of last year, Nvidia said its CMP unit generated revenue of $266 million.
- The company noted on Wednesday that while its regular GPUs are capable of cryptocurrency mining, it has limited visibility into how much mining impacts its overall GPU demand.
- Last year, Nvidia introduced hashrate limiters for its flagship GeForce GPUs to keep more products available for gamers.
- In a recent conference hosted by a Wall Street investment bank Needham, Nvidia said that almost all of its Ampere-based products will incorporate a hashrate limiter to deter crypto miners from using those products for mining.
- Meanwhile, Nvidia’s rival Intel (INTC) launched its own crypto mining-specific chips earlier this month, noting that mining firms Argo Blockchain (ARBK) and Griid Infrastructure, as well as Jack Dorsey-led Block (SQ), will receive the chipmaker's first mining chips later this year.
- Nvidia’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.32, beating the consensus analyst estimate of $1.23, according to FactSet data. Its quarterly revenue of $7.64 billion also beat estimates of $7.42 billion.
- Nvidia’s shares were down about 1% in post-market trading on Wednesday.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.

domain: news


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Just stick your newly purchased bulbs in a cool, dark and dry place in your garage for the next several weeks. Master gardener Ed Buyarski says the bulbs will need to finish drying out before they’re planted in late September, October, or early November.
“If we plant them too early, they can start growing roots too early and may start to sprout too early,” Buyarski says.
“Each time that they get frosted back and some die back happens, those bulbs are using energy to grow new leaves,” Buyarski says. “If they use enough energy, then those plants are quite stunted and don’t flower as well as we would like them to.”
He recommends storing bulbs in 40 to 50 degree temperatures, and in paper bags, mesh bags, or plastic bags that have been left open to allow for oxygen circulation.
Listen to the Gardentalk segment that aired during KTOO’s Morning Edition on September 10:


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British retail icon M&S has issued a bleak update to food and clothing shoppers ahead of the Christmas.
The retail giant said it would announce a rise in costs today, which would increase prices for customers.
M&S management last week also said the firm was experiencing stock delays of around three weeks, according to notes from an investor event.
The firm said this was in line with other retailers, though chief executive Steve Rowe said “considerable challenges in the supply chain remain”.
On November 10th, Marks & Spencer increased its annual profits outlook for the second time in less than three months after a sales rebound.
But the chain store warned over surging costs and disruption due to supply chain issues.
The retail giant saw underlying pre-tax profits jump to £269.4 million in the six months to October 2 against losses of £17.4 million a year earlier at the height of the pandemic, and up 52.8% on two years ago before Covid-19 struck.
The group said it expects full-year underlying profits to beat expectations, now guiding for around £500 million – having already upgraded its guidance in late August to above £350 million.
This comes despite warnings over “significant” supply chain cost rises over the second half, which it said will continue into the new financial year.
M&S said it is increasing pay to attract and retain workers, “which will put pressure on costs in the remainder of our financial year”.
But it said the food arm is “well placed” for the challenges.
It added that profits are still set to top expectations, with the trading rebound continuing into the second half so far.
“We expect the strong demand relating both to the bounce-back and improved customer perception to be sustained in the near term,” the group said.
The firm has been buoyed by pent-up consumer demand since reopening its clothing and home stores following lockdown measures, but it also cheered signs that its turnaround plan is also starting to pay off.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said the “hard yards of driving long-term change are beginning to be borne out in our performance”.
“Given the history of M&S we’ve been clear that we won’t overclaim our progress,” he said.
“Unpacking the numbers isn’t a linear exercise and we’ve called out the Covid bounce-back tailwinds, as well as the headwinds from the pandemic, supply chain and Brexit, some of which will continue into next year.
“But, thanks to the hard work of our colleagues, it is clear that underlying performance is improving.”
Its first-half earnings boost came after sales rebounded by 10.4 per cent on a two-year basis in the food business, while clothing and home sales fell one per cent, but lifted in the second quarter.
Full-price clothing and home sales also leapt 17.3 per cent higher after M&S made its ranges more focused, reducing promotions and selling a substantially smaller summer range as part of its strategy shake-up.
Shares soared more than 15 per cent in morning trading.
The chain said it is battling amid shortages for lorry drivers, warehouse and supplier staff, which is particularly affecting its Ocado Retail joint venture.


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Cheap gaming monitor
After the news that the Zen 3 chip will be incompatible with the AMD B450 and X470 chipsets, AMD announced that it is now working to ensure that the next-generation chips are compatible with the chipset.
In a post on AMD's official subreddit, the chip giant explained that it listened to comments after the recent announcement and carefully reviewed videos, comments and tweets on the subject. AMD pointed out that Socket AM4 users obviously want a longer upgrade path, especially the Zen 3 series.
Although its so-called "considerable technical challenge" is related to the functional limitations of SPI ROM ROM. For most AMD 400 series motherboards, AMD is changing its initial decision to cut support for AMD X570 and B550 motherboards, and allows "one-way upgrades to increase processor support for B450 and X470 customers. Those with'Zen 3'architecture The next generation of AMD Ryzen changes. However, AMD has developed a plan to ensure that B450 and X470 motherboards are compatible with Zen 3.
AMD will develop code to support the Zen 3 chip in select beta BIOSes on AMD B450 and X470 motherboards. These updates will remove support for the existing Ryzen CPU to free up enough ROM space for the Zen 3 chip. They will provide a "one-way upgrade path", meaning that once updated, the motherboard will no longer support older BIOS versions.
Additionally, to avoid complicating consumer issues, these updates are only available to 400 series motherboard owners who have verified the purchase of Zen 3 processors. The rationale is that this will avoid the situation where the owner you do not have a boot processor available when updating the BIOS.
AMD pointed out that the delivery of necessary BIOS updates may vary and may not arrive in time for the release of the Zen 3 chip.
Despite this consumer-friendly change, AMD stated that Zen 3 will be the next generation to support 400 series motherboards, and any future CPU version will require a new motherboard to run.
As AMD said, there are still many details to be resolved, but the company is eager to guarantee this upgrade path for owners of B450 and X470 motherboards. With the launch of the Zen 3.
processor, AMD promises to provide more news and detailed guidance.


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Today in headlines you never thought you would read: Some of the world’s biggest heavy metal bands are getting behind the international cycling movement and releasing official road bikes and BMX bikes adorned with their band logos.
“We couldn’t think of a bigger way to celebrate our 10th year as a brand than teaming up with Slayer to create some of the most badass BMX bikes ever seen. I am stoked, and frankly still blown away to introduce you to the Subrosa/Slayer Collaboration,” Ryan Sher, Subrosa’s brand manager, said in a statement announcing the line’s release at the end of last month. “BMX has always had love for metal. Whether it’s in the headphones of riders ripping through town, background music during a contest run, or the soundtrack to some of the most famous and influential video parts, Slayer has been a huge piece of it all.”
The four designs (ranging from $200-$800) include a road bike, two separate sized BMX designs and a BMX design for kids. They also feature blood-splattered artwork and the words “Still reigning” (a reference to Slayer’s seminal Reign in Blood album) on the bike frame, which is perhaps slightly unnerving on a bike meant to take riders soaring through the air.
Not to be outdone by their American counterparts, the German heavy metal band Rammstein also released a road bike with Schindelhauerbikes in Berlin to create 100 limited edition, all-black road bikes which it will sell on the band’s website for roughly $1,850. The band claims the bikes offer “specially designed frame geometry and innovative technology” fused with “purist Rammstein design.”
So there you have it. Cycling is officially a metal sport.
More from GrindTV
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!


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A BUSINESS-OWNER has accused police of driving away customers after he was ticketed – just yards outside his own shop.
Ben Phillips was left fuming when he found two Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) dishing out a £30 fine for illegal parking last Wednesday.
But Ben, who runs the Foot Clinic on Nolton Street, Bridgend, with his mother Maria, says he was simply unloading stock from the boot of his car which was in a clearly marked loading bay.
“They’re driving away business from Bridgend,” said Ben, 20. “We’re investing thousands in marketing and we just feel ‘what is the point?’
“It’s ridiculous because this is our store and we are providing brands for the town like Hunter.
“Everywhere else in town is full of charity shops, card shops and phone shops.
“Our main bugbear is that I’ve been booked when I’m paying £13,000 in rates every year.”
Ben says the Foot Clinic is Wales’ largest private clinic and has more than 13,000 registered patients but some are afraid of over zealous car parking enforcement.
He said: “People and customers are being put off, we are getting fewer and fewer customers and people who say they won’t come in because they think they will be booked.
A spokesman for South Wales Police would not comment on the case but said a full appeals procedure was available.


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Did you know Canada.. according to a new study by comScore Inc. and being reported by many news sources - Canadians spend more time online than any other country.
ComScore reports around 68 per cent of Canadians routinely access the net compared to 62 per cent in France to just 59 per cent of Americans. So with an average of 43.5 hours per month, the new study finds nobody spends more time online than Canadians.
What's everybody doing? Well according to Google in Canada, YouTube per capita consumption of video is No. 1 in the world! Also, around 51 per cent of Canadians have Facebook accounts. While Twitter is not quite as popular Canadian female Twitter users are more active than male Twitter users. Canadians also love Wikipedia - the average Canadian reading 16 pages a month, which is the most in the world. We also love our eReaders supporting Canadian company - Kobo.
Where else do you think Canadians are spending their time online?
Source: comScore, Globe & Mail, canada.com, 660 News


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UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly In July
(RTTNews) - UK consumer price inflation accelerated unexpected in July, exceeding the central bank's 2 percent target, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Wednesday.
Consumer prices climbed 2.1 percent year-on-year in July, faster than the 2 percent increase in June. Inflation was forecast to slow to 1.9 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained flat, while prices were expected to drop 0.1 percent.
Another report from ONS showed that output price inflation climbed to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent in June. The rate was larger than the expected 1.7 percent. The annual rate has remained positive since July 2016.
On a monthly basis, output prices gained 0.3 percent compared to a forecast of 0.1 percent rise. Prices had dropped 0.1 percent in June.
At the same time, input price inflation rose to 1.3 percent from 0.3 percent in June. Economists had forecast prices to rise again by 0.3 percent. On month, input prices advanced 0.9 percent, offsetting June's 0.8 percent fall. In a separate communique, the ONS said average house prices increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in June, the same rate as seen in May.
The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices fell 2.7 percent from last year.
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Latest about 5G Networks
Half of iPhone owners think they already have access to 5G and carriers should be ashamed
By Oliver Haslam published
A new study found that 49% of iPhone owners thought they had a 5G handset and a massive 29% of all smartphone owners say they've no idea if they do or not.
Why 5G will make the iPhone 12 so expensive
By Bryan M Wolfe last updated
The introduction of 5G on at least one of this year's iPhones is likely to push the price higher. There are several factors for this as you can see here.
Why iPhone 11 doesn't have 5G
By Rene Ritchie last updated
If you think Apple dropped the ball on including 5G in its newest line of iPhones, you're wrong.
A 5G network owned by the United States government? It's not going to happen.
By Derek Kessler last updated
A new report claims the US government has a proposal to create a government-owned 5G network. This... seems very unlikely to actually happen for so many reasons.
Our news, reviews, opinions, and easy to follow guides can turn any iPhone owner into an Apple aficionado
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Switzerland's Pioneering Approach: Navigating Cannabis Legislation through Pilot Projects
Switzerland is conducting an intriguing experiment with its public policy. In May 2021, a change to the Federal Narcotics Act allowed for the testing of cannabis commerce for adults in pilot projects. These tests have started in cities like Basel and Zurich.
The purpose of these pilot projects is to collect data on consumer behavior and commerce at a local level. This information is intended to assist lawmakers and regulators in developing comprehensive national policies and regulations.
While these projects in Switzerland have a limited reach, participants can legally use cannabis within the program's guidelines. So far, Basel and Zurich have not reported any problems, and the initiative is expanding to include Bern and Biel. According to Nau, registrations for these new locations began recently, with the University of Bern overseeing the distribution of various cannabis products through selected pharmacies starting February 2024. For security reasons, the names of these pharmacies are kept confidential.
With around 1,000 participants across Bern, Biel, and Lucerne, the scale of Switzerland's pilot program is relatively small compared to its population of over 8 million. Nevertheless, the legal purchase of recreational cannabis in Switzerland marks a significant step forward. The expansion of pilot programs is a positive development, although it raises concerns that lawmakers may use these tests as a reason to postpone the implementation of nationwide laws. The impact of these pilot projects on Switzerland's national legislation will become clearer over time.
This article is from: International CBC


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Our concierge family practice doctors at MD 2.0 in Jupiter understand that old traditions die hard, especially if it’s something learned from our parents, who learned it from their parents, and so on. But if you’re one of those who steadfastly wash your chicken before you cook it, we’d like to try to convince you to stop doing that, for the sake of your health.
Most chicken is contaminated
One test by Consumer Reports (CR) found that 97 percent of raw chicken breasts contained potentially harmful bacteria, primarily salmonella and campylobacter. Together, these two contaminants are estimated to cause nearly two million cases of food poisoning in the U.S. every year.
Campylobacter is one of the top four causes of diarrhea around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that salmonella contamination is responsible for approximately 1.2 million illnesses in the U.S. every year, along with 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths.
This may lead you to believe that the practice of washing your meat before you cook it is a good idea. Unfortunately, the opposite is true.
Julia Child got it wrong
Whether it comes from parental training, or from many popular TV chefs, including Julia Child, or even from your own intuition, the practice of rinsing chicken before roasting it will not do anything to remove the bacteria it contains. In fact, giving your chicken (or turkey) a bath before cooking has just the opposite effect, with tests showing the bacteria on the bird become aerosolized—that is, turned into tiny droplets—which spread around the kitchen to distances of up to three feet.
That’s why the CDC warns, “Don’t wash your raw chicken! Washing can spread germs from the chicken to other food or utensils in the kitchen.” Not to mention onto your skin, hair, and clothing.
Still not convinced? The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently conducted a study in a test kitchen. Nearly 300 subjects were told to prepare a chicken dinner and salad the way they did at home.
CR reports: “For those who washed the chicken, 60 percent had bacteria in the sink afterward; 14 percent still had bacteria in the sink after cleaning it. And 26 percent of them transferred bacteria to the salad they were preparing, compared with 20 percent of those who didn’t wash.”
So why do people do it?
It’s difficult to break some people of the practice. Some, as we said, have been trained to do it, and it seems to make a certain amount of sense to them.
Others are mindful of the way chickens are processed these days, with speed the ultimate goal in slaughtering, inspecting, and cutting up chickens, which includes only a visual inspection, not testing for any type of contamination. Thus they believe washing a bird is a necessity.
Others wash to remove what they term the “ick,” either pieces of entrails or other innards remaining on the bird, or a slimy feeling.
Dr. Jennifer Quinlan, an associate professor at Drexel University in the Department of Nutrition Sciences, has been campaigning against washing poultry for several years, ever since she completed a USDA-funded study on the topic.
“If you wash it, you’re more likely to spray bacteria all over the kitchen and yourself,” she says, adding that rinsing with water won’t kill the bacteria anyway. And, she told NPR, “If your chicken is so slimy that it needs washing, something is wrong.”
What to do instead?
If your chicken has visible signs of foreign matter, you can wipe it away with a clean paper towel. Otherwise, proper cooking is the only effective way to destroy bacteria.
The CDC recommends the following steps to prevent food poisoning:
- Place chicken in a disposable bag before putting the package in your shopping cart or refrigerator to prevent raw juices from contaminating other foods.
- Wash hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling chicken.
- Use a separate cutting board for raw chicken, and wash it, along with other utensils, dishes, and countertops with hot soapy water after preparing chicken and before preparing anything else.
- Use a food thermometer to ensure chicken is cooked to a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Refrigerate or freeze leftover chicken within two hours of cooking (or one hour if the temperature outside is higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit).
Call us if you suspect food poisoning accompanied by any of the following symptoms:
- high fever (more than 102 degrees Fahrenheit);
- diarrhea for more than three days;
- bloody stools;
- prolonged vomiting, especially if it prevents keeping liquids down; or,
- signs of dehydration: little urine, dry mouth and throat, dizziness on standing.
Those more likely to be susceptible to food poisoning include children under age five, adults ages 65 and older, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women.
Food poisoning can be dangerous, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.


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Nokia when came in association with HMD Globals have launched a whole new Android smartphone series and they picked randomly some numbers. So the smartphones they launched with Nokia are, Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, Nokia 8. Now to fill the remaining numbers, Nokia 7 will be launched in a couple of weeks and Nokia 9 will be unleashed later. But what about Nokia 2 and Nokia 4?
Well, we have got some answers for you all. Nokia will soon be launching Nokia 2 as it gets Bluetooth certification for Bluetooth hardware and software. Maybe, some days later, HMD Globals would take care of Nokia 4 as well, but as of now, we really don't know when this will happen. But for now, let's have a look at Nokia 2 as well:
Nokia 2 Certified by Bluetooth SIG:
The Nokia 2 smartphone has been certified by the Bluetooth SIG. The listing doesn't reveal much about the device, except confirming the Nokia 2 moniker and revealing that multiple versions of the device exist.
Nokia 2 Leaked Specifications:
The entry-level handset is expected to be
powered by a Snapdragon 210 or 212 chipset
Nokia 2 would probably contain a 4,000mAh battery.
It is also said to feature onscreen buttons.
Nokia 2 Expected Price:
The phone has already been certified by regulators in Russia. It was even recently spotted listed on a US retailer's website for a brief period, revealing a $99 price tag. It is expected to go official sometime next month. So, in India, it would be around Rs.4000-Rs.5000


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The video, posted on Facebook by eBlockwatch founder Andre Snyman, shows a man and woman approaching the door of the store, ringing the bell, and as they enter the store, the woman is seen holding the door open while fiddling with her shoe, Sandton Chronicle reported.
The suspects had allegedly scouted the jewellery store a few days prior to the robbery.
Shortly afterwards, a man believed to be an employee of the store is seen running towards the door. He is then followed by the suspects into the store at about 10.30am, who appear to be forcing him in at gunpoint.
A fourth suspect then enters the store and closes the door.
The video does not show how the robbery ended or what the suspects stole.
Randburg police spokesperson Warrant Officer Johannes Maja said a case of alleged business robbery has been opened and police have launched a manhunt for five armed suspects who stole an undisclosed amount of jewellery from the store.
Investigations are ongoing.
Last month, overall-clad men were caught on camera robbing a jewellery store in Cape Town’s Blue Route Mall.
The video shows terrified shoppers scurrying away and taking cover as a group of about nine men, armed with handguns and hammers, storm into the mall.
The suspects then proceed to smash the display cabinets of a jewellery stall with hammers before placing items of jewellery into bags.
Later, the suspects are seen doing the same thing inside the Harris & D’arcy jewellery store.
Police spokesperson Frederick Van Wyk confirmed no shots were fired and added the suspects made off with jewellery valued at an undisclosed amount.
– Caxton News Service


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A landmark deal between the U.S.’ biggest theatre chain and one of its biggest media companies sent shock waves through the film and entertainment industry. Anthony Okolie speaks with Andriy Yastreb, Telecom and Media Analyst at TD Asset Management, about how these decisions could reshape streaming video services.
- Several changes that impact the movie theater industry happened in recent weeks. First, AMC and Universal struck a landmark distribution deal. And the second, Disney decided to move a major movie release, Mulan, to streaming premium video on demand. Joining me is Andriy Yastreb, telecom and media analyst with TD Asset Management, to talk about the implications of these decisions for the film and entertainment industry. Andriy, first talk to us about the Universal and AMC deal. Specifically, what does this mean for new movie releases and premium video on demand, or PVOD?
- Hi, Tony. Thanks for having me. So as you noted, a few weeks ago, Universal and AMC announced a big deal where they decided that for some movies, Universal will have an option to shorten the theatrical window to just 17 days, so roughly three weekends. And they will basically have an option to do that, and that is granted by AMC.
It's a big change for the industry, because historically, the exclusive theatrical window would run up to three months, not three weeks. And after that only, movies would move to DVD and other distribution channels. So this deal means that a lot of movies will show up on digital platforms a lot sooner than they used to.
- And so from a consumer's perspective, why might video on demand be an attractive option versus going into the movie theaters?
- Well, first of all, for a lot of customers, it will be a lot cheaper. If you think about a family of three, you going to movies means spending $30 or so on tickets, plus $10 or more likely $20 on popcorn and drinks. So if you go to movies, it's about $50 or more an expense. If you decide instead to rent a movie as it's available on PVOD platform, those rentals are usually $20 or $30 for two-day rental.
And obviously, large family will be able to save money. And then there's also another aspect of it that when you watch a PVOD movie, you can watch it from your cell phone in your living room. And during COVID's environment, obviously it means that people don't have to get exposed to potential danger, right, when they would go to movie theaters.
- And as you mentioned, this deal signals a significant change in the way we view movies. Why did AMC do this deal now?
- Well, I think the main trigger was COVID specifically because obviously a lot of movie theaters were closed. There's still uncertainty of what will happen later as a potential second wave. And AMC looked at it as an opportunity to get another revenue stream because they both share some of the revenue from PVOD rentals. Second part of it is that the 17-day option for exclusive theatrical windows, that's just an option.
If a movie is doing really well in box office, then Universal will continue to have that movie in the movie theaters. And finally, the point is that, historically, about 70% or 80% of revenue from box office was generated within the first three weeks of a release of a film, and the consumers want to watch it when it's new. And that implies that from that perspective, AMC is not giving up that much in this deal.
- And what about Disney? Because we hear a lot about Disney and its streaming channel. Of course, it's going to be releasing its live action Mulan film through its streaming channel Disney+ for an additional fee. Do you see them pursuing a separate strategy or different strategy from Universal?
- I think in this case, Disney is just testing the waters and trying to see how things can develop in the PVOD world. So Mulan was originally scheduled to be released in March. It was delayed and now will be released as PVOD on Disney+ platform. And from Disney's perspective, a movie such as Mulan would historically have a box office revenue in total of about $500 million, plus/minus. And Disney would get slightly more than half of that, and the other half would go to the movie theaters.
In this case, Disney is pricing it at $30 pay-per-view in the US, and Disney has already over 60 million Disney+ subscribers. So if, let's say, 10 million of those subscribers choose to watch that movie, that means $300 million of gross proceeds to Disney, which would be quite similar to what they would get from movie theaters.
And that's an interesting option for Disney here because if there's more than 10 million subscribers that pay $30 to watch this movie as it gets released on digital platform, then there's potential upside for Disney to make more money relative to release the movie into theaters. And if that's the case, then over time, we'll see more movies being released digitally versus released in theaters.
- So I think that leads me to my last question. So given what we know today, what's your outlook for theater stocks, movie theater stocks?
- Well, I think there are several interesting impacts here. So in the short term, we obviously have the impact from COVID. And in areas that were most impacted by COVID is that movie theaters were among the first ones to be shut down, and they're also among the last ones to be reopened because they are not really essential businesses. So there's a lot of uncertainty in the short term.
And from long-term perspective, I think another really important development here, that the balance of power within this relationship between movie theaters and studios is changing. So studios realize that they can release profitably movies on digital platforms and make some relatively similar money to what they were making in box office, so they don't rely on movie theaters as much as they used to.
But the opposite is true for theaters. They still rely on new movie releases. And without new movie releases, they cannot attract the crowds that they used to have. So I think overall what we will see is that we will see more volatility in the short term, and it will depend on how the situation with COVID develops, if you have some second wave or not.
But another part of it is that over time, there is a issue with changing power within this dynamic. And for now, we have some good news because more movie theaters in North America have been reopened in recent weeks and in coming weeks as well. And on top of that, the demand from consumers so far seems to be quite positive.
- Andriy, thank you very much for your time.
- Thank you for having me, Tony.


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Today's the calm before the iPhone 6 storm so we're getting our predictions out early! Plus, we'll talk about identifying Jack the Ripper 126 years too late and the developing NFL Microsoft Surface-gate!
The Cooks Essentials Dual Bread Maker can bake two different loaves of bread at the same time. Or the same loaf over and over again.
It cooks, it mixes, it blends, chops and stirs. But was the Kenwood Cooking Chef worth the wait?
day on the job For Tout director of community and content Gardner Loulan, a normal day can mean shooting music videos, providing customer service, and rushing off to show NFL players how to use the startup's micro-video service.
The founder of Microsoft's Chinese research group, who Microsoft sued in a failed attempt to prevent from joining Google, has just published an English translation of his Chinese book, "Making A World Of Difference."
CNET remembers the key milestones in Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' life. The tech luminary passed away today at the age of 56.
The Automatic Fresh Pasta Maker at Hammacher Schlemmer offers an easy way to make a variety of pasta. The machine kneads, mixes and extrudes, making it easy to enjoy fresh pasta any time.
AT&T gets bigger, a whole lot bigger with its purchase of T-Mobile. Trust us, mobile plans won't be getting any cheaper. Sprint gets a few consolation prizes, Twitter is 5 years old and we feature the "Morning-After" App.
Gmail is still up and down, PS3 sales are actually blocked in Europe, and Motorola says Xoom sales are off to "a good start." What does that mean? But they're certainly off to a better start than Microsoft, which is only just now, rumor has it, working on Windows 8 tablet design demos that we'll see ... in June. JUNE! Bill Gates is so pretending he never worked there right now. Plus, Penthouse in 3D. Ew. --Molly
We recap Dell's announcements and Rafe gets banned, even if this is first show back. Sprint's "industry first" is a dual screen phone, and also the first mobile device with screen-on-screen action. The Verizon iPhone is already jailbroken. Plus, we'll pay you in Smurfberries!


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A well known Belfast shop had a Black Friday evacuation today.
House of Fraser staff had to leave the building for around half an hour on what is set to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Scores of workers were seen outside the building at Victoria Square earlier today.
Fire engines were also seen at the scene. There are unconfirmed reports that the evacuation was caused by a sprinkler system fault.


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Nintendo Takes Mobile More Seriously, Considers New Business Structure
January 20, 2014 7:47 PM
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This comes after revisions to its sales and profit through March 2014
Nintendo's new year hasn't been too forgiving, as the company was forced to
revise its sales and profit expectations
through March. With hard times ahead, the company is realizing that it needs to hop on the mobile bandwagon if it wants to stay alive.
, Nintendo is considering a new business structure that includes launching games on smart devices such as tablets and smartphones.
“We are thinking about a new business structure,” said Satoru Iwata, Nintendo CEO. “Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It’s not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.”
This could be a good move for Nintendo, considering hardcore console gamers tend to stick with Sony's PlayStation or Microsoft's Xbox consoles while more casual gamers have flocked to mobile devices -- not to mention that almost everyone now carries at least a smartphone on their person.
Nintendo has also been pretty stubborn about offering its characters to online mobile games, which the company could profit off of.
But times are getting tight for Nintendo, and it's realizing that if it doesn't make some big changes, it'll sink.
Earlier this month, a statement from
announced that its anticipated Wii U units sold from April 2013 to March 2014 was changed from a previous 9 million to just 2.8 million. This represents a staggering 69 percent drop.
Wii U software doesn't look any better, with sales expectations falling from a previously reported 38 million to just 19 million.
The company also had to revise 3DS sales expectations, dropping from 18 million to just 13.5 million units sold. As for the original Wiis, Nintendo is cutting their sales expectations from a previous 2 million to 1.2 million.
With so many sales revisions, Nintendo is also decreasing its financial forecast, which includes a loss of 25 billion yen ($240 million USD) -- down from a previously reported 55 billion yen profit.
Iwata said the company was unable to take advantage of the weaker yen. Nintendo decreased its planned dividend for the fiscal year from 260 yen to 100 yen. Nintendo revised its foreign-exchange predictions from 90 yen to the dollar to 100 yen, and from 120 yen per euro to 140 yen.
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RE: It will be over
1/21/2014 11:00:50 AM
Except nobody's suggesting that they sell or license out their properties. Only that they develop games for other hardware manufacturers' consoles.
Nobody wants to pay $250 for a Nintendo machine just to play Nintendo's first-party games, and then go back to their PS4/XB1 to play multiplatform games. A lot of us have been doing just that over Nintendo's last few generations, except there are even fewer first-party games out for Wii U than there were for Gamecube and Wii now.
RE: It will be over
1/22/2014 5:19:42 AM
Except that I don't go back to PS or Xbox when I want to play "multiplatform" games. I either fire up steam, or I shrug and walk away.
And why develop for other consoles? Why water-down their offerings so they'll fit in the unimaginative, uninnovative molds that PS and Xbox have?
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Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (SHM) is planning to launch as soon as possible two other models besides the sedan – an SUV and probably an MPV – under the new Afeela EV brand, announced at CES in Las Vegas last week. It would make no sense to limit the brand to one model for the first five years. “We need a lineup,” SHM CEO Yasuhide Mizuno told Autocar.
The sedan is planned as a ‘high value’ car to be positioned against a BMW i4 or Mercedes EQE, for instance. It will be built in an American Honda facility to be launched over there first, followed by Japan and Europe. Sales in Europe will start in late 2026 or the beginning of 2027 at the earliest.
‘Feeling’ the new brand
The Afeela sedan is the first prototype car that will hit the road as a production car by 2026. The Japanese electronics giant and the carmaker say their prototype demonstrates “a new relationship between people and mobility”.
The latter is made visual already at the exterior of the car with a ‘Media Bar’ in the nose where the vehicle can show messages to its owner when he arrives, or pedestrians, for instance, crossing in front. Inside the car features as one can expect screens everywhere, spanning the whole width of the vehicle with an airplane-like steering wheel to maximize the view.
The press release states that the new brand name ‘AFEELA’ expresses an interactive relationship where people ‘FEEL’ mobility as an intelligent entity, and mobility ‘FEELs’ people and society using sensing and network IT technologies.
Little technical details are revealed of this Afeela, except its size (4 895 x 1 900 x 1 460 mm and a wheelbase of 3 000 m) and that it will be a four-wheel drive. The sleek spaceship-like streamline of the car suggests this EV is built to maximize energy efficiency and extended range. But there are no clues yet of what type of motor or battery to expect.
Sony-Honda promises a new human-machine interface (HMI), which looks promising with the simple, but futuristic-looking interior. “The interior is based on a gently rounded tone, wrapping the occupants in a soft cocoon, designed to be as simple as possible, minimizing distracting ornamentation and colors,” the developers claim.
Level 3 autonomous drive
The panoramic screen spans the entire front area, and the steering has been uniquely designed to minimize the distraction of the screen. Although Sony & Honda announce Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities (with the car capable of driving itself in particular conditions), backed by 45 cameras and sensors, you still will have to look through the windscreen to see what happens on the road.
As you can expect from an entertainment expert like Sony, there will be a lot of interaction between the real and the virtual world, “exploring new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse”.
In this, augmented reality is offered by projecting digital images over what you actually see outside. For this SHM partners with Epic Games to build new values and concepts for mobility, it claims.
Epic Games is a leading American interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. It is most known for Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular online games with over 350 million accounts and 2,5 billion ‘friend connections’.
Real plans for production
It looked back then that the chances of series production – to be built by Honda – were much better, but no actual dates were announced. Now the joint venture between the two Japanese companies spawned a new brand: Afeela, to make that happen.
And this time, it’s for real. As SHM announced at CES, it will develop the production model based on this prototype, plans to start taking pre-orders in the first half of 2025, and commence sales by the end of 2025. The first cars, aimed to begin delivering in the United States, would arrive in the spring of 2026.


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As a data-driven advertising company, Google's business model hinges on knowing as much about its users as possible. But as the public has increasingly awakened to its privacy rights, this imperative has generated more friction. One protection Google has invested in is the field of data science known as "differential privacy," which strategically adds random noise to user information stored in databases so that companies can still analyze it without being able to single people out. And now the company is releasing a tool to help other developers achieve that same level of differential privacy defense.
Today Google is announcing a new set of open source differential privacy libraries that not only offer the equations and models needed to set boundaries and constraints on identifying data, but also include an interface to make it easier for more developers to actually implement the protections. The idea is to make it possible for companies to mine and analyze their database information without invasive identity profiles or tracking. The measures can also help mitigate the fallout of a data breach, because user data is stored with other confounding noise.
"It’s really all about data protection and about limiting the consequences of releasing data," says Bryant Gipson, an engineering manager at Google. "This way, companies can still get insights about data that are valuable and useful to everybody without doing something to harm those users."
Google currently uses differential privacy libraries to protect all different types of information, like location data, generated by its Google Fi mobile customers. And the techniques also crop up in features like the Google Maps meters that tell you how busy different businesses are throughout the day. Google intentionally built its differential privacy libraries to be flexible and applicable to as many database features and products as possible.
Differential privacy is similar to cryptography in the sense that it's extremely complicated and difficult to do right. And as with encryption, experts strongly discourage developers from attempting to "roll your own" differential privacy scheme, or design one from scratch. Google hopes that its open source tool will be easy enough to use that it can be a one-stop shop for developers who might otherwise get themselves into trouble.
"The underlying differential privacy noisemaking code is very, very general," says Lea Kissner, chief privacy officer of the workplace behavior startup Humu and Google’s former global lead of privacy technology. Kissner oversaw the differential privacy project until her departure in January. "The interface that’s put on the front of it is also quite general, but it’s specific to the use case of somebody making queries to a database. And that interface matters. If you want people to use it right you need to put an interface on it that is actually usable by actual human beings who don’t have a PhD in the area." (Which Kissner does.)
Developers could use Google’s tools to protect all sorts of database queries. For example, with differential privacy in place, employees at a scooter share company could analyze drop-offs and pickups at different times without also specifically knowing who rode which scooter where. And differential privacy also has protections to keep aggregate data from revealing too much. Take average scooter ride length: Even if one user’s data is added or removed, it won’t change the average ride number enough to blow that user’s mathematical cover. And differential privacy builds in many such protections to preserve larger conclusions about trends no matter how granular someone makes their database queries.
Part of the reason it's so difficult to roll your own differential privacy is that these tools, like encryption schemes, need to be vetted by as many people as possible to catch all the flaws and conceptual issues that could otherwise go unnoticed. Google's Gipson says this is why it was such a priority to make the tool open source; he hopes that academic and technical communities around the world will offer feedback and suggestions about improving Google's offering.
Uber similarly released an open source differential privacy tool in 2017 in collaboration with researchers at UC Berkeley and updated it in 2018. Apple, meanwhile, uses a proprietary differential privacy scheme. The company has been on the forefront of implementing the technology, but independent researchers have found that the approach may not offer the privacy guarantees Apple claims.
Google says that one novel thing its solution offers is that it doesn't assume any individual in a database is only associated with one record at most, the way most other schemes do. This is true in a census or medical records database, but often doesn't apply to a data set about people visiting particular locations or using their mobile phones in various places around the world. Everyone gets surveyed once for the census, but people often visit the same restaurant or use the same cell tower many times. So Google's tool allows for the possibility that a person can contribute multiple records to a database over time, a feature which helps to maintain privacy guarantees in a broader array of situations.
Along with the tool itself, Google is also offering a testing methodology that lets developers run audits of their differential privacy implementation and see if it is actually working as intended.
"From our perspective, the more people that are doing differential privacy, inside of Google or outside, the better," Google's Gipson says. "Getting this out into the broader world is the real value here, because even with lots of eyes on a thing you can still miss glaring security holes. And 99.9 percent differentially private is not differentially private."
As with any technique, differential privacy isn't a panacea for all of big tech's security ailments. But given how many problems there are to fix, it's worth having as many researchers as possible chasing that last tenth of a percent.
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The new E‑Transit Custom will be supported by Ford Pro software, charging, service, and financing solutions via one platform to help increase uptime and reduce operating costs and promises a targeted driving range of up to 380 km (236 miles), DC fast-charging, and full towing capability.
May 18, 2022
Following the runaway success of the Ford Mustang Mach-e and a strong market for the upcoming Ford e-Transit cargo van, Ford expects to invest over $2 billion in its Cologne, Germany facility to bolster electric vehicle production.
March 20, 2022
Designed as an open vehicle platform, the Mobile Electric Toolkit allows car manufacturers to electrify their portfolio quickly and cost-effectively. Ford plans to expand its offerings in collaboration with VW due to its overwhelming success.
March 16, 2022
The two new divisions will operate as distinct businesses but share relevant technology and best practices to leverage scale and drive operating improvements for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles (Ford Blue) and electric vehicles (Ford Model e).
March 10, 2022
Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said the company’s “taking EVs mainstream,” citing orders or reservations of more 275,000 all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs, F-150 Lightning pickups, and E-Transit commercial vehicles.
February 17, 2022
Martin Sander will also serve as chair of the management board of Ford-Werke GmbH (Ford of Germany), effective June 1.
January 10, 2022
The move is part of the Ford+ plan and will generate 1,250 new jobs and focus on the next-generation Ford Ranger pickup and Ford Everest SUV vehicles.
December 9, 2021
Five companies were selected by Newlab and Ford to join them in the new Michigan Central facility to help revolutionize electrification and charging infrastructure — including fleet.
November 4, 2021
Australian market September sales figures reveal all buyer segments are up compared to same time in 2020.
October 13, 2021
New sales data from Ford shows that the Ford Kuga Plug-In Hybrid electric vehicle was the best‑selling PHEV in Europe during the first half of this year.
August 6, 2021
Ford announced that its entire commercial vehicle range in Europe will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, by 2024, with two-thirds of its commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
February 23, 2021
Ford is investing $1.05 billion in its South African manufacturing operations, designed to modernize its operations in the country and support expanded production of the all-new Ranger pickup truck.
February 2, 2021
Ford Brazil announced it will cease production operations in 2021, but will continue to serve customers in the South America region with a portfolio of new SUVs, pickups and commercial vehicles sourced from Argentina, Uruguay, and other markets.
January 12, 2021
The outcome was driven by fundamental changes in global economic and business conditions – caused, in part, by the global pandemic – over the past 15 months.
January 5, 2021
Ford Fleet Management products and services are backed by a digitally connected ecosystem, which is designed to keep business vehicles working and on the road.
December 29, 2020


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Over the past five years, provincial legislative changes have made alcohol more accessible in Ontario. The structure of alcohol distribution has now become increasingly permissive due to the loosening of historical controls on a harmful substance. The trajectory of alcohol policy continues to become increasingly adverse to the health and well-being of Ontarians. Consider the following recent developments:
In 2011, changes to the Liquor License Act included the significant expansion of licensed areas within festivals or public events, the provision of ‘all-inclusive’ vacation packages in Canada that included alcohol, and the allowance for other businesses, such as book stores and salons, to apply for alcohol licensing.
In 2013, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) announced their plans for significant expansion across the province. According to LCBO spokesperson Heather McGregor, the aim was to increase access points, and “to enhance the customer experience”. In addition to the inception of new and bigger stores, this plan has contributed to significant growth in sales.
In 2014, Vintner’s Quality Alliance (VQA) wine became legal for sale at Ontario Farmers’ markets as a pilot project. With Farmers’ Markets more than doubling their number in the last quarter century in Ontario, the inclusion of wine into this sector creates many new alcohol access points for consumers.
Most recently and alarmingly, in April 2015, a plan was unveiled to reform alcohol sales and distribution in Ontario, beginning with the sale of beer in 450 grocery stores. Premier Wynne indicated the decision was financially motivated, stating the announcement was “a good day for our economy and for job creation.” In December 2015, 58 grocery stores began to sell beer throughout Ontario, with many to follow. This will further expand alcohol access, and normalize alcohol among regular foodstuffs.
This series of changes has occurred in part due the widespread acceptance of alcohol in our culture; it is so entrenched that related harms are often ignored. Increased alcohol availability brings with it increased harms, each a major expense to society and government. The harms of alcohol include an increased risk for chronic diseases such as cancer and liver disease; elevated risk for heart disease and stroke; crime and violence; alcohol dependence; injuries and hospitalizations; and tragically, deaths relating to disease, violence or impaired judgment.
In its report on how to reduce harms from alcohol, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health stated that regulating the availability of alcohol, along with controlled sales via centralized channels, is a key strategy for reducing consumption and harm. The strategy is evidence-based. Where alcohol privatization and deregulation has occurred elsewhere in Canada, alcohol availability has risen significantly, with subsequent increases in consumption and harm. In British Columbia, the Provincial Health Officer reported that partial privatization in 2002 led to a 40% increase in the number of liquor stores over a six year period, paired with a province-wide increase in alcohol consumption of 8%. Furthermore, a 2011 study from British Columbia published in Addiction reveals the direct relationship between rising density of liquor and beer stores and increased alcohol-related deaths, indicating that “a 20% rise in private store density increased alcohol-related mortality by 3.25%”.
It is possible that the Ontario government believes taxation revenue from increasing alcohol access offsets or exceeds the related costs. This is not true. A 2012 report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse quotes 2002-2003 data, indicating that health care, enforcement and other direct costs from alcohol cost the government $2.4 billion in Ontario. This same report compares these costs to total alcohol revenue [Table 6] indicating a net loss of over $450 million (in a single year).
Losses from alcohol-related harm are being externalized to the province’s law enforcement and health care systems, whose budgets are the responsibility of the Ontario taxpayer. Aiming to sell more alcohol through heightened availability is a self-defeating economic strategy. Beyond dollars, the price of increased alcohol consumption is paid for in incarcerations, illness, and impossible-to-measure units of human suffering.
Ontario’s new alcohol strategy
In September 2015, a coalition of health and partner organizations called for the development of a Provincial Alcohol Strategy, their aim being a comprehensive approach to balance economic interests with public health and safety. The government responded with a recent announcement to design a multi-component Alcohol Strategy for Ontario.
This was welcome news; however, it is only a beginning. It remains to be seen if the province will ultimately cease stimulation of sectors within the alcohol industry which furthers distribution, sales and consumption. If they continue, they would do so in disregard of clear evidence of commensurate costs, and damage to the lives of Ontarians.


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Does a rising German 'ecological-industrial complex' threaten the EU?(Read article summary)
Germany's Green Party is pushing for clean energy, climate-friendly retrofitting, and government stimulus of green jobs. Is this a hopeful sign or a worrying one?
Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters
The German Green Party, which is on the rise again (having won an additional seventeen seats in last year’s elections), has set the target of running their country on 100% “clean” energy by 2050, and plans on lobbying for more import restrictions on “unclean” products into the EU. If the Greens get back into government in Germany and implement these sorts of policy, it will create a huge upward struggle for consumers both in Germany and across the EU.
The term “clean renewables” is a piece of politically correct doublethink which includes things like hazardous bio-diesel (which, incidentally, drives up food prices) but excludes nuclear energy which unless run by wasteful communists is ultra-clean. They can also be enormously expensive.
But never mind – it's the consumer who will pick up the tab, and environmentalists rarely care about that. Climate-friendly retrofitting of Germany's buildings could amount to €2.5 trillion, which owners will transfer to tenants through increased rents. Germany has one the highest numbers of renters to homeowners in Europe. Therefore, this matter hugely for disenfranchising households in terms of energy costs. “Green” requirements like these are simply a form of indirect taxation that hit the poor hardest, and those who can’t afford to pay for the government’s green energy targets will be forced to move out of the bigger cities like Berlin and Frankfurt.


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Iceland boss on attack in horsemeat row
Local councils are to blame for driving down food quality with cheap food contracts for schools and hospitals, the boss of Iceland has suggested.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Malcolm Walker said the "problem really lies" with councils buying food from the poorly supplied catering industry.
But the Local Government Association said councils were not to blame for what had been "a major supply chain failure".
Ben Geoghegan reports.
17 Feb 2013
- From the section UK


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Asda’s chief executive Andy Clarke says he has never seen profitability fall so quickly in the UK supermarket sector.
In an interview with BBC 5 live’s Wake Up to Money, which was broadcast today, Mr Clarke said discount grocers have had a striking impact on retailing.
“The level of profitability decline in some retailers over the course of 2014 - we’ve never seen it before,” said Mr Clarke. “It suggests 2015 is going to be equally as challenging.”
Figures published earlier this month showed the challenges faced by some of the biggest names in retailing.
Morrisons’ sales fell a disappointing 3.2 per cent in the three months to December 7, making it the worst performer out of the “big four” supermarkets.
The Bradford-based grocer has been trying to lure back shoppers by slashing prices and price matching discounters Aldi and Lidl, but data from Kantar Worldpanel showed its market share fell to 11.2 per cent from 11.6 this time last year. Tesco sales fell by 2.7 per cent, its smallest decline in sales since June, while Leeds-based Asda’s sales fell by one per cent and Sainsbury’s by 1.8 per cent, making them the best performers of the “big four”.
Aldi’s sales grew by an astonishing 22.3 per cent, taking its market share from 4.0 per cent last year to 4.9 per cent, while Lidl’s sales rose 18.3 per cent to give it a market share of 3.7 per cent, up from 3.1 per cent.
The data showed that shoppers have saved £182m on grocery offers in the past three months as supermarkets slashed prices in a bid to outdo each other and win custom back from the discounters.


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There are over 30 million consumers in Iraq. Their buying power is closely linked with the buying power of the Iraqi government, which is incredibly successful due to Iraq’s rich natural resource, oil.
Who is spending? The buying power of Iraq lies mostly in the hands of Iraq’s youth, who are hungry for new technology, products and innovation. Although Iraqi youth are not the main owners of Iraq’s wealth (this lies in the hands of 60 years or older demographic), Iraqi youth, like many countries, drive the economy.


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BREAKING NEWS, UP TO 2,000 ISRAELI TROOPS ON THE MOVE, Headed for the border with Gaza: Anderson Cooper reports
BREAKING NEWS, ROCKETS POUNDING ISRAEL, Israel says 300 rockets fired from Gaza since Wednesday: Reporters: Sara Sidner from Gaza City, Fred Pleitgen from Southern Israel and Noga Tarnopolsky (Global Post Senior Correspondent joined by phone from Israel); Anderson and Fouad Ajami were on the balcony in NYC
WHAT PETRAEUS WILL TELL CONGRESS, Frmr. CIA Director testifies before intelligence committees Friday: Anderson and Barbara Starr report
CONGRESS SEES BENGHAZI ATTACK VIDEO, Bash, GOP, Democrats members see video differently: Anderson and Dana Bash report and also discuss Sen. John McCain's outburst when a CNN reporter asked him why he didn't attend hearings on Benghazi yesterday
CONGRESSMEN SPEAK OUT ON ATTACK VIDEO, Will it change their perspective?: Anderson's follow up with Rep. Peter King (R) NY and Rep. Adam Schiff (D) California
MITT ROMNEY DRAWS HEAT FROM GOP, He attributes loss to (President) Obama buying minority votes: Anderson's report and follow up discussion with Ana Navarro (Republican Strategist), Charles Blow (NYT Op-Ed columnist) and Mary Matalin
GULF OIL SPILL SETTLEMENT, BP agrees to pay $4.5 billion in government penalties: Anderson reports and interviews Keith Jones (family member of one of the victims)
360 NEWS & BUSINESS BULLETIN: Isha Sesay
The Christmas shopping season is upon us and ATA just may be the place to make a little extra money or find that perfect present for the hard-to-buy-for Anderson Cooper fan.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend we'll post information on Anderson Cooper and other CNN memorabilia that you, our ATA readers, would like to sell.
If you have something that you'd like included (there's no charge for listing) in this event please send us a picture of the item you want to sell, the price you are asking and your email address to email@example.com. Your email address will not be published but it will be shared with anyone who is interested in purchasing items you are have for sale.
ATA reserves the right to reject items submitted for sale at our discretion. Further ATA will not be involved in the sale process and will accept no responsibility for such. It will be between seller and buyer to arrange payment and shipping details. We strongly recommend payment be made through PalPal or with a credit card that protects from fraud.


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As Internet media becomes more and more popular, we have to wonder. Aside from the cost of purchasing the air time, TV spots tend to require a lot more production. Maybe companies could get more bang for their buck — not to mention exposure to a more varied customer base — if they funneled that cash into Internet advertising? Now, we might be biased, but this article on Digiday seems to back up our theory. That $4 milion spent on 30 seconds of Super Bowl time could buy an entire eight days of ads all over a major homepage like AOL or Yahoo. And you know those sponsored articles on Buzzfeed? Those sell for about $20,000 a pop, which means instead of a blip on TV this Sunday, you could get your brand featured 200 times on a site that, according to its own stats, gets over 25 million unique visitors per month. True, last year 111.3 million tuned in for the big game (according to the
International Business Times). Still, assuming that Buzzfeed paid content reaches a healthy portion of its visitors, it sounds like a pretty good investment to us.
Image via E*TRADE.


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ExxonMobil has started production on a new high-performance polyethylene line at its Beaumont, Texas polyethylene plant. The expansion increases plant production capacity by 65% or 650 000 tpy, bringing site capacity to nearly 1.7 million tpy.
“Our unique polyethylene products offer enhanced performance benefits to our customers, including strength and ease of processing, compared with commodity products.”
This expansion builds upon supply advantages created by ExxonMobil’s two new performance polyethylene lines which began production in 2017 at the company’s manufacturing site in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Together, these multi-billion dollar investments will help meet strong global demand growth for polyethylene, particularly high-performance products used for liquid and food packaging, construction liners and agricultural films.
“The availability of new supplies of domestically produced natural gas liquids provides us with a significant advantage when expanding polyethylene production to meet worldwide demand growth,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “Our unique polyethylene products offer enhanced performance benefits to our customers, including strength and ease of processing, compared with commodity products.”
The project created 2000 jobs during peak construction and currently supports approximately 40 permanent jobs. Operations associated with the Beaumont expansion are expected to increase regional economic activity by US$20 billion in the first 13 years, according to research completed in 2015 by Impact Data Source.
Beaumont’s polyethylene plant expansion is part of ExxonMobil’s 2017 Growing the Gulf initiative, which included plans to build and expand manufacturing facilities along the US Gulf Coast, creating more than 45 000 high-paying jobs across the region.
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/25072019/exxonmobil-starts-production-on-beaumont-polyethylene-line/
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Senior Director of Fuels & Vehicle Policy at the AFPM, Patrick Kelly, has issued a statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant RVP petitions and expand E15 sales in select Midwest states beginning in 2025.


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Tech giant Apple had announced in September 2015 that it would soon launch Facebook Messenger for Apple Watch for users who have updated the device to OS 2. Facebook has now updated its Messenger app for iOS for Apple’s wearable device on October 8, 2015. The users have to just make sure that the devices run on the latest version of Cupertino’s software the Watch OS2.
The new messenger will enable the users to send and receive voice clips, stickers and Likes. The social network has just launched the new feature but the users seem to be already happy about it. One of the users on the App Store review wrote, “Five stars for one of the first useful, working and usable 3rd party Watch apps”.
Another user talked about the convenience the new app provided. Apart from the new Apple Watch integration, the new version of Facebook Messenger for iOS also allows the users to find the Messenger contacts and conversations from the iPhone’s search screen.
The wearable device went on sale recently at some of the Target locations and will be at the stores by October 25, 2015. The Apple Watch Hermes is available in various styles and sizes beginning from $1,100.
Photo Credits: techradar


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Aside from the HTC Desire that's been officially confirmed to be bound for US Cellular, the wireless carrier is also expected to see the LG Mystique – which is basically their version of the LG Lotus Elite. The device was recently spotted with the US Cellular branding prominently in display and looks to be pretty much the same. As we've heard through US Cellular's Facebook page
, they're teasing all of us on what other Android phone they'll be launching. For sure the HTC Desire will capture most of the attention, but it looks as though the recent Samsung SCH-R880 seen over at the Bluetooth SIG might be the device in question. It's quite similar to the Samsung Moment with Sprint according to our tipster and features a 3.2” HVGA touchscreen, 3-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, Android 2.1
, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Furthermore, our tipster has informed us that there was a webinar held for both the HTC Desire and Samsung SCH-R880 – the latter of the two is heard to be exclusive with US Cellular. So if you prefer the advantages that a physical QWERTY has to offer, then the Samsung handset would fit the bill accordingly. Customers can soon feast upon all the goodies that Android 2.1 has to offer, but there is still no word on exact pricing or availability for the three handsets expected to reach US Cellular.
Thanks Tyrell and to our other anonymous tipster!
source: Bluetooh SIG
If you have some interesting info that you'd like to share with us, feel free to Tip


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Police: Man wanted for allegedly using fake credit card at Home Depot stores
East Haven police are searching for a man accused of buying thousands of dollars' worth of construction items with a fake credit card.
They say the man bought the material at Home Depot stores in East Haven and Orange.
They say he bought the tile contractor materials.
Anyone with information should contact the East Haven Police Department.


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Last month Maker’s Mark revealed a plan to water down its bourbon in order to meet heavy demand. Also in the news, lawsuits alleging that Anheuser-Busch waters down its beer as a cost-cutting measure. Meeting demand? Cost-cutting measures? Is watering down alcohol an actual trend?
I first noticed the trend when I saw an article about how Maker’s Mark would be cutting the alcohol volume of its whiskey to 42%, from 45%, in order to meet rising global demand.
Somewhat similarly, Anheuser-Busch has been charged with intentionally exaggerating the alcohol content in several of its beer brands; consumers are claiming that the watering down of beers can result in beverages that contain 3% to 8% less alcohol than their labels indicate. A-B is facing a a number of class-action lawsuits and damages of more than $5 million and more lawsuits are expected.
It seems to me that the diluting of beverages may be a trend. The question is why. In the case of Anheuser-Busch they vehemently deny the accusation. Maker’s Mark was just a bad marketing decision. The question is why and several theories abound. Conventional wisdom is that consumers have to buy more to get the same amount of alcohol. The Anheuser-Busch lawsuit alleges that water is a less expensive ingredient than alcohol. Huffington Post theorizes that its part of a marketing plan to push drinkers to other more expensive bourbon in the company’s product line.
Since all explanations for watering down smell of greed, even if it is a trend, its not a trend that corporations are willing to admit.
Anheuser-Busch has responded with a full page advertisement that displays the water can that the company donated to the American Red Cross. The brewery released a new advertising campaign in response to accusations that the company. And, Maker’s Mark? In the end, an uproar ensued and Maker’s Mark reversed its decision.
Have you noticed any watering down of your favorite beverages?


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WyzeCam has launched a $20 v2 smart home camera, called simply the Wyze Cam v2 and it's already taking pre-orders for the device and plans to ship it in the last week of February, so consumers who are interested in getting smart home security cameras set up without breaking the bank should expect this to start shipping out at the beginning of next week based on the timing that was mentioned.
Some stuff has changed with the Wyze Cam since the first version of the device that was launched, save for the design which is relatively similar because WyzeCam didn't see a need to switch things up in this department, which likely allowed them to keep the cost low. That said, the finish of the camera has been changed, and is now a matte finish because the aim was to reduce glare on the surface of the device. The Wyze Cam v2 will also still be able to record video at 1080p Full HD resolution.
In regards to the new features, the camera will now provide motion tagging technology which allows it to recognize and outline whenever motion is detected by the camera in both operable modes, which are live stream mode and replay mode. While being able to pick up and alert you to motion inside the home is great, the camera's motion tagging will help pinpoint exactly where the motion was just in case you weren't able to see it. It's also able to see better both in lighter situations, such as daytime, and in darker situations when night vision would be used thanks to a new CMOS sensor inside of the camera. Lastly, the audio has also been improved so there's less TDD interference, so audio picked up by the camera should be easier to hear and have better clarity. All of the original Wyze Cam's favorite features have carried over to the new model, including the ability to switch between standard definition and high definition recording resolution when you want to, real-time alerts, two-way audio so you can speak to people through the camera using your smartphone, and the capability to daisy chain up to three cameras together if you have more than one.


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LONDON — Hackers have stolen around $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from a Binance-linked blockchain, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet on Friday.
Zhao said the tokens were stolen from a blockchain “bridge” used in the Binance-linked blockchain called BNB Chain, known as Binance Smart Chain until February.
Blockchain bridges are tools used to transfer cryptocurrencies between different applications.
Separately, BNB Chain said in a tweet that the hack involved $100 million to $110 million of digital tokens, without specifying which token was affected.
BNB Chain also said on Twitter its activity had been suspended before resuming at around 0630 GMT.
Blockchain bridges have in recent month
increasingly become the target of thefts
which have long plagued the crypto sector.
On the Binance website, BNB Chain is described as a “community-driven, open-sourced and decentralized ecosystem.” (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Tom Wilson and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)


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Penske Truck Leasing Opens Portland Facility
READING, Pa., November 1, 2007 - Today, Penske Truck Leasing celebrated the grand opening of a new facility in Portland, Ore., located on 4110 NW Saint Helens Rd. The 14,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility, employing 27 associates, offers commercial and consumer truck rental services, full-service truck leasing and contract maintenance. About 50 leasing customers are serviced from this five-acre location and over 400 vehicles are maintained on-site.
The one-story building incorporates Penske Truck Leasing's new facility design elements, features state-of-the-art technology and is designed to enhance the customer experience. Penske continues its expansion efforts across North America. A new wireless technology component allows Penske service technicians to integrate various vehicle diagnostic and repair software. To save energy, GE fluorescent light bulbs with electronic ballasts using 50 percent less energy have been installed.
The facility cost approximately $7.6 million to construct, and has three service bays, a truck washing bay and a two-lane fuel island with high-speed fuel pumps for fast, efficient service.
Penske previously operated a facility at 1325 NW 14th Ave.
"The move to a state-of-the-art facility in Portland will result in added value for Penske customers," stated Peter Weeks, Senior Vice President - Western Region, Penske Truck Leasing. "We may add more associates in the future as we continue to expand in the Portland market."
The rental department, which can be reached at 503-226-7971 is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The service department, available at 503-226-7975, is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P., headquartered in Reading, Pa., is a joint venture of Penske Corporation and General Electric. A leading global transportation services provider, Penske operates more than 200,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, transportation and warehousing management, and supply chain management solutions. Visit www.GoPenske.com to learn more about the company and its products and services.


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Thursday 2 February 2023
The ingenuity and craftsmanship of The Boat Works partners at Element Concepts are attracting global clients and employing more locals, thanks to its high-tech manufacturing skills within the marine industry.
“Element Concepts, typifies what is happening in our city … leading-edge businesses are taking their brand to global markets, employing more locals and diversifying our economy,’’ said Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.
Last year, Element Concepts managing director Levi Duncan joined Council officers & AIMEX, the Australian International Marine Export Group on a US trade mission to Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The mission had six marine industry businesses represented, with each business paying their own costs. More than 100,000 attendees and 1000 exhibitors were present.
The mission created around $4.2 million in value for our city’s businesses, resulting in more Gold Coasters being employed across a range of fields.
Element Concepts who have pioneered carbon fibre game towers for the competitive angling sector, secured several orders from the East Coast region of the US. “Once owners and boat builders see how superior our carbon fibre towers are, and how easy they can be packed and transported internationally, it’s an easy upgrade to a sophisticated product.” said Levi Duncan.
Following on from this successful outcome, The Boat Works welcomed Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate onsite to inspect the Element Concepts’ Carbon workshop along with endorsing the official opening with the ribbon cutting. Certainly not the standard ribbon, today’s ceremony was marked with a ‘carbon fibre’ ribbon for the official proceedings with the Owners, Element Concepts supporting staff and owner of The Boat Works, Tony Longhurst.
This great Aussie invention has evolved at a rapid pace since the launch of the successful refit onboard the 40 foot Blackwatch Game Boat ‘Back in Black’ last October 2022.
A revolution in boat building creating not just a stronger and lighter than aluminium or stainless-steel game tower, but one that is foiled with an elliptical frame for aerodynamic advantage.
‘Back n Black’s 8-metre tower, if built from aluminium, could weigh as much as a tonne. Carbon composite fibre is known and used for its combination of strength and lightness. It is five times stronger than steel and one third its weight. A 100 percent Carbon Tower is approximately 70 percent lighter than a tower built from traditional materials. A massive saving, as well as being strong and stable, and it looks sexy as hell!
“Element Concepts clients tell us they want their towers to be durable and practical, as well as eye-catching,” said Levi. “The carbon fibre tower is totally unique and a real head-turner.”
Element Concepts specialises in carbon fibre design and manufacture including
game-fishing towers i.e., Carbon Game Towers for vessels and superyachts.
Since its Fort Lauderdale visit, the business has expanded their advanced
manufacturing onsite at The Boat Works marine facility and taken on three new
employees (advertising for five additional staff).


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A flagship government anti-smoking scheme that would ban Britain’s shops from displaying cigarettes would be “unenforceable”, according to one of the country’s leading QCs.
The plan to prevent shops from selling tobacco products unless they are kept entirely out of sight of customers is due to be debated and voted on by MPs today.
With critics saying that the proposal threatens to drive thousands of small corner shops out of business, a backbench rebellion is expected, with as many as one in ten Labour MPs set to vote against the scheme, which is backed by the Government.
However, in advice drawn up for the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), Lord Pannick, QC, has raised the prospect of a legal challenge. In his advice, he claims that…